Update
Short health and lung update: I continue to make
slow but steady improvement. FEV numbers holding at 1.45 to 1.50, compared to
0.91 on 7/7. For a week or so I haven't needed oxygen at rest or walking a bit
around the house. Friday morning after I took the BiPAP off, I decided to see
how much I could get by without it. Went to rehab with the tank, but not on.
The PT put me on 1 LPM of O2 for the first 10 minutes on the treadmill. My
oxygen saturation (O2 sats) stayed up, so for the last 12 minutes on the
treadmill, I was on room air, sats stayed at 92% to 94%. Then I was on room air
for 50 reps each on the chest press, leg press and resistance band, stayed in
the 94% to 97% range. Have not used since. Today (Saturday) walked the full
Madison Farmer's Market with no O2 and stayed in the 95% to 97% range.
Breathing still
labored with exercise, but not as much as a few weeks ago, so the BiPAP is
reducing the collapse. So all
good. I try not to get depressed when I have setbacks, or too elated when I'm
on the upswing--have seen both before. But I like being on the upswing. ~Bob
General News and Comment
Excerpt: In September 2001 my daughter was a graduate
student at Harvard. On the 11thday of that month, she spent some time sitting
on a bench on campus, holding hands with one of her professors, while the two
of them wept. Like many of her professors, this man was a renowned scholar. But
unlike most, he came from a tough neighborhood in the Bronx .
When phone service was restored to the West Coast, my daughter called. She
said, “Mom, I'm so glad I was with my professor, because the people here at
Harvard, they don't get it. It's like it wasn't their country that was
attacked.” It wasn't. Decades ago, the self-amazed, academic staccato-talkers
at places like Harvard constructed an edifice of convenient untruths about the United States .
The Roads to Serfdom.
By Theodore Dalrmple
Excerpt: It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that, by
the time Orwell wrote, his collectivist philosophy was an intellectual
orthodoxy from which hardly anyone in Britain would dare dissent, at
least very strongly. ... The growing spirit of collectivism in Britain
during the war provoked an Austrian economist who had taken refuge there, F. A.
von Hayek, to write a polemical counterblast to the trend: The Road to
Serfdom, published in 1944. It went through six printings in its first year,
but its effect on majority opinion was, for many years to come, negligible. .
(Published in his book Not with a Bang,
but a Whimper: The Politics and Culture of Decline.)
The perks of doing
your public service?
I thought this PJTV Video about Hillary and what it costs to
have her come and talk was really interesting. Just the first few minutes of
the presentation are fascinating. --Del
A Terrorist Horror, Then Golf: Incongruity Fuels Obama Critics
A Terrorist Horror, Then Golf: Incongruity Fuels Obama Critics
Excerpt: He had just hung up the telephone with the
devastated parents before heading in front of the cameras. Unusually emotional,
President Obama declared himself “heartbroken” by the brutal murder of an
American journalist, James Foley, and vowed to “be relentless” against Islamic
radicals threatening to kill another American. But as soon as the cameras went
off, Mr. Obama headed to his favorite golf course on Martha’s
Vineyard , where he is on vacation, seemingly able to put the
savagery out of his mind. ("Fuels Critics"? What about anyone
with a token sense of humanity, manners and compassion? --Barb)
President Obama
Doesn't Care What We Think About His Golfing. By Jim Geraghty, Morning Jolt
Excerpt: After that brutal New York Daily
News cover Thursdayafternoon, hitting him for going golfing right
after his remarks about the beheading of an American, President Obama
responded Thursday afternoon . . . by going golfing. President
Obama doesn't care if the optics are bad. He doesn't care if there's an awful
contrast because U.K.
prime minister David Cameron canceled his vacation plans. He doesn't care if
he's getting grief from once-stalwart fans like Chris Matthews and Maureen
Dowd. He doesn't are if congressional Democrats are openly griping about his
lack of interest and disconnect in the New York Times, and he doesn't care
if senior Democrats are declaring that he's completely checked out of his
presidency other than attending fundraisers. He doesn't care what any of us
think.
Obama's Small-Screen Worldview. By Jonah Goldberg
There is no iron law of the universe that says good will
ultimately triumph. President Obama often says otherwise. In his mostly
admirable remarks about the beheading of American journalist James Foley by the
jihadists of the so-called “Islamic State,” Obama returned to two of his
favorite rhetorical themes: 1) the idea that in the end the good guys win
simply because they are good, and 2) that world opinion is a wellspring of great
moral authority.
