I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree (or disagree) with every—or any—opinion in the posted article. Help your friends and relatives stay informed by passing the digest on.
Resources
For those who want further information about the topics covered in this blog, I recommend the following sites. I will add to this as I find additional good sources.
Thanks
I don’t say it often enough, but thanks as always to the many people who feed this blog, taking the time to find new and current articles of interest (not just forwarding old glurge that been going around the net for weeks, months or years) and sending them to me. Often already formatted in the blog’s style, which improves the chances of my using them, time being very unforgiving. I could not put “our blog” together without you—the hours are not there.
Book Recommendation: Iran
Blog readers may recognize Chet Nagle’s name, as I often link to his essays, ever since a fellow Marine linked me to him. When I discovered he had a novel out, it went on my Christmas list. I took it on a business trip last week, a mistake, as I got far less sleep than needed on a couple of nights. Nagle is a former Navel aviator and intelligence agent in the Middle East and it shows in the details and his knowledge of the subject. Plus he can grab you with his writing. This thriller is a great, but scary read, as we will likely be facing some version of this plot in the next decade. I recommend it. It would make a great birthday gift for your Congress Critter. It’s also available as an e-book here: http://www.smashwords.com/b/38379
Red Alert: Saudi Police Fire On Protesters In Oil Hub
Excerpt: Saudi police have reportedly opened gunfire on and launched stun grenades at several hundred protesters March 10 rallying in the heavily Shiite-populated city of Qatif in Saudi Arabia ’s oil-rich Eastern Province Saudi Arabia , however, is Shiite-driven unrest in the country’s Eastern Province
Excerpt: The Wisconsin Senate succeeded in voting Wednesday to strip nearly all collective bargaining rights from public workers, after Republicans discovered a way to bypass the chamber' s missing Democrats and approve an explosive proposal that has rocked the state and unions nationwide. (…) The Senate requires a quorum to take up any measures that spend money. But Republicans on Wednesday took all the spending measures out of the legislation and a special committee of lawmakers from both the Senate and Assembly approved the revised bill a short time later. The unexpected yet surprisingly simple procedural move ended a stalemate that had threatened to drag on indefinitely. Until Wednesday' s stunning vote, it appeared the standoff would persist until Democrats returned to Madison Illinois , Land of Fugitive Democrats
The political dangers of what happened in Wisconsin
Excerpt: After a lengthy political standoff, Wisconsin state Senate Republicans used a bit of legislative fancywork to pass a bill this evening that effectively strips public-sector unions of the right to collectively bargain. In essence, the Senate Republicans pared down Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker' s controversial budget bill to include only measures -- including the collective bargaining provision -- that spend no money. Those provisions are able to be passed without a quorum of legislators present. That' s exactly what the Senate Republicans did. While the next few days will be telling in terms of where the story goes, there is, traditionally, real political danger in using legislative maneuvering to pass controversial bills. (I think there was a quorum, 50% plus one, needed to pass regular legislation. just not the super quorum needed to pass a budget. So they separated the two. Nothing fancy, standard legislative procedure, except that 14 senators were shirking their sworn duty. As someone once said, "Elections have Consequences." ~Bob.)
Death Threats
I blame Sarah Palin for this death threat sent to the GOP Senators in Wisconsin ' ve had enough. We feel that you and the people that support the dictator have to die.
Bravery and Common Sense Prevail in Wisconsin
Excerpt: In what Reuters is calling “a confrontation with unions that could be the biggest since then President Ronald Reagan fired striking air traffic controllers nearly 30 years ago,” the Wisconsin Senate approved a scaled-down version of Governor Scott Walker’s (R) budget-repair bill last night that would rein in government union collective bargaining powers. After securing approval from three widely respected nonpartisan agencies—the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the Legislative Council, and the Legislative Reference Bureau—Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald removed the appropriations measures from Walker’s budget, thus eliminating the need for any of the 14 truant Democratic Senators to be present for the vote. The State Assembly will take up the new version of the bill at 11 a.m. today, and if it passes, Walker
Wisconsin Union Wisconsin Republican senators leave through secret tunnel after march 9th vote
The “New Civility” of the left—when they don’t get their way. ~Bob.
