The current GOP primary situation seems to this Republican to have become a war to the knife between Romney, representing the genteel defeat approach of Dole and Dewey, and Gingrich, representing the go-down-in-flames, take no prisoners Goldwater approach. Sigh. Haven't made up my mind, but we in Illinois don't vote until March. ~Bob.
+15: Romney widens lead over Gingrich in Florida
Excerpt: Mitt Romney may be on his way to a decisive victory in the Florida GOP primary Tuesday, according to a new NBC/Marist poll. Romney leads Newt Gingrich by 15 points, 42 percent to 27 percent in the crucial state. Rick Santorum is third with 16 percent, followed by Ron Paul with 11 percent. Just 4 percent said they were undecided.
Romney starts war in Republican Balkans by William A. Jacobson
Excerpt: I have been trying, as best I can, to sound the alarm about the damage being done by the scorched earth tactics of the Romney campaign and its supporters in the Republican political and media establishments. The effort long ago left the political realm and has devolved into a collective settling of decades-old communal scores. Romney very adroitly has exploited to his advantage some of the deepest intra-Republican personal and emotional grievances and grudges.
Allen West being redistricted out of existence in effort led by Romney Florida spokesman by William A. Jacobson
Excerpt: This has not received a lot of national attention, but the Republican legislature in Florida is about to push through a plan which puts Allen West at serious risk, and the person leading the effort is one of Mitt Romney’s spokesmen. (Not sure if true, or an attempt to rally those of us who support West against Romney. ~Bob.)
Romney displayed many vulnerabilities at CNN debate
Excerpt: At Thursday’s CNN Republican presidential debate, Mitt Romney won the immigration exchange with Newt Gingrich. But three specific instances again left those who may have been warming to Romney with concern that the former Massachusetts governor may implode against President Barack Obama in the fall. Romney’s camp, earlier in the day, sought to portray Gingrich as someone who was “unhinged” but there is a case to be made that Romney may pose even more of a risk for Republicans in a general election.
Mitt Keeps Missing the Message: If Romney wins Florida, it won't be because he's becoming a more effective candidate.
Excerpt: Newt Gingrich's South Carolina bump is fading, and polls show Mitt Romney again leading in Florida. A Romney victory in the Sunshine State could sew this up. It won't be because Mr. Romney has become a better or more effective candidate.
Goodbye 'Birth Control Glasses'
Excerpt: Birth Control Glasses, labeled lovingly so because they’re so ugly you don’t stand a chance of finding a partner while wearing them, have always been the great equalizer. Even the most Handsome Harry and Sexy Sally are humbled by their wear. At boot camp, there are many things that break down individual identity and reinforce a unit mentality, but the BCGs do this exceptionally well. My daughter has a portrait of me wearing BCG's that was painted when I was a young stud Cpl. I thought I looked kinda handsome. -MasterGuns)
Haditha Was Exploited, Increasing Danger to the U.S., U.S. Troops, and to Noncombatants by Bruce Kesler
Excerpt: The killings at Haditha in November 2005 were blown up by opponents of the US in Iraq into an indictment of the US and its troops. This onslaught sapped the will of many Americans. The following rules of engagement and the drawn out prosecution of the Marines involved have undermined the morale and endangered the lives of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Take the premise that at Haditha both the Marines and those who were killed in houses 1 and 2 were correct in their own view. The long term losers are both US troops and noncombatants.
3rd Man Linked To Chula Vista Shooting Arrested: Abdiwahab Noorein, Abdirahaman Mohamed, Abdifaith Said Face Attempted Murder Charge
Excerpt: A third young man was arrested Thursday for allegedly taking part in a South Bay shooting that left a woman and a teenage boy dead and wounded the teen's half-brother last week.
