Friday, October 31, 2014

Random Thoughts for November, 2014.

Random Thoughts for November, 2014
By Robert A. Hall

Tuesday, November 4, 2014 is election day. If you don't think that your state and our country need more debt, more taxes, bigger government, Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader blocking every House-passed bill, including the bi-partisan ones and Eric Holder on the Supreme Court, then for the sake of future generations, get out and vote. And get every sensible, conservative voter you know out as well. Especially if there is a US Senate election in your state. Do it for the children, as the liberals say.

The penalty for refusing to vote for "the lesser of two evils"(or refusing to vote at all), is to be governed by the "greater of two evils."

When you go to vote, reach for your wallet. When they hastily say, "We don't need an ID," reply, "Oh, this isn't for you--I wrote down the name I'm using today and I think I put it in my wallet."

Anyone convicted of voter fraud should not only serve time, two years mandatory as a minimum, but permanently forfeit their right to vote. Of course, you can count on liberal opposition, even though they say vote fraud is very rare, because these would be 99% Democrat voters.

Tip: Emails with the subject line, "This isn't good," always ask for money.

Here it is the end of October, and we only have our Christmas shopping a little over half done. Where does the time go? (What you just said about me was not very nice!)

If Obama says Ebola is, "The JV team of diseases," I'll get really worried.

If God said that Obama was not perfect, liberals and the media would attack the Almighty as a racist.

I'd like to see a truth in advertising law for Universities. Be refreshing to read: "Old Progressive University. Why be educated when you can be indoctrinated? Learning to think is hard, but being told what to think is easy to absorb. We can give you a comforting certainty in your political and social opinions along with your degree in Peace Studies or whatever unmarketable area you major in. Believe it or not, there are still schools that put students through the discomfort and cognitive dissonance of learning to think for themselves and use their judgment. OPU will never abuse you that way. You'll make life-long friends among OPU faculty and the other students, because they will all see the world exactly as you do. And while our tuition fees have gone up at twice the rate of inflation, you can borrow the money from the government, and be assured that a progressive administration will forgive the loan!"

OPU has a nice ring. But thanks to the Democrats, you can be indoctrinated at almost any university on OPM--Other People's Money. Especially if you belong to a target demographic for the Democrat party. It's why they can charge such high fees and reward themselves so lavishly.

They say every man has a weakness, a weakness for women, a weakness for power, a weakness for sweets, a weakness for whisky. I think Obama's weakness is for weakness.

For liberals, if you are color blind in hiring, in college admissions, in news reports or in job promotions, you are a racist.

The last truly Conservative Republican President was Calvin Coolidge. The last truly Conservative Democrat President was Grover Cleveland.

If people tell you they are going to a Hurricane Party to "ride it out," you know they are too stupid to live.

Beheadings have nothing to do with Islam we are told by our betters. Doubtless there are large numbers of Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Secular Humanists running round chopping off people's heads, just not reported by the media.

Cutting government spending is politically popular in the abstract, abhorrent in the particular. Everyone is mildly in favor of cutting spending that doesn't affect them, but vehemently opposed to cutting spending that does. Thus we stagger toward insolvency and fiscal collapse.

All those people who hate capitalism need to answer a couple of questions. 1. Name one non-capitalist country where average people live as well and as long as they do in capitalist countries. 2. If you can name one, why don't you live there?

As a Marine, I took an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States, "Against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Like most vets, I find the oath still binding. Nothing in it said, "As long as the odds are in your favor." It's binding even if the defense is hopeless. So I go on doing what I can to fulfill my oath. In the end, there is only duty.

After a certain age--different for everyone--there is no such thing as a "pain-free" day.

Imagine what the press would be demanding if it was the Romney Administration that lost IRS emails targeting liberal groups due to a serious of fortuitous crashed hard drives or wiped Blackberries, or had missing text messages at the EPA.

A couple of years ago, my granddaughter, now 14, moved to a small, rural Wisconsin town about 30 miles from Madison. She's now into country music, cowboy boots and Mossy Oak woodland camouflage. I consider this a good thing of course.

Un-Islamic? If you follow the news--or history--there is nothing more Islamic than Muslims slaughtering other Muslims, starting around AD661. Good thing, too, they'd have had time to slaughter even more of us Kuffer.

I didn't get the Nobel Peace Prize again this year. Must be my support for concealed carry and the death penalty. Couldn't be that I favor bombing ISIS more than prize winner Obama...

Things might be better...but they can always be worse.

Anyone who thinks there is little difference between cats and dogs never harnessed 8 cats to a sled and hollered, "Mush!"

Liberal logic: The military for years was kept off liberal campuses, supposedly because of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," an order they were bound to obey from President Bill Clinton...who was always welcome on campus.

If an email subject line says, "Don't Delete This," you can safely delete it unopened.

The big downside to life is that it's so damn time consuming.

Let's have someone burn a Bible, a Torah and a Qur'an on network TV. Then we'll find out which are "religions of peace."

I have voted for Democrats in the past, but now I vote straight Republican, because the Republicans are ruining the country--but at a slower rate than the Democrats.

When someone says, "As a matter of fact," half the time they give you an opinion, not fact.

If you spend all your time worrying about tomorrow, you will be miserable today. But if you don't worry about tomorrow at all, when it comes, as it will, you will be miserable in the new today.

On average, women live about seven years longer than men. If men lived longer than women, it would be a national scandal, in the papers every week, there would be expensive government programs to fix the inequality, regardless of cost or results, and liberals would blame it on the Republicans' "War on Women."

