Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for November 16, 2012
Jobless claims spike, market collapses
Well, after declines right before the election, including a failure of California
Surprise! Jobless Claims up 78,000 Week after Election; PA, OH Worst Hit. By Joel B. Pollak
Excerpt: The Department of Labor has announced that new jobless claims rose by a staggering 78,000 in the first week after the election, reaching a seasonally-adjusted total of 439,000. Over the past year, and in the weeks leading up to the election, jobless claims were said to be declining, dipping as low as 339,000, with the media proclaiming that they had reached the "lowest level in more than four years." Now, suddenly, the news seems far less rosy.
Worth Reading
Excerpt: Ed Henry, senior White House correspondent for the Fox News Channel, asked President Obama an 18-word question about his role in the terrorist attack and murders of four Americans at our consulate in Benghazi , Libya
Resources
For those who want further information about the topics covered in this blog, I recommend the following sites. I will add to this as I find additional good sources.
3 Israelis killed in rocket strike from Gaza
Excerpt: Three Israelis were killed by a rocket fired from Gaza overnight, and Israeli shelling in Gaza
Flash: Israel Launches Major Offensive into the Gaza
Excerpt: …the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, in power next door has given Hamas much more confidence. Hamas has also forged ties with Egyptian Salafist groups ready to stage attacks into Israel Cairo
Rockets hit near Tel Aviv as Gaza
Excerpt: Two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip targeted Tel Aviv on Thursday in the first attack on Israel 's commercial capital in 20 years, raising the stakes in a showdown between Israel
Excerpt: To its credit, yesterday the State Department rightly declared that Hamas was responsible for the latest round of violence along the Gaza border and that Israel Israel Israel
Graham to Obama: You Failed as Commander in Chief Before, During, and After Benghazi. By Bridget Johnson
Excerpt: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) quickly fired back at President Obama after the commander in chief ripped into the senator and his colleague, John McCain (R-Ariz.), for threatening to block any potential nomination of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice for secretary of State. On Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said “absolutely, without a doubt” Rice’s part in the Benghazi Benghazi
A Country Unhinged. Victor Davis Hanson
Excerpt: In the last week, it is almost as if the entire American moral landscape has been turned upside down in eerie fashion — in matters that vastly transcend fornication and adultery. The Petraeus-gate matter is the stuff of tabloids now; but soon the real issues relating to when and what Eric Holder knew, and by extension the president, and how exactly Benghazi (the crime of indifference to the besieged, the cover-up of the truth, the actual mission of our consulate and annex) fits into this labyrinth of deceit, both petty and fundamental, may overshadow the present sensationalism. Nothing seems real anymore...(That's what Los Angeles Los Angeles Los Angeles Mexico
Meet Erdogan’s Pro-European Competitor: Abdullah Gul. By Walter Russell Mead
Excerpt: Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has ambitious plans. In addition to his efforts to change the constitution to allow him to extend his time in power, he has shifted Turkey away from the EU and toward the Middle East . Earlier in his term, Erdogan’s policies made him popular at home and influential on the Arab Street, but economic slowdown and the intervention in Syria have led to second thoughts and while Erdogan (despite continued rumors about health problems) remains a commanding figure in Turkey, his profile isn’t quite as high as it was.
