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Monday, February 15, 2016

Michael Moore documentary bombs at the box office





Michael Moore's latest documentary, Where to Invade Next, has failed to live up to its bombastic title, pulling in the worst per-cinema opening weekend takings of the filmmaker's career.

On average the documentary made $3,030 in each of its 308 cinemas after opening on Friday - even less than the $3,810 per-cinema average of his sole panned feature film, Canadian Bacon, which has an average score of 14% on review site Rotten Tomatoes.

This may be a blow for Moore, whose films tend to open in a small number of cinemas before expanding to many more, says The Hollywood Reporter




Career low: Where to Invade Next, the latest documentary by Michael Moore (pictured), has made less per cinema in its opening weekend than any of his other films, pulling in $3,030 per cinema



Invasion: In the documentary, Moore travels to Europe to find out how other countries deal with some of the problems that affect the USA



Moore's last film, 2009's Capitalism: A Love Story, made $231,964 when it opened in just four theaters - an average of $57,991 per cinema. It then expanded to 962 theaters and pulled in a total of $4.4million, with an average of $4,263 per location.

In some ways, the results may seem positive: Where to Invade Next gave the filmmaker his second-biggest opener since Fahrenheit 9/11 in 2004, with a total opening weekend gross of $933,240. Fahrenheit 9/11 made $23.9million.

However, the fact that Where to Invade Next was shown in 308 theaters gave The Hollywood Reporter pause for thought.

'It's the per-theater average, and not the opening gross, that is the true gauge of success for Moore,' wrote Hollywood Reporter senior writer Pamela McClintock, 'since all of his films, save for Fahrenheit 9/11, have opened in a limited number of locations before expanding.'

Those limited opening weekends include 33 cinemas for 1998's The Big One (with an average of $4,452 per cinema), eight for 2002's Bowling for Columbine ($26,143 per cinema), and just one for 2007's Sicko ($68,969). 



Sicko: Moore had to cancel a promotional tour around all 50 states when he was hospitalized with pneumonia. This may have contributed to the film's relatively poor performance.

Thought Sicko was an autobiography.




Where to Invade Next sees Moore traveling to Europe to find out how European countries deal with issues that affect the US and has been largely positively received by critics, being 'Certified Fresh' with a score of 75% on Rotten Tomatoes.

However, it has suffered pre-release difficulties. Its initial release date of December 23 was pushed back to January 15 and then February 12.

And Moore's plan to promote the film in all 50 states of the USA, as well as on TV shows Conan and Real Time With Bill Maher, were canceled when he was hospitalized with pneumonia. 

It is projected to make a total of $1 million for the opening weekend, giving an average of $3,256 per location.

To put things in perspective. Star Wars: The Force Awakens did $248 million in its opening weekend.










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CHEAP TOMATOES?







On a tip from Ed Kilbane



CHEAP TOMATOES?







(or why Donald Trump is leading the pack)


(If this doesn't get your attention, you better check your pulse!)


900 teachers just got laid off from the Los Angeles Unified School District. They are $650,000 over their annual budget. 


The following by an English teacher helps to explain one area that looms large over California's educational crisis.


I hope each person will read it this carefully, all the way to the end. It is sad what is happening to our great country all because our politicians are afraid they will miss out on a vote. What a travesty!


THIS HAS GOT TO BE PASSED ALONG TO AS MANY AS POSSIBLE OR WE WILL ALL GO DOWN THE DRAIN BECAUSE A FEW DON'T CARE.


THIS ENGLISH TEACHER HAS PHRASED IT THE BEST I'VE SEEN YET.


THIS SHOULD MAKE EVERYONE THINK, BE YOU DEMOCRAT, REPUBLICAN OR
  INDEPENDENT.


FROM A CALIFORNIA SCHOOL TEACHER - - - 

As you listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration, there are some things that you should be aware of:

I am in charge of the English-as-a-second-language department at a large Southern California high school which is designated a Title 1 school, meaning that its students average lower socioeconomic and income levels.

Most of the schools you are hearing about, South Gate High, Bell Gardens, Huntington Park, etc., where these students are protesting, are also Title 1 schools.

Title 1 schools are on the free breakfast and free lunch program. When I say free breakfast, I'm not talking a glass of milk and a roll -- but a full breakfast and cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make the Marriott proud. The waste of this food is monumental, with trays and trays of it being dumped in the trash uneaten 


(OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK!)


I estimate that well over 50% of these students are obese or at least moderately overweight. About 75% or more DO have cell phones. The school also provides day care centers for the unwed teenage pregnant girls (some as young as 13) so they can attend class without the inconvenience of having to arrange for babysitters or having family watch their kids 


(MORE OF OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK!)


