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, October 08, 2014

Oct 8, 2014 Kurdish fighters are engaged in fierce gun battles with Islamic State militants in the Syrian border town of Kobane





Aljazeera



ISIL fighters 'withdraw from parts of Kobane'

Reports that armed group has been pushed back to edges of city by Syrian-Kurdish fighters after intensive air strikes.

Last updated: 08 Oct 2014 13:15


After the pullback, ISIL fighters were still present in eastern parts of the city and its southern edges [Reuters]


Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group have reportedly withdrawn from some parts of the embattled Syrian city of Kobane overnight after air strikes by a US-led coalition.
Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith, reporting from the Syrian-Turkish border city of Urfa, said that Syrian-Kurdish fighters confirmed on Wednesday that the coalition airstrikes had "enabled them to push ISIL back towards the edges of the city from the areas that they had breached on Monday evening".
Smith added that the Syrian-Kurdish fighters felt that they were back on the offensive in the city, also known as Ain al-Arab.
Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), also said on Wednesday that ISIL had withdrawn overnight from several areas in the eastern and southwestern edges of Kobane.
After the pullback, ISIL fighters were still present in eastern parts of the strategic city and its southern edges, but were no longer inside on the western front, Abdel Rahman said.
He said that the move came after airstrikes had caused casualties and damaged at least four of their vehicles.
'Streets full of bodies'
On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Kolbane was on the verge of falling to the armed group.
"Months have passed but no results have been achieved. Kobane is about to fall ... I am telling the West [that] dropping bombs from the air will not provide a solution," he said.
Erdogan said his country's military would stage a ground war against ISIL only if a buffer zone was set up between Turkey and Syria, and a no-fly zone over Syria along with the training and arming of moderate fighters battling against the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad.
French President Francois Hollande said on Wednesday he backed the Turkish demand for a safe haven for Syrians.
At least 12 people were killed in Kurdish demonstrations across Turkey demanding the government to do more to protect Kobane from ISIL.
ISIL fighters entered Kobane on Monday night, after nearly three weeks of fighting around the city on the Syria-Turkey border.
On Tuesday, fighting raged in the east, west and south of Kobane, which is Syria's third biggest Kurdish city, and a US-led coalition fighting ISIL carried out multiple air strikes in and around the city.
Mustafa Ebdi, a Kurdish journalist and activist from Kobane, posted on his Facebook page that "the streets of the Maqtala neighbourhood in southeastern Kobane are full of the bodies of Daesh fighters," using the Arabic acronym for ISIL.
But he added that hundreds of civilians remained in the city and "the humanitarian situation is difficult and people need food and water".
Iraqi helicopter downed
ISIL began its advance on Kobane on September 16, quickly sweeping through the surrounding countryside and prompting an estimated 186,000 people to flee the region across the border into Turkey.
According to the SOHR, at least 412 people have been killed in the fighting, though the group said it believed the actual toll could be twice as high.
Meanwhile, ISIL fighters downed an Iraqi army helicopter near an oil refinery in Baiji, the control of which is split between the Iraqi army and ISIL.
Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from Baghdad, said this was the second Iraqi helicopter to be brought down within a 10-day period.
"[ISIL] captured air defence systems from the Iraqi army during their initial push. They have been using those, to a devastating effect as they say, within Baiji," said our correspondent.

57 comments:

  1. I don't want American boots on the ground.

    I don't want to support the PKK, Turkey or Assad.

    But we could have had a no go/no fly zone that would have not allowed the isis caravans to cross miles of open desert.

    Now? we can't.

    The Kurds are going to die by the tens of thousands the participating parties will do nothing.

    Where is Assad and his air force? They had no problems dropping barrel bombs and doing airstrikes in the past 36 months.

    No the Kurds are being set up to be liquidated so that there is no Syrian Kurdistan option in the future.

    It's the deal that Turkey, USA, Iran, Hezbollah and Assad have made.

    Kill Syrian Kurdish Nationalism.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Looks as if "O"rdure is more concerned about hiis own wants and desires, more so than defeating the enemies of the United States of America.

      organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized,
      committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11,
      2001, or harbored such organizations ...


