Saturday, December 31, 2016

Family Buys Cadaver Bride For Dead Son, But The Bride Is Still Alive [feedly]



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Family Buys Cadaver Bride For Dead Son, But The Bride Is Still Alive
// Neatorama



(Image Link)

There's a strange funereal practice that was outlawed by Chairman Mao back in 1949 but is starting to make a comeback in China- the practice of buying a cadaver bride to be buried with a family's unmarried son.

This "ghost marriage" is thought to prevent the unmarried son from going through the afterlife alone, and as grim as this practice may seem many Chinese people see ghost marriages as no big deal. 



Unfortunately, they also don't see anything wrong with paying grave robbers to dig up women for their sons, and this cadaver black market has led to murder for profit, since the freshly dead are far more valuable.

Recently a family in China paid about $3500 for the cadaver of a young girl, but as they were burying the coffin containing the girl and their son they heard noises coming from inside- and discovered the girl was still alive.



She had fallen victim to human traffickers who were kidnapping women from a shelter they ran for disabled people, sedating them and selling them as cadavers for ghost marriages.

Six men involved in the human trafficking ring were arrested, and the authorities were able to save five other women from a similar fate.

Read Family Buys Cadaver Bride For Dead Son, Turns Out Cadaver Is Still Alive here


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Saturday, December 24, 2016

The Arctic is 'behaving so bizarrely' | Don't Miss This | cullmantimes.com

Payback

Obummer gun ban.

Federal Reserve is now initiating the economic end game [feedly]



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Federal Reserve is now initiating the economic end game
// Personal Liberty Digest™

For years, alternative economic analysts have been warning that the "miraculous" rise in U.S. stock markets has been the symptom of wider central bank intervention and that this will result in dire future consequences. We have heard endless lies and rationalizations as to why this could not be so, and why the U.S. "recovery" is real.  At the beginning of 2016, the former head of the Dallas branch of the Federal Reserve crushed all the skeptics and vindicated our position in an interview with CNBC where he stated:

"What the Fed did — and I was part of that group — is we front-loaded a tremendous market rally, starting in 2009.

It's sort of what I call the "reverse Whimpy factor" — give me two hamburgers today for one tomorrow.

I'm not surprised that almost every index you can look at … was down significantly." [Referring to the results in the stock market after the Fed raised rates in December.]

Fisher continued his warning (though his predictions in my view are wildly conservative):

"…I was warning my colleagues, "Don't go wobbly if we have a 10-20 percent correction at some point. … Everybody you talk to … has been warning that these markets are heavily priced."

Here is the issue — stocks are a mostly meaningless factor when considering the economic health of a nation. Equities are a casino based on nothing but the luck of the draw when it comes to news headlines, central banker statements and algorithmic computers. Today, as Fischer openly admitted, stocks are a purely manipulated indicator representing nothing but the amount of stimulus central banks are willing to pour into them through various channels. Even with the incredible monetary support pooled together by international financiers, returns on equities investments continue to remain mostly flat.

It would seem that the propping up of indexes like the Dow has been only for the sake of keeping up appearances. For many people revenue is barely being generated.

Unfortunately, the majority of Americans do not care to educate themselves on the finer points of finance. Their only relation to the health of the economy is their daily glance at the Dow. If it is green, or at all time highs, they assume that all is well, even if their gut is telling them something is not quite right.

The elites that stand at the helm of the Federal Reserve understand this dynamic very well. They are not stupid. They know that the whole of the global economy could be in a shambles but as long as stocks remain positive the masses will continue to ignore reality until the flames of destabilization are at their very doorsteps.

With this fact in mind one might think that the Fed would consider it in their best interest to keep stimulus measures operating indefinitely; but that is not what they are doing.

In fact, the Fed has been slowly peeling back pillars of support from markets that have been in place since 2008-2009 and leaving the system open to a crisis event that should have been dealt with years ago. I examined this process of deliberate destabilization in my article "The global economic reset has begun."

In that piece I outlined the three major pillars holding up the U.S. market system and parts of our economy and how they were being systematically removed. The first pillar was the use of bailouts and quantitative easing measures. These were diminished through the implementation of the Fed "taper," which I predicted would happen three months prior that year.

The second pillar was the use of near zero interest rates, which allowed numerous banks and corporations to access low-cost and no-cost overnight loans from the Fed. These companies then used these loans in large part to support a never-ending program of stock buybacks, which reduced the stock pool and artificially boosted the values of the remaining stocks.  I predicted in August of 2015 that the Fed would hike interest rates and that this would be the beginning of the end for the stock buyback bonanza. The Fed hiked rates in December of that year.

This process of removing backdoor manipulation through low interest rates should be our main concern. Early in 2016 I believed that the Fed would reach a position in which it would finally unleash a series of rate hikes. I did not think they would be so blatant as to wait until right after the U.S. presidential election to do so. I was wrong.

This is why I eventually predicted the launch of a series of rate hikes starting right after the election of Donald Trump in my article "World suffers from Trump shell shock — here's what will happen next."  The Fed has now once again hiked interest rates with assertions that they will be "accelerating" such hikes throughout 2017.

As I have been arguing for most of the past year, the election of Donald Trump was inevitable and would precede the triggering of the final stage of our ongoing economic crisis. I came to realize that the Fed's timing of their latest rate hike is highly strategic. Not only does it set the stage for a series of hikes that will crush U.S. stock markets this coming year and finally shock the public out of their fiscal stupor, but it also maneuvers the crisis right into the lap of Donald Trump and the conservative movements that support him.

Beyond this, it perpetuates an increasing Left/Right division in America. Think about it — during a fiscal crisis under Trump, set off by accumulating Fed rate hikes, liberals will immediately set upon Trump as the culprit, while conservatives will immediately defend Trump as a victim of Federal Reserve meddling.

I have heard arguments from some that this tactic would simply not work. That people would "never buy" a narrative in which Trump and conservatives are blamed for a market collapse that was at least eight years in the making. I have to say, this view is incredibly naive.

