Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for February 20, 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.
Review on Amazon of C.Y.A. Protecting Yourself in the Modern Jungle
(Royalties support the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation)
As one who works professionally with personal security issues, I find the book, CYA, to be excellent for distinct recommendations for avoiding, detecting, and managing risks in our high-threat society. The suggestions are practical and to the point. Moreover, the author constantly injects humor. Rather than detracting from the serious messages about personal safety, the humor ameliorates the tension provoked by the dangerous scenarios that are discussed, and allows the reader to internalize the information more fully. Beyond reading the book, I suggest that a copy of the book be gifted to every loved one.
Praetorian Guard
Cartoon.
Worth Reading
Excerpt: A nation's choice between spending on military defense and spending on civilian goods has often been posed as "guns versus butter." But understanding the choices of many nations' political leaders might be helped by examining the contrast between their runaway spending on pensions while skimping on military defense. Huge pensions for retired government workers can be found from small municipalities to national governments on both sides of the Atlantic .
Excerpt: Marine Gen. John R. Allen, the longest-serving leader of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan , asked President Obama Tuesday morning to accept his retirement from the military because his wife is seriously ill, a move that nullifies his nomination to be the supreme allied commander in Europe , according to his aides. Obama granted Allen’s request. (A fine Marine, unfairly smeared. I hope his wife does as well as possible. ~Bob.)
Congress’s ‘kick-the-can’ strategy does nothing to solve the deficit problem. By Walter Pincus
Excerpt: Politicized as they are, I believe the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-controlled Senate will not agree on any meaningful deal before sequester kicks in on March 1. That could mean that during the next seven months there would be $85 billion in painful, across-the-board cuts — $46 billion in defense and $39 billion in non-defense discretionary spending — leading up to Oct. 1 and the end of the fiscal year.
Watchdog groups warn of fundraising scandal in Obama second term
Excerpt: Government watchdog groups once allied with President Obama warn he could become embroiled in a second-term scandal because of ties to a group set up to collect unlimited donations. The group, Organizing for Action, plans to raise unlimited chunks of funding to promote the president’s agenda. (Zen Question: If a scandal happens in the Obama administration, and no one in the media notices it, did it make a sound? ~Bob.)
The Impending Decline of Coal
Excerpt: Natural gas is poised to replace coal as the most cost-effective fuel for electricity generation. Despite an abundance of coal, advances in hydrofracturing technology have precipitated a rise in natural gas production, which may lead to the decline of coal, say Carl Johnston, a senior fellow, Lewis Warne, a research associate, and H. Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow, at the National Center
Then again, she has a financial interest in gas. Show me your shocked face. ~Bob.
Excerpt: The Obama administration's electric car efforts took another hit on Wednesday after a federal inspection found a South Korean advanced battery maker never scaled up U.S.
Worth Reading
Excerpt: To show the effects of oil and gas development on the economy, look no further than new data on the U.S.
Dutch political leader Geert Wilders, now on a speaking tour of Australia, on why he came to fear Islam
Excerpt: But there was also their fear. Islamic societies are ruled by terror. Muslims are good people, but they live under the yoke of Islamic sharia. If they leave Islam, or even just mildly criticise it, they sign their own death verdict.
CNBC Anchor Challenges Dem Senator on Cliff Negotiations; Floor Traders Erupt In Cheers. By Larry O’Connor
Excerpt: “That’s all you want to do. That’s it. It’s your way or the highway. Raise the rates on the rich. No other way. Your way or the highway. That’s it. That’s where we are. Thank you, Senator.” That's how CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo finished her interview with Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) last week as the two went back and forth over the fiscal cliff negotiations in Washington DC
Pope will have security, immunity by remaining in the Vatican
Excerpt: Pope Benedict's decision to live in the Vatican
Why The Hell Should Anyone Vote For The Republican Party? John Hawkins
The only answer anyone ever seems to be able to offer to that question these days is, "Because the Democrats are worse." However, the problem with being the lesser of two evils is that you're still an evil. Well, what about the GOP's principles? What about them? Name something that the Republican Party stands for today.
