Thursday, July 19, 2012

Political Digest for July 19, 2012

The Old Jarhead Blog: Bringing you news and information the MSM is too busy covering American Idol, celebrity affairs and sensational missing person cases to cover. Please forward to friends who need to be informed.

I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree (or disagree) with every—or any—opinion in the posted article, or that I was able to verify the information present, which is the responsibility of the author. In some cases I post things sent to me by readers I might not have posted on my own, to get ideas circulating.

Resources
For those who want further information about the topics covered in this blog, I recommend the following sites. I will add to this as I find additional good sources.

Book Recommendation: Southern Storm: Sherman's March to the Sea By Noah Andre Trudeau
A highly-recommended book for military history and Civil War buffs. This is a well-written, balanced account of this pivotal campaign, drawing on hundreds of primary sources, including numerous quotes from letters, journals and memoirs of soldiers on both sides, as well as southern civilians caught up in the whirlwind of war. With a masters in history and a long, though not exclusive interest in “the late unpleasantness,” I knew the broad outlines of Sherman’s march. But this book had extensive details I did not know, so I learned a great deal. I will look for more works by Trudeau as time permits.

Worth Reading: Who else, Mr. President? By John Kass
Excerpt: When President Barack Obama hauled off and slapped American small-business owners in the mouth the other day, I wanted to dream of my father. But I didn't have to close my eyes to see my dad. I could do it with my eyes open. All I had to do was think of the driveway of our home, and my dad's car gone before dawn, that old white Chrysler with a push-button transmission. It

Explosion targets Israeli tourists in Bulgaria
Excerpt: A bus carrying Israeli youth in a Bulgarian resort city exploded Wednesday, killing three people and wounding at least 20, police said. Witnesses told Israeli media that the huge blast occurred soon after someone boarded the vehicle. (Okay, call me Islamophobic, but I’m guessing the last thing these kids heard was “Allah Akbar!” ~Bob.)

Syrian state media: Defense minister killed in bombing in Damascus
Excerpt: Syrian state television said Wednesday that a bombing in Damascus killed Defense Minister Daoud Rajha, the latest and most dramatic sign of upheaval in more than 16 months of civil revolt. (There are no “good guys” in this conflict. Only the deluded think so. ~Bob.)

Excerpt: A lethal bomb attack in Damascus struck at the heart of President Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle Wednesday, killing at least three of his most senior aides, including his minister of defense and brother-in-law, in the most audacious challenge to Mr. Assad’s grip on power since the Syria uprising began 17 months ago.

US policymakers brace for potential 'collapse' in Syria
Excerpt: U.S. policymakers are bracing for a potential "collapse" of the power structure inside Syria, as the Obama administration closely monitors the intensifying violence in the capital. Following a bomb attack that left several Syrian regime officials dead, a State Department source forwarded to Fox News an assessment from an independent Middle East analyst who monitors social media in the region and provides occasional guidance to the department.

She will get the Cory-Booker-under-the-bus treatment for telling the truth. ~Bob. Excerpt: According to Connecticut Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro, however, the reason behind the swelling food stamp rolls is that unemployment is worse than the 8.2 percent reported earlier this month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

If election were tomorrow, Obama would win. By Charles Krauthammer.
Excerpt: Krauthammer said that with the two-point lead President Barack Obama has over Mitt Romney in polling averages, winning in the Electoral College will be hard for the Republican nominee. “Because if you look at all the polls, the average is [that] you’ve got a two-point edge in the popular vote,” he continued. “It’s almost inconceivable that you would have that strong an excess in the overall vote and lose in the Electoral College.” (Actually, I think if you announced right now the election was tomorrow, 75% of Republicans would turn out, crawling over broken glass to vote, 50% of Democrats and 30% of “independents”—the ADD voters with lower information—would turn out. ~Bob.)

