Tag Archives: Politics

Middle East, Politics, Religion, War On Terror

Hell Is Back

Of course, it is safe to say that hell never left. It just held back until, like they were promised, the U.S. forces left Iraq. Now it’s their problem. Enjoy it Iraq.

Al-Qaida gunmen patrol during clashes with Iraqi security forces in Falluja on Sunday,.Islamists exploit weak border to fight in Iraq and Syria

Iraqi air strikes kill 34 as army tries to dislodge al-Qaida militants in city of Ramadi, near Syrian border.

The action came as al-Qaida fighters were also reported to have taken control of Falluja and underlined the fragility of Syria and Iraq’s shared border, which is becoming increasingly exposed as standoffs with Islamist militants in both countries appear to be reaching a defining phase.

This whole Islam reset thing is really working out. For al-Qaida.

Link: Islamists exploit weak border to fight in Iraq and Syria | World news | The Guardian.

Media, Politics, Religion

Antarctic Rescues . . . Scientists?

You’ll have to look far and wide to learn that the “scientists” are a bunch of global warming types out to visit the altar of global warming. That they and another ship sent to rescue them also got stuck in the ice is charming.

Oh but the irony doesn’t stop there.

Prior to the voyage, the expedition had pledged to plant 800 kauri trees in Northland, New Zealand in order to offset the carbon emissions from the trip. After the resources expended rescuing them, 800 trees isn’t going to cut it. The new number? Try 5,000, or enough to constitute an entire forest, according to former Act Party leader Rodney Hide.

Ya think any of these scientists know how many trees start and grow all on their own, naturally, around the world? This counting trees stuff is just as big a hoax as is the claim that global warming, no, climate change, is man-made and they (man) can control it.

And it’s not over yet. Now the United States Coast Guard is on its way to attempt to rescue the two icebreakers stuck in Antarctica ice.

Link: Antarctic rescue mission leaves ridiculous carbon footprint

Obamacare, Politics, Religion

Islam’s Contribution To America

1 Comment

Had an engaging conversation today on my Facebook page over a letter floating around which I posted that warned that Obamacare was about to force closure of many faith-based (Catholic) organizations, or shift the financial burden to taxpayers to make up for the loss. It was also very insensitive to Islam. Insensitive in the respect that it drew comparisons between what the faith-based organizations do, compared to those that Islam do, or don’t do. And the comparisons were blatantly stark.

It also made references to President Obama’s statements that the U.S.A. is not a Christian nation. The exact quote was “not just a Christian nation.” There’s a difference in meaning between what the letter had and what Obama said. That said, it didn’t take away from the comparisons. It also posed this question: “Have you ever seen a Muslim do anything that contributes positively to the American way of life?” That’s when things got interesting.

I suppose that was a reference to Obama’s statement at the Ramadan dinner in The White House when he mentioned Muslim contributions in America.

In this year’s greeting, Mr. Obama said the rituals of Ramadan “remind us of the principles that we hold in common and Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings. Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity and racial equality. And here in the United States, Ramadan is a reminder that Islam has always been part of America and that American Muslims have made extraordinary contributions to our country.”

That Islam has had a major role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings may come as a surprise to Muslim women. Young Afghan girls who are having acid thrown in their faces on the way to school might want to offer their perspectives. That Islam is “known” for diversity and racial equality is also a bit of a reach. This certainly does not refer to religious diversity, which is nonexistent in many Muslim-majority states. This is a plaudit better reserved for a speech at the opening of a synagogue in Mecca. 

Most puzzling is the president’s claim that “Islam has always been part of America.” Islam had no influence on the origins and development of the United States. It contributed nothing to early American political culture, art, literature, music or any other aspect of the early nation.

Maybe the President was thinking of convenience store and gas station operators, but I was thinking in terms of the founding of our country and its development. I mean, when he goes out of his way to diminish the role of Christianity in the founding of the country to a Muslim audience, the question begs an answer.

