Update
General News and Comment
Buying Bill, Hiring Hill: The
Clintons, a luxury jet and their $100 million donor from Canada Narayanswamy ,
Washington
Excerpt: or Frank Giustra, who had never met the former
president, this was an opportunity. The Canadian mining magnate and onetime Hollywood studio owner stepped up to let the former
president borrow his luxurious passenger jet. There was just one condition:
Giustra would come along for the ride. That 2005 trip was the start of an
intense, mutually beneficial friendship — one that has helped propel the
Clinton Foundation into a global giant and established Giustra’s reputation as
an international philanthropist while helping him build connections in
countries where his business was expanding. Giustra has since committed more
than $100 million to the work of the Clinton Foundation, becoming one of the
largest individual donors to the family’s charities.
[VIDEO] Bill Clinton on Making $500,000 for Giving Speeches: 'I Gotta Pay Our Bills.' By Daniel Halper
Hey, I got bills too. I'll give a speech for $50k. Okay $5K.
$500? Lunch? ~Bob
Hillary Clinton
agrees to testify this month on Benghazi, emails
Excerpt: Hillary Rodham Clinton is willing to testify on
Capitol Hill later this month about the attacks in Benghazi , Libya U.S. outpost in Libya .
For Hillary Clinton,
a trust deficit to surmount. By Chris Cillizza ,
Washington
Excerpt: Is Hillary Clinton honest enough to be president? That
question — phrased in a thousand different ways but always with the same doubts
in mind — sits at the heart of a campaign that will span the next 18 months and
on which billions of dollars will be spent.
Chris Cillizza writes “The Fix,” a politics blog for the
Washington Post. He also covers the White House. It speaks to the
seemingly contradictory reality of Clinton
as a candidate: She is her own best asset. She is also her own worst enemy.
When America U.S.
Excerpt: Even from a remove of 40 years, those last, tragic
images from outside the U.S.
embassy in Saigon remain a painful reminder of
one of the less-noble chapters in American history. ... Overseas Vietnamese,
many of them former refugees, call this "Black April," because it
marked the end of their nation. It also marked America 's humiliation before the
world. (The flow of articles and commentaries on the war itself, its results,
meaning for today, etc, just seems to be a stream without an end. But now that
we're past the 40 yr anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, maybe it'll finally
peter out. Meanwhile, here's one more well done commentary. --Del )
Agriculture Exempt
from Water Reductions? By Alyssa Houtby
Excerpt: Director of Public Affairs Exeter, CA - Governor
Brown made California history when he issued
an executive order calling for cities and towns across the state to implement
"substantial" mandatory water reductions in an effort to curb wasteful
water use and make California
"more drought resilient." It is no shock, least to whom the
agricultural sector, that California
is experiencing a water crisis. The impetus of this crisis, natural or
political, is up for debate. But regardless of the cause, agriculture has
suffered the most losses as a result. Approximately 46% of California 's fresh citrus is produced in the
Friant Service Area and will receive zero percent surface water allocation for
a second year in a row. (Just more and more info and commentary coming
along. --Del )
A History
of Neglect. By Adam Turner
Excerpt: Since as far back as the American Revolution, politicians
and the public have welcomed soldiers home from war with promises
of cutting edge medical knowledge, comprehensive rehabilitation, and
ongoing care as compensation for their service. Just as often, though,
these promises have gone unfulfilled in the face of their enormous
expense. The history of the veteran’s health system thus has been one of
best intentions and poor funding. Generations of US veterans have encountered
this history of neglect, starting dramatically with Shays’
Rebellion in 1786-87.[1] This neglect
resulted sometimes from corruption, and sometimes from excessive bureaucracy
and red tape, but almost always from a lack of funding adequate to properly
care for the men and women sent to fight the nation’s wars. (I thought this was
a reasonably decent article on the long history of America and how its wounded vets
have been treated. Overall it would seem the system doesn't do too badly, but
there are places where there's not enough resources for the patient load, and
where the administrators are more about their bonuses than about really
providing the best possible care for the vets. And we all know that changes are
needed to really improve the system, but we're still not seeing detailed,
workable proposals for how to achieve that. --Del )
It's Official: Ben Carson Jumps Aboard 2016 Express. By Daniel Doherty
Excerpt: On Monday at a campaign event in Detroit , Michigan United States ,”
he declared to thunderous applause. Speaking without notes, the former
neurosurgeon brought up his moving personal story and the resilience and
tenacity of his mother. Among other things, he extolled her work ethic,
commitment to educating her children, and money management skills—values that
even today continue to influence him. (A brilliant guy, inclined to be naive
about politics and make damaging statements. ~Bob)
Ben Carson Announces
Presidential Bid to Mixed Reception
Excerpt: Ben Carson just announced his bid for the
Republican Presidential Nomination in 2016 … to quite a mixed response. I’m not
sure exactly why so many people, especially in the black community, are so
singularly unenthusiastic about Dr. Carson. From the beginning of his public
career, he has never pretended to be anything other than a conservative
Christian. Yet many former supporters say he is tarnishing his once grand
reputation with his political stances: For many young African Americans who
grew up seeing Carson as the embodiment of black achievement — a poor
inner-city boy who became one of the world’s most accomplished neurosurgeons —
his emergence as a conservative hero and unabashed critic of the United States’
first black president has been jarring.
BREAKING: Carly Fiorina Announces She's Running For
President. By Katie Pavlich
Really running for VP--but would the GOP carry California with her on
the ticket? ~Bob
WaPo Fact Checker: Pelosi’s perplexing claim that
House bill would ‘cut’ VA medical care funds. By Michelle Ye Hee
Lee
Excerpt: Aside from this bill, VA also has access to
billions of additional dollars that was allotted to deal with its
access-to-care problems. The agency has more than $14 billion left to spend.
Congress passed the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act specifically
to allow veterans to cut through bureaucracy. The argument that 70,000
fewer veterans would access medical care because of the House appropriations
bill is perplexing and clearly an exaggeration. Three Pinocchios
Excerpt: St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer
Tim Barker just did a story on the small Milstadt ,
Illinois
PC Marches On: Woman to become NYC firefighter in
spite of having failed physical fitness test
http://nypost.com/2015/05/03/woman-to-become-ny-firefighter-despite-failing-crucial-fitness-test/
http://nypost.com/2015/05/03/woman-to-become-ny-firefighter-despite-failing-crucial-fitness-test/
Excerpt: “They’re going to allow the first person to
graduate without passing because this administration has lowered the standard,”
said the insider, who is familiar with the training.
Upon graduation,
Wax would be assigned to a firehouse and tasked with the full duties of a
firefighter. Some FDNY members are angry. “We’re being asked to go into a fire
with someone who isn’t 100 percent qualified,” the source said. “Our job is a
team effort. If there’s a weak link in the chain, either civilians or our
members can die.”
Excerpt: A Montana man
was arrested last month after he apparently "liked" his most wanted
poster on a Crimestoppers Facebook page. Levi Charles Reardon was arrested
April 24 after he liked his photo on the Cascade County Crimestoppers Facebook
page, according to the Great Falls Tribune. The newspaper reportedly captured a
screenshot of it before Reardon revoked the like.
Funny: The Girls on Fox News
Excerpt: Police in Manatee
County , Florida
‘The Cold War is
over’ update: More Russian bombers enter US air defense zone, perhaps only to
say ‘privyet!’ to Obama. By Doug Powers
Excerpt: “The 1980s
are calling to ask for their foreign policy back, because the Cold War’s been
over for 20 years.” – Barack Obama to Mitt
Romney, 2012
debate. Hidden beneath all the other more attention-grabbing headlines
lately is the fact that Russia
continues to go out of its way to prove that Mitt
Romney was right:
Important: Is the United States America
Excerpt: Just 23 percent of U.S. eighth-graders are
"proficient" or above in knowledge of American civics,
according to the "Nation's
Report Card," released this week by the National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP). Only one-third know that "the United States
government should be classified as a democracy." For a nation governed by
the people, for the people, this news is deeply troubling. Democracy takes
work. It requires knowledge, interest and vigilance from its citizens to remain
healthy. If less than a quarter of young
people meet only baseline standards of proficiency, and two-thirds are
unable to identify America
as a democracy, the future looks bleak. But is it any wonder that U.S. students
are struggling in social studies? The curriculum rarely engages them. A 2010
study from the University of Central Florida found 74 percent of
middle school students dislike social studies class due to the emphasis on
reading from the textbook, rote memorization and note taking.
From the Left: The Scene of the Crime. A reporter’s
journey to My Lai and the secrets of the past.
By Seymour
Excerpt: There is a long ditch in the village of My Lai My Lai was an
inexcusable crime and stain on American arms. I thought at the time that the
entire chain of command, from Calley to the CG of the Division should have done
time, or at least been cashiered from the military. I just wish the
reporters--then and now--had a little interest in the more numerous and often
worse crimes by the Communists, such as the slaughter in Hue during Tet, which were North Vietnamese policy. That doesn't excuse the
aberration and atrocity of My Lai , but it
would bring some balance to how people understood this history. ~Bob)
Excerpt: In November 1971 I finished up my three tours in Vietnam and the Air Force assigned me to Castle
Air Force Base up in Atwater ,
California Vietnam
I was an intelligence courier for 7th Air Force. My job was to drive a jeep
from Tan Son Nhut Air Base to the Cholon District of Saigon where I would pick
up field intelligence reports for an army intelligence unit, then return to
base. It got to be pretty hairy. Students from Saigon University Tru Minh
Key Boulevard , the route I had to take every
morning. As I dodged their fire bombs the only thing I was thinking was
"get this last tour over with so I could get home"...if they didn't
want us here we should leave. So, I finally did get home, breathed a sigh of
relief and, though I did have the alarming habit of hitting the floor whenever
the noon siren went off on base...the same siren that rang out when we had
incoming rockets or mortars in Vietnam, I was relieved to be home with my own
people. What I didn't know in those first few weeks was that my own people
hated me too. Seems the kids from Stanislaus
State and Merced College
Rising Dragon News
http://patdollard.com/2013/10/china-deals-with-the-growing-muslim-problem-by-shooting-muslims/
Excerpt: Chinese security forces shot dead five ethnic
minority Muslim Uyghurs in the third consecutive week of fatal shootings in a
restive county in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, an exile Uyghur group
said Monday [14 October 2013], accusing the authorities of a “cover-up”.
The latest killing in Yingwusitang township in Yarkand (in
Chinese, Shache) county, which is administered by the Silk Road city of
Kashgar, occurred on Friday [11 October 2013] when police surrounded a house
and gunned down five occupants who had not been suspects of any crime,
according to the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress.
Muslims in
Excerpt: A group of Muslim residents smashed up a
halal cake
shop in Xining city, Qinghai province after they found non-halal
products in a delivery
van belonging to the shop. When the Muslim residents discovered
no-halal food in the van, they believed that the store was selling non-halal
products and became rather angry about the whole affair.
Gun News
Excerpt: A 27-year-old man was fatally wounded in the
parking lot of an Orem grocery store Saturday
morning when he was shot by a man attempting to stop him from carjacking a
woman's SUV, Orem
police said. Capt. Ned Jackson of the Orem Police Department said the man who
shot the would-be carjacker had a weapon and a concealed weapons permit. He had
stopped at the store to purchase food en route to a planned target shooting
outing. The identity of the deceased, who earlier in the day was suspected of
assaulting a woman, was not released.
Excerpt: Two people were shot and killed by a Pittsburg homeowner
Friday evening during what police are saying might have been an
interrupted burglary attempt.
Police were called to the 1000 block of Jewett Avenue just after 9 p.m. on a
report of a shooting, and found two subjects shot and killed at the home.
Race Card News
Excerpt: Decorated NYPD Officer Brian Moore died Monday with his stricken
family at his hospital bedside — leaving an entire city awash in grief.
Excerpt: The ex-con charged with shooting NYPD cop Brian Moore tried to hide in plain
sight in front of his Queens
Village
5 killed, 28 wounded
in Chicago
Excerpt: Five people were killed
and at least 28 others have been wounded – including an off-duty Oak Park policeman – in separate shootings across Chicago since Friday
afternoon. The most recent fatal shooting happened early Sunday in the South Side
Marquette Park West 64th Street
about 12:40 a.m. when two males walked up and fired shots, according to police
and the Cook County
Video of riots: The "Good Morning Baltimore
Excerpt: A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll has found
distinct differences among citizens in the U.S. over the causes of recent
urban violence. Moreover, Americans appear to believe that the summer of 2015
will prove to have more disturbances along racial lines. This appears to signal
that concerns over violence have spilled over from Baltimore ,
Maryland , and Ferguson , Missouri Baltimore
were caused by people who used protests “as an excuse to engage in looting and
violence.” However, among white respondents, the results appeared to be the
opposite. Of the white polled, 58% said people had found an excuse for looting,
even while 32% believe that the disturbances stemmed from long-term poor
relations with police.
Obamacare/Government Healthcare News
Protecting Small
Business from the Effects of Obamacare: Opportunities after King v. Burwell.