State of the Union Flop: Obama prefers easy demagoguery to big ideas. By Charles Krauthammer
Excerpt: Once upon a time, small ball was not Barack Obama’s game. Tuesday, it was the essence of his State of the Union address. The visionary of 2008 — purveyor of hope and change, healer of the earth, tamer of the rising seas — offered an hour of little things: tax-code tweaks to encourage this or that kind of behavior (manufacturing being the flavor of the day), little watchdog agencies to round up Wall Street miscreants and Chinese DVD pirates, even a presidential demand “that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn 18.” Under penalty of what? Jail? The self-proclaimed transformer of America is now playing truant officer?
Worth Reading: What We Do Not Want to Hear Anymore by Victor Davis Hanson
Excerpt: No one quite knows why a dark-skinned Pakistani-American does not qualify for preferences, and a light-skinned Brazilian American with a trilled last name sort of can. No one quite knows why the ancestors of those who were interned in camps, or of those blown up while working for the 19th-century railroad, often outscore the majority on math tests and therefore must have an unspoken quota placed on their numbers admitted into universities, while those who recently immigrated from the Caribbean on average perhaps do not outscore the majority, and therefore must receive federal preferences as if their ancestors were discriminated against. But one does know quite well that any discussion that touches on higher per capita rates of illegitimacy, single-parent households, drug use, state dependency, or criminality must not go beyond the parameters of either racial bias or the legacy of past prejudice.
Catholic Church Digs In Against Obama Policies
Excerpt: It looks like the Administration’s requirement that Catholic organizations provide abortion, sterilization and contraception coverage for its employees and hospitals provide those services as part of their operations is meeting with strong opposition throughout the country:
AG Holder’s Office Knew that BP Agent Brian Terry Had Been Killed by a Fast and Furious Weapon, the Day it Happened
Excerpt: The administration that promised to be the most transparent in history provided another late Friday docu-dump to minimize press attention to an adverse story. This one contains emails that prove that AG Eric Holder’s office was informed about the circumstances of Brian Terry’s death the very day it happened.
16 Statistics Which Show That The Number Of Americans Dependent On The Government Is At An All-Time High
Excerpt: A higher percentage of the American population is receiving government benefits than ever before. Yes, there have always been poor people that have needed our assistance, but what does it say about our economy that the number of Americans dependent on the government is at an all-time high? Every night on the evening news we are told that the economy is improving, and Barack Obama is endlessly giving speeches about the “economic recovery” that is supposedly underway.
The Marco Rubio Speech on Immigration That Everyone’s Talking About
Excerpt: The Miami Herald reports that Sen. Rubio’s “sweeping” immigration speech took swipes at both Republicans and Democrats for playing politics with an issue so crucial to hispanics, calling for a compassionate approach for dealing with the issue of illegal immigration. The presumptive top pick for running mate to any of the remaining Republican presidential candidates conquered an early challenge during his remarks, addressing a group of protesters at the event who stood and interrupted Sen. Rubio’s speech.
Christie Blatchford: No honour in ‘cold-blooded, shameless’ murder of Shafia girls
Excerpt: And so it was: Mohammad Shafia, Tooba Mohammad Yahya and Hamed Mohammad Shafia, respectively the Afghan parents and brother of three teenage girls and the woman they loved like a mother, had just been convicted of four counts each of first-degree murder moments earlier. (Can Obama sue Canada for not following Shari'a law, which allows parents to kill children? ~Bob.)
Top U.N. nuclear team lands in Iran, state media reports
Excerpt: Top International Atomic Energy Agency officials arrived in Iran Sunday, state media reported, after the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog expressed fresh concerns that the Islamic republic was trying to develop nuclear weapons. The six-member delegation, including chief inspector Herman Nackaerts, arrived at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport, Press TV reported.
Why Isn't Illinois a Bigger Story than Greece?
Excerpt: As the Greek default (and it is a default no matter what they end up calling it) is finalized this week, the consensus seems to be that failure to reach a deal would cause a global financial apocalypse. That may be true. And if it is, why aren’t we more worried about Illinois? It’s more or less the same size as Greece, its finances are in the same generally catastrophic shape, and its leaders are just as feckless and dishonest.
