Thursday, February 23, 2012

POLITICAL DIGEST 02/24/2012 CONSERVATIVE

Free PDF Copy of The Coming Collapse of the American Republic.

Federal judge strikes down Washington state's morning-after pill mandate
Excerpt: A federal judge in Washington state on Wednesday struck down state regulations requiring pharmacies to dispense the morning-after pill. The regulations were adopted in 2007 by the State Board of Pharmacy under pressure from Gov. Christine Gregoire, a Democrat who opposed the board's earlier unanimous support for conscience protections.

Excerpt: The national debt is likely to balloon under tax policies championed by three of the four major Republican candidates for president, according to an independent analysis of tax and spending proposals so far offered by the candidates. The lone exception is Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who would pair a big reduction in tax rates with even bigger cuts in government services, slicing about $2 trillion from future borrowing. (As I've been saying, what is needed is so very painful, that to advocate it is to forego being elected to implement it. But not dealing with it is going to be far more painful down the road. And the road is getting shorter. ~Bob)

Occupy Protesters Lose Their Case Against St. Paul's Cathedral, London - by Peter Mullen, Telegraph UK
Excerpt: So there is some good news after all. The Court of Appeal has dismissed the Occupy group’s demand to maintain a camp by St Paul’s. The four months’ encampment was only ever nuisance value, at best, and lately it has degenerated into an insanitary, sparsely populated eyesore. Cathedral staff and worshippers have reported that they feel intimidated by the protesters. Petty crime has increased. The fact that the camp occasioned the resignation of first the Canon Treasurer and then the Dean reminds me of a farce by Brian Rix.

Mr. Right Eludes the GOP: What happens when the final four candidates aren’t acceptable? By Jonah Goldberg
Excerpt: ‘If we could just take a little bit from each of them.” I’ve lost track of how many people I have heard say some version of this in the last couple of months. The “each of them” refers to the final four combatants for the Republican nomination.

Obama Vilifies Fossil Fuels: Obama is impervious to the facts about energy. By Robert Bryce
Excerpt: At the very same time that the shale revolution is saving the economy hundreds of millions of dollars per day, directly creating tens of thousands of jobs, decreasing the need for foreign oil, and spurring growth in manufacturing that will lead to billions of dollars of new investment and still more jobs, the president is bashing the oil-and-gas sector. Not only that, but in Obama’s new budget, he continues to insist that “clean energy” will drive America’s future competitiveness. (You'd have a better chance of convincing a Muslim Jihadist that Mohammad was a Jewish spy, than getting Obama to admit any of the leftwing doctrines of faith are in error, regardless of the facts. ~Bob.)

We’re Already Europe: Our fiscal situation is far worse than we think.. By Michael Tanner
Excerpt: With seemingly every day bringing more bad news from Europe, many are beginning to ask how much longer the United States has before our welfare state follows the European model into bankruptcy. The bad news is: It may already have. This year, the fourth straight year that we borrowed more than $1 trillion to support the U.S. government, our budget deficit will top $1.3 trillion, 8.7 percent of our GDP.

Guantanamo detainee reaches plea deal
Excerpt: A former Baltimore-area resident held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has reached a plea agreement with military prosecutors that calls for him to testify at the trials of other detainees in exchange for a much-reduced sentence and eventual freedom, according to officials familiar with the case. The plea agreement with Majid Khan, 31, is the first with a high-value detainee who was previously held by the CIA at a secret prison overseas.

NJ guv says Buffett should 'write a check and shut up'
Excerpt: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is known for telling it like it is and didn't bite his tongue when the topic of taxes and Warren Buffett came up on The Piers Morgan Show on Tuesday night.

Vegas Mob Museum puts best face on connections to Chicago, politicians
Excerpt: You may know Clean Face by another name: U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat and senate majority leader, and former chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission. But he was called "Mr. Clean Face" by Kansas City mobster Joe Agosto, who had turned federal witness in the FBI's case against the mob skimming of casino dollars. Agosto was recorded on FBI tape saying that "I gotta Clean Face in my pocket."

Bastard Nation by Daniel Flynn
Excerpt: The New York Times reports that 53 percent of babies delivered to women under the age of 30—the prime motherhood demographic—enter the world without their parents married to one another. But it’s not the rise of illegitimacy that scandalizes sex scribbler Katie Roiphe. It is the newspaper’s “peculiar moral undertone.”

