General News and Comment
Must Read--Very Scary: Gotland – the Danzig of our time. By Thomas C. Theiner
Excerpt: Last week Russia ’s air force progressed from
testing military preparedness to dry runs for a major air assault. A
combination of transport planes and fighter jets flew from Russia over the entire Baltic Sea to the Russian
exclave of Kaliningrad .
While Sweden didn’t even
manage to get a plane in the air, Italian air force jets flying out from
Šiauliai air base in Lithuania
intercepted and identified the Russian jets. The Italian fighters were
outnumbered 4 to 1. The obvious targets of Russian aggression along the Baltic
Sea, namely Estonia , Latvia , and Lithuania ,
all share a land border with Russia ,
so there is no need to mount a large scale air assault to overrun these tiny
states. But to keep these three nations occupied and oppressed, Putin must keep
the US air force and the US
Navy out of the Baltic Sea . This is why Russia is preparing to assault, occupy and
fortify Sweden ’s Gotland Island Russia
hits a NATO target in Europe , we can sink
every ship they have in the Pacific at a moment’s notice. Hope that bit of
territory they grab is worth half their fleet.” But that, of course, presumes
the United States Navy receives such an order from a commander-in-chief willing
to make such a daring and punishing counter-punch. (In Theiner’s chilling
scenario, NATO action is held up by Germany ,
which keeps insisting on the necessity to “not provoke Russia ,” the need to give Putin an
“off ramp,” and so on. Are we so certain that President Obama and Secretary of
State John Kerry wouldn’t be the ones insisting that the Russian aggression
must be resolved at the negotiating table?) Even if the details are wrong,
isn’t this a broad-brush-stroke vision of what Vladimir Putin would like to
see? A crippled, divided NATO, an acquiescent Germany ,
an Eastern Europe reduced to servitude to a Russian superpower, and a
thoroughly humiliated United
States of America ? -- Jim Geraghty, Morning
Jolt http://www.nationalreview.com/newsletters.
May also explain submarine sightings in the Archipelago. --Andy Weddington)
Worth Reading Putin
Way
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/415835/putin-way-victor-davis-hanson
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/415835/putin-way-victor-davis-hanson
Excerpt: Putin is following a
blueprint that dates back to Philip of Macedon. Nothing that Vladimir Putin has
done in gobbling up territories of the former Soviet Union
is new. In fact, he simply apes every tyrant’s time-honored four-step plan of
aggression. ... From Philip of Macedon to Napoleon, aggressors did not
necessarily have a grand timetable for creating an empire. Instead, they went
at it ad hoc. They took as much as they could at any given time; then backed
away for a bit, if they sensed strong opposition was building — only to go back
on the offensive when vigilance waned.
Worth Reading
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/415843/utopias-jailers-kevin-d-williamson
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/415843/utopias-jailers-kevin-d-williamson
Excerpt: Necessity drives invention. In the field of
military innovation, all sorts of inventions — the Maginot line, the flame
fougasse, trench warfare, the Vickers machine gun — were rooted in the same
urgent necessity: keeping Germans out. War is evil and ugly, but Europe experienced a worse horror when that necessity was
inverted, and the totalitarian movement that controlled half of the continent
decided it needed a way to keep Germans in. And so utopia’s jailers built the
Berlin Wall and any number of similar fortifications. The ideologue may say
that a wall is a wall is a wall, but in the case of a wall, intent matters: A
society with barriers to keep out invaders is protected; a society with
barriers to prevent exit is imprisoned.
True, this: After eight years of Obama, why would the
GOP nominate a first-term senator?
Excerpt: But on the stuff that matters most to
conservatives, Obama did “know what he was doing.” He got the stimulus passed
and then, with a major, major assist from old pro Nancy Pelosi, he got
ObamaCare passed. The parts of Hopenchange that most aggrieve the right were
the parts where Obama was effective; the “ineffectiveness” argument
is more natural to the left, which whines endlessly about all the goodies they
wanted from Hopenchange — cap and trade! amnesty! a public option! — that
haven’t been delivered. “If only he’d spent more time on the Hill building
relationships,” they say, “maybe he’d have been able to forge grand bargains.”