In Madison, WI, the bike is a revered object in the secular leftist pantheon of gods, so I wasn't surprised when I had to edge past a biker pedaling along while talking on his cell phone.

Here's a tip for Muslims. If you don't want your children to become "Westernized," don't live in a western country. No need to kill your kids for the family's "honor." Just move to a Muslim majority country before they are about six. There are many where some version of Shari'a Law and their views of "True Islam" are written into law--and enforced without mercy. Find one you like.

For some people, it's not a good day unless they are in a bad mood.

In my family, we have one person, who, if she's not late, you know she's not coming. I suppose every family does.

Life will send you may small enemies. Deal with them and move on. If they aren't worth killing, they aren't worth fretting about.

America with a "free market" is a great place to do business. Unless you charge more than your competitors, because people will go to them and you'll go out of business. And unless you charge the same as your competitors, in which case you risk being charged with anti-trust price fixing by the government. And heaven forbid you should charge less, as you'll be accused of trying to get an anti-competitive monopoly, as Amazon and Walmart are often attacked for, and the media will excoriate you for not charging more to give your employees higher wages and benefits. But as long as you remember not to do these three things, you'll be fine.

From my friend George: "I vote liberal because I believe mediocrity is the strongest force in the universe.  You can't really go against that now, can you?"

Some people are like computers. They're great when they work well. If you can get them to work well.

If you don't believe in miracles, look in the mirror.

I don't dress up for Halloween anymore. I'm scary enough in my natural state.

If your goal is to "get through the day," rather than enjoy the day, there is a problem in your life. I don't know what. Might be health. Might be circumstances. But it also might be attitude.

Small transgressions are crimes. Large ones are politics.

If I was going to carry a gun, I'd get one of those pink ones they make for the ladies. I figure I could shoot the bad guy three times before he stopped laughing.

Struggle like Gulliver though we might, every year we are bound tighter by the small, silken tyrannies of bureaucrats and their rules. All with the best intentions for our own good. So it will be until the collapse, followed by the rule of force. Then, maybe the survivors get to start over. Maybe not.

Wisconsin discriminates against blacks and Hispanics in issuing concealed carry gun licenses. They require a driver's license or state ID, which liberals tell us minorities are too incompetent to get.

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://tinyurl.com/n79esoh. His blog of political news and conservative comment is www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

A LOT of important political and election news today

Update

This post is long, but it has a LOT of very important political/election news and comment.

The Old Jarhead Blog is 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. 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, as in the legacy media, you must read critically and with skepticism.

Gas has dropped to $3.07 in Madison. You'd think an election was coming.

We have the granddaughter, Britnye, and 4 other 14-year-old girls coming for a sleepover on Halloween. I baked fairly-healthy oatmeal peanut butter and chocolate oatmeal cookies, using Splenda and low fat ingredients. We shall see if they like them. ~Bob

General News and Comment

Interesting: The Mary Burke firing story is worse than you think; Check out the brutal truth it proves
How many early voters might have changed their minds over this? ~Bob

WI: Mary Burke Says She Was Not Fired By Trek
Excerpt: Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke and her brother on Wednesday rejected a claim by a former top Trek executive that she was fired from her job at the family company, calling it "character assassination" just days before an election where she's running close with GOP Gov. Scott Walker.

WI: Democrats Walk Out on Another Obama Campaign Stump Speech. By Katie Pavlich
Excerpt: Last night President Obama made a rare appearance on the campaign trail to stump for Wisconsin Democrat Mary Burke, who is challenging Governor Scott Walker. During Obama's speech, in particular the moment when he encouraged people to vote and to knock on doors for Burke, people were caught on video filing out of the room. (if you like Obamacare, you'll be able to keep...hey, where you guys going? ~Bob)

WI: Poll suggests Scott Walker is poised for a big victory in Wisconsin. By T. Becket Adams
Excerpt: The Marquette poll, which was conducted from Oct. 23-26, shows that 50 percent of 1,164 likely voters plan to vote for the Republican governor, while only 43 percent in this same category plan to vote for Burke. Marquette's last poll, two weeks ago, had shown Burke and Walker tied at 47 percent with likely voters, suggesting a late trend in Walker's favor.

What happened to us? Guest Post from Del
Excerpt: It seems that we have more crazy stuff going on in this society now than I would ever have believed possible. And I meet or come into contact with people all the time who are intelligent and educated, yet are hanging on to various viewpoints with a passion that precludes any remotely rational discussion. I just ran into one a couple of days ago, a former worker for big companies whom I knew faintly decades ago, who is all the way into the "vast Right Wing conspiracy" and every political bill on Voter ID is part of it, angling to prevent millions of poor Black people and others from voting.

Interesting: Harvard Millennial Poll Spells Doom for Democrats. By Conn Carroll 
Excerpt: According to Harvard's poll of more than 2,000 18-29 year olds, 51 percent of definite millennial voters plan to pull the lever for Republicans Tuesday, compared to just 47 percent who said they were planning to vote for Democrats. That is even worse than in 2010 when 55 percent of definite millennial voters said they were voting Democrat compared to 43 percent who planned to vote Republican. (Count not boneless chicks yet in the shell. But work and vote. ~Bob)

CBS Poll: Obama Approval 39 Percent, GOP Up Big on Congressional Ballot. By Guy Benson
Excerpt: The eight-point Congressional ballot margin for Republicans is wider than CBS News' last pre-election survey in 2010, which seems newsworthy, yet CBS News doesn't seem very excited about reporting their own results. As you note this headline juxtaposition, remember that 2006 was a similar midterm environment to this year, just with the roles reversed:

Bet on a Republican Senate Majority. By Larry J. Sabato, Kyle Kondik and Geoffrey Skelley, Sabato's Crystal Ball
Excerpt: While many races remain close, it’s just getting harder and harder to envision a plausible path for the Democrats to retain control of the Senate. Ultimately, with just a few days to go before the election, the safe bet would be on Republicans eventually taking control of the upper chamber. We say eventually because there’s a decent chance we won’t know who wins the Senate on Election Night. Louisiana is guaranteed to go to a runoff, and Georgia seems likelier than not to do the same. The Georgia runoff would be Jan. 6, 2015, three days after the 114th Congress is scheduled to open. Vote-counting in some states, like Alaska, will take days, and other races are close enough to trigger a recount.