      The President has determined that Daesh, IS, ISIL, ISIS, al-Qeada in Iraq ...
      ... are all one and the same, they are al-Qeada, the organization that
      ...planned, authorized, committed....

      acts of treacherous violence (that) were committed against the United States and its citizens

      Must be because "O"rdure interests are not those of the United States, but those of Israel.

      Israel prefers Daesh (al-Qeada) in Syria, over the Alawites, Christians and their Kurdish allies

      Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren told the Jerusalem Post that Israel so wanted Assad out and his Iranian backers weakened, that Israel would accept al-Qaeda operatives taking power in Syria.

      “We always wanted Bashar Assad to go, we always preferred the bad guys who weren’t backed by Iran to the bad guys who were backed by Iran.”

      Even if the other “bad guys” were affiliated with al-Qaeda.
      “We understand that they are pretty bad guys,” Oren said in the interview.


      http://www.jpost.com/Syria-Crisis/Oren-Jerusalem-has-wanted-Assad-ousted-since-the-outbreak-of-the-Syrian-civil-war-326328

      Delete
    2. So says Senor Rat Mierda

      (rough translation: Mr Rat Shit)

      Delete
    3. Jack HawkinsWed Oct 08, 11:11:00 AM EDT
      Looks as if "O"rdure is more concerned about hiis own wants and desires, more so than defeating the enemies of the United States of America.

      Looks to me you are full of shit, you lie, distort and misdirect and add nothing to the discussion, your meaningless points will not be addressed as you are not capable of having an adult conversation

      Delete
  2. Good news from Syria !

    Looks like the Coalition has begun to communicate with the Kurdish /Syrian Government forces on the ground in Kobane.
    The Coalition recognizing that for the air strikes to be effective, the pilots needed to speak to "Boots on the Ground", what we have been referring to as an "Active Partner".

    From the above report, the two military forces, the Coalition and those allied with the the legitimate government of Syria, the one recognized by both the United Nations and the United States., may be beginning to coordinated their actions.

    A step beyond communicating, coordination and cooperation ... all necessary to fully and effectively implement ...
    ... "The Rat Doctrine"

    ReplyDelete
  3. WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - A rocky exit from low interest rates by the Federal Reserve risks $3.8 trillion of losses to global bond portfolios, the International Monetary Fund warned Wednesday in its latest global financial stability report.

    ReplyDelete
  4. During WWI, the German army had the foresight after the first few battles to construct secondary and even tertiary fall-back positions. When the German line would come under withering artillery barrages, the troops would make a hasty but orderly withdrawal to these fall-back lines. It was from these positions that the "inevitable counterattack" would come.

    Whether IS has been driven out of Kobane for good or has merely, prudently fallen back to other lines of defense remains to be seen.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "The Rat Doctrine" of great self claimed importance is simply common sense, something every Boy Scout would know.

    It's best if you can make certain of what one is bombing.

    duh

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Though with the use of drones "The Doctrine" is not as important as it might once have been.

      Delete
    2. "Common Sense" in an uncommon situation, Robert Peterson.

      It is "Common Sense" that you, Robert Peterson, have told us will not be effective.
      Which is why Robert Peterson advocates and champions sending US troops into the fight.

      Robert Peterson has advocated to send US Army Airborne troops to defend the Kurds from aggression.

      While the "Common Sense" of the "Rat Doctrine" eschews that strategy, entirely.
      It is heartening to see that Robert Peterson is coming to see that the "Common Sense" approach that is advocated for int the "Rat Doctrine" is much, much preferable to his idea of having US ground forces in the fight.

      That Robert now equate the "Rat Doctrine" to "Common Sense" ...
      well, I do not think he is giving Thomas Paine his proper due ...

      But I accept his praise, regardless.

      ;-)

      Welcome aboard, Bobbie !

      Delete
    3. Why thank you, JackShit.

      I have joined your Boy Scout Thinkers Society !

      I am embarrassed and ashamed of myself, and deny it forcefully, but there it is what you have said........

      "you are bat shit crazy, rat"

      Quirk Quick Quotes

      Delete
    4. How is the new promised Quirk's Deep Thoughts Blog coming along, Quirk?

      We all await its arrival expectantly.

      (if it is a rat free zone)

      Otherwise, hell, don't bother.

      Delete
    5. The Rat has dissed the Scouts in the past, is he now JOINING me in the Scouting Motto and Ethos?