What Is Really Blocking the Peace Process? By Khaled Abu Toameh
It is clear is that neither Hamas nor Fatah is interested in achieving unity -- each for its own reasons. Then there are radicals in the Arab and Islamic countries -- such as the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis -- who will never accept Israel Israel Israel Israel to make concessions to parties who cannot or would not reciprocate in ways that meet Israel 's requirements is a recipe for feeding Palestinian Islamic eschatology of a caliphate replacing Israel
The Truth About Hamas' Smuggling Tunnels. By Paul Alster
Excerpt: The general narrative of the situation in Hamas-controlled Gaza is of a people under siege, deprived of everyday goods, whose only means of receiving sufficient supplies is through the network of tunnels that bring a wide range of essential items from Egypt Israel
If Elizabeth Warren wants to lay blame for financial mess, she can look in the mirror. By Erick Erickson
Excerpt: A video has been making the rounds of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., getting non-answers from various regulators during her first Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing. Warren
Black Principal Promotes Tutoring for Colored Only Students
http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/02/black-principal-promotes-tutoring-for-colored-only-students/#ixzz2LMMgbgPq
http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/02/black-principal-promotes-tutoring-for-colored-only-students/#ixzz2LMMgbgPq
Excerpt: Unlike most principals, Pearson’s letter contained a bold statement of racial discrimination, only this time it discriminated against white students. On the first line of the letter, it stated that the tutoring program was for ‘Students of Color.’ By the way, Pearson is black.
Immigration ‘Reform’ Lies. By Michael Volpe
Excerpt: A recent study, which claimed that immigration resources are at their historical height and constitute a substantial portion of the federal budget, became the flashpoint for a contentious hearing in the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee.
Half-Truths, Delusions, and Immigration. By Bruce Thornton
Excerpt: The White House has leaked immigration legislation it’s preparing in case Congress fails to craft its own. According to USA Today, 11 million illegal aliens could apply for a “Lawful Prospective Immigrant” visa and after 8 years could get a green card. Criminals would be excluded––unless they served less than a year for their crime, or were convicted of 3 different crimes resulting in 90 days in jail. That will hearten the hit-and-run drivers and welfare cheats.
Chinese Army Unit Is Seen as Tied to Hacking Against U.S.
Excerpt: The building off Datong Road
Obama Could Revisit Arming Syria
Excerpt: With conditions continuing to deteriorate, officials could reopen the debate over providing weapons to select members of the resistance in an effort to break the impasse in Syria
Obama’s War on American Generals. By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: During the Bush administration there were only two American commanders of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan
Democratic lawmaker apologizes for suggesting women afraid of rape can’t be trusted with guns
http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/18/democratic-lawmaker-apologizes-for-suggesting-women-afraid-of-rape-cant-be-trusted-with-guns/#ixzz2LMRVlrLJ
http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/18/democratic-lawmaker-apologizes-for-suggesting-women-afraid-of-rape-cant-be-trusted-with-guns/#ixzz2LMRVlrLJ
Excerpt: Democratic Colorado
Soopermexican: Liberals Foaming At The Mouth Over My Hashtag: #LiberalTips2AvoidRape.
Excerpt: When the story broke about some idiot Colorado
Democrat to Women: Whistle While You’re Getting Raped!
Excerpt: Ladies, put down your weapon and blow your rape whistle because you’re too emotional a creature to properly determine if you are about to be raped or if you just feel like you’re about to be raped.
Dorner's Worshipers Rally: Liberalism isn't an error. It's a sickness. If not, explain this
Excerpt: Dozens of protesters rallied outside Los Angeles police headquarters Saturday in support of Christopher Dorner, the former LAPD officer and suspected killer of four who died after a shootout and fire [last] week at a mountain cabin following one of the biggest manhunts in recent memory. (Internet joke: Who stopped smoking on Ash Wednesday? Christopher Dorner. ~Bob.)
Nancy Pelosi says drone strikes on Americans can stay secret
Excerpt: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the White House doesn’t necessarily have to confess to killing American citizens by unarmed drones. (Be different if the president’s name was “Bus.” or “Romney.” ~Bob.)
Excerpt: Federal budget cuts called “sequestration” are scheduled to hit in just 10 days. The sequestration cuts are not perfect—they’re a blunt instrument to cut spending, rather than a deliberative plan that sets priorities, trims entitlements, and cuts other spending. But they are law. It would be better to replace them with smarter cuts, but the reality is that Washington
Police: CBS News Anchor Chokes Wife: Broadcaster faces felony strangulation of bombshell spouse. By Joe Kovacs
Excerpt: A CBS News anchor based in New York City
Obama Begins His 'Fore!' More Years, from NRO’s Morning Jolt by Jim Geraghty
North Korean nukes? Meteors falling from the sky? Obamacare costs ending the tradition of the 40-hour workweek? Unemployment ticking up again? Gas prices suddenly exorbitant again? Hey, folks, don't worry: CNN's got the big stories covered: President Obama, fresh off lessons from a top golf coach and a round with Tiger Woods, took to the course for a final time on his Florida private trip Monday. There were no celebrities or golf experts in today's foursome. The president played for a third day in a row with Trade Representative Ron Kirk, as well as longtime Chicago
$1000/Hr: Obama Books World’s Top Golf Pro For Vacation
Excerpt: Economic growth is in the negative, unemployment is on the rise, Walmart's forecasting a disastrous February for retail sales, poverty's up, gas prices are up, the cost of health care premiums are up, middle class incomes are falling, consumer confidence is at a two year low, our deficit is unsustainable, and Barack Obama has just signed up for private golf lessons with two of the top teachers in the country….The Harmons, Butch and son Claude III, are flying in to work with President Obama[.]…Anyway, enjoy yourself, Mr. President. According to "Golf Digest," Harmon's hourly rate is $1,000 an hour.
Family Defense Strategies
Considering what is happening in this Nation, you might consider going to 3-gun or IDPA matches. You will learn a lot about self protection shooting and have lots of fun. –GBH
Saving 1 Billion People From Themselves. By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: The West is almost as in love with improving the world, as the Muslim world is with conquering it. These two contradictory impulses, the missionary and the warrior, come together in the Clash of Civilizations. The Muslim world has two approaches to the West; underhanded deceit and outright terror. The practitioners of the former are considered moderates and the latter extremists.
Does childhood TV viewing lead to criminal behavior? By Monte Morin
Worth Reading
Excerpt: It's one thing to talk about the immorality of kicking the can down the road to future generations, but it's another to actually stop kicking. It's not surprising that we can't pass a bill to address long-term budget deficits. Effectively all of the growth in projected long-term budget spending is health-care costs tied to Medicare benefits. And -- surprise! -- voters really like Medicare benefits.
Excerpt: As near as my research can take me, I estimate Barack Obama has made an average of a speech a day, either outside in the Rose Garden, or at a Press Conference, or in one of those slobberingly adoring 60 Minutes Interviews. So, as near as I can figure, I have heard Obama's programmed "mantra" at least four hundred times. If we were to play "the drinking game" where one has to take a shot of bourbon every time Obama uses the terms "level playing field", "the rich need to pay a little bit more", "let me be clear", "we can't balance the budget on the backs of the poor", we would all find ourselves raging alcoholics.