Philippine police
smash online child 'sextortion' ring
Excerpt: Philippine police on Friday arrested eight people
suspected of running an online sexual extortion racket involving children and
preying on Asians, seizing laptops and other equipment. The gang extorted money
from foreigners by threatening to upload videos of them performing sexual acts,
Gilbert Sosa, head of the police anti-cyber crime group, said. "Today, we
smashed a gang led by a woman who used children to lure foreigners to engage in
sexual activities and later blackmail them on threats their sex videos will be
uploaded on the internet," Sosa said.
With an eye on 2016,
Rand Paul takes his campaign-in-waiting to the operating room
Excerpt: Brothers Juan and Andres Hernandez traveled more
than four hours here by bus for the chance to reunite with the man they call
“Dr. Pablo.” Fifteen years ago, they were flown to Bowling Green , Ky.
Cheaper to Buy New
Cars than Build Light Rail
Excerpt: The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA)
serves Pinellas County , Florida
New Education Poll:
Parents Want Local Control
Excerpt: A new poll from Phi Delta Kappa and Gallup surveyed
1,000 American adults to gauge the public's attitude towards the public school
system. According to the report accompanying the poll, the results indicated
that most Americans are unsupportive of public education initiatives created by
the federal government. For example: Fifty-six percent of Americans say that
local school boards should have the strongest influence in determining what is
taught in public schools. Sixty percent of Americans oppose Common Core
Standards, concerned that the standards will not be able to accommodate the
unique needs of local communities. Seventy percent of Americans support public
charter schools.
Hillary’s Two-Faced
Foreign Policy. By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: The left has denounced her as an interventionist.
They just can’t explain how she is any more of an interventionist than her boss
who bombed Libya , is bombing
Iraq and wanted to bomb Syria . And all
that is without mentioning his attempt to implement the Arab Spring’s regime
changes. The closest thing to a disagreement between them was over Syria and considering that Obama was days away
from getting into Syria ,
that’s not much of a firewall.
Pentagon Bans Uniforms From Ice Bucket Challenge
Excerpt: The Pentagon's Office of General Counsel Standards
of Conduct Office did not state that service members could not participate, but
ordered troops and DoD civilians not to perform the challenge in uniform. "A.L.S.
Association is a national non-profit organization. As such, participating in
this event is subject to concerns about implied endorsement," the Army issued in a statement from its Office of General
Counsel (OGC) Standards of Conduct Office. (Every year the local CO of NSA
Millington and dozens of sailors in uniform attend a Navy Day luncheon hosted
by Kiwanis. High ranking officers in uniform participate every year in
promoting the CFC. Military units are allowed to march in parades hosted by
various organizations, including LBGT parades. Yet military personnel in
uniform are not allowed to publicly support ALS. Shame on the Pentagon. --MasterGuns)
Crimes Dropping Year after Detroit Police Chief Tells Citizens to Arm Themselves
Excerpt: Liberal anti-gun advocates like Barack Obama and
Michael Bloomberg would have you believe that the more law abiding people that
have guns, the higher the crime rates. They fail to realize that many gun
related crimes are committed with illegally obtained and owned firearms, not
the legally owned guns by law abiding citizens
Excerpt: Paul Ryan proposed a private
health insurance alternative to Medicare for future retirees, liberal
critics pounced. It’s another scheme to undermine health care for the
elderly by “privatizing” and “voucher-izing” the program, they said. Yet, almost
one third of seniors are already in private health insurance
plans. They are called Medicare Part C, or Medicare Advantage, plans. And you
would be hard pressed to find any Democratic office holder who wants to abolish
them. The reason? Seniors choose to be in these plans because they like them
better than traditional Medicare.
Re Maureen Dowd's
awakening to Obama's modest qualifications to perform as President
As far as
future elections, it seems that Obama is all finished. Could it be that
Maureen's motive is quickly to endear herself to her former heroine,
and the most likely Democrat to succeed Obama? It seems the main
beneficiary of her recent jump away from President Obama and toward Hilary
would be her ambition to assure herself access to a Hilary oval office. At
the same time, if she can sway any clump of voters, she
might imagine diminishing the prospects of Biden, Kerry and other lower-watt
pretenders. Just a wild guess. All the best, Sam. (Sam is a brother Marine,
blog reader and a semi-retired economics professor. ~Bob)
Why the price of
commercial sex is falling
Excerpt: According to our analysis, the price of an hour of
sex with a female prostitute has been dropping fairly steadily in recent years.
