Sunday, December 2, 2012

Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for December 3, 2012


Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for December 3, 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.

Excerpt: Ever watch one of those chase scenes in a cartoon where the one in the lead heads over the cliff and lands in a devastating crash at the bottom -- only to find whatever he was carrying (adding insult to injury) comes tumbling down on top of him? Well, that's us. (Nothing stays the same, of course, but I think America as the land that offered maximum freedom, maximum opportunity for those willing to work for it, and maximum prosperity for the great mass of people is gone forever, lost in statist, Keynesian utopian fantasies that will lead to hardship, privation and bloodshed. ~Bob.)

Cliff Dwellers. By Clarice Feldman
Excerpt: We, unfortunately, are getting used to living at the edge of a steep cliff, going about our everyday business pretending the fatal drop to the abyss doesn't exist. Culturally, one needn't be what's called a "social conservative" to be appalled at excesses in Europe where Zurich is creating outdoor booths to facilitate prostitution and Germany has many "erotic zoos" where patrons pay for the right to engage in bestiality with the penned-in farm animals.

Excerpt: The fighting at the main gate lasted for nearly two hours before the Taliban were finally defeated. Nine Taliban fighters, three Afghan security guards, and four civilians were killed in the attack, according to The New York Times. 

Obama admin: By the way, we’re going to need insurers to pay to use our exchanges. By Erika Johnsen
Excerpt: I thought ObamaCare was going to be so awesomely efficient and innovative, and know how to accomplish things so much better than the free market, that all of the associated health care costs were going to go down, insurance was going to get more affordable, and none of this was going to have any adverse effects on the middle class, or something? Via the NYT: The Obama administration said Friday that it would charge insurance companies for the privilege of selling health insurance to millions of Americans in new online markets run by the federal government.

Excerpt: Europe is not just heading into another recession. The truth is that Europe is heading into a full-blown depression. The economy of the EU is actually larger than the U.S. economy, and we are watching it melt down right in front of our eyes. Things just continue to get worse in Europe, and yet somehow the authorities over in Europe just keep insisting that everything is going to be “just fine”. 

Bankrupt Calif. town’s city attorney warns of public safety cuts: ‘Lock your doors and load your guns’
http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/02/bankrupt-california-city-attorney-warns-of-public-safety-cuts-lock-your-doors-and-load-your-guns/#ixzz2Dvfw2fmt
Excerpt: San Bernardino is so bankrupt that the city’s attorney is advising residents to “lock your doors and load your guns,” in the face of budgetary cuts that have downsized the police force by 80 officers. City Attorney Jim Penman made his comments to about 150 residents at a council meeting assembled to address the uptick in crime, including the recent murder of an elderly woman. Since 2011, the California city has seen a 50 percent increase in murders.

Feds use Facebook ‘Likes’ in terrorism case against al-Qaida suspects
http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/02/feds-use-facebook-likes-in-terrorism-case/#ixzz2Dvf1JaLl
Excerpt: “Earlier this month, the FBI’s Los Angeles field office revealed it had charged four men over alleged involvement in an al-Qaida-inspired terror cell based in and around California,” Slate reported Thursday. “One part of the complaint, headed ‘DEFENDANTS’ SOCIAL MEDIA,’ lists Islamist content the men had ‘liked,’ ‘shared,’ commented on or posted on their Facebook pages,” said Slate. The use of digital information by law enforcement — such as social networking, email and cellphone communications — has become an area of growing concern for digital privacy advocates fearing the erosion of civil liberties.

Hillary Clinton: Israel has ‘lack of generosity … lack of empathy’ for Palestinians
http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/02/hillary-clinton-israel-has-lack-of-generosity-lack-of-empathy-for-palestinians/#ixzz2DvdxJm00
Excerpt: Speaking at a forumat the Saban Center for Middle East Policy in Washington on Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Israel is suspicious of Palestinians and doesn’t care enough about their plight. “I’m not making excuses for the missed opportunities of the Israelis, or the lack of generosity, the lack of empathy that I think goes hand-in-hand with the suspicion,” Clinton said, after praising the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for working with her in 2009 to offer a moratorium on building new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. (A wounded Arab terrorist who falls into Israeli hands will be treated at a hospital. A wounded Jew who falls into Arab terrorist hands will have his throat cut--along with his wife and children, if they can get to them. And she dares talk about the Jews lack of empathy? I could throw up, but I'm so used to this stuff from the left. ~Bob.)

Report: New Activity at Syrian Chemical Weapon Sites. By Chana Ya'ar
Excerpt: Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has said repeatedly that he will not allow an existential risk to the Jewish State. …One major concern is the possibility that part of the Syrian arsenal may be transferred to Lebanon. "Could you imagine Hizbullah – the people are conducting with Iran all these terror attacks around the world – could you imagine them having chemical weapons?” he asked the interviewer. "It would be like Al Qaeda having chemical weapons,” he continued. 

