Political Digest for January 28, 2012

The Old Jarhead Blog: Bringing you news and information the MSM is too busy covering American Idol, celebrity affairs and sensational missing person cases to cover. Please forward to friends who need to be informed.

I will be out of pocket Saturday on family business, so no digest on Sunday. Maybe not on Monday depending. Try to bear up.

Free PDF Copy of The Coming Collapse of the American Republic.

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2011/10/free-copy-of-coming-collapse-of.html

Pledge

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2012/01/pledge-of-allegiance.html

Great Photo. ~Bob.

Transparency Cartoon

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2012/01/transparency.html

Worth Reading: Sixteen prominent scientists publish a letter in WSJ saying there’s “No Need to Panic About Global Warming”

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/01/27/sixteen-prominent-scientists-publish-a-letter-in-wsj-saying-theres-no-need-to-panic-about-global-warming/#more-55508

Excerpt: This is not the way science is supposed to work, but we have seen it before—for example, in the frightening period when Trofim Lysenko hijacked biology in the Soviet Union. Soviet biologists who revealed that they believed in genes, which Lysenko maintained were a bourgeois fiction, were fired from their jobs. Many were sent to the gulag and some were condemned to death. (Wow. Look at the names and credits of the signatories. Ron P.)

Worth Reading: State of dysfunction: The economy and hypocrisy By Peter Morici

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-01-26/news/ct-perspec-0126-obama-20120126_1_tax-proposals-oil-companies-tax-on-investment-income

Excerpt: After three years, it's time to admit that although this president is a great orator and skilled politician, as a national leader he has failed. Obama was elected to turn the economy around but hasn't. It's time for a change. Peter Morici is a professor at the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland and former chief economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission. (Good column, but I disagree that the tax on Capital Gains is lower than other taxes. Actually, taxes on investments income is higher than on other income. It is not true that Warren Buffet and Mitt Romney are taxed at a lower rate than the rest of us. What people forget, don’t understand or deliberately ignore is that investment income is taxed twice. Investors risk losing their money by investing in companies hoping to make a profit. Without investment, the companies cannot operate or create jobs. First the companies in which the investor is a part owner (stockholder) are taxed at about the highest corporate tax rate in the world, around 35%. (Japan is higher, but is lowering its rates.) Then they distributed the profits that were left after that tax to the stockholders, who are taxed again on the same money at the 15% capital gains tax rate. These profits are the investor's reward for taking the risk to invest in job creating companies. It isn’t just Mitt Romney and Warren Buffet who pay this double tax rate. If you own stocks or mutual funds in your IRA, 401K or in a pension plan, you’re being hit twice too, reducing your retirement income. Meanwhile the President is saying you “aren’t paying your fair share,” we must raise tax rates—I suppose to discourage investment in the private sector so all jobs become government union jobs. ~Bob.)

DOJ Official Who Took the 5th Resigning – Issa Goes After Another…

http://theulstermanreport.com/2012/01/26/doj-official-who-took-the-5th-resigning-issa-goes-after-another/

Excerpt: J. Patrick Cunningham took the 5th and is now running away to the private sector. Congressman Darrell Issa is now turning his attention to Federal Prosecutor Michael Morrissey to testify just prior to Eric Holder once again coming before Congress to answer for the deadly debacle that was Fast and Furious.

Brutal: Newt SuperPAC Ad Dismantles Romneycare

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2012/01/25/brutal_newt_superpac_ad_dismantles_romneycare

Excerpt: Just as merciless as Rick Perry's previous attempt, but so much more devastating, given the timing. Get ready for six million bucks' worth of this, Floridians. Ouch: The "progressive" line and Obama's toxic blessing are simply haunting. Of course, this attack is coming from Newt Gingrich, who supported a federal healthcare mandate for decades, all the way up through 2008.

Santorum, short on cash, fights uphill battle

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/santorum-short-on-cash-fights-uphill-battle/2012/01/25/gIQAz59KTQ_story.html?wpisrc=nl_pmpolitics

 Excerpt: In his South Carolina primary night speech, after coming in a distant third, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum declared that he was one of “three winners” out of the first three GOP contests. It was a hopeful spin on a disappointing finish, and now Santorum faces a new reality here in Florida: He is short on cash, and he is the odd man out in what is shaping up to be a two-man contest. On the debate stage on Monday night in Tampa, Santorum was relegated to potted plant status, as rivals Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney focused on each other. (I wouldn’t be surprised if Santorum drops out, before or after Florida, and he could endorse Newt. ~Bob.)

