There is no epidemic of excessive use of force by the police in this country.  That is a liberal lie. Like most liberal lies it is designed to get people too blinded by rage to pay attention to the facts. In reality every police officer knows they are being scrutinized.  There are dash cams on police cars. Soon there will be cameras on police officers themselves.  There are also millions of civilians with smart phones capable of shooting video. Police officers are already under tremendous scrutiny.  Every time someone is shot by a police officer, the officer is immediately suspended and the incident investigated.  In most states this is reviewed by an independent agency. Every time an unarmed person dies after being arrested by the police the National Bar Association launches an investigation. The myth that police brutality is a daily occurrence and that it is covered up by authorities is absurd. In reality, these cases are extremely rare and it is almost impossible for anyone to cover one up.

The entire myth is based on a handful of incidents, all of which are distorted and misrepresented by the liberal left.  This also is a typical liberal strategy.  They take one case and pretend it represents a national trend. Sometimes they don’t even have a single case, so they take anything that looks close and distort the facts to fit the narrative.  The classic example of this was the dreadful Matthew Shephard case. Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered on October 6, 1998. Even today Matthew Shepard is considered to be the poster child for gay hate crime. The myth is that he was brutally murdered because of his sexual orientation. In reality he was killed by someone he knew very well who also participated in gay sex. He was killed by someone who was in a rage because he was high on meth. You probably don’t know that because the main stream media and the LGBT community needed a hate crime. So did President Clinton, who was desperate to do anything to distract from the Lewinsky scandal.  The following article, by a gay investigative reporter willing to tell the truth explains this in detail:

http://www.advocate.com/print-issue/current-issue/2013/09/13/have-we-got-matthew-shepard-all-wrong?page=full

The liberal left did the same thing with Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. They repeated the process with Eric Garner. This, by the way, is the same tactic used to promote the discredited theory that we are all going to die because of global warming caused by too much CO2. Liberals know that their insane cap and trade policies which are destroying our economy are only acceptable if people are terrified about non-existent global warming.

In all cases the lies are designed to generate outrage and/or fear that will cover up the embarrassing lack of facts. This is always accompanied by loud screams of outrage when anyone dares ask questions. This is why anyone who questions the narrative regarding Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown or Eric Garner is accused of being racist. It is why liberals are trying to silence anyone who dares to criticize the global warming narrative.  This is the quickest way to tell when people are lying.  Those who are most outraged at being questioned are those who need to be questioned the most. People who have the facts have no need to silence the opposition.  The facts speak for themselves.

This time the liberal left has made a huge mistake. They forgot something very important. We need the police. If those people protesting think the police are a problem wait until they find out what happens if the police are not there. Criminals are unlikely to use this as an opportunity for that coveted family vacation.  Instead they will exploit the lack of police presence to seize the day and wreak havoc.  This will soon become obvious because the police in New York City have had it:

Following is a memo allegedly distributed by the NYPD Patrolman’s Benevolent Association (“PBA”).

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2014/12/8558990/pba-condemns-mayor-denies-inflammatory-memo

“At least two units are to respond to EVERY call, no matter the condition or severity, no matter what type of job is pending, or what the option of the patrol supervisor happens to be. IN ADDITION: Absolutely NO enforcement action in the form of arrests and or summonses is to be taken unless absolutely necessary and an individual MUST be placed under arrest. These are precautions that were taken in the 1970’s when Police Officers were ambushed and executed on a regular basis. The mayors hands are literally dripping with our blood because of his words actions and policies and we have, for the first time in a number of years, become a ‘wartime’ police department. We will act accordingly.”

The PBA has denied being the source of the memo, but clearly the message has been received.  In addition to hundreds of NYPD police officers literally turning their back on Mayor de Blasio, there appears to be a virtual strike:

http://nypost.com/2014/12/29/arrests-plummet-following-execution-of-two-cops/

The results boggle the mind:

If you are in New York, and you are threatened by a criminal don’t bother to call the police, call Al Sharpton and ask him to scream at the criminals. Let me know how that works.  Thanks to the help of Barack Obama and Eric Holder the problem isn’t limited to New York City. It was just reported on Fox News that police in Seatle are scalling back the prosecution of minor crimes. I suspect that every police force in the country is seriously considering modifying daily activities to focus more on protecting the police and less on arresting criminals. Who can blame them when police are literally being attacked.

