Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for February 6, 2013

Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for February 6, 2013

Robert A. Hall

The Philosophy of the Old Jarhead Blog

www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com

The Old Jarhead SitRep is a blog of political news and conservative opinion, that has had about 700,000 page views since founded in 2008, is read in many counties (Iran? Indonesia? Russia? Go figure.) and was up to 30,000 page views a week recently. Plus I throw in some humor and human interest pieces that catch my attention for seasoning. I try to include foreign sources and info you won’t get in the MSM, but I often use links to pieces in the Washington Post, New York Times, Politico, Reuters and other liberal leaning sources. No one is required to read it, or any of the links. A majority of the pieces are sent to me by readers, for which I’m grateful, others come from newsfeeds I subscribe to. I get some from Twitter, but often don’t have time to look at my feeds there. I stop sending the link to people who become nasty or too angry. I used to forward political items, but was sending too many e-mails to my list, so a few years ago, I started collecting them on the blog to access in one place. I use maybe 50% of the conservative pieces sent me, probably less than 5% of the liberal opinion sent, usually to illustrate their views. Readers who don’t like that are welcome to start their own blogs. Blogs are free and so is speech in America right now, despite leftist efforts to outlaw “hate speech” they disagree with and Islamist efforts to outlaw criticism of Islam, while retaining the right to describe other religions in vile terms. I try to avoid items that will turn off thoughtful centrists and leftists or low-information independents, including “red meat” pieces with intemperate language or wild speculation, conspiracy theories with no supporting facts and silly distractions like the so-called “birther” issue (but I don’t always succeed). I predicted correctly four years ago the “birther” thing was going nowhere, was a huge waste of time and resources, and played into the hands of the left, much as the impeachment of Bill Clinton did in the 1990s. (I said so at the time.) I do sometimes include things I don’t agree with that I think readers might find of interest. Readers are requested to read all items critically and with skepticism—just like a newspaper! Readers who send formatted pieces (title, link, and a fair use excerpt of three sentences unless the piece is very short, than fewer) to tartanmarine(at)gmail.com have a higher chance of my using them than people who just send a link. I often include thoughtful comments from contributors. (Tell me if you want you full name used.) A piece without a link has a much lower chance of being used—it depends on how interesting it is and how much time I have right then to search for it. I understand if you don’t have the time to format or even to find a link—please understand my time is pretty limited too. There are no ads on my blog, no fees and I receive no income from it. When I retire, that might need to change, but for now, that’s how it is. I do promote my books, with the royalties going to charity. Thanks for reading and contributing. ~Bob.

Information on my books

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html

New comment on The Coming Collapse of the American Republic

I just read "The Coming Collapse of the American Republic" and was blown away by the clear and concise manner by which you outlined the big-ticket problems, the way in which a likely collapse will manifest itself, and especially the section on what I can do about it. The section on Islam was brilliant in its clarity to the novice Christian reader. All of your points were annotated for reference and further study. It was great! I bought the book on Amazon, and I would like to buy some more to distribute to some friends and family (yes, even the liberals)! Does Amazon have a bulk rate for multiple copies, or do you have another source for multiple copies at a reduced rate? If not, I'll just prune the list and bite the bullet! I checked out your blogsite and saw that I could subscribe for Posts or All Comments. Does this mean that I would automatically receive your posts in my email, with or without the comments of others, or does it mean that when I sign onto your site I would see your posts only or your posts with all comments? Thanks for your book. I want to put it to work!

New comment on Advice for my Granddaughter I am a school counselor in a title one school. Your words of wisdom could have been written by any of my precious grandparents raising their grandchildren. Thank you! May God bless you! 

Worth Reading: Prophets and Losses. By Thomas Sowell 

http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2013/02/05/prophets-and-losses-n1504891?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

Excerpt: The recent release of the Federal Reserve Board's transcripts of its deliberations back in 2007 shows that their economic prophecies were way off. How much faith should we put in their prophecies today -- or the policies based on those prophecies?

Even after the housing market began its collapse in 2006, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in 2007, "The impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime market seems likely to be contained."

