Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Random Toughts For June, 2014


Random Thoughts for June, 2014

Robert A. Hall

 

I'm reading a lot of bashing of VA healthcare due to the AZ situation and others. I can only speak for myself, but the care I have received at the Madison, WI VA Hospital as I went through the lung transplant process has been superb. (Yes, I now have issues that are life threatening. no person's fault--the luck of the draw--and they are still in there pitching.) There has been no medical professional there, from the surgeons and other docs, the transplant NP and transplant coordinator, the PT guys, the other professionals, to the nurses and the health techs (CNAs) that I would not want to have care for me or a loved one in the future. Even the housekeeping crew went out of their way to be helpful during my three (so far) inpatient stays. So I can't join in the bashing. It has been very helpful to me at a stressful time to have the VA coordinating my care and billing out to Medicare and my Medigap insurance policy for the costs as appropriate. I could not have asked for more.

 

As you know, I established my home as a No-Whining Zone years ago to deal with my lung disease, pulmonary fibrosis. I don't think I've been feeling sorry for myself at all. At a recent visit to the Dane County Veterans Services office, God let me know he favors that stance. Bonnie let me off at the door, along with Oscar the O2 tank and the wheelchair in case it was a long walk. I waited in the lobby for her, with a group of about eight severely mentally and/or physically handicapped young adults--none of whom I'd change places with. Compared to so many people, I've had and still have a blessed life.

 

A while back, someone was whining on a support list that, "We all ask, 'Why me? Why did I get pulmonary fibrosis?'" I responded that I asked, "Why me God? Why did I get pulmonary fibrosis?" And this booming voice replied, "I don't know Hall--there's just something about you that pisses me off!" Old joke--which some folks didn't appreciate. I figure whenever it happens, I've got a long time to be dead. No use letting the inevitable make me miserable now.

 

Should have known I had a problem lung when I learned it was delivered by the firm of Burke and Hare.

 

I like this going around the net: "Our grandparents didn't vote for fascists, they shot them."

 

How long until someone is called a racist for saying they wish they could have kept their health insurance plan and/or doctor as Obama promised?

 

If we'd only had Michelle Obama in a photo op holding up a hashtag sign that said, "StopKillingJewsandInvadingCountries, Hitler would have surely complied and WWII would have been avoided.

 

Interesting how those people who thought that Shari'a Law was benign and just a cultural expression of faith, so not a threat if implemented here in America have gone quiet after Boko Haram kidnapped 300 Christian girls and, in accord with Shari'a Law and the teaching of the Holy Qur'an sold them into sex slavery.

 

George Kennan's "Long Telegram."


If Obama needs advice on containing Russia, he might consult this document on containing the Soviet Union.

 

Wishful thinking and nativity kill. Unfortunately, they have dominated US foreign policy under both Democrats and Republicans. Recently I read a story of a WWII OSS agent who studied Russian, admired the Soviet Union and joined a Russian-American Friendship Society. Sent to North China, occupied by the Soviets, immediately after the war to help US POWs, he advanced on his first group of Russian troops shouting "comrades" in Russian. They turned their guns on him and the leader demanded, "Give me your watch." He was very lucky that losing his illusions only cost him a watch. Many folks have to be shot before they get it.

 

Superior troops with good morale and excellent training can often redeem an incompetent leader's mistakes. Alas, incompetent commanders rarely get such troops, unless they just took over and inherited them from a good leader. The same is true in civilian life, especially in rule-bound bureaucratic organizations, such as government, which rarely develop leaders interested in the mission more than CYA and their "perks." Thus they rarely develop subordinates with commitment, initiative and good morale.

 

Sometimes my wife doesn't answer the phone, "Because I don't know who it is." Sometimes I don't answer because I do know who it is.

 

When a guy says a girl is "out of my league," he's probably playing in a fantasy league anyway.

 

I'm annoyed by folks who never answer email. And by folks who have to answer every email. And by folks who expect a response on every joke or cute video they email to their list. Sigh. The price of instant communication. They are likely often annoyed with me as well.

 

And don't get me started on folks who think that the whole world is waiting breathlessly for them to post what they had for lunch on Twitter or Facebook.

 

A great many folks are willing to take credit for good outcomes. I used to say that when I was a Senator, I took credit for the sun coming up, because I also got blamed for negative things beyond my control. You will find that if you generously share the credit with everyone involved, even a little beyond their contributions, it will pay large dividends. And you'll feel better, too.

 

The really hard thing to do it to take responsibility for your actions when the outcomes are negative. The child is much more likely to say, "Mom, the dish broke," than, "Mom, I broke the dish--I'm sorry." Having learned that avoidance behavior, it carries through life. Like everyone, I have to work on this and I try hard, because it is right, and showing such integrity produces a better reputation with other folks. So there is a long term payoff, as there so often is, for doing the right thing, however difficult. Politicians (of all stripes) especially have trouble admitting error. If a Republican or Democrat says, "I was wrong, this policy isn't working, we are going to scrap it," the other side and their media allies don't congratulate him or her for a sensible and courageous decision; they eviscerates the elected official for the error. So the politician often flips 180 degrees and acts like he/she was always there. Thus you have the farce of a CEO losing his job for having held the same position on Gay marriage years ago that Obama held at the same time, while Obama draws more support from gays because of the flip. There are many Republican examples as well.

