COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Hillary Clinton has called for increased US military and political intervention in north Africa, and warned of a long, difficult but necessary struggle against a “spreading jihadist threat” in the region. Perhaps to match the ongoing success in Afghanistan



Taliban kill 1,100 members of Afghan security forces in six months

Casualties have doubled and desertion rates spiked over past year as Nato steps back, figures reveal

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 23 January 2013 14.42 EST

The Taliban have killed 1,100 members of the Afghan security forces in the past six months as Nato troops have stepped back and left the local army and police to fight the insurgency, it has emerged.
Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, admitted there had been a doubling of casualties among Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) over the past year, as well as spikes in desertion rates from the army.
The previously classified figures were given to the Ministry of Defence by commanders at Nato's International Security and Assistance Force (Isaf) to help Hammond and Lieutenant General Richard Barrons prepare for questions from MPs.
Asked about Afghan casualties, Hammond said the evidence pointed to a sharp increase.
"We have to enter caveats about the quality of data and baseline data, but as the Afghans have taken over the leading role in security, clearly their casualties have gone up very significantly. Possibly they have doubled over the last year or so."
Barrons said the ANSF had suffered badly from attacks by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the past six months. Without the same medical and logistical support of western forces, the Afghans had been hit hard, he said.
"In the last six months, there has been an increase in IED attacks on the ANSF, and they are taking substantial casualties, roughly 1,100 fatalities. It is a significant issue, but the [Afghans'] ability to deal with it is getting better."
Later, the MoD confirmed the 1,100 referred to deaths across Afghanistan among forces that now have the prime responsibilty to take on the Taliban.
The general admitted the attrition rate for the 350,000-strong ANSF – the number of personnel deserting and not returning to their posts – was also higher than it should be.
The target was to keep the levels to 1.6% of the force deserting every month. But the monthly average was 2.6% – and last October it peaked at 3.1%.
The general said the key to stopping desertions was "good leadership, decent pay, decent food and the end of corruption".
Hammond told the defence select committee an Afghan food supplier had recently been jailed for supplying substandard rice to the Afghan National Army.
He denied the insurgency was making ground, and said two recent Taliban attacks in the capital Kabul had highlighted how desperate the insurgents had become.
One was against the intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), and the second was against the Afghan traffic police.
"All the evidence I see is that the Taliban is struggling to maintain the momentum of the insurgency and there is absolutely no evidence to suggest they have the reserves to press a button and significantly increase the tempo of the insurgency," said Hammond.
"The two incidents that occurred in Kabul were both attempts at spectacular attacks in an area that is pretty safe. The first on the NDS was a failure. The second was on a very soft target, unarmed Afghan traffic police.
"This doesn't look to me like an insurgency with a lot of reserve firepower."
Hammond predicted that when international troops end their combat role next year, Afghan forces would be able to "effectively hold the important parts of the country", such as cities, towns and key infrastructure.
"I would expect the situation to be messier than it is today, but I sense that there is a growing recognition on both sides of this fight that neither side can win outright. The government cannot defeat the Taliban and secure every inch of Afghan space.
"The Taliban sense, and we have some evidence of acknowledgement of this, that they cannot defeat the government in military terms. So I think both sides will want to make progress ultimately to some kind of political accommodation."
Hammond added: "Our own experience suggests that might not be a smooth process. It might go in fits and starts. But I would expect slow and messy progress.”

Worry not: Leon says there will be No US Boots on the ground.”

154 comments:

  1. This country has truly lost its mind.

    ReplyDelete
  2. For your information the American dream of spreading Democracy everywhere is a long-standing traditional American yearning. It is not true that there is no official State Religion in America, for America has on -- it's called the "Goddess of Democracy."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not according to a lot of the people here, Liu.

      According to many here at this watering hole we are an 'Empire'.

      I tried the move of pointing out some of the traditional attributes of an empire, like sucking the guts out of the subordinate group, and noting how with us it seemed not to fit so well.

      To no avail, I was told I simply didn't understand the workings of a modern empire.

      Which must be true, as I can't see us as being an empire at all.

      I recently toured a Toyota plant in Lexington, Kentucky. American workers building a foreign product on our own soil to the benefit of a nation far away. I just don't get it.

      Some empire.

      Delete
  3. We aren't fighting a state, not even an organisation that has a structure but a range of disparate groups that for various reasons want the west out of their countries and impose their form government on the people. Isn't the definition of insanity repeating the same action over and over again, and expecting a different result?

    How many more wars will it take before the US realises this is the politics of lunacy? We are now fighting and killing in just about all the countries of the Middle East and East Africa, so as their is no head of state controlling these groups how are you going to know when you’ve won the battle as we are creating more and more enemies every time we attack and use our drones to kill mainly innocent men, women and children.

    What exactly is the war against terrorism and who is the enemy, who decides, them or us?

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is the essence of the problem, no?

    If it were a real war those conducting it would not hesitate from hitting the enemy as hard as they could for fear that he might strike back.

    But it ain't a real war as has been pointed out a million times since the phrase 'war on terror' was coined. And it ain't clear who the enemy is. That is until a new group of combatents springs up as if from dragon’s teeth and self-declares by attacking.

    It is more like a lethal struggle with a protean tar-baby and calling it a war which pre-supposes an identifiable enemy and a final outcome when one side prevails militarily over the other is a misleading delusion.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh I don’t know, maybe the fact the West recently launched two massive unlawful wars of aggression against sovereign Muslim countries, in which hundreds of thousands of innocent Muslims died, based on the lies of Bush and the neocons might also have something to do with the natives getting upperty.

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  6. So we just leave them to it and they won't hurt us?

    ReplyDelete
  7. We can start by leaving them alone. Who knows?

    ReplyDelete
  8. How is it working out now? Not too fucking well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. After the Roosians left Afghanistan we forgot about the place too.

      Time passes and we get attacked from a country we left alone.

      How did that work out?

      Not too fucking well.

      Delete
  9. Jenny,

    you truly dont know history...

    we are at war with Islam.

    and they declared it...

    my suggestion?

    nuke the black rock of mecca.

    kill the rock.

    want to stop killing the ignorant scores of natives?

    take out one of the 5 pillars of Islam.

    but your inane suggestion of appeasement or isolationism is ignorant of actual history.

    it was those "nodes" of islam in 1783 that declared war on the USA or the fledging colonies to be more specific...

    war with these savages will not end until they believe that "allah" is against us...

    but why would they think that?

    even today, obama just gave egypt 20 f16's and 200 abrams battle tanks, gave lebanon 168 million in apc's, provides free protection of it's oil shipping, and billions to the palestinians per year...

    pakistan gets billions, turkey gets billions and on and on...

    no wonder they think they are right...

    ReplyDelete
  10. sovereign Muslim countries

    now that's funny...

    oxymoronic...

