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. In some cases I post things sent to me by readers I might not have posted on my own, to get ideas circulating.
Worth Reading: Where are we going and why are we in this hand basket?
Guest Post by Samuel L. Skogstad, Ph.D., a brother Marine and Professor Emeritus of Economics, Georgia State University.
Worth Reading: For NATO visitors: Some lessons in Chicago-style diplomacy--Whatever you do, don't forget the palm grease. By John Kass
Terrific, long, entertaining Kass column welcoming NATO to Chicago, with tips for getting along with local politicians, Too many good sections to excerpt. ~Bob.
Worth Reading: A Racial Revolution? By Thomas Sowell
http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2012/05/19/a_racial_revolution
http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2012/05/19/a_racial_revolution
Excerpt: Now that census data show -- for the first time in American history -- the number of white babies born exceeded by the number of babies born to non-white minorities the question is: What does this mean for the future of American society? Politically, it means that minorities who traditionally vote overwhelmingly for Democrats can ensure that the country veers ever further to the left over the years, making America more like the welfare states of Europe, whose unsustainable spending led ultimately to finical crises and widespread riots.
NATO Summit Terror Plot: Obama Campaign Headquarters, Rahm Emanuel Home Among Targets
Excerpt: Three activists who travelled to Chicago for a NATO summit were accused Saturday of manufacturing Molotov cocktails in a plot to attack President Barack Obama's campaign headquarters, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home and other targets. (...) On the eve of the summit, the dramatic allegations were reminiscent of previous police actions ahead of major political events, when authorities moved quickly to prevent suspected plots but sometimes quietly dropped the charges later. (...) Relatives and acquaintances said the men were wanderers who bounced around as part of the Occupy movement and had driven together from Florida to Chicago, staying with other activists. (Notice HuffPo’s obvious skepticism of the charges are never stated outright, but scream from every line. Ron P. Well, these protesters are the reason Obama went into politics, he said. Why not just get Liz Warren, who claimed she provided the intellectually foundation of the Occupy Movement,. to call them off? ~Bob.)
Illegal Alien Gets 40 Years for Raping 8 Year Old on Christmas Eve
Excerpt: A Superior Court judge sentenced a man to 40 years and 8 months to life in state prison Friday for sexually assaulting an 8-year-old female relative on Christmas Eve while family members slept in other rooms, calling his conduct "depraved." Jorge Miguel Gallegos, 38, of Santa Ana, was convicted in April of six felony counts, including sexual assault, lewd acts on a child under 14, and dissuading a witness from reporting a crime. (Illegal Alien? I thought the politically correct term was Undocumented Democrat, or something like that. I forget. ~Bob.)
Worth Reading: The Left’s Seven Tragic Terror Lies. By Ralph Peters
Excerpt: If they did not put our troops, our citizens and our country at risk, the Left’s fantastic lies about terror and terrorists would be hilarious. The Left’s self-righteous nonsense in this sphere has no grounding in empirical or historical reality, but, then, reality has long been a greater threat to the Left than Islamist fanatics (the last thing any Leftie wants to do is to face the vast human wastage generated by the addictive, enervating and morally debilitating hook-the-poor social programs of the last five decades). ... And one thing Obama-terrified of a terror attack on his watch-has gotten right has been to increase the number of lethal attacks on terrorists and to favor killing them over capturing them (Obama did learn the real lesson of Guantanamo-kill, don’t capture–although he isn’t going to inform his base). (There's not much here I can disagree with. ~Bob.)
Malik Ali Brings the Crazy to Irvine Speech
Excerpt: Zionists are responsible for the global financial meltdown, and President Barack Obama is a puppet for powerful white people who are gearing up for full-scale military conflict to colonize Africa. Those kernels of wisdom were imparted by Imam Abdel Malik Ali at the University of California, Irvine last week. He spoke as part of the Muslim Student Union (MSU)'s "Palestine Liberation Week" on campus, an annual event that routinely features radical ideology and hate speech.
