tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post5076889202466494620..comments2024-03-28T06:32:24.557-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: Who Had The Worst Day Today?Deuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger67125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-57218667016604708252016-03-04T18:33:25.471-05:002016-03-04T18:33:25.471-05:00.
War is a racket.
The perfect example, I rememb....<br /><br />War is a racket.<br /><br />The perfect example, I remember seeing those videos of pallets of shrink-rapped bricks of $100 bills being offloaded in Iraq and thinking 'what could possibly go wrong'?<br /><br /><i>By one account, the New York Fed shipped about $40 billion in cash between 2003 and 2008. In just the first two years, the shipments included more than 281 million individual bills weighing a total of 363 tons. But soon after the money arrived in the chaos of war-torn Baghdad, the paper trail documenting who controlled it all began to go cold.</i><br /><br />http://www.cnbc.com/id/45031100<br /><br />When they hand out this money to the general for use as 'walking around money' what can you expect. Not their money (hopefully), not their concern.<br /><br />War is bupkis.<br /><br />. Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-699341403915717752016-03-04T18:18:49.617-05:002016-03-04T18:18:49.617-05:00.
“We all know Lois Lerner is being told she has ....<br /><br /><i>“We all know Lois Lerner is being told she has no prosecution concerns. Nobody at the IRS has prosecution concerns,” Toensing said. “Nobody from Fast & Furious has any prosecution concerns. So why would we think this would be any different?”</i><br /><br />Has there ever been anyone prosecuted in the Obama administration? Not that I can recall. This with the fact that there have been scandals in most of the high profile departments and even in some of the smaller ones no one had ever heard of before. Oh, some of the honchos were allowed to retire, Lerner being one of them. And there were a couple of low level flunkies who received administrative punishment in the Benghazi affair. But you have to expect there will always be scapegoats.<br /><br />Clinton?<br /><br />She only has to stall the process for 8 months and she will be able to slide. And with Obama and his history, precedent, the Dem machine, and good lawyers, it will be a peace of cake.<br /><br />She will walk.<br /><br />Assuming she wins, of course.<br /><br />. Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-34057178023313074912016-03-04T17:50:32.684-05:002016-03-04T17:50:32.684-05:00Donald Trump's big fan: Jake Byrd and Donald T...Donald Trump's big fan: Jake Byrd and Donald Trump Rally on Jimmy Kimmel Live Jake Byrd at Donald Trump Rally Texas-sized crowd expected.<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdsf0FDt83IDoughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-57583102326808516562016-03-04T17:31:58.641-05:002016-03-04T17:31:58.641-05:00My part time job I do for relaxation:
https://www...My part time job I do for relaxation:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh8tIgGcSbEDoughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-15776348811205173382016-03-04T17:28:37.936-05:002016-03-04T17:28:37.936-05:00The Boosters outnumber the critics.
"Paul&quo...The Boosters outnumber the critics.<br />"Paul" (Unsk) is about the only vocal critic of The Donald.Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-16030930543133260392016-03-04T17:21:12.597-05:002016-03-04T17:21:12.597-05:00hey doug, what are the kids saying about Trump at...hey doug, what are the kids saying about Trump at the Belmont?Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06232405130481114127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-58301111792217441792016-03-04T17:07:27.186-05:002016-03-04T17:07:27.186-05:00"Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces are continu..."Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces are continuing the isolation phase of Fallujah and have encircled the town and surrounding urban sprawl, Garver said, and continue to improve defensive positions and prepare for future operations into Fallujah. The coalition supported the isolation phase by conducting 11 strikes against ISIL targets since Saturday, Garver said."<br />===<br />Way back in the beginning, Wretchard had a great post describing in detail how the Marines had them in one quarter of the city, and were ready to finish them off.<br /><br />Then orders from on high told them to stop.<br />How many US Soldiers and Iraqis were killed in Fallujah II and all that followed, thanks to that brilliant move?Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-56338109123106465722016-03-04T16:58:24.956-05:002016-03-04T16:58:24.956-05:00Syrian Efforts