As pointed out above, this entire mess is based entirely on liberal lies. Any strategy based on an assumptions that are untrue is destined to fail. The real problem in our black communities is not police brutality, it is black on black crime. Reducing the police presence is not going to fix that problem, it will only make it worse.  In addition, the anti-police rhetoric is likely to increase the potential for excessive force by police. When a police officer feels threatened the potential for violence escalates.

Since most liberal policies are based on absurd lies, they are destined for failure. Unfortunately the damage is not usually limited to those people foolish enough to believe liberals. This is a reminder that when liberals resort to liars leap, there is no need for anyone to follow.

TDM

This is what happens when Mommy and Daddy give you a football team. The story of the 49ers is very easy to understand if you look at any timeline.  When Eddie DeBartolo owned the team the 49ers were the class of the league. Whether you loved them or hated them they were the team to beat. That all changed in 1999 when Eddie DeBartolo had to give up ownership of the team because of his personal legal problems.  The team ownership went to his sister Marie Denise DeBartolo York. The new CEO was her husband, John York.  At first the team did pretty well under the leadership of head coach Steve Mariucci.  But soon it became clear that Mariucci was frustrated by his lack of power within the 49ers organization.  Sound familiar?  Even though he had a winning record, John York fired Mariucci.

The result was a rapid decline of the 49ers as a team. The team got progressively worse.  It didn’t change until they hired Jim Harbaugh. Under Jim Harbaugh the 49ers became a great team again. The players learned how to win again. It was one of the most remarkable turnarounds in NFL history. Yet Jim Harbaugh was just fired because he couldn’t get along with Jed York. They are going to replace him, with “somebody.”  Obviously the first criteria will be to get along with Jed York.

The following article in Wikipedia provides interesting details on Jed York:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jed_York

After graduating from Notre Dame he worked as a financial analyst for Guggenheim Partners in New York for about a year.  Then he was brought in to work for his father, John York, CEO of the 49ers.  He began his career as Director of Strategic Planning and then Vice President of Strategic Planning.  In 2008 he was appointed President of the 49ers by his father. He is now CEO of the 49ers.  On October 11, 2010, after the 49ers started 0-5, York wrote that the 49ers would win their division and make the playoffs. For the record, in 2010 the team ended up 6 -10 and the 49ers fired Mike Singletary. That is when the 49ers hired Jim Harbaugh and everything changed. The 49ers went on to play in three NFC championship games and one Superbowl. At the start of this season the 49ers were expected to be a favorite to win the Superbowl.

ESPN correspondence David Fleming noted that York could make this bold prediction because of his lifelong love of the 49ers, his high school baseball career and the fact that his godfather is Eddie DeBartolo. Who would dare compare the resume of someone like Jim Harbaugh to that?

This is really simple. Every NFL team with an open head coach position expressed interest in Jim Harbaugh. The 49ers just gave up one of the best coaches in the history of the NFL for absolutely nothing. When you give up someone other people value and you get nothing in return, somebody is obviously making a huge mistake.

Jim Harbaugh got one of the most prestigious coaching positions in the country. If you do not believe that, you have never lived in Michigan. He will be one of the highest paid coaches in the country, at any level, and he won’t have to listen to any more advice from Jed York. Who’s got it better than that!

I suspect a lot of 49er season tickets holders are seriously considering how much they are willing to spend to watch the 49ers next year.  It is hard to be overly optimistic considering what happened after the 49ers fired Mariucci because he couldn’t stand living in York town. Levi Stadium is already one of the most expensive tickets in the NFL. There are reports that traffic is horrible. Several 49er players have complained that the support from the crowd at Levi stadium doesn’t compare to the atmosphere at Candlestick. That makes sense, because the only people who can afford to go to 49er games are rich nerds from the Silicon Valley.  They are still trying to figure out why the 49ers are playing with an odd shaped soccer ball.

Who knows where we go from here, but my hunch is a lot of people in Michigan will be singing Hail to the Victors while the people in San Francisco will wonder where it all went wrong.

