Old Jarhead's Political
SitRep for November 19, 2012
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.
Switching Majors
My wife was at the dentist Friday. Her hygienist said her
daughter, who has started pre-med, called home and said the kids had been
talking. She has decided to switch from medicine to engineers, because with
Obama's reelection and thus ObamaCare becoming permanent, she doesn't think
medicine is going to offer good opportunities in the future.
Then on Saturday, I met a businessman from Spain . He's on
assignment here for a few years, has two more to go. When he found out I work
in healthcare, he shook his head. "You Americans are crazy. You have the
best healthcare system in the world, and you want to make it like ours. "Yes,"
I said, "No American politician or celebrity ever goes to Canada or Britain to get treatment for
cancer." "Exactly!"
That's the future. Universal coverage, but very long waits
to see a doctor.
Worth Reading
Excerpt: The only
other remarkable moment came when the president, surprisingly, stuck his neck
out to defend the honor and work of U. S.
Responses to my
Petraeus Comment
You question the wisdom of an ex-general
serving President Obama. I suppose your prime example of a
distinguished general later serving in a Republican administration is
Colin Powell. I seem to remember he was forced to tow the White House line
contrary to his own good judgment on Iraq , and paid a stiff price with
his reputation. --PLM
Liked coddled athletes, when all is given to you, and you
are in an historically-protected class, that is your expectation. What people
like this general never understand are (in order): culture shift, politics and
turf, vulnerability-to-the-rulers (whomsoever they may be), expedience, and
finally, the "necessity" for a sacrificial lamb (just ask Oliver
North). --DG
I thought the same exact thing about Petraeus. His first
mistake was “getting into bed” with the Obama Administration. Perhaps he should
have read up on Saul Alinsky, Cloward and Piven, German History and Socialism
before he agreed to “join” them. Obama has to destroy the military and the
American peoples' trust of them. I believe Michael has been right on from the
get go about Obama. So it has to be part of his plan. --GS
Excerpt: Iran
may be capable of doubling the number of centrifuges dedicated to enriching
uranium within days. This was reported by one of three diplomats from the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in conjunction with the issuance of the latest IAEA
Iranian Safeguards report issued Friday.
Excerpt: Two days ago, Nigerian security forces claimed to
have killed a top Boko Haram militant commander and
six of his "lieutenants" in the northeastern city of Maiduguri . Ibn Saleh Ibrahim, a lead suspect
in last month's assassination of retired war hero General at his Gwange
residence, was reportedly killed along with six of his associates during a
fierce clash with the Nigerian Joint Task Force (JTF) and State Security
Services (SSS). Boko Haram has not yet commented on whether Ibn Saleh Ibrahim
has been killed.
Obama Effort to strip
constitutional gun rights may start American Civil War
http://freedomoutpost.com/2012/11/obama-effort-to-strip-constitutional-gun-rights-may-start-american-civil-war/
Excerpt: Are you ready to wake up in anAmerica where
your family is defenseless against enemies foreign or domestic? This reality is
right around the corner. A day after his reelection, Barack Obama signaled the United Nations that he is ready
to sign an Arms Treaty to strip you of your U.S. Second Amendment
Constitutional right to bear arms.
http://freedomoutpost.com/2012/11/obama-effort-to-strip-constitutional-gun-rights-may-start-american-civil-war/
Excerpt: Are you ready to wake up in an
Conservatives Launch
Papa John’s Appreciation Day
Excerpt: Only the left would react to a business going under
by boycotting it. But that’s precisely what the left has tried with Papa
John’s, the pizza company whose CEO had the temerity to state that Obamacare
costs would necessarily be borne by employees and consumers. The left believes
that companies that fire or cut back after President Obama’s re-election are
somehow unpatriotic; the facts are that such companies are worried, rightly,
about Obama’s treatment of businesses, and with the impact of Obamacare.
Gardener Fights
Against Agenda 21 and Wins
Excerpt: Recently, there was
an article on Political Outcast about a man named Jason
Helvingston in Orlando , Florida
Smugglers apprehended
trying to bring 35 missiles from Libya
to Egypt
Excerpt: Border guards foiled an attempt to smuggle 35
missiles coming from Libya on
Friday. Armed Forces spokesperson Ahmed Mohamed Ali said on his Facebook
account that after intelligence services received information that individuals
would attempt to smuggle weapons across the Libya-Egypt border, then Egypt set up
the necessary ambushes and patrols to detain them.
Excerpt: Fifty children aged four to six years old and the
driver of the school bus they were on were killed when their vehicle was hit by
a train in central Egypt
on Saturday, officials said.