68,000 gang members counted by new Gang Book

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-chicago-crime-commission-unveils-new-gang-book-20120126,0,6445988.story

Welcome to Chicago, tourist. There are 68,000 armed thugs on our streets. But if you carry a gun to protect yourself from them, we’ll put you in jail. Prey must be defenseless, you know. ~Bob. Excerpt: This trend is explored in the Chicago Crime Commission Gang Book, which also highlights profiles, colors and other identifiers of 70 of the most prominent street gangs in Chicago, a city estimated to have more than 68,000 gang members, according to a news release about the book.

Twitter Can Censor by Country—Service Is Able to Block Tweets Geographic​ally, Marking Content as Withheld

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204573704577185873204078142.html?mod=djemITP_h

Excerpt: Twitter Inc. says it can now make content selectively available to users based on geography, and plans to use that ability to enter countries with "different ideas" about freedom of expression as a human right—reflecting the difficult ethical questions facing Internet companies. (Too bad it wasn’t around in 1938—could have blocked tweets from democracies to Germany and Japan. Especially from Jews. ~Bob.)

A Slashed and Burned Military

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/01/27/morning-bell-a-slashed-and-burned-military/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell

Excerpt: The future is not bright for the U.S. military. Yesterday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta gave America a glimpse of the half-trillion dollars in defense spending cuts requested by the Obama Administration and detailed how the U.S. military's capabilities would be affected in practical terms. The result is a slashed and burned military that woefully lacks the forces it needs to meet America's security challenges on a global scale. On the ground, in the sea, and in the air, American forces will shrink drastically -- the Army will shrink by 72,000 people, the active Marine Corps will be reduced by 20,000, the Air Force will see six tactical fighter squadrons de-established while an additional training fighter squadron will be eliminated, the next-generation F-35 Join Strike Fighter procurement will be slowed, and the Navy will retire seven cruisers and two amphibious ships at an early juncture while delaying the procurements of new ships. (well, they need money to fund NPR, politically-connected companies like Solyndra, Planned Parenthood’ abortions and ACORN’s voter fraud efforts, so the troops must be fired. ~Bob.)

As Tensions Rise, Egypt Bars Exit of Six Americans

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/world/middleeast/egypt-bars-son-of-ray-lahood-from-leaving.html?_r=1&ref=world&pagewanted=all

Excerpt: Building tensions between the United States and Egypt flashed into the open Thursday when Cairo confirmed that it had barred at least a half-dozen Americans from leaving the country and the Obama administration threatened explicitly to withhold its annual aid to the Egyptian military.

North Korea Warns South but Accepts Food Aid

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/28/world/asia/north-korea-warns-south-but-accepts-food-aid.html?ref=world

Excerpt: North Korea warned on Friday that a South Korean military drill around front-line islands could lead to a “full-scale war” as South Korean trucks crossed the border carrying private food aid for North Korean children. (Money is fungible. When you give them food, that frees up funds to spend on weapons including nukes. Duh. Oh, and if socialism and central economic planning are so wonderful, Mr. President, shouldn’t North Korea be sending food to the South? ~Bob.)

Taliban willing to compromise, Afghan negotiators say

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/27/us-afghanistan-talks-idUSTRE80Q0IT20120127

Excerpt: Senior Afghan peace negotiators believe the Taliban are willing to significantly soften past hardline ideologies, with its leaders already laying the ground for possible peace talks in the Gulf state of Qatar. (Why would we think they would keep any promises made to get us out, any more than North Vietnam did? They just want a free hand to resume stoning teen rape victims and marrying nine-year-old third wives. ~Bob.)

Romney opens up nine-point lead over Gingrich in Florida poll

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/polls/206977-florida-poll-romney-pulling-away-from-gingrich

Excerpt: Mitt Romney has opened up a nine point lead over Newt Gingrich in Florida, according to a Quinnipiac University poll of likely Republican primary voters released on Friday. Romney held a slim two point margin over Gingrich in the same poll only two days ago, and on Thursday he enjoyed a strong debate performance in Jacksonville, where he put Gingrich on the defensive several times.

