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, or that I was able to verify the information present, which is the responsibility of the author. 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: Selective Transparency: While we haggle over transcripts and tax returns, the real issues are ignored.By Victor Davis Hanson
Excerpt: We are in a transparency mania, but a rather selective sort of one. Bill Clinton, who chose not to tell the truth while under oath and as president, says he is “perplexed” that Mitt Romney did not offer more candor by providing more than a single year’s taxreturns. Yet neither Jimmy Carter nor Ronald Reagan released more than one year’s returns. The reformist John McCain released just two.
Always Worth Reading: Random Thoughts. By Thomas Sowell
Excerpt: Even squirrels know enough to store nuts, so that they will have something to eat when food gets scarce. But the welfare state has spawned a whole class of people who spend everything they get when times are good, and look to others to provide for their food and other basic needs when times turn bad. (Sowell’s “Random Thoughts” are always so much better than mine. It’s very annoying. ~Bob.)
Worth Reading: Stubborn Ignorance. By Walter E. Williams
http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2012/07/25/stubborn_ignorance
http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2012/07/25/stubborn_ignorance
Excerpt: Academic intelligentsia, their media, government and corporate enthusiasts worship at the altar of diversity. Despite budget squeezes, universities have created diversity positions, such as director of diversity and inclusion, manager of diversity recruitment, associate dean for diversity, vice president of diversity and perhaps minister of diversity. This is all part of a quest to get college campuses, corporate offices and government agencies to "look like America." (To make them ‘look like America” and encourage diversity, we need a law limiting NBA and NFL teams to no more than 13% black players. End the discrimination now! ~Bob.)
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/310352/consequences-high-taxes-french-edition-veronique-de-rugy
Excerpt: It is official: France is about to become a tax hell. Here is a list of what French people can expect. Phase One involves what the government calls contribution exceptionnelle sur la fortune: (Well, when the French screw up their economy completely, they can call on the Germans for help. They know the way to Paris… ~Bob.)
Romney, speaking to VFW, slams Obama on leaks, planned defense budget cuts
Excerpt: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney outlined Tuesday an assertive American nationalism that would guide his foreign policy, calling for a more aggressive posture in confronting the United States’ rivals and more consistency in dealing with its allies.
Sanitizing Obama's Radical Past
www.americanthinker.com/2012/07/sanitizing_obamas_radical_past.html#ixzz21aL4o8wb
Excerpt: A striking clash between those who feel a profound duty to report that the young Obama was nurtured by Marxists, socialists, and Communists and those who think it is a better idea to erase this information from the public record is on display in two current books.
www.americanthinker.com/2012/07/sanitizing_obamas_radical_past.html#ixzz21aL4o8wb
Excerpt: A striking clash between those who feel a profound duty to report that the young Obama was nurtured by Marxists, socialists, and Communists and those who think it is a better idea to erase this information from the public record is on display in two current books.
CBO to employers: Obamacare has $4B more in taxes than expected
http://washingtonexaminer.com/cbo-to-employers-obamacare-has-4b-more-in-taxes-than-expected/article/2503013
Excerpt: In short, CBO revised the Obamacare tax burden upward by $4 billion for businesses and $1 billion to $1.5 billion for individual workers.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/cbo-to-employers-obamacare-has-4b-more-in-taxes-than-expected/article/2503013
Excerpt: In short, CBO revised the Obamacare tax burden upward by $4 billion for businesses and $1 billion to $1.5 billion for individual workers.
James Holmes Received $26K Grant From Bethesda-Based National Institutes of Healthhttp://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/07/24/james-holmes-received-26k-grant-from-bethesda-based-national-institutes-of-health/
Excerpt: James Holmes, the alleged gunman in the recent theater shooting that left 12 dead in Aurora, Colo., was previously awarded a $26,000 federal grant. WNEW News reports that Holmes was awarded a prestigious grant from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. NIH is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (Haven't heard more about the claim Holmes was arrested at an Occupy Protest, though there are pictures supposedly of this floating around the Net, plus claims he was a registered Democrat and Obama fan. ~Bob.)
Afghanistan Security Force guard kills two US CBP agents
Excerpt: A relatively new Afghan War phenomenon “green on blue” attacks claimed two more American lives. The “green on blue” violence involves U.S. trained Afghan Security Forces who turn their weapons onto NATO allies responsible for training the Afghan forces and killing western allies without warning. This time the “green on blue” violence claimed the lives of two Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents, one British worker as well as injuring another Border Patrol agent working with NATO-led forces to train the Afghanis.
Mayor Bloomberg: No More Police Until Americans Give Up Their Guns. By Awr Hawkins
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/07/24/Mayor-Bloomberg-Says-No-More-Police-Until-Americans-Give-Up-Their-Guns
Excerpt: Never one to pass on a chance to belittle the right to keep and bear arms, Mayor Michael Bloomberg was a guest on Piers Morgan's television show last night, where he called on police officers around the country to go on strike until more gun control is implemented.
Excerpt: Never one to pass on a chance to belittle the right to keep and bear arms, Mayor Michael Bloomberg was a guest on Piers Morgan's television show last night, where he called on police officers around the country to go on strike until more gun control is implemented.
America's Liberal Christians May Be Progressive and Inclusive, but They Are Also Dying Out. By Tim Stanley
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timstanley/100172245/americas-liberal-christians-might-be-progressive-and-inclusive-but-they-are-also-dying-out/
Excerpt: The other problem is that Americas’ overall belief in God shows no great evidence of decline. What has really fallen isn’t faith but patterns of communal worship. For millions of folks, it is no longer the default to join a church. In fact, giving up your Sunday morning to sit in a cold temple listening to a kazoo band playing Nearer My God To Thee is, for most people, a perverse thing to choose to do.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timstanley/100172245/americas-liberal-christians-might-be-progressive-and-inclusive-but-they-are-also-dying-out/
Excerpt: The other problem is that Americas’ overall belief in God shows no great evidence of decline. What has really fallen isn’t faith but patterns of communal worship. For millions of folks, it is no longer the default to join a church. In fact, giving up your Sunday morning to sit in a cold temple listening to a kazoo band playing Nearer My God To Thee is, for most people, a perverse thing to choose to do.
Alex Cockburn: the world is a duller place now that his voice has been silenced. By Allan Massie
Excerpt: Later Alex and I corresponded occasionally, very occasionally, but I can’t say he was a friend. So I find myself wondering why the news of his death leaves me feeling sad. Partly, I suppose, it’s just the thought "there’s another one gone", but mostly it’s because I admired and relished his journalism, even when I didn’t agree with what he was saying.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair: "The West is Asleep on the Issue of Islamist Extremism." By Charles Moore
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/9420909/Tony-Blair-The-West-is-asleep-on-the-issue-of-Islamist-extremism.html
Excerpt: In Africa, all the good things he sees through his Africa Governance Initiative face ''this threat [of Islamist extremism] above all others’’. In ''Sudan, Mali, Nigeria, outbursts in Tanzania and Kenya’’, sectarian Islamist extremism is the great and growing problem. By implication, Mr Blair seems to doubt President Obama’s outreach to Islam, because it tends to deal with the wrong people. (Not all of us. ~Bob)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/9420909/Tony-Blair-The-West-is-asleep-on-the-issue-of-Islamist-extremism.html
Excerpt: In Africa, all the good things he sees through his Africa Governance Initiative face ''this threat [of Islamist extremism] above all others’’. In ''Sudan, Mali, Nigeria, outbursts in Tanzania and Kenya’’, sectarian Islamist extremism is the great and growing problem. By implication, Mr Blair seems to doubt President Obama’s outreach to Islam, because it tends to deal with the wrong people. (Not all of us. ~Bob)
Worth Reading: U.S. Worried IMF Loans To Europe Could Lead To Losses
Excerpt: The American public is still stung by the U.S. government's big bailouts for banks during the 2007-09 financial crisis and fears that mounting U.S. debts imperil the nation's future. With President Barack Obama facing a tough battle for re-election in November, the White House is not keen to appear as Europe's savior, and the administration's message to Europe has consistently been: Put more of your own money on the line. (Yes, but the irony of this is that, while the highly indebted, economical weakened US is a major funding source for the IMF, we may need a loan ourselves if we continue bleeding dollars at the current rate. Spain got where it is today in part thanks to former Prime Minister Zapatero's obsession with "green jobs." Each green job cost about 2.5 conventional jobs and about 800,000 euros. A resounding failure and Spain has not recovered. Yet, what has Obama learned from Spain's failure? NOTHING. He is still charging full speed ahead with his green jobs program and the list of failed companies on his roster is growing in leaps and bounds. Solyndra was one of many. The euro zone has promised it 100 billion euros from the not-yet-existent European Stability Mechanism, but much of the money for euro bailouts comes from the IMF, and much of this funding comes from the US. We are in a pretty predicament with a drunken sailor at the helm. Don Hank. Let this old Marine stand up for the Navy. All the drunken sailors I knew quit spending when they ran out of money, unlike Obama. ~Bob.)