Angry Union Protesters Are Storming WI Capitol Building
Excerpt: Barbarians at the gate—our public servants. ~Bob. Excerpt: A video from a McIver Institute reporter captures images of protesters pouring into the building after fellow demonstrators rebuffed capitol police orders to keep the building’s doors closed. At one point, police are forced to drag one protester away from the doors to get them closed:
Rep. Peter King' s Muslim hearings: A key moment in an angry conversation
Who defames Islam and Muslims? People who kill others, mostly fellow Muslims over differences in doctrine. People who riot and kill others—mostly fellow Muslims—over cartoons. Muslims who kill people for blasphemy, or apostasy or adultery because the Qur’an and Hadith told them to. People who believe murder is blessed by God/Allah, and call on him when murdering innocents. And Muslims who use the chimera of “Islamophobia” to silence any criticism of such things. ~Bob. Excerpt: It won' t be on the official agenda. It might not even be asked out loud. But it may be the most important question during a congressional hearing Thursday on homegrown Islamic terrorists. How should America
Terrorism by Muslim-Americans Down in 2010
Excerpt: A new study released today by the Triangle Center University of North Carolina Chapel Hill United States United States United States ' t say that my concern is "falling," giving the activities of overseas groups and Iran ' s drive for nuclear weapons. ~Bob.)
Islamists Dominate DOJ' s List of Terror Prosecutions
Excerpt: More than 80 percent of all convictions tied to international terrorist groups and homegrown terrorism since 9/11 involve defendants driven by a radical Islamist agenda, a review of shows. Though Muslims represent about 1 percent of the American population, they constitute defendants in 186 of the 228 cases DOJ lists. On Thursday, the House Homeland Security Committee holds its first hearing into radicalization among Muslim Americans. Critics have taken issue with the focus on one religious minority, but the DOJ list shows that radical Islamists are disproportionately involved in terror-related crimes. Al-Qaida is involved in the largest number of prosecutions, representing 30 percent of the 228 terror cases involving an identified group. Hizballah-affiliated defendants are involved in 10.5 percent of the cases and Hamas is part of 9 percent. Pakistani-based was involved in 6.5 percent of the cases. The in Sri Lanka ' t political or religiously motivated to water down the concerns. If that downs work, they try to silence you by calling you racist or Islamophobic. ~Bob.)
Police in Los Angeles
Excerpt: Sgt. Mike Abdeen, on duty in the county Sheriff Long Island , N.Y.
Muslim American groups, not Rep. Pete King, are the ones fomenting hysteria with hearings on tap
Excerpt: Never in my entire career in Washington have I encountered the hype and scare tactics of those opposing the hearings into Islamic radicalization by Rep. Pete King. A classic example was a headline on MSNBC.com: "Inquiry by congressional committee looks like inquisition to many Muslims." The line of attack is now familiar: If King (R-L.I.) were truly interested in violent extremism, his hearings would focus on a wide range of groups that wreak havoc on America, including neo-Nazis and others; by focusing solely on Muslim extremism, the argument goes, he is betraying his bias. This is utterly ridiculous. Our organization, the Investigative Project on Terrorism, recently did an analysis of all terrorism convictions based on statistics released by the Justice Department. These stats show that more than 80% of all convictions tied to international terrorist groups and homegrown terrorism since 9/11 involve defendants driven by a radical Islamist agenda. Though Muslims represent less than 1% of the American population, they constitute defendants in 186 of the 228 cases the Justice Department lists.
Tender, Loving CAIR Islamist Bigots Lose One - And They' re Outraged
Excerpt: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is furious. For the first time since the birth of Mohammed, it isn’t getting its way in Washington
Senate rejects dueling spending plans, leaves legislative stalemate
Excerpt: Senators voted largely along party lines Wednesday to reject two proposals to cut federal spending, leaving a legislative stalemate that will have to be resolved briskly to avert another potential government shutdown.
