Old Jarhead's Political
SitRep for June 10, 2013
Robert A. Hall
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.
E-mails
I was off line for three days for
health care and family stuff, returned to over 500 e-mails with three hours to
deal with them. Had to delete a lot of stuff where I already had a piece on it,
jokes, cute pictures, things I didn't have time to watch, and items not
formatted or off topic. Apologies to those who sent. ~Bob
Excerpt: Obama’s Ethical
Gymnastics: His morality is to be judged by his professed aims,
not his means of achieving them. By Victor Davis Hanson
Excerpt: Presidential ethics are now situational. Obama is
calling for a shield law to protect reporters from the sort of harassment that
his attorney general, Eric Holder, and the FBI practiced against Fox News and
the Associated Press. Through such rhetoric, he remains a staunch champion of
the First Amendment — even though he now has the ability to peek into the
private phone records of millions of Americans.
That was then, this is now
Excerpt: Barack Obama believes that we must provide law enforcement
the tools it needs to investigate, disrupt, and capture terrorists, but he also
believes we need real oversight to avoid jeopardizing the rights and ideals of
all Americans. There is no reason we cannot fight terrorism while maintaining
our civil liberties. Unfortunately, the current administration has abused the
powers given to it by the PATRIOT Act. A March 2007 Justice Department audit
found the FBI improperly and, in some cases, illegally used the PATRIOT Act to
secretly obtain personal information about American citizens. As president,
Barack Obama would revisit the PATRIOT Act to ensure that there is real and
robust oversight of tools like National Security Letters, sneak-and-peek
searches, and the use of the material witness provision.
ObamaCare Is Raising
Insurance Costs
Excerpt: California and Oregon California
Excerpt: But if Democrats stuck by the administration’s side
on Benghazi, peeled away just enough for public effect on the IRS, and were
visibly irritated by threats to freedom of the press,
it didn’t help Obama that his director of national intelligence told a Democratic senator under oath in March that the
NSA wasn’t spying on Americans — “wittingly.” Today, that senator, Ron Wyden
(D-Ore.), and Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), who had previously joined Wyden in
questioning the administration on how seriously it took privacy protections,
said in a joint statement they “respectfully but firmly disagree with
the way that this program has been described by senior administration
officials.”
Excerpt: President Obama gave a rambling defense of NSA
spying on Americans at what was supposed to be an ObamaCare event today,
telling reporters “it’s important to recognize that you can’t have 100 percent
security and also then have 100 percent privacy and zero inconvenience.”…After
a lengthy defense of ObamaCare, Obama opened the floor for “one question” — and
was asked for his reaction on reports of broad surveillance of Americans’
phones and Internet. (I'm trying to figure out how monitoring some little girl
in Idaho talking to her grandma in Florida, or some kid posting pictures of his
new puppy on Facebook, is going to make us safer from Muslim terrorists. - LLW)
Excerpt: I just caught up with Charles Murray’s brave
and perspicacious column at NRO about Jason Richwine. I know
memories are short, but the outrageous story of how Mr. Richwine was hounded
out of his job at the Heritage Foundation by a gaggle of PC witch-hunters last
month is worth bearing in mind. His own account of his travails is very much worth
reading. The bare outline:
Excerpt: President Obama arrived in the Bay Area on Thursday for his umpty-umpteenth round of fundraisers with big-money donors,
this time to benefit the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. His first
stop at the home of multi-millionaire tech entrepreneur Michael McCue in an
upscale suburban corner of Palo
Alto
Canaries in the Coal
Mine
Excerpt: The reporters are our canaries in the coal mine --
but we didn't pay attention. And so it should be no surprise what happened
next. Now it's not just the reporters who are being targeted; it
is all of us.
