I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree (or disagree) with every—or any—opinion in the posted article. Help your friends and relatives stay informed by passing the digest on.
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.
Three massacred children
Nothing could defame Islam more than that the Palestinians passed out candy and celebrated the murders in the streets. ~Bob. Excerpt: Ruth Fogel was in the bathroom when the Palestinian terrorists pounced on her husband Udi and their three-month-old daughter Hadas, slitting their throats as they lay in bed on Friday night in their home in Itamar. The terrorists stabbed Ruth to death as she came out of the bathroom. With both parents and the newborn dead, they moved on to the other children, going into a bedroom where Ruth and Udi's sons Yoav (11) and Elad (4) were sleeping. They stabbed them through their hearts and slit their throats. The murderers apparently missed another bedroom where the Fogels' other sons, eight-year-old Ro'i and two-year-old Yishai were asleep because they left them alive. The boys were found by their big sister, 12-year-old Tamar, when she returned home from a friend's house two hours after her family was massacred. Tamar found Yishai standing over his parents' bodies screaming for them to wake up…. Someone might consider the fact that in the Palestinian Authority, anti-Jewish propaganda is so ubiquitous and so murderous that killing the Fogel babies was an act of heroism. The baby killers knew that by murdering Udi, Ruth, Hadas, Yoav and Elad they would enter the pantheon of Palestinian heroes. They can expect to have a sports stadium or school in Ramallah or Hebron built for them by the Palestinian Authority and underwritten by American or European taxpayers. And indeed, the murder of the Fogel children and their parents was greeted with jubilation in Gaza. Carnivals were held in the streets as Hamas members handed out sweets.
So, Which Murderers are your Taxes funding?
Excerpt: As the budget battle rages on and as we continue to fund domestic baby-killers, do we have to fund foreign ones as well?! For years, the left wing foreign policy establishment has rapturously promoted the ‘Palestinians’ as the cause célèbre of our national security interests. Despite their unyielding commitment to terror, these supercilious ‘wizards of smart’ have credulously identified the creation of a ‘Palestinian’ state as the consummate solution to all geo-political problems. They posit that upon creation of a 22nd Arab state and 2nd Palestinian state (the first being Jordon), the culture of terror would cease and we would all experience peace in our time. Incidentally, their maniacal fixation on the Palestinians has left them stupefied and devoid of solutions regarding the broader turmoil in the Middle East. To that end, congress has been cajoled into authorizing billions of dollars in foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA). In addition, we have equipped and trained their armed forces with the best our military has to offer. This travesty is justified as integral to strengthening the “Palestinian people” and the “moderate PA leadership” in their alleged battle against the “extremist” Hamas.
U.S.-trained forces arrested in bloody slaying of kids
If this is true….~Bob. Excerpt: Two members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' official security forces were arrested in conjunction with this past weekend's bloody massacre in which five family members were brutally stabbed to death inside their home in the Jewish village of Itamar, WND has learned. The names of the apprehended suspects will be released to the Israeli media within hours but were revealed to WND by security officials working on the murder. Two cousins are now in Israeli custody and are suspected in the slayings. Ahmed Awad is an officer in Abbas' Preventative Security Services in the northern West Bank city of Nablis. Iyad Awad is an officer in Abbas' General Intelligence services in Ramallah. Both the Preventative and General Intelligence services of Fatah are armed, trained and funded by the U.S.
The Other Tsunami
Excerpt: It is very difficult to hate babies. It takes a special person. As morally wrong as it is to murder innocent adults, mankind seems to have a built-in revulsion against killing babies. If a baby does not evoke any tenderness, if a baby is regarded as worthy of being deliberately hurt or murdered, we know that we have encountered a degree of evil that few humans — even among murderers — can relate to. That is why what Palestinian terrorists did to a Jewish family on the West Bank this past weekend deserves far more attention than it received. Normally, Palestinian atrocities get little attention — certainly far less attention than Israeli apartment-building on the West Bank receives. But this particular atrocity got even less attention than usual because the world was focused on the terrible tsunami that hit Japan.
