Latest Political News

The Progressive Legacy

http://www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-progressive-legacy_27.html

Your piece, “The Progressive Legacy” is one of the, if not the, clearest, concise synopsis of how America descended into the sewer where it now resides. I’m sending it to a number of folks across the US since, in my opinion, it’s vital reading if any thinking person hopes to understand what has happened to our Constitutional Republic, especially since Lyndon Johnson began construction of the “ transformation” of America into a Socialist state. Like you, I’m a grandfather (76) and we’ve lived in two separate and distinct Americas. Unfortunately, most of the folks younger than about 45 don’t have a clue as to what they’ve lost. My personal opinion is that the creation of the nefarious Department of Education by Jimmy Carter was one of the worst moves made by any President since Woodrow Wilson. It seems that our wonderful system of public education has become a mere tool of indoctrination used by corrupt politicians and leftist, unelected bureaucrats. There is an article written by a Yale professor that I read from back in about 2008. His premise is that the best universities in the US (read Ivy League) have lost their concept that universities “… are designed to create minds, not careers.” I don’t agree with some of his leftist inclinations but the core premise of his article is right on the money. It’s also clear that a majority of university administrators and professors today are the product of the union and left wing politician influenced Department of Education controlled (once the envy of the world) US public school system. False education therefore, with the aim of indoctrination, not education of analytical minds, is the common denominator problem. --Joe M.

Must Read: Looking after – the planet? By Ken Ring 

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/opinion/post/-/blog/19295319/looking-after-the-planet/

Excerpt: Since 1993 the US has spent $150 billion on climate change research. That’s $20 million every day. According to economist Bjorn Lomberg the European Union will pay $250 billion for its current climate policies each and every year for 87 years. And for almost $20 trillion, temperatures by the end of the century could be reduced by a negligible 0.05ºC. Expenditure on R&D in NZ comes to around $10 million per year, with very little to show for it. To date over 70 climate models have failed in the past to deliver correct predictions for now, and the elusive “hot spot” that global warming science a decade ago said would establish CO2 as a culprit is still not to be found. ... Nothing, it would seem from the NOAA’s announcement that the 2013 winter was overall the coldest winter in 30 years for the entire northern hemisphere. Europe had one of the coldest springs on record. In the USA it has been overall the coolest summer for more than 30 years, notably in the West, despite some widely reported intense heat in the east.

Great Column: The Bay Area’s 1 Percenters: If you’re hip and liberal, your kids don’t have to go to school with the gardener’s kids. By Victor Davis Hanson

http://nationalreview.com/article/361828/bay-areas-1-percenters-victor-davis-hanson

Excerpt: In the South Bay counties, Democratic registration outnumbers Republican often 2 to 1. If liberals like Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, and Nancy Pelosi did not represent the Bay Area, others like them would have to be invented. Yet, most Northern California liberal politics are abstractions that apparently provide some sort of psychological compensation for otherwise living lives that are illiberal to the core. Take K–12 schools. Currently, there is a stampede to enroll students in upscale private academies — often at $30,000 a year.

Good Column: Race-Hustling Results. By Thomas Sowell

http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2013/10/22/racehustling-results-n1729101?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

Excerpt: There have been many ponderous academic writings and dour editorials in the mainstream media, lamenting that most people born poor cannot rise in American society any more. Meanwhile, many poor immigrants arrive here from various parts of Asia, and rise on up the ladder anyway. ... Some people try to explain why Asians, and Asian-Americans, succeed so well in education and in the economy by some special characteristics that they have. That may be true, but their success may also be due to what they do not have -- namely "leaders" who tell them that the deck is so stacked against them that they cannot rise, or at least not without depending on "leaders."

Army Chief Of Staff Reveals His Greatest Fear. By Jason Howerton

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/21/army-chief-of-staff-reveals-his-greatest-fear/

Excerpt: If Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno were to receive an order to deploy thousands of troops into a combat situation, he would be hard-pressed to comply. That’s because the U.S. Army reportedly only has two combat-ready brigades right now. “Even the ones headed to Afghanistan are qualified for the trainer and adviser mission, not combat,” Defense News reports.

Loving and Hating America. By Walter Williams 

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/walter-williams/loving-and-hating-america/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=70845e102f-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag&utm_term=0_57e32c1dad-70845e102f-156414477

Excerpt: An interesting facet of foreigners liking or hating America can be seen in a poll Gallup has been conducting since 2007 asking the questions: “Ideally, if you had the opportunity, would you like to move permanently to another country, or would you prefer to continue living in this country? To which country would you like to move?” (http://tinyurl.com/6rtwczu) Guess to which country most people would like to move. If you said “the good ol’ US of A,” go to the head of the class.

U.S. economy added 148,000 jobs in September; unemployment rate at 7.2 percent

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/economy-added-148000-jobs-in-september-jobless-rate-fell-to-72-percent/2013/10/22/1e2d528a-3a90-11e3-b6a9-da62c264f40e_story.html?hpid=z3

Excerpt: Businesses began to slow hiring in September, even before the fiscal crisis in Washington sapped Americans’ confidence in the economy, according to data released Tuesday morning. The long-awaited monthly employment report from the Labor Department shows the economy added 148,000 jobs in September, well below analysts’ expectations and down from nearly 200,000 jobs the previous month. The unemployment rate dipped to 7.2 percent. (Sounds like more people again left the labor force. Obama will eventually get unemployment to zero as everyone will give up looking. ~Bob)

154,000 Fewer Women Held Jobs in September; Female Participation in Labor Force Matches 24-Year Low

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/154000-fewer-women-held-jobs-september-female-participation-labor#sthash.iitmkZKu.JQdpwGDv.dpuf

Excerpt: American women participated in the nation’s labor force in September at a rate that matched the lowest level in 24 years, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the same time, the number of women actually holding jobs declined by 154,000 from August to September.

90,609,000: Americans Not in Labor Force Climbs to Another Record

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/90609000-americans-not-labor-force-climbs-another-record#sthash.LwrqIriX.82BDSCAn.dpuf

Excerpt: The BLS counts a person as participating in the labor force if they are 16 years or older and either have a job or have actively sought a job in the last four weeks. A person is not participating in the labor force if they are 16 or older and have not sought a job in the last four weeks.

Drone strikes killing more civilians than U.S. admits, human rights groups say

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/drone-strikes-killing-more-civilians-than-us-admits-human-rights-groups-say/2013/10/21/a99cbe78-3a81-11e3-b7ba-503fb5822c3e_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines

Excerpt: Two influential human rights groups say they have freshly documented dozens of civilian deaths in U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen, contradicting assertions by the Obama administration that such casualties are rare. (Too bad, but the guilt for these deaths lies with the terrorists, not the US or Obama. Just as German and Japanese civilian deaths in WWII were the fault of those who started the war. ~Bob)

Florida's Market-Based Medicaid Reform

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=23728&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD

Excerpt: Florida exemplifies the states' Medicaid spending problem: From 1990 through 2010, Florida's Medicaid expenditures grew at an annual rate of 10.1 percent. As a result, Medicaid accounted for 29 percent of state expenditures in 2010. With these growth rates, the program would have consumed the state's entire budget in less than 30 years. However, in 2005, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved a Florida reform initiative designed to increase beneficiaries' access to care and the quality of care at no greater cost than traditional Medicaid. The federal waiver has allowed the state to move about 413,000 Medicaid beneficiaries in five demonstration counties into health plans run by private providers and insurers. Instead of paying for each separate service hospitals and doctors provide to patients (fee-for-service), Medicaid reimburses the health plans in the five counties for each enrolled beneficiary.

A Tax Reform Plan that Both Parties Can Like

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=23729&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD

Excerpt: America's tax system is unfair, distortionary, wasteful and a user's nightmare. Most important, it's limiting our country's economic potential. But can we have a far simpler tax system that generates at least as much revenue and is more progressive, ask John Goodman, president and CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis, and Laurence J. Kotlikoff, a senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis and a professor of economics at Boston University. Yes, it's called the Common Sense Tax (CST). It's designed to be revenue neutral and kick start our ailing economy. It features just two taxes. One is a payroll tax that taxes all labor earnings at a flat 13 percent rate. The other is a personal income tax with a 25 percent tax on household income above $100,000, in the case of married households, and $50,000, in the case of singles. The CST has no explicit corporate income tax and no explicit estate and gift tax. But the CST income tax base includes imputed corporate profits and gifts and inheritances received.

How Will You Fare in the ObamaCare Exchanges?

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=23731&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD

Excerpt: Enrollment in ObamaCare's health insurance exchanges has proven to be a somewhat difficult process amidst technical glitches and delays. Aside from the issues associated with actually purchasing health care, once an individual gets a quote for health insurance on an exchange, is the premium higher or lower than before, asks Drew Gonshorowski, a policy analyst in the Center for Data Analysis at the Heritage Foundation. Gonshorowski research finds that for many states, the insurance on health exchanges will cost more than existing insurance. His study illustrates that the general experience for individuals shopping on the exchange is that of increasing premiums from what was available to them prior to implementation of the exchanges. Many families and individuals will face this reality as they apply for coverage, and the implications of experiencing sticker shock are important to consider if enough people choose not to sign up for coverage for various reasons.

MSNBC Wonders - Is the Obama Administration Lying?
http://eaglerising.com/2426/msnbc-wonders-obama-administration-lying/

Excerpt: Imagine the scene: President Obama sitting down for his breakfast enjoying a cup of coffee with MSNBC on the TV in the background. Just as he’s taking that first sip, he hears his loyal minions at MSNBC begin tearing apart his administration for their Obamacare failures. What a fun morning it must have been to be in the White House! The offending show was, of course, the only one with a semi-consistent token Republican – Morning Joe with Joe Scarborough.

Obama Said This with a Straight Face
http://conservativebyte.com/2013/10/obama-said-straight-face/

Excerpt: Obama can lie with the best of them. Check it out: “Thousands of people are signing up and saving money as we speak.” Yes, President Obama actually said that yesterday about Obamacare. As we all know, for the vast majority of people, the opposite is true

O-Care

Not content comparing himself to God, Obama has moved to likening himself to Steve Jobs, noting that even Apple has occasionally has problems with product roll outs. Of course, Apple never spent half a billion confiscated from unwilling investors on something that didn't work. Apple has never been able to fine people for not buying its duds. After a particularly bad run in the mid 1980s, Apple fired Steve Jobs. --TH

Bankrupting America: The Municipal Bankruptcy Mess is Heading to a Local Government Near You
http://girlsjustwannahaveguns.com/2013/10/bankrupting-america-municipal-bankruptcy-mess-heading-local-government-near/#tzmF4WJuSSuyLMoS.99

Excerpt: With its abandoned libraries, boarded-up neighborhoods, and broken-down factories overrun by weeds, Detroit has long been seen as an extreme (and extremely photogenic) outlier in American urban decline. Surely no other city could match its combination of industrial over concentration and municipal ineptitude. No other once-proud metropolis could so closely resemble the site of a zombie apocalypse. But when the Motor City filed for Chapter 9 this July, it was actually behind the curve of civic bankruptcy.

President Obama Fails To Articulate Solutions For Insurance Exchange Glitches In ACA Speech

http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/10/21/president-obama-fails-to-articulate-solutions-for-insurance-exchange-glitches-in-aca-speech/

Excerpt: Unfortunately for those American’s who are really interested in signing up on the exchange sites, he glossed over the depth and breadth of the current troubles, giving a speech that sounded more like a State of the Union address with small-business examples and reading letters written to the White House. President Obama also alleged that no one wants to see the exchange sites improve more than the federal government, noting that, “the website has been to slow, and people have been getting stuck during the process.” He also said that it is the mission of the administration to make them “more better,” with visible cringing from the audience, but claimed failures were due to response rates. 

HealthCare.gov feeds doubts about rollout: Our view. The Editorial Board, USATODAY

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/10/21/healthcaregov-affordable-care-act-obamacare-health-law-editorials-debates/3146901/

Excerpt: But you can't help but wonder: Where was all this frantic effort in the three-and-a-half years from the time Obama signed the health law to the day the exchanges opened on Oct. 1? Because that might have helped avoid the unforced error that is raising doubts about the administration's ability to manage other pieces of the complex law. (Of course they're going to clam up. This is an administration that got the entire national-security team to go along with blaming a terror attack on September 11, 2012, on a YouTube video for a couple of days. They've more or less managed to wait out the IRS scandal, the NSA scandal, Fast and Furious, the Department of Justice targeting AP reporters and James Rosen, Attorney General Eric Holder's potential perjury, James Clapper's potential perjury, and every other scandal that's come down the pike. -- Jim Geraghty, Morning Jolt)

Thousands Of Consumers Get Insurance Cancellation Notices Due To Health Law Changes

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2013/October/21/cancellation-notices-health-insurance.aspx

Excerpt: The main reason insurers offer is that the policies fall short of what the Affordable Care Act requires starting Jan. 1. Most are ending policies sold after the law passed in March 2010. At least a few are cancelling plans sold to people with pre-existing medical conditions. (The twin promises, "If you like your plan you can keep your plan; if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor" were key to passing this monstrosity. If Obama had said, "some of you will be forced to give up your current plan and your current doctor," this thing never would have gotten 200 votes in the House. -- Jim Geraghty, Morning Jolt)

Syria’s crisis averted? Not so fast. By Editorial Board, Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/syrias-crisis-averted-not-so-fast/2013/10/20/99062f90-380b-11e3-ae46-e4248e75c8ea_story.html

Excerpt: In Congress, the foreign policy debate has moved on to Iran. Crisis over? Mr. Obama seems to think so — and so does Bashar al-Assad. ... But now the arsenal has been traded for a much more tangible benefit: “to remove the threat of aggression” by the United States. That has allowed the regime to go back to waging a merciless war against civilians. (Criticizing Obama? The racists! ~Bob)

Syria's Assad deals blow to US-Russia peace initiative

http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/19484812/syrias-assad-deals-blow-to-us-russia-peace-initiative/

Excerpt: "Which forces are taking part? What relation do these forces have with the Syrian people? Do these forces represent the Syrian people, or do they represent the states that invented them?" Assad asked in typically defiant fashion. In the lengthy interview, Assad also said he was willing to run for re-election in 2014, in remarks that came soon after US Secretary of State John Kerry said that if he were to win, it would extend Syria's civil war. (A liberal friend said Obama was on the verge of a diplomatic coups in Syria like JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis--where russia got a strategic advantage forcing us to pull our Missiles out of Turkey. I guess so. ~Bob)

Bomber Tied to Al Qaeda Kills Dozens in Syrian City

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/21/world/middleeast/syria.html?_r=0

Excerpt: A suicide bomber detonated a truck filled with propane tanks at a crowded military checkpoint in central Syria on Sunday, killing more than 30 people, most of them civilians, in the second such attack by fighters linked to Al Qaeda in two days. (This is the side Obama is cheering for, right? ~Bob)

The Obama-Rouhani Playbook for Aspiring Tyrants. By Sheryl Saperia

http://defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/the-obama-rouhani-playbook-for-aspiring-tyrants/#sthash.c1dVpxL0.dpuf

Excerpt: Upon completion of his term in office, President Obama will bequeath to his successor a world indelibly scarred by the current crisis in Iran. For regardless of whether Iran's nuclear treasures are successfully wrested from the hands of the mullahs, the current presidents of Iran and the U.S. will have left behind -- to the great detriment of the West -- a plausible roadmap for all aspiring autocrats. This legacy has a simple tenet: Nuclear weaponry is not a necessity in achieving autocratic success. But the credible threat of developing such weapons is an invaluable asset -- a purveyor of leverage well worth the risks, sanctions and pain that are entailed.

Passenger train bombed in Pakistan, at least seven dead

http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-passenger-train-bomb-pakistan-20131021,0,1329093.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fmostviewed+%28L.A.+Times+-+Most+Viewed+Stories%29#axzz2iTVeXvMN

Excerpt: A bomb struck a passenger train in southwestern Pakistan on Monday, killing at least seven people and wounding 10, according to police, in the latest attack to hit the violence-besieged nation.

Oil kingdom Brunei to introduce sharia criminal law

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/22/us-brunei-sharia-idUSBRE99L0DQ20131022

Excerpt: Oil-rich Brunei will enforce sharia criminal law next year, the Islamic kingdom's sultan announced on Tuesday, with possible punishments including stoning to death for adultery and flogging for drinking alcohol. (Bringing all the multi-cultural benefits of Shari'a: hanging gays, stoning rape victims for adultery if they don't have four witnesses, executing those who leave Islam, child marriage...~Bob)

Russia bus bomb: Volgograd blast kills six

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24608694

Excerpt: A suspected female suicide bomber has set off explosives on a bus in the southern Russian city of Volgograd, killing at least six people. Officials believe the woman was from Dagestan in the North Caucasus and was the partner of an Islamist militant.

Whose Islam? By Mark Steyn

http://www.steynonline.com/5809/whose-islam

Excerpt: To be charitable to [British Prime Minister David] Cameron, he is trying to point out that very few Muslims want to stare a five-year-old in the eye and pull the trigger. But, likewise, very few of them want to do anything serious—in their mosques and madrassahs—about the culture that incubates such men. The prime minister is betting that all the clever chaps like him can keep the lid on and hold things to what, at the height of the Northern Irish "Troubles," cynical British officials privately called "an acceptable level of violence."

Healthcare.debacle harbinger of doom. By William A. Jacobson

http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/10/healthcare-debacle-website-harbinger-of-doom/

Excerpt: That makes it difficult to operate with the kind of agility that startup people are used to, this idea of putting out a simple product and then iterating rapidly, learning from your customers and scaling up gradually. That’s the usual model that startups follow. That’s difficult to do in government, and it’s not what happened with HealthCare.gov, which was meant to start operating immediately at full scale and with full features.