TDM

The imitation game is a great movie about Alan Turing. It is rare to attend a movie any more where people spontaneously clap at the end.  I have some experience in cryptology working for the NSA, so I found the movie very interesting. I thought it might be interesting to note some of the “gaps” in the story.   It is based on a true story, and most of the story line is somewhat true. However the real story is far more complex and involved a lot more people.

The first “bomba” was designed by Polish cryptographer Marian Rejewski. It actually worked well, until the Germans adopted a plug board which made things more complicated. Alan Turing actually used this “bomba” to design his machine which he called a “bombe.” It was a great achievement and he deserves a lot of credit for his invention, but the movie makes this far too simplistic.  One was led to believe that Turning’s great machine magically broke all the Enigma codes in about 20 minutes each day after figuring that Germans liked to say Heil Hitler.  I hope no one believes real life cryptographers are that stupid. If that was true, cryptographers would have been on it in a New York minute.

The entire project was called Ultra. Defeating Enigma was a daily battle and in many ways the real vulnerability was with sloppiness by operators rather than the system itself. It was the humans who provided the keys to breaking the code. For example an operator might realize than the same message had been sent on two different cyber networks, sometimes in different codes. Or an operator might notice that a German operator always started his messages the same way.

In addition sometimes protocols designed to reduce risk have the opposite impact. German procedures did not allow using the same rotor in the same slot as it had been in the preceding configuration.  They also didn’t allow the machine to ever reproduce the original letter struck.  This actually helped cryptographers because it limited the number of options.

The bombe designed by Turing did not “break” the code.  It reduced the potential outcomes to a manageable number. Then cryptanalysts would compile a menu when was then used to break the code.  If you watch the movie Enigma it does a better job of explaining how this works.

It is a fascinating movie and without a doubt the cryptographic team at Bletchley Park was material in winning the war for the allies. The breaking of the Enigma code was a magnificent achievement that can never be discounted.  Alan Turing was a fascinating man who clearly played a major role in this achievement, but he didn’t exactly win the war by himself. He also was an admitted homosexual but no one ever accused him of being a spy.  Sadly, the story is accurate with regard to how homosexuals were treated in 1952.

By the way, Turing wasn’t very good at crossword puzzles. It is true that British intelligence did put crossword puzzles in newspapers as a means of recruiting cryptographers. It is also true that at times British intelligence had vital information from Ultra but didn’t use it because they feared tipping Germany off to the vulnerability of the Enigma code.  Those kinds of decisions were not made by Alan Turing or any other cryptographer.  They were made by Winston Churchill.

Great move about a real life miracle.

TDM

The best measure of a man is how he treats others when he thinks no one is looking  George W. Bush was a classy individual who often put other’s interests above his own.  Barack Obama is Barack Obama.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Twas the night before Christmas

And all through the land

No one was working,

Not one single man

Except on the Oahu

Obama’s hometown

Secret Service agents

Were scurrying around

While Obama was playing

And just having fun

For the staff and the agents

The job wasn’t done.

Twas another night before Christmas

And all through the land

No one was working

Not one single man

Including the White House

And Washington DC

Because President Bush

And his family

Stayed at Camp David

Without much ado

So the staff and the agents

Could be at home too.

TDM

Henry Wadworth Longfellow wrote “I heard the bells on Christmas Day” on Christmas Day in 1863.  He wife had died and his son had been severely wounded.  The Civil War was raging with no end in sight:

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,

and wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along

The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime,

A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,

And with the sound

The carols drowned

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,

And made forlorn

The households born

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;

“For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

This was true in 1863 and it is true now. As we celebrate the birth of the Savior, may we all take hope and courage in the firm knowledge that; yes indeed the wrong shall fail and yes indeed the right will prevail.

Merry Christmas

TDM

On September 11, 2012 there was a terrorist attack on our Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.  The Obama administration immediately responded by blaming this attack on some obscure video.  They were lying.  They knew it was a terrorist attack with no visible connection to the video.  So far, a lot of attention has been focused on the deliberate lie and subsequent cover-up.  But we may missed a far more serious issue. The real problem is that this administration was so willing to abandon freedom of speech if the wrong person (actually religion) is offended.