Could be, but that’s certainly not a lament you will, or should, hear on the
right. Also, his lack of executive experience hasn’t stopped him from becoming
one of the most aggressive presidents in modern American history when it comes
to executive action. If he had spent four years as a governor, would he have
stopped short of rewriting America ’s
immigration laws last November? I don’t see why. Would he have taken a tougher
line with Iran
or a less tough line with Qaddafi? Again, I don’t see why. From a conservative
perspective, the awfulness of Obama’s presidency arguably shows that
you don’t need experience to reorient the country towards your vision
of government.
Barack Obama Is A
Very Successful President
Excerpt: We called president Obama’s inexperience the most
dangerous thing about his nomination. We were wrong. The most dangerous thing
was his ability to do what he set out to do.
Character Defines
Character. By Andy Weddington
Excerpt: Yesterday a Marine friend (pardon the
redundancy) forwarded a news story link about Paula Broadwell - the
"mistress" of General David Petraeus - that recently
appeared in the Charlotte Observer.
What's Gone Wrong
With Democracy? By Walter Williams
Excerpt: "Liberty
and democracy are not synonymous and most often are opposites. In Federalist
Paper No. 10, James Madison explained, “Measures are too often decided, not
according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the
superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.” Democracy and
majority rule confer an aura of legitimacy and respectability on acts that
would otherwise be deemed tyrannical."
Voters Feel No Rush
to Make Lynch Next Attorney General
Excerpt: Just 33% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the Senate
should confirm the federal prosecutor from Brooklyn , N.Y.
Excerpt: In a lawsuit filed Monday, three state employees in
Illinois
challenged a law which forces them to pay union dues even when they aren’t in a
union. “Illinois law forces most employees of state government to pay money to
a union as a condition of keeping their job,” Diana Rickert, the director of
media relations for the Illinois Policy Institute, noted in a statement to The
Daily Caller News Foundation.
500,000-Year-Old 'Swiss Army Knife' Sheds New Light On
Ancient Animal Butchering
Excerpt:
A set of half-a-million-year-old stone tools -- including what's being called a
prehistoric "Swiss army knife" -- have scientists going gaga. The
tools were found alongside the remains of butchered animals, such as an
elephant rib bone bearing cut marks (see photo above), at a dig site in Revadimin , Israel
Police Reduce Rolling
Stone's Rape Story to Rubble
Excerpt: Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Police
Chief Timothy Longo told
reporters the Charlottesville Police Department was “not able to
conclude, to any substantive degree, that an incident which is consistent with
the facts contained [in] that article occurred at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity
house, or any other house for that matter.” Chief Longo noted that
a time-stamped photo of the frat house where the alleged assault occurred
revealed the house was practically empty at the time Jackie said the rape
occurred. There was no party that night.
Nine-year-old girl in
record release of South Sudan child soldiers
Excerpt: On Saturday, 654 children were registered with the
U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), bringing the total number of children freed by
the militia group since January to 1,314.
Excerpt: Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch promotes the ban. He
says sex offenders shouldn’t work in day care centers and corrupt politicians
shouldn’t be in government.
A Simple Question. By Thomas Sowell
Excerpt: The two Democrats immediately sidestepped the
question and started reciting their talking points in favor of Hillary. But
O'Reilly kept coming back to the fact that nothing they were talking about was
an accomplishment. For someone who has spent her entire adult life in politics,
including being a Senator and then a Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has
nothing to show for all those years -- no significant legislation of hers that
she got passed in the Senate, and only an unbroken series of international
setbacks for the United States during her time as Secretary of State.
Camille Paglia's Epic
Anti-Hillary Rant
Democrats for a Dictatorial Presidency
Excerpt: Obama has seized power in ways that Michael Barone
has aptly characterized as “Gangsta Government.” Barone was inspired to write his first
column on that topic by Obama’s unilateral denying of creditor rights in the
Chrysler bankruptcy. But it became a series for Barone, and Obama’s future actions
provided the gist for David Freddoso’s superb book, Gangster Government: Barack Obama
and the New Washington Thugocracy.
