I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.
I’ll be traveling for Thanksgiving Week, with limited computer access, so posts will be rarer. (Sounds of cheering.)
Obama: Professed 9/11 mastermind will be executed http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-ap-us-sept-11-trial,0,5013199.story
We’ll give him a fair trial, then we’ll hang him! Excerpt: The president, in a series of TV interviews during his trip to Asia, said those offended by the legal rights accorded Mohammed by virtue of his facing a civilian trial rather than a military tribunal won't find it "offensive at all when he's convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him." Obama, who is a lawyer, quickly added that he did not mean to suggest he was prejudging the outcome of Mohammed's trial. "I'm not going to be in that courtroom," he said. "That's the job of the prosecutors, the judge and the jury." (If the President of the United States announces that a person going on trial is going to be convicted and executed, won’t the defense be able to move for dismissal, saying that there is no way he can get a fair trial? That would happen in most cases. If BO had been president in WWII, I’d have had to do better in high school German.)
Obama choice for Treasury post becomes fifth nominee to run into tax problems http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-us-nominee-tax-problems,0,5989547.story
She wanted to pay her taxes on time, but knew it would kill her chances for a high position in the Obama Administration.
Is There Another Governor Like Sarah Palin?
http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/3865/87/
Excerpt: The last 45 of my 66 years I've spent in a commercial fishing town in Alaska. I understand Alaska politics but never understood national politics well until this last year. Here's the breaking point: Neither side of the Palin controversy gets it. It's not about persona, style, rhetoric, it's about doing things. Even Palin supporters never mention the things that I'm about to mention here.
Circling Sharks Smell American Blood
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MTE5NzE4MDAxZjU2YjRjZmYwY2NhNWMxODM5NjExNTM
Excerpt: On his recent trip to Asia, President Obama found China, Japan, and South Korea — like many nations these days — in no mood to hear more American lectures. Beijing is worried about owning so much American debt. Tokyo is tiring of an American military base in Okinawa, and wants to redefine its relationship with us. Seoul is starting to doubt American commitment to keep it safe from North Korea. Why all the sudden pushback to our charismatic president?
Angry Congress lashes out at Obama
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/19/AR2009111903167.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Like the Democrats in the Congress in 2007-2008 blaming Bush for deficits, as if they didn’t hold the purse strings. Excerpt: Episodes in both houses of Congress exposed the raw nerves of lawmakers flooded with stories of unemployment and economic hardship back home. They also underscored the stiff headwinds that the administration faces as it pushes to enact sweeping changes to the financial regulatory system while also trying to create jobs for ordinary Americans. President Obama's allies in the Congressional Black Caucus, exasperated by the administration's handling of the economy, unexpectedly blocked one his top priorities, using a legislative maneuver to postpone the approval of financial reform legislation by a key House committee.
An opaque transparency
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/19/AR2009111903751.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Does Joe have the stones to use subpoena powers? Excerpt: Conspicuously absent: anyone from the Obama administration. They declined a request for their testimony by Joe Lieberman, chairman of the Senate homeland security committee. It was a familiar trope of the Bush years: A congressional committee would try to investigate the administration's actions -- over intelligence failures in Iraq, for example -- but the administration would stiff the committee and then set up its own internal inquiry to preempt the lawmakers' probe and keep embarrassing details quiet. On Thursday, the Obama administration followed every element of the script, short of hiring Ari Fleischer….For those waiting for the new White House to make good on its vow to bring transparency to the executive branch, it was another disappointing brush with Obama opacity.
Arrests in Chicago drive home global nature of terrorism threat
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/19/AR2009111904061.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Let’s not jump to conclusions. They were probably Presbyterians. Excerpt: Until 2006, he was Daood Gilani, but he told investigators he had changed his name to raise less suspicion when he traveled abroad. He lived anonymously in an apartment leased in the name of a dead person. He changed e-mail accounts often and spoke in code on the telephone. The strategy worked less than perfectly, according to the FBI, which arrested him on terrorism charges last month at O'Hare International Airport on the first leg of a trip to Pakistan. In his luggage were digital videos he took of a Danish newspaper office and a book titled "How to Pray Like a Jew."
Mammograms indicate defects of gov’t healthcare
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/healthcare/68667-mammograms-indicate-defects-of-govt-healthcare
Excerpt: The recent decision of the federal government to recommend that women abstain from annual mammograms illustrates well exactly how ObamaCare would force a deterioration in the quality of medical care, particularly for the elderly. The panel evaluating the effectiveness of mammograms did not find that they don’t work or that they do not save lives. Rather, it found that the lives they save are not “worth” the cost of annual testing. This bureaucratic balancing of human life and financial cost lies at the core of the government-managed healthcare in the Obama bill.
Rev. Jesse Jackson injects race into healthcare debate with Davis comments http://thehill.com/homenews/house/68793-rev-jesse-jackson-injects-race-into-healthcare-debate
Getting those “uppity blacks” in line! Excerpt: The Rev. Jesse Jackson’s public rebuke of Rep. Artur Davis has injected race into a healthcare debate marked by disputes on immigration, abortion and euthanasia. As the rhetoric intensifies on overhauling the nation’s healthcare system, Davis (D-Ala.) suggests he is accustomed to taking criticism from leaders in the African-American community. Davis, who turned 42 last month, has always been somewhat of an outsider in the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). And his vote against the House healthcare reform bill earlier this month did not win him any additional friends in the caucus. He came to Congress soon after winning a primary against a CBC-backed member, Rep. Earl Hilliard (D-Ala.), whose surrogates had questioned whether the Harvard-educated former prosecutor was “black enough.” The CBC’s political action committee gave $10,000 to Hilliard to fight off Davis. Then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) gave even more. But when Davis faced his own primary in 2004, no such help was forthcoming…. Davis has amassed a more conservative voting record than most Democrats in the lower chamber. He is one of only 23 House Democrats who opposed healthcare reform and climate change. In announcing his opposition, Davis went so far as to say the health bill risks creating a “disaster.” The Alabama Democrat served as one of Rahm Emanuel’s deputies at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) during the 2006 cycle, when many CBC members clashed with the now White House chief of staff. Now that he’s running to become the first black governor of Alabama, he’s drifted further to the right. This year, he voted “present” on the CBC’s budget plan.
Senator Giuliani?
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/senate/senator-giuliani.html?wprss=thefix
Excerpt: Of course, Giuliani's near-universal name recognition in the Empire State coupled with a vast national fundraising network built during his 2008 run for president make him far less dependent than a typical Senate challenger on entities like the National Republican Senatorial Committee and its ilk. On its face, the Senate race is a more winnable race for Giuliani. Gillibrand was appointed to the seat by Gov. David Paterson (D) earlier this year and remains a somewhat unknown commodity statewide. The White House, however, has done much to strengthen Gillibrand's hand -- most notably getting Rep. Steve Israel to bow out of a primary challenge to her.
Hoyer was healthcare’s middle man
http://thehill.com//homenews/house/68795-hoyer-was-healthcares-middle-man
Excerpt: As hundreds of Democrats erupted in thunderous applause when the House healthcare bill crossed the 218-vote threshold, a group of conservative Blue Dog Democrats who opposed the bill sat silently in the center of the chamber. There could have been many more of them. But beginning in June, when other House leaders were still focused on passing a climate change bill, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) was beginning his quest to ensure that a very ideologically diverse caucus and a definitively liberal leadership met somewhere in the middle on a bill to reform healthcare.
Senate ethics committee admonishes Burris
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2009/11/senate_ethics_committee_admoni.html?wpisrc=newsletter
But it means nothing—he’s not running for re-election and he had the major qualification, his race. The Senate would not have seated anyone appointed by Blagjovich who wasn’t black. The Chicago Way.
Travesty in New York
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/19/AR2009111903434.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: For late-19th-century anarchists, terrorism was the "propaganda of the deed." And the most successful propaganda-by-deed in history was 9/11 -- not just the most destructive, but the most spectacular and telegenic. And now its self-proclaimed architect, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, has been given by the Obama administration a civilian trial in New York. Just as the memory fades, 9/11 has been granted a second life -- and KSM, a second act: "9/11, The Director's Cut," narration by KSM. September 11, 2001 had to speak for itself. A decade later, the deed will be given voice. KSM has gratuitously been presented with the greatest propaganda platform imaginable -- a civilian trial in the media capital of the world -- from which to proclaim the glory of jihad and the criminality of infidel America. So why is Attorney General Eric Holder doing this? Ostensibly, to demonstrate to the world the superiority of our system, where the rule of law and the fair trial reign. Really? What happens if KSM (and his co-defendants) "do not get convicted," asked Senate Judiciary Committee member Herb Kohl. "Failure is not an option," replied Holder. Not an option? Doesn't the presumption of innocence, er, presume that prosecutorial failure -- acquittal, hung jury -- is an option? By undermining that presumption, Holder is undermining the fairness of the trial, the demonstration of which is the alleged rationale for putting on this show in the first place. Moreover, everyone knows that whatever the outcome of the trial, KSM will never walk free. He will spend the rest of his natural life in U.S. custody. Which makes the proceedings a farcical show trial from the very beginning. Apart from the fact that any such trial will be a security nightmare and a terror threat to New York -- what better propaganda-by-deed than blowing up the courtroom, making KSM a martyr and turning the judge, jury and spectators into fresh victims? -- it will endanger U.S. security. Civilian courts with broad rights of cross-examination and discovery give terrorists access to crucial information about intelligence sources and methods.
Major Hasan’s Islamist Life
http://frontpagemag.com/2009/11/20/major-hasan%E2%80%99s-islamist-life-%E2%80%93-by-daniel-pipes/
Excerpt: As the Pentagon and Senate launch what one analyst dubs “dueling Fort Hood investigations,” will they confront the hard truth of the Islamic angle? Despite encouraging references to “violent Islamists” by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (Democrat of Connecticut), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, there is reason to worry about a whitewash of the massacre that took place on Nov. 5; that is just so much easier than facing the implications of a hostile ideology nearly exclusive to Muslims. Indeed, initial responses from the U.S. Army, law enforcement, politicians, and journalists broadly agreed that Maj. Nidal Hasan’s murderous rampage had nothing to do with Islam. Barack Obama declared “We cannot fully know what leads a man to do such a thing” and Evan Thomas of Newsweek dismissed Hasan as “a nut case.”
Biting the nuclear bullet
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/20/biting-the-nuclear-bullet/?source=newsletter_opinion_headlines
Excerpt: "It will be just like Syria," said the strategic scholar just back from Israel and speculating about the much debated question whether Israel will eventually bomb Iran's nuclear installations. It was a private conversation, and the erudite Middle Eastern expert was referring to Israel's Sept. 6, 2007, bombing of a suspected nuclear site in Syria that had been secretly erected in a remote part of the country with the help of North Korean experts. "They [the Israeli air force] can drop their guided missiles down a smoke stack, and their submarine-launched cruise missiles can single out any building, and the Iranians, like the Syrians, will keep quiet about it." And why would Iran's leaders keep quiet instead of issuing a general call to arms to all Muslims? Because, he reasoned, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has bragged publicly that their anti-aircraft defenses are "impenetrable." Unmentioned is the distinct possibility that Mr. Ahmadinejad and some ayatollahs would welcome Israeli bombs as a way of uniting both Shia and Sunni wings of the global ummah against Israel and the United States.
The View From Man Bear Pig
http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2009/11/the-view-from-man-bear-pig/
Excerpt: It is not obvious that winning the hearts and minds of village elders, or linking villages to Kabul, wins the war. Our soldiers note that the Afghans are happy to accept what we give them but do not reciprocate by turning against the Taliban. The elders don't raise militias or secure recruits for the army, and they don't fight; there has been no replay of that scene from The Magnificent Seven in which the terrorized villagers finally rise up against their oppressors. Instead, fearful locals plead with migratory Taliban gangs to move on. A rural population, no matter how content with its government, cannot stand up to such a tough enemy. This enemy fights with the elusive cunning of Apaches. Unencumbered by armor and hardy of foot, the assorted insurgent groups loosely known as "taliban with a small 't'" engage in maneuver warfare. Weighed down by their heavy gear, our troops respond with firepower. Local police turn a blind eye to the ubiquitous watchers - called "dickers" - who warn the Taliban about most of our patrols. Tribal relationships ensure that there are few arrests. By shooting from concealment at a distance, the enemy can proclaim his tribal or jihadist determination but stay alive. We are in a war of attrition, not one of decisive confrontations - a war that pits the will of NATO against the endurance of enemies who can retreat to sanctuary in Pakistan, behind a porous 2,400-kilometer border. Because of that unsecured border, a strong Afghan security force will remain essential even after most of the country's districts have been pacified. We are creating Afghan security forces in our image: They wear heavy armor and rely on our medevacs and artillery. To support them, we're probably going to have to spend $20 billion to $40 billion annually for years to come, on top of the cost of U.S. combat units.
Nixing of Panthers complaint starts probe
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/20/nixing-of-panthers-complaint-starts-probe/?source=newsletter_must-read-stories-today_more_news_carousel
Excerpt: Two senior House Republicans want the Justice Department to make public any reports or statements given to internal investigators by the career department lawyers who brought a civil complaint against the New Black Panther Party (NBPP) that later was dismissed by President Obama's political appointees. Reps. Lamar Smith of Texas, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Frank R. Wolf of Virginia, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, said the "American people deserve a full accounting" of what they called the "incomprehensible dismissal" of a complaint charging the NBPP and three of its members with voter intimidation at a Philadelphia polling place during the November 2008 presidential elections. The demand is contained in a Nov. 16 letter to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., referring to an ongoing inquiry in the matter by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), which investigates accusations of misconduct involving department lawyers.
Is It Permissible To Join A Kaafir Army?
http://umarlee.com/2009/11/19/is-it-permissible-to-join-a-kaafir-army/
American Muslim says Muslims shouldn’t join the Army. If I said that, I’d be called a racist (sic—it’s a religion-political system not a race), Islamophobe. Excerpt: So can the brothers find me a fatwa from a repudible scholar of the sunnah (not one that quotes from his desires) that says that it is permissible to put citizenship above our Islam and join the kafir army and to fight against Islam and the Muslims? It is permissible to join an army that calls for the men to shave their beards, salute the kufr flag and judge by other than what Allah revealed? (FYI, “Kufr” is an unflattering term for we infidels.)
Somali woman stoned for adultery
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8366197.stm
Excerpt: A 20-year-old woman divorcee accused of committing adultery in Somalia has been stoned to death by Islamists in front of a crowd of about 200 people. A judge working for the militant group al-Shabab said she had had an affair with an unmarried 29-year-old man. He said she gave birth to a still-born baby and was found guilty of adultery. Her boyfriend was given 100 lashes.
Clinton Judge Impeached
A federal district judge who overturned a Louisiana law banning partial-birth abortion is now on trial himself, facing impeachment charges before Congress. G. Thomas Porteous Jr., a Clinton appointee, is accused of seeking money and gifts from attorneys with cases before his court, stretching back to the 1980s when he was a state judge. By 2000, Porteous had run up credit card debts -- mainly cash advances at casinos -- exceeding $150,000. Other allegations against Porteous include declaring bankruptcy under a false name in 2001 and filing false financial disclosure statements. The obvious question beckons: Was justice for sale? It's unfortunate that Porteous appears to have a gambling problem because his questionable integrity could also have tainted his decisions. Porteous ruled against the partial-birth ban, calling it a "back-door effort" to limit abortion, despite overwhelming front door legislative support for the measure, and used his power on the bench to supplant that of the legislature. The system of government we hold dear depends on integrity in all three branches, and it seems that Louisiana doesn't have the best track record on that front. The Patriot Post (www.patriotpost.us/subscribe/
The Union Label
A 17-year-old aspiring Eagle Scout in Allentown, Pennsylvania, recently spent 250 hours clearing a 1,000-foot walking path in a local park. "I decided to do my part in completing this part of the trail. In that way, others could enjoy walking along the river without having to walk on the busy road," the Scout said. Who could possibly have a problem with that? The Service Employees International Union, that's who. Nick Balzano of the local SEIU said that the union is considering filing a grievance against the city for allowing the Scout to do a job that only union members should be doing. After the city laid off 39 SEIU workers earlier this year, Balzano said, "We'll be looking into the Cub Scout or Boy Scout who did the trails" because "[t]here's to be no volunteers." Of course, instead of voluntarily working on the trail (or Balzano's grammar), the union will be working on the grievance. Fortunately, common decency may yet prevail. After the mayor publicly announced his support for the Scout, Balzano hedged, saying that the union will likely "let this one go." What generosity. The Patriot Post (www.patriotpost.us/subscribe/
To Keep and Bear Arms
As Margaret Parrish of Georgia headed outside to see what her puppies were barking at, things immediately took a turn for the worse. As she opened the door, an unidentified intruder grabbed her by the hair and placed a gun to her head. Margaret's husband, 83-year-old John Parrish, watched as the suspect told her, "If you make a sound I'll blow your brains out." He then proceeded to duct tape the arms and legs of both Margaret and John and then left to begin searching through their home. Danny Carlson and a 10-year old girl were also among those in the house and soon found themselves being tied up as well. This bought John time to get free of the duct tape as he remembers thinking, "I had to get my gun." Once free, John grabbed his .22-cal revolver and began firing at the suspect who promptly fled the home. The Patriot Post (www.patriotpost.us/subscribe/
Reagan turns down offer to join Marines
http://www.grunt.com/images-bs/other/reagansletter.jpg
Great, funny letter.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Political Digest November 20, 2009
I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.
White House backs off cancer test guidelines
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/18/AR2009111802545.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Breast Cancer is a political disease, so the decisions are made by politicians responding to political pressure groups, not by doctors and patients. We spend six times as much on breast cancer research per breast cancer death as we do on lung cancer research (the biggest cancer killer) per lung cancer death. When’s the last time you saw a “run for the cure” a ribbon or a postage stamp to find a cure for lung cancer, or prostate cancer, a male disease?
Reid rolling out big guns to push healthcare bill to 60 needed votes http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/68541-reid-rolling-out-big-guns-to-get-to-60
Excerpt: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has recruited an all-star team of former senators — Vice President Joe Biden, Tom Daschle and Ken Salazar — to push healthcare reform over the finish line. Reid (D-Nev.) plotted strategy with the vice president, Interior Secretary Salazar and former Majority Leader Daschle (D-S.D.) on Wednesday, days ahead of a crucial vote to begin debate on the bill that needs every Democrat. Reid’s all-star team indicates that the administration and Democratic leadership are now using all the persuading power and arm-twisting prowess available to them to carry President Barack Obama’s signature agenda item to a successful conclusion. A handful of Democratic centrists are holding out on the procedural vote, wanting time to read the legislation.
Reid uncertain of tally as healthcare bill heads for rare Saturday vote http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/68647-reid-uncertain-of-tally-as-health-bill-heads-for-saturday-vote
If you live in Nebraska, Louisiana or Arkansas, get on the phone to your senator! Excerpt: Senate is headed for a rare Saturday vote to advance its major healthcare reform bill without a guarantee of success, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) indicated Thursday. At a rally with supporters of the healthcare reform bill, Reid would not say he had secured commitments from all 60 members of the Democratic Conference to vote for the legislation — an absolute necessity given unanimous opposition from the 40 Senate Republicans. We'll find out when the votes are taken," Reid said. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), one of three Democratic holdouts, said Thursday that he would announce his intentions prior to the vote but also made clear he still has major misgivings about the legislation, particularly on issues such as federal funding for abortion and the creation of a government-run public option insurance program. Democratic Sens. Mary Landrieu (La.) and Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) are also uncommitted.
What we know about Senate Healthcare Plan
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/11/19/what-we-know-about-the-senate-health-care-plan/
Excerpt: …we learn that "one Senate Democratic leadership staffer acknowledged that the cost estimate did not even represent an official preliminary score from the CBO but was a representation of "preliminary feedback" that Reid has gotten from the nonpartisan Congressional agency." In other words, we do not know how much it will actually cost. We also know that the Senate has severely weakened the pro-life language of the legislation. It comes no where close to the Stupak amendment language. We also know that the legislation purports to cut the deficit. How? By massive and painful tax increases, including raising the payroll tax on Medicare.
AARP Received $18 Million In Stimulus Money
http://spectator.org/blog/2009/11/18/aarp-received-18-million-in-st
Excerpt: AARP, which has given its full-throated support to Democratic health care legislation even though seniors remain largely opposed, received an $18 million grant in the economic stimulus package for a job training program that has not created any jobs, according to the Obama administration's Recovery.gov website.
Unlawful health reform?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/18/AR2009111802697.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: In 2006, long before there was an Obama administration determined to impose a command-and-control federal health-care system, a young orthopedic surgeon walked into the Goldwater Institute here with an idea. The institute, America's most potent advocate of limited government, embraced Eric Novack's idea for protecting Arizonans from health-care coercion. In 2008, Arizonans voted on Novack's proposed amendment to the state's Constitution: "No law shall be passed that restricts a person's freedom of choice of private health care systems or private plans of any type. No law shall interfere with a person's or entity's right to pay directly for lawful medical services, nor shall any law impose a penalty or fine, of any type, for choosing to obtain or decline health care coverage or for participation in any particular health care system or plan."
No Afghan decision before Thanksgiving
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/19/AR2009111900904.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
“Then they sent for replacements, for the wounded and lame, but the troops that were coming, never came, never came, never came.” –Ballad of the Alamo. Must make the troops’ families feel good. President Wobbly in command. Wonder if he has a picture of General McClellen in his office.
Lieberman launches Fort Hood hearings without any government witnesses http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/68659-lieberman-launches-fort-hood-hearings-with-no-government-witnesses
President Transparency turns opaque. Doesn’t want to jump to conclusions like he did with the Cambridge cop. Excerpt: Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) held the first congressional hearing into the Fort Hood shootings with minimal cooperation from the Obama administration. No administration officials appeared at Thursday’s Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee hearing despite requests by Lieberman. President Barack Obama had pressured House and Senate panels to hold off on congressional investigations until federal authorities finished their probe into the killings of 13 people at Fort Hood, but Lieberman decided to go ahead with his panel’s work.
Soldiers know: Ft. Hood's message to troops http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/soldiers_know_mziNfvUcojln0EeEPHzzkL
Excerpt: "This is larger than the Army," said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell yesterday. "These are issues that need to be looked at department-wide." Well, that shouldn't take any longer than a year or two -- scant comfort to the soldiers and Marines silently going into harm's way wondering whose side that man with the gun over there is really on. Silently, because Army Chief of Staff George Casey was lightning-quick to restate the service's blame-assessment priorities following the Nov. 5 shootings at Fort Hood: "Speculation could potentially heighten backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers…What happened at Fort Hood was a tragedy, but I believe it would be an even greater tragedy if our diversity becomes a casualty here." Thirteen dead and 42 wounded, and the Army's top officer is concerned first and foremost about diversity -- and you can bet nobody in uniform is going to disagree with him. To his face.
Police Chief Apologizes to Muslims over Fugitive Arrests
http://frontpagemag.com/2009/11/19/police-chief-apologizes-to-muslims-over-fugitive-arrests-by-lloyd-bilinsgley/
Dhimmitude in Detroit.
Did Holder stiff Senate on Justice Dept. lawyers who defended jihadis? http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Did-Holder-stiff-Senate-on-Justice-Dept-lawyers-who-defended-jihadis-70442797.html
Excerpt: Some Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee were taken aback Wednesday by Attorney General Eric Holder's refusal to reveal conflicts of interest involving Justice Department lawyers who, before joining the Obama administration, worked on behalf of Guatanamo detainees. One reason it has taken so long to deal with the Guantanamo cases is the number of legal challenges lodged by lawyers for the detainees, some of whom are now working on detainee matters in the Obama Justice Department.
Turn Thomson prison into training camp of our own http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass-19-nov19,0,6027124.column
The always-readable John Kass. Excerpt: If Obama really wants the Gitmo Gang in Illinois, it's going to happen. After all, he is the president of the United States of America. So let's bow low, as if he were the emperor of Japan and we're a bunch of terrified peasants, almost touching our foreheads to the ground, without a shred of imperialistic American dignity. OK, President Obama, you win. We'll take the Gitmo Gang. But only on one condition: In exchange, we want all the convicted American politicians currently living in cushy Club Feds to be transferred immediately to the Thomson Correctional Center so they can bunk with the terrorists and corrupt them too.
'Newsweek' cover of Sarah Palin is sexist
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/media/68415-newsweek-cover-of-sarah-palin-is-sexist
Excerpt: I am not one of the great admirers of Sarah Palin as a political leader, but fair is fair, and the Newsweek cover of Palin sexist, pure and simple. The photo was taken as an athletic shoot, and to put it on the front page of a major weekly newsmagazine was totally out of context, biased and sexist. We have all seen pictures of President Barack Obama showing some skin in a bathing suit, but these were political paparazzi photos and were not placed on the cover of major news magazines. The Palin photo was just as sexist as the recent piece by the National Republican Congressional Committee that suggested the Speaker be put in her place. Just as sexist as some of the barbs that have been directed toward Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton over many years.
The most important number in politics today
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/most-important-number/the-most-important-number-in-p-68.html?wprss=thefix
Except: 48. That's President Barack Obama's job approval rating in the latest Quinnipiac University poll, one of the rare times he has dipped below the critical 50 percent in a national survey since taking office in January.
Morning Fix: Stupak as Democratic anti-hero
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/morning-fix/morning-fix-20.html?wprss=thefix
Several interesting items in this Fix.
US public debt tops 12 trillion dollars for first time http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091117/ts_alt_afp/usbudgetdeficitdebt_20091117214930
Excerpt: WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US public debt topped 12 trillion dollars for the first time in history, Treasury officials disclosed Tuesday, moving past a key barrier that raised hackles in Congress. Treasury data showed Monday's outstanding debt at 12.031 trillion dollars, up from 11.999 trillion on Friday. The ballooning debt reflects the massive deficit spending by the government in an effort to revive an ailing economy over more than one year. The public debt topped 10 trillion dollars in September 2008. The debt is quickly approaching the statutory limit of 12.104 trillion dollars, meaning Congress would have to raise the ceiling to prevent a shutdown of government operations. (At some point, we won’t be able to sell bonds to China and other countries, unless we pay very high interest rates, which will add to the debt, thus increasing the spiral downward. When they refuse to buy at any price, everything goes crash. Wish I could run a pool on the crash date, but the money I’d take in would be worthless anyway.)
Trade Dispute Undercuts Obama's Korea Trip http://www.heritage.org/Research/AsiaandthePacific/wm2702.cfm
Have I mentioned before that all the historical evidence is that free trade increases economic prosperity, while trade barriers, though loved by unions, create hard times as Smoot-Hawley did in the 1930s? but politicians will sell your prosperity for union votes.