      I doubt it..

      Delete
  6. .Mark Begich running for Senate in Alaska seems to have given up.

    In a new ad he has embraced ObamaCare.

    ObamaCare is particularly unpopular in Alaska, as is Obama himself.

    Perhaps the Eskimos don't think highly of it.

    Anyway, it's like kissing a corpse.

    Alaska, which is overwhelmingly Republican, will have a new Republican Senator.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jack HawkinsWed Oct 08, 11:11:00 AM EDT

    Looks as if "O"rdure is more concerned about hiis own wants and desires, more so than defeating the enemies of the United States of America.
    >>>>>>>>>>>

    It was only a few short threads ago that Senor Rat Mierda (rough translation: Mr Rat Shit) was quoting Schoppy to the point that nationalism is the mark of the intellectually retarded.


    Bwabwabwahahahahahha


    rat is a gas !!

    A real gas, I tell ya !!!!!!

    hoot hoot hoot hoot

    ReplyDelete
  8. .

    How is the new promised Quirk's Deep Thoughts Blog coming along, Quirk?


    I will title my first blog stream, The rat, Ex-Post Facto Prognosticator to the EB.

    It will be filled with examples illustrating the theme. For instance,

    Today, rat tells us the US has begun to communicate and coordinate with the Kurds in Kobani, the 'allies' of Assad.

    Looks like the Coalition has begun to communicate with the Kurdish /Syrian Government forces on the ground in Kobane.
    The Coalition recognizing that for the air strikes to be effective, the pilots needed to speak to "Boots on the Ground", what we have been referring to as an "Active Partner".

    From the above report, the two military forces, the Coalition and those allied with the the legitimate government of Syria, the one recognized by both the United Nations and the United States., may be beginning to coordinated their actions.


    Yet, yesterday, he told us it wouldn't happen. In response to Deuce's Kobani post, we have

    Jack HawkinsTue Oct 07, 08:16:00 PM EDT

    The US will not support those forces in Syria that are allied with the legitimate government, the one recognized by the United Nations. It would piss the Israelis off, if the US did. The Israeli position was made clear by their previous Ambassador to the US, Mr Michael Oren.

    Israel prefers Daesh (al-Qeada) in Syria, over the Alawites, Christians and their Kurdish allies...


    :o)

    If there is any potentially positive movement in the war, it is the result of the Rat Doctrine. If things go badly, it is intentional and part of the Yinon Plan. How can you lose?

    There will be other examples of course, such as,

    When the US expanded the war into Syria, the rat was dismayed because it didn't fit with the Rat Doctrine. After a couple days of successful bombing raids in Syria the old ratster was giddy with approval of the intervention.

    There will be some items mentioned whose resolution is still pending.

    After a couple weeks of US bombing we were assured that the IS were 'dead men walking' and had 'no place to run and no place to hide'. When someone suggested that the nature of war dictates that the victories will inevitably be offset by some setbacks, that someone was told by the rat that he just didn't get it, the Rat Doctrine was in play, IS was now on the defensive and unable to mount any type of offense.

    Last week, IS took control of two towns in Iraq, the last one being Hit (the second town was one with an Arabic name starting with 'B' with more than 3 letters).

    Yesterday, CNN put up two sets of maps for Syria/Iraq showing the IS controlled cities/towns in Syria and Iraq at the beginning of the US air attacks and now. In Syria, ISIS controlled 10 cities/towns and today they control 10. In Iraq, IS controlled 13 cities/towns at the beginning of the US attacks and today the control 14.

    There will also be quotes from others who have opined on the EB's own Ex-Post Facto Prognosticator, such as,

    allenTue Oct 07, 12:06:00 PM EDT

    ...

    The "rat doctrine" is based solely on which way the wind is blowing.


    It may take a while to pull the piece together. The examples are legion and the editing will be a bear.

    :o)

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I stopped reading when I came to the first distortion.

      Today, rat tells us the US has begun to communicate and coordinate with the Kurds in Kobani, the 'allies' of Assad.

      Wrong, again, Quirk.
      What was said was that communication had begun, it was mentioned and reference by Deuce, yesterday.