I understand why people would want to embrace the notion that the public is as savvy as the liberty movement when looking at economic events, but this simply isn't reality. A large portion of the U.S. population identifies with the "Left" end of the political spectrum. We have already seen how they react in the face of a Trump election win. They are predisposed to believe that Trump is responsible for a market crash regardless of the facts. Not to mention, much of the rest of the world is economically ignorant and will likely jump on the anti-conservative bandwagon during a crisis as well.

But the real master stroke of this strategy on the part of the elites is that it creates the perfect platform for the destruction of the U.S. dollar's world reserve status — the third and final pillar I mentioned months ago that is supporting our economic system.

Imagine that the Fed's rate hike frenzy sparks an open feud between the central bank and Trump? Some people might say "Good! Shut the bastards down!" However, this is exactly what the elites want. With the Fed "at odds" with the president of the U.S., faith in the U.S. dollar will plummet. Its world reserve status will be destroyed. And instead of being blamed on central banks, the majority of people around the world will claim it was the fault of Trump.

With a historically sufficient excuse for the end of dollar dominance in hand, the elites can move forward with their great global reset, which includes the replacement of the dollar with the IMF's special drawing rights as the go-to reserve currency mechanism. This is an essential step in the formation of a single global monetary authority and a single global currency.

I believe that the Fed will not only continue hiking interest rates throughout 2017, but that some of these rate hikes may be larger than many people expect (50 basis points or more). I believe this will be designed to foster extreme tensions between the executive branch and the central bank.

A few months ago I would have said that Trump may or "may not" be aware of this dynamic and the potential that he is a scapegoat. Now that I have seen Trump's cabinet picks which include neo-con and Goldman Sachs alumni, I have little doubt that he is fully cognizant of the plan.  In the meantime I would point out that all of the elements of psychological support for stock markets will also disappear.

All those leftist media outlets cherry picking economic stats and telling half truths to support the recovery lie now have no reason to continue cheerleading for the economy. I expect that propaganda rags like Reuters and Bloomberg will quickly change their tune with Trump in the Oval Office and begin a consistent chorus of negative financial data. Not only will the Fed remove all support from the system, but the mainstream media will be pounding day traders with the kind of "doom and gloom" headlines that they have been criticizing us for the past several years.

Make no mistake, the election of Trump may have some in the liberty movement ready to pack up their preps and forget about any national crisis in their lifetimes, but the truth is, vigilance is needed now more than ever. I said it before the election and I'll say it today — do not get comfortable; the times are about to get even more interesting.

— Brandon Smith

The post Federal Reserve is now initiating the economic end game appeared first on Personal Liberty®.


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The Mystery of Why Chattanooga Raised Its Downtown - Neatorama

Dying Marine's Deathbed Message To Trump, This Will Break Your Heart

Friday, December 23, 2016

School report cards

Un

Your body is not your own; it belongs to the state [feedly]



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Your body is not your own; it belongs to the state
// Personal Liberty Digest™

How can America be considered the land of the free when police can extract a urine or blood sample against your will?

While there is a multitude of case law regarding the 4th Amendment and searches of persons, vehicles and dwellings, there is little on the books regarding what police can do to the human body.

In March of 2009, Jamie Lockhard was pulled over in Lawrenceburg, Indiana by a police officer who said Lockhard failed to stop at a stop sign. Officers suspected Lockhard had been drinking so they had him take a breathalyzer test. It registered .07; .01 under the legal limit. Not satisfied with the breathalyzer results, police obtained a search warrant for blood and urine samples and transported Lockhard to a nearby hospital.

Lockhard cooperated and allowed a nurse to take a blood sample. But he claimed he was unable to produce a urine sample. Believing he was just being uncooperative, police took Lockhard to an emergency room where he was handcuffed to a bed, his feet were held down by two officers and he was catheterized by an ER nurse.

This practice is becoming more and more common as police in many states are now using forced catheterization following traffic stops. In these states at least — Indiana, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Idaho — police have taken uncooperative DUI suspects to medical facilities where they were catheterized against their will (and often without anesthesia) in order to obtain urine samples to determine their alcohol level. And it was not always done with a search warrant.

There have been several lawsuits filed over this. Some have been thrown out because police have "qualified immunity" from lawsuits; and some have been settled. But high courts have yet to rule on whether this is a violation of the 4th Amendment rights of individuals.

Lockhard, whose blood sample revealed a blood alcohol level of .05 – well below the threshold for a DUI charge – pleaded guilty to reckless driving and received a suspended sentence. He later sued the police officers who assaulted his body and the city of Lawrenceburg only to see his suit thrown out by a federal judge who ruled that police had qualified immunity. In his ruling, the judge claimed the officers' actions fell into "nebulous territory" of legality.

Forced catheterization is police state terrorism and barbarism. Don't believe it? Read this description of catheterization by Medscape. It is not a fit practice for a free and civilized society.

Related reading:

How the 'law and order' crowd surrenders its liberty 

The police and culture problem

Cops are trained liars, and courts have sanctioned the practice

Would privatized police be better police?

Cops can enforce nonexistent laws with impunity 

 

The post Your body is not your own; it belongs to the state appeared first on Personal Liberty®.


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Thursday, December 15, 2016

Actors

Vladimir Putin was directly involved in US election hack, report says _____ more BS



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Vladimir Putin was directly involved in US election hack, report says
// The Verge



Russian President Vladimir Putin was personally involved in the operation to use sensitive Democrat emails obtained by hackers to undermine the campaign of Hillary Clinton, according to a report from NBC News. Citing anonymous US intelligence officials, the report says that diplomatic sources and spies working with US allies have determined with "high confidence" that Putin oversaw how the hacked emails were leaked and used in other capacities to undermine Clinton and disrupt the US presidential election.

