Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for February 15, 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.
Excerpt: One recurring theme seems consistent in Athenian literature on the eve of the city's takeover by Macedon: social squabbling over slicing up a shrinking pie. Athenian speeches from that era make frequent reference to lawsuits over property and inheritance, evading taxes, and fudging eligibility for the dole. After the end of the Roman Republic, reactionary Latin literature -- from the likes of Juvenal, Petronius, Suetonius, Tacitus -- pointed to "bread and circuses," as well as excessive wealth, corruption and top-heavy government.
Worth Reading
Excerpt: The word 'genius' is casually thrown around these days. Oh, he's a genius. Oh, she's a genius. Everyone is a genius. But that's not true. The fact is stupidity rules - for it more easily explains how screwed up everything is. That is not false. The previous statement is true. And, yes, I know a sentence should not end with is. But so it is. So it does.
Experts dispute value of Obama’s proposal to hike minimum wage
Excerpt: Advocates of a proposal to raise the minimum wage argue that it will lift millions of low-wage workers out of poverty, but opponents say the plan would have the opposite effect, killing jobs and making it more difficult for some to find work. (The black economist Thomas Sowell says that before the first minimum wage law, blacks had a higher employment rate than whites. Unions wanted the law to keep blacks from taking low paying jobs where they could work their way up. Blacks have had lower employment rates ever since. ~Bob.)
Man Forced to Forfeit Gun Used to Stop Home Invasion
Excerpt: In late January, 64-year old Clare Niederhauser was arrested for shooting at burglars fleeing from his property. At a plea deal hearing, he apologized for firing the shots, agreed to pay a $700 fine, take a weapons class, and forfeit the weapon he used.
$2 Billion Medicaid Program Helps Mostly Illegal Immigrants. By Phil Galewitz
Excerpt: But while federal law generally bars illegal immigrants from being covered by Medicaid, a little-known part of the state-federal health insurance program for the poor has long paid about $2 billion a year for emergency treatment for a group of patients who, according to hospitals, mostly comprise illegal immigrants. Most of it goes to reimburse hospitals for delivering babies for women who show up in their emergency rooms, according to interviews with hospital officials and studies.
Obama’s “Paycheck Fairness Act” Fiasco – Dumbest President Ever?
http://theulstermanreport.com/2013/02/13/obamas-paycheck-fairness-act-fiasco-dumbest-president-ever/
Excerpt: What Barack Obama neglected to mention is that there have already been not one, but TWO laws that already prohibit pay bias based on race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. – the Equal Pay Act, and Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. So what really is this Paycheck Fairness Act really all about? The tried and true rule to always be applied Barack Obama when his proposing something is to ask if that something increases the power of government. In this case the answer is, once again, an absolute YES.
Excerpt: Sadly we know the Obama boilerplate speech by heart, and so the inaugural address was by now unfortunately straw-man psychodrama. Five years ago, the well-delivered script caused fainting, now it should earn mostly yawns: Fault the well off; invest more borrowed money in more federal programs that have no demonstrable record of success; blame the bad news on others; ignore the $1 trillion-plus annual borrowing; threaten to use more executive orders; demonize the opposition; take bad news abroad and declare it good, and fluff everything up with the hope-and-change cadences that address the trivial and avoid the fundamental.
The Marines: Always Under the Axe: Time and again, the U.S.
Excerpt: When it comes to our national-defense priorities, constrained budgets inevitably encourage strategic myopia and the use of axes over scalpels to make cuts. But no military service is more accustomed to the blow of the budget gnomes’ battle ax than the U.S. Marine Corps, which is forced to justify its existence whenever conflicts end or the nation faces tough economic times. As the Obama administration frantically seeks to wind down America ’s commitments in Afghanistan
Gruesome double murder, men decapitated
Excerpt: But to members of the close knit Coptic Orthodox church the pain is real. ... 28-year-old Yusuf Ibrahim is in custody. (No clue to motive…~Bob.)
Nine Fallacies Used to Defend Public-Sector Pensions
Excerpt: Public pensions require fundamental reform, but defenders of the current system have advanced arguments that do not reflect sound economic thinking. These public pension fallacies endure in political debates, even as finance economists have roundly rejected them. Jason Richwine, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, addresses nine of the most common fallacies promulgated by defenders of public pensions.