 

Since requiring IDs to vote is racist because minorities are unable to get them, for whatever reason, then requiring them for anything is racist. Minorities should not be disadvantaged in buying guns, checking out library books, cashing checks, flying, getting licenses, entering buildings or events, purchasing cigarettes or drugs or government benefits or anything else because of race. I suggest that Republican lawmakers pass bills making it illegal to require photo IDs for any reason.

 

I think of Obama as the Composite President. He combines the naïveté of Wilson on foreign policy, the competence of Carter, and the ethics of Clinton and Nixon. At least he doesn't seem to have the sexual morals of JFK.

 

The only good argument for Common Core is that it helps teachers who know they are too stupid to know what to teach on their own, and are desperate for a how-to check list.

 

If you are not old enough to give informed consent to having sex, you're not old enough to consent to having an abortion.

 

Assault rifle bans aren't that bad. A few cosmetic changes to remove features that scare liberals and you are good to go, with basically the same weapon.

 

When you are sick, folks bring you presents. For example, our granddaughter's little dog, Caramel, found a squashed mouse in the driveway. The wife couldn't get it from him--he insisted on bringing it in the house and presenting it to me on the couch. It's the thought that counts.

 

If God didn't want me to be profane, he wouldn't have let them send me to Parris Island. "Dear Lord, I don't really want you to take the time to damn the oxygen hose I just tripped over, or punish my computer for the glitch. But if they were to melt in the future, I'd consider it just..."

 

People who say they don't need to go to church because, "God is everywhere," are seldom looking for him everywhere, and would be startled if he manifested himself there.

 

We should take Obama's word that Benghazi or the IRS are not scandals with the same degree of confidence that everyone gave Nixon's "I am not a crook" statement.

 

They say "Freedom is not Free." If you want to know who paid most of your share, stop by your local VA Hospital and look around. Volunteering would be even better.

 

I imagine an old guy with his 48-inch belly hanging over his 34-inch waist jeans, meeting a young guy with his jeans down to his thighs and his butt protruding in his boxers, each thinking how stupid the other one looks.

 

The most ignored sound in our house is the dryer buzzing at intervals that it's done. It can go on for hours.

 

If all you do is criticize, or all you do is praise, no one will give much weight to either criticism or praise from you.

 

Troops used to get tattoos reading, "Death Before Dishonor." In today's military, they should read, "Death Before Political-Incorrectness." PC will kill America's sons and daughters. But to be fair, soldiers have died throughout history to stroke the egos of politicians, whether it was for "empire," "honor," "national prestige," "pride," "avenging a national insult," or to allow today's so-called "leaders" to feel warm and fuzzy about being all PC, since they have no experience paying the butcher's bill with their or their children's blood. And no intention that their own kids will ever go in harm' way.

 

I like earrings on men. They tell you who is a slave to fads without having to talk to them.

 

If I go into the VA for rehab and catch the physical therapist talking to one of my old DIs on the phone for hints, I am outta there!

 

Welcome to the fight of the Century. In this corner, representing the Obama Administration's Decisive Action Team, wearing spangled Spandex, Michele Obama holding a #BringBackOurGirls hashtag sign. In the far corner, representing Boko Haram, wearing a filthy burnoose and a dynamite-spangled vest, Mohammad Akbar, holding an #AllahPermitsSexWithSlaveGirls hashtag sign--and a fully loaded AK-47. Let the battle begin.

 

America is being punished for Obama's mom being punished with a baby.

 

Chelsea Clinton's pregnancy is about the only thing the Democrats haven't blamed on Bush, the Koch brothers or global warming.

 

I'm very tolerant. I'm pretty much willing to extend tolerance to anyone who is willing to extend it to me and others. Otherwise....

 

Eric Holder says about racism:  “The greatest threats are more subtle. They cut deeper. And their terrible impact endures long after the headlines have faded and obvious, ignorant expressions of hatred have been marginalized.” And what is a "subtle threat" of racial discrimination? Why, any opposition or disagreement with Obama's or Holder's policies or actions, of course! ~Bob

 

Lèse-majesté: The crime of committing an offence against the dignity of a reigning sovereign. Now called "racism."

 

I know a couple of people who, if they go to hell, will annoy Satan until he throws up his hands and puts in air conditioning.

 

Unions: Making the world safe for mediocrity.

 

I have a lot of Marine tee shirts, which I like to wear to the VA for rehab. But they are even more fun to wear to the Madison, WI Farmer's Market around the capital. It's sort of like a Progressive Petri Dish, with groups on every corner lobbying to "Save the Transgender Whales," "Give Voting Rights to Non-Citizens," or to "Ban Carbon Based Life Forms," because carbon is poison. My tees include: "Free Men Bear Arms," "Blessed Be the Lord, My Rock, Who Trains My Hands for War and My Fingers for Battle--Psalm 144/1,"  "Happiness is a Belt-Fed Weapon," "Freedom is Not Free--But the US Marines Will Pay Most of Your Share," "Some People Just Need Killing--That's Why We Have Marines," and "Peace Through Fire Superiority." The last is different from the usual, "Peace Through Superior Firepower," which means you have better and/or more guns. "Fire Superiority" means you are shooting so well, the enemy dares not put his head up to shoot back. The local progressives never have the nerve to say anything to me, but my wife loves to watch their faces after they read the shirt and try not to stroke out. Good, clean fun.

 

I watch TV with a book in my hands. If you ask me if I saw a particular ad that runs frequently, I'd probably remember the ad--but not what it was selling.

