A College That Is Fighting To Preserve American Liberty

This is part of an email I received from Hillsdale College:

Hillsdale College has a three-point plan to restore the principles of liberty in our once-great nation. This plan is already underway! Here are the details:

  1. Teach college students the principles of liberty underlying the Constitution—based on the idea that rights come from God, not government—which are necessary for the free enterprise system to flourish in America, and send wave after wave of them into influential positions in government, the economy, and our culture.
  2. Educate millions of Americans about the principles of limited, constitutional government so they are equipped to defend those principles, leading to a restoration of liberty. The College achieves this through Imprimis—sent to millions every year—and online courses such as “Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution.”
  3. Host seminars and training sessions for policy makers and opinion leaders in Washington, D.C. about the Constitution and its principles of liberty. The College achieves this through the work of its Kirby Center on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Hillsdale does all this while refusing even one penny of government money—even indirectly in the form of student grants and loans—because it doesn’t want bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. telling them what to teach, who to hire, or who to admit for enrollment. 

We need more colleges like this in America.

An Example Of What Happens When A Terrorist Is Tried In A Civilian Court

On Tuesday, Andrew McCarthy posted an article at National Review Online about the release of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri from an American prison. Al-Marri was in a federal prison after being convicted of terrorism.

The article reports:

Al-Marri is an al-Qaeda operative who was planted as a “sleeper” in the United States by Khalid Sheikh Mohamed to await instructions on carrying out a second wave of attacks after the 9/11 atrocities – against water reservoirs, the New York Stock Exchange, U.S. military academies, and other targets. The Justice Department quietly sprung him on Friday so he could return to his native Qatar, a country the administration regards as a crucial counterterrorism ally . . . and a country that is notorious for providing material support to jihadists.

Al-Marri served six years for plotting terror attacks against Americans. I am sure America soldiers (or American civilians if he crosses our southern border illegally) will meet al-Marri again. Our Justice Department is not protecting us from a convicted terrorist.

The article explains how this all happened:

Prior Justice Department practice required prosecutors to charge the most severe, readily provable offense. And in 1996, to ensure that this practice would result in sentences of death or life imprisonment for terrorists, Congress — with significant encouragement from the Clinton Justice Department (in its pre-Holder days) — overhauled federal counterterrorism law.

…In stark departure from prior Justice Department practice, Holder permitted al-Marri to plead guilty to providing material support for terrorism. The material-support offense is generally reserved for non-terrorist sympathizers who facilitate the jihad but are unlikely to carry out atrocities themselves. It is a significantly less serious charge than the crimes — the acts of war — that Marri had actually committed, such as full-fledged membership in the al-Qaeda conspiracy to kill Americans, as well as conspiracies to use weapons of mass destruction.

Because of Holder’s abandonment of past DOJ practice, al-Marri was looking at a maximum sentence of 15 years. Had the Justice Department filed appropriate charges and taken the case to trial, the 43-year-old al-Marri would have been looking at a life sentence.

At the time of his conviction, al-Marri admitted that he was doing research into cyanide compounds as part of his terrorist training. He also admitted that an almanac recovered in his residence was bookmarked at pages showing dams, waterways, and tunnels in the United States, consistent with al-Qaeda planning for the use of cyanide gases. This man was not simply providing material support for terrorists–he was planning on being one.

The article concludes:

Reading the Obama Justice Department’s signals, Judge Michael M. Mihm sentenced al-Marri to a mere eight years’ imprisonment. I thus predicted that he would be released “in six years or so.” That’s what happened. He’s back in Qatar, with plenty of jihad left in him.

Please follow the link to the article to read the entire story. Now that he is free, this man could do some serious damage to American soldiers and American civilians.

There Is A Cost To Bad Policy

There has been no effort made to close the borders by the Obama Administration. The Administration constantly denies that there is a cost to illegal immigration. Residents of Massachusetts might have a different opinion on that.

Judicial Watch posted an article yesterday detailing the cost of illegal immigration in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The article reports:

Though it violates both state and federal law, Massachusetts spent tens of millions of dollars to give illegal immigrants medical care—including prescription drugs, physical therapy and dental services—through its taxpayer-funded healthcare program for low-income individuals.

Tax-paying residents of the Bay State should be outraged, to say the least. The information comes straight out of a scathing report that contains the findings of an investigation conducted by Massachusetts State Auditor Suzanne Bump. It reveals that questionable or prohibited medical claims totaling $35,137,347 were reimbursed by the state’s Medicaid agency known as MassHealth. A chunk of it went to non-emergency services for illegal immigrants, according to the audit.

The article concludes:

The problem has gotten so out of control that a few years ago a Democratic congressman from Ohio introduced legislation requiring foreign countries to reimburse American taxpayers for the exorbitant medical expenses of illegal immigrants. The measure, known as the PAYBACK  Act (Preventing All Your Bucks from Aiding non-Citizens is Key) was estimated to save the U.S. government billions annually and ensure that public funds were not used to finance healthcare services for illegal immigrants. The bill was referred to the House Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism for consideration but didn’t get very far after that.

How long will American taxpayers put up with this?