Bill Maher Goes Full-Bore Anti-Semitic. By Ben Shapiro
Excerpt: “Based on every statement out of any Republican in the last two years,” Bill Maher said on HBO’s Real Time on Friday night, “the Israelis are controlling our government.” It’s not the first time the formerly-funny-jester-dwarf-turned-partisan-hack has gone off the deep end on Israel
The Nazi Roots of the Boycott-Israel Movement. By Steven Plaut
Excerpt: While its roots go back far earlier, ever since the 1930s the first manifestation of Nazi-like anti-Semitism has been to organize economic boycotts against Jews. On the day Hitler came to power in 1933 he ordered a nationwide campaign of BDS or “boycotts, divestment and sanctions” against Germany
Islamic Assassination: Silencing Freedom Fighters. By Raymond Ibrahim
Excerpt: Tunisia
Gas Prices Soar 51 Cents in Just Two Months
Excerpt: Consumers are taking another huge hit in 2013. First, the two percent Social Security tax hike began the year. Now, gas prices are soaring ever closer to $4 a gallon and have jumped 51 cents a gallon since Dec. 20. (I’m so old, I remember when Democrats said high gas prices were the President’s fault, not the result of international market forces beyond the president’s control, like they are now. ~Bob.)
Long Lines, Tall Tales, and Federalized Elections. By J. Christian Adams
Excerpt: This is a solution in search of a problem, because long lines and long waits were the rare exception, and usually occurred in early voting sites, and not on Election Day. Washington , D.C.
Critical Condition: Conservatives were right about Obamacare, a lefty website concedes. By James Taranto
Excerpt: When we saw the headline "Four Ways ObamaCare Could Still Fail," our reaction was that it sounded like an unrealistically low estimate. But we were intrigued enough to read the article because of the source: TalkingPointsMemo.com, a news site with a strong (and acknowledged) liberal Democratic slant. Its framing as friendly criticism makes the piece, by congressional reporter Sahil Kapur, a powerful indictment of ObamaCare.
The Deadly Opposition to Genetically Modified Food: Vitamin A deficiency has killed 8 million kids in the last 12 years. 'Golden rice' is finally on the way. By Bjorn Lomborg
Excerpt: A study from the British medical journal the Lancet estimates that, in total, vitamin A deficiency kills 668,000 children under the age of 5 each year. Yet, despite the cost in human lives, anti-GM campaigners—from Greenpeace to Naomi Klein—have derided efforts to use golden rice to avoid vitamin A deficiency. In India
Excerpt: "The Prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with 'Aisha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years (i.e. till his death)." (Bukhari 7.62.88) So the child marriage isn't the problem. The divorce by text message, however -- that's going too far!
Excerpt: The governor of Pakistan
U.S.-based Muslim cleric to Jews: "Allah chose you to be the most wretched of all peoples. Allah transformed you into apes and pigs. You were chosen as the best to become apes and pigs."
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/02/us-based-muslim-cleric-to-jews-allah-chose-you-to-be-the-most-wretched-of-all-peoples-allah-transfor.html
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/02/us-based-muslim-cleric-to-jews-allah-chose-you-to-be-the-most-wretched-of-all-peoples-allah-transfor.html
Excerpt: Qur'an 2:65 -- Jews are apes: “And well you know there were those among you [Jews] that transgressed the Sabbath, and We said to them, ‘Be you apes, miserably slinking!’ Qur'an 3:110-112 -- Muslims are the best of people, Jews have earned Allah’s anger by killing their prophets:
Worth Reading : Brave New World. By Victor Davis Hanson
Excerpt: Does it really make all that much difference whether you are a doctor at 70 who religiously put away $1,000 a month for thirty years, compounded at the old interest, and planned to retire on the interest income, or a cashless state employee with a defined benefit pension plan? The one might have over $1 million in his savings account, but the other a bigger and less risky monthly payout. Suddenly the old adult advice to our children — “Save and put your money in the bank to receive interest” — is what? “Spend it now or borrow as much as you can at cheap interest”?
Excerpt: As bad as the global economy is right now, it is unfortunately going to get far worse. Many central banks around the world are now racing to devalue their currencies through the implementation of debt monetization programs and low interest rates. Despite statements coming out of the G20 saying otherwise, many insiders and former insiders are fully admitting that there is an on-going global currency war and that this war is accelerating.
