Latest: Was weak and shake
at Rehab Wednesday, couldn't do as much. The PT put a heart monitor on me and
said I was having extra heart beats. Could be from several things. And the
coughing pulled a muscle in my back again, but so far not as painful as last
time. Still hurts a lot when I cough and can't use the Spirometer to gets FEV
until it gets better in a couple of days. Bronchoscopy Monday.
But I had a cell call while I was in rehab. It was a head
hunter, said they had a position for an executive director opening up in California
General News and Comment
A Good Man: Former Senate Majority Leader Howard
Baker dies
Excerpt: In 1973, Baker gained national prominence – and
found himself working against his former ally – when he served as the vice
chairman of the Senate Watergate Committee. During the panel’s proceedings,
Baker famously asked: “What did the president know, and when did he know it?”
(In 1980, i introduced Baker when he announced for President in Massachusetts . All the
other GOP legislators were with Bush or Reagan, and many wound up in DC. Still
think he was a good man. ~Bob)
Must Read: They Had a Dream: Rule by experts comes a
cropper. By Noemie Emery
Excerpt: Out of sorts and out of office after 1828, when
power passed from the Adamses to the children of burghers and immigrants, they
had begun to strike back by the 1920s, led by the likes of George Bernard Shaw,
H. G. Wells, H. L. Mencken, Herbert Croly, and Sinclair Lewis. Their stock in
trade was their belief in themselves, and their contempt for the way the middle
class thought, lived, and made and spent money: Commerce was crude, consumption
was vulgar, and industry, which employed millions and improved the lives of
many more people, too gross and/or grubby for words. “For the American critics
of mass culture, it was the good times of the 1920s, not the depression of the
1930s, that proved terrifying,” says Fred Siegel, whose book The Revolt Against the Masses describes
and eviscerates this group and its aspirations. In their dream world,
“intellectuals, as well as poet-leaders, experts, and social scientists such as
themselves would lead the regime,” as Siegel tells us. “It was thus a crucial
imperative to constrain the conventional and often corrupt politics of
middle-class capitalists so that these far-seeing leaders might obtain the
recognition and power that was only their due.” Not the shortest read to be
found on the subject, but a true, old fashioned detailed essay on a broad
subject. Not much in here you don't know already, but put together like the
proverbial Swiss watch. I recommend it. But sending it to any Liberal friend
who still believes in ObamaCare would be dangerous. Del )
Satire: Canadian Adopt a Terrorist Program
Important: High court rebukes Obama on recess
appointments
Excerpt: The Supreme Court on Thursday limited the
president's power to fill high-level vacancies with temporary appointments,
ruling in favor of Senate Republicans in their partisan clash with President
Barack Obama. The high court's first-ever case involving the Constitution's
recess appointments clause ended in a unanimous decision holding that Obama's
appointments to the National Labor Relations Board in 2012 without Senate
confirmation were illegal.
The liberal view in 2011: Dear
Mr. President: Make a recess appointment right now!: By Jonathan Bernstein
Excerpt: Republicans in the House of Representatives are
currently attempting to prevent Barack Obama from making recess appointments,
contrary to the spirit of the Constitution — the same Constitution that they
read on the House floor at the beginning of the 112th Congress. It’s a complete
farce, and there’s no reason at all for Obama to play along. Obama should make
a recess appointment in the face of the House GOP’s antics — now. It would be
good for his Presidency, as a display of his influence. Not only that, but it
would be good for the Constitution, too.
Supreme Court strikes down law on abortion clinic buffer
zones. By Ferdous Al-Faruque
Excerpt: The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously
struck down a Massachusetts
law that created a buffer zone, barring protesters from coming within 35 feet
of abortion clinics, as unconstitutional. The court found that the law violated
First Amendment free speech rights.