Stakeholders in NLRB Rule Fight in Wait-and-See Mode
Excerpt: Stakeholders in the fight over a National Labor Relations Board rule on union elections are in a holding pattern after a judge on Monday struck down the rule because the board did not have a quorum when it was approved. Opponents of the rule, which shortens the required time between when a union election is announced and when it is held, were quick to praise the decision and called it a victory for their side. (…) But because the judge's decision was based on how the rule was technically approved, the NLRB could try to enact the rule again.
Trayvon Martin Case: Evidence Of Marijuana Found In Martin's Blood
Excerpt: New witness accounts also emerged Thursday. A witness, whose name is redacted, told investigators he saw "a black male, wearing a dark colored hoodie," on top of a white or Hispanic male who was yelling for help. The witness, who was looking out the sliding glass door at his home about 30 feet away, said he saw the black male throwing punches "MMA (mixed martial arts) style." (The excerpt is taken from the 13th paragraph of the article; the paragraphs before and after are largely critical of Zimmerman. And they’re still using the picture of the very young Trayvon. --Ron P.)
Autopsy Report Reveals Trayvon Martin Had Drugs in System. By Joel B. Pollak
Excerpt: ABC News reports that Trayvon Martin, the black teenager who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman on Feb. 26, had drugs in his body on the night of his death: The autopsy report shows traces of the drug THC, which is found in marijuana, in Martin's blood and urine. On the infamous 911 call that Zimmerman made to police, Zimmerman told the dispatcher that Martin looked like he was "on drugs or something." That suspicion--which was twisted by the left and the mainstream media as part of an attempt to accuse Zimmerman of acting on racist motives--has been confirmed. …
Book: Michelle Almost divorced Barack After He Lost 2000 Congressional Race. By William Bigelow
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/05/16/Michelle-prepared-divorce-papers-after-Obama-lost
Excerpt: According to the new book, The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House, by Edward Klein, Michelle Obama was so angry in 2000 that her husband had run for a House seat and failed miserably that she prepared divorce papers against him. Obama had taken on Bobby Rush, a four-time incumbent on the South Side of Chicago, and lost by a margin of two to one.
Complaints over use of 'Asian' label in grooming cases
Excerpt: Groups representing Sikh and Hindu communities have complained about the term "Asian" being used to describe the men involved in grooming trials. Earlier this month, nine men were jailed for being part of a sex ring in Rochdale which groomed girls for sex. The groups said the men involved were "almost always of Pakistani origin" and the term "Asian" was inaccurate. (Well, tough for the Hindus and Sikhs, but the press can't say they were Muslims. Wouldn't be PC and might cause Islamophobia. Truth must be suppressed. ~Bob.)
Saudi Arabia: Child Flogged and ‘Severely Beaten’ by Koran Teacher
Excerpt: In Saudi Arabia, it was recently revealed that a 5-year-old boy was "severely beaten" and whipped by his teacher, with "wounds appearing on various parts of his body."
Mayo Clinic fires doctor who said female genital mutilation is an "honor" for women
Excerpt: Dr. Hatem Elhagaly, aka Dr. Hatem al-Haj, is a Muslim jurist who has stated this: ... Scholars have differed on the ruling on circumcision. They have agreed on its legitimacy for both sexes, but beyond that they have differed. ... At the very least it can be said that for women it is an honor, and for men it is sunnah [i.e. it is in accord with the tradition of Muhammad].
Muslim Persecution of Christians: April, 2012
Excerpt: Over at Gatestone Institute (via RaymondIbrahim.com), I chronicle the many abuses Christians suffered under Islam in the month of April -- several occurring on Easter Sunday. Some "highlights" follow:
Prof sues over Muslim tiff: Says Purdue punished him for comments
Excerpt: A Purdue University political science professor has sued officials and other professors at the school’s campus in northwest Indiana for the treatment he received after he posted criticism of Muslims on Facebook. Maurice Eisenstein claims in the suit that Purdue-Calumet officials violated his rights of freedom of speech and religion by subjecting him to a disciplinary investigation which eventually yielded mixed results. (The modern American university celebrates every kind of diversity, except the only kind that matters: diversity of thought. What kind of academic doesn't know that multiculturalism and political correctness trump freedom of expression? ~Bob.)
