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 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. In some cases I post things sent to me by
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War Shots review response from Maj.
Norm Hatch, USMCR (Ret.)
Bob, Thanks a heap for your very kind words about WAR SHOTS
and me. They are deeply appreciated. I think that any success I had in the
Corps, during war, or at the Pentagon was because I never asked permission to
do something if I felt it was right to do. To operate that way in the strict
configuration of the military mind was a huge gamble. Fortunately my kudos
outshone my need for apologies. It was a pleasure in meeting you and having nice
conversations with Bonnie. I saw something that reinforced my own attitude when
reading General Peter Pace's comment to young officers. He said that in his
first tour as a young officer in Vietnam he questioned his CO, three
times on the phone on how that officer wanted him to accomplish the assigned
mission. On the third call the CO in no uncertain terms said that is your
responsibility, as a unit commander, and using a word such as contemplate
suggested that he do so before he made his movement. Pace said the he called
his Sgt. Major and said that any time the Skipper called for him to tell the CO
he was contemplating. That was the way he played his whole life in the Corps
and he did pretty well by becoming the first Marine Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff. He said he had to apologize once in a while but it was all for
a good cause. In Pace's reason for telling the new officers his story there is
another part that is always very important and that is you give your superiors
your plan of action and then he will decide what and how to attack the problem!
Just don't ask him how to do it. Semper Fi --Norm. (A rare treat to get a
response from the subject of a book I
review. One reader pointed out a typo in my review, in that in one place I
missed the second "I" and put WWI. Maj. Hatch is "Old
Corps"--but not quite that Old
Corps! Between the job, the blog which doesn't generate any revenue, the
family, reading, writing and coping with pulmonary fibrosis, I need a proof
reader! Not enough hours. ~Bob.)
Good Kass Column: This election, being Obama is bad,
but being the non-Obama won't help Romney. By John Kass
Excerpt: So if the 2012 presidential race is on Obama's
ground, if it's about government subsidies for business versus government
subsidies for select demographic voting constituencies, and if all of us in
America keep our hands extended, waiting for government plums, then Obama wins.
It's Chicago
machine politics writ large. But there are problems for the president.
No Surprise: Kerry: Don’t ‘Prejudge’ the Muslim
Brotherhood
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
warned against “prejudging” the Muslim Brotherhood as Mohammed Morsi became Egypt ’s first Islamist
president today. “During my recent visits to Cairo , I’ve had two candid discussions with
the new president. ..“In our discussions, Mr. Morsi committed to protecting
fundamental freedoms, including women’s rights, minority rights, the right to
free expression and assembly, and he said he understood the importance of Egypt ’s post-revolutionary relationships with America and Israel ,” he added. (Most folks know
that “Arab Spring” equals MB = Sharia = Radical Islamist
State
Egyptian secular
forces condemn US
Excerpt: Egyptian secular and liberal parties sounded
dissatisfaction over the reported support of the US for Muslim Brotherhood's
presidential candidate, Mohamed Mursi, but affirmed they would accept the results of
the elections due to be announced Sunday.
Supporters Slow to Grasp Health Law’s Legal Risks. By Peter Baker
With the Supreme Court likely to
render judgment on President Obama’s health care law
this week, the White House and Congress find themselves in a position that many
advocates of the legislation once considered almost unimaginable. In passing
the law two years ago, Democrats entertained little doubt that it was
constitutional. The White House held a conference call to tell reporters that
any legal challenge, as one Obama aide put it, “will eventually fail and
shouldn’t be given too much credence in the press.”
Top Syria cleric threatens attacks on U.S.
Excerpt: Syria 's
top Sunni Muslim cleric
has warned Western countries against military intervention in Syria and threatened to retaliate with suicide
bombings in the United States and Europe if his country comes under attack.
Tweet from Ann
Coulter @AnnCoulter
Officials say they have put Jerry Sandusky on suicide watch.
I say give the man some space.