Excerpt: Marine Sgt. Jake Chadwick fought in Iraq Victoria ' s address is Sergeant
Jacob Chadwick C/O Operation Gratitude
16444 Refugio Road Encino , CA 91436
)
U.N. Body Condemns Israel’s Treatment of Palestinian Women, but Ignores Plight of Women in Iran and Libya
Excerpt: A U.N. policy-making body dedicated to “gender equality and the advancement of women” adopted a resolution accusing Israel of holding back the advancement of Palestinian women, but it took no action on the emergency in Libya or the legally enshrined discrimination faced by women in Iran New York was one condemning Israel
Arab Street
Arab Street
Preaching to the Choir
Excerpt: But it is also true that conservative sites are visited by readers of a different persuasion, some of whom are obviously trolls, members of what Robert Gibbs has called the “professional left,” whose only purpose is to subvert, insult and denounce, and many of whom, it appears, are actually on salary. There is clearly no dealing with them, no trading of ideas with such interlopers via comments and threads. The only language they have mastered is parrotese. However, there is also a species of antiphrastic readers — i.e., who have misconstrued the meaning of “liberal” — who come with the laudable intention of scanning the counter-arguments, perhaps of learning what the “other side” has to say, of entering into legitimate debate, and, optimally, of broadening their understanding of the acetylene issues of the day. Perhaps even of scrolling toward enlightenment. (…) Given this development, the posting of articles and columns elaborating a conservative point of view is not merely a function of preaching to the choir, but also of engaging the visitors from another continent of thought and belief who drop in to check out the scene, to observe the nature of the proceedings, even to appreciate the quaintness — or the drama — of the liturgy, like tourists enjoying the spectacle of the service in some ancient cathedral mentioned in a Lonely Planet guidebook. What is interesting from the standpoint of clergy and congregation, so to speak, is the occasional conversion, or at least the willingness on the part of some of these visitors to reflect on what they have experienced. (This is a very good and interesting article that hits the bull’s-eye with me. As you may know, I just had a short article published at American Thinker. The article wasn’t especially political in any partisan sense; I simply said “Do SOMETHING, damnit!” about the Middle East in 850 words. I didn’t even advocate a course of action to follow. The editor appears to have disliked my title, “The Value of Timely Decisions,” and replaced it with “While Obama Dithers…” His title is far catchier, but also far more partisan. It drew 32 comments: six were favorable, four were unfavorable, two were nit-picky, a few clearly didn’t understand what they had read, and most of the rest either had no relationship to the piece at all or were the continuation of some argument that must have originated on some other story’s thread. I’ve never asked Bob how difficult it is to moderate the comments here at TOJ, but the few I read are all polite and on-point. Perhaps we at TOJ are just nicer, more thoughtful people. More likely, the professional left just hasn’t noticed us yet. Let us treasure this time of flying under their radar. Ron P. Comments that come in with pieces are thoughtful, which is why I use a lot of them. I’ve started to think of this as “our blog,” not just mind, but my mostly unsung contributors. Posted comments can be nasty, foul-mouthed screeds—see the long list on “I’m Tired.”
I generally let them damn themselves with their own words. I do screen out span and sites selling something. I have banned a couple of lefties who tried to take over the blog by posting long screeds on almost every post. They can get their own blog—it’s free. ~Bob.)
Reid signals Dems are ready to compromise on spending cuts
And neither makes more than a tiny dent in the coming fiscal disaster. But they figure disaster later is better than Wisconsin ' s vote,” Reid said in floor comments. “We know we’ll have to make a sacrifice to reach consensus, and we are willing to do that.” The GOP measure, which would cut spending this year by $57 billion, lost by a vote of 44-56, while the Democratic bill to cut $6.5 billion was rejected, 42-58.
Seniors told to fear GOP spending cuts
Business as usual. Fire up the geezers and the money printing presses. The collapse is coming. ~Bob. Excerpt: The Obama administration escalated a fight with Republicans over spending on Wednesday, warning that millions of seniors could see their Medicare payments blocked under the House GOP plan. Seniors could also see Social Security payments delayed if the measure backed by the GOP cutting another $57 billion in spending this year is enacted, the administration said.
GOP targets salaries, ' offensive' bonuses of federal workers
When I announced I was leaving the state senate, the state GOP chair, who was close to the first Bush administration told me if I’d be the party’s sacrificial lamb for state treasurer, I could be reasonably assured of a job with the feds. I wasn’t interested in being a bureaucrat or a suicide mission, and said no. Maybe I erred? ~Bob. Cost-cutting House Republicans on Wednesday made it clear that they are eyeing the salaries of federal workers. And they don’t like what they see. During a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee hearing, panel Chairman Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) noted that “federal employees on average earned $101,628 in total compensation in 2010, nearly four times more than the average private-sector worker.”
Sectarian clashes in Egypt
9 Christians Killed, 150 Injured in Attack by 15,000 Muslims and Egyptian Army
Excerpt: The incident started when 500 Coptic demonstrators from Manshier Nasr, also known as "Garbage City," which is near the Monastery, were on their way to join the Coptic protest near the Egyptian TV Building, to show their solidarity with the Copts of the village of Soul in Atfif, who were forcibly displaced from their village and their church torched (AINA 3-5-2011). Nearly 15,000 Muslims from the nearby area of Sayeda Aisha and Mokattam, who were armed with weapons including automatic guns, confronted the Copts. (This is from the Gates of Vienna Newsfeed 9 March - they don' t claim to verify everything that gets sent to them - Kate)
Excerpt: George Bush in his 2006 State of the Union address said: “Keeping America competitive requires affordable energy. And here we have a serious problem; America
Excerpt: The response of our State Department spokesman, P.J. Crowley, to the murder of two U.S. Airmen and the wounding of two others in Germany Crowley ' t call the shooter who killed federal judge John Roll, and five other people, and who seriously wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson Germany Crowley ' t want to jump to any conclusions. This invertebrate response is of a piece with this administration' s entire worldview. Remember, last November' s Defense Department "report" on the Fort Hood Fort Hood Virginia
GOP Senators Introduce National ' Right-to-Work' Bill to Restrict Unions
Free working people from union thugs? Not on Barack Obama’s watch! ~Bob. Excerpt: A group of conservative U.S. ' s known as "right-to-work" legislation -- proposals that have met stiff resistance. Indiana Republicans recently shelved their right-to-work bill after it sparked protests at the capital and after Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. fled the state to block it, mimicking the tactic used by Wisconsin lawmakers holding up Gov. Scott Walker' s anti-union proposal.
