Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for January 4, 2013

Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for January 4, 2013

Robert A. Hall

Your one-stop-shop for political news and opinion. Please forward to friends who need to be informed. This SitRep (Military for “Situation Report”) is created by many readers who send me items for inclusion, which I would have likely missed or skipped. And I can only spend at most three hours a night pulling stuff, plus the healthcare or economic stuff that crosses my desk at work. As always, I—and you—owe them thanks and appreciation. I post articles because I think they are of interest and will stimulate thought and discussion. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree (or disagree) with every—or any—opinion in the posted article, or that I was able to verify the information presented, which is the responsibility of the author. I try not to post things that are false, or too far a stretch, regardless of the view point, but I don’t always succeed. As always on the Net, or in the legacy media, you must read critically and with skepticism.

Worth Reading: Information on my books

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html

Well, if I didn’t think they were “worth reading,” I wouldn’t have written them. CYA, however, is out of print. A new edition will soon be issued. Stay tuned. ~Bob

Figures, simpatico liars: Former Vice President Al Gore sells his struggling Current TV network to Al Jazeera
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/al-gore-sell-current-tv-al-jazeera-article-1.1231907#ixzz2GvKfCCSW

They will use oil money to pay off Gore, the leading guy complaining about fossil fuels. ~Bob. Excerpt: With its purchase of left-leaning Current TV, the Pan-Arab news channel Al-Jazeera has fulfilled a long-held quest to reach tens of millions of U.S. homes. But its new audience immediately got a little smaller. The nation's second-largest TV operator, Time Warner Cable Inc., dropped Current after the deal was confirmed Wednesday, a sign that the channel will have an uphill climb to expand its reach. (You know why they called it "Current"? Because it had no future. -- Jim Geraghty. Tweet from Philip Klein‏@philipaklein: Now Israel will be blamed for global warming, too!)

Al Jazeera Seeks a U.S. Voice Where Gore Failed. By Brian Stelter

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/02/al-jazeera-said-to-be-acquiring-current-tv/?smid=tw-share

Gore the hypocrite. But you knew that. ~Bob. Excerpt: Al Jazeera did not disclose the purchase price, but people with direct knowledge of the deal pegged it at around $500 million, indicating a $100 million payout for Mr. Gore, who owned 20 percent of Current. Mr. Gore and his partners were eager to complete the deal by Dec. 31, lest it be subject to higher tax rates that took effect on Jan. 1, according to several people who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. 

Worth Reading: Can big government be rolled back? By Michael Barone

http://www.aei.org/book/can-big-government-be-rolled-back

Excerpt: Liberal historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., argued for a similar theory of cycles: we have periods when liberals succeed in expanding government and then periods when conservatives resist further expansion but do not roll back previous growth. In Schlesinger’s view, each cycle of government growth begins with a major electoral victory for the Democratic party: Woodrow Wilson’s election in the three-way contest in 1912, the five consecutive victories of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman from 1932 to 1948, the landslide for Lyndon Johnson in 1964, the victories of Bill Clinton in 1992 and Barack Obama in 2008. (Yes, but only after the collapse, when the survivors start over. The public opposes “big government” in principle, but EVERY government program has a constituency, a small but dedicated minority who will fight fiercely to protect and expand it against a largely apathetic public that is not paying attention and doesn’t care much about specifics. Sometimes it isn’t so small a public. The Democrats were able to mobilize people to protect Social security and Medicare from any changes in the 2012 elections, even though every serious economist who looks at it says that “no changes” mean these programs dissolve in bankruptcy at some point. We just don’t know when people will stop lending the US money, but it will spiral down rapidly at that point. ~Bob.)

Abortion and Newtown: The Culture of Violence. Mass shootings on rise since Roe v. Wade: Planned Parenthood as the NRA of Abortion? By Jeffrey Lord 

http://spectator.org/archives/2012/12/18/abortion-and-newtown-the-cultu

Excerpt: “Discards life like trash.” One does not have to be a Catholic, which I am not, to appreciate the irony today in the words above from over a year ago by a Catholic Deacon named Greg Kandra. (You can find the full text of Deacon Kandra’s remarks here.)

Retire on the cheap - and still get endless sun! Research shows you can live on less than a grand a month in world's 'best value' countries

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2256031/Worlds-best-value-countries-Live-grand-month-retire-cheap-endless-sun.html

Our thanks to Julio Severo for this. --Don. Alas, tied to the US Healthcare System and the Granddaughter. ~Bob.

Tax Breaks For Rum, Algae, Hollywood. 'Fiscal cliff' legislation loaded with specials for Obama supporters. By Taylor Rose
http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/tax-breaks-for-rum-algae-hollywood/#rRg8ooyvm64XDHu4.99 

Show me your shocked face. ~Bob. Excerpt: Hundreds of millions of dollars in “tax credits” were loaded into the Democrats’ final “fiscal cliff” bill, which passed the House yesterday. “The deal as it came to the House was loaded with special tax credits for Washington’s favorite industries and pet projects, as well as language to extend our current, broken, dairy price controls,” Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., told WND.

Government Vs. Guns. By Joe Kress

http://www.newswithviews.com/Kress/joe151.htm

Excerpt: All could not escape the fall of empires, and ours, less than 300 years old, is far down the road leading to third-world status. One should read or re-read Leftism Revisited from de Sade and Marx to Hitler and Pol Pot, by Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, about the chaos of the French Revolution, where starving crowds became a dangerous menace to all of France and its people, egged on by Robespierre and his rogues. Could that happen here in the good old country of Uncle Sam? 

Tweets from Ann Coulter ‏@AnnCoulter

War on Women (ignored by liberals) update: Taliban Kills 6 Women 'for distributing polio vaccine.' -- The real 'War on Women' liberals choose to ignore: Saudi Cleric Issues Fatwa Allowing Gang Rape of Syrian Women.

Living With Guns: A Liberal’s Case for the Second Amendment. By Craig R. Whitney

http://craigrwhitney.com/projects.html

Excerpt: Meanwhile more liberal areas like Washington, D.C. and Chicago, afflicted with high murder rates in those troubled times, in effect banned gun ownership in an effort to bring them down. But the bans did not work.

Number of Homeschoolers Growing Nationwide

http://www.educationnews.org/parenting/number-of-homeschoolers-grow...