Obama’s Drive to Disarm America by Frank Crimi
Excerpt: America’s policy of nuclear deterrence is being seriously threatened as President Obama considers proposals by the Defense Department that could cut the US nuclear arsenal by as much as 80 percent, reducing America’s deployed nuclear strategic warheads to as few as 300.

Samuel L. Jackson: Vote Your Race by Larry Elder
Excerpt: What if actor Clint Eastwood gave an interview in which he explained why, in the 2008 presidential election, he voted for John McCain: “I voted for McCain because he was white. ‘Cuz that’s why other folks vote for other people — because they look like them. … That’s American politics, pure and simple.” No, Eastwood did not say that. But actor Samuel L. Jackson did, in explaining why he voted for President Barack Obama — “because he was black.”

Jeremy Lin: Achievement Trumps Identity Politics by Victor Davis Hanson
Excerpt: In that regard, I am sure in the last 50 years that there have been all sorts of Harvard Law Review editors who had far more articles published during their tenure than did Barack Obama. Yet few were well known outside of Harvard and had secured book deals before graduating -- given that it was apparently deemed far more unusual for an African-American with a Kenyan-sounding name to serve as editor. (And one might argue further that Lin's actual performance, at least so far, better warrants his extraordinary publicity than did Obama's so-so record as a Harvard Law Review editor.)

The Cornered Rats of Climate Change by Marita Noon
Public confidence in scientific “consensus” regarding the theory of manmade climate change is threatening the believing scientists’ confidence. While polls show that taking action to fight climate change is off the radar of most Americans, the behavior of the theory’s advocates is even more telling. They are behaving like "cornered rats"—taking extreme actions to protect their turf.

Fired Illegal Alien Workers To Form A Union: Pomona College Still Reacting To 17 Fired Illegal Alien Workers
Excerpt: Workers for Justice? Sounds like a Communist org. Imagine: fired illegal alien workers being allowed to stay in America and forming a union. Why don't they call it what it IS--Lawbreakers Anonymous From Mexico (Without Papers)?

Iran court convicts Christian pastor convert to death
Excerpt: A trial court in Iran has issued its final verdict, ordering a Christian pastor to be put to death for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity, according to sources close to the pastor and his legal team. (Well, Death for Apostasy is part of Shari'a Law. You remember Shari'a Law, praised by the New York Times as good for America. And supported by Federal courts that ruled against Oklahoma's efforts to bad its use. This is what they support--death for changing your religion. ~Bob.)

Sweden: Muhammad cartoonist pelted with eggs in lecture on "limits of freedom of expression"
Excerpt: Double standards abound: people who would insist on their right to pelt Lars Vilks with eggs decide that he is not free to speak. Thugs like these attempt to act as censors through violence, intimidation, and disruption, and that censorship must be recognized for what it is, and resisted in all of its forms.

Al-Shabaab militia abducting teenage girls to marry fighters
Excerpt: Gunmen from the Islamist al-Shabaab militia have routinely abducted teenage girls to work as servants on the frontline and forced them to marry fighters, according to a new report documenting the abuse of children in Somalia's civil war. (They would call this rape if it were not Muslims, who are always PC. ~Bob.)

Bankruptcy judge approves Solyndra bonuses
Taking care of BO's boys. ~Bob. Excerpt: A Delaware bankruptcy judge has approved close to $370,000 in bonuses for certain employees of Solyndra LLC, a solar panel manufacturer that received a half-billion dollar loan from the federal government before declaring bankruptcy.

15 questions the media would ask if Obama were Republican
Excerpt: 1) Numerous Mexican citizens and an American citizen have been murdered with weapons knowingly provided to criminals by our own government during Operation Fast and Furious. If Eric Holder was aware that was going on, do you think he should step down as Attorney General? Were you aware of Fast and Furious and if so, shouldn’t you resign?

7 Marines killed after helicopters collide near Arizona-California border
Excerpt: Seven Marines died when their helicopters collided in midair Wednesday night around the Arizona-California border, defense officials told NBC News. (We interrupt the incessant mourning over drug abuse victim Whitney Houston to ask you give a moment’s thought to those who die in our service. ~Bob.)

