Sunday, January 27, 2013

Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for January 28, 2013

Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for January 28, 2013
Robert A. Hall
Your one-stop-shop for political news and opinion. Please forward to friends who need to be informed. This SitRep (Military for “Situation Report”) is created by many readers who send me items for inclusion, which I would have likely missed or skipped. And I can only spend at most three hours a night pulling stuff, plus the healthcare or economic stuff that crosses my desk at work. As always, I—and you—owe them thanks and appreciation. I post articles because I think they are of interest and will stimulate thought and discussion. 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 presented, which is the responsibility of the author. I try not to post things that are false, or too far a stretch, regardless of the view point, but I don’t always succeed. As always on the Net, or in the legacy media, you must read critically and with skepticism.

Information on my books

Worth Reading: The Riddle of the Gun. By Sam Harris
Middle of the road piece on guns. Both sides will find things to hate here. ~bob.

Good News: Harkin won’t seek another term in Senate
Excerpt: Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) will retire from the Senate at the end of 2014, the five-term senator said Saturday. (He was exposed in the great book Stolen Valor as another phony Vietnam hero. Glad to see him go. ~Bob
Immigration reform could add millions of people under Obama health law
Excerpt: Comprehensive immigration reform could make millions of people suddenly eligible for assistance under President Obama's healthcare law, assuming a final deal paves the way for undocumented immigrants to receive papers. Illegal aliens are now prohibited from purchasing coverage through the Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges, which will launch next year.

Cato Institute study says armed citizens prevent thousands of crimes
Excerpt: Researchers at the Cato Institute have reviewed eight years worth of news reports about shooting in self-defense and conclude, "the vast majority of gun owners are ethical and competent, and tens of thousands of crimes are prevented each year by ordinary citizens with guns." The libertarian Washington, D.C. think tank has released "Tough Targets: When Criminals Face Armed Resistance from Citizens," just a few days after Wisconsin's first instance of a concealed carry permit holder shooting at an armed robber, at a Milwaukee grocery store. In fact, the incident is already on the Cato Institute's interactive map that accompanies the report.

Former ‘Brain Dead Liberal’ Filmmaker Pens Scathing Column On Gun Control: ‘A Political Appeal To The Ignorant’
Excerpt: Pulitzer Award-winning author, producer and director David Mamet has been extremely open about his conversion from “brain dead liberal” to conservative, and in the wake of President Obama’s latest push for stricter gun control measures, Mamet has penned yet another column setting the record straight as he sees it.

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet: Obama’s gun control policy is Marxist
http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/27/david-mamet-obamas-gun-control-policy-is-marxist/#ixzz2JDq17oZc
Excerpt: In a recent column, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet suggested President Barack Obama is a Marxist who seeks to determine the “needs” of the citizenry. “All of us have had dealings with the State, and have found, to our chagrin, or, indeed, terror, that we were not dealing with well-meaning public servants or even with ideologues but with overworked, harried bureaucrats. These, as all bureaucrats, obtain and hold their jobs by complying with directions and suppressing the desire to employ initiative, compassion, or indeed, common sense.
 
If ‘Assault Weapons’ Are Bad…Why Does DHS Want To Buy 7,000 Of Them For ‘Personal Defense’?
Excerpt: The Department of Homeland Security is seeking to acquire 7,000 5.56x45mm NATO “personal defense weapons” (PDW) — also known as “assault weapons” when owned by civilians. The solicitation, originally posted on June 7, 2012, comes to light as the Obama administration is calling for a ban on semi-automatic rifles and high capacity magazines.

232 die in smoke, stampede in Brazil club fire
Excerpt: BRASILIA, Brazil — A blaze raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing 232 people as the air filled with deadly smoke and panicked party-goers stampeded toward the exits, police and witnesses said. It appeared to be the world's deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade.( Maybe it's time to ban nightclubs. --Jer. If we can save one life... ~Bob.)

Dues And Deep Pockets: Public-Sector Unions' Money Machine. By Daniel DiSalvo
Excerpt….Public-sector unions also differ from most interest groups in their allegiance to a single party and a single agenda in debates about the role of government. They are focused on a few key issues relating to the government jobs of their members: more government employment and thus higher taxes and more government services. …. And public-sector unions give money, volunteers, and other support almost exclusively to candidates of the Democratic party.

