Sunday, May 3, 2015

Some interesting political news and opinion today

Update


Quote
Aggressive fighting for the right is the noblest sport the world affords--Theodore Roosevelt

General News and Comment

Community Investment? Oh, Please. By Richard F. Miniter
Excerpt: These communities are not an “investment”; they’re an expense! The biggest money hole in the history of the human race. Since Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty program was enacted, we have spent over fifteen trillion – with a t – on welfare (AFDC and other programs), Food Stamps, WIC stamps, free pre-school, free primary and secondary education, free medical care, free cell phones, Section 8 housing assistance, food pantries, free transportation to the Social Services Office and your medical appointments, free legal services, and I don’t know what else because I haven’t the stomach to look any further.

Excerpt: The Clintons have been playing the political press for idiots. Revealing what they’ve been up to took a little bit of work. It wasn’t obvious. While Bill Clinton was giving a speech about fighting AIDS in Africa, or about educating girls in Asia, reporters simply regurgitated the press release. They didn’t ask: Who’s that shady guy standing next to Bill? What are his interests? How much money has he given to, or raised for, Bill, Hillary and their foundation? And what favorable treatment did the shady guy subsequently receive from Hillary? When you’re a political reporter, complexity is boring. Curiosity takes work. Asking questions and looking up information can lead to dead ends. (Willing idiots. ~Bob)

Sanders draws warm welcome in New Hampshire. By Aaron C. Davis
Excerpt: Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday gave a version of the same speech about the nation’s struggling middle class and greedy billionaires that he has delivered for the past 30 years. But two days into his long-shot bid for the presidency, the oft-repeated words amounted to something new: a barometer of frustration on the liberal left that could begin to reshape the Democratic primary.

Worth Reading: Her Majesty Hillary’s Speech Police. By Paul Jacob 
Excerpt: Weird, too, to completely ignore that Koch causes are often more libertarian than conservative, including support for gay marriage and opposition to war in the mid-East. And yet it’s the Kochs who get called out by Sen. Sanders, whose presidential campaign seeks to mobilize “millions of people to say ‘enough is enough — Koch brothers and millionaires can’t have it all.’” Yet, with all his foaming about millionaires and billionaires, it is simply the political perspective from which the Kochs speak, and spend, that so unnerves the senator. He certainly doesn’t object to all super-rich donors.

NYC Police Officer Shot, in Critical Condition (UPDATE: One Suspect in Custody). By Dave Urbanski
Excerpt: A plainclothes New York City police officer riding in an unmarked car was shot and critically wounded Saturday by a man he and other officers were pursuing after suspecting him of carrying a gun, a police spokeswoman said. (Suppose we have a wave of officers in the large cities--maybe starting in Baltimore--just quitting., ~Bob)

Darwin award wannabe: Florida teen recovering after Water moccasin bite to his face
Excerpt: The bite happened last Saturday, according to investigators with Florida Fish and Wildlife, two days after Austin Hatfield, 18, captured it in his girlfriend's yard in Wimauma. One of Hatfield's friends, Jason Belcher, was there when it happened. Belcher said the snake was initially in a pillow case. "He took it out, put it on his chest and it was acting funny, and it jumped up and got him," he said. The snake lunged at Hatfield, biting him on his mouth.

George W. Bush Bikes 100K With Wounded Vets. By Cortney O'Brien 
Excerpt: Former President George W. Bush doesn’t like to complain. How can he when he’s riding through sunny trails alongside some of our nation’s heroes? Number 43 kicked off the 5th annual Warrior 100K in Crawford, Texas, a three-day bike event held to recognize wounded warriors.

NFL Quarterback Does Something AMAZING After Noticing a Soldier on His Flight
Excerpt: Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has been a class act both on and off the field, and he managed to demonstrate that on a recent flight that he was taking. Russell was flying Alaska Airlines back to Seattle when he spotted a U.S. Army serviceman, Kane Bernas, on his flight. Wilson thanked Bernas for his service to our country… and then upgraded his seat to first class.

