Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for April 15, 2013

Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for April 15, 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.

Been slammed this weekend. Wife's birthday and granddaughter's dance competition. Caught up as best I can. The mailing list is getting over whelming. ~Bob.

30 things you may not know about Bob Hall

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2013/04/30-things-you-may-not-know-about-bob.html

Happy Birthday to old guy....

Guest Post: Observations on Paul Krugman’s Column: “Medicaid and Freedom.” By Samuel L. Skogstad

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2013/04/guest-post-observations-on-paul.html

Guest Post: Protecting the Vulnerable

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2013/04/guest-post-protecting-vulnerable.html

Guards, prisoners clash at Guantanamo

http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/operations/293737-guards-prisoners-clash-at-guantanamo-bay

Excerpt: Prison guards at Guantanamo Bay clashed with detained terrorist suspects on Saturday, U.S. military officials said, leading to shots being fired.

Dems fear Obama’s Social Security cut will haunt them in 2014 races

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/293703-dems-fear-obamas-social-security-cut-will-haunt-them-in-2014

Excerpt: A growing number of House Democrats are concerned that President Obama's proposal to cut Social Security benefits will haunt the party at the polls in 2014. Although Democrats have long-championed the retirement program, they say Obama's plan to reduce payments for future beneficiaries through a chained consumer price index (CPI) has weakened their stance and opened the door for Republicans to vilify the president.

Students Asked to ‘Argue That Jews Are Evil’ and Prove Nazi Loyalty in Assignment Linked to Common Core

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/04/12/students-asked-to-argue-that-jews-are-evil-and-prove-nazi-loyalty-in-assignment-linked-to-common-core/

Excerpt: Students in some Albany High School English classes were asked to participate in the unthinkable this week as part of a persuasive writing assignment. The objective? Prove why Jews are evil and convince the teacher of their loyalty to the Third Reich in five paragraphs or less. 

A Scientist Reproves the Alarmist Flock

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/04/a-scientist-reproves-the-alarmist-flock.php

Excerpt: This letter to the editor of a newspaper in Washington State was written by Dr. David Deming in response to an attack on Don Easterbrook by a group of professors at Western Washington University. I thought it was too good not to share; in part, because it isn’t just about global warming alarmism, it is about science. Via Watts Up With That? Note that there are numerous links in the original post: (A contrast that is really important for people to understand, and which basically explains a lot about what goes on today in the Climate Change debate. We all tend to think that everyone with advanced degrees in Science will always apply the principles and practices of Science when examining something going on in the world. However, it turns out that the PhD in Science does not guarantee the recipient is immune to personal biases and strong emotions affecting how some matters are researched and adopted according to a particular view. In a word, scientists can be and often are biased in how they perceive some kind of event in the world. And global climate is one of those very important topics of the world the understanding of which has been very much affected by biases and perceptions rather than facts and logic. --Del)

Strassel: Terry McAuliffe's Solyndra: Running for governor of Virginia, the Democrat's main business credential is fast turning into a crony-capitalist embarrassment. 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323741004578416821313987276.html

Excerpt: Turn over any green-energy rock, and wiggling underneath will be the usual creepy mix of political favoritism and taxpayer-funded handouts. Add to this the Clintons, Mississippi and a murky visa program, and you've got a particularly ripe political embarrassment for Terry McAuliffe. ( Taxpayer money going out in big chunks, for a super marketed idea that pays off.... NOT. Well, actually, to be picky, it does pay off. Just not for the taxpayers. But some others sure get to suck a serious chunk of change out of the project before it goes belly up. It's a shame and a scandal that somehow certain sharp operators jump on what sound like really good ideas but turn out to be giant losers. You would hope that somewhere in the system there would be people who'd be taking a careful, critical look at ventures before ponying up many millions to them. --Del)

Wounded Marine Vet Sued By City for Flying Military Flags at His Restaurant (Video at LINK)

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/04/wounded-marine-vet-sued-by-city-for-flying-military-flags-at-his-restaurant-video/

Excerpt: Orlando restaurant owner Eddie Colosimo, a wounded Marine Corps veteran, was told this week he could no longer fly military flags in front of his business establishment. The flags are offensive.