I know of only ONE thing that Muslim’s are responsible for that contributed to “the American way of life.” The founding of the Marines in November 1775 during the times of the Second Continental Congress. Before George Washington became our first President. Their contribution was their pirating merchant ships, stealing the cargo and killing the crews in the Mediterranean Sea. As the Marine anthem goes “From the Halls of Montezuma To the Shores of Tripoli…” They were formed to protect shipping from pirates at first. Then grew into a force that can protect our country. That’s what I see as their contribution to America and our way of life. Your mileage may vary. If so, please use the comment section to add your two cents.

I welcome any local Imam to respond on what he (I don’t think they have female Imams) sees as their contribution. Not Fethullah Gulen, exiled in the Poconos, who runs schools to indoctrinate Muslim Brotherhood acolytes. They have nothing to do with the American way of life. Well, other than using the freedom of religion here to avoid jail in Turkey.

Example of Islam tolerance, “remind us of the principles that we hold in common and Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings; Catholic Pakistani Mother Jailed for Blasphemy Thanks Pope for His Prayers, Says Only God Can Free Her . And from President Obama? Crickets.

Link: Barbary Pirates Demanded Tribute, Thomas Jefferson Chose to Fight

 

Politics

2013, Political Year In Review

Americans saw an administration that campaigned on being the most transparent in history and has proved to be anything but. Not only that, but they have used the power and instruments of the government to target, and punish whoever it deems to be a political opponent. All while limiting our personal and economic freedom by taking over sixteen percent of the private sector economy.

But it doesn’t stop there. The Obama administration believes it can do anything by saying anything. If they give a good enough speech, then that should be it. When he assigns someone to handle something, like Vice President Joe Biden, or a special committee to investigate something, then it’s done. Problem solved. Then when they actually have to do something, they come up totally and terminally incompetent. They go about manufacturing the news, suppressing the truth, ridiculing those who speak the truth, marginalizing and demonizing those who challenge their facts. 

We saw a willingness to lie to the American people, and create their own “facts” for purely political purposes as in Benghazi. And the President said “We Will Not Waver In Our Commitment To See That Justice Is Done For This Terrible Act. And Make No Mistake, Justice Will Be Done.”

The broad NSA data collection that President Obama says is not abused. That our government does not intercept personal emails or phone calls. Really? Ask General Petraeus or Chief Justice Roberts about that. They systematically go about robbing the American people of privacy and therefor liberty.

Then there’s this new NSA revelation . . .

A German magazine lifted the lid on the operations of the National Security Agency’s hacking unit Sunday, reporting that American spies intercept computer deliveries, exploit hardware vulnerabilities, and even hijack Microsoft Corp.’s internal reporting system to spy on their targets. Der Spiegel’s revelations relate to a division of the NSA known as Tailored Access Operations, or TAO, which is painted as an elite team of hackers specializing in stealing data from the toughest of targets. And a lot more.

Now of course you would expect the Obama administration to say that is only for foreign intelligence gathering. That it would never be used to spy on Americans. Wouldn’t you?

The Department of Justice wiretaps news media reporters. In the case of James Rosen, they wiretapped his parents too! And the President says that was wrong.  

The IRS targeting conservative groups for audits and, for delaying tax exempt applications for years and claiming that it was just the actions of a few “rogue” employees in the agency’s Cincinnati office. And the President says that was wrong.

New news that the personal e-mail account of a State Department whis­tle­­blower was hacked, and four years worth of messages — some detailing alleged wrongdoing at the agency — were deleted. But the President said that we would never hack into the email account of an American citizen.

And it’s all politics. And what it means is that for 2013, the Constitution of this country and the liberty with it, evaporated.

H/T Roger Hedgecock

Energy, Media, Politics

Warren Buffet’s Oil Train Derails, Explodes, Burns

1 Comment

In the second train derailment and explosion in six months, two of Warren Buffet’s BNSF trains in North Dakota collide. The resulting explosion and fire caused authorities to evacuate all 2,400 people living in Casselton, N.D., about one mile from the derailment.

Official estimates of the extent of the blaze varied. BNSF Railway Co. said it believed about 20 cars caught fire after its oil train left the tracks about 2:10 p.m. Monday. The sheriff’s office said Monday it thought 10 cars were on fire. Officials said the cars would be allowed to burn out.