The Decline and Fall
of the American Empire
Excerpt: The most charitable way of explaining the election
results of 2012 is that Americans voted for the status quo – for the
incumbent President and for a divided Congress. They must enjoy gridlock,
partisanship, incompetence, economic stagnation and avoidance of
responsibility. And fewer people voted. As I write, with almost all the votes
counted, President Obama has won fewer votes than John McCain won in 2008, and
more than ten million off his own 2008 total. (This article will make you
ponder about the future of this Nation and your children and
grandchildren. --GBH)
Excerpt: The state of California
has one of the largest deficits of any state in the union. They also have one
of the highest tax rates of any state in the union. Yet it seems that the more
they raise taxes the bigger their deficit grows and this is exactly the same
plan that Barack Obama has for America .
Manhandling Hostess,
Big Labor Costs 18,500 Workers Their Jobs
Excerpt: : Union intransigence and unrealistic
expectations at Hostess Brands have forced the bakery to shut its doors
permanently and throw 18,500 people out of work. So much for Big Labor caring
about the little guy. A down economy and two restructurings in three years left
Hostess, maker of Twinkies and Sno Balls, in dire fiscal straits. The company
warned its workers, union and nonunion, to make concessions or everyone would
go down in a liquidation. (While there is no question that unions are needed
and a very legitimate avenue for workers to represent their interests, any
group holding power can abuse that power. And some unions do so because of
being corrupt, while others do so out of blind, stubborn stupidity. The bakers'
union is the clearest example of that to come along in a long time. I never
liked Twinkies, but I'll miss their orange flavored cupcakes. And those 18,500
workers will miss a great deal more than snack foods. --Del )
Why France could become the biggest danger to Europe 's single currency
Excerpt: THE threat of the euro's collapse has abated for
the moment, but putting the single currency right
will involve years of pain. The pressure for reform and budget cuts is fiercest
in Greece , Portugal , Spain
and Italy ,
which all saw mass strikes and clashes with police this week (see article).
But ahead looms a bigger problem that could dwarf any of these: France . The
country has always been at the heart of the euro, as of the European
Union.
House GOP: Obama
officials using secret emails to avoid oversight
Excerpt: The House science committee is demanding the White
House explain why top administration officials are using secret e-mail accounts and
other techniques to conceal their taxpayer-paid activities from public
oversight.
Bam's Benghazi
Excerpt: We don’t have all the details of former CIA
Director David Petraeus’ testimony to congressional Intelligence Committees
yesterday, but it looks like the American people were grossly misled about the Benghazi attack. Is
anyone surprised? You shouldn’t be. The last thing the Obama administration
wanted to tell the American public during a tight presidential campaign was that
al Qaeda had attacked a US
consulate on the 11th anniversary of 9/11, killing four brave Americans.
DHS Hides Records of
Failed $1 Bil System from Congress
Excerpt: In an apparent effort to cover up a potential
scandal, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has for months refused to
provide congressional leaders with records related to a failed program that was
quietly nixed after the agency blew $1 billion on it.
Excerpt: Even as Israel
boasted impressive military gains against Hamas in Gaza , it struggled yesterday to maintain the
original, limited goals of its operation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s
Cabinet approved the mobilization of 75,000 reservists — enough for a major
land invasion of Gaza .
But that was mostly a signal to Hamas that much pain awaits Gazans if their
leaders keep firing rockets at Israel .
The Unseen Hand Behind Hamas's Clash With Israel : The terror group targets Tel Aviv and Jerusalem with long-range missiles shipped in from Iran
Excerpt: One of the more chilling yet routine phrases used
to describe the fighting between Israel and Hamas in recent days is
"the current round." As in: "We don't expect many more missiles
to hit Tel Aviv during the current round." The term treats warfare like a
hurricane—randomly arriving, taking its toll, then departing, but leaving
behind the expectation that something similar will return another day.
Excerpt: While we are not at the point yet for the federal
government to declare bankruptcy, you may rest assured that that day is coming,
because the same forces that are driving Detroit
to bankruptcy are driving the US
as well. There are fewer people building things and more people demanding
things they didn’t build.
Administration
Defends Obama Trips To Tyrannical Regimes
Barack Obama’s peaceful overtures to the repressive Islamist
world have proved so successful in breeding a kinder,
gentler world that he’s taking that same act on the road – to Asia . Obama
is scheduled to visit the countries of Burma and Cambodia next
week, two countries where human rights are routinely violated. Both countries
are known for corruption and sex trafficking.
Excerpt: As the conflict between Israel
and the Palestinian Hamas faction is escalating and rockets are hitting Tel
Aviv and Jerusalem , Iran Jerusalem
also came under rocket fire from Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
MCHF Awards Program
I’m writing to ask your support in getting the word out for
the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation’s Awards Program. We are accepting
submissions until January 7, 2013. Thank you for sharing the following link
with your community to encourage their submissions: http://www.marineheritage.org/awards.asp
Donations not
accepted by American Red Cross in New
York
Excerpt: In her usual pattern, Leominster ' s own Ginny White had to get
involved in helping families that lost everything in the wake of Hurricane
Sandy, so she loaded up a rented truck, and packed it full of relief supplies.