Yoani Sánchez Uncaged--The Cuban dissident dismantles Castrocare.

http://spectator.org/archives/2013/04/12/yoani-snchez-uncaged/

Excerpt: But it wasn’t the packed schedule and nonstop traveling — or even the heckling she received from pro-Castro demonstrators at several events — that she found most taxing. Rather, she said, it was the need to constantly dispel myths about Cuba, including about its supposedly first-rate healthcare system. “It tires me to explain to people who celebrate the great Cuban healthcare system how, if we want to visit one of our relatives in the hospital, we have to bring a bag of food under one arm and clean sheets under the other arm to care for the patient because these things are not available in the hospital,” Sánchez said via a translator.

Convicted rapist organizes gun control demonstration at Dayton gun show;
Media fails to note his sex offender status
 http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/8763
Excerpt: After reading the article, a Buckeye Firearms Association supporter decided to contact McCorry, the apparent protest organizer, to inform him about the inaccuracies in his statements about firearms (it isn't illegal for private individuals to sell a gun at the show without a background check, people aren't selling M16s or fully-automatic AK-47s at Hara Arena, modern sporting rifles are used for hunting, gun shows are rarely used by criminals as a source for guns, rifles [of any type] are used in murders far less than fists or baseball bats, etc.). The supporter quickly found more than he bargained for. A simple Google search for Jerome McCorry reveals that the man trying to tell the public what weapons they should be allowed to own is a convicted felon.

Obama To ICE; "Let My People Go"

http://justcommonsense-lostinamerica.blogspot.com/2013/04/obama-to-ice-let-my-people-go.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FMoXTa+%28Lost+in+America%29

Excerpt: Barack Obama, often championed by liberals as a new modern day savior, has now been anointed with another moniker. To illegal Mexican invaders he is the new Moses. If there were any doubts that "Moses Obama's Amnesty/Open Borders policy is encouraging further invasion, that was cleared up this week. When captured here by the Border Patrol border crossers imply pronounce that Obama shall free them! Don't take my word for it. Here's a quote from a Brooks County, Texas illegal immigrant captured yesterday: "It seems even illegal immigrants seeking to cross over the U.S.-Mexico border are following the current immigration debate. Linda Vickers, who owns a ranch in Brooks County, Texas, told WOAI that she witnessed one man being arrested on her ranch and that he told the border agent Obama would let him go. "The Border Patrol agent was loading one man up, and he told the officer in Spanish, 'Obama's gonna let me go'," Vickers said. Meanwhile, Border Patrol agents report that some immigrants will even ask, "Where do I go for my amnesty?" while they are surrendering."

Kermit Gosnell Trial: Philadelphia Abortion Clinic 'Beheaded Live Babies'

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/454360/20130407/philadelphia-abortion-clinic-trial-details-babies-beheaded.htm

Excerpt: Massof, who awaits his own sentencing hearing after he pled guilty to the murder of two babies, claimed the clinic also cut out the spinal cord of nearly 100 living infants. …… Masoff further alleged the ultrasound machine in the hospital was manipulated to make the fetuses look smaller and younger. … However, Massof also declaimed his innocence, on the grounds he believed his employer's intention was only to help women who were often extremely poor. (Per article, “Prosecutors say Gosnell earned more than a million dollars (£1.5m) every year and he charged $3,000 (£1950) for an abortion.” --Barb)

Durbin, Obama linked to defunct Chicago nonprofit under investigation
http://dailycaller.com/2013/04/12/durbin-obama-linked-to-chicago-nonprofit-under-investigation/#ixzz2QMhp5Wcl

Excerpt: The controversial non-profit is reportedly under investigation for misappropriating potential millions of dollars in taxpayer money by the Illinois Attorney General’s Charitable Trusts Bureau. A Bureau representative declined to comment to The Daily Caller, citing a policy of not commenting on ongoing investigations. The Save-A-Life Foundation, which received nearly $9 million in federal and Illinois state funding to teach schoolchildren CPR and the Heimlich maneuver, dissolved in 2009 but is still under investigation amid claims that it misrepresented the number of children it provided services to and of “money unaccounted for.” (Read carefully when someone says "linked." May be only one person who spread a rumor. May be true. ~bob.)