      Then it was said that if ... if ... Communication COULD be the first step to Coordination and that would provide the Coalition an "Active Partner", the keystone component of the "Rat Doctrine"

      And that the "Active Partner" was allied with the Assad government, the legitimate government of Syria, recognized by the United States and United Nations.

      PKK backs Assad
      Tamil Guardian 22 April 2012


      ... the PKK has allied itself with the Assad government. In the past, Syria armed and protected the PKK in its long campaign against Turkey.

      http://www.tamilguardian.com/article.asp?articleid=4676

      First correction, that'll be enough for a while

      Delete
    2. Look who is calling the kettle black….

      Distorter in Chief…

      Delete
    3. Provide the references, "O"rdure.

      Cut and paste, child.

      Show us the stuff...

      Delete
    4. Dear Jack Off,

      We have, over and over. And when you have asked for proof about things? We have jumped the your "hoops" only to have you praise yourself about making us "dance on the end of a string".

      So no, you are a Liar. You misdirect and are not worthy of common conversation let alone detailed retorts.

      You distort, lie and misdirect.

      You are "worm tongue"…

      Delete
    5. .

      I stopped reading when I came to the first distortion.

      Nonsense, rat, you read the entire post. You couldn't help yourself.

      :o)

      .

      Delete
    6. .

      As for the rest of your weasel worded comment, it is your usual line of bullshit, you MO if you like.

      You ignore the point that was made and wander off on some tangent.

      The point made was that yesterday you claimed the US would never work with the Kurds because it would be against the 'Yinon Plan'. To day you say they are working with the Kurds and declare it a victory for the 'Rat Doctrine'.

      That's the way I see it. I'll leave it to the rest of the blog to judge who is the dissembler and distorter here.

      .

      Delete
  9. editorial
    Save border town from ISIS; don’t let Turkey veto US help



    http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2014/10/07/save-border-town-from-isis-don-let-turkey-veto-help/fhd40YN5v4Lepk8M8II2kK/story.html

    ReplyDelete
  10. (Reuters) - A Syrian Kurdish leader called on Tuesday for Western states to provide weapons to his forces fighting Islamic State in the besieged Syrian border town of Kobani, warning that his fighters were outgunned and risked massacre if help did not arrive soon.

    Saleh Muslim, head of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which has close links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Turkey, said that his calls for arms had so far been rebuffed by the United States and European nations, blaming Turkey for obstructing his efforts.

    "We are asking everybody who can help us to provide weapons to the people fighting against tanks and artillery, but nobody is doing anything. There will be many who are martyred," he told Reuters during a diplomatic mission to Europe.

    "We have sent messages to the Europeans and the United States, but I think there are obstacles... Turkey and other countries are preventing this because they don't want the Kurds to be able to defend themselves."


    Remember, boys and girls ...

    PKK backs Assad
    Tamil Guardian 22 April 2012

    ... the PKK has allied itself with the Assad government. In the past, Syria armed and protected the PKK in its long campaign against Turkey.


    http://www.tamilguardian.com/article.asp?articleid=4676

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Israel prefers Daesh (al-Qeada) in Syria, over the Alawites, Christians and their Kurdish allies

      Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren told the Jerusalem Post that Israel so wanted Assad out and his Iranian backers weakened, that ...
      Israel would accept al-Qaeda operatives taking power in Syria.


      “We always wanted Bashar Assad to go, we always preferred the bad guys who weren’t backed by Iran to the bad guys who were backed by Iran.”

      Even if the other “bad guys” were affiliated with al-Qaeda.
      “We understand that they are pretty bad guys,” Oren said in the interview.


      http://www.jpost.com/Syria-Crisis/Oren-Jerusalem-has-wanted-Assad-ousted-since-the-outbreak-of-the-Syrian-civil-war-326328

      Delete
    2. No one is responding. Wonder why? :-)

      Delete
    3. Not to worry, he will sing on with several additional names to start arguing within self and then? He will proclaim his "victory" over himself as success.

      Deluded narcism on steroids.