Putin's involvement began as a supposed "vendetta" against Clinton for her role in condemning Russia's parliamentary elections in 2011. Western critics of Russia accused Putin at the time of rigging the election by participating in large-scale voter fraud, and Clinton, as secretary of state at the time, was a vocal member of that group. From there, Putin's vendetta evolved into what NBC's sources say was a mission to "split off key American allies by creating the image that [other countries] couldn't depend on the U.S. to be a credible global leader anymore."

Putin's involvement began as a 'vendetta' for Clinton's actions as Secretary of State

This information sheds new light on just how unprecedented Russia's recent espionage tactics are, as well as how deeply involved Putin has been in determining how the stolen data is used to harm the country's enemies. It's widely believed that hackers related to the Russian government were responsible both for hacking the Democratic National Committee and the email account of Clinton campaign chief John Podesta. This is also understood to have been an effort to harm Clinton's chances of victory. However, whether Russia actively did so in an effort to promote President-elect Donald Trump is a controversial topic disputed in the intelligence community.

A report from The Washington Post last Friday, citing anonymous CIA sources, was the first to quote intelligence officials stating Russia's actions were designed to both harm Clinton and help Trump win the election. The New York Times then reported that same evening that intelligence officials found evidence that both the DNC and the Republican National Committee were compromised by Russia hackers. However, Russia decided not to hand over the RNC data to WikiLeaks, according to those officials, as it did with the DNC data and Podesta's emails. The FBI has disputed this interpretation of Russia's actions, but the organization has not denied Russia's involvement in the hacks. Instead, the FBI thinks the overall goal of the operation was to undermine the American political system at large.

Regardless of the ultimate intent, the new revelation — that Putin was directly involved with the cyberespionage operation — is sure to heighten tensions between the US and Russia. Meanwhile, Trump and his transition team have vigorously attacked the intelligence community's findings, claiming in interviews that CIA reports are somehow a product of Democrats' shame over losing the election. Following Trump's initial outbursts, his team's more calculated defense — which has called for public evidence of Russia's involvement — is designed to cast doubt on any connections between cabinet nominees, like Exxon Mobil CEO and Secretary of State pick Rex Tillerson, and Russia's oligarchical leadership.


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Gun range

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Energy Department officials won’t give names of climate workers to Trump’s team [feedly]



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Energy Department officials won't give names of climate workers to Trump's team
// The Verge



Energy Department officials have refused to provide President-elect Donald Trump's transition team with a list of names of employees who have attended various climate meetings, according to The Washington Post.

Last week, Bloomberg first reported that Trump's team had sent a questionnaire to the Department of Energy inquiring about a variety of DOE programs and activities. Some of the questions, however, also asked for "a list of all Department of Energy employees or contractors" who have attended United Nations climate meetings, as well as meetings on the "social cost of carbon" — a way of estimating the economic damages associated with greenhouse gas emissions.

The request was alarming and intimidating

As we noted in an op-ed, the request was alarming and intimidating, and was viewed as singling out civil service employees and scientists who had worked on climate change during the Obama administration. Trump's request surprised and worried DOE leaders, as well as some members of Congress. Today, the Department of Energy said that the agency won't comply with the request and won't give out employees' names.

"The Department of Energy received significant feedback from our workforce throughout the department, including the National Labs, following the release of the transition team's questions. Some of the questions asked left many in our workforce unsettled," Eben Burnham-Snyder, a department spokesman, told the Washington Post. "Our career workforce, including our contractors and employees at our labs, comprise the backbone of DOE (Department of Energy) and the important work our department does to benefit the American people. We are going to respect the professional and scientific integrity and independence of our employees at our labs and across our department."

He added: "We will be forthcoming with all publically-available (sic) information with the transition team. We will not be providing any individual names to the transition team." (Burnham-Snyder's email used the boldface.)


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Sunday, December 11, 2016

E FUN introduces the Nextbook Flexx 9 2-in-1 tablet which debuts at Walmart [feedly]



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E FUN introduces the Nextbook Flexx 9 2-in-1 tablet which debuts at Walmart
// Coolest Gadgets

E FUN is no stranger when it comes to rolling out tablets, what more 2-in-1 tablets to more or less a saturated tablet market. Well, their Nextbook 10.1 2-in-1 tablet did have students in mind when it was revealed to the masses earlier this September, and here we are with a Walmart debut of the Nextbook Flexx 9 2-in-1 tablet. Basically, the Nextbook Flexx 9 2-in-1 tablet is meant to trumpet the following qualities: being portable, versatile in use, and of course, easy on your budget. Perhaps with the holiday season coming up, this would make for the ideal holiday gift when it comes to someone whom you know loves to play video games, or to watch video on the move, or simply spend plenty of time online on social media and firing out emails to keep in touch.

The Nextbook Flexx 9 2-in-1 tablet will sport a detachable keyboard that obviously makes this a tablet or portable notebook hybrid. It is a Walmart exclusive, where this highly flexible device will retail for a very, very affordable $97.77 a pop — making it 30% cheaper compared to its regular sticker price of $139.99. There is a quad-core Intel Atom processor that runs proceedings from underneath the hood in addition to Windows 10 as the operating system of choice, merging the productivity of a laptop with the mobile ease of a tablet.

Hardware specifications point to an 8.9-inch high-resolution IPS screen at 1280×800 pixels with a 16:10 aspect ratio that ensures vivid picture quality — be it whether you are using it to play, read, watch, stream, or work. It tips the scales at under a pound, which more or less this versatile enough to bring with you anywhere. Integrated connectivity options include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and a microSD memory card slot bumps up the 32GB of internal storage by another 64GB. A microHDMI port lets you mirror whatever you want to project onto a TV too, now how about that? Choose from black, purple, or blue shades, and it will even arrive with a free subscription to Office Mobile – that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote apps that are built for Windows tablets and designed for work on the go.

