Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Today's interesting political news and opinion

Update

Dane County Ethics Board hears testimony on complaint involving sheriff. By M.D. Kittle 
Excerpt: Dane County Sheriff David Mahoney was a no-show Monday at a meeting of the Dane County Ethics Board, which took testimony about allegations the sheriff violated the ethics codes. Dane County resident Robert Hall, who alleges Mahoney ran afoul of the code when he appeared in a campaign ad in uniform and apparently using a county squad car, said he testified under oath at the 2 1/2-hour session. The conservative blogger wrote that the sheriff had agreed to the date of the hearing, but an assistant to Mahoney’s attorney said the sheriff was instead at a birthday celebration for his “aged aunt” in Arizona. “I missed a physical therapy appointment to be there,” the elderly Hall wrote in his blog Monday. (Huh. I enter my 70th year on April 15, and suddenly I'm "elderly"? This gave Bonnie and I a huge laugh.. ~Bob)

President Lincoln
Was shot 150 years ago today.

General News and Comment


Excerpt: My translation into English of a press conference given by the top China monetary policy expert Chen Yulu appeared in December of 2014 at American Daily Herald. Mr. Chen showed that the internationalization of the RMB had nearly doubled YOY in 2013 and reported that RMB clearing centers were opening up in major European capitals and in Asian countries allied with the US. Based on such data, he predicted meteoric growth of the RMB, namely, in 3-5 years, the Chinese yuan (RMB) could be the third most widely used currency in world trade, even though at the time it was ranked only ninth. Though Mr. Chen emphasized that China did not intend to replace the dollar in world trade, it would be hard to conclude otherwise from the facts and figures he presented. (I'm currently reading The Hundred-Year Marathon: China's Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower by Michael Pillsbury, http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Year-Marathon-Strategy-Replace-Superpower/dp/1627790101/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2_har?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1429019870&sr=1-1&keywords=hundred+year+marathon It's a terrific but frightening book by a leading China expert for the US Government. China places a very high strategic value on deception and making the opponent believe they are weak and have no intentions of surpassing the. He cites a Chinese proverb from the Warring States period that China's military and civilian leaders use: Wai ru, nei fa--"On the outside, be benevolent. On the inside, be ruthless" ~Bob)


Excerpt: A PAC dedicated solely to stopping Hillary Clinton from becoming president launched a new ad campaign in important primary states Tuesday, slamming Clinton for a “legacy” of corruption and scandal. (Good ad, but the story of her being fired has been debunked. See next article. ~Bob)

Snopes says the story about Hillary being fired is false
Excerpt: A pair of articles published during Hillary Clinton's run for the presidency in 2008, one by Northstar Writers Group founder Dan Calabrese and one by Jerry Zeifman himself, asserted that Zeifman was Hillary's supervisor during the Watergate investigation and that he eventually fired her from the investigation for "unethical, dishonest" conduct. However, whatever Zeifman may have thought of Hillary and her work during the investigation, he was not her supervisor, neither he nor anyone else fired her from her position on the Impeachment Inquiry staff (Zeifman in fact didn't have the power to fire her, even had he wanted to do so), and his description of her conduct as "unethical" and "dishonest" is his personal, highly subjective characterization (and the "facts" on which he bases that characterization are ones that he has contradicted himself about on multiple occasions). (For those who think Snopes is a left wing conspiracy, despite their many defenses of Sarah Palin, Truth or Fiction says much the same. http://www.truthorfiction.com/clinton-watergate/ ~Bob)

MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell: ‘Everybody In The Media’ Being ‘Used’ By Hillary [VIDEO]
Excerpt: “This is their attempt to show her as the average person, relating to average everyday people as did her video, trying to show she can cross the country,” Mitchell responded, referring to Clinton’s 2016 announcement video. “It’s a deliberate, very well-orchestrated attempt,” she continued. “Everybody in the media are being used in this regard.”

How long can Hillary Clinton hide? By Jennifer Rubin 
Excerpt: The most dramatic contrast between Hillary Clinton and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) may not have been in their announcements, although Rubio’s live and inspiring speech was certainly different from a polished video in which Clinton barely appeared. The real difference, and the challenge, for Clinton came afterward.