To revive New York's economy, attack lawsuit abuse http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/11/18/2009-11-18_to_revive_new_yorks_economy_attack_lawsuit_abuse.html
Excerpt: A Manhattan jury awarded $14.1 million to a woman who lay down on New York City subway tracks and was hit by a train during a failed suicide. Another New York City jury gave $9.3 million to a man who fell on subway tracks while inebriated and lost his left arm. Another drunk on the tracks was awarded $6 million. Earlier this year, a Brooklyn judge upheld a decision to grant an 11-year-old boy $1.03 million in damages for pain and suffering he experienced after fracturing his ankle playing soccer during gym class…..An alliance between personal-injury lawyers and state legislators, grounded in delivering votes and campaign contributions, has killed attempts to enact common-sense reforms. Last year, lawyers doled out nearly $5 million to political activities, making them the sixth-largest contributor group in the state. The plaintiffs' bar deploys its numbers and wealth through longstanding, well-organized political campaigns to block reform and create new rights to sue. State lawmakers recently proposed at least 15 new "lawyer earmark" bills that would increase avenues for litigation. Legislators, beholden to deep-pocketed lawyers, remain indifferent to the plight of ordinary citizens and ignore the open-and-shut case for reform…..Lawsuit reform would jump-start the state's economy and make it more competitive. According to the Pacific Research Institute's report, if such reforms were put in place, New York would create at least 86,000 new jobs, increase state output $17 billion annually, boost state tax revenues by more than $1 billion a year, raise the income of every New Yorker by more than $2,600 a year, attract new customers and entrepreneurs to the state and cut insurance premiums up to 16% per annum.
Obama again fails to salute Americans but remembers to salute Russian flag http://www.fireandreamitchell.com/2009/11/13/obama-again-fails-to-salute-americans-but-remembers-to-salute-russian-flag/
Clueless.
NY-23 virus in voting machines
http://www.gouverneurtimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8144:virus-in-the-voting-machines-tainted-results-in-ny-23&catid=60:st-lawrence-news&Itemid=175
Excerpt: GOUVERNEUR, NY - The computerized voting machines used by many voters in the 23rd district had a computer virus - tainting the results, not just from those machines known to have been infected, but casting doubt on the accuracy of counts retrieved from any of the machines. Cathleen Rogers, the Democratic Elections Commissioner in Hamilton County stated that they discovered a problem with their voting machines the week prior to the election and that the "virus" was fixed by a Technical Support representative from Dominion, the manufacturer. The Dominion/Sequoia Voting Systems representative "reprogrammed" their machines in time for them to use in the Nov. 3rd Special Election. None of the machines (from the same manufacturer) used in the other counties within the 23rd district were looked at nor were they recertified after the "reprogramming" that occurred in Hamilton County.
New PPP Poll: Obama Approval of Those Older Than 65 Years Old Now At 33% http://hotairpundit.blogspot.com/2009/11/new-ppp-poll-obama-approval-of-those.html
Excerpt: The poll also found that 26% of Americans think ACORN stole the election for Obama last year, including 52% of Republicans. Overall 11% view the organization favorably while 53% have a negative opinion of it. The survey’s margin of error is +/-3.0%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify. Obama's Health Care Plan has those over 65 at 60% disapproval.
Watch unemployment grow county by county since 2007
http://cohort11.americanobserver.net/latoyaegwuekwe/multimediafinal.html
Interesting website. ND looks good.
Thank You to Vietnam Vets
This is the letter I sent home when I was in Iraq in 2004. http://highplainspatriot.blogspot.com/2006/05/original-thank-you-to-vietnam-vets.html
Must Read for Vietnam Vets. Excerpt: So, I was pondering the question: "Why do we have so much support?" In my opinion, it came down to one thing: . I think we learned a lesson, as a nation, that no matter what, you have to support the troops who are on the line, who are risking everything. We treated them so poorly back then. When they returned was even worse. The stories are nightmarish of what our returning warriors were subjected to. It is a national scar, a blemish on our country, an embarrassment to all of us. After, it had time to sink in. The guilt in our collective consciousness grew. It shamed us. However, we learned from our mistake. Somewhere during the late 1970's and into the 80's, we realized that we can't treat our warriors that way. So, starting during the Gulf War, when the first real opportunity arose to stand up and support the troops, we did. We did it to support our friends and family going off to war. But we also did it to right the wrongs from the era. We treated our troops like the heroes they were, acknowledged and celebrated their sacrifice, and rejoiced at their homecoming instead of spitting on them.
Obit: Lewis Millett; awarded Medal of Honor after bayonet charge http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2009/11/19/lewis_millett_awarded_medal_of_honor_after_bayonet_charge/
Another hero gone. The country has fewer such men every year. A thin line of heroes protects us now.
White House backs off cancer test guidelines
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/18/AR2009111802545.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Breast Cancer is a political disease, so the decisions are made by politicians responding to political pressure groups, not by doctors and patients. We spend six times as much on breast cancer research per breast cancer death as we do on lung cancer research (the biggest cancer killer) per lung cancer death. When’s the last time you saw a “run for the cure” a ribbon or a postage stamp to find a cure for lung cancer, or prostate cancer, a male disease?
Reid rolling out big guns to push healthcare bill to 60 needed votes http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/68541-reid-rolling-out-big-guns-to-get-to-60
Excerpt: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has recruited an all-star team of former senators — Vice President Joe Biden, Tom Daschle and Ken Salazar — to push healthcare reform over the finish line. Reid (D-Nev.) plotted strategy with the vice president, Interior Secretary Salazar and former Majority Leader Daschle (D-S.D.) on Wednesday, days ahead of a crucial vote to begin debate on the bill that needs every Democrat. Reid’s all-star team indicates that the administration and Democratic leadership are now using all the persuading power and arm-twisting prowess available to them to carry President Barack Obama’s signature agenda item to a successful conclusion. A handful of Democratic centrists are holding out on the procedural vote, wanting time to read the legislation.
Reid uncertain of tally as healthcare bill heads for rare Saturday vote http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/68647-reid-uncertain-of-tally-as-health-bill-heads-for-saturday-vote
If you live in Nebraska, Louisiana or Arkansas, get on the phone to your senator! Excerpt: Senate is headed for a rare Saturday vote to advance its major healthcare reform bill without a guarantee of success, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) indicated Thursday. At a rally with supporters of the healthcare reform bill, Reid would not say he had secured commitments from all 60 members of the Democratic Conference to vote for the legislation — an absolute necessity given unanimous opposition from the 40 Senate Republicans. We'll find out when the votes are taken," Reid said. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), one of three Democratic holdouts, said Thursday that he would announce his intentions prior to the vote but also made clear he still has major misgivings about the legislation, particularly on issues such as federal funding for abortion and the creation of a government-run public option insurance program. Democratic Sens. Mary Landrieu (La.) and Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) are also uncommitted.
What we know about Senate Healthcare Plan
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/11/19/what-we-know-about-the-senate-health-care-plan/
Excerpt: …we learn that "one Senate Democratic leadership staffer acknowledged that the cost estimate did not even represent an official preliminary score from the CBO but was a representation of "preliminary feedback" that Reid has gotten from the nonpartisan Congressional agency." In other words, we do not know how much it will actually cost. We also know that the Senate has severely weakened the pro-life language of the legislation. It comes no where close to the Stupak amendment language. We also know that the legislation purports to cut the deficit. How? By massive and painful tax increases, including raising the payroll tax on Medicare.
AARP Received $18 Million In Stimulus Money
http://spectator.org/blog/2009/11/18/aarp-received-18-million-in-st
Excerpt: AARP, which has given its full-throated support to Democratic health care legislation even though seniors remain largely opposed, received an $18 million grant in the economic stimulus package for a job training program that has not created any jobs, according to the Obama administration's Recovery.gov website.
Unlawful health reform?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/18/AR2009111802697.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: In 2006, long before there was an Obama administration determined to impose a command-and-control federal health-care system, a young orthopedic surgeon walked into the Goldwater Institute here with an idea. The institute, America's most potent advocate of limited government, embraced Eric Novack's idea for protecting Arizonans from health-care coercion. In 2008, Arizonans voted on Novack's proposed amendment to the state's Constitution: "No law shall be passed that restricts a person's freedom of choice of private health care systems or private plans of any type. No law shall interfere with a person's or entity's right to pay directly for lawful medical services, nor shall any law impose a penalty or fine, of any type, for choosing to obtain or decline health care coverage or for participation in any particular health care system or plan."
No Afghan decision before Thanksgiving
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/19/AR2009111900904.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
“Then they sent for replacements, for the wounded and lame, but the troops that were coming, never came, never came, never came.” –Ballad of the Alamo. Must make the troops’ families feel good. President Wobbly in command. Wonder if he has a picture of General McClellen in his office.
Lieberman launches Fort Hood hearings without any government witnesses http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/68659-lieberman-launches-fort-hood-hearings-with-no-government-witnesses
President Transparency turns opaque. Doesn’t want to jump to conclusions like he did with the Cambridge cop. Excerpt: Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) held the first congressional hearing into the Fort Hood shootings with minimal cooperation from the Obama administration. No administration officials appeared at Thursday’s Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee hearing despite requests by Lieberman. President Barack Obama had pressured House and Senate panels to hold off on congressional investigations until federal authorities finished their probe into the killings of 13 people at Fort Hood, but Lieberman decided to go ahead with his panel’s work.
Soldiers know: Ft. Hood's message to troops http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/soldiers_know_mziNfvUcojln0EeEPHzzkL
Excerpt: "This is larger than the Army," said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell yesterday. "These are issues that need to be looked at department-wide." Well, that shouldn't take any longer than a year or two -- scant comfort to the soldiers and Marines silently going into harm's way wondering whose side that man with the gun over there is really on. Silently, because Army Chief of Staff George Casey was lightning-quick to restate the service's blame-assessment priorities following the Nov. 5 shootings at Fort Hood: "Speculation could potentially heighten backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers…What happened at Fort Hood was a tragedy, but I believe it would be an even greater tragedy if our diversity becomes a casualty here." Thirteen dead and 42 wounded, and the Army's top officer is concerned first and foremost about diversity -- and you can bet nobody in uniform is going to disagree with him. To his face.
Police Chief Apologizes to Muslims over Fugitive Arrests
http://frontpagemag.com/2009/11/19/police-chief-apologizes-to-muslims-over-fugitive-arrests-by-lloyd-bilinsgley/
Dhimmitude in Detroit.
Did Holder stiff Senate on Justice Dept. lawyers who defended jihadis? http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Did-Holder-stiff-Senate-on-Justice-Dept-lawyers-who-defended-jihadis-70442797.html
Excerpt: Some Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee were taken aback Wednesday by Attorney General Eric Holder's refusal to reveal conflicts of interest involving Justice Department lawyers who, before joining the Obama administration, worked on behalf of Guatanamo detainees. One reason it has taken so long to deal with the Guantanamo cases is the number of legal challenges lodged by lawyers for the detainees, some of whom are now working on detainee matters in the Obama Justice Department.
Turn Thomson prison into training camp of our own http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass-19-nov19,0,6027124.column
The always-readable John Kass. Excerpt: If Obama really wants the Gitmo Gang in Illinois, it's going to happen. After all, he is the president of the United States of America. So let's bow low, as if he were the emperor of Japan and we're a bunch of terrified peasants, almost touching our foreheads to the ground, without a shred of imperialistic American dignity. OK, President Obama, you win. We'll take the Gitmo Gang. But only on one condition: In exchange, we want all the convicted American politicians currently living in cushy Club Feds to be transferred immediately to the Thomson Correctional Center so they can bunk with the terrorists and corrupt them too.
'Newsweek' cover of Sarah Palin is sexist
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/media/68415-newsweek-cover-of-sarah-palin-is-sexist
Excerpt: I am not one of the great admirers of Sarah Palin as a political leader, but fair is fair, and the Newsweek cover of Palin sexist, pure and simple. The photo was taken as an athletic shoot, and to put it on the front page of a major weekly newsmagazine was totally out of context, biased and sexist. We have all seen pictures of President Barack Obama showing some skin in a bathing suit, but these were political paparazzi photos and were not placed on the cover of major news magazines. The Palin photo was just as sexist as the recent piece by the National Republican Congressional Committee that suggested the Speaker be put in her place. Just as sexist as some of the barbs that have been directed toward Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton over many years.
The most important number in politics today
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/most-important-number/the-most-important-number-in-p-68.html?wprss=thefix
Except: 48. That's President Barack Obama's job approval rating in the latest Quinnipiac University poll, one of the rare times he has dipped below the critical 50 percent in a national survey since taking office in January.
Morning Fix: Stupak as Democratic anti-hero
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/morning-fix/morning-fix-20.html?wprss=thefix
Several interesting items in this Fix.
US public debt tops 12 trillion dollars for first time http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091117/ts_alt_afp/usbudgetdeficitdebt_20091117214930
Excerpt: WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US public debt topped 12 trillion dollars for the first time in history, Treasury officials disclosed Tuesday, moving past a key barrier that raised hackles in Congress. Treasury data showed Monday's outstanding debt at 12.031 trillion dollars, up from 11.999 trillion on Friday. The ballooning debt reflects the massive deficit spending by the government in an effort to revive an ailing economy over more than one year. The public debt topped 10 trillion dollars in September 2008. The debt is quickly approaching the statutory limit of 12.104 trillion dollars, meaning Congress would have to raise the ceiling to prevent a shutdown of government operations. (At some point, we won’t be able to sell bonds to China and other countries, unless we pay very high interest rates, which will add to the debt, thus increasing the spiral downward. When they refuse to buy at any price, everything goes crash. Wish I could run a pool on the crash date, but the money I’d take in would be worthless anyway.)
Trade Dispute Undercuts Obama's Korea Trip http://www.heritage.org/Research/AsiaandthePacific/wm2702.cfm
Have I mentioned before that all the historical evidence is that free trade increases economic prosperity, while trade barriers, though loved by unions, create hard times as Smoot-Hawley did in the 1930s? but politicians will sell your prosperity for union votes.
To revive New York's economy, attack lawsuit abuse http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/11/18/2009-11-18_to_revive_new_yorks_economy_attack_lawsuit_abuse.html
Excerpt: A Manhattan jury awarded $14.1 million to a woman who lay down on New York City subway tracks and was hit by a train during a failed suicide. Another New York City jury gave $9.3 million to a man who fell on subway tracks while inebriated and lost his left arm. Another drunk on the tracks was awarded $6 million. Earlier this year, a Brooklyn judge upheld a decision to grant an 11-year-old boy $1.03 million in damages for pain and suffering he experienced after fracturing his ankle playing soccer during gym class…..An alliance between personal-injury lawyers and state legislators, grounded in delivering votes and campaign contributions, has killed attempts to enact common-sense reforms. Last year, lawyers doled out nearly $5 million to political activities, making them the sixth-largest contributor group in the state. The plaintiffs' bar deploys its numbers and wealth through longstanding, well-organized political campaigns to block reform and create new rights to sue. State lawmakers recently proposed at least 15 new "lawyer earmark" bills that would increase avenues for litigation. Legislators, beholden to deep-pocketed lawyers, remain indifferent to the plight of ordinary citizens and ignore the open-and-shut case for reform…..Lawsuit reform would jump-start the state's economy and make it more competitive. According to the Pacific Research Institute's report, if such reforms were put in place, New York would create at least 86,000 new jobs, increase state output $17 billion annually, boost state tax revenues by more than $1 billion a year, raise the income of every New Yorker by more than $2,600 a year, attract new customers and entrepreneurs to the state and cut insurance premiums up to 16% per annum.
Obama again fails to salute Americans but remembers to salute Russian flag http://www.fireandreamitchell.com/2009/11/13/obama-again-fails-to-salute-americans-but-remembers-to-salute-russian-flag/
Clueless.
NY-23 virus in voting machines
http://www.gouverneurtimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8144:virus-in-the-voting-machines-tainted-results-in-ny-23&catid=60:st-lawrence-news&Itemid=175
Excerpt: GOUVERNEUR, NY - The computerized voting machines used by many voters in the 23rd district had a computer virus - tainting the results, not just from those machines known to have been infected, but casting doubt on the accuracy of counts retrieved from any of the machines. Cathleen Rogers, the Democratic Elections Commissioner in Hamilton County stated that they discovered a problem with their voting machines the week prior to the election and that the "virus" was fixed by a Technical Support representative from Dominion, the manufacturer. The Dominion/Sequoia Voting Systems representative "reprogrammed" their machines in time for them to use in the Nov. 3rd Special Election. None of the machines (from the same manufacturer) used in the other counties within the 23rd district were looked at nor were they recertified after the "reprogramming" that occurred in Hamilton County.
New PPP Poll: Obama Approval of Those Older Than 65 Years Old Now At 33% http://hotairpundit.blogspot.com/2009/11/new-ppp-poll-obama-approval-of-those.html
Excerpt: The poll also found that 26% of Americans think ACORN stole the election for Obama last year, including 52% of Republicans. Overall 11% view the organization favorably while 53% have a negative opinion of it. The survey’s margin of error is +/-3.0%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify. Obama's Health Care Plan has those over 65 at 60% disapproval.
Watch unemployment grow county by county since 2007
http://cohort11.americanobserver.net/latoyaegwuekwe/multimediafinal.html
Interesting website. ND looks good.
Thank You to Vietnam Vets
This is the letter I sent home when I was in Iraq in 2004. http://highplainspatriot.blogspot.com/2006/05/original-thank-you-to-vietnam-vets.html
Must Read for Vietnam Vets. Excerpt: So, I was pondering the question: "Why do we have so much support?" In my opinion, it came down to one thing: . I think we learned a lesson, as a nation, that no matter what, you have to support the troops who are on the line, who are risking everything. We treated them so poorly back then. When they returned was even worse. The stories are nightmarish of what our returning warriors were subjected to. It is a national scar, a blemish on our country, an embarrassment to all of us. After, it had time to sink in. The guilt in our collective consciousness grew. It shamed us. However, we learned from our mistake. Somewhere during the late 1970's and into the 80's, we realized that we can't treat our warriors that way. So, starting during the Gulf War, when the first real opportunity arose to stand up and support the troops, we did. We did it to support our friends and family going off to war. But we also did it to right the wrongs from the era. We treated our troops like the heroes they were, acknowledged and celebrated their sacrifice, and rejoiced at their homecoming instead of spitting on them.
Obit: Lewis Millett; awarded Medal of Honor after bayonet charge http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2009/11/19/lewis_millett_awarded_medal_of_honor_after_bayonet_charge/
Another hero gone. The country has fewer such men every year. A thin line of heroes protects us now.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Brace Yourself for Health Care “Reform”
Senate unveils health-care bill
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/18/AR2009111802014.html?wpisrc=newsletter
I don’t believe there is one Democrat who really believes the cost estimates for these bills, or that they will really cut Medicare and tick off elderly voters, or that they can really pay for them by cutting waste and fraud. When does the government ever do that? When does a government program ever cost what the politicians say it will? Medicare? Social Security? Defense projects? The fact is, if it gets them re-elected in 2010 and 2012 for “reform” healthcare and giving healthcare to all as a “right,” they don’t care if the country collapses in 2020 or 2024 in fiscal ruin, as the Soviets did in 1989.
So they will ruin the best healthcare system in the world. Americans live longer than anyone else, after you take out homicides and car accidents, about which these bills do nothing. We’d live even longer but for smoking, obesity, drugs and risky sex, about which these bills do nothing. We have the best cancer survival rates for most cancers in the developed world, and lack the long waiting lists of most government health plans. The best universal health plan in the world is Switzerland, but the Democrats ignored that example, because it’s all private insurance, not government run bureaucracy, no Medicare, no large government employee unions to vote for the big-government party.
Our system is expensive, yes, partly because the rest of the world feeds off the innovation in techniques, technology and pharmaceuticals we pay for. Much of that innovation, lacking the financial incentives, will go away. So the government will have to fund more research, which will be decided on a political basis rather than a need basis. We already spend six times as much on breast cancer research per death as on lung cancer research per death, because breast cancer is a political disease, like AIDS. Lung cancer and prostate cancer, non-political diseases, get less research funding. Once this passes, all major healthcare decisions will be politically driven, not patient/market driven. And own the road, tens of thousands of Americans will die, who might have lived longer, and will die not knowing this vote killed them
They say they want competition, but won’t let the insurance companies compete across state lines. They won’t let insurance companies compete on what they cover—they have to follow the political mandates. They won’t do anything about tort reform, the only real reform that lowers costs, because the Democrat leadership is all lawyers. In all those European countries they so admire, lawyers are paid by the hour, not a percentage of winning big cases, and they don’t have billionaire lawyers. And in many, the loser pays the costs, keeping down the filing of “lottery lawsuits.”
So, America, you’re going to get healthcare reform, and you’re going to get it god and hard. When I was a kid, I remember the doctor coming to our house to see my grandmother, with his black bag. Our children will find our open access to healthcare, short waiting lists and access to advanced drugs and technology just as quaint in twenty years.
I predict this bill will increase the cost of healthcare, will decrease the doctor to patient ratio (look at Canada) and will decrease innovation in healthcare, all of which will result in increased suffering and death for Americans.
In a post last week, I mentioned meeting a doctor who escaped, at risk of his life, from the Soviet Union in 1977. He said he fled the evils of socialism and central planning, and now they were following him here. He asked where he could flee to escape the coming tyranny in America? I had no answer.
He also taught me a new phrase, for use in such situations. I can’t spell it, but it’s pronounced, “Tub toy-you mutt.” You can use it with the politicians who are ruining our country. It will tell them what they can do with their mothers. They’ll appreciate it being in Russian, the home language of socialism and government planning.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/18/AR2009111802014.html?wpisrc=newsletter
I don’t believe there is one Democrat who really believes the cost estimates for these bills, or that they will really cut Medicare and tick off elderly voters, or that they can really pay for them by cutting waste and fraud. When does the government ever do that? When does a government program ever cost what the politicians say it will? Medicare? Social Security? Defense projects? The fact is, if it gets them re-elected in 2010 and 2012 for “reform” healthcare and giving healthcare to all as a “right,” they don’t care if the country collapses in 2020 or 2024 in fiscal ruin, as the Soviets did in 1989.
So they will ruin the best healthcare system in the world. Americans live longer than anyone else, after you take out homicides and car accidents, about which these bills do nothing. We’d live even longer but for smoking, obesity, drugs and risky sex, about which these bills do nothing. We have the best cancer survival rates for most cancers in the developed world, and lack the long waiting lists of most government health plans. The best universal health plan in the world is Switzerland, but the Democrats ignored that example, because it’s all private insurance, not government run bureaucracy, no Medicare, no large government employee unions to vote for the big-government party.
Our system is expensive, yes, partly because the rest of the world feeds off the innovation in techniques, technology and pharmaceuticals we pay for. Much of that innovation, lacking the financial incentives, will go away. So the government will have to fund more research, which will be decided on a political basis rather than a need basis. We already spend six times as much on breast cancer research per death as on lung cancer research per death, because breast cancer is a political disease, like AIDS. Lung cancer and prostate cancer, non-political diseases, get less research funding. Once this passes, all major healthcare decisions will be politically driven, not patient/market driven. And own the road, tens of thousands of Americans will die, who might have lived longer, and will die not knowing this vote killed them
They say they want competition, but won’t let the insurance companies compete across state lines. They won’t let insurance companies compete on what they cover—they have to follow the political mandates. They won’t do anything about tort reform, the only real reform that lowers costs, because the Democrat leadership is all lawyers. In all those European countries they so admire, lawyers are paid by the hour, not a percentage of winning big cases, and they don’t have billionaire lawyers. And in many, the loser pays the costs, keeping down the filing of “lottery lawsuits.”
So, America, you’re going to get healthcare reform, and you’re going to get it god and hard. When I was a kid, I remember the doctor coming to our house to see my grandmother, with his black bag. Our children will find our open access to healthcare, short waiting lists and access to advanced drugs and technology just as quaint in twenty years.
I predict this bill will increase the cost of healthcare, will decrease the doctor to patient ratio (look at Canada) and will decrease innovation in healthcare, all of which will result in increased suffering and death for Americans.
In a post last week, I mentioned meeting a doctor who escaped, at risk of his life, from the Soviet Union in 1977. He said he fled the evils of socialism and central planning, and now they were following him here. He asked where he could flee to escape the coming tyranny in America? I had no answer.
He also taught me a new phrase, for use in such situations. I can’t spell it, but it’s pronounced, “Tub toy-you mutt.” You can use it with the politicians who are ruining our country. It will tell them what they can do with their mothers. They’ll appreciate it being in Russian, the home language of socialism and government planning.
Political Digest November 19, 2009
I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.
Dirty Bomb Attack Thursday November 19 5P (assume EST?) http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/naked-science/4252/Videos/07427_00#tab-Overview#ixzz0XA42pAiX
Coming soon to a city near you. Excerpt: By concentrating on these key story lines and weaving back and forth between them Dirty Bomb Attack paints an accurate and often gripping picture of the aftermath of a radiological attack and gives viewers useful information in the event that we ever find ourselves faced with this kind of disaster in the future.
Chosin
http://www.frozenchosin.com/
Looking forward to this movie.
Millions may have to repay part of stimulus tax credit Workers who don't withhold enough could owe Uncle Sam
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/16/AR2009111603744.html?wpisrc=newsletterf
From your efficient government that wants to run health care, 1/6th of the economy.
Report: Bill would reduce senior care Medicare cuts approved by House may affect access to providers
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/14/AR2009111402597.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Scaremongering by the CMS? Excerpt: A plan to slash more than $500 billion from future Medicare spending -- one of the biggest sources of funding for President Obama's proposed overhaul of the nation's health-care system -- would sharply reduce benefits for some senior citizens and could jeopardize access to care for millions of others, according to a government evaluation released Saturday. The report, requested by House Republicans, found that Medicare cuts contained in the health package approved by the House on Nov. 7 are likely to prove so costly to hospitals and nursing homes that they could stop taking Medicare altogether. Congress could intervene to avoid such an outcome, but "so doing would likely result in significantly smaller actual savings" than is currently projected, according to the analysis by the chief actuary for the agency that administers Medicare and Medicaid. That would wipe out a big chunk of the financing for the health-care reform package, which is projected to cost $1.05 trillion over the next decade. More generally, the report questions whether the country's network of doctors and hospitals would be able to cope with the effects of a reform package expected to add more than 30 million people to the ranks of the insured, many of them through Medicaid, the public health program for the poor. In the face of greatly increased demand for services, providers are likely to charge higher fees or take patients with better-paying private insurance over Medicaid recipients, "exacerbating existing access problems" in that program, according to the report from Richard S. Foster of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
House health bill includes Medicaid relief for states
Expansion of coverage would come with $23.5 billion in aid
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/15/AR2009111502618.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: Wedged in the House health-care bill is $23.5 billion that looks a lot more like new federal stimulus spending than anything to do with national health-care reform. The barely debated pot of money would allow Congress to continue pumping billions in new short-term aid to states to cover Medicaid costs that have increased with rising unemployment in the past year. The potential impact of the new spending became clear last week when giddy state budget officials in capitals from Annapolis to Sacramento penciled in the revenue, hoping that if health-care legislation survives in the Senate, the states' bonus might squeak through. Medicaid relief for states comprised one of the biggest pieces of February's $787 billion federal stimulus package, but that funding will run out next year, halfway through states' next round of spending plans.
