Sunday, August 31, 2014

Worth Reading Political News and Comment

General News and Comment

Random Thoughts for September
If you missed my monthly collection. Comments from blog readers: "Again, one of the reasons I love your posts. Your thoughts and attitudes so closely resemble mine, yet you put them into words much more clearly and eloquently than I do. Thank you! Good health and God Bless (while I can still say that)." --Paige. I love reading your random thoughts and still marvel at how you come up with so many so often. Some made me laugh out loud and I only had a slightly different take on a few. I'll have to get your book and I'm glad you put your random thoughts into print form from the past. On your point about research money for breast cancer versus pulmonary fibrosis, it isn't a numbers game, but a squeaky wheel syndrome. Women organized and shouted and still do about breast cancer. The same thing happened with AIDS by the gays. In fact gays are doing the same thing with marriage and school curriculum. But there, even the gov't misrepresented the data when they promoted the idea that AIDS was spreading rapidly among heterosexuals. The AMA/doctors promoted yearly PAP smears and yearly mammograms, at least partly for business rather than from actual case numbers. PAP smears are not very reliable and cervical cancer cases are relatively quite small compared to other diseases. Shouting is also the reason community activism works. Unfortunately there isn't enough of it to get the Republican vote out! I especially liked your paragraph on happiness and how much we have but do not appreciate it in the U.S. Too bad the paragraph on the "fantasy of socialism" isn't read by every liberal. I spoke about that very subject yesterday with a friend. And finally, your mention of short term thinking versus long term is so key. If folks would think about that in most things they do, the world would be a better place. This morning someone on the news (didn't catch who...I was in the kitchen) said we do not want to get in a war with Russia over the Ukraine. What about Crimea? Sounds like a familiar scenario from Hitler's day. So glad you seem to be creeping upward slowly with your health. All your hard work is paying off. --M.E.

Worth Reading: War in Europe is not a hysterical idea. By Anne Applebaum 
Excerpt: I realize that this question sounds hysterical, and foolishly apocalyptic, to U.S. or Western European readers. But hear me out, if only because this is a conversation many people in the eastern half of Europe are having right now. In the past few days, Russian troops bearing the flag of a previously unknown country, Novorossiya, have marched across the border of southeastern Ukraine. The Russian Academy of Sciences recently announced it will publish a history of Novorossiya this autumn, presumably tracing its origins back to Catherine the Great. 

Worth Reading from a liberal: Obama's 'Post Foley' Golf Game Less About The Optics Of Leadership And More About A Failure To Grasp Our Collective Pain. By Rick Unger
Excerpt: As readers of this column know, I tend to favor the political and policy positions put forth by President Barack Obama and his administration. ...I find myself compelled to write about the President’s decision to keep his scheduled golf date with a couple of friends immediately following his televised comments—a decision that revealed a complete lack of class on Mr. Obama’s part. ... It was, instead, about revealing a side of yourself that Americans, of all political stripes, cannot help but be troubled by—a coldness that revealed a complete lack of understanding of the classy thing to do at a difficult moment.

How New York’s New Gun Control Law Is Working Out (Hint: Not Great). By Genevieve Wood
Excerpt: Which state has the largest National Rifle Association chapter in the nation? No, it’s not Texas. As a matter of fact, it’s not located anywhere near the Wild West or the south. The answer is New York. In just one year, the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association saw its membership almost double – from 22,000 to 41,000. The National Rifle Association credits the increase to the “Safe Act” (Safe Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act), one of the strictest gun control laws in the country, hurriedly pushed through by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state legislature in 2013 following the Newtown, Conn., school shootings.

Harry Reid’s Alma Matter Removes His Name From Building After Citizens And Alumni Complain
Excerpt: Cedar City Councilman Paul Cozzens told The Specter he received $40,000 in pledges to remove the Nevada senator’s name in just five days. “These people in Nevada do not espouse to Reid’s political philosophies,” he said, “and they told me they would not support the university or send any more of their children there … so long as Harry Reid’s name remained.”

Much Needed: Government publishes detailed instructions on how to safely roast marshmallows. By Pete Kasperowicz
Excerpt: The U.S. Forest Service on Friday published a nearly 700-word article on how to safely roast marshmallows, all in preparation for Saturday, which is National Roasted Marshmallow Day. As one might expect, the article is riddled with safety tips that might make you think twice about even carrying matches into the forest at all, let alone actually igniting a marshmallow and putting your family’s life at risk. (Makes you wonder how we survived as kids, without tax-funded bureaucrats to guide us. ~Bob)

Memphis VA Retaliating Against Daily Caller Whistle-Blowers
Excerpt: Memphis VA Medical Center management has retaliated against two whistle-blowers responsible for a series of exposés in The Daily Caller — despite assurances from the new VA secretary that whistle-blowers are protected against reprisal....Higgins told TheDC that in April 2014, he made a complaint first to the Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation (JCOHA) and then anonymously to local media that a number of dialysis machines weren’t being cleaned properly. The employee responsible for cleaning the machines was using 20 cubic centimeters of cleaning fluid when they were supposed to be using 20 gallons. (End-stage renal disease patients are very susceptible to line infections, sepsis and are frequent "revolving door" patients because of their frail immune function. Just like in years past the VA did not think it needed to sterilize colonoscopes after sticking them up, well, you know, between patients and spread HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B, among other diseases. There is 1) No respect for life. 2) No respect for the military who voluntarily risk their lives to "protect the American way of life." 3)No care about doing a job and doing it properly...all essential to anyone working in a healthcare setting, from a receptionist to a file clerk to a nurse a tech or an MD. Bolding mine. Do you think the employee got a bonus for "saving money" on cleaner? Incidentally, 20 cubic centimeters or "cc" equals 20 ml. Ever seen a small syringe? It holds between 12-15 cc or ml. Figure not quite 2 of these for "cleaning" versus 20 gallons. The Regime has attacked whistleblowers in the DOJ, VA...any who break the rule of the silence of the Community. --Barb)

Interesting: 4 Charts Every Mom With Kids Going Back to School Should See
Excerpt: You have entrusted the government to give your child a good curriculum and a teaching staff you can count on. But what happens when the school staff is equipped with a big list of employees, but not necessarily a big crop of teachers focused on your child? Tax dollars in places you don’t know about.