 

Never brag or celebrate until the results are all in. When I was getting out of the Marines to go to college, I had to take the SATs--four years after I graduated in the top 95% of my high school class. Since I rarely had more than a C, but often lower, neither I nor anyone else saw me as a scholar. A girl friend, who had respectable SAT scores of 525 in verbal and 650 in math--her major--was busting me, the dumb Marine who had to hope they gave me a couple of points for spelling my name correctly. Then my results came. I had a 735 in verbal (98th or 99th percentile) and a 589 in math (95th). This was back before the SAT folks lowered the scores because they were dropping, so my combined 1,324 out of 1,400 possible was better than the same score today (and qualified me for Mensa). Naturally, I served her a large, cold crow dinner. Another example: on election night in 1972, about 1:00 am, when I was trailing the incumbent by about 2,000 votes, several car-loads of his supporters drove past my house, yelling and honking their horns. At 6:30 am, the last town came in, putting me up for the first time--by nine votes--and I became the Senator in January. And then Fitchburg State College, which in 1968, before I took the SATs, had suggested with my grades I try the community college as being less demanding, was coming to me for help with their budget.

 

Thanks to Marine Electronics School in 1965, I've always done very well on multiple guess tests. Every week we had a 33-question computer-graded test. Top scorer got 100, regardless of his raw number. Bottom three flunked, regardless of their scores. If you flunked three times, they transferred you to the infantry and you got killed in Vietnam. Very completive school. I finished second to a reservist who was an electrical engineer in civilian life. (Actually, my buddy Ron and I volunteered to drop out to go to Vietnam after ground troops landed that year. They said thanks and ordered us back to class. We were 19...gung ho and dumb.)

 

Now that they have "Honor Flights" to take WWII vets to DC to see the memorial, I think they should have "Dishonor Flights," led by Bill Clinton, to take old hippy protesters to Canada to visit their war buddies.

 

If you walk around at work with a clipboard and a cup of coffee, people will think you are management and not expect you to do anything.

 

Suggested new Planned Parenthood slogan: "Abortion Macht Frei."

 

It's not true that liberals hate all assault weapons. They're fine if pointed at American troops. http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/19/jane-fonda-on-riding-that-north-vietnamese-anti-aircraft-gun-in-72-sorry-somebody-took-a-picture/

 

Al Gore's slogan must be, "Think Globally, act like you hope no one is watching what you personally do."

 

Nothing is as scary as seeing my granddaughter and her 13-year-old friends in party dresses, and hoping there are no boys like me in her class...

 

A lot of people on the right use "Libtard" to describe liberals. I don't. First, name calling doesn't move anyone to consider your views. Second, it demeans mentally handicapped citizens by conflating them with liberals.

 

Most people get the need for smoozing upward, towards the boss, teacher, commanding officer, etc. Many get the value of smoozing laterally with equals, building relationships that help everyone. Only a few get that smoozing downward is equally important. First, just because you are in a higher status or position, doesn't make you better than other people. And they can help you as much as you can help them. Sam Wall treated the greeters at Walmart as well as he treated corporate CEOs. When I was a senator, I treated the pages as equals. When the Senate President or Sergeant-at-Arms wasn't around, we were on a first name basis. And they tended to run errands for me first. Plus the information they passed to me was very valuable. Some senators treated them like inferiors servants. Bad mistake, born of arrogance and a sense of entitlement. My update is, "Whom the gods would destroy, they first give a sense of entitlement.

 

It' an unfortunate truth that lying too often works. Obama lied about Obamacare and got it passed. He lied about Benghazi and got reelected. There are many examples, from politicians of all sides. And not just politicians.

 

The tricky thing for a third world dictator is knowing when to hang on to enjoy the power and perks while building that Swiss bank account, and when it's time to scoot and enjoy the millions you've looted the country for.

 

Suggested epitaph for a golfer: "What's par for this hole?"

 

Listen, wannabees, it's "All present OR accounted for," not "All present and accounted for." The company might have three men on leave, two in the brig and four at sick bay, who are not present, but are accounted for. If they are missing and not accounted for, they are UA (AWOL in the old days).

 

Got an e-mail from a conservative site that claimed, "There is a huge, hushed-up conspiracy that may wipe  out 281 Million Americans in the next 6 months. The media has been forbidden to report anything about it." Both sides do this to keep the base in a frenzy. Often they are expressed in terms of a question, like, "Is Harry Reid/the Koch Brothers about to be indicted?" the question format lets them say they weren't claiming it as a fact, but "just asking." This rubbish adds nothing to the debate or the public's understanding of issues. But we have jerks of all political stripes.

 

To be safe, stay out of businesses with "no guns allowed" signs. Easy targets for armed criminals, so you are more likely to be robbed and shot there.

 

 

Get the collection! My “Random Thoughts” from 2008 through July, 2013 are now collected in this book: The Old Jarhead's Journal: Random Thoughts on Life, Liberty, and Leadership by Robert A. Hall


The Old Jarhead’s Journal is a collection of Random Thoughts on politics and life and Conservative Political Essays, mostly published on the author’s blog, including the essay “I’m Tired” which went viral on the Internet in 2009, “The Hall Platform,” “This I Believe,” and “Why I’m a Republican.” While they will be of interest to conservative thinkers, they are collected here in book form as a service to readers who wish to give a copy to favorite liberals and watch their heads explode. All royalties are donated to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.