Since the start of the offensive i...<b>Syrian Efforts</b><br /><br />Since the start of the offensive in Shadaddi last month, the Syrian Democratic Forces have gained more than 2,600 square kilometers, Garver said. Those gains bring the total amount of terrain the SDF controls in northern Syria to more than 20,000 square kilometers, he said.<br /><br />While the SDF controls Shadaddi, Garver said, it is continuing to clear the ground, including pockets of resistance and has begun providing humanitarian assistance in the area of Shadaddi.<br /><br />"The fight to seize and clear Shadaddi and the subsequent operations in Hasakah province have gone much faster than the SDF original timeline, but the fighting has been tough at times," Garver said.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.defense.gov/News-Article-View/Article/686365/iraqi-forces-preparing-for-mosul-assault-oir-spokesman-says" rel="nofollow">DOD</a>galopn2https://www.blogger.com/profile/10149969176825932175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-88384014153493340852016-03-04T16:56:17.479-05:002016-03-04T16:56:17.479-05:00Progress in Iraq
Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces...<b>Progress in Iraq</b><br /><br />Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces are continuing the isolation phase of Fallujah and have encircled the town and surrounding urban sprawl, Garver said, and continue to improve defensive positions and prepare for future operations into Fallujah. The coalition supported the isolation phase by conducting 11 strikes against ISIL targets since Saturday, Garver said.<br /><br />In Sinjar, the colonel said, the Iraqi forces to retain the area and the coalition continues to support operations with airstrikes against ISIL remnants near the city and along the east-west Highway 47. Since Feb. 27, the coalition has conducted 13 strikes against ISIL tactical units, rocket positions, mortar positions, a sniper position, and fighting positions, he added. <br /><br />In the Hit and Haditha corridor in the Euphrates River Valley, the coalition continues to disrupt ISIL's command and control and the flow of reinforcements and supplies inside the river valley, he said.<br /><br />March 1 ISIL suicide attacks on an Iraqi army compound headquarters building in Haditha killed eight Iraqi soldiers and wounded eight others, Garver said. "In spite of these losses,” he added, “Iraqi army units and Sunni [Popular Mobilization Forces] continue operations in that area.”galopn2https://www.blogger.com/profile/10149969176825932175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-48774122144716367032016-03-04T16:54:43.360-05:002016-03-04T16:54:43.360-05:00Iraqi Forces Preparing for Mosul Assault, OIR Spok...<b>Iraqi Forces Preparing for Mosul Assault, OIR Spokesman Says</b><br /><br />WASHINGTON, March 4, 2016 — With coalition support, Iraqi security forces are preparing for the assault to reclaim the key city of Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman said today.<br /><br />Speaking to Pentagon reporters via teleconference from Baghdad, Army Col. Christopher Garver said the Mosul assault will happen in the coming months on the timeline of the Iraqis, as they are the ones planning the operation.<br /><br />"We're supporting them throughout the operation, but we look for ways to accelerate the timeline," he said, explaining that this includes speeding up the training for the Iraqi soldiers, and providing options to help them on the ground.<br /><br />The battle for the city already has started, he said, noting that shaping operations have been going on for several months. "We have struck [ISIL] fighters, weapons, leaders, and financial assets with precision and lethality," the colonel said.<br /><br />The coalition has been training and equipping the Iraqi security forces who will conduct the assault, Garver said. Training also is underway for the police forces who will serve as the “hold force” throughout Iraq to prevent ISIL's resurgence, he said.<br /><br />"Along the way, we continue to explore options to accelerate the operation in order to meet the prime minister’s goal of seizing Mosul and defeating [ISIL] in Iraq in 2016," he said.<br /><br />The operations in Iraq are designed to cause ISIL to fight across the breadth and depth of the terrain it controls, Garver said, while preventing the terrorists from moving around the battlefield and reinforcing fighters.galopn2https://www.blogger.com/profile/10149969176825932175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-32691846533119180862016-03-04T16:12:22.141-05:002016-03-04T16:12:22.141-05:00But while Toensing does not expect Attorney Genera...But while Toensing does not expect Attorney General Loretta Lynch to indict Clinton regardless of what the FBI may or may not recommend, she said the probe may still lead to serious political damage for Clinton.<br /><br />"I think that you'll find a lot of leaks if it doesn't happen," she said. "If they find criminal conduct and recommend criminal prosecution and it's quashed, I think people in the press will start getting a dime dropped on them."