At-risk students need more help from us, not Washington. By Colin L. Powell, Alma J. Powell and Laysha Ward
Excerpt: These pages often carry arguments for education reform, but despite the importance of issues such as Common Core and teacher tenure, bad policy isn’t what drove Rodriguez from school, nor is it the biggest problem facing most of the nation’s non-graduates. According to the most recent America’s Promise Alliance report, “Don’t Call Them Dropouts,” which surveyed 2,000 such young people from across the country, the reasons students leave school early are primarily environmental — including chronic absenteeism, homelessness, unsafe neighborhoods, negative role models and the need to be caregivers for parents and siblings. What young people like Rodriguez need most is not necessarily more action in Washington but more action from us: caring adults willing to engage in a developmental relationship and the ability to help them imagine — and work toward — a better future.

U.S. Colleges See Little Risk From Ebola, but Depend on Students to Speak Up
Knew this would happen. Let's put them in food service to ensure the worst possible outcome, but that no feelings get hurt. --George

Convicted killer gets probation for stalking ex-girlfriend
Excerpt: A man who murdered his wife with a hammer in 1990 was given three years of probation Friday for stalking an ex-girlfriend who broke up with him after a four-year relationship when she found out how his wife had actually died. (Gee, I'm sure she feels comforted. Why was he on the street at all? Should have been executed in 1991, keeping the world safer. ~Bob)

Rob Maness Files Last-Minute Request For Legal Challenges To Mary Landrieu Candidacy
Excerpt: Just hours before Friday's 4:30 pm deadline, Republican candidate Rob Maness filed complaints with four Louisiana parish District Attorneys asking them to file legal challenges in state court to Senator Mary Landrieu's (D-LA) candidacy in the November general election. Both Maness and Landrieu's other Republican challenger, Representative Bill Cassidy (R-LA), have criticized Landrieu after recent press reports were published indicating she may not live in Louisiana.

Important: Corporate America rooting for (or betting on?) a Democratic Senate. By Timothy P. Carney 
Excerpt: With Democrats supporting a massive importation of cheap labor and increased subsidies for U.S. exporters, it's no surprise that the political action committees of U.S. corporations and their trade associations are trying to keep the Democrats in control of the Senate. Paul Blumenthal, the industrious money-in-politics reporter at the Huffington Post, crunched the numbers on the most competitive Senate races and found Democrats dominating 3-to-1 on corporate PAC cash: (The Dems get votes from the poor and working class through class warfare, by bashing the evil corporations. And they get money from the rich corporations by supporting corporate crony welfare and the importation of cheap illegal labor to put the poor and working class out of jobs. What a racket. ~Bob)

Progressives, for a change, take lead in opposing corporate welfare (for Tesla). By Timothy P. Carney 
Excerpt: Democratic elected officials support corporate welfare so much that they exceed even Republican elected officials on that score. One reason: Democrats are fonder of big government, and big government is a necessary ingredient in corporate welfare. Another reason is an asymmetry in the political landscape. Currently, the grassroots Right (the Tea Party, you could say) applies serious pressure to the GOP to oppose corporate welfare. 

On the Capitol: Nate Silver's website gives Walker the edge
Excerpt: But the website founded by the national statistical guru who correctly predicted President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election victory is splashing cold water (and not the ice bucket challenge kind) on the latest Marquette poll showing Walker effectively tied with Madison School Board member Mary Burke. FiveThirtyEight.com, the website founded by political wunderkind Nate Silver, posted an article Thursday predicting “Walker is a slight favorite.”

Massachusetts GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Has Slim Lead in Polls. By Christine Rousselle
Excerpt: Things just got interesting in Massachusetts: A new poll of 605 likely voters has Republican candidate Charlie Baker taking a slim lead over Democrat Martha Coakley for the first time since polling began.

Every caution has been taken to not provoke Herr Putin, and what is the result? Annexation, terror, MH17, invasion. Appeasement has failed.

Race Card News

Worth Reading (video): Another Perspective on Racial Violence in America: Facts and Statistics That Don’t Fit the Narrative. By Michael Hausam 
Excerpt: Whittle believes that the narrative of a violent “war” on blacks being carried out by whites and police officers is not borne out by statistics. A spreadsheet from the FBI backs this up: ... As far as homicide data from the FBI, in 2011 there were 3,172 whites killed, 83% by other whites and 14% by blacks. On the other hand, there were 2,695 blacks killed and 91% of these were killed at the hands of other black Americans. Per the U.S. Census Bureau, whites make up 77.7% of the population, whereas African-Americans make up 13.2%. 

Eric Holder, Racial Profiler: The investigation of Darren Wilson is solely based on his race. By Andrew C. McCarthy
Excerpt: Why has a federal civil-rights murder investigation arisen out of the tumult in a St. Louis exurb? There is only one plausible reason: Eric Holder is guilty of racial profiling. To be clear, we are not talking here about whether there was justification for the shooting of a young black man, 18-year-old Michael Brown, by a young white police officer, 28-year-old Darren Wilson. 

True Stripes: Racist Democrats & Colorblind Republicans
Excerpt: Before the American Civil War, there were the Democrats, who supported the right of states to choose slavery, and the Whigs, who were divided on the issue. The Whigs divided could not stand, and the Republican Party replaced them. Before Lincoln Republicans took over in Washington, however, many horrible occurrences took place.

