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AUGUST 9,   2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:51 P.M. ET: 

NICE, HUH? – From USA Today:   FERGUSON, Mo. — Police came under heavy gunfire late Sunday, sending both officers and demonstrators scrambling for cover during protests marking the one-year anniversary of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer.  The eruption of violence came as tensions between police and protesters mounted during the night after a day of peaceful protests. Before the shots rang out, some protesters began screaming at the line of police. Officers then moved to close the streets and demanded demonstrators move off the road.  "We welcome peaceful protests," an officer said on a loud speaker. "You must leave the roadway and remain on the sidewalk or be subject to arrest."  You'd think a little leadership from the president of the United States would be in order.  Oh, he's on vacation.

THEY LEFT MORE THAN THEIR HEART IN SAN FRANCISCO – From AP:   SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- San Francisco Examiner photographer Mike Koozmin was on a routine assignment at the city's Hall of Justice in the middle of the day when he was robbed of his camera equipment.  "They pulled me into an alley and were tugging on my camera strap," Koozmin said of his two assailants, who ended up with $10,000 worth of equipment last month. "I was resisting at first, but then I saw how desperate they were and gave it to them."  It was the latest of at least a dozen robberies of television news crews and still photographers that has plagued the San Francisco Bay Area in recent years.  Camera crews from major Bay Area television stations and photographers from two newspapers have been robbed of their pricey gear. Two have been pistol whipped. An Oakland Tribune photographer lost five cameras in two incidents. Ah, the wonders of progressive government.  I'm sure the robbers are simply misunderstood.  They are artists trying to master their craft.  Stop laughing.

SO GOES SWEDEN – The romantic left likes to rhapsodize about Sweden.  In fact, the country is in trouble, and, essentially, can no longer defend itself.  From Gatestone Institute:  A couple of decades ago, Sweden had a strong military. Its air force was one of the capable in the world, its navy had dozens of ships and submarines, and artillery guarded the coastlines from a multitude of secret mountain hideaways.  Now, after a number of fatal decisions, based on the belief that wars in Europe were a thing of the past, most of its military is gone and Sweden has virtually no means of protecting itself.  According to Sweden's Supreme Commander Sverker Göransson, we can, at best and in five years, defend ourselves in one place for one week.  Sweden is a large country: with 447,435 square kilometers, it is the fifth largest in Europe. It also has one of the longest coastlines in Europe (3,200 kilometers), which not easily defensible.  Another gift of socialism.  Sweden is not a member of NATO, and certainly cannot depend on the Obamasized United States to help with its defense.  It no longer is the innovative country it used to be.  As a Swedish friend told me, half of Stockholm takes care of the other half.  If Obama gets his way, this is what we'll be like.

August 9, 2015        Permalink

MORE TROUBLE FOR THE "FRONTRUNNER" – AT 11:44 A.M. ET:   Hillary Clinton's longtime aides are being sucked into her scandals.  From Fox: 

Huma Abedin -- a close aide to Hillary Clinton at the State Department and now a top campaign official -- is facing more questions about her activities at the agency, causing potential problems for Clinton’s presidential bid.

A federal judge ordered the State Department to have Clinton, Abedin and Cheryl Mills, another Clinton aide when she was secretary of state, confirm they have turned over all government records and describe how they used Clinton’s private server to conduct official business.

They had until Friday to turn over the information “under penalty of perjury.”

Clinton is already facing questions about using the server and private email accounts while she was the country’s top diplomat from 2009 to 2013.

The former secretary of state has turned over about 55,000 pages of private emails but deleted those she deemed personal, resulting in voters increasingly doubting her trustworthiness, according to recent polls.

Some emails show the extent to which Clinton's closest aides managed the details of her image. Abedin, for example, sent her an early-morning message in August 2009 advising Clinton to "wear a dark color today. Maybe the new dark green suit. Or blue."

COMMENT:  The potential for these problems to derail Clinton is substantial, especially if one accepts the idea that President Obama does not want her to succeed him.  Obama has great power, through his highly politicized Justice Department, to make life miserable for Hillary, which would probably delight him.

August 9, 2015       Permalink

OBAMA BLASTED BY FORMER NATO CHIEF – AT 10:54 A.M. ET:  Obama has cut our defenses dangerously.  From The Hill: 

Former NATO Supreme Commander James Stavridis criticized President Obama, his former boss, for recent cuts to military spending while U.S. troops are still engaged on multiple fronts around the world.

“We have already cut defense … about 30 percent over the last 10 years, and we’re still at war,” Stavridis told radio show host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” Sunday on New York’s AM 970. “We’re actively involved on multiple continents in real combat operations. We should not be drastically reducing our troop levels.”

Stavridis, a retired U.S. admiral and the current dean of Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, also disagreed with the president’s recent decision to pull the sole remaining aircraft carrier patrolling the Middle East out of the Arabian Gulf.

“We have 11 active nuclear aircraft carriers today in the United States Navy,” Stavridis said. “It is hard for me to understand why we cannot manage a fleet of that size to maintain an aircraft carrier at all times in regions as dangerous as the Arabian Gulf.”

Stavridis called for increased NATO involvement in the conflict in Crimea. 

“We need to push back against that kind of Russian advancement, that Russian aggression, to show them that that’s simply not appropriate behavior in the 21st century,” Stavridis said, adding that Russian forces are not nearly as capable as NATO forces.

“They’re not as capable, but within small, tactical spaces, they can still be extremely disruptive. We have to stand firmly against them to deter them.”

COMMENT:  Obama wants to weaken American defense and strengthen some of our enemies, especially in the Muslim world.  He believes America is the source of many of the world's problems.  He lied about his views to get elected, but those views come out in his policies, which have become dramatically more radical since the 2014 Congressional elections.

August 9, 2015       Permalink

HORRIBLE, BUT IT CAN'T BE CONFIRMED – AT 10:38 A.M. ET:  An attack on the Queen?  From Britain's Sunday Express:

Police and MI5 are said to be desperately racing against the clock to foil the assassination plot by British jihadis, which is being masterminded from Syria by ISIS commanders.

The terrorists are reportedly looking to strike next Saturday by detonating a pressure cooker bomb in Central London – during events marking the 70th anniversary of Victory in Japan (VJ) day, which effectively ended World War Two.

Sources said that a specific threat has been made against the Queen, prompting police to make an urgent review of security arrangements for the events.

Other Royal Family members are due to attend the anniversary events – including Prince Charles who has been highlighted as another possible target in intelligence reports.

Police are reportedly fearing carnage on a massive scale as thousands of people are expected to line the streets around Whitehall and Westminster Abbey.

David Cameron will also be attending the events, alongside numerous dignitaries, over 1,000 veterans of the Far East campaign and their families and even members of the Armed Forces.

Senior figures of Scotland Yard's Royal Protection arm, SO14, along with S01 Specialist Protection - which provides security for the Prime Minister and dignitaries - and the Home Office have learned that attendees are considered to be "under threat from terrorist attack".

COMMENT:  We have no way to confirm the accuracy of the story, but I would not be shocked if ISIS had such a plan.  It's a logical step, from their point of view.  There were reports recently that ISIS is trying to up its game and try for mass-casualty attacks, to compete with Al Qaeda.

August 9,  2015     Permalink

AUGUST 8,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:54 P.M. ET: 

BERNIE BURNED – From the Seattle Times:  A Seattle speech by Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was pre-empted in a chaotic confrontation Saturday afternoon with a handful of Black Lives Matter protesters, who took the stage and refused to let him speak.  The Vermont senator, who has drawn huge crowds around the country, was to be the star attraction and final speaker for an hourslong rally to celebrate the 80th birthday of Social Security, as well as Medicare and other anti-poverty programs.  But protesters were determined to turn attention instead to Sunday’s anniversary of the shooting by a white police officer of Michael Brown, an unarmed black man in Ferguson, Mo.  Three protesters were permitted to shut down a speech by a presidential candidate.  Welcome to the Third World.  This is where the Obama crowd has taken us.  And shame on Bernie Sanders for allowing this to happen.

OH THOSE EMINENT SCIENTISTS – From The New York Times:   Twenty-nine of the nation’s top scientists — including Nobel laureates, veteran makers of nuclear arms and former White House science advisers — wrote to President Obama on Saturday to praise the Iran deal, calling it innovative and stringent.  The letter, from some of the world’s most knowledgeable experts in the fields of nuclear weapons and arms control, arrives as Mr. Obama is lobbying Congress, the American public and the nation’s allies to support the agreement.  And I'm sure we can find 29 on the other side.  I wonder if any of these eminent scientists has ever dealt with the Iranian government.  Scientists can measure many things, but trust and verification are not two of them. 

ABOUT TIME – From Fox:   The Navy is preparing to arm sailors at its reserve centers across the country in the aftermath of the attack last month at a Navy Reserve Center in Chattanooga that resulted in the deaths of 4 Marines and 1 sailor, officials said late Friday.  The Navy has authorized arming personnel at reserve centers that are not on military installations, such as the Chattanooga center, a Navy spokesman told Fox News.  Cmdr. William Marks said armed guards will be posted at the centers as “a matter of prudent and necessary action toward protecting our personnel.”  If he were smart, which he's not, Barack Obama would have publicly ordered this step as a sign of his commitment to his military personnel.  He did not, which tells me what I have to know.

August 8, 2015       Permalink

GREAT PATRIOTS – AT 12:46 P.M. ET:   There are always groups in society, usually groups that fancy themselves as great intellectuals, who don't feel any obligation to national defense.  We have a prime example.  From The New York Times: 

TORONTO — The American Psychological Association on Friday overwhelmingly approved a new ban on any involvement by psychologists in national security interrogations conducted by the United States government, even noncoercive interrogations now conducted by the Obama administration.

The council of representatives of the organization, the nation’s largest professional association of psychologists, voted to impose the ban at its annual meeting here.

The vote followed an emotional debate in which several members said the ban was needed to restore the organization’s reputation after a scathing independent investigation ordered by the association’s board.

Its reputation with who?  The political left?

That investigation, conducted by David Hoffman, a Chicago lawyer, found that some officers of the association and other prominent psychologists colluded with government officials during the Bush administration to make sure that association policies did not prevent psychologists from involvement in the harsh interrogation programs conducted by the C.I.A. and the Pentagon.

Nadine Kaslow, an association board member and head of a special committee established by the board to oversee the investigation into the organization’s role in interrogations, said she was pleased by the overwhelming vote in favor of the measure. “This is a very resounding ‘yes,’ ” Ms. Kaslow said. The ban was approved by the association’s council by a vote of 156 to 1. Seven council members abstained, while one was recused.

COMMENT:  I'm sure all these fools will now feel good about themselves, like the "anti-war" activists before World War II, who worked against military preparedness.  These miniature intellectuals never apologized for the number of men killed in part because we weren't ready to defend ourselves.

Even the Obama administration isn't left-wing enough for the current crowd of self-proclaimed good people.  May this group be sentenced to watching five years of Bill Moyers re-runs.

Participation in the common defense is a basic requirement of citizenship.

August 8,  2015     Permalink

AND ANOTHER ONE – AT 11:08 A.M. ET:  But where is the public outcry?  I guess this life didn't matter.  From Fox:

A California lawman whose department is investigating the brutal rape and bludgeoning death of a 64-year-old Air Force veteran pointed the finger Friday at state and federal policies he said allowed the illegal immigrant suspect to roam the streets despite a lengthy arrest record.

“I think this is a national issue - it starts with administration and their policies,” Santa Maria Police Chief Ralph Martin said days after Marilyn Pharis died from injuries suffered in the July 24 attack. “You can draw a direct line to this governor and Legislature.

“I am not remiss to say that from Washington DC to Sacramento, there is a blood trail to Marilyn Pharis’ bedroom,” he added.

Pharis, of Santa Maria, was asleep in her bed after working the night shift at a satellite office for the Vandenberg Air Force Base when two men allegedly broke into her home at 9:45 a.m., bashed her head with a claw hammer, strangled and raped her with a foreign object and left her for dead, according to police. Pharis survived to call 911, but died days later in a local hospital.

Two suspects have been arrested, including Victor Aureliano Martinez Ramirez, 29, an illegal immigrant from Durango Canatlan, Mexico. Ramirez has been arrested six times in last 15 months, for crimes including sexual assault, possession of methamphetamine and weapons and driving without a license. His most recent arrest occurred just eight days before the attack on Pharis.

COMMENT:  Please note the silence of "women's" groups.  They are equally silent when Muslim women are beaten and killed.  Those women don't matter either.  The party line of the left doesn't allow them to matter.

This situation will not get better.  The Democratic Party is basing part of its political future on illegal immigrants, who will be turned into voters.

August 8, 2015       Permalink

JOE? – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:  The drama on the Republican side played out well during the debates.  But there is real drama on the Dem side as well.  Will Joe Biden jump in?  If so, will he derail Hillary, or will he flop?  From AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Vice President Joe Biden and his wife are retreating from Washington for a week in South Carolina with little on their schedule but a momentous decision to make: whether he should run for president.

Biden's advisers say he hasn't indicated which way he's leaning. The vice president is still mourning the death of his son barely two months ago. But since reports surfaced saying he was taking a fresh look at running, potential campaign staffers have begun sending in their resumes, aides said, and longtime Biden donors have offered to help if he gets in the race.

And while Biden has yet to ask staff to organize on his behalf, he has started showing interest in details like filing deadlines and what it would take for him to raise enough money to build a campaign structure in the limited time left, said the aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to comment publicly.

So shortly after Biden returns from his vacation, his aides and supporters are expecting a decision about his political plans.

COMMENT:  Well, he's vacationing in South Carolina, a key primary state.  He could have gone to Hawaii, or Puerto Rico.  I can't believe the choice of South Carolina was based entirely on the quality of its fine beaches.

Biden knows the risks of jumping in.  He could fail to dent Hillary and live out his term as vice president in humiliation.  He could damage her, and she could limp to the nomination and lose the general election, and he could be blamed.  Or, he could win the nomination and lose the general, and spend the rest of his life hearing people say that Hillary would have won.

So, it's not an easy choice.  Biden doesn't poll particularly well.  There's no "wanting" of Joe, except by those who see Hillary as a disaster. 

And yet, this is his last chance for the prize.

August 8,  2015     Permalink