The Looming Total Joint Replacement Surgeon Shortage
http://blog.orthopaediclist.com/?p=169
Healthcare Reform = Canadian Waiting Lists. You could be in pain for two years. Excerpt: The difference between a good total joint and a great total joint replacement is initially small, but over time the difference can be significant. A good total joint might last 10 years, but a great total joint could last 30 years. Being a total joint surgeon is a profession with little or no room for error with every single hand movement. The procedures are demanding and the patient population is complex. Now, imagine this: The number of total joint replacement surgeons in the United States is cut by over 40 percent. The patient’s option for a surgeon is limited due to demographic or insurance restrictions. This becomes a significant problem if the joint replacement fails because the subsequent surgery is much more complicated; therefore, fewer surgeons are willing to manage the revision.
Groups Seek Probe of Lobbying by SEIU’s Stern
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/11/16/groups-seek-probe-of-lobbying-by-seius-stern/
Excerpt: When union leader Andy Stern turned up as the most frequent visitor to the White House during the first nine months of this year, critics raised questions about whether his activities constitute lobbying. Today, Americans for Tax Reform and the Alliance for Worker Freedom took action, sending a letter to acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Channing D. Phillips, requesting an investigation into “the potentially illegal lobbying activities” of Stern, who heads the Service Employees International Union. The letter from Grover Norquist, president of ATR, which advocates for lower taxes, and Brian Johnson, executive director of the Alliance for Worker Freedom, which opposes collective bargaining, cited White House visitor logs through September, that showed Stern met with officials or attended events at the executive mansion 22 times. It also cited Stern’s own tweets about his meetings with senators and other officials, including one from May 18: “At Springsteen concert. Lots of fundraisers in box. Good free choice meetings with key Senators today.”
China questions costs of U.S. healthcare reform
http://commonamericanjournal.com/?p=6324
Excerpt: Guess what? It turns out the Chinese are kind of curious about how President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform plans would impact America’s huge fiscal deficit. Government officials are using his Asian trip as an opportunity to ask the White House questions. Detailed questions. Boilerplate assurances that America won’t default on its debt or inflate the shortfall away are apparently not cutting it. Nor should they, when one owns nearly $2 trillion in assets denominated in the currency of a country about to double its national debt over the next decade. Nothing happening in Washington today should give Beijing any comfort or confidence about what may happen tomorrow. Healthcare reform was originally promoted as a way to “bend the curve” on escalating entitlement costs, the major part of which is financing Medicare and Medicaid. That is looking more and more like an overpromised deliverable. For instance, a new study from the U.S. government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finds that the healthcare reform bill recently passed in the House of Representatives would increase healthcare spending to 21.3 percent of GDP by 2019 compared with 20.8 percent under current law. That’s bending the curve the wrong way. The study also questions the “long-term viability” of the $500 billion in Medicare cuts meant to help pay for expanded insurance coverage.
Iran Creates Special Unit to Go After Opposition on Internet
http://commonamericanjournal.com/?p=6320
Excerpt: TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has formed a special unit to monitor Web sites and fight Internet crimes, in a clear attack on an opposition that relies almost exclusively on online means to broadcast its message, local newspapers reported Saturday. Police Col. Mehrdad Omidi, who heads the Internet crime unit, said the committee will fight “insults and the spreading of lies,” terms widely used by the judiciary to describe opposition activities. “Given the spread of Internet use, police must confront crimes taking place in the Web atmosphere,” he said. “A special committee has been set up to monitor the Internet and deal with crimes … such as fraud, … insults and the spreading of lies.” (If BO hears about this, my blog is toast!)
A Jacksonian Republican sweep?
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/A-Jacksonian-Republican-sweep-70222192.html
Excerpt: Sometimes a poll result slaps you in the face. That was the case for me when I saw Public Policy Polling’s results in the 2nd congressional district of Arkansas. PPP has the incumbent, Democrat Vic Snyder, leading three unknown Republicans (two-thirds to three-quarters of respondents could not describe their feelings toward them) by margins of 44%-43%, 44%-42% and 45%-42%. No, it doesn’t matter which Republican got the best score. The news here is that a seven-term Democratic incumbent, an intelligent man (he has earned an M.D.) with no disqualifying personal characteristics or accusations of scandal (so far as I know) is running significantly below 50% and is essentially tied with three unknown Republicans.
Experts say ‘green’ economy won’t save New England
http://commonamericanjournal.com/?p=6318
Excerpt: BOSTON — Green technology may help drive an economic recovery in New England but the fledgling industry will not be a major engine of growth for the region in the foreseeable future, economists said at a recent conference. The sobering assessment came during the New England Economic Partnership’s fall conference, which was held last week in Boston and focused on so-called “green-collar jobs” and whether their creation will help pull Rhode Island and its neighbors out of recession. President Obama has pushed renewable power, energy efficiency and the like as potential growth industries for the country. His administration has steered billions of dollars in stimulus funds to the creation of jobs in green businesses. Likewise, in Rhode Island, Governor Carcieri has thrown support behind two offshore wind farms, touting their potential to bring high-paying jobs to the state in the manufacturing, assembly and installation of wind turbines. Speakers at the conference last Tuesday, however, said that although the sector will generate jobs, it could take years before it has a large impact on the economy as a whole.
BO: Al Qaeda Terrorists Are “Prisoners of War”
http://commonamericanjournal.com/?p=6296
Excerpt: [W]hen this process is complete, there may be a number of people who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes, in some cases because evidence may be tainted, but who nonetheless pose a threat to the security of the United States. Examples of that threat include people who’ve received extensive explosives training at al Qaeda training camps, or commanded Taliban troops in battle, or expressed their allegiance to Osama bin Laden, or otherwise made it clear that they want to kill Americans. These are people who, in effect, remain at war with the United States. Let me repeat: I am not going to release individuals who endanger the American people. Al Qaeda terrorists and their affiliates are at war with the United States, and those that we capture — like other prisoners of war — must be prevented from attacking us again. (Why are we trying POWs in civilian courts? Did we try the tens of thousands of Nazis we captured in WWII? Of course, he also said Afghanistan was a war of necessity. That was then, this is now.)
In Obama's China trip, a stark contrast with the past
The U.S. tone toward Beijing is now much more conciliatory
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/17/AR2009111704225.html?wpisrc=newsletter
BO never met a socialist dictator he didn’t love. You down play human rights, give them anything they want, get squat in return—except the news they are building a fifth generation fighter plane you cancelled-- and bow deeply (figuratively), and relations are high. Surprise. Excerpt: BEIJING -- President Obama has emerged from his first trip to China with no big breakthroughs on important issues, such as Iran's nuclear program or China's currency. Yet after two days of talks with the United States' biggest creditor, the administration asserted that relations between the two countries are at "at an all-time high." … If there was any significant change during this trip, in fact, it was in the United States' newly conciliatory and sometimes laudatory tone.
Why has the Bush administration stopped fighting Beijing's human rights abuses? http://www.slate.com/id/2081765/
The Left felt differently if they thought Bush wasn’t strong enough with China!
Bush to denounce China's human rights' violations
http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=910e2f69-1b91-4197-9708-4bd85274674e
Even though Bush was a much stronger defender of Human Rights than Obama.
Reid 'optimistic' about getting 60 votes on health bill
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/17/AR2009111703476.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid scrambled Tuesday to lock down votes behind a health-care bill that he may present as early as Wednesday. The Nevada Democrat would not confirm that he had received commitments from all 60 members of his caucus to overcome GOP procedural objections and bring the bill to the Senate floor, saying only, "I feel cautiously optimistic that we can do that. I think we're together as a caucus." The leader was more outspoken in describing his measure, boasting to reporters: "Of all the bills we've seen, it'll be the best: saves more money, is more protective of Medicare, is a bill that's good for the American people."
Changes sought after 2nd trade show leaves McCormick Place http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-wed-plastics-show-nov18,0,4031278.story
Union rules and wages drive business out of Blagobamaville. Union workers sit home, boiling “Proud to be Union” bumper stickers to make soup.
Obama admits Guantanamo won't close by Jan. deadline
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/18/AR2009111800571.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
Another BO campaign promise meets reality. But the public votes for the candidate who makes the most impossible-to-keep promises. Disaster follows.
Questionable government payments on rise, administration says http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/11/questionable-government-paymen.html?wprss=44
Excerpt: The federal government made $98 billion in questionable payments to contractors and individuals last year, the Obama administration said Tuesday, a sharp increase from the previous year when the government improperly paid out an estimated $72 billion. (Who, other than the crooks, would not wish BO well in fighting this. Why is government more susceptible to fraud? Personally, I think quick trials and firing squads would go a long way towards reducing the problem.)
Morning Fix: The sticky wicket of Afghanistan
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/morning-fix/morning-fix-19.html?wprss=thefix
The Fix always has good short political news. But in this case, must we always discuss Afghanistan in terms of the best political answer? What about the best moral answer? What happens to Afghani women when we pull out? Excerpt: What these numbers make clear is that there is no right answer from a political perspective for Obama when it comes to Afghanistan -- just a series of choices that range from bad to worse. No matter what Obama chooses then -- and a decision on troop levels is expected as soon as next week -- he will have to sell it to the American people, a high-stakes political game as the calendar turns from 2009 to 2010.
Also from The Fix (item #4)
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/morning-fix/morning-fix-19.html?wprss=thefix
Why liberals control the agenda in Congress, and are likely to continue to do so. Excerpt: Buried deep in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national survey are eye-opening numbers about the commitment to ideological purity within the two parties. Asked whether they would rather see a Democrat nominated who disagreed with them on many issues but had a good chance of winning or a candidate who agreed with them on most issues but had a poor chance of winning, 58 percent of Democrats chose the former option while 38 percent took the latter. Forty three percent of Republicans said they would prefer a candidate who could win while 53 percent said they would rather a candidate who they agreed with ideologically no matter his or her electoral chances.
The most important number in politics today
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/most-important-number/the-most-important-number-in-p-67.html?wprss=thefix
Excerpt: 1 That's the number of issue areas where a majority of political independents approve of the job President Barack Obama is doing, according to a new Washington Post/ABC News national survey. Only on international affairs does Obama get majority support with 57 percent of independents offering approval for the job he is doing. The rest of Obama's approval scores among independents on the seven issues tested in the poll range from fair to borderline poor. Forty six percent approve of his handling of "the threat of terrorism" while 45 percent said he has done a good job on the economy. Obama's job approval ratings are weaker among independents when it comes to health care (41 percent), Afghanistan (39 percent) and the budget deficit (37 percent).
Mr. President, Do Not Let Obama's Dream Die in Your Hands.
http://www.consciencefoundation.org/
Too late. President Wobbly caved.
A Minority View: Excused Horrors http://townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams/2009/11/18/a_minority_view_excused_horrors
Excerpt: Alan Kors, University of Pennsylvania history professor, gave the evening's keynote address. What he revealed about the dereliction and character weakness of academics, intellectuals, media elites and politicians is by no means complimentary, but worse than that, dangerous. Professor Kors said that over the years, he has frequently asked students how many deaths were caused by Joseph Stalin and Mao Tsetung and their successors. Routinely, they gave numbers in the thousands. Kors says that's equivalent to saying the Nazis are responsible for the deaths of just a few hundred Jews. But here's the record: Nazis were responsible for the deaths of 20 million of their own people and those in nations they conquered. Between 1917 and 1983, Stalin and his successors murdered, or were otherwise responsible for the deaths of, 62 million of their own people. Between 1949 and 1987, Mao Tsetung and his successors were responsible for the deaths of 76 million Chinese.
Health 'Reform' Gets a Failing Grade http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704431804574539581994054014.html
Excerpt: As the dean of Harvard Medical School I am frequently asked to comment on the health-reform debate. I'd give it a failing grade. Instead of forthrightly dealing with the fundamental problems, discussion is dominated by rival factions struggling to enact or defeat President Barack Obama's agenda. The rhetoric on both sides is exaggerated and often deceptive. Those of us for whom the central issue is health—not politics—have been left in the lurch. And as controversy heads toward a conclusion in Washington, it appears that the people who favor the legislation are engaged in collective denial. Our health-care system suffers from problems of cost, access and quality, and needs major reform. Tax policy drives employment-based insurance; this begets overinsurance and drives costs upward while creating inequities for the unemployed and self-employed. A regulatory morass limits innovation. And deep flaws in Medicare and Medicaid drive spending without optimizing care.
Where Are the Doctors to Implement ObamaCare?
A University of California chancellor warns that America could soon look like Massachusetts.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704431804574539901625102682.html
Excerpt: Health care reform will fail to achieve its promise of affordable access to medical care unless the nation's physician workforce is substantially expanded to meet the demand that newly insured patients will place on an already over-burdened system. A comprehensive strategy for growing the physician workforce – as well as other allied health professionals such as nurses and physicians' assistants – should be developed and supported with a federal investment at the same time health insurance is expanded to cover millions of additional people. Without this, gaining access to prompt medical care for all patients will become even more difficult. There will be longer wait times for appointments, less face time with a physician and, in all likelihood, delayed diagnoses leading to more expensive treatment and increased risk of complications. One need only look at the experience of Massachusetts, where the adoption of universal health coverage has intensified the physician shortage.
The Fake Jobs of Obama’s Failed Stimulus
http://blog.heritage.org/2009/11/17/morning-bell-the-fake-jobs-of-obamas-failed-stimulus/
Not that they lie, but that they are so clumsy about it! Excerpt: Forget everything bad you’ve ever heard about President Barack Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus. Combing through the data on the $18 million Recovery.gov website, you’ll find tons of Obama stimulus success stories from across the country. In Minnesota’s 57th Congressional District, 35 jobs have been saved or created using $404,340 in stimulus funds. In New Mexico’s 22nd Congressional District, 25 jobs have been saved or created using $61,000 in stimulus cash. And in Arizona’s fighting 15th Congressional District, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. The it-would-be-funny-if-it-weren’t-our-tax-dollars-at-stake punch line here is that none of the above Congressional Districts actually exist. Yet those jobs “created or saved” claims still sit on the Obama administration’s official “transparency and accountability” website.
Federal Term Limits: DeMint Is Not Deterred http://townhall.com/columnists/JillianBandes/2009/11/18/federal_term_limits_demint_is_not_deterred
Excerpt: Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-S.C.) is resurrecting the debate about federal term limits with a new push to limit service by Members of the House and Senate to a maximum of twelve years. The main reason he is renewing efforts on this front is to curb the growth of government. Religion of Peace www.thereligionofpeace.com Track the daily violence.
Editorial: Lawsuits take toll on cities, counties
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/million-219348-study-cities.html
Lawsuits continue to destroy the country.
Sex infections still growing in U.S., says CDC http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5AF14A20091116
Excerpt: Overall, CDC estimates that 19 million new sexually transmitted infections occur each year, almost half among 15- to 24-year-olds. (To combat this, I’ve stopped dating 15-to 24-year-olds. Just doing my part.)
Clinton in Afghanistan
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-as-afghanistan,0,4315489.story
Wonder if she was under fire again?
China applies muzzle to Obama
speech http://commonamericanjournal.com/?p=6358
Who knew Fox News was in China?
Survey finds only 43 percent would re-elect Obama now http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Survey-finds-only-43-percent-would-re-elect-Obama-now-70307497.html
Excerpt: Only 43 percent of voters surveyed by the Zogby/O'Leary Poll would vote for President Obama less than a year after he was elected, or about the same level of support President Clinton won in 1992 in a three-way race with the first President Bush and former EDS executive and national political gadfly Ross Perot. Perhaps even more worrisome for the president is that only 37 percent of independents queried in the survey said they would support Obama. That figure appears to be consistent with exit polling following the Virginia and New Jersey governorship races which indicated a seismic shift among independents away from Obama and to Republican candidates Bob McDonnell and Chris Christie. And on the question of trust, Obama also fell far short of his performance during the 2008 presidential race. A year later, Zogby/O'Leary find that 42 percent of voters say they do not trust the Obama White House “at all” to gain passage in Congress of legislation that will create new jobs in 2010, and another 11 percent say they don't have much trust that the president can succeed on that score
Lieberman may subpoena officials over shooting spree at Fort Hood http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/68395-lieberman-may-subpoena-government-officials-over-fort-hood-shooting
My favorite liberal Democrat keeps the heat on.
All Journalists Volunteering to Be Beheaded for Obama, Raise Your Hands! http://newsrealblog.com/2009/11/17/all-journalists-volunteering-to-be-beheaded-for-obama-raise-your-hands/
Excerpt: On February 1, 2002, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of September 11, cried “allahu akbar,” seized a young American journalist by the hair, and slit his throat. The writer’s name was Daniel “Danny” Pearl, the South Asia Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal. This brilliant reporter and fiercely loved husband, soon to be a father for the first time, was beheaded, cut into ten pieces and flung into a shallow grave because he was an American journalist, just like you. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s religious and political convictions are identical to those publically professed by Terrorist Nidal Hasan. Both believed themselves justified by their radical Islamic faith. Many of you spent the past ten days weaving a veil of deception to conceal the true face of Hasan. Instead of exposing a brother-in-arms of Danny’s butcher, you fabricated a PTSD victim in need of Prozac and Oprah. This is perhaps a good time for you to quietly watch the video of Danny’s beheading. It is time to consider if you want to use your talents to legitimize those who think that severing the heads of journalists is a duty of faith. (The silver lining is the President Wobbly’s policies are likely to result in fewer prisoners and more terrorist corpses after an engagement.)
Barack Obama: Afghanistan leaks firing offense http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29659.html
They know how to deal with this in Chicago.
Obama’s Friends
http://www.newzeal.blogspot.com/
Interesting NZ site.
For your Christmas Card List
ACLU, 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10004
Quotes from The Patriot Post (www.patriotpost.us/subscribe/
"The malice of the wicked is reinforced by the weakness of the virtuous" --British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
"We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst." --Irish novelist C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
"If you are afraid to speak against tyranny, then you are already a slave." --author John "Birdman" Bryant (1943-2009)
"While in China, President Obama gave a speech. He said that 'being open to criticism makes democracy stronger and makes me a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions I don't want to hear.' Then he went back to trashing Fox News." --comedian Jay Leno.
But does he welcome criticism?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2TvtLMLOic&feature=player_embedded
Dirty Bomb Attack Thursday November 19 5P (assume EST?) http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/naked-science/4252/Videos/07427_00#tab-Overview#ixzz0XA42pAiX
Coming soon to a city near you. Excerpt: By concentrating on these key story lines and weaving back and forth between them Dirty Bomb Attack paints an accurate and often gripping picture of the aftermath of a radiological attack and gives viewers useful information in the event that we ever find ourselves faced with this kind of disaster in the future.
Chosin
http://www.frozenchosin.com/
Looking forward to this movie.
Millions may have to repay part of stimulus tax credit Workers who don't withhold enough could owe Uncle Sam
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/16/AR2009111603744.html?wpisrc=newsletterf
From your efficient government that wants to run health care, 1/6th of the economy.
Report: Bill would reduce senior care Medicare cuts approved by House may affect access to providers
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/14/AR2009111402597.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Scaremongering by the CMS? Excerpt: A plan to slash more than $500 billion from future Medicare spending -- one of the biggest sources of funding for President Obama's proposed overhaul of the nation's health-care system -- would sharply reduce benefits for some senior citizens and could jeopardize access to care for millions of others, according to a government evaluation released Saturday. The report, requested by House Republicans, found that Medicare cuts contained in the health package approved by the House on Nov. 7 are likely to prove so costly to hospitals and nursing homes that they could stop taking Medicare altogether. Congress could intervene to avoid such an outcome, but "so doing would likely result in significantly smaller actual savings" than is currently projected, according to the analysis by the chief actuary for the agency that administers Medicare and Medicaid. That would wipe out a big chunk of the financing for the health-care reform package, which is projected to cost $1.05 trillion over the next decade. More generally, the report questions whether the country's network of doctors and hospitals would be able to cope with the effects of a reform package expected to add more than 30 million people to the ranks of the insured, many of them through Medicaid, the public health program for the poor. In the face of greatly increased demand for services, providers are likely to charge higher fees or take patients with better-paying private insurance over Medicaid recipients, "exacerbating existing access problems" in that program, according to the report from Richard S. Foster of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
House health bill includes Medicaid relief for states
Expansion of coverage would come with $23.5 billion in aid
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/15/AR2009111502618.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: Wedged in the House health-care bill is $23.5 billion that looks a lot more like new federal stimulus spending than anything to do with national health-care reform. The barely debated pot of money would allow Congress to continue pumping billions in new short-term aid to states to cover Medicaid costs that have increased with rising unemployment in the past year. The potential impact of the new spending became clear last week when giddy state budget officials in capitals from Annapolis to Sacramento penciled in the revenue, hoping that if health-care legislation survives in the Senate, the states' bonus might squeak through. Medicaid relief for states comprised one of the biggest pieces of February's $787 billion federal stimulus package, but that funding will run out next year, halfway through states' next round of spending plans.
The Looming Total Joint Replacement Surgeon Shortage
http://blog.orthopaediclist.com/?p=169
Healthcare Reform = Canadian Waiting Lists. You could be in pain for two years. Excerpt: The difference between a good total joint and a great total joint replacement is initially small, but over time the difference can be significant. A good total joint might last 10 years, but a great total joint could last 30 years. Being a total joint surgeon is a profession with little or no room for error with every single hand movement. The procedures are demanding and the patient population is complex. Now, imagine this: The number of total joint replacement surgeons in the United States is cut by over 40 percent. The patient’s option for a surgeon is limited due to demographic or insurance restrictions. This becomes a significant problem if the joint replacement fails because the subsequent surgery is much more complicated; therefore, fewer surgeons are willing to manage the revision.
Groups Seek Probe of Lobbying by SEIU’s Stern
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/11/16/groups-seek-probe-of-lobbying-by-seius-stern/
Excerpt: When union leader Andy Stern turned up as the most frequent visitor to the White House during the first nine months of this year, critics raised questions about whether his activities constitute lobbying. Today, Americans for Tax Reform and the Alliance for Worker Freedom took action, sending a letter to acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Channing D. Phillips, requesting an investigation into “the potentially illegal lobbying activities” of Stern, who heads the Service Employees International Union. The letter from Grover Norquist, president of ATR, which advocates for lower taxes, and Brian Johnson, executive director of the Alliance for Worker Freedom, which opposes collective bargaining, cited White House visitor logs through September, that showed Stern met with officials or attended events at the executive mansion 22 times. It also cited Stern’s own tweets about his meetings with senators and other officials, including one from May 18: “At Springsteen concert. Lots of fundraisers in box. Good free choice meetings with key Senators today.”
China questions costs of U.S. healthcare reform
http://commonamericanjournal.com/?p=6324
Excerpt: Guess what? It turns out the Chinese are kind of curious about how President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform plans would impact America’s huge fiscal deficit. Government officials are using his Asian trip as an opportunity to ask the White House questions. Detailed questions. Boilerplate assurances that America won’t default on its debt or inflate the shortfall away are apparently not cutting it. Nor should they, when one owns nearly $2 trillion in assets denominated in the currency of a country about to double its national debt over the next decade. Nothing happening in Washington today should give Beijing any comfort or confidence about what may happen tomorrow. Healthcare reform was originally promoted as a way to “bend the curve” on escalating entitlement costs, the major part of which is financing Medicare and Medicaid. That is looking more and more like an overpromised deliverable. For instance, a new study from the U.S. government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finds that the healthcare reform bill recently passed in the House of Representatives would increase healthcare spending to 21.3 percent of GDP by 2019 compared with 20.8 percent under current law. That’s bending the curve the wrong way. The study also questions the “long-term viability” of the $500 billion in Medicare cuts meant to help pay for expanded insurance coverage.
Iran Creates Special Unit to Go After Opposition on Internet
http://commonamericanjournal.com/?p=6320
Excerpt: TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has formed a special unit to monitor Web sites and fight Internet crimes, in a clear attack on an opposition that relies almost exclusively on online means to broadcast its message, local newspapers reported Saturday. Police Col. Mehrdad Omidi, who heads the Internet crime unit, said the committee will fight “insults and the spreading of lies,” terms widely used by the judiciary to describe opposition activities. “Given the spread of Internet use, police must confront crimes taking place in the Web atmosphere,” he said. “A special committee has been set up to monitor the Internet and deal with crimes … such as fraud, … insults and the spreading of lies.” (If BO hears about this, my blog is toast!)
A Jacksonian Republican sweep?
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/A-Jacksonian-Republican-sweep-70222192.html
Excerpt: Sometimes a poll result slaps you in the face. That was the case for me when I saw Public Policy Polling’s results in the 2nd congressional district of Arkansas. PPP has the incumbent, Democrat Vic Snyder, leading three unknown Republicans (two-thirds to three-quarters of respondents could not describe their feelings toward them) by margins of 44%-43%, 44%-42% and 45%-42%. No, it doesn’t matter which Republican got the best score. The news here is that a seven-term Democratic incumbent, an intelligent man (he has earned an M.D.) with no disqualifying personal characteristics or accusations of scandal (so far as I know) is running significantly below 50% and is essentially tied with three unknown Republicans.
Experts say ‘green’ economy won’t save New England
http://commonamericanjournal.com/?p=6318
Excerpt: BOSTON — Green technology may help drive an economic recovery in New England but the fledgling industry will not be a major engine of growth for the region in the foreseeable future, economists said at a recent conference. The sobering assessment came during the New England Economic Partnership’s fall conference, which was held last week in Boston and focused on so-called “green-collar jobs” and whether their creation will help pull Rhode Island and its neighbors out of recession. President Obama has pushed renewable power, energy efficiency and the like as potential growth industries for the country. His administration has steered billions of dollars in stimulus funds to the creation of jobs in green businesses. Likewise, in Rhode Island, Governor Carcieri has thrown support behind two offshore wind farms, touting their potential to bring high-paying jobs to the state in the manufacturing, assembly and installation of wind turbines. Speakers at the conference last Tuesday, however, said that although the sector will generate jobs, it could take years before it has a large impact on the economy as a whole.