Excerpt: The Idaho Legislature has approved a bill that would phase out tenure for new teachers and limit their collective-bargaining rights, marking a victory for lawmakers seeking union reforms in state capitals across the country. The bill went to Gov. Butch Otter' s desk after it was approved by the House on a 48-22 vote, with nine Republicans joining Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. in opposition to the GOP-backed measure after hours of debate. The measure is part of Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna' s plan to reform the K-12 education system in Idaho
Putting Health Care on a Sustainable Path
Excerpt: National Center
Reforming Public Employee Compensation
Screw the employees—Democrats and union fat cats think they will benefit by forcing layoffs on evil Republicans, who are trying to fill budget gaps created by Democrats and union excesses. Given the economic ignorance of the public, they may be right. ~Bob. Excerpt: State and local governments all across the country are under financial strain, and lawmakers of both parties are looking to cut spending and balance budgets while maintaining vital services. To make ends meet, cuts must be made where the money is -- and since state and local governments spend nearly half their budgets on employee salaries and benefits, public-employee compensation costs will be front and center in budget discussions all over the country, says Josh Barro, the Walter B. Wriston Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Benefits paid or owed to public-employee unions are not the sole source of fiscal trouble in the states. But employee compensation accounts for nearly half of state and local spending, making reforms to compensation a necessary part of the solution. We have seen this over the last two years, with state and local elected officials from both political parties showing a new willingness to seek cost control in employee compensation. Their hands are being forced by budget realities. Not recommended here is one strategy that has been frequently proposed in state capitols and city halls: layoffs. This is not to say that layoffs are always inappropriate; they may be the best choice for some governments, especially those with an unusually large workforce relative to population. But layoffs are usually the most disruptive way to reduce employee compensation costs, as they reduce the quality of public services and de-stimulate the economy, says Barro.
Conservatives Push Back Against ‘Infectuous’ Wisconsin Public Unions
Excerpt: There is no carnival so vulgar that it cannot be made more so by the presence of Jesse Jackson, who told ABC News that he found the spirit of the assembled protesters in Madison America ’s history but who traveled the world apologizing for it, a man who knew how to stiff America America through the wretchedness of the Bush-Cheney years was surely just as worthy of contempt as America Guantanamo Iraq (the Bad War) and Afghanistan
NATO Seizes Iranian
Arms En Route To Afghan Taliban Forces
Arms En Route To Afghan Taliban Forces
Excerpt: In new proof the Iranian regime is arming Taliban fighters, NATO forces in Afghanistan Iran Iran is waging against U.S. and other Western forces in Afghanistan , as Washington continues to lobby for tougher international sanctions against Tehran ' t we closed the Iranian border? –DH)
Stats don' t reveal true border crisis
Excerpt: For the past several weeks, all eyes have focused on the turmoil in the Middle East and the daily atrocities being committed by Moammar Gadhafi in Libya ' s close attention, there' s another crisis that' s flying below the radar: the influx of cartel-related activity and violence along the U.S. United States
Excerpt: To survive as an independent nation, America America America America America America America and to denounce every principle upon which the government of America
Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff: The Stakelbeck Report
Excerpt: Below is Erick Stakelbeck’s excellent summation of the “hate speech” case against Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff. His report for CBN News is a covers last month’s conviction of Elisabeth. (Eliminating free speech in Europe . ~Bob.)
Slavery in Sudan
Excerpt: Below is a news report — from CNN, of all places — about the enslavement of black Christians from southern Sudan Sudan
NATO troops kill Karzai' s cousin in botched raid, Afghans say
Excerpt: A NATO special operations team mistakenly killed a relative of President Hamid Karzai during a raid late Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, Afghan officials said Thursday, the latest incident in recent days to trigger an angry reaction from the president. Yaar Mohammad Khan, 65, was fatally shot when he exited his home in the Dand district of Kandahar province as soldiers approached, the president' s half brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, and other local leaders said.