Comments from blog readers
I was at a function last night and was speaking with an old friend who is an oral surgeon. Two other folks, who are physicians, joined in the discussion. All have noticed a spike in folks who have been “sponsored” by their resident alien family members to enter Massachusetts from a foreign country, proceed to wherever you sign up for Mass Health, get their card and then proceed to whatever health care provider to have their medical/dental needs seen to compliments of the taxpayers of Massachusetts. These guys stated that the numbers are now shooting through the ceiling and they are pissed because they know they are paying the tab. One health care provider was complaining that he had to work six days this week to cover his increasing expenses and diminishing reimbursement. Another, who has been a citizen for about eighteen years after emigrating from a European country, (read Iron Curtain) is looking around for another country to emigrate to again because he sees the handwriting on the wall and fears another Communist type takeover and the consequential collapse of a society that progresses via freedom/innovation and capitalism. He quipped though that he is well acquainted with surviving in a Black Market “cash/barter” underground economy. But this is what 51 % of the ignorant in this country wanted. At some point they are going to choke on it, or more accurately, we the 47% who pay taxes will choke on it first! Can you say we are “screwed” with a capital S? --Tom Constantine, US Marine Corps Ret

Unfortunately Scott Brown would have lost with or without conservative support. The Democratic Party, embarrassed that Brown won a few years ago, steamrolled him. Elizabeth Warren portrayed Brown as being anti-women. Although her attacks were groundless, like Obama's attacks on Romney if one says something often enough people start to believe it. Brown won most of the suburbs; Warren won the cities. As I start looking towards retirement New Hampshire is awfully appealing. --Bob Shannon 

Worth Reading: The Real Danger from the Fiscal Cliff. By Rand Paul
Excerpt: Americans are told that they face a "fiscal cliff" if automatic federal spending cuts and tax increases occur at the end of the year. I'm not in favor of jumping off a cliff, but the logic of the supposed threat needs to be questioned. The fiscal-cliff narrative assumes that spending cuts are bad for the economy. It follows, then, that more spending (and therefore more government debt) are good for the economy.

Mum set for trial after sending son named ‘jihad’ to nursery with ‘I am a bomb’ jumper
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4675971/Mum-set-for-trial-after-sending-son-to-nursery-with-bomb-jumper.html#ixzz2DwIiCfOH
Didn't get the "Islam is a Religion of Peace" memo. ~Bob

Obama White House opposed new Iran sanctions
Excerpt: Remember the Obama of the debates? The one who aggressively touted strong sanctions as the way to stop Iran's nuclear program? Well, that was just as much of an act to get votes as was his pose as a Zionist. ... The White House announced its opposition to a new round of Iran sanctions that the Senate unanimously approved Friday, in the latest instance of Congress pushing for more aggressive punitive measures on Iran than the administration deems prudent.

Pot peddlers 'forced teens to become Muslim'
Excerpt: Police have arrested members of a gang of Eastern European immigrants who used violence, intimidation and the promotion of Islam to control marijuana trafficking operations in the Neuchâtel mountains, cantonal justice authorities said on Thursday.

Quote
No man likes to have his intelligence or good faith questioned, especially if he has doubts about it himself. --Henry Brooks Adams

British coeds reportedly offered more than $24G in sex-for-tuition scheme
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/30/british-coeds-reportedly-offered-more-than-24g-in-sex-for-tuition-scheme/?intcmp=trending
Excerpt: British students are reportedly being offered more than $24,000 annually for education costs in exchange for having sex with a stranger, an undercover investigation has found.

Obama Slaps States That Don't Comply With Obamacare
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Obamacare-insurance-premiums-states/2012/12/01/id/466088
Excerpt: Residents of states that refuse to set up health insurance exchanges under Obamacare are set to be hit with higher premiums under new rules announced by the Health and Human Services Department.

Obama Acts Like His Tax Plan Is the Only Gig In Town
http://freedomoutpost.com/2012/12/obama-acts-like-his-tax-plan-is-the-only-gig-in-town/
Excerpt: Yesterday Barack Obama made remarks in a visit to Rodon Group Manufacturing Facility in Hatfield Pennsylvania that demonstrate that he has no intention of making a deal with Republicans and thinks that his tax plan, commonly referred to as the ‘fiscal cliff,’ is the only solution to the problem.

Worth Hearing: Peace in the Middle East
Pat Condell tells the truth. Always worth hearing. ~Bob

Excerpt: But poverty as the federal government defines it differs greatly from these images. Only 2 percent of the official poor are homeless. According to the government’s own data, the typical poor family lives in a house or apartment that’s not only in good repair but is larger than the homes of the average non-poor person in England, France or Germany. The typical “poor” American experiences no material hardships, receives medical care whenever needed, has an ample diet and wasn’t hungry for even a single day the previous year.

Why Romney Lost
Romney said if he was elected, he'd put America back to work. And 51% of the voters said. "To hell with that!" (Internet joke. ~Bob.)

Excerpt: US drones struck in South Waziristan for the second time in three days, killing a Yemeni al Qaeda commander, according to reports from Pakistan. Two strikes have taken place in Pakistan's tribal areas after an unusually long pause that lasted for 36 days.