Hillary Clinton's road from riches: The van trip was great political theater, but it reflects a deeper tension in her message. By Glenn Thrush
Excerpt: Clinton’s new campaign manager, Robbie Mook, has instructed his staff to adopt a humble, underdog’s posture, but it’s been hard for Clinton and her rich, powerful family to shake off some of their gold rust. As the new candidate was rumbling across the gritty byways of Pennsylvania, Indiana and Ohio — stopping to gas up and scarf Chipotle — daughter Chelsea was gracing the cover of Elle in pricey Cartier jewelry, her hair blown into a glamorous corona by a wind machine. And Clinton’s friends told The Associated Press that the former first lady had made her final decision to run while vacationing at the waterfront mansion of her dear friend, the fashion designer Oscar de la Renta.

Hillary's Social Media Campaign Toppled by Young Black Republican. #WhyImNotVotingForHillary. By Trey Sanchez 
Excerpt: Markeece Young, known by his Twitter handle @YoungBLKRepub, is a 19-year-old self-confessed "Democrat-turned-Conservative" who single-handedly took down the social campaign of Hillary Clinton's bid for president. Young created the hashtag #WhyImNotVotingForHillary on Twitter, which quickly rose above "Hillary Clinton" as the number-one trend in America.

Hillary!, the War Cheerleader
Excerpt: When Hillary Clinton is asked about going to war, she’s almost always in favor of it. Cato Institute vice president Gene Healy evaluates Clinton’s war record.

Rubio's Roots Make Him Ripe for a Run
Excerpt: “Before us now is the opportunity to author the greatest chapter yet in the amazing story of America,” Rubio declared. “But we can’t do that by going back to the leaders and ideas of the past.” This was a not too subtle jab at Hillary Clinton, who Rubio later mentioned more directly as the wrong choice for America. “Just yesterday,” he said, “a leader from yesterday began a campaign for president by promising to take us back to yesterday. Yesterday is over, and we are never going back.”

Captain America: Marco Rubio Has a Story to Tell
Excerpt: And Marco Rubio most definitely has a story to tell. It’s a story that doesn’t require checking off the Cherokee Indian nationality box on Harvard application for him to tell it. His upbringing by blue collar immigrant parents is the story Barack Obama wishes he could sell during his immigration march. Rubio’s father worked and raised him on a bartender’s tips and his mother, a hotel maid, two people today that Hillary Clinton would describe as simple servants. Marco Rubio’s rise is an American story, and a country searching for a new star as opposed to an old face, is primed to listen if he tells it right. He comes off like the Matt Damon character in The Adjustment Bureau. Always on an upward trajectory, becoming successful by the sheer force of his magnetic personality and the sense that higher powers are guiding his way. But there’s also trepidation that comes along with him.

Wisconsin: Chief Justice doesn’t seem to be following amendment opinion she wrote. By M.D. Kittle
Excerpt: Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson wrote the defining opinion on how Wisconsin constitutional amendments must be implemented. Now Abrahamson, facing an end to her long tenure as the high court’s leader, wants to change the rules of the game. (for Liberals, the laws and constitution say whatever they want them to say on a given day. ~Bob)

The New Inquisition. By Thomas Sowell 
Excerpt: How long will this country remain free? Probably only as long as the American people value their freedom enough to defend it. But how many people today can stop looking at their electronic devices long enough to even think about such things? Meanwhile, attempts to shut down people whose free speech interferes with other people's political agendas go on, with remarkably little notice, much less outrage. 

Sex, Dementia and a Husband on Trial at Age 78
Excerpt: Henry Rayhons, 78, has been charged with third-degree felony sexual abuse, accused of having sex with his wife in a nursing home on May 23, 2014, eight days after staff members there told him they believed she was mentally unable to agree to sex. It is rare, possibly unprecedented, for such circumstances to prompt criminal charges. Mr. Rayhons, a nine-term Republican state legislator, decided not to seek another term after his arrest. There is no allegation that Mrs. Rayhons resisted or showed signs of abuse. And it is widely agreed that the Rayhonses had a loving, affectionate relationship, having married in 2007 after each had been widowed. They met while singing in a church choir. (Complex case. If two people are drunk, can both consent to sex? How drunk? Can people with mental deficiencies consent to sex" (They used to be called "retarded" in a PC reform from "feeble-minded," which earlier was a PC reform from "idiot" or "moron.") I've been told by caregivers they have sex and no one does anything. ~Bob)

