Old Jarhead’s Political SitRep for December 24, 2012

Old Jarhead’s Political SitRep for December 24, 2012

Robert A. Hall

Merry Christmas

Luke 2:14: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Bob’s Christmas Cookies (And a couple of cakes)

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2012/12/bobs-christmas-cookies.html

Worth Reading: Max Boot review of O'Connell book, Dec,19, 2012 

As usual Mr. Boot does well when describing Marine activities but in his current discussion on Mr. Aaron B. O'Connell's book both he and the author ignored, or were unaware, of the most important factor in the saving of the Corps from disbandment after WW II. One day in 1946, the Commandant, Gen. Vandegrift told Lt Col. Victor Krulak that he was concerned that he was losing the Corps because no one on the Hill seemed to understand his reasons why the Corps should be kept and not enfolded into the Army and asked that Krulak, if possible, to come up with some way to counter this major problem. Krulak came to my office, at that time I was the Photographic Operations Officer for the Corps, and asked me if we could make a film on our operations in the Pacific and explained the Commandant's problem. I told him we had all of the film shot during the war in the film library and all I needed was the money and a script to put a film together. Within 30 days we had a completed film entitled "Bombs over Tokyo" which described the activities of the Corps from original landings against the British in the Revolutionary War to the successes in the Pacific. The Colonel, along with several enlisted men, carried a Bell & Howell 16mm film projector, the film and a folding screen to all of the important political offices around town. About thirty days later Lt. Col. Krulak came to my office and told me that heads of the three committees, that the Commandant had been appearing before, had told him that the film was instrumental in them deciding to keep the Corps as it was constituted and that only Congress could ever change that ruling. It was confirmed by law in 1951and has held for more than 60 years. You can only imagine how a 24 year old Warrant Officer felt knowing that his efforts and those of other members of the Photographic Section, during the war, had helped save the Corps - it was heady stuff. -- Norman T. Hatch Major USMCR (Ret.) ( Bonnie and I had the privilege of being at Maj. Hatch’s table for the 2012 Marine Corps Heritage Foundation awards dinner last April. Maj. Hatch is an icon of our Corps—a parade of active duty generals stopped to pay their respects. He won an Academy Award for his documentary of the Battle of Tarawa, made under fire as a Marine combat cameraman. Subsequently, I saw him interviewed about the battle on the Military History Channel. The book War Shots by Dr. Charles Jones details Hatch’s exploits, and I highly recommend it. Chip Jones was also at our table and received a writing award for the book. http://www.amazon.com/War-Shots-Marine-Combat-Cameramen/dp/0811706311/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356293103&sr=8-1&keywords=War+shots)

More on Guns

Guest Post: Gun Control is Just a Dodge. By Bill Hemingway

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2012/12/guest-post-gun-control-is-just-dodge.html

VP Joe Biden on guns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XcyLeOm6yGc

If you said this, the Secret Service would be at your door. And not to guard you. ~Bob.

History of gun-control legislation

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/history-of-gun-control-legislation/2012/12/22/80c8d624-4ad3-11e2-9a42-d1ce6d0ed278_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines

Excerpt: 1934: Spurred by the bloody “Tommy gun” era ushered in by Al Capone, John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Bonnie and Clyde, seen at right, President Franklin D. Roosevelt mounts a “New Deal for Crime.” One part of it is the National Firearms Act of 1934, the first federal gun-control law, which levies a restrictive $200 tax on the manufacture or sale of machine guns and sawed-off shotguns. All sales were to be recorded in a national registry.

History of gun control is cautionary tale for those seeking regulations after Conn. shooting

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/history-of-gun-control-is-cautionary-tale-for-those-who-want-more-regulations/2012/12/22/73a07294-4afc-11e2-a6a6-aabac85e8036_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines

Excerpt: If past is prologue, the legislative fights ahead will be protracted and brutal — and any resulting legislation may well be riddled with loopholes. There is no uncontested ground here. Few issues in the country are as polarized as gun control.