<br /><br />===<br />There is also evidence that Clinton obstructed justice during the course of the investigation.<br /><br />"There is a possible obstruction of justice charge in that Sidney Blumenthal was also asked to turn over documents," Toensing said. "He turned over emails back and forth to her that she never turned over. Prosecutors go after that all the time."Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-10187437795958914972016-03-04T16:06:54.954-05:002016-03-04T16:06:54.954-05:00"This has been the most political Justice Dep..."This has been the most political Justice Department that I have ever, ever seen, and I go back a long way, back to (Carter administration Attorney General) Griffin Bell, who was just a great attorney general,” Toensing said. “It wouldn’t have bothered him one way or the other. It wouldn’t have bothered Democratic or Republican administrations.”<br /><br />However, she said the track record of the Obama Justice Department should lead Americans to expect no legal trouble for Clinton in the coming weeks or months.<br /><br />“<i><b>We all know Lois Lerner is being told she has no prosecution concerns. Nobody at the IRS has prosecution concerns,” Toensing said. “Nobody from Fast & Furious has any prosecution concerns. So why would we think this would be any different</b></i>?”<br /><br />http://www.wnd.com/2015/12/ex-doj-official-slaps-hillary-its-the-server-stupid/#bcu1FHLgb5ziqhWM.99Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-71887942265975311682016-03-04T16:01:51.211-05:002016-03-04T16:01:51.211-05:00Political correctness played a major role in a sho...<b>Political correctness played a major role in a shocking child-sexual-abuse scandal.</b> <br /><br />Last August, Rotherham, an industrial town in northern England, was thrust into the headlines when a government report detailed how gangs of local men had raped and trafficked at least 1,400 girls, <b>some as young as eleven years old, over the course of more than 15 years. The report found that almost all the alleged perpetrators were Muslim men of Pakistani origin and that most of the victims were white working-class girls.</b><br /><br />Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/415251/lessons-rotherham-daniel-allott-jordan-allott-ben-allenDoughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-43993512242275743502016-03-04T16:01:16.639-05:002016-03-04T16:01:16.639-05:00"But can economic models explain why one appr..."But can economic models explain why one approach worked while the other failed? The answer may lie in psychology. One possible difference between the two groups of people is war-weariness."<br />---<br />Doug replied:<br /><br />Or, one can be lazy and just state the truth:<br />Muslim "societies" are not Judeo-Christian Societies.<br />or,<br />As "Vinny" stated on these pages back in 2004:<br />"Afghanistan is a Sh!thole."<br />...after living there and watching old guys bring their young boyfriends down from the mountains. ...among other things.Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-88205906548777870942016-03-04T15:59:23.021-05:002016-03-04T15:59:23.021-05:00Nation building experts will struggle to explain h...Nation building experts will struggle to explain how so much money could be spent stimulating economic activity Afghanistan without result. <br /><br /><b>More has been poured into that country than the entire Marshall Plan expenditure on Europe.</b> <br />The blame will doubtless fall on yet another failed model of Western aid delivery.<br /><br />American taxpayers have provided £61.5 billion since 2002 and Britain about £890 million, for hundreds of development projects. <br />The military operation has cost America a further £296 billion and Britain £22 billion, the Times reported. ... <br /><br />The Marshall Plan cost the equivalent of £61 billion at today’s prices, says the report, which was presented to the US Congress this week.<br /><br />https://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2016/03/04/a-bellyful-of-war/Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-52513232635587165612016-03-04T14:35:29.270-05:002016-03-04T14:35:29.270-05:00Continuing my effort to keep the uninformed in the...Continuing my effort to keep the uninformed in the loop -<br /><br /><br />The FBI’s Hillary probe closes in on a political crisis<br /><br />By Post Editorial Board<br /><br />March 3, 2016 | 9:09pm <br /><br /><br />Modal Trigger The FBI’s Hillary probe closes in on a political crisis <br />Hillary Clinton Photo: ZumaWire <br /> <br /><br />The FBI probe of Hillary Clinton took a major step forward this week with news that the guy who ran her illicit home-brew email has been granted immunity.<br /><br />Clinton aide Bryan Pagliano had invoked his Fifth Amendment rights in refusing to testify or cooperate with investigators.<br /><br />A tech with the 2008 Clinton campaign, he got hired for related duties when she took over at State — then won the nearly $140,000-a-year side job of setting up and maintaining her private email system.<br /><br /><b>Former top-notch federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy says the grant of immunity strongly suggests that either a grand jury has already been empaneled to consider charges in this case — or that the feds expect to empanel one soon.</b><br /><br />So much for Clinton’s claim that this is a perfunctory investigation in which she has nothing to fear criminally.<br /><br />Sorry, Madam Secretary, the FBI doesn’t “perfunctorily” grant immunity. And the probe is apparently in the hands of career national-security prosecutors, including one from the team that won a guilty plea from former CIA chief Gen. David Petraeus.<br /><br />You begin to see why she’s refused to hold a press conference for three months now.<br /><br />It’s not just Clinton at risk here: Top aides such as Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills were also clearly involved in the improper handling of the nation’s secrets. Indeed, the FBI’s reportedly looking into whether aides traded passwords to illegally move info from classified servers to the private system.<br /><br />We already know that more than 2,000 Clinton emails contained classified information, including dozens with the most confidential stuff. At issue is who’ll take the fall for improper handling of the secrets.<br /><br />Be glad the FBI’s on the case. The State Department has announced that its investigation won’t wrap up ’til after Election Day.<br /><br />Clearly, Clinton still has powerful fans at Foggy Bottom. But how many does she have at the Justice Department?<br /><br />President Obama has publicly claimed there’s no scandal here — a signal of where he wants the FBI investigation to lead.<br /><br />If the nonpolitical attorneys move to file charges anyway, do they get quashed? If so, how many will resign in public protest?<br /><br />We’d like to think the legal system could honestly resolve this case — but it’s most likely to come down to politics.<br /><br />http://nypost.com/2016/03/03/the-fbis-hillary-probe-closes-in-on-a-political-crisis/<br /><br />Idaho Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-60735768402410386642016-03-04T14:12:38.912-05:002016-03-04T14:12:38.912-05:00DEM WEBB: I WON'T VOTE FOR CLINTON, BUT I MAY ...DEM WEBB: I WON'T VOTE FOR CLINTON, BUT I MAY TRUMP! ..........DRUDGE<br /><br />Jim Webb was thinking of trying a third party run, but couldn't raise the money I suppose.<br /><br />I could vote for Webb.Idaho Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-24791212978252787372016-03-04T14:06:17.249-05:002016-03-04T14:06:17.249-05:00The endless braggadocio isn't my cup of tea ei...The endless braggadocio isn't my cup of tea either.<br /><br />Sometimes I find him hilarious.<br /><br />It's a mixed bag.<br /><br />He is quick mentally.<br /><br />And his wife is stunning.Idaho Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-40011301304209234292016-03-04T13:59:01.423-05:002016-03-04T13:59:01.423-05:00hang my head in shamehang my head in shameIdaho Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-72942765547822431372016-03-04T13:56:11.525-05:002016-03-04T13:56:11.525-05:00Those are the two things I like about him.
I get ...Those are the two things I like about him.<br /><br />I get the disturbing feeling that we've seen just the tip of the iceberg of his financial shenanigans.<br /><br />I've got something against all of them, except maybe Kasich. <br /><br />This last debate, though not without humor, was really, er, 'uncivilized'. On nearly all sides.<br /><br />There were time when I wanted to hand my head in shame, and then thankfully I fell asleep.Idaho Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-30706971885466646732016-03-04T13:50:28.620-05:002016-03-04T13:50:28.620-05:00There is absolutely a problem, and I’m going to be...There is absolutely a problem, and I’m going to be careful here not to characterize it as big or small or use any adjective related to size. The problem is that Trump, Rubio, Ted Cruz and John Kasich were on the stage in Detroit to debate their qualifications for the most powerful job in the world, at the helm of its most important democracy, and Trump and Rubio weren’t just hitting, but also dwelling, below the belt.<br /><br />Surreal. Sickening.<br /><br />So, yes, the size of Trump’s penis matters — or, rather, what matters is that it was an actual subject of discussion; that it reflected and set the tone of the encounter; and that this tone favors Trump, because it’s where he lives, it’s his kingdom, and if rivals join him there, they merely become his subjects.<br /><br />It would be wrong to assume that this is the nadir of political debate in American history. The 19th century was far worse as far as bare-knuckled, rough-and-tumble politics is concerned. Lincoln was an "ape" and possibly had black ancestors. Andrew Jackson was a bigamist. John Adams was a secret royalist who wanted to return America to English rule. Vote-buying was rampant. Ballot box-stuffing, "lost" votes – both sides did it, which made elections roughly equal in corruption.<br /><br />Most of us thought we had outgrown those kinds of antics and attacks. But last night's debate was just an extension of a campaign that Donald Trump has turned into a reality TV show. His low-information voters see politics as entertainment – not at all different from Keeping up with the Kardashians or Real Housewives. There are good guys and bad guys, pathos, humor, lots of bleeped conversations, and drama, drama, drama. <br /><br />Thoreau from "Walden's Pond":<br /><br /><br />The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.<br /><br />This is America of the early 21st century, where many people lead lives empty of meaning, needing constant stimulation to remind themselves they're alive. Trump succeeds in attracting those whose emotions are easily manipulated and whose fears are easily fed. He is very good at enabling hatred at the same time as engendering fear and loathing of political opponents and those different from the safe, comfortable white middle class that has been under seige for decades.<br /><br />The world is blowing up all around us – crisis upon crisis, with no America to lead and a current administration who sees American leadership as evil or unnecessary. Will we substitute the naive belief that we shouldn't accept our role as a leader in the world with a shocking ignorance of what that leadership should be?<br /><br />It's becoming more possible every day.<br /><br />http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/03/the_republican_debate_by_salvadore_dali.html#ixzz41xfF63Le <br /><br />Idaho Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-89708734415006368472016-03-04T13:49:16.282-05:002016-03-04T13:49:16.282-05:00March 4, 2016
The Republican debate, by Salvador ... <br /> <br />March 4, 2016<br /><br />The Republican debate, by Salvador Dali<br /><br />By Rick Moran<br /><br /><br />Russia is engaged in a massive build-up of troops in Armenia that threatens Turkey, a NATO ally. Donald Trump assured the world that there was "no problem" with his penis size.<br /><br />China has militarized the South China Sea. The GOP frontrunner became incoherent when trying to defend his lies and flip-flops.<br /><br />North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has told his military to prepare to use nuclear weapons. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz turned a presidential debate into a feces-flinging contest between monkeys.<br /><br />It's possible that only the surrealist painter Salvador Dalí could capture the essence of the vulgarity, the stupidity, the childishness of a night where the Republican Party descended to depths unknown for more than a century of political combat. <br /><br />Frank Bruni of the New York Times captured the spirit of the night:<br /><br /><br />One of the moderators upbraided Marco Rubio (rightly) for abandoning incessant pledges of a positive campaign, answering Trump’s schoolyard taunts with adolescent jokes and jabs of his own, and even going so far as to claim that Trump had wet his pants under the pressure at the prior debate.<br /><br />Trump butted in to take special issue with one of Rubio’s digs.<br /><br />“He hit my hands,” Trump said, alluding to Rubio’s assertion that they were small and correctly noting that Rubio had insinuated that “if they’re small, something else must be small.”<br /><br />Trump lifted his chin. Puffed up his chest.<br /><br />“I guarantee you there’s no problem,” he said. “I guarantee.”<br /><br />Idaho Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-11025261207929017822016-03-04T13:40:10.737-05:002016-03-04T13:40:10.737-05:00What bothers you about Trump Bob? He seems to be ...What bothers you about Trump Bob? He seems to be right up your alley - anti-immigration, anti-Muslim...Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06232405130481114127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-72889461259554489922016-03-04T13:26:50.383-05:002016-03-04T13:26:50.383-05:00This is the type of year that sometimes makes me t...This is the type of year that sometimes makes me think we'd have been better off with a Parliament.<br /><br />(I basically can't stand Krugman but this is good:<br /><br />" or a President Cruz, whom one suspects would love to bring back the Spanish Inquisition.")<br /><br /><br />hehe that hits home somehow<br /><br />Idaho Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-5147683012725838792016-03-04T12:50:55.133-05:002016-03-04T12:50:55.133-05:00Economist's view<a href="http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2016/03/paul-krugman-clash-of-republican-con-artists.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EconomistsView+%28Economist%27s+View%29" rel="nofollow">Economist's view</a>galopn2https://www.blogger.com/profile/10149969176825932175noreply@blogger.com