Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Too much important political news to hold for tomorrow

Update

Random Thoughts for October, 2014. By Robert A. Hall
I had to put these first, because Dr. Thomas Sowell's latest "Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene" column is linked below. And his are, sigh, always better. But I try. ~Bob

General News and Comment

Leaders--It's not to early to get your pal Barack a Christmas Gift!

Always Worth Reading: Random Thoughts. By Thomas Sowell
Excerpt: What a non-judgmental society amounts to is that common decency is optional – which means that decency is likely to become less common. - The biggest issue in this fall’s election is whether the Obama administration will end when Barack Obama leaves the White House or whether it will continue on, by appointing federal judges with lifetime appointments who share President Obama’s contempt for the Constitution. Whether such judges will be confirmed by the Senate depends on whether the Senate continues to be controlled by Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Worth Reading: Who Are You Calling the Party of the Rich? By Mona Charen 
Excerpt: By 2012, the recession had been over for three-plus years, and yet the average American saw little improvement. Average net worth continued to drift downward. Long-term unemployment had reached record levels, and labor force participation declined. More Americans had joined the disability rolls than gotten work. Poverty was higher than at any time since the 1960s. Republicans expected the election to be a referendum on President Obama’s leadership. It wasn’t

The odds of Republicans winning the Senate are growing. By Chris Cillizza
Excerpt: All three major election forecasting models saw an uptick in the likelihood of Republicans winning the six seats they need to retake the Senate majority over the past week, movement largely due to the party's strengthened chances in Alaska, Colorado and Iowa.

Morning Jolt by Jim Geraghty is a free e-newsletter. You should subscribe. ~Bob

Bad News for Republicans. By Jim Geraghty, Morning Jolt
I am told by some campaign consultants that for much of the past two years, Republican donors have felt a malaise. You see it in both the individual-campaign fundraising numbers, the committee fundraising numbers, and the spending by outside groups. A lot of wealthy Republican donors — or even a not-so-wealthy Republican donors — are asking if it’s worth it. They dug deep to help out their favorite candidates in 2012, and watched their guys lose — Romney, of course, but also a slew of seemingly winnable Senate races. They’re not sure their donations do much good. They’re increasingly wondering if the American political system is a lost cause, if the electorate has become addicted to Democrats’ vote-buying spending programs, too tuned out to care about scandals, oblivious to serious problems and getting their political views shaped by Hollywood and pop culture. This doesn’t even get into the issue of fearing an IRS audit or being publicly demonized like the Koch brothers. Of course, this depression, malaise, and hesitation can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Good news for Republicans. By Jim Geraghty, Morning Jolt
Anyway, on to the indisputable good news for Republicans: In just about every Senate race that matters, last week brought at least one highly-regarded poll showing exactly what a Republican wants to see. In AlaskaDan Sullivan has led the past four polls. In ArkansasTom Cotton has led 11 of the past 13 polls. In ColoradoQuinnipiac put Cory Gardner ahead, 48 percent to 40 percent. In Iowa, the Des Moines Register poll put Joni Ernst ahead, 44 percent to 38 percent. NBC News Andrea Mitchell is openly calling Democrat Bruce Braley “a terrible candidate.” In Louisiana, a runoff between Democrat incumbent Mary Landrieu and RepublicanBill Cassidy is virtually assured. Cassidy led the last four polls of the runoff. Those five, just right there, along with the expected GOP wins in Montana, South Dakota, and West Virginia, would give the GOP an eight-seat pickup. Republicans could lose in Kansas and still keep the Senate. In Kansas, voters are still digesting the fact that the Democrat dropped out and getting to know “independent” Greg Orman. No one has polled this race in ten days, and the GOP is pulling out the stops to save Pat Roberts. And we’ve got more races to go . . .In New Hampshire, CNN had Scott Brown tied with Jeanne Shaheen. In Michigan, Republicans can be frustrated that Terri Lynn Land hasn’t led any poll recently. But Democrat Gary Peters’ share of the vote is actually declining from the mid-40s to the low 40s, with a lot of undecideds left out there. In North Carolina, Thom Tillis can’t quite get the lead over incumbent Kay Hagan, but she’s consistently in the mid-40s or even low 40s — a very precarious spot for an incumbent. Beyond Kansas, Democrats hopes for picking up a GOP seat are evaporating. In GeorgiaDavid Purdue has led four of the past five polls. In KentuckySenate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has led every poll since June. In the House, everybody’s expecting a small gain for Republicans. Larry Sabato: “We talked to senior Democrats and Republicans involved in the House contests to inform this report, as well as some of our fellow analysts and journalists (all were given anonymity so they could speak freely). We asked each source to give his or her best guess as to what the net change in House seats would be on Election Day. The guesses were generally in the range of a five-to-eight seat GOP net gain — the same as ours — with a low guess of Republicans adding two seats to a high guess of Republicans adding nine.” So 235 to 240, maybe 245 House Republicans? A nice total, probably pretty close to the natural ceiling for the GOP. We can go over the gubernatorial races tomorrow. But the bottom line is, the ingredients are coming together for not just GOP control, but potentially a big, big year for Republicans. But it requires everybody to get active and give 110 percent between now and Election Day. 