Plunge In CO2 Output Due To Natural Gas Fracking. By Merrill Matthews
Excerpt: The most underreported recent environmental story has been the dramatic decline in energy-related carbon emissions — nearly back to mid-1990s levels, and falling. Maybe it's because that story just doesn't fit the left's mantra that traditional energy sources are destroying the environment. The U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) June energy report says that energy-related carbon dioxide fell to 5,473 million metric tons (MMT) in 2011. (Isn't this interesting! --Del)

A new measure of consumption inequality. By Kevin A. Hassett and Aparna Mathur
Excerpt: What matters for household well-being is consumption, since households are better able to smooth consumption rather than income over their lifetime. … Using these data, we find that consumption inequality has increased only marginally since the 1980s. Further, consumption inequality narrows in periods of recessions, such as during the 2007–2009 recession.

Prosecutors: Facebook video of teens' deadly attack was 'Knock 'Em Out' game: 62-year-old victim chosen at random in deadly game alleged assailants caught after uploading video of attack to Facebook
Excerpt: The game is called "Pick 'Em Out and Knock 'Em Out," according to prosecutors, and it's quick, violent and comes with just a few rules: Select an unsuspecting random victim in public and cold-cock him. Robbery is optional. … Delfino Mora, a father of 12, was collecting cans in an alley on the Far North Side when he was struck and fell hard on concrete. (No word if Obama thinks any of the killers could have looked like his son. ~Bob.)

Suspects Arrested After Church Youth Raped, Beaten, Robbed While Camping in Mexico
Excerpt: Suspects assumed to be gang members were arrested for the beating, robbing and raping of members of a church youth group attacked while camping in Mexico City last week. A group of 90 youth who were sponsored by the Chains of the Holy Trinity were attacked for hours at their spiritual retreat at Colibri Park outside of Mexico City last Thursday, according to The Associated Press.

Public-sector pensions. Burning fast: Despite many reforms, big problems persist in most states
Excerpt: RETIRED firemen and policemen began voting on June 19th on whether voluntarily to reduce their pension and health benefits to keep Providence, Rhode Island, out of bankruptcy. Providence, like many cities and states, is in a woeful condition. Its pension pot is only 32% funded, even on the highly optimistic assumptions about rates of return that are regrettably still standard for public-sector pension funds.

Excerpt: How many times have you heard that 26-year-olds can be covered by their parent’s health insurance as a result of health reform? Quite a few times I suspect. How about the fact that seniors can get free checkups? Yes, that too. How about the fact that health reform really isn’t paid for? That half the dollars needed to pay for it will require Medicare cuts so draconian that Congress is unlikely to ever let them take place? Hmm…You don’t remember reading about that? What about the fact that families at the same income level will get vastly different subsidies under the reform — differences that amount to $10,000 a year or more? Ahh…You didn’t read about that either? Here’s the problem. The first two facts — the ones you hear about often — are trivial. The second two facts — the ones you never hear about — are deadly serious.

Not political, but a great feel-good story. Glad he didn’t celebrate by spiking the kid. ~Bob.

I’ll Take a Mormon Over a Marxist Anyday!
Excerpt: When the former junior state senator from Chicago, one Barack Obama—a man no one knew diddly about—decided, “Hey, I’m gonna run for president!” people were eager to learn more about this promising upstart. Uncle Joe Biden was curious about Barack. Joe said at first blush that Obama seemed “clean” and “articulate,” which, I think, would be a hate crime if a conservative said that about him.

Obama Re-Election Means A 2nd Civil War
Excerpt: I just read historian Arthur Herman's essay arguing that America is on the brink of a second Civil War. "It's the Makers versus Takers", he says. Readers who regularly read my blog may remember that I offered the same argument in my blog of last year "The Second Civil War". As with Herman, I said the next Civil War will be an economic one, rather than a test of the legality of slavery. This war becomes even more inevitable as Obama amps up the race and class warfare strategy in order to win a second term and continue converting America to a socialist state.

The War On Women And Commonsense. By Burt Prelutsky
Excerpt: The one thing that must be said for Nancy Pelosi is that she is always good for a chuckle. Although she has been known to say some of the funniest lines ever heard in Congress, such as “You’ll have to pass ObamaCare in order to find out what’s in it,” she doesn’t have to rely on funny dialogue in order to have people rolling in the aisles. All she has to do is give us that famous Pelosi look, the one that resembles an elderly deer caught in the headlights, the eyebrows up around her hairline, with those startled eyes that, thanks to one too many facelifts, have lost the ability to blink.

