Monday, November 19, 2012

Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for November 20, 2012

Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for November 20, 2012
Robert A. Hall

Please Read and Circulate: Murder! Can You Help? Will You Help? By Andy Weddington
Excerpt: What follows is brief comment about someone I know who was murdered. And a plea for public help - to pass along today's comment in hopes it will fall before the eyes of someone who knows something and will do their civic duty and contact the police.

My plan for Peace in Gaza
All of the UN “diplomats,” leftist media and western Progressives criticizing the Israeli response to Hamas rocket attacks should be required to send a family member, preferably a child (or if lacking such, go themselves) to live in Israel in the Rocket Zone. If Hamas kills their kids, they shut up. If Hamas stops firing rockets into Israel, Israel has to stop attacking Gaza. In the US, kids get snow days off from school. In Israel, they get Rocket Days off from school. Having been on the wrong end of incoming 122mm rockets, I can tell you there is a difference.

Worth Watching: A (short) Video About Israel
The truth is simple. ~Bob

Maybe if Hamas organized itself into a corporation, leftists would be able find it within themselves to oppose it.

The Coming Collapse of the American Republic
All royalties go to a charity to help wounded veterans. E-Book available at Smash Words: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/59105
Please forward and post where possible. For a free PDF of Collapse, write to me at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com.

Five unanswered questions after the Petraeus hearings. By Jeremy Herb and Jordy Yager
Excerpt: The testimony this week of former CIA director David Petraeus left a number of unanswered questions about his resignation and the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Democrats and Republicans remained at odds over the Obama administration’s characterization of the attack after being brief by Petraeus, sparking a new round of questions about who in the administration knew what, and when.

Excerpt: Two relatively new services are facilitating a market for medical services — with price and quality competition, as well as transparency. We have previously reported on MediBid, which takes a Priceline approach to medical care. Another service, Healthcare Blue Book (HCBB), offers a free service for patients — showing the average price for various procedures in almost every zip code in the country. Moreover, both businesses have created new tools that are valuable for employer plans — especially those with high-deductible health insurance.

Republicans look to oust Franken
Excerpt: Republicans are seeking to oust Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who is up for his first reelection after his narrow 2008 win. Franken will be a tough candidate — he’s worked hard to ingratiate himself in the state, and his poll numbers look fairly solid. But Republicans hope with the right candidate they can topple the first-term senator. (Count me among those who think he stole the election. ~Bob.)

Carbon Tax Will Kill The Economy, Boost Inflation. By Steve Milloy
Excerpt: Climate alarmists hope that Hurricane Sandy and President Obama's re-election will coerce panicky congressional Republicans into a "carbon tax" deal in 2013. But simple math shows the tax would have no effect other than an inflationary one. A carbon tax would operate as a new sales tax on goods and services that are produced through or otherwise involve the burning of fossil fuels.

Why land for peace is dead. By Michael Rubin
Excerpt: On September 18, 1978, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the so-called Camp David Accords, cementing the notion that land for peace would become the basis for a resolution of the Arab-Israel conflict. Their agreement led to a peace treaty the following year between Israel and Egypt. However the current fighting between Israel and Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip ends, one thing is certain: the era of land-for-peace is over. (Life for both Israelis and Palestinians was safer and more stable in the years leading up to 1993 before "peace broke out" (as Khaled Abu Toameh phrases it). And in the years since, life has become more dangerous and relationships between the parties more strained. The vast majority of Israelis have awoken to this fact and are thinking more critically about their choices, especially since the unilateral 2005 Gaza disengagement, especially this week. Yet American Jews [and our State Department] continue to cling to the dream of land for peace, the triumph of hope over experience. –LG)

London 1940-Tel Aviv 2012. What's the Difference? By Giulio Meotti, Italy
Excerpt: Little is said or written about the incredible courage being shown by the civilian population of Israel, but it is reminiscent of events 70 years ago in Europe.

Here is the (real) news
Excerpt: Here is some information about the war between Gaza and Israel that for some unaccountable reason you may have missed today in Britain’s mainstream media. The casualty rate in Gaza from Israeli strikes is astoundingly low.

2 Rockets Aimed at Capital Hit Open Area in Gush Etzion
For the first time since the Hamas terror organization took over Gaza and began firing their barrage of rockets towards Israel, an air raid siren was sounded in Jerusalem and the surrounding area late Friday afternoon. Just one day after terrorists successfully shot off a long-range missile aimed at Tel Aviv, it seems Israel's capital city is Hamas's next target. Hamas immediately took credit for the attack, claiming to have shot "an improved Kassam," according to Channel 2.