The dirty side of clean solar energy
Excerpt: What customers may not know is that there's a dirtier side. While solar is a far less polluting energy source than coal or natural gas, many panel makers are nevertheless grappling with a hazardous waste problem. Fueled partly by billions in government incentives, the industry is creating millions of solar panels each year and, in the process, millions of pounds of polluted sludge and contaminated water.
NAS Jax to become a hub for drone operations
Excerpt: NAS Jax will be the operational hub for drones, which he says will be an eye in the sky over the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and the Persian Gulf . … And making Jacksonville
Dr. Ben Carson likes Rubio, doesn’t mind if Prayer Breakfast speech in front of Obama was ‘offensive’
http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/12/thedc-interview-dr-ben-carson-likes-rubio-doesnt-mind-if-prayer-breakfast-speech-in-front-of-obama-was-offensive/#ixzz2Kr8vzX00
http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/12/thedc-interview-dr-ben-carson-likes-rubio-doesnt-mind-if-prayer-breakfast-speech-in-front-of-obama-was-offensive/#ixzz2Kr8vzX00
Excerpt: Brain surgeon and sudden conservative darling Dr. Ben Carson doesn’t really mind if you thought his blunt in-Obama’s-face criticism of the president was “offensive.” And which politician best articulates the doctor’s values? That would be Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who Carson
President ignores evidence government preschool hurts children
Excerpt: Federal researchers have been studying Head Start for decades, and have never found significant, long-lasting benefits. The research consistently shows that kids who attend Head Start are, four or five years later, no different from their peers who did not attend. … Seeing these results, HHS suppressed its own research and dumped the latest report full of zeroes on the Friday before Christmas 2012. In January, Congress sent Head Start a $100 million bonus. (It helps the Democrat union/public employee base, so who cares about the waste or the kids? ~Bob.)
ICE union head on deporting welfare-dependents: ‘We are not permitted to enforce that statute. Period.’
http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/13/ice-union-head-on-deporting-welfare-dependents-we-are-not-permitted-to-enforce-that-statute-period/#ixzz2Kr6gYMrC
http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/13/ice-union-head-on-deporting-welfare-dependents-we-are-not-permitted-to-enforce-that-statute-period/#ixzz2Kr6gYMrC
Excerpt: The legal prohibition on new immigrants becoming primarily reliant on government assistance for subsistence — or public charges — is never enforced, Chris Crane, an ICE agent and president of the ICE agent’s union told reporters on a conference call Thursday afternoon. “It is certainly part of what we are supposed to be doing, it is definitely a federal statute within the [Immigration and Nationality Act],” he said when asked about the enforcement of the century-old public charge restriction. “However I will say this: that in my career, I have never seen or heard of the charge being applied in any case to anyone.” (One case they found not pursued. –Barb)
DHS admits it does not track immigrants who become welfare dependent, pursued zero cases last year
http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/13/dhs-only-makes-one-public-charge-deportation-in-last-fiscal-year-admits-inadequate-recordkeeping/#ixzz2Kr66jxzN
http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/13/dhs-only-makes-one-public-charge-deportation-in-last-fiscal-year-admits-inadequate-recordkeeping/#ixzz2Kr66jxzN
Excerpt: In a response letter to four top Republican lawmakers, the department of Homeland Security revealed it initiated only one case against an immigrant for becoming a “public charge,” or being primarily dependent upon the government, in fiscal year 2012. The case was later withdrawn.