War of attrition brewing with Iran over Gulf oil routes

http://www.debka.com/article/21687/

Excerpt: He echoed debkafile's predictions that Iran will not shut down the Strait of Hormuz completely, but gradually cut down tanker traffic which carries 17 million barrels, or one-fifth of the world's daily consumption, through the waterway. Our Iranian sources report that the rule of thumb Tehran has devised for confront sanctions is to respond to the tightening of an oil embargo by having the Revolutionary Guards gradually narrow the tankers' shipping lanes through the strategic strait. … Saudi Arabia and Dubai are skeptical about the ability of the American navy and Gulf forces to keep the Strait of Hormuz open at all times in the face of continuous Iranian attacks. (we can keep the strait open. We destroy everything that floats or flies, then pound their nuke sites and kill everything that moves near the coat. We better do it before we gut the military, won’t be so easy after the Obama cuts. All we need is a president with the stones to act. Oh, that’s why they don’t think we can keep it open. ~Bob.)

Liberal Dems say Pentagon spending cuts should be doubled
http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/budget-approriations/207047-pentagon-cuts-arent-deep-enough-for-some-democrats

Excerpt: The White House should cut nearly twice the $487 billion it has committed to reducing the Pentagon's budget, according to Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and other liberal Democrats. The liberals say the planned cuts, announced Thursday by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, don't go nearly far enough to reduce the defense budget. (Roman politicians, desperate to fund “bread and circuses” to keep the masses content, cut back on military expenditures to do so. That worked out fine. For the barbarians. For civilization, plunged into collapse, population decline and the dark ages, not so much. ~Bob.)

Mark Levin defends Newt

http://dailycaller.com/2012/01/27/mark-levin-bucks-conservative-media-trend-comes-to-gingrichs-defense/

Obama-backed car battery company files for bankruptcy protection

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-backed-electric-car-battery-company-files-for-bankruptcy-protection/2012/01/26/gIQAA5T3TQ_story.html?wpisrc=nl_pol_full

Excerpt: Ener1, an electric car battery company that the Obama administration awarded a $118 million stimulus grant to expand its operations, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday after being unable to repay pressing debts. The news comes one year after Vice President Biden visited the company’s new battery plant in Indiana to highlight its progress with federal funds. Ener1 is the third company to seek bankruptcy protection among those the Energy Department backed as part of the president’s signature program to invest in clean energy. (I’ll ask my brother Marines to stop pissing on dead murderers if Obama will stop pissing away our tax dollars on green energy boondoggles. Deal or no deal? ~Bob.)

Worth Reading: Romney’s actions saved 14-year-old girl’s life?

http://americaneedsmitt.com/blog/2011/11/10/mit-romney-stage/

This is from a Romney site. I have not verified. Scroll down for the story. ~Bob. Excerpt: In July 1996, the 14-year-old daughter of Robert Gay, a partner at Bain Capital, had disappeared. She had attended a rave party in New York City and gotten high on ecstasy. Three days later, her distraught father had no idea where she was. Romney took immediate action. He closed down the entire firm and asked all 30 partners and employees to fly to New York to help find Gay’s daughter. Romney set up a command center at the LaGuardia Marriott and hired a private detective firm to assist with the search. He established a toll-free number for tips, coordinating the effort with the NYPD, and went through his Rolodex and called everyone Bain did business with in New York, and asked them to help find his friend’s missing daughter. Romney’s accountants at Price Waterhouse Cooper put up posters on street poles, while cashiers at a pharmacy owned by Bain put fliers in the bag of every shopper. Romney and the other Bain employees scoured every part of New York and talked with everyone they could – prostitutes, drug addicts – anyone. That day, their hunt made the evening news, which featured photos of the girl and the Bain employees searching for her. As a result, a teenage boy phoned in, asked if there was a reward, and then hung up abruptly. The NYPD traced the call to a home in New Jersey, where they found the girl in the basement, shivering and experiencing withdrawal symptoms from a massive ecstasy dose. Doctors later said the girl might not have survived another day. Romney’s former partner credits Mitt Romney with saving his daughter’s life, saying, “It was the most amazing thing, and I’ll never forget this to the day I die.”