In addition, the United States sent a clear message to the world that we were easily intimidated by even the threat of violence. The U.S. Embassy in Cairo began apologizing for the video almost immediately.  This was followed closely with public comments condemning the video by both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. According to the following report, Hillary Clinton promised the father of Tyrone Woods that the person who made the video would be arrested and prosecuted. Obviously there was far less concern about punishing the terrorists:

http://www.wnd.com/2013/09/filmmaker-blamed-for-benghazi-out-of-jail-and-talking/

This seems accurate, because Mark Basseley Yousself was arrested and held without bail for allegedly violating his probation.  Everyone knew he was actually arrested for making the movie.  There is no evidence that he violated any law in producing the movie.  Neither President Obama nor Hillary Clinton even mentioned that in this country we honor freedom of speech:

http://search.aol.com/aol/search?enabled_terms=&s_it=client97_searchbox&q=benghazi+video+producer+arrested

This means you can thank Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the cyber-attack on Sony. This is what happens when an administration is so easily intimidated.   I fear this is only the first of many. Congratulations to both of you.  I hope you get the credit you deserve.

TDM

Liberals believe they are the smartest people on the planet, but in reality they are often incredibly stupid.  We all know someone like this.  They may be brilliant, academically, but they don’t have a shred of common sense.  People like this can thrive in a protected environment, like a university or a news room, because they are surrounded by people who actually do have street smarts protecting them. But if they ever encounter the real world, the results are often catastrophic.

Alan Colmes asked why Officer Wilson couldn’t have shown more restraint in dealing with Michael Brown.  I can pretty much guarantee that Alan Colmes has never had a personal encounter with a 6’5” 350 angry man determined to kill him. He hasn’t had that experience because there are people, like Officer Wilson, who protect him against this. Most of us are fortunate enough to never have to deal with something like that. Even most police officers usually don’t run into someone who is ready, willing and able to kill them.  Those that do often end up dead. The others shoot the bad guy first.

Even fewer people encounter a real terrorist. Only an incredibly evil person would be willing to plan an attack designed to kill 3,000 innocent people for no good reason. When you capture such a person, it would be incredibly stupid to pretend that they are just like everyone else. These people are not persuaded by moral arguments. They give no consideration to doing the right thing. Yet obviously these people have information about future attacks that is vital to our national security.

This reminds me of the decision by Churchill and FDR to bomb cities in Germany. Prior to the war and even earlier during the war they both said bombing civilians would be unthinkable. So why did they change their mind? The answer is that the most unethical decision they could have made would have been to not do whatever it took to defeat Adolph Hitler.

George W. Bush had a similar moment.  He decided that the most unethical thing he could do would be to allow thousands and potentially millions of people die because we were afraid to treat people like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed harshly.

There is a huge backlash to the idiotic decision by Diane Feinstein to release the CIA torture report. No logical person believes her theory that nothing was learned as a result of these interrogations. That is absurd. But in addition, most people aren’t even appalled at how these guys were treated. I suspect a lot of people feel the same way Nancy Pelosi did when she first learned about this.  She asked if we couldn’t do more.  The most unethical way to treat a captured terrorist with firsthand information about an imminent threat to national security would be to stop before you get the results you need.

To put this in perspective, suppose the police capture a guy who they knew had kidnapped a little girl. It was obvious that if they did not find her in the next couple of hours she would have no chance to survive. How much restraint would you want the police to show toward this guy? Would you be willing to just let the little girl die because it was more important to treat the kidnapper with dignity and respect?

How about the Barack Obama approach?  Rather than capture the guy, you send in a drone to bomb the crap out of him killing anyone else in the vicinity.  Then you hold a news conference explaining that you did this because it would be so unfair to ask him tough questions.

Stupid is as stupid does.

TDM

Today, Diane Feinstein tried to throw the CIA under the bus so that she and other top Democrats could avoid personal accountability for the CIA enhanced interrogations. It is a shameless attempt to rewrite history. I doubt that it will do much for Diane Feinstein’s legacy.  One can only hope that the damage from this pathetic display of self-righteousness can be minimalized.