North Korean Red Dawn Closer Than Ever: EMP threat level from hermit kingdom rises with new test
Excerpt: However, it could have been a test for an upcoming nuclear weapon that could be programmed to de-orbit and detonate at a high altitude anywhere from the West to the East coast of the U.S., potentially producing an electromagnetic pulse that could seriously damage or destroy the U.S. electric grid system….With just a one megaton nuclear bomb, it could be exploded at an altitude of some 150 miles above the middle of the U.S., creating an electromagnetic pulse that could reach almost coast to coast and affect parts of Canada and possibly Mexico…. Informed sources say that North Korea and Iran are collaborating not only on missile delivery systems but also exchanging technical data and North Korean scientists are to assist Iran
Pentagon Assessing Nork Threat: Pentagon conducting urgent assessment of North Korean mobile ICBM threat
Excerpt: The Pentagon’s Joint Staff is conducting an urgent threat assessment of North Korea ’s new road-mobile missile and the danger it poses to the United States
Destroy Marco Rubio
Excerpt: It really is impressive to see such control of the media as has Obama. Pravda pales in comparison. The only true comparison would be Joseph Goebbels. (I thought Limbaugh was making this up. So silly. The Stephanie Cutters are alive and still employed. –Barb.)
Excerpt: The happy-talk that the Eurozone debt crisis has been resolved is ubiquitous. But when did ubiquitous happy-talk make it correct? Since the crisis is about debt–too much of it, and too much of it cannot and will not be paid back–then perhaps it would be prudent to look at two charts of eurozone credit, courtesy of the insightful chart-based website Market Daily Briefing.
Excerpt: Iran New York City
Excerpt: In his State of the Union address, President Obama showed a stunning lack of reality on terrorism and the Arab Spring. The President’s statement saluting “the courage and sacrifice of those who serve in dangerous places at great personal risk” unfortunately rings hollow when one considers the Administration’s treatment of the Benghazi Libya and Mali
Evidence Emerges of Failure to Disclose. By Joel B. Pollak
Excerpt: New evidence has emerged that a 2008 address to the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) by former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), President Barack Obama's nominee for Secretary of Defense, was in fact a formal speech, contrary to the claims of the Obama administration. Steven Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) provided Breitbart News with a still image of what the IPT says is Hagel addressing the ADC conference behind a podium with the group's logo. Hagel was described as the event's keynote speaker.
GOP threatens to filibuster Hagel. A step not taken by the Senate against a presidential nominee...since Ds did it to Bush.
Tweet from @asthegirlturns
Only in MSM World can a horrendous confirmation hearing be considered "honest" but sipping water mid-speech is considered a "career ender".
Tweet from @marcorubio
Picked up over 13,000 new followers on#twitter since last night! Im going to start drinking #water in the middle of all of my speeches!
Investing In a World of Make Believe
John Browne http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/johnbrowne/2013/02/10/investing-in-a-world-of-make-believe-n1509122?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl
Excerpt: In recent years, a high degree of economic, financial, and political uncertainty has resulted in acute volatility in stocks, real estate, commodities and precious metals. I believe that another aggravating factor has been the increasing skepticism through which the investing public views government statistics and statements. (Has the cost of living gone up significantly despite the reported near absence of inflation? The cost of a flat screen TV or PC has gone down thanks to Moore
Two Gorgeous Girls Kill Two Ugly Boars with an AR-15. By Doug Giles
Excerpt: Here’s some pics of few nice wild boars taken by 21yr. old Regis Giles of GirlsJustWannaHaveGuns.com and 16yr. old Bethany Vallorani. Their weapon of choice? An AR-15.
Combat Veterans for Congress
Interesting site. ~Bob
Jake McNiece, Who Led Incorrigible D-Day Unit, Is Dead at 93
Excerpt: The Filthy 13 were famed during World War II as model soldiers, except for maybe the obeying orders part.
Excerpt: Machiavelli is a tonic because he counteracts the sentiments of our age. We’re awash in TV news segments celebrating the human spirit, but Machiavelli had a lower estimation of our worth. “For it may be said of men in general that they are ungrateful, voluble, dissemblers, anxious to avoid danger and covetous of gain,” he writes in “The Prince.”
Healthcare Paid for With Unicorn Farts
Excerpt: I will only focus on one line, which distinctly highlights again just how out to lunch the man is when it comes to real healthcare reforms in this country. … Healthcare cannot be paid for based on quality of care without introducing subjective standards that will themselves drive up the costs of healthcare. He might as well claim he does not want to pay for healthcare at all or, at best, will cover the costs with unicorn farts.