Dead Jews Is No News
Excerpt: But sometimes, as when a baby has her throat slashed, what’s not said is just as telling. Recently I was talking to a Hungarian Jew who lived in hiding in Budapest during the Second World War: By 1944, the pro-German government was running short of ammo, so they were obliged to get a little creative. They’d handcuff Jews together in a long chain, stand them on a bridge, put a bullet in the ones at each end, and then push them into the Danube to let the dead weight drag down the ones in between. You have to have a strong stomach for such work, perhaps almost as strong as for killing three-month olds. But, as my friend told his tale, I thought not of the monsters on the bridge, nor even those on the banks cheering, but about the far larger numbers of people scurrying about their business and rationalizing what was going on. That’s what made the difference, then as now.
The 'Redevelopment' Hoax by Thomas Sowell
Excerpt: Why are so many people who are opposed to development nevertheless in favor of "redevelopment"? The short answer is that development involves decisions made in the market by large numbers of people in the general population, in their own personal interests, while redevelopment involves taking decisions out of the hands of the population at large and putting the power to make those decisions in the hands of elites. Developers who build housing to sell to the public are the focus of many denunciations by elites in places like coastal California. But developers would not even exist if there were not vastly larger numbers of people ready to buy or rent what they build. All these people who make the developers' work economically viable vanish into thin air in political rhetoric that is focused on the developer and his "greed." The people who are against development dare not come right out and say in plain English that they want other people's desires squashed by the government, so that the desires of the small, self-congratulatory elites can prevail, while housing prices skyrocket because of the restricting on building.
State says damage to marble at (Wisconsin) Capitol could hit $7.5 million
Hey, sticking it to the Taxpayers—it’s what Government Unions do! Besides, the state has plenty of money—just ask Michael “Jabba-the-What?” Moore. ~Bob. Excerpt: State officials said Thursday that damage to the marble inside and out the State Capitol would cost an estimated $7.5 million. Cari Anne Renlund, chief legal counsel for the state Department of Administration, said in Dane County court that estimates of damage to marble includes $6 million to repair damaged marble inside the Capitol, $1 million for damage outside and $500,000 for costs to supervise the damage. Much of the damage apparently has come from tape used to put up signs and placards at the Capitol.
Images for Michael Moore
Jabba the hut Images—tell me you don’t see it!
Social Security reform splits White House political, economic teams
Excerpt: Social Security reform is splitting President Obama’s economic and political advisers. Obama is being pulled in opposite directions by those whose priorities are fiscal and those whose No. 1 concern is electoral. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling and Sperling’s deputy, Jason Furman — leading figures in the president’s economic team — are pressing Obama to cut Social Security benefits if necessary, say sources familiar with their positions. But Obama’s political team, led by David Axelrod, David Plouffe and Jim Messina, are urging the president to understand that backing benefit cuts could prove disastrous to his 2012 reelection hopes, sources say. The political team is winning the argument so far, but internal debate rages at the White House as Republicans in Congress insist sweeping efforts to restore government finances must include Social Security reform.
Let Marines be Marines: Defense cuts that hobble amphibious landings are foolish
Excerpt: The EFV is all about maintaining the core competency of the Marine Corps: getting Marines from ship to shore. This is the trademark mission of the Marine Corps, differentiating it from the other service branches and defining it as both a land and sea force that is capable of undertaking any mission. Throughout history, the Marines have always been at the tip of the spear, leading our nation and military in combat, and much of the Corps‘ history centers on its unique amphibious assault capability. The Marine Corps last used amphibious vehicles in Lebanon for humanitarian reasons in 2006, while much of its attention was fixated on combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although there has not been a full-on beach assault in quite some time, there is a strong likelihood that the ability to put large numbers of Marines on shore efficiently will be needed once again in a conventional setting. Even with China and North Korea modernizing militarily, there is a mindset emerging within the Pentagon that amphibious assaults are a thing of the past, just as these same critics consider the need to bolster domestic ship production equally unnecessary. Talk about misguided viewpoints. These same perspectives also contradict the findings of the bipartisan Quadrennial Defense Review Independent Panel and its report, which states, among other things, that we are underfunding the military in key areas and failing to prepare for an array of threats on the horizon. Within that context, the Marine Corps holds in its inventory 31 amphibious ships designed to carry Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAV) - the outdated vehicle the EFV is aiming to replace. The absolute minimum number of ships needed by the Marine Corps to maintain a base-line threshold for limited amphibious operations is 33, putting the Marines two ships below this benchmark.