Beware Sob Stories And Success Stories

The Washington Free Beacon reported the following today:

The woman whose story of economic recovery was showcased by President Barack Obama in his State of the Union address is a former Democratic campaign staffer and has been used by Obama for political events in the past.

The article relates the entire story, you can follow the link above for details. The use of a Democrat staffer to make this point is an indication of one of two things–a staff too lazy to find a person actually helped by President Obama’s policies or the fact that so few people have been helped by the President’s economic policies that the staff could not find one. Either way, it is a tacky move.

Stretching The Truth In The State Of The Union

The Associated Press posted an article at My Way News that partially fact checked President Obama’s State of the Union Speech.

The first statement the article examined was the President’s statement, “At this moment – with a growing economy, shrinking deficits, bustling industry and booming energy production – we have risen from recession freer to write our own future than any other nation on Earth.”

The article states:

Job growth has been healthy, but fueled in part by lower-paying jobs in areas such as retail and restaurants, which have replaced many higher-paying positions in manufacturing and construction. Part-time jobs also remain elevated: There are still 1.7 million fewer workers with full-time jobs than when the recession began in December 2007.

And the faster hiring hasn’t pushed up wages much. They have been growing at a tepid pace of about 2 percent a year since the recession ended 5 1/2 years ago. That’s barely ahead of inflation and below the annual pace of about 3.5 percent to 4 percent that is typical of a fully healthy economy.

That has left the income of the typical household below its pre-recession level. Inflation-adjusted median household income reached $53,880 in November 2014, according to an analysis of government data by Sentier Research. That is about 4 percent higher than when it bottomed out in 2011. But it is still 4.5 percent lower than the $56,447 median income in December 2007, the month the recession began.

Booming energy production is indeed a reality, but that’s a phenomenon many years in the making, with the development of cost-effective extraction from fracking and other means playing into the rise of the U.S. as an energy production giant.

It might be a relevant to also mention that the Obama Administration has blocked energy development on government land and attempted to block fracking. The Obama Administration has also blocked the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would create jobs. The Administration has caused a boom in part-time jobs by considering a thirty-hour week as full time, causing employers to cut back hours of workers. The growth of the economy has happened in spite of the President’s policies rather than because of them.

In the speech, the President stated, “I am sending this Congress a bold new plan to lower the cost of community college — to zero.”

The article reports:

THE FACTS: Zero for qualifying students; an estimated $60 billion over 10 years to the treasury.

The President stated, “We’ve set aside more public lands and waters than any administration in history.”

The article reports:

THE FACTS: Waters is the key word here. Before expanding the Pacific Remote Islands National Monument last year from almost 87,000 square miles to more than 490,000 square miles, Obama had protected far fewer acres than his four predecessors, including President George W. Bush.

The President stated, “Thanks to a growing economy, the recovery is touching more and more lives. Wages are finally starting to rise again. We know that more small-business owners plan to raise their employees’ pay than at any time since 2007.”

The article reports:

THE FACTS: A survey of small businesses by the National Federation of Independent Business does show that a rising proportion plans to raise wages. But plans to raise pay aren’t the same as actually raising them.

Average hourly earnings rose just 1.7 percent in December from 12 months earlier, according to the Labor Department. That’s about half the rate that is typical of a healthy economy and actually lower than the previous month. Economists generally expect wage gains to accelerate this year, as unemployment continues to fall and businesses are forced to offer higher pay to attract workers. But there is scant evidence that it is happening yet.

The President stated, “In Iraq and Syria, American leadership — including our military power — is stopping ISIL’s advance. Instead of getting dragged into another ground war in the Middle East, we are leading a broad coalition, including Arab nations, to degrade and ultimately destroy this terrorist group. We’re also supporting a moderate opposition in Syria that can help us in this effort.”

The article states:

THE FACTS: The U.S. also has been slow to set up long-promised training for the moderate Syrian opposition, and has yet to begin the actual vetting of the rebels. Also, despite persistent pleas from the rebels, the U.S. hasn’t sent the more lethal weapons they want. U.S. officials have expressed concerns that the weapons could end up in the hands of insurgents.

Military leaders, however, agree that coalition airstrikes and the military effort in Syria and Iraq have stopped the momentum of the Islamic State group, or ISIL, made it hard for the insurgents to communicate and travel, and hurt their oil revenues.

The article also mentions that in her response to the State of the Union Speech, Senator Joni Ernst described ObamaCare as one of President Obama’s failed policies. The article comments that ObamaCare has insured more people, but has caused disruption for others.

Generally speaking, the State of the Union Speech was not founded in reality. The President has not acknowledged the fact that under his Administration, the Democrat party has lost the House and the Senate, both of which they controlled when he took office. President Obama made no effort to bring both parties together, and in fact, taunted them at times. My impression was that the speech the President gave last night will divide Americans rather than unite them.

 

 

It’s All Done With Smoke And Mirrors

I will have further comments on the President’s State of the Union Speech tomorrow, but I do have one observation on some of what has been released to the public ahead of time.

This afternoon The Washington Examiner posted a story about President Obama’s proposed tax cut for middle class families. The President has proposed a $500 tax credit for two-earner families.

The article reports:

The provision is included in his effort “to help middle class families get ahead.” Like who? Administration officials said families earning up to $210,000 would get a piece of the tax credit. That is four-times the earning of the “typical” middle class income of $51,939 calculated by the Obama-supporting Center for American Progress.

