tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post799612284873031351..comments2024-03-19T05:29:47.524-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: Gunmen Take 170 Hostage at Radisson Hotel in Bamako, Mali Deuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-78746503303755257602015-11-20T17:18:17.495-05:002015-11-20T17:18:17.495-05:00Hmmmmm......what name shall I call Rufus in return...Hmmmmm......what name shall I call Rufus in return ?<br /><br />Rufus, you are an old illiterate drunken racist gizzard.Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-58255820496689561692015-11-20T17:16:27.904-05:002015-11-20T17:16:27.904-05:00Oil is only one revenue source for ISIS. According...Oil is only one revenue source for ISIS. According to the the AP, they also control the black market on cigarettes in their territory — which is odd, since they forbid smoking, too. They levy taxes on all trade, but especially on sales of passports brought in by foreign recruits, cell phones, human trafficking, and smuggling antiquities, some of which ISIS does itself. But oil is truly where it’s at, and not just in producing crude, but in extortion through oil too:<br /><br /> Why can’t either simply shut down the crossing and deprive ISIS of its revenue stream?<br /><br /> “Because there is no choice. ISIS has the diesel, the oil. Last time, a little bit before Ramadan, the rebels closed ISIS’s crossing.” ISIS responded by turning off the tap. “The price of oil in Syria went up. The bakeries stopped because there was no diesel. The cars, the hospitals, everything shut down.”<br /><br /> There’s a knock-on effect to the ISIS energy racket. Abu Khaled says that everything in Syria works on generators now. “I have a huge generator, I can fuel a small area, and people pay me for the power.” And because he could purchase his diesel fuel at cut-rate prices owing to his ISIS membership—one-sixth the cost to civilians—he became a minor energy baron in his own right.<br /><br /> ISIS also, famously, sells Assad’s oil back to him. “In Aleppo, people have electricity for maybe three or four hours per day. The electricity station is in Asfireh, ISIS-controlled territory, near Kweris airport. So the regime pays for the fuel to run the station. It pays the salaries for the workers because they’re specialized and can’t be replaced. And ISIS takes 52 percent of the electricity and the regime takes 48 percent. That’s the deal they have with Assad.”<br /><br />Take out the oil, and you take out a significant strut of ISIS’ grip on power. The Russians are aiming at the right target, although it remains to be seen whether their assessment of damage done is accurate. Their aggressive action prompts the question yet again, though: How did the US miss this so badly, and why haven’t we demonstrated the same will to action?<br /><br />Adam Kredo has an answer at the Free Beacon:<br /><br /> U.S. military pilots who have returned from the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq are confirming that they were blocked from dropping 75 percent of their ordnance on terror targets because they could not get clearance to launch a strike, according to a leading member of Congress.<br /><br /> Strikes against the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) targets are often blocked due to an Obama administration policy to prevent civilian deaths and collateral damage, according to Rep. Ed Royce (R., Calif.), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.<br /><br /> The policy is being blamed for allowing Islamic State militants to gain strength across Iraq and continue waging terrorist strikes throughout the region and beyond, according to Royce and former military leaders who spoke Wednesday about flaws in the U.S. campaign to combat the Islamic State.<br /><br /> “You went 12 full months while ISIS was on the march without the U.S. using that air power and now as the pilots come back to talk to us they say three-quarters of our ordnance we can’t drop, we can’t get clearance even when we have a clear target in front of us,” Royce said. “I don’t understand this strategy at all because this is what has allowed ISIS the advantage and ability to recruit.”<br /><br />The Russians are clearly not as particular.<br /><br />http://hotair.com/archives/2015/11/20/from-russia-with-purpose-over-500-sorties-put-million-dollar-dent-in-isis-oil-revenue/Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-57479305034722254272015-11-20T17:15:11.622-05:002015-11-20T17:15:11.622-05:00Russia: Over 500 sorties put million-dollar dent i...Russia: Over 500 sorties put million-dollar dent in daily ISIS oil revenue<br />posted at 4:41 pm on November 20, 2015 by Ed Morrissey<br /><br /><br /><br />Give Russia this much credit: when it goes to war, it goes at it rather enthusiastically. Russia’s defense ministry has released video of its soldiers writing messages on missiles and bombs such as “For Our Guys” and “For Paris,” loaded on bombers that subsequently delivered them to ISIS at full speed. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claims that the strikes have targeted ISIS’ oil revenues, and have degraded them by over a million dollars a day:<br /><br /> The Russian military has destroyed numerous oil facilities and tankers controlled by the Islamic State group in Syria, sharply cutting its income, Russia’s defense minister said Friday.<br /><br /> Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin on Friday that Russian warplanes destroyed 15 oil refining and storage facilities in Syria and 525 trucks carrying oil during this week’s bombing blitz. He said this deprived IS of $1.5 million in daily income from oil sales. …<br /><br /> Russian state TV on Friday showed Russian air force ground crew writing “For Ours!” and “For Paris!” on bombs being attached to Russian warplanes.<br /><br /> According to Shoigu, Russian warplanes have flown 522 sorties and destroyed over 800 targets over the last four days. Russian long-range bombers and navy ships have launched 101 cruise missiles in four days, including 18 fired Friday by Russian navy ships from the Caspian Sea.<br /><br />ABC News notes that Russia has been flying bomber sorties since the end of September, but have increased the intensity after ISIS blew up a Metrojet airliner filled with Russian tourists. That’s true, but a bit misleading. Russia had been flying bombing runs over Syria, but mostly in the western part of the country against Syrian rebels more intent on unseating Bashar al-Assad. After ISIS attacked Russians, the priorities have shifted — and pretty dramatically.<br /><br />If Russia is correct about their impact on ISIS’ oil infrastructure, then it’s quite an improvement on American efforts in this regard. Bloomberg’s Cam Simpson reported yesterday that the US not only overestimated the damage it had done in its own airstrikes on ISIS’ oil revenues, it vastly underestimated the amount of revenue the terrorist quasi-state generated from it. “It’s not a rounding error,” Simpson notes, saying that the US missed the mark by $400 million or so:<br />Did the U.S. Underestimate Islamic State Oil Operations?<br />Bloomberg<br /><br />Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-57010858972039901412015-11-20T16:34:45.921-05:002015-11-20T16:34:45.921-05:00I think it's safe to say that Obama Is Not &qu...I think it's safe to say that Obama Is Not "on the side of" racist, Idaho turd-kickers.<br /><br />However, with a 99.9999% Reduction in Americans killed and wounded in Iraq, and a 50%, or so, Reduction in the % of Americans dying for lack of health insurance,<br /><br />And, a 50% Decrease in the number of Unemployed, <br /><br />and a 200% Increase in the Stock Market,<br /><br />I think it's safe to say that "he's on the side of Me, and Mine." <br /><br />galopn2https://www.blogger.com/profile/10149969176825932175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-15065525328332329142015-11-20T16:21:56.907-05:002015-11-20T16:21:56.907-05:00You think so ?
Most people these days are callin...You think so ?<br /><br />Most people these days are calling his Presidency a big failure.<br /><br /><br /><br />The Prisoner of Obama<br />Column: Hillary Clinton’s career will sink or swim with Barack Obama’s ISIS strategy<br /><br />BY: Matthew Continetti<br />November 20, 2015 5:00 am<br /><br /><i>When President Obama took office, Iraq was stable. Now there are four failed states in the Middle East—Libya, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen—and the potential for many more. This is the foreign policy legacy to which Hillary Clinton is committed.<br /><br />President Obama is very good at advocating and implementing policies of which the public disapproves. Obamacare, the Bergdahl trade, the phony war on ISIS, the executive amnesty, gun control, the Iran deal, no changes to the Syrian refugee program—he’s been persistent in his flouting of majority wishes and constitutional norms. But Clinton doesn’t have his talent. She doesn’t have his fan boys.<br /><br />Clinton must assume, as most Democrats do, that changes in our population and culture allow liberals to be much more dismissive and contemptuous of opposing viewpoints than they have been in the past. Clinton must assume, as most Democrats do, that the electorate will find the alternative to Democratic rule so repulsive that it will support whomever John Oliver tells it to. Clinton must assume, as many Democrats do, that the economy will be good enough, that Obama will be popular enough, that the world will be stable enough in November 2016 to ensure that the Clintons return to the White House.<br /><br />That’s her bet. Did I mention it’s a risky one?