Will press ask president about ‘Project Gunwalker’?
They'd be all over Bush forever. BO, not so much. ~Bob. Excerpt: The White House just announced President Obama will hold a press conference on Friday at 11:15 a.m. to discuss rising gas prices and other issues…“Other issues”… Like “Project Gunwalker”*…? Is that important enough? Now that the president's direct reports at Justice, Homeland Security and State are up to their necks in dealing with the nation's top gun cops, who have been accused of abetting domestic and international criminal acts...? And both the Senate and the House smell blood because there is blood...? “What question would you ask the president?” CNN asks. Sipsey Street Irregulars has one. A good one. My question isn’t for the president—it’s for the press: Are any of you going to have the guts to ask him about this major unfolding scandal for his administration? And if not, why the hell not?
Excerpt: “There is an iron river of guns that flows South into Mexico [from the United States] to supply criminal organizations on the border,” says Tom Mangan, senior special agent with Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) in Phoenix. “They are in the market for machine guns, hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles,” he continues. That’s right. The drug gangs can’t buy that and other military stuff like the 40MM grenades (the silver things in the upper left) and the rifles with launchers shown in the photo below in Mexico, so they drive to the United States and purchase them from American gun dealers at retail. Isn’t that the story you’ve been told? Well, congratulations. America’s First Amendment protected propaganda ministry has punked you on another important issue — this time on behalf of dissembling officials and gun confiscation advocates. For the benefit of those who may not know, machine guns (not the same thing as the demonized “semi-automatic”), hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and other such military items are illegal to possess by US civilians, which means they are not for sale in gun stores. OK, in the interest of extreme accuracy for anyone in need, there are some civilian owned machine-guns in America, but they all have to have been registered with the ATF by 1986 as evidence that a special Treasury tax has been paid and the owner’s residence state has to approve the possession. What’s more, none of these arms has ever been involved in a crime, to my knowledge, and all are considered very pricey collectors items. That means they are not for sale to or in the hands of Mexican drug goons. That raises some questions: If Mexican gangsters are not buying military weapons in the United States, why do people like ATF officials, Attorney General Holder, Secretary of State Clinton, gun prohibitionists like Sarah Brady and multitudes of media talking heads claim they are while calling for an American “assault weapon” ban they say will to keep the Mexican drug gangs from buying what they really aren’t buying here because they can’t?
Let's stop pretending
Excerpt: The Palestinian Authority and its leaders share the blame for the murders of the five Israelis from Itamar on Friday - including two children and an infant - along with the terrorists who committed them. It is the PA and its leaders who have prepared the ground for these murders with the incessant incitement to hatred and the glorification of violence and terror. In spite of its conciliatory statements in English, the PA continues to use all the structures it controls to demonize Israelis and to promote violence. Terrorists are presented as heroes and role models for Palestinians, teaching that killing Israelis is a way to earn eternal fame. Just two months ago, PA President Mahmoud Abbas sent a clear message of support for terror when he awarded $2000 to the family of a terrorist who attacked IDF soldiers. Last week, the PA's official daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida announced a football tournament named after Wafa Idris, the first female Palestinian suicide bomber, and three weeks ago PA TV, which is under the direct control of Abbas's office, broadcast videos glorifying the terrorist Habash Hanani, who in May 2002 entered Itamar and murdered three Israeli students.