Excerpt: Due to massive profits from narcotics and methamphetamine the attention from criminals everywhere from Russia to Central Asian states have been rising. Though this hardly makes Iran the only country tethered to the region’s drug trade, Iranians have been associated with being key players, especially concerning the highly addictive synthetic stimulant, methamphetamine. What has been found is an exceptionally pure form of the drug that’s been mass-produced by Iranian drug makers which has led U.S. officials to bring to the surface the certainty that professional chemists in pharmaceutical-grade laboratories are behind the making of such a refined drug.

Excerpt: Imagine, for a moment, that you have lost your home in a natural disaster and with it most of your possessions. It’s wintertime, you live on the East Coast, and your old neighborhood has been leveled…You have nowhere to go. You are completely reliant on the government for subsistence….You learn that you will be moved from the miserable tent city where you are now being housed to a new temporary facility that used to be, of all things, a prison.

Worth Reading: How the GOP earned its date with destiny. By Mark Steyn
Excerpt: Her fellow Democrat Bob Beckel observed on several occasions that if the share of the "white vote" was held down below 73 percent, Mitt Romney would lose. In the end, it was 72 percent, and he did. Beckel's assertion – that if you knew the ethnic composition of the electorate you also knew the result – turned out to be correct. This is what less-enlightened societies call tribalism: for example, in the 1980 election leading to Zimbabwe's independence, Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU-PF got the votes of the Ndebele people while Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF secured those of the Shona – and, as there were more Shona than Ndebele, Mugabe won.

Answerable to no one. By George Will
Excerpt: There can be unseemly exposure of the mind as well as of the body, as the progressive mind is exposed in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a creature of the labyrinthine Dodd-Frank legislation. Judicial dismantling of the CFPB would affirm the rule of law and Congress’s constitutional role.

Canadian Leftists use photo of wounded Israeli child to advertise pro-Palestinian jihad demonstration

Excerpt: A Muslim, studying for the curiously-named "master monde musulman" [Muslim world master], at the University of Aix-Marseille attacked one of his teachers who, he felt, had failed to sufficiently respect Islam.

Ironic: Teamsters Called For Secret-Ballot At Hostess While Pushing To Eliminate Secret-Ballots
Excerpt: For the last several years, union bosses have been fighting to effectively eliminate workers’ right to vote through secret-ballot elections on whether or not to become unionized. Yet, with 6700 members’ jobs about to be wiped out, when push came to shove last week—knowing how unions can manipulate other methods of voting—the Teamsters called for the bakers’ union to hold a secret-ballot vote to let members determine whether or not to continue the strike that would close Hostess.

As Union Bosses Spin Twinkies’ Demise, Bakers’ Union Boss Admits Union Knew Hostess Would Die
Excerpt: With the demise of 18,000 jobs weighing on their shoulders (though certainly not their consciousness’) and just in time for the Sunday morning talk shows union bosses are now trying desperately to point fingers at the victim (and Mitt Romney) for the union’s strike that ultimately destroyed Hostess and its 18,000 jobs. This blame game is going on despite the fact that the bakers’ union knew that its strike could, ultimately, lead to the company’s closure. (Any day, I expect Obama to blame George Bush and Gore to blame Global Warming for killing Twinkies. ~Bob.)

The Golden Calf of Increased Tax Rates. By Dan Bongino 
Excerpt: Let me open by saying that if economics is a religion for you and your golden calf is government than you are already immune to logic and continuing with this piece any further is a waste of your time. It is with regret that I must preface this writing in such a way but I found during my nearly two-year campaign for the U.S. Senate in Maryland that no matter how powerful the argument against liberal economic policies there are some that are simply calcified in their beliefs. 

Worth Reading: Obama’s Gaza War. By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: The rockets falling on Israel have their origin not just in their Gaza launchers, but in the election results of November. It is no coincidence that the explosions we are seeing now on the evening news began after the election. Like so many in the Middle East, Hamas leaders were holding their breath to see who they would have to deal with over the next four years. Once the Muslim Brotherhood on both sides of the border, in Egypt and in Gaza, knew the outcome, the trigger was pressed and the violence began.

In The Aftermath Of Obama's Re-Election, What's Next For Health Care? By Sally Pipes
Excerpt: But the president’s re-election is not the end of the line for health reform. His second term does not change the law’s price tag — nor does it shore up the federal treasury.

