For your weekend reading

Off line for the weekend, but will leave a couple of essays to post, plus these items which came in today for your enjoyment/annoyance. ~Bob

Very Interesting: Seven Surprising Truths about the World. By Ronald Bailey

http://reason.com/archives/2013/07/15/seven-surprising-truths-about-the-world/print

Excerpt: Did you know that the incidence of cancer in the United States has been declining for nearly 20 years? That the spread of pornography correlates with a decline in rape? That average IQs are going up substantially all around the world? These are just some of the truths that are well-known to the scholars who study those subjects but generally come as a surprise to even the best-educated among us. … About half of Americans two generations ago would have been diagnosed as mentally retarded based on today’s IQ tests.

For Love of Our Great Country, and Good Hot Dogs! By Andy Weddington

http://acoloneloftruth.blogspot.com/2013/08/for-love-of-our-great-country-and-good_2.html

Excerpt: Now, as for the commentator, I could easily, as many have already drawn suppositions, offer hasty analysis (by means of my behavioral psychology background and decades of experience leading Marines) of them. Ever the gentleman - even when slightly peeved - restraint is in order so we'll just let those suppositions and that hasty analysis simmer, but not as fact. One fool is plenty.

House subpoenas Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew for IRS documents

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/aug/2/house-subpoenas-treasury-secretary-jacob-lew-irs-d/

Excerpt: House Republicans on Friday accused Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew of obstructing their investigation into the IRS’s targeting of tea party and conservative groups, and issued subpoenas for more agency documents.

Groups go door-to-door to encourage enrollment in Obamacare

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/groups-go-door-to-door-to-encourage-enrollment-in-obamacare/2013/08/01/c6565c2c-f85a-11e2-afc1-c850c6ee5af8_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines

Excerpt: For the law to succeed, groups such as Enroll America, whose officials include several veterans of Obama campaigns, will need to cajole millions of Americans, including many healthy ones, to enter the insurance market. It could be a tough sell.

Obamacare supporters, detractors prepare for PR campaigns before health-care law milestone

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/obamacare-supporters-detractors-prepare-for-major-pr-campaigns/2013/08/01/94a36b8e-facb-11e2-8752-b41d7ed1f685_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines

Excerpt: The public relations war over Obamacare is set to intensify this month, with groups on both sides planning major campaigns designed to shape opinions just weeks before the law is to hit a critical milestone.

Look out below! Work more, get less in Obamacare 'cliff'

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100921864

Excerpt: Working more could ultimately mean thousands of dollars less for you under a quirk in the new health-care law going into effect this fall. This could prompt some people to cut back on their hours to avoid losing money.

Obamacare hurts parents of special-needs children

http://dailycaller.com/2013/08/01/obamacare-hurts-parents-of-special-needs-children/

Excerpt: President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, known as “Obamacare,” will make it more difficult for parents of special-needs children to pay for tuition at special schools and to purchase medical equipment, according to a new report.

IRS Chief: I Want to Keep My Health Care Plan, Not Switch to Obamacare

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/irs-chief-i-want-keep-my-health-care-plan-not-switch-obamacare_742429.html

Excerpt: "Mr. Werfel, last week your employees who are a member of the National Treasury Employee's Union sent a form letter for union members to send in to ask they be exempt from the exchanges," a congressman asked. "Why are your employees trying to exempt themselves from the very law that you're tasked to enforce?"

Unintended Consequences. By Burt Prelutsky
http://www.burtprelutsky.com/2013/08/unintended-consequences.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+burtprelutsky%2FSQlQ+%28BurtPrelutsky.com%29

Excerpt: Frankly, I can’t help taking some satisfaction in seeing some of its most passionate supporters belatedly coming to their senses. First it was the Catholic Church that thought the bill was hunky dory until the hierarchy discovered that coverage for contraception was mandated for Church employees. The unions also helped Obama shove this monstrosity down our throats. But imagine their surprise when they found out that employers were not only firing workers, but cutting hours in order to avoid the more onerous aspects of the law.

Is Congress Too Good for Obamacare?

http://blog.heritage.org/2013/08/02/is-congress-too-good-for-obamacare/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign&utm_content&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell

Excerpt: For the past few months, members of Congress and their staffs have been discussing behind closed doors the worrying proposition that they will be forced off their popular health insurance program and onto the federal insurance exchanges set up under Obamacare. Those concerns reached a fevered pitch this week as President Obama, while making a rare visit to Capitol Hill, assured lawmakers that they and their staffs wouldn’t be foisted onto the same health exchange as millions of Americans.

VIDEO: France is considering declaring Marseille, its second-largest city, a no-go zone due primarily to rampant Muslim violence. Bare Naked Islam

http://www.barenakedislam.com/2013/08/01/france-is-considering-declaring-marseilles-its-second-largest-city-a-no-go-zone-due-primarily-to-rampant-muslim-violence/

Excerpt: But France’s Interior Minister Manuel Valls refuses to place the whole city of Marseille in a Priority Security Zone. For the Interior Minister Valls, to comply with the request of the socialist president of the urban community of Marseilles, Eugene Caselli, to place the entire City of Marseille in a Priority Security Zone (Zone de Sécurité Prioritaire), would not make sense.

Religious Favoritism, the result of religious supremacism?

http://www.barenakedislam.com/2013/08/01/religious-favoritism-the-result-of-religious-supremacism/

Excerpt: Recently, an acquaintance said he had heard that during Ramadan in Dearbornistan, Michigan, Fordson High School does their football practice from 11:00 p.m. until 4:00 a.m. because the Muslim players can’t eat or drink anything during the daylight. I said, “In other words, the Muslims are imposing their practices on non-Muslims.” I said it with a face that clearly displayed disapproval. He was casually dismissive. “Well, other religions do crazy stuff too,” he said.

Third time unlucky: Recession in 2014?

http://www.aei.org/outlook/economics/monetary-policy/third-time-unlucky-recession-in-2014/

George Bush is at it again…~Bob

Cleaner Air May Have Brought More Storms

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=23452&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD

Excerpt: The Clean Air Act, which has benefited breathing in many American cities over the last few decades, may have worsened the weather in some places. New climate simulations suggest that reducing the level of atmospheric aerosol particles produced by human activity might have been the main cause of a recent increase in tropical storm frequency in the North Atlantic, says Science News.

Threat prompts U.S. to temporarily close embassies in Muslim world

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/domestic-briefs-threat-prompts-us-to-temporarily-close-embassies-in-muslim-world/2013/08/01/d29532ac-fae8-11e2-9bde-7ddaa186b751_story.html?wpisrc=nl_politics

Excerpt: The United States is shuttering its embassies and consulates throughout the Muslim world on Sunday after receiving an unspecified threat, officials said. (Remember when Obama said the War on Terror was over? Good times. When I was with the Combined Action Company in Khe Sanh Ville in 1967, all the NVA had to do was whisper in the village that they were going to hit us that night. We go on alert when we picked it up, lose a night’s sleep and eventually degrade our watchfulness. They lost nothing. ~Bob.)

Us Issues Global Travel Alert

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/08/02/us-issues-global-travel-alert-over-al-qaeda-threat-prepares-to-close-embassies/ 

Excerpt: State Department issues worldwide travel alert to U.S. citizens over an unspecified Al Qaeda terror threat, following word U.S. embassies and consulates throughout the Muslim world will be closed this Sunday over security concerns. (Well this can't possibly be! I'm pretty sure I heard President Obama say, in a speech on one of his endless propaganda tours, that he had single handedly killed Osama Bin laden and had beaten al-Qaida. I guess our horse-faced Secretary of State didn't get the memo. And apparently, al-Qaida didn't either. – LLW)

Israel's fast evolving demography. By Paul Morland
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/Israels-fast-evolving-demography-320574

Excerpt: In the first 12 years of the current century the number of Arab births in Israel has almost completely flatlined at around 40,000 per annum. This despite the growing size of the Arab population, which means that the Arab birth rate – births relative to population size – has fallen. Over the same period, Jewish births have risen from 95,000 to 130,000. In the first four months of 2013, the most recent period for which data is available, Jewish births were up 38 percent during the same period for 2001, and Arab births down 6%. (Good news that surprised me. ~Bob.)

English Defence League: Good Numbers at Birmingham Demo.

http://englishdefenceleague.org/edl-news-2/1989-good-numbers-at-birmingham-demo

Excerpt: As many as 4,000 EDL supporters took to the street on Saturday, July 20th to protest against radical Islam in Birmingham. A message was sent to Islamists in England’s second city that terrorism and Muslim expansionism will not be tolerated.

Victims of Denial: The ideology behind child-grooming. http://englishdefenceleague.org/edl-news-2/1983-victims-of-denial-the-ideology-behind-child-grooming

Excerpt: There no longer seems to be much of an argument that we face a ‘particular problem’ with the sexual abuse of young girls by what the media can always be relied upon to call “Asian gangs”. With a spate of recent convictions, and many more cases of ‘grooming gangs’ under investigation, this is a serious issue of epidemic proportions. Of the 43 police forces in England and Wales only 27 have disclosed the number of investigations they currently have running, and the figure has already reached 54.

When Will The Economy Collapse?

http://www.fedupusa.org/2013/08/when-will-the-economy-collapse/

Excerpt: Most astute observers and analysts understand that the world is on the brink of a widespread economic collapse. Our debt, the expansion of the U.S. police state, the militarization of governments, and geo-political posturing are all pointing to an end to life as we have come to know it in the modern world. (WW III would be the last decision ever made by the power grabbers who want to rule the planet. The same people who gave us the bank bailouts and bailins, QE1, 2 etc, the corporatists who killed capitalism, the US military support for the terrorists who slash Christians in Syria, the people who stole our freedom and are ushering in a police and surveillance state. I think we can stop it. We can't stop the economic crash, but we don't have to support the war that could kill the planet. Remember the translation I sent you about the Dongfeng missile and its potential to overcome our AM with its MIRVs. Russia has a similar missile called the Satan. I haven't had the time to start that translation yet, but you can find enough information on that to tell you this is serious. A few people are still bamboozled into thinking we have a way of stopping a hundred missiles all coming in from different directions at once. I don't think so. We are in the same state of decay, and of military un-readiness that the Roman Empire was in toward the end. The rest of the world doesn't want this war. Only the Western elites are insane enough to start it. It's not our war. It's theirs. Let them send their sons this time. This time: JUST SAY NO. For God's sake. For the kids' sake. --Don Hank)

Five Lessons from Egypt and the Arab Spring. By Daniel Greenfield 

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/five-lessons-from-egypt-and-the-arab-spring/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=4b15c45432-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag&utm_term=0_57e32c1dad-4b15c45432-156414477

Excerpt: 1. Don’t Believe Anything You Hear. Egyptian liberals allied with the Muslim Brotherhood to overthrow Mubarak and challenge the military. In those heady Tahrir Square days, they ridiculed the idea that Mubarak’s overthrow would benefit the Muslim Brotherhood.

Tune Changes: Kerry: Morsi ouster restored democracy

http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/africa/315115-kerry-egyptian-army-seen-as-restoring-democracy-with-morsi-overthrow

Excerpt: Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday tacitly endorsed the Egyptian army's overthrow of freely elected President Mohamed Morsi, breaking with the Obama administration's position of not taking sides. “In effect, they were restoring democracy,” Kerry told Pakistan's Geo News television station. “The military did not take over, to the best of our judgment — so far, so far – to run the country. There's a civilian government.” (Change in tune from this: Despite Obama Administration’s Entreaties, Egyptian Military Deposes Morsi. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/03/despite-obama-administration-s-entreaties-egyptian-military-deposes-morsi.html So Obama didn’t want the military to “restore democracy”? ~Bob)

CIA polygraphing operatives to keep Benghazi secrets

http://dailycaller.com/2013/08/01/report-cia-polygraphing-operatives-to-keep-benghazi-secrets/

Excerpt: The CIA has been routinely subjecting its operatives to polygraph tests in order to keep secrets from the Benghazi terrorist attack from becoming public, CNN host Jake Tapper’s program claimed Thursday.

Detroit By Frosty Wooldridge

http://atlah.org/2011/12/27/detroit-by-frosty-wooldridge/

2011 article, worth remembering now. ~Bob

Ramadan observance in Iraq: Sunnis, Shi'ites hit each others' mosques, murdering 26

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/08/ramadan-observance-in-iraq-sunnis-shiites-hit-each-others-mosques-murdering-26.html

Excerpt: The AP headline is "Drive-by shootings, bombings kill 26 in Iraq." Once again, we see the curious displacement of agency that is so common in such stories. Actually, it was Islamic jihadis who killed 26 in Iraq.

Yale’s Declaration On Rape Proves Why Collegiate Females Should Be Allowed To Carry. By Dana Loesch

http://www.redstate.com/dloesch/2013/08/01/yales-declaration-on-rape-proves-why-collegiate-females-should-be-allowed-to-carry/

Excerpt: It’s like progressive women are just now discovering the brutally high college rape statistics. 

Freshman Democrats defy Nancy Pelosi on key votes
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/freshmen-democrats-nancy-pelosi-dan-maffei-key-votes-95103.html

Excerpt: Fourteen Democratic freshmen joined with dozens of their veteran Democratic colleagues and Republicans in calling for a one-year delay in both the employer and individual mandates. These defections came despite repeated — and sometimes emotional — lobbying by Pelosi, who accused these Democrats of “undermining” her and Obamacare, said several lawmakers and aides.

Sickening: Me and My Obamaphones: Not on welfare or below the poverty line? Never mind — here’s your free phone. By Jillian Kay Melchior

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/354867/me-and-my-obamaphones-jillian-kay-melchior

Excerpt: Confession: You’re paying my phone bill. In the past month, I have received three shiny new cell phones, courtesy of American taxpayers, that should never have fallen into my hands. … And out of respect for the law and my journalistic integrity, I did not lie to obtain a phone.

Corporate Welfare for IBM, Accenture at Heart of Senate Amnesty Bill

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/07/31/Immigration-bill-built-with-corporate-welfare-for-tech-companies-like-IBM-Accenture?utm_source=e_breitbart_com&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Breitbart+News+Roundup+August+2%2C+2013&utm_campaign=20130802_m116810765_Breitbart+News+Roundup%2C+August+2%2C+2013&utm_term=More

Excerpt: The Senate’s immigration bill contains a tech industry handout for some companies like IBM and Accenture. It would virtually eliminate competitors in the market for highly-skilled immigrant labor.

Editor fired over 'shove it' Obama headline
http://www.wnd.com/2013/08/editor-fired-over-shove-it-obama-headline/

Excerpt: The Chattanooga Times Free Press editorial page editor who criticized President Obama’s jobs plan by telling the president in black and white to “shove it” is now out of a job.

Spending by Wisconsin unions on lobbyists plummets, records show

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/spending-by-wisconsin-unions-on-lobbyists-plummets-records-show-b9966408z1-217960671.html

Excerpt: The figures show the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state's largest teacher union, spent nearly $2.1 million in the first six months of 2011 and $1 million in the first half of 2009, but a mere $84,000 in the first six months of this year. (Scott Walker for President. ~Bob.)

UNREAL: Charlie Rangel Calls Tea Partiers “Same Group” of “White Crackers” Who Fought Against Civil Rights…

http://weaselzippers.us/2013/08/02/unreal-charlie-rangel-calls-tea-partiers-same-group-of-white-crackers-who-fought-against-civil-rights/

Excerpt: Apparently it’s OK for politicians to use racial slurs, as long as it describes white people.

Tweet from RB ‏@RBPundit

Someone tell @CBRangel that the Tea Party is more racially diverse than the Congressional Black Caucus. He seems confused.

IRS Doles Out Billions of Taxpayer Dollars in ID Fraud. By Kemberlee Kaye 

http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/77002/irs-doles-out-billions-of-taxpayer-dollars-in-id-f?awesm=freedo.mw_il&source=twitter

Excerpt: Embroiled itn what appears to be the makings of yet another scandal, the IRS will be the subject of a hearing held by the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations this coming Friday morning. Over the past five years, the cases of identity theft related to tax fraud has increased by a staggering 413% and these are only reported cases. (Gee, yet another “phony IRS scandal.” ~Bob.)

Spain to Tax Sunlight. By Daniel Greenfield 

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/spain-to-tax-sunlight/#.UfvTRItzi1Q.twitter

Excerpt: It’s only fair. Obama insists on taxing the carbon in the air. Maryland’s Dem governor is taxing the rain. Someone has to go tax the sunlight and considering Spain’s economy, it needs all the tax revenue that it can get.

Tweet from David Burge ‏@iowahawkblog

Al Qaeda's on the run... to their free American RPG gift bags!

Hysterical Weiner for Mayor “Interns Wanted” flyers spotted around NYC

http://redalertpolitics.com/2013/08/02/hysterical-weiner-for-mayor-interns-wanted-flyers-spotted-around-nyc/

Excerpt: Are you looking for a fall internship? Are you organized? Discreet? Not a snitch? Not a slutbag? Then the Anthony Weiner campaign wants YOU to be a Weiner for Mayor intern, according to flyers reportedly spotted around New York City this week.

Governments pay welfare to dead people

http://watchdog.org/98998/governments-pay-welfare-to-dead-people/

Excerpt: The federal government sends an awful lot of cash to people who are six feet underground. That is the key finding of a Government Accountability Office report released this week that revealed the U.S. Department of Agriculture sent more than $36 million in taxpayer cash to farmers who, because they lack of a pulse, can’t actually farm or participate in federal conservation programs.

Tweet from David Burge ‏@iowahawkblog

First Nobel Peace Prize winner to smuggle arms to Al Qaeda.

WH on new jobs report: ‘…continue to dig our way out.’ They’ve got the ‘digging’ part right, anyway.

http://conservativeintel.com/2013/08/02/wh-on-new-jobs-report-continue-to-dig-our-way-out-theyve-got-the-digging-part-right-anyway/#sthash.DO2B00m4.dpuf

Excerpt: Here’s the workforce participation rate over the last 20 years. This number hasn’t improved at all, and that’s what’s holding down the unemployment rate, because these folks are no longer unemployed.

Tweet from Charles Sykes ‏@SykesCharlie

Flashback: White House Projected Stimulus Bill Would Return Unemployment to 5% in July 2013

WaPo Fact Checker: Harry Reid’s claim that the sequester has ‘already cut 1.6 million jobs’

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/harry-reids-claim-that-the-sequester-has-already-cut-16-million-jobs/2013/07/31/b40b0cfa-fa28-11e2-a369-d1954abcb7e3_blog.html?hpid=z4

Excerpt: While the dust has not settled on the impact of the sequester on employment this year, the available evidence shows that Reid’s claim that 1.6 million jobs already have been cut this year appears wildly off course. Four Pinocchios

Kenyan lawyer suing Israel for killing Jesus

http://redalertpolitics.com/2013/08/01/kenyan-lawyer-suing-israel-for-killing-jesus/

Excerpt: Kenyan lawyer Dola Indidis has taken on the ‘case for Christ’ as he is suing the State of Israel, the Republic of Italy and a whole slew of New Testament characters on behalf of the “Friends of Jesus.”

Germany: Oil Under Brandenburg "Could Deliver Billions"

http://www.thelocal.de/national/20130801-51179.html

Excerpt: Currently best known for not very much, the north German state of Brandenburg could soon be catapulted into an economic boom - a drilling firm reckons there are 92 million tonnes of oil there and plans to start drilling in four years. (Glad the Nazis didn’t know this. ~Bob.)

New bill aims to make 'smart meters' mandatory for entire nation. By Jonathan Benson

http://www.naturalnews.com/041446_smart_meters_national_mandate_surveillance.html

Excerpt: Smart meters, as you may already be aware, contain wireless communication components that are not only a serious threat to human health, but also a monumental detriment to personal privacy.But crafty politicians like Rep. McNerney and Rep. Cartwright are couching the technology as a viable way to help save people money by lowering their electricity bills. This explanation, of course, is meant to divert attention away from the not-so-enticing fact that the technology is really nothing more than a massive, interconnected government spying and control apparatus.

Bombshell: CIA Using "Unprecedented" Polygraphing, "Pure Intimidation" to Guard Benghazi Secrets. By Guy Benson

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2013/08/02/report-cia-using-unprecedented-polygraphing-to-keep-benghazi-secrets-n1654411

Excerpt: The weapons-to-Syria theories are half out of the bag already, so what are they still covering-up? It's possible that the administration doesn't want the American people and our foreign allies to know just how heavily involved we've been in arming squads of exceedingly dangerous jihadi forces in two different countries, whose goals happen to align with our fleeting strategic interests.

Seattle officials call for ban on 'potentially offensive' language
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/08/02/seattle-officials-call-for-ban-on-potentially-offensive-language/

Excerpt: Government workers in the city of Seattle have been advised that the terms "citizen" and "brown bag" are potentially offensive and may no longer be used in official documents and discussions. (Breaking: White Crackers still okay. ~Bob.)

Family Interrogated By Police For Googling “Pressure Cooker” And “Backpack”
http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/08/family-interrogated-by-police-for-googling-pressure-cooker-and-backpack/
Excerpt: Everyone knows by this point that you have to be careful what you say on social media sites like Facebook. One bad joke taken out of context could land you in jail on “terrorism” charges. So, everyone should know by now that we live in a “see something, say something” society, and if you say something questionable in an online, public forum, you’re at risk of the authorities paying you a visit “just to ask you a few questions.”

The Attack in Bengazi: Worth Investigating After All: CNN reports that dozens of CIA Agents were on the ground there--and that they're being pressured to keep quiet. Why? By Conor Friedersdorf

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/08/the-attack-in-benghazi-worth-investigating-after-all/278299/

Excerpt: Suddenly it is imperative that Congress investigate details surrounding the attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens. I've never felt that way before. But Drew Griffin's scoop changed my mind. 

Obama Disaster: Of 953,000 Jobs Created In 2013 – 731,000 Are Part-Time

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/08/obama-disaster-of-953000-jobs-created-in-2013-731000-are-part-time/

They got Obama phones and SNAP—what more do they want? ~Bob

Blue-Eyed Jihad

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/08/01/we_will_win_this_fight_european_jihadists_syria#.UfvWhT1dlEp.twitter

Excerpt: European jihadists in Syria have been blamed by some Syrians for ruining the purity of their revolution, held up by Bashar al-Assad's regime as a sign of that the rebels are foreign-backed radicals, and feared by Western security agencies as a potential terrorist threat. But despite all the talk about them, they rarely speak with outsiders about their beliefs and goals. 

Tweet from stacyswimp ‏@stacyswimp

Blacks in the 1930s called the National Recovery Act the "Negro Removal Act" because it was meant to narrow the job opportunities of Blacks