Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Tough WI Election and other important political news

Update

Post-election weather dreary here. Money talked in the Supreme Court race, but the media doesn't complain when it talks for progressives. On the other hand, we passed a constitutional amendment to have the Chief Justice elected by the court, not based on age as is currently the case. This will mean the flow of business will depend on the majority, currently considered to be 5-4 conservative, rather than senility seniority. In the local mayor's race, I voted for the far-left Mayor-for-Life Paul Soglin. His opponent was further left...~Bob

General News and Comment

Excerpt: Justice Ann Walsh Bradley was re-elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court Tuesday, holding off an attempt to expand the court's four-member conservative majority. Bradley defeated Rock County Circuit Judge James Daley, a self-described conservative, to win her third 10-year term on the court. (Necrophiliacs everywhere cheered--she was the dissenting vote in a case the court allowed to go forward against two slugs who dug up a women's corpse to have sex with it. She raised three times as much money as Daley. He worked tirelessly, but in a state wide race, you cannot win on retail politics alone as you can in a local race. You need the cash for TV ads. Where were the evil Koch brothers when we needed them? ~Bob

Taxpayer money fuels big labor’s political machine. By Jason Hart
Excerpt: America’s four largest labor unions spent more than $179 million last year promoting big government, and did so using taxpayer money. Public-sector unions were crucial to the passage of Obamacare, and in 2014 they helped push progressive priorities including minimum-wage hikes and amnesty for illegal immigrants.


Rand Paul Enters 2016 Race: “We’ve Come To Take Our Country Back.” By Daniel Doherty 
Excerpt: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has officially entered the fray. His presidential announcement has been in the works for weeks, and thus no one is surprised by what he said. On Tuesday, at an event in Louisville, Kentucky, Sen. Paul made the case for his candidacy, underscoring a cutting message which was emblazoned across the podium before he spoke: “Defeat the Washington machine.”

10 Rand Paul myths. By Jennifer Rubin
Excerpt: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) kicks off his presidential campaign today. As a freshman senator with no significant legislative accomplishment and a history of association with ideological extremists (his father, for one) and who is thin-skinned and oblivious to the threat from Iran, he bears an uncanny resemblance to the junior senator from Illinois who ran for president in 2008. And like President Obama, he benefits from lackadaisical reporting and sloppy analysis. Let’s take a look at 10 things pundits get wrong about Paul:

The 5 Dumbest Ideas That Have Taken Root In America. By John Hawkins 
Excerpt: Humans are extremely adaptable creatures; so we tend to quickly acclimate ourselves to our circumstances until they become the "new normal." However, sometimes when you have a hole in the bottom of your boat, it's a better idea to try to address it than to just keep bailing water all day long. For example, here in America we seem to believe that...

Russian nuclear submarine 'on fire' in Arctic dock
Excerpt: A Russian nuclear submarine has caught fire at an Arctic naval shipyard, Russian media report. Reports say that the fire on the Orel has been contained. Its reactor is not believed to have been at risk.

Gay Woman Who Donated $20 to Christian-Owned Indiana Pizzeria Reveals Why She Took Bold Stand. By Jason Howerton
Excerpt: A gay woman who donated $20 to Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana, is speaking out about her decision to take a stand in support of all Americans’ right to live their lives according to their beliefs. Courtney Hoffman was one of thousands of people who donated over $842,000 to the Christian owners of the pizzeria last week after a high volume of online threats caused the business to temporarily close its doors. The outrage ensued after the owners told a local news crew that they would happily serve gay people in its restaurant, but would refuse to cater a gay wedding.( I don't get the whole Gays forcing bakeries or food venders to cater to them thing. If I knew that a business had owners who despised Marines, Christians or Republicans, I would not want to give them any business. Never mind the risk that they would adulterate the food. --Bob)

British Jews Overwhelmingly Support Conservative Party in Upcoming Elections
Excerpt: British Jews overwhelmingly support the Conservative Party and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron in the upcoming national elections next month. According to a poll conducted by the Jewish Chronicle, 69 percent of Jewish voters said they would support the Conservative Party, while only 22 percent said they would vote for the Labour Party. Only two percent of Jewish voters said they would vote for the Liberal Democrats or the U.K. Independence Party (UKIP).

Jews are increasingly supporting the GOP. By T. Belman. 
Excerpt: The NYT tries to suggest that Jewish money is inducing the GOP to be more pro-Israel. It titled this article “G.O.P.’s Israel Support Deepens as Political Contributions Shift”. This is the chicken and the egg controversy. They way I see it, after the Republicans demonstrated their support for Israel Jewish money supported them.