Sweden: 6 out of 10 imams give illegal advice. "Deeply regrettable that they live up to all the prejudices of the Islamophobes".
Excerpt: Swedish State TV (SVT) has made its own Undercover Mosque as part of the investigative series call Uppdrag. Translated from Swedish by Nicolai Sennels, Sydsvenskan, May 16: "Women advised not to report to the police":
Danish satire: thinking (almost) the same
Excerpt: Dane: Remember, that free speech allows us to criticise our press, our leaders and even our religion... Muslim: It is the same in Islam... We too have the right to criticise your press, your leaders and your religion...
NATO’s 'Window Dressing'
Excerpt: When Western leaders gather in Chicago this weekend for the NATO summit, the public will be inundated with upbeat communiques. The assembled presidents and prime ministers will agree to march in lockstep on the way out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014. (…) Much of what you hear from Chicago, however, will be window dressing meant to cover an alliance caught in a moment of significant peril and decline. (In the past, the USA still had a commitment to Europe and its defense, even though many members of NATO contributed little besides manpower. In a world where the USA is looking at reducing the size of all our armed forces, reducing the number of aircraft and ships in our arsenal, and fighting not to cut the bone and save some of the muscle in our defenses as most of the fat is long gone, that may no longer be true. We simply don’t have either the cash or the will to act as Europe’s cop-on-the-beat without their full participation any more. And, the Europeans are broke enough that they can’t do much to help, either. Don’t anybody tell Russia, though. Ron P.)
Call For Crackdown On Black-On-White Terror: Baltimore neighborhood now 'dangerous place for residents and visitors'
Excerpt: A state lawmaker in Maryland, concerned about “black youths” who are “terrorizing” Baltimore’s upscale Inner Harbor, wants the governor to send in state troopers to make the area safe. Pat McDonough, a member of the Maryland legislature, has been accused of launching a “racially tinged publicity stunt” but stands by his comments.
Man, 19, beaten by two groups of students downtown
(Ok, if these gangs are terrorizing Inner Harbor, especially now near high season of the National Aquarium, something will probably be done. Government may not care about the safety of a few white people, but they aren't going to allow tourist money to be lost. --Don Hank)
Cap-and-trade to generate billion$ for rich on California tax payer energy cost increases
Excerpt: The auction of emission permits, known as allowances, could generate $1.8 billion next year by one estimate, growing to $5.8 billion in 2015. The amount Californians pay for electricity and gasoline could rise as a result, unless some of the money is returned to them as rebates or dividends. ... For example, the California Air Resources Board, which is in charge of developing the system, estimated two years ago that gas prices could climb 6 percent by 2020 because of cap and trade. At today's prices, that would equal an increase of 26 cents per gallon. Under one of the commission's less rosy scenarios, the increase could be as much as $1.61. (I thought your readers would love another "Billion dollar Disaster in California" as Big, green energy firms take billions of tax payers dollars for carbon trading ponzi scheme.... If you thought selling bottled water was a genius scam, these guys are selling "hot air" Have a good day - Chris)
Boner rejects sexual harassment allegations
Excerpt: Despite allegations two female employees were fired in retaliation for complaining about being sexually harassed, Rutherford County Property Assessor Bill Boner said Friday he would not step down from office and will continue his bid for re-election this fall. ... The 73-year-old Rutherford County native said he is upset because the allegations “have taken quite a toll” on his wife, Joyce Boner, who he has been married to for more than 50 years.
Our Very Own Greece. The major difference is that California has an even bigger budget deficit than its Balkan cousin. By Ross Kaminsky
Excerpt: Stock, commodity, and currency markets have been on a roller-coaster ride in recent days as Greece's election results leave that nation without a functioning government, and without a clear path toward staying in the euro currency. The right answer, albeit a very painful one, may be for Greece to take their medicine and leave the euro, and for Europe to stop bailing out a dysfunctional country that can never be competitive without a less expensive currency. Wednesday marked an all-time low in the Greek stock market. (Another rigorous analysis of the deteriorating situation in California. I just keep watching the place with something like amusement, or lively curiosity as to how long it can slide along the razor edge of the precipice before finally falling in. I keep thinking that at some point, things just have to break down. Not sure when or how, but something's got to give some time. It'll be interesting to watch, and to see if it has any effect on how people think in the rest of the country. Or in Congress. --Del)
Oil Production: United States Is Capable of Out-Producing World
Excerpt: President Obama has repeatedly asserted that the United States cannot drill its way to energy independence. This claim has been used as justification for extensive and costly efforts to develop renewable energy sources, says Investor's Business Daily. However, a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) undermines the president's assumption. (Obama's failure to make the most of the natural resources he has under his control indicates that he may not be so smart or that he really does intend to preside over America's decline. Consider the benefits of US oil production resulting in zero imports: Many new jobs. Lowering the marginal price of oil, stimulating production and raising the disposable incomes of citizens. Tax revenue for the treasury. Reduction of the trade deficit (and the possibility of exports). Disengagement from oil despots--we won't need their oil and lower prices will weaken them, Etc. He is being handed the proverbial silver platter and refuses to take it. --Cordially, Larry Greenberg.)
Clean Coal Launches New Anti-Regulatory Ad Campaign
Excerpt: In case you weren't paying attention, clean coal has reemerged on the campaign trail this month giving the Obama re-election campaign a major headache. And, starting tomorrow, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Energy is taking advantage of the renaissance by launching three new ads that take aim at the "EPA's heavy-handed regulations on coal." The ads are running nationally on cable and network television, along with an online advertising campaign. (Look for a quick turn-around by the administration on the subject of coal. One that will again be reversed immediately after the election. Only if Obama wins, you say? Wrong. Once EPA has published rules, it will be difficult and time consuming to reverse them, especially without majorities in both houses of Congress. This is one of the many reasons we need to hold every seat we have and fight like demons for every one we don’t already have. We can worry about purity in the next election; we can’t afford to lose much of anything in this one. Ron P.)
This just in: Jerry Brown guessed wrong. Again. Tack another billion or so on that deficit.
Excerpt: The ink wasn’t even dry yet – in fact the Sunday paper hasn’t even been printed yet – and we learn that Brown guessed wrong again. Back in January Brown guessed that the state budget would be $9.2 billion in the red. Wrong. Monday Brown revised his estimate. Then he said it would be $15.7 billion in the red. Wrong.
Joe Ricketts’s Retreat From Obama Attack Campaign: Are the Chicago Cubs to Blame?
Excerpt: Joe Ricketts has had quite a day. Thursday morning’s New York Times identified the billionaire founder of TD Ameritrade as bankroller of a $10 million super PAC campaign to attack President Obama over his past ties to his old pastor, the hyperbolic Rev. Jeremiah Wright—a favorite villain of the right wing during the 2008 campaign.
Excerpt: Here it comes again folks….. and it’s our fault for allowing it. "U.S. banks increased sales of protection against credit losses to holders of Greek, Portuguese, Irish, Spanish and Italian debt in the last quarter of 2011 as the European debt crisis escalated. Guarantees provided by U.S. lenders on government, bank and corporate debt in those countries rose 10 percent from the previous quarter to $567 billion, according to the most recent data from the Bank for International Settlements. Those guarantees refer to credit-default swaps written on bonds."
Excerpt: A Democrat member of Arizona's House of Representatives who fights for illegal aliens' rights, Paul Ben Arredondo, was charged on Wednesday by a federal grand jury with bribery, fraud, attempted extortion and false statements he made to the FBI in connection with receiving more than $6,000 in tickets to sporting and special events while he was a Tempe, Arizona, council member and a member-elect of the Arizona House, according to a federal law enforcement official.