Rubio: I'm introducing a bill to delay the individual mandate until the Obamacare website is fixed: “It’s not fair to punish people for [not?] buying something that’s not available." 

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/10/22/rubio-im-introducing-a-bill-to-delay-the-individual-mandate-until-the-obamacare-website-is-fixed/

Excerpt: Smart politics. It won’t pass, but then it’s not really designed to. "He said all he is calling for is a delay on the requirement until the U.S. General Accounting Office certifies the Web site is working and has been functioning for six consecutive months.

Muslim Soldiers Attempt to Lure 12-Year-Old Girl for Sexual Purposes in Missouri. By Daniel Greenfield

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/muslim-soldiers-attempt-to-lure-12-year-old-girl-for-sexual-purposes-in-missouri/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=muslim-soldiers-attempt-to-lure-12-year-old-girl-for-sexual-purposes-in-missouri

Excerpt: One of these nice lovers of children is named Mohammed twice so we can only be thankful it was a 12-year-old and not a 6-year-old. "Two men training at Fort Leonard Wood are in custody after deputies say they tried to abduct a 12-year-old girl in Pulaski County Friday afternoon. Mohammed Mahmoud Omar Mefleh, 34, and Antoine Clela, 31, were charged with enticement of a child and harassment."

Human Sex Trafficking of US Minors (Part 1).By Chuck Norris

http://townhall.com/columnists/chucknorris/2013/10/22/human-sex-trafficking-of-us-minors-part-1-n1728887?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

Excerpt: Reuters reported last week, "Some 30 million people are enslaved worldwide, trafficked into brothels, forced into manual labour, victims of debt bondage or even born into servitude." ... ABC News reported in July on a National Geographic undercover investigation of sexual slavery in the U.S.: "When some people hear about sex trafficking in America they usually think of Asian and Eastern European women being brought into the States, but it's actually 10 times more likely for an American girl to be trafficked inside the U.S. Further, almost 300,000 American children are at risk for trafficking into the sex industry, according to U.S. Department of State statistics."

Heretic: NBC Reporter Asks Jay Carney Why Obama was So Wrong on Obamacare. By Michael Schaus

http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/michaelschaus/2013/10/22/nbc-reporter-asks-jay-carney-why-obama-was-so-wrong-on-obamacare-n1729386?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

Excerpt: : Five days before the launch, the president said it’s a website where you can compare and purchase affordable health care plans, the same way you shop for a plane ticket on Kayak. Who misled him? Who misled the president on this? Are you telling me five days before that somebody let the president go out to the American public to give this speech and say this and make this promise? In fact, the next line is: I promise you, this is a lot easier, it’s like booking a hotel or plane ticket. Who let him down?"

The French Death Spiral. By Daniel J. Mitchell 

http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/danieljmitchell/2013/10/22/the-french-death-spiral-n1729343?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

Excerpt: Now that I’ve warned about the risks of overstatement, I’m going out on a limb to say that we may be at the point where France is taxing itself to the point of economic ruin. One French budget expert warned that, “the spiraling welfare debt was particularly abnormal and particularly dangerous” and that “The strategy of fixing the system by collecting new revenue is reaching its limits.” (The French--like Americans--are not having babies to support the welfare state. importing Muslims for your workers has it's own problems and cost. ~Bob)

Math, the Real Kink in Obamacare. Debra J. Saunders

http://townhall.com/columnists/debrajsaunders/2013/10/22/math-the-real-kink-in-obamacare-n1729316?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

Excerpt: At an event Monday to boost the Affordable Care Act after its glitch-rich rollout, President Barack Obama asserted that his signature health care plan is a hit because "prices have come down." That's the administration's big lie: that Washington can mandate universal health care with beefed-up benefits and somehow the plan will save everyone money. (They are going to provide better benefits, to many more people, at a lower cost and no addition to the debt. Only a liberal could believe that. ~Bob)

Dar al-Hijrah Imam Affirms MB Sympathies on Facebook. By John Rossomando

http://www.investigativeproject.org/4195/dar-al-hijrah-imam-affirms-mb-sympathies-on

Excerpt: For a guy who claims to have nothing to do with the Muslim Brotherhood, ImamShaker Elsayed dedicates a surprising volume of hisFacebook page to the Egyptian Islamist group. Elsayed, head of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Va., features a picture of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi – the Brotherhood's candidate in 2011 – across the top of the page. 

Glenn Beck Takes on Grover Norquist. By Daniel Greenfield

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/glenn-beck-takes-on-grover-norquist/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=glenn-beck-takes-on-grover-norquist

Excerpt: Beck made headlines when he took on George Soros. Now he’s taking on a puppetmaster closer to home. I joined Beck and Frank Gaffney yesterday in the first of a number of shows that Glenn Beck plans to do on Grover Norquist and his agenda.

Send This Letter To D.C.!

http://justcommonsense-lostinamerica.blogspot.com/2013/10/send-this-letter-to-dc.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FMoXTa+%28Lost+in+America%29

Excerpt: Okay, a couple of years ago you sat on your collective asses, didn't voice your disapproval for Obamacare, and had the massive government intervention into your health care decisions taken over by government bureaucrats. You now have one last chance to snatch back control of your lives from a corrupted government that issues green checks to buy political power and caters to the most extreme morally corrupt special interest groups. Just as we did in 2007 you can overwhelm your Congress with letters, emails and phone calls voicing your strong opposition to rewarding illegal invaders with citizenship. Don't think for a minute Congress will not listen to you. Shout loud enough, write often enough, let them feel the depth of your anger and you can be damn sure they'll listen.

The News in Zingers. By Argus Hamilton

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0913/hamilton.php3#.UmbNOvksnIE

Excerpt: ObamaCare website glitches prevented anyone from enrolling Friday. ObamaCare is underwritten by a Treasury seventeen trillion in debt, overseen by a Surgeon General that's obese and signed into law by a president who smokes. How could anything go wrong. (Shouldn't it be "who's obese"? ~Bob)

From the Left: If Obamacare fails, so will his party. By Dana Milbank

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1013/milbank.php3#.UmbOC_ksnIE

Excerpt: Not since the Ginsu knife cut through an aluminum can and still sliced a tomato has America seen a pitch quite like the one President Obama delivered in the Rose Garden on Monday. ... Talking too long, yes. And protesting too much. Obama’s pitch sounded a bit desperate and perhaps it should. The product he rolled out three weeks ago was seriously defective.

Et tu, Politio? President Obama’s passive voice. By Edward-Isaac Dovere 

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/barack-obamas-passive-voice-98654.html

Excerpt: Once again, Barack Obama risks looking like a bystander to his own presidency. Here’s what he did to kick off the week: assemble a crowd in the Rose Garden to hear him repeat how “frustrated” he was about the many problems that plagued the launch of the Affordable Care Act’s website, promise that a “tech surge” was already on its way to set those problems right and implore people to bear with him until they see what the program can do. Here’s what he didn’t do: explain why those problems weren’t addressed before the Oct. 1 launch, why he didn’t seem to be aware of them before they went very public, or who would be suffering the consequences for any of it.

Obama: Your call is important to us. by Carrie Budoff Brown 

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/obamacare-website-obama-speech-98622.html

Excerpt: President Barack Obama delivered an Obamacare speech Monday that sounded a lot like hold music.

Murdered Christian Pastor in Kenya Found with Bible on Lap, Preparing Sunday Service

http://www.christianpost.com/news/murdered-christian-pastor-in-kenya-found-with-bible-on-lap-preparing-sunday-service-107142/

Excerpt: Two Christian pastors were murdered in separate attacks in Kenya on Sunday, officials shared, with one found with a Bible on his lap sitting in a chair, preparing for Sunday morning service.

Child marriage: Minor girl ‘sold’ to suitor. By Aushique Shaikh

http://tribune.com.pk/story/620169/child-marriage-minor-girl-sold-to-suitor/

Excerpt: A nine year old girl, W*, was married to 35-year old Zahid Zardari on Thursday, after the groom reportedly paid Rs1.5 million to her family.

PA-associated youth magazine published list of sayings it claims are Hitler's

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=9882

Excerpt: The PA-associated educational youth magazine Zayzafuna, whose Advisory Board include PA Deputy Minister of Education Jihad Zakarneh and the Head of the Media Department of the PA Ministry of Education, Abd Al-Hakim Abu Jamous, published a list of ten short wisdom sayings that it claimed were said by Hitler. ... Palestinian Media Watch has not found the quotes attributed to Hitler. Several of them appear with slight variations on "words of wisdom" websites, and are either anonymous sayings or attributed to other people. 

722 suspects rejoined terrorist groups after acquittal: report

http://www.dawn.com/news/1050293/722-suspects-rejoined-terrorist-groups-after-acquittal-report

Excerpt: From 2007 till now the courts have released 1,964 alleged terrorists, says an official government document. More serious still is the fact that of those released, 722 have rejoined terrorist groups while 1,197 are still actively involved in anti-state activities, according to the official document available with Dawn.

How Jon Stewart became President Obama’s biggest problem. By Chris Cillizza

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/10/22/how-jon-stewart-became-president-obamas-biggest-problem/?wpisrc=nl_pmpol

Excerpt: President Obama’s biggest problem when it comes to selling the American public on the so-far rocky rollout of his health-care law isn’t John Boehner or Mitch McConnell or even Ted Cruz. It’s Jon Stewart.

Judge Refuses to Dismiss Case Challenging Obamacare Subsidies. By Katie Pavlich

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2013/10/22/breaking-judge-refuses-to-dismiss-case-blocking-irs-enforcement-of-obamacare-n1729818?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm

Excerpt: The judge will not issue an injunction to stop the IRS from issuing subsidies, meaning Obamacare can move forward as planned. However, the lawsuit will also move forward and depending on the outcome, could limit IRS power to issue Obamacare subsidies.

Girl Who Threw Puppies in River Found by Bosnian Police, Say Reports

http://m.cbsnews.com/blogsstorysynopsis.rbml?&feed_id=71&catid=20015545&videofeed=null&nb_splitPage=0

Excerpt: Police in Bosnia say they have located the girl that sparked global outrage after a disturbing online video surfaced showing her throwing live puppies into a raging river.(Let the punishment fit the crime. ~Bob)

Obamacare Tech Firm Tried, Failed To Build Gun Registry In Canada

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/10/22/Obamacare-Tech-Firm-Built-Canadian-Gun-Registry

Excerpt: CGI, the Canadian company whose U.S. subsidiary built the failed Obamacare website, was once contracted to build a federal gun registry for the Canadian government, Breitbart News has learned. CGI's contract was canceled in 2007 after a report by the Auditor General found that the Canadian Firearms Information System (CFIS) being built by CGI was "significantly over budget" and that it had been plagued by delays.

IRS paid more than $110 billion in improper tax credits

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/22/irs-paid-more-than-110-billion-in-improper-tax-credits/

But they'll do a great job running your health care. ~Bob. Excerpt: The Internal Revenue Service paid out more than $110 billion in tax credits over the past decade to people who didn't qualify for them, according to a Treasury report released Tuesday. The Earned Income Tax Credits were intended for poor working families. In his report, IRS inspector general J. Russell George said more than one-fifth of all credits paid under the program went to people who didn't qualify.

Oh, by the way: The “tech surge” isn’t going to rescue the ObamaCare website

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/10/22/oh-by-the-way-the-tech-surge-isnt-going-to-rescue-the-obamacare-website/

Excerpt: My layman’s sense after reading several articles about it and chatting with a friend who works in IT is that it’s like bringing in a bunch of professional writers to rework a 2,000-page first draft of a novel written by a sixth-grader. If you don’t like that analogy, a health-industry consultant told Politico, “It’s like you’ve built a single-story house with no basement, and then the family comes in and says, ‘Oh, we made a mistake, we wanted a multi-story house with a basement.’ Then you have to strip everything down and start over.” It can be done, but it ain’t going to be soon. And it ain’t going to be cheap.

Tweet from PF Foundation ‏@PFFORG

Our patient handbook is available in 7 languages!

http://pulmonaryfibrosis.org/patienthandbook 

Obama Administration Knew Healthcare Website Would Crash
http://www.newsmax.com/newswidget/healthcare-website-crash-administration/2013/10/22/id/532443?promo_code=10731-1&utm_source=10731Daily_Caller&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1#ixzz2iUEPrtwO

Excerpt: According to The Washington Post, the site crashed after a government simulation that had just a few hundred people trying to log on simultaneously. That experience was a precursor to what happened in the first few hours of the Oct. 1 launch: The site locked up after some 2,000 users attempted to register. ….In addition, people familiar with the roll-out of the project said, a month before the health insurance exchanges opened, the government was warned by a testing group made up of insurers that the system was riddled with problems, including the way the exchange handled enrollment, federal subsidies, and the security of consumers' personal information.

Nebraska: Blue Cross Forced To Hire Temp Workers To Help Fix Flood of Errors In Obamacare Applications…

http://weaselzippers.us/2013/10/22/nebraska-blue-cross-forced-to-hire-temp-workers-to-help-fix-flood-of-errors-in-obamacare-applications/

Obama creates jobs! ~Bob

The Horrible Tactic The Taliban Is Once Again Using With Children To Fulfill Death Missions

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/22/taliban-back-to-kidnapping-children-to-use-as-suicide-bombers/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=story&utm_campaign=ShareButtons

Excerpt: Taliban extremists have kidnapped more than 100 children from Afghanistan and Pakistan in the last year to use for suicide missions against government officials and U.S. troops still fighting in the region, U.S. and Pakistani sources told TheBlaze.

Tweet from Gun Shots ‏@Gun_Shots

The US Department of Justice found that, in 1989, there were 168,881 crimes of violence for which police had not responded within 1 hour.

More missteps: Air Force officials in charge of nukes left open blast door, sources say

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/22/missteps-handling-nation-nuclear-arsenal/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fpolitics+%28Internal+-+Politics+-+Text%29

Excerpt: Twice this year alone, Air Force officers entrusted with the launch keys to nuclear-tipped missiles have been caught leaving open a blast door that is intended to help prevent a terrorist or other intruder from entering their underground command post, Air Force officials have told The Associated Press….But officials with direct knowledge of Air Force intercontinental ballistic missile operations told the AP that such violations have happened, undetected, many more times than in the cases of the two launch crew commanders and two deputy commanders who were given administrative punishments this year. (From AP, Regime mouthpiece, so much be an agenda behind revelations. --Barb)

New poll finds that a majority of Americans see Obamacare website problems as a sign of problems to come with law

http://redalertpolitics.com/2013/10/21/new-poll-finds-that-a-majority-of-americans-see-obamacare-website-problems-as-a-sign-of-problems-to-come-with-law/

Excerpt: The American people aren’t buying into the president’s message that the problems with the healthcare exchange websites aren’t indicative of larger issues with the law, according to an ABC News - Washington Post study released Monday. The study found that 56 percent of Americans believe the website problems are related to bigger ones with the law, while 40 percent view the website problems as an isolated incident.

1-800-ObamaCare-Denial: Website problems don't matter when your intentions are good.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304402104579149582888128734

Progressives take no responsibility for the millions who have suffered and died from their policies, because their intentions were good. ~Bob

People In Healthcare.gov Stock Photos Now Visibly Panicking

http://www.theonion.com/articles/people-in-healthcaregov-stock-photos-now-visibly-p,34307/?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=bufferc1f4f&utm_medium=twitter

Satire from the Onion.

Sen. David Vitter calls on DOJ to investigate armed EPA raid in Alaska

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/22/sen-david-vitter-calls-on-doj-to-investigate-armed-epa-raid-in-alaska/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fpolitics+%28Internal+-+Politics+-+Text%29

Excerpt: Sen. David Vitter (R., La.) called on the Justice Department (DOJ) Tuesday to investigate an armed raid by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agents on an Alaskan gold mine that occurred earlier this year. Vitter, in a letter sent Tuesday to Attorney General Eric Holder, requested the Justice Department investigate the EPA raid, which occurred at a gold mine in Chicken, Alaska earlier this year as part of an investigation into violations of the Clean Water Act.

Feds Paid Prisoners $1 Million in Disability Payments: Average received $2,322 each

http://freebeacon.com/feds-paid-prisoners-1-million-in-disability-payments/

Excerpt: The Social Security Administration (SSA) gave more than $1 million in improper disability benefits to 440 prisoners, according to the inspector general. The Inspector General for the SSA (IG) based its report on a sample of 100 beneficiaries, and found that one-fourth had improperly received disability while they were incarcerated. “SSA issued improper DI benefit payments to beneficiaries for periods they were in correctional institutions,” the report said. 

New Obamacare Ad In Colorado Features “Bros” Doing A Keg Stand – Update: The Bros Go Golfing!

http://weaselzippers.us/2013/10/22/new-obamacare-ad-in-colorado-features-bros-doing-a-keg-stand/

Are they sure this isn't satire? Not even liberals are so dumb. ~Bob

Saudi Arabia set for diplomatic shift away from US: Intelligence chief tells diplomats he plans to limit interaction with US in protest at its policies on Syria, Israel and Iran

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/22/saudi-arabia-diplomat-shift-us

one word: Frackin! ~Bob. Excerpt: Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief has said the kingdom will make a "major shift" in dealings with the US in protest at perceived American inaction over the Syria war and its overtures to Iran, a source close to Saudi policy said on Tuesday. The source said that Prince Bandar bin Sultan had told European diplomats that Washington had failed to act effectively on the Syria crisis and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was growing closer to Tehranand had failed to back Saudi support for Bahrain when it crushed a 2011 anti-government revolt.

Iran 'Gifts' Russia with Copy of US Drone: Iran says it has now mass produced the highly advanced US ScanEagle drone it says it downed last year.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/173098#.UmbyGXBzFEI

Excerpt: Iran has presented Russia with agift of an exact copy of an advanced US spy drone. The UK's Guardian newspaper has reported the copy of the US ScanEagle drone was given to Russia at a meeting between the two countries' air forcecommanders earlier this week in Tehran. Last month, Iran's Revolutionary Guard unveiled the "Yasseer" - an advanced reconnaissance drone - which AFP reported at the time strongly resembled the US ScanEagle that Iran claimed to have captured in late 2012.

Steny Hoyer wants more money to fix Obamacare exchanges

http://washingtonexaminer.com/steny-hoyer-wants-more-money-to-fix-obamacare-exchanges/article/2537600

Someone get China on the line, Stat! ~Bob

Obamacare’s Vermont Fail. By Stuart Stevens 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/22/obamacare-s-vermont-fail.html

Excerpt: The reality is that Vermont’s health-care exchange website may be even a bigger mess than the federal-run HealthCare.Gov. And health care in Vermont may be headed for a unique train wreck due to its efforts to become the first state in the country to implement a single payer plan. ... In other words, in Vermont, a good percentage of its population will have no choice but to buy health insurance through the state exchange. But despite the urgency of getting the exchange launch right and the givens that should make it easier rather than difficult—small state, high rate of literacy, 98 percent English speaking—Vermont’s website seems as bad or worse than the federal system.

Answers demanded of Kerry, Holder in murder of Agent Camarena

http://www.arizonadailyindependent.com/2013/10/22/answers-demanded-of-kerry-holder-in-murder-of-agent-camarena/

Excerpt: Secretary of State John Kerry and Attorney General Eric Holder are being questioned about the Mexican government’s recent decision to prematurely release Rafael Caro Quintero, who was convicted in the 1985 kidnapping, torture and murder of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Camarena.

Tweet from Paul Hampton ‏@HotelHamptonInn

Dear Obama, My mother lost her job yesterday due to your Obama care. Thank you so much. I really don't understand how people support you.

Toda's (mostly) political news. Syria fading

As predicted, less on Syria today. By next week, it will be forgotten, Assad will still be in power, Putin will be stronger, Syrians will still be dying, both sides will still be evil, and someone will nominate Obama for another Peace Prize for not bombing Syria like the evil Republicans McCain and Graham wanted him to. ~Bob

September is Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2013/09/september-is-pulmonary-fibrosis.html

Must Read: Dear Corporate America. By Daniel Greenfield

http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2013/09/dear-corporate-america.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FromNyToIsraelSultanRevealsTheStoriesBehindTheNews+%28from+NY+to+Israel+Sultan+Reveals+The+Stories+Behind+the+News%29

Excerpt: I haven't written to you in a while. At least not since my television broke down, my toaster developed a taste for human flesh and my phone company ran away with my phone number to Mexico. Rachel Maddow says we're both on the right and are really close together. But then again Rachel Maddow also says the Republican Party drinks the blood of small children. So she can be a little factually challenged on occasion.

The Uninsured Crisis under ObamaCare

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=23608&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD

Excerpt: Proponents of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) hoped it would achieve near-universal coverage. Yet, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the ACA will cover less than half of the uninsured. A decade from now (2023), long after the ACA is fully implemented, the CBO estimates it will only cover about 25 million people who would otherwise be uninsured, leaving 31 million people uninsured. Following are some of the reasons why ObamaCare will not solve the uninsured crisis.

Unfortunate Effects of Medicaid in Pharmaceutical Spending

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=23609&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD

Excerpt: The generic drug market has typically been viewed at the wholesale level as a competitive market with price approaching marginal costs. However, the large presence of third party payers as final purchasers (e.g., Medicaid) may distort prices at the retail level relative to what a standard model of price competition would predict, say Abby Alpert, Mark Duggan and Judith K. Hellerstein, researchers with the National Bureau of Economic Research.

News Flash? Report warns of growing debt in the US. By Jackie Calmes

http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2013/09/17/congressional-budget-office-says-headed-toward-unsustainable-debt/gLR5IUfrFwcUk9WW1VhDkJ/story.html

Excerpt: But starting in 2016, the office projected, deficits will rise again as more baby boomers begin drawing from Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid’s long-term care benefits.

By 2023, the annual deficit would rise to an estimated 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product, which is just beyond the level that many economists consider sustainable in a growing economy. By 2038, it would be 6.5 percent. (Who knew? Okay, the guy who wrote The Coming Collapse of the American Republic, but who else? http://tiny.cc/g02s4 ~Bob.

Friend: Navy Yard Shooter Liberal, Supported Obama
http://visiontoamerica.com/15890/friend-navy-yard-shooter-liberal-supported-obama/

Excerpt: Ritrovato went on to explain that two of them had a close relationship based in part on their differences, specifically race and politics. Alexis was black, Ritrovato is white. Ritrovato described himself as conservative and Alexis is “more of a liberal type” who supported Barack Obama.

My grovelling apology to Herr Schauble. By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ambroseevans-pritchard/100025568/my-grovelling-apology-to-herr-schauble/

Excerpt: I apologise for mentioning that unemployment is 27.8pc in Greece, 26.3pc in Spain, 17.3pc in Cyprus, and 16.5pc in Portugal, or for pointing that it would be far worse had it not been for a mass exodus of EMU refugees. Nor was is proper to mention that Greek youth unemployment in 62.9pc. These are trivial details.

The Real Don Berwick. By Greg Scandlen

http://healthblog.ncpa.org/the-real-don-berwick/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HA#more-32588

Excerpt: Management knew what was happening, but failed to correct it and even suppressed any discussion of the problems. Again, what should be done? Enter Don Berwick. Dr. Berwick was brought in to chair another committee — the National Advisory Group on the Safety of Patients in England, which issued another report and recommendations for action. Berwick’s report is a complete whitewash of the situation. Here are a few of their observations and my comments.

[Canuck Bashing:] The Last Phobia. By Mark Steyn

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/358709/last-phobia-mark-steyn

Excerpt: As it turns out, [David] Brooks, like yours truly, was born in Toronto. I think we can all agree that the only thing worse than a Canadian is a self-loathing Canadian: It’s bad enough that the first Canadian president of America [Ted Cruz]has to run around pretending he’ll be the first Hispanic president, but it’s outrageous that the New York Times’s only Canuck columnist should be the Roy Cohn of Canadians.

More Americans Than Ever Consider Themselves "Lower Class: By Christine Rouselle

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/christinerousselle/2013/09/17/more-americans-than-ever-consider-themselves-lower-class-n1702620

Excerpt: Despite promises of "hope and change" by our current president, more Americans than ever before now consider themselves to be "lower class." According to the General Social Survey, 8.4 percent of Americans now consider themselves to be "lower class," the highest percentage since the survey began in 1972. The majority of Americans have typically referred to themselves as "middle" or "working" class

Aaron Alexis and the War on Standards.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/09/aaron-alexis-and-the-war-on-standards.php

Excerpt: According to reports, Alexis was arrested in Seattle in 2004 for shooting out the tires of a parked car. Apparently, he did so in a rage because he felt two construction workers had disrespected him.

"You are married to Four Wives Each, Each of Whom Comes with 70 VIrgins, and Each Virgin Comes with 70 Servant Girls. By Daniel Greenfield

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/you-are-married-to-four-wives-each-of-whom-comes-with-70-black-eyed-virgins-and-each-virgin-comes-with-70-servant-girls/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=you-are-married-to-four-wives-each-of-whom-comes-with-70-black-eyed-virgins-and-each-virgin-comes-with-70-servant-girls

Excerpt: Your first thought might be of all the kits, cats, sacks and wives on the road to St. Ives. But it also has the air of a surreal version of the Home Shopping Network. “You don’t just get 70 virgins..."

Students Take Field Trip to Mosque, Receive Koran. By Todd Starnes

http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/students-take-field-trip-to-mosque-receive-koran.html

Excerpt: A Tennessee high school has decided to revise its field trip policy after a group of freshmen were taken to an Islamic mosque where they were given copies of the Koran and while a student who opted out of the trip was given a worksheet that alleged Muslims treated their conquered people better than the United States treated minorities. … But some parents objected to the trips and wondered why the school would tour a mosque but not a Christian church or a Jewish synagogue.

Iraq: Sunni jihadists murder 31 people with car bombs after Shi'ites murder 17 Sunnis

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/09/iraq-sunni-jihadists-murder-31-people-with-car-bombs-after-shiites-murder-17-sunnis.html

Excerpt: What motivates the Sunni-Shi'ite jihad? Shhhh! To ask such questions is "Islamophobic"!

Does the Qur’an Teach Hate? By Robert Spencer 

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/robert-spencer/does-the-quran-teach-hate/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=83e4d976d8-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag&utm_term=0_57e32c1dad-83e4d976d8-156414477

Excerpt: On September 11, 2013, a public information officer for Palm Beach County, Florida named John Jamason posted a message on his personal Facebook page: “Never forget. There is no such thing as radical Islam. All Islam is radical. There may be Muslims who don’t practice their religion, much like others. The Quran is a book that preaches hate.” … Left unexamined in the controversy was whether or not what Jamason said was true.

Ignorance Not Always Bliss

http://justcommonsense-lostinamerica.blogspot.com/2013/09/ignorance-not-always-bliss.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FMoXTa+%28Lost+in+America%29

Excerpt: Did you ever wonder how folks get picked to sit up on the podium, behind Obama, when he mounts that teleprompter program and begins to read it? Well, that little trick was revealed during Obama's 2012 campaign. It seems the way it works is Obama's handlers show up well before the speech, takes a look at the crowd and begins culling a nice mix of old and young, Black, White, Asian and Hispanic, and most adoring, then leads them to those podium seats to complete scene as the Anointed One prepares to speak. I was a bit amused to read that Obama's handlers had a bit of trouble filling those seats up on the stage on his last tour.

Abbott sworn in as Australia's new PM

http://news.yahoo.com/tony-abbott-sworn-australian-pm-003932259.html

Excerpt: Tony Abbott was sworn in as Australia's new prime minister on Wednesday and immediately ordered the scrapping of the nation's carbon tax and the halting of asylum-seeker boats.

State Dept security chief nominee Gregory Starr once shot himself in foot

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#inbox/14131491172558e6

The perfect Obama nominee. ~Bob

Government shutdown moves closer to reality

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/year-end-tax-cuts-have-nearly-doubled-projected-size-of-national-debt-cbo-says/2013/09/17/cda802d2-1f9c-11e3-94a2-6c66b668ea55_story.html?wpisrc=nl_politics

Excerpt: The threat of a government shutdown intensified Tuesday as House Republican leaders moved toward stripping funding from President Obama’s landmark health-care initiative and setting up a stalemate with the Democratic Senate. (The media will convince the public it is the Republicans’ fault, though of course either side could avoid it by giving in to the other. ~Bob.)

Have Conservatives Rescued Obama? By Jonathan S. Tobin

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/18/have-conservatives-rescued-obama-government-shutdown/

Excerpt: After a year of a stagnant economy, scandals, legislative failure, declining public approval, worries about the ObamaCare rollout, and the Syria fiasco, the Obama presidency appears to be on life support. The crackup of the coalition that elected and reelected him is no secret.

This is a moment that defines courage; the direction of our country is not good: Lawmakers can prove their backbone by defunding Obamacare. By Ben Carson

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/18/carson-a-moment-that-defines-courage/

Excerpt: Our divided government  was formed by diligent men who had studied the history of governmental structures throughout the world and wanted to design a system that would not succumb to the temptation to continuously expand its size and scope at the expense of the people. An important concept was the separation of powers with checks and balances among the three branches of government. … Ben S. Carson is professor emeritus of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University.

US ranks 17 in measure of economic freedom
http://dailycaller.com/2013/09/17/us-ranks-17-in-measure-of-economic-freedom/

Excerpt: The United States has dropped 15 slots since 2000 in an annual ranking of economic freedom, from 2nd place to 17th place. (Can’t have economic freedom. Have to tell the surfs what to do or they might do what they want. ~Bob)

Illinois’s Medicaid Scandal: A tale of questionable dealings and taxpayer risk . By Jillian Kay Melchior

http://nationalreview.com/article/358759/illinoiss-medicaid-scandal-jillian-kay-melchior

Excerpt: Bollywood performers, a Boston boat cruise with an open bar, gifts of cigars and wine — the vendor working on Illinois’s expensive new Medicaid information-technology system entertains public officials in style, according to sources in the Illinois government. (I am so done with living in Illinois. Packing. ~Bob.)

Move Over Detroit - The Fiscal Crisis in Chicago is Far Bigger. By Mike Shedlock

http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/mikeshedlock/2013/09/18/move-over-detroit--the-fiscal-crisis-in-chicago-is-far-bigger-n1703008?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

Excerpt: Pensions 31% funded Moody's downgraded Chicago Debt 3 Notches (just 4 steps above junk) City debt on negative watch Pension Liability is $61,000 Per Household ($23,000 Per Capita)

The Price of Politics: Debt and deficits impoverish us in ways we can only begin to measure. By Kevin D. Williamson

http://nationalreview.com/article/358763/price-politics-kevin-d-williamson

Excerpt: That’s the best-case scenario. The more realistic outcome is that each of those measures of debt and spending as a share of GDP will in fact be considerably worse, because our GDP will grow more slowly. We have entered the realm of the vicious circle: Debt and deficits will slow down economic growth, and slower economic growth will make our debt and deficits worse.

Student Indoctrination. By Walter E. Williams

http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2013/09/18/student-indoctrination-n1701375?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

Excerpt: The new college academic year has begun, and unfortunately, so has student indoctrination. Let's look at some of it.

What a Dark-Age Ideology Can Do. By Elise Cooper

http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/09/what_a_dark-age_ideology_can_do.html

Excerpt: DeMille emphasizes the ruthlessness of the African and Muslim nations: he says, in writing about the revolution, "Men like that are taking over the world...what the hell has gone wrong[?]" In explaining it, DeMille noted, "They just shot three hundred members of the royal family. I wanted to write how Marxists typically tried to kill and eliminate the aristocracy. The brutality against the ruling class was a knee-jerk reaction, which unraveled that society. The violence can be a history lesson for today when all this cruelty is being inflicted on the Coptic Christians in Egypt and Syria.

Quote from The Patriot Post

www.patriotpost.us/subscribe/ 

Comedian Jay Leno: "USA Today had a big front-page feature on the new health care law, and said that the opposition to ObamaCare is at an all-time high. In fact, it's gotten so bad the president's now calling it BidenCare.

Gay Liberal Lawmaker Releases Ad Featuring His Tea Party Republican Dad

http://gawker.com/gay-liberal-lawmaker-releases-ad-featuring-his-tea-part-1336455371

Excerpt: The 60-spot is getting unusually rave reviews on YouTube, where the top comment calls it "hands down the best political ad I've seen."

Tweet from Tom Price ‏@RepTomPrice

Remarkable. Despite presiding over the worst econ recovery since Great Depression, POTUS still touts his failed 2009 stimulus package

Contrary to Claims, IRS Has Not Destroyed Conservative Donor Lists. By Eliana Johnson

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/358843/contrary-claims-irs-has-not-destroyed-conservative-donor-lists-eliana-johnson

Excerpt: The House Ways and Means Committee says that, despite the IRS’s promises to destroy the donor lists it demanded from tea-party and other conservative groups, it has discovered those lists in the case files it has reviewed in the course of its investigation into the targeting scandal. 

New Climate Study Rejects IPCC’s Conclusions. By Alec Torres

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/358845/new-climate-study-rejects-ipccs-conclusions-alec-torres?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Excerpt: On Tuesday, an international panel of scientists and scholars released a report contradicting the findings of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), often considered the authority on the matter. The panel, called the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) cites thousands of peer-reviewed articles that the IPCC reportedly ignores and found “no empirical evidence . . . to substantiate the claim that 2 [degrees Celsius] of warming presents a threat to planetary ecologies or environments,” one finding of the IPCC’s work. They also found no evidence that “a warming will be more economically costly than an equivalent cooling,” another tenet of the IPCC.

Obama Rodeo Clown Performs Again While Crowd Wears 1st Amendment Shirts. By Daniel Greenfield 

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/obama-rodeo-clown-performs-again-while-crowd-wears-1st-amendment-shirts/

Excerpt: Not so long ago the nation was cast into a terrible state of dread when a clown in an Obama mask performed in a rodeo. Many people had troubling telling apart the clown from the real Obama. Some thought the clown would do a better job of negotiating with Putin.

Entrepreneur starts his version of Harvard, tuition-free. By Candice Lanier

http://www.theminorityreportblog.com/2013/09/18/entrepreneur-starts-his-version-of-harvard-tuition-free/?utm_content=buffer2715a&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer

Why congressional Democrats are turning on Obama: GOP obstructionism? Now it's liberals who are clashing with the president. By Harold Maass

http://theweek.com/article/index/249780/why-congressional-democrats-are-turning-on-obama

Must be racists like Republicans who oppose his policies. ~Bob

Watch what happens when NYers find out Obamacare is hazardous to their health

http://redalertpolitics.com/2013/09/18/watch-americans-agree-obamacare-is-hazardous-to-their-health/

Excerpt: Despite the looming Oct. 1 launch of the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces, Americans continue to discover that Obamcare is actually hazardous to their health, as demonstrated by a new video.

Walgreen Moves 120,000 Employees To Private Health Care Exchange

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/18/walgreen-private-exchange_n_3944908.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

Excerpt: The pharmacy chain will join 17 other large employers on the Aon Hewitt Corporate Health Exchange as part of a growing movement to offer employees fixed dollar amounts to purchase their own plans on such exchanges. (If you like your plan—and you’re a member of Congress—you can keep it. ~Bob

IRS officials thought Obama wanted crackdown on tea party groups, worried about negative press

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/17/report-irs-staff-acutely-aware-tea-party-antipathy/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS

Excerpt: IRS employees were “acutely” aware in 2010 that President Obama wanted to crack down on conservative organizations and were egged into targeting tea party groups by press reports mocking the emerging movement, according to an interim report being circulated Tuesday by House investigators.

Gitmo Detainee Released By U.S. Killed Fighting With Jihadist Rebels In Syria…

http://weaselzippers.us/2013/09/18/gitmo-detainee-released-by-u-s-killed-fighting-with-jihadist-rebels-in-syria/

“The mill wheels of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine.” ~Bob

Warning: Our Government is a Threat to Public Safety. By Michelle Malkin

http://townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/2013/09/18/warning-our-government-is-a-threat-to-public-safety-n1702899

Excerpt: Have you noticed the common thread among several mass killings and homeland security incidents lately? Time and again, it's the control freaks in Washington who have fallen down on their jobs, allowing crazies, creeps and criminals to roam free and wreak havoc while ignoring rampant red flags. Let's review:

Here We Go: House to Vote on Temprary Budget That Defunds Obamacare. By Guy Benson

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2013/09/18/here-we-go-house-to-vote-on-temporary-budget-that-defunds-obamacare-n1703410

Excerpt: Conservatives wanted a continuing resolution (CR) that defunds Obamacare, and now they'll get one (via National Review): Speaker John Boehner huddled with House Republicans this morning at the Capitol. According to several sources in the closed-door meeting, the speaker confirmed his plan to bring a continuing resolution to the floor that funds the government and defunds Obamacare

The Great Oil Conspiracy: How the U.S. Government Hid the Nazi Discovery of Abiotic Oil from the American People

http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Oil-Conspiracy-Government/dp/1620871629/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1379524009&sr=8-6&keywords=jerome+corsi

At the end of World War II, U.S. intelligence agents confiscated thousands of Nazi documents on what was known as the “Fischer-Tropsch Process”—a series of equations developed by German chemists unlocking the secrets of how oil is formed. When the Nazis took power, Germany had resolved to develop enough synthetic oil to wage war successfully, even without abundant national oil reserves. For decades, these confiscated German documents remained largely ignored in a United States where petro-geologists and petro-chemists were convinced that oil was a “fossil fuel” created by ancient decaying biological debris. (I’m unconvinced. ~Bob.)

More Murders in 18 Days Than Yearly Total of Eight States. By Christine Rousselle

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/christinerousselle/2013/09/18/these-eight-states-had-fewer-murders-in-2011-than-chicago-has-had-so-far-in-september-n1703361

Excerpt: Chicago has experienced 21 homicides so far this September. The following states all had fewer homicides in the 12 months of 2011 (the most recent year statistics are available) than Chicago has had in the 18 days of September so far:

Obama: Losing the Room. By Maureen O'Dowd

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/opinion/dowd-losing-the-room.html?_r=0

Excerpt: With a shrinking circle of trust inside the White House, Obama is having trouble establishing trust outside with once reliable factions: grass-roots Democrats and liberals in Congress. As Peter Baker wrote in The Times, the president is finding himself increasingly “frustrated” by the defiance of Democrats who are despairing of his passive, reactive leadership. 

Biofuels fraud cheated victim of $100 million, feds say. By Dan Human

http://www.ibj.com/feds-make-arrests-in-fraud-investigation-of-biofuels-firm/PARAMS/article/43574

Excerpt: Prosecutors allege that E-biofuels actually wasn’t producing biofuel. Instead, it was purchasing fuel and selling it to customers as its own product for a profit. E-biofuels also fraudulently collected on about $35 million in federal tax breaks reserved for biofuel producers, according to charging documents.

As Budget Fight Looms, Obama Sees Defiance in His Own Party.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/us/politics/as-budget-fight-looms-obama-sees-defiance-in-his-own-party.html?hp

Excerpt: In recent weeks, disgruntled Democrats, particularly liberals, have bolted from the White House on issues like National Security Agency surveillance policies, a planned military strike on Syria and the potential choice of Lawrence H. Summers to lead the Federal Reserve. In private, they often sound exasperated describing Mr. Obama’s operation; in public, they are sometimes only a little more restrained. They complain the White House has not consulted enough and failed to assert leadership.

Germany: An election that affects us all. The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/17/germany-election-affects-all

Excerpt: It is hard to think of any election in recent times in Europe which has mattered more to more people than the one that takes place in Germany on Sunday. This election, however, is important not just for Germans, who will naturally be the people most directly affected by the outcome. In some respects the result will be just as closely watched across the whole of the eurozone in which Germany is the dominant economy – and in particular by the arc of southern European nations which have been compelled to enact austerity budgets since 2009 to comply with northern notions of fiscal rectitude.

Too funny: Surviving Whole Foods

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-maclean/surviving-whole-foods_b_3895583.html

Excerpt: Whole Foods is like Vegas. You go there to feel good but you leave broke, disoriented, and with the newfound knowledge that you have a vaginal disease.

Quiz: Which Founding Father Are You?

http://constitutioncenter.org/foundersquiz/

Apparently, I’m James Madison. Could do worse. ~Bob

Old, but new to me: Starbucks charged rescuers for water

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/sep/26/september11.usa3

Excerpt: A branch of the coffee chain Starbucks charged New York rescue workers for water to treat victims of the suicide attack on the World Trade Centre, it emerged today.

Scarborough blasts Obama’s “harsh partisan speech” during Navy Yard shooting

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/09/17/scarborough-blasts-obamas-harsh-partisan-speech-during-navy-yard-shooting/

Excerpt: How bad was Barack Obama’s timing yesterday on his speech attacking Republicans for “hurting” Americans while the Navy Yard shooting was still under way? All of the major networks — including MSNBC — cut away from the speech after Obama finished his remarks on the shooting, which means that most missed the partisan attack that followed, except for the flabbergasted reporters. 

This Is What Personal Responsibility – And Justice – Look Like In Action

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/09/18/this-is-what-personal-responsibility-and-justice-look-like-in-action/

Excerpt: “Dude, she’s rich! She’s eating at a restaurant,” the suspect says. “I didn’t break her nose. I snatched her purse. It was sitting on the table. I swear to God I wouldn’t hit her.”

'Obama Express' Grocery Store Caught In Food Stamp Trafficking

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/09/17/Obama-Express-Grocery-Store-Caught-in-Food-Stamp-Trafficking

Excerpt: After Obama's election in 2009 a small grocery store/convenience store in Florida changed its name to the Obama Express. Several other stores across the country did the same thing. One of those was a location in Baltimore, Maryland. Now, in 2013, the Maryland outlet is under investigation, accused of illegally trafficking in food stamps. (Well named. ~Bob)

Islam’s black slaves

http://www.salon.com/2001/04/06/segal/

Excerpt: Another slave trade, however, the Islamic one, remains a mysterious aspect in the history of the black diaspora. Fourteen centuries old, this version of slavery spread throughout Africa, the Middle East, Europe, India and China. It is the legacy of this trade that continues to ravage Sudan and Mauritania today.

NYT Shines Spotlight on Obamacare’s “Revolving Door.” By Walter Russell Mead

http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2013/09/18/nyt-shines-spotlight-on-obamacares-revolving-door/

Excerpt: In 2006, President Obama gave a speech condemning the culture of lobbying in DC, holding up as an example a closed-door deal the then-reigning GOP made with a clutch of health care lobbyists. Seven years later, the front page of the NYT has a big story about “dozens” of former administration officials moving into lobbying positions:

Party Politics. By Mark Steyn

http://www.steynonline.com/5781/party-politics

Excerpt: Out there, in a ramshackle outpost somewhere on the fringes of the map, brave Americans abandoned by their government are dying on a rooftop. But here in the metropolis the dazzling klieg-light luster of Mia Farrow and Jill Abramson plunges all else into shadow. If you're not looking at the world through Mia Farrow's blue-tinted glasses, if you're in Beijing or Moscow, Ankara or Canberra, it's the shadow that everyone sees, very clearly — the sepulchral Habsburgian twilight of a dimming power enjoying its last waltz.

Poland's Piggish Pols--They're Not Alone

http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2013/09/17/polands-piggish-pols-theyre-not-alone/

Excerpt: Poland has pulled a destructive stunt worthy of Argentina. It is seizing half of the Polish people’s private retirement funds. All government bonds in these pension-plan portfolios are being forcibly transferred to the government.

Food-Stamp Surfer: ‘I Just Stepped In Line’

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/Aug/29/tp-food-stamp-surfer-i-just-stepped-in-line/?#article-copy

Excerpt: At 29, Greenslate is an able-bodied man with no dependents who receives $200 a month in CalFresh, as food stamps are known here. He and his band practice for several hours a day. He qualifies for aid because he has little to no income, until an album by his band — Rattlife — hits it big.

Liberals Fear They Will Run Out Of Victims: Washington Post/New York Times Ponder Affirmative Action for the Ugly. By Daniel Greenfield

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/washington-postnew-york-times-ponder-affirmative-action-for-the-ugly/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=washington-postnew-york-times-ponder-affirmative-action-for-the-ugly

Excerpt: And now it’s time to expand the categories and start the ugly affirmative action lawsuits.: 'The galloping injustice of “lookism” has not escaped psychologists, economists, sociologists, and legal scholars. Stanford law professor Deborah L. Rhode’s 2010 book, “The Beauty Bias,” lamented “the injustice of appearance in life and law,” while University of Texas, Austin economist Daniel Hamermesh’s 2011 “Beauty Pays,” recently out in paperback, traced the concrete benefits of attractiveness, including a $230,000 lifetime earnings advantage over the unattractive.'

Collecting the mountains of welfare cash Americans don't collect. http://moonbattery.com/?p=36701

Excerpt: From Los Angeles County: 'A projected $650 million in welfare benefits will be distributed to illegal alien parents in 2013, county officials said Monday.'

That is just in one county. 'Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich announced the latest figures from the Department of Public Social Services, which showed more than $376 million in CalWORKs benefits and food stamps combined have been distributed through July to illegal alien parents for their native-born children.' [Good old CalWORKS. I couldn't get onto that because I didn't have an illegitimate child. The CalWORKS employees got $11 an hour to 'work' at Los Angeles City College. My classmate Consuela was one them. She said she had plenty of time to do her homework because she never had any work to do at her job. I liked Consuela, I mean I really did. My most memorable picture of her is that gentle smile of hers as she moseyed across the campus snapping her fingers to the tune on her MP3 player. I still haven't got an MP3 player. Love, Kate.] 

Gallop Poll: Americans Wake Up to Reality, Majority Now Think Russia is Our Enemy.

http://weaselzippers.us/2013/09/18/gallup-americans-wake-up-to-reality-majority-now-think-russia-is-our-enemy-50-44/

Excerpt: More Americans view Russia as unfriendly or an enemy of the United States than as an ally or friendly nation for the first time in 15 years, marking a significant change from as recently as June of this year. A majority of Americans view Russian President Vladimir Putin unfavorably for the first time since he originally took office in 2000.

3/4 Sentenced on Terror Charges in United Kingdom are Muslims. By Daniel Greenfield

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/34-sentenced-on-terror-charges-in-uk-are-muslims/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=34-sentenced-on-terror-charges-in-uk-are-muslims

Excerpt: Muslims make up less than 5 percent of the UK, but 73 percent of terror convictions leading to prison sentences.

Under Secretary of State Patrick Kennedy: Libya is not allowing U.S. law enforcement into the country to arrest individuals connected with the Benghazi attack: "The government of Lybia is not in control to that degree."

http://freebeacon.com/kennedy-libya-is-not-allowing-u-s-law-enforcement-to-enter-country-and-arrest-people/

Excerpt: Kennedy explained ever since the events of September 11, 2012 the country has taken a “serious turn for the worse.” Journalists, according to Kennedy, still have access to the country but the Libyan government’s authority is so diminished it is incapable of allowing the United States in to arrest people:

Muslim Brotherhood official, former Clinton Foundation employee arrested in Cairo
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/09/18/muslim-brotherhood-official-former-clinton-foundation-employee-arrested-in/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fpolitics+%28Internal+-+Politics+-+Text%29#ixzz2fHD7srCx

Excerpt: A senior Muslim Brotherhood official who, until recently, had been employed by the William J. Clinton Foundation was arrested in Cairo on Tuesday and charged with inciting violence.

The Eyes of Big Medicine: Electronic Medical Records

http://pjmedia.com/blog/the-eyes-of-big-medicine-electronic-medical-records/…Yet as Dr. Excerpt: Adam Sharp notes, EMRs are a “dirty word” to many doctors because EMRs are cumbersome, hinder doctors’ ability to practice, and are too expensive. In the New York Times, Dr. Pauline Chen described how EMRs are impairing doctors’ ability to interact with patients. Many young doctors in training are so busy filling out obligatory electronic forms, they are now spending only 8 minutes per patient each day.

A few items below sent me from WND. They always have their hair on fire and are ready to push any conspiracy theory. Doesn’t mean they are always wrong, but read with skepticism. ~Bob

Benghazi Facility 'Unlike Any Other In Recent History'

http://www.wnd.com/2013/09/benghazi-facility-unlike-any-other-in-recent-history/#vGqYhxXlxJg7Ei9B.99 

Excerpt: According to the Middle Eastern security sources who have spoken to WND, arming efforts at the U.S. facility shifted focus to aiding the insurgency targeting President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria after the fall of Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi.

'We Have The Bad Guys In The Halls Of Power': Erick Stakelbeck reveals Muslim Brotherhood's quiet invasion of America

http://www.wnd.com/2013/09/we-have-the-bad-guys-in-the-halls-of-power/#v4AYeYSJoDVd0P5f.99 

EXCERPT: We have the bad guys, the Brotherhood, in the halls of power and in our lawmakers’ ears.” Over the course of the interview, Stakelbeck discusses the Brotherhood, which was was formed in Egypt in 1928, later cooperated with Nazi Germany to extend the slaughtering of Jews, and gave rise to both al-Qaida and Hamas, the terror organization that calls itself the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Now, Stakelbeck points out, the Brotherhood is extending its branches throughout Europe and the United States.

Obama Gives Jihadist Thug A Promotion

http://www.wnd.com/2013/09/obama-gives-jihadist-thug-a-promotion/#dpjfMMCKBGZUe42X.99 

Excerpt: Muslim Brotherhood operatives have direct access to the White House. They include Arif Alikhan, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for policy development; Rashad Hussain, the U.S. special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference; Salam al-Marayati, co-founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC); Imam Mohamed Magid, president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA); and Eboo Patel, a member of President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships

Syria

The Roots of Obama’s Indecision. By Daniel Greenfield 

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/the-roots-of-obamas-indecision/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=83e4d976d8-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag&utm_term=0_57e32c1dad-83e4d976d8-156414477

Excerpt: Obama was firing commanders for the same reason that he was unable to make wartime decisions. He had become infamous for dithering over every conflict, demanding a countless stream of alternative plans, poring over everything, postponing a decision, and then like a student diving into a report at the last minute, making an abrupt and often disastrous final decision.

Can you hear me now?

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/frontpagemag-com/can-you-hear-me-now/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=83e4d976d8-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag&utm_term=0_57e32c1dad-83e4d976d8-156414477

From the Left!: Obama’s style on Syria needs refashioning. By Ruth Marcus

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ruth-marcus-obamas-style-on-syria-needs-refashioning/2013/09/16/861b8bba-1efb-11e3-94a2-6c66b668ea55_story.html

Excerpt: Style points? Seriously? Style points? That’s what President Obama thinks the criticism of his zigzag Syria policy amounts to? As presidential spin, this is insulting. As presidential conviction — if this is what he really believes — it’s scary.

Syrian regime gives Russia ‘new evidence’ on chemical attack

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/09/18/Syrian-regime-gives-Russia-new-evidence-on-chemical-attack-.html

Excerpt: The Syrian regime has handed Russia new materials implicating rebels in a chemical attack outside Damascus on August 21, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday.

Dangerous Times: Putin the Peacemaker vs. Obama the Warmonger. By James Lewis 

http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/09/dangerous_times_putin_the_peacemaker_vs_obama_the_warmonger.html

Excerpt: President Obama has now sabotaged four decades of stability in the Middle East. First he pulled down the biggest pillar of peace, the Mubarak regime in Egypt; then he bombed Libya into the Dark Ages; and now he has paraded “My Army” and “My Navy” against the Assad regime in Syria, which is just as evil as the rebels. The one thing Obama has never faced honestly is what everybody knows to be the real threat – namely mullahs with nukes.

The Syria solution we can't believe in. By Jeremy Rabkin

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/09/17/syria-assad-weapons-solution-column/2820897/

Excerpt: President Obama claimed in his Tuesday night address last week that the Russian initiative "has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons in the hands of [Syrian] President Assad." In less than forty-eight hours, the administration turned from advocating what Secretary Kerry called" unbelievably limited" military strikes, to a diplomatic alternative that is literally "unbelievable."

Russian Patriarch to Obama: Syria’s Christians Nearing ‘Extermination.’ The leader of Russia's 150 million Orthodox Christians begs the president not to give aid to Syrian jihadis.

http://pjmedia.com/blog/russian-patriarch-to-obama-syrias-christians-nearing-extermination/

Excerpt: While many were fixated on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent letter to the American people, another letter from another Russian leader — this one directly addressed to the U.S. president — was missed. On September 10, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill issued a letter addressed to “His Excellency Mr. Barack Obama, President, United States.” Whether one wishes to interpret the letter as a product of politics or sincerity, it accurately highlights the plight of Syria’s Christians, especially in the context of a larger civilizational struggle. (US supplying rebels weeks ago, though “authorized” to aid terrorists just a few days ago by POTUS. They continue to burn churches, destroying ancient cultures, killing and raping Christians. Why do you think POTUS has such an amazing smile, per Politico. –Barb)