Thinking of not voting? Put this sign on your mirror: "Supreme Court Justice Eric Holder." ~Bob

Excerpt: Eric Holder’s tenure as Attorney General was fraught with controversy, race-baiting and snapping at Congress. Or, as President Obama put it, “a superb job.”

47% Think Holder More Interested in Politics Than in Justice
Excerpt: Voters think Eric Holder played politics as U.S. attorney general and hope President Obama picks someone who’s not like him to be the nation’s next top law enforcement officer. But those who view the Constitution as “a living document” are much more appreciative of his efforts than those who favor a strict interpretation of that document. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 47% of Likely U.S. Voters believe Holder was more interested in politics than in administering justice in a fair way. Just 28% disagree and think fair administration of justice was Holder’s chief interest.

Better than expected: Report: Obama Has Missed Over Half His Second-Term Daily Intel Briefings
Excerpt: A new Government Accountability Institute (GAI)report reveals that President Barack Obama has attended only 42.1% of his daily intelligence briefings (known officially as the Presidential Daily Brief, or PDB) in the 2,079 days of his presidency through September 29, 2014.

Worth Reading: 6 Reasons I'm Happier Because I Went to War. By John Walters
https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140925023742-84021053-6-reasons-i-m-happier-because-i-went-to-war
Excerpt: Eight years of my life was spent enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. I was deployed to Fallujah, Iraq and Helmand Province, Afghanistan. One of the most frequent questions I am asked about my service is, "Are you glad you did it?" It surprises most people when I respond with an enthusiastic YES. Naturally wartime and combat are associated with sadness and devastation. War affects millions of innocent people and PTSD afflicts service men and women with crippling effects. I'm not immune to all the negative fallout of being a Marine during wartime, but many lessons I learned as a Marine make me a happier person. Here are a few: (And this post has gone viral, according to an article in the Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/09/29/why-6-reasons-im-happier-because-i-went-to-war-went-viral/ It's all good stuff, and maybe it'll register with some people who don't understand. --Del)

Ray Rice, Roger Goodell, Hope Solo and Domestic Abuse: Hypocrisy and Hidden Agendas. By David L. Goetsch
Excerpt: The sight of a professional football player knocking out his fiancĂ©e (now wife) in a hotel elevator has precipitated what is becoming the worst scandal in the history of the NFL. The abuse viewed on camera in that elevator is bad enough by itself, but what is making matters even worse are the hypocrisy and hidden agendas of those responding to it. Although I feel for Mrs. Rice, I am glad that her misfortune has finally brought the issue of domestic abuse out of the closet and into the daylight. Perhaps now that the NFL scandal has pulled back the curtain on domestic abuse, the issue will get the attention it has so long deserved.

The World is on Fire: Where is the U.S. Army? By Douglas Macgregor and Young Kim
Excerpt: Russia’s revitalized Army seizes Crimea and skillfully exerts control in Eastern Ukraine. The Islamic State, a collection of fanatical Sunni Muslim terrorists in pickup trucks crush the U.S. trained Iraqi Army and overrun territory from Aleppo to Baghdad. On the Anniversary of Japan’s defeat in WW II, China’s leaders pledge to expunge corruption from the PLA’s senior ranks and build a more powerful Chinese Army. What is the Army’s response to these challenges? The Army is blazing a path backward into the Cold War. 

One-fifth of U.S. workers were laid off in past five (Obama) years, study says
Excerpt: On e in five U.S. workers was laid off in the past five years and about 22% of those who lost their jobs still haven't found another one, according to a new survey that showed the extent Americans have struggled in the sluggish labor market since the Great Recession ended.

Hey, I just noticed every time we spend 20 trillion on a war on poverty and it doesn't work, govt says they need more money.

