Must be election season. Lots of good information and opinion tonight. ~Bob.
Your one-stop-shop for political news and opinion. Please forward to friends who need to be informed. This SitRep (Military for “Situation Report”) is created by many readers who send me items for inclusion, which I would have likely missed or skipped. And I can only spend at most three hours a night pulling stuff, plus the healthcare or economic stuff that crosses my desk at work. As always, I—and you—owe them thanks and appreciation. I post articles because I think they are of interest and will stimulate thought and discussion. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree (or disagree) with every—or any—opinion in the posted article, or that I was able to verify the information presented, which is the responsibility of the author. I try not to post things that are false, or too far a stretch, regardless of the view point, but I don’t always succeed. As always on the Net, or in the legacy media, you must read critically and with skepticism.
Advice for my Granddaughter: For When I'm Gone
All royalties go to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation.
Eye Candy
Cartoon
Stop sending money
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Bumps in the Road
Cartoon
NRCC not spending for three vulnerable Republican lawmakers
Excerpt: The National Republican Congressional Committee has no airtime reserved for three of its most vulnerable incumbents, a sign they may think Reps. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), Frank Guinta (R-N.H.) and Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) are beyond saving at this point.
Excerpt: Personalized medicine is the future. It is where the science is going. It is where the technology is going. It is where doctors and patients will want to go. Yet unfortunately for many of us, this is not where the Obama administration wants to go. First, the good news. Biosensors that can be worn on clothing or jewelry, or held against the skin by a Band-Aid-like patch, or inserted beneath the skin are capable of monitoring a whole host of chronic diseases.
Worth Reading
Excerpt: There has been growing concern recently about the rapid increase in the number of “nonpayers”—those Americans who have no income tax liability because of the numerous credits and deductions in the code. As of 2010, 41 percent of tax filers—some 58 million in all—had no income tax liability after taking their credits and deductions. There are currently more Americans off the tax rolls than at any time since 1940, when the income tax became a “mass tax.” Aside from the revenue impact of not having 58 million Americans pay income taxes, economists worry about the social and political effects of having so many people disconnected from the cost of government—a phenomenon known as fiscal illusion.
Important: Corporate Tax Competitiveness Rankings for 2012
Excerpt: Despite anti-corporate sentiment running high in many parts of the world, few countries have increased corporate tax rates. On the contrary, many countries, including the United States University of Calgary 's School of Public Policy United States United States
Puff, the Magic Drag on the Economy
Excerpt: From 2009 to 2013, federal revenues lost to wind-power developers are estimated to be $14 billion—$6 billion from the production tax credit, plus $8 billion courtesy of an alternative-energy subsidy in the stimulus package—according to the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Treasury Department. If Congress were to extend the production tax credit, it would mean an additional $12 billion cost to taxpayers over the next 10 years.
Fed’s latest stimulus may have little impact on mortgage borrowers
Excerpt: The Federal Reserve took aim at the nation’s wobbly housing market last week with its biggest stimulus action in two years, but that firepower is doing little to lower mortgage rates or make home loans more available for Americans.
Higher Prices By Hospitals, Other Providers, Drove 2011 Spending Increases, Study Finds. By Julie Appleby
Excerpt: Spending on medical care for Americans with job-based insurance rose 4.6 percent last year, driven mainly by higher prices charged by hospitals and other medical providers, a report out today says. The growth came despite a sluggish economy which some economists thought would translate into more modest spending growth.
Excerpt: Children in Syria
Kenyan schools re-open after teacher-strike deal
Home of Obama’s father follows Chicago
Excerpt: China Liaoning - named after the province where it was refitted - is a refurbished Soviet ship purchased from Ukraine
Excerpt: Spanish media reported that at least 20 people had been arrested and more than a dozen injured. The protesters dispersed after MPs left the building. The "Occupy Congress" protest came as the government prepares to unveil further austerity measures on Thursday.
Excerpt: Greek police have fired tear gas to disperse anarchists throwing petrol bombs near Athens
Judge orders arrest of Brazil
Excerpt: A regional judge has ordered the arrest of Google's president in Brazil
Excerpt: The United Nations must immediately provide protection to areas liberated by rebels in Syria, French President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday, adding that President Bashar al-Assad's government has no future on the international stage. (Beau Geste, call HQ—your leave is cancelled. I assume Hollande will volunteer the Legion for the mission? Legio Patria Nostra. ~Bob.)