Additional Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood Anti-Semitic Statements Found. By John Rossomando
Excerpt: The New York Times' January 14 report on the Middle East Media Research Institute's (MEMRI) videos of Egyptian Mohamed Morsi's 2010 anti-Semitic statements inexplicably omitted the larger story of the Muslim Brotherhood's decades-long intrinsic anti-Semitism. The Investigative Project on Terrorism has uncovered comments going back to 2004 showing a pattern of pure anti-Semitic comments made by Morsi and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders. (Can't say I find any NYT whitewash of enemies of freedom "inexplicable." ~Bob.)

Court Slaps Down Obama On NLRB Appointments-Decision Could Invalidate Hundreds Of Labor Decisions
Excerpt: However, the Court agreed with the argument put forth by a Washington state family owned business seeking to invalidate an NLRB ruling that went against the company. The company argued that, as the Senate was not technically in recess at the time of the appointments, the board had not been legally constituted and that a quorum did not exist. As such, any decision the board reached would be invalid.

Government intervention in the economy screws the consumer and limits liberty. always has, always will. ~Bob

Attack on family in Compton latest incident in wave of anti-black violence
Excerpt: A Latino gang is intimidating blacks into leaving the city that was once an African American enclave. It's part of a violent trend seen in other parts of the L.A. area. (The Democrats will fail, not because they lack appeal to the masses, but because pleasing one interest group means harming another. Fortunately for them, most people are blind to this, for now. But if you cater to Hispanics, then blacks get hurt. Likewise, if you cater to blacks, Hispanics and others get hurt. If you cater to gays, Muslims are offended. If you cater to Muslims, gays get hurt. If you cater to Muslims, women get hurt. If you pay people not to work, the debt eventually catches up to you and no one gets their handouts or even the social security or Medicare. The hard core lefties pretend none of this is happening and go on voting for liberal progressives. But so far, all of the bankrupt cities in the country are Democrat-run. You can only hide that fact for a limited time. The reaction is delayed when people are dumbed down to the point you can cut the ignorance with a butter knife. But eventually, there is nowhere to hide abject failure and then you get the Soviet effect. The failure bursts out through the seams and the whole system collapses. Linked above is a story showing a byproduct of catering to everyone. Eventually, one of the interest groups gets the upper hand and the others get hurt. --Don Hank)

Media Ignore Hillary’s Bombshell Benghazi Claim
Excerpt: During the Senate hearing on Benghazi yesterday, outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed she did not know whether the U.S. special mission attacked on Sept. 11 was involved in gun-running.

NYPD to Receive 'T-Ray' Vision to Detect Concealed Firearms: The New York Police Department is testing a new device that can detect firearms concealed beneath layers of clothing.
Excerpt: The New York Police Department is testing a new device that can detect firearms concealed beneath layers of clothing….We still have a number of trials to run before we can determine how best to deploy this technology. But we're very pleased with the progress we've made over the past year," said Kelly. Chief spokesman for the NYPD, Paul Browne, said the police aimed to get the T-Ray technology in a device small enough to carry on an officer's gun belt, but provided no timetable for when any version of the device would be deployed.

Hensarling Statement on President Obama’s Unconstitutional Recess Appointments
Excerpt: "President Obama’s administration has too often demonstrated a disregard for legislative authority and the separation of powers. In making these appointments, he essentially tried to erase from our Constitution the requirement – placed there by America’s founders – that senior executive branch officials be appointed only with the “advice and consent” of the Senate. This Constitutional requirement is a check on the abuse of executive power, and clearly President Obama overreached.                             

Morsi Declares State of Emergency in Wake of Riots: Egyptian President declares a state of emergency in three provinces hit by rioting which has left dozens dead.
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on Sunday declared a state of emergency in three provinces hit by rioting which has left dozens dead, warning he was ready to take further steps to confront threats to Egypt's security.… Morsi's comments came after rioting sparked by death sentences being passed on soccer fans for deadly violence in 2012 rocked Port Said for a second straight day on Sunday, leaving another six people dead and more than 460 injured, according to medics….In Cairo, clashes broke between police and protesters who accuse Morsi of betraying the goals of the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak two years ago, highlighting deep political divisions in the country now ruled by Islamists. (As, yes, the Democratic Arab Spring, so beloved by the media, Progressives and Obama. ~Bob.)

Obama Threatens Fox News, Limbaugh
Excerpt: “On climate change, it's a daunting task. But we know what releases carbon into the atmosphere, and we have tools right now that would start scaling that back, although we'd still need some big technological breakthrough. So the question is not, Do we have policies that might work? It is, Can we mobilize the political will to act? (Gee, sounds like eliminating a lot of cows, horses, pigs and humans to me….we all exhale CO2. --Barb.)

