Copy in picture reads" "Americans: We'll cross an icy river. In the middle of winter. In the dark. To kill you in your beds. On Christmas."
General News and Comment
"I'm Tired"
STILL going around!
Short note to thank you for a terrific (and oh so true!)
e-mail (which I have passed on) and have subscribed to your posts. Will spend
time looking at your site which looks great. Thanks for all of your work
putting it together. My prayers are with you for a recovery ... Best regards,
--E. F.
Important: Social Security Report: Massive Deficits
Increase Unfunded Obligation by $1.1 Trillion. By Romina Boccia
Excerpt: Today’s release of the 2014 Social Security
Trustees Report shows its programs’ finances are in dire need of reform if the
programs are to provide to seniors and the disabled protection from poverty and
do so in an affordable and sustainable manner. Social Security paid out nearly
$71 billion more to retirees and other beneficiaries than it collected in tax
revenue in 2013. This is the fourth straight year the retirement and disability
programs are running cash-flow deficits, as highlighted in today’s trustee report.
Entitlement Reforms. By Thomas
Sowell
Excerpt: Neither Social Security nor Medicare has ever had
enough assets to cover its liabilities. Very simply, there has never been
enough money put aside to do what the government promised to do. These systems
operate on what their advocates like to call a "pay as you go" basis.
That is, the younger generation pays in money that is used to cover the cost of
benefits for the older generation. This is the kind of financial pyramid scheme
that got Charles Ponzi put in prison in the 1920s and got Bernie Madoff put in
prison in our times. (I was looking for "Social Security Pyramid
Scheme" from Barbarians Inside the
Gates, a 2001 collection of Dr. Sowell's columns from the 1990s. I couldn't
find it on line, but found this instead. ~Bob)
Thomas Sowell - The
Future Of Social Security
Video of the brilliant Dr. Thomas Sowell, still the
brightest guy in the country though in his 80s. ~Bob
Worth Reading
Excerpt: There is no mystery about how to get better gas
millage: Build smaller and lighter cars. And there is no mystery as to what
happens when people have automobile accidents in lighter cars: They are more
likely to be killed or severely injured. Millage mania means trading blood for
oil. (From Barbarians Inside the Gates,
an excellent 2001 collection of Dr. Sowell's columns from the 1990s, all still
relevant. ~Bob)
Excerpt: The United States
and Europe put aside their differences and agreed Monday to sharply escalate
economic sanctions against Russia
amid worries that Moscow is stepping up its
intervention in Ukraine
and may be setting the stage for an outright invasion.
Excerpt: The United States has
concluded that Russia violated a landmark arms control
treaty by testing a prohibited ground-launched cruise missile, according to
senior American officials, a finding that was conveyed by President
Obama to President Vladimir
V. Putin of Russia in a letter on Monday. (remember when Obama
mocked Romney for saying that Russia
was our greatest enemy? How's that "Reset" with Russia that Barack and Hillary were
pushing working out for us? ~Bob)
Venezuelan Officers
Linked to Colombian Cocaine Traffickers
Excerpt: The head of Venezuelan military intelligence was on
the payroll of a Colombian drug lord, invested his own money in drug shipments
and personally coordinated the shipment of thousands of kilograms of cocaine,
according to prosecutors in Miami and New York . And Venezuela’s liaison with
Interpol took hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from another
trafficker, the Miami
prosecutors said. (Corrupt Marxist state--what did you expect? ~Bob)
'Yahoo Ending' will
send your last emails from beyond the grave
Excerpt: With a quarter of Japan's population already 65 and
older, a new service from Yahoo Japan called Yahoo Ending aims to
help people plan for their own afterlives, including the digital details. For
$1.80 a month, subscribers can plan their funerals, manage their posthumous
online content, and create a "memorial space" where loved ones leave
messages for the dearly departed. The subscribers can also compose their own
farewell thoughts, to be emailed to loved ones from beyond the grave. (That's
assuming there is still electricity and world order of some sort. --Barb)
Those Asians Are 'Very Tight,' And Other Memos From The
Nunn Campaign. By Matt Vespa
Excerpt: Asians are also identified as key fundraisers. The
community is described as “very tight,” one in which people work to “become
citizens quickly.” Nunn’s strategists also say there is a “huge opportunity” to
raise money from gays, bisexuals, and transgender individuals, who are
described as having “substantial resources.”
