Update
Weather permitting, we expect to be out-of-pocket Saturday,
so posts will be delayed.
I made baked potatoes and Tilapia roll in Oatmeal for
dinner. Came out good, but even though I dip the fish in egg, the oatmeal
sticks more to the frying pan than the filet. I fried it in butter per an
online recipe. Any hints, readers? ~Bob
Old Rag Sonnet--By
Robert A. Hall
This terrific novel about Marines in Iraq and later
at home was recommended to me by Col. Andy Weddington and a couple of other
Marines. I believe this is the author's first novel. A Marine Captain, he has a
brilliant future as a writer. Everything here has the ring of truth. I expect a
Marine to "get" Marines, but his great characterization extends to
the Iraqis in the story, especially their "terp." It is one of those
novels where you have trouble believing these are not real people and you want
to know more about their lives. His description of troops suffering from PTSD
after the war is deft and subtle, not heavy handed. This will take its place in
war novels with Battle Cry (WWII), Body Count and Fields of Fire (Vietnam ).
I can't recommend this tale highly enough. Anything Pitre writes I will read. ~Bob
General News and Comment
Contest- how many can you add to this list? --Del
Good News for Wisconsin
Excerpt: Gov. Scott Walker said Friday he would sign
right-to-work legislation that Republicans plan to fast-track through the state
Legislature beginning next week. (Of course, the danger is that Union votes, money and bully boys might support the
Democrat candidate this time. Ha. I crack me up. ~Bob)
Giuliani on Obama. By
Jonah Goldberg, The Goldberg File
Worth Subscribing to: So
the question of the moment is whether Rudy Giuliani should be flayed or simply
drawn-and-quartered for saying that Obama doesn’t love America . Naturally, this has led to
Giuliani being called a racist, because the best working definition of racism
in America
today is any criticism of Obama that stings. Kevin Williamson runs through
the highlights of what is, by now, a pretty old argument.
My own view isn’t so much that Giuliani is right, but that he’s not exactly
wrong either. Look, it was like a week ago that we were talking about Obama’s
inability to criticize the Islamic State without first going out of his way to
flagellate the West and America
over the Crusades, the Inquisition, slavery, and Jim Crow. Is it really so
crazy to think a guy who feels compelled to warn his own countrymen not to get
on their “high horse” about child rapists and slavers (who are also beheading
and/or immolating and/or burying alive Americans, Christians, Yazidis, and
fellow Muslims) might subscribe to an, um, unconventional form of patriotism? (Personally,
I think looking down your nose at men who do such things doesn’t require a high
horse, or even a pygmy horse, or even any horse at all. A syphilitic
kleptomaniacal dwarf with a penchant for peeing the lyrics of “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” on your grandmother’s antique
bedspread, living at the bottom of a deep well in Death
Valley , could still judgmentally look down on such savages
without apology and from a great height.)
Excerpt: Ever since the 2008 campaign, many voters, and some
journalists too, have felt they know Barack Obama's life story. In fact, the
story they know is the one Obama told them. ... Obama had a lot of Pakistani
friends; Maraniss writes that if Obama and his girlfriend socialized as a
couple, "it was almost always with the Pakistanis." Obama appeared to
identify with his friends as fellow non-Americans. "For years when Barack
was around them, he seemed to share their attitudes as sophisticated outsiders
who looked at politics from an international perspective," Maraniss
writes. "He was one of them, in that sense." But Obama was ambitious.
Appalled by the "dirty deeds" of "Reagan and his minions"
(as he wrote in "Dreams from My Father"), Obama became increasingly
interested in, as Maraniss writes, "gaining power in order to change
things." He couldn't do that as an international guy hanging around with
his Pakistani friends; he needed to become an American.
Chris Christie losing
home-state donors as Jeb Bush makes inroads
Excerpt: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is rapidly losing
support among some of his most prominent home-state donors and power brokers,
who are either hesitant to back him or shifting allegiance to former Florida
governor Jeb Bush. Bush’s aggressive moves to lock up the Republican Party’s
premier fundraisers threaten to undercut the Garden State
NYT Editorial: Separate Philanthropy From Political
Clout. Hillary Clinton Should Ban Foreign Donors to the Clinton
Excerpt: Since its inception in 2001, it has raised
nearly $2 billion in cash and pledges with millions more flowing in
from an impressive array of donors, including foreign governments, financial
chieftains and domestic donors, many of the latter political heavyweights. All
of which underlines the need for Hillary Rodham Clinton, in her all but
certified role as a Democratic presidential candidate, to reinstate the
foundation’s ban against foreign contributors, who might have matters of
concern to bring before a future Clinton administration. This was a restriction
Mrs. Clinton worked out with the Obama administration to allay concerns of
potential conflict of interest when she became secretary of state in 2009.
Must Read: A Stupid and Sleazy Clinton
Decision: If Hillary Clinton wants to be president, the Clinton
Excerpt: This is sleazy and stupid. Just as Hillary Clinton
is getting ready to run for president again, her family's charitable foundation
secretly lifted a ban on accepting money from foreign governments. The Wall
Street Journal discovered the
ethical breach during a search of donations of more than $50,000 posted on the
foundation's online database. "Recent donors include the United Arab Emirates , Saudi
Arabia , Oman ,
Australia , Germany , and a
Canadian government agency promoting the Keystone XL Pipeline," reported
James V. Grimaldi and Rebecca Ballhaus. ... This is sleazy because her
foundation takes money from countries that fund terrorism. A Wikileaks
cable quoted then-Secretary
of State Clinton saying, "Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most
significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide." The United Arab Emirates
also was implicated in the memo.
True: In Defense of Fahrenheit
Excerpt: Che Guevara’s daughter Aleida is in Canada this
week whooping up president Obama’s opening to the Stalinist regime her father
co-founded, and saying he’d
certainly approve.
She’s absolutely correct. Aside from her father, few people
knew from first-hand experience how easily U.S. officials can be
snookered. (Ah, Che, tee-shirt hero to generations of left wing college
students who know nothing about him. See: "The Real Che Guevara." http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2009/02/the_real_che_gu.html
~Bob)
Excerpt: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker dominates
a crowded field of GOP White House contenders with 24 percent of Republicans,
but former first lady Hillary shows general election strength head-to-head
against Walker and others, according to a Feb. 12-`13 Townhall/Gravis poll of
969 registered Iowa voters.
Gun News
Response on "Marines Considering Hollow Points."
Interesting note, as usual good stuff! The issue on hollow
point ammunition is based on the International Law of Land Warfare
Prohibition on small arms projectiles designed to intentionally increase wound
damage. The interpretation restricts use of spire point, hollow point, e.g.
9mm, 45cal or flat point like 30-30 hunting ammo. However, there are different
hollow point designs. There is the hollow point for hunting where there are 6
cut folds that expand to double caliber on impact. There are banned for combat.
The second hollow point is a ballistic hollow point where there is a small, cut
in the bullet tip, visible, with a depth of only a few millimeters and
does not penetrate the core of the bullet. This ballistic hollow point
provides, a supersonic stability wave that helps long axis stability. This
also aids in overall xyz axis relative to differences in center of form to
center of mass differences. The addition of a boat tail designs add to the
stability. The classic design is the Sierra 168 gr. BTHP, used in 30-06, .308
Win., this is the world standard for the design. Most commercial Match ammo
uses this bullet. There is a 200 gr, BTHP that is perfect for the .300 Win.
Mag., a 5.56 mm BTHP match bullet. The match BTHP bullets do not expand, I deer
hunt with them, hole in is hole out. Because the HP is ballistic design for
accuracy and does not increase wound damage, they are legal for combat. There
is a DOD legal opinion, back in 1990's that states the bullet is legal for US snipers.
Part of the opinion was that being more accurate, there was less risk of
hitting a non-combatant. I have to dig in the files and find the opinion, but
sure we could research the point. I'll get it to you, definitely agree with you
to let our Marines use the best match ammo for combat. Also best weapons
of choice for the situation. We should be using an ammunition round similar to
the soviet 7.62x39mm, but improved near the germen 8mm Kurtz. This will change
the weapon selection and designs. Semper Fi, --John. Thanks, John, clearly you
know far more than I on the subject, not that that's a high bar. But OI get
educated daily doing this blog. ~Bob
Second Amendment protects carrying guns outside the home,
but state may require concealed carry rather than open carry. By Eugene Volokh
Excerpt: So the Florida Court of Appeal held Wednesday
in Norman
v. State. It concluded that the Second Amendment applies to carrying for
self-defense outside the home. After Heller I, McDonald, and [recent
lower court decisions], it is clear that a total ban on the public carrying of
ready-to-use handguns outside the home cannot survive a constitutional
challenge under any level of scrutiny…. “A blanket prohibition on carrying [a]
gun in public prevents a person from defending himself anywhere except inside
his home,” and as such constitutes a “substantial … curtailment of the right of
armed self-defense.”
No surprise: Getting a gun legally in Europe may be hard, but terrorists have little trouble
Excerpt: Europe , a
continent long known for the rarity of gun violence, is confronting twin
challenges that give the issue sudden urgency: a growing population of
radicalized young men determined to strike targets close to home, and a black
market awash in high-powered weapons. The problem has been rendered vividly in
recent weeks by a pair of deadly assaults that each paralyzed a European
capital. In Paris and Copenhagen , the attacks were carried out by
former small-time criminals turned violent extremists who obtained
military-grade illicit weapons with apparent ease. (Banning guns stops
law-abiding folks from protecting themselves, but does not stop criminals. Duh.
~Bob)
Video: Masked Gunman’s Plan
Foiled by the Second Amendment — and the Surveillance Camera Caught It All
(GRAPHIC). By Dave Urbanski
Excerpt: But Radcliff had a gun under his white pharmacy
coat that he’d already been reaching for — and he used it, firing three times
at the man, the Gazette reported.
Resident shoots
suspect in the head during NW Houston
Excerpt: Investigators with the Houston Police Department
later said they are still looking for not just one, but two suspects who ran
from the scene. The resident called 911 around 3:30 a.m. Thursday to report
that he had shot a burglar. Officers arrived to the Cherry Creek Apartments on
Hollister at Tidwell and found the suspect with a gunshot wound to the head.
Burglary Suspect
Shot, Dies At Mt.
Carmel
Excerpt: The man who was shot was pronounced dead around
7:00 a.m. at Mount Carmel
West Hospital
Who Needs Concealed Carry: Prototype Quadrotor with
Machine Gun!
This is how impressive drones can be anywhere in the world. Drones are
not toys! They can - and already are - killing the bad guys as we've seen almost
every evening on most national TV news programs. Americans, and the world,
needs to start taking a whole lot more things, attitudes, threats, and
"bluster" much, much more seriously than we have to date. It's time
now for Americans and the world to wake up and start to take up some
serious action, all over the world, and even domestically now, too, to ensure
that things don't get any worse than they already are. --Paul
Race Card News
Excerpt: ...(A) big part of the
problem is a black subculture that rejects attitudes and behaviors that are
conducive to academic success. Black kids read half as many books and watch
twice as much television as their white counterparts, for example. In other
words, a big part of the problem is a culture that produces little black girls
and boys who are already worried about acting and sounding white by the time
they are in second grade. (I used this article sent by Ron. P. in my last post.
After re-reading it, I wanted to highlight it. ~Bob)
Obamacare/Government Healthcare News
WaPo trying to influence SCOTUS: A Supreme Court decision against Obamacare could cost
states billions and billions of dollars. By Greg Sargent
Excerpt: If you want a sense of just how far-reaching the
impact of a Supreme Court decision gutting Obamacare subsidies could prove, new
data on health care signups released this week provide a fresh way to game out
such a ruling’s consequences. ... This provides a way of approximating just how
much money in tax credits each state could lose if the Court rules that way. We’re
talking about enormous amounts of money: Florida
could lose nearly half a billion dollars per month in subsidies to its
constituents. Texas
could lose a quarter of a billion dollars per month. North
Carolina and Georgia
could each lose over one hundred million per month. (And who would save those
billions of dollars? Taxpayers. Especially the children who must pay back the
money they are borrowing to do this. It's not just printed paper from the
government. ~Bob)
Government Sends Wrong Tax Information to Nearly One
Million Obamacare Users. By Katie Pavlich
Excerpt: We all knew Obamacare would make tax season a
nightmare for all of us, and it has, but the government just made it a lot
worse by sending
the wrong tax information to nearly one million customers. The Obama
administration revealed Friday that it sent about 800,000 HealthCare.gov
customers a tax form containing the wrong information, and asked them to hold
off on filing their 2014 taxes. (Will the peasants ever tire of cheering
Emperor Toom Tabard? ~Bob)
Undocumented Democrat News
Democrat Leader
Threatens “Militancy” of Immigrants Now that Amnesty has been Blocked!
Excerpt: Democrat Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) is one of the
left’s leading immigration bomb-throwers, and he didn’t disappoint when
appearing on MSNBC to complain about a federal judge’s decision to block
Obama’s Executive Amnesty earlier this week.
Brass Tacks On
Illegal Immigration
Excerpt: From a guaranteed right to hormone therapy for
transgendered illegal aliens, to a prospective Attorney General saying that
illegals have the same right to a job as US citizens or legal immigrants, the
ongoing sham of the Obama administration’s under-the-radar policies get seen in
the light of day in Bill Whittle’s latest FIREWALL.
"You're Greener than Gore" News
Excerpt: Prior to the year 2000, NASA showed US temperatures
cooling since the 1930’s, and 1934 much warmer than 1998. NASA’s top
climatologist said that the US
had been cooling. ... Right after the year 2000, NASA and NOAA dramatically
altered US
climate history, making the past much colder and the present much warmer. The
animation below shows how NASA cooled 1934 and warmed 1998, to make 1998
the hottest year in US
history instead of 1934. This alteration turned a long term cooling trend since
1930 into a warming trend.
Great Lakes’
failure to cooperate with Al Gore’s doomsday alarmism a sure sign of climate
change, says Bill Nye. By Doug Powers
Excerpt: Almost three years ago, Al Gore shared this dire
warning: http://blog.algore.com/2012/04/71_decrease.html
For a second year since, a playful
Mother Nature has pantsed the Goracle and duct taped him to a wall in
the global warming alarmists locker room:
Religion of Peace News
Excerpt: The public rift between President Obama and Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Iranian nuclear issue is often
described as a personality dispute. But a senior Israeli official argued this
week that the break has been building for more than two years and reflects a
deep disagreement about how best to limit the threat of a rising Iran . Yuval Steinitz , Israel Iran
as a threshold nuclear-weapons state, and that the one-year breakout time
sought by Washington
wasn’t adequate. And he stressed that these views aren’t new.
WATCH: Why These
Shocked Military Experts Just Accused Obama’s Military Of ‘Aiding’ ISIS
Excerpt: Using words such as “absurd,” “preposterous” and
“bewildering,” military experts, lawmakers and legal analysts reacted with dismay to the Pentagon’s detailed
announcement of a planned assault to retake the key Iraqi city of Mosul from Islamic State
terror fighters.
Excerpt: To reemphasize a point Katie
made earlier: I suppose Uncle Sam could have sent a telegram, but if your
goal is to tell your enemies when and where you’re coming, this:
An Iraqi and Kurdish military force of some 20,000 to 25,000
troops is being prepared to recapture the city of Mosul from Islamic State fighters, probably
in the April-May time frame, an official at the U.S. Central Command said on
Thursday. (Dear Uncle Adolf, As you know, we are going to invade Europe . Wanted to let you know we have decided on Normandy for June 5,
1944. But the weather could delay us a bit. Ike will see you there. Your
friend, FDR." ~Bob)
Nothing to See Here, Nothing at All. By Jonah Goldberg
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/414116/nothing-see-here-nothing-all-jonah-goldberg
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/414116/nothing-see-here-nothing-all-jonah-goldberg
Excerpt: Indeed, the just-concluded White House summit on
“Countering Violent Extremism” is a perfect example of the rhetorical and
logical cul-de-sac President Obama has crashed into. It was a
community-organizing confab dedicated to a problem the
community-organizer-in-chief refuses to acknowledge exists. He found himself
arguing that Islamic terrorism is an oxymoron, like “jumbo shrimp” or “good
flan.” “No religion is responsible for terrorism,” the president proclaimed,
“people are responsible for violence and terrorism.” (Call me a RINO, Jonah,
but I love Flan. Can't eat it due to steroid induced diabetes from my lung
transplant, but its good. ~Bob)
Obama's First War: Car bomb blasts hit easternLibya
Obama's First War: Car bomb blasts hit eastern
Excerpt: Militants loyal to the Islamic State said three
suicide car bombers staged attacks in eastern Libya on Friday, killing at least
35 people in apparent retaliation for Egyptian airstrikes following the mass
beheadings of Christian migrant workers. (remember when Libya was
stable, gave up nukes and stopped attacking us? Before Obama? ~Bob)
Boko Haram crisis:
Nigerian abductees reunited with families
Excerpt: A group of 158 women and children abducted by Boko
Haram militants in north-eastern Nigeria in December have been
reunited with their families. They were kidnapped during a raid on Katarko
village in Yobe state and spent about a month in captivity. The circumstances
of their release are unclear but they were eventually handed over to the state
authorities for counselling and rehabilitation. (No doubt Obama will claim it
was because of Michelle's #BringBackOurGirls
hashtag sign. ~Bob)
Wish I was on the jury: New York Jury Could Hit PA in
Pocketbook and Beyond
Excerpt: Deliberations are expected to be underway today in
a civil lawsuit brought by American victims of Palestinian terrorist attacks
during the second Intifada. The Palestinian Authority (PA) could face $1 billion in damages to the victims'
families and survivors of the attacks if jurors find that it, along with the
Palestine Liberation Organization and its branches, encouraged its people to
carry out attacks on Israeli civilians. The attacks took place between 2001-04
and include shooting attacks on public streets and bombings targeting buses and
a Hebrew University
Excerpt: In a recent speech, the deputy chairman of the
party that rules Turkey
claimed that the opponents of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) were
"enemies of Turkey ."
This statistic means there are over 40 million Turkish enemies of Turkey living in Turkey . (Extreme. In the US , they just
call opponents of the administration racists and potential terrorists. ~Bob)
Excerpt: Left wing open door policies aided by a vocal
Far-Left Fascists, the country has welcomed countless Muslims to its land
without any consideration of the ethnic make up of its people, traditions and
rule of law. Now Sweden
is at a crossroads and some predict it will become the first nation in the
North to fall to a vocal Islamic majority. Sweden witnessed riots last
year in Muslim enclaves where African and Middle Eastern Muslims mixed
with ones born in the country. Police and fire crews were attacked. And as you
guessed the Swedish authorities response was to throw large sums of money into
these areas.
Un-Islamic? ISIS
name giving terror license to loose, growing network of offshoots. By Barnini
Chakraborty
Excerpt: Islamic State "affiliates" seem to be
emerging at an alarming rate, giving the sense of an expanding terror network
with satellites all over the world. But a closer look, according to analysts,
shows these ISIS offshoots are likely
operating without much coordination with the Islamic State core. It doesn't
make them any less dangerous, but helps explain how a group President Obama
described just one year ago as "JV" has established a presence in
nearly a dozen countries. (Funny how a group that Obama and Kerry have
determined is "Un-Islamic" is using slaughter and Qur'an quotes to
attract tens of thousands of Muslims worldwide to their Jihad. ~Bob)
Important: Shedding Blood For
Allah: Pew Study Says More Than 350 Million Muslims Support Violent Jihad
Excerpt: A majority of Muslims in
Asia, Africa and the Middle East favored sharia law being adopted as the law of
their countries, with the highest support recorded in Afghanistan at
99 percent. ... Finally, to Pew’s credit, it didn’t ignore the elephant in the
room: The survey found the global median for Muslims opposed to violence in the
name of Islam was 72 percent. Marvelous. (350 million is a lot of jobs for
Obama to get for them. ~Bob Check out the percentages of Muslims who support
Sharia Law, and extremist actions. It doesn't matter that over 350 million out
of 1.3 billion fall in this category. They are in charge and growing fast.
Numbers far exceeds enemies during both WWI & II. Safe to say we are
entering WWIII, but not yet obvious to this Administration. --Geoffrey Higginbotham ,
Major General, USMC, Ret.
Is Obama being played
by ISIS ? A discussion with Clare Lopez from
the Center for Security Policy
Ms. Lopez manages the Center’s counterjihad and shariah
programs, bringing with her also an expertise on Iran , Hezbollah, and southern
border issues. From 2010-2014, she was a Sr. Fellow with the Center. Lopez
began her professional career as a CIA operations officer and later applied her
national security expertise as a consultant, intelligence analyst, and
researcher in various contract positions within the defense sector. She has
been an instructor for military intelligence and Special Forces students and lectures
widely on Iran ,
Islam, and the Muslim Brotherhood around the country. Earlier an advisor to EMP
Act America, in February 2012 Ms. Lopez was named a member of the Congressional
Task Force on National and Homeland Security, which focuses on the Electro-Magnetic
Pulse (EMP) threat to the nation and is a member of the Center’s Secure the
Grid Coalition. --Quang Nguyen
Satire: "Jobs for Jihadists" Applications
Flood State Department
http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/02/jobs-for-jihadists-applications-flood-state-department/
http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/02/jobs-for-jihadists-applications-flood-state-department/
Excerpt: After U.S. State Department Spokeswoman Marie Harf
announced that the long-term strategy in the fight against ISIS
was to create jobs for potential jihadists, countless terrorists began filling
out applications. Here are a few examples (along with a blank application for
potential jihadists on the job hunt).
Obama's Success story--Important: Emails reveal
sensitive info left exposed after US
pullout from Yemen
According to the State Department, all was
"planned" when the BO administration decided to flee the Yemeni village.
~Bob. WOW!!! I am totally shocked that this happened. --Don
*****
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://www.amazon.com/Coming-Collapse-American-Republic-prevent/dp/1461122538/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304815980&sr=1-5
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.
His blog of political news and conservative comment is www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com.
Posts
Video: Huge fire engulfs Dubai Skyscraper
ReplyDeletehttp://commoncts.blogspot.com/2015/02/video-huge-fire-engulfs-dubai-skyscraper.html
ps. Link Exchange w/ CC?
Re: the tilapia/oatmeal; you could bake it in the oven on parchment paper. The breading should stick more to the fish than the paper that way. :) Probably 10 minutes (depending on thickness) at 375 should do it.
ReplyDeleteThanks as always for all the news stories, opinion and other media. Appreciate you!
Good Health!
Your fish/oatmeal problem....most of the time this happens when the oil isn't hot enough when the fish is added, needs to sizzle... also once the pan "releases" the fish only turn once. Also use a heavy pan like cast iron.
ReplyDelete