Mounting concern over
NSA in Congress
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/mounting-concern-over-nsa-in-congress-92422.html#ixzz2VlAeYRkP
Excerpt: Concern in Congress is mounting over broad
surveillance by the Obama administration as new revelations surfaced that the
National Security Administration is monitoring Internet usage. Utah Republican
Sen. Mike Lee is shopping bills that would address some portions of the
government monitoring, an aide said, particularly the NSA collection of Verizon
phone records. His legislation would likely be similar to Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act amendments that he pushed last year with fellow senators like
Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). (I'm comfortable with them
gathering intel on terrorists. But after the IRS scandals, what assures us they
are not gathering intel on citizens who oppose the administration's policies,
as the Tea Party does? ~Bob.)
NSA memo pushed to
'rethink' 4th Amendment
Excerpt: The National Security Agency pushed for the
government to “rethink” the Fourth Amendment when it
argued in a classified memo that it needed new authorities and capabilities for
the information age. The 2001 memo,
later declassified and posted online by George Washington University U.S.
Glenn Greenwald: U.S.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/glenn-greenwald-us-privacy-92400.html#ixzz2Vl9IviaC
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/glenn-greenwald-us-privacy-92400.html#ixzz2Vl9IviaC
Excerpt: The journalist who broke the news
that the government is monitoring vast quantities of American phone records is
claiming the U.S.
Google and Facebook
DID allow NSA access to data…in talks to set up ‘spying rooms’
Excerpt: Now, sources tell the New York Times that both Facebook and Google discussed
plans to create secure portals for the government ‘like a digital version of
the secure physical rooms that have long existed for classified
information’ with U.S.
Excerpt: Yesterday we crossed a line. What once seemed kooky
is now happening. I figured this would be a fight for a future
generation, but it is ours. The frightening future has arrived.. (Per an
old Christmas song from more joyful times: He's making a list, Checking it
twice; Gonna find out who's naughty or nice. Santa Claus is coming to
town. Who is Santa Claus? The guy giving out all the SNAPS benefits, the free
phones, the checks to buy your crack and blunts…. And if you don’t have the
mark for Santa, DHS has a whole bunch of presents for you with your name on
it….and they know where you are, where your family is….where you work, where
you sleep. Welcome to the USSRA 2013. --Barb)
Road blocks, police
helicopters and blacked-out windows: But just who are the billionaires and
politicians arriving for secretive Bilderberg conference at Watford hotel and what do they do there?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2336847/Bilderberg-2013-Who-billionaires-politicians-arriving-secretive-conference-Watford-hotel.html#ixzz2Vl4mRt6a
Excerpt: Delegates for a private conference of top politicians and businesspeople from around the world have started to arrive at a luxury country hotel. Several cars with blacked-out windows entered the gates of the Grove Hotel, nearWatford , in Hertfordshire,
this morning for the secretive meeting of the Bilderberg Group. It is thought
billionaire executives from multinational companies such as Amazon and Google,
high-ranking political figures including Chancellor George Osborne, and even
members of royal families are among the 130 or so attendees.
Excerpt: Delegates for a private conference of top politicians and businesspeople from around the world have started to arrive at a luxury country hotel. Several cars with blacked-out windows entered the gates of the Grove Hotel, near
Technology giants
struggle to maintain credibility over NSA Prism surveillance
Excerpt: Technology giants battled to maintain their credibility on
privacy issues over the weekend as further details emerged of their
co-operation with US
Tens of Thousands
Hit Turkey
Excerpt: The protesters in Gezi Park Istanbul Turkey , a
NATO member and key strategic partner in the region for the United States
Edward Snowden: the
whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations
Excerpt: The individual
responsible for one of the most significant leaks in US
Texas high school
silences Valedictorian's microphone during speech on Constitution, report says
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/06/08/texas-high-school-silences-valedictorian-microphone-during-speech/?test=latestnews#ixzz2VjvLwJdX
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/06/08/texas-high-school-silences-valedictorian-microphone-during-speech/?test=latestnews#ixzz2VjvLwJdX
Excerpt: A Texas
Soldier Told Not to
Read Levin, Limbaugh or Hannity in Uniform
Excerpt: A veteran member of the U.S. Army Band said he is
facing retribution and punishment from the military for having anti-Obama
bumper stickers on his car, reading books written by conservative authors like
Mark Levin and David Limbaugh, and serving Chick-fil-A sandwiches at his
promotion party.
