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."

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Question: How long will it take 1.3 million unemployed, who are losing their extended benefits, to find a job?



Expiration of unemployment benefits threatens US recovery, adviser warns

• Congress fails to extend programme for long-term jobless 
• Economists concerned over persistently high unemployment

Dan Roberts in Washington 

theguardian.com, Monday 23 December 2013 12.30 EST


The expiration of benefits for 1.3 million jobless Americans this weekend will exacerbate the worst period of chronic unemployment in post-war history, the chairman of the White House council of economic advisers warns.
The expiring programme, which provides emergency help for the long-term unemployed, was introduced after the banking crash in 2008 to cushion the impact of the recession but is due to end on Saturday. Congress had an opportunity to continue it, but failed to agree on an extension before breaking for Christmas.
Although recent improvements in the economy have boosted overall job growth, economists are concerned that long-term unemployment rates remain higher than at any time between 1948 and the recent financial crisis.
Republican critics claim that ending the programme will force recipients to find work, but new research suggests it will have the opposite effect, and will encourage them to drop out of the labour market entirely, according to Jason Furman, chairman council of economic advisers.
“You can’t get unemployment insurance if you’re not looking for a job,” Furman told the Guardian during a briefing for White House reporters. “When the economy is where it is today, it’s great if somebody stays there, keeps trying, keeps working hard trying to find that job. And the unemployment insurance extension encourages people to stay in the labor force, to continue looking for jobs.”
Similar studies by the congressional budget office and JP Morgan have suggested that ending the programme will knock between 0.2 and 0.4 percentage points off the US economy’s growth rate and that the country will lose out on 240,000 jobs due to lower demand in 2014.
Democrats are planning a fresh push this week to highlight the issue. On a media conference call, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi argued for the extension of the benefits. “Unemployment insurance is part of the safety net of our country; not just for individuals but for the economy,” said Pelosi in the call on Monday. “It is one of the biggest stimuli for the economy. Every dollar creates about $1.70 in demand.”
But Pelosi’s fellow Democrat, Senate majority leader Harry Reid, conceded more than a week ago that it was too late for Congress to act on the extension this year after it was left out of a hard-fought budget compromise between the parties.
Instead, Republicans and Democrats are expected to return to the issue early in the New Year with a vote on a three-month extension and the resumption of talks about longer-term benefits.
House speaker John Boehner, a Republican, has indicated that he is willing to consider extending the emergency unemployment insurance, which was begun during the administration of former president George W Bush, but others in his party are preparing for a showdown over an extension to the US debt limit, which may hamper attempts to reach a compromise over the jobs issue.
Until now, the issue of long-term unemployment has received relatively little attention on Capitol Hill, which has also hit poorer Americans this year with cuts to the food stamps programme. But Democrats increasingly sense it could prove a potential weapon against Republicans, who they accuse of breaking with historic precedent by refusing to extend the programme while unemployment levels remain as high as they are.
“[Unemployment has] come down for all types of workers, but it’s still unacceptably high,” Furman said during the briefing. “And the reason it’s unacceptably high is not the short-term unemployed, which is back to the same average it was before the crisis; it’s the long-term unemployed, which at 2.6% is higher than any long-term unemployment rate we've reported from 1948 through the financial crisis.”

He added: “That's a reminder of why extending unemployment insurance benefits is so important. They’ve never been allowed to lapse with an unemployment rate at this level.”

82 comments:

  1. There has been no time in our history where we have had so many long term unemployed and FICO scoring being part of the vetting process. How can a person who has been out of work for a couple of years have a FICO score acceptable to an employer?

    What happens to these people if we have an immigration amnesty?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Libertarianism 101, continued. Labor is a commodity. People go where the jobs are. Lettuce picking jobs go unfilled by American citizens, so they are available for aliens to fill. If you lock down the borders, this makes it difficult to obtain the labor commodity, and inflates food prices.

      Delete
  2. They are screwed. That is why we should not have another immigration amnesty.