European Bank CEO Admits: "The Whole Thing Is Doomed." By Tyler Durden
Excerpt: As the European parliament attempts to create a budget and Draghi repeats how the temporary lull in European growth is merely a prelude to a growth renaissance in the second half of the year (not to be confused with the verbatim lie rehashed by European dignitaries in 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009), it appears a few leaks of truthiness are seeing daylight in the disunion. In a shockingly frank interview, the CEO of Saxo Bank describes the Euro's recent rally as illusory and that "the whole thing is doomed," as the continent is not supported by a fiscal union.
Catchy Anti Gun Control Ad
Women in Combat. By Walter E. Williams
Excerpt: A senior Defense Department official said the ban on women in combat should be lifted because the military's goal is "to provide a level, gender-neutral playing field." I'd like to think the goal of the military should be to have the toughest, meanest fighting force possible. But let's look at "gender-neutral playing field." (Well, the continuing run of these articles just seems to have no end. This one is particularly good on actual numbers of physical capacities. It always comes down the same... the grunt performance requirements are in these times just too harsh for all but a tiny, tiny fraction of women, if any. We can all keep hoping that enough of this will compel some responsible generals to come out clearly against women in the infantry. –Del. School of Infantry
Idiots Converge on Freezing D.C. to Protest Global Warming. By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: The United Idiots of America, in conjunction with the Sierra Club, Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream and a bunch of other organizations that no one had ever heard of before held a “Forward on Climate” rally. No one including the organizers appeared to know what this meant or how it’s possible to go forward on a climate. The rally participants, mainly bored college students, were united in their opposition to the Keystone Pipeline which would create jobs for working class people.
Obama Akbar: Libyan Supreme Court Allows Men to Take Second Wives. By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: Another Obama ally has won a crucial victory in the Islamic War on Women. Perhaps they can keep the extra wives in those binders of women that the Obamabots kept smirking about throughout the election.
Turkish Muslim Trades Daughter for a Cow. By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: You might be tempted to confuse this tale with Romeo and Juliet. And it is a lot like Romeo and Juliet, or it would be if Juliet’s father had traded her for a cow.
Guns Don’t Kill People, Obama Voters Kill People. By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: Gun control works. That’s why Chicago, which came out for Obama, and has strict gun control laws, is trying to set some kind of gun violence record, while Salt Lake City and Fargo, where guns are legal, isn’t. It seems as people. Obama.
Excerpt: It seems that there’s no money for that promise made to those who had trouble getting health “insurance” you see, and as a result the much-touted plan that Obama claimed would help has slammed the door in people’s faces. (“The problem with Socialism is eventually you run out of other people’s money.” –Margaret Thatcher.)
Mexico Wants Us to Register Guns & Give Them the Registry
Excerpt: Mexico should worry about their drug cartels and the guns in their own country. We are talking about a country that kept an innocent former marine imprisoned for months under deplorable conditions over a shotgun he tried to register. I surely don’t think we can trust them with this information. (And leave your doors unlocked, with a return date and time posted. ~Bob.)
Progressives Will be the Death of the Republic, Democracy, and Freedom
Excerpt: I really believe that Progressives will be the death of the United States, the Republic, the democratic process, and freedom itself. I also doubt very much that the Progressives intend this, know that their positions will result in this, or, when tyranny is upon us, have any notion whatsoever that their beliefs, behaviors, attitude, and conduct, had anything to do with it. (I have also said that Progressives (and their copy-cats in the GOP) are killing the Republic--and the economy--without fully realizing what they are doing. The salient result of their actions is always unintended consequences, and judging from what we see everywhere around us, these results will be catastrophic. -Don Hank. I wish I didn’t agree, but I do. ~Bob.)
Donilon, White House vs. Hagel over Hezbollah, EU Terror List. By Joel B. Pollak
Excerpt: Yesterday, White House national security adviser Tom Donilon published an op-ed in the New York Times urging the European Union to add Hezbollah to its list of terrorist organizations. In doing so, Donilon took the opposite position to that of Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel, who has resisted urging the EU to do so.
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