Worth Reading
Excerpt: Among young adults, first comes baby, then (maybe)
comes marriage. This increasingly is the new normal. According to a new
study from Johns
Hopkins University America . A
recent study said that 2% of the kids who grow up in two-parent families spend
their lives in poverty. 20% of those in single parent families do. And it is
not just minorities with this unfolding disaster. Add to the culture the desire
of liberals to create ever-more government-dependent zombies because they vote
for the party of big government, and I see little hope. ~!Bob)
Excerpt: Many view America ’s education as a failure,
but in at least one important way, it’s been a success – a success in dumbing
down the nation so that we fall easy prey to charlatans, hustlers and quacks.
You say, “Williams, that’s insulting! Explain yourself.” OK, let’s start with a
question or two. Are you for or against global warming, later renamed climate
change and more recently renamed climate disruption? Environmentalists have
renamed it because they don’t want to look silly in the face of cooling
temperatures. About 650 million years ago, the Earth was frozen from pole to
pole, a period scientists call Snowball Earth. The Earth is no longer frozen
from pole to pole. There must have been global warming, and it cannot be blamed
on humans.
Cochran beats
McDaniel in nail-biter in Mississippi
Excerpt: Cochran outperformed his vote totals from the
primary election three weeks ago in many parts of Mississippi and he held a lead throughout
the night. With 99.9 percent of precincts reporting, Cochran beat McDaniel 50.8
percent to 49.2 percent. They were separated by about 6,300 votes out of more
than 375,000 cast. Cochran relied heavily on boosting voter turnout in the
runoff among not only mainstream Republicans but also black Democrats, whom his
campaign and its allies aggressively courted in the final days of the campaign.
Gun Violence is Down
Have not verified. ~Bob
Boehner: House will
sue Obama
Excerpt: Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio)
on Wednesday said he plans to sue President Obama on behalf of the
House over his frequent use of executive actions that Republicans believe are
beyond his authority. During his weekly Capitol press conference, the Speaker
accused the president of violating his oath of office by not “faithfully
executing the laws of our country.” But Boehner said the lawsuit would not lead
to an attempt to remove Obama from office.
Chinese Men Buying Brides From
Excerpt: H'mong ethnic teenager May Na (whose name has been
changed to protect her identity) sits in the living room at a government-run
centre for trafficked women in the northern Vietnamese city of Lao Cai, May 9,
2014 When Kiab turned 16, her brother promised to take her to a party in a
tourist town in northern Vietnam. Instead, he sold her to a Chinese family as a
bride. The ethnic Hmong teenager spent nearly a month in China until she was able to escape her new
husband, seek help from local police and return to Vietnam . (How terribly sad this is.
In all the history of Viet
Nam , there has not been this horrific
selling of women to foreigners and brothels. This is the "liberty and
justice" that the victory of the communists brought? --Del )
Excerpt: The U.S.
economy contracted at a much steeper pace than previously estimated in the
first quarter, but there are indications that growth has since rebounded
strongly.
The Commerce Department said on Wednesday gross domestic
product fell at a 2.9 percent annual rate, the economy's worst performance in
five years, instead of the 1.0 percent pace it had reported last month.
(Obama's strongest base is in the intellectual greenie elites, and their wishes
and fantasies will always come ahead of jobs for the average guy. ~Bob)
Video: MSM Scoffs at White House, IRS Excuses. By Guy Benson
Excerpt: Mark Halperin admitted on Monday that if a
Republican administration were presiding over the exact same scandal, the press
would have turned it into a "national
obsession." He and other media members are conceding this point as if
they're detached analysts, as opposed to longstanding members of the biased
club.National Journal's Ron Fournier -- who's been
calling for a Special Prosecutor to probe the matter for some time --
is sheepishly admitting that he was "naive" to give Obama the benefit
of the doubt:
The Politics of Envy
http://m.townhall.com/columnists/josephhorton/2014/02/20/the-politics-of-envy-n1797267
http://m.townhall.com/columnists/josephhorton/2014/02/20/the-politics-of-envy-n1797267
Excerpt: I was excited when I learned that the parents of a
student I knew produced a product my family used and enjoyed. His response to
me was “Yea, they’re getting rich off you.” He was quite confused when I
replied “They should be. They make a very good product. If they are not getting
rich, they are not good business people.” The student expected me to be envious
of his parents’ success rather than thankful for the product that met my
family’s needs better than anything else. (Old, but interesting. By the way,
racism is the new smoking. --GS)
The Liberal Blame Game
on Iraq: Given the Left’s own checkered foreign-policy history,
it’s a dangerous game to play. By Jonah Goldberg
Excerpt: It’s a fact of human nature that it’s easier to
talk about who’s to blame for a problem than it is to figure out what to do
about the problem. Case in point: There’s a near-riot in liberal circles over
the very idea that supporters of the Iraq War should even be allowed to
criticize the president’s handling of the current Middle
East crisis, never mind offer advice on how to proceed.