Lightning bolt strikes the Vatican
Excerpt: A lightning bolt strikes the top of the Vatican
Dorner -- Another Angry Fatherless Black Man With a Gun. By Larry Elder
Excerpt: In 1965, Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote "The Negro Family: A Case for National Action." At the time, 25 percent of blacks were born outside of wedlock, a number that the future Democratic senator from New York
Environmental Correction Agency IG begins investigation of EPA actions against Texas
Excerpt: A federal watchdog is investigating Environmental Protection Agency enforcement actions against a Texas
An Afghan Scam Billions lost to waste, fraud, and possible purchase of Iranian oil. By Adam Kredo
Excerpt: Billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars are being wasted in Afghanistan
War on Everything but Islamic Terror. By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: Over a decade after thousands of New Yorkers were murdered by Muslim terrorists, the city’s mayor is declaring victory in the War on Salt. Next up he plans to wage a spring offensive on Styrofoam cups. After that, who knows?
Worth Reading
Excerpt: When I was young, one of the overarching dreads of our society was the imminent “population explosion” – the threat of humanity outstripping its planetary space and resources, a fear generated largely by Paul Erhlich’s seminal 1968 book The Population Bomb. Like global warming, we simply accepted Erhlich’s doomsday scenario as inevitable fact. But Jonathan Last, in his new book What to Expect When No One’s Expecting, claims that not only did the population bomb never explode, the world’s population will soon begin shrinking. The greatest threat to American life isn’t terrorism, he asserts, or China US
Syrian child: "Our leader is Bin Laden, the Americans’ worst nightmare...We will slaughter the Shiites"
Didn’t get the memo. ~Bob
Community order for Llandudno Muslim man who claimed religion allowed him to hit wife
Excerpt: A Muslim man who claimed his religion entitled him to hit his wife has been given a community order. Shamshu Miah, 58, of Alexandra Road
Obamaville Song
55% Favor Cuts Over More Spending on Education, Clean Energy, Infrastructure
Excerpt: President Obama in his State of the Union address Tuesday night called for new government spending on infrastructure, clean energy and education. While pluralities of voters believe those proposals would help the economy, most think spending cuts would help the economy more. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 55% of Likely U.S. Voters think cutting government spending would do more to help the economy than increasing government spending on infrastructure, clean energy and education projects.
White liberals tell black lies about civil rights: Ann Coulter sets record straight about which party was segregationist in 1960s
Excerpt: Liberals ignored my book “Mugged: Racial Demagoguery From the Seventies to Obama” throughout the fall. Now that I’m safely home from my book tour, they feel free to jabber on about their make-believe history of the civil-rights movement with abandon. In the hackiest of all hacky articles, Sam Tanenhaus, the man responsible for ruining The New York Times Book Review, has written a cover story in The New Republic, titled: “Original Sin: Why the GOP is and will continue to be the party of white people.” (I don't always like Coulter's essays, at times she just slides into too much zinging and not enough objective facts. But in this column she is totally factual about who did what when. I don't think it's important anymore that in the past it was Democrats who were so anti-Black, but what is important is that it's totally ridiculous to accuse the Republicans of having been historically anti-Black. The GOP is not just the "party of White people", it's the party of conservatives, and some of them are nonwhite, they are Black, Yellow, and Brown. Accusing the GOP of being a racist group is a racist slur in itself, and I, like an increasing number of people, am really sick and tired of the race card being played at every turn. Enough, already, with that crap, let's try to move on and use facts and logic, not eternal name-calling. --Del
I’m Glad That I Don’t Have Canadian Murder Rates Where I Live. By Clayton E. Cramer
Excerpt: What I find fascinating, however, is to look at murder rates for Canadian provinces and compare them to their immediate American state neighbors. When you do that, you discover some very curious differences that show gun availability must be either a very minor factor in determining murder rates, or if it is a major factor, it is overwhelmed by factors that are vastly more important.