Lawmakers press EPA
for answers on alleged 'bias' against conservative groups
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/08/lawmakers-press-epa-for-answers-on-alleged-bias-against-conservative-groups/#ixzz2VjtaSk35
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/08/lawmakers-press-epa-for-answers-on-alleged-bias-against-conservative-groups/#ixzz2VjtaSk35
Excerpt: Dozens of Republican lawmakers have joined in
accusing the Environmental Protection Agency of "apparent bias"
against conservative groups following a claim that it routinely showed
favoritism to liberal organizations. The allegations were first made by the
Competitive Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington , D.C.
Boundless Informant:
the NSA's secret tool to track global surveillance data
Excerpt: The National Security Agency has developed a
powerful tool for recording and analysing where its intelligence comes from,
raising questions about its repeated assurances to Congress that it cannot keep
track of all the surveillance it performs on American communications. The
Guardian has acquired top-secret documents about the NSA datamining tool, called Boundless Informant,
that details and even maps by country the voluminous amount of information it
collects from computer and telephone networks. …The Boundless Informant
documents show the agency collecting almost 3 billion pieces of intelligence
from US computer networks over a 30-day period ending in March 2013.
Obama orders US to draw up overseas target list for cyber-attacks
Excerpt: Barack Obama has
ordered his senior national security and intelligence officials to draw up a
list of potential overseas targets for US cyber-attacks, a top secret
presidential directive obtained by the Guardian reveals. The 18-page
Presidential Policy Directive 20, issued in October last year but never
published, states that what it calls Offensive Cyber Effects Operations (OCEO)
"can offer unique and unconventional capabilities to advance US national
objectives around the world with little or no warning to the adversary or
target and with potential effects ranging from subtle to severely
damaging". ….The directive also contemplates the possible use of cyber
actions inside the US
Obama Cyber Memo Is Just The Latest
Sign That The U.S.
Excerpt: A top-secret presidential memo published Friday marked the latest sign that the Obama
administration is ready to go on the offensive in a potential cyberwar. On Friday, the Guardian published a secret presidential directive calling on national security and
intelligence officials to create a list of potential foreign targets for U.S.
Rand Paul Wants
Class-Action Lawsuit on Government Snooping
http://www.newsmax.com/newswidget/rand-paul-class-action/2013/06/09/id/508844?promo_code=11550-1&utm_source=11550Breitbart&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1#ixzz2VjpfOBim
Excerpt: President Barack Obama called the computer searches of metadata a necessary compromise of privacy to ensure security. "That doesn't sound like a 'modest invasion of privacy,'" Paul said. "It sounds like an extraordinary invasion of privacy." The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that a specific warrant can be asked for to obtain such record, Paul said, but the mining of metadata of all phone calls and Internet activity is a general warrant. "This is what we objected to, and what our Founding Fathers partly fought the Revolution over," Paul said.
http://www.newsmax.com/newswidget/rand-paul-class-action/2013/06/09/id/508844?promo_code=11550-1&utm_source=11550Breitbart&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1#ixzz2VjpfOBim
Excerpt: President Barack Obama called the computer searches of metadata a necessary compromise of privacy to ensure security. "That doesn't sound like a 'modest invasion of privacy,'" Paul said. "It sounds like an extraordinary invasion of privacy." The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that a specific warrant can be asked for to obtain such record, Paul said, but the mining of metadata of all phone calls and Internet activity is a general warrant. "This is what we objected to, and what our Founding Fathers partly fought the Revolution over," Paul said.