*****

Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam Veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate. He is the author of The Coming Collapse of the American Republic.

http://tiny.cc/g02s4 For a free PDF of Collapse, e-mail him at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com. Hall’s eleven books are listed here: http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Update from the VA Hospital

Well, here I am again, back in hospital. I was doing better for the four days before my bronchoscopy on Thursday, 5/22. Breathing better, FEV numbers (air I can blow in one second) up each day, hit 1.3 litters Wednesday evening, highest in 2 weeks. At Bonnie’s volunteer awards lunch on Wednesday, I was bored so turned off the oxygen (O2) to see. Stayed above 90% saturation (sats), the safe level for 15 minutes on room air, until I started coughing and it went down.

Felt okay after the bronch, and when we stopped for dinner. At home, dropped to 82% O2 sats. Cranked the O2 from 3 lpm to 8 lpm, had to add another concentrator to take it to 13 lpm to get to 90%. Had chills, went to bed. Up and down. Bonnie called the number on the discharge paper and got a nurse who was out of the loop. She went to default mode—I’m-not-doing-the-paperwork-if-you die-on-my shift-call 911-and-go-to-the-nearest-ER.) I suggested a large Scotch and see how it was in the morning. We compromised on calling the on-call Transplant Coordinator at the VA. After some back and forth, I went to the VA and was admitted. I’m in CCU as the hospital is stuffed.

They put me on a lot of O2. Friday morning I was at 94% on 4 lpm. Then used the nebulizers and O2 dropped, put me on high flow at 60% to 80%. (Room air is about 21% if you didn’t pay attention in science class. Still struggling to stay up. I had a lot of mucus, coughing a lot, couldn’t bring it up. Two Respiratory Techs (RT), with four students watching, stuffed a cath down my nose and sucked a lot out. It was fairly unpleasant. I believe I confessed to giving bedbug-infested blankets to NVA soldiers to get them to stop. Helped the breathing and coughing a lot, but not the O2.They determined that I have pneumonia again. Third time. The problem is that the slough (sluff—dead cells) and the mucus provide a buffet for bugs in a warm, moist, dark place. And each time I get it the bugs get more resistant to antibiotics.

The bronch had some good news—there is less slough—and some bad news—I’m still having dynamic collapse when I exhale. They ballooned it and some areas went right back to collapse. Some small tubes were too closed to get in.

They think using a CPAP or BiPAP will help, by keeping it open, and hopefully letting it heal. I slept with a BiPAP Friday night and stayed at 100% sats, no problem. They also want me to use it an hour every four hours during the day, which takes the last of my free time. Without glasses, I can’t read, use the computer or watch TV; can’t eat or talk. But needs must.

Hopefully the antibiotics will kill the bugs and theO2 needs will drop. Meanwhile, Happy Memorial Day Weekend.

For those who called, I’m keeping the net free for medical and CO (wife) traffic. And I have no time here. Sorry.

As always prayers and support much appreciated. I get limited computer time and my time is heavily taken with med stuff, now including the BiPAP. Will post when I can.

Semper Fidelis,


~Bob

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Posting now as I may go back to the VA

Having some issues with today's bronchoscopy. Looks like they will stick me back in the VA tonight. Will post more when I can.

Your one-stop-shop for political news and conservative opinion. Please forward to friends who need to be informed. These posts are created by many readers who send me items for inclusion, which I would have likely missed or skipped. As always, we 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, too far a stretch, or viciously inflammatory, 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. ~Bob

Worth Reading: America's Budding Tyrants. By Walter E. Williams 
Excerpt: From the Nazis to the Stalinists, tyrants have always started out supporting free speech, and why is easy to understand. Speech is vital for the realization of their goals of command, control and confiscation. Basic to their agenda are the tools of indoctrination, propagandizing, proselytization. Once they gain power, as leftists have at many universities, free speech becomes a liability and must be suppressed. This is increasingly the case on university campuses.

Worth Reading: Charting a Course Between Principle and Pragmatism. By Dr. Ben Carson
Excerpt: Given this pro-life propensity, one might ask how I could endorse someone who is pro-choice. The answer is this: I'm not an ideologue who determines a person's worthiness with a litmus test. I have known Wehby as a friend and colleague for many years, and she is extremely intelligent and knows how to make decisions based on evidence versus ideology. Also, in a state like Oregon, which is left-leaning, she would not be a viable candidate if she maintained a pro-life stance. If conservatives are going to win in 2014 and 2016 and preserve the environment of freedom to which we have grown accustomed, it will be necessary to learn how to prioritize issues.

Excerpt: The list of his failures is nothing short of staggering, from shovel-ready jobs that weren’t so shovel ready to the failures of healthcare.gov to the VA debacle. But it also includes the president’s failure to tame the debt, lower poverty, decrease income inequality, and increase job creation. He promised to close Guantanamo Bay and didn’t. His administration promised to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed before a civilian jury in New York but they were forced to retreat because of outrage in his own party. Early on in his administration Mr. Obama put his prestige on the line to secure the Olympics for Chicago in 2016 and he failed. 