Excerpt: The U.S. unnecessarily paid $6.3 million on contracts for Afghan police vehicles from April 2011 to September 2012according to a report released last week from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). The latest gross overpayment stems largely from cash going to maintenance on vehicles that have been out of service for over a year or even had been destroyed.

Turkish Ship With Tonnes of Weapons Sails To Volos!
Excerpt: According to a report from the Thessaly Journal, the ship "Alexandretta" -which was flying the flag of Saint Vincent- was from Turkey, and although it is registered as a cement bulk cargo ship was in all reality suspiciously transporting a huge quantity of weapons and ammunition. It said that unconfirmed reports also spoke of portable antiaircraft guns and anti-tank missiles, ammunition and infantry weapons such as Kalashnikov guns, etc. 

America Has Hit “Peak Jobs. ” By Jon Evans
Excerpt: Think all those job losses over the last five years were just caused by the recession? No: “Most of the jobs will never return, and millions more are likely to vanish as well, say experts who study the labor market,” according to an AP report on how technology is killing middle-class jobs.

Muslim abuser who 'didn't know' that sex with a girl of 13 was illegal is spared jail
Excerpt: A muslim who raped a 13-year-old girl he groomed on Facebook has been spared a prison sentence after a judge heard he went to an Islamic faith school where he was taught that women are worthless. dil Rashid, 18, claimed he was not aware that it was illegal for him to have sex with the girl because his education left him ignorant of British law.

Unqualified Teachers Cover Up Their Incompetence By Helping Students Cheat. By David L. Goetsch
Excerpt: As a former college professor, dean, provost, and vice-president, I am familiar with the problem of high school graduates being unprepared for college or the workplace. This, unfortunately, is a widespread problem that just seems to get worse and worse. In fact, America’s community colleges do a booming business providing college-preparatory courses in reading, math, and writing for high school graduates who should have developed these skills before applying for college admission but didn’t. (The old Roman question went "Who shall guard the guards themselves?" Now the question is "Who will teach the teachers to teach?" And more to the point, how do we make sure the teachers really are qualified to teach? I started reading about the GA scandal maybe a year ago, and it was really bad news. Not only did teachers get charged, people all the way up to the superintendent got charged with crimes. Corruption top to bottom in the school system? If there's one way we know a society declines, that would be it. Houston, we have a problem... a big one. --Del)

Missouri Proposes Law Requiring Students’ Parents To Inform Schools About Their Guns
http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/01/missouri-proposes-law-requiring-students-parents-to-inform-schools-about-their-guns/
Excerpt: Generally, conservatives understand that taking people’s rights away is not protecting them. Liberals however equate complete control with safety. If they can just know everything about everyone of us, where we live, how we raise our kids, what foods we eat, etc., they’d be able to keep us and everyone else safe.

White House Responds That Court’s Action is ‘Novel and Unprecedented’
http://MinuteMenNews.com/2013/01/white-house-responds-that-courts-action-is-novel-and-unprecedented/
Excerpt: In response to a ruling today by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, White House spokesman Jay Carney called the decision “novel and unprecedented.” This could be one of many instances in which the co-equal branch of government, the judiciary, will attempt to check the powers that President Obama is attempting to exercise. And it could also be a test of how far Obama is prepared to go in terms of ignoring the courts and the Constitution to achieve his goals.

Obama's Abuse of Power
Excerpt: President Obama has shown increasing contempt for the constitutional limits on his power, and the courts are finally awakening to the news. A unanimous panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday that the President's non-recess recess appointments are illegal and an abuse of executive power.

North Korea Threatens All-Out War Over Nukes
Excerpt: The significance is that the Chinese spokesman precisely and in detail contradicted the North Korean NDC statement. This indicates that strain in relations has escalated to tension. China is likely to either send a high level trouble-shooter to Pyongyang or summon a North Korean senior official to Beijing for an explanation. (Nightwatch is a sort of poor man’s Stratfor. Their analysis of the most recent actions and statements out of the DPRK make more sense than anything else I’ve seen. Is it just me or does the presence of the word “democratic” in a country’s name almost guarantee that it isn’t? There are also some interesting comments on the Middle East. Ron P.)

Obama Asking US Military Leaders Will you Shoot on Americans
I don't put a lot of faith in "unnamed sources." Rate this unverified. ~Bob

Excerpt: Defenders of the Obama administration insist that he is not anti-gun. They are right. The truth is, the current administration, as well as all of the left wing liberal progressives, are not anti-gun; they are anti-armed citizenry. From their point-of-view, it’s perfectly all right to be armed– as long as government forces (military and police) are under control and citizens are loyal to the government.

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