Excerpt: As the dissatisfaction with the U.S. education system among parents grows, so does the appeal of homeschooling. Since 1999, the number of children who are being homeschooled has increased by 75%. Although currently only 4% of all school children nationwide are educated at home, the number of primary school kids whose parents choose to forgo traditional education is growing seven times faster than the number of kids enrolling in K-12 every year. (For the sake of the children, hope the parents were not educated in California, at least not in Los Angeles...Gunny)

Moody's: More action needed to avoid credit rating downgrade. By Peter Schroeder

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/275249-moodys-more-action-needed-to-avoid-downgrade

Excerpt: The credit rater said the deal hammered out by Congress and the White House on taxes is merely a first step, and the U.S.'s credit rating could be affected "negatively" if Washington fails to take further steps to rein in the deficit. In fact, it said it was "necessary" for policymakers to adopt further measures to bring down the deficit to keep the U.S. rating intact. …"It does not ... provide a basis for meaningful improvement in the government's debt ratios over the medium term," the rater said.

The Depardieu Revolution. By Patrick J. Buchanan

http://buchanan.org/blog/the-depardieu-revolution-5445 

Excerpt: The regime would now confiscate three of four dollars that the most successful Frenchmen earned. Paris also imposes a wealth tax on assets worth more than $1.7 million. This broke it for Gerard Depardieu, the famed actor and bon vivant who has performed in scores of films in such roles as Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables" and Cyrano de Bergerac. (The irony of this is that most celebrities like Depardieu, Ringo Starr and Sean Connery, had never publicly opposed the fiscal irresponsibility of their home nations until the government came for them. That is not a criticism: such is human nature. I have always enjoyed Depardieu on the screen (his best movies are never mentioned nowadays: Jean de Florette and its sequel Manon des Sources. I highly recommend them). Sorry, couldn't find one with subtitles. The guy with the family is Depardieu. The older guy with the muzzy is singer Yves Montand:

http://www.zimbio.com/watch/O9kovKww1kA/Jean+De+Florette/Gerard+Depardieu

Yet I have never heard him defending the capitalist system that brought him fame and fortune. This is why we say a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged. --Don Hank)

From Morning Jolt by Jim Geraghty on the Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill

This is the game the porkmeisters play: They take their favorite goodies, spending that is far too parochial and frivolous to survive an up or down vote, and spot-weld them to some piece of legislation that is a popular and genuine national priority. Everybody wants to help out those who have had their lives and livelihoods turned upside down by Sandy. But nobody but a bunch of senators understands why fisheries in Alaska should get aid from a bill supposedly helping Sandy victims. And to oppose the latter, one must hold up passage of the former. And as we see before us, if you do that — BANG! SMASH! — you get knocked around by a devious opposition and a compliant media like a bad guy in the Adam West-era Batman show. (You can subscribe for free at www.nationalreview.com)

Uproar Over Bloated Sandy Aid Package

http://blog.heritage.org/2013/01/03/morning-bell-uproar-over-bloated-sandy-aid-package/?roi=echo3-14147159693-10840352-f44eb32a635453580e274f2bbe4fab03&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell

Excerpt: Leaders from New Jersey and New York blew up yesterday after House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) postponed a vote on an aid package related to Hurricane Sandy. But the bill is so loaded with pork projects that these officials should consider directing their anger at the Obama Administration, which is hijacking the aid meant for their constituents.

U.S. Needs a 12-Step Program for Spending: It's as addictive as crack cocaine and even more dangerous.

http://pjmedia.com/blog/u-s-needs-a-12-step-program-for-spending/

Excerpt: Research has shown that monkeys addicted to crack will press a bar more than 12,000 times to get a single dose, and the second they get it they start pressing the bar for more. On New Year’s Day, America inhaled deeply on something far more dangerous and addictive than crack cocaine — government spending. The House finally gave in to peer pressure Tuesday night and voted to approve a Senate “fiscal cliff” bill to be signed by America’s biggest drug dealer, Barack Obama. 

Obama Bypasses Congress, Shifts Rules On Immigration Again

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/01/02/Obama-Once-Again-Uses-Executive-Power-to-Shift-Rules-on-Immigration

Excerpt: The new rule allows illegal immigrants to apply for a provisional unlawful presence waiver while still in the U.S…..This rule change, which will take effect in 60 days, is part of Obama's attempt to honor the political bargain he made back in 2008 and reaffirmed again last year. While the careful wording of the DHS rule frames this as a matter of procedure rather than politics, those are just the necessary stories the administration is forced to tell in order to get this change done without Congressional oversight.

Syrians Killed in Gas Line; U.N. Raises War’s Casualty Figures

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/03/world/middleeast/syria-damascus-developments.html?ref=world&_r=0

Excerpt: The violence came as the United Nations released a study showing that more than 60,000 people had been killed in Syria’s 22-month-old conflict, a number that is a third higher than estimates by antigovernment activist groups. (Just Muslims murdering Muslims, business as usual, nothing to go all Islamophobic over. ~Bob.)

Algerian forces kill 2 more radical Islamist insurgents, raising two-day total to 9

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/algerian-forces-kill-2-more-radical-islamist-insurgents-raising-two-day-total-to-9/2013/01/02/054922b0-551e-11e2-89de-76c1c54b1418_story.html

Excerpt: Algerian security forces killed two radical Islamist insurgents on Wednesday in the same locality east of the capital where seven were killed a day earlier.

Secrecy of Memo on Drone Killing Is Upheld

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/03/us/judge-rules-memo-on-targeted-killing-can-remain-secret.html?ref=world

Excerpt: A federal judge in Manhattan refused on Wednesday to require the Justice Department to disclose a memorandum providing the legal justification for the targeted killing of a United States citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, who died in a drone strike in Yemen in 2011.

Shooting from the Hip: The Media's Inaccurate Gun Reporting. By John Rosenberg

http://pjmedia.com/blog/shooting-from-the-hip-the-medias-inaccurate-gun-reporting/

Excerpt: For every journalist, politician, and other liberal who plaintively asks: “Why can’t we be more like [Australia, Great Britain, Japan, wherever]?”, there is the predictable (and at least equally reasonable) rejoinder: “Why can’t we be more like Switzerland?”

Silver Linings in the Fiscal Cliff Deal. By Dan McLaughlin

http://www.redstate.com/2013/01/02/silver-linings-in-the-fiscal-cliff-deal/

Excerpt: I will not try to convince any conservative that the final fiscal cliff deal that passed the Senate with only a few dissenting votes and needed Democratic votes to pass the House with a divided GOP caucus is a good deal, nor that it is the best deal available under the circumstances. It is, however, important to remember that this was a deal negotiated under just about the worst possible conditions: the president freshly re-elected, the largest tax hike in American history set to trigger automatically in the absence of a deal, the GOP leadership divided among itself and estranged from its grassroots/activist base, which itself was divided on how best to proceed. 

Worth Reading: The Great New-Year Stampede. By Victor Davis Hanson

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0113/hanson010313.php3#.UOW8XOTWI0E

Excerpt: There is a new-year stampede developing that we have not seen for a long time.

Gun stores are swamped with panicking customers. They are looking for handguns, semi-automatic rifles and as much ammunition as they can afford.

People are truly good at heart? Sadly, no. By Jeff Jacoby

http://jewishworldreview.com/jeff/jacoby010313.php3#.UOW9HOTWI0E

Excerpt: This fixation on stopping bad things -- as opposed to stopping bad people or bad behavior -- goes beyond keeping air travel safe from al-Qaeda. On the international stage, it shows up in campaigns to reduce strategic arsenals and destroy nuclear warheads, regardless of the moral caliber of the governments possessing them. In schools, zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policies have been applied so rigidly, USA Today observes, that "kids have been kicked out of school for possession of Midol, Tylenol, Alka Seltzer, cough drops, and Scope mouthwash."

The Palestinian Authority's Inconvenient Truths. By Khaled Abu Toameh 

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3526/palestinian-authority-inconvenient-truths

Excerpt: The truth sometimes hurts; that is why the Palestinian Authority has been working hard to prevent the outside world from hearing about many occurrences that reflect negatively on its leaders or people. In recent years, the Palestinian Authority leadership, often with the help of the mainstream media in the US and EU, has been successful in its effort to divert all attention only toward Israel. Following are examples of some of the inconvenient truths that the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank do not want others to know about:

Arabs Brutally Attack US Yeshiva Student in Italy

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/163803#.UOXA0uTWI0F

Excerpt: A gang of Arabs brutally attacked an American yeshiva student visiting with his family in Venice, Italy, in what local community leaders said was a rare instance of anti-Semitism.

Egyptian Cleric Mahmoud Al-Masri: When the Mahdi Comes, "Not a Single Jew Will Be Left on the Face of the Earth"

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/01/egyptian-muslim-cleric-when-the-mahdi-comes-all-the-jews-on-earth-will-be-killed.html

Excerpt: We must all make an effort for the sake of our country, because if Egypt rises and the Syrian revolution prevails – I swear that this will be the end of Israel, Allah willing.

Afghan inmate kills wife during prison visit

http://www.france24.com/en/20130102-afghan-inmate-kills-wife-during-prison-visit

Excerpt: An Afghan prisoner murdered his wife when she went to visit him, allegedly because she had been unfaithful after he was jailed for killing her relatives, police said.

Dems done hiking tax rates?

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/dems-will-need-new-game-plan-to-score-tax-revenue-85702.html

Excerpt: The fiscal cliff deal handed Democrats a tax victory years in the making, but it also means the party will need a new playbook for the budget battles that lie ahead. That’s because many Democrats readily acknowledge that they’ve exhausted their ability to raise taxes on the richest Americans by jacking up their rates. 9first hey came for the rich, but I wasn’t rich and didn’t care. Next they will discover you aren’t paying your “fair share” and come for you. ~Bob.)

Armed guards protect New York newspaper that published gun owners' names

http://nhregister.com/articles/2013/01/03/news/doc50e58b0c532d7683690186.txt

Excerpt: A suburban New York newspaper that unleashed a public outcry after it published the names and addresses of Westchester and Rockland residents with pistol permits is being protected by armed guards. Newspaper publisher Janet Hasson says the guards have been posted at its White Plains headquarters and in a satellite office in West Nyack since last week. She told The New York Times, "The safety of my staff is my top priority." (My hometown newspaper, used to get it every afternoon delivered by a real paperboy; didn’t like it when I was 12 years old, either. –George. Maybe gun owners feel the safety of their families is their top priority? ~Bob.)

Boehner re-elected as Speaker; Nine Republicans defect in vote

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/275419-boehner-re-elected-speaker-with-some-gop-defections#ixzz2GwKxkjCF

Excerpt: Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) was re-elected Speaker of the House on Thursday after a week of rumors of a possible GOP revolt. Boehner won a bare majority in a vote that saw nine Republicans vote for other GOP members, and several others who abstained from voting or voted "present." Two years ago, Boehner won all available 241 GOP votes. (Republicans continue to make Obama and the liberals happy by ripping each other apart. Going to be a long, painful slide into the collapse. ~Bob.)

Worth Reading: President Obama’s paradoxical presentation on the ‘fiscal cliff’ deal

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/president-obamas-paradoxical-presentation-on-the-fiscal-cliff-deal/2013/01/02/9ea86bee-5534-11e2-8b9e-dd8773594efc_blog.html?wpisrc=nl_pmpolitics

Washington Post Fact Checker. ~Bob. Excerpt: As we have noted before, The Fact Checker covered the passage of the Bush tax cuts in 2001, which were originally promoted as a way to deal with the looming problem of having too little national debt. (Oops.) The most striking thing is that the deal permanently locks in place virtually all of those tax cuts — something that Democratic leaders had once said would be an economic travesty.

No exemptions’: Dems Trample 2nd Amendment Going for Total Gun Grab
http://MinuteMenNews.com/2013/01/no-exemptions-dems-trample-2nd-amendment-going-for-total-gun-grab/

Excerpt: Illinois Senate Democrats advanced legislation late Wednesday to restrict semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines, pressing forward with new gun control measures in the waning days of the session over the objections of firearms groups.

Why we fight. By James Delingpole
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100196238/why-we-fight/
Excerpt: But what I did think would be a good idea at the start of yet another year's blogging is to remind ourselves where we're at and why it is that I do the things I do, write the things I write, and say them in the uncompromising, no-prisoners-taken way I say them. You might think it was because of people like this man – Richard Parncutt, Professor of Systematic Musicology at the University of Graz in Austria, who argued on the university website (till he was embarrassed into taking his comments down) that all climate sceptics should be executed. Since I'm one of those on "ze list", I suppose I should be quite exercised by this.

Gang in Fatal Delhi Gang Rape Charged in India.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/9778000/Delhi-gang-rape-suspects-formally-charged-in-India.html
Excerpt: The offence, though far from rare in a country where gang rapes are commonplace, has led to deep soul-searching in the media and the country's political class about the treatment of Indian women. A recent poll found India to be the worst in the G20 group of nations for women because of child marriage, abuse and female foeticide, which has led to a badly skewed sex ratio in the country of 1.2 billion people.

Genghis Khan the GREEN: Invader killed so many people that carbon levels plummeted
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1350272/Genghis-Khan-killed-people-forests-grew-carbon-levels-dropped.html

Excerpt: Genghis Khan has been branded the greenest invader in history - after his murderous conquests killed so many people that huge swathes of cultivated land returned to forest. (I wish they wouldn’t give Al Gore ideas. ~Bob.)

Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for December 29, 2013

Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for December 29, 2013

Robert A. Hall

As regular readers know from my whinging, my Internet at home when down on December 12, and I've been working around it with a slow AT&T card, or Bonnie's laptop in Madison. Finally restored by Comcast on December 27. Apparently the modem went bad. Gotta love technology. I hate the news at this time of year when every media outlet feels compelled to compile a list of the big stories of 20123. If you read my blog regularly, you don’t need a list. If not, you can scroll through. I’ll be spending Hogmanay with my bride, Bonnie, my granddaughter, Britnye, and her pup, Caramel (I call him “Hinky Dink” after a short, corrupt Chicago politician of 100 years ago), and that takes priority over saving the world, so I will post when I can. Have a great 2013 and thanks for reading—and contributing! ~Bob

Information on my books

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html

You lost something?

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2012/12/you-lost-something.html

Cartoon.

Important: Obama, leaders to meet at White House Friday
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/274715-obama-leaders-to-meet-at-white-house-friday-

Excerpt: President Obama will meet with Congressional leaders Friday afternoon at the White House just days before the so-called fiscal cliff deadline, when taxes are slated to increase. Obama will host Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), according to a White House official. 9(The voters had their chance to fix the fiscal cliff on November 6, and didn’t. They could have elected a Democrat House and let Obama tax, and spend and see what that did to the economy [Greece, IMHO], or Romney and a Republican Senate to try to rein in spending and debt. They did neither and must live with their collective decisions. Kicking the can again may be the best we can hope for. ~Bob.)

Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, who led coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War, dies

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/27/gen-norman-schwarzkopf-who-led-coalition-forces-in-persian-gulf-war-dies/#ixzz2GInO7arN

Excerpt: A U.S. official says retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in 1991, has died. He was 78. (An American patriot. Led a brilliant military campaign. ~Bob.)

Quote

It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle. –Norman Schwarzkopf

Former law dean Harold Koh to return to Yale

http://yaledailynews.com/crosscampus/2012/12/07/former-law-dean-harold-koh-to-return-to-yale/

Excerpt: Within the Obama administration, Koh has been known for advocating Obama’s drone program against militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a position some have challenged as at odds with Koh’s record of criticism against former President George W. Bush’s legal approach to the war on terror. (Perfectly consistent liberal position. Bush did it, it was bad. Obama did the same thing, it was wonderful. ~Bob.)

Obama’s Drone Dilemma

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/view_from_chicago/2012/10/obama_s_drone_war_is_probably_illegal_will_it_stop_.html

Excerpt: State Department legal adviser Harold Koh, the former dean of Yale Law School and even more former darling of the left for his criticisms of the Bush administration’s aggressive theories of executive power, plays a prominent role in them. Koh apparently concluded that the drone war “veers near the edge” of illegality but does not quite tumble over it.

City forces Minnesota soda shop to pull fake cigarettes

http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/27/city-forces-minnesota-soda-shop-to-pull-fake-cigarettes/#ixzz2GI8vGnjx

Excerpt: In an effort to stop youngsters from picking up a tobacco habit, city inspectors have ordered a small Minnesota soda shop to stop selling its popular candy cigarettes and bubblegum cigars. (Per notes, city passed ordinance in 2009. --Barb. I enjoyed candy cigarettes, never smoked a real one. ~Bob.)

Report: $91 million spent on secret NSA tests probing domestic computer systems

http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/27/report-91-million-spent-on-secret-nsa-tests-probing-domestic-computer-systems/#ixzz2GI9rbhgj

Excerpt: The level of disclosed spending on offensive and defensive spending by the Pentagon on cyberweapons and cybersecurity technology for 2012 was $3.4 billion, according to the Post. The Pentagon has requested the same amount for the 2013 fiscal year. The Hill reported late last week that the White House could issue a much-anticipated cybersecurity executive order as early as January.

Krauthammer slams Obama for ‘illegal and unconstitutional’ regulatory overreach http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/27/krauthammer-slams-obama-for-illegal-and-unconstitutional-regulatory-overreach/#ixzz2GI7ONjPH

Excerpt: During Wednesday’s broadcast of “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel, Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer criticized the Obama administration for something even President Barack Obama has admitted could be an obstacle to economic growth: the expansion of regulation through executive fiat ... “Then you’ve got the lack of being open about it. …“And lastly, you get the arrogance of it,” he continued, “the administration essentially enacting legislation on its own through regulation, the way it did the DREAM Act and the way it did in stripping away the work requirement in a reform of welfare.”

Rise in renewable energy will require more use of fossil fuels

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/09/local/la-me-unreliable-power-20121210

Excerpt: The Delta Energy Center, a power plant about an hour outside San Francisco, was roaring at nearly full bore one day last month, its four gas and steam turbines churning out 880 megawatts of electricity to the California grid. On the horizon, across an industrial shipping channel on the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, scores of wind turbines stood dead still. (Everything is always more complicated than people first think. What's unfortunate is that when some programs are sold to the public, the over simplified version is what is displayed. Incomplete information is really misinformation, just as psuedoscience is bad science, and we see way, way too much of both in the media and academia. --Del)

‘Die painfully’: 50 soulless degenerates who can’t wait for George H.W. Bush to die

http://twitchy.com/2012/12/27/die-slowly-50-soulless-degenerates-who-cant-wait-for-george-h-w-bush-to-die/

Just typical Progressives heeding Obama’s call for more civility. ~Bob.