Obama Calls It Fairness. The GOP Calls It Class Warfare. Scripture Calls It Envy http://townhall.com/columnists/douggiles/2012/01/29/obama_calls_it_fairness_the_gop_calls_it_class_warfare_scripture_calls_it_envy/page/full/
Excerpt: Obama, in his State of the Union address and during his initial five-state, multi-million dollar taxpayer funded re-election jaunt has stated repeatedly that his platform and policies are not about class warfare, which means, of course, that his ticket is all about class warfare—or “fairness,” as he likes to call it … or as the Scripture labels it, envy. (Greed is when you want to keep the money you earned. "Fairness" is when you want to take the money someone else earned and use it for yourself. ~Bob.)
$189,000 That’s the astounding amount each of us owes for our national doubt and unfunded entitlements By Michael D. Tanner
Excerpt: Forget President Obama’s speech on Tuesday night, the current state of our union can be summed up in just two words: We’re broke. The president devoted just 189 words to the deficit and our growing national debt, but the fact is that once again this year we will borrow 32 cents out of every dollar we spend.
Energy Efficient Windows Melting Toyota Prius
Green vs. Green grudge fight! ~Bob. Excerpt: A SoCal woman says the energy efficient window installed in a neighbor’s condominium is melting the plastic components on cars parked in her carport. Heather Patron of Studio City was dealing with a mystery regarding her Toyota Prius.
Cain Endorses Gingrich
Excerpt: Calling him the right person to address the “crisis of leadership in the White House," Herman Cain gave Newt Gingrich his endorsement at a campaign event on Saturday, injecting much need energy into the Gingrich campaign two days before the polls open in Flordia for the pivotal winner-take-all primary in Florida.
The Times and the Muslims by M. Zuhdi Jasser
Excerpt: Powell's premise is that the film is discriminatory against American Muslims because it presents all Muslims as radicalized. Yet if Powell, a journalist, believed the film to be an affront to Muslims, wouldn't he have felt a duty to speak with the devout Muslim who narrated the movie, to see why he was involved in its making? Powell made no attempt to discuss the film with me, or indeed with any other Muslims who sympathize with the film's view.
Worth Reading: Angry about inequality? Don’t blame the rich. By James Q. Wilson
Excerpt: Mobility is not limited to the top-earning households. A study by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis found that nearly half of the families in the lowest fifth of income earners in 2001 had moved up within six years. Over the same period, more than a third of those in the highest fifth of income-earners had moved down. Certainly, there are people such as Warren Buffett and Bill Gates who are ensconced in the top tier, but far more common are people who are rich for short periods.
The Islamic Paradise of the Needle and Powder by Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: The world’s largest drug field was formerly in the Bekaa Valley where the land is warm and moist. Reflecting the poor state of agriculture in the Muslim world, some of the most arable land in Lebanon where the Romans raised acres of wheat was turned over to cannabis and opium production. In the ’90s the situation was so bad that 80 percent of the world’s cannabis came out of the valley. The valley helped finance the PLO, Hezbollah and the Syrian army which invaded Lebanon partly to get in on the drug trade.
Interesting: Why Are Conservatives Happier Than Liberals?
What's next for Occupy Wall Street? Activists target foreclosure crisis.
Excerpt: The movement that claimed to speak for “the 99 percent” and made income inequality part of the national discussion now is organizing protests at housing auctions to support those affected by the foreclosure crisis. (So if the banks can't foreclose, they can't get their money back. So they won't lend it to people wanting to buy homes. Duh. ~Bob.)
300 arrested in daylong Occupy Oakland protest: Protestors break into City Hall, burn an American flag.
Excerpt: About 300 people were arrested Saturday during a chaotic day of Occupy protests that saw demonstrators break into City Hall and burn an American flag, as police earlier fired tear gas and bean bags to disperse hundreds of people after some threw rocks and bottles and tore down fencing outside a nearby convention center.
How to Get a $106,000 College Education for Free
Excerpt: How would you like to go to a private liberal arts college that will give you a full-ride tuition scholarship for four years? Sounds crazy? Actually, I'm serious. Antioch College in Yellow Spring, Ohio, is waiving the tuition for all its students, who enroll in the next three years. How much are these freebies worth? The value of the free tuition for the current year is $26,500. The scholarship, based on that price, makes each scholarship worth at least $106,000.
Emails Show How 'Fast and Furious' Ambush News Unfolded At Justice Dept.
Excerpt: The email messages show the former top federal prosecutor in Arizona, Dennis Burke, notifying an aide to Holder via email on Dec. 15, 2010 that agent Brian Terry had been wounded and died. "Tragic," responds the aide, Monty Wilkinson. "I've alerted the AG, the acting Deputy Attorney General..."
The Feds Had Better Stop Alabama…Before Everyone There Has a Job!
Excerpt: Ever since Alabama began implementing its immigration enforcement law, H.B. 56, in late September, the state’s unemployment rate has been dropping like a stone.
OWS = Tea Party, REALLY?
Navy wants commando ‘mothership’ in Middle East
Excerpt: The Pentagon is rushing to send a large floating base for commando teams to the Middle East as tensions rise with Iran, al-Qaeda in Yemen and Somali pirates, among other threats. In response to requests from U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, the Navy is converting an aging warship it had planned to decommission into a makeshift staging base for the commandos. Unofficially dubbed a “mothership,” the floating base could accommodate smaller high-speed boats and helicopters commonly used by Navy SEALs, procurement documents show. (If work is to begin within ten days of the contract being let, that isn't a "rush," it's a headlong, full-out sprint. Ron P.)
Forget global warming - it's Cycle 25 we need to worry about (and if NASA scientists are right the Thames will be freezing over again): Met Office releases new figures which show no warming in 15 years
Excerpt: The supposed ‘consensus’ on man-made global warming is facing an inconvenient challenge after the release of new temperature data showing the planet has not warmed for the past 15 years. The figures suggest that we could even be heading for a mini ice age to rival the 70-year temperature drop that saw frost fairs held on the Thames in the 17th Century. (We will have to do something to silence the "cooling deniers." LOL. ~Bob.)
Rubio: Obama 'made everything worse'
Excerpt: Freshman Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) panned President Obama’s State of the Union speech during the weekly Republican address, saying the president largely ignored his own record because he has made the economy worse during three years in office. “It was an opportunity for the president to talk about his accomplishments over the last three years and to lay out his plans for the year ahead. And he missed on both counts,” Rubio said. “You didn’t hear much talk about the success of his administration—and that’s because there isn’t much.”
Elizabeth Warren, Worth Millions, Claims She's Not Wealthy
Excerpt: Warren earned more than $700,000 from Harvard, book royalties and consulting fees, and lives in a $5 million house, the report shows. She has multiple mutual funds and stock in IBM, the sole individual stock she owns. The total portfolio is worth nearly $8 million. It turns out that the brainchild behind the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, who has spoken out against corporate excess and in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement, is actually part of the 1 percent. (Notice the not-very-conservative source of the report. Ron P. How can I be poor like her? ~Bob.)
Asim Kausar jailed over ricin recipe find
Didn't get the memo. ~Bob. Excerpt: A man who downloaded a recipe for the deadly poison ricin and documents about how to make bombs has been jailed for two years and three months. Asim Kausar, 25, from Bolton, kept the information on a computer pen drive.
Md. Man Caught in Sting Pleads Guilty in Bomb Plot
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/md-man-caught-sting-pleads-guilty-bomb-plot-15447286#.TyKvMCP7vKo
Didn't fet the memo. ~Bob. Excerpt: The U.S. citizen born who was born abroad preferred to be called Muhammad Hussain after his conversion to Islam and signed the plea using both names.
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Robert A. Hall
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