Tweet From MARK SIMONE @MarkSimoneNY
Bin Laden raid: next day Obama releases every detail of each second. Benghazi
Cartoon
NYC bans food donations for the homeless
Excerpt: The reason? The City can’t properly assess salt, fiber and fat content in the donated food, so they don’t know if the homeless are getting optimal levels of nutrition. (So it has been decided that the homeless getting NO nutrition is better that not receiving the optimal level of nutrition. Go figure. --MasterGuns)
Mark Steyn: The Non-Victory Parade
http://www.steynonline.com/5265/the-non-victory-parade
Excerpt: As I say below, the right needs an honest conversation about the purpose of its too-big-to-fail military. But, whether we want one or not, it will be forced upon us by American insolvency. As with Europe a generation ago, if it's a choice between domestic social spending or armed forces of global reach, it's the latter that's easier to give up - especially when, as inAfghanistan
http://www.steynonline.com/5265/the-non-victory-parade
Excerpt: As I say below, the right needs an honest conversation about the purpose of its too-big-to-fail military. But, whether we want one or not, it will be forced upon us by American insolvency. As with Europe a generation ago, if it's a choice between domestic social spending or armed forces of global reach, it's the latter that's easier to give up - especially when, as in
Hertling leaves USAREUR without fanfare, retires
Excerpt: “Lt. Gen. Hertling’s decision to retire was a matter of personal choice, based on his personal plans for the future,” Roche wrote in an email response to Stars and Stripes. Citing a Stars and Stripes article from June 29, Roche wrote, “the general chose not to discuss those plans publicly.” (Huh. Another general gone suddenly, quietly this time. Wonder why? ~Bob.)
Is BengPetAllen…"Gate" related to Afghanistan
Excerpt: What a difference just a few days can make. Just a day or so before the election, the White House was still grappling with exactly how to categorize the coordinated attack by members of Ansar Al Shariah on the US compound in Benghazi US 1600 Pennsylvania Ave
From my liberal legislative colleague
There Mitt goes again, blaming his ignominious defeat on "people who got gifts". I guess these "gifts" are the same "stuff" that Bill O'Reilly was whining about. But guess what. Of the 33 states that received more federal money than their taxpayers paid, 20 voted for Romney. Of the 17 states whose residents carried the deadbeat states by paying more in federal taxes than they received, 13 voted for Obama. They include the battleground states of Ohio , New Hampshire and Colorado
Jindal: ‘Absolutely reject’ Romney’s explanation of loss. By Byron York
Excerpt: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a possible Republican presidential contender in 2016, is leveling strong criticism at Mitt Romney’s theory of why President Obama won, and Romney lost, the presidential election.
Time to Let the Country Crash? By Ebben Raves
Excerpt: Perhaps these people forget that Roosevelt was re-elected three times during a depression that he helped prolong -- a depression that featured soup lines and starvation in a population that actually wanted to work for a living and went on relief only as a last resort, and then with a sense of shame. Thanks to food stamps, EBT cards, and other entitlements, Barack Obama actually had an easier time. He just had to threaten that the evil rich would take away flat-screens and "crazy money" to get enough votes. Imagine if people were really hungry.
FEMA Auctioned Off Shelters as Sandy
Excerpt: Federal officials sold hundreds of emergency trailers for disaster victims at fire-sale prices in the months before Hurricane Sandy churned toward the United States
United Nations report: Congo
Excerpt: While the international community is focused on the M23 rebellion, other armed groups have taken advantage of the security vacuum in eastern Congo
Silencing General Petraeus. By Judge Andrew P. Napolitano
Excerpt: The evidence that Gen. David Petraeus, formerly the commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the author of the current Army field manual, Princeton Ph.D. and, until last week, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, was forced to resign from the CIA to silence him is far stronger than is the version of events that the Obama administration has given us.
http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/15/florida-restaurant-owner-adding-surcharge-on-menu-for-obamacare/#ixzz2CJ36XML4
Excerpt: John Metz, a restaurant owner and executive in west Palm Beach , Fla.
Bam Consults Biz-World Yes-Men. By Charles Gasparino
Excerpt: It’s hard to imagine a bigger waste of time than yesterday’s meeting between President Obama and the leaders of the nation’s biggest corporations on how best to deal with the country’s economic woes including the looming fiscal cliff. But that’s what went down, as a group of CEOs led by General Electric’s Jeff Immelt and Honeywell’s Dave Cote trouped down to the White House for a little face time with the president.