Obama exchange with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer reveals his testy side

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-exchange-with-arizona-gov-jan-brewer-reveals-his-testy-side/2012/01/26/gIQA8mU3TQ_story.html?wpisrc=nl_pol_full

Excerpt: President Obama’s raw exchange with the governor of Arizona on an airport tarmac this week did more than overshadow his carefully stage-managed road trip to trumpet his State of the Union goals. The discussion revealed a testy side of the president’s personality that is at odds with his public image as “no-drama Obama,” reviving criticism that he is unwilling to be second-guessed — or to even entertain another point of view. (They forgot their own rule. Calling Obama “testy”—or suggesting that he is lass than perfect in every way—is racist. ~Bob.)

The Vote Pump

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u24nH03NccI&feature=youtu.be

Who Benefits from a Class Action Lawsuit – Trial Lawyers!  By Tom Scott

http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2012/01/who-benefits-from-a-class-action-lawsuit-trial-lawyers/

Excerpt: Whoever invented the class action lawsuit is probably sipping martinis on his or her 200 foot yacht. The class action gimmick seems to be the lawsuit of choice and it is earning trial lawyers a pretty penny under the guise of consumer protection.

An Open Letter to Mitt Romney by Belladonna Rogers

http://pjmedia.com/blog/an-open-letter-to-mitt-romney/

Excerpt: Dear Governor Romney: You didn’t ask for my advice, but I don’t hold that against you. Here it is, anyway:

Class Warfare Dominates Tax Debate

http://patriotpost.us/edition/2012/01/27/digest/

Excerpt: As the week wore on, we couldn't help noticing a common theme: Mitt Romney's taxes, Warren Buffett's taxes, Warren Buffett's secretary's taxes. In fact, Barack Obama built his entire State of the Union address around envy, virtually declaring it the long-lost, ultimate American value and pointing to the aforementioned supposed tax disparity as proof. The tax code is indeed a glaringly obvious problem. It pits every constituency against the rest, and Leftists are especially adept at exploiting that to wage class warfare.

Rating Housing Affordability

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=21536&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD

Excerpt: One literature review compiled 25 studies of housing prices over the course of 30 years and further supported this argument. Administrators of that study found that more restrictive regulation had been associated with up to nearly 87 percent of house price increases and a 61 percent hike in new house prices. Land use regulations drive up prices by limiting the amount of land that is zoned for residential uses. This creates an artificial scarcity that, by limiting supply, leads to the aforementioned price increases. (This supports a point that Dr. Thomas Sowell often makes. If wealthy people with large homes lobby to get, say, 20% of the city devoted to “green Spaces” they benefit two ways. They get to use the green spaces maintained at taxpayer expense, and the value of their homes, being near green spaces, goes up. Environmentalists cheer. But the working class and poor then have to pay more for housing, because land is scarcer, driving up housing prices at all levels. ~Bob.)

Some Possible Consequences of a U.S. Government Default by Jeffrey Rogers Hummel

http://econjwatch.org/articles/some-possible-consequences-of-a-us-government-default

Abstract: The U.S. government faces a looming fiscal crisis. A default on Treasury securities appears inevitable. The short-run consequences for the economy will be painful. But the long-run consequences, both economic and political, could be beneficial. The most important long-run political benefit would be the imposition of fiscal discipline. The long-run economic benefit would be the alleviation of the future tax liabilities required to service the national debt, irrespective of whether those liabilities are correctly anticipated or not. A historical examination of the state government defaults of the 1840s provides one case study where the long-run consequences were indeed salutary.

Feds: US Terrorist Took Out Murder Contract on Witnesses http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/feds-us-terrorist-murder-contract-witnesses/story?id=15441281#.TyLmjMVSTI8

Didn’t get the memo. ~Bob. Excerpt: A man already convicted of taking part in a terror plot to attack the U.S. Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia has now been accused of plotting the beheading of key witnesses against him and his co-conspirators. According to a criminal complaint unsealed this week, Hysen Sherifi tried to arrange for the witnesses to be murdered for $5,000 apiece by a hitman named "Treetop," but the go-betweens in the murder-for-hire scheme were actually federal informants.

Mitt Romney: The last of the WASPs? By Rich Lowry

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/mitt_romney_the_last_of_the_wasps_yPQWey6HLBZmaaXiJGcoPI#ixzz1kezDTgZf

excerpt: Mitt Romney summoned all the righteous indignation he could muster after a Newt Gingrich ad called him “anti-immigrant.” Romney blasted the ad shortly afterward in an interview: “It’s just inappropriate.” “Inappropriate.” For Romney, that qualifies as a stinging rebuke. He also regretted in the strongest possible terms the Gingrich ad’s “terrible terms.” The Republican campaign now pits, in Newt Gingrich, a man expert at channeling and expressing emotions, against a man, Mitt Romney, who can’t or won’t.