Lawrence O'Donnell: NRA Chief Wayne LaPierre A 'Desperate, Cornered Rat,' 'Lobbyist For Mass Murderers' (VIDEO)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/22/lawrence-odonnell-nra-lapierre_n_2349965.html?utm_hp_ref=email_share

Another indication that when Democrats say they want a “conversation” about an issue, they mean “we’ll talk, you shut up,” and when they call for “more civility in political discourse,” they all lie. But you knew that. ~Bob

Question?

I served honorably in the United States Marine Corps for one day shy of 27 years. During my time in the service, I had background checks done and was awarded security clearances up to and including Top Secret. I qualifed as an expert with the M1911A1 pistol every time I went to the range. After firing, I was personally responsible for disassembly, cleaning and reassembly of my pistol. I qualifed as a sharpshooter with the M14 and M16 rifles. Again, after firing those rifles, which ignorant liberals would classify as an "assault rifle", I took them apart, cleaned them and put them back together. At no time in the actions described above was anyone wounded or killed by me. I carried loaded weapons in a hostile fire zone. I had it with me 24/7. Not once was that weapon ever fired irresponsibility. I said all that to ask this question? Despite all of the above-listed evidence and qualifications, why do our elected leaders and leftist radicals consider me a threat to public safety because I own firearms? –MasterGuns. For the same reason that no one can be trusted to own hands or feet, because twice as many people are murdered every year by they as by rifles. If you’d stuck it out for 27, you know stuff like this. LOL. ~Bob

Guns Save Lives. By Wayne Allyn Root 

http://townhall.com/columnists/wayneallynroot/2012/12/23/guns-save-lives-n1472232?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

Excerpt: Based on a 2000 study, Americans use guns to defend themselves from crime and violence 989,883 times annually. … The Clinton Justice Department identified 1.5 million cases per year of citizens using guns to defend themselves.

Gun Frenzy: Photos Show How Quickly Stores Across the Nation Are Selling Out: “Lines Out the Door” By Mac Slavo

http://www.prisonplanet.com/gun-frenzy-photos-show-how-quickly-stores-across-the-nation-are-selling-out-%E2%80%9Clines-out-the-door%E2%80%9D.html

Merry Christmas to gun dealers from Barack Obama. ~Bob. After nationwide calls to ban assault rifles and high-capacity magazines following the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Americans concerned about the government’s coming move to restrict the sale, the transfer, the importation and the possession of firearms deemed too dangerous to be in the hands of private citizens are cleaning out gun stores from coast to coast.

*****

Sex-Offender Intern's Case Goes Underground: Homeland Security, courts, senator's office all mum

http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/sex-offender-interns-case-goes-underground/#IgfJp3cZPq4lOECU.99 

Excerpt: The case against an intern serving in the Newark, N.J., office of Sen. Robert Menendez, a Democrat from that state, who was arrested Dec. 6 reportedly for being both an illegal immigrant and a sex offender, apparently has gone underground. (No surprise—the media protects progressives. ~Bob.) 

Study: Home air conditioning cut premature deaths on hot days 80 percent since 1960

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/study-home-air-conditioning-cut-premature-deaths-on-hot-days-80-percent-since-1960/2012/12/22/5b57f3ac-4abf-11e2-b709-667035ff9029_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines

Excerpt: The installation of air conditioning in American homes is the reason why the chances of dying on an extremely hot day fell 80 percent over the past half-century, according to an analysis by a team of American researchers. (And AC requires electricity, which for decades to come will require burning coal, oil or gas. Nukes could replace much of that carbon-based source. Solar or wind only a tiny part. ~Bob.)

Cow Flatulence One Of The Causes Of Global Warming: Will Obama's EPA Get Involved?

http://www.hyscience.com/archives/2012/12/cow_flatulence.php

Excerpt: Funny thing is, if cow belching and flatulence are one of the most egregious contributors to Global Warming, does that mean that the belching and the flatulence of the millions of Mexican illegal aliens now in our nation - I mean, eating all those bean burritos, and drinking all that cheap Tecate beer - also makes them offending contributors to Global Warming? Forget about ICE! Perhaps it should be the EPA that should be rounding them up and deporting them for being a flatulent threat to our environment! (Alas, I can’t blame Mexicans. I’m a major polluter myself. Just ask my wife. ~Bob.)