</i><br /><br />http://freebeacon.com/columns/the-prisoner-of-obama/<br /><br /><br /><br />With so many failures......it's hard to be sure whose side he is on.<br /><br />It's like rooting for the University of Idaho football team.Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-5556717858444909412015-11-20T16:21:47.011-05:002015-11-20T16:21:47.011-05:00Those Pilots are anonymous; they don't have to...Those Pilots are anonymous; they don't have to answer for dead women and children. galopn2https://www.blogger.com/profile/10149969176825932175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-69602455872786072802015-11-20T15:13:42.817-05:002015-11-20T15:13:42.817-05:00He is on the American side. He is on the American side. Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-29424199169407751342015-11-20T13:42:46.583-05:002015-11-20T13:42:46.583-05:00WFB U.S. pilots confirm: Obama admin blocks 75% o...WFB U.S. pilots confirm: Obama admin blocks 75% of proposed airstrikes on ISIS<br /><br /><br /> Hot Air<br /><br />http://freebeacon.com/national-security/us-pilots-confirm-obama-admin-blocks-75-percent-of-isis-strikes/<br /><br /><br /><br /> Doesn't <i>anybody but me</i> begin to wonder just whose side he is really on ?<br /><br />Or is he just crazy ?<br /><br />It is really hard to say.Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-69228744940976836172015-11-20T13:36:56.320-05:002015-11-20T13:36:56.320-05:00What a crock. The recession was brought on by the... What a crock. The recession was brought on by the housing collapse which was given to us via Freddie and Fannie and about which Bush had warned in each of his eight State of the Union Addresses.<br /><br /> Then, the minute O'bozo gets in office the Middle East goes totally to hell because he pulls all the troops out.<br /><br /> Well, I've been around here long enough to know well by now that Rufus always has had difficultly reading history, and following the course of events.Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-7226356536081358172015-11-20T13:00:38.772-05:002015-11-20T13:00:38.772-05:00Meanwhile, let's remember, 9-11 came with a R...Meanwhile, let's remember, 9-11 came with a Republican President, A Republican Governor, and a Republican Mayor.<br /><br />The Great Recession, and the Great Depression, were brought on by Republican Administrations.<br /><br />The Great Embarrassment, for which the Republicans will never forgive Obama, was that a Black Democrat came in and fixed the Republicans' messes.galopn2https://www.blogger.com/profile/10149969176825932175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-70989008631536366172015-11-20T12:52:12.431-05:002015-11-20T12:52:12.431-05:00A strike, as defined in the CJTF releases, means o...<b>A strike,</b> as defined in the CJTF releases, means one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative effect for that location. So having a single aircraft deliver a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of buildings and vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making that facility or facilities harder or impossible to use.<br /><br />Accordingly, CJTF-OIR does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.galopn2https://www.blogger.com/profile/10149969176825932175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-82674796546994935472015-11-20T12:49:04.302-05:002015-11-20T12:49:04.302-05:00Jordan launches a flurry of strikes, and promptly ...Jordan launches a flurry of strikes, and promptly disappears off the radar.<br /><br />Russia creates a twitter when if gasses up some long range bombers, and drops some dumb bombs - then, goes quiet.<br /><br />France creates a ballyhoo, and flies a handful of missions, and then . . . . .<br /><br />Meanwhile, Every Day, Obama beats on them. Day in. Day out. Sundays and Holidays. Early in the Morning, Late at Night.<br /><br /><br />Military Strikes Hit ISIL Terrorists in Iraq<br />From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release<br /><br />Share on facebook<br />0<br />More Sharing Services<br />0<br />Share on twitter<br />0<br />PRINT | E-MAIL | CONTACT AUTHOR<br />SOUTHWEST ASIA, November 20, 2015 — U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.<br /><br />Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.<br /><br /><b>Strikes in Iraq<br /><br />Bomber, attack, ground-attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 20 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:</b><br /><br />-- Near Beiji, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.<br /><br />-- Near Fallujah, two strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL anti-air artillery pieces, two ISIL heavy machine guns, and two ISIL buildings.<br /><br />-- Near Kisik, three strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed four ISIL light machine guns, four ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL vehicles, two ISIL supply caches, and an ISIL bunker.