GA: Brewing in GA: Perdue Leads in Latest Polls. By Sarah Jean Seman 
Excerpt: According to a SurveyUSA poll, Perdue leads Nunn by three points. This comes as a direct reversal from last week’s results, which showed Nunn up by two.

The national environment is terrible for Democrats, say Democrats. By Chris Cillizza
Excerpt: In conversations Wednesday with more than a dozen Democratic strategists deeply involved in this campaign — a few who were willing to speak on the record, a majority who were not — there was a widespread pessimism about the party's chances Nov. 4. "Challenging," acknowledged Ali Lapp, executive director of the House Majority PAC, a super PAC spending millions on ads to promote House Democrats. "It's a very challenging environment," agreed Penny Lee, a Democratic lobbyist and longtime political aide to former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. "Unsettled," offered Democratic pollster Fred Yang. "The trends are not good," said Steve Rosenthal, the veteran Democratic and labor strategist.

AGAIN: Voting Machines Swap Votes For Republicans to Votes for Democrats. By Katie Pavlich
Excerpt: In the past week we've see votes cast on machines in Illinois' Cook County and in Maryland switch from Republican to Democrat due to "calibration errors."Watchdog.org has done phenomenal work in documenting changed votes. Now, a new report from The Weekly Standard shows that votes cast in Illinois for Republicans are being changed yet again in favor of Democrats.

Excerpt: An election integrity watchdog group is suing the state of Maryland, alleging that it has discovered massive and ongoing fraudulent voting by non-U.S. citizens in one county. But because of the way that the non-citizens are able to cast votes in elections, the fraud is likely happening in every single county and subdivision across the state. The group believes that the illegal voting has been happening for years. (Anyone convicted of voter fraud should not only serve time, two years mandatory as a minimum, but permanently forfeit their right to vote. Of course, you can count on liberal opposition, even though they say it's very rare, because these would be 99% Democrat voters. ~Bob. Article suggests easy because of Motor Voter set up; also benefits fraud. --Barb)

NC: Voter Fraud Video

Obama Jokes About Voting Only Once. From The Patriot Post
In a rare campaign rally appearance, Barack Obama exhorted attendees to get out and vote. "One week, Wisconsin. One week," he said. "One week from today you get to choose a new governor. And because early voting runs through this Friday, you don't have to wait until Election Day. You can vote all week." He then clarified, "I mean you can only vote once. This isn't Chicago now." After pausing for laughter, he added, "I'm teasing Chicago, I'm messing with you. That was a long time ago." Yeah, well, Obama joked about having the IRS audit political opponents, too, and look how that turned out. Voter fraud benefits Democrats, which is why he's laughing it up.

Houston drops controversial pastor subpoenas
Excerpt: The mayor of Houston announced Wednesday that the city will withdraw subpoenas of sermons from five pastors who publicly opposed an ordinance banning discrimination against gay and transgender residents, The Houston Chronicle reports. "I didn't do this to satisfy them," Mayor Annise Parker said in reference to critics of the subpoenas. "I did it because it was not serving Houston." (I oppose discrimination against gays. I also oppose any government attempt to chill freedom of speech or freedom of religion, as Houston tried to do. ~Bob)

Wyoming has the best tax climate. North Carolina’s is most improved.
http://on.wsj.com/1nKWzME
Excerpt: On Tuesday the Tax Foundation releases its 2015 State Business Tax Climate Index and once again Wyoming leads the nation in welcoming commerce. Last year the state’s economy recorded real GDP growth of 7.6%, according to the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis. You won’t find growth like that in New York or New Jersey, the high-tax locales that once again finished 49th and 50th among the states. New Jersey eked out real GDP growth of 1.1% last year, while New York’s economy grew an anemic 0.7%.

Democrats sprint away from Harry Reid; candidates wary of pledging support
Excerpt: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has become a major focus of the 2014 campaign, with many of his embattled fellow Democrats declining to say whether they’d back him for their party caucus leader. (I guarantee that every Democrat senator [or Democrat pretending to be an independent as in Kansas] will vote for Harry Reid to be leader. Anyone fooled by a Democrat or fake-independent candidate refusing to say so is an idiot. ~Bob)

Pressure Grows for Marines to Lower Standards for Women
Excerpt: Under the paper-thin guise of asking for fair treatment, they actually engage in special pleading. Ellen Haring is a retired Army officer who received a fair amount of attention over the summer for arguing that the CET ought to be scrapped as an entry barrier for IOC. Having made an extensive argument for lowering and changing the standards for IOC so that women can more easily pass it, she displayed a remarkable level of rhetorical shamelessness by concluding her article with, “Women Marines don’t want standards to be lowered or changed. They just want a fighting chance to become Marine infantry officers. (Just confirming what I said before...the CMC and other service chiefs are going to be forced, due to political correctness, to lower the standards. --MasterGuns. There's no pressure. This is a foregone conclusion. A done deal. In protest, men, w/ the inclination to be infantry, should quit enlisting. That will end the nonsense. In numbers there is power. --Andy.)