Haggling over Hagel. By Burt Prelutsky
http://www.burtprelutsky.com/2013/02/haggling-over-hagel.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+burtprelutsky%2FSQlQ+%28BurtPrelutsky.com%29

Excerpt: Frankly, I don’t think it will make much difference whether or not Chuck Hagel is confirmed. After all, he will be taking his marching orders from the single greatest menace America has ever had to endure. Still, that’s no reason to confirm the man who has made a career out of demeaning Israel and sucking up to Iran to such an unseemly extent that Iran’s foreign minister has applauded his nomination. 

True The Vote Sues St. Lucie County, FL Over Botched Allen West Contest

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/02/04/True-the-Vote-Sues-St-Lucie-County-FL-Over-Botched-Allen-West-Contest

True the Vote Founder and President Catherine Engelbrecht outlined the importance of this lawsuit, stating: "This dramatic recount was an extraordinary example of how our elections can suffer systematic failure. We run the risk of seeing episodes like this becoming ordinary if citizens do not demand answers and hold election officials accountable. The American people own the voting system--we have the right to ask tough questions when we witness the failure of one of America’s core functions.” (Too bad no one filed such a motion on those counties were +100% of “registered voters” voted with murals of POTUS on the wall in the voting area and Panthers in the doorway again in the federal election. They all just rolled over and walked away and said, “Okay, you win.” The UN observers were shocked. --Barb)

Too Big To Nail: The Biggest Scandals In Washington, DEGENERATIVE CHANGE Have Nothing To Do With Bob Menendez

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/02/04/Too-Big-to-Nail-The-Biggest-Scandals-in-Washington-DC-Have-Nothing-to-Do-with-Bob-Menendez

Excerpt: In other words, inside the Beltway, if the dollar numbers associated with shenanigans are big enough, they don’t call it a “crime,” they simply call it “policy.” That is, past a certain point, the money amounts are so huge that the whole system is implicated in the corruption. …And so, through the power of spin, and with the complicity of the MSM, massively awful actions--the bank bailouts being the most spectacular example--are declared to be something much different; they are categorized, instead, as honest actions that some folks might have a problem with.

Reality and Obama’s colossal pride

http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/03/reality-and-obamas-colossal-pride/#ixzz2JyKVz2dj

Excerpt: Not surprisingly, the economy, jobs, and the debt are the top issues for most Americans. More bafflingly, however, none of these issues appears on the short list of a second-term agenda that reads more like a progressive manifesto than a disciplined contract with America. What’s most striking, however, is not the fact of his shameless liberalism — most of us expected that much — but the way his meteoric boldness is divorced from what should by now be intuitive political understanding.

Guns from ‘Surrounding Areas.’ By Robert VerBruggen

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/339674/guns-surrounding-areas-robert-verbruggen

However, Illinois as a whole is fairly strict when it comes to guns — all gun owners must have a license, and it’s the only state in the nation that doesn’t allow concealed carry by private citizens under any circumstances. (This will change if Richard Posner’s recent ruling holds up.) I’m not sure how much stricter a state could be without running afoul of the Second Amendment. And the communities these guns come from typically have much lower crime rates than Chicago does.

Tweet from Saundra Moak ‏@MoakSaundra61

I have owned my gun for 1 month now,& it STILL hasn't come to life & killed anyone.

Pension Crisis Has Puerto Ricans Singing the Caribbean Blues. By Walter Russell Mead

http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2013/02/04/pension-crisis-has-puerto-ricans-singing-the-caribbean-blues/

Excerpt: States aren’t the only ones being bankrupted by pensions. Puerto Rico, an unincorporated U.S. territory, faces its own pension crisis, which is hitting at a time when the island’s tax-supported debt has already reached an alarming 80 percent of personal income. Things have gotten so bad that Moody’s has downgraded Puerto Rico’s credit rating and is threatening to do so again unless it solves its retirement problem.

Justice Dept. document justifies killing Americans overseas if they pose ‘imminent threat’

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/justice-dept-memo-justifies-killing-americans-overseas-if-they-pose-imminent-threat/2013/02/05/44e90920-6f5a-11e2-8b8d-e0b59a1b8e2a_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines

Excerpt: The United States can lawfully kill a U.S. citizen overseas if it determines the target is a “senior, operational leader” of al-Qaeda or an associated group and poses an imminent threat to the United States, according to a Justice Department document published late Monday by NBC News. (While I agree with this, isn’t it the type of thing they wanted to impeach Bush over? ~Bob.)