Press Release
[ E FUN introduces the Nextbook Flexx 9 2-in-1 tablet which debuts at Walmart copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]


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Saturday, December 10, 2016

Trump

Social security

Blm

Russia actively tried to help Donald Trump win the election, CIA report says [feedly]



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Russia actively tried to help Donald Trump win the election, CIA report says
// The Verge



A secret assessment conducted by the CIA determined that Russia's interference in the 2016 election was intended to help put Donald Trump in office, The Washington Post reported this evening, using anonymous sources.

The revelations undermine the position of President-elect Trump's campaign, which has sought to downplay reports of foreign interference by citing a lack of evidence. They also mark a stark escalation in hostility between the US and Russia. It appears to be unprecedented that a foreign government used espionage tactics in a US election cycle to try and influence the outcome of a race.

Russia's DNC hack was designed to elevate Trump and hurt Clinton

The U.S. Intelligence Community — which is made up of 16 different government agencies — had already concluded that the Russian government was behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee, as well as the email hack of Clinton campaign chief John Podesta. The first batch of emails were released by WikiLeaks this past summer and showed DNC staffers conspiring with the Clinton campaign to deny Sen. Bernie Sanders the nomination, among other embarrassing details. The full contents of the emails went on to be a central issue in the run up to Election Day. In a report released in October, the agencies accused Russia of using the email hacks to interfere with the election, but didn't say what the Russian government hoped to achieve.

Today's secret CIA briefing revealed the agency's conclusion that Russia intended to boost Trump's chances, The Washington Post says. "It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia's goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected," an anonymous senior U.S. official told The Washington Post. The CIA and the Office of the Intelligence Community did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"Such activity is not new to Moscow," according to the Intelligence Community's October report. Russia has used similar strategies to sway public opinion in Europe and Eurasia. US officials are warning European governments that they too might be targeted by cyber attacks intended to influence elections, according to Buzzfeed News.

"Such activity is not new to Moscow."

In at least two cases, intelligence officials say the warnings came too late, indicating that Russia may have already breached other nations' communications. Yesterday, Al Jazeera reported that German intelligence has detected "increasingly aggressive cyber espionage" leading up to the 2017 election next February.

This comes the same day that the White House announced that it has opened an investigation into what it called a pattern of malicious cyber activity surrounding the most recent — and possibly earlier — election cycles, according to Reuters. President Obama expects to see the results of the review before the end of his term.

- Source: The Washington Post


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Is Amazon Go a sign of the downfall of a retail workforce? [feedly]



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Is Amazon Go a sign of the downfall of a retail workforce?
// ReadWriteWeb



Any time a disruptive technology with industrial or productive applications comes into play, the question arises as to whether or not that technology will result in the loss of jobs. This issue has been tackled extensively in the manufacturing sector, but what about retail? Are robots and IoT technologies putting our retail workforce at risk?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has predicted a 7% growth in the retail workforce over a period of ten years, ending in 2024. This is a positive sign for the 4.8 million retail workers in the United States. However, what impact will technologies like those that drive the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and robotics have on the industry is harder to predict.

For one, these technologies are being developed at a breakneck pace. In the past year, drones and other automated delivery methods have promised to give online retailers an edge in both speed and reach of delivery. This adds pressure on brick-and-mortar retailers to not only make their stores more appealing to a modern customer base but to find ways to increase efficiency to remain competitive.

The impact of these disruptive technologies

To better understand the plight of the retail sector, we should first examine what has been going on in the world of manufacturing.

Manufacturing, especially in the auto industry, experienced a significant shift in employment as automated equipment became commonplace in facilities around the world.

Warehouse-level work for online retailers especially are a different story. Robots are already rolling around Amazon's expansive warehouses, grabbing shelving units full of merchandise and bringing it to their human counterparts which pick items and place them in boxes for shipping. Amazon's robotic armies haven't ceased Amazon's need to hire. Amazon grew its labor force by 47% over a period of a single year, much of this growth occurring in its fulfillment centers.

Back in 2012, PCWorld reported on Amazon's vocational training program enabling employees that were currently working in unskilled warehouse jobs to train for more high-demand jobs. This includes job skills that aren't directly related to Amazon, such as nursing.

While a direct connection between an increase in automation and the decline of U.S. manufacturing jobs is a topic of debate among economists, there is no question that corporations in virtually every sector are actively seeking ways to lower staffing costs while improving efficiency.

There's no doubt that robots change the dynamic of the workplace. For retail workers, robots are being tested as a replacement for some of the many customer-facing retail jobs out there, but they're in no danger of hitting the mainstream anytime soon. Human customers are slow to embrace a robot rolling down the aisles, asking customers if there is anything they can help the customer find.

The perks of a new generation of retail technologies

Amazon, a predominantly online retailer, has offered its own solution to the problem in the form of a brick-and-mortar store that cuts the cashier out of the purchasing process. Customers of the upcoming Seattle-based Amazon Go store will walk in, pick out their item(s), and walk out. The only thing the customer needs to do is load the Amazon Go app on their phone and check in. Their Amazon account gets charged after leaving the store.

This process takes advantage of a number of emerging technologies including computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning to track the customer's movements throughout the store and which item(s) they take off the shelves as you shop. Upon leaving, your Amazon account is charged for any item(s) you have with you as you walk out the door.

This has many upsides for customers. Shoppers don't have to interact with a store employee if you don't want to. You can rush in and rush out in seconds rather than waiting in line to check out. For the store, it means less overhead. You won't need as big of a staff, or the staff that you have can spend more time concentrating on providing good customer service prior to checkout.

For nearly a decade, technologists have been predicting that technologies such as RFID would enable shoppers to load their carts with goods and bypass the checkout line. Some stores, including Kroger's, have been testing technologies that would speed up the checkout experience by automating the process utilizing 360-degree barcode scanners.

Smart carts with location awareness and integrated RFID readers are already being tested and show a lot of promise. These carts, which include a tablet-like interface can do things like present shoppers with location-aware ads that direct them to a sale or recommend recipes based on nearby ingredients. These carts can even track shopping habits of particular customers and offer directions to specific items.