The Doctor To Cure Our Country’s Ills. By Jack Kelly
May need to scroll down to find this article. ~Bob. Excerpt: Listening to Dr. Benjamin Carson's keynote address at the National Prayer Breakfast Feb. 7 may have been the longest 27 minutes of Barack Obama's presidency, thinks John Giokaris of Policymic.com. (Wouldn't it be a kick to see Dr. Carson for VP and Marco Rubio for Prez in 2016? That would mess up the split of the Latino vote and also some of the Black vote. Dr. Carson is the poster guy for Americans who worked their way up in the system, starting at the bottom. Of course, there will be those who say he's "not Black enough", that's automatic for any Black who's Conservative, but what's important to a lot of us is that he's "American enough" and then some. People like him, the ones who don't reach for power but will exercise it very carefully if given it, are the best gift our society ever gets. --Del
Obama’s 2nd Vacation of the Year: West Palm Beach
http://MinuteMenNews.com/2013/02/obamas-2nd-vacation-of-the-year-west-palm-beach/
http://MinuteMenNews.com/2013/02/obamas-2nd-vacation-of-the-year-west-palm-beach/
Excerpt: Without apparent irony, Obama has decided to jet to a well-trod stomping ground of the rich just days after presenting himself to the nation in his State of the Union speech as the guardian of the middle class.
Obama Wants to Close Thousands of Businesses & Raise Unemployment
http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/02/obama-wants-to-close-thousands-of-businesses-raise-unemployment/
Excerpt: Many businesses inAmerica
http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/02/obama-wants-to-close-thousands-of-businesses-raise-unemployment/
Excerpt: Many businesses in
New medal for drone pilots outranks Bronze Star
Excerpt: The new medal will rank just below the Distinguished Flying Cross. It will have precedence over — and be worn on a uniform above — the Bronze Star with Valor device, a medal awarded to troops for specific heroic acts performed under fire in combat. (Apparently we have always underestimated the bravery involved for someone wearing only their skivvies and sitting in an air-conditioned room located in the middle of a desert somewhere in Nevada
Important: The Economic Crisis and the Franco-German Alliance. From StratFor
Excerpt: "Two announcements made Wednesday (13 February) prompted questions about France 's economic future and its relationship with Germany France France
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-needs-miles-of-new-power-lines-to-make-energy-transition-a-835979.html
The percentage of solar, wind, hydro and biomass energy in the country is expected to increase by 35 percent by 2020, as the country prepares for the phase-out of nuclear energy announced by Chancellor Angela Merkel after the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe last year. Barring a miracle, once all this happens, Germany will no longer be able to afford cheap prices on their exports, will no longer be the export giant it is today, and will be no richer than any other country in the EU. No one will be left to finance the EU's constant failures. That will be the end of the 'grand projet' once and for all. But it could in fact end long before that. I have never seen a single article by economics 'experts' make this prediction because most of them view energy as a separate subject, as though it were completely unrelated to economics. Cheap energy has everything to do with prosperity, as the Chinese and Russians well know. Likewise, expensive energy has everything to do with stalling an economy, as the Japanese well know. --Don Hank. And we are going to learn the hard way. ~Bob.)
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-needs-miles-of-new-power-lines-to-make-energy-transition-a-835979.html
The percentage of solar, wind, hydro and biomass energy in the country is expected to increase by 35 percent by 2020, as the country prepares for the phase-out of nuclear energy announced by Chancellor Angela Merkel after the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe last year. Barring a miracle, once all this happens, Germany will no longer be able to afford cheap prices on their exports, will no longer be the export giant it is today, and will be no richer than any other country in the EU. No one will be left to finance the EU's constant failures. That will be the end of the 'grand projet' once and for all. But it could in fact end long before that. I have never seen a single article by economics 'experts' make this prediction because most of them view energy as a separate subject, as though it were completely unrelated to economics. Cheap energy has everything to do with prosperity, as the Chinese and Russians well know. Likewise, expensive energy has everything to do with stalling an economy, as the Japanese well know. --Don Hank. And we are going to learn the hard way. ~Bob.)
Sen. Lautenberg won't run for reelection
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/283251-sen-lautenberg-wont-run-for-reelection
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/283251-sen-lautenberg-wont-run-for-reelection
Excerpt: Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) won't run for reelection in 2014, he told the Star-Ledger on Thursday.
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