Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for February 1, 2013
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.
Worth Reading
Excerpt: The FBI Stats, please:
Worth Reading
Excerpt: Yet the reasons for our new isolationism, analogous to early 1914 or 1939, do not matter, only the reality that lots of bad actors now believe that the United States
Book Recommendation: The Revenge of Geography: What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle
This is a wonderfully-written book that will make you look at a lot of issues in a new light. It is about the intersection of geography with history, geopolitics, national interests and power. Though I have a master’s degree in history and am well read in the field, I also learned a great deal about non-European history. Particularly China , India and the Middle East , though of course in one book it could only take a broad brush approach to these things. Unfortunately, Kaplan gave me several new worries about the future, and I was already pretty pessimistic. This is a high level review of geo-strategy, and should be read by policy makers at all levels. It requires some focus; certainly not light entertainment. The most interesting section was the last. Kaplan argues that Mexico , with a long border with the US , is far more important to us than Iraq , Afghanistan and the Middle East . Given that Mexico and Central America have a rapidly developing population—now at 50% of the United States —and a native US birthrate below the replacement level, he argues that we cannot afford to have Mexico
Excerpt: South Korea launched a satellite into space from its own soil for the first time Wednesday amid increased tensions after archrival North Korea village of Goheung
Reagan’s Childhood Home to Become Parking Lot for Obama’s Library
Excerpt: The University of Chicago Medical Center has announced plans to turn Ronald Reagan’s childhood home in Chicago
Commandant: Some Marine jobs may stay closed to women
Excerpt: Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos said Wednesday that some positions in the Marines may remain closed to women if only a small percentage can meet the physical standards.
Some Unions Grow Wary of Health Law They Backed
Excerpt: Labor unions enthusiastically backed the Obama administration's health-care overhaul when it was up for debate. Now that the law is rolling out, some are turning sour. Union leaders say many of the law's requirements will drive up the costs for their health-care plans and make unionized workers less competitive.
How Entrepreneurs Could Solve Medicare's Problems
Excerpt: Medicare faces growing problems of cost, access and quality. These problems exist because Medicare is structured in a way that eliminates or suppresses features of a normal market system. In order to truly reform Medicare, entrepreneurs must be free to innovate. True reform falls into four basic categories: freeing the patient, freeing the doctor, freeing the market and freeing the insurer, say John C. Goodman, president and CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis, Greg Scandlen, founder of Consumers for Health Care Choice, and Devon Herrick, a senior fellow with the National Center
Excerpt: A new report released by the Pacific Research Institute finds that California California California
Exaggerated Global Warming Claims May Lead to Poor Policy
Excerpt: Consider this: The number of global wildfires has decreased by 15 percent since peaking in 1950. A Nature in November study states that the incidence of drought has not changed substantially in the past six decades. The U.N. Climate Panel in 2012 notes that while droughts are more intense and frequent in some places, they are weaker and less frequent in other places. Despite the massive damage inflicted, the United States
Bob Menendez’s foreign underage prostitution story stubbornly not going away. By Moe Lane
Excerpt: just before the election a story broke alleging that Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey had taken advantage of the hospitality of one of his campaign contributors to go down to the Dominican Republic (via the aforementioned contributor’s private plane) and use the services of at least two prostitutes (one of whom may or may not have been underage). Worse, he allegedly refused to pay said foreign partially-underaged hookers the full amount that Menendez allegedly promised to pay – and, let me note again this in passing: to patronize a prostitute is hardly a moral act. But if you must do this, pay what you said that you were going to pay. There is a difference between being uncouth, and being a cad.
Dominican prostitute: Sen. Bob Menendez ‘likes the youngest and newest girls’
http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/31/dominican-prostitute-senator-bob-menendez-likes-the-youngest-and-newest-girls/#ixzz2JZtoVok5
http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/31/dominican-prostitute-senator-bob-menendez-likes-the-youngest-and-newest-girls/#ixzz2JZtoVok5
Excerpt: “That senator also likes the youngest and newest girls,” the woman wrote on April 21, 2002, according to an English translation provided to The Daily Caller by a native Spanish speaker.
Hillary Clinton warns GOP lawmakers not to act like North Africa terrorists
excerpt: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while lamenting the partisanship of congressional Republicans who grilled her about the Benghazi attack, encouraged Republicans not to imitate the unwillingness to compromise evinced by terrorists in North Africa .