I highly recommend you subscribe to Jim Geraghty's free "Morning Jolt" E-newsletter. Below is a sample from the 5/22/14 issue. ~Bob
The Myth of Barack Obama. By Jim Geraghty, Morning Jolt
Bipartisanship: Obama doesn't really respect anyone who disagrees with him; he prefers to adopt an "only adult in the room" pose, demagogue issues, and attack straw men. He'll talk about the need for a "new tone" and then stand by as his allies attack opponents as "not one of us", accuse them of committing felonies without evidence, and even of causing cancer. Far from the post-partisan healer he was sold as in 2007-2008, he's a ruthless demagogue who urges his followers to "get in their face" and "punish our enemies." "Don't think we're not keeping score, brother." Honesty and willingness to acknowledge inconvenient truths: He thinks nothing of saying something that isn't true if it helps him at the political moment -- "if you like your plan, you can keep your plan." When the promise is broken, it's everyone else's fault but his. Engagement with the world: The president is functionally an isolationist and not that interested in the world beyond our borders. Russia's aggression doesn't trouble him enough to move beyond routine sanctions. Whether it's the territorial saber-rattling of China and Japan, the Iranian nuclear program, the Syrian Civil War, increasing violence in Iraq, the increasingly routine provocations of the North Koreans, or the prospect of leaving a bloody, Taliban-re-conquered mess in Afghanistan. . . it's clear from his weak-tea proposals, sporadic public comments, tone, and body language that the president wishes it all would just go away. Consistent Concern: He doesn't give a rat's tush about half the things he criticized in the Bush administration: the increasing national debt, a dysfunctional VA, domestic surveillance, concerns about Americans' privacy, meeting with lobbyists in the White House, appointing lobbyists to high-level White House staff positions, rewarding big-time donors with ambassadorial appointments. . . A Focus on What Matters Most: His own staffers have described him as "impatient and disengaged" in key meetings, and the intelligence community has wondered how closely he reads his briefings. With increasing frequency, he says he learns about problems within his own administration from media reports. (See the NRCC's new "Obama Excuses" page.) He really enjoys the good life of the presidency and doesn't see any reason why he should limit public expenditures on himself and his family during hard economic times. He recently laughed, "That's the good thing about being president, I can do whatever I want." Accountability: Obama is perfectly fine with letting his subordinates investigate themselves and assess their own failures  the Justice Department's investigation of itself in "Fast and Furious", the U.S. State Department's review of its own actions before, during and after the Benghazi attacks; he picks his own people to examine his own NSA policies on domestic surveillance, and now Eric Shinseki will get to the bottom of any wrongdoing at the Department of Veterans Affairs. He rarely if ever fires staffers; the rare cases, like General Stanley McChrystal or Jofi Joseph, involve cases where an underling criticized him. Even the most consequentially incompetent, like Kathleen Sebelius, are given a soft landing months after they've made crucial errors to avoid administration embarrassment. Respect for the Constitution: He was sold to us as a Constitutional law professor; in office, Obama enacted policies that violated almost every amendment in the Bill of Rights
Thai military seizes power in coup, imposes curfew
Excerpt: Thailand’s military seized power Thursday in a bloodless coup, dissolving the government, suspending the constitution and dispersing groups of protesters from both sides of the country’s political divide who had gathered in Bangkok and raised fears of a violent showdown.

McConnell for Senate. By Erick Erickson
Excerpt: Matt Bevin will not be the Republican nominee in Kentucky. As much as I wish he would be, all of us have to deal with reality. The reality is that it will be Mitch McConnell or Allison Grimes comes November. And I sure as hell don’t want Allison Grimes. So I will proudly support Mitch McConnell. I sent his campaign $250.00 today to help build the general election war chest. People tell me I’m a leader in the conservative movement. Sometimes leading means going where I’d prefer not to.

Political Correctness Makes Race And Genetics Taboo In The West, Which Is Why China Is Winning
Excerpt: Most scientists will tell you that race has no biological basis—it is, in academic-speak, a “social construct.” But a new book by distinguished journalist Nicholas Wade challenges that assumption, concluding that race is real and human social behaviour is subject to natural selection just like everything else. (There are certainly characteristics that appear more heavily in one "race" over another (Or the NFL and NBA are discriminating against Hispanics, Asians and whites.), even given that races blend into each other at the edges. The determinant in my view is not race, but culture. Obama identifies as black and is seen that way by supporters and opponents. But genetically, he is as white as he is black. ~Bob)

Tiananmen: How Wrong We Were. By Jonathan Mirsky
Excerpt: Some of the two hundred thousand pro-democracy student protesters face to face with policemen outside the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, April 22
Twenty-five years ago to the day I write this, I watched and listened as thousands of Chinese citizens in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square dared to condemn their leaders. Some shouted “Premier Li Peng resign.” Even braver ones cried “Down with Deng Xiaoping and the Communist Party.” Before long, on the night of June 3–4, the People’s Liberation Army crashed into the square, rolling over the tents pitched there by industrial workers who had joined in the protests, and mowing down unarmed demonstrators. (People have forgotten this already, and hardly anyone even at the time was aware of how many people were killed by the Army when the division from the far province came into Beijing. The locally based military had shown reluctance to be aggressive, so the guys at the top brought in troops from far away, who were told on the way in that a conspiracy of traitors was threatening the whole nation, and to be merciless in putting them down. And they were. People still think that the generation at the top now must be different, but they are not. They will hang on to power with total fanaticism, and if anyone were to dare to even start to whisper what was said in universities before the movement in Tiananmen, they would disappear in a day at most, and show up in one of those classic communist trials where the charges are meaningless, the outcome is known, and the example will be made. Things have not changed. --Del)

Land grab? Local officials blast move by Obama to set aside 500,000 acres in NM
Excerpt: Local officials in New Mexico warn a move by the Obama administration to designate nearly a half-million acres as a national monument could open up a crime corridor making it easier for illegal immigrants to cross the border and for drug cartels to operate undetected. President Obama plans to make the announcement Wednesday afternoon, setting aside 498,815 acres of land as the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.

