Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for January 25, 2013
Reminder: Obama: “I Will NOT Take Your Guns Away.”
Excerpt: "When you all go home and you're talking to your buddies and you say, ah 'He wants to take my gun away.' You've heard it here, I'm on television so everybody knows it. I believe in the Second Amendment. I believe in people's lawful right to bear arms. I will not take your shotgun away. I will not take your rifle away. I won't take your handgun away." (Of course, he also promised to cut the deficit in half, said raising the debt ceiling was unpatriotic, promised to get us out of Iraq in a year, to win the “good war” in Afghanistan, to close Gitmo, to post bills on the Internet for three days before he signed them, to have all the health care meetings open and transparent and to not raise taxes on anyone making less than $250k a year. He’s a Chicago Politician, lies to get elected, and the media covers for him. ~Bob.)
Gun control proposals could split President Obama, Harry Reid
Excerpt: But for the first time since Obama became president four years ago, his political interests and Reid’s may be diverging. Not so much because there is huge disagreement on the president’s agenda, but because helping Obama may hurt vulnerable Democrats in the Senate.
Department of Homeland Security: Sport rifle (AR-15) “suitable for personal defense”.
Excerpt: The United States Department of Homeland Security has stated a rifle chambered in 5.56 NATO (compatible with .223) with a magazine capacity of 30 rounds is “suitable for personal defense use in close quarters…”
Why semi-automatic rifles are a good choice for home defense
Excerpt: Here is a list of valid reasons, in no particular order.
Feinstein introduces sweeping ban on assault weapons
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/279057-feinstein-introduces-sweeping-ban-on-military-style-assault-weapons-
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/279057-feinstein-introduces-sweeping-ban-on-military-style-assault-weapons-
Excerpt: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and a group of Senate Democrats on Thursday introduced legislation to ban the sale and manufacture of more than 150 types of semi-automatic weapons with military-style features. (If passed, they will start selling AR-15s with wood stocks, no bayonet lug or pistol grip, with a lot of smaller, easy-to-change magazines. ~Bob.)
Tweet from Charles C. W. Cooke @charlescwcooke
I must say, I do like Diane Feinstein's plan to prohibit from gun ownership anyone who thought a trillion dollar coin was a reasonable idea.
Biden: 'So You Want to Keep People Away in an Earthquake? Buy Some Shotgun Shells'
Excerpt: In his Google hangout on gun control today, Vice President Joe Biden made this recommendation: "So you want to keep people away in an earthquake? Buy some shotgun shells."
Excerpt: The high-powered semiautomatic rifles recently shipped to school police in this Southern California city look like they belong on a battlefield rather than in a high school, but officials here say the weapons could help stop a massacre like the one that claimed the lives of 26 students and educators in Connecticut just weeks ago.
‘Less Lethal’: Good Intentions, Dangerous Results. By Mike McDaniel
Excerpt: The renewed “discussion” about school shooters has raised many ideas about how to prevent and to stop active shooters. Mass rushes of unarmed teachers and children at armed killers, Tasers, and beanbag rounds are some of the more prominent suggestions being bandied about. The only rational response to active shooters, the only response that will deter attacks and can immediately end them, is to train with and use appropriate firearms and ammunition. (They suggest that unarmed kids rush an active shooter? Let them try it themselves first to test the results. ~Bob. Though lightly technical, this article will be easily understood by anyone who approaches the subject objectively seeking truth. Those more interested in their own good intentions will find no comfort here. Ron P.)
Nation's Largest Outdoor Show Falls
Excerpt: The Harrisburg Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show, the nation's largest annual gathering of sporting outfitters, hunters, sportsman, shooters and others, has been postponed indefinitely after facing massive backlash over a new policy banning the display and sale of "modern sporting rifles." (Banning rifles is not enough to attract the Progressive crowd. Need to sell anti-enuresis materials. ~Bob.)