    ReplyDelete
  11. We best just agree with Hillary. If we start criticizing her, she will yell at us. And that is awful. And if her plans don't work out, and there are dead all over the place, well, what difference could it possibly make at that point? Past is past, and it will all be the fault of Congress anyway, for not passing enough funding.

    ReplyDelete
  12. So, we're back to mass murder of Saudi Arabs as the 'Solution'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. no we are back to "killing a rock" rather than useless wars killing hundreds of thousands of women and kids...

      you are one fucking dumb arab...

      Delete
    2. We've been through this, before.

      The ROCK is in the middle of a city.
      Multi-story buildings all around.

      A least 30,000 dead
      More wounded.

      Not winning move.
      No, more of a thing a loser would do.

      Out of Spite.

      Delete
    3. yes we have been thru this before and your still one dumb arab...

      America, under Bush, Clinton, Obama have KILLED hundreds of thousands...

      My idea?

      FAR LESS DEADLY....

      But you know that, you are just scared the idea might work and your religious rock would be vaporized...

      Just how many deaths in Syria? 60,000

      How many deaths in WW2 40,000,000

      How many did stalin murder?

      How many died in Vietnam?

      Our American Civil War?

      How many fetuses have been aborted in AMERICA???? 500,000 a YEAR!

      So if ONE rock could defeat the plague of Islamic Jihad?

      AND your GUESS as to the number of KIA is just that a GUESS...

      oh and let's not forget the bombing on Japan with atomic bombs...

      Yep, one rock verses mass murder on most continents...

      Sounds fair..

      Delete
    4. Rat ALWAYS thinks that bombing the rock is a travesty...

      But America bombing Japan with atom bombs? That was cool...

      Delete
    5. I share your disgust at how quickly we accept murder on any scale for some concept of the better good.

      Delete
  13. Neither the EB Jewish lobbyist, nor Bible-thumping Bob, has a clue about US involvement in Afghanistan and the pernicious and catastrophic damage done to the US over Eastern European occupation and settlements in Palestine by Jewish religious fanatics and socialists.

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    Replies
    1. I beg our pardon, Madam, I have never thumped a Bible here. I've thumped Campbell a bit. Whitman a lot. Huck. Sunday Morning. I've thumped a lot of stuff. Blake. Schopenhauer. Others.

      I have pointed out some of the really stupid ways there are of reading the document, both by the thumpers, and the anti-thumpers like Rufus.

      Delete
    2. Jenny

      as for afpak? it's a shit hole...

      we should have never set foot there...

      as for Israel?

      You certainly dont know anything about it other than your ayran nation talking points.


      Delete
  14. 900,000 Russians and Easten Europeans, on illegal settlements in Arabia is not working out too fucking well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You may not be the dimmest bulb ever here, but you are the dumbest woman ever here.

      Delete
    2. While b00bie still holds the title of dimmest bulb.

      Delete
    3. jenny, ok so 900,000 Jews live in Israel...

      the OTHER 7 MILLION Jews that live there?

      How are they illegal settlements?

      How are the modern "arab" nations MORE legal?

      Your stupidity is refreshing actually...

      It's heartening to know that those who hate Jews and Israel are as ignorant as you...

      THANKS for making my morning...

      Delete
    4. AshThu Jan 24, 09:59:00 AM EST
      While b00bie still holds the title of dimmest bulb.


      This comes from a draft dodger to stupid to know there aint no draft????

      Delete
    5. obviously wio comes in at a close second.

      Delete
    6. Golly gee Ash, and here I was thinking you were the dimmest bulb.

      By the way, sorry I got you employment wrong. Somewhere along the line I thought I had picked up that you were in stocks/bonds and advice concerning them.

      Delete
    7. Hey Jenny...

      Israel, which boasts about 7.5 million people our EARNS in GDP (without any oil, but wait a couple of years natural gas is on it's way) the combined GDP of all 21 arab nations...

      Israel is working out fine thanks for caring...

      Arabs INSIDE of israel are safer and freer than anywhere in the islamic world.. ARABS that are NOT israelis citizens when given a chance FLOCK to apply for citizenship, no where is this clearer than in Jerusalem where even HAMAS's relatives have applied for Israeli citizenship...

      Israel now enjoys more diplomatic relations with more nations than at any time since it's MODERN founding.

      Trade and relations with Asia and the Arab world has never been higher.

      Now of course there are those that seek its destruction....

      Israeli technology like the Iron Dome has made the worst intentions of Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas almost worthless, after spending literally 4 billion dollars on investing on rockets, mortars and missiles the alliance of shitheads have spent more on that than the welfare of their citizens...

      And for what?

      Israel is thriving!

      Delete
    8. Ash, thanks!

      coming from you it's a compliment...

      But tell us oh draft dodger, what's it like to abandon your nation?

      Delete
  15. Jenny and rat ought to romance.

    Run off together.

    Though they shouldn't have children, as I think they may be brother and sister.



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Lordy, Bob, you sound like a six year old.

      .

      Delete
  16. All you need to know about Afghanistan, Jenny, is that Unca Barky told us it was the necessary war, the war we had to win, the absolutely critical war. Just accept that, and relax.

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    Replies
    1. And Jenny, if you ever want to go to Gaza, and help launch a few rockets, or simply volunteer as a human shield, your one way ticket is on me.

      Delete
    2. Jenny is all talk and all coward...

      Otherwise she'd boycott all things Israeli including her computer...

      Delete
    3. Well, maybe. I still think she'd make a great human shield though. So noble, so self-sacrificing, so stupid.

      Delete
    4. Ok, Ok, she'd make a great shield, amended.

      Delete
    5. Do tell us about your foreign and military experience.

      Delete
    6. Evidence of the Jewish Lobby? Of course not, move along, nothing to see here:

      - WASHINGTON - Participation in United Nations forums that refer to a "State of Palestine" does not constitute US recognition of Palestinian statehood, UN Ambassador Susan Rice said.

      "Any reference to the 'State of Palestine' in the United Nations, including the use of the term 'State of Palestine' on the placard in the Security Council or the use of the term 'State of Palestine' in the invitation to this meeting or other arrangements for participation in this meeting, do not reflect acquiescence that Palestine is a state," Rice, the US envoy to the world body, said Wednesday at a Security Council debate on the Middle East.


      Delete
    7. Sorry to burst everyone’s branding bubble, but there is a “Jewish lobby.” It happens to be pro-Israel because it’s Jewish — not the other way around.

      Jews don’t like hearing non-Jews use the term in public, and perhaps they shouldn’t. But as an interest group, Jews as such are ably represented (most of the time) by a close-knit network of advocacy organizations. Most of these are purely or predominantly Jewish, judging by their branding, supporters and staff. Evangelical organizations, the labor movement and millions of individual Americans also support Israel, but they have not initiated — nor do they currently control — the pro-Israel movement.

      The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations was founded decades ago as a clearinghouse for American Jews to connect with the executive branch on Israel. American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Simon Wiesenthal Center — these mainstream Jewish organizations are the ones out front, with the Republican Jewish Coalition riding shotgun, raising concerns about Pentagon nominee Chuck Hagel’s pro-Israel credentials. They have also been insisting that Hagel’s sole reference to the “Jewish lobby” was out of line.

      The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has remained silent on Hagel, and wisely so, given that AIPAC must focus on the bottom line of American financial aid and strategic cooperation and not be seen as the Jewish lobby. But at its core, that’s what it is.

      Sure, AIPAC has done important outreach and coalition building with Christian groups and minority demographics across the country, but its membership and staff are overwhelmingly Jews, and no non-Jew has ever served in a leadership capacity, whether lay or staff. And that’s OK. If Evangelical Israel-lover Rev. John Hagee suddenly became the president of AIPAC, its membership rolls would nosedive overnight.

      Even when asked specifically about AIPAC over some single malt after Sabbath services, the average synagogue-going Jew will affirm that it’s “our lobby” and even “the Jewish lobby” as much as “the pro-Israel lobby.” And when a member of Congress is informed of a meeting with a “pro-Israel” delegation, that usually is understood to mean Jews and their rabbis.

      Delete
    8. I am a "jewish lobbyist" unlike the other lobbyists on K street, the "Jewish" one called AIPAC actually pays it's own way by it's members...

      We do not seek anything for ourselves, we seek help for Israel in fighting the savages off its doors.

      We pay our own way to lobby, we are not paid. We are AMerican citizens doing what EVERY American citizen has a right to do, that is petition our leaders.

      Sorry if you think we should not....

      We do put our time, resources and our money behind what issues we hold dear.

      JUST LIKE THE POLISH LOBBY, THE CHINESE LOBBY, THE CATHOLIC LOBBY, THE SCHOOLTEACHERS LOBBY, THE BLACK LOBBY

      But there are some differences. MOST times we lobby? Our group has Christians, Jews, Atheists and EVEN ARABS that come with us to Capital HILL...

      Because they believe in a safe, strong Israel for ALL it's citizens, Jews, Christians, Arabs, Moslems, Bhai's, Gays and more...

      The Pro-ISRAEL Lobby is just that.

      And again, thanks for motivating me to continue to convince non-Jewish members of Congress to support my agenda...

      Delete
  17. "



    "A nine-year-old boy has died after being shot by a stray bullet in Brampton, Ont.

    Kesean Williams was alone in his bedroom when he was hit in the head by a bullet fired outside his family’s townhouse around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.

    He was rushed to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, but he died of his injuries early Thursday, police said."

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/9-year-old-boy-killed-by-stray-bullet-shot-outside-his-brampton-ont-home/article7753361/


    I wonder how the NRA would respond to something like this? Bullet proof glass on every home perhaps?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Naw, Canadians are to practical.

      Let them find the criminal and feed him to wolves...

      Delete
  18. Don't they have pretty stringent 'Gun Control' in Ont.?

    Did not seem to achieve the publicized or promised effect.
    Why not?

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    Replies
    1. I was just going to mention that. Was going to say that the strict Canadian gun laws must not be working so well.

      Delete
    2. More people in Canada are murdered using moose horns than baseball bats...

      Delete
    3. :) heh


      What about the hockey sticks?

      They must be up there with the moose horns.

      The civilized Canadians riot after hockey games.

      You ever taken a puck in the side of the head? Pucks are lethal weapons in Canadian hands.

      Delete
    4. More stringent than in the US but it has limited effect when you guys have made it so easy to get them. Most of the illegal guns are smuggled from the US.

      Delete
  19. More stringent than in the US but it has limited effect when you guys have made it so easy to get them. Most of the illegal guns are smuggled from the US.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Barky is running guns into Canada too?

      Delete
    2. Well then I guess you should have stayed in America to fight that injustice rather than slink off where you have no civic duties...

      Delete
  20. We are in the modern age of Islam on the march. The call for jihad against the infidels goes out from mosques across the Islamic world. Currently, the jihadists are spread thin across several continents resulting in a relatively low-level of conflict.

    Calls for disengagement ignore the cancer of violent jihad which, left unchecked, will ultimately kill the host.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The call for jihad against the infidels goes out from mosques across the Islamic world.

      And also across Detroit and Dearborn, Michigan.

      Delete
  21. At least the civilized Canadians kill baby seals the humane way -

    Canadian Seal Slaughter | PETA.org
    www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for.../canadian-seal-slaughter.aspx
    Each year, the Canadian government gives hunters the green light to bludgeon to death hundreds of thousands of baby harp seals. ... is responsible for creating a demand for fur, which pushes Canadian hunters to club more seals each year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bludgeon beats bullet, every time, in Canadian Compassion World.

      Delete
    2. (the real reason they do this is it's cheaper)

      Delete
  22. From REASON

    “The fact is we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night and decided they’d go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make?” Clinton responded.

    Clinton's statement may set a new standard for politically motivated evasions of basic truth and decency. Seriously: What difference does it make? Just for low-stakes starters, there's a guy in California who was put in jail basically because the Obama administration said his stupid, irrelevant video trailer for "The Innocence of Muslims" was to blame for anti-Americanism in Libya and beyond. President Obama went to the United Nations and bitch-slapped free expression in front of a global audience on the premise that "Innocence" was the cause of the attack on Benghazi. Our own U.N. ambassador, Susan Rice, took to the talk shows to peddle a line that was either wilfully misleading or simply totally wrong (Rice was the admin's point person in early appearances about Benghazi partly because, as Clinton explained yesterday, she doesn't like doing Sunday morning shows!).

    Contra Clinton, it makes a great deal of difference because understanding how this all happened is the first step to making sure it doesn't happen over and over and over again.

    Congressional grillings of outgoing cabinet members are not the best forum to seek truth and justice and too many of the GOP inquisitors seem determined merely to score partisan points. Then again, the Obama adminstration, at least when it comes to Benghazi, hasn't done much to be the transparent change it says it wants in all areas of government. After a blistering Senate report on the situation found "systematic failures," essentially nothing happened (at least that we know about). Two minor staffers have been booted as a result of Clinton's taking of "responsibility."

    Worse still: As Hillary Clinton leaves the high-stakes world of international intrigue, she's set to be replaced by John Kerry, who somehow manages to be an interventionist and supposedly informed by the nation's experience in Vietnam at the same time.

    So things can - and likely will - only get worse.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I repeat

    Deuce
    Thu Jan 24, 02:30:00 AM EST

    This country has truly lost its mind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      This country has truly lost its mind.

      Obviously, from the national level to the EB level, just reading this mornings posts.

      .

      Delete
    2. Sniff, sniff, I lower myself to even associate with such hoi polloi.

      Quirk

      Delete
    3. What the hell you doin' here then tinhorn?

      Buck

      Delete
    4. .

      Ah, the hydra of the EB sticks up a couple of his many heads so as to be smacked down as in whack-a-mole.

      To answer your question, I'm here because there are still a few people who make sense here (most of the time), Deuce, Jenny, Gag, Mel, Ash on rare occasions, even rat when he doesn't go beyond the cynical, and WiO when he doesn't bring up his black rock wet dream.

      You on the other hand, well...

      .

      Delete
    5. :)

      heh

      Good old Quirk.

      The guy whose political philosophy is composed of "they're all dicks".

      Delete
    6. I'm sorry Buck called you a tinhorn, Quirk.

      Deuce? An apologist for slavery? Who says Lincoln was the worst President in US history?

      Ash???
      Jenny????
      Mel, who has never expressed a political opinion yet that I've stumbled across.

      Gag is good.

      Rat?

      You're crazy.




      Delete
    7. .

      And you are a buffoon. Take a look at your contributions this morning.

      Ash raises the issue of a 9 year old boy being shot and questions what the NRA would say about it, and you conflate the killing of the boy with clubbing seals and people being killed with moose horns. Real intelligent.

      You get in an argument with Jenny over the ME and your suggestion is that she move to Gaza. Using the same 'logic' you and WiO support Israel so much why don't you guys move there? Nitwits.

      Your response to Jenny and Rat "Jenny and Rat sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G...", something I haven't heard since the second grade. Juvenile and moronic.

      The menu you've served us this morning is pure vitriol and aspersions sans logic of any kind.

      You are a buffoon.

      .

      Delete
    8. Bob, you are a jackass. I never apologized for slavery. I said slavery could and should have been ended without killing 600,000 Americans. There is only one man that got 600,000 of his own people killed ending slavery, Lincoln. The same man threw his country into a depression, hired a homicidal maniac to pillage and burn and orchestrated the largest mass hanging in US history. He used politics to determine the proper amount to hang to satisfy one grouap at the expense of another. He had US citizens locked up beause they disagreed with him.

      Not only was Lincoln the worst president, he has the distinction of being the largest mass killer in US history. He did more damage to the US economy than any other US politician. He preferred sleeping with men than woman, but he is your guy. I regret that there is no hell but if there were, that sewer of a man
      should be there. It is regrettable that John Wilkes Booth had not made his move earlier.

      Jenny puts up a credible argument or opinion and you are incapable of a coherent and rational response. Your response is more often emotional tripe.

      Mel has more common sense on a bad day than you can muster in a good year. Rat needs no one to defend him, least not me.

      Delete
    9. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    10. Quirk: and WiO when he doesn't bring up his black rock wet dream.


      Have it your way, continue to murder/kill/destroy numerous arab and islamic nations and their peoples with clusterbombs, drones and all sorts of economic and/or violent warfare...

      My solution????

      Kill a rock...

      It's what the Palestinians DID in Hebron, on the Temple Mount and at Jacob's Grave.

      it's what the Taliban did to the great Budda's

      It's what is happening in Timbuktu to the world historical sites of Islamic forebearers...

      Your lack of understanding the islamic ENEMY is astounding...

      For one that can type more words than Bill Clinton uses talking the pants off a college coed you certainly lack any real understanding of Islamic thought.

      That is why the West will continue to bomb, murder, destroy, incarcerate, arrest and kill the "terrorists" and their families...

      My way? Nuke a rock...

      There are several great ways to clear the city without them even KNOWING what's coming...

      Bomb the city with highly annoying irritants that would cause the 30,000 in habitants to flee. Choose a time of year (Jan) when the city is very empty of pilgrims.... Used a small yield tactical battlefield nuke.

      Or maybe use one of those top secret carbon based space lasers that do not exist (yeah right)

      My solution would force Islam to change.

      The west's way? Making new martyrs making new terrorists on a daily basis..

      The BEST way to defeat Jihadism?

      PULL THE RUG OUT FROM THEIR BELIEFS

      Delete
    11. .

      Have it your way, continue to murder/kill/destroy numerous arab and islamic nations and their peoples with clusterbombs, drones and all sorts of economic and/or violent warfare...

      My way?

      .

      Delete
  24. More stringent than in the US but it has limited effect when YOU GUYS have made it so easy to get them. Most of the illegal guns are smuggled from the US.



    Ash only likes to claim his U. S. citizenship when it is advantagious to him.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All he has to do is go to the closest US consulate in Canada, say the words, sign the paper.

      Delete
    2. I'm beginning to think Quirk is too good for the United States, along with Ash. Just from reading his post -

      This country has truly lost its mind.

      Obviously, from the national level to the EB level, just reading this mornings posts.

      Delete
    3. Man, there are times I'd like to be able to chuck my US citizenship away but those reasons, primarily, have to do with the long arm of the US tax system.

      The prime point of my statement Gag is that the lax gun laws in the States have made it very near impossible to control the flow of guns in Canada. The gang bangers have easy cheap access to hand guns and folk are getting caught in the cross fire. In the US the gang bangers are just exercising their constitutional rights but they don't have those rights up here but Canadians suffer the blowback as well.

      On a side note: all this talk of needing guns to resist the federal government (Rufus's favorite reason) is just plain advocating treason.

      Delete
    4. No it isn't. The 2nd Amendment isn't about shooting deer, it is about shooting tyrants if really really pressed.

      Don't believe me? How about that wonderful Judge Napolitano who was on Fox till recent date, one of the best commentators around.

      Any many another by the way though you don't find them on the tube.

      They had just shot tyrants, wanted to be able to do it again.

      Go ahead, chuck that citizenship, Ash, you can do it, you can do it, just say I CAN DO IT!

      Like the little engine that could.

      Delete
    5. Bob,

      If you are a US citizen and you 'wage war' against the Federal government you will be found guilty of treason. If you fight, like shooting at them trying to overthrow a tyrant such as Obama, you will be found guilty of treason.

      And no, it isn't easy to chuck US citizenship especially for tax reasons.

      Delete
    6. Treason Ash is determined by who wins.

      Listen, I'm the guy that always preaches against revolution. I'm the guy that warns it usually makes things worse. I don't think there is an excuse for it in our society. It still functions, we have periodic elections, we can kick them out.

      I am just saying what the intent of the 2nd Amendment was in the minds of those who wrote it.

      Delete
    7. Oh, I see, you can read dead guys minds. Carry on!

      Delete
    8. Isn't the 2nd amendment pretty clear - the citizenry can bare their arms in a WELL REGULATED MILITIA. How does your reading of the founders intent come up with gang bangers have a right to conceal carry automatic weapons?

      Delete
    9. In other words - you can wear short sleeves in the army!

      :)

      Delete
    10. No, Ash, you don't have to read their minds. They left plenty of words, letters, etc. that one can read, rather than minds.
      ........
      That's not exactly what it says Ash. It says 'a well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state..' then after a comma it say the right etc.

      All my life I have heard differing opinions on this.....tracking a person's political persuasion.

      Your part about gang bangers etc is inane. In our society you need to be convicted of something to lose a right.

      Watch out! You might be in a militia without knowing it. I was. Till I hit 55. :)

      Delete
    11. The 2nd amendment is poorly written. It should be chucked!

      Quirk's analysis of your writings today is quite devastating Bob. You should think seriously about what he wrote. I didn't read most of what you wrote because I rarely do given your history of nonsensical ideas. Thankfully he did read what you wrote. It seems nothing has changed.

      Delete
  25. Ah, thankfully the wife is calling.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry Quirk, to disappoint. I thought it was about going downtown to buy Denison's Original Chili at 99 cents a can.

      Instead it turned out to be about the new recycling bin that had just been delivered by the city.

      Don't you have a cur to walk, or something?

      Delete
  26. So, Ash, I am reading you don't want to give up the US citizenship because your taxes are lower here? Or am I misreading?

    That is a good reason not to give up citizenship, if that is the case.

    Kind of use the United States as your Cayman Island, so to speak.

    And why not, the tax money is mostly wasted anyway.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. By the way, somebody said blacks should not be allowed to own guns.

      Was that you, Ash?

      Delete
    2. Ummm, you've got it backasswards as usual Boobie. All US citizens are required to file income tax forms, and pay taxes, on their world wide earnings whether they reside in the US or not. Deuce gets upset that the IRS wants him to file on income he receives from Costa Rica. He should see what if feels like to live and work outside the US (for numerous decades I might add) and still have the IRS wanting the filings coupled with statements on how much money one has in every bank account one has access to. It is enough to make one want to renounce US citizenship. Unfortunately renouncing won't, for the most part, make that particular issue go away.

      Delete
    3. Ash, dear, I was asking a question. I have no idea about US tax law as regards overseas stuff. I am not an overseas investor. But if you can avoid taxes by all means do it.

      Do you pay taxes to both Uncle Sam and the Canadian government? I believe that is what I am trying to get at.

      The writers back in Hem's day tried to avoid taxes by living and working overseas. Something in the code then. Gelhorn was famous for this. Ernie got pissed she was never around, always overseas being a war correspondent to avoid US taxes.

      Was it you that said blacks should not be allowed to possess firearms?

      Delete
    4. Living overseas does not exempt one from US tax obligations. Yes, I have to file and pay in both Canada and the US. The US does give me an exemption up to a certain point but I must still make all the filings and pay tax on anything about the exemption.

      re blacks and firearms:

      A few posters have suggested that if you remove blacks from the US death from firearm statistics then the US death from firearm statistics would be more in line with other developed nations. I've askef for support for this contention but I haven't seen it yet. Even if true, I asked, does that mean that they (those posters) think blacks shouldn't be allowed to have firearms? I am curious as to what that supposed fact has to do with the gun control debate anyway.

      I'm sure this is all too complicated for you boob but I'll give it a try anyway since you are being so insistent.

      Delete
    5. actually the democrats (who supported the KLAN) did not want black to arm....

      The NRA has always supported the legal ownership of guns by African Americans, much to the dismay of the Democrat party...

      Can anyone say "George Wallace"???

      Delete
    6. Even if true, I asked, does that mean that they (those posters) think blacks shouldn't be allowed to have firearms?

      Who were the posters and how did they answer?

      Somehow I had gotten the idea it was you proposing to disarm blacks, but then, for good reason, I always think the worst of you.

      Delete
    7. Thank you for the answer on the taxes.

      Sounds complex. Why don't you just sell what you have here, become Canadian, and just pay taxes to Canada? Just trying to be helpful.

      Delete
    8. On top of the rigamoral of becoming Canadian, Divesting all US assets, and RENOUNCING US citizenship (you've got to formally renounce citizenship at a consular office) it doesn't change the tax situation:

      "E. TAX & MILITARY OBLIGATIONS /NO ESCAPE FROM PROSECUTION

      Persons who wish to renounce U.S. citizenship should be aware of the fact that renunciation of U.S. citizenship may have no affect whatsoever on his or her U.S. tax or military service obligations (contact the Internal Revenue Service or U.S. Selective Service for more information). In addition, the act of renouncing U.S. citizenship does not allow persons to avoid possible prosecution for crimes which they may have committed in the United States, or escape the repayment of financial obligations previously incurred in the United States or incurred as United States citizens abroad."

      Even if I should go through all that bother if I arrive at the US border with my Canadian Passport and the border guy looks at my place of birth he then asks "Where is your US passport?" All kinds of alarm bells go off in his head and travel becomes a hassle.

      Delete
  27. I thought left wingers liked paying taxes? More taxes? Oh, wait. They want others to pay taxes, not them. Bleeding heart tight wads.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nobody, at least nobody I know, wants to pay more taxes.

      That being said, there are many of us who feel that someone earning 20k a year should pay less of a percentage of their income than, say, someone earning a million a year.

      For example

      20k at 30% would yeild a tax bill of 6k leaving 14k to live on.

      1mill at 30% would yeild a till of 300k leaving 700k to live on.

      I think it would be a horrible imposition to charge the 20k earner that much money in tax. the 1 mill earner, no problem.

      Delete
    2. You evade the issue.

      But anyway, no one making 20,000 pays 30%. 10% is more accurate.

      You should quit bitching and just pay what you owe. The 47% need it.

      Delete
    3. I thought you were a big proponent of a flat tax. I didn't know you were in favor of progressive taxation.

      I'm trying not to evade the issue.

      My primary complaint with the US taxation in my case revolves around:

      1. The US is extending its laws beyond its shores by making US citizens residing and earning in foreign countries pay US income tax on income they earn outside the US. I don't believe any other country does this.

      2. When one earns more than the exemption level you are paying taxes to a country but not receiving the services in return. It has been likened to the British forcing the colonists to pay tax to Britain. Those colonists revolted and form the USA.

      3. The filing burden is a pain in the ass. In addition to the Canadian filing requirements US citizens are required to file annually in the US as well. In addition to the normal filing requirements you have to file a U.S. Department of Treasury Form TD F 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts. If you don't you are subject to penalties of 10k for each account for each year you don't file. Note to Deuce and others - even if you live in the US but have bank accounts overseas I believe you have to make this filing as well.

      It is not a matter of "paying what I owe" but rather a friggin pain in the ass due to the bureaucratic red tape and threat of penalties. If I ever get rich maybe then I can moan about "what I owe" but then I'll have a stack of cash to wipe my tears with.