Displaced Sandy
While some Sandy victims have been put up in hotels, more than two dozen Rockaways residents are living in a pair of rundown rooming houses in the Longwood section of the Bronx . Those two buildings, CBS Station WCBS reports, have received dozens of housing code violations and have numerous fire safety problems. Residents have complained of a lack of heat, and problems with infestations by roaches and mice. (Bet those on government dole got the hotels; those with insurance probably got the rats. It’s redistribution or payback a la O. –Barb.)
Boeing Battery Fires Highlight Folly of Obama's Electric Car Push
Excerpt: After lithium-ion batteries caught fire on Boeing's new Dreamliner, stories popped up about how dangerous they are. Turns out they're the same kind of batteries President Obama is forcing into U.S.
Obama DHS To Buy 7,000 “Assault Weapons” “Personal Defense Weapons”
Excerpt: OH the blatant hypocrisy of the politicians and those in government in Washington Mexico Del
Hizbullah: Israeli Attack Aimed at Syria
Excerpt: Both Hizbullah and Russia condemned Israel a day after the attack on a convoy carrying Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles from Syria to Hizbullah terrorist bases along the border with Lebanon Syria 's pivotal resistance and rejectionist role to pave the way for unfolding the chapters of a major conspiracy against [Syria Iran said that any attack on Syria would be considered an attack on Iran
Older, but interesting picture of her speaking to the KKK, if real. One can’t trust pictures since the invention of Photoshop. ~Bob.
The Obama administration's modus operandi for defusing scandals: Stonewalling Benghazi
Excerpt: Last week, the dwindling number of Americans who believe this administration owes them an honest explanation regarding the murders of ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in Benghazi
Brokeback America ; Fundamental Transformation of America
Excerpt: In the ongoing forced Battle Royale between a president and what he sees as his all but captured USA civil society, there’s no longer any mystique behind the “Fundamental Transformation of America”. It’s becoming more clear by day that the ‘Fundamental Transformation of America’ is a long-planned formula that is forcing legal civil society into a complete illegal society…. Decency, law-abiding, individual, God and liberty loving are being strategically culled from humanity’s herd.
Excerpt: The French military's current campaign to dislodge jihadist militants from northern Mali and the recent high-profile attack against a natural gas facility in Algeria are both directly linked to the foreign intervention in Libya Mali
Surge of Black Violence Called 'Urban Terrorism'
Excerpt: Today, Nordstrom is gone. As are many of the restaurants and shops. The rest of the mall and the surrounding area is increasingly hazardous – and empty – following a series of black mob riots featuring hundreds of people. (And the jobs at those places, even when held by decent black folks, are gone too. ~Bob.)
Students at Colorado high school recite Pledge of Allegiance in Arabic
http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/31/students-at-colorado-high-school-recite-pledge-of-allegiance-in-arabic/#ixzz2JXTwvQFU
Excerpt: “When they pledge allegiance toUnited States
http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/31/students-at-colorado-high-school-recite-pledge-of-allegiance-in-arabic/#ixzz2JXTwvQFU
Excerpt: “When they pledge allegiance to
Hackers in China
Wait, aren’t they fellow Progressives? ~Bob.
Stonewalled CBS reporter fights back, embarrasses Obama administration on Twitter
Excerpt: CBS News investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson has had enough of the uber-secretive Obama administration’s handling of the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi
Feinstein's plan bans any gun with a 'grip'?
http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/feinsteins-plan-bans-any-gun-with-a-grip/#ci7w0hPdGuzerTXi.99
http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/feinsteins-plan-bans-any-gun-with-a-grip/#ci7w0hPdGuzerTXi.99
Excerpt: “The list is meaningless tripe. It is camouflage for the real purpose of the bill. When the president said he is not going to take away your guns, well, Feinstein’s bill puts the lie to that. Magazine size does not matter. Brand name does not matter. It doesn’t matter if it’s black. If you can grip it, it’s banned under this bill.”
Legal Immigrant’s Must-Watch Testimony Against Gun Control: ‘Few Saw The Third Reich Coming Until It Was Too Late’
Excerpt: During a public hearing on gun violence in Hartford , Conn.
Private Security Guards Shoot Somali Pirates
And a fun time was had by all. Well, all the good guys. Older video, but enjoyable. ~Bob.