Obama's Crony Capitalist Trap Door
Excerpt: The Obama White House says it hates tax "loopholes," and the American people abhor them with good reason. They're the ultimate in unfairness, allowing those in the know to wiggle their way out of playing by the same rules that apply to the rest of us. That's why, at first glance, the Obama Administration's latest "framework" to cut the corporate tax rate while closing corporate tax loopholes might sound like a good twofer. Before you give the President a gold star for good governance, take a step back, turn up the lights, look around the room, and you'll see that President Obama has replaced some of those tax loopholes with a giant trap door that's just the right size for all of his political cronies to slip through.

Scientists did not break speed of light - it was a faulty wire
Excerpt: Einstein’s theory of special relativity, proposed in 1905, states that nothing in the universe can travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum. But researchers at the CERN lab near Geneva claimed they had recorded neutrinos, a type of tiny particle, travelling faster than the barrier of 186,282 miles (299,792 kilometers) per second. Now it seems Einstein's reputation has been restored after a source close to the experiment told the US journal Science Insider that "A bad connection between a GPS unit and a computer may be to blame." (I can’t decide if I’m relieved or disappointed. This is how real science works, in fits, starts, and attempts to replicate results. Sometimes, the result is a whole new way to see things; other times, most times, the discovery is the problem causing the unusual result. That’s why science works that way, unless the “science” is political or religious like climate change. In that case, the inability to replicate experimental results and the failure of models to yield accurate predictions is ignored in favor of “the consensus.” Ron P.)

New Push for Reform in China: Influential Report to Warn of Economic Crisis Unless State-Run Firms Are Scaled Back
Excerpt: An exclusive preview of an economic report on China, prepared by the World Bank and government insiders considered to have the ear of the nation's leaders, offers a surprising prescription: China could face an economic crisis unless it implements deep reforms, including scaling back its vast state-owned enterprises and making them operate more like commercial firms.

European Court censures Italy over African migrants
Excerpt: The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Italy violated the rights of Eritrean and Somali migrants by sending them back to Libya. (And will the court pay for them to live in Italy? Ha. ~Bob.)

SEALs with a kiss: A pro-American war flick by Michael A. Walsh
Excerpt: After a string of anti-war, anti-military (and arguably anti-American) war movies, Hollywood finally gets it right. The Navy SEAL drama “Act of Valor” opens tomorrow in theaters nationwide. Starring active-duty members of the elite commando unit and based on real events, the film is a bracing reminder of the war films Tinseltown used to make — and, if it scores, will be making again.

Marie Colvin died as she lived -- with courage and compassion by Judith Miller
Excerpt: Marie Colvin's last email to me sought some advice: should she return to Libya or wait for the Syrian visa that the ambassador in London was promising her? I emailed back: "Go to Syria…more at stake there now, or maybe not." I stare at that message in horror now.

Elizabeth Warren Hits Up Hollywood to 'Recapture' Ted Kennedy's Senate Seat
Excerpt: Elizabeth Warren, Democratic Hollywood’s “it girl” in this election cycle, will be back in town Thursday, Mar. 1 for a fundraiser at the Santa Monica home of entertainment industry lawyer Skip Brittenham and his wife, actress and author Heather Thomas. Warren is campaigning to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Scott Brown in Massachusetts and -- as the fundraiser’s invitation says-- "recapture Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat” for the Democrats.

Excerpt: A military strike by Israel against Iran’s nuclear facilities has emerged as one of the biggest threats to the U.S. economic recovery and could roil the November elections. The Obama administration and economic experts have warned a pre-emptive attack by Israel could send the economy into a slump, which would change the trajectory of campaigns for the White House and Congress. (Of course, an Iranian nuke in a cargo container in a ship in New York harbor might pose some risk to the US economy as well. ~Bob.)

A picture is worth a 1,000 words
Islam in the UK. Comments are interesting, though hard to verify. ~Bob.

Tesla’s Electric “brick” problem
Excerpt: “Tesla Motors’ lineup of all-electric vehicles — its existing Roadster, almost certainly its impending Model S, and possibly its future Model X — apparently suffer from a severe limitation that can largely destroy the value of the vehicle. If the battery is ever totally discharged, the owner is left with what Tesla describes as a “brick”: a completely immobile vehicle that cannot be started or even pushed down the street. The only known remedy is for the owner to pay Tesla approximately $40,000 to replace the entire battery. Unlike practically every other modern car problem, neither Tesla’s warranty nor typical car insurance policies provide any protection from this major financial loss. ” (Don’t be shocked if the federal government buys a bunch of these. Maybe the Post Office, too. What better way to redistribute wealth from the stupid to the crony? Can’t even tow it, LOL. Ron P.)