Rubio makes his Iowa debut as possible ‘future’ of the Republican Party. By Alexis Levinson
Excerpt: As the Republican Party regroups after Mitt Romney’s defeat, the message Saturday night at Iowa Republican Gov. Terry Branstad’s birthday fundraiser was “turn the page” and “look to the future” — and what that future apparently holds is Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the event’s featured speaker. (As of right now, I’m with Rubio in 2016. Though I think it probably won’t matter, as we will be too far gone to fiscal collapse to turn things around. And, of course, there’s a fair chance I’ll be dead by then from pulmonary fibrosis, thus voting Democrat in Chicago. ~Bob.)

General Failure. By Thomas E. Ricks
Excerpt: Looking back on the troubled wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, many observers are content to lay blame on the Bush administration. But inept leadership by American generals was also responsible for the failure of those wars. A culture of mediocrity has taken hold within the Army’s leadership rank—if it is not uprooted, the country’s next war is unlikely to unfold any better than the last two. (Well written and worth reading. Will make for interesting discussions. –GBH. Note: GBH is a retired USMC MajGen. ~Bob.)

SURPRISE, SURPRISE! 'Mainstream' Muslim groups back Hamas in latest Mideast mayhem
Excerpt: Similarly, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) issued a series of posts organizing protests Thursday and Friday in Chicago, New YorkLos Angeles and other cities. Organizers of a rally in New York Thursday night include the Muslim American Society's New York chapter, Arab Muslim American Federation and Students for Justice in Palestine chapters.

Worth Reading: The Monolithic Black Vote -- and My Republican Dad. By Larry Elder 
Excerpt: In 1965, Daniel P. Moynihan wrote a book called: "The Negro Family Case for National Action." At the time, 25 percent of black kids were born out of wedlock. Today, that number is 70 percent. Now 26 percent of white kids are born to unwed mothers. This is an indictment of the welfare state and a direct link to crime, drop-out rates and poverty. This is a crisis -- but not a death sentence.

Excerpt: Over the last four days, militants in Gaza have fired more than 840 rockets at Israel. Hamas rockets have reached the outskirts of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for the first time, thanks to the smuggling of Iranian rockets into Gaza. The increasing range and sophistication of Palestinian rockets has expanded the reach of terrorists, who now can threaten up to half of Israel's population. Israel has intercepted 302 of those rockets with its Iron Dome missile defense system, according to the Israel Defense Forces. 

Congo Rebels Advancing on Major City
Excerpt: Fighting inched perilously close to one of Congo’s largest cities on Sunday, and United Nations forces turned to heavy aerial bombardments to stop a rebel advance that broke into a sprint over the weekend, according to witnesses and officials of Congo’s army. (Things sure are better for black folks in Africa since they got rid of evil white colonialism. ~Bob.)

Rioters attack ethnic Somalis in Kenyan capital
Excerpt: Police fired tear gas to disperse Kenyans who threw stones and broke into the homes and shops of ethnic Somalis in Nairobi's Somali-dominated Eastleigh neighborhood on Monday to protest against a bomb attack in the district on Sunday.

The Irate of the Caribbean. From NRO’s Morning Jolt By Jim Geraghty
On the just-concluded National Review post-election cruise, I began things with Scott Rasmussen and Ralph Reed, discussing the results of the election; it was obviously pretty depressing. But we followed it up with our panel of economic experts, talking about the outlook for the coming year . . . and then their assessment was depressing. The following day Bing West talked about the state of the world and threats to U.S. national security . . . which was depressing. (West thinks March 2013 is the time period to watch for an Israeli strike on Iran.) But then we had the panel on media bias . . . which stirred up everyone's fury, and was depressing. Then we had the traditional "Night Owl" after-dinner session, spotlighting National Review's funniest voices Jonah Goldberg, Rob Long, illustrator Roman Genn, James Lileks, with Peter Robinson along as the moderator/designated driver, and the opening question was . . . "Are we doomed?" … As Jonah said quoting Ed Koch, "The voters have made their decision, and now they have to be punished."

Excerpt: An early morning FBI raid has a District Heights family in fear. The agents came into the house and drew their guns at the family’s daughter, but she wasn’t armed.

Kitchen land mines: 10 foods to avoid. By Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
Excerpt: The news is awash with lists of restaurant items that are extremely high in calories, fat, sugar and salt. But what about the contents of your own cupboards and refrigerator? Do they hold land mines — foods that can blow up your healthy eating plan

New U.S.-Mexico Cargo Agreement on Horizon
Excerpt: Cargo aboard specific Mexican trucks and bound for the United States will soon be inspected by American officials south of the border and allowed to circumvent the lines at ports of entry, a top Mexican diplomat announced Thursday. (What could go wrong? ~Bob.)

