Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for January 9, 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.
Keeper of the Flame. By Robert A. Hall
Permission to forward or repost with credit granted. ~Bob.
Worth Reading : After the Fall: What Do You Do When You Conclude America Is (Temporarily or Permanently) Kaput?
Focus on foreign policy predictions. ~Bob. Excerpt: On the contrary, through inaction or active effort the leadership of America America
Worth Reading
Excerpt: From 1980-2000, the stratosphere – the climatically inactive upper region of the atmosphere – had been cooling, while during the same two decades there had been surface warming at a rate equivalent to 0.17 Cº/decade. Climate extremists had tried to suggest that the stratospheric cooling was occurring because greenhouse gases in the troposphere (the climatically-active lower region of the atmosphere) were inhibiting the return of long-wave radiation to space. Their argument was that if the sun had been the cause of the warming the stratosphere as well as the troposphere would have warmed. However, around 2000 the stratospheric cooling and global warming ceased. (While WND can be polemical, stretch points and fairly one-sided, there are some solid data charts here you won’t see on, say, MSNBC. ~Bob.)
Worth Reading
Excerpt: Many years ago, as a young man, I read a very interesting book about the rise of the Communists to power in China
Lottery winner's death was blamed on natural causes — until a relative raised questions
Excerpt: Urooj Khan had sworn off playing the lottery after he took an Islamic pilgrimage to the Middle East in 2010, but as he stood in a 7-Eleven near his home on Chicago
President's Nomination of Hagel May Encourage Iran
Excerpt: President Obama's nomination of Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense risks increasing the likelihood that Iran Iran New York City
Worth Reading : Security ‘diamond’ central to peace and prosperity in Asia . China ’s growing naval and territorial expansion may be discouraged by the formation of a security ‘diamond’ made up of Australia , India , Japan and Hawaii
Excerpt: Yet, increasingly, the South China Sea seems set to become a “Lake Beijing ,” which analysts say will be to China what the Sea of Okhotsk China Japan Japan
School Shooting in Tennessee
Excerpt: These types of stories don’t fit the narrative of those who want “gun-free zones” and so are ignored by the national media. In this case an armed Security Resource Officer, Carolyn Gudger, became a local hero and saved an unknown number of lives by holding the gunman at bay until backup arrived. (Full story linked below. ~Bob.)
Gunman killed at Sullivan Central
Gun violence letter sent to my local ABC station
Very tasteless programming on ads to run a trailer for a new movie, called “Bullet In The Head” and then follow that with a clip of an upcoming interview with Gabby Giffords and her husband. … I think you should do a piece on the violence in Hollywood films and the $$ being generated by Hollywood
Obama’s failure to nominate women for two top Cabinet posts questioned
Excerpt: President Obama brought his top Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency chiefs together Monday with their potential replacements, and some critics noticed one thing that stood out: Each of them was a white man. (Couldn’t his staff bring him “binders full of women”? ~Bob.)
Noting to fear. Islam is a “religion of peace.” Both Bush and Obama said so. ~Bob.
Discovery of ancient breweries offers clues of primitive lifestyle
Excerpt: Several new archaeological finds suggest that alcohol has been a social glue in parties, from work festivals to cultic feasts, since the dawn of civilization.
In the December issue of the journal Antiquity, archaeologists describe evidence of nearly 11,000-year-old brewing troughs at a feasting site in Turkey Cyprus
Worth Reading
Excerpt: Soon after World War II, U.S.
The Multiple Distortions of Wind Subsidies
Excerpt: The wind industry receives lavish subsidies from the federal government. But this distorts the market and prevents even competition among different energy sources. Subsidies waste taxpayer money, subvert the allocation of capital, and generate a social cost many times the price tag of the subsidies themselves, says Phil Gramm, a former senator and visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, wind subsidies cost $52.48 per one million watt hours generated. In contrast, the same amount of electricity from nuclear power costs $3.10. Hydropower only costs 84 cents and natural gas costs only 63 cents. (On the plus side, wind power makes the Progressives like Obama feel good about themselves—there is no price they won’t make you pay for that benefit. And it kills off those pesky eagles and other birds., ~Bob.)