      Delete
  11. http://nypost.com/2014/10/06/denver-census-staffer-brings-data-falsification-to-light/
    Denver Census staffer brings data falsification to light

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A field supervisor in the Census Bureau’s Denver region has informed her organization’s higher-ups, the head of the Commerce Department and congressional investigators that she believes economic data collected by her office is being falsified.
      And this whistleblower — who asked that I not identify her — said her bosses in Denver ignored her warnings even after she provided details of wrongdoing by three different survey takers.
      The three continued to collect data even after she reported them.
      When I spoke with this whistleblower earlier this year as part of my investigation of Census, she told me that hundreds of interviews that go into the Labor Department’s unemployment rate and inflation surveys would miraculously be completed just hours before deadline.
      The implication was that someone with the ability to fill in the blanks on incomplete surveys was doing just that.
      The Denver whistleblower also provided to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform the names of other Census workers who can spill the beans about data fraud in other regions.
      Census is broken up into six regions. Cheating has already been proven in the Philadelphia region. And with this whistleblower’s letter, Census authorities now have allegations that the same kind of nonsense was going on in Denver — that office covers Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wyoming
      The Oversight Committee recently completed a report along with the Joint Economic Committee of Congress that verified one case of falsification in the Philly office. But the committee said it couldn’t prove or disprove that there was a nationwide pattern of data fraud because Commerce — which oversees Census — had “obstructed” its investigation.
      “There are serious issues within the Census Bureau Denver regional office management and I feel it’s time that you are made aware of them,” the whistleblower wrote on Sept. 30 to Penny Pritzker, the head of Commerce, and Wayne Hatcher, associate director of Census Field operations.

      Delete
  12. Legion, that was the word the fella with a peculiar behavioral habit. used ...

    Can't hardly wait ...
    But it seems like we have to, regardless of our personal wants and desires...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Why would you be waiting, rat?

      You said you couldn't get past the first 'distortion' above. How many times must you prove you can't remember what you have said even a few posts back.

      "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive."

      You are always good for a laugh, rat.

      :o)

      .

      Delete
    2. But, you are still unable to preform, as you promised, Quirk.
      Regardless of the comedic qualities you praise me for.

      It may take a while to pull the piece together. The examples are legion and the editing will be a bear. - Quirk

      The readers await, with bated breath ...

      Oh, focusing upon "The Rat" because you have nothing else to offer ...
      That is comedic, funniest stuff of the week.

      Delete
    3. Bob OreilleWed Oct 08, 01:17:00 PM EDT

      Excellent, Quirk.

      I can hardly wait. ...


      The audience is chanting, Quirk ...
      Waiting for your performance to begin !

      Do not let us down, now that you have set the scene.

      Delete
    4. Actually Jack/rat no one here gives a hoot about your comments or POV, you lie, misdirect and distort.

      You cannot rationally make an argument with a narcissist like you.

      You have no concept of speaking truth.

      Delete
  13. Excellent, Quirk.

    I can hardly wait.

    By the way, how can there even be a 'rat doctrine' when we have been told repeatedly by Jack that the rat does not exist, that he is a figment of our imaginations........?

    Is Jack on drugs?

    ReplyDelete
  14. http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2014/10/08/report-missouri-authorities-planning-for-riots-if-ferguson-cop-not-indicted-in-browns-death/
    REPORT: Missouri Authorities Planning for Riots if Ferguson Officer Not Indicted

    The county prosecutor is a sharp guy. It is unlikely that the grand jury finding will be released until after the election.

    ReplyDelete
  15. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2783791/The-vaginal-orgasm-doesn-t-exist-s-clitoris-holds-key-female-pleasure-study-claims.html
    The vaginal orgasm doesn't exist - it's the clitoris that holds the key to female pleasure, study claims

    All hands on deck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Only Maria knows for sure.

      I used to hear tell of something called the "G" spot or some such. Perhaps it was the "Q" spot, I don't know.

      What's up with that ?

      Delete
    2. The proof is often in hand.



      Delete
  16. http://www.france24.com/en/20141008-turkey-kurds-kobane-islamic-state-syria-coalition/
    ‘Turkey’s priority is Kurdish problem, not IS group’

    “'Turkey’s priority is to get rid of the Kurdish problem rather than the Islamic state organisation,' he said. 'Turkey in fact is allowing the central part of Syrian Kurdistan to be exterminated, and that area is precisely a stronghold for the Kurdish PKK.'

    According to Conesa, the escalating tension between Turkey and the Kurds illustrates deep divisions within the US-led international coalition against the IS group. 'Two supposed allies within the coalition are fighting each other,' he said. 'It illustrates the lack of political consensus on what this military operation is supposed to be about.'"

    "The lack of political consensus" could be understood as the lack of a strategy.

    ... Paging John Kerry! ... Paging John Kerry! ... Wasn't Kerry the fellow who continually showed up uninvited in Egypt and Israel during the Gaza crisis?

    ReplyDelete
  17. http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/10/08/Ten-reasons-why-people-who-support-wind-farms-are-deluded-criminal-or-insane-Which-one-are-you-Vince-Cable
    TEN REASONS WHY PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT WIND FARMS ARE DELUDED, CRIMINAL OR INSANE. WHICH ONE ARE YOU, VINCE CABLE?

    ReplyDelete

  18. (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday reported six airstrikes that helped stop Islamic State militants from taking over the Syrian town of Kobani, but played down the significance of the battle in the long-term U.S. strategy to defeat the Islamist group.

    The airstrikes destroyed an armored personnel carrier, armed vehicles and artillery belonging to the militant group, which had threatened to overrun the town on the Turkish border, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

    Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said it was essential to take a long-term view of the conflict. The group may take Kobani or other towns, he said. While airstrikes were effective, military power alone would not be enough.

    "People need to understand we need a little strategic patience here. This group is not going to go away tomorrow, and Kobani may fall. We can't predict whether it will or it won't,"
    Kirby . . . . .



    Honesty?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Replies
    1. Wow, just wow.

      Gas here has gone down a bit.

      $3.57 yesterday.

      Delete
  20. from the last thread

    "Israel's Arbitrary Arrests of Palestinian Minors"

    ar·bi·trar·y
    ˈärbəˌtrerē/
    adjective
    based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system.
    "his mealtimes were entirely arbitrary"
    synonyms: capricious, whimsical, random, chance, unpredictable; More

    Sorry arresting rock throwing palestinian teenagers is NOT arbitrary

    The thread's title was and is specious.

    ReplyDelete
  21. STUDIES: Multitasking Damages Your Brain..............drudge

    I can believe it.

    Best to set a goal of one or two things per day, and stick to that routine.

    It's a lot more relaxing, too.

    And far fewer mistakes......

    And leaves time for the Casino.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Iowa gets 27% of its Electricity from Wind.

    Iowa Wind

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anthony Kennedy halts same sex marriages in Idaho
    posted at 3:21 pm on October 8, 2014 by Jazz Shaw

    Ever since the Supremes came back into session it seems like not a day goes by without a gay marriage story coming out. It was only in the past 48 hours that news emerged that bans on same sex marriage in Idaho and Nevada were effectively dismissed when the high court chose not to act on the 9th Circuit Court’s decisions. But there was a difference between the two cases, namely that Idaho requested an emergency stay. As often happens in such instances, a single justice – in this case Anthony Kennedy – is able to put the situation on hold.

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily blocked the start of same-sex marriages in Idaho while it reviews a request from the state for the high court to hear an appeal on its wedding ban.

    A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down same-sex-marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada on Tuesday, acting shortly after the high court expanded gay-marriage rights by allowing restrictions to fall in five other states.

    Justice Anthony Kennedy, who oversees the judicial circuit that covers Idaho, issued the order. The Supreme Court typically grants such temporary stays in highly-contested cases, and in general they don’t indicate how the justices ultimately will resolve an issue.

    That last paragraph is the key one as far as what this all means. The bottom line is that we shouldn’t read anything into it. Kennedy is not ruling in favor of or against gay marriage in Idaho or anywhere else. He’s simply inserting a pause in the process and allowing the court to decide if further action is warranted. From here, we’ll have to wait and find out if they plan to take this question up at the request of Idaho or if they will decline yet again. If that happens, it doesn’t sound like there are any other impediments left in the pipeline and licenses will be issued in Idaho shortly thereafter.

    I’ve heard several theories as to why the SCOTUS justices have been trying to keep their hands off this one, and at this point I suppose one is as good as the next. There are opposing camps who each feel that one or the other subsets of justices are afraid that the votes aren’t there to support their preference, so they’d rather punt. Perhaps an even more likely explanation is that none of them wants to be branded as the gang who imposed their decision on such a hot button topic and they’d rather wait until nearly all of the states and the lower courts have weighed in. (The latter is my personal preference if I had to guess.)