In 2006 the average cost was around $340. By 2014 it had dropped to about $260.
... The increase in people selling sex online—where it is easier to be
anonymous—has probably boosted local supply. (Ah, the free market is part of
the reason prices have dropped. ~Bob)
When a Black Cop
Killed an Innocent White Man in Utah
Excerpt: Is it because blacks in Ferguson rioted
and looted while whites in Salt Lake
City have remained calm?... Ever heard of a kid
named Dillon Taylor? He was a white kid, 20 years old, who was killed
by a black cop on August 11. This happened two days after Michael
Brown was killed. Dillon Taylor seems to be a young man who was in the
wrong place at the wrong time.
Star Witness In
Michael Brown Shooting Charged With Theft, Filing False Police Report
Excerpt: Dorian Johnson, the primary witness to the shooting
of Michael Brown in Ferguson, has an outstanding warrant for a 2011 theft in Jefferson
City and pleaded guilty for filing a false police report related to that theft.
Amid Ferguson’s
Turmoil One Man Stands Up To Looters And Shows Us What America Really Looks
Like
Excerpt: When confronted by a crowd of looters intent on
ransacking the building behind him, the Ferguson
resident takes a stand and a prospective looter asks him: You for the white man, bro? The man’s
reply is perfect: I’m for everybody.
(Or what America
should look like, but too often does not. ~Bob)
Bill O’Reilly Cuts
Vacation Short to Deliver What May Be the Most Passionate Evaluation of Ferguson
Who Are The
Protesters Getting Arrested In Ferguson
Excerpt: More than 160 people have been arrested since the
protests began, nearly two weeks ago. Arrest records provide details about
where the protesters are coming from. Sgt. Al Notham, who works with the Highway
Patrol, says the bad actors have largely been weeded out. "Community
leaders are stepping in. We're getting all kinds of assistance from the
community. They're actually doing a fantastic job." Since the protests
erupted, people in Ferguson
have insisted that the troublemakers are not from this community. Capt. Ron
Johnson, the highway patrolman in charge of security here, said as much earlier
this week.
Time To Stand Behind The Police. by Marshall Frank
Excerpt: I’m one former career police officer who is fed up
with the likes of Al Sharpton and a sensation-hungry media rushing to judgment
when a black person is shot and killed by a cop in a confrontation. It’s the
same old script: Intimidation, threats, violence, looting, antagonism and
racial divide. And then the president and the attorney general weigh in on the
federal level as though it’s a greater tragedy when a black person dies than a
white person. No cop enjoys shooting anyone. No cop anywhere decides to pull a
trigger on another human being because they’re white, black or Asian. Not in
this day and age. That’s a guarantee.
Obamacare News
Excerpt: The Colorado Division of Insurance has reported
that there were about 2,100 health-plan cancellations in the state over the
past two months, bringing this year's total to more than 6,150. Since 2013,
there have been about 340,000 policy cancelations in Colorado . Many customers received notices
last fall as the Affordable Care Act was rolling out. (Obamacare--the gift that
keeps on giving. Colorado
voters will get to say thanks in November. ~Bob)
Undocumented Democrat News
Tempers flare in
state Senate over flurry of hostile amendments
Excerpt: Tempers flared in the state Senate on
Thursday over a series of hostile amendments proposed by Republicans,
including one on the hot-button issue of immigration. The Senate approved a
bill that would expand the number of immigrants in the country illegally who would
get in-state tuition at state universities. (In-state tuition for illegals, but
not for veterans? You wonder how anyone with an operating brain and any
ideas of fairness at all can go for schemes like this. But hey, it's California , and the
people running things there know their priorities. --Del )
Religion of Peace News
If Foley had not been a journalist, thus a member of the
Progressive Praetorian Guard, Obama would have called his beheading "workplace
Violence." ~Bob
Worth Reading
Excerpt:
A few days ago one of our own, James Foley, was murdered. Young Mr.
Foley, a reporter, was on assignment in the Middle East and taken
hostage by ISIS . His crime? An
American. That's it.
Playing golf AGAIN: Obama tees off for second time in 24 hours since he solemnly pledged justice for beheaded journalist James Foley
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2730503/Fist-bump-Furious-reactions-Obamas-5-hour-golf-game-overshadow-5-minute-ISIS-speech-teed-IMMEDIATELY-condemning-American-photojournalist-James-Foleys-executioners.html
Excerpt: He had told a global audience minutes earlier that
'when people harm Americans, anywhere, we do what’s necessary to see that
justice is done.'