Excerpt: Of all the people to not be beating up Mitt Romney for his present not quite stellar campaign, I find myself in that position. I’m genuinely not that worried. First of all, remember that most of his primary money is gone so he can’t spend on a fancy ad campaign right now. He can’t spend his general election money yet. Second, I like the aggressiveness over the past few days. (“Red States” is worth following. ~Bob.)

Worth Reading: How to spot a sociopath - 10 red flags that could save you from being swept under the influence of a charismatic nut job
Excerpt: One of the more offensive duties of being an investigative journalist is taking out the trash -- exposing liars, fraudsters, con artists and scammers for the people they truly are. Each time we investigate a sociopath, we find that they always have a little cult group following of spellbound worshippers who consider that particular sociopath to be a "guru" or "prophet." Sociopaths are masters at influence and deception. (I recommend the book Snakes is Suits. Psychologists estimate that 1% to 2% of the population may be sociopaths or psychopaths [the terms are often used interchangeable, but there are arguments about that.] Many are highly functional, not raving murders at all. I’ve dealt with a couple in my professional life, I think. Never easy. ~Bob.)

Worth Reading: Tyrants and Human Nature. By Walter E. Williams
Excerpt: Though a few liberals and progressives acknowledge the minimum wage law's negative effects on low-skilled workers, none acknowledges the law's racially discriminatory effects. If an employer must pay a minimum of $7.35 an hour to everyone he hires, the costs to discriminate in the employment of people whom he doesn't like are less. The minimum wage is so effective at promoting racial discrimination in employment that it was a major tool in the arsenal of South Africa's racists during its apartheid era. Racist unions were the country's major supporters of minimum wages for blacks.

Quote from The Patriot Post
When Obama gets heckled, the heckler is a racist. When Romney gets heckled, HE'S a racist. Keep it straight, cracker. –Daily Caller's Jim Treacher

U.S. busts $108 million black market in Medicaid drugs
Excerpt: Operators of a nationwide black market have illegally sold more than $100 million of expensive HIV medications and other drugs obtained from patients on the government-run Medicaid health insurance plan, U.S. authorities said on Tuesday.

Cronyism Built That: Dem donors rake in billions under Obama administration
Excerpt: President Obama’s record of rewarding political donors with taxpayer dollars and plum administration posts is facing a new round of scrutiny thanks to GOP challenger Mitt Romney’s effort to make it a central issue of the campaign. “[President Obama] thinks it’s his right to give taxpayer money to those who have supported him financially,” former Gov. John Sununu (R., N.H.) said Tuesday on a conference call hosted by the Romney campaign. “It’s insulting to hard-working entrepreneurs who really do create jobs.” (No surprise here. It’s The Chicago Way. ~Bob.)

The End of Welfare Reform As We Know It
Excerpt: The Obama Administration made yet another end run around Congress last week—this time, to gut the successful welfare reform law of 1996. If this is allowed to stand, it will mean rewinding years of progress that lifted millions out of poverty. (Poverty and government are not a side product of the Obama Agenda. They are the Obama Agenda. ~Bob.)

Where Did All The Money Go?
Great new ad from Team Romney.

Surveillance Vid Shows 71-Year-Old Concealed Carry Holder Opening Fire on Would-Be Robbers
Excerpt: Samuel Williams could soon become a poster child for concealed carry. Or rather a poster senior citizen. Williams is being hailed as a hero this week after he sprung into action on Friday to thwart an armed robbery at an internet cafe.

Tax Dollars Fund Most Illegal Immigrant Families. By Eric Odom http://www.libertynews.com/2012/07/16/tax-dollars-fund-most-illegal-immigrant-families/
For those of you who live with your head in the sand and can’t figure out why most Americans are upset over our illegal immigration, here is exhibit A. (http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/04/most-illegal-immigrant-families-collect-welfare/) Surprise, surprise; Census Bureau data reveals that most U.S. families headed by illegal immigrants use taxpayer-funded welfare programs on behalf of their American-born anchor babies. Even before the recession, immigrant households with children used welfare programs at consistently higher rates than natives, according to the extensive census data collected and analyzed by a nonpartisan Washington D.C. group dedicated to researching legal and illegal immigration in the U.S.

