Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for November 13, 2012

Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for November 13, 2012

Robert A. Hall

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.

Conspiracy Theories

I’d be careful about joining a lot of the conspiracy theories I get sent. They make conservatives look silly when they don’t pan out, and waste effort. Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t follow them, and review any real evidence. Just approach with skepticism. ~Bob

Letter to the Chicago Tribune

I just fought my way through your user-hostile voice mail system and cancelled my subscription. If you can endorse the Obama economy, you can live in it without my dollars. A fiscal collapse is coming. The only satisfaction is that because papers like the Tribune, New York Times and Boston Globe have become agenda-driven propagandists for Progressivism, I think you are likely to be out of business before the 2016 election, as public trust in the “independent” media is declining rapidly. --Robert A. Hall (I then subscribed to the Daily Herald, the Chicago area’s second largest paper, which endorsed Romney. ~Bob.)

Worth Reading: Atop the Petraeus Flagpole. By Andy Weddington

http://acoloneloftruth.blogspot.com/2012/11/atop-petraeus-flagpole.html

Excerpt: There's a saying in the military that goes along the lines of 'the further from the flagpole the better.' Meaning, simply, the more removed from the flag officer (admiral or general) in command the less hectic daily operations. Life is simpler, out of sight out of mind. Then there's the opposing thought that the closer to and higher one climbs the flagpole the more the derriere shines. Never mind that flagpoles are slipperier than slippery slopes.

Worth Reading: The permanent sunset of the Republican Party is begun. By Donald Sensing

http://senseofevents.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-permanent-sunset-of-republican.html

Excerpt: The short answer: the 2012 election forms a Rubicon that, now having been crossed, this country will never cross back. Forget all the pundit talk (like Ed Rollins this morning on Fox) that elections go through cycles and this one was just another example. Forget the mid-terms of 2010. Forget the Tea party; it's finished forever. The basic, fundamental nature and character of the American electorate has changed, and will not be changed back. … The fastest-growing women's demographic is unmarried women and right behind them, unmarried women with children. This is a permanent demographic shift. Today, 40 percent of all childbirths are to unmarried women. At least half of single mothers live in poverty and they will never vote for Scrooge over Santa Claus.

Worth Reading: The Fiscal Cliff: A Primer

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=22564&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD

Excerpt: With almost no time to celebrate his reelection, President Obama must quickly come to an agreement with lawmakers on the "fiscal cliff," a combination of spending cuts and tax increases that pose a threat to the fragile economic recovery, says the Tax Foundation. … The federal government is borrowing an average of $2.7 billion a day. As a result, the debt is expected to approach the ceiling by the end of 2012, possibly as late as February 2013.

What the 'fiscal cliff' means for you
http://www.omaha.com/article/20121111/NEWS/711119961

"That's shorthand for a list of federal tax increases and budget cuts set to take effect at the first of the year because of previous actions by Congress and President Barack Obama." (I particularly enjoy that the author calls out the President by name. He has no one to blame anymore. –LS)

Free PDF of ‘Rules For Conservative Radicals’!

http://patriotupdate.com/free-pdf-of-rules-for-conservative-radicals

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.

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2011/03/resources-for-opinion-leaders-who.html

Most negative campaign in history

The Week news magazine (which I like as it has no agenda I can detect) reports that the 2012 Presidential Campaign was the most negative in history, With 86% of Obama’s and 79% of Romney’s TV ads being negative. In 2008, an average of both campaigns was 68%. So much for civility in politics. ~Bob.

Report: Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. nearing plea deal, jail time [VIDEO]
http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/10/report-rep-jesse-jackson-jr-nearing-plea-deal-jail-time-video/#ixzz2C1xSVocf

Excerpt: Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s 17-year career in Congress is coming to an end, and he will likely spend some time in jail as a result of a plea bargain, according to WBBM-TV2, Chicago’s CBS News affiliate.

Obama Admin Rolling Out 68 New Regulations Per Day – 6,125 in 90 days

http://visiontoamerica.com/12884/obama-admin-rolling-out-68-new-regulations-per-day-6125-in-90-days/

Excerpt: It’s Friday morning, and so far today, the Obama administration has posted 165 new regulations and notifications on its reguations.gov website. In the past 90 days, it has posted 6,125 regulations and notices – an average of 68 a day. (Any business that can will move more jobs overseas now to escape the anti-business results of November 6. ~Bob.)