This technology doesn't inherently supplant a worker. It enhances the customer experience in a way that complements the customer service that can be provided by the human staff. It also provides the retailer with an additional source of revenue through ad sales and upselling.

But for every upside….

Any time you change a customer's experience, a level of friction presents itself. Change is very difficult. People, in general, don't like change if it means they have to learn how to use a new system. Efficiency has to come with a heavy dose of convenience.

Right now, supermarkets and grocery stores around the world the United States are taking advantage of self-checkout lanes. These lanes enable customers to scan, bag, and work the register for their own purchase. This enables a single cashier to monitor 6, 10, or more checkout lanes at a time. This means fewer cashiers are needed.

Self-checkout lanes are an alternative that these stores are turning to in order to improve efficiency. That creates less demand for cashiers in particular. Employees are often cross-trained to assist with any number of tasks when checkout is slow.

The challenge of these self-checkout lanes comes in the form of increased occurrence of theft. Scales that weigh produce at the self-checkout scanner can be tricked by a crafty customer where a trained cashier ensures an accurate accounting for the merchandise being ringed up.

Will Reynolds Young member of UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers) said, "Self-checkout lanes are slower and less efficient for customers, despite the misconception that they're faster. They're also easy to trick. A single "watcher" can only really monitor three lanes, and even then that's too much."

Take the challenges of keeping an honest account of a customer's purchase on a self-checkout lane and cut out the checkout part of this experience. We've all seen what a madhouse retail stores can be during sales, such as those held on Black Friday each year. How accurately can cameras and advanced scanning systems track merchandise when it's being fumbled around in a crowded store?

RFID tracking is a possible solution, but RFID-blocking bags and accessories are very easy to acquire.

Just as with most technologies, the more convenient you make them, the less secure they become. People are crafty, and they will find ways around these systems. It could be argued that for every cashier replaced by a robot, there would need to be a human standing at the door checking receipts.

What does the future hold?

Amazon Go's model is intriguing. If successful, it would become a proof of concept for a technology that would undoubtedly be licensed and/or adopted by other retailers. Go's model isn't one for a supercenter or a giant grocery store. It's a test, with a small retail space in a calm corner of Seattle. Despite some claims in the media that as many 2,000 Amazon Go stores are in the works, the company insists that the checkout-free trial will be anything but a massive brick-and-mortar rollout.

So while these technologies are certainly changing the world of retail, the idea that a store would be entirely powered by IoT technologies and staffed by robots is still a bit far-fetched. Beyond the boutique examples of trendy Quinoa restaurants, which still have human attendants present to assist customers with using the technology, the vision of retail stores smattering the landscape devoid of a human workforce remains one of science fiction.

For now.

 

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Friday, December 9, 2016

New clientele

On Campus, Trump Fans Say They Need ‘Safe Spaces’ - NYTimes.com

The real reason Hillary Clinton is scolding Americans over ‘fake news’ [feedly]



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The real reason Hillary Clinton is scolding Americans over 'fake news'
// Personal Liberty Digest™

During a Thursday speech honoring retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton lamented the "epidemic of malicious fake news" the progressive left is working so hard to make real.

Clinton said the scene that unfolded last week when an armed manned entered the Washington DC pizzeria at the center of the bizarre "pizzagate" allegations and fired a shot is proof that so-called fake news is putting lives at risk.

"The epidemic of malicious fake news and false propaganda that flooded social media over the past year — it's now clear the so-called fake news can have real-world consequences," Clinton said.

The former secretary of state, who blamed her presidential loss on "fake news," continued: "This isn't about politics or partisanship. Lives are at risk — lives of ordinary people just trying to go about their days, to do their jobs, contribute to their communities."

Clinton then insisted that fake news is a national problem "that must be addressed and addressed quickly."

Clinton's beef, however, isn't with fake news—it's with free speech.

After all, Clinton has been a huge promoter of actual fake news over the years. From bimbo eruptions  to the Benghazi video, the former first lady has made a career out of media manipulation.

I wrote about that in a column back in September.

The media that political elites like Clinton are able to manipulate via relationships with wealth owners is an asset to political insiders, media that can't be controlled is a massive liability.

No one knows this better than Clinton.  Alternative media nearly got her husband kicked out of the White House when it blew the top off of his sex scandal. Once the cat was out of the bag, there was only so much Clinton big media friends could do to wag the dog.

Now, alternative media cost Clinton her own shot at sitting in the Oval Office by covering scandals the mainstreamers wouldn't.

Clinton's argument that fake news puts lives at risk because one idiot carried a gun into a pizza shop requires us to accept that free speech should be limited to avoid confusing the least intelligent among us. It also requires us to accept that all news which isn't elitist-approved is untrue.

That's exactly how North Korea's media works.

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Bear

Trump

Obama has ordered a review on election hacking [feedly]



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Obama has ordered a review on election hacking
// The Verge



President Obama has directed US intelligence agencies to produce a report on attempts to influence the 2016 election through hacking, according to an Obama homeland security adviser.

Report may not be publicly released

Adviser Lisa Monaco told reporters that the country may have "crossed into a new threshold" of hacking threats, and said "it is incumbent upon us to take stock of that," according to Politico, who attended the announcement.

Monaco reportedly said the review is expected to be complete before Obama leaves office in January. The results, however, may not be released to the public. Monaco said only that members of Congress and other "stakeholders" will be shown the report.

Russia has been widely credited with attempts to interfere in last month's election. Evidence linked the country to stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee, the release of which led to the resignation of chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and the director of national intelligence later explicitly blamed Russia for the hack. The country was also linked to emails stolen from Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.

Despite evidence, Trump has denied Russian involvement

Monaco reportedly alluded to a "growing threat" of such attacks, which the incoming Trump administration will be forced to reckon with. But for his part, the president-elect has denied the possibility of Russian involvement in the DNC hack, despite substantial evidence to the contrary. "It could be Russia. And it could be China," he said just this week. "And it could be some guy in his home in New Jersey."


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Pro-gun group wants Trump to dump Petraeus as possible secretary of state [feedly]



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Pro-gun group wants Trump to dump Petraeus as possible secretary of state
// Personal Liberty Digest™

Former Central Intelligence (CIA) Director David Petraeus is a bad pick for secretary of state because of his "Clinton-like" disregard for Americans' 2nd Amendment rights, according to Gun Owners of America.

Earlier this year, Petraeus joined retired astronaut Mark Kelly in launching a gun control group called The Veterans Coalition for Common Sense. The group's primary objectives are increasing background check scrutiny for gun purchases and working to decrease veteran firearm suicides.

The former CIA chief also has close ties to a number of influential gun control lobbying groups which have promoted increased U.S. gun control as well as the UN Arms Treaty signed by President Obama in 2013 but not yet ratified by the Senate.

Gun Owners of America contends that placing Petraeus in the nation's top diplomatic post would ensure that the arms treaty moves forward.

"There's a fundamental question as to whether we're going to withdraw our signature from it. And the secretary of state is going to play a major role on that. Similarly the Small Arms Treaty the secretary of state will determine whether or not this administration pushes the gun control in that treaty or removes us from it," said GOA Legislative Council Mike Hammond.

Hammond also took issue with the name of Petraeus's gun control organization.

"David Petraeus is co-founder of Veterans for Common Sense to create this impression that veterans and military people think that there should be no Second Amendment rights in America – and that's a particularly insidious notion," he said.

GOA isn't the first 2nd Amendment organization to speak out against the prospect of Petraeus being named secretary of state by the Trump administration.

The Firearms Policy Coalition said in a petition against Petraeus' nomination earlier this month: "Having a Secretary of State who openly advocates for more gun control, and who has the ability to reinterpret regulations without Congressional oversight, would be disastrous for gun owners, hobbyist gunsmiths, and manufacturers."

The post Pro-gun group wants Trump to dump Petraeus as possible secretary of state appeared first on Personal Liberty®.


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Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Serians

Voting recounts

Netflix finally adds video previews — but don’t call them trailers [feedly]



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Netflix finally adds video previews — but don't call them trailers
// The Next Web


Netflix today announced the launch of video previews. In the announcement, the company was quick to point out that these weren't teasers or trailers, but instead a way to help users make better decisions about what to watch. The video preview aids users by "highlighting the story, characters, and tone of a title" — which totally sounds like a trailer. These "not-trailers" will play automatically on the title page when you click to view more information about a show or film. According to the announcement: Today we are launching a new television user interface that uses video more extensively to…

This story continues at The Next Web

Or just read more coverage about: Netflix


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Votes

Friday, December 2, 2016

Blm

Fwd: Feral Hog Population Expands - David Rainer's Weekly Column, Dec. 2, 2016

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Outdoor Alabama Weekly

Feral Hog Population Expands into All 67 Counties in Alabama

Despite a combined effort to loosen regulations on removal and to increase awareness of the problem, the feral hog population has now reached all 67 counties in Alabama.

Chuck Sykes has been dealing with the scourge of feral hogs for years, now as Director of the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division, and previously as a private wildlife consultant. Sykes said some landowners are making progress. Others, not so much.

"It just depends," Sykes said. "Some places are; some aren't. Places that are on year-round trapping programs and practicing whole sounder (family group) removal, yeah, they're making good headway. People who are trapping sporadically or thinking they're doing any good night hunting or hunting over bait (both of which are not allowed during deer season), they're fighting a losing battle."

Sykes, who has been WFF Director for four years, said he dealt with feral hogs a great deal before he became director.

"Back in the day when I first started trapping hogs with box traps you'd catch one or two and think you were doing a good job," he said. "With trail cameras you could see you were only catching a portion of what was there with traps they tripped themselves. Now there is a lot of technology out there with corral-type systems that causes the door to fall using your cell phone. That's the only way to do it now. Everything we do is a learning process. Ten years ago, box traps were the best thing going. Then you had a corral trap with a root stick or a push door. Now you have corral traps with electronic doors. There's no telling what's going to be coming in the future.

"I'm not saying people need to quit what they're doing. I'm just saying that whole sounder removal is the only way to make significant headway, with electronic doors that you can activate when you want to."

The small farm of Tes and Ron Jolly near Tuskegee is a perfect example of what Sykes just proposed.

The Jollys' first hog sighting occurred in 2004, and they've been in a battle ever since.

"Rumor was a neighboring hunting club brought them in and turned them loose to hunt," said Ron of a practice of transporting live feral hogs that has now been banned in Alabama.  "Since that time, we've been losing ground ever since. We tried shooting them. We tried box traps."

The possession, transportation and/or release of live feral hogs is banned in Alabama. The WFF Enforcement Section recently arrested 13 Alabama residents for possession of live feral hogs and issued warrants for two residents in Florida and one in Mississippi.

The hog problem became so bad for the Jollys that they were unable to grow crops that would benefit the preferred wildlife, mainly white-tailed deer and wild turkeys.

"We can't grow chufa," Ron said. "We can't grow corn. Even in the green fields, when the wheat makes heads the hogs get it. It really limits what we can do. As a result, we haven't killed a mature buck that weighed more than 200 pounds in a while. Four- to five-year-old bucks used to average between 210 and 215 pounds. The last three years we've killed four- and five-year-old bucks that weighed 175 to 185 pounds. I think that's a direct result of what we had to do, which is not grow corn and stuff they can feed on in the summer time.

"We had to change everything. Quite frankly, the best thing we've done is plant clover in our green plots, which provides forage to the middle of June. After that, they're on their own."

Tes and Ron finally made the decision to invest in one of the trapping systems with an electronically controlled trap door.

"For the first time in six or seven years at least we feel like we've got a fighting chance," Ron said. "Two different neighbors have also bought the systems, and we're trying to build a co-op with other landowners. If a sounder comes on the place now, I feel like I've got a chance to get them all. It may take me a month to do it, but we've caught 47 hogs in the trap since the Fourth of July."