Ordinary folks losing faith in stocks

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_289563/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=VPAFKWj9

Excerpt: "You have to trust your government. You have to trust other governments. You have to trust Wall Street," says Neitlich, 47. "And I don't trust any of these." Defying decades of investment history, ordinary Americans are selling stocks for a fifth year in a row.

Flashback 2005: Michael Moore's Bodyguard Arrested on Airport Gun Charge

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,144921,00.html#ixzz2FnQC65J3

Colorado gun background check system tops out as checks still pour in

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_22264459/colorado-gun-background-check-system-tops-out-checks

Excerpt: The continued rush to purchase firearms in Colorado has overwhelmed the system businesses use to track background check wait times and left thousands of would-be gun buyers on wait-lists that are now many days long. (Gun dealers have to LOVE Obama. ~Bob.)

Worth Reading: Misery is Humanitarians’ Gift to Aleppo. By Walter Russell Mead

http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2012/12/27/misery-is-humanitarians-gift-to-aleppo/

Excerpt: The Syrian war is a many sided catastrophe and it has no one cause. From the failures of Ottoman rule and the Sykes-Picot agreement to the Sunni-Shiite split and the problems of nationalism and tribalism, many cooks labored together to spoil this broth. But a contributing factor to this as to much else in the Middle East is the failure and inadequacy of American policies constructed along humanitarian lines.

Rep. Markey to seek Kerry’s Senate seat

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/274697-rep-markey-to-seek-kerrys-senate-seat

Excerpt: Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) announced Thursday that he plans to run in the special election to replace Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.). (Markey owes his career to then-Speaker Tommy McGee, who was annoyed with then State Rep. Markey and took away his office. “You can tell Ed Markey where to sit, but not where to stand!” As my floor leader, the late Sen. John Parker used to say, “It is always an advantage to a public man to be the victim of an outrage.” ~Bob.)

Advantages of Low Capital Gains Tax Rates. By Chris Edwards, Director of Tax Policy Studies, Cato Institute

http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/tbb-066.pdf

Excerpt: Policymakers should reconsider capital gains tax policy. Capital gains taxes raise less than five percent of federal revenues, yet they do substantial damage. Higher rates will harm investment, entrepreneurship, and growth, and will raise little, if any, added federal revenue.

Doc whose Fremont clinic infected patients with hepatitis seeks N.Y. license to practice

http://www.omaha.com/article/20121227/LIVEWELL01/712279912/1685#doc-whose-fremont-clinic-infected-patients-with-hepatitis-seeks-n-y-license-to-practice

Excerpt: Javed, 47, fled to his native Pakistan 10 years ago, when the severity of the hepatitis outbreak became known. His medical license in Nebraska was revoked. He surrendered his New York license. In Pakistan, Javed became a public health official and reportedly blamed the situation in Nebraska on anti-Muslim sentiment. (They have learned to play the victim card well from American race baiters. ~Bob.)

Turkey: No Demand from US to Reduce Oil Purchase from Iran

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9107130769

Excerpt: Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz announced that Washington has not demanded Ankara to reduce its oil purchase from Tehran and Turkey will continue buying Iranian crude. (The Obama sanctions at work. ~Bob.)

Weapons: So Easy A Caveman Can Do It

http://www.survivallife.com/2012/12/27/so-easy-a-caveman-can-do-it/

Excerpt: If you are ever faced with an imminent or active life threatening attack you can significantly increase your chances of survival by creating an improvised weapon out of everyday items that you would find around the house, on the street, or in the woods.

Worth Reading: Five 'ObamaCare' provisions to watch. By Sam Baker

http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/274693-five-obamacare-provisions-to-watch-in-2013

Excerpt: 2013 will be a big year for President Obama's signature healthcare law. By next New Year's, almost all of the law's major provisions are scheduled to be fully in effect. And that means 2013 will represent a mad dash to get ready — both in the states and in the Health and Human Services Department. In addition to the intensive preparation for 2014, next year will see several key provisions take effect, among them some of the law's most controversial provisions, including new taxes that will hit millions of employees.

The 10 Worst Regulations of 2012

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/12/28/morning-bell-the-10-worst-regulations-of-2012/?roi=echo3-14113188428-10781953-45fad5aea2df5aa8362a1276b363a40c&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell

Excerpt: It seems that no aspect of American life can escape government regulation. In the past year, regulators drafted rules that addressed everything from caloric intake to dishwasher efficiency. Most of these rules increase the cost of living, others hinder job creation, and many erode freedom.

Worth Reading: Teachers union, fired teachers sue Chicago for racial discrimination

http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/28/teachers-union-fired-teachers-sue-chicago-for-racial-discrimination/

Excerpt: Donald Garrett Jr., Robert Green and Vivionell Brown Jr. lost their jobs because of the Chicago Board of Education’s turnaround program, which replaces most of the administrative and teaching staff at low-performing schools. (Getting rid of low-performing teachers is racist because the majority of the low-performers are black? Is that what they are saying? But this probably has more to do with grabbing the brass ring than with race. Mike Royko once proposed that Chicago’s official motto be changed to Ubi Est Mea (Where’s Mine?) Obama has taken this “I want mine now and to hell with the future” to Washington. But the future is coming, sooner than they think. ~Bob.)

Yasser Arafat’s widow admits Palestinian terror campaign in 2000 was premeditated

http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/28/yasser-arafats-widow-admits-palestinian-terror-campaign-in-2000-was-premeditated/#ixzz2GM9ihwru

Show me your shocked face. ~Bob. Excerpt: Suha Arafat, the wife of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, admitted in a TV interview earlier this month that the Palestinian terror campaign against Israel launched in 2000 was a premeditated act orchestrated by her husband, not a spontaneous “intifada,” or uprising, as many have claimed.

Pentagon lagged on pursuing porn cases. Senator calls it risk to US security. By Bryan Bender

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2011/01/05/pentagon_lagged_on_pursuing_porn_cases/?page=full

Excerpt: The Pentagon’s investigation of defense and intelligence employees who downloaded child pornography is being criticized in Congress after the Department of Defense acknowledged that its investigators failed to check thoroughly whether its employees were on a list of suspected porn viewers. (I guess they aren't keeping some people busy enough at work. Hopefully they'll finish tracking down every case of actually guilty parties and prosecute them. Oh, and of course FIRE the perverts! –Del. I gather from this that watching regular porn, as opposed to child porn, in the office is okay. Where do I apply for one of these government jobs? ~Bob.)

How Obama’s Policies Led to Benghazigate. By Daniel Greenfield

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/dgreenfield/how-obamas-policies-led-to-benghazigate/

Excerpt: It took some 22 hours for American help to arrive in Benghazi after all the t’s had been crossed and the i’s had been dotted, and the body of America’s ambassador to Libya had been dragged through the streets by “rescuers” stopping along the way to pose for cell phone pictures with his corpse. By way of comparison it takes about 16 hours for a boatload of Libyan illegal immigrants to row to the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Black judge commutes four killers’ sentences based on race. By B. Christopher Agee

http://www.conservativedailynews.com/2012/12/black-judge-commutes-four-killers-sentences-based-on-race/

Excerpt: An activist judge in North Carolina said prosecutorial racism was the reason he commuted the sentences of four convicted killers. Described as three of the state’s most notorious death row killers, among the group’s victims are three law enforcement officers, two women and a teenager. The judge was able to overrule the first sentence under the state’s controversial Racial Justice Act.

What’s Meant When Liberals Say “Compromise.” By Burt Prelutsky

http://www.burtprelutsky.com/2012/12/whats-meant-when-liberals-say-compromise.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+burtprelutsky%2FSQlQ+%28BurtPrelutsky.com%29

Excerpt: Barack Obama and his stooges are forever complaining that Republicans are obstructionists, unwilling to compromise and meet them halfway. What’s so irksome about these nitwits is that when they say compromise, what they really mean is unconditional surrender.

Zuma in doghouse after pet comments

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1212/dogs_only_for_whitey.php3#.UN2vb-TWI0E

Excerpt: South African president Jacob Zuma got into a spot of bother Thursday when he suggested that owning a dog was not African and belonged to white culture. (Huh. Lots of black folks in Chicago own dogs. Pit Bulls seem favored. Don’t mean that pejoratively—I owned one myself once. Sweet dog, wouldn’t hurt a bug. 5 pound Yorkie backed him off. ~Bob.)

Worth Reading: Gun Control, Gun Rights, Gun Politics and Newtown: Part I of II. By Dan McLaughlin

http://www.redstate.com/2012/12/26/gun-control-gun-rights-gun-politics-and-newtown-part-i-of-ii/

Excerpt: The school shooting atrocity in Newtown, Connecticut has, predictably, touched off another round of the perennial gun-control debate. Especially for parents of young children (my youngest is the same age as most of the victims), the horror of the shootings is almost beyond description, and tends to make rational discussion impossible. 

Tweet from @keder 

Whatever the problem, it's safe to bet that the Democrat solution will involve more taxes & more spending. (Dan McLaughlin ‏@baseballcrank Or more regulations. )

Armed teachers, guards bolster school security in Israel

http://conservativebyte.com/2012/12/armed-teachers-guards-bolster-school-security-in-israel/#ixzz2GMMXE0Sv

Excerpt: Americans intent on ensuring a school massacre like the one in Newtown, Conn., never happens again could learn a lot from Israel, where the long menu of precautions includes armed teachers.

Black Racism Unchained

http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/624108/8032a87609/286850125/8e347895a8/

Excerpt: There’s no better example of black racism than when actor Jamie Foxx hosted “Saturday Night Live” and joked about his new film, “Django Unchained”: “I get free. I save my wife and I kill all the white people in the movie. How great is that?” He went on to say, “My president, President Obama, is back up in the White House for four more years. How black is that?

Why all the cool kids are reading Executive Order 13423
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/12/27/why-all-cool-kids-are-reading-executive-order-13423/?intcmp=obnetwork#ixzz2GJIZgY33

Excerpt: Eschewing great literature for ghastly technical reports doesn’t make much sense to those charged with getting young people to read—hopefully with some degree of enthusiasm. And there’s a total lack of research suggesting that education will be advanced by a forced march to Executive Orders. The University of Arkansas’ Sandra Stotsky argues that an emphasis on informational texts actually prevents children from acquiring “a rich understanding and use of the English language” and “may lead to a decreased capacity for analytical thinking.” (Precisely. –Barb.)

Obama Claus Give You 90 More Days To Collect Your $50,000 Reparations Check

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/12/25/Obama-Claus-Gives-You-90-More-Days-To-Collect-Your-50-000-Reparations-Check

Excerpt: Circle March 25, 2013 on your calendar. That's the last day you can submit your claim form from this official U.S. government website to collect fifty thousand tax-free American dollars, courtesy of the Obama administration in its current multi-billion giveaway scheme. No, you don't need a potted plant and you don't even to be black or even Hispanic; as long as you are a woman (or related to one) and you fill out the forms correctly, you can collect the money because nobody will verify your information. Welcome to the Love settlement for women farmers, the close relative of the Pigford black famers settlement that has already paid out billions of dollars to thousands of claimants and the Garcia Hispanic / Latino farmer settlement that is in progress right now. (Tax free. –Barb.)

Government Dependents Outnumber Those With Private Sector Jobs In 11 U.S. States

http://www.fedupusa.org/2012/12/government-dependents-outnumber-those-with-private-sector-jobs-in-11-u-s-states/

Excerpt: America is rapidly becoming a nation of takers. An increasing number of Americans expect the government to take care of them from the cradle to the grave, and they expect the government to dig into the pockets of others in order to pay for it all. (The bad news is that these reckless policies will not be able to sustain themselves for long. The good news is that these reckless policies will not be able to sustain themselves for long. --Don Hank)

Hamas-linked CAIR protests exclusion from U.S. of Muslim cleric who preached jihad against Christians: "Throats must be slit and skulls must be shattered"

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/12/hamas-linked-cair-protests-exclusion-from-us-of-muslim-cleric-who-preached-jihad-against-christians.html

Excerpt: Hamas-linked CAIR, ever-lauded by the mainstream media as a "civil rights organization," once again reveals its true colors.

Saudi detains dozens for "plotting to celebrate Christmas"

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/saudi-detains-dozens-plotting-celebrate-christmas

Excerpt: Saudi religious police stormed a house in the Saudi Arabian province of al-Jouf, detaining more than 41 guests for “plotting to celebrate Christmas,” a statement from the police branch released Wednesday night said.

Rhode Island: Muslim naval officer from UAE must pay $1.2 million to domestic worker for holding her as slave

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/12/rhode-island-muslim-naval-officer-from-uae-must-pay-12-million-to-domestic-worker-for-holding-her-as.html

Excerpt: Slavery was taken for granted throughout Islamic history, as it was, of course, in the West up until relatively recent times. Yet the impetus to end slavery moved from Christendom into Islam, not the other way around. Because the Qur'anic word cannot be questioned, and the book does not contain the Biblical principles that led to the abolition of slavery in the West, there has never been a Muslim abolitionist movement. Slavery ended in Islamic lands under pressure from the West.

Suspected Islamic extremists attack Indian student in Germany

http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/world/story/suspected-islamists-attack-indian-student-germany-20121227

Excerpt: Police say an Indian student in Germany has been attacked and injured by suspected Islamic extremists who accosted him and demanded that he convert to Islam.

Lawlessness prevails: Six of a family killed in ‘honour killing’

http://tribune.com.pk/story/484443/lawlessness-prevails-six-of-a-family-killed-in-honour-killing/

Excerpt: Two teenaged sisters, Shamia and Khalida, told Yar Hussain police that three armed men broke into their house in Mera Bakakhel while their family was asleep. The men opened fire and killed their parents, three sisters and one-year-old niece. SHO Qazi Asmat said that the sisters have accused three brother-in-laws for the crime. 

Senator calls for oversight of agencies that might be monitoring Americans

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/274657-wyden-calls-for-oversight-of-us-intel-agencies-that-may-be-monitoring-americans

Excerpt: Wyden said he supports the goals of FISA, but said his amendment to the bill is needed because intelligence officials have been unable to provide any details on how often American communications are picked up during surveillance. He said he and other senators have asked the director of national intelligence for that information, but have received little in the way of a response. 

Earth First Journal Assassination Hit List

http://pjmedia.com/jchristianadams/2012/12/23/earth-first-journal-assassination-hit-list/

Excerpt: The latest newsletter from the environmentalist group Earth First! Journal contains a curious topic — assassinations. In fact, the newsletter conveniently provides the names, addresses and phone numbers of the assassination targets. Naturally, none of this is to be taken seriously, the environmentalists tell us. (But let Conservatives “target” a liberal for electoral defeat, and they are “creating a climate of violence.” ~Bob.)

Why Is America Midwiving a Muslim Brotherhood-Ruled Syria?

http://pjmedia.com/blog/why-is-america-midwiving-a-muslim-brotherhood-ruled-syria/

Excerpt: During an interview with Barbara Walters on December 11, President Obama announced the U.S. would formally recognize the recently established Syrian National Coalition of Revolution and Opposition Forces (SNCROF), an umbrella group seeking to depose Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Mr. Obama extolled the SNCROF for its inclusiveness, allegedly being open to various ethnic and religious groups, and bonds to local councils participating in the fight against Assad’s security forces. forces.

Lawmaker rips State after claim that official who 'resigned' over Libya remains on payroll
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/26/state-department-official-who-resigned-after-libya-findings-reportedly-staying/#ixzz2GJixF3BW

Excerpt: A top Republican lawmaker chastised the State Department Wednesday following a report that a security chief said to have resigned in the wake of the Libya attack is still on the payroll, calling the response "pathetic." (Musical chairs and still on payroll. What does it take to get fired? –Barb.)

Senate approves foreign surveillance bill
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/274743-senate-votes-to-reauthorize-intelligence-surveillance-programs

Excerpt: The Senate on Friday approved a bill reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in a 73-23 vote. The bill will extend for five years the ability of U.S. intelligence authorities to conduct surveillance of suspected terrorists overseas without first getting permission from a court.

Petition urges White House to classify Westboro church as hate group

http://news.yahoo.com/petition-urges-white-house-classify-westboro-church-hate-192906943.html

Nice thing about Westboro Baptist is it unites by liberals and conservatives—we all loath them. But this could be a slippery slope. ~Bob.

47% Think Health Care System Will Worsen Over Next Two Years

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/health_care_law

Excerpt: Most voters continue to give positive marks to the health care they currently receive, but nearly half expect the health care system in this country to get worse over the next couple of years.

Media Turns Good News Into Bad, And Blames Republicans

http://politicaloutcast.com/2012/12/media-turns-good-news-into-bad-and-blame-republicans/#ixzz2GMxIptF7

Excerpt: The good news is simple enough: consumers are cutting back in their spending. This may not be pleasant for some people because they want to sell more stuff. But their welfare is not the general welfare. (They are always moaning that Americans aren’t saving enough or, conversely, not spending enough. ~Bob.)

Older story, but a Happy Ending: Police Release 911 Tape Reporting Duluth Shooting

http://peachtreecorners.patch.com/articles/police-release-911-tape-reporting-duluth-shooting-6?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec3_lnk1%7C64647#comments_list

Excerpt: “I was in the shower and the lights cut out in my house, and a man came in with a hood, and he had a knife in his hand….He told me to be quiet. He told me to get out of the tub, and he tried to force me on(to) the bed,” the woman told the police dispatcher.

The woman was able to retrieve a .22 caliber pistol that she kept in a nightstand near the bed. “I took my .22, and I shot him as much as I could.” (The next time this psycho wants to rape a woman, I’ll bet he finds a gun-free-zone. ~Bob.)

Been Around, Worth Reading: The Gun Is Civilization. By Maj. L. Caudill USMC (Ret)

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981537555

Excerpt: Human beings only have two means to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you must either convince me by reason or force me to do your bidding under threat of harm. Every human interaction, without exception, falls into one of these two categories. Reason or force, that's it. … When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a means to negate your threat or employment of force.

Record number of Americans oppose handgun ban. By Aaron Blake 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/12/27/record-number-of-americans-oppose-handgun-ban-gallup-poll-shows/

Excerpt: An unprecedented number of Americans support the right to own a handgun, despite the recent mass killings at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., that have renewed the push for gun control. Even with the killings in Newtown as a backdrop, a new Gallup poll shows 74 percent of Americans now support the right to possess a handgun, while just 24 percent would support a ban.

Tweets from David Burge ‏@iowahawkblog

Texas has 2.2x as many gun homicides as Chicago. Texas has 10x the population of Chicago. The city of Chicago has more gun homicides than AK, DE, HI, IA, ID, ME, MN, MT, ND, NE, NH, RI, SD, UT, VT, and WY combined. (Because only police, politicians and gangbangers can carry in Chicago. And because most of the murders are black thugs killing black people, it’s racist to mention them. ~Bob.)

Grim milestone: Chicago records 500th homicide of 2012

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/28/16212238-grim-milestone-chicago-records-500th-homicide-of-2012#.UN3Z8fzAhI0.twitter

Those strict Illinois/Chicago gun laws really keep us safe here. ~Bob.

Quote

Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest. –Gandhi.

Iran starts naval drill, prepares to confront Western threats

http://rt.com/news/iran-starts-naval-drill-020/

Excerpt: Tehran has started a six-day naval drill aimed to show "the armed forces' military capabilities" in confronting enemy threats, and also conveying the message of peace to its neighbors. The training is being conducted in key Strait of Hormuz. (One of their new suicide subs detonated under a US carrier... pissedlizard كافر ‏ @pissedlizard)

25 Facts That The Mainstream Media Doesn’t Really Want To Talk About Right Now

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/25-facts-that-the-mainstream-media-doesnt-really-want-to-talk-about-right-now

Excerpt: Unfortunately for them, a whole lot of Americans are starting to break free from that paradigm and think for themselves. A Gallup survey from earlier this year found that 60 percent of all Americans “have little or no trust” in the mainstream media. (Interesting. Blurs the line between facts, opinion and speculation though, IMHO. ~Bob.)

Corporate Money Allowed for Inaugural Donations

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/08/us/politics/obama-to-accept-corporate-donations-for-2013-inaugural-events.html?_r=0

Excerpt: President Obama will accept unlimited donations from corporations — but no money from lobbyists or political action committees — to finance his 2013 inaugural festivities, a spokeswoman for his inaugural committee said Friday. (Nice of him not to make the corporations funnel the money through their lobbyists or PACS, but to give directly. Much cleaner influence buying that way. ~Bob.)

The Higher Ed Bubble Is Very, Very Real. By Walter Russell Mead

http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2012/12/21/the-higher-ed-bubble-is-very-very-real/

Excerpt: It is this delivery system, not the diplomas themselves, that impresses many serious people as being caught up in something analogous to a bubble. People with college degrees are going to continue to earn more than people who don’t have them (though this will vary by degree), but they will be less and less willing to accept the high prices and slow methods by which the guild system delivers those degrees.

The Tip of the Spear. By Joel Sappell

http://www.lamag.com/features/2012/12/18/the-tip-of-the-spear/print

Excerpt: In the mid-1980s, journalist Joel Sappell and a colleague began a five-year examination of the Church of Scientology that would ultimately produce a 24-article series. It would also change Sappell’s life in ways both mystifying and unnerving. Decades later the onetime investigative reporter investigates what happened to him.

Tweet from Joshua Treviño ‏@jstrevino

The plain bigotry allowable in media under the guise of Israel critique is remarkable, but unsurprising.

Erian tells Egyptian Jews to leave Israel, return to Egypt

http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/erian-tells-egyptian-jews-leave-israel-return-egypt

Excerpt: Essam al-Erian, deputy head of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, called on Egyptian Jews to leave Israel to the Palestinians and return to their own homeland. (Doubtless to a warm welcome in multicultural Eqypt. ~Bob.)

Tehran lied about boy ‘killed by sanctions’

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/middleeast/article3640694.ece

Excerpt: Five weeks on, the teenager’s death has instead underlined the hypocrisy of his own government, desperate to shift the blame for a deepening health crisis amid accusations that state corruption is putting lives at risk.

Woman finds note from Chinese labor camp prisoner in Kmart decorations

http://www.examiner.com/article/woman-finds-note-from-chinese-labor-camp-prisoner-kmart-decorations

Excerpt: "Sir: If you occasionally buy this product, please kindly resend this letter to the World Human Right Organization. Thousands people here who are under the persicution of the Chinese Communist Party Government will thank and remember you forever." (See, Obama doesn’t like slavery—but it does fund our $1T annual deficits to buy him votes, so not all bad. ~Bob.)

Worth Reading: The Doc Fix Economy: If you want to understand the fiscal cliff, you need to first understand the doc fix. By Peter Suderman 

http://reason.com/archives/2012/12/11/the-doc-fix-economy

Excerpt: The doc fix is just one relatively small part of the fiscal cliff. But in many ways it is the fiscal cliff in miniature. That’s because the doc fix is perhaps ultimate example of a poorly conceived temporary budgeting measure that's not really temporary. And its history suggests what’s in store for the federal budget—and the economy—in our post-fiscal-cliff future.

A Short History of Amorous Generals. By Victor Davis Hanson
http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson122312B.html

Excerpt: Are generals, however, to be judged under different rules? Unlike most politicians, they operate under more stringent codes of personal conduct and are often in harm’s way with responsibilities for the lives of thousands under their commands. (Good history lesson. --Del)

Ripples from the Election. By Victor Davis Hanson
http://victorhanson.com/articles/hanson122712B.html
Excerpt: Barack Obama is not very interested in tax reform, deficit reduction, or curbing annual spending. He believes in big government, and the bigger the better. His tenure is not so much a repudiation of Reaganism as it is of Clintonism, and the whole notion of keeping the annual growth of federal spending at or below 2 percent, balancing the budget, and declaring the era of big government over.

Basic errors killing 1000 NHS patients a month a study has revealed

http://www.thompsons.law.co.uk/clinical-negligence/basic-errors-hospital-patients.htm

Excerpt: The largest and most detailed survey into hospital deaths has revealed that almost 12,000 patients are needlessly dying every year as a result of poor patient care. The researchers from The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine based the study on 1,000 deaths at 10 NHS trusts during 2009. (David Burge ‏@iowahawkblog: A Briton is 5 times more likely to die from government health care than an American is to die from a gunshot.)

Obama Orders Pay Raise for Biden, Members of Congress, Federal Workers. By Daniel Halper

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-orders-raise-biden-members-congress-federal-workers_692223.html

Excerpt: President Barack Obama issued an executive order to end the pay freeze on federal employees, in effect giving some federal workers a raise. One federal worker now to receive a pay increase is Vice President Joe Biden.