The War Blog: On the 40th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. By Capt. Dale A. Dye, USMC (Ret.) 
Excerpt: Most of us who competed in the Greater Southeast Asia War Games during the 1960s and 70s are filling emotional sandbags and bunkering up for the flood of painful images that come roaring down on us every year at the end of April. This year will likely be a regular frog-strangler as it marks the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese Army troops on April 30, 1975. Our American media, looking as usual to fill an ever-yawning news-hole with items that trip emotional triggers, can be counted on to trot out all the lurid images from those dark days marking the end of a decade of American sacrifice in Vietnam. This year, likely in greater profusion than usual given the anniversary hook, an aging block of Vietnam veterans and a strident population of Vietnamese refugees who escaped to this country will be subjected to a day of print, TV and internet imagery without much depth or context concerning one of the most difficult and divisive conflicts in American military history. We'll see the iconic shots of the helicopters lifting U.S. officials out of Saigon, the mobs of panicky South Vietnamese weeping at the gates of the American Embassy. There will be shots of overloaded boats and helicopters trying to reach the U.S. fleet offshore as the nation we fought to stabilize and free from tyranny crumbles into a bloody shambles. (I met Dale Dye a very long time ago, at the 1stMarDiv base camp outside DaNang, and have been privileged to stay in contact with him over the years. He's done a really great job in this essay about war and vets and what it means to be a vet and not a damaged piece of goods. Hooray for him, and for all the recent generations of vets from American misadventures in other lands. --Del. A point of order Capt Dye should have clarified, combat is not the only trigger for PTSD. Any traumatic, taxing ordeal can be cause. --Andy.)

Going after the federal government’s porn problem. By M. D. Kittle
Excerpt: U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman on Thursday castigated the Environmental for lacking common sense and endangering the U.S. economy. Stanley Meiburg, the EPA’s acting deputy administrator, was in the hot seat for a House hearing titled, “EPA Mismanagement.” Meiburg had to answer some uncomfortable questions, like why are EPA employees getting paid to look at porn on taxpayer time?

Hispanics for School Choice is bringing its Wisconsin experience to Texas. By Paul Brennan
Excerpt: In many ways, Wisconsin and Texas are as different as a dairy cow and a longhorn steer. But not when it comes to parents seeking the best education for their children, according to Jason Crye. “The needs are the same,” Crye, executive director of Hispanics for School Choice, told Watchdog.org. Milwaukee-based HFSC has decided to open an office in Houston.

Integrity: Ivan Fernandez Anaya, Spanish Runner, Intentionally Loses Race So Opponent Can Win
Excerpt: In second place to Abel Mutai, the Kenyan athlete who won a bronze medal in the London Olympics, Anaya suddenly had a chance to surge ahead. According to El Pais, Mutai mistakenly thought the end of the race came about 10 meters sooner than it did, and stopped running. Then, he “looked back and saw the people telling him to keep going," Anaya told CNA. "But since he doesn't speak Spanish he didn't realize it." So Anaya slowed, guiding Mutai to the actual finish line.

Yeah, America, give all the roses to the "winner." But what about the self esteem of the other horses who were all trying their best?

GoFundMe Bans Cops, Fundraises for Child Molesters. By Daniel Greenfield 
Excerpt: GoFundMe has officially turned into the left-wing fundraising site. After banning Christian flower store and bakery owners protecting their civil rights from making use of it, it has also banned fundraising for the police officers being lynched by the corrupt Baltimore political establishment. In a statement, GoFundMe said the campaign violated its ban on fundraising in defense of “formal charges or claims of heinous crimes, violent, hateful, sexual or discriminatory acts.” As I pointed out last time, GoFundMe has numerous fundraisers for convicted criminals. Including those convicted of murder.

Rising Dragon News

Putin ratifies east-route gas pipeline agreement with China
Excerpt: RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin on Saturday ratified a gas supply agreement with China via the so- called Eastern route. "The agreement is aimed at strengthening the Russian-Chinese energy cooperation, and defines the main terms of the natural gas supply from Russia to China through the East-Route, including the cross-border section of the gas pipeline across the Amur River ( the Heilongjiang River in China) near Blagoveshchensk (capital of the Amur region in the Russian Far East) and China's border city of Heihe," an online official statement said.

Chinese leaders see GDP growth in Q1 satisfying expectations
Excerpt: CHINA’S top leadership yesterday stressed that economic growth in the first quarter was in line with expectations and new growth impetus had emerged despite relatively heavy downward pressure. Attention should be paid to this pressure, targeted adjustment measures should be stepped up, and timely pre-tuning and fine-tuning policies be applied to ensure growth stays within a proper range, according to a statement released after a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, chaired by General Secretary Xi Jinping of the CPC Central Committee.