True, this: Humps - Truthtellers. By Andy Weddington
Excerpt: Today's comment is not complicated nor sophisticated. And it's not complicated nor sophisticated because there is nothing complicated nor sophisticated about shouldering a heavy pack and marching for miles and miles - the work requires muscle, strength, and stamina. Pain and sweat, too. (I was in 3/5 when I was a corporal and sergeant in the 50s. It seems that this administration is set on placing women in the infantry no matter what the consequences. Effectiveness be damned. Andy and every other career Marine can cite undisputed evidence that it will not work, but it makes no difference to these people. They have no experience, but they are so much smarter than we are. -- Don [A retired Col.])

Three Women Dropped From Marines' Infantry Officer Course Will Not Reattempt
Excerpt: The three officers were dropped from the course the week of Oct. 17, Krebs said, after failing to keep up on two long hikes while carrying an approach-march load of up to 120 pounds. The load represents a day’s meals, clothing, supplies and assault gear for a 20-mile march into combat. (I think it's just a matter of when, no if, the CMC and other service chiefs will be told to re-evaluate the requirements to where women can meet the standard. --MasterGuns)

Report: 'Sustained Cyberattack' Crippled White House for Two Weeks. By Wynton Hall
Excerpt: A "sustained cyberattack" has crippled the White House for at least two weeks or longer, reports the Huffington Post.

"Being told "Hey beautiful" is not offensive! Being told to vote solely based on my vagina is." - Wife.

BREAKING: DOD Orders Off-Duty Troops To Hide Their Military Identity In Public
Excerpt: Unbelievable. Our military has to hide that they’re in the military on our own soil? Isn’t that giving terrorists the upper hand? Howzabout we put these Muslim stooges in internment camps instead? Check this out… (Better would be to pass a Federal law allowing concealed carry by US troops in uniform in all states, in all locations, with a no-drinking provision, and provide those who want one with a weapon. Like that might happen. they trust illegal immigrants but not our troops. Maybe they have reason. ~Bob)

Taunton Students Suspended After Posing With Airsoft Rifles On Facebook
Excerpt: Two high school students in Taunton have been suspended after they posted a photo of themselves holding Airsoft rifles. Thousands of people have leapt to their defense online, but their school isn’t backing down. The Airsoft rifles look dangerous, but they shoot plastic pellets. Tito Velez, 15, often competes with a team as a hobby. (I'm sure they checked with Elizabeth Warren before suspending them. --Steve)

Ryan: The most experienced 2016 contender. By Jennifer Rubin 
Excerpt: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is sounding Romneyesque in his foreign policy views. In a Post interview he says: “I spend a lot of time thinking about foreign policy and reading about it. My thinking has evolved, and going through the vice presidential experience gave me a deeper appreciation for these issues. I fear that we’re losing our place in the world and it’s to the world’s detriment. I think the president’s weak foreign policy, from his vacillating positions to his defense cuts, are causing us to lose our standing and it’s created a vacuum for those who don’t share our values.” 

Our Make-It-Up World. By Victor Davis Hanson
Excerpt: Do bothersome facts matter anymore? Not really. This is an age when Americans were assured that the Affordable Care Act lowered our premiums. It cut deductibles. Obamacare allowed us to keep our doctors and health plans, and lowered the deficit. Those fantasies were both demonstrably untrue and did not matter, given the supposedly noble aims of health care reform. The Islamic State is at times dubbed jayvee, a manageable problem, and a dangerous enemy – or anything the administration wishes it to be, depending on the political climate of any given week.

Why is Hillary Clinton Not Cutting Television Ads? The prospective 2016 presidential candidate is the Democrats star attraction. So why don't they want her in their television ads?
Excerpt: Though she's traveled the country for Democrats, headlining rallies from Colorado to North Carolina, Clinton has not lent any of her star power to any televised campaign ads. It's a strange discrepancy: While Clinton is one of—if not the most—requested surrogates for Democratic congressional campaigns, many seem far less seem eager to put her in their television ads.

Worth Reading: Married, Intact Families Yield Higher Incomes
Excerpt: The drop in the marriage rate is having a significant impact on incomes. If the United States had a married parenthood rate at the same level that it had in 1980, the median income of families with children would increase by 44 percent. Since 1979, 37 percent of the decline in the male employment rate is due to the drop in the number of intact families. Children who grow up with both parents in the home tend to be higher educated and have higher incomes. Both men and women earn an income premium of $6,500 and $4,700, respectively, simply for growing up in an intact household. Married men have an income "marriage premium" of $15,900 annually, compared to their single counterparts, making family incomes higher. Married couples who themselves were raised by intact families have a family income premium of $42,000 compared to their unmarried counterparts raised in non-intact families. (As I've said before, the threat to America is not gays getting married. It is straights having kids and NOT getting married. ~Bob)

PA: Endangered Governor Takes Big Gun Action in Lead up to Election
Excerpt: A week before Pennsylvania voters render their verdict on his last four years, Republican Gov. Tom Corbett signed a pro-gun law barring local restrictions. The bill specifically would prevent local governments from passing gun laws that are more restrictive than the state gun laws and basically erases existing local gun laws.