Ferguson shooting spurs curriculum advocates to craft lesson on race
Excerpt: Teaching for Change says its “Teaching about Ferguson” guide can help students think critically about the shooting of Michael Brown in an Aug. 9 confrontation with police and ways they can be proactive in their own communities. “The Black Panther Party’s 1966 platform, known as the 10-point program, included the demand: ‘We want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of Black people, other people of color, and all oppressed people inside the United States,’” the group’s Julian Hipkins III wrote. “The issue of police brutality in communities of color has a long history and the Panther platform gives an example of how to turn grievances into a clear set of goals for meaningful change,” he said. (Noted per EAG News. The final plank--The New Black Panther agenda, now in schools? "They have to be carefully taught." Given Regime reaction, hard not to believe they continue to never let a crisis that may distract from VA, IRS, ISIS, illegals pouring over border and into schools around US, go to waste. --Barb)

What a Bunch of Tea Partiers Did for People of Ferguson is Something Most News Media Won’t Report
Excerpt: According to the group’s Facebook page and BizPacReview, the group is organizing a “BUYcott” to help Ferguson businesses that were devastated by the riots. ... A gentlman (my age) in the salon (husband?) asked who we were with. I told him “St. Louis Tea Party.” “Tea party?” he said. “You bad boys,” and chuckled. Then he looked at me, very serious. He said, “The tea party came up here to do this?” “Oh, yeah,” I said. “we don’t want to see Ferguson go south.” He laughed. And he looked at me. Then he was quiet, lost in thought for a minute. When he came out of it, he was like our best friend. 

Obamacare/Government Healthcare News

Worth Reading: Obamacare is Affecting Everyone. By John C. Goodman
Excerpt: Millions of people are out of work and can’t find a job. Many of those who have jobs are being forced to work part-time instead of full-time. And those who have full-time jobs are in for a nasty surprise. Next year’s take home pay is like likely to be smaller than what they earn right now. In all cases the reason is the same: Obamacare.

Florida Obamacare Enrollment Total Plummets By A Quarter
Excerpt: Florida’s Obamacare enrollment is now over 220,000 lower than the Obama administration’s most recent tally, according to a report from the state insurance department.

Another ObamaCare website suffers delays, glitches ahead of launch date
Excerpt: Another federal government-run website created under ObamaCare is suffering the same symptoms as the troubled federal health care exchange -- grappling with delays, data problems and other hiccups as the deadline to take it public nears. At issue is a database known as the Open Payments website. It was created under the Affordable Care Act to shed light on the financial ties between doctors and pharmaceutical companies as well as device manufacturers. (Don't worry though. The government is totally competent to run healthcare, manage the economy, keep the country secure and can be trusted to hold and safeguard all your personal information. ~Bob)

Undocumented Democrat News

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Announces City Jobs, Internships Will Go To Illegal Aliens
Excerpt: In the announcement, Emanuel proudly stated that "for the first time" Chicago is "opening up nearly 23,000 City-funded internship, volunteer, and job opportunities for undocumented students, or 'DREAMers.'"

Obama Employment Commission Extends Worker Protection to Illegal Aliens
Excerpt: The EEOC and the Mexican foreign affairs ministry signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” promising education programs and outreach to aid immigrant workers. The memorandum states that its intended purpose is to “establish a collaborative relationship to provide Mexican nationals in the United States with information, guidance, and access to education and training resources to help them understand and exercise their workplace rights, particularly with regards to reducing violence against them under the law and regulations that are administered and enforced by the EEOC.” (See Cloward/Piven and Alinsky. --JB)

Excerpt: American-bound refugees are selected by the U.N. Then the State Department and the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement, are tasked to operate with nine major federal contractors who monopolize the program and contract work to 300 subcontractors to place refugees throughout the nation. .... Ever vigilant, HHS sends another contractor, “Welcoming America,” to set communities’ “minds right.”

"You're Greener Than Gore" News




Religion of Peace News


Excerpt: The US military and humanitarian mission in Iraq continues to suffer from what is known as "mission creep," which is defined as "a gradual shift in objectives during the course of a military campaign, often resulting in an unplanned long-term commitment." When the Obama administration ordered limited military intervention against the Islamic State beginning on Aug. 7, the objectives were twofold: to halt the Islamic State's advance on Irbil to protect US personnel based there, and provide humanitarian relief to the Yazidi minority who fled Sinjar and other towns and were trapped on Mount Sinjar. (Instead of "mission creep," Obama should go to Congress and ask it to declare war on the Islamic State. I think they would agree. Then you hammer them until they don't have a vehicle or group of fighters worthy of being targeted, however long it takes. No "proportional response" like idiots demand of Israel and our police. [What is the "proportional response" if the thug coming at you is unarmed. but young, big, angry and muscular? How about if he's armed with a knife? A hand gun? An Uzi? How long to you have to wait to determine if it's a fake gun--until he fires at you?] There are three problems with this strategy: 1. Obama doesn't want to piss off the pro-jihadist base. 2. He doesn't want to set a precedent of going to Congress as though the legislative was a co-equal branch of government with him. Three, he doesn't have the "sand" to do what is needed in cases like this. ~Bob)

Iraqi Kurds Expand Autonomy as ISIS Reorders the Landscape
Excerpt: But now Obama administration officials are quietly acknowledging another important consequence: a far more autonomous Kurdistan. The United States still officially opposes Kurdish independence, a decades-old policy that seeks to avoid further inflaming the region and provoking Turkey, Iraq and Iran, three countries with large and restive Kurdish minorities.