Not Yet Time to Declare Victory over Climate Anti-Capitalists. By Peter Wilson

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/../2013/04/not_yet_time_to_declare_victory_over_climate_anti-capitalists.html 

Excerpt: Some climate change skeptics have begun to express optimism recently, based in part on a mildly skeptical article in the normally true-believer Economist magazine. On AT, for example, Jonathon Moseley argued in "The Coming Global Warming Voter Backlash" that the planet hasn't been warming since 1998, and global warming zealots can prevaricate for only so long before voters rise up and throw the bums out. (The warmists are still going strong, and the courts are supporting them. This is not good. --Del)

Teacher 'told fourth-graders to write notes saying they were prepared to give up their constitutional rights to be safer'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2308699/Teacher-told-fourth-graders-write-notes-saying-prepared-constitutional-rights-safer.html

Excerpt: A Florida father was disturbed to find a note in his ten-year-old son's backpack that read: 'I am willing to give up some of my constitutional rights in order to be safer or more secure.' Aaron Harvey, of Duval County, says his child was told to write the sentence by the teacher during a civics lesson at Cedar Hills Elementary School. (OK, this is another one of those things where you really, really wonder what the teacher thinks he/she is doing with an assignment like this. Fourth-graders are old enough to be given some instruction on our history and what constitutional rights mean, but to be told to write a sentence like this seems like not exactly what the kids should be hearing. --Del.(More proof of need to privatize education and or/home school. MM))

Taking the “Pulse” of Missile Defense

http://townhall.com/columnists/edfeulner/2013/04/13/taking-the-pulse-of-missile-defense-n1566548/page/full/

Excerpt: And what’s the most effective way to get a nuclear weapon to a position where it can be detonated to create an EMP? Where it can cause maximum damage to the U.S. electrical grid and other elements of our infrastructure? A ballistic missile. What are rogue nations such as North Korea trying to acquire? Ballistic missiles. (Since the EMP effect was first discovered in the 50s and verified as real in the 60s, virtually every possible attack scenario envisioned has included it as one of the opening moves by any aggressor who was capable of lofting a bomb high enough to impact a significant area. From the aggressor’s point of view, it has many strategic advantages. It kills no one directly, so every anti-war faction would feel justified in demanding no retaliation. It renders no territory unfit for human use (especially by invading forces).While destroying electrics and electronics would hurt or cripple an advanced society’s military technology, it might have little impact on a less-developed military force. Since the explosion would take place so far above the earth’s surface, it might be difficult to determine who set it off, and could not only be deniable but even passed off as an unfortunate accident, if the true source is discovered. The devastation might well require “foreign aid, succor and assistance” justifying large numbers of foreign military to come “help us." Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? And, this doesn’t even figure in any sort of direct bomb damage or attack on the ground. Currently, our only real defense against this happening is our naval forces being scattered across the oceans', right, we’re reducing those naval forces, and keeping them closer to home these days, aren’t we? Sleep well, friend. Try not to have bad dreams about North Korea or Iran—or both (they’re just little pipsqueak countries who feel a need to protect themselves, right? They couldn’t possibly hurt us).Ron P.)

The result of ‘walking while gay’ in certain Muslim neighborhoods of Paris

http://www.barenakedislam.com/2013/04/13/the-result-of-walking-while-gay-in-certain-muslim-neighborhoods-of-paris/

Excerpt: Ooops! Guess he didn’t realize he had wandered into a Muslim ‘NO-GO’ zone. There are areas in France which no longer belong to the French State and are euphemistically named ‘Zones Urbaines Sensibles’ (Sensitive Urban Zones) by the French government.

Cleric defends medieval punishments and decrees opposing Khamenei is 'evil'

http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/human-rights/13329-cleric-defends-medieval-punishments-and-decrees-opposing-khamenei-is-evil.html

Excerpt: "Those who have studied in our religious schools believe that ...punishment verdicts cannot be carried out in the modern era. This kind of belief is blasphemy and the beliefs of these people is evil."

Amazon tax an Illinois disaster

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-04-04/news/ct-oped-0404-amazon-20130404_1_amazon-tax-tax-fairness-illinois-department

Excerpt: As it turned out, the tax did spur economic growth — in other states. After the law was enacted, businesses fled. Overstock.com and Amazon.com ended their relationships with Illinois-based marketing affiliates. Chicago-based CouponCabin moved to Indiana. And FatWallet.com, which had been headquartered near Rockford for three years, skipped the border to Wisconsin. ... Each of these companies took with them people, jobs and money.

