Worth Reading

While time pressure and my declining health have forced me to stop producing the political SitRep, at least for now, I will sometimes pop in a couple of items of interest, as below. ~Bob

Lies Subvert Democracy. Obama and his team have subverted the government they pledged to serve. By Victor Davis Hanson

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/351488/lies-subvert-democracy-victor-davis-hanson

Excerpt: Almost everything that IRS officials have reported about the agency’s unlawful targeting of conservative groups has proven false. IRS malfeasance was not limited only to the Cincinnati office, as alleged, but followed directives sent from higher-ups in Washington. Lois Lerner confessed to the scandal only through a rigged public query by a planted questioner, designed to preempt an upcoming critical inspector general’s report. There is legitimate dispute over both the number and the purpose of former IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman’s visits to the White House and nearby executive office buildings, but he did his credibility no good by snidely remarking to Congress that at least one of those visits was to take his kids to the White House Easter Egg Roll.

The Price of Loyalty in Syria. By Robert F. Worth

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/magazine/the-price-of-loyalty-in-syria.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Excerpt:  In 1936, when the French were poised to merge the newly formed Alawite coastal state into a larger Syrian republic, six Alawite notables sent a petition begging them to reconsider. “The spirit of hatred and fanaticism embedded in the hearts of the Arab Muslims against everything that is non-Muslim has been perpetually nurtured by the Islamic religion,” they wrote. “There is no hope that the situation will ever change. Therefore, the abolition of the mandate will expose the minorities in Syria to the dangers of death and annihilation, irrespective of the fact that such abolition will annihilate the freedom of thought and belief.” One of the petition’s signers was Sulayman al-Assad, the grandfather of Syria’s current president. Later, after the French abandoned them, the Alawites rushed to embrace the cause of Syrian nationalism, and went to great lengths to make the rest of the country forget their separatist ambitions.

Grandma organizes ‘Glock Block’ to shoot neighborhood criminalshttp://dailycaller.com/2013/06/20/grandma-organizes-glock-block-to-shoot-neighborhood-criminals/#ixzz2WrCeGcdO

Excerpt: Fed-up by the rise of crime in her neighborhood in Milwaukie, Oregon, 65-year-old, Coy Tolonen has decided to put matters into her own hands — using a Glock handgun.

The grandmother of three has organized a neighborhood “Glock Block,” a group of pistol-packing elderly neighbors seeking to deter crime, KOIN 6 News in Oregon reported.

And Now, The Selling of Obamacare: Will Americans buy a plan they don’t love? By Zeke J Miller

http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/20/and-now-the-selling-of-obamacare/

Excerpt: The reason: the law is increasingly unpopular. According to an NBC News–Wall Street Journal poll released earlier this month, 49% of Americans now believe the law is a bad idea, the highest percentage recorded, with only 37% saying it is a good thing. … The exchanges need roughly 2.7 million healthy 18-t0-35-year-olds to sign up to be solvent. The majority of that group is nonwhite and male, according to Simas’ data, and a third are located in just three states: California, Texas and Florida. If too few choose to enroll because they don’t know about the law, don’t like it, or feel they don’t need insurance, the exchanges will fail. And so will the law.

Will Obamacare Hurt Jobs? It's Already Happening, Poll Finds

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100825782

Excerpt: Forty-one percent of the businesses surveyed have frozen hiring because of the health-care law known as Obamacare. And almost one-fifth—19 percent— answered "yes" when asked if they had "reduced the number of employees you have in your business as a specific result of the Affordable Care Act."

Will Obamacare Hurt Jobs? It's Already Happening, Poll Finds

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100825782

Excerpt: Forty-one percent of the businesses surveyed have frozen hiring because of the health-care law known as Obamacare. And almost one-fifth—19 percent— answered "yes" when asked if they had "reduced the number of employees you have in your business as a specific result of the Affordable Care Act."

Catholic Schools Fall on Hard Times. By Walter Russell Mead

http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2013/06/21/catholic-schools-fall-on-hard-times/?preview=true

Excerpt: Catholic schools have fallen on hard times. In the past ten years, enrollment has fallen by 22 percent, and in New York City alone the Archdiocese has closed 56 schools since 2011, leaving only 219 remaining.  … In the past, Catholic schools have routinely outperformed public schools on standardized tests, and they boast college admissions rates near 100 percent. Just as important for many Catholic parents, the schools have also helps parents bestow the values and culture handed down to them through the generations.