Rape Jihad: Inside ISIS’ Harem for Captured Non-Muslim Women. By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: Hundreds of Yazidi women taken by ISIS and held in a secret prison where they have been raped and sold off like property are facing an equally dire fate. Badush prison, where the women are enslaved, has become a literal house of horrors since the Islamic State seized control of the area.

'Barney Fife is in charge': Obama under fire for 'we don't have a strategy' gaffe on ISIS as he's accused of having 'head buried in hole on first green'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2737771/Pentagon-furious-Obama-fire-shocking-don-t-strategy-gaffe-ISIS-president-heads-ANOTHER-fundraiser.html#ixzz3BnGhrY00
Excerpt: And as House and Senate members piled on with sharp criticism, a former senior aide to a retired defense secretary told MailOnline that the Joint Chiefs of Staff are 'seeing red' and 'spitting nails' following Obama's candid admission. (Obama can't commit on ISIS because that would put him on the wrong side of Hamas. --George)

Worth Reading: Islamic State holds Yazidi women as sex slaves, sells them for $25. By Robert Spencer, JihadWatch.org
Excerpt: According to Islamic law, Muslim men can take “captives of the right hand” (Qur’an 4:3, 4:24, 33:50). ... Around the same time, on May 25, 2011, a female Kuwaiti politician, Salwa al-Mutairi, also spoke out in favor of the Islamic practice of sexual slavery of non-Muslim women, emphasizing that the practice accorded with Islamic law and the parameters of Islamic morality.... The Islamic State acts on these beliefs, which are Qur’an-based. The rape of captive women is also sanctioned in Islamic tradition:

Josh Earnest: Obama has ability to juggle golf and ISIS. By Jon Fitzpatrick
Excerpt: On Thursday, President Obama stunned the world, including his geopolitical enemies, by saying, “We have no strategy yet” to deal with ISIS. The next day, his press secretary, Josh Earnest, said that Obama has the unique ability to juggle both golf and foreign policy strategies. Yes. He said that. (And fundraising. And parties with celebs. ~Boib)

Breitbart Texas Verifies ISIS Border Threat With Leaked Doc
Excerpt: Breitbart Texas has exclusively obtained a leaked document warning federal agents about an ISIS-related terrorism threat across the entire US-Mexico border. Though the document focuses on the Texas-Mexico border, Breitbart Texas has confirmed that federal agents across the entire US-Mexico border have received the ISIS terror warning.

What President Obama is Doing This Weekend Instead of Forming a Strategy to Defeat ISIS
Excerpt: The president has been taking a lot of heat in the press for announcing that “we don’t have a strategy yet” for defeating ISIS, but instead of addressing questions that his behavior is lacking in leadership, he attended fundraisers in New York and Rhode Island.

Interesting history: ISIS beheading children and women (after stripping naked) -parallels Hindu Story
Excerpt: From the advent of Islam, it is the brutality that was used to conquer. Well known US historian Will Durant and other authors have translated Arabs own memoirs on how the Islamic invaders have destroyed cultures and swathes of land with utmost brutality and inhumanity with mountains of Kafir’s heads and rivers of blood.

Worth Reading: Slaughter of Middle East Christians Children and women
Excerpt: “There is a park in Mosul,” Mark Arabo told CNN during a Skype interview from San Diego, “where they actually beheaded children and put their heads on a stick and have them in the park.” Arabo, who is a prominent Chaldean-American businessman and met with other leaders of his community in the White House last week, has called upon American political leaders to grant asylum to about 300,000 Christians fleeing the ISIS invasion.

Love it: Fox News host called to apologize for saying Muslim zealots need ‘a bullet to the head’
Excerpt: The organization was upset at comments made by “The Five” co-host Andrea Tantaros during a discussion of the bestial behavior of ISIS militants. Following previous comments that Muslim zealots had historically engaged in beheadings, and that James Foley’s murder was nothing uncommon, she said, “You can’t solve it with a dialogue. You can’t solve it with a summit. You solve it with a bullet to the head. It’s the only thing these people understand.” (Shoot ISIS? Every decent multiculturalist knows that you have to understand and reason with people who gang rape women, sell them into sex slavery and behead children. ~Bob)

ISIS makes more than $2 million daily in oil sales
Well, better that we fund terror and murder than build the Keystone Pipeline, or drill in ANWR or off the coasts and annoy Obama's green base. ~Bob)

Excerpt: If you want to get a sense of how pathetic it is to be an ISIS terrorist, consider this fact: a burger flipper at McDonald’s makes WAY more per month than the average ISIS pig-dog.

Excerpt: In a statement released on its official Twitter feed on Aug. 30, the Al Nusrah Front announced its responsibility for the detention of 45 members of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). The peacekeepers were captured during recent fighting at the Quneitra border crossing, which connects Syria to the Israeli-controlled portion of the Golan Heights. The key crossing was captured by a coalition of rebel forces, including the Al Nusrah Front, earlier this week. (Boy, did the ANF screw up. They are likely to all get PTSD from reading the sharply worded note that is coming their way. ~Bob)

Philippine troops pull 'greatest escape' in Golan
Excerpt: Under cover of darkness, 40 Filipino peacekeepers escaped their besieged outpost in the Golan Heights after a seven-hour gunbattle with Syrian rebels, Philippine officials said Sunday. ... A day later, insurgents from the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front seized the Fijian peacekeepers and surrounded their Filipino colleagues, demanding they surrender.
The Filipinos, occupying two U.N. encampments, refused and fought the rebels Saturday. 