      Delete
    4. I thought you were a big proponent of a flat tax. I didn't know you were in favor of progressive taxation.

      I'm trying not to evade the issue.

      right.

      Delete
    5. Now it sounds like you are the one evading the issues Gag.

      What have I evaded? What more would you like to know?

      Delete
    6. Are you in favor of a flat tax Gag?

      Delete
    7. The issue is you think someone making 20k pays 30%.

      The issue is you think criminals can legally buy guns, or that criminals can legally buy guns out of state.

      Delete
    8. ummmm, no! But you go ahead and foam at the mouth while hoping no one notices that you are the one evading addressing the issues. Do you support a flat tax or a progressive one? Do you realize that allowing almost no restrictions on the legal purchase of weapons makes it easier for criminals to obtain weapons? Di you realize that a gang member my legally purchase a weapon?

      Delete
  28. Below is the Tax rates for 2012
    Taxable income Tax on this income Effective tax rate
    0 – $1.00 Nil 0%
    $6,001 – $37,000 15c for each $1 over $6,000 0 – 12.6%
    $37,001 – $80,000 $4,650 plus 30c for each $1 over $37,000 12.6 – 21.9%
    $80,001 – $180,000 $17,550 plus 37c for each $1 over $80,000 21.9 – 30.3%
    $180,001 and over $54,550 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000 30.3 – less than 45%

    for 2013
    Tax rates 2012-13 The following rates for 2012-13 apply from 1 July 2012. Taxable income Tax on this income 0 - $18,200 Nil $18,201 - $37,000 19c for each $1 over $18,200 $37,001 - $80,000 $3,572 plus 32.5c for each $1 over $37,000 $80,001 - $180,000 $17,547 plus 37c for each $1 over $80,000 $180,001 and over $54,547 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000

    Canada

    $0–$10,527 Nil
    $10,528–$42,707 15%
    $42,708–$85,414 22%
    $85,414–$132,406 26%
    Over $132,406 29%

    ReplyDelete
  29. Oh. My. God.

    WiO actually believes his own rhetoric that nuking Mecca would make Muslims around the world submit.

    sheeeeit!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ash, I never said nuking mecca.

      why do you distort and or lie???

      Nor did I say it would make muslims "submit"

      Are you really this dense in real life or are you misquoting simply to seek attention?

      Delete
    2. WiO, he has that in common with some others unmentioned here, different as these folks may be in opinions. They continually misquote, exaggerate and outright falsify.

      I guess it is part of their game plan here.

      Delete
    3. Maybe I got the wrong end of the stick WiO.

      Wio wrote:

      "My way? Nuke a rock..."


      Your way to what? I thought
      "Nuking the black rock of Mecca" was to make the Muslims submit, to get them to stop attacking the West. What did you mean? Could you explain clearly and concisely how "Nuking the rock" is not "nuking Mecca" and what "Nuking the rock" will acheive?

      Delete
    4. In case you missed it Bob, here is what WiO wrote above:

      "Quirk: and WiO when he doesn't bring up his black rock wet dream.


      Have it your way, continue to murder/kill/destroy numerous arab and islamic nations and their peoples with clusterbombs, drones and all sorts of economic and/or violent warfare...

      My solution????

      Kill a rock...

      It's what the Palestinians DID in Hebron, on the Temple Mount and at Jacob's Grave.

      it's what the Taliban did to the great Budda's

      It's what is happening in Timbuktu to the world historical sites of Islamic forebearers...

      Your lack of understanding the islamic ENEMY is astounding...

      For one that can type more words than Bill Clinton uses talking the pants off a college coed you certainly lack any real understanding of Islamic thought.

      That is why the West will continue to bomb, murder, destroy, incarcerate, arrest and kill the "terrorists" and their families...

      My way? Nuke a rock...

      There are several great ways to clear the city without them even KNOWING what's coming...

      Bomb the city with highly annoying irritants that would cause the 30,000 in habitants to flee. Choose a time of year (Jan) when the city is very empty of pilgrims.... Used a small yield tactical battlefield nuke.

      Or maybe use one of those top secret carbon based space lasers that do not exist (yeah right)

      My solution would force Islam to change.

      The west's way? Making new martyrs making new terrorists on a daily basis..

      The BEST way to defeat Jihadism?

      PULL THE RUG OUT FROM THEIR BELIEFS"



      I don't think I exaggerated, falisfied or misquoted him. Maybe he will be able to put up a clear and concise explanation.

      Delete
    5. What the hell, Ash? That makes it clear that he is not advocating nuking Mecca, but the rock.


      My way? Nuke a rock...

      There are several great ways to clear the city without them even KNOWING what's coming...

      Delete
    6. I missed your comment right above the last.

      Anyway this is old stuff. I recall Teresita making the very same charge, advocating mass murder, wiping out Mecca, etc.

      Come on, let's talk Dung Beetles.

      Hey, they navigate by the Milky Way~ How cool is that?

      Delete
    7. WiO appears to be quite clear, he wants to nuke the rock, the black rock of Mecca to acheive "His Way". He is so convinced nuking the black rock will acheive "his way" that he has come up with methods to clear the area of people so the nuke can be launched.

      What does "his way" mean? What is his "solution"? It sounds to me that he thinks nuking the rock will make Muslims submit. We shall see if he can clarify his opinion.

      Delete
    8. Nuking and or lasering the rock is NOT nuking the city.

      That is why I said use a TACTICAL Battlefield nuke on the ROCK.

      OR laser it.....

      The destruction of the ROCK would eliminate one of the 5 pillars of islam.

      We have gone over this before.

      Study Islam, study how they KNOW Islam is PERFECT and cannot be changed.

      Thus, destroying the ROCK forever will force them to reform.

      Your usage of the word "submit" is comical. Considering the term "islam" MEANS submit....

      If you want the muslim world to understand that Allah is NOT happy with them, that Allah is not protecting their most holy site? NUKE it...

      Study Islam.....

      GO google it...

      Get off your fat, lazy ass and learn something...

      But i can tell you this. Islam has been at war with the USA since 1783.

      Islam has been at war with Christianity and Jews since the early days...

      Learn history.

      The JEWs of Arabia were slaughtered, raped and taken into slavery BY Mohammed.

      The Jews PREDATE muslims in Arabia by 2000 years.

      Now I didnt say "arabs" I said Muslims.

      SO now you KNOW enough to go and figure it out.

      Delete
    9. So, in your view, nuking the rock will make Muslims "reform" will it? Nuking the rock will make the jihadis nice calm moderates in your view? They won't submit, just reform. You certainly don't know people very well do you? I think their reaction would be more one of anger then a sudden desire to reform their religion. More of the moderates, the potential reformers, would go to the angry jihadi side than angry jihadists suddenly decide to reform.

      Delete
    10. your ignorant of Islam.

      they already hate us, they already are pissed and you do not understand the only way is to SHOW real force.

      you can either continue down the path we are headed (near genocide) or you can destroy their symbols.

      They must be DEFEATED in the way they would understand defeat.

      Killing them?

      they could care less...

      KILL one of their pillars? step in the right direction.

      You could also make mosques illegal in europe.

      Delete
    11. this it cant happen?

      in amsterdam they have set ip deportation areas to house the illegals they are now shipping back to the arab world and africa...

      Delete
    12. How many Muslims are there in the world? A billion? And you think they all hate the west? You are living in an alternate reality...

      ...or, has rat has suggested, simply an Israeli propagandist? lies for the homeland.

      Delete
  30. Here is an alternative topic --

    Dung Beetles Use the Stars to Navigate

    http://www.realclearscience.com/2013/01/24/dung_beetles_use_the_stars_to_navigate_251154.html?utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=rss

    --for those tired of the mutual bashing.

    By the way, did I mention Quirk is a slimy marketing dick - all marketers are dicks, sucking to get people to pay more for shit they don't need - and an insufferable bore with his eternal everybody is a dick but me Quirk the pure the exalted and Bob is Pastor Terry whathisname?

    Which is what I am pissed at Quirk for today.

    Pastor Terry may be a dick and a marketer like Quirk and out for publicity and a little extra pew money but I do think he has a better grip than Q on the threat posed, doesn't deny the problem and doesn't suck up.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Here is another possible topic -

    Why Do We Crave Out-Of-Body Experiences?

    http://www.realclearscience.com/2013/01/24/why_do_we_crave_out-of-body_experiences_251153.html?utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=rss

    (fact is most people don't)

    A pretty lame attempt at debunking the experience of Dr. Alexander, it brings out the long itself debunked ketamine explanation and also tries to make a something out of the right temporal lobe.

    Dr. Alexander didn't have a functioning right temporal lobe at the time, being flatlined for a week, only his brain stem ticking along.

    ReplyDelete
  32. From the Dept of Justice

    Blacks were disproportionately represented as both homicide victims and offenders. Th victimization rate for blacks (27.8 per 100,000) was 6 times higher than the rate for whites (4.5 per 100,000). The offending rate for blacks (34.4 per 100,000) was almost 8 times higher than the rate for whites (4.5 per 100,000) (table 1).

    I have referred to this when the US is derided for having the most outrageous gun death rates amongst the developed countries.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. While those numbers don't break out the homicides by gun vs homicides by other methods it does show that crime is much higher in black communities.

      How do these stats make the US look any better when they are "derided for having the most outrageous gun death rates amongst the developed countries."?

      Delete
  33. Well, I'm off the topic. I got it into my head someone had advocated disarming blacks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Disarming people that lead foot it at 92mph through Arizona in a 70mph zone, now that's another matter.

      Delete
    2. I did, tongue and cheek...

      but if you WANT to lower a hugh amount of gun / knife and assaults?

      crack down on inner city gangs.

      Delete
    3. :) heh Well at least I haven't totally lost my mind, I was beginning to think I must have dreamed it up.

      Delete
  34. Here is something to chew on:

    Mokhtar Belmokhtar, mastermind behind the terrorist attack by the Islamist al-Mulathameen (Masked) Brigade on the In Amenas Gas complex is one of the founding members of AQIM.

    He was trained and recruited by the CIA in Afghanistan. Belmokhtar was a North African volunteers, an “Afghan Arab” enlisted at age 19 as a Mujahideen to fight within the ranks of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, at a time when the CIA and its Pakistani affiliate –the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI)– were actively supporting the jihadists in both recruitment and training.

    Mokhtar Belmokhtar fought in the Afghan “civil war”.
    He returned to Algeria in 1993 and joined the GSPC.
    Belmokhtar’s history and involvement in Afghanistan suggests that he was a US sponsored “intelligence asset”.

    ReplyDelete
  35. We are very good at exporting blow-back.

    ReplyDelete
  36. This is really choice

    The history of AQIM jihadist commanders is of significance in addressing the broader issue:

    Who is behind the various Al Qaeda affiliated factions?
    Who is supporting the terrorists?
    What political and economic interests are being served?

    The Washington based Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) traces the origins of AQIM back to the Soviet-Afghan war:

    Most of AQIM’s major leaders are believed to have trained in Afghanistan during the 1979-1989 war against the Soviets as part of a group of North African volunteers known as “Afghan Arabs” that returned to the region and radicalized Islamist movements in the years that followed. The group is divided into “katibas” or brigades, which are clustered into different and often independent cells.

    The group’s top leader, or emir, since 2004 has been Abdelmalek Droukdel, also known as Abou Mossab Abdelwadoud, a trained engineer and explosives expert who has fought in Afghanistan and has roots with the GIA in Algeria. It is under Droukdel’s leadership that AQIM declared France as its main target. One of the “most violent and radical” AQIM leaders is Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, according to counterterrorism experts. Abou Zied is linked to several kidnappings and executions of Europeans in the region. (Council on Foreign Relations, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, cfr.org, undated)


    The genius of Ronald Reagan and his crew

    ReplyDelete
  37. ..and Jimmy Carter of course.

    What the CFR report fails to mention is that the Islamic jihad in Afghanistan was a CIA initiative, initially launched in 1979 during the Carter administration. It was actively supported by president Ronald Reagan throughout the 1980s.

    In 1979 the largest covert operation in the history of the CIA was launched in Afghanistan. Wahabi missionaries from Saudi Arabia set up the Coranic schools (madrassahs) in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Islamic textbooks used in the madrassahs were printed and published in Nebraska. Covert funding was channeled to the Mujahideen with the support of the CIA:

    “With the active encouragement of the CIA and Pakistan’s ISI, who wanted to turn the Afghan Jihad into a global war waged by all Muslim states against the Soviet Union, some 35,000 Muslim radicals from 40 Islamic countries joined Afghanistan’s fight between 1982 and 1992. Tens of thousands more came to study in Pakistani madrasahs. Eventually, more than 100,000 foreign Muslim radicals were directly influenced by the Afghan jihad.” (Ahmed Rashid, “The Taliban: Exporting Extremism”, Foreign Affairs, November-December 1999).

    ReplyDelete
  38. Where the hell was the Jewish Lobby when we needed them?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AIPAC has been, for over a decade, advocating the palestinian, syrian and Iranian terror acts.

      It has also been the 1st to help with legislation concerning Islamic terrorism, since the truth?

      THEY HAVE BEEN MURDERING US 1ST for DECADES.

      It's the USA that forced Israel to sit with the PLO and Arafat, WHO NEVER STOPPED MURDERING AMERICANS, ISRAELIS AND EVEN OUR AMERICAN DIPLOMATS.

      Face the truth. Islamists suck...

      Delete
    2. .

      It has also been the 1st to help with legislation concerning Islamic terrorism, since the truth?

      Now this is interesting. From the first two lines of the post above it looks like you wrote them while in a hurry. I would be interested in knowing exactly what you are saying so there is no misunderstanding on my part.

      .

      Delete
    3. Where is the jewish lobby? ie aipac - AIPAC has been there, for over a decade, leading the charge advancing the palestinian, syrian and Iranian terror accountability acts in Congress.

      It has also been the 1st to help with legislation concerning Islamic terrorism, but the truth is these jihadist/islamic/arab groups have been attacking and murdering us for decades.


      is that clearer?

      Delete
    4. .

      Yea, I guess it's clearer.

      Anti-terror legislation. So you are saying we can thank Aipac for their 'support' in passing anti-terrorism legislation like the Patriot Act, NDAA, etc.?


      Delete
  39. The Republicans should just shut it down about Obama’s kissing up to the Muslims.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. why?

      delivering more 16's to egypt as well as 200 abrams tanks, couple hundred million dollars worth of apc's to hezbollah, paying for the salaries of Hamas, giving pakistan 6 billion, giving BILLIONS to the PA for doing NOTHING but incite and murder Israelis and AMERICANS....

      America needs to pull it's head out of it's ass.

      Help those that HELP America.

      Stop supporting and helping those that murder Americans on a daily basis...

      Delete
    2. The Republicans should just shut it down about Obama’s kissing up to the Muslims.


      Well obviously, why should anyone be concerned when the Commander of the Armed Forces kisses up to those that want us dead?

      Delete
    3. That's really an odd statement. Strange. Republicans shouldn't talk about Obama sucking up to Muslims. And they shouldn't object to Hagel either.

      I suppose likewise the Republicans should yell like hell in the impossible event of Obama ever sucking up to Jews.

      Delete
  40. A collection of sheriffs across the country have sent Congress and the Obama administration a message: If we don't like your gun laws, we aren't going to help enforce them.

    ...

    The sheriffs began their campaign of letters and media interviews earlier this month...

    ReplyDelete
  41. Robert Brulle, a sociologist at Drexel University in Philadelphia, has estimated that over the past decade about $500m has been given to organisations devoted to undermining the science of climate change, with much of the money donated anonymously through third parties.

    ...

    Dr Brulle said: "We really have anonymous giving and unaccountable power being exercised here in the creation of the climate countermovement. There is no attribution, no responsibility for the actions of these foundations to the public.

    "By becoming anonymous, they remove a political target. They can plausibly claim that they are not giving to these organisations, and there is no way to prove otherwise."

    ReplyDelete
  42. Al Qaida's number two in Yemen has died of wounds he suffered in a drone attack in southern Yemen last year, the country's official news agency said.

    Saeed al-Shihri, a Saudi national who fought in Afghanistan and spent six years in the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, was injured in a missile attack in the southern city of Saada on November 28, according to the Saba news agency.

    ReplyDelete
  43. The share of Americans age 65 and over in the labor market rose to 18.5% in 2012, up from 16.0% in 2007. At the same time, the share of those age 25 to 54 fell to 81.4%, from 83.0%.

    A similar scenario played out in the higher education arena after 1994 when universities were barred from instituting a mandatory retirement age of 70, said Carl Van Horn, director of Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University. More older professors are staying on the job, making it harder for younger PhDs to get tenure track positions or mid-career faculty to advance.

    "There just weren't as many openings," he said.

    ReplyDelete
  44. After the vote was held to approve expansion of UN sanctions on North Korea, the U.S. ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said, “This resolution demonstrates to North Korea that there are unanimous and significant consequences for its flagrant violation of its obligations under previous resolutions.”

    “More importantly, the provisions of this resolution — both new sanctions and the tightening and expanding of existing measures — concretely help to impede the growth of North Korea’s (weapons of mass destruction) program and reduce the threat of proliferation by targeting entities and individuals directly involved in these programs,” Rice said, according to CNN.

    The UN Security Council resolution specifically targets a North Korean bank, the North Korean space agency and a handful of other companies. In addition, four individuals were added to the so-called blacklist.

    ReplyDelete
  45. In Spain, the latest data showed that 6 million people were now out of work, with the unemployment rate rising, but claims for jobless benefits in the US hit a five-year low. Improved Chinese manufacturing data also helped sentiment.

    Quincy Krosby, a market strategist at Prudential Financial, said: "The Chinese data bodes well for demand, which translates into top-line revenue growth. If global demand goes up, it's good for US equities."

    "Leading economic indicators rose, new jobless claims are at the lowest level in many years, and Chinese manufacturing data moved to a positive trajectory," he added.

    ReplyDelete
  46. On this day in 2008, French bank Societe Generale said it uncovered details about a single futures trader responsible for a $7.14 billion fraud.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Apple's success in the U.S. has been driven in part by the willingness of carriers to heavily subsidize sales of its expensive phones. But under pressure from investors, carriers are increasingly trying to change that.

    No. 4 carrier T-Mobile USA, owned by Deutsche Telekom AG DTE.XE +0.47% of Germany, says it will stop subsidizing smartphones this year and offer interest-free financing to buyers instead. The largest U.S. carriers have yet to follow its lead, but AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said Thursday he commended T-Mobile for going that route.

    "It's something we're going to be watching," Mr. Stephenson said.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Obama said in 2008 that Reagan "changed the trajectory of America" in a way that Clinton did not. He meant that Reagan had transformed the political zeitgeist, while Clinton accepted and thus validated the new Reaganite norm.

    Not Obama. His mission is to redeem and resurrect the 50-year pre-Reagan liberal ascendancy.

    Accordingly, his second inaugural address, ideologically unapologetic and aggressive, is his historical marker, his self-proclamation as the Reagan of the left.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Even by the standards of the super-rich, Charles and David Koch are extraordinarily wealthy. Together they own most of Koch Industries, one of the largest private conglomerates in America with annual revenues of around $100bn (£62.5bn), and interests as diverse as energy, petrochemicals, pulp and paper.

    ...

    Anonymous donations to Britain's leading climate-change sceptic organisation have more than doubled over the past year – but the registered charity has consistently refused to comment on the identity of its backers.

    ...

    One last blast of snow is expected over much of Britain today before the present week-long freeze gives way to a thaw and wet weather, which may combine to produce flooding.

    ReplyDelete

  50. Rand Paul to John Kerry: If it was wrong to bomb Cambodia without Congress’s approval, why is bombing Libya without approval okay?

    http://hotair.com/archives/2013/01/24/rand-paul-to-john-kerry-if-it-was-wrong-to-bomb-cambodia-without-congresss-approval-why-is-bombing-libya-without-approval-okay/


    Good question, lousy answer by Kerry.

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