Excerpt: Via Meadia has often
made clear our supreme confidence that Iran would use the bomb
responsibly, if at all, should the peace-loving mullahs manage to
develop it. The Guardian reports more news of a confidence-building
nature: A multinational investigation into bomb plots targeting Israeli
diplomats earlier this year has produced the clearest evidence yet that Iran
was involved, illustrating the risks to the west if it fails to reach detente
with Tehran over its nuclear weapons programme…
Obama Twists Romney’s
Economic Record: Obama campaign ad takes aim at Romney's time as Massachusetts
Excerpt: A new ad from the Obama campaign takes aim at Mitt
Romney’s performance as governor of Massachusetts ,
claiming he had “one of the worst economic records in the country.” But the ad
overreaches with several of its claims.
'A Perfect and Beautiful
Machine': What Darwin
Excerpt: In order to be a perfect and beautiful computing
machine, it is not requisite to know what arithmetic is. What Darwin and Turing
had both discovered, in their different ways, was the existence of competence
without comprehension. This inverted the deeply plausible assumption that
comprehension is in fact the source of all advanced competence.
Why Women Still Can't
Have It All. By Anne-Marie Slaughter
Excerpt: What she meant was that such a statement, coming
from a high-profile career woman—a role model—would be a terrible signal to
younger generations of women. By the end of the evening, she had talked me out
of it, but for the remainder of my stint in Washington , I was increasingly aware that
the feminist beliefs on which I had built my entire career were shifting under
my feet.
The Measured Man:
Larry Smarr, an astrophysicist turned computer scientist charts his every
bodily function in minute detail, By Mark Bowden
Excerpt: Larry is in the vanguard of what some call the
“quantified life,” which envisions replacing the guesswork and supposition
presently guiding individual health decisions with specific guidance tailored
to the particular details of each person’s body. Because of his accomplishments
and stature in his field, Larry cannot easily be dismissed as a kook.
Excerpt: As activists in Rio and around the world mourned
the failure of yet another useless summit to do anything about climate change,
good news on the CO2 front was coming from the country greens love to hate: the
US .
While Europe has adopted a plethora of expensive laws without any significant
effect on CO2 emissions, the US
is substantially reducing its emissions even as air pollution levels drop.
Soldier who killed
Afghan civilian says he felt threat to his men
Excerpt: A platoon sergeant charged in the shooting death of
an Afghan civilian said Friday he believed his platoon was seconds away from a
car bomb attack when he fired his weapon. Sgt. 1st Class Walter Taylor is
charged with negligent homicide and dereliction of duty for the shooting death
of an Afghan civilian who drove with her family into the middle of a firefight
and abruptly exited the car as soldiers neared.
Fast and Furious and
OCDETF
Excerpt: The media commentary about “executive privilege”
makes your eyes glaze over. That’s intentional: When you are throwing sand in
the public’s eyes, as the administration is in the Fast and Furious scandal,
you want the talking heads droning on about the jurisprudence of “presidential
communications” and “deliberative process.” Blather about the legal contours
diverts your attention from the only question that really matters: Why?
European Bailouts May
Lead to Another World War
Excerpt: A continuation of bailouts in Europe
could ultimately spark another world war, says international investor Jim
Rogers. “This is how we got into World War II,” Rogers
tells Yahoo, referring to Europe ’s handling of
its financial crisis. “If you wait two years from now, five years from now,
when no government has any credibility and nobody will give you any more money,
then it's finished. You better get yourself a rifle and head to Asia ."
The federal green
jobs agenda
Excerpt: But evidence suggests government is a very poor
venture capitalist when it comes to investing in applied R&D, and even
worse in trying to help self-proclaimed “technologies of tomorrow,” cross over
the so-called “Valley
of Death
A Note on ‘Fast and
Furious,’ Executive Privilege, and the End of the Obama Administration. By
Roger Kimball
Excerpt: “You can’t hear the phrase “executive privilege”
without thinking “Watergate,” a word you can’t hear without thinking
“cover-up,” “Nixon,” “impeachment.” In fact, Fast and Furious is far worse than
Watergate. No one died in Watergate.