 

This is what Obama’s signature looks like when vertical
http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/18/this-is-what-obamas-signature-looks-like-when-vertical-photo/#ixzz2FtqvmWfG

Too funny, but adult humor. ~Bob

Yemen extremists kill woman in alcohol raid

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/gulfnews/yemen_extremists_kill_woman_in_alcohol_raid

Excerpt: Armed extremists killed a woman in Yemen's main southern city of Aden when they raided several homes whose owners allegedly have alcoholic drinks, residents and a security official said on Friday. "More than ten" armed men on motorbikes stormed three houses in Aden's Memdara neighborhood on Thursday, residents said. (Good thing she didn’t have an assault rifle—one of the killers might have been hurt. ~Bob.)

Suicide bombers hit cellphone firms in north Nigeria

http://news.yahoo.com/suicide-bombers-attack-mobile-phone-firms-nigeria-104546279.html

Excerpt: Two suicide car bombers attacked the offices of two mobile phone operators on Saturday in Nigeria's northern city of Kano, killing themselves but no civilians, police said. (Didn’t get the memo. “Can you hear me NOW?” ~Bob.)

American Christianity and Secularism at a Crossroads. By Molly Worthen

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/opinion/sunday/american-christianity-and-secularism-at-a-crossroads.xml

THIS week millions of "Chreasters" - Americans who attend church only on Christmas and Easter - will crowd into pews to sing carols and renew their vague relationship with the Christian God. This year, there may be fewer Chreasters than ever. A growing number of "nones" live in our midst: those who say they have no religious affiliation at all. An October Pew Research Center poll revealed that they now account for 20 percent of the population, up from 16 percent in 2008. (Here is an interesting article on the state of religious practice in the USA today. It clearly backs up the idea of what many of us would term social decline. The very last sentence captures one sad thought ..... that now as a society we are groping for what we believe in. And those of us that are Believers, people of some Faith, must recognize that we are becoming a minority in some ways, and get used to that. Which in a way should reinforce our religious practice. We are called to be in the world, but not of the world. --Del. Alas, as I suspect Jesus would tell us, going to church every Sunday does not necessarily a good Christian make. Having found many decidedly un-Christian attitudes in Church, I suspect that many of the “Chteasters” may live more Christian lives and have better relationships with God than many of the regular attenders. [An “attender” is one who attends. “Attendee” means one who gets attended. But it has become the standard usage. Sigh.] ~Bob.)

Taliban suicide bomber kills Pakistani provincial minister

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/12/taliban_suicide_bomb_43.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LongWarJournalSiteWide+%28The+Long+War+Journal+%28Site-Wide%29%29

Excerpt: The Taliban claimed credit for today's suicide attack in Peshawar that killed nine people, including Bashir Ahmed Bilour, the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The suicide attack is the latest against the top leaders of the Awami National Party, a secular political party that has opposed the spread of the Taliban in the northwest and leads the provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. (More Muslims murdered by Muslims, praise Allah. ~Bob.)

Quote

"We must make our election between economy and Liberty, or profusion and servitude." --Thomas Jefferson (1816) (I guess we did on November 6, 2012. ~Bob.)

Targets Of The Left: Our Wealth, Self-Defense, And Religion. By Alan Bates, MD

http://gulf1.typepad.com/gulf1_c_ab2/2012/12/targets-of-the-left-our-wealth-self-defense-and-religion.html

Excerpt: Taxation is self-destructive and California is the poster child. Time and time again, history has shown that raising taxes cause a decline in revenue at both state and federal levels. California has a projected 2012 budget deficit of 28 billion dollars. 

Worth Reading: Manufacturing Racism: Academic Hiring and the Diversity Mandate. So-called equity hiring is an inequitable and injurious practice. By Professor Janice Fiamengo

http://pjmedia.com/blog/academic-hiring-and-the-diversity-mandate/?singlepage=true

Excerpt: I started my first university job as a well-meaning progressivist and came out, depending on one’s perspective, either a confirmed conservative or a racist reactionary. Although many factors played a role in my conversion, an important one was my experience of affirmative action in hiring. It wasn’t called affirmative action at the prairie university where I began my teaching career; it was called equity hiring, an odious misnomer.