By John R. Graham
Excerpt: A number of independent sources confirm Obamacare
is harming small businesses. According to a paper published
by the American Action Forum last September, the increased burden of regulations
and rising health insurance
premiums have reduced pay in firms with 20 to 99 employees by at least
$22.6 billion annually, and has led to 350,000 job losses. Employees who kept
their jobs have seen a decrease in pay of just under $1,000 annually. Relief
for the smallest businesses alone is not helpful because it makes it more
expensive to grow. Although businesses with fewer than 50 employees are exempt
from the requirement that they offer their workers so-called “affordable”
government-approved policies (the employer mandate), the mandate only imposes a
high marginal cost to hiring a 50th worker. Morgan
Stanley found rates in the small group market jumped 11 percent last
year.
"You're Greener than Gore" News
Worth Reading
http://pjmedia.com/blog/global-warming-paradigm-scuttled/#ixzz3ZBHmNs6F
http://pjmedia.com/blog/global-warming-paradigm-scuttled/#ixzz3ZBHmNs6F
Excerpt: The putative climate “debate” that has been raging
for the last thirty years or so has now reached the point of duncical
irrationality. (I put “debate” in scare quotes since what we are observing is
not so much a debate as an ideological crusade that brooks no resistance; in
effect, a political jihad against those who oppose the Warmist orthodoxy.) The
upcoming Paris COP (climate treaty conference) slated for December of this
year, which Obama is expected to ratify, renders the situation increasingly
urgent. The world’s leading politicians, abetted by the dubious claims of the
UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), are plainly eager to
sign an accord which, if implemented, would lead to record levels of poverty
and unemployment in both the developed and Third worlds. In the words of Director of the International Climate Science
Coalition (ICSC) Tom Harris, “in formulating public policy on climate change,
our leaders gloss over the uncertainties and close the door to evidence that
does not fit the alarmist agenda.” (This one is really nice, very factual
and thorough. --Del )
License to Kill: Wind
and Solar Decimate Birds and Bats
Excerpt: According to a study in the Wildlife Society Bulletin, every year 573,000 birds
(including 83,000 raptors) and 888,000 bats are killed by wind turbines — 30
percent higher than the federal government estimated in 2009, due mainly to
increasing wind power capacity across the nation.[i]This is likely an underestimate because
these estimates were based on 51,630 megawatts of installed wind capacity in
the United States
in 2012 and wind capacity has grown since then to 65,879 megawatts. And, at one solar power plant in California , an estimated3,500 birds died in just the plant’s first year of
operation.[ii] (Remember when we banned DDT to
"Save the Birds," though it meant millions of Third
World kids died of Malaria? Good times. ~Bob)
Religion of Peace News
Excerpt: Two suspects, who are now dead, opened fire at a
Muhammed Art Exhibit in Garland ,
Texas Paris . The exhibit was
hosted and organized by Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs. Participants were asked
to submit cartoon depictions of Muhammed for a contest and for the exhibit.
There were 200 people at the event, 350 submissions were made from all over the
world. The winner of the contest is a former Muslim and was awarded
$10,000.
The Shooting in Garland , Texas
Excerpt: Sunday's shooting attack on a Muhammad cartoon
exhibit and contest in Garland, Texas appears to be a largely spontaneous
reaction to an "unprecedented avalanche" of vicious social media
posts sent only a few days before the event from jihadists around the world
urging massive violence including the murders of the events' organizers and all
others in attendance, a law enforcement source told the Investigative Project
on Terrorism.
Jihadis Attack Free
Speech in Texas
Excerpt: As details flow in about yesterday’s attack by
two jihadis outside the Draw Mohammed Cartoon contest -hosted by Pamela
Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative in Garland, Texas – law
enforcement, media, and other are “still not sure” the two incidents are
related, and Garland law enforcement officials have not yet called it
“terrorism.” Additionally, some in the American media – as they are want to do
– are primarily condemning
the event, and not leading with a condemnation of Islamic Sharia which
supports such attacks. One has to ask what level of delusion have we
reached as a nation. Two jihadis responded to calls by ISIS and many in the
Muslim community on twitter, website, and other media outlets to silence the
insults on the Muslim prophet by making the affirmative decision to die as
martyrs. (The left is saying that they (and Charlie Hebro) "provoked"
the attacks by drawing cartoons of Mohammad. If fundamentalist Christians
attacked the NYT over "Piss Christ," or Christians who consider
abortion murder attacked an abortion clinic, would they say the NYT
"instigated" the attack by promoting that taxpayer-funded
"art" or the clinic "provoked" the attack by performing
abortions? I think not. ~Bob)
Tweet from Evan Sayet @EvanSayet
My favorite drawings at the Muhammad cartoon festival in Texas were the two chalk
outlines out front.
Excerpt: Liberals who are perfectly fine dropping a crucifix
in a jar of urine and calling it art are appalled that Pamela Gellar would hold
a “draw Mohammed” contest in Texas .
“She’s just asking for trouble,” they proclaimed. In fact, trouble did show up
to try to kill and maim, but the only bodies without pulses were the Islamic
radicals who tried to blow up the event. This is, after all, Texas . A security guard was shot and
subsequently released from the hospital. The jihadis got a one way ticket to
hell.
CNN Takes Islam’s
Side In TX Attack: Pamela Geller Destroys Ridiculous Attacks From CNN
Excerpt: I guess according to CNN we all shouldn’t offend
Mohammed. (It's not Islam's side they are taking, it's Jihadist murderers. Most
of the victims of Allah-murder are fellow Muslims, whom the Jihadists deny
freedom of speech and most other freedoms. ~Bob)
FBI Tried To Put Texas
Excerpt: The
FBI has confirmed Phoenix native Elton Simpson, a Muslim convert
from Phoenix , Arizona ,
as one of the shooters responsible for attacking a Draw Muhammad Contest in Garland , Texas
A War Waged From
German Soil: US Ramstein Base Key in Drone Attacks
Excerpt: But another strategic task of the headquarters of
the United States Air Force in Europe (USAFE) remained a national secret for
years. Even the German government claimed to know nothing when, two years ago,
the base became the subject of suspicion. It was alleged that Ramstein is also
an important center in President Barack Obama's drone war against Islamist
terror. A former pilot claimed that the data for all drone deployments is
routed through the military base.
Boko Haram freed
Nigerian women tell of captivity horror
Excerpt: Former hostages held by Boko Haram militants in
northern Nigeria
say some fellow captives were stoned to death as the army approached to rescue
them. The women said Boko Haram fighters started pelting them when they refused
to run away as the army came nearer. A group of nearly 300 women and children
was brought out of the vast Sambisa forest to a government camp. The military
says it has rescued more than 700 people in the past week in an offensive
against the Islamist group.
Rise Of The Islamic
State And the Fading Away of the Rest of the Iraqi Insurgency Interview With
Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi. By Joel Wing
Excerpt: From 2013-2014 it seemed like there was a broad
rebirth of the Iraqi insurgency. The protest movement against Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki's government revived a number of groups, which had gone dormant
by the time of the U.S.
withdrawal in 2011. The Islamic State (IS) and the Jaish Rijal al-Tariqa
al-Naqshibandi (JRTN), two organizations, which never ceased operating were
regrouping as well. A rough agreement was made between these different factions
to work together during the summer of 2014 to seize territory from the
government, which resulted in the fall of Mosul ,
Tikrit, and a large swath of Kirkuk
province as well. The number of different groups who participated in the
offensive last year gave rise to a narrative about revolutionaries and tribes,
not just the Islamic State carrying out a revolt against Baghdad . Today, the story has changed as many
of these smaller groups have either been swallowed up by IS or gone dormant. To
help explain the changes that have taken place within the Iraqi insurgency is
Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi a fellow at the Middle East Forum.
‘What’s a Favorite
Way to Hang Gay People?’: Activist Makes a Brutal Point With Balloons and Free
Ice Cream. By Sharona
Schwartz
Excerpt: A human rights activist staged a festive street
party complete with
balloons and free ice cream in honor of the Iranian foreign minister who
visited New York last week, an act of street
theater that was in fact designed to scorn Iran ’s dismal record as a world
leader in executing prisoners. David Keyes, executive director of the
non-profit Advancing Human Rights, designed the stunt to mark the execution of
1,000 Iranians over the past 18 months.
Worth Hearing: Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL
Excerpt: The Wall
Street Journal reported in 2006 that Halimi was found “stumbling in a
field near the railroad tracks in the Essonne region south of Paris . Handcuffed, naked, with four-fifths of
his body covered with bruises, stab wounds and serious burns, Ilan died in the
ambulance on the way to the hospital. Soon after, police provided more details.
The victim had been kidnapped Jan. 20 and held for 24 days by a gang from the
banlieues, the poor suburban projects that ring the French
capital, who eluded capture while repeatedly contacting Ilan’s family with
ransom demands….Ilan’s uncle Rafi Halimi told reporters that the gang
phoned the family on several occasions and made them listen to the recitation of
verses from the Quran, while Ilan’s tortured screams could be heard in the
background.”
Excerpt: The illegal seizure of the Maersk Tigris
illustrates Tehran ’s
desire to pick and choose what international rules it follows. Iran ’s
seizure of the MV Maersk Tigris underscores the importance of a
stable rule of law in the oceans, and the dangers of allowing one state to
attempt to alter them for its own benefit.
*****
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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