The system the Jollys purchased allows remote monitoring of the corral and remote activation of the trap door.

"That's absolutely the way to go. I'm sitting in Montgomery, and if a hog goes in the trap I can catch him," Ron said. "The main thing it allows me to do is not drop the gate on two of 10. When we drop the gate, we know how many pigs are inside. We can drop the gate when all of them are inside and we can get them all.

"The answer is total sounder removal. And we need to expand our cooperative to get other people helping with the removal. I can do it, but if the guy across the fence is not doing it, all he's doing is growing pigs for me to catch."

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES) is trying to help with that effort to band landowners together in their battle against the hogs.

ACES has teamed with other agencies such as the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Alabama Wildlife Federation and Alabama Soil and Water Conservation, to name a few, to develop a pilot program to both educate the public on the feral hog problem and provide information on traps from the cheapest option to the latest technology in hog traps.

The project involves purchasing a trailer that publicizes hog control efforts through a graphics message on each side. The trailer can be transported around Alabama to complement the seminars being conducted on hog control.

The second part of the project is to provide the public with the opportunity to rent one of the trap doors that can be monitored and closed remotely via a smartphone app, though the project is in its infancy and details are still being worked out.

WFF Technical Assistance Wildlife Biologist Matt Brock said there's no doubt the insidious creep of the feral hog population continues throughout Alabama.

"We have noticed that hogs are showing up on trail cameras in areas they have not been seen before," Brock said. "I'm getting requests for technical assistance from landowners who have never had hogs on their property before, so it appears they are still expanding their range. They are definitely on the move.

"And I don't know how the drought is going to affect that. The last few complaints I've had were from people with farm ponds they use for livestock. The hogs have shown up because it's about the only source of water unless they're on a major creek or river drainage. The farmers don't know what to think. They're seeing them for the first time and are concerned about the impact of the hogs. The biggest question is what they need to do."

Brock said he's been making site visits to educate the landowners on what to do to prevent the hogs from doing extensive damage. The estimate of agricultural damage done by feral hogs is $1.5 billion annually in the U.S.

"The best answer to hogs is trapping the whole sounder," Brock said. "That's what I've been encouraging people to do. People will go out and shoot hogs. They think that by shooting two or three it might help eliminate the hog problem. In actuality, it doesn't. I tell people to be patient and start pre-baiting. Try to find out how many are in the sounder. Then get them all to come into the trap together, even if it takes several weeks. Our goal is total sounder removal. That way you can remove that entire social unit from that particular area. Then monitor the area, and do it again if the hogs move back in."


sounder caught using trap

The most effective method to deal with a feral hog problem is to trap the entire sounder or social unit in an enclosure with a trap door that can be triggered remotely using a smartphone app.

Photo courtesy of Tes Jolly.


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Petition to make Clinton president largest in Change.org history - CNET [feedly]

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Petition to make Clinton president largest in Change.org history - CNET
// Crave: The gadget blog

More than 4.6 million people sign an online petition calling for the Electoral College to vote for Hillary Clinton instead of Donald Trump.
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Saturday, November 26, 2016

Watch a tuned-up vape explode in the pocket of this unexpecting guy

http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2016/11/25/vape-explosion/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=profeed

Is Donald Trump already committing impeachable offenses? [feedly]

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Is Donald Trump already committing impeachable offenses?
// Personal Liberty Digest™

Headlines blared on Tuesday with the news that Donald Trump wouldn't pursue charges against Hillary Clinton.

The New York Post reported:

President-elect Donald Trump won't subject Hillary Clinton to a criminal inquiry — instead, he'll help her heal, his spokeswoman said Tuesday.

"I think when the president-elect who's also the head of your party … tells you before he's even inaugurated he doesn't wish to pursue these charges, it sends a very strong message, tone and content, to the members," Kellyanne Conway told the hosts of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," who first reported that the president-elect would not pursue his campaign pledge to "lock up" Clinton, his Democratic opponent.

What does this mean, exactly? Is this another patented Trump head-fake? Or are sinister, globalist forces at work protecting their own?

Back during the last presidential debate, when Trump threatened that if elected he would appoint a special prosecutor to look into Hillary's "situation," Hillary responded that "It's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country."

The Witch from Chappaqua knew, or should have known, the president is "not in charge of the law in our country," at least not according to the Constitution. Of course, presidents of late have acted as if they are and congress and the courts have been loath to stop them.

And under a constitutional government, Trump would have no say over whether SHillary is prosecuted. That's a job for an independent FBI and Department of Justice.

But the Department of Justice has under Barack Obama become the Department of JustUs. Trump was elected, in part, to fix that.

But if Trump intervenes and orders — either overtly or covertly — a criminal investigation into Hillary's emails or the Clinton Foundation be stopped, that's obstruction of justice. It's essentially what Obama had Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch do.

And it's an impeachable offense. Or at least it was when Richard Nixon was president.

The post Is Donald Trump already committing impeachable offenses? appeared first on Personal Liberty®.

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Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Roundup

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2196579/cheerios-kelloggs-corn-flakes-and-doritos-among-products-found-to-contain-weedkiller-that-has-possible-link-to-cancer/

Millennials: baby boomers’ biggest bungle [feedly]

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Millennials: baby boomers' biggest bungle
// Personal Liberty Digest™

"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." — John F. Kennedy, inauguration address, January 1961.

As election night ran towards its miraculous conclusion I had to pinch myself. Against my earlier predictions, and against all odds, Hillary Clinton and the entire Clinton-political machine that dominated the political landscape for three decades were on their death beds, and I couldn't have been happier. I thought America got it right. They said they wanted change and they went out and got it.

I did something I hardly ever do; I turned the television to CNN. A shock wave began to reverberate in their studio. Anchors and expert analysts took on a look that I have only seen in World War II photographs — Parisians on June 14, 1940, when Hitler's Wehrmacht marched unopposed into the city.