BO: Al Qaeda Terrorists Are “Prisoners of War”
http://commonamericanjournal.com/?p=6296
Excerpt: [W]hen this process is complete, there may be a number of people who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes, in some cases because evidence may be tainted, but who nonetheless pose a threat to the security of the United States. Examples of that threat include people who’ve received extensive explosives training at al Qaeda training camps, or commanded Taliban troops in battle, or expressed their allegiance to Osama bin Laden, or otherwise made it clear that they want to kill Americans. These are people who, in effect, remain at war with the United States. Let me repeat: I am not going to release individuals who endanger the American people. Al Qaeda terrorists and their affiliates are at war with the United States, and those that we capture — like other prisoners of war — must be prevented from attacking us again. (Why are we trying POWs in civilian courts? Did we try the tens of thousands of Nazis we captured in WWII? Of course, he also said Afghanistan was a war of necessity. That was then, this is now.)
In Obama's China trip, a stark contrast with the past
The U.S. tone toward Beijing is now much more conciliatory
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/17/AR2009111704225.html?wpisrc=newsletter
BO never met a socialist dictator he didn’t love. You down play human rights, give them anything they want, get squat in return—except the news they are building a fifth generation fighter plane you cancelled-- and bow deeply (figuratively), and relations are high. Surprise. Excerpt: BEIJING -- President Obama has emerged from his first trip to China with no big breakthroughs on important issues, such as Iran's nuclear program or China's currency. Yet after two days of talks with the United States' biggest creditor, the administration asserted that relations between the two countries are at "at an all-time high." … If there was any significant change during this trip, in fact, it was in the United States' newly conciliatory and sometimes laudatory tone.
Why has the Bush administration stopped fighting Beijing's human rights abuses? http://www.slate.com/id/2081765/
The Left felt differently if they thought Bush wasn’t strong enough with China!
Bush to denounce China's human rights' violations
http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=910e2f69-1b91-4197-9708-4bd85274674e
Even though Bush was a much stronger defender of Human Rights than Obama.
Reid 'optimistic' about getting 60 votes on health bill
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/17/AR2009111703476.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid scrambled Tuesday to lock down votes behind a health-care bill that he may present as early as Wednesday. The Nevada Democrat would not confirm that he had received commitments from all 60 members of his caucus to overcome GOP procedural objections and bring the bill to the Senate floor, saying only, "I feel cautiously optimistic that we can do that. I think we're together as a caucus." The leader was more outspoken in describing his measure, boasting to reporters: "Of all the bills we've seen, it'll be the best: saves more money, is more protective of Medicare, is a bill that's good for the American people."
Changes sought after 2nd trade show leaves McCormick Place http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-wed-plastics-show-nov18,0,4031278.story
Union rules and wages drive business out of Blagobamaville. Union workers sit home, boiling “Proud to be Union” bumper stickers to make soup.
Obama admits Guantanamo won't close by Jan. deadline
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/18/AR2009111800571.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
Another BO campaign promise meets reality. But the public votes for the candidate who makes the most impossible-to-keep promises. Disaster follows.
Questionable government payments on rise, administration says http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/11/questionable-government-paymen.html?wprss=44
Excerpt: The federal government made $98 billion in questionable payments to contractors and individuals last year, the Obama administration said Tuesday, a sharp increase from the previous year when the government improperly paid out an estimated $72 billion. (Who, other than the crooks, would not wish BO well in fighting this. Why is government more susceptible to fraud? Personally, I think quick trials and firing squads would go a long way towards reducing the problem.)
Morning Fix: The sticky wicket of Afghanistan
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/morning-fix/morning-fix-19.html?wprss=thefix
The Fix always has good short political news. But in this case, must we always discuss Afghanistan in terms of the best political answer? What about the best moral answer? What happens to Afghani women when we pull out? Excerpt: What these numbers make clear is that there is no right answer from a political perspective for Obama when it comes to Afghanistan -- just a series of choices that range from bad to worse. No matter what Obama chooses then -- and a decision on troop levels is expected as soon as next week -- he will have to sell it to the American people, a high-stakes political game as the calendar turns from 2009 to 2010.
Also from The Fix (item #4)
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/morning-fix/morning-fix-19.html?wprss=thefix
Why liberals control the agenda in Congress, and are likely to continue to do so. Excerpt: Buried deep in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national survey are eye-opening numbers about the commitment to ideological purity within the two parties. Asked whether they would rather see a Democrat nominated who disagreed with them on many issues but had a good chance of winning or a candidate who agreed with them on most issues but had a poor chance of winning, 58 percent of Democrats chose the former option while 38 percent took the latter. Forty three percent of Republicans said they would prefer a candidate who could win while 53 percent said they would rather a candidate who they agreed with ideologically no matter his or her electoral chances.
The most important number in politics today
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/most-important-number/the-most-important-number-in-p-67.html?wprss=thefix
Excerpt: 1 That's the number of issue areas where a majority of political independents approve of the job President Barack Obama is doing, according to a new Washington Post/ABC News national survey. Only on international affairs does Obama get majority support with 57 percent of independents offering approval for the job he is doing. The rest of Obama's approval scores among independents on the seven issues tested in the poll range from fair to borderline poor. Forty six percent approve of his handling of "the threat of terrorism" while 45 percent said he has done a good job on the economy. Obama's job approval ratings are weaker among independents when it comes to health care (41 percent), Afghanistan (39 percent) and the budget deficit (37 percent).
Mr. President, Do Not Let Obama's Dream Die in Your Hands.
http://www.consciencefoundation.org/
Too late. President Wobbly caved.
A Minority View: Excused Horrors http://townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams/2009/11/18/a_minority_view_excused_horrors
Excerpt: Alan Kors, University of Pennsylvania history professor, gave the evening's keynote address. What he revealed about the dereliction and character weakness of academics, intellectuals, media elites and politicians is by no means complimentary, but worse than that, dangerous. Professor Kors said that over the years, he has frequently asked students how many deaths were caused by Joseph Stalin and Mao Tsetung and their successors. Routinely, they gave numbers in the thousands. Kors says that's equivalent to saying the Nazis are responsible for the deaths of just a few hundred Jews. But here's the record: Nazis were responsible for the deaths of 20 million of their own people and those in nations they conquered. Between 1917 and 1983, Stalin and his successors murdered, or were otherwise responsible for the deaths of, 62 million of their own people. Between 1949 and 1987, Mao Tsetung and his successors were responsible for the deaths of 76 million Chinese.
Health 'Reform' Gets a Failing Grade http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704431804574539581994054014.html
Excerpt: As the dean of Harvard Medical School I am frequently asked to comment on the health-reform debate. I'd give it a failing grade. Instead of forthrightly dealing with the fundamental problems, discussion is dominated by rival factions struggling to enact or defeat President Barack Obama's agenda. The rhetoric on both sides is exaggerated and often deceptive. Those of us for whom the central issue is health—not politics—have been left in the lurch. And as controversy heads toward a conclusion in Washington, it appears that the people who favor the legislation are engaged in collective denial. Our health-care system suffers from problems of cost, access and quality, and needs major reform. Tax policy drives employment-based insurance; this begets overinsurance and drives costs upward while creating inequities for the unemployed and self-employed. A regulatory morass limits innovation. And deep flaws in Medicare and Medicaid drive spending without optimizing care.
Where Are the Doctors to Implement ObamaCare?
A University of California chancellor warns that America could soon look like Massachusetts.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704431804574539901625102682.html
Excerpt: Health care reform will fail to achieve its promise of affordable access to medical care unless the nation's physician workforce is substantially expanded to meet the demand that newly insured patients will place on an already over-burdened system. A comprehensive strategy for growing the physician workforce – as well as other allied health professionals such as nurses and physicians' assistants – should be developed and supported with a federal investment at the same time health insurance is expanded to cover millions of additional people. Without this, gaining access to prompt medical care for all patients will become even more difficult. There will be longer wait times for appointments, less face time with a physician and, in all likelihood, delayed diagnoses leading to more expensive treatment and increased risk of complications. One need only look at the experience of Massachusetts, where the adoption of universal health coverage has intensified the physician shortage.
The Fake Jobs of Obama’s Failed Stimulus
http://blog.heritage.org/2009/11/17/morning-bell-the-fake-jobs-of-obamas-failed-stimulus/
Not that they lie, but that they are so clumsy about it! Excerpt: Forget everything bad you’ve ever heard about President Barack Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus. Combing through the data on the $18 million Recovery.gov website, you’ll find tons of Obama stimulus success stories from across the country. In Minnesota’s 57th Congressional District, 35 jobs have been saved or created using $404,340 in stimulus funds. In New Mexico’s 22nd Congressional District, 25 jobs have been saved or created using $61,000 in stimulus cash. And in Arizona’s fighting 15th Congressional District, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. The it-would-be-funny-if-it-weren’t-our-tax-dollars-at-stake punch line here is that none of the above Congressional Districts actually exist. Yet those jobs “created or saved” claims still sit on the Obama administration’s official “transparency and accountability” website.
Federal Term Limits: DeMint Is Not Deterred http://townhall.com/columnists/JillianBandes/2009/11/18/federal_term_limits_demint_is_not_deterred
Excerpt: Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-S.C.) is resurrecting the debate about federal term limits with a new push to limit service by Members of the House and Senate to a maximum of twelve years. The main reason he is renewing efforts on this front is to curb the growth of government. Religion of Peace www.thereligionofpeace.com Track the daily violence.
Editorial: Lawsuits take toll on cities, counties
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/million-219348-study-cities.html
Lawsuits continue to destroy the country.
Sex infections still growing in U.S., says CDC http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5AF14A20091116
Excerpt: Overall, CDC estimates that 19 million new sexually transmitted infections occur each year, almost half among 15- to 24-year-olds. (To combat this, I’ve stopped dating 15-to 24-year-olds. Just doing my part.)
Clinton in Afghanistan
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-as-afghanistan,0,4315489.story
Wonder if she was under fire again?
China applies muzzle to Obama
speech http://commonamericanjournal.com/?p=6358
Who knew Fox News was in China?
Survey finds only 43 percent would re-elect Obama now http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Survey-finds-only-43-percent-would-re-elect-Obama-now-70307497.html
Excerpt: Only 43 percent of voters surveyed by the Zogby/O'Leary Poll would vote for President Obama less than a year after he was elected, or about the same level of support President Clinton won in 1992 in a three-way race with the first President Bush and former EDS executive and national political gadfly Ross Perot. Perhaps even more worrisome for the president is that only 37 percent of independents queried in the survey said they would support Obama. That figure appears to be consistent with exit polling following the Virginia and New Jersey governorship races which indicated a seismic shift among independents away from Obama and to Republican candidates Bob McDonnell and Chris Christie. And on the question of trust, Obama also fell far short of his performance during the 2008 presidential race. A year later, Zogby/O'Leary find that 42 percent of voters say they do not trust the Obama White House “at all” to gain passage in Congress of legislation that will create new jobs in 2010, and another 11 percent say they don't have much trust that the president can succeed on that score
Lieberman may subpoena officials over shooting spree at Fort Hood http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/68395-lieberman-may-subpoena-government-officials-over-fort-hood-shooting
My favorite liberal Democrat keeps the heat on.
All Journalists Volunteering to Be Beheaded for Obama, Raise Your Hands! http://newsrealblog.com/2009/11/17/all-journalists-volunteering-to-be-beheaded-for-obama-raise-your-hands/
Excerpt: On February 1, 2002, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of September 11, cried “allahu akbar,” seized a young American journalist by the hair, and slit his throat. The writer’s name was Daniel “Danny” Pearl, the South Asia Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal. This brilliant reporter and fiercely loved husband, soon to be a father for the first time, was beheaded, cut into ten pieces and flung into a shallow grave because he was an American journalist, just like you. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s religious and political convictions are identical to those publically professed by Terrorist Nidal Hasan. Both believed themselves justified by their radical Islamic faith. Many of you spent the past ten days weaving a veil of deception to conceal the true face of Hasan. Instead of exposing a brother-in-arms of Danny’s butcher, you fabricated a PTSD victim in need of Prozac and Oprah. This is perhaps a good time for you to quietly watch the video of Danny’s beheading. It is time to consider if you want to use your talents to legitimize those who think that severing the heads of journalists is a duty of faith. (The silver lining is the President Wobbly’s policies are likely to result in fewer prisoners and more terrorist corpses after an engagement.)
Barack Obama: Afghanistan leaks firing offense http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29659.html
They know how to deal with this in Chicago.
Obama’s Friends
http://www.newzeal.blogspot.com/
Interesting NZ site.
For your Christmas Card List
ACLU, 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10004
Quotes from The Patriot Post (www.patriotpost.us/subscribe/
"The malice of the wicked is reinforced by the weakness of the virtuous" --British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
"We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst." --Irish novelist C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
"If you are afraid to speak against tyranny, then you are already a slave." --author John "Birdman" Bryant (1943-2009)
"While in China, President Obama gave a speech. He said that 'being open to criticism makes democracy stronger and makes me a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions I don't want to hear.' Then he went back to trashing Fox News." --comedian Jay Leno.
But does he welcome criticism?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2TvtLMLOic&feature=player_embedded
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
From a two-war career Marine
I posted this response from a career Marine who served in Korea and tow tours in Vietnam, because I think it expresses the growing anger among those who served this country. As I told him, his feelings don't matter--he's not part of a voting block that can be kept in line with government programs that create poverty and is taught to play the victim card.
As for his comments about blacks and Hispanics, think what you like, but violence in those communities from black and Hispanic thugs kills more minorities than the KKK could have thought about, but doing anything forceful about it isn't PC, so minority folks suffer the most. But the left politicians and the leftstream media don't care much about dead black kids unless they can blame someone else and win political points. ~Bob
*****
This sad story all boils down to the fact of the idiots in Washington refusing to, "Call a spade a spade," as the old expression goes. If "they" are so concerned that they might hurt someone's feelings, what about your feelings and my feelings. My feelings are hurt daily because of the idiotic things those shit-for-brains in Washington do.
My feelings are hurt when our government won't shut down terrorist run mosques within the United States.
My feelings are hurt because our government won't secure our borders.
My feelings are hurt because our government appoints tax cheaters to high positions in government
My feelings are hurt because the imposter president won't provide his birth certificate.
My feelings are hurt because the government is trying to ruin health care for everyone.
My feelings are hurt because our government will not establish a definitive mission in the middle east.
My feelings are hurt because our government doesn't have the slightest idea concerning how to run this country.
I won't continue, however, you get the picture. So, if the majority of Americans feel as I do about all the above, and our feelings are hurt, why won't the government yield to our wishes?
Had this government allowed the military to handle cases like this Islamic Army Major presented for a long time, then these poor people at Ft. Hood would still be alive today. No, our famous government has to impose rules that disallow the military to do its duty and continue to allow misfits to remain on duty, all in the name of "politically correctness."
It is the same thing with "profiling." Since the huge majority of offenders of the law are Hispanic and black, why not place more emphases on controlling, or watching, the Hispanics and blacks?
The same applies to Muslim religious fanatics. Since all Muslims look alike, and Muslims are terrorizing various countries around the world, why not keep a close eye on Muslims? If the Muslims don't like that, let them clean up their own act and stop other Muslim from terrorizing others. If we had no reason to be alert for Hispanics, blacks and Muslim bad guys, they would not be scrutinized.
The end results is that our government ignores the will of the majority just so they won't "hurt the feelings" of the minorities. Personally, I think that policy is just so much crap!
It will be interesting to see how much our government "coddles" this Ft. Hood terrorist. After all, he is Muslim, and God knows, this government most certainly doesn't want to do anything that will hurt the feelings of the world's Muslims.
Thanks for sending, Dave. Take good care and stay well.
Ralph
As for his comments about blacks and Hispanics, think what you like, but violence in those communities from black and Hispanic thugs kills more minorities than the KKK could have thought about, but doing anything forceful about it isn't PC, so minority folks suffer the most. But the left politicians and the leftstream media don't care much about dead black kids unless they can blame someone else and win political points. ~Bob
*****
This sad story all boils down to the fact of the idiots in Washington refusing to, "Call a spade a spade," as the old expression goes. If "they" are so concerned that they might hurt someone's feelings, what about your feelings and my feelings. My feelings are hurt daily because of the idiotic things those shit-for-brains in Washington do.
My feelings are hurt when our government won't shut down terrorist run mosques within the United States.
My feelings are hurt because our government won't secure our borders.
My feelings are hurt because our government appoints tax cheaters to high positions in government
My feelings are hurt because the imposter president won't provide his birth certificate.
My feelings are hurt because the government is trying to ruin health care for everyone.
My feelings are hurt because our government will not establish a definitive mission in the middle east.
My feelings are hurt because our government doesn't have the slightest idea concerning how to run this country.
I won't continue, however, you get the picture. So, if the majority of Americans feel as I do about all the above, and our feelings are hurt, why won't the government yield to our wishes?
Had this government allowed the military to handle cases like this Islamic Army Major presented for a long time, then these poor people at Ft. Hood would still be alive today. No, our famous government has to impose rules that disallow the military to do its duty and continue to allow misfits to remain on duty, all in the name of "politically correctness."
It is the same thing with "profiling." Since the huge majority of offenders of the law are Hispanic and black, why not place more emphases on controlling, or watching, the Hispanics and blacks?
The same applies to Muslim religious fanatics. Since all Muslims look alike, and Muslims are terrorizing various countries around the world, why not keep a close eye on Muslims? If the Muslims don't like that, let them clean up their own act and stop other Muslim from terrorizing others. If we had no reason to be alert for Hispanics, blacks and Muslim bad guys, they would not be scrutinized.
The end results is that our government ignores the will of the majority just so they won't "hurt the feelings" of the minorities. Personally, I think that policy is just so much crap!
It will be interesting to see how much our government "coddles" this Ft. Hood terrorist. After all, he is Muslim, and God knows, this government most certainly doesn't want to do anything that will hurt the feelings of the world's Muslims.
Thanks for sending, Dave. Take good care and stay well.
Ralph
Political Digest November 18, 2009
PolI post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.
You win this time, MacArthur
http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2009/11/you-win-this-time-macarthur.html
But one day your President will bow to our Emperor!
When the Ta-Li-Ban Come Back
http://newsrealblog.com/2009/11/16/open-thread-63/
In David Horowitz’s NewsReal Blog
Obamacare: Buy now, pay later
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/15/AR2009111502212.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: There is an air of absurdity to what is mistakenly called "health-care reform." Everyone knows that the United States faces massive governmental budget deficits as far as calculators can project, driven heavily by an aging population and uncontrolled health costs. As we recover slowly from a devastating recession, it's widely agreed that, though deficits should not be cut abruptly (lest the economy resume its slump), a prudent society would embark on long-term policies to control health costs, reduce government spending and curb massive future deficits. The administration estimates these at $9 trillion from 2010 to 2019. The president and all his top economic advisers proclaim the same cautionary message. So what do they do? Just the opposite. Their far-reaching overhaul of the health-care system -- which Congress is halfway toward enacting -- would almost certainly make matters worse. It would create new, open-ended medical entitlements that threaten higher deficits and would do little to suppress surging health costs. The disconnect between what President Obama says and what he's doing is so glaring that most people could not abide it. The president, his advisers and allies have no trouble. But reconciling blatantly contradictory objectives requires them to engage in willful self-deception, public dishonesty, or both. The campaign to pass Obama's health-care plan has assumed a false, though understandable, cloak of moral superiority. It's understandable because almost everyone thinks that people in need of essential medical care should get it; ideally, everyone would have health insurance. The pursuit of these worthy goals can easily be projected as a high-minded exercise for the public good.
A Republican on every ballot
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/14/AR2009111402729.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: Little has changed at the headquarters for decades, which is precisely Riley's dilemma. The 37-year-old lawyer accepted the unpaid position of county party chairman in 2006 -- "maybe the worst job in the world," he says -- and this was the Republican Party he inherited: A volunteer database consisting of 11 people. An antiquated Web site. A monthly newsletter that was published only sporadically. A fading community of conservatives who refused to run for local office because they suspected, Riley says, "that they would just get their teeth kicked in." During a depressing 2008 election cycle for Republicans, Riley oversaw the party's darkest corner. His state, solidly Republican for 44 years, shifted more than any other and voted for Barack Obama. His county, which twice backed George W. Bush, also swung for Obama -- by a resounding 17 percent.
Anti-Castro fundraisers make dramatic shift to Democrats, new report says http://thehill.com//homenews/campaign/67843-report-anti-castro-funds-shift-to-democrats
Excerpt: Supporters of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba have made more than $10 million in campaign contributions since the 2004 election cycle. Pro-embargo donors are also continuing to funnel more and more funds to Democrats, according to a report released Monday by Public Campaign, a watchdog group that supports public financing of election campaigns. It has been clear that the groups have been targeting Democrats since 2006, when that party took control of the House and Senate, but the Public Campaign report illustrates the degree to which the donations have shifted.
For the Dems, What a Difference a Year Makes
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/for-the-dems-what-a-difference-a-year-makes/
Excerpt: The Democrats have more political power than they have had at any time since the presidency of LBJ. They control the presidency, have a filibuster-proof 60 seats in the Senate (counting independents Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders, who caucus with them), and have an 81-seat margin in the House. The Democrats have the power to advance their agenda without a single Republican vote in Congress. But in a remarkably rapid political freefall, the Democrats, but one year after their great triumph in November 2008, are now facing an angry, pessimistic electorate. There is a strong anti-incumbent mood, and the list of endangered Democratic-held seats in the House and Senate grows each week.
Obama is so great, he saved jobs in districts that don’t exist! http://www.thefoxnation.com/politics/2009/11/16/exclusive-jobs-saved-or-created-congressional-districts-dont-exist
From the folks who want to run healthcare. Excerpt: Here's a stimulus success story: In Arizona's 9th Congressional District, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. At least that's what the website set up by the Obama Administration to track the $787 billion stimulus says. There's one problem, though: There is no 9th Congressional District in Arizona; the state has only eight Congressional Districts.
Obama will push additional tax hikes next year http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/AP-buries-the-lede-Obama-will-push-additional-tax-hikes-next-year-70122902.html
Excerpt: Buried in this Friday story on Obama's future plans is a curious statement, attributed to White House Budget Director Peter Orszag, which didn't get nearly enough attention: Orszag has said the spending blueprint, for the budget year that begins Oct. 1, 2010, would put the nation "back on a fiscally sustainable path" and suggested it would include a mix of spending cuts and new revenue-producing measures. "New revenue-producing measures." In other words, more tax increases -- increases beyond the dozen or so that are already planned in the health care reform package.
U.N. questions if Iran has other nuclear sites
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/16/AR2009111600266.html?wpisrc=newsletter
The Prophet said, "War is deceit." Hadith 4:269. (Bukhari)
Culver in deep trouble in Iowa
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/governors/ia-gov-culver-in-deep-trouble.html?wprss=thefix
Excerpt: In another sign of the dangerously strong anti-incumbent current in the country, Iowa Gov. Chet Culver (D) appears to be in political free fall, trailing his strongest Republican opponent by more than 20 points in new independent polling in the Hawkeye State.
Paterson Rips White House For NYC 9/11 Trial http://wcbstv.com/politics/911.trial.paterson.2.1316155.html
May just be political payback to Obama.
1994 vs. 2010 (Fourth item)
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/morning-fix/morning-fix-18.html?wprss=thefix
Excerpt: Democrats have not experienced near the number of retirements that the party did in the run-up to the 1994 election. That final point may well be the most crucial. History tells us that open seats are far more likely to switch parties but, so far, just seven House Democrats are retiring or running for higher office with just three of those seats -- Louisiana's 3rd district, New Hampshire's 2nd district and Pennsylvania's 7th district -- legitimate takeover opportunities for Republicans. Compare those numbers to 1994 when 40 of the 52 seats Democrats lost were in open seat races and you begin to see why the comparison between the two elections is somewhat ill-fitting. Watch to see how many more House Democrats decide to bail on a re-election race next November between now and January 2010; if that number stays below 15 or 20, Democrats have to feel good about holding the House in 2011.
From Copenhagen to Nopenhagen for Climate Treaty
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18689&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD
Let’s recreate the Great Depression to lower the globe’s temp a degree or so a century from now if man is really responsible. Excerpt: In a major blow to the campaign against the presumed threat of global warming, world leaders acknowledge that a legally binding global treaty won't be approved at next month's 192-nation climate conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. The concession Sunday significantly delays U.N. efforts to orchestrate a treaty to limit greenhouse gases to replace the Kyoto treaty, which expires in 2012. Nations like the United States and poorer nations share the blame for the missed deadline.
The Rationing Commission Meet the unelected body that will dictate future medical decisions. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703792304574504020025055040.html
Excerpt: As usual, the most dangerous parts of ObamaCare aren't receiving the scrutiny they deserve—and one of the least examined is a new commission to tell Congress how to control health spending. Democrats are quietly attempting to impose a "global budget" on Medicare, with radical implications for U.S. medicine. Like most of Europe, the various health bills stipulate that Congress will arbitrarily decide how much to spend on health care for seniors every year—and then invest an unelected board with extraordinary powers to dictate what is covered and how it will be paid for. White House budget director Peter Orszag calls this Medicare commission "critical to our fiscal future" and "one of the most potent reforms." On that last score, he's right. Prominent health economist Alain Enthoven has likened a global budget to "bombing from 35,000 feet, where you don't see the faces of the people you kill." As envisioned by the Senate Finance Committee, the commission—all 15 members appointed by the President—would have to meet certain budget targets each year. Starting in 2015, Medicare could not grow more rapidly on a per capita basis than by a measure of inflation. After 2019, it could only grow at the same rate as GDP, plus one percentage point.
Goodies for labor tucked away in health bill http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/6719913.html
Excerpt: Now that the U.S. House of Representatives has passed its version of a health care reform bill, all eyes turn to the Senate. No matter where you stand in the debate over issues such as the public option, big labor bosses hope you do not notice some lower-profile provisions tucked into the pages of this massive proposal. If they become law, these provisions would give union leaders considerable influence over health care decisions affecting us all. It was no surprise that AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Andy Stern, president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), cheered the results of the House vote. After spending almost $80 million during the last election cycle, unions are on the brink of reaping a significant return on their investment. Despite representing only about 7.6% of private sector employees, unions are poised to gain significant privileges, authority and financial windfalls from health care reform. Coming at the expense of tax-paying patients and businesses, these specific benefits would do little or nothing to improve our health care system.
Higher health taxes in NY?
http://www.nyfiscalwatch.com/?p=2138
Health Care too expensive? Let’s tax it! That’ll help.