UK: Vicar Arrested and Church Searched As Police Probe Hundreds Of 'Sham' Marriages
Excerpt: A vicar has been arrested after an investigation into 100 sham marriages.
Immigration officers swooped on the home of Canon Patrick John Magumba after allegations that he staged dozens of bogus ceremonies. Investigators are examining claims that the 58-year-old churchman abused his position to marry illegal immigrants who had no legal right to remain in the UK. Armed with their marriage certificates, the immigrants were then able to hoodwink the Home Office into giving them a visa, which allows them leave to stay in Britain as the ‘spouse’ of their bogus husband or wife and gives them full access to education, healthcare and welfare benefits.... Magumba, who is originally from Uganda, is team vicar for the South Rochdale team ministry, which covers three churches in the area, and has been suspended on full pay by church leaders. (Doesn't say where the immigrants were from. I'm guessing Sweden. ~Bob.)
British Sniper Takes Out TWO Taliban With Single Bullet: Extraordinary Images Shows How Crack Shot Killed Insurgents
I blame British budget cuts for ammo purchases. Have to kill two with every shot. ~Bob. Excerpt: The shot is so rare among snipers that it has its own nickname, the 'Quigley', which derived from a cowboy film in which a character played by Tom Selleck manages the 'trick shot'. Yet this was not Hollywood special effects or camera trickery. This was the real-life work of Rifleman Mark Osmond. The stunning feat is revealed in a new book called Dead Men Risen: The Welsh Guards and the Real Story of Britain’s War in Afghanistan.
Court to DOJ: No More Stalling on Obamacare
Late yesterday, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals handed the Obama DOJ yet another defeat in the Obamacare litigation—this time related to how quickly the appeal will proceed. Readers of this blog know that the Obama DOJ has been attempting to slow walk its appeal of Judge Vinson’s ruling. Judge Vinson stayed his decision striking down the whole of Obamacare, but only if the DOJ filed for expedited review in the 11th Circuit. The DOJ did file for expedited review on Wednesday, but as Todd Gaziano noted at the time, “the Administration’s motion to expedite the appellate briefing requests a timeline that is still too slow,” and the motion also claimed that if opposing counsel appealed any of the claims they lost below, then the Justice Department would need more time for briefing. How slow was the proposed briefing schedule? As the lawyers for the states and the NFIB noted in their response, the DOJ’s “proposed briefing schedule is identical to the ordinary, non-expedited briefing periods” set forth in the federal rules. So much for expedition.
One Indictment Issued in ATF Operation That Allegedly Put Guns In the Hands of Mexican Criminals
Excerpt: One indictment has been issued in connection with the gun-tracing operation run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which allegedly allowed thousands of guns to be funneled to Mexican criminals. With regard to the “Fast and Furious” operation, “there’s been one indictment at this time,” Scot Thomasson, the ATF's public affairs chief in Washington, D.C., told CNSNews.com. “We don’t speak to open investigations, especially investigations that are under indictment,” said Thomasson. “I can tell you that an indictment was announced on January 25 against 20 defendants.” A Mar. 9 letter to Attorney General Eric Holder signed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) and 13 other members of that panel states, “Internal ATF documents show that ATF’s supervisors became increasingly concerned about the pace of the investigations” in connection with the “Fast and Furious” operation.
Never Let A Gang Rape Go to Waste?
Excerpt: In 1989, a jogger was beaten, raped, and left for dead in New York City’s Central Park. When she arrived at the courthouse to testify, a swarm of protesters led by Al Sharpton greeted her with shouts of “whore!” and “drug addict!” She was just a rape victim, an acceptable casualty of Sharpton’s beloved race warfare. “It’s typical of the left to make a convicted rapist a hero,” Susan Brownmiller told an interviewer in 1975. The feminist author was referring to the Left’s embrace of Eldridge Cleaver, the 1960s Black Panther radical who called his rape of white women “an insurrectionary act.” And so it is decades later in Cleveland, Texas. An 11-year-old girl suffered a brutal gang rape that began in the bedroom and bathroom of a house and ended in a filthy abandoned trailer strewn with garbage and debris. Police say the assailants forced the child to remove her clothes under threat of violence and raped her while filming the prolonged attack with a camera phone. The child’s vaginal injuries were so severe that she told a forensic interviewer “investigators might find blood at one of the locations as proof.” A reporter who read the search warrant affidavit described the details as “too obscene to repeat.” At least 18 men and boys were arrested, and up to 10 more suspects may be charged in the coming days. The victim is Hispanic and all of the accused are black.