Tweet from @ThePeoplesCube
I watched an Army vet scrape the bottom of his wallet to pay for groceries, while 2 people with iPhones get theirs paid for.

Homeland Security promotes welfare to new immigrants in government ‘welcome’ materials
http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/18/homeland-security-promotes-welfare-to-new-immigrants-in-government-welcome-materials/#ixzz2ChJVyrfi
Excerpt: Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your new country can do for you. (Tweet from ‏@GayPatriot: Romney was right! GIFTS!!!!)

Suicide bomber in Israel didn’t die. Woke up in a Jewish Hospital & swore he was in Heaven. They asked if Jews were in his heaven?

It's worse than you thought
Excerpt: Alas, no Great Pumpkin. Linus is stuck with perpetual hope. And alas, no economic boom. The lawmakers, from Gov. Pat Quinn on down, are stuck with pension, budget and related wreckage for which they can blame no one but ... Illinois lawmakers. (Tweet from @DaleFranks: Illinois is dead flat broke Funny how many blue states are having that problem. Quite the coincidence.)

Can You Imagine The Reaction If Bush Had Done This? During his stop in Burma earlier today, President Obama...

Life ProTip: Don't walk out on your low-skilled job when GDP is nearly flat and unemployment is 8%. 

#WhyIsraelMatters I'd rather be a Muslim in Israel than a Jew anywhere else in the middle east.

Tweet from @RBPundit
Investors are scaling back investment plans in the US, not because they are evil, but because they see no ROI in the Obama economy.

Obama thinks raising taxes on the rich will benefit the middle class…we know different…let it happen! Time to show Dems how stupid that is. (He doesn’t really. Just appealing to his base, hoping responsible GOP will save him from the results. ~Bob.)

The 49ers. By Michael D. Tanner
Excerpt: The election showed us that ObamaCare is likely to be with us for quite some time. Unfortunately, a great many workers are about to find out the consequences of that decision.

100 Republicans sign letter urging Obama not to nominate Rice for Secretary of State
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/268733-house-gop-warns-obama-against-rice-nomination
Excerpt: Nearly 100 House Republicans on Monday called on President Obama not to nominate Susan Rice as Secretary of State. In a letter to Obama, the Republicans said the credibility of the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has been gravely wounded by her account of the September 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. (she’s black and willing to lie for Obama. What more qualifications does she need? ~Bob.)

The BenghaziGate Massive Coverup is not Going Away! By Max Emfinger
Excerpt: The BenghaziGate Massive Coverup is the most incredible and most appalling, Massive Government Coverup in the history of the United States of America. We have a current President who has lied to the American people so many times about everything, that it’s difficult to ever believe anything that he says. 

MSNBC Anchor Tells Israeli Ambassador Hamas Rockets ‘Rarely Do Damage’
Excerpt: Beyond its military operation targeting the Hamas terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, Israel is invested in an intense media campaign to make sure its side of the story is being heard overseas. But that’s not always easy to do.

Muslims Destroy Dozens of Churches In Tanzania, Demand Heads of Pastors
Didn’t get the “Islam is a Religion of Peace” memo. ~Bob. Excerpt: Dozens of Christian worship places have been destroyed by Islamic extremists in Tanzania and church leaders are fleeing its heavily Muslim island of Zanzibar, as the persecution of Christians spreads throughout East Africa, a human rights chief said Monday, November 12.

Three Dead in Fatal Religious Dispute in Aceh
Didn’t get the memo. ~Bob. Excerpt: “Aiyub and his followers were brandishing machetes,” Sr. Comr. Gustav Leo of the Aceh Police told the Jakarta Globe on Saturday. “As a result, the mob reorganized and came back to the house with 1,500 people and proceeded to attack the religious group.”

How Free Speech Died on Campus: A young activist describes how universities became the most authoritarian institutions in America. By Sohrab Ahmari
Excerpt: At Yale University, you can be prevented from putting an F. Scott Fitzgerald quote on your T-shirt. At Tufts, you can be censured for quoting certain passages from the Quran. Welcome to the most authoritarian institution in America: the modern university—"a bizarre, parallel dimension," as Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, calls it. (Tweet from Citizen Soldier Mike ‏@CitizenSoldierM: Free Speech on college campuses is gone with the PC Police. Free Speech is protecting that with which you disagree.)

Tweet from ‏@RushetteNY
Starbucks is main sponsor of #MSNBC. Please avoid it all costs. 