The poor need capitalism
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+poor+need+capitalism.-a0211555573
Excerpt: The nearby chart draws on a landmark new study by economists Maxim Pinkovskiy and Xavier Sala-i-Martin. The authors set out to study changes in the world distribution of income by gathering data from many different countries. As a byproduct of their work, they are able to count the number of individuals who live on $1 per day or less, a key measure of poverty. According to their calculations, the number of people living in poverty so defined has plummeted, from 967,574,000 in 1970 to 350,436,000 in 2006, a decrease of a whopping 64 percent. Whence the reduction? The biggest factor is the emergence of middle classes in previously poverty stricken China and India. And the spread of capitalism to other countries has similarly been followed by prosperity. The trend is even more impressive if one considers that the world population skyrocketed over that time, increasing by 3 billion. If the trend continues for just 40 more years, poverty will have been essentially eradicated from the globe. And capitalism will have done it. Socialism offers itself as an alternative to capitalism that is more just to the poor. To test that view, the authors reconstruct the distribution of income for the countries of the former Soviet Union. Back in the Communist days, poverty was much, much higher in the Soviet Union than it is today.
Why Obama Nixed the Ft. Hood Probe
http://frontpagemag.com/2009/11/17/why-obama-nixed-the-ft-hood-probe-by-dick-morris/
Excerpt: As he flew to Asia on Saturday, President Obama told the media in Alaska that he opposes a congressional investigation into the Fort Hood massacre, saying that we must “resist the temptation to turn this tragic event into political theater.” Yet, even as he was posturing against political theatrics, he had just decided that the prosecution of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would proceed on the greatest of public stages — New York City. With the strict evidentiary rules in force in federal civilian courts, it is easy to see how the prosecution of Mohammed could morph into an indictment of the Bush administration’s interrogation techniques and waterboarding. As in rape trials, the magnitude of the underlying crime (masterminding the 9/11 attacks) might well be lost as the defense puts the victim (in this case, the government) on trial. It is not political theater itself to which Obama objects — but theater that highlights issues that liberals would rather forget. He is quite content to let the Mohammed trial become the theater of the left. Perhaps even eager. Obama and his handlers know that the key to building favorable ratings is to control the agenda. And the more the national discussion centers on national security and terrorism, the more Republicans gain. So the Fort Hood terror attack comes at an awful time for an administration trying to turn the nation’s attention away from the terrorist threat. As soon as the killing spree was over, Obama hastened to call it “an act of violence” — obscuring the obvious fact that it was the most serious terror attack on US soil since 9/11. And, as evidence mounts that the FBI was on to Major Nidal Malik Hasan for years, the president is doing his best to stop Congress from finding out why these warnings went unheeded.
Islam Bashers Repent
http://www.amilimani.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=164&Itemid=2
Excerpt: Claiming “Islam” means “peace” is fraudulent to begin with. Islam is an Arabic word. And the word for peace in Arabic is “solh,” and not Islam. Islam is derived from the root word “taslim,” which means submission or surrender. Hence, Islam’s true name, surrender, is in fact most descriptive of what it is: total, unconditional submission and surrender of the individual and the community to the will and dictates of Allah as revealed by his “rasool,” messenger, Muhammad. Further proof of the fraudulent nature of billing Islam as a religion of peace is the irrefutable fact that Muhammad himself led his followers during his lifetime in 78 battles, only one of which was defensive in nature. Perusing the religion of peace’s holy book, the Quran, taken by Muslims as the literal revelation of Allah, reads more like a manual of intolerance and war than a divinely-revealed prescription from a benevolent God for a life of brotherhood and peace. Quran 2:216 "Warfare is ordained for you, though it is hateful unto you; but it may happen that you hate a thing which is good for you and it may happen that you love a thing which is bad for you. Allah knoweth, you knew not." Quran 8:65 "O Prophet exhort the believers to fight. If there be of you 20 steadfast, they will overcome 200 and if there be of you a 100, they shall overcome a 1000, because the disbelievers are a folk without intelligence"
Afghanistan Myths http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/017/214cioeh.asp?pg=2
Excerpt: America cannot win a war in Afghanistan, the "graveyard of empires." How can America succeed where Alexander the Great, the British, and the Soviet Union struggled? This refrain belongs, as they say now in the military, in the graveyard of analogies. The Soviets, in particular, teach us how not to win in Afghanistan. A heavily mechanized force, the Red Army was ill-suited for Afghanistan's treacherous terrain, and it was dependent on long, vulnerable supply lines. It also discouraged innovative junior leadership, which is critical against an insurgency. To compensate, the Soviets employed vicious, massively destructive tactics that inflamed the Afghan people and still scar the country with depopulated valleys and adult amputees maimed as children by toy-shaped mines. Our present way of war couldn't be more different. We deploy light and wheeled infantry to Afghanistan, making our tactics more flexible, our supply lines shorter, and our soldiers more engaged with the locals. We also radically decentralize decision-making authority to our junior soldiers and leaders, who increasingly can draw on years of combat experience. In short, America has a counter-insurgency strategy, whereas the Soviet Union had a genocide strategy. Afghans I spoke with always recognized the difference, reviled the Russians, and respected our troops.
Islamic militants boosting role in drug trade http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/17/islamic-militants-boosting-role-in-drug-trade/?source=newsletter_must-read-stories-today_photo_feature
Excerpt: The sea lanes of the South Atlantic have become a favored route for drug traffickers carrying narcotics from Latin America to West and North Africa, where al Qaeda-related groups are increasingly involved in transporting the drugs to Europe, intelligence officials and counternarcotics specialists say. A Middle Eastern intelligence official said his agency has picked up "very worrisome reports" of rapidly growing cooperation between Islamic militants operating in North and West Africa and drug lords in Latin America. With U.S. attention focused on the Caribbean and Africans lacking the means to police their shores, the vast sea lanes of the South Atlantic are wide open to illegal navigation, the official said. "The South Atlantic has become a no-man's sea," said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity owing to the nature of his work.
Barack Obama’s First Military Decision Is Now Proven to be a Bad Decision http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/11/16/barack-obamas-first-military-decision-is-now-proven-to-be-a-bad-decision/
Excerpt: As awful as that sounds, new information is proving Barack Obama’s got his first major military decision disastrously wrong and the repercussions to our national security will be far reaching in light of China’s growing aggressiveness. Back up to January. Barack Obama had just been sworn in to office and the Pentagon then began reviewing whether the F-22 Raptor program should get more funding. Despite lots of talk about saving and creating jobs, the Obama administration nudged Defense Secretary Robert Gates to kill the F-22, an advanced stealth fighter for which no nation has put up a competing system. In April, Robert Gates said he intended to kill the program. In July, Senators tried to keep the funding alive citing threats from China. But, Barack Obama’s administration said those threats were overestimated and Obama threatened to veto the entire defense budget if F-22 funding were left in…. Unfortunately for the United States military, that turns out to be flat out wrong. According to Aviation Week, China not only is building a 5th generation fighter to compete with the F-22, but they’ll begin testing it this year. Beijing’s fighter announcement suggests a serious failing in U.S. intelligence assessments, mocking a July 16 statement of U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates that China would have no fifth-generation fighters by 2020. Note that China announced this while Obama was in China sucking up to them.
Obama’s Bow to “World Opinion” – by Thomas Sowell
http://frontpagemag.com/2009/11/17/obamas-bow-to-world-opinion-by-thomas-sowell/
Excerpt: In the string of amazing decisions made during the first year of the Obama administration, nothing seems more like sheer insanity than the decision to try foreign terrorists, who have committed acts of war against the United States, in federal court, as if they were American citizens accused of crimes. Terrorists are not even entitled to the protection of the Geneva Convention, much less the Constitution of the United States. Terrorists have never observed, nor even claimed to have observed, the Geneva Convention, nor are they among those covered by it. But over and above the utter inconsistency of what is being done is the utter recklessness it represents. The last time an attack on the World Trade Center was treated as a matter of domestic criminal justice was after a bomb was exploded there in 1993. Under the rules of American criminal law, the prosecution had to turn over all sorts of information to the defense— information that told the Al Qaeda international terrorist network what we knew about them and how we knew it. This was nothing more and nothing less than giving away military secrets to an enemy in wartime— something for which people have been executed, as they should have been. Secrecy in warfare is a matter of life and death. Lives were risked and lost during World War II to prevent Nazi Germany from discovering that Britain had broken its supposedly unbreakable Enigma code and could read their military plans that were being radioed in that code.
Blinded Prison Guard: Don't House Terror Suspects In NYC http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,575133,00.html
Excerpt: Ten months before Al Qaeda in 2001 struck a deathblow in the heart lower Manhattan, one of the terrorist group's founding members plunged a sharpened comb through Pepe's left eye and into his brain, blinding the 42-year-old prison guard and causing severe brain injuries that plague him to this day. Pepe told FoxNews.com he worries that sending Mohammed and four of his alleged fellow 9/11 conspirators to New York could compromise the safety of the guards at the MCC prison. Keeping the prisoners in one location, he said, was especially dangerous. Soldiers' mutiny raises concern in Israel http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5AG2KU20091117 Excerpt: JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced concern on Tuesday over a mutiny by pro-settler soldiers that raised fears of more rebellion in the ranks in any future land-for-peace moves with the Palestinians. "Our security and existence depend on the Israel Defense Forces," Netanyahu told reporters. "If you promote disobedience, you will bring about the downfall of the state. There is no place for disobedience."In an incident on Monday played down by the military as an aberration and described by some political commentators as a crossing of a red line, a handful of soldiers protested against the partial dismantling of a settler-outpost in the West Bank.
You win this time, MacArthur
http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2009/11/you-win-this-time-macarthur.html
But one day your President will bow to our Emperor!
When the Ta-Li-Ban Come Back
http://newsrealblog.com/2009/11/16/open-thread-63/
In David Horowitz’s NewsReal Blog
Obamacare: Buy now, pay later
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/15/AR2009111502212.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: There is an air of absurdity to what is mistakenly called "health-care reform." Everyone knows that the United States faces massive governmental budget deficits as far as calculators can project, driven heavily by an aging population and uncontrolled health costs. As we recover slowly from a devastating recession, it's widely agreed that, though deficits should not be cut abruptly (lest the economy resume its slump), a prudent society would embark on long-term policies to control health costs, reduce government spending and curb massive future deficits. The administration estimates these at $9 trillion from 2010 to 2019. The president and all his top economic advisers proclaim the same cautionary message. So what do they do? Just the opposite. Their far-reaching overhaul of the health-care system -- which Congress is halfway toward enacting -- would almost certainly make matters worse. It would create new, open-ended medical entitlements that threaten higher deficits and would do little to suppress surging health costs. The disconnect between what President Obama says and what he's doing is so glaring that most people could not abide it. The president, his advisers and allies have no trouble. But reconciling blatantly contradictory objectives requires them to engage in willful self-deception, public dishonesty, or both. The campaign to pass Obama's health-care plan has assumed a false, though understandable, cloak of moral superiority. It's understandable because almost everyone thinks that people in need of essential medical care should get it; ideally, everyone would have health insurance. The pursuit of these worthy goals can easily be projected as a high-minded exercise for the public good.
A Republican on every ballot
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/14/AR2009111402729.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: Little has changed at the headquarters for decades, which is precisely Riley's dilemma. The 37-year-old lawyer accepted the unpaid position of county party chairman in 2006 -- "maybe the worst job in the world," he says -- and this was the Republican Party he inherited: A volunteer database consisting of 11 people. An antiquated Web site. A monthly newsletter that was published only sporadically. A fading community of conservatives who refused to run for local office because they suspected, Riley says, "that they would just get their teeth kicked in." During a depressing 2008 election cycle for Republicans, Riley oversaw the party's darkest corner. His state, solidly Republican for 44 years, shifted more than any other and voted for Barack Obama. His county, which twice backed George W. Bush, also swung for Obama -- by a resounding 17 percent.
Anti-Castro fundraisers make dramatic shift to Democrats, new report says http://thehill.com//homenews/campaign/67843-report-anti-castro-funds-shift-to-democrats
Excerpt: Supporters of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba have made more than $10 million in campaign contributions since the 2004 election cycle. Pro-embargo donors are also continuing to funnel more and more funds to Democrats, according to a report released Monday by Public Campaign, a watchdog group that supports public financing of election campaigns. It has been clear that the groups have been targeting Democrats since 2006, when that party took control of the House and Senate, but the Public Campaign report illustrates the degree to which the donations have shifted.
For the Dems, What a Difference a Year Makes
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/for-the-dems-what-a-difference-a-year-makes/
Excerpt: The Democrats have more political power than they have had at any time since the presidency of LBJ. They control the presidency, have a filibuster-proof 60 seats in the Senate (counting independents Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders, who caucus with them), and have an 81-seat margin in the House. The Democrats have the power to advance their agenda without a single Republican vote in Congress. But in a remarkably rapid political freefall, the Democrats, but one year after their great triumph in November 2008, are now facing an angry, pessimistic electorate. There is a strong anti-incumbent mood, and the list of endangered Democratic-held seats in the House and Senate grows each week.
Obama is so great, he saved jobs in districts that don’t exist! http://www.thefoxnation.com/politics/2009/11/16/exclusive-jobs-saved-or-created-congressional-districts-dont-exist
From the folks who want to run healthcare. Excerpt: Here's a stimulus success story: In Arizona's 9th Congressional District, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. At least that's what the website set up by the Obama Administration to track the $787 billion stimulus says. There's one problem, though: There is no 9th Congressional District in Arizona; the state has only eight Congressional Districts.
Obama will push additional tax hikes next year http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/AP-buries-the-lede-Obama-will-push-additional-tax-hikes-next-year-70122902.html
Excerpt: Buried in this Friday story on Obama's future plans is a curious statement, attributed to White House Budget Director Peter Orszag, which didn't get nearly enough attention: Orszag has said the spending blueprint, for the budget year that begins Oct. 1, 2010, would put the nation "back on a fiscally sustainable path" and suggested it would include a mix of spending cuts and new revenue-producing measures. "New revenue-producing measures." In other words, more tax increases -- increases beyond the dozen or so that are already planned in the health care reform package.
U.N. questions if Iran has other nuclear sites
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/16/AR2009111600266.html?wpisrc=newsletter
The Prophet said, "War is deceit." Hadith 4:269. (Bukhari)
Culver in deep trouble in Iowa
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/governors/ia-gov-culver-in-deep-trouble.html?wprss=thefix
Excerpt: In another sign of the dangerously strong anti-incumbent current in the country, Iowa Gov. Chet Culver (D) appears to be in political free fall, trailing his strongest Republican opponent by more than 20 points in new independent polling in the Hawkeye State.
Paterson Rips White House For NYC 9/11 Trial http://wcbstv.com/politics/911.trial.paterson.2.1316155.html
May just be political payback to Obama.
1994 vs. 2010 (Fourth item)
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/morning-fix/morning-fix-18.html?wprss=thefix
Excerpt: Democrats have not experienced near the number of retirements that the party did in the run-up to the 1994 election. That final point may well be the most crucial. History tells us that open seats are far more likely to switch parties but, so far, just seven House Democrats are retiring or running for higher office with just three of those seats -- Louisiana's 3rd district, New Hampshire's 2nd district and Pennsylvania's 7th district -- legitimate takeover opportunities for Republicans. Compare those numbers to 1994 when 40 of the 52 seats Democrats lost were in open seat races and you begin to see why the comparison between the two elections is somewhat ill-fitting. Watch to see how many more House Democrats decide to bail on a re-election race next November between now and January 2010; if that number stays below 15 or 20, Democrats have to feel good about holding the House in 2011.
From Copenhagen to Nopenhagen for Climate Treaty
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18689&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD
Let’s recreate the Great Depression to lower the globe’s temp a degree or so a century from now if man is really responsible. Excerpt: In a major blow to the campaign against the presumed threat of global warming, world leaders acknowledge that a legally binding global treaty won't be approved at next month's 192-nation climate conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. The concession Sunday significantly delays U.N. efforts to orchestrate a treaty to limit greenhouse gases to replace the Kyoto treaty, which expires in 2012. Nations like the United States and poorer nations share the blame for the missed deadline.
The Rationing Commission Meet the unelected body that will dictate future medical decisions. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703792304574504020025055040.html
Excerpt: As usual, the most dangerous parts of ObamaCare aren't receiving the scrutiny they deserve—and one of the least examined is a new commission to tell Congress how to control health spending. Democrats are quietly attempting to impose a "global budget" on Medicare, with radical implications for U.S. medicine. Like most of Europe, the various health bills stipulate that Congress will arbitrarily decide how much to spend on health care for seniors every year—and then invest an unelected board with extraordinary powers to dictate what is covered and how it will be paid for. White House budget director Peter Orszag calls this Medicare commission "critical to our fiscal future" and "one of the most potent reforms." On that last score, he's right. Prominent health economist Alain Enthoven has likened a global budget to "bombing from 35,000 feet, where you don't see the faces of the people you kill." As envisioned by the Senate Finance Committee, the commission—all 15 members appointed by the President—would have to meet certain budget targets each year. Starting in 2015, Medicare could not grow more rapidly on a per capita basis than by a measure of inflation. After 2019, it could only grow at the same rate as GDP, plus one percentage point.
Goodies for labor tucked away in health bill http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/6719913.html
Excerpt: Now that the U.S. House of Representatives has passed its version of a health care reform bill, all eyes turn to the Senate. No matter where you stand in the debate over issues such as the public option, big labor bosses hope you do not notice some lower-profile provisions tucked into the pages of this massive proposal. If they become law, these provisions would give union leaders considerable influence over health care decisions affecting us all. It was no surprise that AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Andy Stern, president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), cheered the results of the House vote. After spending almost $80 million during the last election cycle, unions are on the brink of reaping a significant return on their investment. Despite representing only about 7.6% of private sector employees, unions are poised to gain significant privileges, authority and financial windfalls from health care reform. Coming at the expense of tax-paying patients and businesses, these specific benefits would do little or nothing to improve our health care system.
Higher health taxes in NY?
http://www.nyfiscalwatch.com/?p=2138
Health Care too expensive? Let’s tax it! That’ll help.
The poor need capitalism
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+poor+need+capitalism.-a0211555573
Excerpt: The nearby chart draws on a landmark new study by economists Maxim Pinkovskiy and Xavier Sala-i-Martin. The authors set out to study changes in the world distribution of income by gathering data from many different countries. As a byproduct of their work, they are able to count the number of individuals who live on $1 per day or less, a key measure of poverty. According to their calculations, the number of people living in poverty so defined has plummeted, from 967,574,000 in 1970 to 350,436,000 in 2006, a decrease of a whopping 64 percent. Whence the reduction? The biggest factor is the emergence of middle classes in previously poverty stricken China and India. And the spread of capitalism to other countries has similarly been followed by prosperity. The trend is even more impressive if one considers that the world population skyrocketed over that time, increasing by 3 billion. If the trend continues for just 40 more years, poverty will have been essentially eradicated from the globe. And capitalism will have done it. Socialism offers itself as an alternative to capitalism that is more just to the poor. To test that view, the authors reconstruct the distribution of income for the countries of the former Soviet Union. Back in the Communist days, poverty was much, much higher in the Soviet Union than it is today.
Why Obama Nixed the Ft. Hood Probe
http://frontpagemag.com/2009/11/17/why-obama-nixed-the-ft-hood-probe-by-dick-morris/
Excerpt: As he flew to Asia on Saturday, President Obama told the media in Alaska that he opposes a congressional investigation into the Fort Hood massacre, saying that we must “resist the temptation to turn this tragic event into political theater.” Yet, even as he was posturing against political theatrics, he had just decided that the prosecution of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would proceed on the greatest of public stages — New York City. With the strict evidentiary rules in force in federal civilian courts, it is easy to see how the prosecution of Mohammed could morph into an indictment of the Bush administration’s interrogation techniques and waterboarding. As in rape trials, the magnitude of the underlying crime (masterminding the 9/11 attacks) might well be lost as the defense puts the victim (in this case, the government) on trial. It is not political theater itself to which Obama objects — but theater that highlights issues that liberals would rather forget. He is quite content to let the Mohammed trial become the theater of the left. Perhaps even eager. Obama and his handlers know that the key to building favorable ratings is to control the agenda. And the more the national discussion centers on national security and terrorism, the more Republicans gain. So the Fort Hood terror attack comes at an awful time for an administration trying to turn the nation’s attention away from the terrorist threat. As soon as the killing spree was over, Obama hastened to call it “an act of violence” — obscuring the obvious fact that it was the most serious terror attack on US soil since 9/11. And, as evidence mounts that the FBI was on to Major Nidal Malik Hasan for years, the president is doing his best to stop Congress from finding out why these warnings went unheeded.
Islam Bashers Repent
http://www.amilimani.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=164&Itemid=2
Excerpt: Claiming “Islam” means “peace” is fraudulent to begin with. Islam is an Arabic word. And the word for peace in Arabic is “solh,” and not Islam. Islam is derived from the root word “taslim,” which means submission or surrender. Hence, Islam’s true name, surrender, is in fact most descriptive of what it is: total, unconditional submission and surrender of the individual and the community to the will and dictates of Allah as revealed by his “rasool,” messenger, Muhammad. Further proof of the fraudulent nature of billing Islam as a religion of peace is the irrefutable fact that Muhammad himself led his followers during his lifetime in 78 battles, only one of which was defensive in nature. Perusing the religion of peace’s holy book, the Quran, taken by Muslims as the literal revelation of Allah, reads more like a manual of intolerance and war than a divinely-revealed prescription from a benevolent God for a life of brotherhood and peace. Quran 2:216 "Warfare is ordained for you, though it is hateful unto you; but it may happen that you hate a thing which is good for you and it may happen that you love a thing which is bad for you. Allah knoweth, you knew not." Quran 8:65 "O Prophet exhort the believers to fight. If there be of you 20 steadfast, they will overcome 200 and if there be of you a 100, they shall overcome a 1000, because the disbelievers are a folk without intelligence"
Afghanistan Myths http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/017/214cioeh.asp?pg=2
Excerpt: America cannot win a war in Afghanistan, the "graveyard of empires." How can America succeed where Alexander the Great, the British, and the Soviet Union struggled? This refrain belongs, as they say now in the military, in the graveyard of analogies. The Soviets, in particular, teach us how not to win in Afghanistan. A heavily mechanized force, the Red Army was ill-suited for Afghanistan's treacherous terrain, and it was dependent on long, vulnerable supply lines. It also discouraged innovative junior leadership, which is critical against an insurgency. To compensate, the Soviets employed vicious, massively destructive tactics that inflamed the Afghan people and still scar the country with depopulated valleys and adult amputees maimed as children by toy-shaped mines. Our present way of war couldn't be more different. We deploy light and wheeled infantry to Afghanistan, making our tactics more flexible, our supply lines shorter, and our soldiers more engaged with the locals. We also radically decentralize decision-making authority to our junior soldiers and leaders, who increasingly can draw on years of combat experience. In short, America has a counter-insurgency strategy, whereas the Soviet Union had a genocide strategy. Afghans I spoke with always recognized the difference, reviled the Russians, and respected our troops.
Islamic militants boosting role in drug trade http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/17/islamic-militants-boosting-role-in-drug-trade/?source=newsletter_must-read-stories-today_photo_feature
Excerpt: The sea lanes of the South Atlantic have become a favored route for drug traffickers carrying narcotics from Latin America to West and North Africa, where al Qaeda-related groups are increasingly involved in transporting the drugs to Europe, intelligence officials and counternarcotics specialists say. A Middle Eastern intelligence official said his agency has picked up "very worrisome reports" of rapidly growing cooperation between Islamic militants operating in North and West Africa and drug lords in Latin America. With U.S. attention focused on the Caribbean and Africans lacking the means to police their shores, the vast sea lanes of the South Atlantic are wide open to illegal navigation, the official said. "The South Atlantic has become a no-man's sea," said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity owing to the nature of his work.
Barack Obama’s First Military Decision Is Now Proven to be a Bad Decision http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/11/16/barack-obamas-first-military-decision-is-now-proven-to-be-a-bad-decision/
Excerpt: As awful as that sounds, new information is proving Barack Obama’s got his first major military decision disastrously wrong and the repercussions to our national security will be far reaching in light of China’s growing aggressiveness. Back up to January. Barack Obama had just been sworn in to office and the Pentagon then began reviewing whether the F-22 Raptor program should get more funding. Despite lots of talk about saving and creating jobs, the Obama administration nudged Defense Secretary Robert Gates to kill the F-22, an advanced stealth fighter for which no nation has put up a competing system. In April, Robert Gates said he intended to kill the program. In July, Senators tried to keep the funding alive citing threats from China. But, Barack Obama’s administration said those threats were overestimated and Obama threatened to veto the entire defense budget if F-22 funding were left in…. Unfortunately for the United States military, that turns out to be flat out wrong. According to Aviation Week, China not only is building a 5th generation fighter to compete with the F-22, but they’ll begin testing it this year. Beijing’s fighter announcement suggests a serious failing in U.S. intelligence assessments, mocking a July 16 statement of U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates that China would have no fifth-generation fighters by 2020. Note that China announced this while Obama was in China sucking up to them.
Obama’s Bow to “World Opinion” – by Thomas Sowell
http://frontpagemag.com/2009/11/17/obamas-bow-to-world-opinion-by-thomas-sowell/
Excerpt: In the string of amazing decisions made during the first year of the Obama administration, nothing seems more like sheer insanity than the decision to try foreign terrorists, who have committed acts of war against the United States, in federal court, as if they were American citizens accused of crimes. Terrorists are not even entitled to the protection of the Geneva Convention, much less the Constitution of the United States. Terrorists have never observed, nor even claimed to have observed, the Geneva Convention, nor are they among those covered by it. But over and above the utter inconsistency of what is being done is the utter recklessness it represents. The last time an attack on the World Trade Center was treated as a matter of domestic criminal justice was after a bomb was exploded there in 1993. Under the rules of American criminal law, the prosecution had to turn over all sorts of information to the defense— information that told the Al Qaeda international terrorist network what we knew about them and how we knew it. This was nothing more and nothing less than giving away military secrets to an enemy in wartime— something for which people have been executed, as they should have been. Secrecy in warfare is a matter of life and death. Lives were risked and lost during World War II to prevent Nazi Germany from discovering that Britain had broken its supposedly unbreakable Enigma code and could read their military plans that were being radioed in that code.
Blinded Prison Guard: Don't House Terror Suspects In NYC http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,575133,00.html
Excerpt: Ten months before Al Qaeda in 2001 struck a deathblow in the heart lower Manhattan, one of the terrorist group's founding members plunged a sharpened comb through Pepe's left eye and into his brain, blinding the 42-year-old prison guard and causing severe brain injuries that plague him to this day. Pepe told FoxNews.com he worries that sending Mohammed and four of his alleged fellow 9/11 conspirators to New York could compromise the safety of the guards at the MCC prison. Keeping the prisoners in one location, he said, was especially dangerous. Soldiers' mutiny raises concern in Israel http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5AG2KU20091117 Excerpt: JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced concern on Tuesday over a mutiny by pro-settler soldiers that raised fears of more rebellion in the ranks in any future land-for-peace moves with the Palestinians. "Our security and existence depend on the Israel Defense Forces," Netanyahu told reporters. "If you promote disobedience, you will bring about the downfall of the state. There is no place for disobedience."In an incident on Monday played down by the military as an aberration and described by some political commentators as a crossing of a red line, a handful of soldiers protested against the partial dismantling of a settler-outpost in the West Bank.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Letter to the Editor -- 2010 Election November 16, 2009
From another Marine Vietnam vet:
Letter to the Editor -- 2010 Election November 16, 2009
Time is running out and I have heard too little about worthwhile candidates filing in many critical races for the 2010 election. This is a nationwide problem. All members of the US House and a third of the US Senate will be on the ballot in 2010. There are many state elections to be held from governor on down.