"How do I explain this to my children," asked CNN political analyst Van Jones. The Washington Post the next morning ran a headline: "Van Jones gives voice to the 'nightmare'."

Jones, who is African American, questioned how parents could explain to their children how Americans elected a man widely labeled as a bigot, a racist.

Perhaps Jones can get some answers from another frequent CNN guest, Professor Marc Lamont Hill of Morehouse College who in July, just four days after a black racist in Dallas killed five officers and injured nine others who were protecting black protestors, said black people do not have the ability to be racist because they lack the "institutional power" necessary to "deploy racism."

One thing Van Jones says he knows for sure is that President-elect Donald Trump was elected by angry whites.

Doing nothing to tamp down the idea of an angry young black man, Jones was insistent on shutting up CNN analyst Kayleigh McEnany who dared to repeat some of Jones's radical comments about Trump.

McEnany continued to interrupt Jones.

"You need to back off," said Jones. "You need to have a little bit of empathy and understanding for people who are afraid because your candidate has been one of the most explosively provocative candidates in the history of our country and there is a price to be paid for that."

Jones said the next day that Trump's victory was a "whitelash."

Please mommy, make the bad man go away

I may not understand black anger but I realize being black in the 1970s and earlier was, in many places, daily humiliation and persuasive fear. Their reaction to the election of Trump was similar to the way many whites felt when Barack Obama was elected president in 2008.

What amazes me is the reaction and participation in the protests of white millennials, many of them well-to-do spoiled kids born between 1980 and 2000. Their reaction to the election is inexplicable. Some have even said that Trump was going to hunt down homosexuals the way Hitler hunted down Jews. Trump has been labeled everything from anti-Semitic to a racist, a homophobe, an Islamophobe, a xenophobe, a gynophobe and every other type of "phobe," including the kitchen sink (remarkably, a name for that also exists — arachibutyrophobia).

Thousands of millennials were suffering near-nervous breakdowns the day after the election and were in much need of affirmation and a hug. I am talking about the generation aged 16 to 36. And unless you were in a coma over the past three decades, you must have noticed that baby boomers were going to meet their child's every need and want.

My wife and I had our first baby in 1982 and our third in 1987. They are natural-born American millennials who didn't like Presidents Bill Clinton or George W. Bush. They are curious to see if Trump can rejuvenate America; bring back that country that they have read about that existed under Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. All three are gainfully employed and are raising their own children with money they earned.

Many parents at that time ate up Dr. Spock and every new baby book published. Many believed that a child needs constant praise, attention and positive reinforcement. More than that, they weren't going to raise their children the way they were raised.

Unfortunately, the 30-year-old still living in the basement and sporadically going to college is prevalent. According to a 2016 study by the Pew Research Center, for the first time in 130 years, living with parents is the most likely living arrangement for 18- to 34-year-olds.

In 1960, 62 percent of the nation's 18- to 34-year-olds were living with a spouse or partner in their own household. In 2013 less than one third of this age group was living with a spouse or a partner.

Of course, the hands-on boomers selected the very finest universities for their children, not necessarily in terms of securing a job after graduation, but one that would cater to their child's psychological needs.

If you think I exaggerate consider last week's MailOnline:

Students at colleges across the country have started petitions urging their professors to cancel classes due to their emotional distress after Donald Trump won the election.

Petitions to cancel classes at Loyola University New Orleans, Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University in Maryland have attracted hundreds of signatures.

'Loyola students are exhausted and exasperated from this election and no one wants to go to class,' wrote the creator of the petition, which has attracted 341 signatures so far.

And don't dare try and sell tough love at Rutgers University. PJ Media reported that Breitbart tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos made an appearance at Rutgers. His reality speech so traumatized the delicate children who heard him that many attended a "group therapy" session afterward.

What happened was a fear and loathing that sounds more appropriate for the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943 than a top ranked university. According to Rutgers Daily Targum, students at the cultural center described "feeling scared, hurt and discriminated against." One student told the newspaper, "It is upsetting that my mental health is not cared about by the University. I do not know what else to do for us to be heard for us to be cared about. I deserve an apology, everyone in this room deserves an apology."

It was like a five alarm fire. First responders included Psychiatric Services, the Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance and the Rutgers University Police helped the emotionally traumatized.

According to Targum:

Rutgers students are displaying clear-cut signs of the crybully phenomenon, whereby the regressive left feels victimized, traumatized and attacked even while they are viciously attacking others. In the case of Milo's talk at Rutgers, there is no question that their behavior encompassed vandalism at the very least. Yet the students still believe themselves to be victims — so much so that they set up therapy sessions and complain about their mental health.

I was reading this nonsense while the television in the background was showing a documentary about charging Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944, and it made me angry. These sniveling crybabies don't have any idea of what goes on in the world and their parents never told them of the sacrifices that were made by their forefathers, many who came back from wars without their minds and limbs. Tens upon tens of thousands never came back from those wars at all.

I saw some baby boomer parents who never put their child in a challenging sport where you have to get back up after you have been knocked down. While coaching youth sports, I saw a lot of overprotective parents who shouted at referees, coaches and teammates.

Many millennials have finally done something with their lives — they have turned to protesting. Large groups have gathered in major cities and been enjoined by Black Lives Matter and any group lamenting over their laundry list of entitlements that a Clinton administration was certain to increase.

What are they protesting, an election where their candidate didn't win? These things happen, and even her loyalists admit that Clinton is probably the most flawed presidential candidate in decades.

That takes us back to the Kennedy quote at the top, "ask what you may do for your country." So many millennials have made it clear they are not going to do anything for America. They will continue to live high on mom and dad's hog or, if necessary, collect from the government. And as any six year old will tell you, having your allowance cut back just ain't fair.

Yours in good times and bad,

— John Myers

The post Millennials: baby boomers' biggest bungle appeared first on Personal Liberty®.

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