Should have used Billery's "secure" home server: How the U.S. thinks Russians hacked the White House. By Evan Perez and Shimon Prokupecz, CNN
Excerpt: Russian hackers behind the damaging cyber intrusion of the State Department in recent months used that perch to penetrate sensitive parts of the White House computer system, according to U.S. officials briefed on the investigation.

Democratic Senate Candidate Invests In Companies That Outsource Jobs, Hide Money Offshore. By Patrick Howley
Excerpt: Since entering the Illinois Senate race last week, Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth has been running a protectionist campaign, railing against her Republican opponent’s alleged support for outsourcing jobs and overseas tax havens. But financial records obtained by The Daily Caller show that Duckworth has investments in companies that use offshore tax havens and ship jobs overseas.

Export-Import Bank Won’t Respond to Information Requests About Ties to Clinton-Backed Consulting Firm. By Melissa Quinn
Excerpt: The Export-Import Bank’s relationship with a politically connected consulting firm has come under scrutiny as its clients benefited from millions of dollars in financing from the bank.
However, a Freedom of Information Act request filed by a government watchdog has been pending for more than 500 days, highlighting the Export-Import Bank’s issues with transparency.

Excerpt: Chinese leaders are in a panic these days. Their economic growth rate may shrink to 6 percent. The U.S. would invade a foreign country to get that kind of growth rate. Our current 2 percent growth rate won't even service our current government obligations. Forbes just reported last month that, if we don't get our GDP growth above 5 percent there's going to be some serious societal upheaval as baby boomers retire and begin collecting social security and making Medicare their prime source for health care.

Gun News

Fatal Home Invasion Shooting in Boyd County Remains a Mystery
Excerpt: Troopers say Gregory W. Coddington, 45, of Sarasota, Florida, was shot by the homeowner after he allegedly forced his way into the home and then got into a altercation with the homeowner. During that altercation, investigators say the homeowner fired several shots from a handgun, killing Coddington.

Police: Suspect shot and killed during home invasion
Excerpt: Police say detectives determined Markese Lee forced his way into the home and exchanged gunfire with a resident inside the house. Lee was shot and taken to Martin General Hospital where he died.

Dad opens fire on home invaders in northeast Harris County
Excerpt: Deputies in northeast Harris County say a father opened fire on three men who smashed in the front door to his family's home. (Black neighborhood, Spanish-speaking invaders. ~Bob)

Race Card News

Book author Joan Walsh Anglund says of Angelou stamp: ‘That’s my quote’
Excerpt: But Monday night, after being told that Anglund confirmed the quote as hers, Saunders wrote in an e-mail, “Had we known about this issue beforehand, we would have used one of [Angelou’s] many other works. . . . " Emily Anglund, Anglund’s granddaughter, said she had no idea that the quote has been attributed to Angelou for several years, or that it is featured on her forever stamp. ...Last year, in remarks at the presentation of the 2013 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal, President Obama attributed the quote to Angelou: “The late, great Maya Angelou once said, ‘A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.’ (USPS and Regime plagiarized Anglund's book of poems, "A Cup Of Sun" http://www.joanwalshanglund.com/about.htm to promote idea "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" to promote black liberation on federal stamp. Nudge, nudge; what laws of copyright? Who cares? Oh, she's white. --Barb)

South Carolina police officer charged with murder after shooting man during traffic stop. By Mark BermanWesley Lowery and Kimberly Kindy
Excerpt: A white police officer in North Charleston, S.C., was charged with murder Tuesday after shooting and killing a black man following a routine traffic stop over the weekend.
The decision to charge the officer, Michael Thomas Slager, came after graphic video footage emerged depicting Slager firing a volley of bullets into the back of Walter Scott, who was running away.

Obamacare/Government Healthcare News

What good is health insurance no one can afford? By Logan Albright
Excerpt: But focusing on one goal to the exclusion of all others can lead to unexpected pitfalls, and now, as ObamaCare turns five, we are seeing that universal coverage is meaningless without taking into account the price and quality of the – now mandatory –insurance policies.

Undocumented Democrat News

Obama’s Illegal Immigration Amnesty Could Mean Life or Death for Unions. By Connor Wolf 
Excerpt: According to Pew Research, about 3.9 million immigrants are estimated to have been eligible for President Obama’s amnesty. The amnesty, which was done by an executive order, was met with praise from the left and criticism by the right. “As American workers increasingly reject unionization, we’ve seen Big Labor make a deliberate effort to target immigrants to bolster their forced unionism ranks, with union bosses spending American worker’s forced dues to do it,” Patrick Semmens, the vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. (Actually, after the coming fiscal and economic collapse, followed by social and political collapse, unions and much else will be irrelevant. ~Bob)

Mexican police killed during ambush in Jalisco
Excerpt: Fifteen police officers have been killed and five others wounded in an ambush in the Mexican state of Jalisco, prosecutors have said. Gunmen targeted the police convoy as it travelled along a highway towards the state capital of Guadalajara on Monday.

"You're Greener than Gore" News

"Settled Science" Quote
The only certainty is that nothing is certain.. Pliny the Elder

Energy Production on Standby Until Crude Oil Export Ban is Lifted
Excerpt: Energy booms, whether from oil or gas, will continue as both technology develops and more resources are discovered. However, each energy boom puts a strain on our existing energy infrastructure. For instance, oil can be transported by truck, ship, rail and pipeline. Pipeline is the safest and most reliable way to transport oil. Even with 185,000 miles of liquid petroleum pipeline across the United States, there is just not enough to transport the huge volume in the current boom. The lack of pipeline has increased transportation by rail and rail accidents during this time, says NCPA senior research fellow Lloyd Bentsen. The recent increase in transportation of oil by rail has increased the number of rail accidents. In 2014, 70 percent of petroleum products and crude oil were shipped by pipeline, while 3 percent was shipped by rail. A recent study by Fraser affirms their safety by reporting transporting oil by pipeline is 30 times less harmful than by train.

Amid a Drought, Cue the Almond Shaming. By Justin Fox
Excerpt: It takes a gallon of water to produce an almond. That’s one remarkable fact. Here’s another: 82 percent of the world’s almonds are grown in California, almost all of them in its agricultural heartland, the Central Valley. Here’s another: Almond growers use about 10 percent of the state’s water supply every year. And here’s yet another: California’s mountain snowpack, the main source of the Central Valley’s water, is at 5 percent of its historical average for this time of year.

WH starts initiative to battle health problems from climate change
The White House argued Tuesday that climate change is hazardous to the public's health, prompting critics of new EPA emission rules to call the argument "scare tactics" that ignore the economic impact of new regulations....But the new initiative distracts the public from the economic impact of new climate regulations on existing power plants, critics say. They argue that the power plant rules at the center of the administration's climate agenda would harm the very people the administration's climate-health initiative seeks to protect. (Chemtrails continued unabated yesterday here. After they got through with parallel lines, they started crosshatching and making X's; continued past sunset into overnight; seen by moonlight. Shades of "Star Trek's 'Tholian Web.'" So, in attempt to "cool" the earth by spraying particles of ???? (reportedly noted to include aluminum, particalized heavy metals and in some places, bacteria and viruses), globally populations are being inundated, lung diseases and respiratory illnesses increasing, early onset dementia on the rise (discounted as increase in elderly population), and who knows what else? Who pays for the Sky Spiders? What is the agenda? Why do most "folks" drive on by with their daily routines and NOT look up and notice this is NOT normal aviation traffic? This does not include Regime assaults on coal/energy, fracking and oil drilling. We are to live in mud/dung huts, eat bugs and join the global community. Then all will be "redistributed." If you live.... As with Communism in practice, this does not apply to those in the upper echelons of the Party of Power, (i.e. with "the mark"). --Barb. Can't say Chemtrails are high on my list of concerns. ~Bob)

Indian Police Shoot and Kill 20 Said to Be Illegally Cutting Down Trees. By Hari Kumarapril
Excerpt: The Indian police and forestry officials on Tuesday fatally shot 20 loggers whom they suspected of illegally cutting down endangered red sandalwood trees, whose wood can be sold in China and Japan for hundreds of thousands of dollars a ton. Government officials offered varying explanations of the killings, which were condemned by activists and political figures as an excessive use of force.

Top Five Environmentalist Myths About Fracking. By Michael Bastasch
Excerpt: The Environmental Protection Agency’s comprehensive study on environmental effects of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is set to be released in the near future, and environmentalists are groaning that it’s tainted with oil and gas industry influence. Why the complaining? It’s likely environmental groups know something about the report the general public doesn’t– namely, it probably takes a more favorable view of fracking than activists would like.

Religion of Peace News


Report: Internal French Document Shows Troubling Discrepancies With US on Iran Deal
Excerpt: U.S. and Iranian officials have described last week's framework for a deal to slow Iran's nuclear weapons program with disturbingly different details. According to a Times of Israel report Tuesday, the U.S. account also differs significantly with a key ally – France. ... That timeline, however, dovetails with an acknowledgment President Obama made this week in an interview with National Public Radio. Iran's "break-out" time to make a bomb could shrink "almost down to zero" by year 13 after any final deal is negotiated, Obama said. (Sunni Arab states like Saudi Arabia and Egypt are not going to allow Shi'a, Persian Iran to get nukes without trying like hell to get them themselves. They have zero trust in Washington now. ~Bob)

Flashback 2012: Obama's Crystal-Clear Promise to Stop Iran From Getting a Nuclear Weapon. By Jeffery Goldberg
Excerpt: I'm in the camp of people, however, who take him at his word, in part because he's repeated himself on the subject so many times and in part because he has laid out such an effective argument against containment and for disruption, by force, if necessary. With the help of Armin Rosen, of The Atlantic's International Channel, I've posted below a partial accounting of Obama's statements on the subject. Of course, it is possible that in a second term, should he win his bid for reelection, he will change his mind on the subject, and it is possible, of course, that Iran will somehow manage to defy his demands. But the record is the record: Given the number of times he's told the American public, and the world, that he will stop Iran from going nuclear, it is hard to believe that he will suddenly change his mind and back out of his promise.

Now: Obama says Iran time to build nuke could drop after 13 years.
Excerpt: Iran could be able to obtain a nuclear weapon much more quickly after the first 13 years of the emerging nuclear deal, President Barack Obama acknowledged Tuesday. (This is the nightmare scenario, the culmination of more than a decade of progressives and foreign-policy wonks convincing themselves that Iran isn’t really what it appears to be, and that a long, lasting peace can be reached with apocalyptic mullahs with a long history of using terrorism to achieve their goals. The foreign-policy “smart set” averts their eyes from Iranian leaders’ rambling about magical green auras and world leaders’ not blinking in their presence, chanting “Death to America!” and Israel every Friday, pledging to wipe other countries off the map, and the Iranian regime using children to clear minefields. -- Jim Geraghty, Morning Jolt
http://www.nationalreview.com/newsletters After ten years if Iran keeps the promises it is already saying Obama is lying about. ~Bob)

Flashback 1994: That Time Bill Clinton Said North Korea Would Dismantle Its Nuclear Program. By Matt Vespa
Excerpt: Unsurprisingly, the Obama administration has been highly receptive over what’s been hashed out between Iran and the West. “I'm convinced that if this framework leads to a final comprehensive deal, it will make our country, our allies and our world safer,” said President Obama. Let’s go back in time when then-President Bill Clinton praised the nuclear deal his administration made with North Korea in 1994 

The Ticket to Prosperity. Walter E. Williams
Excerpt: In the case of Palestinians, the first order of business is to recognize that they cannot militarily force Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and East Jerusalem and meet other territorial demands. Therefore, they should cease all military and terrorist actions against Israel. If there were peaceful coexistence, there would be reciprocity and accommodation on Israel's behalf. The major accession would be for Israel to end its military blockade of Gaza's port and border. The most important first step for Palestinian people is to recognize that they have been betrayed by their leadership and that their destiny truly lies in their hands. A real-world example that Gaza might follow is that of Hong Kong

Why? DHS Secretary: At Least 40 Americans Who Fought With ISIS Overseas Are Back in the US. By Leah Barkoukis 
Excerpt: At least 40 American citizens that have left to join the fight in Iraq and Syria are now back in the U.S., according to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, raising serious questions about the United States’ counterterrorism strategy here at home. “As I understand it, of the 180 Americans who have gone overseas to fight in Iraq and Syria, 40 have come back. I assume you're keeping close tabs on those 40?” 60 Minutes’ correspondent Lesley Stahl asked Johnson in an interview that aired Sunday. (Why are we letting them back in? Why are we not jailing them for treason? We are fighting ISIS, they gave ISIS "aid and comfort." ~Bob)

Russia Bombing Kills 15 Ahead of Olympics
Excerpt: A suicide bombing has killed at least 15 people and injured over 40 in the southern Russian city of Volgograd, raising concerns about terrorism just over a month before Russia hosts the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. A female bomber carried out the blast in a Volgograd train station, 400 miles from the site of the upcoming Olympics in the Russian resort town of Sochi, Russian authorities said. The Sochi 2014 Olympic Games are scheduled to begin on Feb. 7.

Excerpt: The US Treasury Department added the Al Furqan Foundation Welfare Trust to the list of terrorist entities today. Al Furqan, which is based in Pakistan and Afghanistan, funds al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and the Taliban, and has been directly linked to a notorious jihadist who is a leader in both al Qaeda and the Taliban. Treasury added Al Furqan to the US list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. A State Department press release on the designation noted that the move was made along with the Saudi government, which listed the group “under its Law of Terrorism Crimes and Financing and the Royal Decree A/44.”