It is apparent that many office holders completely ignore the will of the people and they have done so for years just as many have ignored the Constitution of the United States. Citizens have been sold out by politicians that put their own reelection and special interest agendas ahead of constituents. Some even ahead of America and their oaths to support and defend the Constitution.
In order to rid ourselves of unacceptable office holders, we must have qualified candidates opposing them.
The deadlines for filing to run in the 2010 election approach rapidly. I write this in hope that it will reach the ears of some that will step up and run for office. If you are one, thank you! If not, please share this message with others in hope that it will find it's way to potential qualified candidates.
Milton McNeely
Letter to the Editor -- 2010 Election November 16, 2009
Time is running out and I have heard too little about worthwhile candidates filing in many critical races for the 2010 election. This is a nationwide problem. All members of the US House and a third of the US Senate will be on the ballot in 2010. There are many state elections to be held from governor on down.
It is apparent that many office holders completely ignore the will of the people and they have done so for years just as many have ignored the Constitution of the United States. Citizens have been sold out by politicians that put their own reelection and special interest agendas ahead of constituents. Some even ahead of America and their oaths to support and defend the Constitution.
In order to rid ourselves of unacceptable office holders, we must have qualified candidates opposing them.
The deadlines for filing to run in the 2010 election approach rapidly. I write this in hope that it will reach the ears of some that will step up and run for office. If you are one, thank you! If not, please share this message with others in hope that it will find it's way to potential qualified candidates.
Milton McNeely
Political Digest November 17, 2009
I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.
Study Faults Charities for Veterans—please read
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/12/AR2007121202657.html
Excerpt: Americans gave millions of dollars in the past year to veterans charities designed to help troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, but several of the groups spent relatively little money on the wounded, according to a leading watchdog organization and federal tax filings. Eight veterans charities, including some of the nation's largest, gave less than a third of the money raised to the causes they champion, far below the recommended standard, the American Institute of Philanthropy says in a report. One group passed along 1 cent for every dollar raised, the report says. Another paid its founder and his wife a combined $540,000 in compensation and benefits last year, a Washington Post analysis of tax filings showed. There are no laws regulating the amount of money charities spend on overhead, fundraising or giving. But the institute's report suggests that 20 of the 29 military charities studied were managing their resources poorly, paying high overhead costs and direct-mail fundraising fees and, in some cases, providing their leaders with six-figure salaries. The 12 charities rated as failing by the institute -- including the Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation, the AMVETS National Service Foundation and the Freedom Alliance -- collected at least $266 million in the past fiscal year.
Rating the vets charities
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/12/AR2007121202439.html?sid=ST2007121300732
A staggering ego, at the center of difficult issues
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/13/AR2009111304385.html?wpisrc=newsletter
If these jerks are entitled to “fair trials,” so was every Nazi soldier we captured in WWII. Who will serve on the Jury? Excerpt: When two planes struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001, Khalid Sheik Mohammed was sitting in an Internet cafe in Karachi, Pakistan, monitoring the attacks. At first, Mohammed later told CIA interrogators, he was disappointed. He said that he expected the towers to crumble immediately and that he feared they might not fall at all. After the towers came down, Mohammed returned to a hideaway flat in the city. There, according to newly disclosed details from U.S. officials, he and a number of associates, including Ramzi Binalshibh, al-Qaeda's liaison with the Sept. 11 hijackers, gathered to watch coverage on international news channels. Through the night in Pakistan, the men embraced repeatedly in celebration, marveling at their spectacular success and the humbling of the American giant. More than eight years later, Mohammed, a detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will soon be transferred to federal court in Manhattan, returning to a city that officials say he visited as a tourist while a student in North Carolina in the 1980s. The man widely known as KSM will arrive in New York as the most striking symbol of the Obama administration's effort to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
U.S. troops battle both Taliban and their own rules
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/16/us-troops-battle-taliban-afghan-rules/?source=newsletter_must-read-stories-today_headlines
Excerpt: "We have to follow the Karzai 12 rules. But the Taliban has no rules," he said. "Our soldiers have to juggle all these rules and regulations and they do it without hesitation despite everything. It's not easy for anyone out here." "Karzai 12" refers to Afghanistan's newly re-elected president, Hamid Karzai, and a dozen rules set down by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the commander of U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, to try to keep Afghan civilian casualties to a minimum. "It's a framework to ensure cultural sensitivity in planning and executing operations," said Capt. Thoreen. "It's a set of rules and could be characterized as part of the ROE," he said, referring to the rules of engagement.
'I will only wear pants'
Defiant 'trouser lady' continues to fight decency laws
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/13/AR2009111304418.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Another hero in the anti-Jihad war. Excerpt: KHARTOUM, SUDAN -- A few months after she was arrested for wearing pants, Lubna Hussein was lounging around her home in a shady, upper-class neighborhood in this capital along the Nile River. It was a hot afternoon, but the 34-year-old Sudanese journalist was wearing thick jeans adorned with sequins and embroidered flowers. "Since all this happened, I will only wear pants," she said in the calmly defiant manner that led to her fleeting global celebrity as "the trouser lady," and a less-publicized backlash that has included anonymous death threats and newspaper columns calling her a prostitute. "If you have something to fight for, you can lose your life." In July, Hussein attempted to shame Sudan's Islamist ruling party by inviting reporters to view her public flogging, a punishment under Islamic law that is sometimes applied here -- by leather whip or bamboo cane of the sort used on camels -- to women deemed to have violated decency laws.
Italy: Mohammed called a paedophile in TV spat
http://www.eutimes.net/2009/11/italy-mohammed-called-a-paedophile-in-tv-spat/
She’s toast. Excerpt: Italian feminist and former far right-wing MP Daniela Santanche has sparked a controversy after calling the Prophet Mohammed a “a polygamist and paedophile” during a TV debate. Santanche appeared on a television programme aired on the commercial channel, Canale 5 with the president of Milan’s Islamic centre, Ali Abu Schwaima, on Sunday. “Mohammed was a polygamist and a paedophile because he had nine wives, one of whom was only nine years old, that is a historical fact,” said Santanche.
Never Forget: 9/11
http://www.thebravest.com/neverforget
Act for America
http://www.actforamerica.org/
Anti-Jihadist blog.
No Muslims Founded America But Obama Thinks They Were There!
http://www.desertconservative.com/2009/11/14/no-muslims-founded-america-but-obama-thinks-they-were-there/
Excerpt: Where were Muslims during the Civil Rights era of this country? Not present. There are no pictures or media accounts of Muslims walking side by side with Martin Luther King Jr.. or helping to advance the cause of Civil Rights. Where were Muslims during this country’s Woman’s Suffrage era? Again, not present. In fact, devout Muslims demand that women are subservient to men in the Islamic culture. So much so that often they are beaten for not wearing the ‘hajib’ or for talking to a man that is not a direct family member or their husband. Yep, the Muslims are all for women’s rights aren’t they? Where were Muslims during World War II? They were aligned with Adolf Hitler. The Muslim grand mufti himself met with Adolf Hitler, reviewed the troops and accepted support from the Nazi’s in killing Jews.
CMS: House health bill will hike costs $289B
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/67791-cms-house-health-bill-will-hike-costs-289b
Surprise! Excerpt: The House-approved healthcare overhaul would raise the costs of healthcare by $289 billion over the next 10 years, according to an analysis by the chief actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).The CMS report is a blow to the White House and House Democrats who have vowed that healthcare reform would curb the growth of healthcare spending. CMS's analysis is not an apples-to-apples comparison to the cost estimate conducted by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) because CMS did not review tax provisions, which help offset the price tag of the Democrats' measure. However, the CMS analysis clearly states that the House bill falls short in attaining a key goal of the Democrats' effort to reform the nation's healthcare system: "With the exception of the proposed reduction in Medicare... the provisions of H.R. 3962 would not have a significant impact on future healthcare cost growth rates."
Why Tragedy Will Be Result of Dems Rush to Victory on Health Reform
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/11/13/douglas-holtz-eakin-paul-howard-pelosi-health-care-sink-economy/
Interesting alternative proposals. Excerpt: It’s become clear that health reform has become the Democrats version of "Moby Dick," as party leaders embrace the premise that they must pass something this year and declare victory, no matter how flawed the final product is. What do they care if they sink the economy along the way? Last Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi begged, cajoled, and threatened health care legislation to a successful vote in her chamber, albeit by a razor thin margin of 220-215. The administration and House leadership touted this as a landmark vote, which it is, but only if you ignore the fact that the bill achieves almost none of President Obama's promised health reform goals. In fact, it is very likely to explode the deficit, drive up health care costs, and inflict massive new taxes on middle-class Americans. Watching events unfold in Washington at first hand, it’s become clear that health reform has become the Democrats version of "Moby Dick," as party leaders embrace the premise that they must pass something this year and declare victory, no matter how flawed the final product is. Unfortunately, they may sink the economy along the way. If clearer heads prevailed, Congress would scrap these partisan bills and start over.
Federal oversight of subways proposed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/14/AR2009111402459.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Step by step the Federal Government grows. What next?
Friday Senate Line: Depressed Democrats?
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/the-line/friday-senate-line-depressed-d.html?wprss=thefix
Excerpt: Two new Quinnipiac University polls released Thursday in Ohio and Connecticut provided sobering news for Senate Democrats. In Connecticut, Sen. Chris Dodd (D), whose numbers experienced something of a resurgence over the summer, trailed former Rep. Rob Simmons (R) by double digits in the latest Q poll. Even against virtual unknowns like former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon, state Sen. Sam Caliguri and former ambassador Tom Foley, Dodd is in a statistical dead heat -- evidence that Connecticut voters are looking for any alternative to the incumbent. Need more evidence? Just 40 percent approve of the job Dodd is doing in Congress while just 39 percent say he deserves re-election next fall. Not good. At all. The data in Ohio was less daunting for Democrats but still dispiriting. Former representative Rob Portman took 39 percent to 36 percent for Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher (D) in the Q poll, a significant reversal from a September survey when the Democrat led by double digits. Since neither Portman nor Fisher is particularly well known at the moment, the turnaround is almost entirely attributable to a general decline in the Democratic brand in the state as evidenced by the majorities who disapprove of how President Obama is handling the economy and health care. (Gov. Ted Strickland is feeling the effects as well, having slipped into a dead heat with former Republican Rep. John Kasich.)
Everyone in Britain could be given a personal 'carbon allowance'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/carbon/6527970/Everyone-in-Britain-could-be-given-a-personal-carbon-allowance.html
If you kill yourself, can you pass on your allowance to your heirs? Excerpt: However, some have criticised the move as "Orwellian" and say it will have a detrimental impact on business. Ruth Lea, an economist from Arbuthnot Banking Group, told the Daily Mail: "This is all about control of the individual and you begin to wonder whether this is what the green agenda has always been about. It's Orwellian. This will be an enormous tax on business." Under the Climate Change Act, Britain is obliged to cut its emissions by 80 per cent on 1990 levels by 2050. This means annual CO2 emissions per person will have to fall from about 9 tonnes to only 2 tonnes.
What's Wrong With Socialism?
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/whats_wrong_with_socialism.html
Excerpt: It eventually dawned on me that he really didn't know what was wrong with socialism. I began reciting the litany of horrors: the crimes of the Holocaust, the purges of the Soviets, the thuggery and inhuman brutality of the statist regimes of the last century. The Nazis, for crissake! How could he not know about the evil of the Nazis? He listened to all of this, nodding his understanding as he recognized some of the events I described, but I could still see a question behind his eyes. While he had been taught of the existence of these atrocities, he had not been clued into the one commonality they shared. They were all perpetrated by the adherents of various forms of socialism. Indeed, such crimes were the only outcome possible. In the late 1930s, the noted economist Friedrich Von Hayek wrote his landmark pamphlet "Road to Serfdom," laying bare the diseased skeleton of socialist/utopian thought that had permeated academia and the salons of his day. With an economy of words that showcased the significance of his conclusion, he pointed out the Achilles heel of collectivist dogma: for a planned economy to succeed, there must be central planners, who by necessity will insist on universal commitment to their plan. How do you attain total commitment to a goal from a free people? Well, you don't. Some percentage will always disagree, even if only for the sake of being contrary or out of a desire to be left alone. When considering a program as comprehensive as a government-planned economy, there are undoubtedly countless points of contention, such as how we will choose the planners, how we will order our priorities when assigning them importance within the plan, how we will allocate resources when competing interests have legitimate claims, who will make these decisions, and perhaps more pertinent to our discussion, how those decisions will be enforced. A rift forming on even one of these issues is enough to bring the gears of this progressive endeavor grinding to a halt. This fatal flaw in the collectivist design cannot be reengineered. It is an error so critical that the entire ideology must be scrapped.
What Does the Public Know?
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1378/political-news-iq-quiz
Excerpt: National Results of the quiz I published at this link:
http://pewresearch.org/politicalquiz/quiz/index.php
Thank you former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush
http://hillbuzz.org/2009/11/10/thank-you-former-president-george-w-bush-and-former-first-lady-laura-bush/
Leftwing news site thanks Bush!
Cops: Initial investigation indicates Scott shot himself
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/11/man-found-dead-near-merchandise-mart-downtown.html
Former Daley aide. School Board President. Who knows in Chicago?
Nice post
This was just posted as a comment on “I’m Tired,” my widely-circulated post back in February. Gives you hope for the future:
“This is probably the greatest blogpost I have ever seen! I'm 16 and I have to keep a blog for my American Studies class, so I know a bit about the blogosphere. Mr. Hall, you have voiced nearly every sentiment I hesitate to share for fear of being ostracized. I live near Chicago, so I know exactly what you're talking about with Illinois corruption. My parent's money just seems to keep going down the drain. I hope people keep reading this blog and seeing that they are not alone in their malcontent. While there are Republicans here in Illinois, it's a rather blue state. Such sentiments as you expressed are denounced as right-wing extremism. I hope this country stops its downward slide, for your granddaughter's sake and my own.”
It has come to pass
"They are not to do anything they please to provide for the general welfare.... giving a distinct and independent power to do any act they please which may be good for the Union, would render all the preceding and subsequent enumerations of power completely useless. It would reduce the whole instrument to a single phrase, that of instituting a Congress with power to do whatever would be for the good of the United States; and as they sole judges of the good or evil, it would be also a power to do whatever evil they please." --Thomas Jefferson, Founder of the Democrat Party. "The Patriot Post (www.patriotpost.us/subscribe/)"
Study Faults Charities for Veterans—please read
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/12/AR2007121202657.html
Excerpt: Americans gave millions of dollars in the past year to veterans charities designed to help troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, but several of the groups spent relatively little money on the wounded, according to a leading watchdog organization and federal tax filings. Eight veterans charities, including some of the nation's largest, gave less than a third of the money raised to the causes they champion, far below the recommended standard, the American Institute of Philanthropy says in a report. One group passed along 1 cent for every dollar raised, the report says. Another paid its founder and his wife a combined $540,000 in compensation and benefits last year, a Washington Post analysis of tax filings showed. There are no laws regulating the amount of money charities spend on overhead, fundraising or giving. But the institute's report suggests that 20 of the 29 military charities studied were managing their resources poorly, paying high overhead costs and direct-mail fundraising fees and, in some cases, providing their leaders with six-figure salaries. The 12 charities rated as failing by the institute -- including the Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation, the AMVETS National Service Foundation and the Freedom Alliance -- collected at least $266 million in the past fiscal year.
Rating the vets charities
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/12/AR2007121202439.html?sid=ST2007121300732
A staggering ego, at the center of difficult issues
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/13/AR2009111304385.html?wpisrc=newsletter
If these jerks are entitled to “fair trials,” so was every Nazi soldier we captured in WWII. Who will serve on the Jury? Excerpt: When two planes struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001, Khalid Sheik Mohammed was sitting in an Internet cafe in Karachi, Pakistan, monitoring the attacks. At first, Mohammed later told CIA interrogators, he was disappointed. He said that he expected the towers to crumble immediately and that he feared they might not fall at all. After the towers came down, Mohammed returned to a hideaway flat in the city. There, according to newly disclosed details from U.S. officials, he and a number of associates, including Ramzi Binalshibh, al-Qaeda's liaison with the Sept. 11 hijackers, gathered to watch coverage on international news channels. Through the night in Pakistan, the men embraced repeatedly in celebration, marveling at their spectacular success and the humbling of the American giant. More than eight years later, Mohammed, a detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will soon be transferred to federal court in Manhattan, returning to a city that officials say he visited as a tourist while a student in North Carolina in the 1980s. The man widely known as KSM will arrive in New York as the most striking symbol of the Obama administration's effort to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
U.S. troops battle both Taliban and their own rules
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/16/us-troops-battle-taliban-afghan-rules/?source=newsletter_must-read-stories-today_headlines
Excerpt: "We have to follow the Karzai 12 rules. But the Taliban has no rules," he said. "Our soldiers have to juggle all these rules and regulations and they do it without hesitation despite everything. It's not easy for anyone out here." "Karzai 12" refers to Afghanistan's newly re-elected president, Hamid Karzai, and a dozen rules set down by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the commander of U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, to try to keep Afghan civilian casualties to a minimum. "It's a framework to ensure cultural sensitivity in planning and executing operations," said Capt. Thoreen. "It's a set of rules and could be characterized as part of the ROE," he said, referring to the rules of engagement.
'I will only wear pants'
Defiant 'trouser lady' continues to fight decency laws
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/13/AR2009111304418.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Another hero in the anti-Jihad war. Excerpt: KHARTOUM, SUDAN -- A few months after she was arrested for wearing pants, Lubna Hussein was lounging around her home in a shady, upper-class neighborhood in this capital along the Nile River. It was a hot afternoon, but the 34-year-old Sudanese journalist was wearing thick jeans adorned with sequins and embroidered flowers. "Since all this happened, I will only wear pants," she said in the calmly defiant manner that led to her fleeting global celebrity as "the trouser lady," and a less-publicized backlash that has included anonymous death threats and newspaper columns calling her a prostitute. "If you have something to fight for, you can lose your life." In July, Hussein attempted to shame Sudan's Islamist ruling party by inviting reporters to view her public flogging, a punishment under Islamic law that is sometimes applied here -- by leather whip or bamboo cane of the sort used on camels -- to women deemed to have violated decency laws.
Italy: Mohammed called a paedophile in TV spat
http://www.eutimes.net/2009/11/italy-mohammed-called-a-paedophile-in-tv-spat/
She’s toast. Excerpt: Italian feminist and former far right-wing MP Daniela Santanche has sparked a controversy after calling the Prophet Mohammed a “a polygamist and paedophile” during a TV debate. Santanche appeared on a television programme aired on the commercial channel, Canale 5 with the president of Milan’s Islamic centre, Ali Abu Schwaima, on Sunday. “Mohammed was a polygamist and a paedophile because he had nine wives, one of whom was only nine years old, that is a historical fact,” said Santanche.
Never Forget: 9/11
http://www.thebravest.com/neverforget
Act for America
http://www.actforamerica.org/
Anti-Jihadist blog.
No Muslims Founded America But Obama Thinks They Were There!
http://www.desertconservative.com/2009/11/14/no-muslims-founded-america-but-obama-thinks-they-were-there/
Excerpt: Where were Muslims during the Civil Rights era of this country? Not present. There are no pictures or media accounts of Muslims walking side by side with Martin Luther King Jr.. or helping to advance the cause of Civil Rights. Where were Muslims during this country’s Woman’s Suffrage era? Again, not present. In fact, devout Muslims demand that women are subservient to men in the Islamic culture. So much so that often they are beaten for not wearing the ‘hajib’ or for talking to a man that is not a direct family member or their husband. Yep, the Muslims are all for women’s rights aren’t they? Where were Muslims during World War II? They were aligned with Adolf Hitler. The Muslim grand mufti himself met with Adolf Hitler, reviewed the troops and accepted support from the Nazi’s in killing Jews.
CMS: House health bill will hike costs $289B
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/67791-cms-house-health-bill-will-hike-costs-289b
Surprise! Excerpt: The House-approved healthcare overhaul would raise the costs of healthcare by $289 billion over the next 10 years, according to an analysis by the chief actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).The CMS report is a blow to the White House and House Democrats who have vowed that healthcare reform would curb the growth of healthcare spending. CMS's analysis is not an apples-to-apples comparison to the cost estimate conducted by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) because CMS did not review tax provisions, which help offset the price tag of the Democrats' measure. However, the CMS analysis clearly states that the House bill falls short in attaining a key goal of the Democrats' effort to reform the nation's healthcare system: "With the exception of the proposed reduction in Medicare... the provisions of H.R. 3962 would not have a significant impact on future healthcare cost growth rates."
Why Tragedy Will Be Result of Dems Rush to Victory on Health Reform
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/11/13/douglas-holtz-eakin-paul-howard-pelosi-health-care-sink-economy/
Interesting alternative proposals. Excerpt: It’s become clear that health reform has become the Democrats version of "Moby Dick," as party leaders embrace the premise that they must pass something this year and declare victory, no matter how flawed the final product is. What do they care if they sink the economy along the way? Last Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi begged, cajoled, and threatened health care legislation to a successful vote in her chamber, albeit by a razor thin margin of 220-215. The administration and House leadership touted this as a landmark vote, which it is, but only if you ignore the fact that the bill achieves almost none of President Obama's promised health reform goals. In fact, it is very likely to explode the deficit, drive up health care costs, and inflict massive new taxes on middle-class Americans. Watching events unfold in Washington at first hand, it’s become clear that health reform has become the Democrats version of "Moby Dick," as party leaders embrace the premise that they must pass something this year and declare victory, no matter how flawed the final product is. Unfortunately, they may sink the economy along the way. If clearer heads prevailed, Congress would scrap these partisan bills and start over.
Federal oversight of subways proposed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/14/AR2009111402459.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Step by step the Federal Government grows. What next?
Friday Senate Line: Depressed Democrats?
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/the-line/friday-senate-line-depressed-d.html?wprss=thefix
Excerpt: Two new Quinnipiac University polls released Thursday in Ohio and Connecticut provided sobering news for Senate Democrats. In Connecticut, Sen. Chris Dodd (D), whose numbers experienced something of a resurgence over the summer, trailed former Rep. Rob Simmons (R) by double digits in the latest Q poll. Even against virtual unknowns like former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon, state Sen. Sam Caliguri and former ambassador Tom Foley, Dodd is in a statistical dead heat -- evidence that Connecticut voters are looking for any alternative to the incumbent. Need more evidence? Just 40 percent approve of the job Dodd is doing in Congress while just 39 percent say he deserves re-election next fall. Not good. At all. The data in Ohio was less daunting for Democrats but still dispiriting. Former representative Rob Portman took 39 percent to 36 percent for Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher (D) in the Q poll, a significant reversal from a September survey when the Democrat led by double digits. Since neither Portman nor Fisher is particularly well known at the moment, the turnaround is almost entirely attributable to a general decline in the Democratic brand in the state as evidenced by the majorities who disapprove of how President Obama is handling the economy and health care. (Gov. Ted Strickland is feeling the effects as well, having slipped into a dead heat with former Republican Rep. John Kasich.)
Everyone in Britain could be given a personal 'carbon allowance'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/carbon/6527970/Everyone-in-Britain-could-be-given-a-personal-carbon-allowance.html
If you kill yourself, can you pass on your allowance to your heirs? Excerpt: However, some have criticised the move as "Orwellian" and say it will have a detrimental impact on business. Ruth Lea, an economist from Arbuthnot Banking Group, told the Daily Mail: "This is all about control of the individual and you begin to wonder whether this is what the green agenda has always been about. It's Orwellian. This will be an enormous tax on business." Under the Climate Change Act, Britain is obliged to cut its emissions by 80 per cent on 1990 levels by 2050. This means annual CO2 emissions per person will have to fall from about 9 tonnes to only 2 tonnes.
What's Wrong With Socialism?
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/whats_wrong_with_socialism.html
Excerpt: It eventually dawned on me that he really didn't know what was wrong with socialism. I began reciting the litany of horrors: the crimes of the Holocaust, the purges of the Soviets, the thuggery and inhuman brutality of the statist regimes of the last century. The Nazis, for crissake! How could he not know about the evil of the Nazis? He listened to all of this, nodding his understanding as he recognized some of the events I described, but I could still see a question behind his eyes. While he had been taught of the existence of these atrocities, he had not been clued into the one commonality they shared. They were all perpetrated by the adherents of various forms of socialism. Indeed, such crimes were the only outcome possible. In the late 1930s, the noted economist Friedrich Von Hayek wrote his landmark pamphlet "Road to Serfdom," laying bare the diseased skeleton of socialist/utopian thought that had permeated academia and the salons of his day. With an economy of words that showcased the significance of his conclusion, he pointed out the Achilles heel of collectivist dogma: for a planned economy to succeed, there must be central planners, who by necessity will insist on universal commitment to their plan. How do you attain total commitment to a goal from a free people? Well, you don't. Some percentage will always disagree, even if only for the sake of being contrary or out of a desire to be left alone. When considering a program as comprehensive as a government-planned economy, there are undoubtedly countless points of contention, such as how we will choose the planners, how we will order our priorities when assigning them importance within the plan, how we will allocate resources when competing interests have legitimate claims, who will make these decisions, and perhaps more pertinent to our discussion, how those decisions will be enforced. A rift forming on even one of these issues is enough to bring the gears of this progressive endeavor grinding to a halt. This fatal flaw in the collectivist design cannot be reengineered. It is an error so critical that the entire ideology must be scrapped.
What Does the Public Know?
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1378/political-news-iq-quiz
Excerpt: National Results of the quiz I published at this link:
http://pewresearch.org/politicalquiz/quiz/index.php
Thank you former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush
http://hillbuzz.org/2009/11/10/thank-you-former-president-george-w-bush-and-former-first-lady-laura-bush/
Leftwing news site thanks Bush!
Cops: Initial investigation indicates Scott shot himself
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/11/man-found-dead-near-merchandise-mart-downtown.html
Former Daley aide. School Board President. Who knows in Chicago?
