Update
50 Years as a Marine
Monday, November 3, 2014 will be exactly 50 years since I
graduated with platoon 273 from MCRD Parris Island and earned the title Marine.
It is the thing in my life I'm most proud of. The self-discipline, pride and
determination I acquired there have given me a very successful and happy life--and
kept me alive through the challenges of pulmonary fibrosis and a lung
transplant when the medical people were writing me off. My three DIs are on my
daily prayer list--I owe them a debt I can never repay, but I have tried
through living a life of service. November 10 is the 239th birthday of the
Corps. Happy Birthday and Semper Fidelis, Marines. It was the privilege of a
lifetime to wear the same uniform as you. ~Bob
A lovely, but cold Halloween in Wisconsin . There was white stuff on the
grass when I rose at 0600 to do my medical routine and go to PT rehab. Britnye,
our granddaughter, took this nice tree picture. She's getting into photography.
~Bob
Old Jarhead Blog Page
Views in the last week
From the top ten countries
Total: 7,142
84 Blog Sources for
my last three posts
I'm often accused by progressives of getting all my
information from Fox News. Actually, I watch almost no TV news. I do watch a
little TV, Pawn Stars, American Pickers, the Military History channel and some
football (almost never a whole game). I always watch with a book in my hands.
I'm currently reading American Slavery, American
Freedom, an excellent history of early Virginia . My blog sources are on the
Internet and varied, though as this is a conservative blog, more on that side.
This includes today's post, which was not yet completed when I posted this.
~Bob
General News and Comment
Worth Reading
Excerpt: In midterm elections, turnout usually is “frail and
pale,” meaning older and whiter than in presidential elections, when three
Democratic-leaning constituencies — minorities, young people and unmarried
women — are more apt to vote. If Democratic candidates run ahead of
their end-of-campaign polls, this will indicate that their party retains its
mobilization advantage. If Republicans narrowly win Senate control, their joy
should be tempered by this fact: In 2016, they will be defending 24 of the 34 seats at issue.
Obama fatigue is
setting in. By Jonah Goldberg, The
Goldberg File
Indeed, I’ve gone from Obama fatigue through full-on Obama
Epstein-Barr to end-stage Obama narcolepsy. I hear him talking, or hear some
MSNBC-type rhapsodizing about how misunderstood he is, and I start dozing off
like a truck driver who took the drowsy-formula Nyquil by mistake. “Gotta stay
awake! This is my job!” But then 20 seconds later, Jonathan Alter starts
telling me how misunderstood the president is, and suddenly orange traffic
cones are bouncing off my truck’s grill as I somnolently drift into a highway
work zone. You could fill a cereal bowl with broken glass and barbed-wire
shards drenched in hot sauce right below my face. All it would take for me to
use it as a pillow is a 30-second loop of Obama saying “Let me be clear.” His
speeches are like whale sounds, but with less substance. I’d say they’re all
white noise, but I don’t want to get called a racist. ... my Obama-narcolepsy
is interfering with my Obama-schadenfreude. I for one find it nothing less than
hilarious to watch liberal eggheads (both real and imagined), never mind Obama
himself, spin elaborate theories for why Obama is not just unpopular but pretty
much a failed president. (The Goldberg File is free. Worth reading. ~Bob)
Think Halloween is
scary? You haven’t heard of ‘civil asset forfeiture’
Excerpt: Imagine
opening up your door one morning to two agents of the IRS. They tell you that
they have seized your checking account and the $33,000 in it, just because you
made a “suspicious” cash deposit under $10,000. Not a good start to a day.
That’s just what happened last year to Carole Hinders, who runs a cash-only
Mexican restaurant in Iowa .
She wasn’t charged with any crime or even accused of anything. Hinders lost her
money because of the size of her deposits.
CWC Press HD.
Conservatives will relish every second of the ad hitting
the New York Times, MSNBC, George Stephanopolous, the critics of Sharyl
Attkisson, and so on. But will it change a mind, or influence the decision of a
North Carolina
voter who wasn’t already going to vote for Tillis? Or is this the kind of
argument against the media that the Right needs to make outside the realm of
blogs, articles, and so on? --Jim Geraghty, Morning
Jolt
Why Middle-Class Americans Can't Afford to Live in Liberal
Cities. Blue America
Excerpt: Among the 100 largest U.S. metros, 63 percent of homes
are "within reach" for a middle-class family, according to Trulia.
But among the 20 richest U.S.
metros, just 47 percent of homes are affordable, including a national low of 14
percent in San Francisco .
The firm defined "within reach" as a for-sale home with a total
monthly payment (including mortgage and taxes) less than 31 percent of the
metro's median household income.
WMUR's James Pindell
Apologizes To Scott Brown
WI: Union Leaders Sue Gov. Scott Walker to Raise
Minimum Wage
Excerpt: This week, Wisconsin labor leaders announced their
intention to sue the governor of Wisconsin ,
insisting that he raise the minimum wage to that of a "living wage."
Under Wisconsin law, a living wage is one that
provides a person with the ability to live in "reasonable comfort." But
Carrie Sheffield, fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, writes that Wisconsin minimum wage workers will only be hurt by a
minimum wage hike, which actually most benefits those workers already living
above poverty: Raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour
would cost 500,000 jobs across the country. The poor are most likely to lose
their jobs as a result of the law. Only 19 percent of wealth from a minimum
wage hike would go to workers who are poor. Twenty-nine percent of that raise
would go to households with earnings more than three times that of the poverty
line.
At fast-growing Brookings, donors may have an impact on
research agenda. By Tom Hamburger and Alexander Becker
Excerpt: Of all the topics the venerable Brookings
Institution has examined in recent years, legalizing marijuana was rarely high
on anyone’s scholarly agenda. That changed after a November 2012 visit from a
lawyer working with Peter B. Lewis, the billionaire insurance magnate who
during the last years of his life made the legalization of marijuana his
personal mission. Lewis had made inroads in several states, including
legalization wins in Colorado and Washington . But he was
having no luck getting the Obama administration — or congressional leaders — to
support his campaign. He realized, he told his top advisers, that he needed to
“change the groundwater in Washington ”
— and to do that he reached out to Brookings and a few other Washington-based
organizations.
FL: This Democrat Congressman, Worth Almost $20
Million, Receives Food Stamps for His Children
http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/democrat-congressman-worth-almost-20-million-receives-food-stamps-children/
http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/democrat-congressman-worth-almost-20-million-receives-food-stamps-children/
Excerpt: Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL), a sleazy trial attorney
and left-wing loon, was just named the 17th wealthiest member of Congress.
Considering all the inherited money, lobbyists, and shady deals which happen in
Washington , D.C.
Marine Sgt. Andrew
Tahmooressi freed from Mexican jail, immediately returns to US
Bet Obama takes the credit. ~Bob. Now we have to hope the
great state of California
doesn't go after him for having driven through there with guns in his pickup. I'd
like to think even Moonbeam Jerry Brown would decide it's a smart thing to
leave the guy alone, but it's CA, so all bets are off. --Del
Billionaire political
donor Steyer addresses conference, media not allowed in. By Josh Kaib
Excerpt: Tom Steyer, billionaire environmental and political
activist, told members of the Green Alliance here Friday he plans to
remain involved in politics for years to come. In what ways he intended to
remain involved were unclear, at least to the public. The media was not
allowed in.
Obama on Moms Who Stay Home to Raise Kids: 'That's Not a
Choice We Want Americans to Make.' By John Mccormack
Excerpt: During a speech in Rhode Island today, President
Obama called for more taxpayer-spending on pre-school in order to "make
sure that women are full and equal participants in our economy" and
said the following: Sometimes, someone, usually mom, leaves the workplace to
stay home with the kids, which then leaves her earning a lower wage for the
rest of her life as a result. And that’s not a choice we want Americans to
make."
J. Robert Kerrey was a Democratic U.S. senator from Nebraska from 1989 to
2001. John C. Danforth was a Republican U.S. senator from Missouri from 1976 to 1995.
A lot can happen in 20 years. And yet sometimes you look
back and find that for all the apparent change, you are not very far from where
you started. We have had that feeling lately as we look back on the work we did
as co-chairs of the 1994 Bipartisan
Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform. In August of that year, our
commission issued an interim report. Thirty of the 32 members agreed that
“current trends are not sustainable.”
Worth Reading
Excerpt: At a time when the Obama administration is lurching
from crisis to crisis — a looming Cold War in Europe, a brutal Islamic
caliphate in the Middle East and a deadly epidemic in West
Africa — it is not surprising that long-term strategy would take a
back seat. But it raises inevitable questions about the ability of the
president and his hard-pressed national security team to manage and somehow get
ahead of the daily onslaught of events. ... But (Kerry) often seems out of sync
with the White House in his public statements. White House officials joke that
he is like the astronaut played by Sandra Bullock in the movie “Gravity,”
somersaulting through space, untethered from the White House.
Guns
Support For New Gun Control Laws Plummets, Especially Among
Women. By Katie Pavlich
Excerpt: One of the biggest drops in support for more gun
control comes from women, who coincidentally are the fastest growing demographic
of gun owners in America .
In 2012 69 percent of women supported measures like universal background
checks. In 2014, it's just 55 percent. Since 2005, personal gun ownership among
women has increased by nearly 80 percent.
Neighbor Posts Sign “Outing” Man for Carrying a Concealed
Firearm. By Onan Coca
Excerpt: A guy in suburban Rochester , Minnesota Minnesota
law doesn’t allow firearms on school grounds, so Matthew Halleck complies with
the law, as he should. (Ya know what I would do if my neighbor did this? I
would post a sign on my lawn in plain view of passersby with the following
inscription: The Lady Living At
(Address) Does Not Carry a Gun to Protect Herself. Hopefully No Would-Be
Attackers or Burglars Will Take Unfair Advantage of This Fact. Come and
Attack Me if You Want. Would Enjoy The Target Practice. Thank
You. --Don Hank)
TSA Confiscates
Sci-Fi Ray Gun Belt Buckle
Excerpt: In their latest display of insanity, TSA agents at
LAX airport confiscated a belt buckle from prominent videographer Sean Malone,
telling him that the reason was it is “kind of shaped like a gun.” Malone
writes that TSA had attempted to confiscate the sci-fi style ‘ray gun’ buckle
just days before at DCA airport in Washington ,
but he had managed to persuade supervisors to halt the lunacy before it went
too far.
Ebola and Enterovirus News
Ebola
Maybe I'm too concerned about Ebola. Sure, it isn't
widespread in the US
just now, but I can't help but notice that it has been contracted by people
with the best possible training and protection. Additionally, people are lying
about their travels and contacts when they arrive here, and I don't see a clear
story about how it is spread. I'm told one thing, and then another. The best I
can figure is that if you have been near it, you owe us a quarantine. Yes...
I appreciate your sacrifice in the name of humanity, but am not willing to
sacrifice in the name of your carelessness; call it the cost of doing business.
Because WHEN you are wrong, and someone WILL be wrong, I will need more than just
'I'm sorry.' --George
Obama’s Border Policy
Fueled Epidemic, Evidence Shows
The deadly EV-D68 Enterovirus epidemic, which struck
thousands of kids this fall, was likely propelled through America by President Barack Obama’s
decision to allow tens of thousands of Central Americans across the Texas border, according
to a growing body of genetic and statistical evidence. The evidence includes
admissions from top health officials that the epidemic included multiple
strains of the virus, and that it appeared simultaneously in multiple
independent locations. The question can be settled if federal researchers study
the genetic fingerprint of the EV-D68 viruses that first hit kids in Colorado , Missouri and Illinois to see if they are close relatives to the
EV-D68 viruses found in Central America .
(Article points out: 1. Inconvenient to say POTUS and his open-door shuttling
of diseased "children" throughout US and into schools at beginning of
school year to spread this virus for which no cure. 2. Scientists loathe to do
research to make the links to finger the regime because Dems can control
funding of their research grants. 3. The king rules. Forward. Onward to
oblivion. Detailed examination of the hundreds of US children sickened, some
paralyzed and dead. Get the picture? They want those who live here depopulated,
one way or another....and the global good is more important than the health and
security of US citizens. Sounds like UN project 21.....Barb)
Race Card News
Desperate Democrats
resort to race-baiting to spur black vote
Excerpt: The racially-charged fliers coincide with rising fears
among Democrats that low turnout this year from black voters, who
overwhelmingly back the party,
will result in Democratic loses in the governor’s race in Maryland and in key
U.S. Senate races in Georgia and North Carolina.
President Obama, whose low poll number have kept him for the
most part off the campaign trail this year, has joined the scramble to excite
black voters. He has quietly done a series of interviews on black radio
stations to get the message out to the bloc that turned out in droves for him
in 2008 and 2012.
Excerpt: In comments sure to cascade into regional races
across the South, embattled Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) told NBC's
Chuck Todd on Thursday that Southern racism is to blame for President
Barack Obama's unpopularity. (Bet those "racists" would vote for Dr.
Ben Carson or Condi Rice. ~Bob)
Not to mention Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Ben Carson,
Clarence Thomas, Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley.
Federal civil rights
charges unlikely against police officer in Ferguson
Excerpt: “The evidence at this point does not support civil
rights charges against Officer Wilson,” said one person briefed on the
investigation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the
sensitivity of the case. Justice Department officials are loath to acknowledge
publicly that their case cannot now meet the high legal threshold for a
successful civil rights prosecution. The timing is sensitive: Tensions are high
in greater St. Louis
as people await the results of a grand jury’s review of the case.
Obamacare/Government Healthcare News
Obamacare brings
Democrats backlash, not benefits. By Sarah Wheaton, Politico
Excerpt: And not only did the political benefits that
Democrats thought the 2010 law would eventually bring them not materialize,
opposition has only grown, according to an analysis of multiple polls taken
between 2010 and last month. “There have been backlashes, but never like this,”
said Robert Blendon, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and
co-author of the analysis released Wednesday by the New England Journal of
Medicine.
The True Cost of
Obama Care
Good slide show. ~Bob
Tweet from mateo @stfuworld
Doubled premium to$2800 for fam of 4. No deductible to 8k.
Smaller network & higher co-pays. Eats up my whole pay
My premiums tripled and I now have a 5000 ded. I lost my
doctor. Affordable health ins!! Yay !?
Tweet from Ryan H. @Stings600
My family's annual deductible through my employer's
insurance went from $3000 to $7050 this year.
Tweet from jon gabriel @exjon
We were happy with our family insurance. ACA said it didn't
fit federal guidelines, so it was cancelled.
Undocumented Democrat News
Excerpt: At Wednesday’s debate at Louisiana State
University, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) seemed like she was 100 percent behind a
border fence: ... Now, the Republican National Committee is calling
her bluff. In June of last year, Landrieu was singing a very different tune:
“I voted for the dumb fence once,” she said at the time.
“I’m not going to do it again because I learned my mistake when I went down
there to look at it and realized that we could build two dumb fences or three
dumb fences, and it’s not working.
Excerpt: President Obama’s “prosecutorial discretion” policy
in immigration enforcement claimed two more lives Friday. Mexican illegal alien
Luis Enrique Monroy-Bracamonte murdered two police officers, and seriously wounded a
motorist in the Sacramento
area. The cop-killer had been deported twice, the first time for dealing drugs,
but was living unmolested in a Salt
Lake City suburb with his wife, also charged with the
murders.
Prosecutorial discretion is supposed to mean the kind of
case-by-case prioritization that every cop has to engage in (“I’m not going to
give you a ticket this time, ma’am, but slow down in the future”). Under this
administration, however, it has been used as a pretext for exempting the vast
majority of illegal aliens from the immigration laws.
Religion of Peace News
Excerpt: At least 23 people were killed this morning
when explosions ripped through a bus station in Gombe in
northeastern Nigeria .
Many more were injured in the blast. Gombe's police chief, Abdullahi
Kudu, announced that three suspects were arrested shortly
after the incident. Multiple witnesses saw them drive into the station and drop
three bags filled with explosives before exiting. The bags were placed between buses as they were filling up with
travelers around 9:00 a.m. today.
1 French commando and
20 militants killed in Mali ,
9 Nigerien troops killed in Niger
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/10/one_french_commando.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LongWarJournalSiteWide+%28The+Long+War+Journal+%28Site-Wide%29%29
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/10/one_french_commando.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LongWarJournalSiteWide+%28The+Long+War+Journal+%28Site-Wide%29%29
Excerpt: Jihadist groups operating in northern Mali have
stepped up attacks over the past several months against French troops and UN
peacekeepers operating in the region. On Oct. 29, one French commando was
killed after a fierce firefight in the Adrar Tigharghar mountain range in the
northern Mali province of Kidal Afghanistan war
veteran, was killed when his unit came into contact with "30
Islamists," about 20 of whom were killed in the firefight, according
to the French government. Dupuy is the 10th French
soldier to die since January 2013.
Excerpt: Yesterday, after the US
launched a drone strike in South Waziristan that reportedly
killed a Haqqani Network commander known as Abdullah Haqqani and an al Qaeda
leader, the spokeswoman for Pakistan 's
Foreign Ministry condemned the attack. (Oh, sure now that he's dead he's a
"Good Taliban." Let Allah sort them out. ~Bob)
Airstrikes against
Islamic State do not seen to have affected flow of fighters to Syria
Excerpt: More than 1,000 foreign fighters are streaming into
Syria each month, a rate
that has so far been unchanged by airstrikes against the Islamic State and
efforts by other countries to stem the flow of departures, according to U.S.
intelligence and counterterrorism officials. The magnitude of the ongoing
migration suggests that the U.S.-led air campaign has neither deterred
significant numbers of militants from traveling to the region nor triggered
such outrage that even more are flocking to the fight because of American
intervention. 9when the enemy is walking into your kill zone, you don't try to
warn him off. ~Bob)
Being safe while
isolated. By Caroline B. Glick
http://jewishworldreview.com/1014/glick103114.php3
http://jewishworldreview.com/1014/glick103114.php3
Excerpt: Yehudah Glick has spent the better part of the last
20 years championing the right of Jews to pray on the Temple
Mount in Jerusalem – Judaism’s holiest site. On
Wednesday night, the Palestinians sent a hit man to Jerusalem to kill him. And today Glick lays
in a coma at Shaare
Zedek Medical
Center
Worth Reading : Obama Finally Identifies the Middle East's Biggest Problem
-- Israel
Excerpt: Most people have focused on the name-calling, and
Goldberg keeps a list of pejoratives used by U.S. officials to describe
Netanyahu, including "aspergery." On that front, it's worth noting
that the person repeatedly being called "chickens--t" by anonymous
officials volunteered for the Israel Defense Forces, saw combat and was the
leader of an elite special forces unit deployed on numerous missions --
including the freeing of a hijacked Sabena flight in 1972, where he was shot.
Granted, this may not be so courageous as hopping the Amtrak from Delaware to D.C. each day or rallying the troops at a
fundraiser in Greenwich , Connecticut
Sickening Video: Libya :
Cemetery of British
From the unsigned, forwarded email that came with the link:
In Tobrouk, at the east end of Libya ,
close to the Egyptian border, is a very large military cemetery. There
rest British and Canadian soldiers killed in 1941/42 fighting against Africa
Corps of Nazi General Erwin Rommel – as well as French soldiers in the Bir
Hakeim in 1942. The cemetery today is in the control of Islamist radicals,
Allah’s madmen. Don't be silent about this. After seeing the video, who
would dare say that these are normal human beings? This is a testament to
Obama's belief in the “peace-loving” Islamists and the teachings of Koran. See
this video while you still can!!!
Abducted schoolgirls
married off after conversion to Islam, says Shekau in new video
Excerpt: It is now certain that President Goodluck Jonathan
will never be able to #bringbackourgirls. What a pity! The whole campaign, with
international flavour, has been a waste of time as Abubakar Shekau, the Boko
Haram leader said in a new video today that the 219 girls captured in April
have been married after their conversion to Islam.
Mob stone to death
suspected ISIS member then burn his corpse and EAT him as revenge for series of
attacks in Congo
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2816159/Mob-stone-death-suspected-ISIS-member-burn-corpse-EAT-revenge-series-attacks-Congo-left-100-people-dead.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2816159/Mob-stone-death-suspected-ISIS-member-burn-corpse-EAT-revenge-series-attacks-Congo-left-100-people-dead.html
Excerpt: Witnesses said the young man, who has not been
identified, aroused suspicion on a bus in the north east of the country when
passengers discovered he could not speak the local Swahili language and that he
was carrying a machete.
Sharia law or gay
marriage critics would be branded ‘extremists’ under Tory plans, atheists and
Christians warn
Excerpt: Anyone who criticises Sharia law or gay marriage
could be branded an “extremist” under sweeping new powers planned by the
Conservatives to combat terrorism, an alliance of leading atheists and
Christians fear. Theresa May, the Home Secretary, unveiled plans last month for
so-called Extremism Disruption Orders, which would allow judges to ban people
deemed extremists from broadcasting, protesting in certain places or even
posting messages on Facebook or Twitter without permission.
Islamic State 'terror
schools': Children as young as FIVE trained to fight and kill
Excerpt: Sickening images show youngsters brandishing
semi-automatic assault rifles, tackling assault courses and posing next to IS's
black flag as they learn how to fight and kill.
More than 300 children have reportedly been kidnapped or
brainwashed in to joining terror training camps at the al-Sharea school in
Raqqa, Syria, where they are repeatedly asked whether they want to be a young
jihadist or suicide bomber.
Excerpt: Over the past several days a Hezbollah terrorist
attempted to murder Israelis in Peru only
to have his plots foiled by local authorities, revealed Channel 2 on
Thursday.
The terrorist, a member of Hezbollah's international arm,
was apparently planning to carry out a terror attack on Israeli or Jewish
targets in the South American
nation, particularly locations where Israeli tourists gather.
Excerpt: Jordan
has banned Halloween fearing of a backlash from Muslim fundamentalists who
condemn the festival as 'homosexual and Satanic.' Ministry of Interior
spokesperson Ziad Al Zoubi confirmed the decision to Al Ghad daily. He said all
sorts of activities surrounding Halloween had been banned to prevent a repeat
of the previous two years' riots in the capital Amman .
One in seven young
Britons has sympathy with Isis cause
Excerpt: Isis is riding a
surge of “anti-politics” sentiment among disaffected under-35s who admire the
jihadists’ courage, academics warn.
Maher dings Berkeley
Excerpt: Liberal comedian Bill Maher responded to
petitioners trying to remove him as a commencement speaker at the University of California ,
Berkeley ,
asking “what leg does the protest have to stand on?” “Whoever told you you only
had to hear what didn’t upset you?” Maher said during his HBO program “Real
Time” broadcast Friday, adding that he was still planning to attend the
December event.
*****
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://tinyurl.com/o4nu65u.
His blog of political news and conservative comment is www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com.
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