    ******

    Miss T came up with a good resource there -

    http://www.chabad.org/search/keyword_cdo/kid/193/jewish/Tzvi-Freeman.htm

    Check it out. It is interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. A truly great idea is contained herein - send them Christiane Amanpour -

    YES !!!


    Jihad Watch

    Iraq: Five journalists murdered in targeted jihad attack on TV station



    341499_Iraq-Bomb.jpg(picture)


    If they aren't satisfied with the news coverage they're getting, we could send them one of our pro-jihad journalists -- Christiane Amanpour, Niraj Warikoo, Bob Smietana, Kari Huus, any number of people. There are so many, we certainly could spare a few.

    "Iraq - Another five journalists killed in targeted attack on TV station," from Reporters Without Borders, December 24 (thanks to Twostellas):

    Reporters Without Borders is dismayed to learn that five journalists were killed when gunmen staged a suicide attack yesterday on the headquarters of Salaheddin TV in the northern city of Tikrit.

    Two of the four gunmen detonated their explosive vests while security forces shot the other two before they could detonate theirs. Owned by the local government, Salaheddin is the biggest TV station in Salaheddin province.

    The five employees killed by the explosions were chief news editor Raad Yassin, producer Jamal Abdel Nasser, cameraman Mohamed Ahmad Al-Khatib, presenter Wissam Al-Azzawi and the archives manager Mohamed Abdel Hamid. Four other employees were injured....


    Posted by Robert Spencer on December 24, 2013 10:25 AM

    ReplyDelete
  4. 12th Century Christmas Carol, Ireland -

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/12/a_christmas_musical_treat.html

    One of the oldest known.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies


    1. "Farmer Bob"

      While working as a Marketing Director for a bank in the late 70's, Bob bought Farmers' Almanacs to give to the banks' customers.

      The editor of the Almanac, Ray Geiger and Bob worked together to promote the Almanac and became fast friends. 

      Thus began a long relationship that today has "Farmer Bob" traveling the Nation on behalf of the famous book. 

      Like the Almanac, Bob's talks are laced with anecdotes, remedies and a liberal dose of humor too.  Bob considers it an honor to share the facts, fun, and folklore of the Farmers' Almanac with his audiences.

      "Our audience thoroughly enjoyed Bob's performance.  
      The link between "Farmer Bob"
      and the Almanac enhances his presentation"  



      bob

      Delete
  5. ■ ATF agents befriended mentally disabled people to drum up business and later arrested them in at least four cities in addition to Milwaukee. In Wichita, Kan., ATF agents referred to a man with a low IQ as "slow-headed" before deciding to secretly use him as a key cog in their sting. And agents in Albuquerque, N.M., gave a brain-damaged drug addict with little knowledge of weapons a "tutorial" on machine guns, hoping he could find them one.

    ■ Agents in several cities opened undercover gun- and drug-buying operations in safe zones near churches and schools, allowed juveniles to come in and play video games and teens to smoke marijuana, and provided alcohol to underage youths. In Portland, attorneys for three teens who were charged said a female agent dressed provocatively, flirted with the boys and encouraged them to bring drugs and weapons to the store to sell.

    ■ As they did in Milwaukee, agents in other cities offered sky-high prices for guns, leading suspects to buy firearms at stores and turn around and sell them to undercover agents for a quick profit. In other stings, agents ran fake pawnshops and readily bought stolen items, such as electronics and bikes—no questions asked—spurring burglaries and theft. In Atlanta, agents bought guns that had been stolen just hours earlier, several ripped off from police cars.

    ■ Agents damaged buildings they rented for their operations, tearing out walls and rewiring electricity—then stuck landlords with the repair bills. A property owner in Portland said agents removed a parking lot spotlight,damaging her new $30,000 roof and causing leaks, before they shut down the operation and disappeared without a way for her to contact them.