Empty Ebola Clinics in Liberia Are Seen as Misstep in U.S. Relief Effort
Excerpt: As bodies littered the streets and the sick lay dying in front of overwhelmed clinics last year, Obama ordered the largest American intervention ever in a global health crisis, hoping to stem the deadliest Ebola epidemic in history. But after spending hundreds of millions of dollars and deploying nearly 3,000 troops to build Ebola treatment centers, the United States ended up creating facilities that have largely sat empty: Only 28 Ebola patients have been treated at the 11 treatment units built by the United States military, American officials now say. (Like so many government program, Fiscally Foolish, Politically Perspicacious. ~Bob

How high taxes and regulation are killing one of the most prosperous states in the nation
Elections have consequences: Upstate New York is becoming Detroit with grass. Binghamton, New York — once a powerhouse of industry — is now approaching Detroit in many economic measures, according to the U.S. Census. In Binghamton, more than 31 percent of city residents are at or below the federal poverty level compared to 38 percent in Detroit. Average household income in Binghamton at $30,179 in 2012 barely outpaces Detroit’s $26,955. By some metrics, Binghamton is behind Detroit. Some 45 percent of Binghamton residents own their dwellings while more than 52 percent of Detroit residents are homeowners. Both “Rust Belt” cities have lost more than 2 percent of their populations. Binghamton is not alone. Upstate New York — that vast 50,000-square mile region north of New York City — seems to be in an economic death spiral.

We're All Welfare Queens Now
Excerpt: Mr. Brattin is only half-right about the food stamp program's original intent. Feeding people was only one side of the equation back in 1939. The other side was to help farmers sell "surplus" food. That's why, even today, the U.S. Agriculture Department administers food stamps. Was that food truly "surplus"? Free-market economics 101 says no. The fact that a market-clearing price is below the level farmers think they deserve does not mean the market failed. It means the farmers overproduced. Programs that encourage overproduction deliver no net benefit to society.

Worth Reading: More Americans Give Up Looking for Work. By Diana Furchtgott-Roth
Excerpt: The March jobs numbers, released on Friday, were disappointing not only for the lower level of job creation, but for the continued decline in the labor force participation rate, the share of Americans who are working or looking for work. The participation rate is now at 62.7 percent, equivalent to February 1978 levels. ... With broader eligibility for government-provided food stamps, health care, and disability benefits, it has become more advantageous for some people to stay home than to work. At the same time, increases in the minimum wage and burdensome regulations have made it harder for employers to hire. The combination has led to fewer Americans working, slower GDP growth, and more pressure on the federal deficit and entitlement programs. (If you want more of something, like drop out workers, subsidize it. If you want less of something, like employment, punish employers. Duh. ~Bob)

Bank Rolled: How Foreign Airlines Win Big With Government Subsidies and US Taxpayer-Backed Loans. By Melissa Quinn
Excerpt: A trio of domestic airlines have joined forces to criticize competitors in the Persian Gulf that allegedly received billions in government subsidies. And that’s not the only government benefit given to these foreign airlines. The foreign airlines also benefited from billions in loans and loan guarantees from the Export-Import Bank over the years.

VA Officials Retaliate Against Whistleblowers by Illegally Accessing Their Medical Records. By Pete Kasperowicz
Excerpt: An official at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel said Monday that Department of Veterans Affairs officials are known to be retaliating against VA whistleblowers by illegally going through their medical records, in an apparent attempt to harass and discredit these whistleblowers. This surprising testimony from Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner was delivered at a House Veterans Affairs subcommittee hearing, which was called to discuss the problems whistleblowers face when they try to expose the ongoing failure of the VA to provide medical care to veterans.

Legislators Explode At The VA Over Continued Retaliation Against Whistleblowers
Excerpt: Since Robert McDonald has taken over as Veterans Affairs Secretary, one of his main priorities has been to crackdown on whistleblower retaliation. Three whistleblowers from across the country said that he hasn’t done enough. Lawmakers sitting on the House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee on oversight and investigations exploded at officials from the VA and the Office of Special Counsel on Monday for dodging questions and failing to take the problem of retaliation in a serious and sober manner.