Closer to the Brink

http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2013/04/closer-to-brink.html

Excerpt: Which brings us back to a component that has been largely missing in this crisis--American leadership...Yesterday, the Japanese announced plans to shoot down any North Korean missile that poses a threat to their territory. We can assume the statement was coordinated with the U.S., but there was clear frustration in Tokyo. So far, Washington has made little more than the standard promises about defending its partners, raising new fears that the United States is an unreliable ally. (As always, well reasoned and to the point. I notice some in the media covering this issue are seeming relieved that Kerry is now backing away from the Pentagon’s assessment that it is possible the NKs can mount a nuclear warhead on a missile. I wonder if those relieved reporters have ever given any serious thought to what sort of “delivery vehicle” was actually needed. I wouldn’t be too surprised if a small one could be delivered by horseback or bicycle. But, guarding our borders just isn’t important....Ron P.)

Jihad is Cool: Jihadist Magazines Recruit Young Terrorists

http://www.investigativeproject.org/3969/jihad-is-cool-jihadist-magazines-recruit-young

Excerpt: Jihad recruitment has evolved into using a mainstream format, it is now cool. Print and online magazines provide practical detailed instruction on how to commit terrorist acts. The latest offering, Lone Mujahid Pocketbook, Spring 2013, is published courtesy of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula's Inspire magazine, and is available on multiple websites.

 

 

Political Digest for January 3, 2012

EEOC: High school diploma requirement might violate Americans with Disabilities Act By Dave Boyer

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/1/eeoc-high-school-diploma-might-violate-americans-w/

Excerpt: Employers are facing more uncertainty in the wake of a letter from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission warning them that requiring a high school diploma from a job applicant might violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. The development also has some wondering whether the agency’s advice will result in an educational backlash by creating less of an incentive for some high school students to graduate. (So, does requiring a pilot's license to fly a plane or a driver's license to drive a car not thus show discrimination? Come the revolution, bureaucrats will be dangling from lamp posts, I fear. ~Bob.)

2012 - The Year the Can Kicks Back

http://townhall.com/columnists/luritadoan/2012/01/02/2012__the_year_the_can_kicks_back/page/full/

Excerpt: Obama needs to understand that it is not the “color of his skin” that causes problems with the American people, but, rather, the “content of his character”, that leads him to disrespect the first principles that have made this the greatest nation on this earth, that causes the push-back from many Americans. No other President in American history has been so determined to avoid pressing issues, to delay until tomorrow the unpleasant, and heap the costs and bills to be paid on the next generation--all because Obama is not able to summon the leadership required.

U-T Person of the Year: The U.S. Marine

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/dec/31/u-ts-person-year-marine/

Excerpt: Today, the U-T launches a new tradition. Each Jan. 1, we will honor the Person of the Year, an individual or category of individuals with San Diego ties. We can think of no better way to begin this tradition than by selecting as our first winner the Marine. Since Sept. 11, 2001, America has relied on the Marine to keep us safe from terror at home and to take the fight to our enemies abroad, a task our Marines have handled with immense courage, professionalism and honor. (Really? Since Sept. 11, 2001? And all this time I mistakenly thought it was from November 10, 1775. --MasterGuns)

The Best of Bachmann video

http://02f8ec3.netsolhost.com/wam/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1879:the-best-of-bachmann-video&catid=111:videos&Itemid=132

Tens of Millions Spent to Target Newt Gingrich

http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/Super-PACs-Impact-2012/2011/12/31/id/422682?s=al

Excerpt: On the cusp of the Iowa caucuses, well-funded so-called super PACs are using the political clout given to them by the nation's highest court in an unprecedented tour de financial force. Data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics indicates 264 super PACs have raised more than $32 million and spent almost $16 million in the 2012 election cycle thus far, The Hill reports. The lion's share of the money those groups have spent has targeted former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, according to The Hill. The impact in Iowa is clear: Iowa voters are being reminded repeatedly about Gingrich's ties to Freddie Mac, his divorces, and his lengthy Capitol Hill career. (Give me enough money for attack ads and I can drive Jesus' numbers down in Iowa. ~Bob.)

Wall Street Occupiers Stab NYPD Officer, Surround Ambulance Trying To Rush Him To The Hospital…

http://weaselzippers.us/2012/01/01/wall-street-occupiers-stab-nypd-officer-surround-ambulance-trying-to-rush-him-to-the-hospital/

Excerpt: Hundreds in the crowd of occupiers then surrounded the ambulance as it tried to leave with the wounded officer, the source said.

The right Republican: Although the presidency is theirs for the taking, America’s Republicans are in danger of throwing it away

http://www.economist.com/node/21542180?fsrc=scn/tw/te/ar/therightrepublican

Excerpt: IN JANUARY the battle to become the world’s most powerful person begins—with small groups of Iowans “caucusing” to choose a Republican nominee for the White House. It is a great opportunity for them. Barack Obama is clearly beatable. No president since Franklin Roosevelt has been re-elected with unemployment as high as it is now; Mr Obama’s approval rating, which tends to translate accurately into vote-share, is down in the mid-40s. Swing states like Florida, Ohio and even Pennsylvania look well within the Republicans’ grasp.

Science and Censorship: A Duel Lasting Centuries

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/science/science-and-censorship-a-duel-lasting-centuries.html?pagewanted=1

Excerpt: Governments have repeatedly tried to keep scientific information secret in fields as diverse as math and cryptography, physics and nuclear science, optics and biology. Now the call for concealment is falling on one of the hottest of contemporary fields — virology, where researchers are tinkering with the fundamentals of life to better understand whether altered flu germs might set off deadly epidemics. (…) The journals are considering distributing the sensitive data to only a subset of responsible public health researchers, who could then use it to bolster germ defenses, but the scientist, Ron A. M. Fouchier, questioned how feasible that was. The list of potential recipients “adds up to well over 100 organizations around the globe, and probably 1,000 experts,” said Dr. Fouchier, of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. “As soon as you share information with more than 10 people, the information will be on the street.” (Long ago, I read in a book that the best way to keep a secret is to tell only your best friend—provided you’re willing to kill him immediately, before he has a chance to tell anyone else. I’ve never tried that method personally, but I suspect it would lead to a lonely existence. The wide dissemination of details of experiments in virology has problems that don’t necessarily apply to other fields. First and most important is the cost to duplicate the experiment. One of the reasons only large, rich countries soon had atomic bombs was the sheer cost involved. Massive resources had to be marshaled and devoted solely to that project for years on end. Biologicals can be grown in your basement workshop or laboratory, often with an investment of mere hundreds of dollars, not billions; so the risk isn’t just from irresponsible or hostile governments, but from any crackpot with some spare time and a few dollars to devote to the project. Second, if an incompetent workman makes a mistake with a nuke, it may devastate his immediate area, but most of the world goes on. If a biological agent gets loose, it really could depopulate a vast area. Third, while personal defense against nukes is largely a matter of distance, preparedness, and luck, unless killed immediately, if you can survive a few weeks, you’re probably good for years more, and fellow humans are a potential help. If attacked with a biological, you may have to quarantine yourself for months on end and every fellow human is a potential threat. Most nuclear products decay rapidly (days to weeks), but germs/viruses can live for years. I’ve always heard the most difficult part of creating something new is realizing it is possible; unfortunately, that part of the secret is already public. I don’t think there would be any great public good served by providing the details of how creating this virus can be done, and very large possible risks are involved. Ron P.)

Who Is The One True Pro-Life GOP Presidential Candidate In 2012?

http://thesouthcarolinaconservative.com/?p=277

Excerpt: It goes without saying (or at least it should go without saying) that the single most fundamentally important issue facing the conservative movement is the issue of life. We now find ourselves almost at the point of casting our votes for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012 and we MUST ask ourselves who is the most CONSISTANT candidate on that issue. (For me, the four life-threatening issues covered in my book, The Coming Collapse of the American Republic, are by far the most important issues. ~Bob.)

EPA disguises an economic disaster as a Christmas gift

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/2011/12/epa-disguises-economic-disaster-christmas-gift/2027636?utm_source=12/23/11%20Washington%20Examiner%20Opinion%20-%2012/23/2011&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Washington%20Examiner:%20Opinion%20Dige

Excerpt: You're a savvy political appointee. You're bringing out a new regulation that will raise electricity rates all over the country, particularly in battleground states of Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Florida and Michigan. What's your PR strategy? You choose the Wednesday before Christmas, when most people aren't paying attention. You schedule the announcement at a place designed to tug at the heartstrings, the National Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C. The hospital's CEO and the national volunteer chairman of the American Lung Association deliver remarks. You say this costly initiative is for the children, and that millions of children will be protected. (…) Of course, you say nothing about the costs. Your state-by-state interactive map shows benefits for each state, but no costs. (These you bury in a 510-page Regulatory Impact Analysis.) (If you've ever doubted EPA was politically motivated, read this article and offer an alternative explanation of why they did it this way. Ron P.)