Reza Kahlili and the Truth About Iran
Excerpt: China has sold intercontinental ballistic missile technology to Iran, and the North Koreans are helping with the assembly. And the fact that Iran can launch a satellite into space is another indication of their intercontinental missile capability. …Iran has armed its vessels with long-range ballistic missiles and soon will expand its mission into the Atlantic Ocean, reaching right outside of the Gulf of Mexico. The Revolutionary Guards have practiced launching ballistic missiles off a ship and have detonated a warhead in the air. This has been verified by the IAEA. (This interview by Pamela Geller of Kahlili is unsettling. In the past, I’ve always taken his writings with a grain of salt, but more and more of the things he’s said have turned out to be correct over the past two years. There is also a companion piece by Kahlili in today’s American Thinker—there’s a link to it at the top of this article—that is worth reading. Ron P.)

The Mystery of Iran’s Wandering War Ships
Excerpt: Did they dock in Syria, or didn’t they? Last week, two Iranian war ships, a destroyer and a supply ship, passed through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean. According to Iran’s government, they docked in the Syrian port of Tartus. According to the U.S. government, they did no such thing. (Reading the reader’s comments (especially see the comment by "J. E. Dyer" at 2:40PM on 22 Feb) shows this isn’t quite as straight-forward as it seems. Conceivably, the ships dropped supplies and refueled in Egypt, if in fact, they never made it to Syria. It’s also possible they dropped their supplies with Iranian submarines already in the Med. In either case, they wouldn’t need to go on to Syria. But, if they didn’t go to Syria, the amount of effort put into the deception is astounding. Why waste that much effort unless this is something important? Ron P.)

Alinsky-tied group awarded $56 million federal loan for health insurance project By Judson Berger
Excerpt: A Saul Alinsky-tied group has been awarded a $56 million federal loan to start up a nonprofit health insurance company -- one of several organizations across the country this week tapped to launch a new network of insurers under the sponsorship of the federal health care overhaul…But Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson questioned the group's credentials -- given its affiliation and lack of experience in the insurance field.

55% Think Gas Could Top $5 A Gallon
Excerpt: Most Americans think gas will top $4 a gallon in the next few months and most think $5 a gallon is possible. Government regulations and unrest in the Middle East are seen as the chief culprits. (Gas goes to $2 a gallon in 2008? Bush and his oil buddies’ fault. Gas goes to $5 a gallon in 2012? Market’s fault. Got it. ~Bob.)

Iran’s grand ayatollahs: Earth belongs to Muslims, end is near By Reza Kahlili
Excerpt: Iran’s economy is struggling because of crippling new restrictions on the country’s financial system, but no amount of sanctions will keep the mullahs from their headlong pursuit of nuclear weapons, which they hope will help usher in Islamic dominance of the world. The religious leaders believe it is their responsibility, as foreshadowed by the Quran, to bring about nuclear war to facilitate the coming of the last Islamic Messiah. Two Iranian grand ayatollahs are now saying that the Earth will soon be under the feet of Muslims, as promised by the Quran.

President Obama’s proposed budget includes dividend tax rate increase to 39.6 percent
Excerpt: Buried in President Barack Obama’s 2013 budget proposal contains a whopping increase in the corporate dividend tax rate. The current tax paid on dividend income is 15 percent and President Obama wants to increase that tax rate to 39.6 percent. In 2003, under President George W. Bush, the dividend tax rate was cut from 20 percent to its current rate. (Message: Invest overseas. ~Bob.)

CBS has new revelation in Zapata slaying, and Sen. Grassley is not happy
Excerpt: CBS News’ Sharyl Attkisson is reporting that a Texas man named Manuel Barba has been sentenced for trafficking a firearm connected to the murder of Jaime Zapata, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent killed more than a year ago in a Mexican ambush. This obviously came as a surprise to Sen. Charles Grassley, who told this column via e-mail: "I've been asking for information from the departments of Justice and Homeland Security on the circumstances surrounding the murder of ICE Agent Zapata for almost a year, only to be met with resistance and more of the same stonewalling.