New US Marine Corps Crisis Unit To Be Based in Kuwait
http://mobile.defensenews.com/article/309290020
The US Marine Corps is preparing to deploy about 2,100 grunts to be based out of Kuwait in a new unit configuration designed to respond to crises in the region, according to Corps officials.
Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force (SPMAGTF) Central Command will be equipped to perform noncombat evacuation, humanitarian assistance, infrastructure support, tactical aircraft recovery, fixed-site security and theater sustainment missions, said Brig. Gen. John Love, assistant deputy commandant for plans, policies and operations. Plans to deploy the unit predate the conflict in Iraq and Syria with the Islamic State.

Two Elderly Marines Walk 300 Miles to See Obama… He Refuses to See Them
Excerpt: President Barack Obama refused to see two former U.S. Marines who walked hundreds of miles to the White House to raise awareness of a fellow Marine jailed in Mexico.
Terry Sharpe and Allen Brown completed their walk on Sunday, arriving at the White House with a police escort and a number of others who support their efforts to secure the release of Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi. They were not invited inside the White House, nor did anyone from the Obama administration apparently greet them. (They should have jumped the fence. ~Bob)

White House fence-jumper made it far deeper into building than previously known
Excerpt: The man who jumped the White House fence this month and sprinted through the front door made it much farther into the building than previously known, overpowering one Secret Service officer and running through much of the main floor, according to three people familiar with the incident. ... The officer posted inside the front door appeared to be delayed in learning that the intruder, Omar Gonzalez, was about to burst through. (Since he was Hispanic, they were probably afraid to touch him for fear Obama would say he was just looking for a better life and they were racists. Nothing in DC works anymore. ~Bob)

Remember when the troops respected the CIC?

18 Stats That Prove That Government Dependence Has Reached Epidemic Levels. By Michael Snyder
Excerpt: Did you know that the number of Americans getting benefits from the federal government each month exceeds the number of full-time workers in the private sector by more than 60 million? In other words, the number of people that are taking money out of the system is far greater than the number of people that are putting money into the system. And did you know that nearly 70 percent of all of the money that the federal government spends goes toward entitlement and welfare programs? When it comes to the transfer of wealth, nobody does it on a grander scale than the U.S. government.

UDALL LIED (AGAIN): Embattled Sen. Arrested for More Than Just Pot http://coloradopeakpolitics.com/2014/09/29/udall-lied-embattled-sen-arrested-just-pot/
Excerpt: Pot is one thing, but three ounces is a lot for a casual user and is usually reserved for dealers. Wait…. You weren’t selling that weed were you, Mark? And, then, amphetamines? Really? It’s no secret in Colorado that Sen. Mark Udall has some problems telling the truth.

Figures: Obama's USDA To Spend 31.5 Million on 'Healthy" Food Stamp Program
Excerpt: The number of food stamp recipients has seen a gargantuan increase since Obama became president in 2008. Late in 2012 the number of those on the SNAP program had exceeded the populations of 24 states and the District of Columbia. By 2014, enrollment in the program jumped to over 45 million Americans. Even with historic levels of Americans now dependent on welfare and the middle class poorer today than it was in 1984, Obama continues to claim that his economic policies have made things better. (Wonder if it will end up in the garbage can like the school lunches? --Barb. Actually, I like this. In fact, would limit all food stamps (SNAP or EBT cards) to healthy items. It would put a crimp in the style of the healthy looking, white, 20-something guy in line ahead of me at Walgreens. he tried to buy to energy drinks with his card. Didn't allow it, so he paid cash--with a $100 bill. After he left, the tired-looking 40-something clerk looked at me and said, Our money." People are going to reach the end of their tolerance. See the older piece: Craigslist makes turning food stamps into cash a SNAP http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/22/craigslist-makes-turning-food-stamps-into-cash-snap/ ~Bob)

Top VA Official Conspired With Her Married Boyfriend To Thwart Investigations
Excerpt: A recent investigation has uncovered a shocking tale of corruption and adultery at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Susan Taylor, a longtime federal employee and Deputy Chief Procurement Officer at the Veterans Health Administration since 2010, not only used her position to award government contracts to a former business partner, and worked with said company to hide the thousands and thousands of dollars it was making off the government, but conspired with her married boyfriend — who also had close personal ties to the company — to thwart investigations into her misconduct.