Pope Francis Warns of
‘Culture Of Waste,’ Disposable Human Beings
Excerpt: The pontiff put forward the concept that our
world’s “culture of waste” has led to a mentality of materialism and
disposability that involves not only things, but people as well and,
especially, the unborn child, the disabled, and the elderly. In an interesting
take on “human ecology,” Pope Francis said: This culture of waste tends to
become the common mentality that infects everyone. Human life, the person is no
longer perceived as a primary value to be respected and protected, especially
if poor or disabled, if not yet useful- such as the unborn child- or no longer
needed- such as the elderly. (Fetuses, full-term abortions at Planned
Parenthood sites, discussions to set directives for anyone with
dementia—protected in the past—as a NO CODE, DNI, DNR, (i.e., worthless, don’t
waste money on interventional care), those with “elderly age”…tending to be
over 60….join the wild horses. --Barb)
Barack Obama’s
Long-Term Goals
Excerpt: The Obama administration has coordinated closely
with OfA in its recent legislative efforts, notably gun control and immigration
reform. While the political impact of OfA has been limited--it was
remarkably inept at pushing for gun control--the primary aim of
these campaigns seems not to have been achieving a particular result, but
testing and improving the fledgling organization itself in preparation for
future battles. Indeed, from an organizing point of view, it is the
confrontation that counts more than the policy outcome.
Lawmakers Deny
Knowing About Cell Phone, Internet Tracking
http://www.newsmax.com/newswidget/congress-obama-surveillance-tracking/2013/06/08/id/508783?promo_code=11550-1&utm_source=11550Breitbart&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1#ixzz2VjlsZ3So
Excerpt: Congressional intelligence briefing sessions have not included details about President Barack Obama’s data-gathering programs, despite claims by the president that Congress approved the measures and “every member” knew about them, Republican Rep. Aaron Schock said…. Responding to the furor over the National Security Agency’s data monitoring programs, Sen. Rand Paul ofKentucky
http://www.newsmax.com/newswidget/congress-obama-surveillance-tracking/2013/06/08/id/508783?promo_code=11550-1&utm_source=11550Breitbart&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1#ixzz2VjlsZ3So
Excerpt: Congressional intelligence briefing sessions have not included details about President Barack Obama’s data-gathering programs, despite claims by the president that Congress approved the measures and “every member” knew about them, Republican Rep. Aaron Schock said…. Responding to the furor over the National Security Agency’s data monitoring programs, Sen. Rand Paul of
Jay
Leno Eviscerates ‘Snoop Obama’ In Monologue
Excerpt: NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" Friday night monologue. Jay hits the feds
from all sides: the NSA surveillance scandal; the IRS targeting scandal and the
agency's extravagant, million-dollar conferences; and the exploding national
debt.
The Government’s
Failed Program
Excerpt:
In 1971, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), an agency of the U.S. Department
of Interior, was put in charge of implementing the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and
Burro Act. When the Act was passed, the U.S. Senate stated: "An intensive
management program of breeding, branding, and physical care would destroy the
very concept that this legislation seeks to preserve […], leaving the animals
alone to fend for themselves and placing primary emphasis on protecting the
animals from continued slaughter and harassment by man." ….It has
been estimated that up to three-fourths of our remaining wild horse and burro
herds are below population levels that would guarantee their long-term
survival. ….To further affect viability, BLM will stack herds with seventy
percent of males, severely disrupting herd dynamics and behavioral
patterns. (Yes, it is corrupt. Horses removed because “no forage” and
sheep and cattle permitted in from private ranchers days later per article. Removed
for “emergency” conditions and not allowed to return, per article, but private
ranching permitted instead. Eventually sold for slaughter. Like the buffalo. We
have not learned the history of the government mismanagement of the beautiful
country in which we were born. The buffalo know. The Native Americans know. And
given the scandals of the past weeks, the writing is on the wall. WE are the
NEXT wild horse campaign, hence the ammo buys. They are going to continue
claiming “global warming” and “cooling with geoengineering” causing droughts
and floods, decreasing the food supplies and ruining the production capability
of our country to create starvation to eliminate the portion of the population
without the mark of approval. Read it in biblical terms if you wish. The wild
horses, their beautiful society, are now meals on tables in Mexico , France , Canada and even the US US butchers could make money instead of
those in Mexico and Canada Sandy
IRS, EPA compete for
most bizarre scandal
Excerpt: No, it’s not the plot of a “Seinfeld” episode. It’s
just the daily goings-on at the U.S.
Excerpt: I have a word or two to say about America America
our founding fathers envisioned, and the America
Excerpt: The current federal
income tax system is clearly broken -- unfair, overly complex, and
almost impossible for most Americans to understand. But there is a reasonable
(In my opinion, the FairTax is the only way to get rid of the IRS, lure
companies and corporation to the US, which would instantly make the economy
boom, ensure everyone (including illegal aliens, democrat politicians, pimps,
hookers, drug dealers, thieves, etc.) is taxed fairly. And with the pre-bate,
it would even be possible, depending on your spending habits, to effectively
pay no tax at all. And never file a tax form again. - LLW)
US Waives Condition
On $1.3b In Aid To Egypt
Excerpt: The Obama administration has waived the conditional
human rights string attached to Egypt 's
$1.3 billion in U.S.
Excerpt: However on Monday evening she returned home and
when he inquired about her whereabouts the whole night, her answers could not
satisfy him. According to SHO Khan, Muneer got angry and asked her to lie flat
on the ground with her face down. “Before attacking her, the accused asked her
to loudly recite the Kalimas; once she did so, he committed the horrendous act.
Maxine Waters: ‘Obama
Has Put In Place’ Secret Database With ‘Everything On Everyone’
Excerpt: The President has put in place an organization
with the kind of database that no one has ever seen before in life,"
Representative Maxine Waters told Roland Martin on Monday. "That's
going to be very, very powerful," Waters said. "That
database will have information about everything on every individual on
ways that it's never been done before and whoever runs for President on
the Democratic ticket has to deal with that.
Obama Administration claiming that U.S. email spying foiled NY jihad plot, when it was foiled by monitoring of known al-Qaeda email address
Excerpt: "On Friday, CBS News correspondent John Miller,
a former U.S. intelligence
and FBI official, reported that U.S.
authorities had discovered the Zazi plot after running across an email sent to
a rarely used al Qaeda address that was associated with a notorious bomb-maker
based in Pakistan
Presumption of
innocence shattered by gov't dragnet of the law-abiding (Editorial)
Excerpt: U.S.
http://justcommonsense-lostinamerica.blogspot.com/2013/06/part-of-america-is-no-longer-america.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FMoXTa+%28Lost+in+America%29
Excerpt: How good is your math? How about geography? How many of you know that many places inAmerica are
no longer "America
Excerpt: How good is your math? How about geography? How many of you know that many places in
Sanity Takes A Holiday - Translating Obamaspeak. By Burt Prelutsky
http://www.burtprelutsky.com/2013/06/bp-bonus-sanity-takes-holiday.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+burtprelutsky%2FSQlQ+%28BurtPrelutsky.com%29
Excerpt: Another bit of liberal malarkey has it that blacks are always in need of federal assistance because of slavery. What they choose to ignore is that slavery ended 150 years ago, and that 50 years have elapsed since the enactment of the Civil Rights Act. How is it that Jews, Italians, the Irish and Chinese, all came toAmerica
http://www.burtprelutsky.com/2013/06/bp-bonus-sanity-takes-holiday.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+burtprelutsky%2FSQlQ+%28BurtPrelutsky.com%29
Excerpt: Another bit of liberal malarkey has it that blacks are always in need of federal assistance because of slavery. What they choose to ignore is that slavery ended 150 years ago, and that 50 years have elapsed since the enactment of the Civil Rights Act. How is it that Jews, Italians, the Irish and Chinese, all came to
Rape suspect buried
alive in Bolivia
Excerpt: A reporter for a local radio station, who would
only speak anonymously for fear of reprisals, told the media that Mr Ramos was
tied up at the woman's funeral. He said mourners threw him into the open grave
alongside the woman's coffin and filled the grave with earth.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment