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.
It’s Super-Tuesday. Maybe we can get the circular firing squad over with, or is everyone having too much fun bashing RINOs and helping Obama? ~Bob
Progressive Owl Hunt
Cartoon
Mitt Romney wins in Washington, Ron Paul edges out Santorum for second
Excerpt: Mitt Romney won the non-binding caucuses in Washington state on Saturday.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Romney had 38 percent of the vote. Ron Paul took second place with 25 percent of the vote, followed by Rick Santorum at 24 percent. Newt Gingrich trailed with 11 percent.
Unions spend in bid to damage Romney
Excerpt: Several unions that back President Obama’s reelection bid are spending big in an effort to damage Mitt Romney in key GOP primary states. Unions including The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) are making ad buys to hit the Republican presidential contenders on issues key to their members, including immigration reform and the bailout of the auto industry.
Excerpt: Cell phones have something in common with our bodies. Things can go wrong. When they do, we want someone to help fix them. In my neighborhood, I can walk into almost any phone store (Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, etc.) with no appointment, and most of the time I get service immediately. The phone store has competitors. Independent phone repair companies are popping up every day. There are even tools on the Internet that help you start your phone repair business. In most places, repair companies are within ten miles of their customers; repairs are done in fifteen minutes or less; and they are usually inexpensive ($40 to $60, say). Shopping malls have phone repair kiosks. Some companies will come to your house to repair your phone. Contrast that with the market for medical care, where almost nothing is available at the drop of a hat.
Spain Becomes One of Europe's Highest Taxed Countries by Juan Ramón Rallo, Ángel Martín Oro and Adrià Pérez Martí
Excerpt: The main reason for the tax hikes, according to Spain's new leadership, was that the government would miss its budget deficit target for 2011. While the previous Socialist Party government had promised the figure would be 6 percent of GDP, the revised data showed a budget deficit of 8 percent, a difference of approximately 20 billion euros ($26.3 billion).1 That change makes it more challenging for the government to fulfill its deficit pledge of 4.4 percent by the end of 2012.
Obama allies, foes speculate on a big — and hypothetical — second-term agenda
Excerpt: If President Obama wins a second term, he will finally endorse same-sex marriage. Gay rights groups are almost certain. He will also make a new, historic effort to fight climate change — environmentalists are pretty sure. And Obama will finally do just what the Congressional Black Caucus wants. According to some members of the Congressional Black Caucus. (Probably will shift from “Hope and Change” to “Change and Hope.” No use asking him. His 2008 promises—like cutting the deficit in half—have all proved worthless. Thankfully for some, like closing Gitmo. ~Bob.)
How to solve illegal immigration By Judd Gregg
Excerpt: Of all the issues Congress confronts, the most solvable and the one that would do the most to help our nation grow and prosper — with the possible exception of energy — is immigration reform. (A sensible approach that will be attacked by both sides. Given our declining native birth rate, we need more immigrants, including Hispanic immigrants. An “immigrant” being a person who wants to join our culture, learn our language, adopt our values and become an American. We do not need more “illegal colonizers,” people who wish to impose the failed and corrupt cultures they fled on our society. ~Bob.)
Obama asks to deliver commencement speech at New York women's college
Excerpt: The White House called the college in recent days and offered up Obama as the commencement speaker and the college promptly accepted. Originally, New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson was set to address the graduates before the White House called the college. (I imagine the call went,” Listen, wouldn’t you rather have The One speak than some slut?” ~Bob.)
Excerpt: Ramdas told The Daily Caller that the research shows “empowering women to time their pregnancies” and avoid unwanted births would reduce carbon emissions between 8 to 15 percent globally. (I envision college-age guys using “global warming” as an argument for oral sex. ~Bob.)
Excerpt: President Obama reaffirmed his staunch commitment to Israel on Sunday, making clear in no uncertain terms that “I have Israel’s back.” But, at the same time, he urged Israel and its supporters to allow time for diplomacy and “crippling” sanctions on Iran to take hold, to halt Tehran’s nuclear program. (Yes. But Britain and France had Poland’s back in 1939, and the Poles lived in slavery for 50 years. Israel probably recalls that we had South Vietnam’s back, Iran’s back, Iraq’s back and Afghanistan’s back. As a Welshman I met in Scotland said about the then Brit PM from Wales, Obama “isn’t the man I’d want at my back in a rough house.” ~Bob.)
Limbaugh apologizes for 'slut' comments
Excerpt: Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh apologized Saturday for calling the woman who testified in favor of President Obama's contraception mandate a "slut" and a "prostitute." (And well he should. Yes, it was no where near as bad as Obama-million-dollar-donor Bill Maher using the “C” word to describe Sarah Palin, which Obama apparently has no concern about, but conservative pundits need to stay out of the liberal sewer, as it hurts the cause. ~Bob.)
White House using taxpayer cash to pay for spin
Excerpt: Two senators have launched a bipartisan investigation into "taxpayer-funded spin" by the Obama administration, following reports that the administration was devoting millions to promote the health care overhaul and other policies. Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., on Wednesday blasted out letters to 11 federal agencies asking for detailed information about public relations and advertising contracts over the past three years. (You doubtless saw this on MSNBC or CNN. No? ~Bob.)
How Republicans Win by Losing By George Will
Excerpt: From Louisiana's Gov. Bobby Jindal to Wisconsin's Rep. Paul Ryan, Republicans have a rising generation of potential 2016 candidates. This does not mean conservatives should be indifferent to the fate of this year's nominee, and it is perhaps premature to despair of Romney's and Santorum's political aptitudes. Still, the presidency is not everything, and there will be another election in the next year divisible by four. (I have boundless respect for George Will, but I do not think we have a “long term” to look forward to, with the possibility of righting things in a future November. In my view we are headed for fiscal collapse, followed by social and political collapse, and will likely still be headed there regardless of the outcome of the November election, though there is no doubt that, faced with a looming cliff, Obama’s reaction was to floor the accelerator to feed his base. Many people think it can’t happen, because they are ignorant of history. I’m sure that citizens of every now-vanished polity, from the Roman Republic to the USSR, thought their governments were permanent fixtures in the world. ~Bob.)
Obama defunds ‘snowflake babies’: Program aids in embryo adoption
Excerpt: The federal government’s only program aimed at preventing the discarding of “extra” frozen human embryos is itself in danger of being discarded. In a move that pro-lifers are calling more evidence of the Obama administration’s “pro-abortion slant,” the White House has sought to defund the Embryo Adoption Awareness Campaign in its fiscal 2013 budget.
Al Qaeda Defense Atty. No. 3 At Obama DOJ
Excerpt: In a scary development, a major Obama fundraiser who defended a convicted al Qaeda terrorist will become the third highest ranking official at the Department of Justice (DOJ), which, ironically, is charged with defending the interests of the United States. Northern California lawyer Tony West has been named Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, making him the No. 3 guy at the agency. In 2009 West, who helped Obama raise tens of millions of dollars as finance co-chairman of his first presidential campaign, was appointed to help run the DOJ’s civil division which represents the government, Congress and presidential cabinet officers and handles cases dealing with significant policy issues.
The Week That Was: 2012-03-03 (March 3, 2012)
Excerpt: In 2007 the Supreme Court determined that automobile GHG emissions (particularly carbon dioxide) are an air pollutant under the Clean Air Act (CAA), so called tailpipe emissions. This is a narrowly defined circumstance. For two years the EPA did not act on the decision. In April 2009 the EPA, under the new administrator Lisa Jackson, announced will make an ER, that GHG endanger human health and welfare. (There are lots of good articles this week. Ken Haapala’s summary of the week’s articles includes a recapitulation of the case being decided by the US District Court in DC suing the EPA over its attempt to regulate CO2 (that’s where the excerpt is from). SEPP is a party to that suit. As he points out, so far the court has refused to hear any challenges to the “science” (or the lack of it) on which the attempt is based. While that may strike a rational observer as absurd, it is probably true the Court has no “scientists” of its own. (Still, I have to wonder if they’d have listened to “scientific objections” if EPA had claimed we all exhale too much CO2 and attempted to regulate that, too.) But, why wouldn’t they consider the fact that EPA’s own IG has ruled that the science was improperly decided and applied? So, it looks to me as if the Court’s decision (like the Climategate whitewashes in the UK) will be based almost entirely on whether or not the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed. The good news for us is there are plenty of un-dotted and un-crossed letters, but the outcome is far from clear, and the suit may well be decided on purely political grounds. Ron P.)
Defending Israel from the Iranian Threat
Excerpt: Less than 1,000 miles from Jerusalem, the Iranian government is operating in open violation of international law in a singular pursuit of developing nuclear weapons. Under the cloud of this threat, Israel is considering all options in order to defend its very existence, yet President Barack Obama is failing to grasp the nature of the Iranian beast and has not offered Israel the resolute support it so desperately needs and deserves.
Massachusetts Senate Race 2012 Could Be Most Expensive In State's History
Excerpt: There's also a significant difference in how much each candidate raised outside Massachusetts. Warren collected 63 percent of her itemized donations from outside the state compared to about 40 percent for Brown. (…) Although one recent poll showed him with a 9 percentage point lead over Warren, other polls have had the two locked in a tight race. Brown has cast himself as the underdog in a state where voters generally favor Democrats. (If any doubt was in your mind about where HuffPos heart is on this race, look at the picture at the top of the article. Is it the incumbent? Is it both candidates, perhaps together? No, it’s a carefully cropped shot of Warren, looking her prissy, firm-but-fair school librarian best (it’s a look she comes by naturally and often). You get the feeling that if you say hello to her, she’ll first inspect you to see if you’re worthy of an answer—and you expect her to sniff in disdain and ignore you. Ron P. well, sucking up progressive dollars Obama needs. ~Bob.)
Elections in Iran Favor Ayatollah’s Allies, Dealing Blow to President and His Office
Excerpt: With the bulk of seats decided in Iran’s parliamentary elections, it appeared on Sunday that the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has gained the ironclad majority he needed not just to bring the country’s president to heel, but to eliminate the position entirely.
Death toll in south Yemen attacks rises to 85
Excerpt: At least 85 soldiers were killed in twin suicide bombings and ensuing clashes with al Qaeda-linked fighters in south Yemen Sunday, medical sources said Monday. Militants detonated two vehicles laden with explosives at two army posts outside the southern Yemeni city of Zinjibar early Sunday, sparking heavy clashes between Islamist fighters and the military. (As always, most of the victims of Allahmurder are Muslims. ~Bob.)
Gunmen kill 27 in raids on west Iraq checkpoints
Excerpt: Gunmen disguised as police raided checkpoints and homes in western Iraq on Monday, killing at least 27 members of the security forces, police said, in an attack the authorities said bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda. (As always, etc., etc. ~Bob.)
Continuing Buildup, China Boosts Military Spending More Than 11 Percent
Excerpt: China announced a double-digit increase in military spending on Sunday, a rise that comes amid an intensifying strategic rivalry between the United States and China in Asia and concerns in Washington about the secrecy surrounding the Chinese defense budget. (While we reduce military spending, due to the money having been spent on 30 years of vote buying. The vice tightens. See the chapter on China in my book, The Coming Collapse of the American Republic. ~Bob.)
Worth Reading: The Dependency Crisis: More Americans live off government, and this administration is encouraging the trend by Pete DuPont
Excerpt: The goal of the current federal government, led by this administration, is to expand its influence and control of everything. Its regulatory policies, unprecedented peacetime spending increases, and expanding influence over private decision-making serve to increase government's reach into everything, from schools, businesses, banks, families and individuals, to cars, roads, and personal health care. The continual push of the Obama administration toward government-centric policies and large spending increases has compounded the lack of control of federal spending during the Bush administration.
Before You Vote - by The Heartlander (formerly West for the West Wing)
Excerpt: America is -- whether or not we yet realize it -- in as much danger now as Britain was in the spring of 1940. Almost too late, the British people finally recognized that Winston Churchill -- whom they'd previously despised as "impulsive" and "arrogant," whom they'd castigated for his "poor judgment" and "grandiose ideas" -- was actually the best man, perhaps the only man, who could lead them through the crisis. I'm not saying Newt [Gingrich] is Churchill -- but having studied Churchill, I am struck by the remarkable parallels between the two.
Desecrated: The shocking video of Churchill's Desert Rats' graves being smashed to rubble... by the Libyans we helped liberate
Excerpt: A year ago they begged for Britain’s help when Colonel Gaddafi’s tanks encircled their city, threatening annihilation. Now former Libyan rebels in Benghazi – liberated with the aid of the RAF last March – have systematically desecrated the graves of more than 150 British servicemen killed in North Africa 70 years ago. Headstones at the Benghazi War Cemetery have been torn down and crucifixes smashed with hammers by a mob of extremists, some carrying guns and dressed in combat fatigues. (This will only surprise the clinically-naïve. ~Bob.)
Desecration of Christian and Jewish graves in Libya
There was only one man standing in the way of this outrage for many, many years. His name was Ghadaffi and he was killed thanks to Western intervention. Take a good look. You have your Western leaders to thank. --Don Hank
We’ll mock Jesus but not Mohammed, says BBC boss
Excerpt: The head of the BBC, Mark Thompson, has admitted that the broadcaster would never mock Mohammed like it mocks Jesus. He justified the astonishing admission of religious bias by suggesting that mocking Mohammed might have the “emotional force” of “grotesque child pornography”. But Jesus is fair game because, he said, Christianity has broad shoulders and fewer ties to ethnicity. (In other words, the Christians will grumble, but the members of the “Religion of Peace” will kill you, and we don’t have the guts to risk that. Imagine an “artwork” in NYC entitled “Piss Mohammad” like the “Piss Christ” of a few years ago. Think there’d be violence? ~Bob.)
Sarah Palin: Rep. Allen West Should Be Considered for Vice President - Newsmax
Excerpt: "You know who I'd like to see considered for the VP slot is Colonel Allen West," Palin responded. "In this very tumultuous time across our world, someone who has served in our military or at least has intimate knowledge of the way the military works and should work, perhaps by having a close family member serve, someone like that." (Just what I've been thinking, Sarah. - Kate in LA.)
Atheists buy billboards near hassidic, Muslim sites - The Jerusalem Post
Excerpt: An atheist organization says it will unveil a Hebrew-language billboard calling God a “myth” near a Brooklyn hassidic enclave, and a similar billboard in Arabic in heavily Muslim Paterson, NJ. The group American Atheists says it will unveil a billboard Monday in hassidic-dominated South Williamsburg. The billboard writes out the name of God in Hebrew, and then features in English and Hebrew translation the phrase “You know it’s a myth… and you have a choice.” (Lets see, which group will likely riot? ~Bob.)
Paul Ryan: Government Must Refocus Its Safety Net to Those in Need
Excerpt: Government transfer payments remain progressive, of course, but the equalizing effect of transfers and taxes on household income was smaller in 2007 than it was in 1979. This is mainly because the distribution of government transfers has moved away from lower-income households. (If the poor wanted to get government money, they’d contribute to Obama like the unions and Wall Street do. ~Bob.)
AP Exclusive: Obama's Transgender Ex-Nanny Outcast
Excerpt: Once, long ago, Evie looked after "Barry" Obama, the kid who would grow up to become the world's most powerful man. Now, his transgender former nanny has given up her tight, flowery dresses, her brocade vest and her bras, and is living in fear on Indonesia's streets. Evie, who was born a man but believes she is really a woman, has endured a lifetime of taunts and beatings because of her identity.
The Vetting, Part 1, Barack's Love Song to Alinsky - by Andrew Breitbart, RIP
Excerpt: From today through Election Day, November 6, 2012, we will vet this president--and his rivals. We begin with a column Andrew wrote last week in preparation for today’s Big relaunch--a story that should swing the first hammer against the glass wall the mainstream media has built around Barack Obama.
Nothing Shocks When Anything Goes - Huge Hewitt, The Examiner
Excerpt: CNN's Piers Morgan was ripping Rush [Limbaugh] on Friday and taking many bows on Twitter for it. But Morgan had [Bill] Maher on this week -- one of the age's most vulgar, profane and silly windbags and poseurs was right in front of him. Even as Christians are being slaughtered in Egypt, Nigeria and around the world, Morgan allowed Maher his 10,000th grab for attention by defaming Christ.
Mark Steyn: The Euro-Emperor Has No Clothes - The Corner, National Review Online
Excerpt: This story caught my eye in the print edition of Monday’s Australian. I can’t find it online, but here’s the gist: "OLLI REHN, the European commissioner in charge of handling the eurozone debt crisis, has been accused of sexism for briefing male journalists while naked in a sauna beneath his office in Brussels." Yes, they have saunas in the EU offices.
Worth Reading, but depressing: Mark Steyn: America's Longest War Will Leave No Trace - The Orange County Register
Excerpt: Say what you like about Afghans, but they're admirably straightforward. The mobs outside the bases enflamed over the latest Western affront to their exquisitely refined cultural sensitivities couldn't put it any plainer: "Die, die, foreigners!" And foreigners do die. U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. John Loftis, 44, and Army Maj. Robert Marchanti II, 48, lost their lives not on some mission out on the far horizon in wild tribal lands in the dead of night but in the offices of the Afghan Interior Ministry.
Outrage For White Woman Fluke But Not For Black Republicans By Frances Rice
Excerpt: There was the sound of silence from the left-wing press when a black Republican woman and congressional candidate, Charlotte Bergmann, was called a “token negro”, "stupid" and a "curly-haired nigga" to her face by Democrat liberal talk show host and DJ Thaddeus Matthews while Ms. Bergmann was a guest on his show. If ever there was a show of wanton vulgarity and cruelty, this was it.
Glick & Rubin: Two Views on Obama's Speech - Blazing Cat Fur Blog
Excerpt: Caroline Glick: When one recognizes Israel's short timeline for attacking, one realizes that when Obama demands that Israel give several more months for sanctions to work, what he is actually demanding is for Israel to place its survival in his hands. Again, once Iran's nuclear project is immune from an Israeli strike Obama will effectively hold the key to Israel's survival. Israel will be completely at his mercy."
The Spanish Rebellion has Begun - Spain's Sovereign Thunderclap and the End of Merkel's Europe - by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Telegraph UK
Excerpt: Taking what he called a "sovereign decision", [Spain's Premier Mariano Rajoy] simply announced that he intends to ignore the EU deficit target of 4.4pc of GDP for this year, setting his own target of 5.8pc instead (down from 8.5pc in 2011). In the twenty years or so that I have been following EU affairs closely, I cannot remember such a bold and open act of defiance by any state. Usually such matters are fudged. Countries stretch the line, but do not actually cross it.
Boycott Rush?
A list of companies that have stopped advertising with Rush or are being pressured to do so, if you wish to contact them. ~Bob.
DNC Chair: Republicans Are Waging a War on Women
Excerpt: During a conference call briefing accusing Romney of “pandering to the extreme right-wing of his party on the issues that matter to Washington women,” Wasserman Schultz and representatives from Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America singled out the former Massachusetts governor as a politician who would “allow big corporations to deny health care options to their female employees.”
A witchcraft scandal on our doorstep - Damian Thompson, Telegraph UK
Excerpt: A 15-year-old boy is tortured to death for witchcraft. In London. In 2010. And the private reaction of police and social workers? Quiet despair. It’s happened before and will happen again. The boy, Kristy Bamu, was hit in the mouth with a hammer, had his ear twisted with pliers, had bottles smashed over his head, and was finally drowned in the bath by his sister, Magalie, and her boyfriend, Eric Bikubi. (One of the great benefits of Shari’a Law, probably why the feds sued Oklahoma and the NYT praises it, is that it keeps witches down. ~Bob.)
Polling Conservative Bloggers on the 2012 GOP Primaries (Pre-Super Tuesday Edition) - by John Hawkins, Right Wing News
Excerpt: Right Wing News polled more than 250 right-of-center bloggers on which candidate they’d support if the 2012 Republican primaries were today. The following 67 bloggers responded: (I must have missed their call or e-mail. ~Bob.)
So, You Call Yourself a Catholic - from 101 Dead Armadillos, The Personal Blog of Michael T. Barrett
Excerpt: The one part of my friend’s statement that I found hard to reconcile was his insistence that this issue, the insurance mandate, was an attack on women’s rights. I honestly don’t understand how the Catholic Church’s position against sterilization, contraception, and abortion, is an attack on the rights of women, specifically the women who are members of the Catholic Church.
Archbishop Cranmer: Obama Has Done More To Delegitimise Israel Than Any President In American History
Excerpt: Each time Israel has proffered an olive branch, the Palestinians have rejected talks, doubtless for fear of going the way of Anwar Sadat. But blaming Israel for its ‘provocative’ and ‘illegal’ settlements is easy: Jerusalem, Judaea and Samaria belong to ‘Palestine’, we’re told, and the lie is propagated and sustained with Washington dollars and Brussels euros. And the more the President of the United States criticises Israel and concedes the Palestinian grievance, the more he emboldens Hamas, appeases Iran, turns a blind eye to Syria, and prolongs the Islamist Jihad against us all.
Excerpt: Comic actor and impersonator Steve Bridges, who was best known for his impressions of President George W. Bush, has died aged 48. The comedian, who also portrayed presidents Clinton and Obama with the help of prosthetics, was found dead at his Los Angeles home on Saturday. (Too bad—he was great. Since he also did Obama, and following the death of Andrew Breitbart at a young age, the conspiracy theory folks are in full cry. But to me, the downside of the risk of bumping someone who annoys you is so huge, and the gain so relatively small, that it is highly unlikely. ~Bob.)
Worth Reading: The winds of change: The government has finally seen through the wind-farm scam – but why did it take them so long?
Excerpt: To the nearest whole number, the percentage of the world’s energy that comes from wind turbines today is: zero. Despite the regressive subsidy (pushing pensioners into fuel poverty while improving the wine cellars of grand estates), despite tearing rural communities apart, killing jobs, despoiling views, erecting pylons, felling forests, killing bats and eagles, causing industrial accidents, clogging motorways, polluting lakes in Inner Mongolia with the toxic and radioactive tailings from refining neodymium, a ton of which is in the average turbine — despite all this, the total energy generated each day by wind has yet to reach half a per cent worldwide.
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Robert A. Hall