It’s to pay for the added commuter and child care costs of two-earner families, but it wouldn’t cover much.

Take child day care. The just-out Child Care Aware of America’s 2014 report said the child care price for an infant can reach $14,508 a year or $279 a week.

The article also points out that the cost of dinner on New Year’s Day for the president and the first lady was $295 per person, not including wine. President Obama’s middle class tax break would not have even paid for his New Year’s Day dinner.

We Need To Stop Sending Money–Period

Breitbart.com reported yesterday that Senator Lindsy Graham has stated that existing U.S. legislation “would cut off aid to the Palestinians if they filed a complaint” against Israel in the International Criminal Court.

There seems to be some basic disagreement as to whether or not the Palestinians have a right to be members of the International Criminal Court.

The article reports:

U.S. President Barack Obama’s Democratic administration has said it does not believe Palestine is a sovereign state and therefore does not qualify to be part of the ICC, but has not explicitly threatened to withhold aid.

Any cut in U.S. funds could make it hard for the Palestinian self-rule authority in the West Bank and Gaza to survive. The U.S. supplies more than $400 million annually to the Palestinian Authority. Israel has frozen a monthly transfer of some $120 million in tax revenues it collects for the Palestinians.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has confirmed the Palestinians will formally become a member of the ICC on April 1, after applying earlier this month.

This is bogus. During the most recent war with Israel, the Palestinians consistently fired rockets into civilian areas in Israel and then used women and children as human shields when Israel fought back. The Palestinians have no right to file charges against Israel–the charges should be filed against the Palestinians.

Is The Islamic State Islamic?

From 10 News Denmark:

ComparingQuranIS

I really think we need to wake up and smell the coffee. Reliance of the Traveller is the renowned explication of sharia’s provisions and their undeniable roots in Muslim scripture. It is available in English. It needs to be read by all of the leaders of western countries. It it the source for the rules of Islam. It calls for killing of infidels, killing of people who slander the prophet, etc. That is not Islamaphobia–that is truth. (Even my spell check does not recognize Islamaphobia as a word!)

If We Close Our Eyes, It Still Won’t Go Away

Some of the people saying that Islamic terrorism is coming to America have been treated pretty much the way Chicken Little was treated. Unfortunately, there is more truth to what they are saying that to what Chicken Little was saying.

Yesterday Robert Spencer posted an article at PJ Media listing five new signs that the jihad against the west has just begun. And, America is part of the west.

These are the five incidents Mr. Spencer cites:

1. Shelton Thomas Bell – received a twenty-one-year-old convert to Islam from Florida, got a twenty-year prison sentence Wednesday for attempting to aid jihad terrorists. Planned on traveling to Yemen to join Ansar Al-Sharia, an alias for al-Qaida. Bell and an unidentified juvenile flew to Jordan in late 2012 in the hopes of crossing over into Yemen and joining the terrorist organization, prosecutors said. But they never crossed the border and ended up being arrested in Jordan after Bell preached jihad at a mosque.

2. Islamic State threats to a Jewish business – a thriving D.C. business is the target of self-described ISIS militants. For the past five months a barrage of phone calls and internet postings have threatened employees. The callers vow to carry out mass murder. The report didn’t identify the business, but said it was “Jewish owned and some of the threats are anti-Semitic while others are racial or homophobic.”

3. Abdalah Mohamed – flew into a rage when a store owner would not sell him an individual cigarette instead of a pack. “I will blow up your store,” he screamed. “I’m going to send my guys to shoot up your store.” “You Israeli,” he raged at the deli’s owner, Iraj Rafai: “I’ll blow up your store in the name of Allah! We take care of people like you.” After he finally left, he called the store only to fulminate some more. I didn’t realize smoking was ok with Allah.

4. Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah (Christopher Cornell) – was arrested on Wednesday for plotting a jihad terror attack involving pipe bombs at the U.S. Capitol and shooting government officials. “I believe that we should just wage jihad under our own orders and plan attacks and everything,” he wrote. “I believe we should meet up and make our own group in alliance with the Islamic State here and plan operations ourselves.” He even said that “we already got a thumbs up from the Brothers over there and Anwar al Awlaki before his martyrdom and many others.”

5. Belgium – This operational cell of about ten people, some of whom had returned from Syria, was on the point of launching significant terrorist attacks in Belgium. During the search, certain suspects immediately opened fire at special forces of the police with automatic weapons. They opened fire for several minutes. Two suspects were killed and a third was arrested.

All of this was done in the name of Islam. Islam may be a religion of peace (which I don’t believe it is), but if it is, its followers have somehow not gotten the message.

Have We Forgotten That We Need To Protect Ourselves?

The Daily Beast posted a story today about the controversy surrounding the movieAmerican Sniper.” We have all heard at least some of the tweets attacking the movie, and I would like to ask a few questions.

Can anyone explain to me the difference between what a sniper does and a drone attack? Has it occurred to the critics of snipers that they are assigned jobs and targets by their military (and civilian in the case of the President) superiors and are simply following instructions given to them? Is a sniper killing a terrorists as evil as a terrorist blowing up innocent civilians? Is it worth it to kill terrorists with the idea of preventing them from coming to America?