Massive Anti-Obama Rally Planned for Inauguration Day
Excerpt: Inspired by concerns of unemployment, the economy, Benghazi, and matters of foreign policy; organizers are promoting a “Massive Anti-Obama Rally @ Obama’s Inauguration Day.” (Bad, PR, I think, as the media will use this to club the opposition. ~Bob.)

Boycott Obama Supporters in Hollywood – A Tea Party Boycott
Excerpt: The greater “Boycott Hollywood” effort is working great! Support for Obama is way, way down this election year. Movie admission ticket sales are in the worst slump in decades (See link below). Hollywood just cannot understand why there is a sales slump.

Trillion-Dollar Student Loan Industry to be Bailed Out by Taxpayers
Excerpt: The government is good at one thing. It knows how to break your legs, and then hand you a crutch and say, ‘See if it weren’t for the government, you wouldn’t be able to walk.’

U.S Official Signals End To War Against Al-Qaeda
Excerpt: The United States must prepare for a time when it no longer is at war with Al-Qaeda and when sweeping legal powers ushered in after the September 11, 2001 attacks come to an end, the Pentagon's top lawyer said. The address by Pentagon general counsel Jeh Johnson marked the first time a senior US official publicly raised the possibility of an end to the so-called "war on terror," launched by former president George W. Bush in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington." At that point, we must be able to say to ourselves that our efforts should no longer be considered an 'armed conflict' against al Qaeda and its associated forces," he said. (We have seen the enemy…and they are us. --Barb.)

‘Zero Dark Thirty’ Team Rejects Intel Leak Accusation, Report Says Otherwise
Excerpt: The writer and producer of "Zero Dark Thirty" contends his film didn't benefit from classified information to recreate the manhunt for Osama bin Laden. The group obtained information detailing the exchange of information between the CIA and the film crew. Not only did Boal and Bigelow receive preferential treatment over similar bin Laden projects, Boal was allowed to "deep dive" into material related to the raid that killed the terrorist mastermind: In an internal CIA memo regarding Kathryn Bigelow’s visit to agency headquarters dated July 14, 2011, CIA spokesperson Marie Harf describes Boal’s contact with the agency as a “deep dive.”

Excerpt: In a 1986 book by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, the future diplomat argued for the aggressive inclusion of a black history curriculum in American schools, claiming that its omission had “crippling effects” by “providing a child with no more than … a white interpretation of reality.”

Worth Reading: 20 Observations About Human Nature That Liberals Would Probably Disagree With. By John Hawkins 
Excerpt: 5) Human beings are born as selfish, savage, feral little beasts not much different from wolves or tigers. The reason they don't remain that way is because of the conditioning they learn from their parents, their friends, their church, their entertainment, their teachers and other factors. The worse we become at transmitting important values to children, the more degenerate, sinful and crime-ridden our society will become.

School Replaces Baby Jesus with Frosty the Snowman
Excerpt: Frosty the Snowman is there — and so is Santa Claus.
But the Baby Jesus is stuffed inside a closet at Cottondale Elementary School — leaving many residents of this small town in the Florida panhandle outraged.

Egypt: New constitution denies freedom of speech and equality of rights for women, omits ban on slavery
Excerpt: Omissions of certain articles, such as bans on slavery or promises to adhere to international rights treaties, were equally worrying to critics of the new draft, who pulled out from the panel before the vote.

Denmark: Pro-Hamas demonstration erupts in violence
Excerpt: Pro-palestinian "Allah-u-Akbar" Christmas choir, Leftists demonstrating for "Global intifada", t-shirts promoting sharia 'Only God can judge me', flags with machine guns and hand grenade and red socialist flags -- and stoning of secular law's representatives. As usual: No arrests...

The Republicans' Other Internal Numbers Predicted Defeat
Except: If Mitt Romney really was surprised by his defeat on Election Day, it might have been because he ignored the projections of one of his longest-serving number-crunchers.

Worth Reading: America has become an Old World country
Excerpt: So Europe got the American president it wanted – the one who would present no threat to its own delusions. The United States is now officially one of us: an Old World country complete with class hatred, ethnic Balkanisation, bourgeois guilt and a paternalist ruling elite. And it is locked into the same death spiral of high public spending and self-defeating wealth redistribution as we are. Welcome to the future, and the beginning of what may turn out to be the terminal decline of the West.

College Approves BDSM Group
Excerpt: It started last October with a meal in Currier dining hall with a handful of friends who shared something in common: an affinity for kinky sex. More than a year after the group first began informally meeting over meals to discuss issues and topics relating to kinky sex, Harvard College Munch has grown from seven to about 30 members and is one of 15 student organization that will be approved by the Committee on Student Life this Friday. (…) Munch is also now allowed to apply for DAPA food grants, making it easier to find a convenient time and location to meet, instead of gathering in small dining halls. (I can’t help wondering if they also have support groups for straight hetero students. Maybe if they also qualify as minorities. And then we wonder how we got into the position of providing food, cash, free phones, and other stuff to almost randomly chosen groups at the taxpayer’s expense. Truly, I have no problem with them organizing, but why is it at our expense? Ron P.)

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