No surprise: Wisconsin Reporter Was Sent to Cover Michelle Obama’s Speech and What She Says an Aide Told Her Had Her ‘Creeped Out’
Excerpt: Meg Kissinger is a seasoned reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin’s well-known newspaper. She’s seen a lot in her days. But what she said happened at a speech by Michelle Obama in the state on Monday left her utterly “creeped out.” Kissinger took to her Facebook and Twitter page to describe what happened. In short, she said, aides for both the first lady and Wisconsin Democratic candidate for governor, Mary Burke, told her she was banned from talking to members of the crowd. (If the press is allowed to talk to the public, the Fuehrer might lose control! ~Bob)

The Gelded Age. The inequality bed-wetters are misleading you. By Kevin D. Williamson
Excerpt: The inequality police are worried that we are living in a new Gilded Age. We should be so lucky: Between 1880 and 1890, the number of employed Americans increased by more than 13 percent, and wages increased by almost 50 percent. I am going to go out on a limb and predict that the Barack Obama years will not match that record; the number of employed Americans is lower today than it was when he took office, and household income is down. Grover Cleveland is looking like a genius in comparison.

Getting to Know the Chinese Navy. By Steve Cohen
Excerpt: The Obama administration very much wants a diplomatic success somewhere in the world. So when the president orders the head of the U.S. Navy to meet with his Chinese counterpart and find areas of cooperation, it is neither surprising nor inappropriate. But the possibility that the Chinese Navy will gain real insight into how our aircraft carriers operate is worrying our Pacific allies and could compromise our security.

Excerpt: Four days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel spoke of how American forces would soon be at pre-World War II numbers. Sequestration will force a further retraction. Adm. James “Ace” Lyons, U.S. Navy (retired) has noted that he commanded more ships in the Pacific Ocean during the Carter administration than exist in the entire U.S. Navy today.

Navy sailors distrust commanders, fear crippling political correctness. Complain of zero-tolerance disciplinary environment, excessive political correctness
Excerpt: Navy sailors harbor “widespread mistrust” in the admirals who command them, complaining of poor leadership and a disciplinary environment that tolerates absolutely no mistakes, says a survey of the fleet. The disgruntlement runs deepest in the officer corps, where scores of commanders have been relieved of duty in recent years. (Some say the Navy is the most political of the services, but I'm not sure of that, what about the Air Force? --Del)

Armed contractor with criminal record was on elevator with Obama in Atlanta
Excerpt: A security contractor with a gun and three convictions for assault and battery was allowed on an elevator with President Obama during a Sept. 16 trip to Atlanta, violating Secret Service protocols, according to three people familiar with the incident.

CDC confirms first case of Ebola in US. By Jessica Mulvihill
Excerpt: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed on Tuesday that a patient being treated at a Dallas hospital has tested positive for Ebola, the first case diagnosed in the United States. (Ebola has been far down my list of worries. below, for example, my fear that Global warming hysteria will bankrupt the country and reduce our life styles to the Medieval level. This may move it up a notch. ~Bob. First case, someone returning from Liberia brought it back. No details on the person, are they a health worker, a Liberian, an immigrant or what? Not that it matters I guess, and the authorities are 100% confident that this will be perfectly contained, they know (they think) everyone the person came in contact with, will be watching them, etc. And caught this early, the person should have an excellent chance of surviving. Let's see how this goes.....Del)

Public School Lets Boy Use Girls Bathroom and Locker Room
Excerpt: A “transgender” teen – a teen who was born a boy but has decided that he is actually a girl – will be allowed to use the girl’s restrooms and locker room at Atherton High School in Jefferson County Kentucky. The county appeals board decided to uphold the school’s nondiscrimination policy, which says that the school MUST accept whatever gender their students decide they would like to be.

Friendly Reminder: The 'Independent' Senate Candidate in Kansas is an Obama Donor. By Guy Benson 
Excerpt: The man who now stands as Roberts' only serious opposition is Greg Orman, a born-again "independent." According to polling, which is still unsettled in the wake of the ballot upheaval, Orman holds a single-digit lead over Roberts. Who is this guy? Put simply, he's a Democrat, despite his denials. He's donated thousands to Obama, Hillary Clinton and Harry Reid, but now he's playing games by declining to state which party he'd caucus with, if elected.

Stage production for 18-minute Obama speech cost $94,360. By Elizabeth Harrington
Excerpt: “Elite Productions,” the go-to company for prominent Democratic politicians such as Bill and Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, put on the set for Obama’s speech to troops at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., on Sept. 17. The company provided “stage, drapery, and audio/visual equipment,” according to a contract document made public by the Air Force last week. The government paid the company $94,360 for a speech that lasted from 12:04 p.m. to 12:22 p.m., at a cost of approximately $5,242.22 per minute. (Be interesting to know if they give Dems a break thanks to getting the government biz. ~Bob

Scientist calls for death to humanity
Excerpt: An award-winning Texas scientist was given a standing ovation after he advocated the extermination of 90 per cent of the Earth's population by an airborne Ebola virus.