DOJ dismisses leniency request for Border Patrol agent
Excerpt: Months after Rep. Duncan Hunter asked the Justice Department to consider leniency for Border Patrol Agent Jesus E. Diaz Jr., who was convicted of using excessive force in arresting an illegal immigrant, the Obama administration has brushed that request. In October and again in November, Mr. Hunter, a California Republican, asked the Justice Department to forgo collecting a court-imposed fine until after Diaz is released from prison, saying his family would have to struggle to make the payments.

De Borchgrave: New Mideast War Coming Soon
Excerpt: From Tunis to Tripoli to Cairo to Damascus, what seems real one day is no longer the next. Policymakers in Western capitals agree that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s suppression of dissent, with a toll of 6,000 dead so far — and still climbing — makes him the war criminal. This clear good-vs.-bad-guys script suddenly blurred as al-Qaida’s sympathizers showed up in the ranks of pro-western rebels fighting for the overthrow of Assad. … The October surprise: The United States will be in its third war in 10 years. (Fourth if you count Libya. Fifth if you think we are slowly being drawn into a low-grade shooting war with the Mexican drug cartels. Sixth if we have to clean out the pirates in Somalia. And if the Klingons attack Newt’s moon base… ~Bob.)

Quote from Morning Jolt with Jim Geraghty
“I suspect casual voters ignore anything before, say, last weekend. I suspect they put a whole lot more into a candidate's nonverbal communication, and whether that conveys sincerity and constancy, than anything that would require them to, you know, read something. If you doubt me, look at Obama's election.” (And they decide elections, God help us. ~Bob.)

Excerpt: President Obama railed against Republicans on Thursday for “licking their chops” and using a spike in gas prices as a political opportunity.

Bradley Manning, WikiLeaks Suspect, Defers Plea To 22 Charges Including Aiding The Enemy
Excerpt: Manning faces 22 counts, including aiding the enemy. That charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. The others carry a combined maximum of 150 years. He allegedly gave the anti-secrecy website more than 700,000 documents and video clips. Defense lawyers say Manning was troubled and shouldn't have had access to classified material. (Oh, now I get it. Manning is the victim of the evil military. Bullshit. He deserves to be shot. The mere act of making this disgusting claim insults the integrity of every honorable gay soldier, airman, sailor, or Marine—and there have been many—who ever served. Ron P.)

Excerpt: Senior Obama officials have come closer to calling a spade a spade: Last week, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper described the relationship between Iran and al-Qaeda as a “longstanding . . . marriage.” But you had to listen carefully to hear him say that.

Excerpt: The Obama administration’s real problem is existential: What if it gets what it wants, but then finds that either it or the country really is uncomfortable with what it got? (Oh, there will always be more successful people to punish and discourage, more working class folks to impoverish to delight his wealthy green-buddies, more campaign contributors and public union supporters to reward from the public purse, more people to push into government dependency to lock in their votes, more votes or contributions to buy from interest groups like the trial lawyers, more taxpayer-funded vacations to take. As Adam Smith said, “There’s a lot of ruin in a country.” Give him time. ~Bob.)

How to Delete Your GOOGLE Browsing History in THREE SIMPLE STEPS...Before It's Too Late To Hide Your Secrets - Daily Mail.co.uk
Excerpt: There is just a week to go until Google controversially changes its privacy policy to allow it to gather, store and use personal information about its users. But there is one way to stymie the web giant's attempts to build a permanent profile of you that could include personal information including age, gender, locality and even sexuality. From March 1, you won't be able to opt out of the new policy, which has been criticised by privacy campaigners who have filed a complaint to U.S. regulators.

Quinnipiac Poll: Americans Want Supreme Court To Overturn Obamacare, 50%–39%, Want Arizona Immigration Law Upheld 61%–31%…

VIDEO: The Great Gibson Guitar Raid - by Tina Korbe, Hotair.com
Excerpt: Last August, the federal government raided a Gibson Guitar factory and confiscated property worth at least $500,000. What had Gibson Guitars done wrong? They had imported wood from India and failed to follow every “jot and tittle” of the regulatory law … not of the United States, but of India.


--
Robert A. Hall

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