President commando--​-- Obama’s odd transformation By Benny Avni

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/president_commando_4G03MOPfq3qQKwcm5hGzwM#ixzz1keyikCy1

Excerpt: Wednesday’s daring rescue in Somalia, almost as President Obama was hailing the Osama bin Laden killing in his State of the Union Address, seals it: The man who once hoped for substantial “change” on the world stage is now President Commando. Yesterday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced a cut of 120,000 troops in the Army, from 570,000. The administration has abandoned the goal of being able to fight two major wars at once, a long-held cornerstone of US strategy. At the same time, the Pentagon plans to boost special operations and up its drone fleet by 30 percent. As one Defense adviser told The Wall Street Journal, “What we really want is to see the Army adopt the mentality of special forces.”

Israel to Give Obama 12 Hours Notice on Attacking Iran

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151965

Excerpt: Israeli officials told visiting USS Chief Joint of Staffs Martin Dempsey that it would give President Barack Obama no more than 12 hours notice if and when it attacks Iran, The London Times reported Sunday. (Personally, I would never tell the president squat. I figure that the president or one of his muslim-loving ilk will give Iran a heads up five minutes after they get the call from Israel. But what do I know. Semper Fi. –Micky)

Mortgage deal draws detractors from all sides

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/27/mortgage-deal-draws-detractors/#ixzz1kgYUd1HY

Excerpt: A draft settlement between states and mortgage companies that would let the nation's biggest banks pay out billions to compensate for a raft of foreclosures has public interest groups across the political spectrum hopping mad over a deal they say was forged behind closed doors and is being strong-armed by the Obama administration.

Quote

When men are not regretting that life is so short, they are doing something to kill time. --Edgar Watson Howe

Muslim who fired gun out of car while shouting "Allahu akbar" pleads guilty to targeting military sites for jihad attack; Washington Post says his motive was unclear

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/01/muslim-who-fired-gun-out-of-car-while-shouting-allah-akbar-pleads-guilty-to-targeting-military-sites.html

Excerpt: Here is a sterling example of how the mainstream media lies to the American people and misleads them about the nature and breadth of jihad activity in this country as well as elsewhere.

'Strict Muslim' raped four women at knifepoint to 'punish them for being on the streets at night'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2091669/Sunny-Islam-Strict-Muslim-raped-4-women-knifepoint-punish-them.html

Excerpt: A Muslim man who raped women to 'teach them a lesson' for being on the streets at night was jailed indefinitely today because of the danger he poses to women. Sunny Islam, 23, who comes from a strict Muslim family, dragged his terrified victims - including a 15-year-old - from the street at knifepoint, bound and assaulted them during a two-month reign of terror. Police fear that Islam may have attacked many more.

Egyptian Salafi leader misunderstands Islam, says that Egypt's Christians can be dealt with like the Jews of Medina

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/01/egyptian-salafi-leader-misunderstands-islam-says-that-egypts-christians-can-be-dealt-with-like-the-j.html

Excerpt: Islamic spokesmen in the West routinely say that the Qur'an's command to fight against Jews and Christians, impose the jizya (poll tax) upon them and make them submit as inferiors to Islamic rule (9:29) is a relic of history, never to be revived -- and that only greasy Islamophobes say otherwise. Yassir Al-Burhami didn't get the memo.

Mosque Leader Charged in Cigarette Smuggling Ring

http://www.investigativeproject.org/3397/mosque-leader-charged-in-cigarette-smuggling-ring

Excerpt: A leader of a South Carolina mosque was among 11 men arrested in a cigarette trafficking and money laundering scheme spanning several states. A 26-count indictment issued in November and unsealed last week accused Nasser Alquza, president of the Central Mosque of Charleston, and others of conspiracy, receiving stolen property, and related charges. … The case is reminiscent of a Hizballah fundraising operation from the 1990s based out of Charlotte, N.C., in which 18 defendants led by Mohamad Hammoud were responsible for the illegal smuggling of more than $8 million worth of cigarettes from North Carolina to Michigan. (Drinking and smoking? Haram? Selling it? Not so much. ~Bob.)