Sandyhook dad: You’ll have to take my guns from my cold dead hands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAYLr6u2FyY&feature=youtu.be

Pro-Menendez Hispanic media outlet suddenly, strangely goes quiet amid scandal

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/4/news-outlet-goes-quiet-on-fbi-raid-of-founder/#ixzz2K2GyOvOn

Excerpt: But while Voxxi has written dozens of articles mentioning and usually praising Mr. Menendez since its launch last year — including one headlined, “Senator Bob Menendez, a fighter for the middle class” — days passed before the news outlet acknowledged the FBI raid or the senator’s political ties to the eye-doctor donor.

Feds investigating finances of former Ald. Sandi Jackson: sources

http://www.suntimes.com/18014137-761/feds-now-conducting-separate-investigation-of-former-ald-sandi-jackson-sources-say.html

Excerpt: Show me your shocked face. ~Bob. Excerpt: A federal financial probe of the once-politically powerful Jesse and Sandi Jackson has evolved into two separate investigations, with federal authorities taking an independent look at former Ald. Sandi Jackson, sources close to the probe told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Fighting Government Cronyism with an Opportunity Agenda

http://blog.heritage.org/2013/02/05/freeing-the-economy-getting-the-cronies-out-of-your-way/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email;utm_campaign=&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell

Excerpt: Why would a union object to workers receiving higher wages? Because in this case, the increases went to "less senior" employees. The union went to arbitration and won a judgment that Giant Eagle can’t give raises "without first obtaining concurrence from the Union" - and an order to rescind those increases already given.

ICE ex-chief: Nondeport rules would’ve spared 9/11 hijackers

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/4/ice-ex-chief-nondeport-rules-wouldve-spared-911-hi/#ixzz2K2IS77rF

Excerpt: The former chief of deportations in the Bush administration will testify to Congress on Tuesday that President Obama’s new nondeportation policies would have let the Sept. 11 hijackers remain in the country even if they had been picked up in the months before their deadly attacks.

Goodbye, Prius? Japanese carmakers drop battery electric-car development

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/4/goodbye-prius-japan-carmakers-drop-electric-car-de/#ixzz2K2LftToP

Excerpt: Japan is backtracking on battery electric-car development, as even Nissan’s vice chairman, the so-called “father of the Prius,” announced plans to copy Toyota and pursue fuel-cell cars that convert hydrogen to electricity.

Right-to-Work States Have Higher Incomes

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=22809&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD

Excerpt: Adjusted for cost-of-living, workers in right-to-work states have higher incomes than workers in non-right-to-work states. After adjusting for per-capita personal income (PCPI) -- a measure of a state's wealth -- the larger paychecks in non-right-to-work states have an equal amount of purchasing power as states with the union-limiting laws, says James M. Hohman, assistant director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

Japan's lessons for America's budget warriors. By John H. Makin

http://www.aei.org/outlook/economics/international-economy/japans-lessons-for-americas-budget-warriors/

Excerpt: Since the collapse of Japan’s housing bubble in 1990, the country has suffered more than two decades of deflation, stagnant growth, and ballooning public debt. Like Japan, the United States has been suffering from weak economic growth since 2007 because of the bursting of a real estate bubble; both countries have experienced rapid growth of deficits and public debt accompanied by a decline in interest rates. Japan’s deflation has only worsened its public finances situation, leading to a decline in tax revenues. (The people who created the housing bubble in Fannie, Freddie, Countrywide and other looting outfits have a lot of suffering to answer for. Unfortunately, most of those suffering don’t know who to blame. Probably blame Bush, who tried to rein in Fannie. ~Bob.)

More Government Spending Won't Reduce Poverty. By Keith Hall

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economic-intelligence/2013/01/29/more-government-spending-wont-reduce-poverty

Excerpt: Despite unprecedented levels of government spending to help low-income Americans, a record 46 million people in the United States are living in poverty. In 2011, two thirds of the working-age poor were unemployed for the entire year. Some will argue that more public sector intervention is necessary to reduce poverty. But as we continue to slowly recover from the Great Recession, history shows us that only job gains from stronger economic growth can solve the problem.

Syrians executed for collaborating with Assad forces: video

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/04/us-syria-crisis-executions-idUSBRE9130Z020130204

Excerpt: Syrian rebels executed three brothers, one of them a rebel fighter, and a fourth relative after accusing them of cooperating with President Bashar al-Assad's forces and killing a fellow rebel, a video posted on the Internet appears to show.