Tech at Night: Tennessee
While the Net Neutrality power grab got all of the
attention, just as important was the FCC strike against federalism the same
week, that unilaterally attempts to override all state laws against socialized
Internet in this country. Imagine the audacity, to do that without a an act of
Congress or anything. Fortunately at least Tennessee is standing up to Barack Obama and
his lap dog, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, on this. If they could do this, what’s
to stop, say, EPA from wiping out state laws that prevent cities from banning
fracking?
CIA aided domestic
phone spying
Excerpt: A Justice Department program used to gather data
from U.S. cellphones
apparently has a secret partner: the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The CIA
played a role in helping the U.S. Marshals Service develop
technology that imitates cellphone towers, The Wall Street
Journal reported on Tuesday. The system, used on airplanes,
allows federal agents to scoop up identifying and location information for
thousands of cellphones in every sweep. (Called the "dirtbox"
program, per article. Holder and Jeh Johnson have not replied. DOJ doing
ILLEGAL things? From "A Man For All
Seasons by Robert Bolt: William
Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law! Sir
Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to
get after the Devil? William
Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that! Sir
Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned
'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This
country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's!
And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think
you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the
Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!" And regarding
stonewalling by Obama officials: Sir
Thomas More: ... The maxim is "Qui tacet consentire": the maxim
of the law is "Silence gives consent". If therefore you wish to
construe what my silence betokened, you must construe that I consented, not
that I denied. --Barb)
Senators raise new
concerns about CIA-aided cellphone tracking
Excerpt: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chick Grassley
(R-Iowa) and ranking member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) sent a letter to Attorney
General Eric Holder noting that they have “additional concerns” about the
tools, which were reportedly developed by the CIA. The tools, known as “StingRays”
or “IMSI-catchers,” imitate cell towers in order to track people’s
location and identifying information through their phone. ... The spy
agency’s role in the program is unusual, given that it is largely banned from
domestic spying. (Prior articles note that you can suspect a "fake
tower" if your bars fall as you pass it or you lose your signal. You've
been pinged. --Barb)
Ride the Thunder: One
Marine Seeks to Restore Rightful Honor of America ’s
Vietnam
Excerpt: Ride
the Thunder: A Vietnam War Story of Honor and Triumph by Richard
Botkin was published in July 2009. The book "recounts the exploits of the
U.S. Marines and their Vietnamese allies largely responsible for thwarting the
Communist invasion of South Vietnam-known as the Easter Offensive of 1972."
Now, several years later, Botkin is ready to share that story he told in the
book on the big screen with America .
Semper Fi – always faithful – is the Marine's way of life and Botkin wants to
help restore the honor due to our veterans who maligned and scorned and spit
upon as they returned to the United
States . According to the movie's website,
"Rich Botkin's dream, to take back the much-maligned history of the
Vietnam War, and to restore the rightful honor due those Americans and South
Vietnamese who served there, has been years in the making." (This film is
a fantastic work, one so long, long overdue, and needs to be talked about far
& wide. And it needs to be seen by vets, their families, their friends, and
all the people who don't really know anything about the true history of the
war. Please send this out to others. --Del )
Gun News
Fast and Furious Cover-up Rewarded in Appointment of New ATF
Director
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/03/fast_and_furious_coverup_rewarded_in_appointment_of_new_atf_director.html#ixzz3VHdfLOhB
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/03/fast_and_furious_coverup_rewarded_in_appointment_of_new_atf_director.html#ixzz3VHdfLOhB
Excerpt:
For those of us who do not live in the memory hole that shields this
administration from any accountability, here are some relevant facts about
Acting Director Brandon and his involvement in the Fast and Furious
cover-up. According to outgoing Director Jones's sworn testimony of April 2, 2014
before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Mr. Brandon was the
person who determined disciplinary punishments for all of the ATF personnel
involved in Fast and Furious. Brandon
Race Card News
Miss Universe:
Half-Black Miss Japan
Excerpt: Ariana Miyamoto, the first ever biracial woman to
be crowned Miss Japan ,
is fighting off critics who say she “isn’t Japanese enough” to represent her
country in the upcoming Miss Universe Pageant, because her father is black. The
20-year-old speaks fluent Japanese and was born and raised in Sasebo, Nagasaki,