Interesting: The Michelle Nunn memos: 10 key passages
Excerpt: National Review published a trove of internal memos Monday prepared
for Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Michelle Nunn late last year. They list
her biggest weaknesses, codify a fundraising plan and outline staff
responsibilities.The 144 pages were prepared for the firsttime candidate and
her family, including former Sen. Sam Nunn, last December ahead of an all-day
strategy session. National Review said the documents were briefly posted online
later that month. (I had a campaign plan for the stat senate, but it was only
in my head--and made up as iI went along. Never leaked; but it worked five
times! ~Bob)
5 Obvious Principles of Human Nature That Baffle Liberals.
By John Hawkins
Excerpt: Liberals are forever struggling to understand the
basic tenets of human nature that most other people just take for granted.
You’d think they would have picked something up from the death throes of the
Soviet Union, Greece , or Detroit , but as Talleyrand
might say, “They have learned
nothing, and forgotten nothing.”
New Obama EPA Rules Will Devastate Seniors. By Jim
Martin
Excerpt: In January of 2008, candidate Obama told the San
Francisco Chronicle that "under my plan... electricity prices will
necessarily skyrocket." No sanguine language here about savings, just a
flat out mission to make Americans pay through the nose for energy. It's no
coincidence that under Obama gasoline prices have doubled, and have remained
above $3 per gallon throughout his two terms. Now to make good on his promise
to make electricity cost more, Obama's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
have issued brutal new rules on emissions for electricity generating power
plants, just what the doctor ordered for skyrocketing electricity prices.
It's Going To Get Worse Before It Gets Better. By Donald
Lambro
Excerpt: Barack Obama's approval polls slipped precariously
closer to the 30 percent range this week, as many more Americans expressed deep
dissatisfaction with his failed presidency. As Obama frantically runs around
the country trying to find a motivating message that resonates with the base of
his party, it's obvious that he's in over his head, without a serious,
substantive agenda, or any workable idea of how to get America moving again.
Please Stop Helping
Us. By Walter Williams
Excerpt: 
' border=0 v:shapes="_x0000_i1025">
While reading the first
chapter of Jason Riley’s new book, “Please Stop Helping Us,” I thought about
Will Rogers’ Prohibition-era observation that “Oklahomans vote dry as long as
they can stagger to the polls.” Demonstrative of similar dedication, one member
of Congress told Vanderbilt
University
' border=0 v:shapes="_x0000_i1025">
While reading the first
chapter of Jason Riley’s new book, “Please Stop Helping Us,” I thought about
Will Rogers’ Prohibition-era observation that “Oklahomans vote dry as long as
they can stagger to the polls.” Demonstrative of similar dedication, one member
of Congress told
Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It
Harder for Blacks to Succeed by Jason L. Riley
Obamacare News
Obamacare Enrollment
Numbers Reveal Decline in Employer-Based Coverage. By Margaret Bowling
Excerpt: New details about Obamacare insurance enrollment
show that employer-based coverage is eroding, offsetting gains made in
individual insurance enrollment, according to a report released
today by The Heritage Foundation. While individual coverage grew by 2.2 million
Americans during Obamacare’s first open enrollment period, employer group
coverage—health plans offered through the workplace—fell by 1.7 million, said
the report, which is based on private coverage data from Mark
Farrah Associates. (I think the plan is that when Obamacare fails, they
push for single payer--Medicare for everyone. That, too, will collapse into
insolvency in a few years. They will blame Bsh. Or Global Warming. ~Bob)
Undocumented Democrat News
Excerpt: “We shouldn’t be making it harder for the best and
the brightest to come here, create jobs here, grow our economy here,” the president
told new U.S.
citizens at a White House ceremony. “We should make it easier.”In the shadow of the illegal
immigrant crisis at America’s southern border, the Obama administration
continues to hold highly skilled and educated workers wishing to come to the
U.S. and work for American companies to the strict regulations of its H-1B visa
program, while moving toward a policy that grants work visas to the
American-born children of immigrants who come here illegally. (Not
hard to figure out. Productive people are far less likely to vote Democrat than
welfare dependent people. ~Bob)
Excerpt: Barack Obama’s disdain for the slow, grinding
mechanisms of government has become unmistakable of late. So it is little
surprise that, frustrated by congressional inaction on his proposal for “comprehensive
immigration reform,” the president last month declared that he would “fix as
much of our immigration system as I can on my own.” The result, intimated by
White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer last week, is a “very significant” executive
action to be unveiled by the end of the summer. If reports of the contents of
the order are credible, not only will the action fail to “fix” America ’s
immigration system, it will further undo the constitutionally prescribed
separation of powers that this administration has already done so much to
weaken.
Religion of Peace News
Excerpt: "Cease-fire" and "negotiations"
are magic words to "the international community." But just what do
cease-fires actually accomplish? In the short run, they save some lives. But in
the long run they cost far more lives, by lowering the cost of aggression. At
one time, launching a military attack on another nation risked not only
retaliation but annihilation. When Carthage
attacked Rome , that was the end of Carthage . (Hamas delenda est. ~Bob)
Israeli Airstrikes
Slam Gaza
Excerpt: Israel slammed Gaza with a barrage of
airstrikes overnight in what was the heaviest bombardment in the three-week
conflict. At least 60 died in the strikes in Gaza overnight. Symbols of Hamas control came
under fire, including TV headquarters, government offices and the home of a top
leader. Israel
said it targeted more than 70 sites and hit 10 “terror operatives.” (It's funny
that killing people firing rockets and building tunnels for terrorists into
your country is bad, but killing people with drones because they might threaten
your country is good. I support both, BTW. ~Bob)
Excerpt: One of the oddest tropes of the past week has been
too-clever-by-half theorizing that Israel is losing its war against Hamas
even if, from all accounts, it is winning the war against Hamas—by
knocking out Hamas’s missiles from the air, destroying its tunnels on
land, killing its terrorists, and going after its weapons depots. The only way
it can be deemed to be losing is if you think the war is primarily a
public-relations battle for the hearts and minds of people who already
have a fixed opinion of who the good guys and bad guys are in this struggle.
It’s not.
Imagining the Path of
Christian Exile: On Leaving Mosul
Excerpt: Elizabeth
Scalia puts herself in the place of an Iraqi Christian writing a letter to her
former neighbors –Ed. My Dear Friends, To be ripped from our neighborhood,
the ancient land we have shared, so companionably for so long, is a tragedy
that must transform each of us. I have been forever changed by the experience
of being marched away at gunpoint, empty-handed, my past wrested from me. They
gave me two choices, leave or die. And you, too, are changed for having to
quietly watch me go, or die yourselves. It is not how old neighbors should part. (ISIS and their
allies are clear-cutting
Christians in the Middle East. --
Jim Geraghty, Morning Jolt)
Excerpt: The French government says it is ready to offer
asylum to Iraqi Christians forced to flee by Islamist militants in the northern
Iraqi city of Mosul .
Many fled Mosul after the Islamic State (IS)
group which seized much of northern Iraq told them to convert to Islam,
pay a tax or face death. Iraq
is home to one of the world's most ancient Christian communities. (Should read,
"was home..." Notice the US didn't offer asylum--the
administration doesn't wan more Christians here. ~bob)
Obama: Muslims Built
'The Very Fabric of Our Nation.' By Robert Wilde
Excerpt: On Sunday, President Obama and First Lady Michelle
released a statement thanking Muslim Americans for their many “achievements and
contributions… to building the very fabric of our nation and strengthening the
core of our democracy.” 9So Americans who own businesses "didn't build
that," but Muslims did so much building. I suppose you can credit them
with a great urban renewal opportunity in New York . ~Bob. Read it and weep or keep
your heads in the sand. NOW you know who runs the country. --Barb)
In Fight For Independence , Iraqi Kurds Look To America
Excerpt: The Kurdish Peshmerga forces-- a
co-ed militaryconsidered the most organized military force in Iraq-- have
been largely
responsible for limiting the advance of the Islamic State in the
nation. As the Kurds seek independence from a flimsy Iraqi government, they
look toward the West, and America
especially, for support. (Good luck to them. Our record of abandoning friends
is pretty shameful. ~Bob)
Can We Reach the
Point of 'No More Hamas'? By Jim Geraghty, Morning
Jolt
The number one export of the Gaza Strip is textiles. Number
two is rockets. Number three is headaches. They have a particularly
enthusiastic immigration policy, consisting of kidnappings. The whole region's full of other people
digging for archeological relics, antiquities, minerals and oil . . . and
somehow Hamas digs massive tunnels just so they can kidnap
people. Everybody else on the Mediterranean
makes a killing on tourism; the Palestinians and their allies kill tourists. The Palestinians have Bethlehem -- the birthplace of Christ! One of
the biggest potential tourism attractions in the history of the world! -- and
beachfront property, and yet somehow they continue to have a struggling
economy. Maybe if their children's programming featured less encouragement of mass
murder and more basic economics and entrepreneurship, things would be
different. ... What if this one doesn't end after a few weeks? What
if this one goes on longer, until there's effectively no more Hamas? At least
there would be some sense of resolution to this mess, wouldn't it?
Worth Reading
Excerpt: Hamas sees the death of its civilians as an
advantage; Israel
sees the death of its civilians as a disaster. Defensive missiles explode
to save civilians in Israel ;
in Gaza ,
civilians are placed at risk of death to protect offensive missiles.
Hamas wins by losing lots of its people; Israel loses by
losing a few of its own.
UN: ISIS Orders Women
and Girls in Mosul
Excerpt: Islamic extremists who control parts of northern Iraq have ordered girls and women in and around the city of Mosul to undergo female
genital mutilation, a United Nations official said Thursday. Nearly 4 million
girls could be affected by the “fatwa” issued by the militant group that refers
to itself as the Islamic State (formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ), U.N. resident and humanitarian
coordinator in Iraq Jacqueline Badcock told reporters in Geneva
via videolink from Iraq .
(Liberals say that FMG has nothing to do with Islam. I suggest they fly to Iraq and inform
the IS Islamic fanatics of that "fact." ~Bob)
Excerpt: Over on the homepage, I
have a piece about what appears to be Michelle
Nunn’s campaign plan, which was posted online — I assume unintentionally
— several months ago. The document assesses Nunn’s vulnerabilities, among them
grants that the Points of Light Foundation, for which she has served as CEO
since 2007, has made to “terrorists.” (Nunn is the Democrat candidate for the
US Senate in Georgia .
~Bob)
Suicide Bomber Kills
Afghan President's Cousin
Excerpt: A powerful cousin of outgoing Afghan President
Hamid Karzai was assassinated by a suicide bomber hiding explosives in his cap
on Tuesday, a provincial official said. It was the latest attack targeting
Afghan power brokers and government officials as insurgents and political
factions struggle for power ahead of the withdrawal of foreign combat forces by
the end of this year.
EU urges 'war crimes'
trial of Kosovo ex-commanders
Excerpt: An EU war crimes prosecutor says that some former
leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) should face charges of crimes
against humanity. Clint Williamson has spent three years investigating
allegations of atrocities in the late 1990s, when Kosovo Albanian guerrillas
were fighting Serb forces. He said elements in the KLA murdered ethnic Serbs
and other minorities. There was also evidence of
human organ harvesting and trafficking on a very limited scale, he said. (From
Bob: Bill Clinton made the US
the KLA's Air force, though previously it had been labeled a terrorist
organization. It was also reportedly heavily involved in drug trafficking. See: Why Is The Terrorist Kosovo Liberation Army Training The
Syrian Opposition On Our Dime?--http://my.firedoglake.com/ctuttle/2012/05/04/why-is-the-terrorist-kosovo-liberation-army-training-the-syrian-opposition-on-our-dime/
Excerpt: There were numerous reports of the KLA having
contacts with Al-Qaeda, getting arms from that terrorist organization, getting
its militants trained in Al-Qaeda camps in Pakistan and even having members of
Al-Qaeda in its ranks fighting against Serbs.)
With Israel
Excerpt: Erdogan’s Hitler fetish is both revolting and
inaccurate. Hitler murdered an estimated 6 million Jews, not to mention
millions of Poles, Russians, Gypsies and, as a group, homosexuals; the Israelis
have killed in the current Gaza
operation more than 1,000 Palestinians. The difference
between murdered and killed — the former on purpose, the latter mostly what’s
called “collateral damage” — ought to be clear to anyone whose mind is not
addled by anti-Semitism. Israel
has gone out of its way to try to avoid civilian deaths.
Obama failed to stop
the Islamic State when he had the chance. By By Marc A. Thiessen
Excerpt: From Europe to the Middle East, we have seen
how disaster
follows U.S. retreat and disengagement from the world. But the one
area where President Obama seemed to be leaning forward was drone strikes. He
personally approved terrorist
“kill lists” and has taken out many hundreds of terrorists with drones
in Pakistan, Yemen and East Africa . So why, when Iraqi officials began pleading
with him one year ago to strike Islamic State terrorists with drones, did Obama
repeatedly refuse — standing by while terrorists overran the country?
Hamasbara and Media
Terrorism. By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: The media war between Israel and Hamas is a
disproportionately unequal one. It’s unequal because Israel must maintain its
credibility, while Hamas and its media allies never worry about their
credibility. In an instant messaging news cycle, Israel responds to accusations of
atrocities with an investigation while Hamas and its Hamasbara allies in the media
package together bloody photos from local stringers along with a narrative and
turn it into an instant story.
Worth Reading
Excerpt: Consider the nature of the conflict between Hamas
and Israel .
Hamas is explicit in its genocidal intent, stating in its charter and in myriad
declarations by its representatives that its goal is not only the annihilation
of Israel
but the slaughter of all Jews. It makes clear that it has zero interest in the
establishment of a Palestinian state living peacefully alongside Israel . ... Kenneth
Levin is a psychiatrist and historian and author of "The Oslo Syndrome:
Delusions of a People under Siege."
Worth Reading : Iran ’s Proxy War Against Israel
Excerpt: While the mainstream media has focused solely on
Hamas and Israel
in the current ongoing war, there has been less attention given to the major
role that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been playing in ratcheting up the
conflict with its military assistance to Hamas fighters, including
Iranian-built Fajr 5 and M-75 with ranges of approximately 75 kilometers. These
are missiles and rockets that can target cities like Tel Aviv and Jerusalem . It is worth
noting that the export of arms as well as military and weaponry assistance by
the Islamic Republic to Hamas is legally prohibited by the United Nations
Security Council, written in UN Resolution 1747. ... Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, an
Iranian-American political scientist and scholar, is president of the
International American Council and serves on the board of the Harvard
International Review at Harvard
University
Be ready for
'prolonged' Gaza
http://hosted2.ap.org/TXAMA/2e515285f07040df999bd6b670db791c/Article_2014-07-28-ML--Israel-Palestinians/id-0bec025752874257adea4ca5eb3c930b
http://hosted2.ap.org/TXAMA/2e515285f07040df999bd6b670db791c/Article_2014-07-28-ML--Israel-Palestinians/id-0bec025752874257adea4ca5eb3c930b
Excerpt: Signaling an escalation of Israel 's Gaza
operation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israelis Monday to be ready
for a "prolonged" war, and the military warned Palestinians in three
large neighborhoods to leave their homes and head immediately for Gaza City
Synagogue Vandalized
In NE Miami-Dade
Excerpt: For the second time in just a few days messages of
hate targeted members of South Florida ’s
Jewish community. Early Monday morning, spray painted swastikas and the word
“Hamas” were discovered on the pillars of the Congregation Torah Ve’emunah, at 1000 NE 175th Street ,
in northeast Miami-Dade. (Despite all the left-wing hand wringing over
"Islamphobia," hate crimes against Jews [and gays, blacks and I think
Hispanics] in America
far exceed those against Muslims. ~Bob)
Facebook says page
calling for death to Jews doesn't violate 'community standards. By Philip Klein
Put "death to Muslim" on your Facebook page and
see what happens. ~Bob
“Pelosi: Qataris Have
Told Me ‘Hamas Is a Humanitarian Organization,’” by Susan Jones
Excerpt: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says
the United States must look
to Qatar ,
an ally of the terrorist group Hamas, for advice in resolving the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict. “And we have to confer with the Qataris, who have
told me over and over again that Hamas is a humanitarian organization,” she
told CNN’s “State of the Union” with Candy Crowley.
New ISIL Mag Touts
Ethics of Execution, Targets Sen. McCain
Excerpt: The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or
ISIS) promotes the stoning of women, targets “the enemy” Sen. John McCain (R.,
Ariz.), and vows to bring its violent campaign to Israel in the latest issue of its propaganda magazine, Dabiq. ...
“Until we return to the correct state of Islamic affairs, it’s upon us all to
work together to eradicate the principle of ‘free choice’ and to not deceive
the people in an attempt to seek their pleasure, neither by calling to ‘free
choice’ directly, nor by alluding to it indirectly,” the article states.
Posts
I vote Nancy Pelosi be the next American launched into space (one way). Her physical being may as well marry up with her mental state, as soon as possible.
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