Networks ignore death threats to Wisconsin legislators
Just an actual death threat. Not like Palin targeting opponents for political defeat which is really serious. ~Bob. Excerpt: Two months after trying to blame Conservatives for the senseless shootings in Arizona, the leftist media are ignoring actual death threats against Wisconsin legislators who voted to restore fiscal sanity to their state budget.
Wisconsin's Governor Wins, but Is He Now Dead Man Walker?
Thank goodness this is Time, where images of dead politicians are just cute, thus okay. if it were Sarah Palin suggesting opponents be targeted for defeat, it would be an outrage and the provocation for every act of violence in the country for the next generation. ~Bob.
Japan reactor crisis: Obama, Republicans still back nukes
Good for Obama on this. I hope he stands firm. The left just opposes him on it because he’s black—well, that’s what they say when we oppose his policies. ~Bob. Excerpt: The Obama administration and senior Republicans offered a fresh show of support for nuclear power Monday even as the crisis involving Japanese reactors deepened.
Scandal-plagued nuke power giant underwrites Obama re-elect to the tune of $10 million
Of course, there may be a reason why Obama is suddenly for Nukes. ~Bob. Excerpt: Duke Energy is the biggest nuclear power company in America. It is also one of the most vocal advocates of an Al Gore-style cap-and-trade scheme for greenhouse gasses, and the company's CEO, Jim Rogers, thinks the company will profit from cap-and-trade. That makes it a bit fishy when Rogers pledges to raise $32 million for the 2012 Democratic National Convention -- which is, in effect, a four-day pep rally for Obama's reelection. But even fishier is Rogers' promise -- now set in stone in a contract -- to use Duke Energy corporate money to finance the convention.
Think climate when judging nuclear power
This site (and the author of this piece) are firmly in the AGW camp, but good information is where you find it. As the Japanese reactor situation continues to develop, it will be useful to maintain our perspective of what has happened and is happening. Ron P. Excerpt: In all cases, I find it most distasteful when individuals or groups push agendas in the face of unfolding tragedy. Let me say at the outset that this is not my intention. Sadly, many people and groups don’t share this sentiment, including a great many who have wasted no time in making grave and unfounded pronouncements regarding the safety of nuclear power, and how this event should impact Australia’s decision making in energy. This has been aided no end by a media bloc that has reflected the general state of ignorance that exists regarding nuclear power, as well as a preference for headlines ahead of sound information at this critical time. The whole situation has been all too predictable, but still most disappointing. It has reinforced one of the great truisms in understanding how we humans deal with risk: We are outraged and hyper-fearful of that which we do not understand, rather than that which is likely to do us harm. Rarely if ever are they the same thing.
Nuclear Overreactions
Excerpt: After a once-in-300-years earthquake, the Japanese have been keeping cool amid the chaos, organizing an enormous relief and rescue operation, and generally earning the world's admiration. We wish we could say the same for the reaction in the U.S., where the troubles at Japan's nuclear reactors have produced an overreaction about the risks of modern life and technology. Part of the problem is the lack of media proportion about the disaster itself. The quake and tsunami have killed hundreds, and probably thousands, with tens of billions of dollars in damage. The energy released by the quake off Sendei is equivalent to about 336 megatons of TNT, or 100 more megatons than last year's quake in Chile and thousands of times the yield of the nuclear explosion at Hiroshima. The scale of the tragedy is epic. Yet the bulk of U.S. media coverage has focused on a nuclear accident whose damage has so far been limited and contained to the plant sites. In simple human terms, the natural destruction of Earth and sea have far surpassed any errors committed by man.
Civics Lesson
Floating around the net, but the facts on where budgets are originated in Congress are correct, and the chart is a killer. ~Bob.
Sarah Palin for president is toast
Excerpt: I greatly respect Sen. Gregg, but my view is that Sarah Palin is toast as a presidential candidate because every poll will show her being slaughtered by President Obama, and Republicans do not want to be slaughtered by President Obama in 2012, though personally I would not regret this outcome. More likely: Fox News replaces Glenn Beck with the Sarah Palin show. It will be a gigantic smash hit. And Palin will have four years to upgrade her national image, which is now locked in well below presidential standards without any possibility of sufficient improvement before 2012.
Is the U.S. Becoming a Welfare State?
Becoming? ~Bob. Excerpt: Uncle Sam has been aggressively increasing Americans' allowance recently. Government entitlement programs have grown to account for 35% of wages, according to a new analysis by Madeline Schnapp, director of macroeconomic research at investment research firm TrimTabs. The magnitude of government assistance has increased in large part due to high unemployment. But she argues that even when unemployment declines, we aren't like to see this percentage drop much. Here's the key chart from Schnapp, which shows the percentage of social welfare benefits, from programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and unemployment insurance, as a percentage of total wages and salaries (based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis):
Bailouts or Bankruptcy: Are States Too Big to Fail?
The collapse is coming. ~Bob. Excerpt: Newsflash: states are in deep financial trouble. Deficits for the current budget cycle are estimated at $175 billion. In some states (Texas, California, Nevada, and Illinois), the shortfall exceeds 30 percent of projected budgets. One way or the other, states will close those gaps to comply with the balanced-budget amendments contained in all state constitutions except Vermont's. Many, however, will be able to do so only by loading up additional debt, on top of already-alarming long-term obligations. Unfunded pension obligations are estimated at upwards of $1 trillion and are probably three or four times that amount. Unfunded health care commitments clock in at upwards of a half trillion. Bond debt issued by state and local governments comes in around $2.8 trillion. It is no consolation that a few heartland states are in decent shape. The Dakotas, Nebraska, and Indiana cannot compensate for the disaster that is Illinois, let alone the bicoastal basket cases. Moreover, while a robust economic recovery would create breathing room for some states, the most afflicted states' problem is structural, not cyclical. Under any plausible economic scenario, revenues will barely cover their ongoing obligations, let alone repay their debts. In some debt-plagued states (most spectacularly, Wisconsin), governments have shown commendable courage in attacking long-term fiscal problems.
Israelis Seize Ship Carrying Iranian Arms
Excerpt: Israeli commandos intercepted a ship loaded with tons of Iranian-supplied weapons that was destined for Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, reports indicate.
The elite Naval Commando 13 unit, the Shayetet, boarded the Liberian-flagged ship Victoria 200 miles off Israel's coast in the Mediterranean Sea Tuesday. Its last port of call was in Turkey. Haaretz reports that the cargo started in Syria, stopped in Turkey and was to arrive in Egypt's El-Arish port. From there, it would be sent by land into Gaza. Crew members apparently were unaware of the nature of their cargo, and an Israeli military official said Turkey was not responsible "in any aspect."
Muslim Brotherhood to launch satellite TV channel in April
It will probably bomb. ~Bob. Excerpt: The Muslim Brotherhood intends to launch a satellite television channel on NileSat, said Abdel Rahman el-Barr, a member of the Brotherhood’s Guidance Bureau and the group’s Mufti. It will be the group’s first legitimate TV channel. The channel will be tested in April and officially launched on 1 May. It will broadcast political, social and religious programs as well as talk shows. The channel will benefit from the expertise of Qatar-based Al Jazeera news channel and use some of the staff of ikhwanonline.com, the Brotherhood’s official website. The Guidance Bureau has contacted the group’s administrative offices around Egypt to ask them to recommend reporters. Applicants will be trained before sitting for a screen test. The door will be open for media professionals from across the spectrum to join the channel’s crew, so that a variety of ideas can be presented, El-Barr added.