Sting operations reveal Mafia involvement in renewable energy
Excerpt: Inside a midnight-blue BMW, a Sicilian entrepreneur delivered his pitch to the accused mafia boss. A new business was blowing into Italy Chicago
Thought for Today
As Judge Learned Hand once wrote: "Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the treasury. There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes. Over and over again the Courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everyone does it, rich and poor alike and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands." –Tom H.
World’s Most Dangerous Terrorists Cooperating Across North Africa . By Walter Russell Mead
Excerpt: The most dangerous terror groups in the world are coordinating in new and alarming ways across north and west Africa, a development that has been underreported by the mainstream media. (Though al Qaeda was “on it’s heels”? ~Bob.)
State Department Had No $$$ for Benghazi
Excerpt: According to Hillary Clinton’s long-delayed Benghazigate testimony, the State Department just did not have enough money to provide security for a mission in one of the most dangerous places in the world.
4 AQAP fighters killed in drone strike in northern Yemen
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/01/4_aqap_fighters_kill_1.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LongWarJournalSiteWide+%28The+Long+War+Journal+%28Site-Wide%29%29
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/01/4_aqap_fighters_kill_1.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LongWarJournalSiteWide+%28The+Long+War+Journal+%28Site-Wide%29%29
Excerpt: The CIA-operated, remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers launched missiles at a vehicle as it traveled in the desert in Al Jawf province, according to Reuters. Four AQAP members are reported to have been killed in the attack.
Excerpt: A suicide bomber killed 42 Iraqis in an attack inside a Shia mosque in northern Iraq Iraq , is the fourth such attack in Iraq
Excerpt: The Yemeni government claimed today that the deputy leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and former Guantanamo Bay detainee Said al Shihri has died "after succumbing to wounds received in a counter terrorism operation" late last year. A prominent jihadist and the Middle Eastern press have also recently claimed that al Shihri is dead.
Excerpt: US drones yet again targeted al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in Yemen, this time outside the capital of Sana'a. The strike today is the fourth by the US in Yemen in five days. The US has expanded the drone campaign throughout all of Yemen over the past year. (One plus to Obama—the media would be screaming if this was Bush. Get some! ~Bob.)
Newly-wed woman hanged by in-laws. By Sharafuddin Stanikzai
Excerpt: A newly-wed woman was killed by her in-laws in the fourth police district of the capital of western Herat province, officials said on Saturday. Dunia, 22, was killed in Baraman area late on Friday, police spokesman, Noor Khan Nekzad, told Pajhwok Afghan News. With the motive behind her murder yet to be known, five suspects have been detained.
Saudi Arabia's Beheading of a Nanny Followed Strict Procedures
Excerpt: Rizana Nafeek, a young nanny from Sri Lanka, was beheaded by sword this week in Saudi Arabia, punishment for allegedly killing a baby in 2007 when she was believed to be just 17. … The death penalty is routinely allowed for criminals convicted of murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking or drug use, and apostasy or the renunciation of the Islamic faith, according to human rights group Amnesty International.
The Hand of the Prophet: A Novel of Islamic America
Now, the Christians are the terrorists. All author's royalties from this book are donated to a charity to help those who have suffered in the War on Terror.
Plastic Bag Restrictions Offer Few Benefits
Excerpt: The panic surrounding plastic grocery bags is largely unfounded, say Kenneth P. Green and Elizabeth DeMeo of the Fraser Institute. Green and DeMeo refute the two main arguments made to support grocery bag bans. The first claim is that the production of plastic bags pollutes the air.
Public Colleges Spend Six Times More on Athletes
Excerpt: A new report by the Delta Cost Project and the American Institutes for Research has found that public colleges and universities competing in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I athletics spend three to six times more on athletes than they spend to educate students. The costs associated with athletic programs rose twice as fast as academic spending between 2005 and 2010. Spending per athlete totaled $92,000 for institutions in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) while spending on full-time students' education was less than $14,000. When factoring in all sports, spending totaled about $38,000 per athlete compared to $11,800 per non-athlete student.
Worth Reading : Facts about America
Excerpt: To justify more government control of America ’s health care, ObamaCare supporters frequently assert that access to and quality of health care in the United States
Excerpt: We learned today from Secretary Clinton — “What difference, at this point, does it make?” — that the actual causation and circumstances of the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi
Doorbell
Worth watching if you haven't seen. Short. ~Bob
Tweet from David Burge @iowahawkblog
Country $16.4 trillion in debt? It's time to get to the bottom of that football player's fake girlfriend story! #ToTheJournalismobile
Futuristic Blues. By Walter Russell Mead
Excerpt: While many ask whether the blue social model has a future, it may be more interesting to ask what kind of future the blue social model offers. Blue opinion leaders and thinkers are serious people who run many of the leading institutions and companies in American life; they are steering these institutions in ways that fit their ideas about where the country is going and what it needs. Those ideas are pretty conventional and mainstream, but the direction in which they point is disquieting.
For Easy $100, These Obama Supporters Don’t Know Obama – VIDEO
Excerpt: This was a great video of individuals that supported Barack Obama that do not know enough questions to win $100. The game was that they needed to get three questions out of five correct to win the money. Guess how many got paid…..LOL
Schumer: Budget strategy best to meet $600 billion tax goalhttp://thehill.com/homenews/senate/278983-schumer-sees-budget-as-best-strategy-to-raise-500b-to-600b-in-new-taxes
Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), the Senate Democrats’ chief political strategist, sees a joint budget resolution between the Senate and House as the key to raising another $500 billion in new taxes. Democratic leaders say that will be the minimum tax hike needed to stop automatic spending cuts to social and defense programs mandated by the 2011 Budget Control Act.
Worth Reading : Europe 's Wishes Came True. By Victor Davis Hanson
Excerpt: Yet European Union prosperity has now proved a phantom -- one conjured up by accounting gimmickry, borrowed German money and corrupt EU apparatchiks. ... The worry is not that Greece will implode, but whether France Germany , Latvia and Sweden
Quote
They do injury to the good who spares the bad. --Publilius Syrus
Left off Bam’s train. By Michael Goodwin
Excerpt: To hear Obama, you would think he was anointed by unanimous consent. The more than 63 million people who voted for someone else were cited only as obstacles to his vision. Apparently, his victory makes all other views illegitimate.
Government Benefits Encourage Unemployment
Excerpt: Unlike the first 250 years of the U.S.
Worth Reading
Excerpt: Corn ethanol is clearly inferior to gasoline as a fuel source for automobiles. Despite a 51-cent-per-gallon tax credit to companies that blend ethanol into gasoline, ethanol costs about 70 cents a gallon more than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis. Instead of helping consumers, ethanol provides 27% lower fuel economy than gasoline. … And there are serious long-term adverse environmental implications from using corn ethanol. (They don’t care about the costs or the results, only about feeling good for being for the right things, and enriching their green cronies. They’re Progressives! ~Bob.)
Actually Madam Secretary, it makes a hell of a difference!
Excerpt: Why don't you ask the families of our murdered citizens if it makes a difference?( That was one of the best performances of many years of the cornered bureaucrat kicking out like the strike of a poisonous snake, and turning the situation on its head by implying the questioner is the bad guy/idiot. Nice move, and of course much of the media are going for it. --Del
Get Over It! We Are Not All Created Equal. By Capt Katie Petronio
Excerpt: As a company grade 1302 combat engineer officer with 5 years of active service and two combat deployments, one to Iraq and the other to Afghanistan
5 questions about women in combat that must be answered
Excerpt: Make no mistake, women have served in combat for years. They’ve earned valor awards, led convoys through hostile countryside and given their lives at times in service to our nation. Still, there’s a variety of questions that must be addressed as the Pentagon and the individual branches of service formulate plans to address the ban being lifted. (The results won’t matter as long as Progressives feel good about being for equality. ~Bob.)
The Reality That Awaits Women in Combat. By Ryan Smith
Excerpt: Yet it is a distinction without much difference: Infantry units serve side-by-side in combat with artillery, engineers, drivers, medics and others who will likely now include women. The Pentagon would do well to consider realities of life in combat as it pushes to mix men and women on the battlefield. (Does “equality” require equal standards? ~Bob.)
And With a Straight Face, we have this
U.S. to lift ban on women in front-line combat jobs: official - Yahoo! News
And at the same time.....
https://twitter.com/vj44/status/294183267299635201
U.S. to lift ban on women in front-line combat jobs: official - Yahoo! News
And at the same time.....
https://twitter.com/vj44/status/294183267299635201
“If there's one thing we should all agree on, it's protecting women from violence. Congress needs to pass the Violence Against Women Act.” -- Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett 1/23/2013. OK, let’s see here..... One of Obama’s advisors wants to pass a law protecting women from violence while another has approved sending them into combat. Not sure whether up is down, or black is white. How many fingers do you see, Winston? –Retired CHP Officer
Allen West: 'Now is not the time to play a social experiment with our ground combat forces.' Erika Johnsen
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/01/24/allen-west-now-is-not-the-time-to-play-a-social-experiment-with-our-ground-combat-forces/
Excerpt: 'I know Martha McSally, have known women who are Apache and Cobra helicopter pilots, and served with women who were MPs, but being on the ground and having to go mano y mano in close combat is a completely different environment.'
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/01/24/allen-west-now-is-not-the-time-to-play-a-social-experiment-with-our-ground-combat-forces/
Excerpt: 'I know Martha McSally, have known women who are Apache and Cobra helicopter pilots, and served with women who were MPs, but being on the ground and having to go mano y mano in close combat is a completely different environment.'
Tax Exodus: 5 States That Residents Are Fleeing...
Excerpt: The past few years have really put the squeeze on cash-strapped states to find new sources of revenue. This environment has generated a level of tax aggression from certain states, which in turn has resulted in a net loss of revenue instead of the intended gain. Residents have begun voting with their feet, deciding to move out of the state instead of thinning their pocket through unwanted taxation. (My job is in Crook County , IL
Excerpt: At the end of a day of Senate and House hearings on Benghazi
Excerpt: “With all due respect,” Secretary of State Clinton said, using the phrase that indicates the speaker is about to show the opposite of respect, “the fact is we had four dead Americans.” In a breathtaking display of chutzpah and brazen tastelessness, she used their bodies as a shield against criticisms of her and the administration.
For a Jailed Filmmaker, Clinton ’s Benghazi
Excerpt: That filmmaker is the only one to actually get locked up. The ringleader of the attack walks the streets of Benghazi
Sharyl Attkisson Asks Libya
Excerpt: Today while almost all the media was gushing over outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's theatrical and less than forthcoming Senate testimony about events in Libya, CBS News' investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson tweeted out a penetrating series of unanswered questions that both the White House and its media minions will ensure are never answered.
Excerpt: As I stand in front of the television watching the hearings on Benghazi
Hillary: ‘What Difference Does It Make?’
Excerpt: After being pressed today by Republican Senator Ron Johnson to explain how it was that over the course of weeks, the Obama Administration stood by an absurd story claiming that four Americans were murdered in Libya due to a spontaneous protest gone bad, outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton played the indignation card.
Tweet from Jon Gabriel @ExJon
You know, Obama could have solved a lot of problems if he just had declared the Benghazi
Time for a conservative comeback. By Jamie Weinstein
Excerpt: Conservatives need a candidate who is not only instinctively conservative, but one who can passionately and persuasively communicate conservatism — a candidate who can go into any environment and meet with any constituency without seeming awkward or out of place. (I fear it is too late to prevent a collapse, but will fight on in case I’m wrong. What else is there to do? ~Bob.)