Radical Islamist Group Claims to Influence UK Election
Excerpt: Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND), a United Kingdom-based radical Islamist front organization, is openly bragging about its close relationship with both the Tory and Labour political parties, the UK's Telegraph reports. The group's chief executive, Sufyan Islamil, characterizes MEND as "kingmaker" in the May election, claiming to influence up to 30 seats.

Italy: military needed to defend Christians and Jews
Excerpt: Gentiloni said, "Responding to terrorism inevitably implies military consequences. This may shock some people but these groups must also be dealt with on a military footing. I won't use the word 'combat' to avoid being painted as a crusader." The Italian military, Gentiloni said, is currently training local forces in Somalia to address the Islamist Al-Shabaab militants who are linked to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network. 

U.K. May Fire 100 Islamist Educators in "Trojan Horse" Scandal. By John Rossomando
Excerpt: At least 100 Islamist teachers and teaching assistants implicated in last year's "Trojan Horse" teaching scandal in Birmingham, England may face lifetime teaching bans.

Former Gitmo detainee held in Uganda over killing of prosecutor
Excerpt: Ugandan authorities arrested a man who was once detained at Guantanamo Bay on suspicion of playing a role in the death of a local prosecutor last month who handled terror cases, police said Wednesday. Jamal Kiyemba was arrested with three others as they held a meeting in a KampalaUganda suburb, Ugandan police spokesman Fred Enanga told The Associated Press.... Kagezi was shot twice by gunmen after she left her car — in which she was traveling with two of her children on the way home from work — to buy groceries in a Kampala suburb.

Important: U.S. expedites arms shipments to coalition bombing Yemen. By Angus Mcdowall And Mohammed Mukhashaf
Excerpt: The United States is speeding up arms supplies and bolstering intelligence sharing with a Saudi-led alliance bombing a militia aligned with Iran in neighboring Yemen, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S., a key ally of oil-rich Saudi Arabia, had also set up a coordination center in the Sunni Muslim kingdom, whose forces have led an air campaign against the Shi'ite Houthi group which rules most of Yemen. (Here's the run down on Obama's current foreign policy. We are helping Sunnis kill Iran-backed Shi'a in Yemen but also kill the Al Qaeda Sunnis. Yemen is one of Obama's success stories. We are helping Iran-backed Shi'a kill Sunnis in Iraq. We are helping some Sunnis kill Iran's Shi'a-offshoot Alawites in Syria, except for the Sunni ISIS and Al Qaeda factions, which we are trying to kill as are the Alawites. And we are ignoring Libya where Obama's lead from behind war created a terrorist hell hole, though we are arming the Sunni Egyptians who are bombing the Libyan ISIS-allied terrorists. Got it? ~Bob)

Palestinian Stabs 2 Israeli Soldiers and Is Killed. By Isabel Kershner
Excerpt: A Palestinian man stabbed two Israeli soldiers in the West Bank on Wednesday, seriously injuring one and lightly wounding the other, before being shot to death by security forces at the scene, according to the Israeli military. The attack took place on a main route north of Ramallah, near the Palestinian village of Sinjil and the Jewish settlement of Maale Levona. 

Obama's Emphasis on Internal Threats Infuriates Gulf Allies
Excerpt: President Obama's view that internal strife threatens the stability of America's Persian Gulf allies more than a threat from Iran are sparking angry reactions, Gulfnews reports. In an interview with the New York Times published Sunday, Obama said Gulf States do face external threats, but their internal problems may be more significant. They come from "populations that, in some cases, are alienated, youth that are underemployed, an ideology that is destructive and nihilistic, and in some cases, just a belief that there are no legitimate political outlets for grievances…I think the biggest threats that they face may not be coming from Iran invading. It is going to be from dissatisfaction inside their own countries." These remarks are not being well received by Gulf citizens.

Mass grave sites in Iraq may contain 1,700 corpses, exhumation begins
Excerpt: The mass killings last June of Shi`ite soldiers from Camp Speicher, a former U.S. base outside the Sunni city of Tikrit, has become a symbol of the brutality of Islamic State fighters and their hatred for Iraq`s Shi`ite majority. The deaths showed Iraqis that the Islamic State fighters, who have also attacked ethnic and religious minorities as well as fellow Sunni Muslims opposing them, were a threatening new kind of foe.

*****
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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