Congress just mails it in, according to UPS
Excerpt: UPS has delivered a stark warning to the White House and Congress that U.S. economic growth will fall to an anemic annual rate of 1 percent by Election Day.
The company’s leaders on Tuesday said U.S. businesses are in danger of going over the fiscal cliff because of Washington’s inability to get anything done. (If Obama is reelected, in six months, 1% growth will look good. ~Bob.)
The Impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on Job Creators and the Economy
Excerpt: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) will radically transform the U.S. health care system. Arguably the most radical piece of legislation ever passed by Congress, the law seeks to provide health insurance to many Americans by requiring many employers to provide coverage. This provision, however, threatens the fragile economic recovery in the United States, says John C. Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis and a research fellow with the Independent Institute. This is first true when mandated coverage is understood as a raise to the minimum wage. Economists have found that noncash benefits typically substitute dollar-for-dollar with real cash wages. Thus, the cost to the employer of providing coverage will be taken directly from potential wages.
One in 10 U.S. Employers to Drop Health Coverage
Excerpt: Around one in 10 employers in the United States plans to drop health coverage for workers in the next few years as the bulk of the federal health care law begins, and more indicated they may do so over time, according to a study by consulting company Deloitte, says the Wall Street Journal. Deloitte's findings differ from estimates by rival firm McKinsey & Co. last year that found 30 percent of employers say they would "definitely or probably" stop offering health insurance after 2014, as well as calculations by the Congressional Budget Office that estimated around 7 percent of workers could lose coverage under the law by 2019. In all, 9 percent of companies in the Deloitte study said they expected to stop offering insurance in the next one to three years. Around 81 percent were planning to continue providing benefits, and 10 percent weren't sure.
Obamacare Falls Short of Promises to Uninsured
Excerpt: Two new reports out yesterday continue to knock down President Obama's promises about Obamacare: his "If you like your plan, you can keep it," and the promise to significantly shrink the ranks of the uninsured. According to a new study from consulting firm Deloitte, almost one of out of 10 employers said they are going to drop coverage for their employees because of Obamacare, while another 10 percent said they "remain unsure" about what they are going to do. As the vast majority of Americans have health insurance through their workplaces, this is a huge blow.
Freeing Europe from the Euro: The Case for a European Free Market in Money. By Sascha Tamm
Excerpt: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has stated repeatedly that there is no alternative to the euro. She is right—up to a point. Today, people inside the euro zone do not have any alternative to the euro for an all-purpose currency, but that is because governments have barred any alternatives. Chancellor Merkel and many other European leaders want to defend the euro at any price, calling the single currency the foundation for the rise of a “United Europe.”1 The opposite is true. The euro is, in fact, one of the major causes of the problems besetting Europe today.
But Who The Heck Is Going To Do All The Bailing Out?
Excerpt: Spain’s big banks are getting bailed out with €100 billion from the bailout fund EFSF. It won’t be enough, but it’ll buy time—a Eurozone mantra. Friday and Sunday, two of Spain’s seventeen heavily indebted regions, Valencia and Murcia, asked for a bailout from the central government. Today, it was Catalonia. Andalusia is still hoping to buy time.
Excerpt: But neighboring Bulgaria is one of the EU’s fastest growing economies. It has the second lowest national debt of all EU countries and even sports a budget surplus. Individual and corporate income tax rates are 10%. And it’s one of only three EU countries in compliance with the financial stability criteria in the Maastricht treaty. The very criteria that were supposed to have prevented the debt crisis ravaging the Eurozone.
Allen West Saved My Life
My name is Robert Delgado, and I am a former Sergeant in the United States Army. I want to share the story of my experience with Allen West, because I want to make sure you know what kind of a man he is. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Lieutenant Colonel Allen West was my commander. When we got our orders to go to Iraq, my wife was eight months pregnant, and it was nerve-wracking leaving her and not knowing if I would live to see my child. At that time, when we went into Iraq, many of us where not outfitted with body armor. But Allen West assured me, “I will make sure you come home to your wife and your newborn baby.” Lieutenant Colonel West gave me his own personal body armor. One night we were driving on patrol. Suddenly, a car came speeding at us and we began taking small arms fire. I was shot in the chest. If I hadn’t been wearing Allen West’s body armor, based on where the bullet hit, I believe I would have been killed. Lieutenant Colonel Allen West saved my life. Political opponents are trying to paint a dishonest picture of Allen West. But I know he is a true patriot. He put his men first then, and he continues to put his country first now. We need a leader like Allen West in Congress – a man with the honor, integrity and the courage to fight. Our country’s future depends on it. Please SHARE and Tweet this ad with your family and friends and people across Martin, Palm Beach and St. Lucie Counties. They need to know the kind of leader Allen West really is. Thank you for standing with us. Sincerely, Robert J. Delgado, Former Sergeant, US Army
Nations at Impasse Over South China Sea, Group Warns
Excerpt: The disputes between China and four of its Southeast Asian neighbors over claims in the South China Sea have become so intense, the prospect of open conflict is becoming more likely, an authoritative new report says. The disputes, enmeshed in the competition for energy resources, have reached an impasse, according to the report, by the International Crisis Group, a research organization that has become a leading authority on the frictions.
Tajikistan army unleashes operation against rebel group in remote region; dozens killed
Excerpt: DUSHANBE, Tajikistan — The Tajik government forces unleashed a massive operation Tuesday against a rebel group in apparent retaliation for the fatal stabbing of a top security official, triggering clashes that killed dozens. The government said 12 government troops and 30 militants were killed.
India death toll rises to at least 38 in Assam violence
Excerpt: More than 170,000 people have fled their homes after fighting between indigenous Bodo tribes and Muslim settlers in Kokrajhar and Chirang. Security forces have been given shoot-on-sight orders and a curfew has been imposed in the troubled areas.
‘Experienced’ Team Carried Out Bulgaria Bombing, Prime Minister Says
Excerpt: An “exceptionally experienced” group of conspirators spent up to a month in Bulgaria before carrying out the suicide bombing last week that killed five Israeli tourists and a local bus driver, the prime minister said Tuesday.
Obama Crosses Picket Line: Hotel Mogul Pritzker Gets Ride On Air Force One As Unions Launch Boycott
Obama the Scab. ~Bob. Excerpt: Penny Pritzker, the billionaire heiress whose family owns the Hyatt hotel chain, took a ride on Air Force One this afternoon from San Francisco to Portland, Ore., where President Obama was making a series of fundraising stops. The ride came hours after the announcement of a global boycott of Hyatt Hotels by Unite Here, the nation’s largest hospitality workers union. That boycott has been joined by the National Organization for Women, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the National Black Justice Center, and the National Football League Players Association.
Reviving the welfare-reform war
Excerpt: As with the fight that started earlier this year over whether Catholic organizations should be forced to provide contraceptive coverage to their employees, a rule change from the Department of Health and Human Services started the dispute. And once again, the Obama administration is on shaky ground as a matter of both law and politics.
ECON 101 For Obama
Excerpt: He's surely an expert on Government Law. How else could he have managed to circumvent the Constitution by using Executive Privilege to cover his mistakes, appoint 40 plus "Czars" to by pass Congress and issue "edicts" on laws he will impose and those he opts not to enforce. However, I'm pretty sure Harvard Business School has eliminated Economics as prerequisites for a law degree.
8,753,935: Workers on Disability Set Another Record in July; Exceed Population of 39 States
Excerpt: The number of workers taking federal disability insurance payments hit yet another record in July, increasing to 8,753,935 during the month from the previous record of 8,733,461 set in June, according to newly released data from the Social Security Administration. (Roaring towards the cliff. ~Bob.)
Why can't America do anything about the mass-murdering of innocent Syrian citizens? Because Obama's CIA has little if any presence there and, in turn, no intel. By Ken Dilanian
Excerpt: Despite a dire need for intelligence about the groups fighting to overthrow the Syrian government, the CIA has little if any presence in the country, seriously limiting its ability to collect information and influence the course of events, according to current and former U.S. officials. (Here’s the Word According to Bob: There are no “good guys” in Syria, and whoever wins will hate us and try to damage the US and Freedom, regardless if we help them or not. That’s all you need to know. ~Bob.)
Quote
Bigot, one who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion that you do not entertain. –Ambrose Bierce
Young woman beaten for being a 'bad Muslim'
Excerpt: Police in the south of France have launched an investigation after a woman claimed she was beaten up by seven men in Viviez for attending a party during Ramadan. (Guess they didn’t get the “Islam is a Religion of Peace” memo. ~Bob.)
President's Attack On Success Shows U.S. Falling, Not Rising. By Svetlana Kunin
Excerpt: I am sure Barack Obama saw plenty of smart and hard-working people in Indonesia, where he lived as a child. Why is Indonesia, a country very rich in natural resources, poor?
Greek athlete expelled from Olympics for racist tweet
Excerpt: Greece's triple-jump champion was expelled from the Olympics after posting a tasteless tweet about Africans and the West Nile virus. … On Monday, the track athlete posted a tweet reading, "with so many Africans in Greece, at least the West Nile mosquitoes will be eating food from their own home."
Bain doesn’t have an image problem. Romney does. By Aaron Blake
Excerpt: A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows Americans have very little opinion about the company that Romney founded and headed up for nearly two decades, despite a barrage of ads from Democrats and news coverage about the GOP presidential nominee’s tenure there. The poll shows just 35 percent of Americans express either a positive or negative opinion of Bain — a number only slightly higher than the 28 percent who had an opinion of the company in May, before the onslaught from Team Obama.
Excerpt: The Eric Holder Justice Department has done it again, this time in Pennsylvania. Not content to use Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act to shake down Texas and South Carolina, the DOJ yesterday sent a demand to the Keystone State for stacks of documents regarding Pennsylvania voter ID.
Excerpt: Anyone who has spent much time eating Persian food knows how important chicken is, whether it’s roast chicken, chicken with pomegranate sauce and walnuts, or chicken kebab. So a chicken shortage or, worse yet, unaffordable chicken is a real problem, and it is doubly so during Ramadan. Right now, just at the moment that even the Iranian government has confessed the “devastating” effect of Western sanctions, the country is in the grips of a major chicken crisis. (While this is a semi-humorous look at the subject, it presents a good picture of the everyday struggles being faced in Iran and how Iranians are reacting to them. Ron P. Does this mean the Mullahs have egg on their faces? ~Bob.)
Worth Reading: The HMO in Your Future. By John Goodman
Excerpt: Are you in an HMO? If you are a senior on Medicare don’t be too quick to answer. You may be in an HMO and not know it. And if you’re not in one now, odds are you soon will be. Just two weeks ago, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that 2.4 million Medicare beneficiaries have been enrolled in a new type of HMO called an Accountable Care Organization, or ACO. But here’s the rub. In most cases the beneficiaries have no idea that it’s even happened!
Satire: You Didn't Build That: Readings from the Book of Barack. By IowaHawk
Excerpt: 1 In the beginning Govt created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the economy was formless and void, darkness was over the surface of the ATMs, and the Spirit of Govt was hovering over the land. 3 And Govt said, “Let there be spending,” and there was spending. 4 Govt saw that the spending was good, and that it separated the light from the darkness. 5 Govt called the spending Investments, and this he did in the first day.
Obama Preparing For Citizen Uprising?
Excerpt: Could this be about not being able to warn others that something is going on in your neighborhood or that it’s headed their way. (Maybe a tin-foil-hat thing, but it’s getting harder to tell what we should worry about and what is just nutty. ~Bob.)
America, the Law-crazed
Excerpt: Over the past few decades, America has locked up more and more people. Our prison population has tripled. Now we jail a higher percentage of people than even the most repressive countries: China locks up 121 out of every 100,000 people; Russia 511. In America? 730. (I can’t recall for sure, but I think George Orwell wrote in 1984 that the purpose of laws was to create criminals. Why? Because it is much easier to control—by coercion, blackmail, or social ostracism—criminals. Guilt, perceived or real, is another great motivator to use on those who are “other-directed.” And, when even those enforcing the laws CAN’T know all the laws…. Ron P.)
101 of the Best Gun Quotes Ever
Who wins a “devil you know vs. devil you don’t” election? By Chris Cillizza
Excerpt: One thing is starkly clear from the last month of the 2012 presidential campaign: We are headed toward a lowest common denominator, devil-you-know-versus-devil-you-don’t election in which the winner will not so much triumph as survive.
Stuff Liberals Say
Obama Campaign Needs More Time for Voter Fraud in Ohio
Excerpt: Ohio has long been a key swing state in presidential elections. Since 1964, no one has won the general election without carrying the state of Ohio. In this year’s hotly contested presidential election, Ohio holds 18 electoral votes. Only California (55), Illinois (20), Florida (29), New York (29) Texas (38) and Pennsylvania (20) carry more electoral votes than Ohio.
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Robert A. Hall
My thoughts on the encroaching communist menace that is Nobamacare.
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