West Fights On amid Vote-Recount Mayhem: Florida’s election procedures are — still — a disaster in the making. By John Fund
Excerpt: The characters in the latest example of South Florida’s dysfunctional election system — recall the Bush v. Goredebacle in 2000 — are worthy of a Carl Hiaasen potboiler. Congressman Allen West, an outspoken tea-party favorite whose district was pushed into largely new territory by redistricting, is claiming that massive voter irregularities are robbing him of his seat. (This is actually not so much about Allen West as it is about the truly depressing disaster that the Florida election system is. Still. Just read over the "irregularities" the county supervisor admits took place in the vote counting and you realize this is incompetence at a level beyond anything you'd normally believe it. Truth is, given these circumstances, West may or may not have lost, there's so much stuff messed up that I don't even want to guess what an actual, accurate vote count will reveal. But the people are owed that accurate vote count, no matter what. And these two old ladies who are long past their expiration dates need to be forcibly retired, not later, now. --Del)

Greenpeace Stunt Backfires. We mustn't laugh. By James Delingpole
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100189946/greenpeace-stunt-backfires-we-mustnt-laugh/
Excerpt: Poor Greenpeace. I owe them a huge debt of gratitude for having got me on the front page of the paper edition of the Guardian (and how many more of those will there be???), for having boosted sales of my splendid book Watermelons: How Environmentalists Are Killing The Planet, Destroying The Economy And Stealing Your Children's Future, and for having given me an excuse to get yet another article on the evils of wind farms in the print issue of the Telegraph. 

Those who threaten your freedom are not ones wearing turbans in the Middle East. They are the ones wearing suits & ties in Washington DC

Pelosi Says Dems Will Accept No Fiscal Cliff Deal That Doesn’t Crush Small Business Owners With Tax Hike

San Francisco Considers Ban On Public Nudity
Excerpt: San Francisco may be getting ready to shed its image as a city where anything goes, including clothing.

The Obama Effect: S&P 500 Has Lost $806 Billion Since Election Day

Obama Enjoys Surge In Positive Coverage The Last Week Of The Race; Attention To Romney Drops
Excerpt: In the final week of the 2012 presidential campaign, Barack Obama enjoyed his most positive run of news coverage in months, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. Only during the week of his nominating convention was the treatment in the press more favorable.

If you paid a premium for your Twinkie, you can claim it on the “Dumbass Tax” line of your 2012 1040.

Are Asians the New Latino Conundrum for the GOP?
Excerpt: If the Republican Party wants to win elections in the future, it should consider appealing to the fastest growing racial group in the United States. No, not Latinos. Asians.

Rapists demanded Dh5,000 from tourist victim!
Excerpt: The Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced three men to three years in jail after finding them guilty of raping and robbing a woman tourist from Vietnam.

Excerpt: Jonathan Tobin is absolutely correct to warn against rewarding Hamas for its attacks on Israel by granting it any sort of diplomatic concession.

Islamic hardliners announce fatwa on Malala Yousafzai
Excerpt: British-based Islamic radicals are preparing to announce a fatwa on Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year-old girl shot by the Pakistan Taliban, for her role in standing up to extremists.

Excerpt: Talk about a classic Madison issue. You’ve got an unlit urban bicycle path that’s so popular it can be downright scary to walk or ride after dark because of all the traffic. Lighting it would certainly make it feel safer.

Tweet from @timewarf
'm adopted. I've never heard an adopted person say they wish they had been aborted.

Tweet from Debra ‏@Deberra
Leno: The economy is so bad President Obama sent Susan Rice out to defend it. That’s how bad the economy is.

SOOPERMEXICAN: Washington Post Mischaracterizes Quote to Smear Marco Rucio.
http://www.soopermexican.com/2012/11/19/washington-post-mischaracterizes-quote-to-smear-marco-rubio/
Excerpt: It is a surprise to no one that the left will do everything they can to attack and destroy one of the greater threats to their stranglehold on the minority vote: Marco Rubio. Rubio recently spoke to GQ about a range of topics including what his favorite rap songs are. 

Tweet from @keder 
What would happen if Marco Rubio had said he's worried about Guam tipping over?

Famed Obama Supporter Shuts Newspaper, 105 Out of Work
Excerpt: The folks at all his other newspapers should be very nervous. But let’s look at the upside, at least the freshly unemployed won’t be paying a higher tax rate than him.

'Manchurian Candidate' Was No Mere Fiction
Excerpt: Fascinating history of brainwashing/recruiting of American POWs to become commie agents. Also confirmation that our guys have been kept for various purposes after hostilities end. Sad to think of. –Del

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