Race Card News

The Moral Failures of Eric Holder. By Victor Davis Hanson 
Excerpt: Eric Holder’s left many baleful legacies: being censured by the House of Representatives; withholding subpoenaed documents, proving untruthful about a failed gun-walking caper in Mexico; failing to enforce laws on the books, from immigration to the elements of the Affordable Care Act; illegally billing the government for his own private use of a government Gulfstream jet; snooping on Associated Press reporters; giving de facto exemptions to renegade IRS politicos; and trying to create civilian trials for terrorist killers like KSM, one of the architects of the 9/11 attacks. But he will be known mostly for re-teaching Americans to think of race as essential, not incidental, to our characters.

Good for her: Black Woman Says Black People Should "Speak Properly"
http://godfatherpolitics.com/17373/black-woman-says-black-people-speak-properly/
Excerpt: As difficult as blacks had it during the days of segregation, a distinctly black culture developed, even in the prevalence of racist attitudes and restrictive laws. We forget, or have never been told, that Washington, D.C., from 1920 to 1960, “was a financial, spiritual, and cultural stronghold. Because Washington was a segregated city, blacks simply created their own metropolis. . . . The first black bank, the Industrial Savings Bank, was started here.” While “the black population of New York’s Harlem inherited many of its buildings from previous white owners, . . . many of the buildings in Shaw were paid for by black businessmen and built by black hands.”[1] Families were intact, the divorce and unwed mother rates were no different from that of white communities. (The pathologies in our cities have nothing to do with race and everything to do with culture. In England, the underclass yobs are white English people. See Life at the Bottom by Theodore Dalrymple. ~Bob

Mumia Abu-Jamal to give college commencement speech
Excerpt: Convicted Philadelphia cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal has been selected as the commencement speaker for a Vermont college. Goddard College announced that the infamous inmate will address its graduates at Sunday's ceremony. (An infamous convicted cop-killer has yet again been chose to give the commencement speech to college kids. The college president is really happy about this, because it shows that "this newest group of Goddard graduates expresses their freedom to engage and think radically and critically." Yes, that's what higher education certainly about, teaching young minds to value the inputs of a murderer, not a repentant killer with messages about sin and redemption, but a racist fanatic who stood over a policeman on the ground and pumped bullets into him. He is apparently a charismatic personality and impressive speaker, who became a cause cĂ©lèbre for Liberals, and has been extolled as an example of White racism and injustice. Examination of the facts of the officer's death leaves no doubt at all as to his guilt, but somehow that makes no difference and he is the personification of noble suffering of injustice. And people keep buying this package. What he will say to the college kids I don't know, but I'm pretty sure it'll be along the lines of what he's written about forever, which is the horrors of White racism and the corruption of the whole system, and yadda-yadda-yadda. The kids who hear this and take him on as another hero like Che Guevara are just bound to be great citizens, ready to join all the others whose idea of their crusade will be to take apart this nation. Heaven help us. --Del)

Title: It's 2nd Base & "2nd Base" Season. By Andy Weddington
Excerpt: Six and a half years ago breast cancer forever changed life for my wife. And for me. Our story shortly. Breast cancer awareness month begins today. Since diagnosis, pink, the disease's official color, is my wife's favorite hue. This month, once in a while, I'll wear a pink shirt. Year round a small metal pink ribbon is pinned to the side of my Marine ball cap.

Federal Spending Spree at End of Fiscal Year
Excerpt: Yesterday marked the end of the 2013-2014 fiscal year. And because agencies cannot carry their funds over from year to year, explains Brianna Ehley of the Fiscal Times, federal agencies tend to spend September 30th on a shopping spree, spending the rest of their funds before they lose them. In 2013, federal agencies spent $50 billion in the last week of the fiscal year -- the Department of Veterans Affairs purchased $562,000 worth of artwork, while the Department of Agriculture bought $144,000 in toner. The Department of Defense spent $5.5 billion on September 30, 2013, sending emails to employees telling them to spend the rest of their funds.

Obamacare/Government Healthcare News


Oklahoma Wins Affordable Care Act Lawsuit Challenging IRS Subsidies
http://www.ok.gov/triton/modules/newsroom/newsroom_article.php?id=258&article_id=14797 Excerpt: Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt hailed the state’s victory in its lawsuit challenging the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. In September 2012, Oklahoma was the first to challenge the legality of an IRS rule that caused billions in illegal subsidies to be paid out, despite Congress having never authorized those payments. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Ronald White ruled in favor of the state’s lawsuit challenging that IRS rule. (Makes it likely the Supreme Court will have to hear the challenge. ~Bob)

LA Times: Doctor Shortages, Buyer's Remorse Plague California Obamacare
Excerpt: California's narrow Obamacare networks have many Obamacare customers experiencing buyer's remorse over health care plans that are turning out to include far fewer doctors than they were led to believe, reports the Los Angeles Times. "Where was the state in protecting people from these false promises?" California Obamacare customer Heidi Shurtleff, 53, told the Times. "I'm not getting what I paid for."

Obamacare 1 Year Report Card Scores a Big ‘F.’ By Dave Jolly
Excerpt: The New York Post took a look at Obamacare and graded it like a school grades a student. The subjects to be graded are: The Uninsured, Your Plan, Premiums, Cost, Jobs and then Overall Grade.

Undocumented Democrat News

Video: Illegals Flooding Over the Border… But This AZ Farmer Was Prepared
http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/illegals-flooding-border-az-farmer-prepared/
According to the news video, the Illegal was carrying two SS cards and a fake visa. ~Bob. Check out the link. An illegal shows up with a gun at a farm near the border, and ends up in a shootout with the farmer. Who only has a shotgun and birdshot. Clearly not one of us! First box of ammo for the shotgun is the buckshot. But the other box of ammo most of us have is for the long gun, at least a 5.56mm, if not a 7.62 or 30-06, and that illegal with his pistol would have been starting to rot in the sunshine by the time the deputies arrived. But it is another example of why we need to get very serious about tightening up the border, and exporting illegals out of here on a rush basis. --Del

"You're Greener than Gore" News

America Set to Lead World in Oil Production
Excerpt: According to the International Energy Agency, the United States is producing oil at the same level as Saudi Arabia, producing 11.5 million barrels per day. It is on track to surpass Saudi Arabia and become the world's largest oil producer, though, according to Saudi Arabia, the country has the capacity to increase its oil production further. The United States has fracking to thank for its recent oil boom, a technique which has allowed producers to reach energy sources that would otherwise have been unrecoverable. Horizontal drilling has also contributed to the surge in energy production, as companies have drilled into oil shale to recover oil and natural gas. (We won't lead if Obama and the Green-reds can figure out a way to screw the poor and middle class by blocking it, thus keeping prices high. ~Bob)

California drought and climate warming: Studies find no clear link
Excerpt: Global warming contributed to extreme heat waves in many parts of the world last year, but cannot be definitively linked to the California drought, according to a report released Monday. (That won't stop the warming cultists from doing it, even though the warm trend stopped in 1995. Water diverted to save a minnow is a big part of it. Also the growth of Almond farming. Takes over a gallon for each almond--enough water goes to almonds to supply over 80% of California families, I have read. ~Bob)

5 Policies That Would Make Gas Cheaper. By Nicolas Loris
Excerpt: Sick of paying too much at the pump? If you are, there’s good news: There are policies Congress and the Obama administration could implement that likely would lead to lower prices. If you’re looking to lower gas prices, first look at crude oil prices.

Religion of Peace News

Worth Reading: Obama's Mixed Messages on War. By Jonah Goldberg 
Excerpt: It’s funny how President Obama is always talking about “I” and “me” whenever it makes him look good, but suddenly it’s “they” and “we” when mistakes are made. For instance, for years Obama boasted about how he ended the Iraq war and how he withdrew American troops. “You know I say what I mean and I mean what I say,” he boasted on the campaign trail in 2012. “I said I’d end the war in Iraq. I ended it.” Then, over the summer, as one Iraqi city after another fell to Islamic State militants, and as critics insisted that Obama’s decision to pull all of our troops out of Iraq was partly to blame, he suddenly changed his tune, mocking the critics. “What I just find interesting is the degree to which this issue keeps on coming up, as if this was my decision [to withdraw U.S. troops].”

Worth Reading: Will the West Defend Itself? By Walter E. Williams 
Excerpt: The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), sometimes called ISIS or IS, is a Sunni extremist group that follows al-Qaida’s anti-West ideology and sees a holy war against the West as a religious duty. With regard to nonbelievers, the Quran commands, “And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out.” The Quran contains many other verses that call for Muslim violence against nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule.
Contrast the words of the Quran with the statements of limp-wristed Western leaders such as this by President Barack Obama: “We have reaffirmed that the United States is not and never will be at war with Islam. Islam teaches peace.” 

Syria and Iraq is Vietnam: Che Guevara vs Colonel and Congressman Scott Perry and Lessons from Vietnam
Excerpt: Before I turn to Che Guevara and Colonel and Congressman, Scott Perry, this news. Great Britain will help in bombing the terrorists but only in Iraq, not at their home base in Syria, as now authorized by vote of their Parliament. They worry that they would violate the “sovereignty” of Syria, whose government, while privately welcoming help against any and all rebel factions, has publicly denounced any foreign country’s airpower being deployed within their border. Ahem. History lesson for the Brits and those Americans born after the Vietnam war or who listened to the biased media at that time instead of noting the facts. Journey back with me for a moment to the Vietnam War and the 1970 “incursion” into Cambodia ordered by then President Richard Nixon, which provoked hysterical and sometimes violent demonstrations across America by the radical left. (Wow, a congressman who can look ahead and act on clear thinking. I'm a hawk from way back, and I want ISIS smashed, wiped out to a man, but how can I support another set of half-measures by a President who doesn't want to be there at all and is doing whatever the least is he can get away with. Which is guaranteed to NOT solve the problem, but cost us big buck and maybe some blood. Same scene, same lines, slightly different cast, but it'll come out the same way- not well. --Del)

Yazidis haunted by cries for help as militants bury victims alive
Excerpt: Refugee Samo Ilyas Ali has nine children to feed but he can't focus on the future because the sounds of women and children crying out for help while being buried alive by Islamic State militants in northern Iraq often consume his mind. ... "They tied the hands of one woman to the back of a car and her legs to another car and they split her into two," he said beside makeshift tents as women cried.

Our Double Standard on Civilian Casualties
Excerpt: The Obama administration has acknowledged that its strict policy of preventing civilian deaths does not apply to American airstrikes in Syria and Iraq. The statement confirming the loosening of high standards pertaining to minimizing collateral damage comes amid reports that as many as a dozen civilians, including women and children, were killed by a U.S. strike of a Syrian village. U.S. officials believed that members of the Khorasan group, an al-Qaida splinter organization, were based in the village that was struck by the U.S. Air Force, resulting in civilian deaths. ... "The suspicion that militants are operating nearby does not justify strikes that put at risk the lives of so many innocent civilians," the Statement Department said after Israel shelled a United Nations school that was used as a Hamas terrorist base. 

CNN exclusive: ISIS fighter says U.S. airstrikes aren't effective
Excerpt: The United States may be touting its strikes on ISIS targets in Syria, but one of the terror group's fighters says the hits are trivial at best. In an exclusive interview with CNN, a Syrian ISIS fighter using the pseudonym Abu Talha said the militant group has been preparing for such attacks.

Iraqi pilots mistakenly drop supplies — instead of bombs — on Islamic State terrorists
Excerpt: Members of Islamic State recently received an unexpected surprise from the Iraqi military’s inexperienced pilots: an airdrop of food, water and ammunition.

Employing Armor Against the Islamic State: The Inevitable Urban Combined Arms Fight. By Dennis A. Lowe
Excerpt: ISIL cannot be destroyed relying solely on airstrikes, guided missiles and special operations. The Russians made a critical mistake thinking artillery and airstrikes could bend the Chechen’s to their will in 1994 and 1999. Military options confined to these capabilities will hinder ISIL in the short term. Ultimately, they will adapt to survive the circumstances imposed by external actors operating without a significant and stable ground presence. As long as ISIL controls territory and shelters among civilian populations in easily fortified urban environments, a combined arms ground force will be required to root them out and establish alternative governance. Essential to a major combined arms effort is the enlightened employment of armor and the mobile, protected firepower it provides.

Netanyahu Goes All Out In UN Speech
Excerpt: In a blistering speech to the United Nations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday that Hamas and the Islamic State group are "branches of the same poisonous tree," both bent on world domination through terror, just as the Nazis were.

An Illusory Victory: Obama refuses to give up his foolhardy “mission accomplished” message. By Rich Lowry
Excerpt: “Mission accomplished” has been his essential message about al-Qaeda for years. The terror group, according to the president, is “decimated,” “on the run,” “on the path to defeat.” The president spiked the football so many times, his arm must have been about to give out. He gave every indication that al-Qaeda was all but eliminated, except for some mopping-up operations. And now here we are launching what is projected to be a years-long bombing campaign against an al-Qaeda offshoot, the Islamic State, which controls territory roughly equal to Great Britain, and we are hitting a faction of al-Qaeda in Syria, the so-called Khorasan Group, that represented an “imminent” threat to the West. It raises the question: What happened to al-Qaeda’s being on the verge of defeat?

Obama’s ‘Mission Accomplished’ moment. By Marc A. Thiessen
Excerpt: No, I’m not talking about President George W. Bush’s May 1, 2003, speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. I’m talking about President Obama’s speech at the White House on Oct. 21, 2011, in which he boasted about his decision to withdraw all U.S. troops and bring “the long war in Iraq” to an end. It’s still on the White House Web site under the (now ironic) headline “Remarks by the President on Ending the War in Iraq.” “As a candidate for President, I pledged to bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end,” Obama solemnly declared, “[And] today, I can report that, as promised, the rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year. After nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over.”

Obama Betrays the Kurds: The Kurds are fighting bravely, but they need arms, and they need air support. By Robert Zubrin
Excerpt: As these lines are being written, some 400,000 Kurds in and around the town of Kobane in northern Syria, on the Turkish border, are being besieged and assaulted by massed legions of Islamic State killers armed with scores of tanks, armored personnel carriers, and heavy artillery. Against these, the Kurdish defenders have only AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades. The Kurds have called on the U.S. to send in air strikes to take out the jihadist forces. (The Kurds are pro-American Muslims. Not the kind Obama favors. but he'll change their attitude; as in Egypt, all sides will hate us when he gets done. ~Bob)

Worth Reading: Iraq Was Then, Syria Is Now: Obama hasn’t a clue what he’s doing, but at least he isn’t George W. Bush. By Victor Davis Hanson
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/389094/iraq-was-then-syria-now-victor-davis-hanson
Excerpt: The October 2002 joint congressional authorization to go to war was not just about fears of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Other worries prompted broad bipartisan support for the resolution. A majority of Democratic senators (as evidenced by their passionate speeches from the Senate floor) cited many of the resolution’s 23 writs. The latter were mostly concerned with things other than WMD: harboring terrorists, offering bounties for suicide bombers, giving refuge to at least one of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing suspects, committing genocide, attempting to kill a former U.S. president, and so on. Hillary Clinton should watch her own 2002 speech from the Senate floor.

Radical Sheik Who Called For Deaths of U.S. Troops Invited to Yale
Excerpt: Sheikh Rachid al-Ghannouchi was invited to headline an event this afternoon, despite that he was a member of a group that endorsed the murder of U.S. troops, and he was banned from the U.S. for supporting Hamas. (And then the left and Muslims wonder why so many Americans blame all of Islam. ~Bob)

Syria Blasts at School Kill 32, Including 10 Kids
Excerpt: Twin bombings near an elementary school in Syria killed at least 32 people on Wednesday, including at least 10 children, with the second blast going off as screaming parents frantically searched for their sons and daughters in a street littered with school bags and body parts. ... The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll in the twin attacks at 39, including 30 children under the age of 12. It said the second blast was caused by a suicide bomber. ... There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Wednesday's attack, but Syrian rebels fighting to oust Assad have carried out numerous bombings in government-held areas of Homs.

Taliban Suicide Bombers Kill 7 in Kabul, Wound 21
Excerpt: Taliban suicide bombers struck two buses carrying Afghan soldiers in Kabul early Wednesday, killing seven people and wounding 21, just a day after the signing of a key U.S.-Afghan security pact.

Turkey? Antisemitic? Who, Me? By Burak Bekdil
Excerpt: After protestors scolded him, he, with his bodyguards, went into a supermarket and, as video footage revealed, Erdogan grabbed one protestor, a Muslim, by the nape of the neck and yelled: "Why are you running away, you sperm of Israel!" After the incident the man also told the press that he was slapped by Erdogan; then, thinking better of it, the man testified that he had been beaten by Erdogan's bodyguards, not by the prime minister; and he finally apologized to Erdogan for "forcing the prime minister to insult him."

Hidden Terror in Europe. By Abigail R. Esman
Excerpt: Europe is in trouble. Even as America and its European allies begin their war campaign against ISIS and its self-proclaimed Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, European Muslims are increasingly showing their support for Islamic terror groups and their jihad. With the number of Muslims heading to Syria to join ISIS and Al Nusra (the Syrian branch of Al Qaida) on the rise, those who remain behind in countries like Belgium and the Netherlands are now working to raise funds to support their families, and to defend other European Muslims accused of plotting terrorist attacks at home. (If you sow the wind...~Bob)


Excerpt: A KFC customer was refused a hand-wipe in a halal-only branch of the fast food giant - because it contained alcohol. Graham Noakes was stunned when staff said they could not provide him with a wipe because they are soaked in alcohol - which is banned in Islam

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