Obama to remove Cuba from state sponsor of terror list
Excerpt: President Obama is removing Cuba from a list of countries that sponsor terrorism, the White House said Tuesday. The president took the formal step of submitting to Congress the requisite report and certifications indicating the administration’s intent to rescind Cuba’s State Sponsor of Terrorism designation. (The Obama Doctrine: Aid enemies, alienate allies. ~Bob)

Gun News


In case you can’t read it, it says, “My guns will never be illegal . . . just undocumented.” -- Jim Geraghty, Morning Jolt http://www.nationalreview.com/newsletters

3 Thugs Rob Woman Headed Home From Work… Learn Painful Lesson
Excerpt: An Indianapolis woman by the name of Crystal arrived home late one night after work and a trip to the grocery store, only to be confronted by a trio of thugs who thought they picked an easy target. After Crystal drew the handgun her father urged her to carry for self-defense and opened fire on the group of thugs, it’s safe to say they were full of regrets.

Race Card News

Black Judge Lets Black Thug Go Free, Then Accuses White VICTIMS of “Racism”
Excerpt: Americans are outraged after a clip of a black judge lecturing white victims of a robbery about “racism” went viral. Judge Olu Stevens of the Jefferson Circuit Court in Kentucky was more concerned about the victim impact statements made by a white family than the fact that a black man had robbed them at gunpoint. The thug was let off with no jail time and simply a term of probation… while the actual victims were left with nothing but a lecture by the judge after the family described the terrifying impact the robbery had on their young child. (Somebody needs to tell the judge that the vast majority of victims of crime by black thugs are decent black people. ~Bob)

Obamacare/Government Healthcare News

The one chart that proves Obamacare really is working (for the fascists)
Excerpt: Since the Obama administration began pushing the healthcare reform bill in early 2009, the stock prices of the Big Five health insurers have done remarkably well, even vs. the S&P 500, and even without taking into account their phenomenal dividend yields.

"You're Greener than Gore" News

Thousands March Through Snow Protesting Global Warming. By Michael Bastasch
Excerpt: The “Gore effect” has struck again, this time forcing thousands of Canadian eco-activists to march through the snow over the weekend, rallying against global warming on a cold Quebec City day.

Possible 2016 GOP Candidate Calls California drought ‘man-made,’ Blames it on Environmentalists
Excerpt: Possible Republican presidential candidate and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina said that environmentalists were to blame for California’s “man-made” drought, the Huffington Post reported. “With different policies over the last 20 years, all of this could be avoided,” Fiorina said on Glenn Beck’s radio show yesterday. “Despite the fact that California has suffered from droughts for millennia, liberal environmentalists have prevented the building of a single new reservoir or a single new water conveyance system over decades during a period in which California’s population has doubled.”

Religion of Peace News

Worth Reading: Don’t Joke About Obama or Islam. By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: If there is one man who represents the opposite of what the Charlie cartoonists did, it’s Trudeau. They took risks, Trudeau takes none. They lived knowing that they could be killed at any moment. There is no person on earth who would bother killing Gary Trudeau even if it was Kill Gary Trudeau Day. Trudeau is that paradoxical creature, the establishment cartoonist, the party satirist, the hack who dares to say exactly what he is expected to say. Imagine NPR in a few black and white sketches. That’s Trudeau’s Doonesbury. Republicans are bad. Liberals are good. And then insert a topical reference. The Polk Awards were the best forum for Trudeau. 

Ya'alon: Russia's S-300 deal with Iran is 'direct result of Lausanne agreement'
Excerpt: Russia's decision to lift a ban on the sale of the advanced S-300 air defense system to Iran is a "direct result of the framework agreement reached in Lausanne," Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said Tuesday, referring to the recent nuclear agreement between the P5+1 and Tehran. Ya'alon said that a storm is raging around Israel, and that Iran is "continuing to arm itself, and arm others." 

Iraqi Prime Minister, in Washington, Seeks Billions to Overcome Deficit
Excerpt: Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq is using his first official visit to Washington this week to pursue billions of dollars in loans and international assistance as his government struggles with plunging oil prices and a yawning budget deficit. (What if China won't lend it to us to give to them? ~Bob)

Nigeria's New President Pledges Effort to Free Girls Kidnapped a Year Ago
Excerpt: Nigeria's President-elect Muhammadu Buhari vowed on Tuesday to make every effort to free more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram militants a year ago but admitted it was not clear whether they would ever be found. (Time to unleash Michelle on Twitter? ~Bob)

Nigeria: Abducted women and girls forced to join Boko Haram attacks
Excerpt: At least 2,000 women and girls have been abducted by Boko Haram since the start of 2014 and many have been forced into sexual slavery and trained to fight, said Amnesty International on the first anniversary of the abduction of the Chibok school girls. Based on nearly 200 witness accounts, including 28 with abducted women and girls who escaped captivity, a new 90-page report, 'Our job is to shoot, slaughter and kill': Boko Haram’s reign of terror, documents multiple war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Boko Haram, including the killing of at least 5,500 civilians, as it rampaged across north-east Nigeria during 2014 and early 2015.

Somali Police Say 8 Die in Attack on Government Office
Excerpt: Ten people were killed on Tuesday in an assault on the offices of Somalia's education ministry and seven attackers were also killed, said a government spokesman.
The fatalities include eight civilians and two soldiers, said spokesman Ridwan Haji Abdiweli.
Police later secured the Ministry of Higher Education office complex, said Capt. Mohamed Hussein, a senior police officer.


Muslim Costco employee refuses to touch pork; sues after getting transferred to different department
Excerpt: Bear in mind that Costco was completely reasonable. The Muslim cashier refused to check out people with alcohol and pork, and so they transferred him to another position. That should have been sufficient. But he is suing. Apparently he wants Costco to have to check-out lines, one for Muslims and one for kaffirs. These demands for special accommodation are everywhere. 

UK: Muslim assaults woman at bus stop, beats her unconscious and rapes her
Excerpt: Just another day in England where Muslim rape epidemics are alive and well. The child sex grooming scandal is no secret to anyone, and is now estimated to have enabled Muslims to victimize over ONE MILLION children across England. Everyone knows the situation in Sweden, a country far more organized and detailed in their statistics than England. Sweden has become the world’s top five rape nations solely due to Muslim immigration. Only Africa beats Sweden in the volume of rapes per capita. In 2013 Swedish authorities reported that Muslims raped over 300 children and 700 women in the first half of the year.

Muslim rapists in Sweden ‘enjoy impunity’: Amnesty International
Excerpt: Listen to former EU commissioner Margot Wallstrƶm LAUGH at Swedish women and children being raped by Muslim immigrant criminals that she and her useless Brussels bureaucrats import into the country in this radio interview held on March 23, 2014. You can hear Wallstrƶm trivialize the rape of her people at 10:10 mins into the interview. This is the kind of people running the political landscape today. Unfortunately we do not have a transcript of the full interview.

Worth Reading: The Interview: Ayaan Hirsi Ali on reforming Islam. In her new book, Ayaan Hirsi Ali argues the rise of Islamist extremism presents moderate Muslims with an opportunity for reform. By Brian Bethune
Excerpt: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, 45, born and raised a Muslim in Somalia, sought asylum in the Netherlands as a young woman wishing to escape an arranged marriage. There she went from cleaning factory floors to a seat in the Dutch parliament. By the time she moved to the U.S. in 2006, Hirsi Ali was already one of the world’s most celebrated and reviled critics of Islam. She described her journeys from Africa to America, and from faith to atheism, in two memoirs, Nomad and Infidel. She has now released her third book, Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now.

PEN Outraged by Confinement of South African Writer Who Expressed Admiration for http://www.pen.org/blog/pen-outraged-confinement-south-african-writer-who-expressed-admiration-rushdie
Excerpt: PEN American Center expressed outrage at the harassment and confinement in a mental institution of South African psychologist and novelist Zainub Priya Dala (ZP Dala) exacted in reprisal for her comments in appreciation of the writing of former PEN American Center President Salman Rushdie.

*****
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:

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