Then he was seen laughing with friends and fist-bumping them
during a five-hour round at Farm Neck on Martha's Vineyard .
Retired Intel
Officer: Foley Rescue Attempt Failed Because Obama ‘Dragged His Feet’
Excerpt: Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer (Ret.) is a CIA-trained former
senior intelligence officer who wrote the book Operation Dark
Heart about the Special Operations successes in the early stages of the Afghanistan
war. Thursday morning, Shaffer appeared on WMAL radio in Washington ,
D.C. , to discuss the ISIS
execution of American journalist James Foley earlier this week. He told me and
co-host Brian Wilson that the recently revealed rescue attempt led by Special
Forces earlier this summer failed because President Obama was slow to give the
go-ahead: (Hard to verify or prove. ~Bob)
Excerpt: It took her more than nine years of working in the
Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security, but Yasmina Haifi finally uncovered the
secret truth about the Islamic State: It isn't Islamic at all. Actually, it's a
Jewish plot. (And a majority of Muslims, plus a large group of non-Jewish
American progressives will believe thus rot. ~Bob)
Time to Stop ISIS: The
Islamic State has grown because it seemed unstoppable. Our air strikes have
changed that. By Charles
Krauthammer
Excerpt: In following through, Obama demonstrated three things:
the effectiveness of even limited U.S. power, the vulnerability of
the Islamic State, and, crucially, his own seriousness, however tentative. The
last of these is the most important. Obama had said that there was no American
military solution to the conflict. This may be true, but there is
a local military solution. And that solution requires U.S. air
support. 9We should hammer them until there are no targets to be seen and an
American can walk unarmed and unmolested anywhere, for fear of what we will do.
"Oderint, dum metuant" - Seneca. ~Bob)
Lots of Communication Between
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2014/08/21/Former-CIA-Officer-A-Lot-of-Communication-Between-ISIS-and-Mexican-Cartels
Excerpt: Former CIA covert operations officer Mike Baker
said that he believes there is “a lot of communication” between ISIS and
Mexican drug cartels given past efforts by al Qaeda to do likewise on
Thursday’s “Laura Ingraham Show.” (But no proof? ~Bob)
'Twice as Many' British Muslims Fighting for ISIS Than in UK
Excerpt: There are now more than twice as many British
Muslims fighting for Islamic State than there are serving in the British armed
forces, according to a British Member of Parliament (MP).
Rifi: Hezbollah and
ISIS ideologies alike. Lebanon
Excerpt: “ Hezbollah and ISIS are
alike,” Rifi said Thursday in an interview on LBC TV's "Kalam al-Nas"
talk show. “Hezbollah’s ideology is to eliminate [the other] and control Lebanon under an Iranian scheme, and any
party with elimination thinking is just like ISIS .”
You Do Realize that
the US Funded and Trained ISIS , Right?
Ecerpt: Just so we are all clear here. Now that ISIS, or the
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, is becoming a threat so powerful Defense
Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters at the Pentagon that the terrorist group
is “beyond anything we’ve seen,” it’s time to remind everyone of a few little
factoids regarding how exactly that came to be.
The American Jihadi
Serial Killer No One's Talking About. By Michelle Malkin
Excerpt: For two bloody months, an armed jihadist serial
killer ran loose across the country. At least four innocent men died this
spring and summer as acts of "vengeance" on behalf of aggrieved
Muslims, the self-confessed murderer has now proclaimed. Have you heard about
this horror? Probably not. The usual suspects who decry hate crimes and gun
violence haven't uttered a peep.
Boko Haram ‘Executes’ 2 For Smoking Cigarettes,
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsDetails/tabid/96/smid/414/ArticleID/208692/reftab/69/Default.aspx
Excerpt: Boko Haram has seized control of a town in
northeastern Nigeria ,
the latest to fall into Islamist hands in the crisis- hit region, witnesses and
a local official said Thursday. Several residents who fled the Boko Haram
assault on Buni Yadi in Yobe state said it began late last month, with the
insurgents ultimately taking over the main government building.
4-Year-Old Israeli
Boy, Daniel Tregerman, Killed by Mortar Fired From Near UNRWA School in Gaza
Excerpt: Daniel Tregerman, a 4-year-old boy was killed
in a Gaza mortar attack on Israel late on Friday afternoon as
he played in the living room of his family home, local media reported. (No
outrage over this. After all, the kids was a Jew, and in the progressive view,
had it coming. ~Bob)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment