GOP Promises to Repeal Obamacare in 2016: Another Empty Promise in an Election Year That They Have No Hope (Or Apparent Intention) of Fulfilling

The GOP is promising that the first bill they will send to President Obama’s desk for his veto is the repeal of the (not) Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). 

They could have already done that in the multi-trillion dollar budget that they passed last month.  Instead, they left Obamacare completely intact, and left Planned Parenthood intact as well, in a bill that really mattered.

By their actions so far, the GOP seems to be sending the message that they’d rather keep their Boogeymen (Obamacare and Planned Parenthood) around so that they have wedge issues that they can readily go after for political points. 

They don’t have a prayer of succeeding in either goal unless they increase their control of both houses (very unlikely due to the do-nothing Congress and GOP) and pull off a miracle in November and put someone in the White House.

The sooner the GOP puts up and shuts up, the sooner people like me will start to believe what they’re saying and promising.   I have no faith in the current Congress to get anything done this year, while I have every expectation for President Obama to do exactly what he says he’s going to do, and rule by presidential proclamation, regardless of whether it’s constitutional or not.

Prove me wrong, GOP.   Get something done.

Steve Harvey is Taking Too Much Blame for Miss Universe Disaster: Who Designed the Card That Set Harvey Up to Fail? He or She Should Be Taking Just As Much Blame

I don’t watch beauty pageants, and think they’re a waste of time unless Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell get into another feud over it.  But in this case, I’m making an exception because I like Steve Harvey.   He announced the wrong contestent had won and then had to painfully announce that another contestant had actually won.

Take a look at the card that they gave Harvey to read off of:

Now there’s a report out that the teleprompter that Harvey was reading off of was wrong as well.

Get off of Steve Harvey’s case, people.  The card above is clear as mud, and the teleprompter is never wrong…right President Obama?

Harvey’s mistake was the last in a string of mistakes made by others who need to share in the criticism.   Hope Trump and Rosie weigh in on this.   If they do, and Steve Harvey fires up his usual comic routine, it’ll provide all of us some much needed comic relief.

Here’s a Thought: What if Trump Won the GOP Nomination But Then Announced That He Was Running the Rest of the Race as an Independent?

That’s hard to imagine, but what if Donald Trump did take that step?

What legal options would the GOP have?   Is the nominee contractually bound to the party after accepting their nomination?   Would he have to decline the nomination?  I doubt the parties have a contingency plan for dealing with a nightmare scenario like that.  And it would be just like a vindictive Trump to force that kind of an issue.

I can’t see Trump leaving the GOP in a position to reorganize around a new candidate and challenge him if he were to start an independent run.

Trump’s in a position to destroy any chance of a GOP victory for the White House next year and decimate the national level organization.

Interesting thought.

On a side note, I’m not impressed with Lindsay Graham’s power of persuasion.   He’s being lead around by Trump too.

Trump is a Genius: Not Because of His Plan to Ban Muslims from Entering the Country, But Because He’s Forcing the ENTIRE Field to React to His Splash Statements

Donald Trump is a genius.  He’s leading the entire field around by the nose and kicking them in the butt at the same time.     No wonder his poll numbers have jumped.

He’s making fools out of the GOP.   Every politician who is reacting to his splash statements have fallen into a trap. 

His competitors have to stop allowing him to dictate what the next discussion will be.  If they want to win, they MUST get out in front of Trump and make their own waves.  Impress us.

U.S. Air Force Running Low on Munitions: Administration and Congress Needs to Pay Attention to Air Force Funding Requests

The Air Force announced that their stockpiles of missiles and bombs is getting a tad low, and that it might take up to four years to replenish the stockpiles to prewar levels.

They’ve dropped 20,000 bombs and missiles on ISIS, according to reports.

The Administration and Congress need to act to supply the Air Force with the kinds of munitions that they’re expending against ISIS, especially if it’s going to take a number of years to produce the needed weapons.

Is This What Trump Was Referencing When He Said That American Muslims Were Celebrating 9/11?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5BtQgTGOI4

Very interesting story, especially since it’s a CNN story. 

Finally, Someone With Guts to Stand Up to Russian Aggression: While the Loss of Life is Regrettable, the Russians Have Been Inflicting Casualties on People Fighting ISIS

Turkey shot down a Russian Air Force aircraft, and put Russia on notice that it won’t tolerate Russia’s blatant disregard for the airspace of other nations.

While I doubt that Russia will attack Turkey militarily, I can see diplomatic and economic reprisals in the near future. 

The last thing that Russia needs is a shooting war with NATO.

With Possible ISIS Bomb Bringing Down Russian Airliner Over Sinai Peninsula, Perhaps Russians Will Get With the Program and Start Focusing on ISIS Exclusively Instead of Assad’s U.S.-Backed Enemies

One of the features of Russia’s air campaign in Syria has been that Russian jets have been rarely hitting ISIS targets , while focusing most of their targeting on President Assad’s U.S.-backed opposition.   Note the map below:

Even though this map has not been updated since October 5th, the Russian targeting hasn’t changed a whole lot.  Reports of Russian air strikes on rebel controlled territory have been coming in daily.

But with a possible bomb onboard a Russian airliner over the Sinai Peninsula, and with ISIS claiming credit for taking down the flight with over two hundred Russian citizens on board, perhaps the Russians will go after ISIS more, which is what they should have been doing from the very beginning. 

Assad’s fate can be decided later. 

ISIS is the bigger threat; that’s the narrative that the American and Russian governments need to agree on.   

Carson is Partially Right, Though What He Probably Meant to Say Was that Sharia Law is Incompatible With the U.S. Constitution

Dr. Ben Carson created a furor when he said that Islam was not compatible with the U.S. Constitution.  I believe what he meant was that Sharia law is incompatible with Constitutional law.

All you have to do is look at the Preamble to the Constitution and then look at the plight of women already living under Sharia law, especially the type embraced by ISIS, the Taliban, Saudi Arabia (with their morality police), and other Islamic countries whose women are treated horribly.

And it doesn’t matter which flavor of Sharia law we’re talking about, whether it’s Shiite or Sunni.  It’s equally awful to women.

Liberty for all people is not possible under Sharia.  That makes it totally incompatible with life under the United States Constitution, which is common sense.  Wish Carson hadn’t stumbled over this issue.   

While the Constitution does not permit the specific banning of Sharia law, it does invalidate any laws that come into conflict with the Constitution, which is the Supreme Law of the land.  That includes 12th century barbarism that our enemies want to impose on us.

I hope the courts remember that.

Some European Countries Now Under A Refugee Tsunami Once Criticized U.S. Moves on Illegal Immigration: Now They’re Doing What They Once Criticized to Deal With Their Own Problems

The wheel turns, does it not?

I’ve been watching the unfolding European drama on illegal immigration with great interest, and can’t help but think about those European nations that once harshly criticized U.S. moves to prevent what’s now enveloped Europe. 

U.S. immigration policies of the past have been dubbed “racist” and “fascist” by European governments, and over at the U.N.,  in particular the 2010 Arizona anti-alien laws which placed tough restrictions on illegal immigrants entering Arizona and finding work there.

Now some of these same European countries are following similar tracks to control the tidal wave of illegal immigration to their nations, and it’s making American liberals very uncomfortable.   European nations are rushing troops and police to their borders and shutting down their transportation systems to prevent movement of people.

That being said, there’s no easy answer to today’s problems and Europe is getting hit with a heavy dose of reality.   It may tear the EU apart far faster than anything else.

The West needs to do a far better job with their collaborative foreign policies, so that there’s less of an incentive for people to leave their home countries.  Why leave when one can earn a living and live in relative safety with family and friends in familiar surroundings?  That should be the Western goal, if they don’t want to absorb millions of new people.

Come Now, CNN: “Anchor Babies” is a Racist Term According to Liberals and Their Pro-Immigration Supporters, So Why Are You Allowing One of Your Web Site Commentators to Use the Term to Describe Conservatives?

Nice going, CNN.

One of their commentators dared to use the “anchor baby” label to describe conservatives in a new op-ed piece, which flies in the face of the official liberal party line against using the term in the ongoing immigration debate.

Is it a racist term, or is it not, CNN?  And if it is, someone owes everybody an apology.  If it’s not, they should still apologize for offending the feel-good crowd whose feelings are undoubtedly hurt by those words even appearing on a liberal news outlet’s web site.

Perhaps they should hold a funeral for this term too.  After all, it worked so well when they held a funeral for the “n” word in Detroit and elsewhere and symbolically buried the (real) racist term. 

So much for CNN’s pretense of impartiality.  Again.

Aren’t there more pressing stories to cover, instead of a news outlet making itself part of the news?

GOP and Democratic Presidential Nomination Fields are Weak Due to Top Draws Being Sideshow Distractions: Trump Makes Waves, and Hillary is Getting Smacked Around by Waves of Trouble

Donald Trump keeps drowning the other GOP candidates out, and Hillary Clinton is drowning in her own troubles.  

And if Trump is talking about throwing away $1 billion on his campaign, he isn’t going away anytime soon.   As an entertainer, Trump has no equal.  But his political skills are unproven, and his ability to deliver on promises that he’s making are questionable at best, except in one area: the economy.  I think he’s got the best chance out of all the candidates to turn things around in that area.

Hillary Clinton’s legal problems are continuing to mount, and her scheduled appearance before Congress next month to answer “all” questions seems to be a last-ditched effort to save her political career from smashing onto the rocks.  She seems to be putting herself in additional legal peril with this move.  

If Hillary is charged with a crime, Biden’s almost certain to jump in.  He has a certain credibility that Hillary does not have in the honesty department.   Gore is a one-issue candidate if he were to jump in.   He won’t get elected on a global warming platform. 

Sanders is a joke.  The first and only thing that he’s said that I totally agree with is this: he owes BlackLivesMatter no apology whatsoever.   They stormed his rally and should be apologizing to Sanders, not the other way around.    I totally disagree with Sanders on all of his other stands.  

The other GOP candidates need to be bold, and be themselves, not repackaged Democrats.  EVERY time a Republican tries to out-Democrat a Democrat, he or she gets pounded on Election Day.   They’re allowing Trump to control the direction of the conversation, and reacting to Trump instead of getting out in front with their own ideas.  Get on it!

What Happens to Hillary Clinton’s Campaign if She’s Charged With a Crime? Will She Get Out?

Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the White House will likely end if she is charged with a crime. 

She should probably get out now, so that she can begin to prepare her legal defense against the criminal investigation that is now being conducted by the FBI.   And it is a criminal investigation.

Hillary should have realized that what she was doing with her email was illegal and a major security problem.     Given that, I wonder who she will throw under the bus to save herself. 

That’s what the Clintons do best.

Japanese Emperor Should Issue Final and Complete Apology for Japan’s Role in World War II, Then There Should Be No Expectation of Further Apologies: Today’s Japanese Political Leaders Weren’t Even Alive During World War II, So It’s Unfair to Insist That Generation After Generation of Japanese Leaders Who Had Nothing to Do With World War II to Keep Apologizing

Japanese Emperor Akihito delivered a glancing blow of an apology to nations that Japan invaded during World War II, which set off a new round of resentment in South Korea and in China. 

Under the Japanese constitution, the Emperor cannot make or issue political statements without the permission of the Japanese government, so he went out on a limb to say what he did about World War II.

Prime Minister Abe is openly resentful of apologizing, which has generated a ton of resentment in China and in South Korea.

It’s really past time for Japan, South Korea and China to let World War II finally end, and I think the Emperor will have to get really involved.  He needs to issue a complete and final apology on behalf of the entire Japanese nation for Japan’s role in World War II, including the rape of Nanking and the use of “comfort women” for Japanese soldiers. 

Then there should be no expectations of further apologies from Japan’s political leaders.

It’s unfair for China and South Korea to continue to want apologies from Japan’s political leadership as most of Japan’s current politicians were born after World War II.  Prime Minister Abe was born in 1954.   

Every time a Japanese prime minister is forced to issue another World War II apology, it causes huge political problems for him from his domestic audience.  Communist China may want that, but it isn’t good for one nation to exert that kind of influence over another.

Japan’s leadership really needs to get it together and allow the Emperor to issue a final statement.   It’s time to let World War II get out of the realm of current events and allow it to take it’s place in the history books.

Shouldn’t the Focus Be on the Funerals for the Victims of the Charleston Shootings, and Not on a 150 Year Old Debate That Shows No Sign of Easing?

I think there’s a couple of misplaced issues in the Charleston massacre, that can wait for a while.

Instead of focusing energy on the victims, their families and making the church that was attacked whole again, a great deal of political capital and energy has been shifted to going after the Confederate flag, which continues to fly on state capitol grounds in the South, or is on license plates.

The Confederate battle flag debate has been ongoing for 150 years and shows no signs of going away anytime soon.  In fact, retailers can’t keep the rebel battle flags in stock; they’re flying off the shelves since the controversy re-erupted in the wake of the Charleston church massacre.

That was expected.  When a movement gains steam, it often spikes sales of whatever item is in the political crosshairs.

The flag debate can be put on hold until after the victims’ funerals are held.   The second item is the gun debate that lib Dems keep rehashing.   That can wait too.

Political activism should not supplant honoring the victims, and comforting their families.

Kid Who Shot Up Charleston Church Cannot Claim Insanity: His “Last Rhodesian” Manifesto Makes Clear Who He Doesn’t Like, and Who He Was Going to Go After in Charleston

The person who shot up the Charleston church on Thursday night and killed nine people will not be able to claim insanity, in my opinion.

The reason I say that is because of his website and manifesto.   It lays out his hatred of people who are non-white and broadcasts his intentions to attack a target in Charleston and hurt people.

His photos are particularly troubling, with various references to neo-Nazi propaganda.   His web site is going to be of particular interest to the prosecution, with regards to his rumored intention to plead insanity.   It might have had some traction if the web site and manifesto didn’t exist, but the manifesto was too well-researched and organized (I disagree with the entire thing, by the way), even though it was bizarre rant.

The photos establish his hatreds over a long time period, with various neo-Nazi references (the 1488 thing, which I had to look up), stomping on, spitting on and burning the American flag, and similar photos involving apartheid-era Rhodesian and South African flags.  

It will be hard for him to claim temporary insanity with the web site and manifesto anchor wrapped around his neck.  

He’s competent enough to stand trial and pay for what he’s done.

Senator Tells Pope to Stay Out of Climate Change Debate: “Do Your Job and We’ll Do Ours!” OK, Except Congress Shouldn’t Be Involved in the Climate Change Debate Either!

This is a good one. 

The Senate chair of a climate change committee is tired of Pope Francis speaking out about climate change, telling the Pope to “do your job and we’ll do ours.”   I happen to agree that the Pope shouldn’t be involved in this mess of a debate, but the Senator overlooked something very critical:

Congress shouldn’t be involved in the debate either.  No politician has any business in an ongoing and unsettled scientific debate.   They’ve already screwed this situation up almost beyond belief, and on an international scale.

This is a scientific debate that hasn’t reached a final conclusion about what’s really going on with the climate.  The scientific community involved in the climate change debate is a train wreck, and keeps coming up with contradictory theories to explain things.  And the politicians love to turn these things into talking points.  

The disaster of carbon credit markets is one example of politicians to make more money off something that they have absolutely no control over and barely understand.  Political snake oil….

The scientific community is too polarized by this issue to give our leaders sound advice on what the facts are.   Settled science?  I think not.

Honesty from the scientific community will do more to further our understanding of the world around us far more than politicians taking a stand.   The politics can wait until the science is actually settled.

Recent Government Paper Manipulates Climate Change Data so Blatantly that Even Climate Change Scientists Are Balking: Sad State of Affairs in Global Warming Alarmism Movement

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently released a report that manipulated climate change data AGAIN which changes the data to show nothing but rises in global temperature over the last seventeen years and not any kind of pause or cool down.

This kind of blatant data manipulation is EXACTLY the reason that people like me doubt the official (and government approved) narrative about global warming.   The NOAA report is a political document meant to silence political opponents of global warming.   This is also what happens when politicians enter a scientific debate.   

But climate scientists themselves are publicly challenging the NOAA report, saying that the manipulated data does nothing to further understanding of what’s actually happening,    The NOAA-branded report is just adding fuel to a fire that the government wants to go away.   But they keep engaging in science fiction instead of science fact.   And they’re being called on it by people on their own side of the equation.

Pretty sad state of affairs for the global warming alarmism side when they criticize a report meant to silence their opposition.

It will be interesting to see if the people criticizing the government report change their tune in coming weeks, or if they stick to their guns.

No Progress on Straightening Out Primary Calendar: All States Should Set Their Primaries Earlier as a Show of Support for Challenging the Unbalanced Primary System

During the last primary season, Michigan was one of several states that the DNC and RNC singled out for punishment for daring to draw attention to the unfairness of two states getting the lion’s share of attention from the candidates due to their first-in-the-nation primary elections, and the respective (not so respective) National Committees of both parties going along with the system.

Michigan’s electoral votes were cut in half as a result by both parties.   Thanks for nothing, DNC and RNC.   I selected a side and wrote in Mickey Mouse.   That’s what I thought of my half-strength vote.

New Hampshire and Iowa have different issues on their plates than Michigan has.  Here’s a sample of issues in the headlines in those three states:

Iowa has been focused on ethanol, gasoline taxes, drone surveillance, “telemed” abortions, state aid for broadband access and same-sex marriage. 

New Hampshire has been focused on marijuana legalization, sexual orientation discrimination, the death penalty, immigration,  Common Core and Indian gaming. 

Michigan is focused in on its economy, deer hunting, bird flu, Common Core, fracking, repealing the state’s prevailing wage law, wolf hunting, recreational marijuana legalization, insurance premiums, funding for schools and roads, and guns.

Are Michigan’s issues any less important than New Hampshire’s or Iowa’s?  I think not.

During the last primary season, Michigan bumped up its primary election in violation of the rules so that our issues could be heard in all the racket emanating from Iowa and New Hampshire.

I hope more states cross the red line and schedule their primary elections early next year, and really stick it to both the DNC and RNC.   And if they do to those states what they did to Michigan, I hope all kinds of people write in Mickey Mouse or vote for “none of the above.”    

Much more to follow on this issue in the coming weeks and months.

GOP Field is Unimpressive: Mickey Mouse May Get My Vote (Again) for Next Year’s Primary

The last few primary elections, if I’ve been annoyed with the choice of contenders that the main parties have put forth, I’ve picked a side and then voted for Mickey Mouse. 

He may get my primary vote again, if things stand as they are.  I’m not impressed so far with the current field of candidates.

Someone had better start knocking ‘em out of the park, real quick.

Texas Police Officer Who Stopped Two Terrorists During Attack on Mohammed Cartoon Gathering is Still Unknown: He Probably Wants to Protect His Family From Retaliation

A heroic police officer who shot two terrorists after they opened fire with AK-47s on police and security officers at a controversial Mohammed cartoon gathering is still not publicly known, and that’s not a bad thing.  The police officer probably wants to protect his family, so the media should respect that.   I’m content with not knowing his name.

The terrorists drove up, got out of their car and opened fire, wounding an unarmed security guard.  It’s being said that the police officer drew his sidearm, killed one of the attackers immediately and wounded the other, which ended the situation. 

I don’t know if his name can be suppressed as the shooting is a matter of public record so his name’s probably going to be released.   Hope they’re taking steps to protect the officer’s loved ones before that happens.

80+ Percent of Vote Goes Against Michigan Proposal 1: Lopsided Defeat Shows Lansing Politicians Need to Do Their Jobs, Quit Scheduling Unnecessary Elections, and Fix the Roads With Money They Already Collect

Michigan’s had a problem with crumbling roads for quite a while now, and the politicians in Lansing have failed to come up with a solution to fix them.

Then someone came up with a cockamamie plot to alter the Michigan constitution to allow for an increase in the state sales tax, plus a bunch of other not-mentioned tax and fee increases that the legislature have already enacted.  Everything was to go into effect when Proposal 1 was approved by Michigan voters.  Fortunately, 80% of the vote went in the opposite direction.

I voted no because of all the other increases that were not mentioned in the proposal.  I did not consent to any of the not-mentioned tax and fee proposals.

I also object to a 200 word proposal that barely scratches the 46,000 word bill that includes language to automatically raise gas taxes.   Hard to believe a Republican governor would go along with something like that.  

They lost by a wide margin on this issue because the proposal left out key details of how much taxes and fees were going to increase.   They can fix the roads, increase education spending and provide other services with the money they already have.

They should stay in session (working FIVE DAY work weeks like everybody else, and not THREE DAY work weeks) until the road problem is fixed.

U.S. Supreme Court May Decide to Send the Gay Marriage Question Back to the States: Constitution is Clear on Who Regulates Marriage

I think there’s a possibility that the Supreme Court will not issue a ruling on the gay marriage question, and that they’ll defer to the states to make up their own minds.  This is probably the correct course of action, since the Constitution says that the authority to regulate marriage rests with the states.

I don’t know how strong this possibility is…this court has already inserted itself into national political questions, but since this is a power expressly given over to the states and not the federal government, I’m thinking the Supreme Court won’t take a side, which will make the state supreme courts in each state the final arbiter of the matter.  

Some have already decided, others are awaiting the Supreme Court decision, which is expected in June.

Gay Hotel Owner’s First Statement About Ted Cruz Was Truthful: His Subsequent Apology to His Community About the Meeting Is Not

I’ve been watching the situation between presidential contender Ted Cruz, and a gay businessman who took the opportunity to talk to Cruz about gay issues at his house with some interest.  His initial explanation was that he wanted to address issues between Cruz’s various stands and the gay community.  That was a truthful statement, and perfectly reasonable.

Then the threats of a boycott of the businessman’s business by gay and liberal activists lead to a quick apology and mea cupola from the businessman, who didn’t “understand Cruz’s stands on anti-gay issues.”  This statement appeared to be forced, and a hasty reaction to threats of a boycott, and possible threatened harm to the businessman and his business partner from various communication mediums.

Based on his first statement, I think he was fully aware of the various stands that Cruz had taken but chose to meet with Cruz anyways to have a conversation with the Congressman about it.  The second statement was the businessman trying to save his business.

It’s very unfortunate that liberal hypocrisy is on full display, again, and they’re making it look like the businessman’s fault.   He should be free to talk with whomever he wants, about whatever he wants, whenever he wants and wherever he wants.   Instead, the left is seeking to deny this guy his First Amendment rights about redressing grievances with elected officials, which Ted Cruz is and seeks to be.

Hypocrites!

California’s Environmentalism Has Made Their Drought Much Harder Than It Needed to Be: No New Reservoirs of Water Were Created At a Time When Their Population Doubled, Now They’re Restricting Most Forms of Water Use to Preserve What They Do Have Left

California has known for generations that it is prone to suffer from drought from time to time, yet did nothing to “mitigate the worst effects” of an extreme drought as their population was doubling.  

If those words sound familiar, it’s straight out of the liberal global warming playbook.  Ironic.

California’s water crisis IS a human-made problem, and the blame lies at the feet of environmentalists who have successfully blocked the creation of new water reservoirs in the hardest-hit areas of the California drought.    Now California’s entire population is at risk of not having enough water to drink, prepare food, take a shower, water their lawns and a host of other water issues as the drought continues.

If what NASA is saying is accurate, California will need 11 trillion gallons of water to end the drought.  Put another way, they need 30 billion gallons of rainfall daily for one entire year, without fail.   Or they need something like 12.5 feet of snow to fall on every part of the state during the winter and then melt.

Now they’re having to look at desalinization to turn ocean water into drinking water.  It costs double what it would take to build and run a reservoir, and the reservoir would have superior output, too.

If you want to see what a man-made disaster looks like, California’s the poster child.   I hope the other states are taking notes on what not to do with their environmental policies.

Mother Nature can turn this drought around, as it has before, but it’s going to take a long time to happen.   They won’t get 30 billion gallons of rainfall a day for 365 days without fail.  Nor will they get covered by 12.5 feet of snow in a winter.  

Environmentalism is good, but California’s environmentalism is an example of what happens when liberal environmental politics overrides common sense.

Israel Got It Right Again: Israel Threatens to Sell Anti-Aircraft Systems to Ukraine in Response to Russian Sale of S-300 Anti-Aircraft Missiles to Iran and Russia Blinks

Israel struck a Russian nerve a few weeks ago when it threatened to sell advanced Israeli anti-aircraft weapons to Ukraine in response to Russia’s sale of their S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran.

It lead to a Russian denouncement of the Israeli move, Israeli threats to bomb the system as it was being delivered to Iran, and a Russian announcement a few days ago that the S-300 delivery to Iran would be delayed.

Did Netanyahu just force Putin to blink?   President Obama hasn’t been able to do that a single time over any issue.

LEVERAGE!!

Russia doesn’t want Ukraine getting advanced arms that will take a bite out of the Russian Air Force should it launch an invasion of the rest of Ukraine.    And it remembers what happened when the Americans, Israelis and Saudis supplied Afghanistan with American Stinger missiles against the invading Soviet Army in the 1980s.   The Soviets lost in the neighborhood of three hundred aircraft.

Our current government can threaten Russia the same way, but it wouldn’t be the same.   Putin has Obama’s number and will call his bluff every time, but Netanyahu is perceived as a loose cannon by Putin.   Israel is more than willing to answer Putin tit-for-tat, and Putin doesn’t like it one bit.

Because Israel will sell lethal aid to Ukraine if Russia delivers the S-300 to Iran. 

Gore Wants to “Punish Climate Change Deniers” for “Denying Established Science”: Bring It On

Global warming alarmist Al Gore wants to punish people for not buying into his falsified climate change data.

His pal Vice President Biden also said recently that denying climate change is like denying gravity.   Interesting choice of comments, since the science of gravity used the scientific method of proving it, while climate change science has sought to skip the scientific method entirely.

The reason they’re seeking to skip using established scientific principles to prove climate change is that there is a very real possibility that it will be scientifically disproven.   The data just doesn’t support their arguments.  Why else would they manipulate the data?

If Al Gore wants us to buy what he’s selling, his side is going to have to use established scientific methods of proving what he’s saying.

As for his claim of climate change being “settled science”---NO IT ISN’T!   Not by the method that is accepted by the entire scientific community, unlike his global warming hubris.

No one denies that climate change has happened before.  If it hadn’t, we’d still be locked in the last Ice Age.  The region of the country I live in would still be under a sheet of ice nearly three miles thick.   

What is in dispute is the role humans have had in recent times with regards to the ever-changing climate on Earth—changes that would be happening whether we were here or not.  

Consider: humans weren’t around with today’s greenhouse gas emitting factories or cars 15,000 years ago to warm up the planet and cause the glaciers to retreat.

Also in dispute is the role that the sun and volcanic activity plays in the overall process.  Until they figure that out, they have NO business telling us that their version of climate change is “settled science.”   “Settled science” is a political term that has no place in a scientific debate.

If Al Gore wants to punish people for not buying his utter BS, he should go from door to door and do the job himself.   Put up, or shut up, pal.

More Questions Than Answers on Malaysian Airlines MH370 Disappearance One Year On: They Just Announced That the Battery on the Flight Recorders Were Dead Long Before the Jet Disappeared in Further Display of Incompetence

More proof that there are some incompetent fools running Malaysia Airlines…it’s bad enough that MH370 disappeared without a trace a year ago today, but according to a report from the airline, the flight recorder batteries on board the jet expired at least a year before the plane was lost. 

They must have known this information in the days after the flight was presumed lost in the Indian Ocean, but did they even tell the search crews or governments who sent rescue forces about the batteries already being dead?  The on-scene rescue personnel made a huge deal out of finding the wreckage before the locator beacon batteries on the black boxes ran out of power.   These batteries were supposed to last two to three weeks after the flight recorders lost primary power during the presumed destruction of the aircraft.

Yet the MH370 report released by Malaysia Airlines found “nothing unusual about the crew or aircraft.”  Apparently dead batteries on Malaysia Airlines black boxes are nothing unusual.  HUH??!  

What other safety violations are not considered unusual by this airline?

I hope every airline in the world is paying attention to the battery story and doing some checking of their records, and taking corrective action.  

When will the families of the lost finally have some peace?

Utter Hypocrisy: Democrats Call Netanyahu a Child, Then Start Up on the Name Calling…They’re The Ones Acting Like the Children, Not Netanyahu

Judging from the over-emotional reactions from House and Senate Democrats, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu scored a direct hit with his speech.   I thought it was a great speech, and one that the Democrats needed to hear.

What’s wrong with insisting that if Iran wants to be treated like a decent nation, it should start to act like one?  Pelosi was near tears over this statement?

What’s wrong with saying that “the enemy of your enemy is…your enemy?”

What’s wrong with pointing out that defeating ISIS but allowing Iran to gain nuclear weapons would win the battle but lose the war?

I hope Netanyahu’s speech stops the negotiations in their tracks.   It probably won’t, in spite of what the Obama team says.  If a deal favoring Iran emerges, it’d probably be better to scuttle the talks now.

I didn’t think it was a good idea for Netanyahu to quote John Kerry.  Kerry’s the master of double meanings and political rhetoric on a scale comparable to Bill Clinton.   And he’s a bigger observer-in-chief than Obama is. 

If there’s an agreement with Iran, we’ll know for sure if Netanyahu was on target, or if he was flat-out wrong.   Iran won’t honor the terms of an agreement in any case; they’ve already kicked international nuclear inspectors out of the country in the past to protect their military nuclear program.

The louder the Democrats scream about Netanyahu, the more I’m convinced that he hit the nail on the head.  It was a well-crafted speech.

Iranian Navy Practices Sinking a U.S. Aircraft Carrier Mock-Up; They’re Now Prepared to Wage War Against Hollywood Movie Sets

The Iranian Navy celebrated its most recent achievement yesterday as it’s naval forces staged an attack on a barge that was converted to look like an American aircraft carrier.  They managed to blow it up. 

They’re now ready to wage a naval war against floating movie sets.  Hollywood’s in big trouble!

I’d like to see their gunboats go straight at a U.S. warship lined up like that.   One strafing run by an F-18 from off the deck of one of our carriers would make short work of them. 

It’s a good thing they didn’t mistake a real American aircraft carrier with its full battle group for their wooden barge.  That would have made for a huge slice of humble pie for the Revolutionary Guard…every one of their little boats would have been on the bottom of the Strait of Hormuz, and it would have been carried live on Iranian TV.

Iran’s claim to be able to sink every American warship in the Strait of Hormuz or in the Persian Gulf in fifty seconds can only be done in a movie.  Looked like amateur hour with the Iranian Navy.

They’d probably better stick to blowing up movie sets.  They seem marginally proficient at that, even though a lot of their gun hits appeared to hit the water, and not the barge.

See for yourself.

Netanyahu Speech to Joint Session of Congress Should Not Be Cancelled: It Should Go Forward as Planned and He Should Lay Out the Case Against Iran that Obama Administration Has Decided to Ignore at Israel’s Expense

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech to Congress should go forward as planned and not be cancelled due to Administration pressure to do so.

The Obama Administration is ignoring Israel’s concerns in an effort to push forward a bad nuclear deal with Iran, and Israel is taking President Obama to task for doing so.  Israel isn’t the one spitting in the Administration’s face; rather the opposite.   Insult after insult has come from Administration officials, who called Netanyahu a “chickensh##” in recent weeks and appeared more interested in attacking our staunchest ally in the Middle East, instead of taking on Iran and other enemies of the United States.

The timing of the speech, which comes two weeks before an Israeli election, is unfortunate, but Netanyahu has been backed into a corner by the backstabbing Obama Administration.

I hope he shows up and tells Congress that he’s not interested in dealing with Obama or his lackeys and that he’ll wait for the next President to take office.   Obama’s one-sided approach to dealing with Israel and Palestine is more responsible for the current state of US-Israeli affairs than Netanyahu’s speech to Congress.

Shame on the Administration!

CNN: “Snub Hurts WH-Netanyahu ties” : WHO CARES?

The Obama Administration is all bent out of shape because Israeli Prime Minster Netanyahu accepted an invitation to speak before both houses of Congress.

Aww, poor Administration.   They don’t like having their toes stepped on, even though they’ve been STOMPING on Israel’s at every opportunity.  How does it feel, Mr. President?  What goes around, comes around.

This President and Administration cannot be counted on to be a neutral broker for peace in the Middle East.   Insult after insult against Israel from this Administration has lead directly to this tit-for-tat response from Israel, which is justified in throwing it right back in President Obama’s face.  I’m glad that Netanyahu accepted the invitation from Congress.

Israel is our ally, and President Obama needs to get off his high horse and reset relations with Israel so that they’re correct.   But then again, we’ve seen how successful his “reset” of relations with Russia have been, so perhaps that isn’t a very good idea after all.  They’ll fumble the ball…again.   Perhaps they’d be better off in staying out of the Middle East peace process altogether and hand it off to the next Administration.

Obama’s treatment of Israel and Netanyahu in particular have been shameful and inept on the part of our Administration.   I hope Netanyahu holds nothing back when he speaks to Congress.

North Korea Doesn’t Have Enough Know-How to Inflict the Kind of Damage That Sony Entertainment Sustained in Cyber Attack: Why the Rush to Blame Them Right Off the Bat?

I don’t understand what’s going on with the FBI statement that North Korea was involved in the cyber attack on Sony Pictures…it’s too sophisticated for a backwards country like North Korea to do on its own, with such devastating precision.

It’s far more likely that China was involved with it, as a demonstration of what it could do if a cyber war were to break out between the United States and China.   The Sony movie was an excuse to throw blame on someone else.

If North Korean hackers were involved, it was with Chinese handlers and hackers sitting right next to them, possibly in Chinese territory due to North Korea’s “limited” Internet access.  

It usually takes months to research who did what, and when, when this level of industrial espionage takes place.   Instead, they rushed out a statement blaming North Korea.   Something isn’t right here.  I’d rather see the FBI take its time in investigating this massive cyber attack, instead of rushing to conclusions that are not supported by the evidence.

North Korea can take its joint investigation and jump off a cliff.

Hydraulic Fracturing is Good, But Oil Prices Should Stabilize to Keep As Many Suppliers in Business as Possible

I’m a supporter of fracking as it’s helped us reduce our dependence on foreign oil suppliers, such as Saudi Arabia and the rest of the crooked OPEC cartel.   But too much of a good thing is NOT a good thing.

In order for everyone to stay in business and to make a profit, the free-falling oil prices need to stabilize at a level that will do two things: allow fracking to supplement our oil consumption needs while alternative energy continues to be explored, and damage OPEC at the same time.

OPEC’s been screwing us since 1973.  The more we can tell OPEC to go screw itself and rely on our own resources, the less we will need to be involved in foreign conflicts to protect our energy interests.   Iran wants to blockade the Persian Gulf down the road?  Let ‘em.  OPEC forces can fight it out with Iran—without our help.

Of course, the reality is that we’ll still depend on OPEC oil and we’ll have to keep a lid on Iran ourselves, if Israel doesn’t decide to turn Iran into a parking lot first.  

Saudi Arabia seems to be flooding the market with oil to lower the prices to drive more American companies out of the hydraulic fracturing business.   I don’t know how to combat that strategy, except to embargo Saudi and OPEC oil.  

Whoever wins this energy scrap will control pricing for years to come.  If we hope for maximized energy independence, Saudi Arabia and OPEC must not win this fight.

Reverend Sharpton Hypocricy: A Reminder of What This Man Has Done and Why He Has No Credibility Now

Media Needs to Stop Trying to Link Ferguson and Cleveland Shootings: Both Are Tragic Enough Without the Political Machine in Liberal Media Trying to Make Matters Worse

On the heels of the violence in Ferguson, a report of a young boy with a fake gun being shot by police in Cleveland moved into the 24-hour news cycle, and almost immediately CNN and MSNBC and other liberal outlets started to link the Ferguson violence with the tragic shooting in Cleveland.

One has nothing to do with the other.   They’re two separate and unique situations.

If ANYONE is waving a real-looking pistol around in front of police and not following police instructions, they’re going to get shot, regardless of what their skin color is.   It doesn’t help that the boy’s toy gun had the bright colored toy identifier pulled out of the barrel, which made it look much more real.

How long will it be before Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton show up in Cleveland, doing their race baiting routine again?  They didn’t help matters at all in Ferguson, and backed the wrong side again.

What Jackson and Sharpton should be doing in Cleveland and around the country is going after toy makers for making such realistic looking handgun toys.   Toys need to look like toys, and not like a real gun. 

If one takes the plastic out of the barrel, the gun below looks real…the cops can’t take a chance that something that looks like this is fake…they’re going to open fire, as they did in Cleveland.

Contrast the above photo to the one below.  The above toy needs lots of green and orange like this one does:

Nerf has the right idea.  Simply putting a plastic piece into the barrel isn’t enough.  That’s what the focus should be in Cleveland, but it’s going to be a race thing. 

Ferguson Shooting Witnesses Who Changed Their Stories in Favor of the Popular Narrative Guaranteed That No Charges Would Be Filed: If Activists Want to Blame Someone, Blame the Pro-Michael Brown Witnesses Who Lied Under Oath

The contrast couldn’t be more stark:

Pro-Michael Brown witnesses changed their stories so that they would match the popular narrative, while the eyewitnesses who supported the Ferguson police officer who shot Brown didn’t.   The evidence supported the witnesses who told the truth and weren’t affected by peer pressure.

Given that information, it’s no surprise at all that a grand jury refused to issue an indictment against the police officer.  How could they? 

Those lawyers who are crying about the grand jury system being “broken” should accept the fact that their witnesses turned out to be a bunch of liars who bore false witness to what they saw.  Some of the witnesses changed their story multiple times, too.  The grand jury system worked as well as it could have under the circumstances.

If there’s a lesson to be learned, it should be that witnesses to something like the Ferguson shooting shouldn’t let others influence the way that they tell their story.  Anyone who changed their story should be ashamed of themselves. 

Navy SEAL Who is Revealing Secrets About Bin Laden Raid Shouldn’t Be: Other SEALs Have Kept Military Secrets for Decades Without Fail; What’s This Guy’s Issue?

I have a lot of respect for the service of our veterans, past and present, for all the things that they’re asked to do in the line of duty.

The Navy SEALs are no exception.  They do the impossible, and make it look easy.  But what happens when one of that elite group starts revealing stuff about classified missions, such as the raid in Pakistan that resulted in Osama bin-Laden’s demise?

He’s been allegedly giving interviews to one magazine for months, and another magazine publicly identified him.  Fox News is getting ready to do a major story on it.  The Pentagon is taking a very dark view of the matter and is threatening to take legal action against any military personnel who reveal operational details.

Just because he’s not in government service anymore doesn’t give him the right to start spilling military secrets.  Some things should be left well enough alone and revealed in 50 years or so.

Retired SEALs and other special operators have kept military secrets for decades.  Why is this guy any different?  I respect what he’s done for our country, but he needs to think about his choices in moving forward from here.

If Republicans Take the Senate, They Need to Do Something About the Disastrous Medical Insurance Law: Affordable Care Act Needs to Either Be Repealed or Modified to Help People Instead of Hurting Them

If the GOP wins big tomorrow, they really need to move the Affordable Care Act to the top of their agenda.  ObamaCare goes too far, and should be modified so that it covers only those people who do not have health insurance, or repealed in whole or in part.  

The astronomical deductibles need to go away too.   $5,000 deductibles make purchasing insurance really hard to swallow.    And the IRS shouldn’t be involved in health care either.

I do like the idea of insurance companies not being able to cancel a policy because someone gets pregnant, or gets sick. 

This should be dealt with before immigration reform.

CDC MUST Take Charge of Ebola Response: State Governments Are Messing Things Up and CDC Is Said to Be “Unhappy” With NJ & NY Responses to Ebola Threat

More evidence that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) MUST take charge of all screenings of travelers coming into U.S. Airports of Entry emerged in the last few days.  Nurses returning from Africa reported that they were treated like prisoners and that officials were rude and insulting to them when questioning was going underway.  And the screenings were not done correctly.

These are Americans who risked their lives to save others and they deserve to be treated with the utmost respect, while at the same time ensuring that they are not sick.  

There has to be a way to respect Constitutional protections while isolating those who need to be isolated.  The answer is probably in better Ebola detection testing.  Waiting 21 days to learn if someone is going to come down with Ebola is too slow.   

We need a test that shows the presence of Ebola in a test subject within a matter of an hour or two at most, at any point during the incubation period.

CDC needs to be on point NOW.

Wait a Minute: ISIS Is Using IRAQI Chemical Weapons??! The Weapons We Went to War Over in 2003? Iraq War Narrative Favored By the Democrats Appears to Be Falling Apart Right Before Our Eyes

I’m really confused.  It’s being reported that ISIS is using captured Iraqi chemical munitions against the Kurds in northern Iraq.   WHAT IRAQI CHEMICAL WEAPONS??!

According to anti-war Democrats and liberals and peaceniks, those weapons were destroyed in the 1990s by the United Nations. 

Yet there are now news reports about a bunker that was nicknamed by U.S. occupation forces as the “Dragon’s Egg” as being under ISIS threat.

Looks like the anti-war peacenik narrative on the reasons for the Iraq War are crumbling to dust right before our eyes. 

I had accepted that there were no chemical weapons in Iraq and that we had gone to war for no good reason, but now there are news accounts of U.S. soldiers finding Saddam’s deadly arsenal.  The liberal media ignored the reports in favor of their own narrative.   And the U.S. military, realizing that the media was not on their side or on the side of the Bush Administration, decided not to reveal all that they had found.

Former soldiers are releasing the information now.   And the media is being forced to confront the photographic evidence, such as in the case of Specialist Richard Beasley, who was burned by mustard gas.

Michelle Obama’s School Lunch Program is Awful: The Food Has No Taste, the Kids Don’t Like It, and Schools Are Abandoning the Program and Federal Money to Purchase Food That Kids Will Eat

“Too far, too fast” seems to be echoing throughout many school districts across the country as the districts struggle to meet Federal standards on school lunch programs.  Some of the districts have opted out of the program to buy food that their students will actually eat.

Having eaten school meals over the last couple of years, including food that the district bought before and after the change in Federal standards went into effect, the food they offered before was better, in my opinion.  The pizza they served tasted like cardboard, no yogurt was available, the healthy choice chips that they offered were bland, and most of the items on their menu would not appear on most home menus.  Bleah!

Cut the sodium, by all means.  Cut the artificial flavoring too.  But they shouldn’t have to sacrifice basic good taste for healthy options.

Ebola Screening Begins at Five International Airports in U.S.: It’s Not Enough

Ebola screenings have begun at five airports that accept international flights: Chicago-O’Hare, JFK, Newark, Hartsfield-Jackson and Washington-Dulles.   It’s not enough. 

It’s said that 90% of passengers in Ebola-ravaged Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia use those airports.  But what if passengers change their flight plans to get past the screenings at those airports?

What if a traveler carrying Ebola comes in at one of the other “Airports of Entry?”  The list is quite extensive as shown here.  Five airports for this screening process clearly isn’t enough.

If Americans have the “right of return” as the director of the CDC has said, then they should return when they’re declared Ebola-free.  Same thing for others who have the right to travel to the U.S. from wherever they are.

I have not seen anything so far to indicate that our government has a handle on the problem.   This band-aid fix may be too late.  We’ll know within a matter of days if there’s a huge problem in Texas.   The Liberian who died there had contact with 46 others who are under observation.  A nurse who was treating him was diagnosed with Ebola last night.

And what’s with this story of the NBC news team breaking quarantine?  If they do develop Ebola and infect others during their violation, can they be charged with some kind of crime?  They are said to be “low risk”, but many would rather see them pass by the 21-day incubation period without getting sick before pronouncing them “low-risk.”   NBC should threaten to fire this crew if they don’t follow orders, regardless of whether they get sick or not.

Ebola is here.  We need a better solution than what’s been done so far.

Vice-President Biden Does It Again: He Had to Call Foreign Leaders to Apologize for His Latest Gaffes

Once every generation, we have a politician who comes along who makes gaffe after gaffe, and makes all prior political gaffe-makers look good by comparison.

That’s what Vice-President Biden is doing for former Vice-President Dan Quayle.  That’s all I’m going to say on that topic.

In the latest gaffes, Biden was forced to call the leaders of the UAE and Egypt to apologize for suggesting that they were aiding the al-Qaeda spinoff group ISIS.  The media seems to be having a field day with it; even the liberal press is jumping on it.  It probably has something to do with a recent poll that suggests Democratic voters prefer Hillary Clinton as a presidential candidate over Joe Biden as a presidential contender by a HUGE margin---70% to 20% in some markets.

Biden really needs to stay away from the cameras and live mikes if he’s serious about a Presidential run.  After this latest royal screw-up, he can’t make any more mistakes while he’s Vice-President. 

Limbaugh is probably counting down the days to launching Operation Chaos II…getting Republicans to vote in Democratic primaries for Biden to derail Clinton.  I think it’s going to happen. 

For a senior politician, Biden isn’t helping the feeling that the Administration is running amateur hour through the Oval Office.   He rivals Cheney in sheer arrogance, and doesn’t have the foresight to see what kind of damage his words cause.

God help us if Biden ever becomes President, either through the 25th Amendment, or if he is elected to his own term as President.  

Why Hasn’t There Been a Full Embargo on Air Travel to Ebola-Hit Nations in West Africa? Huge Screw-Up at Texas Hospital Has Allowed Ebola to Gain a Foothold in U.S.

An “out of the blue” case of Ebola appears to have hit in Texas due to a screw-up at a Dallas-area hospital.

Why was this allowed to even happen?   The outbreak in West Africa was bound to show up on our shores sooner or later, yet our government has no controls in place to contain it, other than to have the Centers for Disease Control to play catch-up.

There’s no air embargo against West Africa in place.  There’s no plan in place to quarantine incoming travelers until they’ve undergone testing and observations in CDC or infectious disease facilities.   And hospitals haven’t been adequately warned.

CDC cannot afford to play catch-up; one man in Texas may have infected a dozen other people, plus untold (and unconfirmed) hundreds of other people who were in close proximity to him during the flight from Africa to the various air terminals.  All of a sudden, we may have a thousand people or more who are at a direct risk of coming down with Ebola.  How many will these people pass Ebola to?

Hopefully the damage that’s already been done will be contained to the people who are directly involved in Texas.    The nightmare scenario is that Ebola cases start to pop up all over the country like a bad case of chicken pox, and thousands more are infected.

The Obama Administration needs to take drastic action to keep this problem from happening again, if the current situation is indeed contained, as we’re all hoping and praying that it is. 

Russian Government Should Stop Blaming U.S. For Russian Inferiority Complex: Get Your Own House in Order, President Putin

The Russian inferiority complex was on full display at the United Nations, with the Russian foreign minister blaming NATO, the West and the U.S. for destabilizing the world and interfering with Russian affairs.

He was referring to the illegal Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory, of course, and the Western and Arab decision to deal with the ISIS problem in Iraq and Syria.   Putin’s also still seething about the Kosovo declaration of independence from Serbia and the quick Western recognition of Kosovo as a new nation.  He’s also angry that the South Ossetian declaration of independence from Georgia has only been recognized by Russia and a couple of Russian allies.

Then there was the statement that the U.S. had to abandon it’s claim of “eternal uniqueness.”  This guy needs to go back to grade school and learn that everyone is unique, and so is every nation.  We teach our Young 5s to play nice with others, and to share.  Russia’s the bully on the playground, taking other people’s stuff and breaking what it can’t have, like a petulant child.  For a Russian strongman, he sure has thin skin.

Putin’s just upset that he can’t pull out the carving knife and start slicing off parts of other nations without economic consequences.  The Russian ruble is down sharply since they started using their carving knife against Ukraine, and that’s probably going to worsen if Russia doesn’t start behaving and being a good neighbor.

President Obama Should Stop Deployment of U.S. Troops to Ebola-Hit Countries: It’s Too Little, Too Late and Not a Proper Mission for the U.S. Military

Mistake after mistake has been made in the fight to contain the Ebola virus currently rampaging across Western Africa, and President Obama made a big one in deciding to send American troops into Ebola-ravaged country to “fight” it.

They have no business there.

Medical professionals are getting hit by the virus as well, so why send ground troops there and expose more Americans to it?    They should have been setting up field hospitals many weeks ago, if they wanted to take that course, but now it’s almost too late.   The victims number in the tens of thousands.  

We need to impose a blockade on air travel to the U.S. and Europe from Africa, to stop the spread of Ebola.  That’s what the U.S. military should be doing.

If Global Warming is “Settled Science,” Then Why Does the Scientific Community Keep Changing the Data Around to Suit Their Needs? This is Why There Are SO Many Global Warming Skeptics---They Can’t Trust The Data That The Alarmists Are Presenting

Global warming skeptics cannot trust any data coming from the global warming alarmists, as the latter keeps changing the data or suppressing new data that proves that their theories are nothing but hot air.

If the data from the alarmists were genuine, they could present it immediately, and without data alterations or changing how they read the information.   And it would be accepted by all—as-is.

The term “settled science” throws out the much-vaunted scientific method, which involves  forming a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis and so forth.   All they’ve given to us is a whole lot of hot air that they themselves have been generating about their “settled science.”

This is what happens when politics mixes with science: HOGWASH!

They prepare hockey stick data, falsified data, omitted data, changed data, ignored data, and when all else fails---name calling the skeptics.  Al Gore is an expert at this, and he’s the worst of the lot.  Then they “correct” the data when skeptics blast the incomplete or incorrect data full of holes.

If they’d simply present their data in an unbiased form, we might be able to come to some kind of consensus.   But the alarmists are trying to ramrod shoddy information down everyone’s throats, in the hope that their half-baked theories convince a public that they hope is dumbed down enough to believe it.

Just present the data—as-is—and let the rest tend to itself.  If the data is truthful, many would be more inclined to look at it.   Those involved with the data manipulation should no longer be involved in the discussion or research.  They’re political hacks, not legitimate scientists.

If global warming is going on, these discredited alarmists have sabotaged their own cause.  They can’t blame the skeptics for that.  The responsibility is theirs.    Does anyone in the alarmism ranks even remember the scientific method?

Biden Uses the “Let’s Take Back America” Quote That President Obama and Secretary Holder Think is Racist: Biden Gets a Pass From the Left on This Too, But the Next Republican to Say the Same Thing Will Be Greeted With Screams of “RACIST!” and “RESIGN!!”

Once again, we see the racial double standard in play on the left.  Vice President Biden used the “Let’s take back America” line that President Obama and Eric Holder think is racist.  And nothing is being said by the left.

This begs the question…is this statement racist or not?   I think not.   This is the line that both parties use when they’re not in power or lose a bitterly contested election.

Another question…who is Biden suggesting we take the country back from?  The liberal arm of the Democratic Party, to which he belongs?  What an excellent idea!   I’ll bet someone in the White House communications office was facepalming when they heard Biden utter those words.

Waiting to see what the left will do when a Republican suggests the same thing down the road.   It’s a no-brainer, especially when Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton get into the act.

Massive Breach of iCloud Security Leads to Hundreds of Celebrities Having Nude Photos Leaked Online: Why Did These Hollywood Stars Use iCloud to Store Nude Photos of Themselves?

The headline should read “Hollywood Celebrities Stupidly Store Nude Photos of Themselves on iCloud” or “Massive Security Breach Exposes Danger of Posting Nude Photos Online.”  These celebrities brought this down on themselves.

I don’t have a whole lot of sympathy for these actors and actresses who naively posted their nude photos in iCloud.   Uploading these kinds of photos for storage purposes?   STUPID!

If someone else uploaded them without the celebrity’s consent or knowledge, then I do feel bad for them, but if they did it to themselves, that’s just too bad.   Internet safety rules and common sense apply to them as well. The top rule is this:

Never post a photo or revealing information you aren’t prepared to have the entire world to see, in high definition and in multiple places.

“Celebrity is as celebrity does.”  And celebrity does stupid!

“Government Publishes Detailed Instructions on How To Roast Marshmallows”: WHAT??! Did the Government Actually Pay For Such a Study and Document?

The U.S. Forestry Department just published a detailed step-by-step document on how to safely roast marshmallows. 

Excuse me?

The U.S. Forestry Department just published a detailed step-by-step document on how to safely roast marshmallows.

THE GOVERNMENT PAID SOMEONE TO RESEARCH AND PUBLISH THIS KIND OF THING??!   If I want a step by step guide, they should have gone and asked a Boy Scout or Girl Scout to write it down on a piece of paper for them.  They wouldn’t have needed to come out with a 700-word manual on roasting marshmallows.

What is this wacko government doing??!

Double Standard in Progress: Harry Reid Uses Racial Slurs AGAIN, and the Dems Are Going to Let Him Off the Hook AGAIN

Harry Reid and the political double standard on racism are at it again.

Senator Reid was at the Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce and used some racial slurs during his speech; he quickly offered a lame apology and everyone seems to have accepted it and forgotten about it.

What would have happened if a REPUBLICAN had used such language?  There would be have been much more of a reaction, and pressure would have quickly built up among Democratic politicians and in the media for the Republican to apologize and resign. 

If it’s a liberal Democrat with Harry Reid, there is an embarrassed silence.   He’s a repeat offender…this double standard must end. 

Media Should Stop Treating Israel and Hamas Like They’re Some Kind of Equals: Hamas Should Be Looked At in the Same Way That the Islamic State “Caliphate” Is

I’m tired of the way the media has been treating Israel in their recent air and ground offensive against Hamas.  They’ve also been very reluctant to compare Hamas to the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terror group, which has seized vast amounts of Syrian and Iraqi territory.

• Israel doesn’t use human shields to protect their military assets.  Hamas and the IS do.  
  
• The Israelis don’t execute people for practicing a different religion than they do.  Hamas and the IS do. 
  
• Israel is a democracy.  Hamas and the IS are not.  In fact, Hamas seized total power by overthrowing the Palestinian Authority in a raging gun battle with Fatah in 2006.  Over the last four days, reports have come out that Israel disrupted a Hamas plot to overthrow the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank as well.
    
• Israel protects it’s people.  Hamas and the IS murder their own people by the bushel. In fact, if ordinary Gazans get in the way, Hamas makes an example out of them.  See the video above on the Hamas overthrow of Gaza.

On a side note, can you imagine what would happen if Israel were captured by Hamas?   They wouldn’t offer the Israelis the opportunity to convert to Islam; they’d slaughter every last man, woman and child.  It would be a slaughter, on a scale unseen since the darkest days of World War II and the concentration camps.

The media needs to get its act together and stop treating Israel and Hamas as equals.

Texas Governor Perry Charged With Political Crimes: Texas Really Needs to Get a Handle on What is a Crime and What is Political Tactics, Because the Texas Judiciary is Acting Political and Not Like a Judicial Arm of the Texas Government

First, a couple of definitions…

Political Crime:   a violation of the law or of the public peace for political rather than private reasons; specifically :  one directed against a particular government or political system (credit: Merriam-Webster Online).   My perception of this term is that it’s a political act which inconveniences the other side of a political argument or debate and the other side retaliates by misusing the legal system. 

Criminal offense: a REAL crime.  For example, sexual harassment, rape, wire fraud, mail fraud, tax evasion, lying under oath, driving under the influence, sexual assault, murder, embezzlement, extortion, racketeering, money laundering, insurance fraud, bribery, conspiracy, lewd conduct, manslaughter, obstruction of justice, child pornography, voter fraud, perjury, theft, drug possession, contempt of court/Congress, destroying evidence, treason.  (These are crimes committed by federal officials—credit to Wikipedia)

What has Governor Perry been accused of? 

Abuse of power in the form of a vetoing of a budget of a Texas state government department whose department head was arrested and spent THREE MONTHS in jail for her crime.  Governor Perry wanted her resignation, she said ‘no’.    So when their budget came up for his signature, he vetoed it.  His reason is that the head of the Public Integrity office should have some integrity.  Without it, the department has no reason to continue operating.

So now, if a governor attempts to get a convict to resign from public office, he’s going to be charged with a crime?  This is a political crime, not a real one.

Texas really needs to separate politics from criminal law.   A political act like a veto is not a criminal action in any circumstance.   The correct action for the opposition would be to try to override the veto, but they chose to abuse the legal system instead.  Some sanity in the Texas legal system would be appreciated.

Media’s Blatantly One-Sided and Nonstop Coverage of Killing of A Criminal (Who Happened to be African-American) is Another Example of the Press Trying to Stir People Up Instead of Calming Things Down: No More Media Activism!

I’ve been watching the unfolding story coming out of Ferguson, Missouri with a growing sense of unease, due to the media’s political activism and presenting only their version of what they wish happened, instead of what actually happened.  Right, CNN?

Witness after witness has stated that the “gentle giant” charged the police officer and that the cop opened fire to protect himself.  They’re being called liars by protesters who don’t care about what really happened.   They have their narrative and they’re sticking to it, no matter what the evidence says.

The people on TV stating that marijuana doesn’t alter how a person acts are a joke!  Mind altering drugs DEFINITELY affect how a person acts.   For the media to treat these people as anything other than crackpots is totally ridiculous.

How can showing the “gentle giant” robbing the store be considered to be “character assassination?”   Missouri is required under their “sunshine laws” to share all evidence in the case.  The Jackson/Sharpton crowd are unhappy because, again, it doesn’t fit the chosen narrative.

Finally, the peaceful protests are one thing.  The outside agitators coming in from outside the area to riot and loot are another.  If the demonstrators want to demonstrate peacefully, then they should do so during daylight hours, because the agitators own the night.

If the local prosecutor decides not to pursue the police officer who shot the kid, will all sides accept the decision?  Not a chance!

Germany and Other EU Members Condemn IS Butchery in Iraq: Ho, Hum…If They’re So Worked Up About It, Why Doesn’t the EU Do Something About It?

Germany was quoted as saying they can’t stand idly by while the Islamic State (IS) butchers ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq.

Oh, really?

Sounds like some in the EU are drawing a political “red line” similar to President Obama’s, when he said that use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war would trigger a strong U.S. response.  Chemical weapons were used in Syria, and there was no U.S. response.  Russia’s President Putin saved and humiliated President Obama at the same time.

It’s become obvious that the 2014 version of Iraq will not survive in one piece.   If the EU and the United States arm the Kurds heavily against the Islamic State, who is to say they won’t declare independence from Baghdad, and fight for their political and economic freedom using American and NATO arms?

And what of the Sunnis, who don’t want anything to do with the Shiites?   Seems like the Islamic State is supporting them.

I can see a partition of Iraq, with Sunnis and Shiites crossing into their own territory, such as what happened when India and Pakistan were partitioned.  Hopefully none of them become nuclear-armed like India and Pakistan did.

If the EU wants to take the lead, then they should lead from in front, and not behind the United States, which is engaging IS with air strikes so far.

Please, no more red lines from the West.

Hamas Tunnels Are Proof That Blockade Against Gaza Needs to Be Strengthened, Not Lifted: Concrete Used in Tunnels Was Diverted from Projects Designed to Help Palestinian People and Instead Used to Benefit Hamas’ Militarism

Israel’s stunning photos of Hamas’s underground tunnels show that Hamas is willing to hurt the Palestinian people to benefit itself at their expense.  The tunnels are huge, and constructed of steel and concrete, materials that should have been used for building apartments, hospitals, schools, power plants and other similar projects that would have eased the suffering of the Palestinian people.  Instead, Hamas diverted the materials and built tunnels to bring rockets and explosives across the border, and to transport terror cells under the border into Israel.

In addition, the U.N. has reported that its buildings and schools have been used as ammunition depots and launching areas for Hamas rockets; Hamas uses densely populated civilian neighborhoods to do the same thing, hoping that Israel will attempt to knock out Hamas rocket launchers that are near lots of civilians.

We already knew that Hamas couldn’t be trusted to abide by any international norms in its dealings with Israel, but the tunnels are the proof that the Palestinian people are being used as Hamas pawns, and that Hamas will continue to steal resources and lives from ordinary Gazans who just want to live out their lives in peace.   Gaza really needs a civil war to throw Hamas out, so that this can happen.

Israel recently suggested that the Gaza Strip be demilitarized in exchange for a permanent cease-fire.  This is a great idea, and one that Hamas will never agree to, so long as they refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist.

I see no quick end to this.

GOP Plays It Smart on Impeaching Obama: It’s Off the Table and Denounced as a Democratic Ploy to Get Attention Away From Obama Administration Failures

The Republicans will not impeach President Obama for his many failures, which is the smart move for the GOP to make.  They are right in denouncing the impeachment talk as a Democratic ploy to create an issue for their liberal base to rally behind.

Hopefully the Republicans keep the legal heat on the Administration.

If Obama Wants to Be Impeached, Why Doesn’t He Save Everyone the Trouble and Resign Instead? GOP Should Stay Away From Impeachment Talk and Let the Lawsuits Play Out

Drudge has a headline that blares “Obama Begging to Be Impeached” and a story outlining the rhetoric that has started in Washington and in the news media about all the actions that President Obama is taking or not taking in terms of the invasion along our southern border, the war between Israel and Hamas, the Ukraine crisis, and the subsequent airliner shootdown in eastern Ukraine by Russian-backed rebels.

The “trigger” for an impeachment is being reported by the media as an Executive Order granting amnesty to five million illegals.

Another news story reported that President Obama is no longer “in” the White House, that he’s mentally checked out of it.

If President Obama wants to be impeached because he wants out of the job, he should spare us the trouble and resign.   But that’s not why he “wants” to be impeached.

As outlined in this WND report, Democratic leaders believe they’re heading for a massive defeat in November and possible loss of the Senate.   If Obama is impeached before the election, it will turn out the unenthusiastic Democratic voters, which could stave off defeat in November.

If that’s the case, the GOP should avoid any mention of impeachment whatsoever.  It’s an unwise course of action to take, and it’s a trap. 

They’re better off suing over illegal Executive Orders and restoring the checks and balances system which is seriously out of whack under President Obama’s Administration.    I hope the GOP focuses their energy on that instead of trying to convince the Democratic-controlled Senate to convict President Obama of impeachable offenses.  

It’s the GOP’s election to lose, so don’t blow it GOP.

If Eric Holder is Having Sleepless Nights Because He’s Afraid of Homegrown Violent Extremists, Perhaps He Should Resign and Let Someone Less Provocative Than Him Run the Justice Department

Eric Holder says that he has a lot of sleepless nights, thinking about homegrown violent extremists among other people.

I don’t know how he sleeps at night anyways.   His Justice Department has lead an assault on the Constitution in ways that will have ramifications for generations to come.   Like the Clinton Administration before it, this Justice Department is being used as a political shield against the President’s enemies.   So much for an independent Justice Department.

I also noticed he mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers, but forgot to mention that this was an attack by terrorists from Chechnya. They were not American citizens, and court papers seem to indicate that while the Chechens were moving in that direction, their foreign radicalization in their native lands shows that they were use the immigration process as a step in carrying out terrorist attacks on Boston and New York.

Perhaps the Democrats should take that into consideration before manufacturing this crisis on our southern border to create new Democratic voters.

IRS Conduct Over Lerner Probe is Disgraceful: IRS Doesn’t Lose or Misplace Documents When It Goes After People Who It Thinks Owe Them Money, So Are We REALLY Supposed to Believe They Actually “Lost” Anything?

OK, so we have the most powerful tax collection agency in the world, which spares no expense at getting every penny they’re owed by American taxpayers, saying that they lost a ton of emails and other data that has been subpoenaed by a Congressional committee that is looking into the targeting of conservative and other groups by the IRS.

Their claims of having “lost” emails baffles the mind.  They don’t lose or misplace information, so the only logical conclusion is that the emails were deliberately deleted by political people inside the IRS who are trying to protect the Administration from another scandal.

Of all the federal agencies, this agency is well-known for its daily data backups of every digital record in its possession.   The thought of anything “lost” beyond recovery at the IRS points to deliberate deletions of both the original emails, and the deletion of the data from the daily backups.    Who has that kind of access at the IRS?

This is going to get a whole lot worse, especially since this is taking place in a poisoned political environment.   If these emails were deleted, the responsible parties should be facing jail time.   And not the poor mid-level patsy that they decide to throw under the bus to throw the bloodhounds off the scent.

And there should be criminal penalties for the IRS taking sides in political discourse, as they appear to have done.   I don’t know if this behavior is already banned by law, but if it isn’t, then it should be.    The IRS has no business furthering the political agenda of an Administration or a political party.

Reserving Judgment: We Need to Let the Military Sort Out Fact From Fiction in Case of Exchanged POW

I’m not going to weigh in on the case of the American soldier who was traded for five top-tier Taliban prisoners until more facts are known.   When I first heard of this story, I thought it was a promotional thing for an episode of the TV series “Homeland.”   Really surprised when I read that it was not a promo.

The military needs more time to figure out if this soldier was captured, or if he deserted as members of his platoon are saying in the media.  Everybody needs to settle down for a while, and stop throwing words like “traitor” around until the military figures out what the circumstances were behind the soldier’s disappearance. 

I’ll wait for new developments before saying more.

Bundy’s Race Comments Are Major Screw-Up: Whatever Goodwill He Had Built Up Went Out the Window and He Won’t Get It Back

Clive Bundy decided to discuss race relations following his victory against federal agents who were sent to rustle his cattle, and managed to turn many sympathetic people against him in the space of a few short minutes.

What an idiot.

Captains Who Abandon Ship Before Every One of Their Passengers is Accounted For Should Be Charged With Crimes: Recent Cruise Line/Ferry Disasters Had Captains Who Left While Leaving Passengers to Their Fates on Sinking Ships

I do not expect captains of stricken ships to go to the bottom of the ocean with their vessels, but they should be leaving their ships on the last lifeboats, or jumping into the water along with the passengers that they’re responsible for.   In two major passenger disasters, the captain of the Costa Concordia and the captain of the recent South Korean ferry abandoned ship before all hands and passengers were safely off.

The captain of the Costa Concordia abandoned ship and refused an Italian Coast Guard order to re-board the ship and take charge of the evacuation of the rest of the passengers.  He was charged with crimes by Italian authorities.  The captain of the South Korean ferry left on the very first lifeboat.  Authorities are seeking his arrest.

Some other examples of captains evacuating themselves before their passengers (credit to Wikipedia):

• November 12, 1965: Captain Byron Voustinas of the SS Yarmouth Castle
• April 7, 1990: Captain Hugo Larsen of the Scandinavian Star.
• August 3/4, 1991: Captain Yiannis Avranas of the cruise ship MTS Oceanos.
• January 13, 2012: Captain Francesco Schettino of the Costa Concordia.
• April 16, 2014: Captain Lee Joon-seok of the "Sewol ferry." The Captain and all of the crew (except one) escaped first, abandoning nearly 300 junior high school students to drown.

Some examples of captains going down with their ships, or choosing to stay aboard when they realized there were people still on board (credit to Wikipedia):

• September 12, 1857: William Lewis Herndon was in command of the commercial mail steamer Central America when it encountered a hurricane. Two ships came to the rescue, but could only save a fraction of the passengers, so Captain Herndon chose to remain with the rest.
• April 15, 1912: Captain Edward Smith was in command of the RMS Titanic when it struck an iceberg. Smith knew within minutes that the ship was doomed and did all in his power to prevent panic. Smith did not survive the sinking. As the ship went down, Smith was seen walking towards the bridge, only a few minutes before it and the rest of the ship's forward superstructure were engulfed by the sea.^[3] When the ship's lamp trimmer Samuel Hemming entered the bridge seconds after Smith was seen walking towards it, he found the bridge apparently empty.^[4] There are conflicting accounts of what happened to Smith: Some, including second radio operator Harold Bride,^[5] claimed to have seen him jumping in the water, or in the water swimming either toward a lifeboat or near the capsized collapsible lifeboat "B," while others claimed he committed suicide by shooting himself.^[6] Others including first class passenger Robert Williams Daniel said that Smith entered the wheelhouse on the bridge and died there when it was engulfed.^[7][8] The actual fate of captain Smith will probably remain uncertain.
• February 7, 1943: Commander Howard W. Gilmore, captain of the American submarine USS Growler (SS-215), gave the order to "clear the bridge," as his crew was being attacked by a Japanese gunboat. Two men had been shot dead; Gilmore and two others were wounded. After all others had entered the sub and Gilmore found that time was critically short, he spoke his last order: "Take her down." The executive officer, hearing his order, closed the hatch and submerged the crippled boat, saving all of the crew from the attack of the Japanese convoy escort. Commander Gilmore was never seen again, but the submarine made repairs and returned to battle. Gilmore received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his "distinguished gallantry," the first submariner to receive this award.
• October 29, 2012: Captain Robin Walbridge of the Bounty, a replica of the HMS Bounty, stayed on the ship until it capsized during Hurricane Sandy. Fourteen crew members who made it to life boats survived the sinking of the sailing ship and were rescued by U.S. Coast Guard helicopters. Walbridge's last known words were to his crew: "Abandon ship."^[9]

In the case of the USS Growler, the captain sacrificed himself to save his crew, hence his Medal of Honor.  Smith of the Titanic and Walbridge of the Bounty sailing replica were heavily criticized for their command decisions prior to their ships going down, but they still stayed aboard their sinking ships.

The captains of the South Korean Sewol ferry and the Costa Concordia could have chosen to stay on board until the last minute, before jumping into the water or being rescued by local Coast Guard and military rescue crews. They chose to save their own skins.

Some thoughts:

--All cruise line and ferry crews should speak a common language.   On too many cruise ships (all of them?), the crews can’t understand the captain or officers because they speak their own languages.   In worldwide aviation, English is the spoken language.  This should be a cruise line standard as well. Crews and officers need to be able to communicate with each other instantly, and not just through a translator, IF they’re fortunate to have one on board.

--Captains need far more training than they currently get.  It might be better if captains have a naval background and possesses the military ethos on their responsibilities to their passengers and crew.

--Captains are not bystanders when a disaster strikes aboard their ship.   They need to do their duty and save the lives of others, AND STAY ABOARD THEIR STRICKEN VESSEL to do it.

Something has to change.  I hate hearing stories that captain and crew abandoned ship and left passengers behind when a disaster at sea strikes.  That isn’t right, and no amount of apologizing by the dishonored captain or crew members will be sufficient to make up for their bad decision making, or for the people who die because the captain decided to save his own neck and then watch his own ship sink from the safety of a life raft.

Harry Reid Needs to Retire: He’s Acting Like Nevada’s Emperor over the Bundy Ranch Situation Instead of Acting Like the Senate Majority Leader and Dealing With More Pressing National Issues…Get With the Program, Reid, or Get Out of the Way!

Harry Reid is up to his eyeballs in the federal government vs. Nevada rancher situation, calling the civilian militias “domestic terrorists” and vowing that the fight “isn’t over.”

Get real, Reid, and do your job.  You’re not the Nevada Emperor, and not a particularly good Senate Majority Leader either.   Either do the job your Nevada constituents (including Clive Bundy) elected you to do, or retire. 

This situation was created by the Obama Administration ignoring legal protocol and going over to a direct armed confrontation, which brought the armed civilian militias out in droves to stop the federal rustlers.

The Obama Administration is at fault here.  

Reid needs to start acting like the Senate Majority Leader and get off his high horse, or retire.  The militias are playing him like a drum.

Obama Administration is Provoking a Domestic Uprising With Their Stupid Cattle Round-Up: They Need to Stop Sending Police, K-9 Units and SWAT Teams to Handle Arguments With Farmers and Ranchers

The civilian militias are having a field day, with the latest domestic blunders by President Obama and his Senate lap-dog, Harry Reid.   And the liberal media outfits aren’t covering any of it either.

The latest incident happened in Nevada, where federal officers and local police began rounding up cattle belonging to a local rancher.  The feds were claiming that Clive Bundy owed over a million dollars in grazing fees and brought in two hundred armed agents to rustle Bundy’s cattle.

Out came the militias, who were, of course, armed to the teeth, and a standoff ensued, with both sides pointing guns at each other, and several highly publicized confrontations being filmed in front of (conservative) news crews, and by private citizens, who almost instantly posted their videos to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The feds backed off, but vowed to win in federal court.  That’s probably where this situation should have gone first.  Again, the Obama Administration seems hell-bent on short-cutting legal procedures.

In the meantime, now they have emboldened civilian militias looking for the next fight with federal government forces.   Thanks a lot, President Obama.   What’s next, a civil war when a state government refuses to enforce a federal law?  Sounds like a remake of Bleeding Kansas in the works.

Veteran Politicians Being Driven Out by Gridlock: Good, It’s About Time! Now Maybe Their Replacements Will Be Willing to Negotiate More Than Their Incompetent Predecessors

A lot of career or long-term politicians have decided to retire at the end of the term; the gridlock that is the hallmark of several sessions of Congress is said to be the reason for the frustration and decisions of some to retire.

GOOD!

If they’re not part of the solution, then they’re part of the problem. 

I don’t care if my state loses the chairperson’s position on this committee, or that committee.  It’s worth losing those politicians who hold those positions, if we get someone in there who is at least willing to talk to others.  Our current Congress doesn’t do enough talking; they refuse to meet with their political opponents to arrive at a deal.

As things stand, the only way that Congress can get anything done is if one party controls both houses of Congress.   It shouldn’t be that way.  

With recent debates on the budget and the debt ceiling, we’ve seen politicians make statements to the media about their positions on the debate, and then no meetings for weeks and months on end, until a week or two before the money is set to run out for the federal government to operate.  That doesn’t include Congressional paychecks, mind you.  Then there’s a flurry of meetings, like someone flipped the switch to the “Congress ON” setting.   They should have been meeting weeks and months prior, and hammering out a deal. 

Perhaps the next Congress should pass a law stating that their paychecks should be affected by the presence or absence of a budget agreement.   No budget=no pay.  After all, they force other federal employees to not get paid if there’s a shutdown.   Why shouldn’t Congress play by the same rules?

That’ll get them motivated to reach a budget deal much quicker, instead of shutting the government down.

So, to the Representatives and Senators who are retiring because they’re “frustrated,” bye bye.

Mozilla CEO Forced to Resign Over Donation to Anti-Gay Marriage Proposal in California: That Isn’t Right—ALL People Should Be Allowed to Exercise Their Freedom of Expression Regardless of Issue

A dating service called OKCupid recently asked Firefox users not to use the browser to access their site because of Mozilla’s CEO donating money to an anti-gay marriage proposal in California.  It started a firestorm, which lead to the CEO of Mozilla stepping down (?)  to defuse the situation.

Mozilla did not stand their ground for freedom of expression and their CEO was shown the door.

I do not support Mozilla’s spinelessness and hypocrisy on their statement of freedom of speech and equality.  Mozilla has shown that their statement only extends to certain individuals, and not all individuals, such as their ex-CEO. 

I don’t care about the ex-CEO’s politics or if he supported this or that or the other thing.   He can support whatever cause or political agenda he wants, with his vote or with his money, the same as anybody else, and the same as those who were opposed to Proposal 8.

I’m rethinking my use of Mozilla products over this situation.  If I can find a viable alternative that I like for Firefox and for Thunderbird, I may well take them.    That’s very unfortunate because I really like both products and Mozilla as a whole, until this scandal hit.

I’m very unhappy with Mozilla.  They should amend their statement to be not as inclusive as it currently is.  They’ve demonstrated that they will not support some legitimate forms of speech, such as monetary donations to anti-gay marriage proposals in the state of California.

I also think that the decision of the California state government to publish the names of donors to Proposal 8 is an obscenity.   If I want to support a particular party or proposal as a private citizen, it’s my right to do so, privately and free of threats of retaliation and harassment from any village idiots.   There’s at least one web site in California that has posted locations on maps of people who supported Prop 8, and harm has come to some of them.

Mozilla needs to decide which side it’s on, and California needs to stop the voter and donor intimidation.

United States Should Reverse its Decision to Give Up Internet Controls: U.S. Will Do a Much Better Job of Maintaining Internet Freedom of Expression Than Russia, China, Venezuela, Iran, and Other Nations Who Lock Up Their Own Citizens For Saying What’s On Their Mind

President Obama made a major mistake in giving up control of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which controls how users can access websites all over the world.

It’s not too late to reverse this decision.   Until every nation on the planet guarantees freedom of speech to their citizens, and establishes a history of respecting those rights, AND stops locking up those same citizens for daring to disagree with their governments, we have no business surrendering control of it to any international body.

American ingenuity and treasure was spent on creating the Internet, and it should rest permanently with the same department in the United States government that it has been with so far.

The Democrats talk about having an Internet free of government control, and that’s fine and dandy if all world governments agree to the same thing in a legally binding contract.   I don’t see us agreeing with Russia, Iran, China, or other regimes that have poor records on free speech.

Congress needs to reverse this decision before it’s too late.   The last thing we need is Vladimir Putin or one of a dozen despots around the world to decide that they want to shut down sites that report on what they’re doing.  Information is power, and these leaders who desperately want control of the web know it, and fear it.

That’s reason enough to keep the controls under U.S. jurisdiction permanently.