An inconvenient truth: More polar bears alive today than 40 years ago
http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/04/more-polar-bears-alive-today-than-40-years-ago/#ixzz2K2VVovtY

Excerpt: Author Zac Unger was originally drawn to the arctic circle to write a “mournful elegy” about how global warming was decimating the polar bear populations. He was surprised to find that the polar bears were not in such dire straits after all.

PHOTOS: Meet one of Bob Menendez's (alleged) call girls
http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/04/photos-meet-one-of-bob-menendezs-alleged-call-girls-slideshow/svitlana_buchyk-3/#ixzz2K2W1wlYS

Super Bowl’s true winner---Dodge’s uplifting ‘farmer.’ By Rich Lowry

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/super_bowl_true_winner_Ow1VQc2FypFEFPDJc8m5VO

Excerpt: They were courtesy of Paul Harvey, the late great radio broadcaster. Chrysler had the inspired idea to make two minutes of his speech at a 1978 Future Farmers of America convention into the soundtrack for an ad for the Ram truck while affecting still photos of American farm life scrolled on the screen.

Israel’s New Islamist Neighborhood. By Reuel Marc Gerecht

http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/israels-new-islamist-neighborhood/
Excerpt: Israel last week held parliamentary elections, and many in America and Europe are interpreting the results as a triumph for moderates that means new hope for the Middle East peace process. But further negotiations without elections first among the Palestinians—and where acceptance of the Jewish state is on the winning ballot—will only further empower Islamic fundamentalists. The rising Islamist wave that has accompanied the Arab Spring should end the illusion that the Jewish state can be integrated into the Middle East through territorial concessions to nondemocratic regimes.

Peering Into the Abyss. By Paul Johnson

http://www.forbes.com/sites/currentevents/2012/12/05/peering-into-the-abyss/

Excerpt: In one respect Barack Obama's reelection is historically appropriate. He's a weak leader and, by reports, an idle one. Such a man is well chosen to lead America into a period of decline.

Texas Gov. Perry blasts CA in new ad 

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/feb/04/perry-texas-jobs-california-radio/?page=2#article-copy

Excerpt: Texas Gov. Rick Perry is continuing his effort to lure businesses away from San Diego by taking to the airwaves. Fueled by the November passage of Proposition 30, which raised sales and some income taxes, Perry has voiced an ad that will run on six radio stations in the state - including KCBQ 1170 in San Diego - inviting people to go east.

Former Guantanamo prisoners fighting in Syria with Islamist opposition group. By Bill Gertz

http://freebeacon.com/gitmo-detainees-return-to-field-of-battle/

 Excerpt: Former terrorists held at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo, Cuba were detected by U.S. intelligence agencies recently working with Islamist rebels in Syria, according to U.S. officials.

49% Think They Personally Pay More Than Their Fair Share in Taxes

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/taxes/february_2013/49_think_they_personally_pay_more_than_their_fair_share_in_taxes

Excerpt: Half of Americans still think they pay more than they should in taxes and question the fairness of the current tax system. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 49% of American Adults believe that, compared to people who make more or less than they do, they pay more than their fair share of taxes. Twenty-nine percent (29%) disagree and don’t think they pay more than their fair share. Twenty-three percent (23%) are not sure. (Of course. It’s OTHER people who aren’t paying their fair share. ~Bob.)

Quote

Communism is the opiate of the intellectuals [With] no cure except as a guillotine might be called a cure for dandruff. --Clare Boothe Luce

Minority German Children Bullied by Muslims in Their Own Schools. By Enza Ferreri

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/02/minority-german-children-bullied-by-muslims-in-their-own-schools.html

Excerpt: Just published on YouTube is a shocking video (above) of discrimination against German and Christian children in German schools. They are severely bullied by Muslim kids in a school where immigrant children are an astonishing 96 percent. Hardly anybody speaks to them, they become introvert. They are outcasts, not integrated into the schools of their own land.

Muhammad Morsi’s Islamic Jew-Hatred, Bernard Lewis’ Islamic Negationism. By Andrew G. Bostom

http://pjmedia.com/blog/muhammad-morsis-islamic-jew-hatred-bernard-lewis-islamic-negationism/

Excerpt: A month has passed since the Middle East Media Research Institute posted a 2010 video interview of Muslim Brotherhood leader, and now Egyptian president, Muhammad Morsi spewing Antisemitic vitriol. Morsi’s comments included a characterization of today’s Zionists — plainly Jews in his parlance — as “descendants of apes and pigs” — a specific invocation of Koran 5:60, which he had repeated, elsewhere, in print interviews, and commentaries.

Islamization in Gaza Erodes Women's Rights. By: Asmaa al-Ghoul for Al-Monitor Palestine Pulse. 

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/02/islamization-in-gaza-eroding-wom.html

What, they have to buy their own birth control? ~Bob. Excerpt: Al Aqsa University, a public university in Gaza, has introduced an Islamic dress code for women. After being characterized for more than 20 years by political and intellectual diversity, female students are now bound to adhere to a strict dress code, including an abaya (cloak) and hijab (veil) while on campus. The decision has caused uproar and sparked heated debates.

Jeep Super Bowl Ad

http://www.youtube.com/jeep?sid=1037056&KWNM=jeep+super+bowl+ad&KWID=3774190569&channel=paidsearch&spid=SB_2013

This was apparently aired during the half time show, which I skipped for the history book I was reading, so I missed it. Worth seeing. ~Bob.

What voters didn't know about Judge Cynthia Brim

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-brim-20130205,0,1962706.story

It’s The Chicago Way! ~Bob. Excerpt: Since becoming a judge in 1994, Brim has been hospitalized five times after going off her antipsychotic medications. That was revealed Monday at her trial, at which she was found not guilty of misdemeanor battery because she was "legally insane" at the time. … She's been suspended ever since, still drawing a $182,000 taxpayer salary.

Campus Hate Fest

http://www.gopusa.com/freshink/2013/02/05/campus-hate-fest/?subscriber=1

Excerpt: Brooklyn College, a once-esteemed campus in the City University system, this week joins a long list of enemies - from lefty denizens of the Park Slope Food Co-op to Iranian madman Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - who crave wiping the state of Israel from the map. The Political Science Department is co-sponsoring a forum Thursday that leaves no doubt about the depravity lurking within Israel-haters' hearts and souls. (Interesting that a school, where supposedly there's freedom of speech and thought and emphasis on tolerance and understanding, will sponsor what is basically a forum for vicious attacks on Israel. After the Holocaust we had a long period of dismissing hate movements and anti-Semitism, but apparently in some places that time is over. --Del)

Women in Combat. By Walter E. Williams

http://cnsnews.com/blog/walter-e-williams/women-combat

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." (Walter Williams does that evidence and logic thing on this topic, which of course will make no difference at all to the women's rights fanatics. But he sure makes some great points and poses valid questions about possible combat situations. -Del)

North Korea video shows New York in ruins after missile attack. By Joshua Rhett Miller

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02/05/north-korea-video-depicts-smoldering-us-city-under-apparent-missile-attack/#ixzz2K2DALpzw

Excerpt: North Korea, already gearing up for yet another nuclear test, has posted a bizarre online video depicting New York under an apparent missile attack with "We Are the World" serving as a soundtrack.

Health Care Spending In America, In Two Graphs

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/02/04/170883349/health-care-spending-in-america-in-two-graphs?ft=1&f=1128&sc=tw

Excerpt: Spending on health care has, of course, been rising in the U.S. for decades. Health care now accounts for 18 cents of every dollar Americans spend, up from 7 cents in 1970. But where, exactly, is all that money going? And, for that matter, where is the money coming from to pay for all that health care? 

Registries Don’t Keep Sex Offenders from Restricted Areas

http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/01/registries-dont-keep-sex-offenders-from-restricted-areas/#ixzz2K3dNOqKW

Excerpt: Laws requiring sex offenders to register with local authorities are meant to discourage them from moving into the neighborhoods, but the latest study shows they may not be having the desired deterrent effect. The research provides new information on the contentious question of whether public sex offender registries and housing restrictions actually improve public safety. (Apparently, they work as well as “gun free zones.” ~Bob.)

Tweet from Patty ‏@pir8gold

Under the new warm & fuzzy rules, ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS will now be referred to as FREE RANGE DEMOCRATS

Seven million will lose insurance under Obama health law. By Stephen Dinan

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2013/feb/5/obama-health-law-will-cost-7-million/#ixzz2K3gNYhjM
Excerpt: President Obama's health care law will push 7 million people out of their job-based insurance coverage — nearly twice the previous estimate, according to the latest estimates from the Congressional Budget Office released Tuesday. (“If you like your health insurance plan, you can keep it” is so over. ~Bob.)