For the First Time, Canadians Now Richer Than Americans
Excerpt: For the first time in recent history, the average Canadian is richer than the average American, according to a report cited in Toronto's Globe and Mail. And not just by a little. Currently, the average Canadian household is more than $40,000 richer than the average American household. (America is on decline under Obama. Unless something changes just a matter of time before we lose super power status. Got to piggy back on Russians to go into space; 16 trillion dollar deficit; 14.9 unemployment factoring in those no longer looking for a job; 50 million on food stamps, and more applying for disability than hiring for jobs. We have left wing loons only focused on redistribution of wealth, and how Romney became wealthy as a venture capitalist. It seems our Nation has been dumbed down and/or wants big government to take care of them. Bottom line is we are heading toward economic collapse if Obama is re-elected. It may already be too late. --GBH.)

You didn’t build that
Funny stuff. ~Bob.

Spies, lies and the New York Times: Gray lady rivals Obama for truth-distorting agenda. By Col. Ken Allard
Excerpt: Nasty old colonels normally appear before Congress only to answer for past misdeeds. But I testified last week on Stuxnet and the White House leaks because of personal experience with something people in Washington often prefer to forget: The New York Times spies, lies and routinely distorts the truth.

Mitt Romney: 'I Vote for Freedom and Free People'
Another winning presentation, and hey, no teleprompter! –Del.

VIDEO: Allen West Releases New Ad Citing Background as High School Teacher. http://thehill.com/video/campaign/238613-rep-west-releases-new-ad-citing-background-as-high-school-teacher
Excerpt: Every child should have the equality of opportunity I did — the opportunity to live the American Dream."

Excerpt: James O’Keefe’s new Project Veritas video (see below) is a stunning exposé of union corruption surrounding so-called “shovel ready” jobs. In typically irreverent Project Veritas style, O’Keefe introduces a new company: Earth Supply and Renewal. What do they do? O’Keefe explains:

Thanks to Obamacare, Small Businesses Plan on Eliminating Jobs before 2014.
Excerpt: Obamacare’s employer mandate has small businesses scrambling to reduce their workforce in anticipation of the law’s implementation in 2014. Under the employer mandate, businesses with 50 or more full-time employees have to provide coverage or pay a $2,000 penalty for every worker minus the first 30.

Rob The Government, Help Government Motors!
Excerpt: Only in Obamaland….General Motors has announced a 60 day money back guarantee policy for all new Chevy models, including the Chevy Volt. The move sets up a scenario where purchasers can buy a Volt, claim the $7,500 federal tax credit (and most likely state credits) and return the vehicle for a refund within 60 days. Did GM really not consider this glitch, or is this just another way for Government Motors to prop up politically important Volt sales leading up to November elections? (Kinda reminds me of Obamacare. Instead of paying for an insurance policy to the tune of upwards of $10,000 per year, just pay the $2500 fine each year until you get sick, and then take advantage of the scam that allows you to buy cheap insurance even with a prior medical condition. There comes a point at which working really doesn't pay because the scams let you get by without it. We're close. No, on second thought, we're there! Just buy 3-4 Volts and return them within 60 days! Don Han)

DNC Head Gets Heckled At Synagogue Rally
Excerpt: The headline speaker was Democrat National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who represents Florida's 20th District in Congress. Unexpected heckling to her claims that the President was a strong supporter of Israel visibly upset and flustered her.

Business Community Fumes Over Obama ‘You Didn’t Build That’ Insult
Excerpt: President Barack Obama’s remarks in a Roanoke speech last week in which he tied the infrastructure of government to individual business success is drawing fire from business groups, who have joined Mitt Romney and conservatives in outrage over the remarks, Fox News reported.

Red Pill, Blue Pill. James Delingpole, Telegraph Blogs
Excerpt: In reality, economics is not the fiscal rocket-science you make it sound. Capitalism itself is based on good old-fashioned honesty. The money at the heart of it must be both an honest store-of-value and an efficient medium of exchange.

Obama’s South Side Chicago thuggery
Excerpt: Now that we know just what President Obama thinks of people who succeed in business, it is no wonder that the economy is so much in the crapper. In his desperation to avoid any discussion of his own disastrous handling of the economy, Mr. Obama announced last week what he thinks of the struggling spark plugs of commerce: They are a bunch of felons.