Revealed: How immigrants in America are sending 120 BILLION back home
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271455/Revealed-How-immigrants-America-sending-120-BILLION-struggling-families-home.html
Excerpt: In the United States last year, more than $120 billion was sent by workers to families abroad - making it the largest sender of remittances in the world. More than $23 billion went toMexico , $13.45 billion to China , $10.84 billion to India and $10 billion to the Philippines
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271455/Revealed-How-immigrants-America-sending-120-BILLION-struggling-families-home.html
Excerpt: In the United States last year, more than $120 billion was sent by workers to families abroad - making it the largest sender of remittances in the world. More than $23 billion went to
Excerpt: Congress gave final approval Thursday to a plan to temporarily suspend the legal cap on the $16.4 trillion national debt, lifting the threat of a government default until early August. The measure, approved by the Senate 64-34 Thursday, now goes to President Obama for his signature. Without congressional action, the administration had predicted that the Treasury would run out money to pay the nation’s bills by early March.
Pro-Choice and Pro-Life: What a middle ground on abortion could look like. By Avik Roy
Excerpt: One of the many injuries that Roe has imposed upon the country is that it has made it hard for this middle 58 percent of voters, who think abortion should be legal in some cases but not all, to find a home. Most Americans reject the radical feminist argument that abortion is the ethical equivalent of clipping one’s fingernails. But they’re also uncomfortable with the notion that every blastocyst is sacred.
Reaching the Valleys: We need to make the case to Americans that conservatism advances their interests. By Artur Davis
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/339311/reaching-valleys-artur-davis
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/339311/reaching-valleys-artur-davis
Excerpt: But this is the movement and the cause that rescued this country 30 years ago, when serious people thought we were too complex to be governed anymore. This is the movement and the cause that refused to believe freedom was exhausted, only that it was tired of not being defended.
'El Culto.' By Silvio Canto, Jr.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/01/el_culto.html
Excerpt: We Cuban Americans have first hand experience with personality cults. In fact, Latin Americans know a thing or two about cults, from Evita Peron inArgentina to Hugo Chavez in Venezuela
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/01/el_culto.html
Excerpt: We Cuban Americans have first hand experience with personality cults. In fact, Latin Americans know a thing or two about cults, from Evita Peron in
Record number of recent college grads defaulting on student loans.
http://redalertpolitics.com/2013/01/30/record-number-of-recent-college-grads-defaulting-on-loans-according-to-new-report/
Excerpt: A new report by FICO Labs, a unit of Fair Isaac Corp., found that the student loan delinquency rate has risen to 15 percent over the past three years - a 22 percent increase from its previous high in 2005-2007. Fair Issac Corp. publishes consumer credit scores and helps banks decide if an individual is qualified for a loan and what level interest rate they may be qualified for.
http://redalertpolitics.com/2013/01/30/record-number-of-recent-college-grads-defaulting-on-loans-according-to-new-report/
Excerpt: A new report by FICO Labs, a unit of Fair Isaac Corp., found that the student loan delinquency rate has risen to 15 percent over the past three years - a 22 percent increase from its previous high in 2005-2007. Fair Issac Corp. publishes consumer credit scores and helps banks decide if an individual is qualified for a loan and what level interest rate they may be qualified for.
On the topic of Guns, Accoutrements, and the idiots who "Represent" us. By John Bernard
Excerpt: I am sick to the point of retching of listening to the absolute nonsensical sputtering about firearms by those who can't differentiate between a butt stock and a flash suppressor so here is a short lesson in nomenclature to make you sound less stupid:
The Path to Saving the Republic: Just Say 'No.' By Michael Finch
http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/01/the_path_to_saving_the_republic_just_say_no.html
Excerpt: What is happening in Topeka, Austin, Ogden, Billings, Richmond and many other locales is just the beginning of a movement that will sweep this nation in the next four years. The people, in the form of their respective States and their State legislatures, are learning and relearning the lessons that Jefferson and Madison taught us over 200 years ago. The lesson resides in one word: Just say "No."
http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/01/the_path_to_saving_the_republic_just_say_no.html
Excerpt: What is happening in Topeka, Austin, Ogden, Billings, Richmond and many other locales is just the beginning of a movement that will sweep this nation in the next four years. The people, in the form of their respective States and their State legislatures, are learning and relearning the lessons that Jefferson and Madison taught us over 200 years ago. The lesson resides in one word: Just say "No."