The Myth of Isolated Iran

http://www.europeanenergyreview.eu/site/pagina.php?id=3486

Excerpt: Washington/NATO/Tel Aviv, however, offers a different narrative. Iran’s “threats” are at the heart of the present crisis, even if these are, in fact, that country’s reaction to non-stop US/Israeli covert war and now, of course, economic war as well. It’s those “threats,” so the story goes, that are leading to rising oil prices and so fueling the current recession, rather than Wall Street’s casino capitalism or massive U.S. and European debts. The cream of the 1% has nothing against high oil prices, not as long as Iran’s around to be the fall guy for popular anger. (If you’ve ever wondered where those elite, posturing, Europe-worshipping Leftists and so many radical Islamists get their facts and opinions about current events, this should show you. I read all sorts of things and have an interest in the on-going crisis with Iran. This is supposed to be an article about how Iran is NOT as isolated as western media and politicians are portraying it (a position I agree with), so it sounded interesting. It is one long anti-Israeli, anti-American, and anti-EU/NATO rant that blames all the world’s wrongs on the vast conspiracy of capitalists and democratically elected warmongers. I’m surprised they overlooked the Freemasons, the Rothschilds, and the Vatican. It seems we’re doing it to steal the Iranian’s oil and protect the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency. You have to wonder if the mullahs in Tehran paid the author to write it. The editor’s comments in the accompanying email made clear the (French) editors of European Energy Review think highly of the article (they are reprinting it from another source) and, presumably, its contents. The author, Pepe Escobar is a roving correspondent for the Asia Times, a regular contributor to TomDispatch.com and a political analyst for al-Jazeera and RT. Read to the end if you have the stomach for it. Ron P.)

Illegal immigrant wanted for murder of estranged wife in Milwaukee

http://wtaq.com/news/articles/2012/jan/05/illegal-immigrant-wanted-for-murder-of-estranged-wife-in-milwaukee/

Guess it was a job “Americans wouldn’t do.” ~Bob. Excerpt: An illegal immigrant from Honduras was being sought Wednesday for the murder of his estranged wife in Milwaukee. An arrest warrant was issued after prosecutors filed a homicide charge against 29-year-old Jose Luis Discua-Bados.

Denying Islamists Federal Security Clearances

http://pjmedia.com/blog/denying-islamists-federal-security-clearances/?singlepage=true

Excerpt: The disclosures began last June when the Investigative Newsource (IN), then called the Watchdog Institute, published a report in the Orange County Register describing how a multiagency probe had led the Department of Defense (DoD) one year earlier to remove the secret-level clearance of Rahim Sabadia, president of Sabtech Industries, a California-based company that manufactures electronics and computer systems for military use. (…) Apparently the Pentagon had expressed concerns about Sabadia’s “charitable contributions.” IN’s findings indicate that Sabadia, through his family foundation, “is a frequent donor to Muslim and international charities.” (This should be a total no-brainer. Did FDR’s government give security clearances to Nazis, whether born here or overseas? Should they have? If not, why not? Might it be because reasonable doubt exists as their ultimate loyalty? Does the nation have a right to self-defense or not? Is the Constitution a suicide pact after all? With all that asked, the authors may not be treating Cong. Miller fairly; from the little mentioned here, it doesn’t sound as if his connection was deep or more than normal campaigning/constituent service. Obviously, more information may exist without being mentioned in this article. Ron P.)

Israel Senses Bluffing in Iran’s Threats of Retaliation

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/world/middleeast/israelis-see-irans-threats-of-retaliation-as-bluff.html?_r=1

Excerpt: Israeli intelligence estimates, backed by academic studies, have cast doubt on the widespread assumption that a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities would set off a catastrophic set of events like a regional conflagration, widespread acts of terrorism and sky-high oil prices. The estimates, which have been largely adopted by the country’s most senior officials, conclude that the threat of Iranian retaliation is partly bluff.

The Republicans' Wasted Angst By Ron Ross

http://spectator.org/archives/2012/01/27/the-republicans-wasted-angst

Excerpt: They're not the issue this year. You-know-who is. Republicans need to chillax. Especially within the Republican establishment, some apparently are having anxiety attacks about how the primaries are unfolding. Here's what the panic prone seem to be overlooking -- if the election were held tomorrow, Charley Sheen would beat Barack Obama. Heck, you could even say John McCain would beat him. The point is this: the election in November will be almost exclusively about Obama.