but moved to the United States to complete high school before returning to
Japan to pursue a career in modeling and pageantry. (Send in Holder and
Sharpton. ~Bob)
Blacks Are in Denial
About Obama. By Raynard Jackson
Excerpt: The state of Black America in 2015 is not in
crisis; but rather the state of the “media appointed Black leadership” is in
crisis. This includes organizations and people like the National Urban League
(headed by Marc Morial), National Action Network (headed by Al Sharpton),
the NAACP (headed by Cornell Brooks), and the Congressional Black Caucus
(headed by Democratic Congressman G.K Butterfield of North Carolina). All of
the above groups and their “media appointed leaders” have one thing in common: they
all are vestiges of the Democratic Party. They are all card-carrying members of
the Democratic Party and all of their proposed solutions to what ails the Black
community come straight out of Democratic talking points. The interesting thing
is that these groups and their leadership are totally out of step with the
grassroots within the Black community. (Mr. Jackson is a very sharp thinker, a
careful Conservative, often very critical of the GOP, but always with a clear
vision of what goes on. I really like the guy and wish he were in politics. --Del )
Obama Nominates Retired Coast
Excerpt: U.S. President Barack Obama on July
30 (2014) nominated retired Coast Guard Vice Adm. Manson K. Brown to take
over as NOAA’s assistant secretary for environmental observation and
prediction. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Brown would be responsible for
providing policy direction for NOAA’s satellite, space weather, water, and
ocean observations and forecast programs. Brown retired from the Coast Guard in
May as the highest-ranking black officer in the service’s history. (I assume
he's competent and not more of Obama's Black Privilege campaign. ~Bob)
Obamacare/Government Healthcare News
Medicare Is Doomed -- Save the Patients
Excerpt:
The president promises that
he will save “Medicare as we know it.” He plans to cut $716 billion in Medicare
reimbursements to doctors and to reduce spending through the Independent Payment Advisory Board, Sarah Palin’s infamous “Death Panel”
component of ObamaCare. The former will drastically reduce the services available
and the latter is strict medical rationing. What will be “saved” is not the Medicare
we want, have expected ever since 1965, and deserve.
'Failing Hospitals,
Rising Costs, Unsustainable Business Model' Doctor warns Obamacare 'can't work,
because it wasn't designed to work'
Excerpt: According to the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, health
care costs will consume 31 percent of per capita income by 2022, a dramatic
increase from 7 percent in 1960. Insurance premiums are also skyrocketing, she
said. ... “Five years after Obamacare, as I predicted in ‘Surviving the Medical Meltdown,’ we can see that
Obamacare is nothing less than a planned demolition of our healthcare
industry.”
Undocumented Democrat News
Undocumented
Immigrants Failing To Appear At Hearings Increasing
Excerpt: According to the Executive Office of Immigration
Review, the number of people who did not show after being released on bond or
on their own recognizance grew by 153 percent in the last four years. (Before
you let them go, get the number of their Obama-Phones so you can call the no
shows. Or pick them up at the food stamp office. ~Bob)
"You're Greener than Gore" News
You will be made to care: FEMA To Deny Funding To
States Without Global Warming Plans
Excerpt: Next year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) will start denying disaster funding to states that don’t incorporate
global warming into their emergency preparedness plans. Governors looking for
disaster preparedness funding will have to start reporting on how man-made
global warming will impact their states such as “more intense storms, frequent
heavy precipitation, heat waves, drought, extreme flooding, and higher sea levels,"
according.
No, Being a Climate Change Skeptic Isn’t Like Fearing
Vaccines. By Stephen Moore
Excerpt: National Geographic’s latest cover story generated lots of attention for
comparing climate change skeptics to those who fear vaccinations, disbelieve
NASA’s moon landing, and oppose water fluoridation. The author bemoans the fact
that only 40 percent of Americans (according to Pew Research
Center
Religion of Peace News
A Diplomatic Revolution. By Rich Lowry
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/415853/diplomatic-revolution-rich-lowry
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/415853/diplomatic-revolution-rich-lowry
Excerpt: he socialist government in France usually doesn’t have much in common with
congressional Republicans, for whom both France and socialism tend to be
anathema. But the French, according to a Wall Street Journal report, are taking
the toughest line among the powers negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program and
are alarmed by the Obama administration’s accommodating approach. “Some U.S. officials,” the Journal writes, “privately
believe France is seeking in
part to maintain strong ties to Israel
and to Arab countries deeply skeptical of Washington ’s
outreach to Tehran .”
Iran Nuke Deal Harder and Harder for Josh Earnest to Justify. From The Patriot Post
Iran Nuke Deal Harder and Harder for Josh Earnest to Justify. From The Patriot Post
Josh Earnest ran damage control after Iran Ayatollah Ali
Khomeini responded to hecklers by saying, "Of course, death to America ,"
during a public speech over the weekend. This prompted the Leftmedia to start
asking hard questions about Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran . CNN White
House correspondent Jim Acosta asked Obama's spokesman, "Do those
comments give this White House any pause about moving forward with a nuclear
deal with that country?" Earnest replied, "Those kinds of comments
only underscore why it is so critically important that the United States and
the international community succeed in preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear
weapon." He continued, saying the only way to prevent an Iranian bomb is
through negotiation. But Earnest fumbled when he
said the Ayatollah's comment was only "intended for a domestic
political audience." (What are some things Obama said only for the ears of
people back home?) While the Obama administration flirts with a U.S. enemy, Israel 's intelligence has been spying on the proceedings and leaking information to
Congress. It's an act of self-preservation, which also gives to Congress
information that Obama should have been providing all along.
Barack Obama
And Iran
Excerpt: Thirty two years ago Ronald Reagan introduced his
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) to the world with this quote: “We
maintain the peace through our strength; weakness only invites aggression.”
Derided by the left as being scientifically impossible and having the potential
of reigniting the arms race with the Soviets, “Star Wars” as they called it,
became a sufficient worry for the Soviets that it actually hastened their
demise. ... Given the history of failed treaties from Munich to Moscow , the professor
asked a simple question: “If it’s someone’s goal to kill you, to destroy you,
is it unreasonable to expect them to lie about it in the first place?” (Obama
quoted as saying the US "could
survive another 9/11." Guess he looks forward to it, eh? --Barb. But a
nuclear 9/11? ~Bob)
Run Away, Run Away! Earnest: Yemen
Excerpt: Following a week in which al-Qaeda
killed hundreds of Shi'ite worshipers backed by Iran in twin Mosque
bombings in the capital Sana'a, British
and U.S. military advisers fled the country, and ISIS
announced it was entering what is now being called the Yemeni
civil war, White House spokesman Josh Earnest responds to questions about
whether Yemen is still a good "template" for success in the middle
east. (If Yemen
is a success, what would a failure look like? Oh, yea, Iraq , Libya ,
Syria ...~Bob)
Now that 'treason' charges are in the air
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/03/now_that_treason_charges_are_in_the_air.html#ixzz3VHbzQZyx
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/03/now_that_treason_charges_are_in_the_air.html#ixzz3VHbzQZyx
Excerpt: Only by pretending that Obama’s pending nuclear
surrender is an “executive agreement” rather than a treaty can slick media
liars evade the clear language of the US Constitution. And if the
administration has been lying to the mullahs about the Constitution, their
“executive agreement” has been negotiated under false pretenses. In that case
Obama owes us a sincere apology, and the pending executive agreement has no
force of law.
Graham: Obama
official used 'terrorist' language in speech about Israel
Excerpt: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on
Monday slammed a speech by Denis McDonough on Israel , saying the White House
chief of staff used the same language as terrorists.
"The language used by the chief of staff of the president of theUnited States is
exactly what Hamas uses," Graham said Monday from the Senate
floor. "Today the chief of staff of the president of the United States used
language that has been reserved for terrorist organizations." (Well, duh,
remember, the "sweetest sound" is the Muslim call to prayer,
according to POTUS. The politicians and folks keep trying to see the
"transformation of America "
as something worthwhile, versus a coup from inside infiltration. He has outed
himself in many ways.....and the folks still look like deer in the headlights,
thinking they can cast off this plague in 2016. Not. --Barb)
"The language used by the chief of staff of the president of the
*****
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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