    ■ Agents pressed suspects for specific firearms that could fetch tougher penalties in court. They allowed felons to walk out of the stores armed with guns. In Wichita, agents suggested a felon take a shotgun, saw it off and bring it back—and provided instructions on how to do it. The sawed-off gun allowed them to charge the man with a more serious crime.
    Most people in a high-crime neighborhoods would be eager to have law enforcement focus on arresting bad guys. But imagine you lived in a neighborhood that ATF was thinking of entering. Would you want them there, regardless of the crime problem, if you knew their methods would include selling guns to felons who wouldn't be pursued for months, exploiting mentally disabled locals, and providing a place where underaged teens could drink alcohol and smoke marijuana?

    The problems hardly end there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "In Milwaukee, "a machine gun and other weapons had been stolen from an agent's car, the storefront was burglarized, agents arrested the wrong people and hired the brain-damaged man, who had an IQ of 54, to set up gun and drug deals.

      The machine gun has not been recovered.""

      ---

      Maybe they'll hire Rufus.

      Delete
    2. "Once again, Barack Obama's pledge to preside over the most transparent administration in history is shown to be nothing but talk, and in this case no argument can be made that national-security demands that the truth stay hidden. What happens next is a test case. Will higher-ups in the executive branch demand that the public receive full information about the ATF's transgressions? Or was all the talk about the importance of sunlight just posturing? If this isn't the time for transparency, I can't think of any situation that would be. One also wonders if anyone be fired for their role in these documented, indefensible events, or if accountability in this government is as dead as it seems.

      Stay tuned."

      Rufus will explain that The Atlantic crew is a bunch of right-wing fanatic batshit crazies.

      Delete
  6. People are less likely to get hired after being unemployed for more than six months.

    Folks over fifty are less likely to get hired ..
    bad backs are less likely to get hired....
    the unskilled are less likely....
    no transportation......

    Obama's Allinsky tactics served him well to gain power.
    The problems are the democrats own demons.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Able bodied US citizens find it hard to get work when Obama "Leads" this regime.

      With help from Dirty Harry and Paul Ryan.

      Delete

    2. There are no Democrats or Republicans, only Americans

      Political tags -
      such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth
      - are never basic criteria.

      The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.

      Robert A. Heinlein




      bob




      Delete
    3. Robert A. Heinlein hated communists...

      Delete
  7. "Dear Miss Manners: I think I was the recipient of rude behavior, but because the possible offense occurred in the house of a very wealthy married couple, I'm not sure.

    I attended a black-tie Christmas party at their home where expensive Champagne was served before dinner and a variety of expensive wines was served with dinner.

    Champagne gives me heartburn, and I don't care for wine, so I opted for a beer. The hostess became upset that I was ruining the ambience of the room, but a few guests came to my rescue, and she relented as long as I drank the offending brew in a glass. However, when it came time to eat, she said, "There's no way you're bringing beer to my dinner table." I drank water with my food.

    I'm a my-house-is-your-house kind of guy, especially at Christmas. But it was her home and her party. Was her behavior inappropriate, or am I disturbed over nothing?

    Gentle Reader: Your rich hosts do not strike Miss Manners as being so different from you. You both made ugly fusses over nothing. Apparently you not only requested a drink that was not being offered, but pushed the point to where it involved other guests. That is not my-house-is-your-house; it is your-house-is-my-restaurant."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shove a Stick up the asses of the very wealthy married couple, and Miss Manners too.

      Delete
  8. 1.3 million unemployed, several million “under employed,” benefits running out, $3.5 trillion pumped into the banks, what can we do?

    Lets give amnesty to 11 million illegals. What could possibly go wrong?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ...it might turn out to be 20 million?

      Delete
    2. First time I've ever agreed with Jenny on anything.

      Though it doesn't go far enough.

      All those illegals are already here, looking for work, or welfare.

      Best solution: for once make the effort to send them back home.

      The Obama administration is bending over backwards to keep them here.

      Delete
    3. Who KNOWS if that is the real Jenny?

      In fact, do we even KNOW if Teresita Redinger is the real deal? After all she/he/it was clear, if you see the name "Teresita Redinger" it's wio....

      Delete
  9. Quirk: What, no vodka?

    What kind of dinner party is that?


    Miss Manners: Bring your own.

    Quirk: Must I share?

    Miss Manners: Surely

    Quirk: The hell with that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. “Isn't it kind of silly to think that tearing someone else down builds you up?”

      Delete
  10. December 24, 2013
    Pushback against Israel boycott gains momentum
    Rick Moran




    This is certainly encouraging, but there's a long way to go to turn the tide in combating the BDS ("boycott, divest, sanctions) movement.



    The announcement last week by the American Studies Association that they will participate in an academic boycott of Israeli schools has spurred a backlash from other institutions against the ASA's actions.



    The Hill:




    The pushback against a boycott of Israeli colleges and universities by U.S. academic institutions appears to be gaining steam.

    The senior Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday called on the American Studies Association to end its boycott of Israeli institutions.

    ADVERTISEMENTRep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), joined several U.S. universities, including Harvard and Yale, and the Washington Post's editorial board in weighing in against the decision.

    In a letter to the association's leaders, Engel argued boycotting Israel over its government's treatment of Palestinians is a gross double standard.

    "I was surprised to learn that Israel is the first country formally subject to a boycott by the ASA, which curiously has chosen to stay silent on China's suppression of independent academic voices critical of the Communist Party, the Venezuelan government's retaliation against opposition-oriented universities, or Zimbabwe's denial of foreign academics from countries critical of Robert Mugabe's dictatorial government from assuming academic residencies at the University of Zimbabwe," he wrote.

    About one third of the American Studies Association's more than 3,800 members voted on a boycott of Israeli institutions last week.

    ASA's decision is part of a larger global effort to win boycotts of Israeli institutions over that country's policies toward Palestinians.

    "The ASA condemns the United States' significant role in aiding and abetting Israel's violations of human rights against Palestinians and its occupation of Palestinian lands through its use of the veto in the UN Security Council," it said in a statement.

    Israel's government has criticized the boycotts, as has the U.S. ambassador to Israel.

    Harvard, Yale and Princeton are among the U.S. universities that have weighed in against a boycott. Brandeis and Penn State have withdrawn from the ASA over the issue.

    "Academic boycotts subvert the academic freedoms and values necessary to the free flow of ideas, which is the lifeblood of the worldwide community of scholars," Harvard President Drew Faust said in a statement late last week.

    "The recent resolution of the ASA proposing to boycott Israeli universities represents a direct threat to these ideals, ideals which universities and scholarly associations should be dedicated to defend."

    Good on Harvard and the rest for recognizing the obvious truth; you can't have academic freedom unless you practice it unconditionally.

    By the way, Harvard may not participate in academic boycotts, but its faculty has urged divestment from companies doing business with Israel. Since they haven't called for divestment of companies doing business with Hamas - a group sworn to kill every last Israeli - you wonder about their commitment to the idea of freedom.


    Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/12/pushback_against_israel_boycott_gains_momentum.html#ixzz2oUdcipYV

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A year ago her was no talk of 'Boycotting Israel'

      Now there is, incremental improvement is always welcome



      bob

      Delete
    2. It's hard for many who hate Israel and all it creates and stands for to stop using the computers, phones and medicines the Jewish state creates and offers to the world.

      Must be tough KNOWING without Israel you would still be on a windows 95 machine...lol

      Delete

  11. DeuceTue Dec 24, 10:07:00 PM EST
    Thank you Allen. I appreciate your contribution.


    allenTue Dec 24, 10:39:00 PM EST
    Thank you, Deuce.


    Deuce,

    The earlier "Thank you" was meant as an expression of gratitude for this blog and the work you put into it. Be well.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Not me.

    I need an exclusion provision.

    Just one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Why, if you just managed to master the sign-on is your profile a month old..

      You are a fraud and a fake, you are not even in a bob.

      Much less a Farmer.

      Google does not lie, Farmer Bob does.


      He is truly a Fudd!


      bob

      Delete
    2. Wow, rat figured out that profile page was created in November! Now that's investigation....


      Delete
  13. Ans:

    Henry the 8th Christmas song: What Child Is This

    Here is Quirk singing a drinking song at the Jonathon Club in LA -

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLgUrdTS1ps

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Damn fool spilled his cups all over Jenny right at the end there.

      Delete

    2. “Raised on a cotton farm in rural Georgia, as many white/negro families did to make a meager living, my daddy had a saying.

      'All a poor man has is his good name and good credit.
      God help him if he looses either of those.'

      I still believe that.”

      Delete
  14. Whacky is backy time to go nappy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nice little thread going while it lasted.....

      Delete

    2. “A sign of power in a man is not only when people follow what he suggests,
      but also when people make a conscious effort to do the exact opposite of what he suggests.”

      Delete

    3. When dealing with Farmer Bob, there is no need to rack the memory, to return to Marine Corps Basic Training to find tidbits of memory that authenticate the experience, in the mind of the reader.

      In the cae o Farmr Bob, we need only regress two days, back to his gaining access, for the first time, to an account he created with Ash's guidance.

      But, lo' and BEHOLD!

      That account profile is already a month old!

      It is not a 'new' profile, but one that has been held, in reserve, for 'Christmas Offensive'.

      Farmer Bob lies to us all, his wife is not dying, he has no niece, he has never even been to Idaho.

      His name is not even bob.



      bob

      Delete
    4. Criss JamiWed Dec 25, 10:36:00 AM EST

      “A sign of power in a man is not only when people follow what he suggests,
      but also when people make a conscious effort to do the exact opposite of what he suggests.”


      What are the psychological forces at play in conspiracy thinking?

      Basically what’s happening in any conspiracy theory is that people have a need or a motivation to believe in this theory, and it’s psychologically different from evidence-based thinking. A conspiracy theory is immune to evidence, and that can pretty well serve as the definition of one. If you reject evidence, or reinterpret the evidence to be confirmation of your theory, or you ignore mountains of evidence to focus on just one thing, you’re probably a conspiracy theorist. We call that a self-sealing nature of reasoning.

      Delete
    5. Got to love Rat's obsession with Farmer Bob...

      I think he is in love...

      Delete
    6. The poor soul is in the throes of unrequited love......

      Can't do anything but stalk.

      Delete
    7. And try desperately to break up Farmer Bob's pleasant conversations with others.

      Delete
    8. Yep! Rat's in love...

      Delete
  15. It appears that approx. 9 Million Americans are starting the New Year with Health Coverage as a result of Obamacare.

    ACA Signups

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am starting the New Year with another price increase and deductible increase....

      thanks Obama...

      Delete
  16. HAMAS: ERADICATE ISRAEL, ESTABLISH WORLDWIDE ISLAMIC CALIPHATE

    We just sit and talk to the Jews. Enough with that! Come join us, the legions of the believers, which have translated the Koran into victory, the law of the Prophet's ancestors into glory, and Jihad into liberation... We shall be coming with a third Intifada, an armed revolution, a Jihadi revolution, Allah willing… Gaza and the West Bank will fuse together, along with our brothers within the 1948 borders, in a second Battle of Hattin, in order to uproot the Jews.


    Yes, we must be willing to take risks for the "Peace of the Brave". What possibly could go wrong?

    Mr. Netanyahu should thank his lucky stars; Hamas just gave him what he needed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In a strange turn of fate, Saladin was a Kurd. Kurds are detested by both Sunni and Shi'a Muslims for being heretics who will burn in hell.

      Delete


    2. Maybe there's only one revolution, since the beginning, the good guys against the bad guys.

      Question is, who are the good guys?

      Delete
    3. The good news? The moslem brotherhood, the mother of hamas, hezbollah and alqueda has now been declared a terrorist organization by Egypt.

      Egypt NOW is crushing gaza's tunnels and killing palestinians in the sinai that operate terror attacks against egypt.

      Hamas? Iran? AlQueda? Moslem Brotherhood?

      The tide is turning. Their fellow moslems are now gunning for them...

      Delete
    4. This drama is beginning to take on the appearance of the elimination/extermination of the Knights Templar. In that case the Pope and French king where the prime movers.

      Delete

  17. Israel Pays Students For Pro-Israeli Social Media Propaganda

    The move was publicised in a statement from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, the Associated Press reported. Students will receive scholarships to "engage international audiences online" and combat anti-Semitism and calls to boycott Israel, it was alleged.