Reinflating the housing bubble. The feds are pushing the same lax rules that triggered the crash. By Sephen Moore
Excerpt: he headline in newspapers one recent weekend read like an April Fool’s joke, but it wasn’t April 1. The Obama administration announced it wants to provide a little more juice to the now-lackluster housing market by bending the home lending rules to make it easier for banks to make loans and marginal buyers to take on a mortgage.
One of the big changes: The Federal Housing Finance Agency will lower down payment requirements from an already absurdly low 5 percent to a ridiculously low 3 percent on many loans that are eligible for federal mortgage insurance assistance. (Liberals never learn. And the poor, working class and middle class suffer for it. ~Bob)

Ebola and Enterovirus News

Jeanne Shaheen's Ebola Opportunities Team
Excerpt: In this year's midterm elections, New Hampshire's Scott Brown is taking on the slickest Democratic politician since John Edwards. 

Hagel orders 21-day quarantine for all military personnel returning from Ebola mission in West Africa
In Maine, the returning nurse who battled New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie over her mandatory quarantine is now battling her home state after returning to Maine. Maine health officials are threatening to go to court to force Kaci Hickox to comply with the state's "voluntary" 21-day quarantine period for health care workers who treated Ebola patients. Hickox, on Wednesday, told NBC's "Today" that she doesn't "plan on sticking to the guidelines" and is "appalled" by the home quarantine policies "forced" on her.

Obama's Quarantine Remarks Draw Fire From Military Spouses
Excerpt: The president went on to say, "When we have volunteers who are taking time out from their families, from their loved ones and so forth to go over there because they have very particular expertise to tackle a very difficult job — we want to make sure that when they come back that we are prudent, that we are making sure that they are not at risk themselves or at risk of spreading the disease — but we don't want to do things that aren't based on science and best practices. Because if we do, then we're just putting another barrier on somebody who's already doing really important work on our behalf. And that's not something that I think any of us should want to see happen." (So, does that mean that quarantining military members IS based on science and best practices and that they are not doing really important work on our behalf? --MasterGuns)

The city’s first Ebola patient initially lied to authorities about his travels around the city following his return from treating disease victims in Africa, law-enforcement sources said. Dr. Craig Spencer at first told officials that he isolated himself in his Harlem apartment — and didn’t admit he rode the subways, dined out and went bowling until cops looked at his MetroCard the sources said....Officials then retraced Spencer’s steps, which included dining at The Meatball Shop in Greenwich Village and bowling at The Gutter in Brooklyn.

Does White House Want An Ebola Epidemic In U.S.? Exclusive: Erik Rush looks at curious case of 'diva' nurse Kaci Hickox
I think a stretch. More likely a Democrat who feels the rules don't apply to her. ~Bob. Excerpt: One would think that Kaci Hickox, a health-care professional who had seen the devastation wrought by Ebola, and who understood the risks, would have considered it her civic duty to take one for Team America and sit out the quarantine.... Though efforts were made to scrub the evidence of Kaci Hickox’s affiliation with the CDC from online sources, enough remained to definitively determine that she was not only an employee of the CDC, but a registered Democrat and Obama supporter with a history of left-wing activism....Thus, it is no great intellectual leap in considering the timing of Hickox’s quarantine (and subsequent public meltdown), the “omission” of her ties to the CDC and her penchant for left-wing causes to arrive at the conclusion that this stunt just might have been an elaborate White House PR contrivance to foment opposition to Ebola quarantine efforts. (Black author. --Barb)

Who Relying On U.S. To Airlift Foreign Ebola Workers. Amid State Department denial they will come to America
Excerpt: While the State Department denies its medevac plan for health-care workers in Ebola-stricken West Africa would bring infected foreigners to the U.S., a World Health Organization announcement indicated the U.S. and its advanced health-care system is crucial to a program designed to attract workers from around the world by guaranteeing they would receive the best care available should they become infected. At a news conference in Geneva Tuesday, Bruce Aylward, the WHO director-general in charge of the operational response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, pointed to the website of the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, for details of the program, which includes evacuating foreign workers, without specifying where they would be taken for treatment. The WHO made clear Tuesday, however, that a major goal of medevac efforts is to make sure there is sufficient hospital capacity in the U.S., Europe and the United Kingdom to provide treatment for any infected international health-care workers in West Africa, regardless of citizenship.

Governor says negotiations with Kaci Hickox failed: Nurse defies quarantine with Thursday morning bike ride
Excerpt: "I remain really concerned by these mandatory quarantine policies for aid workers. I think we are only adding to the stigmatization that again is not based on science or evidence and if these restrictions are not removed from me from the State of Maine by tomorrow morning, Thursday morning, I will go to court to obtain my freedom," Hickox said. (Somehow, I suspect the judge will not ask her to approach the bench. -- Jim Geraghty, Morning Jolt)

Race Card News

There ARE Black conservatives!
And some of them are from right in the middle of the most famous disaster area cities run all these years by Black Democrats, and they are pointing out that this has not served the people there very well at all. I wonder if they can make a dent in the huge tendency of Blacks to vote Democrat at levels 95% or so, but maybe at some point people will figure out that all the years of supporting that Party haven't brought any of the promised benefits to them. And insanity is continuing to do the same thing that got you bad results, while still expecting to get some good results. Check the link to see how these men are taking on the situation. --Del. I follow several black conservatives on Twitter. When I have time to look at twitter. ~Bob)

What is the Nation of Islam?

Excerpt: The Nation of Islam's declared aim is the raising of the moral, social, and economic standing of non-whites. This has included the vilification of the dominant group, white Caucasians, even to the point of calling whites the personification of evil and maintaining that the white race is an aberration, the human race having originally been black.... In 1979, Louis Farrakhan broke away from the Mission, establishing the more radical Nation of Islam, which restricts membership to blacks and advocates a separate black social structure.