Beheadings in Saudi Arabia, at least 19 die: Authorities are coming down hard on drug smugglers and ‘sorcery,’ says Human Rights Watch.
Excerpt: Four hashish smugglers were beheaded on Aug. 18, the latest in a string of executions across the country since the beginning of the month, Saudi Press Agency reported. (Our friends, the good Muslims. Good thing Obama didn't bow to low to the Saudi king--that exposes the neck. ~Bob)

FBI National Domestic Threat Assessment Omits Islamist Terrorism. By Bill Gertz 
Excerpt: The FBI’s most recent national threat assessment for domestic terrorism makes no reference to Islamist terror threats, despite last year’s Boston Marathon bombing and the 2009 Fort Hood shooting—both carried out by radical Muslim Americans. (Better that Americans should die than FBI bureaucrats be accused of racism, Ism\lam being the only "race" you can convert to. ~Bob)

Excerpt: The avoidance of analysis of Islam contrasts sharply with the excoriation accorded Christianity, Israel, and Western Civilization. ... Western Civilization is depicted as imperialist, racist, and Orientalist. This politically-correct selective outrage that lambastes the Judeo-Christian tradition and Western Civilization while emphasizing positive images of Muslims only serves further to inoculate Islam from critique. 
Woman in Yemen Burned to Death for Her Faith
Excerpt: About two weeks later, Nazeera, 33, died as a result of her burns. When Saeed returned to his home in a village (undisclosed for security reasons) after her death, a relative told him the unthinkable – members of both his family and hers had taken the vegetable oil out of the bottle and replaced it with gasoline. Saeed knew the reason – many years ago, the two had become Christians and refused to return to Islam.

Off to see the virgins
Jihadist blows himself up. Fun video. ~Bob

Another fun video. ~Bob

Six (only six?) examples Obama is purposefully enabling the Islamist cause. By Allen West
Excerpt: The only plausible explanation for many actions taken by President Obama and his administration is that they are working counter to the security of theUnited States of America. ... In an operation that was again unilateral with no Congressional approval, U.S. military support and resources were given to Islamist groups fighting against Moammar Qaddafy — and we know the results of that action.... But I guess it’s all hunky-dory there now, because according to the Washington Free Beacon, “The Obama administration has lifted longtime restrictions on Libyans attending flight schools in the United States and training here in nuclear science, according to a final amendment of the ban recently approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).” (Radical Islam well-funded with US taxpayer $$ and well-trained, now with OMB, DHS and ilk approval, to flight train and study nuclear facilities in US on US soil. --Barb)

New Warning About Muslim Brotherhood’s Influence on White House From…Liberal Marxist Muslim

Excerpt: During his fascinating talk, Fatah said that “the religion of Islam is being used as a tool by a fascist force.” ... He said: “Instead of bringing victory over the fascist forces of the Muslim Brotherhood, we now recognize that their infiltration is right up to the American White House, but we can’t say that.”.... Fatah went on to challenge Canadians to stand up against Islamists, warning that the “sponge-like spine” people are showcasing when it comes to confronting the issue of radicalisation could lead to the end of “civilization as we know it.” (Note, multiple videos included in this article have been expunged, 1 notes by "US Director of Intelligence." Check the bottom of the article for POTUS commitment to radical Islam on his initial inauguration. Article dated 08/17/11. Media knows; does not care US allied with radical Islam from the inside. Now you know why our DHS, TSA, DOJ, etc are being told to ignore radical Islam....and why there is no intervention; hey, it will just be work place violence when our world explodes. --Barb)

Americans Furious: Obama Invited Muslim Brotherhood Leader to the White House
Excerpt: Anas Altikriti, a senior lobbyist for the Muslim Brotherhood, who’s father directs Iraq’s Muslim Brotherhood party, recently visited the White House. Altikriti met with both President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden to discuss ongoing political problems in Iraq. According to White House officials, Altikriti traveled to Washington as part of an Iraqi delegation, and served as the translator for the Iraq Parliament members.... Anti-Islamists groups across the nation are criticizing the president for this meeting, as Altikriti’s work has been tied to Hamas—a radical Islamic extremist group labeled as a “terrorist organization” by the U.S. State Department.

Excerpt: Three Mandan brothers are in custody at Burleigh County Detention Center after they allegedly chased and threatened three other men following a soccer game Friday night. Ali Mutleq, 25; Omar Mutleq, 20; and Abedalfattah Mutleq, 18, appeared in South Central District Court Monday on one charge each of Class C felony terrorizing.

Excerpt: Where did he get this idea? Was any effort made by the Muslims in Canada who converted him to Islam to explain to him that Islam was a Religion of Peace and Tolerance? Or did they themselves give him this understanding of Islam? 


Excerpt: Kathy Shaidle’s comment on this appalling piece is excellent: “I would die before I would repeat those words under any circumstances. And yes, there is a ‘peaceful verse for every violent one.’ However, Muslims use abrogation to decide which verses are more authoritative. The later violent (‘sword’) verses cancel out the earlier, peaceful ones. 

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Random Thoughts for September, 2014

Random Thoughts for September, 2014
Robert A. Hall

I believe that almost all of the pathologies that are destroying western civilization, and with it our peoples' hope for the future for freedom and progress, can be laid at the foot of the 1960s. The collapse of marriage, a birthrate that that has fallen below replacement levels, but with a drastic rise in non-marital births with the accompanying poverty and other ills, the widespread drug abuse that destroys families and kills the self-indulgent people "doing their own thing," the decline in civic participation, the decline in church attendance and the belief in God, the extended adolescence many people never grow out of, the cynical view of patriotism that makes it hard for the West to stand against wild-eyed fanatics, and the general moral relativism all flowered in the 1960s--a criminal decade that has assassinated our culture. And progressive intellectuals were its accomplices. Their grandkids will live like savages--and loath them.

You can support Israel or you can support Democrats and Hamas.