Burger King drops firm that supplied horse meat
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/01/24/burger-king-drops-firm-that-supplied-horse-meat/?test=latestnews#ixzz2Iv2sZPxS
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/01/24/burger-king-drops-firm-that-supplied-horse-meat/?test=latestnews#ixzz2Iv2sZPxS
Excerpt: Burger King, one of the most popular fast-food chains in Britain Iceland
Fight erupts at St. Louis
http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/24/fight-erupts-at-st-louis-food-stamp-office-video/#ixzz2Iv239l48
http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/24/fight-erupts-at-st-louis-food-stamp-office-video/#ixzz2Iv239l48
Excerpt: A dispute over a place in line that escalated into a brawl was captured on camera at an East St. Louis food stamp office. The video, first reported by St. Louis’ FOX2, shows four women shouting and punching each other as security guards attempt to separate them.
Facebook Apologizes For Threatening To Shut Down Conservative Fan Page Over Post Critical Of Obama Admin
Excerpt: Facebook on Wednesday apologized for threatening to shut down the “Chicks on the Right” Facebook page because of a post critical of the Obama administration, Fox News’ Todd Starnes reports. The site claims the users were “incorrectly warned” by the site’s User Operation’s Team.(Watch the entire video)
Cameron On Britain And The European Union. By Rodney Atkinson
Excerpt: David Cameron's speech on the future of Britain in the European Union changed nothing. Of course he had to admit that those he has called "nutters" were right after all and Britain in the present European Union is unacceptable. The only choice after Cameron's renegotiation will be between a completely new relationship and leaving altogether. (Rodney Atkinson pretty much says it all in this article on Cameron's fawning speech to appease his EU bosses. I wanted to highlight the following for those who may still be laboring under the delusion that we [US and Europe] fought a noble war in the former Yugoslavia to end 'ethnic cleansing.' We actually did quite the opposite, cleansing multicultural regions mostly of the Christian and Jewish elements while handing over all the power to the Muslims [just as we have done everywhere in the Middle East since the Bush wars]. In fact, all we did was we created a Muslim state in that region. Which is why I recently called that war a scam. [BTW, remember that, despite the revisionist history accepted today, Hitler rose to power in an anti-Christian atmosphere: http://laiglesforum.com/were-hitler-and-his-followers-christians/715.htm]. --Don Hank)
Latin America’s Democracy Test
Excerpt: For many years now, Latin America has followed a risible double standard. When a pro-Chávez thug such as Manuel Zelaya or a leftist such as Fernando Lugo is legally and constitutionally removed from office, Venezuela and its partners (Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua) scream bloody murder and bully other countries into following suit. However, when a member of the Chávez gang launches a genuine attack on democracy, the region is mostly silent. (For any asking “so what?”, I remind you that Venezuela is allied openly with Iran; Ecuador is a bit more covert about it, and Nicaragua is still heavily influenced by Cuba. The entire continent is being wooed by China, and recent reports have put North Koreans in Cuba and the region. If, during World War I, we’d had to deal with an invasion from the south—as proposed in the Zimmermann Note—would we have been able to send ANY expeditionary force—let alone the million plus that we actually did send—to assist the Allies? During WW II, most Central and South American countries remained neutral and the rest supported us. What if they’d become belligerents on the other side? How difficult would our situation have become? Remember yesterday’s lesson about fascism: fascists and socialists will join to fight their perceived common enemy—in this case, us. Other areas of the world may command more daily news coverage, but open, active enemies to our south must be addressed if we hope to sleep safe in our beds at night. Ron P.)
Club for Growth president blasts Chris Christie over Sandy aid
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279099-club-for-growth-president-blasts-christie-over-sandy-aid
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279099-club-for-growth-president-blasts-christie-over-sandy-aid
Excerpt: Club for Growth President Chris Chocola on Thursday sharply criticized New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's (R) handling of the fight for Hurricane Sandy aid, saying the potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate sowed doubts among conservatives about whether he is a "real reformer" on government spending.
Crisis on the Silk Road: If you can't trust Britain's biggest online drug dealer, who can you trust? Willard Foxton
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/technology/willardfoxton2/100008731/crisis-on-the-silk-road-if-you-cant-trust-britains-biggest-online-drug-dealer-who-can-you-trust/
Excerpt: Over the weekend, Britain's biggest seller of marijuana on the illegal but very successful online drug-dealing website Silk Road (SR, to those in the know) seems to have cut and run, disappearing from SR with a huge amount of his customer's money. Alarm bells were raised when the seller, known for his reliability, began asking for people to buy his product "FE" – Finalising Early. This process – which bypasses SR's protection mechanisms – releases the buyer's funds from escrow into the seller's hands before they ship anything.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/technology/willardfoxton2/100008731/crisis-on-the-silk-road-if-you-cant-trust-britains-biggest-online-drug-dealer-who-can-you-trust/
Excerpt: Over the weekend, Britain's biggest seller of marijuana on the illegal but very successful online drug-dealing website Silk Road (SR, to those in the know) seems to have cut and run, disappearing from SR with a huge amount of his customer's money. Alarm bells were raised when the seller, known for his reliability, began asking for people to buy his product "FE" – Finalising Early. This process – which bypasses SR's protection mechanisms – releases the buyer's funds from escrow into the seller's hands before they ship anything.
Keystone XL is coming back
Washington Post, day late, dollar short. ~Bob. Excerpt: PRESIDENT OBAMA rejected the Keystone XL oil pipeline this time last year, a result that Canada had every reason to be dismayed by, as did Americans whom the project would have employed. The issue is coming back, and the president has even less reason to nix the project than he did last time.
Tweet from Stephen Colbert @StephenAtHome
I believe Ayn Rand's first love poem went: Roses are red/ violets are blue/ finish this poem yourself / you dependent parasite
America: The Next Energy Superpower? By Anthony Fensom
http://thediplomat.com/2013/01/23/america-the-worlds-new-petrostate/
Excerpt: From previously challenging the “tyranny of oil,” newly inaugurated U.S. President Barack Obama enters his second term in office as leader of a potential oil and gas superpower. According to BP’s Energy Outlook 2030, unconventional sources will make the United States virtually energy self-sufficient by 2030, largely thanks to the shale gas revolution.
http://thediplomat.com/2013/01/23/america-the-worlds-new-petrostate/
Excerpt: From previously challenging the “tyranny of oil,” newly inaugurated U.S. President Barack Obama enters his second term in office as leader of a potential oil and gas superpower. According to BP’s Energy Outlook 2030, unconventional sources will make the United States virtually energy self-sufficient by 2030, largely thanks to the shale gas revolution.
Obama Officially Arms Radical Islamists
Excerpt: A couple of weeks back, I wrote a piece about the United States shipping F-16’s and Abrams tanks to Egypt as part of a “foreign aid” package (see “Obama to Arm Muslim Brotherhood, But You Can’t Own An AR?”). Many liberal readers questioned the credibility of my claim that President Obama’s State Department intended to supply the Egyptian leadership—aka The Muslim Brotherhood—with our latest military technology. As predicted, the shipment was announced on the Friday of Inauguration weekend and according to reports arrived in Cairo this past Monday; so much for our ongoing war on terror.
Academics for Obamacare Stunned to Find the Cost. By Ed Morrisey
http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2013/01/24/academics-for-obamacare-stunned-to-find-the-cost/
Excerpt: Professor Robert Balla: “In education, we’re working for the public good, we are public employees at a public institution; we should be the first ones to uphold the law, to set the example.” They are upholding the law, Professor Balla. I guess you needed to have it passed before you could be bothered to see the obvious implications of what was in it.
http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2013/01/24/academics-for-obamacare-stunned-to-find-the-cost/
Excerpt: Professor Robert Balla: “In education, we’re working for the public good, we are public employees at a public institution; we should be the first ones to uphold the law, to set the example.” They are upholding the law, Professor Balla. I guess you needed to have it passed before you could be bothered to see the obvious implications of what was in it.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment