Update
Review of book I recommend: Spies, operatives and
cyberspace
Excerpt: Lazarus Man,
By Chet Nagle.
Robin Hood used bows and arrows to right what he saw as wrongs. Peregrine
Montresor, the protagonist in “Lazarus Man,”
uses cyberspace. The story begins with Montresor plotting
payback to Stavros Sachs,
a billionaire currency speculator who had bet against the Turkish lira, causing
it to collapse and nearly bringing down the country’s economy. Riots ensued,
during which Montresor’s
significant other, a daring young woman news photographer, was killed. ... Chet Nagle is a master storyteller.
He creates believable characters and gives their settings verisimilitude. He
knows, in detail, the towns, cities, terrain and customs of which he is
writing. “Lazarus Man” will leave you
pleasantly exhausted. (The Washington
Times finally caught up to the Old Jarhead Blog, as I had read and
recommended Lazarus Man a few posts
back. ~Bob)
True, this.
I managed to get our taxes done and filed Thursday, always a
relief. Being retired, with one home, we no longer have enough deductions to
itemize. TurboTax says we are due money back. I hope they are right--I didn't
expect it. ~Bob
General News and Comment
The American
Presidency in 2015: Speak Loudly and Carry a Selfie Stick. By Jim Geraghty, Morning Jolt
I suppose we should be thankful the president wasn’t wearing
green lipstick during his wacky video forBuzzFeed.
It’s not a silly time. But we have a silly president.
(Some images of the US Commander in Chief in time of
war. Just a regular guy -- except when he's wearing his Secret Service sunglasses.
Then he is a tough guy. [What does narcissist mean?] --Chet Nagle, Naval
Aviator and former CIA agent, author of Lazarus Man.
CNN Notices that President Obama is Practicing Bumper
Sticker Politics. By Onan Coca
Excerpt: CNN’s Jim Acosta was on the air with Wolf Blitzer
Wednesday afternoon when he couldn’t seem to ignore the fact that the
President’s asking for a new Authorization for the Use of Military Force in Iraq sounded a
lot like Democrat bumper stickers from 6 years ago. Democrats enjoy pretending
that they are “anti-war” but the truth is that they are just as active in the
so called “warmongering” as any Republican is. For example, while Obama points
to pulling troops out of Iraq
and Afghanistan
(not really – because we still have soldiers in both country’s) he has
also used military force in many more countries than his predecessor did!
(This may surprise you but it’s true.) (The problem isn't his using force. It's
that he is so ambivalent about it he takes half measures. Gradual
escalation--as we learned in Vietnam --and
"proportional response" only give the enemy time to grow stronger.
~Bob)
In Iowa
The man the impeachment folks want to be the next president.
~Bob
Little League strips Chicago
Excerpt: Little League International has stripped Jackie
Robinson West of the national title that the Chicago team won last summer after
an investigation revealed it had falsified boundaries to field ineligible
players. In a stunning Wednesday announcement that came months after the
all-black team, whose ages ranged from 11 to 13 years, captured the attention
of the country and the hearts of its hometown, the baseball organization said
it also found that after the league had changed the boundaries, some team
officials went to surrounding leagues to convince them to go along with what
they'd done. (Picture of the Obamas congratulating the team. Cries of racism in
three, two, one... I went out for pitcher in LL. I pitched to one batter, the
count was 3 and 2, and they pulled me. He swung at two wild pitches. Rest of
the time with the oak Valley Phillies, I was a reserve right fielder that they
put in when the game was lost. ~Bob)
Tweet from WH PRESS SECRETARY @weknowwhatsbest
Gov. Scott Walker's college records are under scrutiny by
the media. BHO's records would have been had the media not been told to look
away.
Everlasting love:
Couple, 98 and 101, celebrate 75 years of marriage
Not political, just a nice story and photo. ~Bob
An Era of Bad
Faith Ends. By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: George W. Bush made Jon Stewart. Even Stewart has
admitted that his show came into its own when Bush did. A world in which a
President Gore spent eight years sonorously lecturing Americans about his love
for the trees is also a world in which Jon Stewart would be out there doing
pizza commercials. It was Bush’s victory that took a flailing cable show hosted
by an irritating little standup comedian with more neurotic tics than a
flea-bitten Woody Allen and turned him into the voice of liberalism.
Democrat takes the hint: Oregon Governor John
Kitzhaber announces resignation
Excerpt: When the end finally came, the most ubiquitous
politician in the history of Oregon
had all but disappeared from public view. Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) retreated
from the State Capitol on Friday afternoon and announced his resignation in a
letter, completing the sudden unraveling of his political career. Just one
month after becoming the first Oregon governor to start a fourth term in
office, Kitzhaber became the first to resign because of alleged misconduct, as
he and his fiancée, Cylvia Hayes, continue to be investigated for misusing
their influence for personal financial gain.
How Hillary Scares Off Elizabeth Warren: Her team is famous
for playing mean, and potential competitors are afraid to enter the ring. By John Fund
Excerpt: The Huffington Post average of all polls
shows Hillary leading Warren
by a crushing 60 percent to 12 percent. But it’s not only these polls that
might be keeping her out of the race. Recall that Barack Obama overcame a
similar deficit and went on to win the nomination in 2008.
Excerpt: I’m sure this wasn’t included in the Military
Retirement and Compensation Modernization Commission report, but
apparently, according
to links sent to us by Andy11M, Ex-PH2 and Hondo, the Army has
approved Manning’s trip to the alteration shop; Defense Department officials
said Thursday that the hormone therapy was approved Feb. 5 by Col. Erica
Nelson, commandant of the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas
Tweet from Pat Sajak @patsajak
Another blow to NBC News: Burger King refuses to sell rights
to use slogan, "Home of the Whopper."
Excerpt: We all knew this was coming: liberal attacks on
Gov. Scott Walker for not having a college degree. In 1990, Walker
decided to drop out of Marquette
University Walker ’s
intelligence: (I believe the last President without a degree was a guy named
Truman--who had more courage, and brains in his little figure. Neither
Washington nor Lincoln had college degrees. Only Barack compares himself to
them. Saw a tweet that said Congressman Sheila Jackson Lee, famous for asking
if the Mars Rover could see the flag the astronauts plant on Mars, has a degree. ~Bob)
Media’s
Interrogation of Scott Walker on Evolution Is in Bad Faith: It’s
not about science. It’s about the culture war. By Jonah Goldberg
Excerpt: “I’m going to punt on that one as well,” the Wisconsin governor replied. “That’s a question a
politician shouldn’t be involved in one way or another.” It wasn’t a great
answer, though there have been worse ones. But it was also a bad question, even
though it’s a favorite among liberal journalists in the U.S. , and
apparently across the pond, too. That’s not to say Walker is wrong. It’s a pretty stupid issue
to get worked up about when considering a presidential candidate. The number of
public policies that hinge on whether you believe in evolution — or which
theory of evolution you subscribe to — are few to none. (Why does the Left get
to pick which issues are the benchmarks for “science”? Why can’t the measure of
being pro-science be the question of heritability of intelligence? Or the existence of fetal
pain? Or the distribution of cognitive abilities among the sexes at the extreme
right tail of the bell curve? Or if that’s too upsetting, how about dividing
the line between those who are pro- and anti-science along the lines of support
for geoengineering? Or -- coming soon -- the role cosmic rays
play in cloud formation? Why not make it about support for nuclear power? Or Yucca Mountain
Tweet from Scott Walker @ScottWalker
Both science & my faith dictate my belief that we are
created by God. I believe faith & science are compatible, & go hand in
hand.
Michael Moore blames
Brian Williams scandal on (envelope, please) George W. Bush
EXCERPT: Barack Obama hasn’t blamed George W. Bush in a
while for the ills of the world, but that’s probably because the economy has
finally begun to rebound — if despite, rather than because of, Obama’s
meddling. But that doesn’t mean the “blame Bush” mantra has fallen totally out
of favor. Liberal “filmmaker” Michael Moore evoked it again several days
ago, opining on his Facebook page that Bush, along with Dick Cheney and
Condoleezza Rice, should be held accountable for (wait for it) beleaguered
NBC news anchor Brian Williams having lied! (damn--I guessed Global warming.
~Bob)
The Dangers of
Obama’s Cognitive Dissonance
Excerpt: There are many moments from the past 6 years that
demonstrate the criminal incompetence of this president and his administration.
But for me, Obama’s interview with GloZell––whose claim to YouTube fame comes
from eating Cheerios in a bathtub filled with milk––represents best the
essential emptiness, triviality, and sheer dumbness of this president. Imagine
Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 being interviewed by a carnival geek, and you can
gauge just how low the most consequential political office in the world has
sunk.
Fighting rages in
run-up to Ukraine
Excerpt: Ukraine and
Russian-backed rebels fought fiercely across the east of the country on Friday
despite a new peace deal brokered by Germany and France .
Forced Union Dues
Have Crushed Illinois
Excerpt: The power of the unions is reflected in public
employee wages: Illinois
government employees earn 26 percent more than their private sector peers, in
addition to generous pension benefits. Of course, Sherk notes that such
generous benefits has put Illinois' finances in chaos, and, according to
Bloomberg, Illinois has less than 40 percent of the money it needs to pay its
pension obligations.
Elizabeth Warren takes care of defense
business back home
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/elizabeth-warren-defense-massachusetts-115157.html
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/elizabeth-warren-defense-massachusetts-115157.html
Excerpt: Elizabeth Warren’s standing as a liberal warrior
immune to the influence of Big Business hasn’t stopped her from pushing the
interests of major defense contractors back home. (From left-wing Politico. Wonder if this is a
Hillary-protecting hit job. ~Bob)
LIP Funding and theTallahassee
LIP Funding and the
Excerpt: I know it's all Rick Scott's fault. Tallahassee media tell us
that all the time. The broken, the underserved, the polluted springs, the dead
kids, the rotten prisons. You name it. If it's bad in Florida -- blame the blaggard Rick Scott.
But wait! That's not all this son-of-a-seabiscuit governor has done
to us. Now we find out something that happened in Washington is Rick Scott's fault.
Gun News
Excerpt: Vermont folks love
their guns, and there are very few restrictions on gun ownership – like Arizona , if you can
legally own a firearm, you can carry it concealed without permission from the
State. Of course, the handwringers need to change that, despite the fact that
the feds have said that Vermont
is the safest state in the union in regards to crime. They have introduced
Senate Bill 31 to change all of that, according to the Associated – mainly
by expanding background checks to include private sales that aren’t between
family members. You know, the same thing that Democrats in the US Senate tried
last year in an attempt to open a back door to gun registration.
Woman shoots sex
offender during home invasion
Excerpt: Upon arrival, deputies found Christopher Ray
Foster, 37, of Edgewood , was dead.
Investigators determined that Foster was in the process of forcing entry into a
side door of the home when the homeowner fatally shot him. (Guess she couldn't
find her anti-rape whistle. ~Bob)
Man killed in Owens
Cross Roads home invasion identified
Excerpt: According
to AL.com's news partner, WHNT News 19, the homeowner told deputies Monday
night that at least two men broke into his home, at which time he opened fire
in self-defense.
Excerpt: When officers arrived they found 24-year-old Isaac
Bailey had suffered a gunshot wound and other injuries. Bailey was taken to a
local hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to police. Before the
shooting, police said Bailey entered the apartment with the "intent to rob
the resident of his money."
Race Card News
Obamacare/Government Healthcare News
Government Health
Spending Growth Outstrips Private Sector Growth
Excerpt: When the government gets involve in health care,
what happens to spending? At the NCPA
Health Policy Blog, Senior Fellow Linda Gorman has analyzed public and
private health care spending in the United
Kingdom and in the United States . The results?
From 2000 to 2012, inflation-adjusted public spending on
health care in the United
Kingdom increased by 68 percent, while
private spending increased by 26 percent during that period. At the same time,
the United Kingdom
had a 7 percent increase in population growth. In the United States ,
public health care spending rose 67 percent from 2000 to 2012. Over that same
time period, spending in the private sector rose 44.5 percent. At the same
time, the United States
had a 9.7 percent increase in population. Gorman says public health spending in
the United States includes spending on Medicare, Medicaid, the Veterans
Administration, the Department of Defense health program, school health
programs, the Children\'s Health Insurance Program, workers\' compensation and
more.
Undocumented Democrat News
Tweet from Karon Adams @MilitaryRosary
Illegals-new dem special interest. If they were repub voters
border would be tighter than your backside at IRS audit
"You're Greener than Gore" News
Click on image to enlarge--Have Not Verified. ~Bob
Global Warming:
Rhetoric versus Reality
Excerpt: Are carbon emissions rising? Bjorn Lomborg,
director of the Copenhagen
Consensus Center
Religion of Peace News
Must Hear: Poem and video of Islam
Made by a girl living somewhere in a Muslim country. Very
clear, very disturbing, and of course, if you watch it, you will qualify as an
Islamophobe. Just so you know. --Del
Good: Mr. President, Change Your Medium and Palette.
By Andy Weddington
Excerpt: Mock red (drawing lines in disappearing ink) and
coward yellow (not enforcing red lines) are not effective colors
for making the enemy blue and painting them dead.
Correction to posted article: Marines in Yemen
HEADQUARTERS
MARINE CORPS, WASHINGTON — The Marine Security Force left the American embassy
in Yemen Del
Excerpt: The evacuation of American diplomats, soldiers and
even CIA operatives from Yemen
is stirring deep concerns that the U.S. is losing a vital foothold in
territory that the most notorious Al Qaeda affiliate calls home. The White
House says Defense Department officials remain on the ground and are coordinating
with Yemeni counterparts, but the retreat of most U.S. personnel is seen as a
significant setback for what had been a cornerstone of American
counterterrorism operations. "Bottom line is increased danger to the United States
homeland," House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry,
R-Texas, told Fox News.
US Official: Us Was
Surprised By Collapse Of Yemen
Excerpt: The Obama administration's senior counterterrorism
official acknowledged Thursday that U.S.
intelligence was surprised by the collapse of the U.S.-backed government in Yemen .
Nick Rasmussen, who directs the National
Counterterrorism Center ,
told the Senate intelligence committee that Yemen 's American-funded army failed
to oppose advancing Houthi rebels in the same way the U.S.-supported Iraqi
military refused to fight Islamic State militants last year.
Excerpt: The town of al Baghdadi
in Iraq 's Anbar province
sits close to the Al Asad airbase where over 300 US al Baghdadi in Iraq 's Anbar province. The town,
which is 50 miles northwest of Ramadi, has been under siege for months after
the Islamic State launched an offensive in Anbar last summer and took control
of the nearby town of Hit .
According to Reuters, a district manager said that
"Ninety percent of al-Baghdadi district has fallen under the control of
the insurgents."
Obama’s
Appeasement Crusade: The president’s passive foreign policy is
driven by a belief that America
Excerpt: His secretary of defense says “the world is
exploding all over.” His attorney general says that the threat of terror “keeps
me up at night.” The world bears them out. On Tuesday, American hostage Kayla
Mueller is confirmed dead. On Wednesday, the U.S.
evacuates its embassy in Yemen ,
cited by President Obama last September as an American success in fighting
terrorism. Yet Obama’s reaction to, shall we say, turmoil abroad has been one
of alarming lassitude and passivity.
White House Stalled ISIS Rescue. Foley, Sotloff, and Mueller Died.
Excerpt: The U.S.
government obtained intelligence on the possible location of American captives
held by ISIS in Syria last
year, but Obama administration officials waited nearly a month to launch a
rescue mission because of concerns that the intelligence wasn’t conclusive and
some of it had come from a foreign service, U.S. and British officials told The
Daily Beast. British officials, as well as private security contractors, said
they were frustrated by Washington ’s
hesitance to give the go-ahead for a rescue attempt, which eventually was
carried out on July 4, 2014, by which time the hostages had been moved. The
following month, ISIS began beheading its
American and British prisoners in a series of grisly Internet videos. (Obama's
song follows. ~Bob)
The Obama Song
No Balls at All - Pirate Invasion of Brig Pub
The Real Islam: Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan suicide assault team attacks Peshawar
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/02/movement_of_the_tali.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/2015/02/movement_of_the_tali.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LongWarJournalSiteWide+%28The+Long+War+Journal+%28Site-Wide%29%29
Excerpt: The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan claimed responsibility for today's
suicide assault that targeted a Shiite mosque in the northwestern provincial
capital of Peshawar .
At least 20 people were reported killed in the deadly attack. Four Taliban
fighters armed with assault rifles and suicide vests entered the mosque during
morning prayer, according
to Dawn. Reports of what happened next are unclear. Pakistani
officials claimed that one suicide bomber detonated his vest, one was killed by
security forces, and another was wounded and subsequently captured. Witnesses
told Dawn that one suicide bomber detonated, while three others
opened fire on the crowd. (Muslims killing Muslims for Allah--a centuries old
story. ~Bob)
ISIS Fight: Samantha
Power Can't Foresee U.S.
Excerpt: Samantha Power, the American ambassador to the
United Nations, said on Thursday that the fight against ISIS
will require ground troops, "but they aren't going to be American ground
troops." "You have to get the Iraqis and ultimately the Syrian
moderate opposition groups up so they can fight the fight on the ground,"
Power said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "There has to be a fight on
the ground. You can't do this by air. Everybody acknowledges that." (And
if the locals we "put up" lose? ~Bob)
Excerpt: Among them is New York University, which
has settled into a campus built
for it — free,
thanks to capital from the Emirates and the cheap labor of migrant workers — on
an island called Saadiyat, which is being developed by the Emirates as a
cultural center and a temple to lavish, luxe, yacht-borne life. Nearly 16
months ago, about 3,000 construction workers on the island went on strike, many
complaining that they had not received a wage increase in as long as eight
years. They were making around $200 a month.
Excerpt: Eloïse Lagrenée [fr] has
posted on her Facebook page a
picture by Yemeni photographer Bushra Almutawakel,
illustrating how women could vanish into darkness and invisibility, step by
step, under fundamentalist pressure and the full niqab. It has been shared over
1,500 times.
Op-Ed: Who Was
Kayla Mueller?
Excerpt: Kayla Mueller was a member of the International
Solidarity Movement (ISM)
who spent at least two years working with that terrorist support group. She was
involved in demonstrations against the Jews in Sheikh Jarrah (part of East Jerusalem ) after a 20 year long court decision
recognized the Jews' legal rights to homes they were chased from in
earlier wars launched by the Arabs. She also participated in demonstrations to
interfere with the IDF demolishing the homes of terrorists and
suicide bombers after the courts okayed the demolitions. Just as with Rachel
Corrie, the press tries to paint Kayla as a selfless volunteer helping
poor Arab refugees. She may have helped injured Arabs in "refugee"
camps, but she was working to support the goals of Palestinian irredentists and
to interfere with the IDF on behalf of terrorist groups. As an ISM activist she
was a tool for the worldwide jihad.
Officials: Kayla
Mueller May Have Been Given to ISIS Commander
Excerpt: With the confirmed death of Kayla Mueller, new
details have emerged about the American hostage’s experience in ISIS captivity,
including the belief by some officials that she had been given over to a
commander in the jihadi group. "ISIS
didn't see her as a hostage or a bargaining chip," a counter-terrorism
official told ABC News.
Perilous journey
through the reed-beds of Lake Chad to escape
Boko Haram
Excerpt: The western shore, now under Boko Haram’s control,
is only 30 miles from the eastern coast in Chad . But the journey through a
maze of channels, threading their way between islands and reed-beds, takes
about 12 hours. Only skilled boatmen can make the passage.
Michael Moore's
Favorite War Movie
Where are the atheists? Public School Forces Students
to Make Islamic Prayer Rug, Recite Islamic Prayers
Excerpt: Ron Wagner, who said he admittedly doesn’t normally
pay as much attention to his son’s school assignments as he should, just
happened to read from his son’s world history book a statement which read,
“There is no god, but God. Muhammad is the messenger of God.” (Well, no one
would complain if they taught the Rosary, right? Ha. I crack me up. ~Bob)
JewHatredOnCampus.Org
Excerpt: We are witnessing a resurgence of global Jew-hatred
on a scale not seen since the 1930s when Hitler was making plans for the
systematic extermination of European Jews. Today, neo-Nazi groups such as
Hezbollah and Hamas are making plans to “finish the job Hitler started.” And at
colleges across America
campus organizations such as Students
for Justice in Palestine and the Muslim Students Association support these homicidal Middle
Eastern groups, employing classic anti-Semitic libels in their activism and
intimidating Jewish students while calling for the destruction of the Jewish
State. Because the anti-Jewish, pro-jihad activities of groups such as the SJP
and MSA violate the most basic codes of student behavior promulgated by
university administrators, the David
Horowitz Freedom
Center
Excerpt: As the world reacts with shock and horror at the
recent immolation of a Jordanian pilot at the hands of the Islamic State, it is
well to remember that this particular form of savagery has a long history in
Islam and under the state. The image to right is of Sidhom Bishay, a
Coptic Christian who was immolated in 1844 by local authorities for reportedly
“insulting Muhammad,” the prophet of Islam. Today deemed a saint for his
martyrdom — he was tortured and eventually immolated with burning tar for
refusing to renounce Christ and convert to Islam — his face and body appear
frozen in the same position he died in (he turned his head away from the
pouring tar and his raised shoulders are indicative of the initial shock of
feeling molten tar on his head).
*****
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.
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