"Nakba Day" Fizzles
Excerpt: Upheavals in the Middle East have led to a de-emphasis on Palestinians and their cause against Israel. One symptom of this in recent days was a considerable decrease in participation in the so-called "Nakba" (Catastrophe) Day both in the Middle East and in the West.
Democrats Push for Tax Confiscation Law That Has Some Nasty History Behind It
http://godfatherpolitics.com/5251/democrats-push-for-taxconfiscation-law/
Excerpt: Sen. Chuck Schumer and some of his fellow Democrats want a new law placed on the books. It’s called “Ex-PATRIOT”: “Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy.” The proposed law is in reaction to Eduardo Saverin’s decision to renounce his American citizenship which Democrats like Schumer believe is a “scheme” to “help him duck up to $67 million in taxes.”
http://godfatherpolitics.com/5251/democrats-push-for-taxconfiscation-law/
Excerpt: Sen. Chuck Schumer and some of his fellow Democrats want a new law placed on the books. It’s called “Ex-PATRIOT”: “Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy.” The proposed law is in reaction to Eduardo Saverin’s decision to renounce his American citizenship which Democrats like Schumer believe is a “scheme” to “help him duck up to $67 million in taxes.”
Tehran: West Caving on Iranian Nuclear Program
Excerpt: Iranian and United Nations officials claimed to have made progress in negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program on Tuesday. But initial reports have provided little substantive information beyond an announcement that representatives of the Iranian regime and the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will meet again next week in Vienna, Austria.
Trayvon Martin Seen in 7-11 Surveillance Video Prior to Shooting
If I understand the media, it is Zimmerman's fault he was attacked for getting out of his car. ~Bob.
Uniformed Military Banned From Downtown Chicago During NATO
Excerpt: The Commanding Officer of U.S. Naval Station Great Lakes, just north of Chicago, has ordered all uniformed military personnel to stay out of downtown Chicago from May 18 to 22 during the NATO Summit. Given threats of violent protest at the meeting of international leaders, the Navy cannot guarantee their safety.
Two Obama Administration Scandals on Syria?
http://pjmedia.com/barryrubin/2012/05/17/two-obama-administration-scandals-on-syria/?singlepage=true
Excerpt: Now comes a very peculiar story in the Washington Post with the headline, “Syrian rebels get influx of arms with Gulf Neighbors’ Money, U.S. coordination.” (…) What do they need American “coordination” for? What does the word “coordination” mean? I presume it means that the Obama administration, absolutely clueless about what to do regarding Syria, simply wants to take credit for others’ actions. It is part of the pre-election spin about what a great job Obama is doing. (When incompetence meets narcissism, these things happen. Ron P.)
Mitt Romney and Benjamin Netanyahu Are Old Friends
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/us/politics/mitt-romney-and-benjamin-netanyahu-are-old-friends.html?_r=2&pagewanted=print
Excerpt: The two young men had woefully little in common: one was a wealthy Mormon from Michigan, the other a middle-class Jew from Israel. But in 1976, the lives of Mitt Romney and Benjamin Netanyahu intersected, briefly but indelibly, in the 16th-floor offices of the Boston Consulting Group, where both had been recruited as corporate advisers. At the most formative time of their careers, they sized each other up during the firm’s weekly brainstorming sessions, absorbing the same profoundly analytical view of the world.
Polishing the Dimon Principle. By Jason Zweig
Excerpt: When J.P. Morgan Chase's JPM -4.29%chief executive, James Dimon, disclosed a $2 billion trading loss during a hastily organized conference call on Thursday, he said: "This trading may not violate the Volcker rule, but it violates the Dimon principle." ... The Feynman principle, however, is simple: "You must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool," as the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman put it. (A wonderful argument against hubris in any sphere. Cordially, Larry Greenberg)
SpaceX Set To Launch Commercial Rocket To ISS
Excerpt: For the first time, a private company will launch a rocket to the International Space Station, sending it on a grocery run this weekend that could be the shape of things to come for America's space program. If this unmanned flight and others like it succeed, commercial spacecraft could be ferrying astronauts to the orbiting outpost within five years. (If this works, it could eliminate the current dependence on foreign lift vehicles to supply the ISS we largely paid for and built. Manned flights could follow soon. Ron P.)
Whacking Government Down to Size. By Donald Lambro
Excerpt: To say that the government is spending our money like there's no tomorrow is a monumental understatement. But the president rarely talks about his mounting debts, hoping the voters will forget that side of the fiscal equation when they vote in November. He sent a $3.8 trillion smoke-and-mirrors budget up to Congress in February and this week the Senate rejected it by a bipartisan vote of 99 to 0. The nightly network news ignored the story, as they do most Obama budget stories that now threaten the nation's future solvency. (While making numerous valid points—points that ought to be front and center in the general election campaign—the author never answers his own headline question in any meaningful way. Of course the government needs shrink. The question is how to do it. Ron P.)
Extend the Bush Tax Cuts Now
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/larrykudlow/2012/05/18/extend_the_bush_tax_cuts_nowExcerpt: House Speaker John Boehner is playing a heroic role right now. In his efforts to prevent the Bush tax cuts from expiring, Boehner is aggressively taking on President Obama's leadership ineptitude on the economy.
Lesbian Couple Charged With Staging Hate Crime
Excerpt: A lesbian couple who claimed they were victims of a hate crime have been arrested after police determined they staged the incidents. On Oct. 28, Aimee Whitchurch, 37, and Christel Conklin, 29, called police and reported the words "Kill the Gay" were scrawled in red spray paint on the garage door of their Parker, Colo., home. The next day, the couple told deputies they found a noose hanging on the handle of their front door.
Obama campaign working to counter new voter ID laws
Excerpt: Organizers will fan out in key swing states this weekend to teach volunteers and voters how to navigate a series of laws passed by Republican-controlled state legislatures imposing stricter identification requirements, limiting early voting and making it harder to organize voter-registration drives. (...) In 2011, more than 30 states debated changes to their voting laws. A dozen passed more restrictive rules requiring voters to present state-issued photo IDs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, although Democratic governors in four states vetoed them. (Washington Post makes this sound like a bad thing being courageously campaigned against by the crusading Democrats. In reality, both parties are, or at least should be, training teams to go out registering voters within the laws. The laws are not to prevent people from voting, but to prevent them from voting fraudulently. Unless a party is ALREADY planning to cheat, verifying voter ID is to every honest voter’s advantage regardless of which party they support. It can benefit no one except cheaters to blur who a voter really is—or isn’t. Ron P.)
Romney warns economy is on ”path of California”
Excerpt: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney warned on Friday that the U.S. economy faced a huge fiscal hole and high taxes like the state of California if he did not win November’s election against President Barack Obama.
Seeking to keep his focus on economic issues, the comments were a departure for Romney, who usually holds up Europe’s economic troubles, not California’s, as an example of what could happen to the American economy.
Worth Reading: Barack Obama, Elizabeth Warren And The Shifting Sands Of Identity. By Mark Steyn
Excerpt: It used to be a lot simpler. As E.C. Bentley, British journalist and man of letters, deftly summarized it in 1905: "Geography is about maps. But biography is about chaps." But that was then, and now biography is also about maps. For example, have you ever thought it would be way cooler to have been born in colonial Kenya?
The Prelutsky Platform. By Burt Prelutsky
http://www.burtprelutsky.com/2012/05/prelutsky-platform.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+burtprelutsky%2FSQlQ+%28BurtPrelutsky.com%29
http://www.burtprelutsky.com/2012/05/prelutsky-platform.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+burtprelutsky%2FSQlQ+%28BurtPrelutsky.com%29
Excerpt: AWHILE BACK, one of my readers, whom we’ll call Cosmo, sent me an angry challenge. He wrote: “I watch Fox, I listen to Rush and I read you. I do this because I’m trying to understand conservatives. I see them and you bashing liberal policies, but I don’t see any of you coming up with alternative policies.”
Robert A. Hall
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