Nice post
This was just posted as a comment on “I’m Tired,” my widely-circulated post back in February. Gives you hope for the future:
“This is probably the greatest blogpost I have ever seen! I'm 16 and I have to keep a blog for my American Studies class, so I know a bit about the blogosphere. Mr. Hall, you have voiced nearly every sentiment I hesitate to share for fear of being ostracized. I live near Chicago, so I know exactly what you're talking about with Illinois corruption. My parent's money just seems to keep going down the drain. I hope people keep reading this blog and seeing that they are not alone in their malcontent. While there are Republicans here in Illinois, it's a rather blue state. Such sentiments as you expressed are denounced as right-wing extremism. I hope this country stops its downward slide, for your granddaughter's sake and my own.”
It has come to pass
"They are not to do anything they please to provide for the general welfare.... giving a distinct and independent power to do any act they please which may be good for the Union, would render all the preceding and subsequent enumerations of power completely useless. It would reduce the whole instrument to a single phrase, that of instituting a Congress with power to do whatever would be for the good of the United States; and as they sole judges of the good or evil, it would be also a power to do whatever evil they please." --Thomas Jefferson, Founder of the Democrat Party. "The Patriot Post (www.patriotpost.us/subscribe/)"
Monday, November 16, 2009
The Silver Lining in the NYC Terrorist Trials
From my Marine buddy, Del:
OK, here's the thing- if I were Mr. Obama's chief supporter, I would have said to him "Leave the trials of the WTC conspirators with the military tribunals, that system is already set up and people are ready for it to run, and it's enormously simpler and less open to manipulation than any civil trial will be. Those guys are super terrorists by their own admission, they are part of the army of Jihad that deliberately targeted innocent civilians the same way Hitler had the Luftwaffe target London. They say they are soldiers, fine, take them at their word and have them tried by soldiers. And by staying out of it, you let the system set up under Bush go ahead, which means if things go badly it's not your fault, if things go OK then it happened on your watch and you're still OK."
So now the rationale from Mr. Holder is that since they killed civilians, they have to be tried by civilians? Really? Soldiers who kill civilians are courtmartialed, terrorists and guerilla killers have always been tried by military courts, to act like these guys are just serial killers on a huge scale and entitled to all the rights of civil trials is a major departure from common practice.
And the defense attorneys now have so many advantages that the trial being a super 3-ring circus is a total lock. First, how do you qualify jurors in NYC? Question to prospective juror from defense atty- "Mr. Smith, were living on or present in NYC when the unfortunate event of the fall of the WTC took place?" "Yes, sir, I was" "Your Honor, we have to exclude this juror on the basis of almost certain bias"
Second, there is the matter of the aggressive interrogations, which can and will be played up in the courtroom like the crescendo of a Wagnerian opera. Thirdly, there's the demand by the defense to know all the details of how the guys were caught, which means giving up very sensitive and secret information on intelligence methods, informants, the technologies used, etc, which it is way against the interest of this country to divulge.
And let's remember that the trial of Zacharias Moussawi was a circus that took over 3 years start to finish, and cost millions, and these trials will make his look simple. And for every year of the crazy process, the chances of some attack on the trial by crazies go up. Or the chances that some crew of killers takes over a tour bus of US citizens somewhere, and says either these guys are let go or they saw the heads off the Americans one by one on camera.
I see nothing but bad news in this decision, and I bet it will come down as a very bad decision by Obama and Holder, one that will be on the news as long as the trials go on. That cannot be good for the Administration, and when the 2012 election comes around, it'll be pounded into the ground as a major point against them. Arrogance and stupidity just roll along nicely from these guys.
So it's a very bad decision for America, but the only silver lining in that cloud is that it will be a bad decision that gets noticed, and in the end, will be part of certain parties shooting themselves in the foot.
--Del
OK, here's the thing- if I were Mr. Obama's chief supporter, I would have said to him "Leave the trials of the WTC conspirators with the military tribunals, that system is already set up and people are ready for it to run, and it's enormously simpler and less open to manipulation than any civil trial will be. Those guys are super terrorists by their own admission, they are part of the army of Jihad that deliberately targeted innocent civilians the same way Hitler had the Luftwaffe target London. They say they are soldiers, fine, take them at their word and have them tried by soldiers. And by staying out of it, you let the system set up under Bush go ahead, which means if things go badly it's not your fault, if things go OK then it happened on your watch and you're still OK."
So now the rationale from Mr. Holder is that since they killed civilians, they have to be tried by civilians? Really? Soldiers who kill civilians are courtmartialed, terrorists and guerilla killers have always been tried by military courts, to act like these guys are just serial killers on a huge scale and entitled to all the rights of civil trials is a major departure from common practice.
And the defense attorneys now have so many advantages that the trial being a super 3-ring circus is a total lock. First, how do you qualify jurors in NYC? Question to prospective juror from defense atty- "Mr. Smith, were living on or present in NYC when the unfortunate event of the fall of the WTC took place?" "Yes, sir, I was" "Your Honor, we have to exclude this juror on the basis of almost certain bias"
Second, there is the matter of the aggressive interrogations, which can and will be played up in the courtroom like the crescendo of a Wagnerian opera. Thirdly, there's the demand by the defense to know all the details of how the guys were caught, which means giving up very sensitive and secret information on intelligence methods, informants, the technologies used, etc, which it is way against the interest of this country to divulge.
And let's remember that the trial of Zacharias Moussawi was a circus that took over 3 years start to finish, and cost millions, and these trials will make his look simple. And for every year of the crazy process, the chances of some attack on the trial by crazies go up. Or the chances that some crew of killers takes over a tour bus of US citizens somewhere, and says either these guys are let go or they saw the heads off the Americans one by one on camera.
I see nothing but bad news in this decision, and I bet it will come down as a very bad decision by Obama and Holder, one that will be on the news as long as the trials go on. That cannot be good for the Administration, and when the 2012 election comes around, it'll be pounded into the ground as a major point against them. Arrogance and stupidity just roll along nicely from these guys.
So it's a very bad decision for America, but the only silver lining in that cloud is that it will be a bad decision that gets noticed, and in the end, will be part of certain parties shooting themselves in the foot.
--Del
Political Digest November 16, 2009
I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.
Not evil, just wrong
Saw this film Sunday—a must-see
Greeting Daddy http://www.alternet.org/blogs/world/143877/dogs_going_crazy_as_their_soldiers_return_home
Dogs and Kids greet returning vets.
Awards for “infidel bloggers”and “politically incorrect pundits.” http://infidelbloggerawards.blogspot.com/
Ah, the big time.
Walpin-gate opens wider
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/15/walpin-gate-opens-wider-28331053/?source=newsletter_opinion_photo_feature
Excerpt: The previously overlooked item, meanwhile, plays a significant (but not determinative) role in Mr. Walpin's court filing against the White House's motion to dismiss. It involves one of the main arguments belatedly advanced by the White House to try to justify the firing - a firing that occurred shortly after Mr. Walpin filed two reports highly embarrassing to political allies of President Obama's.
Giuliani: Unbelievable Incompetence. Invites A Terrorist Attack http://newsrealblog.com/2009/11/13/giuliani-on-cavuto-on-civilian-trial-unbelievable-incompetence-invites-a-terrorist-attack/
Excerpt: On Cavuto this evening, Rudy Giuliani underscored the obvious. We tried prosecuting terrorists as criminals after the first World Trade Center attack in 1993. It got us the second attack. What is it that the Obama doesn’t understand about the word “war?” How can he wish to inflict this nightmare on the families of 9/11 and the City of New York?
The Worst Decision By A US President In History
http://newsrealblog.com/2009/11/13/the-worst-decision-by-a-us-president-in-history/
Excerpt: The decision to try the jihadists in a civilian court is also a decision which will divulge America’s security secrets to the enemy since civilian courts afford defendants the right of discovery. It is also a propaganda gift to Islamic murderers who will turn the courtroom into a media circus to promote their hatred against the Great Satan.
Survivor of Socialism Has Warning for America
http://www.dakotavoice.com/2009/11/survivor-of-socialism-has-warning-for-america/
Excerpt: Austria had private health care prior to the Nazis, and the quality was good. But the government took over the health care system, and when health care became “free” the doctors quickly became overloaded by frivolous use of the system. Surgeries of a more important nature, however, had waiting lists of about 18 months because of all the “hypochondriacs” abusing the system. Werthmann said that if a doctor prescribed a medicine not on the government-approved list, the government would take the cost of the medicine out of the doctor’s salary. Welfare became a “huge apparatus,” said Werthmann. Everyone had access to subsidized housing, food stamps, heating subsidies and many other benefits until everyone–regardless of salary–reached the prescribed standard of living. “That’s called socialism,” she said. Werthmann cited the exchange between Joe the Plumber and Presidential Candidate Obama about “spreading the wealth” as a sign that it’s already begun here.
No Free Lunch: The True Cost of ObamaCare http://townhall.com/columnists/MattPatterson/2009/11/13/no_free_lunch_the_true_cost_of_obamacare
Excerpt: Far from providing "affordable" care for everyone, ObamaCare would come at a painful price - higher insurance premiums, more and higher taxes, fewer jobs, lower wages, a reduced standard of living and an erosion of privacy and individual liberty.
Parents say son was tormented for eating salami sandwich during Ramadan http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26343471-421,00.html
Tolerant Islam. Excerpt: A SYDNEY couple has withdrawn their two children from a public primary school, claiming their 11-year-old son was bullied by Muslim students because he ate a salami sandwich during Ramadan. Andrew Grigoriou said yesterday he complained to the school and to police after his son Antonios was chased and later assaulted by Muslim students after a confrontation over the contents of his lunch, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Going Muslim
http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/08/fort-hood-nidal-malik-hasan-muslims-opinions-columnists-tunku-varadarajan.html
There are millions of peaceful, if irrelevant, Muslims afraid to stand up to this. So I’d call it “Going Jihadist.” Excerpt: "Going postal" is a piquant American phrase that describes the phenomenon of violent rage in which a worker--archetypically a postal worker--"snaps" and guns down his colleagues. As the enormity of the actions of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan sinks in, we must ask whether we are confronting a new phenomenon of violent rage, one we might dub--disconcertingly--"Going Muslim." This phrase would describe the turn of events where a seemingly integrated Muslim-American--a friendly donut vendor in New York, say, or an officer in the U.S. Army at Fort Hood--discards his apparent integration into American society and elects to vindicate his religion in an act of messianic violence against his fellow Americans. This would appear to be what happened in the case of Maj. Hasan. The difference between "going postal," in the conventional sense, and "going Muslim," in the sense that I suggest, is that there would not necessarily be a psychological "snapping" point in the case of the imminently violent Muslim; instead, there could be a calculated discarding of camouflage--the camouflage of integration--in an act of revelatory catharsis
The audacity of extremism
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/the_audacity_of_extremism.html
Excerpt: When Obama uses the phrase "The Audacity of Hope," we hope he's talking about peaceful audacity. But we can't be sure -- because Obama and his inner circle are extremists in any reasonable meaning of that word, certainly by the standards of normal American politics. That's why Obama seems so foreign. That is what "radical" means; it's another word for "extremist." These folks love to preen themselves on being radical. Rules for Radicals is their Bible, and it's Obama's manual for "community organizing" -- which looks just like community destruction. Alinsky dedicated Rules for Radicals to Lucifer, because Lucifer is the symbol of destructive extremism. Don't tell me these folks are mainstream Americans. No way. Obama is running the most extremist administration in American history. It's chockfull of wild-eyed bizarros like Van Jones, Rahm Gawdhelpus, and the whole Chicago Gang. How many presidential chiefs of staff have publicly yelled "Dead! Dead! Dead!" while stabbing a steak knife into a dinner table, just to show what he wanted to do to his political enemies? Rahm Emanuel's the only one. How many have done the Godfather schtick by sending a dead fish to a journalist? Rahmbo wants to scare people, and Obama knew that when he hired him. It can't be an accident that Rahm is Obama's Capo di tutti Capi.
Home Builders (You Heard That Right) Get a Gift http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/business/economy/15gret.html
Excerpt: ON Nov. 6, President Obama signed the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009 into law, extending unemployment benefits by 20 weeks and renewing the first-time homebuyer tax credit until next April. But tucked inside the law was another prize: a tax break that lets big companies offset losses incurred in 2008 and 2009 against profits booked as far back as 2004. The tax cuts will generate corporate refunds or relief worth about $33 billion, according to an administration estimate. Before the bill became law, the so-called look-back on losses was limited to small businesses and could be used to counterbalance just two years of profits. Now the profit offset goes back five years, and the law allows big companies to take advantage of it, too. The only companies that can’t participate are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and any institution that took money under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Among the biggest beneficiaries are home builders, analysts say. Once again, at the front of the government assistance line, stand some of the very companies that contributed mightily to the credit crisis by building and financing too many homes. This is getting to be a habit: companies that participated on the upside and are now reaping rewards from the taxpayers on the downside. The banks that underwrote so many dubious loans, for example, received government aid to get them lending again. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the result. (I suppose I’ve said this before, but when government intervenes in the economy, the free market no longer works, because politics not economics drives the decisions.)
How different leaders greet the emperor
http://hotairpundit.blogspot.com/2009/11/president-obama-vs-rest-of-world.html
Interesting pictures.
'Bring my lawyer! — That's what's so beautiful about America.'
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDVjYmJhYWU3OWQ2MWUxNzU3M2M1OTczZTIxYTE3Zjg=
Excerpt: Back at the safehouse [in Queens] again that evening, the jihadists talked about future operations they hoped to carry out if the present plot [to bomb the UN complex and the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels] went well. In addition to the George Washington Bridge and the [the FBI’s Manhattan headquarters], Siddig Ali, Amir Abdelgani, and Tarig Elhassan discussed scouting a U.S. military base on Staten Island—which Siddig apparently sensed might be a more promising target than the Manhattan armory he had surveilled back in the spring. The plotters then engaged in a breathtaking conversation, castigating the United States with the exception of the one thing they really liked about our nation: the criminal justice system. The discussion was forced by Elhassan, who had lingering doubts about Puerto Rican jihadist Victor Alvarez’s commitment—especially whether he had the courage to withstand the pressure of interrogation if he were arrested. Gazing deeply into Alvarez’s eyes, Siddig sternly explained that the bombs would soon be ready, and that perhaps Alvarez should flee to Puerto Rico once the stolen cars [for transporting bombs] had been obtained. Siddig reasoned that Alvarez, unlike the others, was an American citizen: “You understand, brother, for me, for him, no problem. No problem. For you? It’s your country. You understand?”
Syrian carrying $880,000, Hezbollah ring, 9/11 videos, stopped at Canadian border http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2216482
Had to release him. Might be charged with Islamophobia otherwise. Wait until someone dies—time enough then. Excerpt: Don't cross the Canadian border with almost a million dollars that you fail to declare -- especially when you also have a Hezbollah ring and a Palestinian scarf in your possession. Khaled Nawaya found that out the hard way when he was arrested Oct. 6 at the Douglas border crossing in Surrey, B.C., and had to spend a month in detention while being investigated as a security threat. He was released on Thursday with a long list of conditions after a hearing before the federal government's Immigration Division member Lynda Mackie. He remains to have no status in Canada.
Islam and terrorism
http://surind.blogspot.com/2009/08/islam-islamic-terrorism-jihad-in.html
Interesting blog.
CAIR boasts of influence on media after Fort Hood Group treated as voice of Muslims despite fresh evidence of terror ties
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=116054
Excerpt: Despite recent reports of new evidence of its ties to terrorism, the Council on American-Islamic Relations is boasting of its success in the wake of the Fort Hood massacre as a spokesman in numerous major media outlets for a religious community "shocked" by the attack and incensed that anyone would associate them with it. In a fundraising letter, CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad told potential donors that within hours of the attack by a Muslim Army major, the Washington, D.C.-based group issued a statement of condemnation to thousands of local, national and international media outlets.
Steyn: Tragedy or Scandal?
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NGYzZTExZWU0NjZhYTM2ODdiNmU2NDMyNzUzMTk5NzY=&w=MA==
Excerpt: Shortly after 9/11, there was a lot of talk about how no one would ever hijack an American airliner ever again — not because of new security arrangements but because an alert citizenry was on the case: We were hip to their jive. The point appeared to be proved three months later on a U.S.-bound Air France flight. The “Shoebomber” attempted to light his footwear, and the flight attendants and passengers pounced. As the more boorish commentators could not resist pointing out, even the French guys walloped him. But the years go by, and the mood shifts. You didn’t have to be “alert” to spot Maj. Nidal Hasan. He’d spent most of the last half-decade walking around with a big neon sign on his head saying “JIHADIST. STAND WELL BACK.” But we (that is to say, almost all of us — and certainly almost anyone who matters in national security and the broader political culture) are now reflexively conditioned to ignore the flashing neon sign. Like those apocryphal Victorian ladies discreetly draping the lasciviously curved legs of their pianos, if a glimpse of hard unpleasant reality peeps through we simply veil it in another layer of fluffy illusion.
White House: IL prison eyed for Guantanamo inmates http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvgQf2tLt7a3-vVKDkHdb6Y6Cm5gD9BVKJ8O0?utm_source=DaronBabin&utm_medium=NewGenBroadcasting&utm_content=News&utm_campaign=DaronBabin
Must be an angle so the Daley machine can make a few million bucks off this aspect of hope and change.
Not evil, just wrong
Saw this film Sunday—a must-see
Greeting Daddy http://www.alternet.org/blogs/world/143877/dogs_going_crazy_as_their_soldiers_return_home
Dogs and Kids greet returning vets.
Awards for “infidel bloggers”and “politically incorrect pundits.” http://infidelbloggerawards.blogspot.com/
Ah, the big time.
Walpin-gate opens wider
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/15/walpin-gate-opens-wider-28331053/?source=newsletter_opinion_photo_feature
Excerpt: The previously overlooked item, meanwhile, plays a significant (but not determinative) role in Mr. Walpin's court filing against the White House's motion to dismiss. It involves one of the main arguments belatedly advanced by the White House to try to justify the firing - a firing that occurred shortly after Mr. Walpin filed two reports highly embarrassing to political allies of President Obama's.
Giuliani: Unbelievable Incompetence. Invites A Terrorist Attack http://newsrealblog.com/2009/11/13/giuliani-on-cavuto-on-civilian-trial-unbelievable-incompetence-invites-a-terrorist-attack/
Excerpt: On Cavuto this evening, Rudy Giuliani underscored the obvious. We tried prosecuting terrorists as criminals after the first World Trade Center attack in 1993. It got us the second attack. What is it that the Obama doesn’t understand about the word “war?” How can he wish to inflict this nightmare on the families of 9/11 and the City of New York?
The Worst Decision By A US President In History
http://newsrealblog.com/2009/11/13/the-worst-decision-by-a-us-president-in-history/
Excerpt: The decision to try the jihadists in a civilian court is also a decision which will divulge America’s security secrets to the enemy since civilian courts afford defendants the right of discovery. It is also a propaganda gift to Islamic murderers who will turn the courtroom into a media circus to promote their hatred against the Great Satan.
Survivor of Socialism Has Warning for America
http://www.dakotavoice.com/2009/11/survivor-of-socialism-has-warning-for-america/
Excerpt: Austria had private health care prior to the Nazis, and the quality was good. But the government took over the health care system, and when health care became “free” the doctors quickly became overloaded by frivolous use of the system. Surgeries of a more important nature, however, had waiting lists of about 18 months because of all the “hypochondriacs” abusing the system. Werthmann said that if a doctor prescribed a medicine not on the government-approved list, the government would take the cost of the medicine out of the doctor’s salary. Welfare became a “huge apparatus,” said Werthmann. Everyone had access to subsidized housing, food stamps, heating subsidies and many other benefits until everyone–regardless of salary–reached the prescribed standard of living. “That’s called socialism,” she said. Werthmann cited the exchange between Joe the Plumber and Presidential Candidate Obama about “spreading the wealth” as a sign that it’s already begun here.
No Free Lunch: The True Cost of ObamaCare http://townhall.com/columnists/MattPatterson/2009/11/13/no_free_lunch_the_true_cost_of_obamacare
Excerpt: Far from providing "affordable" care for everyone, ObamaCare would come at a painful price - higher insurance premiums, more and higher taxes, fewer jobs, lower wages, a reduced standard of living and an erosion of privacy and individual liberty.
Parents say son was tormented for eating salami sandwich during Ramadan http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26343471-421,00.html
Tolerant Islam. Excerpt: A SYDNEY couple has withdrawn their two children from a public primary school, claiming their 11-year-old son was bullied by Muslim students because he ate a salami sandwich during Ramadan. Andrew Grigoriou said yesterday he complained to the school and to police after his son Antonios was chased and later assaulted by Muslim students after a confrontation over the contents of his lunch, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Going Muslim
http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/08/fort-hood-nidal-malik-hasan-muslims-opinions-columnists-tunku-varadarajan.html
There are millions of peaceful, if irrelevant, Muslims afraid to stand up to this. So I’d call it “Going Jihadist.” Excerpt: "Going postal" is a piquant American phrase that describes the phenomenon of violent rage in which a worker--archetypically a postal worker--"snaps" and guns down his colleagues. As the enormity of the actions of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan sinks in, we must ask whether we are confronting a new phenomenon of violent rage, one we might dub--disconcertingly--"Going Muslim." This phrase would describe the turn of events where a seemingly integrated Muslim-American--a friendly donut vendor in New York, say, or an officer in the U.S. Army at Fort Hood--discards his apparent integration into American society and elects to vindicate his religion in an act of messianic violence against his fellow Americans. This would appear to be what happened in the case of Maj. Hasan. The difference between "going postal," in the conventional sense, and "going Muslim," in the sense that I suggest, is that there would not necessarily be a psychological "snapping" point in the case of the imminently violent Muslim; instead, there could be a calculated discarding of camouflage--the camouflage of integration--in an act of revelatory catharsis
The audacity of extremism
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/the_audacity_of_extremism.html
Excerpt: When Obama uses the phrase "The Audacity of Hope," we hope he's talking about peaceful audacity. But we can't be sure -- because Obama and his inner circle are extremists in any reasonable meaning of that word, certainly by the standards of normal American politics. That's why Obama seems so foreign. That is what "radical" means; it's another word for "extremist." These folks love to preen themselves on being radical. Rules for Radicals is their Bible, and it's Obama's manual for "community organizing" -- which looks just like community destruction. Alinsky dedicated Rules for Radicals to Lucifer, because Lucifer is the symbol of destructive extremism. Don't tell me these folks are mainstream Americans. No way. Obama is running the most extremist administration in American history. It's chockfull of wild-eyed bizarros like Van Jones, Rahm Gawdhelpus, and the whole Chicago Gang. How many presidential chiefs of staff have publicly yelled "Dead! Dead! Dead!" while stabbing a steak knife into a dinner table, just to show what he wanted to do to his political enemies? Rahm Emanuel's the only one. How many have done the Godfather schtick by sending a dead fish to a journalist? Rahmbo wants to scare people, and Obama knew that when he hired him. It can't be an accident that Rahm is Obama's Capo di tutti Capi.
Home Builders (You Heard That Right) Get a Gift http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/business/economy/15gret.html
Excerpt: ON Nov. 6, President Obama signed the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009 into law, extending unemployment benefits by 20 weeks and renewing the first-time homebuyer tax credit until next April. But tucked inside the law was another prize: a tax break that lets big companies offset losses incurred in 2008 and 2009 against profits booked as far back as 2004. The tax cuts will generate corporate refunds or relief worth about $33 billion, according to an administration estimate. Before the bill became law, the so-called look-back on losses was limited to small businesses and could be used to counterbalance just two years of profits. Now the profit offset goes back five years, and the law allows big companies to take advantage of it, too. The only companies that can’t participate are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and any institution that took money under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Among the biggest beneficiaries are home builders, analysts say. Once again, at the front of the government assistance line, stand some of the very companies that contributed mightily to the credit crisis by building and financing too many homes. This is getting to be a habit: companies that participated on the upside and are now reaping rewards from the taxpayers on the downside. The banks that underwrote so many dubious loans, for example, received government aid to get them lending again. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the result. (I suppose I’ve said this before, but when government intervenes in the economy, the free market no longer works, because politics not economics drives the decisions.)
How different leaders greet the emperor
http://hotairpundit.blogspot.com/2009/11/president-obama-vs-rest-of-world.html
Interesting pictures.
'Bring my lawyer! — That's what's so beautiful about America.'
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDVjYmJhYWU3OWQ2MWUxNzU3M2M1OTczZTIxYTE3Zjg=
Excerpt: Back at the safehouse [in Queens] again that evening, the jihadists talked about future operations they hoped to carry out if the present plot [to bomb the UN complex and the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels] went well. In addition to the George Washington Bridge and the [the FBI’s Manhattan headquarters], Siddig Ali, Amir Abdelgani, and Tarig Elhassan discussed scouting a U.S. military base on Staten Island—which Siddig apparently sensed might be a more promising target than the Manhattan armory he had surveilled back in the spring. The plotters then engaged in a breathtaking conversation, castigating the United States with the exception of the one thing they really liked about our nation: the criminal justice system. The discussion was forced by Elhassan, who had lingering doubts about Puerto Rican jihadist Victor Alvarez’s commitment—especially whether he had the courage to withstand the pressure of interrogation if he were arrested. Gazing deeply into Alvarez’s eyes, Siddig sternly explained that the bombs would soon be ready, and that perhaps Alvarez should flee to Puerto Rico once the stolen cars [for transporting bombs] had been obtained. Siddig reasoned that Alvarez, unlike the others, was an American citizen: “You understand, brother, for me, for him, no problem. No problem. For you? It’s your country. You understand?”
Syrian carrying $880,000, Hezbollah ring, 9/11 videos, stopped at Canadian border http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2216482
Had to release him. Might be charged with Islamophobia otherwise. Wait until someone dies—time enough then. Excerpt: Don't cross the Canadian border with almost a million dollars that you fail to declare -- especially when you also have a Hezbollah ring and a Palestinian scarf in your possession. Khaled Nawaya found that out the hard way when he was arrested Oct. 6 at the Douglas border crossing in Surrey, B.C., and had to spend a month in detention while being investigated as a security threat. He was released on Thursday with a long list of conditions after a hearing before the federal government's Immigration Division member Lynda Mackie. He remains to have no status in Canada.
Islam and terrorism
http://surind.blogspot.com/2009/08/islam-islamic-terrorism-jihad-in.html
Interesting blog.
CAIR boasts of influence on media after Fort Hood Group treated as voice of Muslims despite fresh evidence of terror ties
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=116054
Excerpt: Despite recent reports of new evidence of its ties to terrorism, the Council on American-Islamic Relations is boasting of its success in the wake of the Fort Hood massacre as a spokesman in numerous major media outlets for a religious community "shocked" by the attack and incensed that anyone would associate them with it. In a fundraising letter, CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad told potential donors that within hours of the attack by a Muslim Army major, the Washington, D.C.-based group issued a statement of condemnation to thousands of local, national and international media outlets.