I predict Obama will delay any executive action on immigration until after the November election, keeping Hispanic voters hopeful, while not endangering Democrats by riling the majority of voters who oppose amnesty. Same reason he delayed so much of Obamacare until after November--a majority oppose it.

On issue after issue Obama and the Democrats stand against the majority opinion. (e.g. Late term abortion, Keystone pipeline, amnesty, Obamacare) Not very democratic of them. But, hey, Obama's black, so "Democrats" (but not small-D democrats) still support him.

Obama is still in the catbird seat on the budget and spending. Either the Republicans in congress give him every dollar he wants to spend, or he vetoes the budget, the government shuts down, he closes open air parks (spending money to do so) and the media convinces the public to blame the GOP. Nice racket.

The policy of the left is to demonize as racist any rational discussion of the downside to affirmative action or illegal immigration. Intimidating the thoughtful people who disagree with them leaves only the crazy racists speaking out against these things. Thus they can further picture all disagreement as "racist."

When you read a job advertisement that says, "Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer." don't you want to ask, "Well, which is it?"

If you believe in a society where a person is judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin, if you think people should be judged on individual merit, intellect, experience and ability, and not on their membership in a particular ethnic, religious, racial, gender, age or sexual orientation group, progressives now consider you a vile racist.

The Democrats' Slogan: Once you go black, the media's got your back.

Democrats have revered figures: Jefferson, who stood for limited government and fiscal responsibility, Martin Luther King, who was a life-long Republican and believed that skin color shouldn't matter, and Cesar Chavez, the migrant farm workers leader who strongly opposed illegal immigration. Just don't ask them to support their heroes' principles.

Barack "NPD" Obama once said, " "I think I'm a better speechwriter than my speechwriters," Obama told him."I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I'll tell you right now that I'm gonna think I'm a better political director than my political director." Apparently he's not better at war than a general or at intelligence than an intel operator.

A liberal is someone who hates the use of poison gas against anyone, never mind innocent civilians, hates the use of torture, hates the very idea that men rape young girls--and hates George W. Bush for deposing Saddam and his sons, who did all these things.

I've probable said this before, but try to banish the catch phrase, "Well, to be honest..." from your speech. I always respond, "Aren't you always?" Using the phrase implies that you are being honest this time, which is unusual for you.

I'm sure I've said this before, in one form or another. I owe my successful career and life to three months in 1964 with my Marine DIs, Sgt. William H. Harris, Sgt. Michael P. Martin and Sgt. Ezekiel Owens, Jr. (who died at age 74 in Dec). They gave me self-discipline and determination, pearls beyond price.

Dr. Thomas Swell: "I don't know. It is a phrase that should be used more often. It might well replace the phrase, 'Well, what is the answer?'"

Going to war is a catastrophe. But sometimes it is necessary to avoid a larger catastrophe, like being enslaved by one well meaning tyrant or another, from Mao to Hitler to Stalin to Islam to statists at home.

Slavery is a system whereby the fruits of the labor of some people are taken from them to benefit other people who didn't labor. Now we call it the Welfare State.

A patriot is a person who cares about the future of the country when he or she won't be here to see that future.

If voter ID laws are racist, how come Mexico has them? Same with strict immigration laws.

It is claimed that rape is not about sex, it's about power and control. (Personally, I think it's a combination of the two.) But if this is true, isn't the rape of a black woman by a white man, or the more frequent rape of a white woman by a black man a "hate crime"?

Internet Joke: What' green on the outside and red on the inside? Environmentalists.

Everyone's crying over a couple of "botched" executions of murderers. If my wife, child or other loved one was the victim, I'd celebrate a "botched" execution. Not as bad as what I would do if I had the evil-doer in my power. Yes, I'm a terrible person. This is news?

Let's tell the IRS that the illegals are Tea Party members. They'll be gone in a month.

Let's tell the liberals that ISIS refuses to pay for women's birth control. The bombing will start tomorrow.

A progressive will adopt any theory, spout any absurdity, believe any impossibility, ignore any evidence and countenance any enormity if it will earn him the approbation and esteem of his fellow progressives.

Progressive, communists and socialists (including the National Socialists) have always believed that the ends justify the means. But they also believe that good intentions justify any amount of harm to real people. And they also believe that as the guardians and guides of the benighted masses, they are entitled to live better than the average person. Which is why Al Gore can campaign against global warming and support tax increases in theory, while making $200M off global warming to join the rich one percent, trying to avoid the tax increase he championed when he sold his TV channel to the oil-rich terrorist network, and maintaining a life style with a carbon footprint 100 times yours and mine.

I've noticed that with many over-the-counter medicines, the generic and the name brand are equally ineffective.

If a judges believe something should be done, they can always find an excuse, however flimsy, in the US or state constitution. The constitutional prohibition of congress from making any law establishing a state religion has been used by judges to outlaw a whole host of things that would shock the founders, who were thinking of the England's established, tax-supported church. The constitution guarantees the right to bear arms--unless the judge doesn't agree. The constitution always the feds to regulate interstate commerce, so states couldn't put tariffs on goods from other states. Back in the 1930s, this was upheld as allowing the federal government to stop a farmer from growing a crop on his land to feed his animals or for his own use. All sorts of new "rights" have been discovered that are not mentioned in the constitution. Conservatives judges tend to rule on their personal opinions of what should be as well; I just don't notice it as much. But neither side can afford to nominate non-political judges who will decide cases on the clear expression of the law and constitution, because they'd be overwhelmed by the ideology-driven activists on the other side.

The good news is that the liberals in Washington and many state capitals are no longer spending your money. The bad news is that they are now spending your great grandkids' money.

I saw an ad for a local Mexican restaurant advertising their menu which included a "white trash burrito." I wonder if a restaurant advertised a "wetback" taco or "spear chucker's soul food" at a place next door if there would be more of a reaction.

"Negative Campaigning" is often media code word for telling the truth about a liberal opponent supported by the media.

Liberals believe that a black person in America has the right to grow up and become anything he or she wants to become. Except, of course, a Republican or a conservative.

We've had a lovely, cool summer, temps mostly in the high 70s, low 80s, only two or three days over 90. It makes up for the harsh, fridge winter (one night it went to 23 below!). The only drawback is weather like this year's beings out the global warming cultists, turning hand springs to prove this is all part of what they cleverly now call "climate change." Clever, since the climate has been changing ever since the Earth war created.

Thomas Sowell often writes about Dunbar High School in Washington, DC. As the only black high school during segregation, it drew on the kids of janitors and cleaning ladies, but, with less money, beat two of the three white high schools in the city in test scores. It also turned out many of the black leaders who became prominent in many fields. After integration it got more money--but also all of the nostrums of modern progressive education. Now it is another failing inner-city school. I bet when it was successful, no one at Dunbar worried about giving the kids "self esteem." They gave them a good education in the basics and instilled discipline--and the students developed self esteem through their accomplishments in life. That is, they earned it--the only kind of self esteem worth having. And the parents supported the school and solid education. If a kid flunked, he got a whipping, not a lawsuit against the school for racism.

I notice that people have an easier time breaking good habits than bad ones.

Income inequality? How about research inequality? Brest cancer is now killing between 39,000 and 40,000 people every year, while pulmonary fibrosis is killing between 40,000 and 45,000 according to the best numbers I could fine on the net. Yet breast cancer gets about 80 times as much research funding as pulmonary fibrosis. I assume this is because most of the BC victims are woman, making it a political disease, while PF is an equal opportunity killer.

I'm at that awkward age where I'm often over-medicated and under-estimated.

Internet joke: Three reasons to oppose Islamists: Bacon, babes and beer.

From a retired Marine Colonel: Many years ago when I was a lt. in an infantry battalion we had a commanding officer, the executive officer, and the operations officer who all were idiots. Fortunately, we had an assistant operations officer and the company commander who were really good and as a result, the battalion functioned fairly well. In my opinion, we are faced with the same situation on a national level. The president, vice president, and secretary of state all leave much to be desired. What is keeping the nation afloat is that we have enough state governors to keep the ship afloat. That can not last forever.

Abortion is the ultimate expression of the cult of the self, the idea that the highest morality is your own convenience; your highest duty is to follow your inclinations at the moment. The child growing inside you thus has no standing beyond being an inconvenient blob of cells. The cult's full flowering now occupies the White House. Thousands of children are abandoned every year on the same principle.

When someone says, "My conscience is clear," it usually isn't.

"Public Opinion" can be the worst of tyrants.

The suffering of real people hardly registers in the balance against liberals' endless quest for self-esteem. That quest is why they have made handing out unearned self esteem the highest goal of the educational system. They would like it handed to them without the effort of doing esteem-worthy deeds. So they hand it to each other, but it naturally feels empty to them, so the quest goes on, regardless of the harm done.

America used to have a space program, but it has been eaten by the welfare state, which is now happily dining on national defense. Eventually it will consume everything--and it won't be enough. Then comes the collapse, riots, looting, chaos and death.

Funny we used to hear almost daily about the number of military dead in Iraq and Afghanistan, back before 2008. Seems since then the media has lost interest. What changed?

There are clearly advantages to being President. I wish I could call in air strikes on evil people even from vacation.

"Liberal" is a code word for pharisaical.

Whether in the city or the country, progressive policies have made life for the lower class a nightmare. The nightmare is spreading to the middleclass, but the wealthy liberal elites in their gated communities only call for more of the same.

Some of the largest egos are also the most fragile, unable to take even a mild hit or tolerate a small slight.

Every year, we have more people who are not happy unless they are complaining bitterly about something.  Economic data show that Americans are of all classes are far better off than they were 40 years ago, but surveys suggest they are far less contented. The poor in America have food, health care access, entertainment options and consumer goods like cars, TVs, AC, smart and their income from minimum wage jobs, government wealth transfer from workers and off the radar income, from unreported jobs, drugs, sex, etc., would make them solidly middle class in much of the third world. Kings of 200 years ago would marvel at their "wealth." Yet a grateful heart is so rare today as to be a tourist attraction. Every day I thank God for allowing me to be born in the USA, a modern society with a free market system that has allowed me to live longer and better (at 68) than 99% of the folks ever born. So are most Americans happy? Not at all. They feel empty and bored, and seek to dispel that with sensation in place of meaning: drugs, sex, alcohol and the excitement of violence. All of which leaves them more empty and bored. The only path to happiness is to care about something greater than yourself--church, community, country, charity or cause or an organization such as the USMC.

I could never be a liberal. I'd find being perpetually offended and always morally outraged too exhausting.

For progressives, compassion is just another trophy to impress their peers, and the poor and downtrodden are mascots. Like other mascots, you can visit them, but they can't live in the house with you.

For those who have served in the chaos and carnage of war, the only lasting memorial is courage and comradeship. Obelisks of the heart, if you will.

No fantasy is more dangerous than the progressives' delusion that socialism, if just implemented properly by the right people, will bring about a just and happy world. As a quick reference to the three leading socialist "implementers" of the 20th century, Mao, Stalin and Hitler (who called his version National Socialism) show, it leads only to oppression and death on an industrial scale. This is because the implementation requires that ever-more freedom and choice must be taken from the hands of the individual and given to statist bureaucrats backed by the coercive power of the state. The Nazi's called this Gleichsaltung, the overall coordination of the society and the economy. You must be forcibly stopped from using your property as you wish, saying what you wish (e.g., it's racist hate speech to condemn Muslim atrocities or Drug Cartel violence), even from eating what you wish.

Liberals believe, as an article of faith, that poverty causes crime. But it is certainly true that, among folks at the bottom of the ladder, crime causes poverty. This is especially true in the poor black community. Liberals are solicitous of these folks, but going lightly on black thugs to show they are not racist and thus realize that crime comes from societal causes victimizes the majority of decent black folks who want to live their lives free of fear of the thugs.

If I had a means of distribution, I'd make up tee shirts that said, "Orthodox Liberal" and "Born Again Progressive." I bet in Madison, WI they'd buy a ton of them.

Liberals believe that sociopaths are people too, deserving of equal respect and kind treatment. Never mind how this victimizes their victims a second time.

"Antiracism is the new racism." --Theodore Dalrymple (Dr. Anthony Daniels).

Saying, "Others have done worse" provides neither excuse nor justification for your (or my) misdeeds and failure to be the kind of person we think we are.

I think Obama gets away with lies and promises he knows he cannot keep because the attention span of the American public has dwindled to the vanishing point. I do not know if this is fed by the fickleness of the mainstream and social media, or they are simply responses to the development.

I may have said this before. Anything made to be collectible is not worth collecting. Eventually the maker will flood the market, either with the same item or new variations until there is no more profit--and the collections become worthless. See Beanie Babies, now 50 cents each at yard sales.

We went to the Sun Prairie Corn Fest Parade to see our 13-year-old granddaughter, Britnye, march with her dance group. My step-daughter brought Britnye's two-year-old brother, Dale, and the boy who lives next door, who is six. Told to hold Dale's hand so he didn't dart away, the older boy asked plaintively, "Why do I have to be the grown up?" That might be the anthem for American life since the 60s.

Some day, I'd like to hear the media complain that the rioters or criminals were using "excessive force."

If you have to constantly prove to people that you matter--you don't.

Very few lives matter a thousand or even a hundred years after the person is dead. But we can all matter ten years after we are gone--if you work at it and live a good life, caring about other people.

If you RSVP for an event with a fee, and don't turn up, you have an ethical obligation to pay anyway. The host organization has costs to meet. This, of course, assumes you are one of that dwindling group of Americans who care about ethics.

Most Democrats are for the poor the way most doggie bags are for the dogs.

At my age and with my health concerns, folks may think I'm going downhill--but every day feels like uphill to me.

A truth too many people never learn: Wishing won't do what working will.

In our politically-correct world, being called a racist by a minority is serious juju, barely above being called a pedophile and well below being called a drug dealer. But being called a racist by a white liberal because you disagreed with him on some point is hardly worth notice. It's the price of thinking for yourself, rather than how the media and the liberal elites tell you to think.

Just as there is no such thing as a former Marine, there is no such thing as an unarmed Marine. We were armed in boot camp by our DIs. The Marine is the weapon--a rifle or knife is just a tool.

The world is full of short-term thinking. It's why people start smoking, using drugs or having children outside marriage that they can't support. Long term thinkers are much needed, but it is often uncomfortable and they can often be wrong. See Paul Ehrlich (The Population Bomb) or Al Gore (The arctic will be free of ice in the summer of 2013). Maybe that's why the numbers of short term thinker grow every year.

Everyone is boring to someone, but some folks are boring to everyone. And are congenitally unable to realize or believe it.

Progressives support equality, but not it's vital component, meritocracy.

With the indictment of Rick Perry that even liberal are decrying, and the long but so far fruitless pursuit of Scott Walker, it's clear that Democrats have embraced "lawfare," war through the courts on any potential GOP presidential candidate. Republicans need to be zealously reviewing the records of Hillary (she of the $1,000 contributions from non-English speaking immigrants making minimum wage in 2008) and other potential Dems for legal violations. But we must make sure they can be substantiated, not trivial, are true and are worth exposing before we go forward. Not to do so will expose us to media criticism where Dems get a pass--and is wrong in the bargain.

I'm surprised that more Congress Critters don't carry claw hammers--you know, in case something they want to steal is nailed down.

I was not considered a sharp dresser when I was a Massachusetts state senator. In fact, a writer for the Lowell Sun once labeled me "the worst dressed senator." My response was that now my constituents knew that if I was stealing, I wasn't spending it on $1,000 suits. But now that I live in Wisconsin, I'm a changed man. I wear a tie and jacket to church, which makes me an elegant swell. But I still shop at Goodwill--I was into recycling before it became a cult.

I think I should be in charge of naming medicines. They always give them names like Therobilanzadine, which you can't remember, spell or pronounce. I'd call them things like "Head Pills."

Five minutes of boredom is equal to two hours of fun, or an hour of work. Luckily, I'm rarely bored, because I'm such good company.

Don't let wishful thinking keep you from planning for a less-than-perfect future.

For the media, being black means never having to say you're sorry.

Do you notice how little diversity there is in government or hiring in much of the Third World?

Get the collection! My “Random Thoughts” from 2008 through July, 2013 are now collected in this book: The Old Jarhead's Journal: Random Thoughts on Life, Liberty, and Leadership by Robert A. Hall
The Old Jarhead’s Journal is a collection of Random Thoughts on politics and life and Conservative Political Essays, mostly published on the author’s blog, including the essay “I’m Tired” which went viral on the Internet in 2009, “The Hall Platform,” “This I Believe,” and “Why I’m a Republican.” While they will be of interest to conservative thinkers, they are collected here in book form as a service to readers who wish to give a copy to favorite liberals and watch their heads explode. All royalties are donated to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.

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Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam Veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate. He is the author of The Coming Collapse of the American Republic. http://tiny.cc/g02s4 For a free PDF of Collapse, e-mail him at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com. Hall’s eleven books are listed here: http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html