4 dead in Coronado, CA shooting

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2012/jan/01/coronado-shooting-leaves-one-dead-swat-called/Excerpt: The scene drew Sheriff Bill Gore — “due to the magnitude of the situation,” Nesbit said — and agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Nesbit said authorities had not yet determined if any of the dead were members of the military. Hubbard, though, said his neighbors were three young naval aviators receiving training at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station. He saw one of the roommates dead outside the condo Sunday morning. “They were great guys,” Hubbard said, “just regular nice lieutenants junior grade. Products of naval ROTC — frat boys in uniform.”

Austerity Reigns Over Euro Zone as Crisis Deepens

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/business/global/in-euro-zone-austerity-seems-to-hit-its-limits.html?_r=1

Excerpt: Europe’s leaders braced their nations for a turbulent year, with their beleaguered economies facing a threat on two fronts: widening deficits that force more borrowing but increasing austerity measures that put growth further out of reach. Saying that Europe was facing its “harshest test in decades,” Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany warned on New Year’s Eve that “next year will no doubt be more difficult than 2011” — a marked change in tone from a year ago, when she praised Germans for “mastering the crisis as no other nation.”

Santorum says 11th-hour robo calls falsely claim he’s anti-gun

http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2012/01/02/santorum-says-11th-hour-robo-calls-falsely-claim-hes-anti-gun/

Excerpt: Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum said today that an 11th-hour robo-calling effort is being waged against his presidential campaign in a false effort to claim that’s he’s against the rights of Americans to bear arms. Noting could be further from the truth, said the Pennsylvania Republican, who gave Weatherby over/under shotguns to two of his sons as Christmas gifts.

Despite the growing threat of war from its increasingly Islamofascist neighbors, 2011 was a banner year for Israel

http://barenakedislam.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/despite-the-growing-threat-of-war-from-its-increasingly-islamofascist-neighbors-2011-was-a-banner-year-for-israel/

Excerpt: The Israeli economy grew by 4.8% and unemployment fell to 5%. And unlike Barack Obama’s policy of paying more and more people NOT to work, Israel grants bonuses to working parents with small children.

US Prosecutor​s Seeking to Prevent Dirty Secrets of Drug War From Surfacing in Cartel Leader's Case

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/bill-conroy/2011/11/us-prosecutors-seeking-prevent-dirty-secrets-drug-war-surfacing-cartel-

Excerpt: US Government Using National Security to Conceal Evidence, Attorneys for Narco-Trafficker Zambada Niebla Claim. The criminal case of accused Sinaloa drug organization leader Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla is straying even further into the path of a cover-up under the guise of national security, if pleadings filed by his attorneys are to be believed.

Our DC: "They don't have a lot of cuts and stuff for everybody."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06-LschF82o&feature=youtu.be

Drama major with a "right" to a job as a director after college.

Worth Reading: Will 2012 Be Our 1979? By Victor Davis Hanson

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/286946/will-2012-be-our-1979-victor-davis-hanson

Excerpt: The result, I think, may be that in this coming year we will see a new boldness among Islamic forces in North Africa; China will show the flag far nearer to Taiwan, the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea; some independent-minded former Soviet Republics will be forced to move closer to Russia; Turkey won’t worry too much whether it overflies Greek or Cypriot airspace — or worse; Iran will test a missile or do something stupider; North Korea may resume its now-and-then shelling of the south; and Lebanon and the West Bank will heat up again — all on the impression that either the U.S. doesn’t much care, does care but is too broke or weary to do much about it, or beneath its public warnings harbors some quiet sympathies for such “corrections” in a prior flawed global order.

NYPD Study: Jews Are Often Terror Targets

http://www.officer.com/news/10577044/nypd-study-jews-are-often-terror-targets

Excerpt: Nearly half of the terror plots aimed at the city since 1992 have targeted Jewish people or institutions. Nearly half of the terror plots aimed at the city since 1992 have targeted Jewish people or institutions, prompting police to ramp up security around such facilities during the holiday season, according to an NYPD intelligence analysis. Friday, police Commissioner Ray Kelly said there was no specific threat against the city around the Christmas holiday season but that officers were remaining on alert as has become the usual practice.