William Hazlitt on
Barack Obama, Or: Why the Ridiculous Is no Laughing Matter. By Roger Kimball
Excerpt: The skies are filled with chickens coming home to
roost. The scent of panic among Democrats is palpable as the gaffes multiply,
the economy lurches, and the money-machine dries up. We can expect greater and
greater exhibitionist spectacles, orgies of moral browbeating, and
Chicago-style gutter ad hominem attacks. (Excerpt: What is obvious and unsaid
dialectically is the Marxist premise that O is more deserving of income than we
are; that he knows what to do with our money better than we or our
friends/relatives do; that he deserves praise and laud and gifts like Mao and
N. Korea leaders; and that the small celebrations in our daily lives should be
discarded for his concepts of good ,reducing those of us that used to strive for
betterment to squalor—all equal in misery, licking the regime hand for any
dole. --Barb.)
Exclusive Update: NC
Student Who Videotaped Pro-Obama Screaming
Teacher Faces
Harassment
Excerpt: According to the video-taper’s sister, not only did
the school authorities reject the appeal for home-schooling, they gave him a
suspension on his school record for videotaping in the classroom -- the first
suspension ever issued for such an action, despite the fact that other students
have also videotaped on school grounds. The young man’s sister stated that
assistant principal Antoine Brisbon said to her brother, “That was a very
stupid thing you did." (Looks like the school would rather support the
teacher than the Constitution and/or nonbiased education. Not sure
colleges/universities encouraging contemplative, broad-minded education, either.
An individual who thinks for him/herself is a threat to a dictator. --Barb.)
Excerpt: Egypt's newly-elected Muslim Brotherhood president
Mohammed Mursi may cement his victory with a coup against the Egyptian army,
according to an analyst at Egypt's Al-Ahram Institute quoted in today's Gulf
News:.....On Thursday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Egypt's
ruling military council to fulfill its promise and hand overpower to the
“legitimate election winner.” Some interpreted that statement as a US endorsement
of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi who is competing against Hosni
Mubarak's ex-prime minister Ahmed Shafiq. (Clinton ’s Secretary has ties to Muslim
Sisterhood; infiltration evident, nurtured by regime. We fed Brotherhood on tax
payer's dime at White House. --Barb.)
How is Huma Abedin
connected to Egypt
Excerpt: It was encouraging to see five sitting US
Congressmen – led by Rep. Michele Bachmann – send a letter to the Office of the
Inspector General at the State Department recently; it made reference to the
familial relationships Huma Abedin – Hillary Clinton’s Deputy Chief of Staff
and closest advisor – has to the Muslim Brotherhood. Abedin has much fewer than
six degrees of separation (1 or 2 depending on your interpretation) from Egypt ’s newly
elected Muslim Brotherhood president – Mohammed Mursi.
Catholic Bishops
Begin National Campaign For Religious Liberty. By Dr. Susan Berry
Excerpt: A mass at Baltimore 's
Basilica of the Assumption on Thursday night was the setting for the start of
what U.S. Catholic bishops are calling a “Fortnight for Freedom,” a campaign
"of teaching and witness for religious liberty.” The initiative is in
response primarily to the HHS mandate, part of ObamaCare, which forces Catholic
and other religious institutions such as schools, hospitals, and charities, to
provide free contraception, abortion-inducing drugs, and sterilization
procedures for its employees in their health insurance plans. The mandate is
set to go into effect on August 1st.
Going around the net,
author unknown: A lesson in irony
The Food Stamp Program, administered by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, is actually proud of the fact it is distributing the greatest
amount of free meals and food stamps ever. Meanwhile, the National Park
Service, administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, asks us to
"Please Do Not Feed the Animals." Their stated reason for the policy
is because the animals will grow dependent on handouts and will not learn to
take care of themselves. This concludes today's lesson.
Did the US launch a drone strike on AQIM in northern Mali
Excerpt: According to Magharebia, a "mystery
airstrike" targeted a convoy of the "Yahya About al Hammam
Brigade," a unit of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb operating in northern Mali , and
killed seven fighters. An excerpt of the article is reproduced below, but read
the whole thing. Two US
intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal who are involved in
the targeting of al Qaeda operatives worldwide would neither confirm nor deny
the reported strike. (Imagine the media publishing, "Is the US getting ready to land in Normandy " in May, 1944. ~Bob.)
Dollars and Dentists
Excerpt: For adults with dental disease, the situation can
be as dire — and bankrupting. While millions of Americans use emergency rooms
for dental care, at a cost of more than half a billion dollars, corporate
dental chains are filling the gaps in care, in some cases allegedly
overcharging patients or loading them with high priced credit card debt.