The last paragraph of the article at the Daily Beast was a real picture of what the movie is about:

“For me, and for Clint, this movie was always a character study about what the plight is for a soldier,” said Cooper. “The guy that I got to know, through all the source material that I read and watched, and home videos—hours and hours—I never saw anything like that. But I can’t control how people are gonna use this movie as a tool, or what they pick and choose whatever they want. But it would be short-changing, I think. If it’s not this movie, I hope to god another movie will come out where it will shed light on the fact of what servicemen and women have to go through, and that we need to pay attention to our vets. It doesn’t go any farther than that. It’s not a political discussion about war, even…It’s a discussion about the reality. And the reality is that people are coming home, and we have to take care of them.”

Thank you, Clint Eastwood, for making this movie.

The Type Of Leadership We Need

The Daily Caller posted a story today that included some comments by Representative Tim Huelskamp. Representative Huelskamp has been in the House of Representatives since 2010.

The article reports:

Now the new chairman of the Tea Party Caucus, one of several conservative enclaves being fortified, he (Representative Tim Huelskamp) says, “This town does not listen.”

As for the controversial vote against the speaker this month, he admits “it’s a difficult vote that comes with a lot of intimidation.” The chairman of the House Veterans Affairs committee, Florida Republican Rep. Jeff Miller, let Huelskamp know he was jeopardizing an expected subcommittee chairmanship by announcing his intentions to not vote for Boehner.

Defiant, Huelskamp stood resolute against the threats and pressure tactics, as leadership punished Huelskamp last Congress for voting his conscience by stripping him of two committees. For Huelskamp, the lame duck CRomnibus was among the clues that this Republican leadership was not inclined to stand up to President Obama on principle. “They weren’t going to push conservative principles. They, actually, were pushing back against conservatives!”

Right now, Washington is not listening. The only way they are going to listen is if more Americans get involved. We need to send the emails, make the phone calls, and vote out of office those politicians who do not listen. At the same time, we need to support those Senators and Representatives who are trying to do what they were elected to do. This is not the time to tune out–this is the time to get involved.

He Still Doesn’t Get It

Yahoo News posted a story today about the decline of the middle class under President Obama. The middle class has declined under the Obama Administration. If you remember, President Obama has stated in the past that he felt redistribution of wealth in America was needed. When wealth is redistributed in America, it goes from the middle class to the government. Sometimes the poor even get some. The rich know how to avoid having their wealth confiscated–it’s the rest of us that have the problem.

The article reports:

Administration officials said on Saturday the president would propose higher capital gains taxes, new fees on large financial firms, and other measures to raise $320 billion for programs and tax breaks aimed at the middle class.

Obama’s administration can take credit for stabilizing the U.S. economy, which is growing again and last year added jobs at the fastest clip since 1999.

But for the middle class the scars of the recession still run deep. Federal Reserve survey data show families in the middle fifth of the income scale now earn less and their net worth is lower than when Obama took office.

So what is the President’s solution to the fact that the middle class is not prospering–higher taxes that will impact the middle class. Most middle class families that have jobs have 401k accounts. As the baby boomers retire, they will begin tapping into these accounts. Some will be selling stock (creating capital gains), other middle class families may own rental property they invested in to finance their retirement. Selling that property creates capital gains. Their taxes will increase. That is not helping them.

The article further reports:

But the Fed’s Survey of Consumer Finances shows how uneven the distribution of that stimulus has been. Between 2010 and 2013, as recovery took hold and stock markets soared, the average net worth of families in the top 40 percent of income earners grew. For all others average net worth shrank, declining 19 percent for the middle fifth.

Similarly, the average earnings for families in the top 10 percent grew more than 9 percent from 2010 through 2013, while those at other levels stagnated or shrank. For the middle fifth, average earnings fell 4.6 percent.

Over the six years through 2013, the middle fifth’s average annual family earnings fell to $47,243 from $53,008 while their average net worth dropped to $170,066 from $236,525.

President Obama’s economic policies could easily be described as crony capitalism. They have very little to do with the free enterprise system that built the American economy. The economic stimulus that broke the budget helped companies that in many cases were owned by major Democrat donors and fund raisers. Nothing in the Obama Administration’s economic policies has actually made the American economy stronger. Further tax increase are only going to make things worse.

Why Many Americans Are Losing Faith In Their Government

Yesterday The New York Post posted a story illustrating one way that some of our politicians exploit their offices. I suspect that what went on here may actually be legal, but that does not necessarily make it right.

The story reports:

The US Postal Service plans to sell 56 buildings — so it can lease space more expensively — and the real estate company of the California senator’s husband (Sen. Dianne Feinstein), Richard Blum, is set to pocket about $1 billion in commissions.

Blum’s company, CBRE, was selected in March 2011 as the sole real estate agent on sales expected to fetch $19 billion. Most voters didn’t notice that Blum is a member of CBRE’s board and served as chairman from 2001 to 2014.

This feat of federal spousal support was ignored by the media after Feinstein’s office said the senator, whose wealth is pegged at $70 million, had nothing to do with the USPS decisions.

It would be nice if, just for the sake of appearances, Mr. Blum chose not to participate in the deal.

Was 2014 Really The Hottest Year On Record?

We all remember seeing cartoons showing people holding signs saying, “The End Is Near.” The captions varied, but generally speaking the implication was that the end really wasn’t near. That is where we find ourselves with recent headlines stating that 2014 was the hottest year in the history of the earth.

The following chart appears on the website green-agenda.com:

The following chart is from Power Line:

figure-42

As you can see, the climate models show the earth getting warmer, but the actual temperatures show that the temperature of the earth has been cooling for the past ten years or so. Some scientists say that the earth has not warmed for eighteen years.

Climate Depot reports:

Climate Depot’s Marc Morano issued this statement: “There are dueling global datasets — surface temperature records and satellite records — and they disagree. The satellites show an 18 year plus global warming ‘standstill and the satellite was set up to be “more accurate” than the surface records. See: Flashback: 1990 NASA Report: ‘Satellite analysis of upper atmosphere is more accurate, & should be adopted as the standard way to monitor temp change.’

Any temperature claim of “hottest  year” based on surface data is based on hundredths of a degree hotter than previous “hottest years”. This immeasurable difference is not even within the margin of error of temperature gauges. The claim of the “hottest year” is simply a political statement not based on temperature facts. “Hottest year” claims are based on minute fractions of a degree while ignoring satellite data showing Earth is continuing the 18 plus year ‘pause’ or ‘standstill’. See: The Great Pause lengthens again: Global temperature update: The Pause is now 18 years 3 months (219 months)

Monckton jan 2014

As you can see, the end isn’t really near, but given today’s political climate, the easiest way to receive grant money is to claim that there is a crisis either currently occurring or about to occur. The climate is cyclical–there are natural cycles. Unfortunately, the study of normal cycles does not guarantee grant money.

Just for the record, the green-agenda website also reports:

The Medieval Warm Period was a time of warm weather around 800-1300 AD, during the European Medieval period. Initial research on the MWP and the following Little Ice Age (LIA) was largely done in Europe, where the phenomenon was most obvious and clearly documented. The Vikings took advantage of ice-free seas to colonize Greenland and other outlying lands of the far north.
LINK

“The climate at this time was very warm, much warmer than it is today, and crops were able to do well. It seems likely that the name “Greenland” was given to the country, not just as wishful thinking, but because it was a climatic fact at that time. The mild climatic period was fairly short-lived in geologic terms – by about 1200 AD, the ever-increasing cold was making life extremely difficult, and some years no supply ships were able to reach Greenland through the ice-choked seas. During this period, Norway had assumed responsibility for supplying the Norse settlers in Greenland, but as the climate worsened it became a very difficult task.
LINK

I really do think global warming might not be a bad thing.

The Food Police Are At It Again

Hot Air reported yesterday that the Department of Agriculture is submitting new guidelines for food served at any day care facility (including some private homes) which qualify for federal funding. This is what happens when you take money from the government–they get their grubby little hands in your business and start trying to run things.

I am not opposed to feeding children healthy food if they are in daycare. I am opposed to the ridiculous.

The article reports:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is proposing strict new dietary guidelines for day cares that would prohibit them from frying food that is served to children.

Child care providers would also be formally required to provide children with water upon request, though they would face restrictions on how much apple juice and orange juice they serve.

One of the more notable provisions would restrict day cares from frying food on site and discourage them from serving pre-packaged fried food, such as chicken fingers, from the grocery store.

“While facilities would not be permitted under this proposed rule to prepare foods on site by frying them,” the USDA wrote in the Federal Register, “store-bought, catered, or pre-fried foods can still contribute large amounts of calories and saturated fat to a meal. Therefore, facilities are encouraged to limit all fried and pre-fried foods to no more than once per week.”

Some of my grandchildren would have starved to death without chilcken fingers, and just for the record, these grandchildren are not obese.

The article also includes this gem:

The USDA’s meal standards also include other proposed changes, such as allowing tofu as a meat alternative.

If children chose to eat tofu after they reach the age of consent, that is their privilege. However, forcing tofu on young children should be considered child abuse. I know there are many people who would disagree with the above statement, but it’s my blog, and that’s my opinion.

I Don’t Think The Negotiations Are Working

On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that Jason Rezaian, an American citizen of Iranian descent from California, The Washington Post’s correspondent in Iran, who has been in prison in Iran since July, will be charged and tried in a Revolutionary Court.

On the same day, The Wall Street Journal posted the following:

Nice timing, brothers. Secretary of State John Kerry met Wednesday with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif to negotiate how much of Iran’s nuclear program it will be able to keep. Meanwhile, according to the Associated Press, Iran’s state news agency reported that a court in Tehran had indicted Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who will stand trial on unspecified charges.

The New York Times reports:

Earlier in the day, Mr. Zarif, who knows Mr. Rezaian personally and has described him as “a fair reporter,” gave no hint of any movement in the case. “This is a judicial matter, so we will have to wait for the judiciary to move forward,” Mr. Zarif said. He repeated Iran’s contention that it regards Mr. Rezaian, as well as another imprisoned American citizen of Iranian descent, Amir Hekmati, as Iranian citizens who are subject to Iranian laws. Neither has been granted the diplomatic access afforded to foreign prisoners, and in Mr. Rezaian’s case, he has not been given access to a lawyer since his arrest.

I think it is time to place severe economic sanctions on Iran. They obviously have no respect for the American government and do not care how they treat American citizens. I think it is time to play hard ball. It is becoming very obvious that the trouble makers in today’s world have decided that they have nothing to fear from America’s current leadership. Franky, I would rather countries like Iran and Russia fear us than like us. Unfortunately, President Obama has caused them to do neither.

Our Children Need To Know At Least As Much As Those Who Come Here

Breitbart.com reported yesterday that Arizona has passed a law requiring all high school students to pass a civics exam before they graduate. The law requires that they answer correctly sixty out of one hundred questions on the civics portion of the U. S. citizenship test.

The article reports:

The test is being pushed nationally by the Scottsdale-based Joe Foss Institute, which has set a goal of having all 50 states adopt it by 2017, the 230th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution. The institute says legislatures in 15 states are expected to consider it this year.

The idea is to prepare the students to be well-informed voters in the future.

The article further reports:

Republican Senate Majority Leader Steve Yarbrough, sponsoring the bill in his chamber, called the test a needed measure.

“Requiring that students pass this test is not by any means a silver bullet, but I think is a step, a small step forward,” he said. “And I think we need to encourage the people of America to become more aware of the values of America.”

The lone Democratic senator who opposed the bill on the education committee, David Bradley, said passing the test would do nothing to make good citizens. He said that despite the bill sponsors’ promises, there is a cost to the state.

It is the responsibility of American voters to know the principles upon which their government is based. It is also the responsibility of American voters to vote for people who uphold those principles.

A friend of mine volunteers his time at public events where middle and high school students are present. During these events, he will often ask the students a basic question about the U.S. Constitution or American history. He has often remarked that generally speaking the students who can answer basic questions about our country are the ones that are home schooled. We need to make sure all of our students know the history of America and the founding principles of America. There is a reason those people desiring to become citizens of America are required to take a citizenship test. Our own children should also be able to pass that test.

The Cost Of Releasing Prisoners From Guantanamo

Most of the political left has argued for years that the prison at Guantanamo is a recruiting tool for terrorists. Never mind that 9/11 happened before Guantanamo–that is their story and they are sticking to it. In keeping with the idea of closing Guantanamo (but not actually closing Guantanamo) President Obama has not sent anyone there and is releasing prisoners a few at a time to any country he can bribe to take them. So what happens to these prisoners?

Judicial Watch posted a story today about one Guantanamo alumni. Mullah Abdul Rauf has been busy since his release in 2007 (under President Bush–before Obama).

The article reports:

…he’s (Mullah Abdul Rauf) operating in Helmand province, actively recruiting fighters for ISIS. Citing local sources, a British newspaper writes that Rauf set up a base and is offering good wages to anyone willing to fight for the Islamic State. Rauf was a corps commander during the Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule of Afghanistan, according to intelligence reports. After getting captured by U.S. forces, he was sent to Gitmo in southeast Cuba but was released in 2007.

Rauf’s Department of Defense Joint Task Force Guantanamo file describes him as being closely associated with several senior level Taliban commanders and leaders. It also says that Rauf admitted involvement in the production and sales of opium as well as associations with criminal elements within the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. From the file: “Due to recent findings that detainee may have had a more important role within the Taliban than previously thought detainee’s intelligence value has been updated from low to medium due to his possible knowledge of: (1) Taliban leadership, (2) Taliban command and control.”

Rauf is one of a number of Gitmo terrorists who have returned to the fight after getting released, yet Obama continues freeing captives to keep his campaign promise of closing the prison. Just this week he let four Yemenis go, despite the risk that they will likely join Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen-based terror group that claimed responsibility for last week’s attack in France. In fact, dozens of freed Gitmo detainees have rejoined Al Qaeda in Yemen, the country where the 2009 Christmas Day airline bomber proudly trained. In 2010 Judicial Watch reported that a number of high-ranking Al Qaeda militants in Yemen—once held at Gitmo—may have been involved in a sophisticated scheme to send bombs on a U.S.-bound cargo plane.

Traditionally, prisoners-of-war are released after the war is over. The people at Guantanamo are not technically prisoners-of-war–they are enemy combatants and therefore do not have prisoner-of war status. At any rate, I don’t think the war is over, and why should we release them to kill American soldiers?

Is The Economy Getting Stronger?

Reuters posted a story today about the latest jobless claim numbers.

The article reports:

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits last week increased to the highest level since early September, but the underlying trend continued to point to a strengthening labor market.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose by 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 316,000 for the week ended Jan. 10, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims falling to 291,000 last week. The prior week’s data was revised to show 3,000 more claims received than previously reported.

The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, rose by only 6,750 to 298,000 last week.

Notice that the number of jobless claims is rising–not falling. The article then goes on to imply that this is an indication of a strengthening economy. However, there is something the article fails to mention.

A website called ycharts has posted the following graph:

LaborForceParticipationRateA shrinking labor force is not a sign of a growing economy. Keep in mind that the unemployment rate is only based on the number of people who are in the labor force–therefore the actual unemployment rate may not be the one the government is citing. If the unemployment rate were calculated based on the number of people who are actually out of work and not looking for work, the number would probably be well into the teens. Again, we are being told the economy is strengthening, but that is not necessarily the case.

 

 

Quote Of The Week

Taken from a Power Line article posted today by Steven Hayward:

I have a good conservative friend who has lived in Washington, DC most of his adult life, where he is a registered Democrat, so that he could vote for Marion Barry in Democratic primaries, on the theory that “if you can’t have effective government, at least you can have entertaining government.”

The article is about the Democrat race in California to replace Barbara Boxer. The author of the article feels that the above quote defines the race.

The article also mentions another aspect of the race:

Former LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is said to be interested in running, and also Rep. Loretta Sanchez. Mixed-race (and therefore a two-fer) Attorney General Kamala Harris has indicated she may make the race. Lt. Governor Gavin Newsome, perhaps the leading white guy Dem in the state, will probably take a pass and run for governor in 2018 instead. So is there another white guy anywhere who might make a serious candidate? Ah yes, Tom Steyer is thinking about it. I think he’s going to be surprised when he finds out he doesn’t have the proper melanin privilege for today’s Democratic Party.

But he will deliver lots of comedy gold in any case, such as his comment to the Puffington Host a few days ago that “People rail that democracy has been subverted to powerful economic interests, that ‘we the people’ have been overlooked. Based on what I have seen over the last several years, I fear there’s some truth in that charge, and that scares me—badly.” “Powerful economic interests”?—from a billionaire who spent $100 million trying to influence the last election? I’d say “that’s rich,” but the irony would be too obvious, even for a liberal.

California is, after all, the home of the entertainment industry.

Solutions That May Be Too Late

I am sure that all of us have heard many fellow Americans say things like, “There’s no point in voting–they are all alike” or “Washington is so corrupt, it can never be fixed.” These are very discouraging statements, particularly because there is some truth in both of them. Ted Cruz is offering solutions. I am just not sure he can break through the corruption to get those solutions implemented.

Yesterday Western Journalism posted an article entitled, “Ted Cruz Unveils A 10-Step Path For GOP To Follow Into 2016.”

The article quotes a statement made by Ted Cruz that is chilling because it is true:

“If we simply settle into business as usual in this town and keep growing and growing and growing the leviathan and keep shrinking and shrinking and shrinking that sphere of individual liberty, we will demoralize the millions of men and women who came out in November and gave Republicans the biggest majority in the house since the 1920s.”

After giving a speech at Heritage Action’s 2015 Conservative Policy Summit, Ted Cruz tweeted his 10-Step Plan. Here are the highlights:

1. Embrace a big pro-jobs, growth agenda.

2. Do everything humanly possible to repeal Obamacare.

3. Secure the border and stop amnesty.

4. Hold government accountable and rein in judicial activism.

5. Stop the culture of corruption in Washington.

6. Pass fundamental tax reform, making taxes flatter, simpler, and fairer.

7. Audit the Fed.

8. Pass a strong balanced budget amendment.

9. Get the federal government out of the business of dictating education standards.

10. Deal seriously with the twin threats of ISIS and a nuclear Iran.

These are fantastic ideas. Unfortunately, there are very powerful forces at work that will oppose a number of these ideas. We need to support these ideas. If you don’t like Ted Cruz, find someone you can support who supports these ideas.

Last fall, I heard a statement from a member of Congress who was very concerned about the direction our nation has taken. I am not mentioning his name because I can’t remember how public the event was. The member of Congress stated that unless we elect someone out of the political class–someone like a Rand Paul or a Ted Cruz–we may not be able to turn this country back to its founding principles. Please keep that in mind when you decide who to support in 2016.

Remember the words of Benjamin Franklin after the Constitutional Convention of 1787, when he was asked, “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?” He replied, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

If we are to keep our Republic, we need to get rid of the political establishment that has taken hold of Washington, D.C. Removing establishment politicians of both parties is our only hope.

Free Speech Is In Danger In America

I have DISH cable tv. Currently I am very unhappy that I don’t have Fox News on my cable. Fortunately, I also have Sirius internet, so I can still listen to Special Report and the Journal Editorial Report even though I can’t watch them. I do not have the option of changing cable service, because it is part of the community I live in. However, if FOX News does not come back soon, I may begin to look into other ways I can get it. So what is this fight between DISH and FOX News about?

On January 13, mrctv posted an article about the ongoing battle between DISH and FOX News.

The article reports:

Dish Network dropped Fox News and its sister network Fox Business Channel at the end of last year and the network still remains blacked out for Dish’s 14 million subscribers.

Dish Network claims that they dropped the nation’s number one cable news network because of a contract dispute.  Fox News disagrees, claiming that the move is an effort by Dish Network to censor their content. 

While it’s not entirely clear who’s in the right in this matter, digging into the background of Dish Network’s  founder and chairman Charles Ergen may help to illuminate why animosity between Dish and FNC has reached such epic proportions.

The article explains that Charles Ergen donated $64,000 to the Democratic Senatorial campaign Committee in 2014. The main recipients of the donation were Kay Hagen(NC), Mark Pryor (ARK.),  Mark Warner (Va) and Mark Begich (Alaska). That in itself is not a problem, but the story continues:

In 2012, a federal complaint was filed against Ergen in which several company executives alleged that he had intimidated them into making contributions to specific candidates, the majority of which were Democrats.

The claim was filed by an unnamed company insider who accused Ergen of “forcing” Dish Network’s Chief Operating Officer Bernard Han to donate to a Democratic Party candidate in the 2009/2010 election cycle.

The complaint also claimed that Han was “encouraged” to attend Democratic functions and fundraisers and that other Dish employees were strong-armed by Ergen in a similar way.

According to the insider, Ergen insinuated to Han that he would still have his job if he declined to make the contribution, but would suffer consequences if he refused.

This does not sound like someone who is interested in either free speech of a balanced playing field.

Our community will review its cable tv choice this spring. If FOX News is not back on DISH, I hope we will change providers.

Common Core May Do More Damage Than Good

Yesterday The Washington Post posted an article about the Common Core requirement that Kindergarten children learn how to read.

The article states:

The Common Core State Standards call for kindergartners to learn how to read, but a new report by early childhood experts says that forcing some kids to read before they are ready could be harmful.

Two organizations that advocate for early childhood educationDefending the Early Years and Alliance for Childhood — issued the report titled “Reading in Kindergarten: Little to Gain and Much to Lose.”  It says there is no evidence to support a widespread belief in the United States that children must read in prekindergarten or kindergarten to become strong readers and achieve academic success.

I think most of us would agree that we want our children to become strong readers and achieve academic success. I think most of us would also agree that there are some children who might actually be ready to read by kindergarten. However, not all children are ready to read by Kindergarten, and are we ready to accept the damage that we will do to those children in the name of Common Core?

Here are some of the findings of the report cited above:

 

  • Many children are not developmentally ready to read in kindergarten, yet the Common Core State Standards require them to do just that. This is leading to inappropriate classroom practices.
  • No research documents long-term gains from learning to read in kindergarten.
  • Research shows greater gains from play-based programs than from preschools and kindergartens with a more academic focus.
  • Children learn through playful, hands-on experiences with materials, the natural world, and engaging, caring adults.
  • Active, play-based experiences in language-rich environments help children develop their ideas about symbols, oral language and the printed word — all vital components of reading.
  • We are setting unrealistic reading goals and frequently using inappropriate methods to accomplish them.

Please follow the link above to the article to read the rest of the findings.

It is becoming very obvious that the people who designed Common Core did not allow for individual students or their individual personalities and development.

On September 27, 2013, The Washington Post quoted Bill Gates, the money and force promoting Common Core as saying, “It would be great if our education stuff worked, but we won’t know for probably a decade.”

Are you willing to gamble your children’s future on something that is not only untried, but may also be harmful to your children?

 

 

 

Ignoring The Truth Doesn’t Really Help Anyone

Breitbart.com posted an article today about the verbal gymnastics the Obama Administration is going through to avoid calling the attack in Paris Islamic terrorism.

The article reports:

Earnest explained to White House reporters during the press briefing that this is a question of “accuracy.”

“We want to describe exactly what happened. These are individuals who carried out an act of terrorism, and they later tried to justify that act of terrorism by invoking the religion of Islam in their own deviant view of it,” he said.

The White House may call it a deviant view, but there seem to be an awful lot of armed Muslims who share that view and are ready to die for it.

It is not an incredible coincidence that a Kosher Deli was attacked. Antisemitism is a serious problem in France, fueled in part by the growing Muslim population in France. Meanwhile, the Obama Administration has whitewashed the terrorism briefings of our military and diplomatic corps, taking out the words Islamic terrorism and replacing them with the word extremism. The report on September 11, 2001, has also been purged of the words Islamic terrorism. Sun Tzu, the great Chinese strategist stated that the first rule of war is to “know your enemy.” Someone needs to remind the Obama Administration of that rule.

Ending The Release Of Terrorists By Executive Order

The Washington Examiner posted a story today about a group of Republicans putting together a bill that would block President Obama from releasing any more terrorists from Guantanamo during the remainder of his term.

The article reports:

The bill would bar the release or transfer of any detainees judged to be medium- or high-risk — the vast majority of those who remain — and requires greater justification for any other release or transfer. It also would bar transfers of any Guantanamo prisoner to Yemen, home country of the largest single group of remaining detainees.

The problem is that the prisoners released often return to the battlefield. The article reports:

According to the latest report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued in September, 107 of 620 detainees released from Guantanamo, or 17.3 percent, had been confirmed as returning to terrorism as of July 15, and another 77, or 12.4 percent, were suspected of having done so.

Traditionally, prisoners of war are not released until the war is over. Also, traditionally prisoners of war are not treated to soccer fields, recreational facilities and a diet in keeping with their religion. The prisoners at Guantanamo are being treated much better than they would be in their home countries. It is unfortunate that they are separated from their families and the people they love, but that is something they have earned.

President Obama is not bringing terrorists to Guantanamo–he is using drone strikes to kill them. Although, drone strikes do prevent them from further terrorist activity, it also cuts off a major source of intelligence about what is currently happening in the world of Islamic terrorism. Unfortunately terrorism has become a worldwide problem, and not capturing terrorists has taken away a valuable current source of information on what the terrorists are planning.