Second Parent: My child got Nation of Islam paper, too
Excerpt: The teacher held up each one and said, ‘These do not go home. These are just to use here,” the parent told me.... And what is not acceptable is sending out mass emails accusing the child of pilfering a “sheet” from his teacher’s work station. If I didn’t know better – I’d say that little boy is the victim of grownup bullying. (Child victims of leftist indoctrination under the guise of education. ~Bob)

Anonymous Unveils Explosive ‘Leaks’ on Michael Brown Grand Jury and Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson: Report. By Jason Howerton
Excerpt: Hacker group Anonymous is claiming that officer Darren Wilson will not be indicted by a grand jury in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, according to purported government sources.

Obamacare/Government Healthcare News

Low-info voters November Surprise! How High Will Your Health Insurance Premiums Go In 2015? By Hugh Hewitt
Excerpt: Folks trying to plan their personal fiscal '15 are at a loss. They can't do a budget because they don't know what their health insurance costs will be. Nobody knows because Team Obama has conveniently arranged for you to be kept in the dark on your health insurance costs until after everyone votes next week. Most are expecting 5 percent to 10 percent hikes, but there are rumblings of far nastier surprises.

Obamacare premiums soar as much as 78% to help cover ‘essential health benefits’: Covering pre-existing conditions and ‘essential benefits’ raising insurance plan costs
Well, duh! ~Bob

Over 214,000 Doctors Opt Out of Obamacare Exchanges. By Barbara Boland
Excerpt: Over 214,000 doctors won't participate in the new plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA,) analysis of a new survey by Medical Group Management Association shows. That number of 214,524, estimated by American Action Forum, is through May 2014, but appears to be growing due to plans that force doctors to take on burdensome costs. It's also about a quarter of the total number of 893,851 active professional physicians reported by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

How California Could Lose a Generation of Doctors. By Zachary David Skaggs
Excerpt: When California voters go to the polls on November 4, they won't just be choosing their members of Congress. They'll also be making a decision on Proposition 46, a three-part ballot measure that could have profound effects on the cost of their health care and the privacy of their medical records. ... Proposition 46 would adjust the MICRA reforms for inflation -- which after almost 40 years means more than quadrupling them. These increased costs would not be borne solely by doctors. They would be passed on both to patients and to employers who pay for health plans, including state and local governments. The California Medical Association has estimated that raising the cap to $1 million would increase health costs by $9.9 billion per year -- or more than $1,000 for a family of four.

VA is critical to medicine and vets. By Robert A. McDonald
Excerpt: During preparation for my confirmation as secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), I was repeatedly asked, "Why doesn't VA just hand out vouchers allowing veterans to get care wherever they want?" For a department recovering from serious issues involving health care access and scheduling of appointments, that was a legitimate question. After nine weeks at VA, travel to 31 VA facilities in 15 cities, discussions with hundreds of veterans and VA clinicians, meetings with 75 Members of Congress, two hearings before the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs committees and dozens of meetings with Veterans Service Organizations and other stakeholders, I can answer that question.

Obamacare an Economic Failure for the Middle Class - USA Today. By Mark Horne
Excerpt: Naturally the newspaper did not admit that they were telling us that Obamacare is an economic failure. They didn’t mention Obamacare at all. But that is what they ended up saying anyway. The (hidden) admission occurred under the depressing headline: “7 things the middle class can’t afford anymore.”

Excerpt: Nearly 39 million Medicare beneficiaries, including seniors and the disabled, have subsidized drug coverage thanks to the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003. Medicare drug plans are popular with seniors. Although subsidized by Medicare, Part D plans are offered by private insurers and compete with each other for seniors’ patronage.
When Congress passed the Medicare Part D drug program back in 2003, it inadvertently created a license to steal. Prescription drug abuse costs health plans nearly $75 billion per year — about two-thirds of it from public programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. That makes Uncle Sam the biggest illicit drug dealer in the country!

Undocumented Democrat News

The Great Progressive Hope: Illegals Could Prevent Republican Control Of Senate
Excerpt: Illegally cast votes by illegal immigrants could prevent Republicans from gaining control of the Senate in next week's election. Our porous border is transforming American politics sooner than many believed. Did illegal aliens make ObamaCare the law of the land, perhaps permanently? Did foreigners in 2008 give Barack Obama North Carolina's 15 electoral votes in a state Obama was never given much chance of winning, and where his margin of victory ended up being only about 14,000 votes, or 0.32%? Political science professors Jesse Richman and David Earnest of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., think that may be the case. (This is a timely and scary article about something that should concern everyone. Do we want to allow non-citizens to vote in elections? That thought doesn't scare Democrats because they assume, and correctly, that the great bulk of illegals will vote for them. So of course Republicans are much more concerned about this. But it shouldn't be a partisan issue for any sincere American. Allowing noncitizens to vote is unheard of everywhere, no matter what their bias might be, it is simply wrong for those not legal members of the society to take a role in how the society will be governed. And when we see elections that swing by truly tiny percentages of the total votes, when illegals make up a much larger percentage of those living in the region, it becomes understandable that they might constitute the swing vote that decides in the end who is elected. This should be a concern for everyone. --Del)

Criminal alien: Bloodthirsty MS-13 member gets 2 life sentences
Excerpt: A federal judge in Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday sentenced a member of the ultra-violent, El Salvador-based organized-crime gang MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) to two life terms in federal prison for his participation in gang violence including murder and attempted murder, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia. (I will always remember GW Bush's words spoken on national TV in his last term: They're just good people looking for a better way of life. I never trusted him -- or the GOP -- after that. --Don Hank. I would have suggested a long drop on a short rope. ~Bob)

Making crime pay: Report: Immigration activists hearing that Obama will go small on executive amnesty
Excerpt: Don’t get too excited. “Small” in this case means as many as three million illegals get legalized. Amnesty shills wanted that number to be eight million or more.