China Promises $46 Billion To Pave The Way For A Brand New Silk Road
Excerpt: Now China wants to build a new network of roads, railways pipelines and shipping lanes connecting China to South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Africa and Europe. With this in mind, China's President Xi Jinping visited Pakistan last month, promising $46 billion in infrastructure investment. "It's looking for national rejuvenation," says Tom Miller, a Beijing-based analyst with the financial research firm Gavekal. He says China's plan to revive the Silk Road is meant to evoke grand images of the nation at its most powerful, prosperous and cosmopolitan.

Race Card News


Alan Dershowitz: Charges Against Baltimore Police Officers Are About ‘Crowd Control,’ Not Justice. By Dave Urbanski
Excerpt: Alan Dershowitz, a well-known criminal lawyer from New York and professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, suggested that State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby’s actions against the officers were motivated more by political expediency and short-term public safety than strong evidence. He called the charges “outrageous and irresponsible,” especially the second degree murder count filed against the van’s driver under a legal principle known as “depraved heart.” (Dershowitz is a leftie. ~Bob)

Police Union Makes Demand of Baltimore Prosecutor Playing Politics with Freddie Gray Investigation. By Katie Lapotin
Excerpt: The Fraternal Order of Police of Baltimore City is calling on State’s Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby to step aside, and appoint a special prosecutor to oversee the trial of the six police officers accused in the death of Freddie Gray. In a letter sent to the prosecutor, FOP President Gene Ryan alleges that Mosby has too many personal connections to the case, including the fact that she is married to City Councilman Nick Mosby.

The hard facts show that the murder rate was going down for decades under the old traditional practices so disdained by the liberals. -- I am successful not because I 'acted white' but because I refused to adopt black traits that are not conducive to success.

Vanderbilt Prof Blames Baltimore Riots On ‘White Privilege,’ Calls For Massive Surveillance Of White People. By Eric Owens
Excerpt: A black sociology professor at Vanderbilt University is arguing that “white privilege” is to blame for last week’s riots and looting in Baltimore, Md. The professor, Tony N. Brown, took to the op-ed pages of The Tennessean late last week to make the claim.

Religion of Peace News


Obama’s ‘Appeasement’ Approach To Foreign Policy Emboldening Iran On The High Seas. By Admiral James A. "Ace" Lyons
Excerpt: The recent January drone strike on a compound in Syria that killed an American al-Qaeda leader, Ahmed Farouq, with dual Pakistani citizenship, regrettably also killed an American aid worker, Warren Weinstein, who was being held hostage as well as an Italian aid worker, Giovanni LaPorto. The unfortunate deaths of the two aid workers has raised the question again on our Rules of Engagement (ROE’s). It has been reported that President Obama has announced more restricted ROE’s which will apply to not only drone strikes but most likely manned aircraft as well. Under these new ROE’s, no strikes will be conducted unless there is “near certainty” of no civilian casualties. In a war situation, this makes absolutely no sense. Such a near zero-tolerance policy on civilian casualties may sound very humanitarian to the faculty-lounge crowd; however, war is not a video game. It cannot be made antiseptic! (Admiral Lyons is a true gem, the kind of man that helped make this country great in the past, and who is so desperately needed today. He speaks truth to power, but with total accuracy and in terms anyone can understand. Of course, we have to pray that all his IRS records for the last ten years are absolutely perfect, since chances of some detailed audits just keep going up. --Del)

The ‘Two-State Solution’ Deception. By Sha'i ben-Tekoa
Excerpt: On April 27, the media quoted Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman — the foreign policy wizard who engineered the fiasco of the North Korean nuclear deal under Pres. Clinton and who is now working her diplomatic legerdemain on Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran — threatened Israel. She said that if Prime Minister Netanyahu’s new coalition government does not pledge allegiance to the Two-State Solution (TSS), the U.S. will “find it difficult” to back Israel in the U.N. Security Council as U.S. administrations have in the past scores of times by casting a veto. With the U.N’s roster of member-states almost one-third officially Muslim, if not for the United States the Council would long ago have crippled Israel with sanctions like those passed against Apartheid South Africa that helped bring that racist system down. In 1975, the General Assembly judged Zionism in UNGA Resolution 3379 to be “a form of racism” too. That resolution was repealed in 1991 but not the fifty-three other General Assembly resolutions passed over the years that explicitly liken Israel to Apartheid South Africa. (It would be funny if it wasn't so sick. Israel is far more open and tolerant towards women and other religions than any Muslim country. Muslims want a two-state solution: one for Fatah and one for Hamas. They will never agree to there being a Jewish state. ~Bob)

Excerpt: The leader of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), Asim Umar, has claimed responsibility for the murders of six people who were supposedly “blasphemers,” including Avijit Roy, a prominent atheist blogger. Roy, an American, was murdered in Bangladesh in February when his attackers assaulted him with machetes. Umar’s statement came in a video that was produced by al Qaeda’s propaganda arm, As Sahab. The SITE Intelligence Group first obtained the video, which was released in several languages and includes English subtitles.