Arab apartheid
Israel is continually smeared with the false charge of apartheid by the Arab and Muslim world. For factual refutation of this canard, see http://ibloga.blogspot.com/2007/06/open-letter-to-anti-semite.html. If you want to see real apartheid today, take a trip to Beirut: http://4freedoms.ning.com/group/community/forum/topics/lebanon-islamic-apartheid-forbids-blacks-from-entering-swimming-p?commentId=3766518%3AComment%3A107357&xg_source=activity&groupId=3766518%3AGroup%3A95706 Once you have watched this disgusting display of racism of Arabs against an African woman, scroll down for an 8 minute audio lecture on the Muslim slave trade of Africans. This slave trade, that continues today after 14 centuries of Islam, was conducted mainly for sexual exploitation, and according to the lecturer, resulted in the killing of more than 100 million people. Cordially, Larry Greenberg

Federal Judge Imposes Racial Quota on FDNY, Responding to Minorities
Excerpt: A federal judge is ordering the New York City Fire Department to implement racial quotas to address grievances from minorities who failed entrance exams. (One hopes there will be a life-threatening fire at the judge’s home, so he can see if lower standards are a good thing for the people. ~Bob.)

Leakers should lose clearances for good
Excerpt: A North Carolina senator says he has a way to cut down on leaks about secret military or intelligence operations: Take away the leakers’ security clearances. Republican Sen. Richard Burr is sponsoring a bill, S 3367, that would prohibit security clearances from being renewed for anyone who publicly discloses covert actions. (And bar them from all government employment or contracts. ~Bob.)

The sinister campaign against circumcision. By Ed West
Excerpt: Not coming from [the Jewish] tradition I would never have a son circumcised, except out of medical necessity, and like most people of my background find the practice unusual. But it doesn’t take a giant leap of empathy to see that circumcision is a central part of Jewish identity and culture, and personally I like to think that my children and their children will continue my culture, traditions and religion; maybe even, God help them, my politics. And I come from an ethnic group that has not recently survived the worst genocide in history.
That's What They Want You To Think. By Steve Sailor
Excerpt: The flagrant stupidity of most conspiracy theories popular during my lifetime, as epitomized by [Oliver] Stone’s 1991 masterpiece/fiasco JFK (in which the entire military-industrial complex plots to murder John F. Kennedy by hiring some flaming French Quarter homosexuals), serves to inoculate the powerful against the suspicion that they have influence (or responsibility) regarding events. It wasn’t always like this. Until recently, it was widely understood that numerous turning points in history—such as the assassinations of Julius Caesar, Abraham Lincoln, and Archduke Franz Ferdinand—were the results of conspiracies.

Striking SEIU Workers Intentionally Endangered Connecticut Nursing Home Patients, Says Company. By Vince Cogliane
Excerpt: After the collapse of 17-month-long union negotiations on July 3, unionized health-care workers walked out of five nursing home facilities in Connecticut, but not before placing some elderly patients in dire medical risk through acts of sabotage, according to the company that owns and operates the facilities. (For unions, the ends justify the means, even dead old folks. ~Bob.)

Romney on Obama: ‘The only job he is interested in saving is his own.’ By Jamie Weinstein
Excerpt: Mitt Romney is slated to slam President Obama at a town hall event Wednesday afternoon for focusing on his re-election campaign instead of creating jobs, and for his recent comments suggesting American businessmen owe their success to the government.

Democrats Propose Plan to Sidestep Anti-Tax Pledge
Excerpt: Next week, Senate Democrats will push tax legislation that makes a significant concession to Republicans. It would secure Mr. Obama’s tax increases on the rich, but it would tax dividends and capital gains at a 20 percent rate for households that earn more than $250,000. The White House this year proposed allowing dividends to be taxed again at ordinary income rates, a plan that would increase tax rates on dividends to as high as 44.7 percent, from 15 percent, according to a new report by the accounting firm Ernst & Young.