I was ordered to spend $700,000 on my department or risk losing funding for the upcoming year even though there was little need for anything; my budget was already substantial. I ended up buying new computers for the computer learning center, half of which, one month later, have been carved with graffiti by the appreciative students who obviously feel humbled and grateful to have a free education in America


(MORE AND MORE OF OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK!)


I have had to intervene several times for young substitute teachers whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant students here in the country less than 3 months who raised so much hell with the female teachers, calling them Putas (whores ) and throwing things, that the teachers were in tears.

Free medical, free education, free food, day care, etc., etc., etc. Is it any wonder they feel entitled not only to be in this country but to demand rights, privileges, and entitlements?


To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants contribute to our society because they LIKE their gardener and housekeeper and they like to pay less for tomatoes: spend some time in the real world of illegal immigration and see the TRUE costs.

Higher insurance, medical facilities closing, higher medical costs, more crime, lower standards of education in our schools, overcrowding, new diseases etc., etc., etc. For me, I'll pay more for tomatoes.

Americans, We need to wake up. The guest worker program will be a disaster because we won't have the guts to enforce it. Does anyone in their right mind really think they will voluntarily leave and return?


It does, however, have everything to do with culture: A third-world culture that does not value education, that accepts children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15, and that refuses to assimilate, and an American culture that has become so weak and worried about "political correctness" that we don't have the will to do anything about it.

If this makes your blood boil, as it did mine, forward this to everyone you know including your Congressman and Senators.


CHEAP LABOR? ISN'T THAT WHAT THE WHOLE IMMIGRATION ISSUE IS ABOUT?


BUSINESS DOESN'T WANT TO PAY A DECENT WAGE.


CONSUMERS DON'T WANT EXPENSIVE PRODUCE.


GOVERNMENT WILL TELL YOU AMERICANS DON'T WANT THE JOBS. 



But the bottom line is cheap labor. The phrase "cheap labor" is a myth, a farce, and a lie. There is no such thing as "cheap labor."

Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children. He takes a job for $5.00 or $6.00/hour. At that wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return, he gets an "earned income credit" of up to $3,200 free. 


ALSO....


HE QUALIFIES FOR SECTION 8 HOUSING AND SUBSIDIZED RENT.

HE QUALIFIES FOR FOOD STAMPS.

HE QUALIFIES FOR FREE (NO DEDUCTIBLE), NO CO-PAY) HEALTH CARE.

HIS CHILDREN GET FREE BREAKFASTS AND LUNCHES AT SCHOOL.

HE REQUIRES BILINGUAL TEACHERS AND BOOKS.

HE QUALIFIES FOR RELIEF FROM HIGH ENERGY BILLS.

IF THEY ARE OR BECOME AGED, BLIND OR DISABLED, THEY QUALIFY FOR SSI.

ONCE QUALIFIED FOR SSI THEY CAN QUALIFY FOR MEDICARE. ALL OF THIS IS AT TAXPAYER'S (OUR) EXPENSE.

HE DOESN'T WORRY ABOUT CAR INSURANCE, LIFE INSURANCE, OR HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE.

TAXPAYERS PROVIDE SPANISH LANGUAGE SIGNS, BULLETINS, AND PRINTED MATERIAL.

HE AND HIS FAMILY RECEIVE THE EQUIVALENT OF $20.00 TO $30.00/HOUR IN BENEFITS.

WORKING AMERICANS ARE LUCKY TO HAVE $5.00 OR $6.00/HOUR LEFT AFTER PAYING THEIR BILLS AND HIS.

THE AMERICAN TAXPAYERS ALSO PAY FOR INCREASED CRIME, GRAFFITI AND TRASH CLEAN-UP.



CHEAP LABOR? YEAH RIGHT! WAKE UP PEOPLE!

THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS WE SHOULD BE ADDRESSING TO THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR EITHER PARTY. AND WHEN THEY LIE TO US AND DON'T DO AS THEY SAY, WE SHOULD REPLACE THEM AT ONCE!

THIS HAS GOT TO BE PASSED ALONG TO AS MANY AS POSSIBLE OR WE WILL ALL GO DOWN THE DRAIN BECAUSE A FEW DON'T CARE.

THIS WILL BE PASSED ON ONLY BY AMERICANS WHO TRULY CARE!










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Sunday, February 14, 2016

Government Gone Wild - Special Interests...EXPOSED




Video 217













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Friday, February 12, 2016

A Walk for the President






On a tip from Ed Kilbane




Video 216






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Saturday, February 6, 2016

Hillary misleading about email probe during debate, former FBI agents say







Hillary Clinton used misleading language in Thursday night’s Democratic debate to describe the ongoing FBI investigation into her use of a private email server to conduct official government business while she was secretary of state, according to former senior FBI agents.