Assad Not Finished Yet. By Jonathan Spyer
Excerpt: The reports cite a series of successes the Syrian rebels have achieved in recent weeks, and suggest the dictator and his allies will have difficulty reversing these setbacks. So is the game really finally up for the bloodstained regime of the Assads? A close examination of the evidence suggests that President Bashar Assad's eulogizers have once again spoken too soon.
To understand why, let's first of all look at the nature of the undoubted successes the various rebel coalitions have achieved.

SOLD OUT: Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest. By Robert Spencer, JihadWatch.org
Excerpt: AFDI and Jihad Watch are sponsoring tomorrow’s Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest in Garland, Texas to stand for the freedom of speech and free society against violent intimidation. Stand with us.

Reformist Approach to Sharia a Refreshing Break with Academic Apologists. By Andrew Harrad
Excerpt: In a refreshing departure from Sharia apologias common in Middle East studies, University of British Columbia Islamic law professor Rumee Ahmed rejected the “myth” of Sharia (Islamic law) as a “static, fixed, reified entity” on April 22 in the Georgetown University Center for Contemporary Arab Studies’ wood-paneled boardroom. Ahmed’s presentation, “Shari’a 2.0: Islamic Systematics and the Science of Islamic Legal Reform” before a student-dominated audience of about fifteen, demonstrated simultaneously Sharia’s all-too human origins as well as its embedded dangers. He described a “sharp, sharp disconnect” between contemporary and historical Islamic interpretations of Sharia. 

ISIS: Ruthless militants throw 'gay' man off building then stone him to death when he survives fall
Excerpt: This is the horrifying moment sick ISIS militants threw a 'gay' man off the roof of a building then stoned him to death as he lay badly injured on the ground. The blind-folded man was held at the top of the tall block somewhere in Iraq while his captors took pictures of his final moments on mobile phones. Below, hundreds of people gathered to watch the shocking killing. (On the plus side, the funeral can be catered with pizza from Indiana. ~Bob)

Islamic State fighters spotted near Golan Heights. By Robert Spencer, JihadWatch.org
Excerpt: The Islamic State has released a lengthy e-book, Black Flags from Palestine, detailing how it plans to conquer Israel. I discuss it at length in my forthcoming book, The Complete Infidel’s Guide to ISIS. Suffice it to say now that this Islamic State presence near the Golan Heights is a portent of a great deal more, unless the Islamic State is defeated.

Abu Alaa al-Afri said to replace al-Baghdadi as Islamic State leader. By Roi Kais
Excerpt: He was al-Baghdadi's second-in-command, and even before al-Baghdadi's reported incapacitating injury, al-Afri had a dominant role in the terror organization's leadership. But beyond that - very little is known about him. On Friday, British newspaper the Guardian reported that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi became incapacitated by a spinal injury sustained in an airstrike in March by the US-led coalition in western Iraq.

Hit List Found In Honor Killing Of Iranian Activist
Excerpt: Texas investigators have disclosed that they found a hit list in a murder case involving the honor killing of an outspoken Iranian activist in Houston. U.S. prosecutors last week charged a Jordanian immigrant and devout Muslim, Ali Awad Mahmoud Irsan, with shooting the anti-Tehran activist Gelerah Bagherzadeh out of rage that she persuaded his daughter to go ahead and marry a Texas Christian man. The Texan, Coty Beavers, was later found shot to death. Prosecutors say Irsan orchestrated both murders with assistance from his wife, son, and another daughter.

Excerpt: Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr threatened to attack US personnel inside Iraq and beyond if the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would have recognized Kurdistan and Sunnis in western Iraq as their own independent countries. Sadr, whose Iranian-backed militia battled US and Coalition troops in Baghdad and central and southern Iraq during the occupation of Iraq, released a statement on his website on April 29 calling for attacks on US interests if Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act for 2016. The statement was translated on the Facebook page ShiĘża Jihadica: Clericalism, Militias, and Messianism.

Click on image to enlarge 
*****
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://www.amazon.com/Coming-Collapse-American-Republic-prevent/dp/1461122538/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304815980&sr=1-5 For a free PDF of Collapse, e-mail him at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com. Hall’s eleven books are listed here:

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