Worth Reading
Excerpt: The truth is that government programs, financial or
social, were what impeded the recent recovery. The best thing for policy
leaders to do is to acknowledge old truths about economics, and explain the
consequences of recent policy. Big Truth No. 1: In 2008, the government and the
Federal Reserve rescued too many banks, and too arbitrarily. Too Big to Fail can’t
be a perpetual doctrine. Big Truth No. 2: Programs that aim to help the poor
reduce overall work, including, eventually, work opportunities for the poor.
Many people understand the theory behind this argument, but lack data.
Especially precise data. (The catch is the phrase "over time."
Democrats are not interested in helping the poor or working class "over
time." They are interested in buying the votes of economically-ignorant
voters in the next election, and pushing redistribution des that. ~Bob)
The Coming Ice Age -
1978
It's settled science--the scientists all agree.
Excerpt: The North Pole has already lost one fifth of its
summer with essentially no melting.
Nobel Laureate Al Gore says that it will be ice free in a
few weeks, which may be tricky given that the ice is about three metres thick,
and the forecast is for below freezing temperatures the next two weeks. Or
perhaps Big Al can just change the freezing point of water?
She Showed Restraint
as He Smashed the Cash Register. But Everything Changed When He Pressed His
Knife Against Her Chest. By Jason Howerton
Excerpt: After he collected the money from the register, he
then reportedly pressed his knife against the female store owner’s chest. It
seems she was armed the entire time, but didn’t pull her firearm until she felt
threatened. The store owner, identified only as a 46-year-old woman,
neutralized the suspect with one very accurate shot to the chest. The suspect
was later pronounced dead.
Banned Books: City
Shuts Down 9 Year-Old Boy’s Little Library. By Jordan Richardson
Excerpt: It all started with Spencer’s plan to create a
little free
library in front of his house. With the help of his father and
grandfather, he built a small bookcase to allow neighbors to freely borrow and
exchange books. This concept has been widely promoted by the non-profit
group Little Free Library as
a community movement to encourage literacy and a love of reading. According to
Little Free Library, there are around 15,000 little libraries all over the
world. (Spenser could use my Reading
Important: History's Warning: A U.S.-China War Is
Terrifyingly Possible
Excerpt: Many Americans believe that the
United States and China have entered a long-term strategic competition. The
way we use “competition” in many ways resembles a literary trope. At the US
Naval War College, for example, we teach several historical case studies
explicitly built around this narrative: Where
a “rising power” challenges the “hegemon,” and its aggressive bid only
increases tensions that at some point lead to military conflict. This is the
story as much with Athens and Sparta
in classical Greece as with Britain and Germany in the early 20th century.
Playing a Name Game
with the Redskins. By Dr. Ben
Carson
Excerpt: When the government is in charge of deciding what
is offensive and what is not, and has the power to punish the
"offenders," we move further away from a free society and closer to a
tyrannical nanny state. We are not talking about a political issue that should
have Democrats and Republicans coming down on different sides, but rather the
fundamental freedom to express oneself, which is a part of the fabric of America . (The
Redskins trademark was cancelled as offensive. I bet "Polygamy
Porter" from Utah
is still fine--no one in DC is worried about offending Mormons. But I also bet
they wouldn't license "Allah's Ale." If I owned the Redskins, I'd
change the name--The Officious Bureaucrats has a nice ring--and then I'd move
the team to another city, give the fans the addresses of the Democrats who
complained. ~Bob)
Reporters Show
Egregious Bias in Scott Walker Coverage. By Matt Batzel
Excerpt: Let’s walk through some of this false reporting. A
Google search for “Scott Walker” reveals it is hard to tell what reporters were
actually publishing in the minutes following the release of the John Doe
Documents. Reporters raced to proclaim their knowledge of what was taking place
in Wisconsin ,
but few captured the whole story or put it in a truthful, accurate context.
Since the first wave of stories, reporters have updated their reports numerous
times as readers and editors pointed out significant errors. Thankfully, cached
versions of some of the stories were saved, so it is possible to go back and
look at the errors they made. Their changes or updates are basically admissions
of error.
8 Ways the New York
Times Misled You about Gov. Scott Walker. By Brian Sikma
Excerpt: By burying key information, and paying
extraordinary and unqualified attention to previously discredited theories,
the Timessought, intentionally or not, to convict Gov. Walker in a
makeshift court of public opinion. Here is why the Times is wrong,
and why its story and editorial piece reveal a deep bias against a Republican
governor.
Doe prosecutor: No
determination whether Walker
Excerpt: "Mr. Schmitz has made no conclusions as to
whether there is sufficient evidence to charge anyone with a crime. It is wrong
for any person to point to this sentence in a legal argument as a finding by
the special prosecutor that Governor Walker has engaged in a criminal scheme.
It is not such a finding."
Looking in Depth at
the Kaiser Obamacare Poll
Excerpt: Unsurprisingly, much of the media has portrayed
it as showing a generally
positive response to the
healthcare law. In particular, they emphasized that about 6 in 10 of
the enrollees were previously uninsured. This is all, per the poll, true, but
these write-ups did not look at the questions of the poll, which reveal a much
more negative picture for the ACA.
Why Democrats Are The
Reason We Lost The Vietnam War
Excerpt: Did the United States win or lose the
Vietnam War? We are taught that it was a resounding loss for America , one
that proves that intervening in the affairs of other nations is usually
misguided. The truth is that our military won the war, but our politicians lost
it. The Communists in North
Vietnam actually signed a peace treaty,
effectively surrendering. But the U.S. Congress didn’t hold up its end of the
bargain. In just five minutes, learn the truth about who really lost the
Vietnam War
Surprise: ObamaCare
Costs More Than Predicted
Excerpt: The Los Angeles Times reports that if these subsidy
numbers hold true for the 14 state-run exchanges, ObamaCare's first-year
subsidy costs will climb to $16.5 billion. Some of the increase is due to the
higher-than-expected sign-ups. But a big cause was the fact that a larger share
of enrollees got subsidies than the CBO expected. And the average tax credit
was bigger. The CBO had assumed the average credit would be about $222 a month.
The actual number was $264 — about 19% higher. The Affordable Care Act is
looking less affordable by the day.
EPA employees warned to stop defecating in the hallways
Excerpt: Apparently, this EPA office needed to “consult”
with a workplace violence expert on the matter in order to ascertain that
leaving human feces in office hallways was “very dangerous.” (These folks
regulate YOUR behavior. Bet they file a "right to crap" grievance
with their union. ~Bob)
I once asked a Marine I dated if he was afraid of being
killed. He said "I'm the one the killers should be afraid of." Keep
it.
Native American
Groups To Sue Cleveland Indians Over Chief Wahoo Mascot
Excerpt: Native American groups plan to file a federal
lawsuit against the Cleveland Indians to force them to retire the Chief Wahoo
mascot.
Obamacare Causes
2,130 More Insurance Cancellations in Colorado
Excerpt: Colorado ’s
Department of Insurance (DOI) announced today
in a letter to Colorado Senate Republicans that 2,320 more insurance policies
in Colorado
will be canceled due to ObamaCare.
Tweet from kerry @Kerryepp
"The person
who agrees with you 80% of the time is a friend
and an ally - not a 20% traitor." -Ronald Reagan
6.9 million multiple voters in 28 states, report finds.
By Kenric Ward
Excerpt: Some 6.9 million Americans are registered to vote
in two or more states, according to a report obtained by Watchdog.org.
Excerpt: The increase of 3.2 percent – about $342 per
student – will pay for state-mandated employee pay raises, health and
retirement benefits, and Affordable Care Act implementation, campus leaders
say. Implementing Obamacare is estimated to cost the state’s flagship
university up to $4.5 million. (TANSTAAFL kids. ~Bob)
Presbyterian Church
Votes 'No' On Protecting Babies Born Alive During Botched Abortions
Excerpt: The nation’s largest Presbyterian denomination has
been busy these days. It has voted to approve
same-sex marriages, to endorse divestment as
a protest against Israeli policies toward Palestinians, and now has approved
allowing babies to die who are born alive during botched abortions.
Mother Of Imprisoned
Marine Obama 'Hasn't Shown Any Interest'
Excerpt: Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ),
who has visited Tahmooressi in prison declared that Tahmooressi would be free
“if the president would invest one ounce of care on this issue,” and that “if
the president made the call [Tahmooressi’s release] would happen
quickly.”
The Feds Prepared
for the ‘Surprise’ Surge of Child Migrants: Immigration
authorities anticipated the consequences of Obama-administration
laxity. By Spencer Case
Excerpt: When tens of thousands of unaccompanied alien
children poured across the southern border in the past few months, many
Americans were surprised. But government documents suggest that federal
immigration authorities, to some extent, anticipated the crisis and prepared
for it.
Cutting Down on
Welfare Abuse in Indiana
Excerpt: What has kept welfare recipients from spending
taxpayer dollars on alcohol, slot machines and strip clubs? Very little, writes
Jillian Kay Melchior for National Review, until Congress passed a bill in 2012
outlawing the use of benefits at such places and encouraging state governments
to institute similar controls. Indiana
has been especially successful in its crackdown on unlawful use of welfare
funds: The state passed a law requiring ATM vendors to block withdrawals of
cash benefits at certain restricted locations. ... In 2012, Indiana TANF users
withdrew more than $120,000 from ATMs with their EBT cards in liquor stores,
strip clubs, tobacco shops, casinos, resorts, golf clubs and amusement parks. In
2014, fewer than 15 first-time EBT violations have taken place each month,
according to Indiana
officials. Additionally, there have been less than 5 second-time offenses each
month and only two third-time violations in all of 2014.
Sugar Subsidies Are A Bitter Deal For American Consumers.
By Jared Meyer, Preston Cooper
|
Excerpt: Perhaps no industry has received as much bipartisan
federal support as Big Sugar. Cochran, a supporter of
pro-sugar agricultural policy, has received a total of $40,500 from the sugar industry this
year, and his position is hardly unique. American Crystal Sugar Company has donated over $1.3 million to 221 members of Congress this
election cycle, following $1.4 million spent on lobbying in 2013. Lawmakers
across the political spectrum, from Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) to Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), support using taxpayer dollars to
subsidize the American sugar industry.
Excerpt: Also, Democrats and independents who had not voted
in the Democratic primary could vote in the Republican runoff. They probably
care more than Republicans like to admit that they themselves
care about legislative pork, of which Cochran has served up heaping amounts
during his 33 years on the Appropriations Committee. This bright red
state has the nation’s lowest per capita income, the highest federal funding
as a percent of revenue and a surplus of cognitive dissonance between its
professed conservatism and its actual enjoyment of the benefits Cochran can now
continue to shovel its way.