College Students Know Terrifyingly Little of Benghazi
Excerpt: Last week we gave you reason to fear for our future with a terrifying video of college students professing their undying affection to Hillary Clinton. Then, when asked about her accomplishments, those same love-struck students could not name a single one… other than something called “Benghazi.” Yep. Clinton’s one accomplishment to them… was Benghazi.

Excerpt: The economic case against the minimum wage exists, and has been made by me and others often enough. But there’s another, even stronger case against the rule. That is the humanitarian case. And until that case, too, receives consideration, the debate will always be a lopsided one. (Shlaes is the author of the wonderful biography Coolidge. ~Bob)

Like! Clinton In-Law Loses Pennsylvania Comeback Bid
Excerpt: State Rep. Brendan Boyle won the Democratic nomination to succeed Rep. Allyson Schwartz in Pennsylvania's 13th Congressional District Tuesday and is overwhelmingly favored to take over the Democratic-leaning district, after besting Clinton in-law and former Rep. Marjorie Margolies in the primary. Boyle had 58 percent of the vote when the Associated Press called the race around 9:30 Eastern time, beating Margolies's 22 percent. 

Eight Things No Commencement Speaker Will Say to the Class of 2014 (but someone should!)
Too funny, but too true also. ~Bob

‘Over My Dead Body’: Spies Fight Obama Push to Downsize Terror War
Excerpt: Since that internal clash—and since Obama said in his 2012 State of the Union that “al Qaeda operatives who remain are scrambling, knowing that they can’t escape the reach of the United States of America”—the terror group has thrived throughout the Islamic world. In the last year alone, al Qaeda has established safe havens in LibyaSyria and Iraq.

Obama Ready to Openly Work with Hamas Terror Group
http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/05/obama-openly-ready-work-hamas-terror-group/
Excerpt: Nail meet coffin. Where to begin? More like a helluva place to end. Because this is an ending — an ending of the United States as a force for good. An ending of the United States as a moral government. It's the end of the United States as we have known it. (Need to verify. The extreme language makes me wonder, and is counter productive. ~Bob)

Never Again, Again. By Daniel Greenfield
http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2014/05/never-again-again.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FromNyToIsraelSultanRevealsTheStoriesBehindTheNews+%28from+NY+to+Israel+Sultan+Reveals+The+Stories+Behind+the+News%29
Excerpt: If we are to survive, then we must think generationally. If we are to survive, we must live as part of history. And if we are to have hope, it cannot be in the humanitarian Tikkun Olam redemption of the moment, of some secular singularity of hope and change that will transform the world. That hope is for those struggling against the inevitability of their mortality and clinging to the moment. Our hope is not in mortality. It is in immortality. We are not the end of history. We are part of a living thing that stretches through history. Jewish history is not a subject of study. It is either life or it is death. Either Jews will inhabit their history or they will perish outside it.

Excerpt: Pretend the ample successes of white-male civilization had nothing to do with possible genetic privileges that were actually earned through evolutionary struggles under harsh circumstances. Pretend that all the rage directed at white males is strictly spurred by a thirst for justice rather than a deep-rooted shame that it seemed so easy for white males to subjugate other cultures in the first place. Pretend that the underprivileged are motivated by compassion rather than envy. Pretend black people don’t have it far better here than they do in sub-Saharan Africa. (I don't think the success of Europeans had to do with genetics. I think it was two things. One was culture, developed in struggle amid small competing states. the second was geography. Europe had good ports, rivers that could be navigated and raw materials that were accessible. Gave them a huge head start over Africans in developing technology. And technology conquered the world. ~Bob)

Jay Carney lies about the Veterans Affairs scandal
Excerpt: Jay Carney’s smarmy mendacity is wearing on the White House press corps to the degree that one or two of them are threatening to commit journalism instead of staying in the stenographer’s pool.

Worth Reading: President Obama's ethical vacuum. By Victor Davis Hanson
Excerpt: Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki cannot get a handle on the recent scandalous treatment of veterans in VA hospitals, where more than 40 sick men were allowed to die without proper follow-up treatment. A cover-up allegedly followed. When the Walter Reed Army Medical Center scandal broke under the George W. Bush administration, heads rolled. So far, Shinseki seems immune from similar accountability. Almost nothing that former Secretary of Health and Human ServicesKathleen Sebelius promised before, during or after the implementation of the ill-starred Affordable Care Act came true. She was also cited by theU.S. Office of Special Counsel for violating the Hatch Act, as she improperly campaigned for Obama's re-election while serving as a Cabinet secretary.