For my liberal legislative colleague

I see you are still featuring pieces accusing the Democrats of stealing the election. Honestly, after Nixon used back channels to delay the Paris peace talks in 1968 and Reagan delayed hostage release in 1980 and Bush stole the election in Florida in 2000 and Diebolted it in Ohio in 2004 and the Republicans made massive attempts at voter suppression this year before they were slapped down by the courts, you would think your party would at least take defeat like men. The GOP now stands for Grumpy Old Paranoids. –PLM (He should see the stuff I don’t include! To be clear, while I think there was a lot of fraud, which Democrats support because it has always helped them since Tammany Hall days, I don’t personally think it changed the election. Nor do I think a different candidate would have changed the election. America now has a permanent majority determined to loot future generations to pay for current benefits. ~Bob.)

Blog Comment

When the American economy crashes, so will the world economy. More significantly, with the US military unable to provide global stability, conflict will flare around the world. I won't call it a world war, because I don't see anyone with the wherewithal to send occupation troops half way around the world, as the Allies did in WWII. Maybe the term should be a "World at War," before we collapse into a new dark age. –Tom H.

Israel Flying Aid Gives Food, Generators, Gas To Hurricane Sandy New York, New Jersey Victims

http://israelnewsagency.com/israelflyingaidhurricanesandyhartfordconnecticutjewishvolunteersifadisasterrelieffemapoliceredcrossnewyorkjerseylongislandkahanaleyden48110412.html

Excerpt: Israel Flying Aid, the Israeli global humanitarian organization which was first to land in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake, has been distributing large supplies of gas to hospitals, food, batteries and generators to Hurricane Sandy victims. (Interesting that our states are getting highly professional help from Israel after the hurricane damage, and I haven't seen anything about it in the mainstream media. It's a strange thing in a way for giant USA to be getting emergency aid from tiny Israel. But I'm sure the people receiving the aid don't care about that at all. --Del)

Why Growth Is the Environment’s Best Friend. By Kenneth P. Green

http://www.american.com/archive/2012/november/why-growth-is-the-environments-best-friend

Excerpt: Most people know that energy production causes considerable environmental damage. And indeed, energy production, distribution, and use are responsible for much of the damage that humanity inflicts on the environment. Globally, energy production generates prodigious amounts of air pollution, water pollution, habitat destruction, landscape destruction, wildlife mortality, and much more. But what people are often confused about is the nature of the relationship between energy use and environmental damage over time.

Quotes

Men freely believe that which they desire. --Julius Caesar

It is a wise man who said that there is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals. –Felix Frankfurter

Worth Reading: Down from Olympus. By Victor Davis Hanson

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/333145/down-olympus-victor-davis-hanson#

Excerpt: But for now, the explanation of Petraeus’s resignation unfortunately raises more questions than it answers, in a number of significant ways:

333,000 Votes in 4 Swing States Would Have Given Romney The Presidency

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/11/11/333-000-Votes-in-4-Swing-States-Would-Have-Given-Romney-the-Presidency/

Excerpt: Despite losing the popular vote 51% to 48%--not a landslide for Obama by any means, but on the other hand not the “neck and neck” outcome many predicted--Mitt Romney would be President today if he had secured 333,908 more votes in four key swing states.

Mistresses give great headlines

http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/11/the-best-petraeus-broadwell-puns-and-headlines-a-collection-photos/

Excerpt: Hell hath no fury like a mistress scorned. So seriously, you guys, stop having affairs. If you are a fictional character in a popular 1987 film starring Glenn Close, then your mistress will boil your child’s bunny rabbit and then you’ll have to kill her in your own bathtub. Nobody wants that.

White House website deluged with secession petitions from 20 states
http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/11/white-house-website-deluged-with-secession-petitions-from-19-states/#ixzz2C1pF1fsO

Excerpt: His entire petition consisted of excerpts from the Declaration of Independence. “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” one portion read, “that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and institute new Government.” (Wasted effort. Like the birthers—you saw as I predicted that zero came of that except wasted energy. Zero will come of this as well. ~Bob.)