Excerpt: Dr. Jason Riley discussed his new book, Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It
Harder For Blacks To Succeed, on Monday at the Heritage Foundation. Riley
is an editorial board member of the Wall Street Journal. In his book,
Riley discusses where the Civil Rights Movement has gone wrong. He emphasizes
that liberals only encourage blacks to blame their problems on whites and to
make themselves out to be victims. ... "The Civil Rights Movement has
become an industry that does little more than monetize white guilt," Riley
said in his talk. "Liberal solutions to the black problems were just
as wrongheaded today as they have ever been." (On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Please-Stop-Helping-Us-Liberals/dp/1594037256/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403800117&sr=8-1&keywords=Please+Stop+Helping+Us%3A+How+Liberals+Make+It+Harder+For+Blacks+To+Succeed
~Bob)
The president who preaches climate change is now flying Air
Force 1 to Minnesota
to visit a woman who wrote him a letter.
IRS "The Dog Ate My Emails" News
Fox News Poll: Voters think IRS emails were deliberately
destroyed. By Dana Blanton
Excerpt: The consensus is: it’s no accident. More than
three-quarters of voters -- 76 percent -- think the emails missing from the
account of Lois Lerner, the ex-IRS official at the center of the scandal over
targeting of conservative groups, were deliberately destroyed. ... That
suspicion is shared across party lines, albeit to varying degrees. An
overwhelming 90 percent of Republicans think the emails were intentionally
destroyed, as do 74 percent of independents and 63 percent of Democrats. (The
other 24% would be good to play poker with--they'll fall for anything. ~Bob)
Mounting Proof of an
IRS Cover-Up. By Matthew Vadum
Excerpt: More proof the Obama administration is covering up
the political persecution it inflicted on its conservative political enemies
through the Internal Revenue Service emerged yesterday as a federal official
accused the White House of breaking the law by hiding emails. Whenever the
records, including emails, of federal agencies are destroyed — whether
intentional or inadvertent — the law requires that the National Archives be
notified.
Lerner sought IRS
audit of sitting GOP senator, emails show
Excerpt: Congressional investigators have uncovered emails
showing ex-IRS official Lois Lerner targeted a sitting Republican senator for a
proposed internal audit, a discovery one GOP lawmaker called
"shocking." (I'm shocked too--that the email didn't vanish with
the rest. And how did she get an invitation to a US Senator "by mistake"?
~Bob)
Even Dems, by 3-to-1, believe someone at IRS broke the law.
By Mike Hashimoto
Excerpt: Unsurprisingly, 90 percent of Republicans and 74
percent of independents are of a suspicious mind. What should have the Obama
administration rethinking their strategy so far is that 63 percent of Democrats
and 62 percent of self-identified liberals also believe the email destruction
was no accident. Because that means, by a 3-to-1 margin, even Democrats and/or
liberals believe a crime was committed somewhere in the IRS with the
intentional destruction of government records.
Religion of Peace News
Worth Reading : Melancholy
Lessons from Iraq
Excerpt: The unfolding collapse of Iraq ’s
government before the legions of al Qaeda jihadists is the capstone of Barack
Obama’s incompetent and politicized foreign policy. The Islamic State of Iraq
and al-Sham (ISIS), armed with plundered American weapons and flush with stolen
money, is consolidating a Sunni terrorist state in eastern Syria and northern
Iraq, replete with mass executions, sharia law, and the beheading of violators.
With revered Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani calling the Shia faithful
to arms, a vicious civil war between Shia and Sunnis will likely intensify in
the coming days. But whoever wins, the fallout for our security will be
disastrous – a Shiite “crescent” from Aleppo to Mosul allied with Iran, which
looks ever more likely to be nuclear armed, and a safe haven for terrorist
training camps to prepare “martyrs” for attacks against the West. And our
allies Jordan, Saudi Arabia ,
and Israel
all will to various degrees find their own security and interests impacted by
this administration’s criminal foreign policy negligence.
Worth Reading : Looking Back at
Iraq: It is historically inaccurate to say the war was cooked
up by Bush alone. By Victor Davis
Hanson
Excerpt: Do we remember that Bill Clinton signed into law
the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 that supported regime change in Iraq ?
He gave an eloquent speech on the dangers of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass
destruction. In 2002, both houses of Congress voted overwhelmingly to pass a
resolution authorizing the removal of Saddam Hussein by force. Senators such as
Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and Harry Reid offered moving arguments
on the Senate floor why we should depose Saddam in a post-9/11 climate.
Important: Missing the target: Why the U.S.
Excerpt: All conditions are set for a series of
significant terrorist attacks against the US and its allies over the next few
years. But that's not the worst news. Conditions
are also set for state collapse in Iraq ,
Syria , Lebanon , Yemen ,
and possibly Jordan Saudi Arabia ,
facing a complex succession soon, is likely to acquire nuclear weapons shortly,
if it has not already done so. Turkey
and Egypt
confront major crises. Almost all of Northern and Equatorial Africa is violent,
unstable, and facing a growing al Qaeda threat. And Vladimir Putin's assault on
Ukraine is likely to empower
al Qaeda-aligned jihadists in Crimea and in Russia itself. That eventuality is,
of course, less worrisome than the prospect of conventional and partisan war on
the European continent, likely threatening NATO allies. The international order
and global stability are collapsing in a way we have not seen since the 1930s.
There is little prospect of this trend reversing of its own accord, and
managing it will require massive efforts by the US and its allies over a generation
or more. (It is critical to realize this
presentation was made over two months ago, and the expertise of the writer
is now only too well established by the flow of events since then. Which means
we can take the rest of his analysis that much more seriously. As discouraging
at that may be. --Del )
Excerpt: One of Libya 's
most prominent female activists was assassinated in the restive eastern city of
Benghazi when
gunmen stormed her house, the state news agency reported Thursday, in slaying
that stunned many Libyans. Salwa Bugaighis, a lawyer and rights activist, was
at the forefront in the 2011 uprising against dictator Moammar Gadhafi and had
since become an international face for Libyans' efforts to build democracy in
their country. She was among the most outspoken voices against militiamen and
Islamic extremists who have run rampant in the country since Gadhafi's fall.
(Progressives attack the phony Republican #WaronWomen,
while the real War on Women goes on without comment or criticism. This is the
result of Obama's non-authorized, lead-from-behind war that made Libya
an al Qaeda stronghold. ~Bob)
ISIS Close To
Surrounding Baghdad
Excerpt: While Iraqi government officials continue to claim
that they are making advances in defeating the jihadist group Islamic State of
Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), Kurdish forces on the ground report that ISIS has begun
to slowly isolate Baghdad ,
targeting cities in the Sunni north as well as Shi'ite south. An
extensive McClatchy report quotes several Kurdish military leaders who
are significantly concerned that Baghdad could
fall to ISIS . At least two critical towns that
hold a supply route to Baghdad have been
captured, they reported, and ISIS appeared to
be traveling south to capture routes on the other side of the capital.
With Obama’s foreign
policy adrift, concern spikes here and abroad. By Jennifer Rubin
Excerpt: Republicans are plainly nervous about President
Obama’s Middle East policy. To be
more precise, they are worried he doesn’t have one. Speaker of the House John
Boehner at a press conference today observed: “You know, the situation in Iraq continues
to worsen by the day. The terrorists have seized control of border crossings in
Syria and in Jordan . And
their march toward Baghdad
continues. The president has a number of options in front of him, which, if
part of a larger regional strategy, I would support. But my concern is whether
the president will make a decision in time to reverse the terrorists’ momentum
as it sweeps toward Baghdad .”
Afghan troops battle
mass Taliban assault in Helmand
Excerpt: At least 100 Taliban militants have been killed in
fighting around four military checkpoints in southern Afghanistan ,
local officials say.
Excerpt: Gunmen have opened fire on a passenger plane
arriving at Peshawar airport in Pakistan ,
police say. The Pakistan International Airlines flight PK756 had been carrying
about 178 passengers from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia . One
female passenger was killed and two crew members were injured.
Excerpt: More than 60 women and children have been abducted
in northern Nigeria
by suspected militant Islamists, residents and officials say. The abductions
are said to have taken place during a series of raids over the past week on
villages in Borno state. Dozens of people were killed in the attacks, and
people have been fleeing the villages, a BBC reporter says. (These guys better
be careful. They might incite another #BringBackOurGirls hashtag from Michelle.
that would fix them. ~Bob)
Excerpt: 1. Prepare for the Next Wave of Transnational
Terrorist Attacks. The war in Syria
was fueled in part by a pipeline of
foreign fighters, which gravely concerned European officials. Last month, a U.S. citizen committed a
suicide bombing in Syria .
The numbers have grown dramatically with the ISIS intervention in Iraq .
Excerpt: In one instance, ISIS members entered the home of
an Assyrian family in Mosul
and demanded the poll tax (jizya). When the Assyrian family said they did not
have the money, three ISIS members raped the
mother and daughter in front of the husband and father.
Excerpt: Here is a Muslim cleric calling for attacks on
Americans who are going about their business in tourist resorts, universities,
coffee shops, restaurants, airplanes, ships, shops, and companies. Where did he
get the idea that Islam would possibly sanction such a thing? As a Muslim
cleric, how did he miss the Religion of Peace’s messages of peace? Will
mainstream analysts ever bother to explain the huge gulf between their
explanation of Islam and its reality?
Sunni Militants
Advance Toward Large Iraqi Dam
Excerpt: Iraqi security officials said Wednesday that
fighters with the Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria were advancing on
the Haditha Dam, the second-largest in Iraq , raising the possibility of
catastrophic damage and flooding.
Warning--graphic pictures: Woman and Child Abuse Under
Islam
Excerpt: Mehdi Nemmouche, 29, had spent a year fighting with
Islamists in Syria .
His lawyer says he will appeal against extradition, arguing that the court in Versailles failed to
guarantee that he would not be sent to "a third country". The suspect
is said to fear that once he is sent to Belgium ,
he will be extradited to Israel .
Excerpt: In Jerusalem ,
Israelis pray for the return of three missing boys and in the West
Bank , Israeli soldiers hunt for them and for their captors. But in
the midst of all this, it is important not to lose sight of the larger
conflict. Israel
made one tragic mistake with the Gilad Shalit deal. That deal, aside from
already costing the life of one Israeli, is what led to this kidnapping. One
kidnapping turned into three. It can easily become many more.
CIA OFFICER: We Had
No Idea Militants Would Seize Iraqi Cities
http://www.businessinsider.com/cia-capabilities-eroded-2014-6#ixzz35lRGEnLL
http://www.businessinsider.com/cia-capabilities-eroded-2014-6#ixzz35lRGEnLL
Excerpt: In Iraq
in 2014, by contrast, CIA officers have been largely hunkered down in their
heavily fortified Baghdad compound since U.S. troops
left the country in 2011, current and former officials say, allowing a
once-rich network of intelligence sources to wither. Maguire and other current
and former U.S. officials
say the intelligence pullback is a big reason the U.S.
was caught flat footed by the recent offensive by a Sunni-backed
al-Qaida-inspired group that has seized a large swath of Iraq .
Iraqi Officials Say
Suicide Bomber Has Targeted An Outdoor Market South Of Baghdad
Gang of five men
'smashed American tourist's eye socket with bottle after they saw him drinking
in east London street Britain
Excerpt: Shaleem Uddin, 20, Shadhat Hussain, 19, Kamrul
Hussain, 22, and Massom Rahman, 22, targeted Mr Hounye when they saw him
swigging from a bottle of Jagermeister. They then chased him, beat him,
and smashed the bottle over his head, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard. CCTV
footage shows Mr Hounye being kicked mercilessly as he lay crouched in the
road. (To stay safe, stay out of Muslim-territory---like Londonistan. ~Bob)
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