VIDEO: English Defence League: Tommy Robinson Attacked by Muslims (Again)

http://englishdefenceleague.org/tommy-robinson-update/

All means all

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/straighttalk/archives/2012/01/20120101-110011.html

Excerpt: Calgary's Muslim mayor, Naheed Nenshi, has been held up as a symbol of the city's tolerance. Which is ironic, given his own anti-Christian bigotry in return. Last week, Nenshi ordered city police, backed up with a ridiculously large contingent of private security, to arrest a Christian pastor and five of his congregants who had the temerity to lead a Christmas service in the public atrium of Calgary's City Hall. Artur Pawlowski, lead pastor of Calgary's Street Church, had foolishly taken the mayor at his word when he described city hall as the city's "living room," open to all.

The Week That Was: 2011-12-31 (December 31, 2011)

http://www.sepp.org/twtwfiles/2011/TWTW%2012-31-11.pdf

Excerpt: The failures of the EPA to conduct proper scientific investigation will be discussed further in the upcoming TWTW. The annual costs are huge, ranging from the EPA estimate of $10 billion to an industry estimate of $100 billion. The consumers will pay the costs of these regulations. The beneficiaries are the utilities, and their stockholders, that are competing with coal plants that will be shut down due to the rules. (The excerpt is from editor Ken Haapala’s introduction. There are 4 “numbered” articles this week, all from the WSJ and reprinted in their entireties at the end of this PDF. I recommend all four. Ron P.)

From his Hawaii vacation, Obama says: 'Too many Americans are still struggling'

http://news.investors.com/article/596480/201112310608/obama-weekly-remarks-2012.htm?ven=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AndrewMalcolm+%28Andrew+Malcolm+-+Investor%27s+Business+Daily%29

The joke’s on The Times

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/the_joke_on_the_times_CGt3vetm5uAFe254BF2H8M#ixzz1iIt0t31N

Excerpt: Never one to pass up a good redneck joke, The New York Times last week happily heaped scorn on the scraped-knuckle roughnecks who make a (good) living extracting energy from Pennsylvania shale rock — and their less-well-off upstate New York neighbors.

Haditha Marine Faces Trial Next Week

http://www.military.com/news/article/haditha-marine-faces-trial-next-week.html

Excerpt: The war crimes court-martial of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, charged in the deaths of nine Iraqis, is scheduled to begin Jan. 4 at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. The cases against three other Marines originally charged in the killings have been dropped. (Their primary accuser, ex-marine John Murtha, is long dead and gone. May he never rest in peace. Hopefully, when judged by his real peers, SSgt Wuterich will be exonerated. MasterGuns)

Worth Reading: Is the West Doomed?

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/01/02/is-the-west-doomed/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=3e606cb1a9-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN

Excerpt: At the beginning of a new year, it’s hard to avoid the question: where are we going? What will our future be like? Does America, does freedom, does Western civilization even have a future? ... Yes, that’s right: one in three British people thinks Winston Churchill​ was a fictional character.

Postcard From Islamic London

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/01/02/postcard-from-islamic-london/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=3e606cb1a9-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN

Excerpt: I’ve been spending my Christmas vacation with my wife in Rome and London. We arrived in London on Christmas Eve. It’s truly an amazing city – everywhere you look, there’s history, from the Tower of London to the Churchill Museum. But everywhere you look, there is a more ominous presence: Islam. Now, no less a personage than Prime Minister David Cameron has already admitted that the integration of Muslims into British society has failed dramatically.

Political Digest November 30, 2009

PoI post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.

Why the Peaceful Majority is Irrelevant
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/6996
This has been around, but is worth reading if you missed it. Excerpt: I used to know a man whose family were German aristocracy prior to World War II. They owned a number of large industries and estates. I asked him how many German people were true Nazis, and the answer he gave has stuck with me and guided my attitude toward fanaticism ever since. “Very few people were true Nazis,” he said, “but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.” We are told again and again by experts and talking heads that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unquantified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the specter of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars world wide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or execute honor killings. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. The hard, quantifiable fact is that the “peaceful majority” is the “silent majority,” and it is cowed and extraneous.

Teaching plan: America 'an oppressive hellhole' University outlines 're-education' for those who hold 'wrong' views
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=117313
Indoctrinating the next generation to hate America—and thus to lose it. Excerpt: A program proposed at the University of Minnesota would result in required examinations of teacher candidates on "white privilege" as well as "remedial re-education" for those who hold the "wrong" views, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. The organization, which promotes civil liberties on the campuses of America's colleges and universities, has dispatched a letter to University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks asking him to intervene to prevent the adoption of policies proposed in his College of Education and Human Development. "The university's general counsel should be asked to comment as soon as possible," said the letter from Adam Kissel, an officer with FIRE. "If the Race, Culture, Class, and Gender Task Group achieves its stated goals, the result will be political and ideological screening of applicants, remedial re-education for those with the 'wrong' views and values, [and] withholding of degrees from those upon whom the university's political re-education efforts proved ineffective." By any "nontotalitarian" standards, he wrote, the the plans being made so far by the school are "severely unjust and impermissibly intrude into matters of individual conscience." Kissel wrote that it appears that the university "intends to redesign its admissions process so that it screens out people with the 'wrong' beliefs and values – those who either do not have sufficient 'cultural competence' or those who the college judges will not be able to be converted to the 'correct' beliefs and values even after remedial re-education."

Misunderstanders of Islam suspected in Russia train bomb http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/11/misunderstanders-of-islam-suspected-in-russia-train-bomb.html
Didn’t get the Islam-is-a-religion-of-Peace memo.

Germany home to 90 combat Islamists: report
http://www.thelocal.de/society/20091128-23577.html
Quick, send them the memo before more die! Excerpt: There are about 90 combat-trained Islamists in Germany moving among underground networks, Focus magazine reported Saturday, as intelligence agencies and police prepare to overhaul the country's anti-terrorism approach. Some 30 of them have actual fighting experience through clashes with US or Pakistani soldiers, the magazine reported, citing German security sources. In total, 185 Islamists trained in terrorist camps in central Asia had lived or worked in Germany in the past 10 years, the sources said.

Anti-Semitism czar on group accused of working against Israel
J Street pick hints Jewish state to blame for hatred against its people
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.printable&pageId=117248
Excerpt: President Obama's new anti-Semitism czar serves on the board of a controversial Israel-lobby group accused of working against the Jewish state, while her writings suggest Israel's policies are to blame for anti-Semitism. Hannah Rosenthal, a former Health Department regional director under the Clinton administration, started her position earlier this week as the State Department's new special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism. She previously headed the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, an umbrella U.S. Jewish organization. Rosenthal, however, serves on the board of J Street, a lobby group that is mostly led by left-leaning Israelis and that receives funds from Arab and Muslim Americans.

Riding HIV's superhighway
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-11-20-riding-hivs-superhighway
Political Correctness continues to kill blacks in Africa. Excerpt: The differences in HIV prevalence between South Africa’s racial groups are as large as those between countries with the highest and lowest prevalences in the world. It follows that examining the different sexual behaviours underpinning these differences would likely provide helpful clues about what is driving our ongoing high HIV transmission rates. Why then has no such study been published in South Africa? The prevalence rates are 19.9%, 3.2% and 0.5% for 15- to 49-year-old Africans, coloureds and whites respectively. The dominant explanation for the racial differences in HIV prevalence is that these merely reflect the fact that HIV is a disease of poverty….We have experienced one reason first-hand. When presenting our data showing higher concurrency rates are the most plausible reason for higher HIV rates among Africans and that this is driven more by cultural than socioeconomic factors, we have been accused of both “cultural essentialism” and racism.

The great climate change science scandal http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6936289.ece
Excerpt: Steve McIntyre, a prominent climate sceptic, was amazed. “Words failed me,” he said. Another, Patrick Michaels, declared: “This is not a smoking gun; this is a mushroom cloud.” Inevitably, the affair became nicknamed Climategate. For the scientists, campaigners and politicians trying to rouse the world to action on climate change the revelations could hardly have come at a worse time. Next month global leaders will assemble in Copenhagen to seek limits on carbon emissions. The last thing they need is renewed doubts about the validity of the science. The scandal has also had a huge personal and professional impact on the scientists. “These have been the worst few days of my professional life,” said Jones. He had to call on the police for protection after receiving anonymous phone calls and personal threats. Why should a few emails sent to and from a single research scientist at a middle-ranking university have so much impact? And most importantly, what does it tell us about the quality of the research underlying the science of climate change?