With help from local Emergency Management, and firefighters, her truck was
filled to the brim, and White left to make the long drive to help. .... "She
looked at me and said ,"we don't take this stuff, putting her hand up in
the air, and walked away," Ginny said.
Excerpt:
[T]he Fajr-5 rocket [was built] by Iran — possibly with Russian and Chinese help —
the rockets were first shipped through Syria to the Hezbollah militant group in 2002.
Today, an unknown number are now in the hands of Hamas. (…) The rocket is
liquid-fueled, has an estimated 45 mile range, and is fired from a mobile
launcher. And while it’s more powerful than anything Hamas had before, it’s
still unguided and not particularly accurate — the rocket could land anywhere
within a one-kilometer radius of its target. (This view from the left is
instructive (especially notice the chart showing that Jerusalem
is within range of rockets fired from Gaza Israel
shouldn’t be condemned for defending itself, he proceeds to proclaim a pox on
both their houses since the only real way to defend Israel Israel
Obama “Urges” Israel To Stop Any Planned Ground Invasion
Of Gaza
Excerpt: Israel understands
this better than anyone. Calling up 75,000 reserves shows the world that they are prepared to go to war, on two fronts, if need
be. The last war with Hamas they only called up 10,000. You think they understand how different
the landscape is now thanks to Obama?
Horrors Of Fema
Disaster Relief: Exclusive: Chuck Norris applauds private efforts to help
Hurricane Sandy
Right now, homeless Americans are literally freezing,
wrapped in blankets and trash bags as they struggle to survive
in FEMA tent cities such as New Jersey ’s “Camp Freedom,” which reportedly “resembles a prison camp.” “Sitting
there last night you could see your breath,” displaced resident Brian Sotelo
told the Asbury Park Press. “At (Pine Belt) the Red Cross made an announcement
that they were sending us to permanent structures up here that had just been
redone, that had washing machines and hot showers and steady electric, and they
sent us to tent city."
Militant Muslims Cutting Out Tongues. By Raymond Ibrahim
Excerpt: A professor of Islamic exegesis at Cairo's
preeminent Islamic university, Al Ahzar, Dr. Abdullah Badr,
recently proclaimed on Egyptian television that a new day has arrived:
apparently from now on, there will be absolutely no more toleration for anyone
who speaks against Islam—including people who speak against the
implementation of Sharia law and its seventh century punishments.
Excerpt: On Oct. 31, the Taliban-produced Voice of Jihad
website (http://shahamat-english.com/)
posted a 35-minute-long video chronicling a "coordinated attack against 6
enemy outposts in one day," which the Taliban claimed had occurred in the
hotly contested district of Kamdesh in Nuristan province. Portions of the video
were previously released on related insurgent websites on Oct. 19.
Excerpt: How are those airport grope downs, naked body
scanners, thefts and humiliation working out for ya at your local airport?
Well, now you can not only feel safer when you fly, but you have the comfort of
knowing that those “security professionals” of the Transportation Security
Administration are federalized, but now they are also unionized.
What Will U.S. Iran Admits It Is Behind Rocket Attacks on Israel
http://godfatherpolitics.com/8142/what-will-u-s-do-as-iran-admits-it-is-behind-rocket-attacks-on-israel/
Excerpt:Israel
http://godfatherpolitics.com/8142/what-will-u-s-do-as-iran-admits-it-is-behind-rocket-attacks-on-israel/
Excerpt:
Red Flag Over the Atlantic
Excerpt: Terceira, however, has one big attraction for Beijing : Air Base No. 4.
Better known as Lajes Field, the facility where Premier Wen’s 747 landed in
June is jointly operated by the U.S. Air Force and its Portuguese counterpart.
If China controlled the
base, the Atlantic would no longer be
secure.
Excerpt: German politicians from Angela Merkel’s governing
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its sister Christian Social Union (CSU)
told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that they are willing to accept
Christian Syrians fleeing the violence in their country, in comments due to be
published on Sunday. (Many thanks to Julio for this tip. I mentioned yesterday
that I had heard a leader of a German party state on Deutsche Welle that
Christian Syrians would fit in well in Germany and that this represented a
sea change. And then there was that remark by Merkel that Christians are the
most persecuted minority. Good signals. The down side? This could signal that
German is prepared to intervene militarily in Syria . --Don)
Quote
It is hard to feel individually responsible with respect to
the invisible processes of a huge and distant government. --John W. Gardner
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