Steyn: Tragedy or Scandal?
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NGYzZTExZWU0NjZhYTM2ODdiNmU2NDMyNzUzMTk5NzY=&w=MA==
Excerpt: Shortly after 9/11, there was a lot of talk about how no one would ever hijack an American airliner ever again — not because of new security arrangements but because an alert citizenry was on the case: We were hip to their jive. The point appeared to be proved three months later on a U.S.-bound Air France flight. The “Shoebomber” attempted to light his footwear, and the flight attendants and passengers pounced. As the more boorish commentators could not resist pointing out, even the French guys walloped him. But the years go by, and the mood shifts. You didn’t have to be “alert” to spot Maj. Nidal Hasan. He’d spent most of the last half-decade walking around with a big neon sign on his head saying “JIHADIST. STAND WELL BACK.” But we (that is to say, almost all of us — and certainly almost anyone who matters in national security and the broader political culture) are now reflexively conditioned to ignore the flashing neon sign. Like those apocryphal Victorian ladies discreetly draping the lasciviously curved legs of their pianos, if a glimpse of hard unpleasant reality peeps through we simply veil it in another layer of fluffy illusion.
White House: IL prison eyed for Guantanamo inmates http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvgQf2tLt7a3-vVKDkHdb6Y6Cm5gD9BVKJ8O0?utm_source=DaronBabin&utm_medium=NewGenBroadcasting&utm_content=News&utm_campaign=DaronBabin
Must be an angle so the Daley machine can make a few million bucks off this aspect of hope and change.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Political Digest November 14, 2009
I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.
Quiz
http://pewresearch.org/politicalquiz/quiz/index.php
If you don’t get 10 of 12, you shouldn’t be allowed to vote! (Yes, I got 12. Easy questions for anyone paying attention.)
Obama Administration Intends to Purge Republicans From the Civil Service
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/11/12/obama-administration-intends-to-purge-republicans-from-the-civil-service/
Excerpts: It is a typical Washington process that many political appointees are able to take jobs within the civil service once their political appointment expires — usually at the conclusion of one administration. What often happens as well is Congressional staffers, before an election or shortly thereafter, will move over to the Executive Branch placed into the civil service, in effect, by appointment. So, for example, when George Bush became President in 2001, a number of Clinton political appointees became civil service employees. As a result, they became subject to civil service hiring and firing rules, which meant they could no longer be replaced simply for having been a Democratic appointee. Barack Obama is changing that. He intends to purge all Republicans from the federal bureaucracy retroactive to five years ago. Under his new rules, made retroactive for five years, the Office of Personnel Management will examine civil service employees who got their start as political appointees in the Bush administration and terminate those employees. The order is retroactive to 2004, that moment when a number of Republican congressional staffers and others sought to embed into the second Bush administration right after the election.
Fight fire with arson, then collect firefighter's pension http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass-11-nov11,0,1832804.column
Politically-connected firefighter convicted of arson gets to keep firefighter pension. The Chicago way, which corrupts everyone it touches. Everyone.
Pawlenty hasn't learned from Romney's mistakes
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/11/AR2009111126571.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is widely regarded as one of the Republican Party's rising national leaders. The runner-up to Sarah Palin to be John McCain's vice presidential running mate, he is a conservative whose blue-collar roots, amiable personality and two terms as governor of a traditionally Democratic state would seem to make him a natural in attracting the kind of swing voters who are always fought over in presidential elections. But the Pawlenty who has stepped onto the national stage in recent months has said and done things that have other Republicans wondering about his instincts and his sure-footedness as a prospective 2012 presidential candidate. Pawlenty could learn from the earlier mistakes of one of his potential rivals for the GOP nomination, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
The most important number in politics today
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/most-important-number/the-most-important-number-in-p-65.html?wprss=thefix
Excerpt: 64 That's the percentage of Ohioans who call themselves either "somewhat" (37 percent) or "very" (27 percent) dissatisfied with the way things are going in the Buckeye State in a new Quinnipiac poll. By contrast, roughly one in three (35 percent) say they are satisfied with the state of the state and just three percent of that group calling themselves "very" satisfied. That dissatisfaction is trickling down ballot with Gov. Ted Strickland (D) now in a dead heat with former Rep. John Kasich (R) despite the fact that the GOP nominee is far less well known in the state. (Strickland led by 10 points as recently as mid-September.)
Momentum is a challenge for Senate
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/67475-momentum-is-challenge-for-senate
Excerpt: Democrats on Capitol Hill have devised a plan to maintain momentum for healthcare reform, hoping to avoid the setbacks they suffered over the summer. The House’s passage of healthcare legislation was a huge victory for President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats. But the Senate’s snail-like pace presents the party with the challenge of proving to the public that they are making progress. Going into the Veterans Day recess, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) signaled that they intend to pass the Senate bill in the final weeks of 2009, with a final vote on the conference bill by about mid-January. This schedule is intended to show the bill is moving forward, avoiding a repeat of the August recess, when the healthcare reform movement stalled amid boisterous town hall forums.
Swine flu: Available doses vary wildly by county
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-swine-flu-count-13-nov13,0,3222873.story
Excerpt: It's a puzzle that Will County's health officials are struggling to unravel: Although they have received enough H1N1 flu vaccine to protect just 2.1 percent of their county's 680,000 residents, Kendall County has enough to protect 17 percent of its 103,000 residents. "We don't understand why a county that's so much smaller than ours is getting more vaccines," said Will County Health Department spokesman Vic Reato. "We thought that maybe the state had lost our order."… Chicago receives its allotment directly from the CDC, but the rest of Illinois goes through the state health department, which does not rely on any hard-and-fast formula when deciding which counties, hospitals and other health care providers receive vaccine doses, officials said. (Gee, maybe because that’s how government runs healthcare? Duh.)
Why Fort Hood Really Happened
In war, uncertainty gets you killed. It just did. http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748704576204574529844037896738-lMyQjAxMDA5MDEwMjExNDIyWj.html
Excerpt: The only good news out of the Fort Hood massacre is that U.S. electronic surveillance technology was able to pick up Major Hasan's phone calls to an al Qaeda-loving imam in Yemen. The bad news is the people and agencies listening to Hasan didn't know what to do about it. Other than nothing. Next week, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I., Conn.) will convene the Homeland Security Committee to find out if someone in the Army or FBI dropped the ball on Hasan. At Ford Hood itself, grief has been turning to anger as news of possible dropped balls has emerged. Earlier in the week at Fort Hood, President Obama spoke about the consequences of doing nothing. He named and described each of the 13 dead. That properly gave individual reality to what soon will become "the victims of Fort Hood." This is how it always goes. For about a week after these awful incidents—such as the USS Cole bombing in Yemen (year 2000, 17 dead)—the rest of us feel, just a little, what the surviving families feel. This week, 13 American families are shattered, forever. It's a big deal, the biggest deal there is. On Tuesday night at 9:06 p.m. in Virginia, the state executed the Beltway sniper, John Allen Muhammad, who gunned down 10 in 2002. The day before the execution, the father of a dead daughter described why he would witness it: "I want to see what he made me see. He forced us to look at our little girl laying in a coffin. I want to see justice done. I want to see him take a last breath. I want to be able to describe it to the rest of the family."… This will never come up in the Lieberman hearings next week, but I think that nonstop policy battle is why Hasan's overseers dropped the ball.
Medicalizing mass murder
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/12/AR2009111209824.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: What a surprise -- that someone who shouts "Allahu Akbar" (the "God is great" jihadist battle cry) as he is shooting up a room of American soldiers might have Islamist motives. It certainly was a surprise to the mainstream media, which spent the weekend after the Fort Hood massacre playing down Nidal Hasan's religious beliefs. I cringe that he's a Muslim. . . . I think he's probably just a nut case," said Newsweek's Evan Thomas. Some were more adamant. Time's Joe Klein decried "odious attempts by Jewish extremists . . . to argue that the massacre perpetrated by Nidal Hasan was somehow a direct consequence of his Islamic beliefs." While none could match Klein's peculiar cherchez-le-juif motif, the popular story line was of an Army psychiatrist driven over the edge by terrible stories he had heard from soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Prosecutors tie Iran, U.S. assets
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/12/AR2009111209731.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Nothing to do with Islam, of course. Lots of Presbyterians financing nuclear bombs and terrorism. Excerpt: Federal prosecutors on Thursday moved to seize several U.S. assets allegedly controlled by entities linked to the government of Iran, including a mosque and Islamic school in Potomac, land in Prince William County and a Manhattan skyscraper. Prosecutors described an intricate web of ties allegedly connecting the properties to an Iranian bank that has been identified as a key financier of Tehran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and possibly acts of terrorism. At the center of that web, they said, is a New-York based organization known as the Alavi Foundation, which U.S. authorities have for decades suspected of being a possible Iranian front.
'They Will Kill Us All'
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/13/opinion/13iht-edhayes.html?_r=1
Excerpt: The lodge where I stay in Kabul was badly damaged on Oct. 8 when a suicide car bomb exploded 80 meters down the road near the Indian Embassy. Seventeen Afghans working in photocopy shops near the embassy were killed and another 60 wounded. The Indian diplomats were unharmed. No apologies were offered by the perpetrators for the killings. Nobody was hurt at my lodge, but 75 windows were blown out. The next day I was talking with the owner, who, for the third time in three years, had to fork out $3,000 to fix his windows. I asked him what would happen if NATO pulls out of Afghanistan? He replied without hesitation, looking me straight in the eyes and obviously referring to the Taliban and their allies: “They will kill us all.”
Joys of Muslim Women http://www.meetup.com/WeSurroundThemGathering/messages/boards/thread/7405744
The beauty of multiculturalism. Excerpt: In the Muslim faith a Muslim man can marry a child as young as 1 year old and have sexual intimacy with this child. Consummating the marriage by age 9. The dowry is given to the family in exchange for the woman (who becomes his slave) and for the purchase of the private parts of the woman, to use her as a toy. Even though a woman is abused she can not obtain a divorce. To prove rape, the woman must have (4) male witnesses. Often after a woman has been raped, she is returned to her family and the family must return the dowry. The family has the right to execute her (an honor killing) to restore the honor of the family. Husbands can beat their wives ‘at will’ and he does not have to say why he has beaten her.
Does Islam Breed Violence? By Amil Imani—Worth Reading http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/does_islam_breed_violence.html
Excerpt: There is a division of the house. On one side are the politically correct in government, the leftist mainstream media, and a raft of Islamist apologists. One and all are tripping over each other in reassuring us the mass murderers such as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan and suicide-bombers who detonate their explosive vests in crowded marketplaces and even mosques are individual anomalies and Islam is not responsible for what they do. On the other side are those fed up with the innumerable daily horrific acts throughout the world that are clearly committed under the banner of Islam. In all fairness, there needs to be a distinction. Numerous criminal acts are also committed on a daily basis by non-Muslims. The critical difference is that non-Muslim criminals do not hoist a religious banner to justify their misdeeds, while the Muslims proudly claim that they commit their heinous acts in obedience to the dictates of their religious faith.
The Misnomer of Radical Islam America’s Security Blunder http://www.rightsidenews.com/200906065041/editorial/the-misnomer-of-radical-islam-americas-security-blunder.html
There are tens of millions of peaceful, moderate Muslims, just as there were tens of millions of peaceful, moderate Germans, Italians and Japanese in 1939. And they are just as irrelevant. I get the feeling the left feels that 13 dead is an acceptable price for having avoided subjecting Maj. Hasan to “Islamophobia.” Too bad they weren’t the ones who paid it.
Man arrested for 'anti-Christian' mall disturbance http://www.danvilleweekly.com/news/show_story.php?id=2339
Thought the Leftstream Media was worried that Ft. Hood would produce a backlash against Muslims? Excerpt: Police arrested 22-year-old Abdul Walid Hamid of Hayward on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 4, after he reportedly tore a crucifix from a person's neck and scared others at Stoneridge Shopping Center. Hamid, an employee at a mall kiosk near Starbucks, has been charged with battery, terrorist threats and grand theft. According to reports, Hamid was yelling "Allah is power" and "Islam is great" while holding a pen in a fist over his head. Witnesses said he shouted anti-Christian comments, said police.
Grabbed another phony vet
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/1111091medals1.html
Excerpt: NOVEMBER 11--Just in time for Veteran's Day, a California bank employee is facing federal charges for allegedly masquerading as a decorated Marine and wearing a host of bogus medals, including the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Navy Cross. Steven Burton, 39, is scheduled to surrender tomorrow in U.S. District Court in Riverside, California (Burton, who has never served in the armed forces, was named last week in a misdemeanor criminal information charging him with the unauthorized wearing of military medals).
A Beard too far
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZmJhMDE5NDk2NjUyMjNmNjA3NTBlZjhjMjhmOWJlMzY
I’m shipping over and taking my kilt! Excerpt: Some ironies are more than cruel. On the day that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan approached Fort Hood armed with two handguns, he may have passed a newsstand selling copies of the November 9 edition of Army Times. On the front page was a photograph of a Sikh soldier wearing a beard, mustache, and turban with his uniform, accompanied by the headline, “Regs Make Way for Religion — Sikh, Muslim Allowed to Incorporate Customs into Army Dress.” Maj. Gen. Gina S. Farrisee, acting deputy chief of staff for Army personnel at the Pentagon, had granted a “religious accommodation” exception for Capt. Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, a Sikh physician. Without providing a reason for the special treatment, General Farrisee’s October 22 letter stated that Captain Kalsi would be allowed to wear uncut hair, a turban, and a beard with his uniform. The religious accommodation was granted for Kalsi alone, and the letter explicitly states that the Army may revoke it at any time. (Another Sikh, who has been studying dentistry under the same Health Professions Scholarship Program that Kalsi was enrolled in, expects a similar personal waiver.) Army Times further reported that a Muslim officer serving as an orthopedic-surgery intern at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center had received permission to “wear a beard, as required by his sect of the Muslim faith.”
Two quotes
Obama after hearing that abortionist George Tiller was shot--- "I am shocked and outraged." Obama after receiving the news that 12 unarmed soldiers were gunned down at Ft. Hood Army Post, "I would caution against jumping to conclusions" about the motives of the gunman.
Love thy enemies:
Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8
Quiz
http://pewresearch.org/politicalquiz/quiz/index.php
If you don’t get 10 of 12, you shouldn’t be allowed to vote! (Yes, I got 12. Easy questions for anyone paying attention.)
Obama Administration Intends to Purge Republicans From the Civil Service
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/11/12/obama-administration-intends-to-purge-republicans-from-the-civil-service/
Excerpts: It is a typical Washington process that many political appointees are able to take jobs within the civil service once their political appointment expires — usually at the conclusion of one administration. What often happens as well is Congressional staffers, before an election or shortly thereafter, will move over to the Executive Branch placed into the civil service, in effect, by appointment. So, for example, when George Bush became President in 2001, a number of Clinton political appointees became civil service employees. As a result, they became subject to civil service hiring and firing rules, which meant they could no longer be replaced simply for having been a Democratic appointee. Barack Obama is changing that. He intends to purge all Republicans from the federal bureaucracy retroactive to five years ago. Under his new rules, made retroactive for five years, the Office of Personnel Management will examine civil service employees who got their start as political appointees in the Bush administration and terminate those employees. The order is retroactive to 2004, that moment when a number of Republican congressional staffers and others sought to embed into the second Bush administration right after the election.
Fight fire with arson, then collect firefighter's pension http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass-11-nov11,0,1832804.column
Politically-connected firefighter convicted of arson gets to keep firefighter pension. The Chicago way, which corrupts everyone it touches. Everyone.
Pawlenty hasn't learned from Romney's mistakes
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/11/AR2009111126571.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is widely regarded as one of the Republican Party's rising national leaders. The runner-up to Sarah Palin to be John McCain's vice presidential running mate, he is a conservative whose blue-collar roots, amiable personality and two terms as governor of a traditionally Democratic state would seem to make him a natural in attracting the kind of swing voters who are always fought over in presidential elections. But the Pawlenty who has stepped onto the national stage in recent months has said and done things that have other Republicans wondering about his instincts and his sure-footedness as a prospective 2012 presidential candidate. Pawlenty could learn from the earlier mistakes of one of his potential rivals for the GOP nomination, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
The most important number in politics today
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/most-important-number/the-most-important-number-in-p-65.html?wprss=thefix
Excerpt: 64 That's the percentage of Ohioans who call themselves either "somewhat" (37 percent) or "very" (27 percent) dissatisfied with the way things are going in the Buckeye State in a new Quinnipiac poll. By contrast, roughly one in three (35 percent) say they are satisfied with the state of the state and just three percent of that group calling themselves "very" satisfied. That dissatisfaction is trickling down ballot with Gov. Ted Strickland (D) now in a dead heat with former Rep. John Kasich (R) despite the fact that the GOP nominee is far less well known in the state. (Strickland led by 10 points as recently as mid-September.)
Momentum is a challenge for Senate
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/67475-momentum-is-challenge-for-senate
Excerpt: Democrats on Capitol Hill have devised a plan to maintain momentum for healthcare reform, hoping to avoid the setbacks they suffered over the summer. The House’s passage of healthcare legislation was a huge victory for President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats. But the Senate’s snail-like pace presents the party with the challenge of proving to the public that they are making progress. Going into the Veterans Day recess, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) signaled that they intend to pass the Senate bill in the final weeks of 2009, with a final vote on the conference bill by about mid-January. This schedule is intended to show the bill is moving forward, avoiding a repeat of the August recess, when the healthcare reform movement stalled amid boisterous town hall forums.
Swine flu: Available doses vary wildly by county
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-swine-flu-count-13-nov13,0,3222873.story
Excerpt: It's a puzzle that Will County's health officials are struggling to unravel: Although they have received enough H1N1 flu vaccine to protect just 2.1 percent of their county's 680,000 residents, Kendall County has enough to protect 17 percent of its 103,000 residents. "We don't understand why a county that's so much smaller than ours is getting more vaccines," said Will County Health Department spokesman Vic Reato. "We thought that maybe the state had lost our order."… Chicago receives its allotment directly from the CDC, but the rest of Illinois goes through the state health department, which does not rely on any hard-and-fast formula when deciding which counties, hospitals and other health care providers receive vaccine doses, officials said. (Gee, maybe because that’s how government runs healthcare? Duh.)
Why Fort Hood Really Happened
In war, uncertainty gets you killed. It just did. http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748704576204574529844037896738-lMyQjAxMDA5MDEwMjExNDIyWj.html
Excerpt: The only good news out of the Fort Hood massacre is that U.S. electronic surveillance technology was able to pick up Major Hasan's phone calls to an al Qaeda-loving imam in Yemen. The bad news is the people and agencies listening to Hasan didn't know what to do about it. Other than nothing. Next week, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I., Conn.) will convene the Homeland Security Committee to find out if someone in the Army or FBI dropped the ball on Hasan. At Ford Hood itself, grief has been turning to anger as news of possible dropped balls has emerged. Earlier in the week at Fort Hood, President Obama spoke about the consequences of doing nothing. He named and described each of the 13 dead. That properly gave individual reality to what soon will become "the victims of Fort Hood." This is how it always goes. For about a week after these awful incidents—such as the USS Cole bombing in Yemen (year 2000, 17 dead)—the rest of us feel, just a little, what the surviving families feel. This week, 13 American families are shattered, forever. It's a big deal, the biggest deal there is. On Tuesday night at 9:06 p.m. in Virginia, the state executed the Beltway sniper, John Allen Muhammad, who gunned down 10 in 2002. The day before the execution, the father of a dead daughter described why he would witness it: "I want to see what he made me see. He forced us to look at our little girl laying in a coffin. I want to see justice done. I want to see him take a last breath. I want to be able to describe it to the rest of the family."… This will never come up in the Lieberman hearings next week, but I think that nonstop policy battle is why Hasan's overseers dropped the ball.
Medicalizing mass murder
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/12/AR2009111209824.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: What a surprise -- that someone who shouts "Allahu Akbar" (the "God is great" jihadist battle cry) as he is shooting up a room of American soldiers might have Islamist motives. It certainly was a surprise to the mainstream media, which spent the weekend after the Fort Hood massacre playing down Nidal Hasan's religious beliefs. I cringe that he's a Muslim. . . . I think he's probably just a nut case," said Newsweek's Evan Thomas. Some were more adamant. Time's Joe Klein decried "odious attempts by Jewish extremists . . . to argue that the massacre perpetrated by Nidal Hasan was somehow a direct consequence of his Islamic beliefs." While none could match Klein's peculiar cherchez-le-juif motif, the popular story line was of an Army psychiatrist driven over the edge by terrible stories he had heard from soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Prosecutors tie Iran, U.S. assets
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/12/AR2009111209731.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Nothing to do with Islam, of course. Lots of Presbyterians financing nuclear bombs and terrorism. Excerpt: Federal prosecutors on Thursday moved to seize several U.S. assets allegedly controlled by entities linked to the government of Iran, including a mosque and Islamic school in Potomac, land in Prince William County and a Manhattan skyscraper. Prosecutors described an intricate web of ties allegedly connecting the properties to an Iranian bank that has been identified as a key financier of Tehran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and possibly acts of terrorism. At the center of that web, they said, is a New-York based organization known as the Alavi Foundation, which U.S. authorities have for decades suspected of being a possible Iranian front.
'They Will Kill Us All'
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/13/opinion/13iht-edhayes.html?_r=1
Excerpt: The lodge where I stay in Kabul was badly damaged on Oct. 8 when a suicide car bomb exploded 80 meters down the road near the Indian Embassy. Seventeen Afghans working in photocopy shops near the embassy were killed and another 60 wounded. The Indian diplomats were unharmed. No apologies were offered by the perpetrators for the killings. Nobody was hurt at my lodge, but 75 windows were blown out. The next day I was talking with the owner, who, for the third time in three years, had to fork out $3,000 to fix his windows. I asked him what would happen if NATO pulls out of Afghanistan? He replied without hesitation, looking me straight in the eyes and obviously referring to the Taliban and their allies: “They will kill us all.”
Joys of Muslim Women http://www.meetup.com/WeSurroundThemGathering/messages/boards/thread/7405744
The beauty of multiculturalism. Excerpt: In the Muslim faith a Muslim man can marry a child as young as 1 year old and have sexual intimacy with this child. Consummating the marriage by age 9. The dowry is given to the family in exchange for the woman (who becomes his slave) and for the purchase of the private parts of the woman, to use her as a toy. Even though a woman is abused she can not obtain a divorce. To prove rape, the woman must have (4) male witnesses. Often after a woman has been raped, she is returned to her family and the family must return the dowry. The family has the right to execute her (an honor killing) to restore the honor of the family. Husbands can beat their wives ‘at will’ and he does not have to say why he has beaten her.
Does Islam Breed Violence? By Amil Imani—Worth Reading http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/does_islam_breed_violence.html
Excerpt: There is a division of the house. On one side are the politically correct in government, the leftist mainstream media, and a raft of Islamist apologists. One and all are tripping over each other in reassuring us the mass murderers such as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan and suicide-bombers who detonate their explosive vests in crowded marketplaces and even mosques are individual anomalies and Islam is not responsible for what they do. On the other side are those fed up with the innumerable daily horrific acts throughout the world that are clearly committed under the banner of Islam. In all fairness, there needs to be a distinction. Numerous criminal acts are also committed on a daily basis by non-Muslims. The critical difference is that non-Muslim criminals do not hoist a religious banner to justify their misdeeds, while the Muslims proudly claim that they commit their heinous acts in obedience to the dictates of their religious faith.
The Misnomer of Radical Islam America’s Security Blunder http://www.rightsidenews.com/200906065041/editorial/the-misnomer-of-radical-islam-americas-security-blunder.html
There are tens of millions of peaceful, moderate Muslims, just as there were tens of millions of peaceful, moderate Germans, Italians and Japanese in 1939. And they are just as irrelevant. I get the feeling the left feels that 13 dead is an acceptable price for having avoided subjecting Maj. Hasan to “Islamophobia.” Too bad they weren’t the ones who paid it.
Man arrested for 'anti-Christian' mall disturbance http://www.danvilleweekly.com/news/show_story.php?id=2339
Thought the Leftstream Media was worried that Ft. Hood would produce a backlash against Muslims? Excerpt: Police arrested 22-year-old Abdul Walid Hamid of Hayward on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 4, after he reportedly tore a crucifix from a person's neck and scared others at Stoneridge Shopping Center. Hamid, an employee at a mall kiosk near Starbucks, has been charged with battery, terrorist threats and grand theft. According to reports, Hamid was yelling "Allah is power" and "Islam is great" while holding a pen in a fist over his head. Witnesses said he shouted anti-Christian comments, said police.
Grabbed another phony vet
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/1111091medals1.html
Excerpt: NOVEMBER 11--Just in time for Veteran's Day, a California bank employee is facing federal charges for allegedly masquerading as a decorated Marine and wearing a host of bogus medals, including the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Navy Cross. Steven Burton, 39, is scheduled to surrender tomorrow in U.S. District Court in Riverside, California (Burton, who has never served in the armed forces, was named last week in a misdemeanor criminal information charging him with the unauthorized wearing of military medals).
A Beard too far
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZmJhMDE5NDk2NjUyMjNmNjA3NTBlZjhjMjhmOWJlMzY
I’m shipping over and taking my kilt! Excerpt: Some ironies are more than cruel. On the day that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan approached Fort Hood armed with two handguns, he may have passed a newsstand selling copies of the November 9 edition of Army Times. On the front page was a photograph of a Sikh soldier wearing a beard, mustache, and turban with his uniform, accompanied by the headline, “Regs Make Way for Religion — Sikh, Muslim Allowed to Incorporate Customs into Army Dress.” Maj. Gen. Gina S. Farrisee, acting deputy chief of staff for Army personnel at the Pentagon, had granted a “religious accommodation” exception for Capt. Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, a Sikh physician. Without providing a reason for the special treatment, General Farrisee’s October 22 letter stated that Captain Kalsi would be allowed to wear uncut hair, a turban, and a beard with his uniform. The religious accommodation was granted for Kalsi alone, and the letter explicitly states that the Army may revoke it at any time. (Another Sikh, who has been studying dentistry under the same Health Professions Scholarship Program that Kalsi was enrolled in, expects a similar personal waiver.) Army Times further reported that a Muslim officer serving as an orthopedic-surgery intern at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center had received permission to “wear a beard, as required by his sect of the Muslim faith.”
Two quotes
Obama after hearing that abortionist George Tiller was shot--- "I am shocked and outraged." Obama after receiving the news that 12 unarmed soldiers were gunned down at Ft. Hood Army Post, "I would caution against jumping to conclusions" about the motives of the gunman.
Love thy enemies:
Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8
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