Will Libya
Excerpt: During the 1970s and 1980s, Libya Libya Libya Libya could provide jihadists in Libya Libya Libya is reminiscent of the looting in Iraq following the U.S. Afghanistan and Central America .
Rauf explains how "radicalization" happens, insulting Muslims in the process by implying they have no self control
Excerpt: This television appearance (thanks to Awake) is not the first time Rauf has turned the prospect of Muslim rage into a veiled threat against those who speak critically of Islam or behavior by Muslims, and implied that Muslims cannot control themselves in response. Note how, in his remarks below, "radicalized" Muslims are only reactors to provocations. It is automatic, and it is always the West' s fault. Essentially, his argument depends on the idea of a one-way, almost gravitational pull by which all supposed "extremism" swirls -- "spirals," he says -- into what he ultimately portrays as an insensible hive of easily enraged drones who have no free will, and no self-restraint to keep from escalating the situation from words to physical violence. It' s not Islam... it' s The Spiral.
Forced marriages ' at record high' - South Wales Police
Notice the BBC is too intimidated to name individuals, or what group might be involved in “forced marriages” and “honour killings.” Probably Methodists stirred up by Sarah Palin. ~Bob. Excerpt: South Wales Police say they are dealing with the largest number of cases of forced marriage and honour based-violence they have ever seen. In the past 12 months, the force has dealt with 49 cases of forced marriage, up from a typical 30-35, with new cases almost every week. The four Welsh forces have been involved in about 60 cases, with four in north Wales
Egyptian protestor at women' s rally: "We rule by the Qur' an and the Qur' an does not allow a woman to rule men”
Excerpt: Qur' an 4:34 attaches a woman' s value to obedience ("good women are obedient"), and gives men the right -- from Allah' s own command -- to beat (yes, beat) women from whom they "fear disobedience." The spirit of that verse is alive and well in those who turned out to grope, shove, belittle, and shout at the relatively few women who dared participate in the "Million Woman March" in Cairo ' an also sets a woman' s testimony as worth half that of a man (2:282), another clear impediment to assuming a position of authority. And Muhammad himself pronounced that women are "deficient in religion and intellect," and comprise the majority of those spending eternity in hellfire (Sahih Bukhari 1.6.301, 4.54.464). In other words, the thugs in
Tahrir Square' t making this stuff up, underscoring the true challenge for meaningful reforms of women' s rights in Egypt
Tahrir Square
Six-Figure Bus Drivers and Other Working-Class Heroes
Excerpt: Can we stop acting as if people who work for the government are the heroes of working people? Fine, we understand that Wisconsin public sector employees like the system that pays them an average of $76,500 per year, with splendiferous benefits, and are fighting like wildcats against any proposed reforms to that system. But it' s madness to keep treating people who are promoting their own self-interest as if they are James Meredith walking into the University of Mississippi ' t how we usually view people fighting for their own economic interests. When Wall Street opposes financial reforms or a tobacco company opposes new cigarette taxes, no one hails them as "working men and women" who "deserve a decent pay and decent retirement." We' re not told Wall Street has a "fundamental right" not to be regulated, or tobacco companies promoting their own interests are just trying to "help working people and middle-class people retain a good job in America ' t said to be "just trying to kick the other guy in the shin and exterminate him." And yet all that was said by the Democratic governor of Illinois ' s "Hardball" last week, about government workers fighting to preserve their own Alex Rodriguez-like employment contracts.
A no-fly zone in Libya would mean war in Libya
Saddam killed ten times, maybe a 100 times as many of his people, including using poison gas, invaded a peaceful neighbor, started a war with Iran that left millions dead, fed his enemies feet first into wood chippers, allowed his son to order up school girls to be raped, allowed the torture of losing athletes, and on it went. And the left acts like removing him was a moral disaster—but we better go after Gadhafi right now, trading blood for oil, in their timeless phrase. ~Bob. Excerpt: President Obama can choose war with Moammar Gadhafi, or he can choose to keep the U.S. military out of Libya Libya ' s air attacks on protesters and rebels, point to the decade-long no-fly rules the United States enforced in Iraq Iraq ' s Military and Security Studies Program, wrote his doctoral dissertation on no-fly zones. He says enforcing a no-fly zone "is basically an act of war." Secretary of Defense Robert Gates seems to agree. "A no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya Libya
Posts
Bob,
ReplyDeleteNice blog. Semper fi.