Skin in the Game: How Consumer-Directed Plans Affect the Cost and Use of Health Care
Excerpt: Families enrolling in a higher-deductible plan for the first time spent an average of 14 percent less in the first year than similar families in traditional (lower-deductible) health plans.
Excerpt: A court in Tunis on Monday ordered the release of Ali Hamzi, a Tunisian suspected of involvement in the terror attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya Tunisia
Eric Schmidt in
Excerpt: As diplomatic encounters go, it has to be among the most intriguing: the head of a revolutionary technology company that has helped secure the open flow of information around the world steps inside one of the globe's most closed societies. Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, arrived in North Korea on Monday at the start of a private visit that has already provoked a public wrist-slapping from the US
Gross humour warning: How not to catch the norovirus: Want to avoid spewmageddon? Here's a simple guide
Excerpt: The laugh-a-minute pro-celebrity puking bug known by the streetname "norovirus" continues to squirm its way through the population, effortlessly transforming ordinarily carefree human beings into spluttering, sulphurous geysers of molten waste. Everywhere the norovirus goes it leaves vast steaming lakes of freshly expelled vomit in its wake. It's like Piers Morgan, but invisible. Which actually makes it slightly better than Piers Morgan. (Oh, my, British wit….I eyed this with professional curiosity and oh, my, read on….Barb)
Higher Taxes and a Crumbling Economy…This IS What America
Excerpt: Small businesses cutting hours, cutting employees or going out of business altogether. Taxes being raised on close to 80% of all households. Incredible amount of debt which will cause our credit rating to be downgraded which will increase are debt.
Chief of gaming lobby to step aside, putting $1.9 million job up for grabs
The president and CEO of the American Gaming Association (AGA) will leave the trade association this year, putting a lucrative position up for grabs on K Street
Middle and lower class workers see taxes rise so Obama can give Goldman Sachs a tax break
Excerpt: And it is no small irony that Obama cavorts in the tropics having signed a into law a bill that raised taxes on the middle and lower class so that Goldman Sachs, among other wealthy entities, could enjoy corporate welfare courtesy of Harry Reid and Barack Obama.
John Brennan: CIA veteran who became Obama's drone champion: Presidential adviser is admired in the intelligence community – but his support for drones could lead the CIA in a new direction
The Obama administration's decision to nominate to run the CIA one of the key architects of its secret drone program could shore up a new paramilitary role for the nation's intelligence services. John Brennan, a 25-year veteran of the CIA, is closely identified with the killing of Osama bin Laden and the US
US drone attacks 'counter-productive', former Obama security adviser claims
Excerpt: The United States' use of drones is counter-productive, less effective than the White House claims, and is "encouraging a new arms race that will empower current and future rivals and lay the foundations for an international system that is increasingly violent", according to a study by one of President Obama's former security advisers. Michael Boyle, who was on Obama's counter-terrorism group in the run-up to his election in 2008, said the US administration's growing reliance on drone technology was having "adverse strategic effects that have not been properly weighed against the tactical gains associated with killing terrorists". (Obama’s frequent use of drones to make red smears out of terrorists and anyone foolish enough to be standing around him, at far greater rates than the media would have let Bush get away with, is the one bring spot in his presidency, IMHO. ~Bob.)
Ticketmaster accepts blame for Obama inauguration blunder
Excerpt: The process for admitting the public into the re-inauguration of President Barack Obama has been thrown into confusion after the agency handling the sale released tickets a day early, angering hopefuls who missed out. (This will doubtless enrage a lot of my readers who were counting on going. ~Bob.)
Win A Trip To Washington
Still time to win. ~Bob.
Quotes
Insanity in individuals is something rare -- but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
Hell hath no fury like a liberal scorned. –Dick Gregory
Worth Reading : America ’s European moment: The troubling similarities between the fiscal mismanagement in Washington
Excerpt: Can-kicking is a transatlantic sport The first is an inability to get beyond patching up. The euro crisis deepened because Europe ’s politicians serially failed to solve the single currency’s structural weaknesses, resorting instead to a succession of temporary fixes, usually negotiated well after midnight. America
Saudi girl, 15, barricades herself in bedroom after being married to 90-year-old groom for huge dowry
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2258385/Saudi-girl-15-barricades-bedroom-married-90-year-old-groom-huge-dowry.html#ixzz2HMddlFKv
Excerpt: A 90-year-old Saudi Arabian man is suing the family of his 15-year-old child-bride after she shut herself in her bedroom on their wedding night. The terrified teen locked the door from the inside so that her new husband could not enter on their first night as a married couple, and two days later she fled back to her parents’ home. Now her elderly husband wants his money back as he claims he paid the parents £10,767 ($17,500) for the teenager so they could wed. (Child marriage: It’s not just a good idea, it’s the law! Shari’a law, that is. ~Bob.)
Excerpt: A 90-year-old Saudi Arabian man is suing the family of his 15-year-old child-bride after she shut herself in her bedroom on their wedding night. The terrified teen locked the door from the inside so that her new husband could not enter on their first night as a married couple, and two days later she fled back to her parents’ home. Now her elderly husband wants his money back as he claims he paid the parents £10,767 ($17,500) for the teenager so they could wed. (Child marriage: It’s not just a good idea, it’s the law! Shari’a law, that is. ~Bob.)
Worth Reading
Excerpt: Just a few days after Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of New York , New Jersey and Connecticut Sandy
Homeschool Interest Surges After Shooting
A San Diego online homeschool academy reported a surge Thursday in calls after the mass shooting at a Connecticut
Banks Reach Settlements On Mortgages: To settle claims over troubled loans soured in housing crash
http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/banks-reach-settlements-on-mortgages/#g4p6c1lY4cZca1yY.99
http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/banks-reach-settlements-on-mortgages/#g4p6c1lY4cZca1yY.99
Excerpt; Bank of America agreed on Monday to pay more than $10 billion to Fannie Mae to settle claims over troubled mortgages that soured during the housing crash, mostly loans issued by the bank’s Countrywide Financial subsidiary. Separately, federal regulators reached an $8.5 billion settlement on Monday to resolve claims of foreclosure abuses that included flawed paperwork used in foreclosures and bungled loan modifications by 10 major lenders, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citibank. About $3.3 billion of that settlement amount will go toward Americans who went through foreclosure in 2009 and 2010, while $5.2 billion will address other assistance to troubled borrowers, including loan modifications and reductions of principal balances. (Why Soros, Buffet et al dumped banking stocks a few days ago….Barb. Ah, Countrywide, which gave sweetheart mortgage deals to “Friends of Angelo” like Sen. Chris Dodd…~Bob.)
White House Inactive On Attack Dangers
Excerpt: The United States
Conspiracy of Brothers
Excerpt: That summer when Hillary Clinton arrived in Egypt
Top Pundit: Hagel Means Israel Faces Iran
Excerpt: In 45 or 50 years, he added, the United States has gone from believing the entire free world needs to be protected in order for the U.S. to be safe, to a point in which the United States seems to think there is nothing that requires its intervention beyond, perhaps, Venezuela and Nicaragua Florida and deploy Arrow and Iron Dome systems in Washington
Chuck Hagel's Nomination: Iran
Excerpt: "We hope that practical changes will be created in the US foreign policy and the US officials' approach will change to respect the nations' rights," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast told reporters in Tehran US
President Obama’s decision to nominate former senator Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense confirms and reinforces a series of unfortunate developments in both American foreign policy and domestic politics. First and foremost, the Hagel nomination amounts to a green light for Iran Iran
Obama CIA Pick John Brennan In 2010: Jihad A ‘Legitimate Tenant Of Islam’
Excerpt: The Washington Times Opinion Page met with Brennan three months later at an editorial board meeting and asked him about his remarks. …Brennan lost his temper relatively quickly during the question and answer time between him and then-TWT deputy editorial page editor (now with USA
NASA Selling Off Launchpads, Runways At Kennedy Center
Excerpt: And the facilities out here can't be in an abandoned state for long before they become unusable. So we're in a big push over the next few months to either have agreements for these facilities or not." The process is mostly secret, because NASA has agreed to let bidders declare their proposals proprietary, keeping them out of the view of competitors and the public. (JFK probably rolling over in his grave along with several astronauts…Barb.)
The Week That Was: 2013-01-05 (January 5, 2013)
Excerpt: Quote of the Week: It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. -Robert A. Heinlein, science-fiction author (1907-1988). Number of the Week: A 10 percent certainty of 10,000,000 is equal to a 100 percent certainty of 1,000,000. (…) As Pielke states, “our scientific institutions are far too important to be allowed to become pawns in the political battles of the day.” (The two pieces of the excerpt are both taken from Ken Haapala’s summary of the week’s climate science news, but concern different subjects. If you only have time to read the summary, it will be worth the time. If it persuades you to then read numbered articles #1 and #3, don’t be surprised. There are also many other good articles listed, especially in the section called "EPA on the March." Ron P.)
Excerpt: TRANSLATOR FOR EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT MORSI: I want him to be free, but I respect the law and the rule of law in Egypt and the United States
#MyJihad in Iraq: Muslims forget that jihad is making friends across the aisle, slit throat of Christian teacher
Excerpt: So many misunderstanders of jihad, and Hamas-linked CAIR is only talking to the easily foolable kuffar, with their new ad campaign whitewashing jihad: “My Jihad is to stay fit despite my busy schedule. What’s yours?” “My Jihad is to build friendships across the aisle. What’s yours?” “My Jihad is to not judge people by their cover. What’s yours?” Shdha Elias tragically ran into some misunderstanders of jihad, whose jihad was to cut her throat.
Muslim clerics warned against hate sermons
Excerpt: The Ansaar Sheikh went further calling on Muslims not to participate in Christian funeral services, saying Christians were supposed to be buried as dogs because they were just infidels.
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x1058227140/Sudbury-man-convicted-on-terrorism-charges-receives-award#ixzz2HP1fTE00
Excerpt: Former Sudbury Yemen to seek training in a terrorist camp in order to fight U.S. soldiers in Iraq
Excerpt: Russian security forces in a restive North Caucasus province on Sunday killed three militants suspected of planning attacks on church services during the Russian Orthodox Christmas holiday, authorities said. (”Restive” is media jargon meaning, “don’t go there, the Muslims will try to kill you.” ~Bob.)
On Twitter, Jihadists Call For Major Terror Attacks Against France
Excerpt: The suggestions included: killing France's ambassadors, just as the "manly" Libyan fighters killed the U.S. ambassador in Benghazi; carrying out operations similar to 9/11, London's July 7, 2005 bombings, and Madrid's March 11, 2004 bombings, because only attacks of this kind would deter and defeat the "crusaders"; carrying out assassinations; conducting suicide bombings outside the French Information Ministry building; and holding demonstrations outside French embassies, especially in Egypt, because it has [allegedly] been proven that the Egyptian public can sway the entire Arab public.
Americans are Failing Because of a lack of Education. By Richard McPherson
http://www.patriotnetworktv.com/editorials/LackofEducation.html
http://www.patriotnetworktv.com/editorials/LackofEducation.html
Excerpt: When Jerry Brown was re-elected, a person I have known for many years made the decision to leave California
Bad news for Israel
Excerpt: The president of the United States
Crowd laughs as Chicago
Those civil, tolerant progressives. Headline doesn’t match her remarks, but they are inflammatory. ~Bob.
Excerpt: Ever since California’s Governor Jerry Brown vetoed legislation that would have all but entirely ended all cooperation between the State of California and ICE on detainers less than ninety days ago, liberals, both in Sacramento and in specific localities, have been plotting to institute the legislation in whole or at least in parts.
Worth Reading : 20 Ways America
Excerpt: 4) Congress hasn't produced a budget in more than 3 years, most of the big bills don't go through the normal committee process, and parliamentary maneuvers are used to block debate and keep Republicans from offering amendments to bills; then we're surprised when we have gridlock, filibusters and massive fights over the debt limit.
Gun Facts
Good resource. ~Bob.
Excerpt: New Year’s Day was tough for taxpayers. Thirteen tax increases kicked in.
Large Cities All Over America Are Degenerating into Gang-Infested War Zones
http://marketdailynews.com/2013/01/07/large-cities-all-over-america-are-degenerating-into-gang-infested-war-zones/
Excerpt: Large U.S. cities that the rest of the world used to look at in envy are now being transformed into gang-infested hellholes with skyrocketing crime rates. Cities such asChicago , Detroit , Camden , East St. Louis , New Orleans and Oakland
http://marketdailynews.com/2013/01/07/large-cities-all-over-america-are-degenerating-into-gang-infested-war-zones/
Excerpt: Large U.S. cities that the rest of the world used to look at in envy are now being transformed into gang-infested hellholes with skyrocketing crime rates. Cities such as
Can Anybody Here Break a Trillion-Dollar Coin? By Stephen Green
Excerpt: Paul Krugman, the liberal economist who pens a widely read column for the New York Times, on Monday joined the calls for the U.S.
Tweet from Frank J. Fleming@IMAO_
If you put a trillion dollar coin into a soda vending machine, you now own all soda manufacturers.
Former U.S. Mint Director: The $1 Trillion Platinum Coin Ain't Worth a Plugged Nickel
Excerpt: First, it may be legal to mint a platinum bullion coin with a $1 trillion face value, but it's not legal to pass it off as actually worth $1 trillion if there isn't $1 trillion of platinum in it. That's because it's a bullion coin and not a legal circulating coin. (Why not a $100 Trillion coin? ~Bob.)
Who Controls Vandalized Mount of Olives? Jerusalem Arabs destroyed a dozen graves at the Mount of Olives cemetery, supposedly under Israeli sovereignty. By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Excerpt: Jerusalem Arabs destroyed a dozen graves at the Mount of Olives (Har Hazeitim) cemetery, supposedly under Israeli sovereignty and where many revered rabbis and Torah scholars are buried.
Obama Listened to Israel, Avoided Chemical War in Syria: Report
Excerpt: Israeli surveillance that spotted Syria preparing chemical bombs to load them on airplanes spurred President Barack Obama into action to win rare support from Russia to stop the plan, The New York Times reported Tuesday. The report follows bits of information published over the past several weeks, according to which Syrian soldiers were spotted mixing chemicals, but details of Israeli surveillance and American involvement were not previously disclosed….Further reports by Israeli revealed that the bombs has been loaded onto vehicles near Syrian air bases, where Assad’s planes could use them within two hours, too late for the United States to intervene militarily.
Opposition Leader: Obama Administration Downplayed Brotherhood Warnings. By John Rossomando
Excerpt: The Obama administration chose to listen to voices suggesting that Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood was moderate rather than those who warned it would resort to violence if it came to power, cables obtained by the Investigative Project on Terrorism show.
Saudi Preacher's Fatwa Allows Jihadis to Rape Syrian Women
Saudi Arabia is no stranger to the Syrian civil war, actively funding and supporting the rebellion against the Assad regime. However a recent Saudi Wahhabi preacher's religious decree reveals barbaric justification emanating from the kingdom's clerics. Saudi preacher Muhammed al-Arifi issued a fatwa that allows jihadi fighters to rape Syrian women. (The real “war on women,” from the people Obama supports. ~Bob.)
Tweet from Vicki Mckenna @VickiMcKenna
DAY 1350 since Harry Reid's senate has passed a budget.
Reid says he misspoke in suggesting Hurricane Sandy was worse than Katrina
Excerpt: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that he "simply misspoke," when he said Friday that Hurricane Katrina was "nothing in comparison to what happened to the people in New York and New Jersey"from Hurricane Sandy. (What he meant was the federal response under Obama was worse. ~Bob.)
Tweet from Brad Thor @BradThor
Publishing lists of gun registrations isn't going to cut down on guns, it's going to cut down on registrations.
Tweet from Michael A Nöthem @mikandynothem
YES, I DO think you should pay for your own mortgage & birth control. Not because I'm a conservative but because I'm an adult.
2012 deadliest year in Karachi for two decades
Excerpt: Pakistan’s financial hub Karachi saw its deadliest year in two decades in 2012, with around 2,000 people killed in violence linked to ethnic and political tensions, raising fears for elections due this year. … Karachi has all the ingredients of an explosive cocktail — gang warfare, land grabbings, drugs, extremism, political rivalries, ethnic tensions, poverty and a mushrooming population owing to migration. (Worse than Chicago. What are their gun laws like? ~Bob.)
Slaves of Dubai
Allah approves of slavery in the Qur’an. ~Bob.
Tweet from Thoughtful_BlaCkman @wizdom4you
Democrats now support keeping Guantanamo Detention Center open by a margin of 62%....but President Bush was evil for doing the same thing...
Ha Ha Islamophobia
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