Tribal Warfare: Why did the Pentagon award a $7 million Afghanistan security contract to this group of Native Americans in Oklahoma
Excerpt: The Muscogee Nation, part of the Creek Indian tribe, which fought with Confederate troops against the U.S. military during the Civil War, is now guarding Americans stationed at U.S. bases in Herat and Helmand, Afghanistan, under a $7 million Pentagon contract. The Muscogee Nation Business Enterprise (MBNE) is a 100-person firm that has in the past used its status as a tribal-owned company to win government business, some of which it then subcontracted to a larger security company, but it says that its employees are fulfilling this contract, providing security in a war zone.
Excerpt: The author of a new nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) report concluding that tax cuts for upper-income earners in America
Tweet from Joseph Weisenthal @TheStalwart
Seahawks didn’t catch that pass. Someone else made that happen.
The New Great Dictators Are Gaining Momentum In Europe. By Jan Bennink, a Dutch advertising guy and a columnist for the leading newspaper De Volkskrant.
The New Great Dictators Are Gaining Momentum In Europe. By Jan Bennink, a Dutch advertising guy and a columnist for the leading newspaper De Volkskrant.
Excerpt: As far as I can remember I’ve never been afraid of the government. When I was a young upstart protesting military parades with safety pins through my ears, I wasn’t afraid. Even if the place was swarming with soldiers. When I was the bass player in a punk band, the P.A. Splashing Tovs, screaming at all kinds of government injustice, I did not feel unsafe. And in protest rallies against nukes. I never wore a mask or helmet. We laughed at the secret service guys with their moustaches and long coats. It was 1980, not 1984.
Barack Obama takes a page from the Muslim Brotherhood. By Moe Lane
Excerpt: You may have noticed a little while back that the US Embassy in Cairo called out the Egyptian government/Muslim Brotherhood for saying one thing in English (read: Western foreign consumption) and another in Arabic (read: domestic/regional consumption). Which is all to the good… so why did the President do the same thing this week?
Obamacare Promised $2500 Decrease in Cost for Families; Ends up as $3000 Increase
Excerpt: Well, to quote Freddie Mercury, “Another one bites the dust.” Yes, yet another Obama promise has met its expiration date.
NYT: Obama overruled Hillary Clinton, foreign-policy advisers on Mubarak. By Ed Morrissey
Excerpt: How did we get to the point where neither a US President nor Egypt’s head of state can tell whether the two nations are allies? It all started in February 2011, according to an in-depth look by the New York Times — or perhaps the summer of 2009. Obama missed an opportunity to get behind the Green Revolution in Iran US
Here is the 'disgusting audio' of Obama explaining his position:
Excerpt: Could Obama be any more bloodless, immoral, uncaring about human life, and have any greater disregard for innocent surviving victims of abortion? Ramesh Ponnuru does an excellent job discussing this and putting it in perspective, here. Quin Hillyer is spot-on: "This man, this president, is a walking, one-man death panel."
Excerpt: When I saw that Elizabeth Warren, the Obama crony running for Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat, had been practicing law without a license in Massachusetts
Former Navy Seals To Obama: ‘We Are Not Bumps In The Road.’ By Joel B. Pollak
Excerpt: Former Navy SEALs are speaking out after President Barack Obama referred to recent events in the Middle East , including the deaths of two former Navy SEALs, as "bumps in the road." Tyrone S. Woods and Glen A. Doherty were providing security at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi , Libya
The New York Times and New Black Panthers Protect Election Lawbreakers. By J. Christian Adams
Excerpt: But this isn’t the America
The New Racial Justice System. By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: Our criminal justice system punishes crimes based on the harm inflicted on the individual and on society. The redistributive racial justice approach adds another component whose goal is neither the punishment of individual or communal harm, but the balancing out of disparities in racial crime statistics. This can be achieved in one of two ways; either as with bullying, by racially selective punishments linked to a statistical quota or by criminalizing and prosecuting entire categories of offenses based on race.
Good Letter to Romney: The First Four Years Are The Hardest… By Mike Rowe
Excerpt: Dear Governor Romney, My name is Mike Rowe and I own a small company in California
GOP chairmen 'disturbed' by Libya
http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/policy-and-strategy/258761-gop-chairman-demand-more-answers-from-obama-on-libya
http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/policy-and-strategy/258761-gop-chairman-demand-more-answers-from-obama-on-libya
Excerpt: Eight House GOP committee chairmen on Wednesday demanded a new briefing "as soon as possible" from the Obama administration on the Libyan consulate attack in Benghazi
President Ethelred: Islamists are taking full advantage of our failure to grasp their intent. By Victor Davis Hanson
Excerpt: Like old King Ethelred the Unready, who either had no counsel or had no sense, or both, and often paid the Danegeld rather than attempt to deter the Norsemen, so Barack Obama and his lieutenants still believe that they can both appease radical Islam and convince others that is not what they are doing. (If the professionally published genealogy of one of my ancestors--Peter Buckeley who founded concord, MA--is correct, I'm descended from the Saxon King Ethelred at least twice! He was pretty much as described. As I understand it, his mother poisoned his half brother when he was about eight so he could be king, and it went downhill from there. Every time he did fight, Danes, Scots or whoever, he lost. He eventually lost half of England
Paul Ryan’s Black Ex and the Art of Race Baiting: Can you love a black person while hating black people? By Walter Hudson
Excerpt: A civil right is granted by the state, as opposed to individual rights which are derived objectively from the facts of reality. There is nothing preventing civil rights from conflicting with individual rights. When they do, it is immoral. Civil rights are only proper when they serve to protect individual rights. That fundamental ethical truth is all but absent from our political discourse. (Deneeta Pope is undeniably beautiful. A smart race-baiter would simply reply “Beauty transcends race.” The author’s point is, as it should be, that “civil rights” apply to individuals. Groups, on the other hand, have NO rights. --Ron P.)
Worth Reading
Excerpt: America
Goldman Sachs: QE3 May Total $2 Trillion
Excerpt: The Federal Reserve's latest quantitative easing program (QE3) could last until the middle of 2015 and total $2 trillion, Goldman Sachs economists say. The Fed has announced that it will buy $40 billion a month of new mortgage-backed securities for an indefinite period. (Here come Weimar and Zimbabwe. –Don Hank. And Argentina. But how many of our citizens know about the destructive effects of hyperinflation in those countries? ~Bob.)
Excerpt: President Obama spoke to the United Nations General Assembly in New York yesterday - and what a disappointing speech it was. He actually scrapped his original speech outline to focus on the controversial YouTube video that many have suggested sparked recent anti-American attacks in the Middle East, including one in Libya that killed a U.S. Ambassador and other Americans. Making this video the focus of his speech was inappropriate. He should have used the international platform to make an unapologetic case for freedom. The President failed the American people—and America’s allies—in five major ways.
Blaming Our Troops
Excerpt: If you don’t want to be shot in the back by your Afghan training partners, the Pentagon advises, don’t offend their religious sensibilities. Don’t kick your feet up on a table, for instance, and never ask to see a picture of their wives and kids. “There’s a percentage [of attacks] which are cultural affronts,” Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said in a recent interview.(The war is now officially over...we have lost. Submission is just another form of surrender. I doubt these "training requirements" originated from the military, more likely from some civilian in the State Department of DOD. Islam is the ONLY religion that is exempt from criticism by this administration. Muslim cleric Abu Islam burned a Bible in front of thousands of Muslims at protest outside the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday, 9/11. It has been 15 days since this Bible burning, not one riot by any of the 2.6 billion Christians on all continents. And not one word of condemnation from this administration. And that is telling. MasterGuns)
Great quotes from The Patriot Post
"As part of the strategy for the upcoming presidential debates, the Obama campaign is attempting to lower expectations. And believe [me], if there's one thing that President Obama is good at lately, it's lowering expectations." --comedian Jay Leno
"The Middle East is in chaos, Americans are murdered, and the economy continues to crumble, and Obama is going on The View after his fun time with Letterman. You ever get this feeling that the problems facing America just aren't that interesting to Obama?" --humorist Frank J. Fleming
"Democrats need to change their party mascot from the donkey to the squirrel. They divert the media's and the electorate's short attention spans with fleeting, fuzzy objects -- like the main canine character in the animated Pixar movie 'Up,' who was easily distracted from his main thoughts and serious duties by every last little moving trifle." --columnist Michelle Malkin
"U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice claimed the attack on the U.S. embassy in Libya was a spontaneous reaction to a video. The protesters just happened to be carrying their rocket launchers on September 11th when they felt insulted over a video released on YouTube in June. That's what the president told Rice, and as we know, rice goes with anything." --comedian Argus Hamilton
"Intelligence sources now say the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi involved a former Gitmo detainee. Great. And these are the only illegals Obama wants to ship out of the country." --Fred Thompson
Who Is White House Visitor Hisham Altalib? By Michelle Malkin
Excerpt: On Friday, March 30, 2012, Hisham Y. Altalib visited the White House. According to visitor logs, Altalib was received by Joshua DuBois, the director of President Obama's Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Four days later, White House officials welcomed a foreign delegation of the radical Sharia-enforcing Muslim Brotherhood from Egypt.
Obama Versus Obama: Part II. By Thomas Sowell
Excerpt: Nowhere is the contrast between Barack Obama, as defined by his rhetoric ("Obama 1") and Barack Obama as defined by his actions ("Obama 2") greater than in his foreign policy -- and especially his policy toward Israel. What if we put aside Barack Obama's rhetoric, and instead look exclusively at his documented record over a period of decades, up to and including the present?
Report details Maxine Waters ethics case debacle
Excerpt: The long saga of the Maxine Waters ethics investigation is a chronicle of mistakes, partisan and intraparty squabbles, allegations of racism, bitter personal rivalries and failed attempts to bring the investigation to a close months and even years before it ended. … The long saga of the Maxine Waters ethics investigation is a chronicle of mistakes, partisan and intraparty squabbles, allegations of racism, bitter personal rivalries and failed attempts to bring the investigation to a close months and even years before it ended.
Excerpt: This past weekend the Arizona Republic ran an investigative report on taxpayer support for Arizona births. It seems that Arizona taxpayers paid out over $200 million dollars to foot the cost for over 53% of all births in the state of Arizona.
Soldiers ordered not to shoot Taliban as they plant mines... 'because it WAKES UP locals'
Dear God, I hope this isn’t true. ~Bob. Excerpt: Soldiers were ordered not to open fire on Taliban fighters planting mines in case they disturb local people, it has been claimed. U.S. military chiefs ordered troops to exercise 'courageous constraint' and even warned them they could be charged with murder if they shot any Taliban without permission from above.
Harsh Self-Criticism In Arab World Over Violent Reactions To Anti-Islamic Film
Excerpt: The attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and embassy in Cairo on the night of September 11, 2012, and the spread of violent protests to many countries in the Middle East have sparked unprecedented criticism in the Arab press of Arab and Islamic society and its way of dealing with the current crisis. Many articles claimed that violent protests harm the Prophet Muhammad and his way and are contrary to Islam's moral standards, and that it would have been better to show the moderate and tolerant face of Islam by responding through artistic and cultural expression. (Let's be fair. We all look for moderates in the Islamic world to come out and condemn the extremism. And it turns out that does happen. Below is an article from one of the watchdog agencies of the Islamic world, showing many examples of various authoritative Muslim figures coming out clearly with concern and condemnation. Which makes perfect sense, because any moderate should realize that the extremists are the ones who will get the entire nation or group into dire trouble and/or take over and inflict their extreme views of Sharia on everyone else. This is like the Germans who were against Hitler, since they could see he would take the nation into disaster. They lost out, we have to hope and pray the non-extremist Muslims do not. In the meantime, I think we really need to rethink how we act in relation to Islamic countries, and to the whole Islamist/jihadist movement, which is an amorphous entity that appears in varying degrees in every Muslim population. (Including even here in the USA.) It seems that some people, including some in power, are reluctant to truly grasp the extent of this ideology and the dangers it fosters. –Del)
Too funny: Media Gets Pwnd by ‘Stench’ Satire. By Rick Moran
Excerpt: Michael Walsh reported earlier on Tatler about the column written by Politico’s Roger Simon regarding Paul Ryan’s supposed “stench” nickname for Mitt Romney. … Simon told BuzzFeed: “Some people always don’t get something, but I figured describing PowerPoint as having been invented to euthanize cattle would make the satire clear. I guess people hate PowerPoint more than I thought.”
UN Preview: Islamic States Will Push for US Free Speech Restriction
Excerpt: On Wednesday at the UN General Assembly, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will seek to criminalize free speech and institute international blasphemy laws. The Organization of the Islamic Conference is a 56-state group (56 sovereign states and the Palestinian Authority) and functions as the voice for the collective Muslim World. (Wonder if this includes taxpayer-funded “art” like “Piss Christ,” Imams burning bibles or mobs destroying churches in Islamic countries, or the frequent blood-libels of Jewish religious practices in the state sanctioned Islamic press? No? Why not? ~Bob.)
Worth Sharing: Who Would You Trust as Your Financial Advisor: Mitt Romney or Barack Obama?
Excerpt: As the November elections draw near, voters should ask themselves this important question: Who would I trust as my personal financial advisor: Mitt Romney or Barack Obama? It is a simple, yet definitive question that addresses the single biggest issue on most voters’ minds: the economy.
Alleged US spy crucified in Yemen: Victim was accused of directing US drones targeting terrorists
Excerpt: An Al-Qaeda-affiliated group in Yemen crucified an alleged US spy, and posted a video of the crucifixion on YouTube, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) said on Wednesday. (Mr. President, does this not “Slander the Prophet of Islam”? ~Bob.)
908 Nigerian women pilgrims held in Saudi Arabia over escort rule, dozens deported
Excerpt: Nigerian officials say 908 Muslim women pilgrims traveling to Mecca face deportation from Saudi Arabia for traveling without male relatives. (Remember, Progressives, “All cultures are equally valid.” Perhaps those that keep uppity women in their place are a bit more valid? ~Bob.)
Excerpt: A popular northern California morning radio team was abruptly suspended Tuesday, after calling on their listeners to make cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed to teach Muslims a lesson about American-styled free speech. (Guess they got a lesson in “Free Speech.” “Piss Christ” still fine with liberals, though. ~Bob.)
Household income down 8.2 percent since Obama took office, study shows
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/26/household-income-down-82-percent-since-obama-took-office-study-shows/#ixzz27bnKKHa5
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/26/household-income-down-82-percent-since-obama-took-office-study-shows/#ixzz27bnKKHa5
Excerpt: Data compiled by Sentier Research
Maciver: Military Voters In Wisconsin Told To Submit Ballots A Week After Deadline
Excerpt: The Federal Voting Assistance Program website published an incorrect deadline for the return of returning military ballots in Wisconsin. Had this error not been corrected, thousands of Wisconsin servicemen and women could have been disenfranchised in this key swing state this November.
The slow death of Obama’s high speed rail continues. By Conn Carroll
Excerpt: This July we confidently predicted that California Gov. Jerry Brown’s decision not to exempt President Obama’s high-speed rail plan from the California Environmental Quality Act marked the beginning of the project’s slow demise.
Jon Stewart mocks Obama for going on The View instead of meeting world leaders
Really? Tweet from Joseph Weisenthal @TheStalwart
Oil & gas now worst performing part of the market. Tech only 3rd worst. (Can’t be true. Everyone knows the evil oil companies are getting rich off us. Why, they make 7 cents a gallon on gas, while government only collects 50 cents or a little more in taxes. Never mind that everyone has energy stocks in their pension funds or 401K mutual funds. ~Bob.)
55 percent of small business owners would not start company today, blame Obama
Excerpt: Fifty-five percent of small business owners and manufacturers would not have started their businesses in today’s economy, according to a new poll that also reports 69 percent say President Obama’s regulatory policies have hurt their businesses. (Gee, I wonder why there is high unemployment and no job growth? ~Bob.)
Fed Funding Virtually the Entire Deficit: Lindsey
Excerpt: The latest round of extraordinary Federal Reserve stimulus is risky and leaves little room to maneuver should another crisis hit, economist Lawrence Lindsey told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday. Lindsey said that with the Fed purchasing at least $40 billion a month in mortgage debt through QE3, "they are buying the entire deficit." (Wish I could print $95k, buy my mortgage and be debt-free. ~Bob.)
More Proof of the Fruit of COIN Madness!
Excerpt: This is another important piece chronicling the perverse nature of an ill-advised battle strategy chosen by a mindless body politic and their morally defunct General Grade surrogates. If the strategy (COIN) was such a magnificent contrivance, there would be no discussion about progress; it would in fact be self-evident.
Bombshell Report: US Knew Benghazi Raid Was a Terrorist Attack Within 24 Hours. By Guy Benson
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2012/09/26/bombshell_report_us_knew_benghazi_raid_was_a_terrorist_attack_within_24_hours
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2012/09/26/bombshell_report_us_knew_benghazi_raid_was_a_terrorist_attack_within_24_hours
Excerpt: For a full week following the deadly ambush at the US consulate in Benghazi, the Obama administration told the American public that the incident was triggered by a "spontaneous protest" over an anti-Islam video that spun out of hand. They've equivocated over recent days, as the himself president has begun to hedge -- finally allowing that other forces may have had a hand in the destruction. Today, national security correspondent Eli Lake has a bombshell exclusive in Newsweek/The Daily Beast that destroys the administration's official story and points to an intentional cover-up:
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Just got the news today: I survived the Bush recession, but not the Obama recovery. Tomorrow is my last day at this job of 10+ years. Now I'll have time to work in the local Romney campaign.
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