<br /><br />-- Near Mosul, one strike struck an ISIL weapons vehicle borne improvised explosive device manufacturing facility.<br /><br />-- Near Qayyarah, three strikes struck two ISIL gas and oil separation plants and an ISIL petroleum refinement facility.<br /><br />-- Near Ramadi, five strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed three ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL vehicle, an ISIL boat, an ISIL vehicle-borne bomb, two ISIL staging areas, damaged an ISIL headquarters building, suppressed an ISIL vehicle-borne bomb, and denied ISIL access to terrain.<br /><br />-- Near Sinjar, three strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL fighting position and an ISIL vehicle.<br /><br />-- Near Tal Afar, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL building and an ISIL light machine gun.galopn2https://www.blogger.com/profile/10149969176825932175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-75196261025460960092015-11-20T12:31:53.883-05:002015-11-20T12:31:53.883-05:00The only time he showed any passion was in denounc...The only time he showed any passion was in denouncing Republicans for hardheartedness toward Muslim refugees. One hundred and twenty-nine innocents lie dead, but it takes the GOP to kindle Obama’s ire.<br /><br />The rest was mere petulance, dismissing criticisms of his Syria policy as popping off. Inconveniently for Obama, one of those popper-offers is Dianne Feinstein, the leading Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. She directly contradicted Obama’s blithe assertion, offered the day before the Paris attack, that the Islamic State (a.k.a. ISIL) was contained and not gaining strength. “I have never been more concerned,” said Feinstein. “ISIL is not contained. ISIL is expanding.”<br /><br />Obama defended his policy by listing its multifaceted elements. Such as, “I hosted at the United Nations an entire discussion of counterterrorism strategies and curbing the flow of foreign fighters.” An “entire” discussion, mind you. Not a partial one. They tremble in Raqqa.<br /><br />And “We have mobilized 65 countries to go after ISIL.” Yes, and what would we do without Luxembourg?<br /><br />Obama complained of being criticized for not being bellicose enough. But the complaint is not about an absence of bellicosity but about an absence of passion, of urgency and of commitment to the fight. The air campaign over Syria averages seven strikes a day. Seven. In Operation Desert Storm, we flew 1,100 sorties a day. Even in the Kosovo campaign, we averaged 138. Obama is doing just enough in Syria to give the appearance of motion, yet not nearly enough to have any chance of success.<br /><br />Obama’s priorities lie elsewhere. For example, climate change, which he considers the greatest “threat to our future.” And, of course, closing Guantanamo. Obama actually released five detainees on the day after the Paris massacre. He is passionate about Guantanamo. It’s a great terrorist recruiting tool, he repeatedly explains. Obama still seems to believe that — even as ISIS has produced an astonishing wave of terrorist recruitment with a campaign of brutality, butchery and enslavement filmed in living color. Who can still believe that young Muslims are leaving Europe to join the Islamic State because of Guantanamo?<br /><br />Obama’s other passion is protecting Islam from any possible association with “violent extremism.” The Islamic State is nothing but “killers with fantasies of glory.” Obama can never bring himself to acknowledge why these people kill and willingly die: to advance a radical Islamist millenarianism that is purposeful, indeed eschatological — and appealing enough to have created the largest, most dangerous terrorist movement on Earth.<br /><br />Hollande is trying to gather a real coalition to destroy the Islamic State, even as Obama touts his phony 65. For 11 post-World War II presidencies, coalition leading has been the role of the United States. Where is America today? Awaiting a president. The next president.<br /><br />https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obamas-phony-war/2015/11/19/cacea0dc-8eeb-11e5-ae1f-af46b7df8483_story.html<br /><br /><br /><i> The air campaign over Syria averages seven strikes a day. Seven. In Operation Desert Storm, we flew 1,100 sorties a day. Even in the Kosovo campaign, we averaged 138. Obama is doing just enough in Syria to give the appearance of motion, yet not nearly enough to have any chance of success.