Authorities haven’t yet been able to untangle exactly how the derailment happened. BNSF spokeswoman Amy McBeth said another train carrying grain derailed first, and that this knocked several cars of the oil train off adjoining tracks.

Chalk up another failure of the Obama administration for 1) continuing to drag their feet on rail car safety for Buffet’s trains carrying crude oil and 2) not giving the go-ahead for the XL Pipeline project. Pipelines have not been known to crash and burn, ever. But, pipelines are not major DNC contributors.

Maybe this incident will bring the XL pipeline issue to the fore and make the case for getting it started. Ya think? Even the media is regrettably stating half of the obvious.

The incident will likely prompt discussion about the safety of transporting oil by cross-country rail. Fears of catastrophic derailments were particularly stoked after a train carrying crude from North Dakota’s Bakken oil patch crashed in Quebec last summer. Forty-seven people died in the ensuing fire.

The XL pipeline being the half they don’t mention.

2014 Election, 2016 Election, Politics

Tea Party Not Going Anywhere, More Likely to Win

From the womb of liberalism, a Harvard government and sociology professor writes . . .

“Tea Party forces will still win in the end,” Theda Skocpol writes, unless moderate Republicans can defeat them. Skocpol concedes that the Tea Party “will triumph just by hanging on long enough” as Americans are getting fed up by “our blatantly manipulated democracy and our permanently hobbled government.”

As long as there are establishment (he calls them moderate) Republicans not willing to follow their core beliefs of limited government, one that does not usurp our liberty, personal and economic freedom, and fiscal responsibility, the Tea Party is here to stay.

Whether Republicans gain majority status in the Senate in 2014 and win the White House in 2016 depends on which “party” establishment Republicans fight against, the Democratic party or the Tea Party.

Link: Harvard Prof: Tea Party Not Going Anywhere, More Likely to Win.

Economy, Media, Pensacola, Politics

Commercial Progressive Talk-Radio Takes A Dive

Following the same footsteps as Air America Radio a few years ago, commercial Progressive or Liberal (same thing) talk radio disappears in markets replete with their disciples, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Well, except for NPR that, so far, taxpayers are forced to subsidize.

2014 will mark the beginning of a massive change for liberal talk radio across the country. In New York, WWRL 1600 AM will flip to Spanish-language music and talk, throwing Ed Schultz, Thom Hartmann, Randi Rhodes, and Alan Colmes off the air. In Los Angeles, KTLK 1150 will be dumping Stephanie Miller, Rhodes, Bill Press and David Cruz off the air in favor of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. In San Francisco, KNEW 960 will leave Miller, Hartmann, and Mike Malloy without a radio home in the market.

hand-tapping-morse-code-on-an-antique-telegraph-machineWith listener participation down to friends, relatives, and employees, they are moving to the free, as in no commercial sponsorship required, media on the internet (short wave & smoke signals) like the wildly popular (somewhere behind Al Sharpton) Pensacola-based Ring of Fire radio show. The progressive show run by lawyers Mike Papantonio and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who recently disabled reader comments from their website, and bans conservatives from commenting on their Facebook page. And, they don’t take phone calls on the fly either. They can’t. If they did, they’d be forced into defending their indefensible talking points.

This kind of ‘protecting the bubble’ censorship is not exclusive to the Ring of Fire show. It is indicative about why they can’t hold a broad audience. Except for their lemmings that do listen, their angry and derogatory tone does not attract sponsors or a broad spectrum of listeners. Mike Malloy, in the show that bears his name, is a prime example. Unlike Papantonio, Malloy will take calls. But he didn’t like one he got from me over a subject that we will be talking about again soon. Extending unemployment benefits. Malloy didn’t want to hear that Republicans wanted to extend unemployment benefits if Congress would cut an equal amount from somewhere else in the budget, like the PayGo law required. Instead, he suggested that “right-wingers” practice self mutilation instead of calling his show. See Liberals And Speech, Part 3, Right-Wingers, Cut Your Hand Off for details and the full audio.

Seems Malloy was prophetic 25 seconds into this clip, “let’s see if he calls this program if we’re still on the air.”

Link: Liberal Commercial Talk Radio Disappears in NY, LA, SF in 2014

Obamacare, Politics

Govt. Employees Lose Govt. Health Care Plan

This is rich. Vista and other AmeriCorps volunteers who have health insurance provided by the federal government, were notified on December 16, 2013 that their insurance plans were history as of New Years Day. How’s that for compassion? How’s that for the irony of all ironies?

New York Times . . .

The Obama administration has told Vista volunteers and other AmeriCorps workers that their government-provided health coverage does not measure up to the standards of the new health care law, and that they may be subject to financial penalties unless they obtain insurance elsewhere.

Do anyone need any more information to prove that our federal government isn’t the one to run our health care or our health insurance? Not only do they not care about you. They don’t care about their own employees either.

Abby Grosslein, a Vista member in New Orleans, said she thought it was strange that the health benefits provided by a federal agency did not meet the standards of a law adopted more than three and a half years ago. “It would be nice if the government waived the penalty because we are a federally funded program,” said Ms. Grosslein, 24, who is completing her third year of service with AmeriCorps. “It’s as if the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing.”

Moreover, she said: “The Affordable Care Act has been on the books since 2010. Why are we hearing only now that our health plan is not compliant?”

Media, Obamacare, Politics

PolitiFact Caught By The Facts

It seems our old friend and spinmeister Angie Drobnic Holan got caught in another whopper. Once again about Obamacare. Here comes an article that details PolitiFact’s record on Obamacare and how her ratings on “if you like your plan you can keep your plan” went from “True” (before the election) to the “Lie of the Year” after Obama was re-elected.

Link: Pants On Fire: PolitiFact Tries To Hide That It Rated ‘True’ in 2008 Obamacare’s ‘Keep Your Health Plan’ Promise

Media, Pensacola, Politics

Commercial Liberal Talk Radio Takes A Dive

Following the same footsteps as Air America Radio a few years ago, commercial Progressive or Liberal (same thing) talk radio disappears in markets replete with their disciples, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Well, except for NPR that, so far, taxpayers are forced to subsidize.

2014 will mark the beginning of a massive change for liberal talk radio across the country. In New York, WWRL 1600 AM will flip to Spanish-language music and talk, throwing Ed Schultz, Thom Hartmann, Randi Rhodes, and Alan Colmes off the air. In Los Angeles, KTLK 1150 will be dumping Stephanie Miller, Rhodes, Bill Press and David Cruz off the air in favor of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. In San Francisco, KNEW 960 will leave Miller, Hartmann, and Mike Malloy without a radio home in the market.

hand-tapping-morse-code-on-an-antique-telegraph-machineWith listener participation down to friends, relatives, and employees, they are moving to the free, as in no commercial sponsorship required, media on the internet (short wave & smoke signals) like the wildly popular (somewhere behind Al Sharpton) Pensacola-based Ring of Fire radio show. The progressive show run by lawyers Mike Papantonio and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who recently disabled reader comments from their website, and bans conservatives from commenting on their Facebook page. And, they don’t take phone calls on the fly either. They can’t. If they did, they’d be forced into defending their indefensible talking points.

Update: 12/29/2013

This kind of ‘protecting the bubble’ censorship is not exclusive to the Ring of Fire show. It is indicative about why they can’t hold a broad audience. Except for their lemmings that do listen, their angry and derogatory tone does not attract sponsors or a broad spectrum of listeners. Mike Malloy, in the show that bears his name, is a prime example. Unlike Papantonio, Malloy will take calls. But he didn’t like one he got from me over a subject that we will be talking about again, unemployment benefits. Malloy didn’t want to hear that Republicans wanted to extend unemployment benefits if they would cut an equal amount from somewhere else in the budget, like the PayGo law required. Instead, he suggested that “right-wingers” practice self mutilation instead of calling his show. See Liberals And Speech, Part 3, Right-Wingers, Cut Your Hand Off for details and the full audio.

Seems Malloy was prophetic 25 seconds into this clip, “let’s see if he calls this program if we’re still on the air.”

 

Link: Liberal Commercial Talk Radio Disappears in NY, LA, SF in 2014