U.S. Forces Provide Relief Aid to Japan
Excerpt: U.S. military forces are working alongside their Japanese counterparts to provide aid as the country digs out in the aftermath of the massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that struck March 11. Dubbed Operation Tomodachi -- Japanese for "friendship" -- U.S. military assets mobilizing in the area include a wide range of equipment, air, sea, and ground capability and expertise. (As has been the case for some 235 years, it is the Navy and Marine Corps team leading the way. --MasterGuns)
The Daily Caller Interview: Walter E. Williams is up from the projects
Excerpt: TheDC: You encountered racism during your time in the service — I love the story of you trying to check the “Caucasian” box on your duty form so you could get a better assignment. How did you manage not to become bitter? WW: One can face hardships and difficulty and not become bitter. Because I faced discrimination in the military, it is not an indictment of all white people. That is, there are people who did ugly things and on top of it, a lot of the problems I had in the military were self-imposed. I was a troublemaker. I would resist and cause trouble and of course knowing what I know today, if I were to go back to 1959, in the military again, I would not do again what I did then. TheDC: You write about how you lived in a nice neighborhood in Chevy Chase and were at one time mistaken for a lawn worker. You write that playing racial odds does not make you a racist. I was wondering if you might speak about that a little bit. WW: The guy walked up to me. He was an elderly fellow, he was good hearted, he wanted to give me an employment opportunity, and he was just really embarrassed when I told him I couldn’t do [his yard work] because I was finishing my dissertation that afternoon. And it works both ways. My wife encountered the same thing. I write that much to my chagrin and my admonitions against it, she hitchhiked a lot. One time she walked up to Connecticut Ave and a black woman gave her a ride saying she was going downtown. The lady said, “don’t you hate working for these stingy-ass white people around here?” and so [my wife] said, “No, I live here.” So the black lady was just assuming that because [Mrs. Williams] was black and in Chevy Chase, Maryland in 1971 that she worked there. And in terms of probability would be true.
Dems about to get vocal about Obama
Excerpt: Sen. Joe Manchin, a freshman Democrat from West Virginia, thinks President Barack Obama is shirking his duty on the federal budget. Why was the Senate voting on a budget plan, Mr. Manchin asked in a floor speech last week, "when the most powerful person in these negotiations -- our president -- has failed to lead this debate or offer a serious proposal for spending and cuts that he would be willing to fight for?" Sen. Manchin is the only elected Democrat so far to go public with his frustrations, but according to The Hill newspaper, he has a lot of company.
Outspoken Muslim cleric killed in northern Nigeria
Gee, I wonder why we don’t hear more from moderate Muslims? ~Bob. Excerpt: Gunmen shot and killed a Muslim cleric highly critical of a hardline Islamist sect, in an attack outside his home in Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria, witnesses said. The attackers, who were in a sports utility vehicle, gunned down Ibrahim Abdullahi Bolori outside his house, which is just next to a mosque, neighbours said. "The sheikh came out of his house around 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) and sat outside. An unmarked jeep slowed down and gunmen shot him... five times before speeding off," said a neighbour Awwalu Ishaq. Bolori had been an outspoken critic of the radical Islamist group known as Boko Haram, which in 2009 launched an uprising in Maiduguri, the provincial capital of Borno state.
Signs Point To Yes For Herman Cain Presidential Run
I don’t know if he can win, but if Democrats don’t vote for him, we can call them racists. ~Bob. Excerpt: "My toe is no longer in the water, it's all the way up to my neck," Cain said. "I think I have a great chance of not only winning the nomination but the Presidency." That was the message in a conference call with the potential GOP presidential candidate Monday night, telling bloggers things are going really well as he continues his work with his presidential exploratory committee. Just weeks ago, Cain won the straw poll at the tea party American Policy Summit in Phoenix, easily beating big names like Ron Paul, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney. However, Cain has been popular with the tea party since it's beginning and gave his first speech to the grassroots movement on April 15, 2009. Cain said in the call that the grassroots support for his exploratory committee has been unbelievable and continues to grow with thousands of volunteers wanting to help promote his small government, fiscally conservative message to voters.
White House Urges Supreme Court Not to Jump Into Health Care Law Cases Prematurely
Our “constitutional scholar” on the separation of powers between the three branches. ~Bob. Excerpt: The Obama administration told the Supreme Court on Monday night it should stay away from a high-profile challenge to the 2010 health care law until after a lower court has had a chance to review the case. Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal wrote, "there is no basis for short-circuiting the normal course of appellate review." Katyal also says Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's case is problematic because he may lack sufficient standing to challenge the health care law.
Is California Next? Experts Warn U. S. West Coast Could Be Next Victim Of Devastating Earthquake On Pacific's 'Ring Of Fire'
Excerpt: ‘If you think of the Pacific plate as a square, we have had a major earthquake in the Northwestern side of that square (in Japan),’ author Simon Winchester told MSNBC. ‘On February 22 we had Christchurch in New Zealand in the Southwest of the square. Last year we had a major earthquake in Chile in the Southeast of that square. ‘The fourth leg of the square, the fourth side, is where the San Andreas and the Cascadia forms. That hasn't ruptured - if either (does) there could be major problems.’ The last time California’s San Andreas Fault ruptured was in 1906, when the area of San Francisco was devastated by an earthquake and fires.
Green Injustice: How Obama's environmental policies hurt the poor
Excerpt: But it is simply mind-boggling that Obama would push such a heartless one-two punch by advancing policies that raise energy costs while at the same time removing policies that help poor people meet energy needs. It's as if they want the poor to freeze in the winter or suffer heat stroke in the summer. What could possibly explain such a callous disregard for low-income Americans? One thing: Obama's ideological fealty to a hard-green agenda. Greens have become so blinded by their hatred for modern life and the economic growth that is sustained by affordable energy that they want to raise energy prices for all, even the most vulnerable.
Unions vs. the little guy in Wisconsin recall fight
Excerpt: If you're a Republican, it's a scenario straight out of "Alice in Wonderland." Fourteen Wisconsin state senators, all Democrats, flee the state for three weeks, bringing government to a halt in an effort to stop Gov. Scott Walker's budget bill. After three weeks, the fugitive Democrats return in failure. And then, when a rich and highly organized effort to punish lawmakers is launched, it's directed not at the Democrats who ran away but at the Republicans who stayed home and did their job. That is precisely what is now happening in Wisconsin. Local and national labor organizations, enraged by the successful Republican effort to limit the collective bargaining powers of public employees unions, are pouring money and manpower into petitions to recall GOP state senators. At the same time, Republican drives to recall runaway Democrats, while rich in volunteer spirit, are working with far less money and organized support. On the Democratic side are the AFL-CIO, the big public worker unions, party organizations and activist groups like MoveOn.org, which have already raised millions of dollars online. On the Republican side are a few Tea Party groups, taxpayer organizations and not a lot more.
Marine Le Pen Says Europe Can't Handle Migrants
Excerpt: A group of young protesters yelled "racist" at Miss Le Pen as she toured the [Italian] island [of Lampedusa], where some 8,700 north Africans have fled unrest that has spread from Tunisia to Egypt and Libya since January [and where the Africans, according to a recent account on Gates of Vienna Blog, now make up 50% of the island's population.- Kate.] Despite her party's anti-immigrant politics, Miss Le Pen, 42, had insisted before her arrival that the visit is aimed at gathering information, not at provocation. "Europe is impotent and has not come up with any solution," Miss Le Pen said. Instead of patrolling near European shores, she said Europe's navies "in reality ... should go as close as possible to the coasts from where the clandestine boats departed to send them back."
--
Robert A. Hall
No comments:
Post a Comment