</i><br />Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-43801369233558390702015-11-20T12:29:10.947-05:002015-11-20T12:29:10.947-05:00Might as well hit on Obama one more time, it relax...Might as well hit on Obama one more time, it relaxes me -<br /><br /><br />By Charles Krauthammer Opinion writer November 19 at 8:22 PM<br /><br />Tell me: What’s a suicide bomber doing with a passport? He’s not going anywhere. And, though I’m not a religious scholar, I doubt that a passport is required in paradise for a martyr to access his 72 black-eyed virgins.<br /><br />A Syrian passport was found near the body of one of the terrorists. Why was it there? Undoubtedly, to back up the ISIS boast that it is infiltrating operatives amid the refugees flooding Europe. The passport may have been fake, but the terrorist’s fingerprints were not. They match those of a man who just a month earlier had come through Greece on his way to kill Frenchmen in Paris.<br />Charles Krauthammer writes a weekly political column that runs on Fridays. View Arch<br /><br />If the other goal of the Paris massacre was to frighten France out of the air campaign in Syria — the way Spain withdrew from the Iraq war after the terrorist attack on its trains in 2004 — they picked the wrong country. France is a serious post-colonial power, as demonstrated in Ivory Coast, the Central African Republic and Mali, which France saved from an Islamist takeover in 2013.<br /><br />Indeed, socialist President François Hollande has responded furiously to his country’s 9/11 with an intensified air campaign, hundreds of raids on suspected domestic terrorists, a state of emergency and proposed changes in the constitution to make France less hospitable to jihad.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Barack Obama, titular head of the free world, has responded to Paris with weariness and annoyance. His news conference in Turkey was marked by a stunning tone of passivity, detachment and lassitude, compounded by impatience and irritability at the very suggestion that his Syria strategy might be failing.<br /><br />Play Video2:20<br /><br />Obama speaks about the Islamic State and refugees following the Paris attacks<br /><br />President Obama made remarks and answered questions at the G-20 summit in Turkey on Nov. 13. Here's what he said about the path forward fighting the Islamic State, welcoming Muslims and protecting Syrian refugees. (AP)<br /><br />Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-68737653437288153672015-11-20T12:25:00.649-05:002015-11-20T12:25:00.649-05:00$425 million is on hell of a rounding error.$425 million is on hell of a rounding error.Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-69769240146270094142015-11-20T12:09:58.581-05:002015-11-20T12:09:58.581-05:00Islamic State threatens jihad mass murder in Times...Islamic State threatens jihad mass murder in Times Square<br /><br />November 19, 2015 6:43 am By Robert Spencer 14 Comments<br /><br />They have long had New York in their sights, and will strike there when they can. Obama is bringing that day closer by bringing into the country huge numbers of “refugees” with no possible way to screen out jihadis from among them.<br /><br />1_times_square_night_2013<br /><br />“ISIS New York video: Terror group releases warning of Times Square attack,” by Alyssa Zauderer and Andrea Cavallier, PIX11, November 19, 2015 (thanks to Bulldog):<br /><br /> NEW YORK – Terror group ISIS released a propaganda video Wednesday that makes threats against New York.<br /><br /> The video shows several scenes in Manhattan including Times Square, a Gap in Herald Square, T.G.I. Friday’s and yellow taxi cabs on city streets. It also includes images of terrorist sharpshooters and terrorists wearing suicide belts.<br /><br /> The new video also features footage from a previously released video mentioning a New York attack.<br /><br /> Mayor de Blasio along with NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton addressed the video at a late Wednesday night press conference in Times Square.<br /><br /> “We understand it is the goal of terrorists to intimidate and disrupt our democratic society,” de Blasio said. “We will not submit. It’s crucial that people go about their normal business recognizing the NYPD is providing extraordinary protection for the people of this city.”<br /><br />That’s rich. De Blasio already submitted when he stopped New York City’s entirely legal surveillance program in Muslim communities, at the behest of pro-Sharia Islamic supremacists such as Linda Sarsour.<br /><br />http://www.jihadwatch.org/2015/11/islamic-state-threatens-jihad-mass-murder-in-times-squareCharltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-7195638448554094442015-11-20T11:54:49.451-05:002015-11-20T11:54:49.451-05:00.
My company for Part D coverage got out of the b....<br /><br />My company for Part D coverage got out of the business this year. I'm currently looking for another one.<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-49925634101216958852015-11-20T11:52:28.263-05:002015-11-20T11:52:28.263-05:00.
This is and example of Republican chickens comi....<br /><br />This is and example of Republican chickens coming home to roost.<br /><br />The GOP applauded when the Citizens United decision came down. They saw it working to their advantage. It didn't. On the one side you have Trump who has money to burn and isn't dependent of the establishment for support. On the other, you have Hillary and her husband, Bill, who have raised the extraordinary sum of $3 billion since Bill first started running for office 40 years ago. Like Trump, Hillary is not dependent on any establishment funding (although she will gladly accept all donations).<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-25601379852995274352015-11-20T11:35:21.742-05:002015-11-20T11:35:21.742-05:00United Healthcare is being forced to compete a bit...United Healthcare is being forced to compete a bit more than they like. Tough titty, that.<br /><br />As for $425 Million - that is so small as a percent of United Health's total profits, as to be a rounding error.galopn2https://www.blogger.com/profile/10149969176825932175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-69734358414893176562015-11-20T11:25:02.771-05:002015-11-20T11:25:02.771-05:00November 20, 2015
UnitedHealthcare mulling withdra...November 20, 2015<br />UnitedHealthcare mulling withdrawal from Obamacare exchanges<br />By Rick Moran<br /><br />One of the nation's largest insurance companies is seriously considering withdrawing from the Obamacare insurance exchanges due to massive losses, and the small chance that the enrollment numbers will get any better.<br /><br />The company cited the closing of nearly half the non-profit co-op organizations as a major reason for their hesitation in offering insurance plans beyond 2016.<br /><br />UnitedHealthcare is bleeding $425 million in losses this year and is considering abandoning the exchantes because "market data has signaled higher risks and more difficulties while our own claims experience has deteriorated," according to a statement from CEO Stephen J. Hemsley..................<br /><br />http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/11/unitedhealthcare_mulling_withdrawal_from_obamacare_exchanges.html<br /><br />Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-78500266275637348202015-11-20T11:21:38.376-05:002015-11-20T11:21:38.376-05:00The Donald gets stronger -
Reuters national poll:...The Donald gets stronger -<br /><br />Reuters national poll: Trump now leads by … 23 points<br />posted at 9:31 pm on November 19, 2015 by Allahpundit<br /><br /><br /><i>Although … what if the second part’s true too? The GOP establishment has a big problem in New Hampshire that’s getting bigger, writes Nate Cohn:<br /><br /> If a candidate acceptable to the party can’t win New Hampshire or Iowa, the G.O.P. will face a bleak choice: undertake the daunting and expensive task of mounting a come-from-behind effort, or grudgingly acquiesce to a candidate it really doesn’t want, like Ted Cruz, but who may be better than someone it can never accept, like Mr. Trump…<br /><br /> But the G.O.P. establishment then was not in anywhere near the danger it is now. This year, the “outsider” candidates, like Mr. Trump, Mr. Cruz and Ben Carson, possess as much organizational, financial and personal strength as the establishment candidates, or maybe more. This year’s schedule affords the party few opportunities to make a comeback: The contests after Iowa and New Hampshire — the Nevada caucuses, South Carolina and the predominantly Southern states on Super Tuesday — are all relatively favorable to conservatives. This year’s establishment candidates have shown far less strength, by any measure, than Mr. Dole or George H.W. Bush, who had the resources, name recognition and party backing to survive early setbacks…<br /><br /> All of this creates a lot of danger for the party’s establishment. Its worst-case outcome is what the polls are already showing: a clear win for an unacceptable candidate, and the other candidates so evenly split and so far behind that the contest fails to clarify which candidate the establishment should coalesce behind.</i><br /><br /><br />http://hotair.com/archives/2015/11/19/reuters-national-poll-trump-now-leads-by-23-points/<br /><br />Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-4317911365554741342015-11-20T11:10:00.139-05:002015-11-20T11:10:00.139-05:00from Polish Knuckleheads - (I made that up but it ...from <i>Polish Knuckleheads</i> - (I made that up but it fits) -<br /><br /><br />POLISH NATIONALISTS BURN JEW IN EFFIGY...............Drudge Report Headline<br /><br /><br />You see, there aren't any Jews left in Poland, yet there is still, after all these decades, anti-semitism there...<br /><br />Well, they are going to get theirs --<br /><br /><i><b>First we show the Poles, then everybody else."</b></i><br /><br />The statement is from a member of the newly elected muslim majority city council in Hamtramck, Michigan, first in USA.<br /><br /><br />Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-67038242005763498482015-11-20T08:48:47.353-05:002015-11-20T08:48:47.353-05:00Paul Krugman: The Farce Awakens
Why do Republica...<b>Paul Krugman: The Farce Awakens</b><br /><br /> Why do Republicans have so many panic attacks?:<br /><br />The Farce Awakens, by Paul Krugman, Commentary, NY Times: Erick Erickson, the editor in chief of the website RedState.com, is a serious power in right-wing circles. ... So it’s worth paying attention to what Mr. Erickson says. And ... his response to the attack in Paris was a bit startling. The French themselves are making a point of staying calm, indeed of going out to cafes to show that they refuse to be intimidated. But Mr. Erickson declared on his website that he won’t be going to see the new “Star Wars” movie on opening day, because “there are no metal detectors at American theaters.”<br /><br />It’s a bizarre reaction — but when you think about it, it’s part of a larger pattern. These days, panic attacks after something bad happens are the rule rather than the exception, at least on one side of the political divide. ...<br /><br />But we shouldn’t really be surprised, because we’ve seen this movie before (unless we were too scared to go to the theater). Remember the great Ebola scare of 2014? The threat of a pandemic, like the threat of a terrorist attack, was real. But it was greatly exaggerated, thanks in large part to hype from the same people now hyping the terrorist danger.<br /><br />What’s more, the supposed “solutions” were similar, too, in their combination of cruelty and stupidity. ...<br /><br />What explains the modern right’s propensity for panic? Part of it, no doubt, is the familiar point that many bullies are also cowards. But I think it’s also linked to the apocalyptic mind-set that has developed among Republicans during the Obama years.<br /><br />Think about it. From the day Mr. Obama took office, his political foes have warned about imminent catastrophe. Fiscal crisis! Hyperinflation! Economic collapse, brought on by the scourge of health insurance! And nobody on the right dares point out the failure of the promised disasters to materialize, or suggest a more nuanced approach.<br /><br />Given this context, it’s only natural that the right would seize on a terrorist attack in France as proof that Mr. Obama has left America undefended and vulnerable. Ted Cruz ... goes so far as to declare that the president “does not wish to defend this country.” ...<br /><br />The point is that at this point panic is what the right is all about, and the Republican nomination will go to whoever can most effectively channel that panic. Will the same hold true in the general election? Stay tuned.<br /><br /><a href="http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2015/11/paul-krugman-the-farce-awakens.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EconomistsView+%28Economist%27s+View%29" rel="nofollow">Economists View</a>galopn2https://www.blogger.com/profile/10149969176825932175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-73127426736308404652015-11-20T08:09:52.220-05:002015-11-20T08:09:52.220-05:00http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2014/07...http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2014/07/31/hamas-isil-and-boko-haram-wage-the-same-islamic-jihad-so-why-does-u-s-policy-treat-them-differently/What is "Occupation"https://www.blogger.com/profile/02054075097495500689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-65768622218394728472015-11-20T08:09:37.619-05:002015-11-20T08:09:37.619-05:00Shariah law requires that any means be used to con...Shariah law requires that any means be used to control the world, and Hamas, more than the other groups has chosen to sacrifice women, children and animals in the service of Allah. Surf the web and you will find over hundred fact-checked articles and videos that Hamas fills Mosques, hospitals & schools with women and children to use as human shields. Or listen to Hamas admit to these horrific acts. On this video. They are told to stay put and ignore Israeli text and leaflet warnings , while Hamas Jihadis hide in their concrete underground tunnels. If you are an animal lover, you’ll be horrified to know that Hamas loads donkeys up with explosives and coaxes them into the line of fire.<br /><br />Hamas re-directs international aid into the construction of a sophisticated underground military infrastructure rather than build an economy to create jobs. Thousands of tons of concrete have been used to build terror tunnels rather than roads and schools. Indeed, Hamas would rather fill the existing UN schools with weapons than children. Keeping fellow Gazans in poverty is a strategic tactic to gain world empathy. <br /><br />Gazans, of course, are suffering under Hama’s reign. “Living under Hamas is a tragedy,” said one Gazan reporter. “Nobody can forgive Hamas for what they’re doing. No one can forgive Hamas for butchering Palestinians to get power. Most Gazans hate Hamas with a passion.” <br /><br />Even rival terror groups, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), have slammed Hamas, saying “penalties like lashing are not compatible with Palestinian society, which is a multicultural society.” The PFLP also accused Hamas of “failing for eight consecutive years” to prevent Gaza’s “continuous crisis of poverty, unemployment and delayed payment of public workers’ salaries.”<br /><br />And yet the U.S. has promised Gaza $47 million in financial aid, which will almost certainly end up in the hands of Hamas. If Americans really care about the 1.7 Million Gazans held hostage by Hamas; there is only one answer. Hamas and its Islamic Jihad must be rooted out and destroyed. Only then should America release humanitarian aid. As things now stand, every dollar for Gaza buys their oppression.What is "Occupation"https://www.blogger.com/profile/02054075097495500689noreply@blogger.com