Tweet from Timothy P Carney ‏@TPCarney

Remember when Obama attacked McCain's healthcare plan as threatening to unravel the employer-based health-care system?

Boy, 7, suspended from school for tossing IMAGINARY grenade during recess while pretending he was 'rescuing the world'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2273970/Boy-7-rescue-world-suspended-school-tossing-IMAGINARY-grenade-recess.html#axzz2K3e3ToCO

Excerpt: A seven-year-old boy from Colorado has been suspended from school after he lobbed an imaginary grenade on the playground while pretending to be a hero soldier. (The country is being run by people with imaginary brains. ~Bob.)

When Tyrants and Hatemongers Embrace. By Jonathan S. Tobin

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/02/05/when-tyrants-and-hatemongers-embrace-ahmadinejad-morsi/

Excerpt: The willingness of Egypt to embrace Iran in this manner undermines U.S. efforts to isolate Tehran and sends the world the message not to take President Obama’s threats about stopping Iran’s nuclear program seriously. It is also a reminder that the two countries have something in common besides Islam: leaders who engage in anti-Semitic hate speech.

Someone Threw a Shoe at Ahmadinejad on His Not-So-Good Trip to Cairo

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2013/02/ahmadinejad-show-video-cairo/61826/

Excerpt: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Egypt has not gone so well, as he was lectured by a Sunni Cleric, mobbed by aggressive glad-handers, and had someone else throw a shoe at him.

Ahmadinejad becomes first Iranian head of state to visit Egypt since 1979 - video

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/feb/05/ahmadinejad-iranian-egypt-video

The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is greeted by his Egyptian counterpart, Mohamed Morsi, as he arrives in Cairo on Tuesday. Ahmadinejad is the first Iranian head of state to visit Egypt since the 1979 revolution. 

How the sequester became politically inevitable. By Chris Cillizza

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/02/05/how-the-sequester-became-politically-inevitable/

Excerpt: The sequester — a series of across-the-board cuts to domestic and defense programs totaling more than $1 trillion and set to go into effect March 1 — was created less than two years ago by Congress and the White House as the ultimate insurance policy against legislative inaction on the country’s debt problems. No one thought it could (or would) actually happen.

Tweet from Ken Gardner ‏@kesgardner

Today's national debt: $16,433,779,913,880.34. Your share as a citizen: $52,124.77. Your share as a taxpayer: $146,081.

CBO: Obama health law will cost $1.3T

http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/281213-cbo-says-obama-health-law-will-cost-13t#ixzz2K3p9foFl

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated Tuesday that President Obama's signature healthcare law will cost about $1.3 trillion over the next 10 years. (A trillion here, a trillion there, pretty soon you’re talking big money—with apologies to Sen. Dirkson. ~Bob.)

Krugman: U.S. Needs Death Panels, Sales Taxes

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/02/04/Krugman-Death-panels-and-sales-taxes-is-how-we-do-this

Earlier in the evening, Krugman had already vocalized his satisfaction at President Obama’s apparent lack of concern over the exploding cumulative deficit…. According to the professor, Eventually we do have a problem. ….So the snarky version…which I shouldn’t even say because it will get me in trouble is death panels and sales taxes is how we do this.

CIA rendition: more than a quarter of countries 'offered covert support': Report finds at least 54 countries co-operated with global kidnap, detention and torture operation mounted after 9/11 attacks

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/05/cia-rendition-countries-covert-support

Excerpt: The full extent of the CIA's extraordinary rendition programme has been laid bare with the publication of a report showing there is evidence that more than a quarter of the world's governments covertly offered support.

Underappreciated: The ObamaCare concession on immigration reform

http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/04/underappreciated-the-obamacare-concession-on-immigration-reform/#ixzz2K3fJNewO

Excerpt: But there’s a problem with this: Under current law, all it takes to be eligible for ObamaCare is for someone to be “lawfully present” in the United States. Last week, however, Obama unveiled a plan that specified that, “people with provisional legal status will not be eligible for welfare or other federal benefits, including subsidies or tax credits under the new health care law.”…But Obama’s willingness to concede that provisional legal status doesn’t entitle someone to ObamaCare benefits hasn’t gotten the attention it probably deserves