Obama Administration Gave Petraeus's Wife a $187,605-Per-Year Job. By Penny Starr
Excerpt: The Obama administration named Holly Petraeus--wife of retired Gen. David Patraeus, who resigned last week as CIA director after revealing he had had an extramarital affair--to a $187,605-per-yer job in the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Excerpt: Last week, voters in America California San Diego
Obama’s Nightmare. By Thomas L. Friedman
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/opinion/friedman-obamas-nightmare.html?hp
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/opinion/friedman-obamas-nightmare.html?hp
Excerpt: The scandal engulfing two of our top military and intelligence officers could not be coming at a worse time: the Middle East has never been more unstable and closer to multiple, interconnected explosions. Virtually every American president since Dwight Eisenhower has had a Middle Eastern country that brought him grief. (What the article doesn't address is the impact of a nuclear Iran/proliferation throughout the Middle East/North Africa, and perhaps Israel attacking Iran
The Need to Explain. By Thomas Sowell
Excerpt: The most successful Republican presidential candidate of the past half century— Ronald Reagan, who was elected and reelected with landslide victories— bore little resemblance to the moderate candidates that Republican conventional wisdom depicts as the key to victory, even though most of these moderate candidates have in fact gone down to defeat. One of the biggest differences between Reagan and these latter-day losers was that Reagan paid great attention to explaining his policies and values.
Apparently torturing your offspring is no longer a violent offense in Phoenix , Arizona
Excerpt: Apparently torturing your offspring is no longer a violent offense in Phoenix , Arizona
Demography Is Destiny. By Ann Coulter
Excerpt: If the same country that voted in 1980 had voted in 2012, Romney would have won a bigger landslide than Reagan did. Most Americans don't realize that, decades ago, the Democrats instituted a long-term plan to gradually turn the United States into a Third World nation. The country would become poorer and less free, but Democrats would have an unbeatable majority! (But that poorer country won’t be able to pay for all the programs. Entitlement riots are coming. And that will be only the start. ~Bob.)
Report: Obama signed secret cyber directive in October
Excerpt: The military now has more room to aggressively maneuver in cyberspace, thanks to a secret directive signed by President Barack Obama in October. The Washington Post recently revealed that Obama signed the directive — called Presidential Directive 20 — to give “a broad and strict set of standards to guide the operations of federal agencies in confronting threats in cyberspace[.]” The directive states that, before turning to military cyber units, the government will first turn to law enforcement or “traditional network defense techniques before asking military cyberwarfare units for help or pursuing other alternatives,” senior government officials who saw the classified document told the Washington Post.
Just Got Weirder! Jill Kelley at the White House on September 28????? If so, why?
Excerpt: OK…this is just bizarre. See below what Tampa Tampa Bay South Korea
Excerpt: California
The only other geographic region with an equivalent poverty rate is theDistrict of Columbia
The only other geographic region with an equivalent poverty rate is the
Petraeus, Benghazi
Excerpt: Washington
Wounded Warrior Project rejects gun-owners, gun-dealers, gun-manufacturers.
No, I'm not kidding. Wounded Warrior Project is taking center stage as the biggest group of hypocrites this nation has ever seen. I got an e-mail earlier today from an associate in south-central Texas
The Demise of Twinkies? Yes, It’s True. Parasitic Unions Kill Their Hosts (or, in this case, Hostess)
Excerpt: Back in September, following acceptance by the Teamsters. the bakers’ union (BCTGM) at bankrupt Hostess brands—makers of the iconic Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder brand breads—rejected a company proposal to help keep the company in business. By a voice vote of its members, the union opened the door to conduct a company-killing strike and potentially putting 18,500 Hostess workers onto the streets. (I was a Tastykake kid, myself; I loved the blueberry and lemon pies and the Butterscotch Krimpets. Not that, at my age and on my diet, I’ve eaten one in 30 years. But I would, every day, if I could. ~Bob.)
Quote
Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true. --Demosthenes
Examiner Editorial: Big Labor loses on its own turf
Excerpt: The presidency was on the line last Tuesday, but it wasn't the only thing on the ballot. Several state-level elections will have lasting consequences far beyond their borders.
Obamacare implementation could spell trouble for Democrats in 2014. By Philip Klein
Excerpt: The good news for Democrats is that Obamacare will now be implemented. But the bad news for Democrats is also that Obamacare will now be implemented. President Obama's re-election ensures that his signature health care law will not be repealed before its major provisions go into effect. But that also means, to borrow a phrase from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Americans will begin to find out what's in the law.
ABC News: Hey, This Doctor Shortage Could "Crash" Obamacare
Excerpt: Just in case the unaffordable price tag and rising costs don't quite do the trick, America's spiraling dearth of doctors will contribute heavily to the collapse of our re-engineered health care system, according to a new study: (Tweet from @BiasedGirl: If only there had been some warning…)
Did Israel and the US Just Cooperate on a Dry-Run for an Iran
Excerpt: Within hours of a bombing raid on a weapons factory in Sudan last month, the international media was pointing fingers at Israel Iran US troops, including senior military officials, were in Israel the day Sudan U.S. indeed cooperated with Israel in the attack, then this might have been a dry run of an entirely different sort—one that would belie the very public disagreements between the two countries over intervention in Iran
Census: 28% of Latinos living in poverty. By Tony Lee
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/11/15/Census-28-of-Latinos-Living-In-Poverty
Excerpt: A new poverty index in the U.S. Census found 28% of Hispanics were living in poverty. During the 2012 election, a staggering 71% of Latinos voted for President Barack Obama even though his policies and economy actually increased the poverty rate among Hispanics. (Is that food pantry food or is that food pantry food...unless you know where to get the Trader Joe's of course, and so many of us do. Dudes...Kate)
Excerpt: A new poverty index in the U.S. Census found 28% of Hispanics were living in poverty. During the 2012 election, a staggering 71% of Latinos voted for President Barack Obama even though his policies and economy actually increased the poverty rate among Hispanics. (Is that food pantry food or is that food pantry food...unless you know where to get the Trader Joe's of course, and so many of us do. Dudes...Kate)
Excerpt: Attorney General Eric Holder announced indictments against BP and the two highest-ranking supervisors on the Deepwater Horizon rig. The pair were charged with 23 counts of criminal wrongdoing, including manslaughter, connected to the deaths of the 11 people killed in the 2010 explosion. (Purposeful subversion in the classroom is nothing new. It doesn’t start at the college/university level, either. By my junior year in high school, 1963, about 15% of my fellow students were already committed to various socialist causes or groups. Oddly, they didn’t seem to be drawn from the stupid students as much as from the disaffected ones. Smart people who have no scruples about passing lies as truth can be very difficult to have rational discussions with, or winning debates against. I’m sure you can think of similar examples from your own life. Ron P.)
Academic Malpractice: The Case of Grover Furr
Excerpt: Professor Furr is a professor of medieval English literature, but what has led to all the hullabaloo about him is his decades-long defense of the old Soviet Union, and in particular of the years in which one of the 20th century’s most horrendous monsters, Josef Stalin, wreaked havoc on the lives of the people living under his reign of terror. Professor Furr has been in the business of Stalin worship for quite some time. So shameful is this man that he actually tried to lead a protest against a speech by one of the most brilliant contemporary scholars, Timothy Snyder of Yale University
If Every Food Stamp Recipient Voted For Obama, It Would Account For 75% Of His Total. By Ron Meyer
Excerpt: If all 47 million food stamp recipients voted for President Obama, it would account for 75.4 percent of Obama's 62.3 million votes. (They didn’t, of course. Many don’t vote, and a few may have voted for Romney. But this is another reason why there will be a fiscal collapse. ~Bob.)
http://losangelescitycollege.blogspot.com/2012/11/wuthering-heights-cathy-heathcliff.html
In Pakistan
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