    In 2012, a Palestinian-run blog reported similar arrangements between the National Union of Israeli Students and the Israeli government. Students would be paid $2,000 to post pro-Israel messages online for five hours a week.

    According to Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz, the most recent proposition is being spearheaded by Danny Seaman, who was slammed by the media for writing anti-Muslim messages on Facebook.

    Students will be organised into units at each university, with a chief co-ordinator who receives a full scholarship, three desk co-ordinators for language, graphics and research who receive lesser scholarships and students termed “activists” who will receive a “minimal scholarship”, the Independent reported.

    http://2164th.blogspot.com/2013/11/why-does-obama-and-netanyahu-refuse-to.html?showComment=1384665357484#c6416302863629688526


    bob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. It is essential to seek out enemy agents who have come to conduct espionage against you and to bribe them to serve you. Give them instructions and care for them. Thus doubled agents are recruited and used.

      Delete
    2. Sounds like a good plan...

      Hope those employees earn millions... All for doing the good works!!!

      Delete
    3. What is "Occupation"Wed Dec 25, 11:53:00 AM EST
      Sounds like a good plan...

      Whatever they are paid, it will be dwarfed by the sums distributed and awarded by the Saudis to bring Muslim centers to most major university campuses. Additionally, the Saudis are paying the fees for tens of thousands of Saudi students to study in the States.

      Some folk cannot see the forest for the trees, or don't want to and don't want the public to see the extent of the influence Saudi Arabia is having on university chairs and endowments.

      Money Talks - JJ Cale

      Delete

  18. “The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent.”

    The Art of War

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Re: enemy and intent

      What if there are neither?

      Delete
  19. Egypt declares Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group

    Will the US recognize this ruling, having invested so much into promoting the MB? Will this widen the US-Egypt divide, giving Mr. Putin even more respect?

    ReplyDelete
  20. I like the Egyptian military these days.

    :)

    I read that Morsi is sitting in the same cell once occupied by Mubarak.

    :):)

    ReplyDelete
  21. From the little clip I have seen of it, Snowden make a good presentation through British TV........"a little child growing up today will never known what children have always known in the past.....privacy"......nearly exact quote.

    There is a thread for you Deuce.....Snowden's TV appearance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Given, Snowden is an intelligence genius. The interview, however, showed him to have a childlike grasp of the ramafications of his actions both for himself and the other stackholders.

      Mr. Snowden, there is no going home.

      Delete
  22. The Syrian air force on Sundya bombed a neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo killing at least 91 people, the Syrian Revolution General Commission reported.

    Hundreds of people have been killed during the past week in Aleppo as Syrian aircraft have dropped crude barrel bombs on the country’s onetime commercial hub, now largely reduced to rubble, according to activists, medics and other witnesses, Agence France-Presse reported.

    The Aleppo Media Center, a network of citizen journalists in the northern city, had singled out the bombing of Hanano as especially deadly “leaving no survivors” in a convoy of cars.

    “They hit a convoy of cars on a road in Hanano, many cars were destroyed. There were civilians there,” said the Observatory’s Rami Abdelrahman, according to Reuters.

    Human Rights Watch said in a report over the weekend that barrel bomb attacks had killed scores of civilians in Aleppo in the last month. It described the attacks as illegal and said they had hit residential and shopping areas.

    “The Syrian air force is either criminally incompetent, doesn’t care whether it kills scores of civilians, or deliberately targets civilian areas,” HRW senior emergency researcher Ole Solvang said in the report, Reuters reported.

    Barrel bombs are explosive-filled cylinders or oil drums that are often rolled out of the back of helicopters with little attempt at striking a particular target. They are capable of causing widespread casualties and significant damage.


    91 folks blown up....

    Syrians are full of tricks and treats... And it aint even halloween.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The American public and the Congress have shown a strong disinclination to get involved, perhaps sensing that there are no good guys in Syria.

      Not just in Syria, but throughout North Africa and Southwest Asia, the old guards and paradigms must be replaced if any semblance of civilization is take root. Sadly, there is no contemporary Saladin to bring order to the murderous chaos now being played out. Without order all the players are soon going to face a common enemy for which they are unprepared: starvation. While the instruments of war are ubiquitous and in endless abundance, all the players are net importers of food, none coming close to self-sufficiency. Nature will take her toll and the cost will be horrific.

      Delete
  23. Turkey PM faces resignation call as three ministers quit

    Mr. Erdogan has been wounded. Is the wound mortal? Things should get interesting in Turkey this year. If Mr. Erdogan steps down (unlikely) or is ousted in the general election, how will Turkish foreign policy look with reference to the war in Syria? During the ensuing brawl for power, will Turkey's role in Syria become a hot topic?

    Ankara (AFP) - Three top Turkish ministers resigned on Wednesday over a high-level graft probe, with one of them calling on the prime minister to step down himself in a major escalation of the biggest scandal to hit the government in years.

    "I am stepping down as minister and lawmaker," Bayraktar told the private NTV television. "I believe the prime minister should also resign."

    In his resignation statement, Bayraktar pointed the finger at Erdogan, saying the vast majority of construction projects mentioned in the investigation were carried out with the premier's approval.

    The corruption scandal engulfing the country has angered citizens, thousands of whom took to the streets of Istanbul on Sunday calling on the government to step down.

    Erdogan's image was already bruised by a wave of anti-government protests in June that were sparked by plans to raze an Istanbul park.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Replies
    1. Quirk really tied one on last night.

      He is holding an ice bag to his head this morning and can't reply.

      Merry Christmas from me too O-Quirk Brave Heart.

      Delete
  25. "I am stepping down as minister and lawbreaker", Bayraktar told the private NTV station......

    :)

    Graft?

    In a Moslem country?

    Say it ain't so, Joe.

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. The incredibly successful football coach who Never, Ever kicks the ball.

    No Kickee

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A lot of people babble about "critical thinking." A few (very few) actually do it.

      Delete
    2. "Never, ever" probably isn't accurate. I'm pretty sure he kicks (or, would kick) an Extra Point under certain circumstances.

      Delete
    3. :)

      Interesting, Rufus.

      He's figured those odds. Is this the start of a nation wide trend?

      Merry Christmas to you, Rufus.

      Delete
  27. MEDIA DISTORT, FABRICATE BETHLEHEM CHRISTMAS. Blame Israel for economic downturn, fleeing Christians

    The population of Bethlehem was 80% Christian in 1995. By some estimates that number has dropped to the current 12%.

    Some Christian leaders said one of the most significant problems facing Christians in Bethlehem is the rampant confiscation of land by Muslim gangs. “There are many cases in which Christians have their land stolen by the [Muslim] mafia,” Samir Qumsiyeh, a Bethlehem Christian leader and owner of the Beit Sahour-based private Al-Mahd (Nativity) TV station, told KleinOnline in an interview in 2007.

    One Christian Bethlehem resident told KleinOnline her friend recently fled Bethlehem after being accused by Muslims of selling property to Jews, a crime punishable by death in some Palestinian cities. The resident said much of the intimidation comes from gunmen associated with PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah organization.


    There must be some mistake: only Jews steal land and practice ethnic cleansing. Once more it is seen that non-Muslims cannot live safely and freely among Muslims.

    Last evening, Bethlehem rocked. Noticably absent were Jews and Jewish media, having been warned off by Mr. Abbas.

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  28. Teresita RedingerWed Dec 25, 09:53:00 AM EST

    Libertarianism 101, continued. Labor is a commodity. People go where the jobs are. Lettuce picking jobs go unfilled by American citizens, so they are available for aliens to fill. If you lock down the borders, this makes it difficult to obtain the labor commodity, and inflates food prices.

    ---

    60 years ago the Bracero Program worked well for farm labor in California.

    Most other jobs plenty of Citizens are willing to take.

    Should we open our borders to billions of Chinese?

    I think not.

    Extreme Libertarianism is chaos.

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