"You're Greener than Gore" News

Electricity Prices Soaring In Top Wind Power States
Excerpt: Electricity prices are soaring in states generating the most wind power, U.S. Energy Information Administration data show. Although U.S. electricity prices rose less than 3 percent from 2008-2013, the 10 states with the highest percentage of wind power generation experienced average electricity price increases of more than 20 percent. ("Under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket," Obama told the Chronicle . "Coal-powered plants, you know, natural gas, you name it, whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers." Promise kept. ~Bob)

Drainage Ditches Aren’t Navigable Waters
Excerpt: When you think of a navigable water, you think of the Mississippi or the Potomac River not a ditch or a puddle. However, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a different viewpoint and is attempting to burden major parts of our nation’s economy including our farmers, realtors, engineers, builders, manufacturers, foresters, and even golf and tourism professionals with intense regulations and stipulations. In April, the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers jointly released a proposed rule called the “Definition of Waters of the U.S.

Religion of Peace News


Why Obama Hates Netanyahu. By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: The original plan was to sideline Israel by focusing on the Muslim world. Instead of directly hammering Israel, the administration would transform the region around it. The American-Israeli relationship would implode not through conflict, but because the Muslim Brotherhood countries would take its place. That didn’t work out too well. Instead of gracefully pivoting away, Obama loudly snubbed Netanyahu. A photo of him poking his finger in Netanyahu’s chest captured the atmosphere. Netanyahu delivered a speech that Congress cheered. And Obama came to see him as a domestic political opponent. The torrent of anti-Israel leaks from the administration is a treatment usually reserved for political opponents.

Terrorists, Not U.S., Winning War on Terror
Excerpt: The number of voters who think the United States is winning the War on Terror continues to fall to new lows, and more than ever they see a terrorist attack as the biggest threat to the nation. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 25% of Likely U.S. Voters think the United States and its allies are winning the War on Terror, a new all-time low. 

Surprise: Sources: Former Guantanamo detainees suspected of joining ISIS, other groups in Syria. By Justin FishelJennifer Griffin
Excerpt: As many as 20 to 30 former Guantanamo Bay detainees -- some of whom were released within the last three years -- are suspected by intelligence and Defense officials of having joined forces with the Islamic State and other militant groups inside Syria, Fox News has learned. (Show me your shocked face. I'd release all the Gitmo inmates. from 100 feet up, 50 miles at sea. ~Bob)

Fund Headed by Kerry’s Wife Donated to Anti-Israel ‘Conflict Kitchen.’ Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism come in 57 varieties. Just ask Heinz. By Tzvi Ben-Gedalyahu
Excerpt: The Heinz Foundation, headed by the wife of Heinz heiress Mrs. John Kerry, AKA Teresa Heinz Kerry, has been caught having donated $50,000 to the “Conflict Kitchen,’ a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania soup kitchen that serves up food on a platter of anti-Zionism. The soup kitchen recently came up with the gimmick of serving “Palestinian food,” whatever that means, in leaflets with quotes that support both terrorism and the idea that Israel should not exists.

White House tries to ease flare-up over Netanyahu insults
Excerpt: “ISIS is on a rampage through the Middle East, slaughtering innocents and committing mass murder while plotting to kill more Americans,” Priebus said in a statement. “The priority of the Obama administration should be defeating our enemies; instead they are once again insulting our allies. It’s inexplicable and dangerous. (Therein lies the problem. The O Regime does not view Israel as an ally; they view Israel and the US and its citizens with contempt. They will not protect them and they disparage them. Remember that "flexibility"? Wait 6 days. --Barb)

Excerpt: Police are hunting the former head teacher of a private Islamic school accused of the sexual abuse and rape of two middle school female students. Tariq Ahmad, 35, who worked at Nur-Ul-Islam Academy, Florida, has been charged with five first degree counts after the alleged abuse which left one student needing ‘substantial surgical repair’. (Now don't go all Islamophobic. It's their culture based on Mohammad's perfect example. And as any good Progressive will assure you, all cultures are equally valid. Except, of course, rural, white, hillbilly/redneck culture. ~Bob)

Former Marine banned from daughter’s school after dispute over Islam lesson
Wood's wife, Melissa, wondered how teaching about one religion is considered a history lesson while teaching about Christianity would be viewed differently. The three-page assignment asked questions including, "How did Muslim conquerors treat those they conquered?" A homework assignment obtained by MyFoxDC.com showed the correct answer was, “With tolerance, kindness and respect." ("They have to be carefully taught." Islam seems to be in the curriculum in various states.... Where is the ACLU? --Barb. The ACLU is not interested in civil liberties for vets and conservatives. ~Bob)

Israel Reopens Contested Holy Site in Jerusalem
Excerpt: The decision to close the site, a step that a Palestinian spokesman had denounced as “a declaration of war,” came after Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man suspected of involvement in an assassination attempt on a leading agitator for more Jewish access to the site. The closing prevented Muslims from worshiping at Al Aksa mosque, one of the three holiest sites in Islam. (Like many Muslim holy sites worldwide, the Al Aksa mosque as deliberately built on the holy site of another religion, to put it down. ~Bob)