In the New Hampshire debate with Senator Bernie Sanders, which aired on MSNBC, Clinton told moderator Chuck Todd that nothing would come of the FBI probe, “I am 100 percent confident. This is a security review that was requested. It is being carried out.”

Translation:

I'm 100% sure the DOJ won't indict me.

Speaking of debates. How many Democratic debates have aired on FOX?


Not true says Steve Pomerantz, who spent 28 years at the FBI, and rose from field investigative special agent to the rank of assistant director, the third highest position in the Bureau.

“They (the FBI) do not do security reviews,” Pomerantz said. “What they primarily do and what they are clearly doing in this instance is a criminal investigation.”

Pomerantz emphasized to Fox News, “There is no mechanism for her to be briefed and to have information about the conduct, the substance, the direction or the result of any FBI investigation.”

Separately, an intelligence source familiar with the two prongs of the ongoing FBI probe, stressed to Fox that the criminal and national security elements remain “inseparable.” The source, not authorized to speak on the record, characterized Clinton’s statement “as a typical Clinton diversion… and what is she going to say, “I’m 95 percent sure that I am going to get away with it?”

Fox recently learned that one of the FBI's senior agents responsible for counterintelligence matters, Charles H. Kable IV, is working the Clinton case, another indicator the intelligence source said that the FBI probe is “extremely serious, and the A-team is handling.”

Kable, known as "Sandy," was appointed special agent in charge of the counterintelligence division at the Washington field office by Director James Comey in December.

He had recently served as the chief of the counterespionage section at FBI headquarters. In that capacity, a bureau press releases says the 15-year, well-respected FBI veteran, "provided leadership and oversight to the field offices engaged in espionage, economic espionage, and insider threat investigations." 

While his responsibilities are not publicly known, Kable was described to Fox as "tough and no-nonsense FBI." The intelligence source said analysts and agents are exploring whether the mishandling of classified information was "intentional" and who may have benefited. 

A spokeswoman for the FBI took Fox's questions, but said they would not be providing comment on Kable’s role or the FBI case. 

In 2009, Kable led investigations against known and suspected Chinese intelligence officers in the U.S. In January, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, told the Hugh Hewitt radio show that "the odds are pretty high" that then-Secretary of State Clinton's personal email server was hacked by Iran, China and Russia.

A separate source told Fox, "it is no less of a violation of espionage statutes if any material was classified secret or top secret....All the statute requires is national defense information or NDI,” adding "this is way past accidental spillage…(it) is being investigated as intentional mishandling…in this kind of high profile investigation, the most damaging information takes primacy.” 

Investigations into the compromise of classified information include damage assessments. In the recent case of former CIA Director David Petraeus, the damage was deemed to be limited, discreet, and knowable because the highly classified information was shared with his biographer, who also had a security clearance.

In Hillary Clinton's case, if the private server was compromised by a third party, the extent of the damage maybe unknowable. 




Still think..."It was the video"?



The hacker "Guccifer" compromised Clinton’s adviser Sydney Blumenthal's AOL account, and he copied the email exchanges sent to Clinton. The Romanian hacker, whose real name is Marcel Lehel Lazar, has an extradition hearing February 17, and in an interview, indicated he would welcome extradition to the U.S.

I'm thinking/hoping...when this guy arrives they'll offer him immunity in exchange for every drop of information he has on her. The fact they're extraditing him makes me feel better about her chances of going down. Then again, the DOJ is another matter.

The amount of classified information, now including 22 top secret emails the State Department withheld from public release last week, stands at more than 15-hundred.

At the State Department briefing Thursday, spokesman John Kirby was asked by Fox News chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge whether Clinton, as well as aides Huma Abedin, and Cheryl Mills, completed the required classified training that includes the proper storage, handling, and identification of classified information.

"Everybody here is trained in how to handle sensitive information. Sometimes that takes place in in-person briefings and I can't comment any further," Kirby said. Asked it was documented, Kirby said he had nothing more to offer, but did confirm Clinton, Abedin, Mills were not exempt from the strict rules that apply to State Department personnel.

Fox: “So they would not be an exception?”

Kirby: “Everybody that works at the State Department gets trained in how to handle sensitive information. Sometimes that's done in- person briefings.”

This is important because, on its face, this seems to undercut Clinton's claim she had no way to know it was classified because the emails were not marked. Personnel are briefed on what constitutes classified information and its proper handling. 

Under the Freedom of Information Act, Judicial Watch sought the records documenting the classification training, but in a letter dated January 22, 2016, exactly seven years after Clinton signed her Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to serve as Secretary of State, the government watchdog was told "no responsive records" could be found.


And finally...














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