After 9-11 there were rumors that al Qaeda already had a “suitcase nuclear” bomb in the U.S. That rumor turned out to be nonsense. But ask yourself a question.  What would you want a President of the United States to do if there was any risk of a nuclear bomb getting set off in the U.S? What do you think Democratic leaders in Washington wanted Bush to do?  Would you expect him to order the CIA to question terrorists according to the Army Field manual to avoid being unfair?  Or would you want him to do whatever it took to end the threat? Remember all those Democrats joining arms with Republicans on the steps of the Capital singing God Bless America?  Obviously, the Democrats don’t.

It is well documented that Democrats were briefed on the CIA enhanced interrogation techniques and they supported them. There is nothing new here. There is at least one report that when Nancy Pelosi was briefed about this she asked whether or not we could do more. Democrats are trying to claim the CIA misled Bush too, because then the CIA takes all the blame.  But George W. Bush is not a Democratic politician, he is a man of honor and he refused to play the game:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/08/us/politics/bush-and-cia-ex-officials-rebut-torture-report.html

“We’re fortunate to have men and women who work hard at the C.I.A. serving on our behalf,” he told CNN’s Candy Crowley. “These are patriots and whatever the report says, if it diminishes their contributions to our country, it is way off base.”

These are “really good people and we’re lucky as a nation to have them,” he said.

Bush is an example of what we should expect from a President of the United States. He made the decision and he is not about to let someone else take the blame. It is, however, not what one can hope to expect from Democratic leaders in congress and certainly not from the current occupant of the Oval office.

TDM

If you have the stomach for it, check out the new ‘I Stand With Hillary” music video.

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/christinerousselle/2014/12/04/stand-with-hillary-releases-awesomely-bad-country-song-video-n1927484

Stupid stuff like this is why Hillary will never be President of the United States. This is beyond pathetic.  The lyrics:

Looking back in time, learning hindsight’s always right. We came together in ‘08, a defining moment we all can celebrate. And now it’s 20-16 and this time I’m a thinking, Guys, put your boots on and let’s smash this ceiling.

Oh I been thinkin’ about one great lady Like the women in my life, She’s a mother, a daughter, and through it all she’s a loving wife.

Oh, there is something about her…this great lady. Caring, hard working once a First lady She fights for country n my family. Now it’s time for us to Stand Up with Hillary Hillary. Stand with Hillary

This is classic Hillary. She has a long history of grossly exaggerating her personal experience. The truth is never enough for Hillary.  For example for years she claimed to be named after Sir Edmund Hillary and she stuck to that story even after people pointed out that this was impossible. People who actually have a solid resume never bother to inflate it. That is only done by those who know the truth is inadequate.

Hillary spent a fortune preparing for the 2008 Presidential campaign. Her plan was to suck the air out of the room so no other candidate would have a chance. It worked brilliantly with regard to people like Joe Biden, but Obama took her out of the election before she knew what hit her. Never in the history of American politics has one person spent so much money to so little effect.

Hillary learned nothing from the failed 2008 campaign. She is making the same mistakes this time.  Once again she is spending a fortune trying desperately to eliminate any potential opponent before they even get started. Once again she is hyping her personal experience to the point of insanity. Only this time she is sliding in the polls before she even announced her decision to run.  Now we have this awful music video.

Within hours we can expect to see parodies and they are guaranteed to be hysterical. There is far too much ammunition here to ignore.  There is a real risk that in an incredibly naïve and stupid effort to self-promote Hillary ends up becoming the ultimate laughing stock. Ok.  I admit it. I am typing this with a big smile.

TDM

At a time when the world is focused on Ferguson, Missouri and Michael Brown, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama, it is good to remember that there are some other black men who are outstanding role models.  The following story is about one of them, Houston Texan wide receiver Andre Johnson:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/03/andre-johnson-shopping-spree_n_6259722.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl27%7Csec3_lnk3%26pLid%3D575029

For the past eight years, Johnson has funded a shopping spree for at-risk children at the local Toys R Us store.  Since he wears number 80, he gives the kids 80 seconds to grab everything they can and put it in a shopping cart.  It appears as though the kids could give him a run for the money, because this year they managed to gather up over $16,000 worth of toys.  Johnson was glad to pay the bill.  His quote says it all:

“I’m in a blessed situation so I’m able to help other people.  That ‘s all that matters.”

I wish the main stream media would spend more time covering people like Andre Johnson and tell the Al Sharpton’s of this world to take a hike.

TDM