Egypt has right to build Gaza buffer zone: US
Excerpt: Egypt began demolishing houses along its border with Gaza on Wednesday to set up a buffer zone to prevent militants sneaking into the Sinai desert, and to curb arms smuggling following a wave of deadly attacks. The move, which will see about 800 homes razed, comes after a suicide bomber killed 30 soldiers on the Sinai Peninsula, which borders the Palestinian territory, last Friday. (Jews building homes on the West Bank, or destroying homes sheltering terrorists in Gaza? Outrage. Muslims destroying homes to stop Muslim terrorists? Perfectly okay. ~Bob)

Report says child sexual exploitation ‘normal in parts of Greater Manchester
Excerpt: Sexual exploitation of vulnerable children has become the social norm in some parts of Greater Manchester, fuelled by explicit music videos and quasi-pornographic selfies, an MP has warned. The systematic grooming of boys and girls remains a “real and ongoing problem”, a year after Greater Manchester police (GMP) was forced to admit it had failed abuse victims in Rochdale, said Ann Coffey, a former social worker who is now the Labour MP for Stockport. “My observations will make painful reading for those who hoped that Rochdale was an isolated case,” she writes in a significant report. (This report doesn’t mention it (which in itself is telling), but75%, and probably more (since it is so politically unacceptable to report such things), of these rape and sexual exploitation gangs are “Asian,” which is British Newspeak for “Muslim.” Despite the continuing horror of these revelations, the British continue to take this with equanimity, for to resist it would be “racist” and “Islamophobic.” --Robert Spencer, JihadWatch.Org)

N.Y., Canada attacks appear inspired by Islamic State exhortation
Excerpt: A spate of terrorist attacks in Canada and New York City last week appears to have been inspired by calls from Islamic State and other militants to launch lone-wolf attacks that could signal the rise of a kind of DIY terrorism, sowing fear on a smaller but more pervasive scale. (Reality is getting to be so unmistakable that even the mainstream media can’t ignore or gloss over it as easily as it has done in the past. And so now even mainstream outlets have to acknowledge truths that they have excoriated Jihad Watch and other counter-jihad outlets as “Islamophobic” for noting in the past. ----Robert Spencer, JihadWatch.Org)

Excerpt: Dear Sirs, while I stand before you today, the earth of the Middle East is soaked with the blood of Christians being killed daily. Do you know that at the start of the 20th century, Christians comprised 20% of the population of the Middle East? Today they comprise only 4%. Do you know that over the past years some 100,000 Christians have been killed annually? And why? Not for a crime they’ve committed, but only for believing in Christ.

Excerpt: A new report from the Swedish National Police Board shows that the number of criminal networks are increasing. And now they are no longer only in major cities, but in 55 areas spread across 22 cities. They are especially in vulnerable areas where many immigrants live. It is very bad in the southern suburbs of Stockholm, for example, Sodertalje (Muslim-dominated area), but also Northeast Gothenburg (Muslim-dominated area) is subject to this phenomenon. Common for such areas is that the criminals are trying to take control of or affect the citizens and the surrounding area.

Obama, Not Bibi, Created U.S.-Israel Crisis
Excerpt: Since Barack Obama became president, The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg has been a reliable indicator of administration opinion about foreign-policy issues. Like some other journalists who can be counted on to support the president, he has been the recipient of some juicy leaks, especially when the White House wants to trash Israel’s government. But Goldberg and his “senior administration sources” reached a new low today when piece in which those anonymous figures labeled Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu a “chickenshit” and a “coward.” The remarks are clearly not so much a warning to the Israelis to stop complaining about the U.S. push for appeasement of a nuclear Iran and the administration’s clueless approach to the conflict with the Palestinians. Rather the story is, as Goldberg rightly characterizes it, a genuine crisis in the relationship.

Ambassador: Obama admin warned about ISIS, they did nothing
Excerpt: Former US ambassador to the Iraq the latest to say Pres. Obama could have acted on the Islamic militants much earlier.

Kurdish convoy heads to Syria to take on Islamic State
Excerpt: A convoy of peshmerga fighters from northern Iraq headed across southeastern Turkey on Wednesday towards the Syrian town of Kobani to try to help fellow Kurds break an Islamic State siege which has defied U.S.-led air strikes.

Bangladesh Islamist party chief sentenced to death
Excerpt: A special tribunal sentenced the leader of Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party to death on Wednesday for atrocities and multiple killings during the nation’s independence war against Pakistan in 1971.

Worth Reading: Most Arab states share Isis’s ideology. They’re trying to have it both ways. Brian Whitaker, The guardian (Liberal UK newspaper)
Excerpt: Compulsion in religion is the ideological foundation stone of Isis and Islamist movements in general. Believing they have superior knowledge of God’s wishes for mankind, such groups feel entitled – even required – to act on his behalf and punish those who fail to comply with the divine will. In doing so, of course, they do not claim to be seeking power for themselves but merely trying to make the world more holy.
Bombing Isis and banning Islamist movements may suppress such movements for a while but it does nothing to address the ideological problem. 

Blasphemy: Mob attacks Ahmadis, kills woman, 2 girls in Pak
Excerpt: Lahore: A woman and her two minor grand- daughters were killed when an angry mob set alight several houses, shops in Pakistan's Punjab province belonging to the minority Ahmadi sect in riots that followed the alleged posting of blasphemous content on Facebook.

Interview with an Islamic State Recruiter: 'Democracy Is For Infidels.' Interview Conducted by Hasnain Kazim
Excerpt: SPIEGEL ONLINE: You are spreading fear and horror and are killing innocents, most of them Muslim. You call that successful resistance? Abu Sattar: We are following Allah's word. We believe that humanity's only duty is to honor Allah and his prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. We are implementing what is written in the Koran. If we manage to do so, then of course it will be a success.

*****

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://tinyurl.com/o4nu65u. His blog of political news and conservative comment is www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com.