    Either way, we should know about Idaho in short order, even if all we find out is that we have to wait even longer.

    from Hot Air

    ReplyDelete
  24. Gallup: Uninsured rate holds steady at 13.4% (32M), down 26% from a year ago








    Submitted by Charles Gaba on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 - 3:04pm.



    Source:


    Gallup, 10/08/14: In U.S., Uninsured Rate Holds at 13.4%
    .




    Gallup has just released their latest nationwide, fully-detailed quarterly insurance survey, and the results are...pretty much exactly what everyone in the real world (as opposed to FOX News, etc.) has been reporting for months now.

    The uninsured rate for adults (Gallup doesn't survey kids under 18, of course), which hit a high of 18% last fall (just prior to the ACA exchanges launching) is holding steady at 13.4%, the same number it was at in the 2nd quarter of 2014:

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The total U.S. population currently sits at roughly 316 million. Of that, around 76.7% are over 18, or about 242 million people.

      18% of that is 43.6 million. 13.4% is 32.4 million...a net reduction of around 11.2 million uninsured, or about a 26% drop in the uninsured rate nationally.

      Now, both of these numbers are about 1 mllion higher than the most-recent surveys (the Census Bureau had last years tally at around 42 million)...but there's obviously going to be slight variances from one study to another (the Census still lists it as 13.4%, exactly the same as Gallup). Between rounding, slight population increases and so on, there will be some minor differences here and there, but the overall trend is very clear.

      It's also important to remember that this survey, like similar ones by the Commonwealth Fund, the Urban Institute etc (all of which have found similar reductions in the uninsured rate) generally don't include children under 18, since I don't believe they can be legally polled. Kids generally are more likely to be insured anyway for various reasons, but if you add them to the mix I have to imagine that the net reduction in the uninsured is actually perhaps 1 million higher (around 12 million, give or . . . .

      Cool Chart

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  25. http://www.ijreview.com/2014/10/185644-food-stamp-participation-one-economic-stat-remains-constant-throughout-obama-administration/
    Americans Are on a 35-Month Streak and This Chart Shows Why It Needs to Be Broken ASAP

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  26. The 1996 Israeli document calls for “rolling back Syria” sometime around the year 2000 or afterward by pushing the Syrians out of Lebanon and destabilizing the Syrian Arab Republic with the help of Jordan and Turkey. This has respectively taken place in 2005 and 2011. The 1996 document states: “Israel can shape its strategic environment, in cooperation with Turkey and Jordan, by weakening, containing, and even rolling back Syria. This effort can focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq — an important Israeli strategic objective in its own right — as a means of foiling Syria’s regional ambitions.” [1]

    As a first step towards creating an Israeli-dominated “New Middle East” and encircling Syria, the 1996 document calls for removing President Saddam Hussein from power in Baghdad and even alludes to the balkanization of Iraq and forging a strategic regional alliance against Damascus that includes a Sunni Muslim “Central Iraq.” The authors write: “But Syria enters this conflict with potential weaknesses: Damascus is too preoccupied with dealing with the threatened new regional equation to permit distractions of the Lebanese flank. And Damascus fears that the ‘natural axis’ with Israel on one side, central Iraq and Turkey on the other, and Jordan, in the center would squeeze and detach Syria from the Saudi Peninsula. For Syria, this could be the prelude to a redrawing of the map of the Middle East which would threaten Syria’s territorial integrity.” [2]

    Perle and the Study Group on “A New Israeli Strategy Toward 2000″ also call for driving the Syrians out of Lebanon and destabilizing Syria by using Lebanese opposition figures. The document states: “[Israel must divert] Syria’s attention by using Lebanese opposition elements to destabilize Syrian control of Lebanon.” [3] This is what would happen in 2005 after the Hariri Assassination that helped launch the so-called “Cedar Revolution” and create the vehemently anti-Syrian March 14 Alliance controlled by the corrupt Said Hariri.

    Securing the Realm: The Israeli Blueprints to Destabilize Damascus

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    1. Provide a link to the report itself.

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    2. I do not need an interpretation; English is my mother tongue.

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