Is This Real Reason For CIA Chief’s Resignation? Alleged gun running to jihadists could dwarf ‘Fast and Furious’ scandal. By Aaron Klein

http://kleinonline.wnd.com/2012/11/10/is-this-real-reason-for-cia-chiefs-resignation-alleged-gun-running-to-jihadists-could-dwarf-fast-and-furious-scandal/

Excerpt: Perhaps being overlooked is the CIA’s possible role in purportedly using the Benghazi mission to coordinate U.S. aid to opposition insurgent groups acting in Syria amid information those same insurgents consist in significant part of jihadists, including groups openly acting under the al-Qaida umbrella.

African leaders agree to send troops to north Mali

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvCSBBxbrQ4nDEmSAVXulwOadyrA?docId=aaa98c8e731049698d880f75fc12b6f2

Excerpt: West African nations on Sunday agreed to send some 3,000 troops to help the country of Mali wrest back control of its northern half, which was seized by al-Qaida-linked fighters more than six months ago, according to an official involved in the discussions, and a statement read on Nigerian state television.

Gunmen kill Guinea official

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jMitOuBOKzhZ93T_sySw9YxcCZyA?docId=CNG.5ac0e7ebd7fa33d990e1e00a637fc404.951

Excerpt: Gunmen have shot dead the head of Guinea's public treasury, who had recently uncovered a plot to embezzle state funds, the government and relatives said Saturday. Aissatou Boiro, 58, was gunned down in Conakry late Friday by "a man wearing a Guinean army uniform", a relative told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Kenya police attack in Samburu: More bodies found

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20294747

Excerpt: At least 42 officers were killed when cattle rustlers ambushed police, officials say, after more bodies were found on Monday. The attackers used sophisticated weapons such as anti-personnel bombs and rocket-propelled grenades, one local official said. (Pretty well-armed “rustlers.” ~Bob.)

The Children Devour the Revolution: A rare inside look at what one of China's most influential generals really fears most. By John Garnaut

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/11/09/the_children_devour_the_revolution

Excerpt: In an extraordinary closed door speech in February, notes of which Foreign Policy has seen, Liu cautioned that Saif exposed himself to the flattery, privilege, and ideological brainwashing of the "Western hostile forces" -amorphous enemies of Chinese communism. And he returned to Libya with ideas of liberty and democracy, which fatally softened the ideological defenses of his once-defiant father, Liu said, leading to his bloody demise. It is exactly this kind of Fifth Column that Liu fears could kill China from the inside.

Casualties of History: The thing we shouldn't forget about the origins of Veterans Day. By John Arquilla

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/11/09/casualties_of_history

Excerpt: But despite the seemingly endless parade of wars waged and fresh conflicts looming just beyond the bloody horizon, World War I still stands out for its sheer horror. Over ten million soldiers died, and more than twice that number were wounded.

Allen West Wins Congressional Race: Report

http://www.therightperspective.org/2012/11/10/allen-west-win-congressional-race-report/

Needs confirmation. Good news if true. ~Bob. Excerpt: Florida congressman Allen West has won his re-election bid by a narrow enough margin to prompt a full recount, according to sources within the Republican’s ranks. “Boots on the ground update from the Allen West election count via Gary Angelo Galiano: ‘We win by 195,’” Congressman West supporter Gary Angelo Galiano posted on his Facebook account early Saturday morning.

More Muslims who didn’t get the “Islam is a Religion of Peace” Memo. ~Bob:

Jury convicts Toronto man who slashed throat, stabbed wife

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/11/11/toronto-khairi-trial-verdict.html?cmp=rss

Excerpt: The Crown argued that Khairi was angry with his wife and children for adopting more Western values after coming to Canada from Afghanistan.

Italy: Muslim Father Kills Children After His Wife Refuses To Wear Islamic Veil And Threatens To Leave

https://midnightwatcher.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/italy-muslim-father-kills-children-after-his-wife-refuses-to-wear-islamic-veil-and-threatens-to-leave/

Excerpt: “It seems that he no longer supported the habits of his wife including the fact that she had decided to no longer wear the veil as dictated by the tradition of the women if their country. This is the explanation given by the Corriere Della Sera. Their country of course is Morocco, whom originates Mustafa Hajjaji, 44 Years old and his wife, ten years his junior.

Bodies of Four Women Stoned to Death Show Marks of Torture

http://www.mohabatnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5688:bodies-of-four-women-stoned-to-death-show-marks-of-torture&catid=35:inside-iran&Itemid=278

Excerpt: Bodies of four women stoned to death for adultery in Iran carry marks of torture on them. It is believed that these scares are evidences of torture before stoning.

Israel border town residents live 'routine of rockets'

http://www.france24.com/en/20121111-israel-border-town-residents-live-routine-rockets?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Excerpt: "I'm used to the fire, but this morning when I had to lie on top of my seven-year-old daughter to protect her during an alert, I felt fear and I can't take a little girl trembling on her way to school," he added.

Brother says parents' anti-Semitism, hate helped radicalize French gunman who killed 7
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/11/brother-says-parents-anti-semitism-hate-helped-radicalize-french-gunman-who/#ixzz2C25kdAQN

Excerpt: "My mother always said, 'We, the Arabs, we were born to hate Jews.' This speech, I heard it all throughout my childhood," Abdelghani says in the documentary, according to the RTL.be website.

Ethiopian woman tells of sex slavery in Saudi Arabia

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/11/ethiopian-woman-tells-of-sex-slavery-in-saudi-arabia.html

Excerpt: The Qur’an forbids Muslim men to have sexual relations with “wedded women, save what your right hands own.” (4:4) “Prosperous are the believers who in their prayers are humble and from idle talk turn away and at almsgiving are active and guard their private parts save from their wives and what their right hands own then being not blameworthy.” (23:1-6)

Egypt’s Christians fear ‘a season of blood’

http://triblive.com/home/2934595-74/christians-christian-egypt-rushdy-copts-muslims-brother-cairo-coptic-salafis#axzz2ButtyNM0

Excerpt: Such attacks — like crime in general — have risen in number and intensity since last year’s ouster of dictator Hosni Mubarak. Christian churches, homes and shops have been looted or torched; Christians have been forced to flee some villages. The situation seems to contradict President Obama’s assertion in the Oct. 22 presidential debate that Egyptian officials must “take responsibility for protecting religious minorities, and we have put significant pressure on them to make sure they’re doing that.”

"The love for Prophet Muhammad in my heart moves me to place the bounty on the blasphemer's head"

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/11/the-love-for-prophet-muhammad-in-my-heart-moves-me-to-place-the-bounty-on-the-blasphemers-head.html

Excerpt: Why is Ghulam Ahmed Bilour still Pakistan's federal minister for railways after publicly calling upon the Taliban and al-Qaeda to commit murder, and saying he would commit murder himself? Aren't we always told that the Taliban and al-Qaeda represent a tiny minority of extremists who are abhorred by the vast majority of peaceful Muslims? So why would a government official who expressed any kind of support for or willingness to ally with those extremists be allowed to continue in office?

Here endeth the lesson on Islamic tolerance and peace. ~Bob

CONFIRMED: US Was Holding Prisoners at Benghazi Annex (Video)

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/11/fox-news-confirms-us-was-holding-prisoners-at-benghazi-annex-video/

Excerpt: Jennifer Griffin at FOX News today confirmed that the US was holding prisoners at the Benghazi annex near the consulate compound. US agents handed three prisoners over to Libyan authorities on their way out of the city on September 12. The prisoners may have been held in the compound for several days.

PETA attacks Thanksgiving tradition of eating turkey

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/archives/sunnews/world/2012/11/20121110-100607.html

Excerpt: Millions of Americans are expected to dig into turkey on Thanksgiving Day, but People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) feels it has a better idea about what to stick in the roasted bird on Nov. 22. (Next up: swatting flies, killing lice. ~Bob.)

ABC Nightline - IDEO Shopping Cart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M66ZU2PCIcM

Interesting video on how innovation happens at this invention company.

I remember, I remember The British Broadcasting Corporation by Frances John
http://losangelescitycollege.blogspot.com/2012/11/i-remember-i-remember-british.html
Excerpt: But no matter how many people insist that I must have done so, I DO NOT REMEMBER signing The Official Secrets Act that required that I never ever discuss for the rest of my life anything at all that happened inside the BBC. I am old now, I admit, I make no secret of the fact I am 66 years old. People start to get things mixed up when they get old. My memory is not what it was. But if I had signed such a thing, if that had really happened, wouldn't I remember that? Wouldn't you?