Correspondent Miles O’Brien investigates the flaws in our dental system and
nascent proposals to fix them. (Another entitlement waiting in the wings? ~Bob.)
Fined by EPA for not
using nonexistent material
If anyone still doesn't understand the dangers and idiocy of
growing government bureaucracies, here a story in the New York Times about the
EPA fining oil refineries for not blending into diesel fuel a special product
for cleaner burning, etc, which is presumably great stuff- if it actually were
available. Which it is not, and won't be any time soon. The EPA hotshots want
the stuff blended into diesel fuel, and won't take no for an answer. Or even
Yes As Soon As We Can Buy Some. So they are fining the industry for not
complying with the letter of their law. This is crazy on the face of it, and
you'd think some upper level EPA hotshot would send down a memo exempting
people from the rule until such time as the material is actually on the market.
But there's no oversight to the EPA, nobody to tell their boss to get people's
heads out of their butts, so they just go along, feeling good about the money
they're extracting from the industry. And the industry will, of course, make
that part of the diesel cost to the consumers. Which means in the end, all of
us will be subsidizing this fine. Sure, makes great sense to me. Tell me again
that it's all OK and we should all just relax and have faith in everything that
comes out of DC. Please, tell me again, and again, and again.....Del
14-Year-Old Shoots
Armed Intruder While Babysitting His Younger Siblings in Phoenix
Excerpt: A 14-year-old boy shot and nearly killed an
intruder who broke into his Phoenix
home and pulled a gun on him while he was watching his three younger siblings,
police said Saturday. The teen and his siblings, ages 8, 10 and 12, were at
home alone when a woman rang the doorbell on Friday.
The Union Bailout. By
Ed Feulner
Excerpt: We all know how the Obama administration likes to
portray the auto bailout: A generous infusion of money enabled the government
to save General Motors and Chrysler. Jobs that would otherwise have disappeared
were rescued by this taxpayer-funded largesse. It was expensive, but we had no
choice. The reality is far less uplifting: Administration officials could have
ensured that the bailout didn’t cost you and me a dime.
Why ‘Fast and
Furious’ matters. By Michael A. Walsh
Excerpt: Pssst — heard the one about the lethal scandal that
reaches to the upper levels of the Obama administration and may turn out to be
bigger than Watergate? A crime in which two American agents have been killed,
and which the Justice Department has been furiously trying to cover up for more
than 18 months?
Vote Tuesday could
send Stockton
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/24/4584857/vote-tuesday-could-send-stockton.html
Excerpt: Now Stockton
is broke. After years of bad budget decisions based on an overly rosy reading
of the economy, Stockton – population 292,000 in
2010 – this week faces the ignominy of becoming the largest city in America ever to
file for bankruptcy. (Biggest so far. It won't be the last. There is not enough
money in the solar system to bail out every government that has over spent.
~Bob.)
Excerpt: Four Spanish mothers have written a letter
denouncing the goings-on at a school in Tarrasa ,
Catalonia
The "Hope &
Change" That Has Turned Out To Be But Despair And Change For The Worse
Excerpt: Every now and then I'm so overwhelmed with disgust
over the actions, policies, and agenda of the present occupant in the White
House, I just can't hold back from letting loose a rant ... and today is one of
those days! After three-and-a-half years of his failed policies, and of his
dysfunctional Administration, which have been an abysmal disaster in all fronts
- the economy, unemployment, health-care, social issues, domestic policy, and,
critically, in his cowering, inept, and amateurish, handling of Foreign Policy,
Obama's so much touted "Hope & Change" have rather turned out to
be but dismal despair and a turn for the worse, for this nation, and the
world….
Soldier trades
cigarettes for maimed, hungry dog
Excerpt: Army Sergeant Nick B. took unusual action against
cruelty he witnessed serving in Afghanistan .
When he encountered a tied-up, skinny Shepherd mix covered in mud, ears and
tail hacked away, Nick asked the people living nearby if he could have him. But
the owners, who were planning to use the dog for gruesome
"entertainment" purposes, were only willing to give him up in return
for cigarettes. The soldier happily traded. (Tell me again why we must
celebrate all cultures as equally valid? ~Bob.)
Obama Looks Overseas
For Campaign Cash
Excerpt: The all-consuming hunt for donors has led President
Barack Obama’s campaign to England .
And France .
And China .
Obama is tapping the network of American citizens living outside the 50 states
more than any other presidential campaign has before, with more than a dozen bundlers
who have pledged to raise as much as $4.5 million. 9well, Clinton/Gore took
money from China ,
and not from Americans living there. ~bob.)
Members of Congress
trade in companies while making laws that affect those same firms
Excerpt: One-hundred-thirty members of Congress or their
families have traded stocks collectively worth hundreds of millions of dollars
in companies lobbying on bills that came before their committees, a practice
that is permitted under current ethics rules, a Washington Post analysis has
found.
NU Qatar
Satire, I assume. But things are so weird in some places,
who knows? ~Bob. Excerpt: Students
at Northwestern University
in Qatar
Excerpt: Americans' net worth collapsed in recent years, but
don't blame the housing market for it all.
The most amazing
Supreme Court chart. Maybe ever.
Excerpt: So, yeah. A majority of people don’t know the name
of the Chief Justice of the United
States . (Those people who think Obama can't
win are not talking to the large percentage, probably a majority of people, who
are ignorant of the most basic details of American government. ~Bob.)
Mother Dies Who
Spared Her Baby From Abortion When Cancer Struck
http://www.lifenews.com/2012/06/24/mother-dies-who-spared-her-baby-from-abortion-when-cancer-struck/
Excerpt: 28 year-old Chiara Corbella has died and at her
funeral in Rome ,
there was joy amid the sorrow. In fact, there was a kind of triumph, of love
over life and life over death — one of those
contradictory signs that makes no sense to an efficient world but is transcendently
reasonable to the mind of faith:
Wealthy Americans
Jumping Obama’s Ship
Excerpt: Wealthy Americans aren’t just leaving tax-heavy
states like New York and California , they’re
leaving the country. U.S.
citizens are defecting at record levels in order to escape high taxes,
the New York Post
reported.
Obama’s Magical Prescription Slips
Excerpt: In the past three and a half years,
there is nothing President Obama has accomplished that has instilled in me a
sense of trust, about his domestic or foreign policies. This may seem
impossible to believe for some people…but it is true. I justify my feelings not
by those who do not agree with the president’s decisions. Instead, I base my
feelings on his promises to the American People that remain unfulfilled.
News you can use: Two glasses of wine a day improves
quality of life for middle-aged: A couple of glasses of wine each day improves
your quality of life, researchers say.
Excerpt: A study finds that those who drink in moderation -
no more than 14 drinks a week and no more than three a day for women and four a
day for men - have better overall scores than those who abstain completely. The
quality of life was measured using the Health Utilities index, which looks at
factors including dexterity, emotion, cognition and mobility.
Excerpt: Families USA , a pro-Obamacare activist
group, has done its part by publishing a report that claims that 26,100 people
died in 2010 due to a lack of health insurance. “If [the health care] law is
struck down,” they conclude, “the effects would be catastrophic…many will die
prematurely.” Unfortunately, the study that supplies Families USA’s figures is
statistical hogwash.
Occupy Movement’s
Price Tag Tops $20 Million …Much Higher Than the $13 Million That Was
Previously Reported
Excerpt: Earlier this week the liberal media reported that
the Occupy protests cost taxpayers over$13,000,000.
Posts
Soldier who killed Afghan civilian says he felt threat to his men
ReplyDeleteThis is more than ridiculous. We are sending our guys into hot zones and when they do something the first thing the government wants to do is court martial them. The blame should be on the woman that was stupid enough to drive into a firefight. That's the stuff Darwin awards are made of.
14-YEAR-OLD SHOOTS ARMED INTRUDER WHILE BABYSITTING HIS YOUNGER SIBLINGS IN PHOENIX
A smart and courageous young man. Having the presence of mind to get his sibling out of the danger zone and then defending them speaks volumes about the way he was raised. If more people would try raising their kids instead of sitting them in front of the TV or video game, we might see a lot less of this kind of thing. If the criminals become uncertain of the outcome, crimes of this type would take a plunge.