Legal experts: YouTube’s removal of Romney ad may abuse ‘fair use’ law
Excerpt: A takedown request by BMG which led to YouTube’s removal of a Romney campaign ad might be an abuse of the law, legal experts told The Daily Caller Tuesday. The ad attacked President Obama’s history of giving major donors significant political appointments. It also featured an 8-second clip of the president singing the lyrics, “I’m so in love with you,” from the Al Green song “Let’s Stay Together.”

Group offers $100k for evidence Obama or senior White House aides knew about Fast and Furious. By Matthew Boyle
Excerpt: The Conservative Caucus ran an ad in the Washington Times on Wednesday, offering a $100,000 reward to any whistle-blower who comes forward with proof President Barack Obama or his senior White House aides knew about or approved Operation Fast and Furious. “Was Operation Fast & Furious simply a bungled attempt to capture Mexican drug lords, or was it an ‘under the radar’ political scheme hatched at the White House as now appears possible?” the group’s chairman Peter J. Thomas asked in a statement. The ad compares Fast and Furious to Watergate, and encourages whistle-blowers in possession of “verifiable evidence that President Obama or one of his aides knew about Operation Fast & Furious while it was underway” to turn it in “just like John Dean did.”

RNC calls for transparency on ‘political payoffs’ to Obama bundler Steve Westly. By Stephen Elliott
Excerpt: Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus released a statement Wednesday calling on the Obama administration to come clean on “political payoffs to Obama campaign bundler Steve Westly.” The statement claims the Energy Department gave out millions of dollars in loans to companies backed by Westly, Obama For America’s California co-chair in 2008 and managing partner at The Westly Group, an environmental venture capital firm. Westley has raised more than $1 million for the Obama campaign.

The Ultimate Takedown of Obama’s ‘You Didn’t Build That’ Speech
Excerpt: President Obama’s instantly infamous “You didn’t build that” speech is a major turning point of the 2012 election not because it was a gaffe but because it was an accurate and concise summary of core progressive fiscal dogma. It was also a political blunder of epic proportions because in his speech Obama unintentionally proved the conservatives’ case for limited government.

VIDEO: A Referendum on the European Union in the Netherlands. By Geert Wilders
Excerpt: A general election is coming up in the Netherlands on September 12. Geert Wilders' party, the Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) released the following campaign video today. Many thanks to Michael Laudahn for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

VIDEO: A Religion Gone Mad. Gates of Vienna
Excerpt: As we mentioned the other day, a street-preaching imam in Toronto has drawn attention to himself by asserting that sexual assault is caused by the failure of infidel women to cover up, rather than by the failure of (presumably Muslim) men to control their baser impulses.

UK: New Sunderland Mosque Sparks Widespread Complaints. Sunderland Echo
Excerpt: If the plans get the green light, they will involve the demolition of single-storey offices, the erection of parapet walls and two brick-faced columns. But many of the neighbours have objected because they believe it will result in an increase in noise and traffic. The application, which was submitted by the Pakistan Islamic Centre, has now drawn more than 1,000 comments on the council’s website.

The Olympic Spirit and the Islamic Spirit. By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: In a sign of the times, the London Summer Olympics will be defended by anti-aircraft guns and surface-to-air missiles… just as they were in Ancient Greece. G4S, the world’s largest security company, was to provide 12,000 security personnel, but has so far only managed to come up with 4,000. In another sign of the times, not all of their security personnel speak English.

London Mosque Appeal Refused
Excerpt: Whilst supporters of the mosque were busy labelling everyone who opposed it a racist, residents put forward serious and sensible concerns that parking would be a severe problem and that traffic and pedestrian safety would be compromised by creating a mosque in this location. The planning inspector duly supported this viewpoint, citing parking demand as ‘intense’. It was believed by residents that permission for this mosque was ‘a done deal’ due to Ms Shah’s close links to the Labour party and due to comments of support made by Labour councillors at the Revoe Area forum before the planning permission had even been considered.

Muslim Congressman: Islam in America Must Not Retreat. Assyrian International News
Excerpt: In a May 26 address before the Islamic Circle of North America/Muslim American Society (ICNA/MSA), both Muslim Brotherhood front groups, André Carson commiserated with his audience over how difficult things have been for them since the World Trade Center attacks at the hands of al Qaeda jihadists: "9/11 was tough on Muslims."

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