White People Be Playing the Race Card. By Larry Elder (Black Writer)
Excerpt: I'm old enough to remember when only black people called black people "Uncle Tom." Democrats, however, long expanded the category of who can play the race card and on whom. Call them equal opportunity race-card players. As with black race-card hustlers — say the Revs. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton or any given host on MSNB-Hee-Haw — white race-card players label others "racist" for the crime of disagreement. As with black race-card hustlers, white race-card hustlers need not name names when accusing someone of "racism." And, as with black race-card hustlers, the mainscream media will not bother to ask the white race-card hustler to identify said racists. Some examples:

NC Restaurant With "No Weapons" Sign Robbed at Gunpoint. By Christine Rousselle
Excerpt: North Carolina restaurant The Pit was robbed at gunpoint on Sunday. Normally, local crime stories like this wouldn't merit a Townhall post, but this one is different: The Pit has a "no weapons" sign displayed prominently on its door declaring the restaurant a gun-free zone, and bans patrons from carrying concealed weapons. (Schadenfreude is sweet, but to be safe, stay out of businesses with "no guns allowed" signs. They are easy targets for armed criminals who don't care about laws or signs, so you are more likely to be robbed and/or shot there. ~Bob)

Ukraine crisis: Donetsk sees deadliest attack on troops
Excerpt: A dawn attack on a checkpoint in eastern Ukraine has left at least 14 soldiers dead, in the worst loss of life for government forces to date.

A $1.7 Billion Program That Doesn't Work
Excerpt: Less than half of students enrolled in the most expensive job training program within the Labor Department complete their training and find a job, reports the Washington Post.
Part of President Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" was the Job Corps, a job training program intended to teach trade skills to troubled youth. The program is still in place today, and students can take cooking classes, study to be a nurse or learn the plumbing trade from government instructors. But a single year of training and job placement costs taxpayers a whopping $45,000.

It Costs You a Fortune For Obama To Be Green. By Diana Furchtgott-Roth
Excerpt: Solar energy produces a small fraction of one percent of America's electricity and costs almost twice as much to produce as natural gas, according to the Energy Information Administration. If the 27 percent of U.S. electricity generated by natural gas came instead from solar power, consumer costs for monthly electric bills would increase about 25 percent.

Obamacare News

It Won't Always Be 'ObamaCare.' From The Patriot Post
During another fundraiser appearance, Barack Obama repeated his claim that, because ObamaCare's so great, Republicans will eventually ditch the term. "First of all, in five years it will no longer be called ObamaCare," he asserted, "because when something is working, they're definitely not going to -- there will be a whole renaming process." So how well is ObamaCare working? Nevada became the latest state this week to dump its exchange -- another $75 million down the drain. Nevada instead is partnering with the other bug-ridden exchange, Healthcare.gov. Reason's Peter Suderman notes that, "As of the middle of this month, the state's exchange had only signed up about 30 percent of its target of 118,000 people for insurance coverage." But hey, this thing isworking! Meanwhile, the feds have ramped up the investigation into Cover Oregon and Oregon Health Authority, issuing subpoenas to the two departments responsible for wasting hundreds of millions of dollars on that state's failed exchange.

The Insiders: More Obamacare enrollees doesn’t mean more success for the Democrats. By Ed Rogers
Excerpt: But the political infection that is Obamacare is thriving in the body politic. A new Politico poll shows that 48 percent of Americans support a full repeal of the law, 35 percent want to at least modify the law – and only 16 percent think it should be left as it is.

3 Things Obamacare Is Doing to Workplace Health Coverage. By Alyene Senger
Excerpt: The vast majority of Americans have health coverage through their employers. Thus, during the health reform debate and after Obamacare’s passage, President Obama repeatedly asserted that those with employer coverage wouldn’t be affected at all. Indeed, he said:
[F]or the 85 and 90 percent of Americans who already have health insurance, this thing’s already happened. And their only impact is that their insurance is stronger, better and more secure than it was before. Full stop. That’s it. They don’t have to worry about anything else. But much like the president’s other promises, this one is badly broken

Yes, Some People Will Have to Pay Back Their Obamacare Subsidies. By Amy Payne
Excerpt: Obamacare offers subsidies to help pay for health insurance – if you are buying insurance through the federal exchange and your income qualifies. But now the word is out that at least 1 million people are probably getting the wrong subsidy amounts. (Oh, goody. Listening to the screams will be better than watching two Jihadists fighting over the affections of a goat. ~Bob)

It's just another Obamacare lie

Waste of Taxpayer Dollars in Exchanges
Excerpt: There was massive mismanagement of federal dollars in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, according to Christopher Conover, adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Yevgeniy Feyman, Manhattan Institute policy analyst, and Katherine Restrepo, policy analyst at the John Locke Foundation. ... Nationally, federal taxpayers spent $4,633 per enrollee that signed up on the exchanges through April 19. That figure varies state to state, as Hawaii spent $ 24,947 in federal tax dollars per enrollee, while Tennessee spent $3,038. On average, federal taxpayers paid 94 cents in subsidies for every dollar in exchange plan premiums. This does not mean that taxpayers covered 94 percent of premium costs, because taxpayers funded not just premium subsidies, but also the administrative costs of running the exchanges. In Arizona, taxpayers paid 63 cents for every dollar of exchange premiums, while Hawaii paid $6.38 for every dollar of exchange premiums.

Religion of Peace News

80 US troops in Chad helping to locate abducted girls, Obama says
Excerpt: The United States has deployed 80 military personnel to Chad to help locate the nearly 300 girls kidnapped in Nigeria last month, President Obama said Wednesday. (Not the first time the US military has chased slavers. Chad is only 495,755 square miles, meaning each US trooper will only be responsible for search 826 square miles. ~Bob)

Pakistan Airstrikes Kill 60 Militants
Excerpt: Pakistani warplanes and helicopters pounded militant hideouts near the Afghan border on Wednesday, killing 60 fighters, while a shootout between security forces and militants left four soldiers dead, the army said. The airstrikes mainly targeted Mir Ali, a town in the lawless tribal region of North Waziristan, the army said in a statement. Hours later, "an encounter between security forces and terrorists took place" in Mir Ali, leaving 11 insurgents and four soldiers dead, the military said in a separate statement.

The Hill: Obama Looks to Outsource Counterterrorism Efforts. By John Rossomando 
Excerpt: An increase in funding for the Pentagon's "Section 1206" counterterrorism programs, aimed at training and equipping foreign militaries to fight terrorism, suggests a shift in the Obama administration's strategy, The Hill reports. This shift could mean a decreased reliance on drone strikes against al-Qaida targets and U.S. Special Forces raids like the one that killed Osama bin Laden. The drone program has garnered significant criticism from foreign governments as well as from people on the left and the right at home. (Fat, soft Republics always turn to mercenaries when their own citizens are no longer willing to bear the hardships o defending them. It is usually in the final stages of collapse. Nicolo Machiavelli, the father of modern political science, said, "Mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous; and if one holds his state based on these arms, he will stand neither firm nor safe; for they are disunited, ambitious and without discipline, unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies; they have neither the fear of God nor fidelity to men, and destruction is deferred only so long as the attack is; for in peace one is robbed by them, and in war by the enemy. The fact is, they have no other attraction or reason for keeping the field than a trifle of stipend, which is not sufficient to make them willing to die for you."

Last two Somalis get time in attack on Ashland
Excerpt: A federal prosecutor said a Somali man convicted of piracy stood ready to launch a rocket-propelled grenade at a Navy ship four years ago. The man, Mohamed Abdi Jama, was sentenced Thursday to 41-1/2 years in federal prison for his role in the April 2010 pirating attempt on the dock landing ship Ashland. Another Somali, Abdicasiis Cabaase, was sentenced to 42-1/2 years in prison for his role in the attack. (Wouldn't it be cheaper to shoot them? I'll bring my own rifle and ammo. ~Bob)

Mashudur Choudhury becomes first British person convicted for terror offences in Syria
Excerpt: Mr Williams said Choudhury held a “junior position” as a racial harassment caseworker six years ago after a criminal records check and was seconded as a part-time development worker in the Muslim community. (Isn't that like being a community organizer? ~Bob)

American man's wife is sentenced to death in Sudan: Where's the Dream Act for Meriam Ibrahim? By Mark Steyn
Excerpt: As I've discussed here and on air, Meriam Ibrahim is the wife of a US citizen, Daniel Wani. Mr Wani lives in Manchester, New Hampshire, a couple hours south of SteynOnline corporate HQ. He has lived in the Granite State for 17 years. He has been a US citizen for almost a decade. I don't think it's in the interests of Americans for thug states to learn they can execute the spouses of US citizens with impunity. That will not improve the security of Americans and westerners as they move around the world. As I said the other day, the spouse of a US citizen is entitled to US citizenship herself: It's essentially non-discretionary. So Mrs Wani is in effect an American-in-waiting.

Excerpt: Whatever else may be true about Barack Obama, one thing is certain: he always acts in ways that aid and abet the advance of Sharia and Islamic supremacism. He killed bin Laden and Awlaki, and keeps up the drone strikes, you say? Whatever involvement he may have had in those things, he has always acted in support of Islamic supremacists who wanted to impose Sharia by peaceful means. And here his administration is distancing itself from General Haftar for fighting against Islamic jihadists.

Jihad group calls for attack of Indian targets worldwide
Excerpt: A jihad group has released a 10-minute video that calls on key fundamental Islamic leaders to attacks Indian targets worldwide in retaliation for the alleged atrocities committed against Muslims in India

Foreign ISIS Fighter in Iraq: We Will Conquer Jerusalem, Rome, and Spain
Video clip with subtitles in English.

Insurgents behead 16 Afghan police in past 24 hours: officials
Excerpt: Insurgents have killed 16 policemen in Afghanistan in the space of one day and beheaded eight of them, officials said Wednesday, as security forces prepare to guard a second-round election. Villagers in the southern province of Zabul Tuesday found the decapitated bodies of eight local policemen who were seized two weeks ago, deputy provincial governor Mohammad Jan Rassoulyar told a foreign news agency.

Nigeria violence: 'Boko Haram' kill 27 in village attacks
Excerpt: The Islamist group Boko Haram has been accused of killing at least 27 people in attacks on two villages in north-east Nigeria, close to where hundreds of schoolgirls were seized.

Xinjiang jails 39 for 'inciting holy war, spreading terrorism'
Excerpt: Courts in Xinjiang have jailed dozens of people in a special operation to curb the spread of audios and videos inciting terrorism, the Xinjiang Higher People's Court said yesterday.

Terrorist attack on market in China’s restive Xinjiang region kills more than 30
Excerpt: Two cars plowed through crowds of shoppers in a busy street market in the capital of China’s restive western Xinjiang region Thursday, setting off multiple explosives, killing 31 people and wounding more than 90, the government said, in what it called a vile act of terrorism.

Child Describes How Boko Haram Murdered Her Father Who Wouldn't Deny Jesus Christ. By Greg Hengler 

Excerpt: The Scripture her father recited to Boko Haram before they murdered him comes from the mouth of Jesus Christ in Matthew 10:32-33: