Post Scripts

by Jack

UPDATE 30 AUG 2013: Well now what, shoot or don’t shoot? England has backed out and says it’s not a good idea to lob missiles into Syria at the moment and Russian has sent ships into Syrian waters to do what? Well, we’re not quite sure why they are there, but it’s likely they are there in defense of Syria, then you have to wonder if we’re doing the right thing? Polls show America people are as much against military action as the Brits are.

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Here’s the latest developments in Obama’s sketchy plan to fire missiles into Syria as punishment for using poison gas on it’s own people. England has temporarily withdrawn from military action against Syria. Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron was stunned when Labour Party leader Ed Miliband said they wanted to delay action because the legislation authorizing the intervention left too many question unanswered. ‘I’m clear that this is a very grave decision to take military action that the House of Commons would be making and I didn’t think that that decision should be made on an artificial timetable when the House of Commons wouldn’t even have seen the evidence today from the UN weapons inspectors,’ he said.

Meanwhile, the French military is ready to commit forces to an operation in Syria if President Francois Hollande decides to do so, the defense minister said Thursday. But the chief of state, who met with the head of the Syrian opposition, stopped short of announcing military intervention over a suspected chemical weapons attack.

Russia has steadfastly opposed any US or UN military actions against the Assad regime and has upped the ante by sending two missile equipped warships to the region. The appearance of the Russian warships close by US warship was an unexpected development, but it is believed the Russian ships were deployed in defense of any outside naval attack on Syria by foreign powers.

Just three days ago Syria’s Ambassador to UN, Bashar Ja’afari, strongly denounced the use of poison gas and reiterated that such use was indeed a war crime and and an offense against humanity. He emphatically denied Assad’s forces would never chemical weapons, but claimed the opposition has on three occasions. He suggests the civilian deaths were the result of rebel forces. The ambassador said rebels have used poison gas on at least three occasions and said in a written letter to the UN, “three heinous incidents that took place in the countryside of Damascus on (August) 22nd, 24th and 25th where members of the Syrian army inhaled poisonous gas.”

Bashar Ja’afari said the latest allegation of the use of poison gas was absurd and made no sense because Syrian forces were in that same area and they would have been firing upon their own soldiers. Bashar Ja’afari demanded that a complete investigation be completed before considering any attacks on Syrian forces.

Posted by Tina

The Washington Post has reported that Edward Snowden stayed at the Russian Consulate in Hong Kong prior to leaking top secret documents through Wikileaks. The news came from a Russian news source and is causing speculation from bloggers on both the right and the left that rather than Snowden may have been seduced by the Russians or the hope that defection would bring rewards.

Posted by Tina

The President addressed a crowd of an estimated 20,000 people on the Mall today to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther Kings’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. He spoke well and seemed to be sending the message that anger and revenge were not the paths that would bring equality and justice. However he continued to send the partisan message that equality could only be achieved through government redistribution and force. Instead of taking the opportunity to celebrate Dr. King and his purpose he chose to make this a day of politics as usual. Instead of creating a unified day of celebration this administration chose to attract a gathering to highlight division to mark the 50th anniversary of the Dream speech.

This event could have been, and should have been, a national event free of politics. It could have been a moment when America declared itself to be unified behind liberty, justice and opportunity for all. It could have been a day that showed the world that the vast majority of Americans can and do set aside differences to live, work, and celebrate side by side in peace. This could have been an event that marked the historic election to high office of Barack Obama and it could have marked the achievements of other minority men and women, those who always seem to go unnoticed and uncounted…like Clarence Thomas, Condi Rice, Elaine Chao, and many others. It could have been a celebration that included those who have risen from poverty to achieve the American Dream. But it wasn’t that kind of day and it’s a shame, particularly at a time when the world sorely needs the light of freedom to shine brightly.

Can you imagine how many people of all races would have attended, and been blessed by the experience, had this administration shown real leadership and placed america above their extremely partisan redistribution and special groups/special rights agenda?

It would have been an awesome moment in America!

But before that will ever happen the left will have to give up its divisive, hateful political message, a message they have exploited for fifty years to frighten people for political contributions and votes.

Yes, this was a day of solemn remembrance but it was definitely a squandered opportunity.

Did you know…The Obamacare ruling allows the IRS to tax you 1% of adjusted gross income, but no less than $95 per adult/$47.50 per child in 2013. These taxes rise in 2015 and 2016.  For more, see Obamacare Taxes.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/04/what-is-obamacare/274509/   (Leans to the pro side)

http://obamacarefacts.com/whatis-obamacare.php   (Pro side)

http://useconomy.about.com/od/healthcarereform/f/What-Is-Obama-Care.htm  (factual and neutral)

The above links are mostly just the basic facts that you need to know about Obama Care and what most people don’t know.  I suggest you take a look.  The chart above should encourage you. 

Posted by Tina

A Department of Defense training manual contains the following excerpt under a section titled, “Extreme Ideologies”:

“In U.S. history, there are many examples of extremist ideologies and movements. The colonists who sought to free themselves from British rule and the Confederate states who sought to secede from the Northern states are just two examples.”

What exactly is the intent here? What is this administration up to with this wording? Are they attempting to teach moral equivalency? Are they saying an extremist is an extremist is an extremist and none is more dangerous than another? Are they saying that the ideologies of Mao, Lenin, Hitler or Bin Laden were just like those of George Washington, John Adams, Robert E. Lee or William Bradford? Or are they saying any human being that doesn’t slavishly follow behind the superior leadership of President Obama (And whatever it is he represents) a dangerous extremist?

According to the report by Fox news the message is that anyone associated with groups (Tea Party) (Patriot) deemed extremist should not apply for military service:

The training guide warned that participation in groups that are regarded as extremist organizations is “incompatible with military service and is, therefore prohibited.”

This is social engineering taken to the level of overt discrimination. It echoes the administrations targeting of conservative groups by the IRS. They may not be hanging signs in recruiting station windows that say “Progressives only” but if the recruiters have been instructed to deny military service to anyone with such associations, this administration has created a condition for military service that is similar in outcome for conservatives as the conditions that existed for blacks in the Old South.

The Pentagon did not return calls asking for comment from FOX News. This is typical of an administration that is sheltered by the progressive media and that arrogantly operates as if it answers to no one.

I think the American people deserve an explanation. How about you?

(Please hit your refresh screen so this reads the latest update)

by Jack

Last night Doug LaMalfa, our new Republican Congressman from the 1st District was in Chico for a Town Hall meeting to discuss ObamaCare aka The Affordable Care Act.

This was a tough subject for a public meeting, even for a seasoned legislator. But, for a newly elected Congressman, well, let’s just say there were times when it got downright ugly and confrontational… and a learning experience for the Congressman!

The hostility began right from the start when the Congressman made a little negative quip about ObamaCare that would have drawn smiles and a little applause at a GOP meeting, but this was an open meeting and the democrats didn’t find his comment amusing at all and they let him know it! And so it began, off to a bad start.

The crowd was made up of about 1/3rd older conservatives and of course they were polite and they followed the rules. There were some of our local democrat activists, a few folks from the League of Women Voters, a few members from Butte Taxpayers Alliance and they were all behaving themselves too.
Then there was about a 3rd of what I will call politely as ill informed voters. Nah, I call them what they were… loud mouthed, dolts! They spouted off enough to degrade the exchange of information and tick people off.

We heard briefly from the Congressman, the retired doctor who was his guest and Sen. Jim Nielsen, but it didn’t seem like we got much in the way of substance because of the disruptions and people talking over the speakers.

People were asked to write down their questions and the Congressman would address them, much like we do at City Council Meetings. That didn’t work too well this time. The rude bunch frequently didn’t want to wait their turn and shouted or kibbutz’d from their seats or name called the speaker of the moment. Sadly, there was too much interrupting going on and only this angered people who getting pretty fed up with (presumed) democrat supporters in the room.

I was disappointed because of the shouting, and especially the really stupid comments from the loud mouths. This prevented us from learning more factual, partisan neutral information.

Want an example of the stupid comments? Okay, when the retired doctor was saying that nobody in this country is ever denied medical treatment, this older, fat hippie looking guy wearing wife beater shirt and a headband, shouted out, “Liar, my son was denied treatment and I was, blah, blah, blah…!” He soon faded off as as a request for order came from a woman in the audience. Truth is, nobody is denied emergency, or life saving treatment at a hospital in America. They can be heavily fined if they didn’t provide immediate treatment for such people and that’s a fact that takes just a 30 second phone call to the hospital to prove! Extended care treatment has to be set up with medicare or medical. So the fat stinky hippie guy, (I’m betting he was on welfare) was running his mouth and he didn’t know what he was talking about. Those kind of outbursts really got to me and I could tell it was wearing a little think on Congressman LaMalfa too, because he fired back at times. The nay-sayers in the audience were very disrespectful to the Congressman, the Senator and the doctor.

After the meeting I talked briefly with Congressman’s mom and she was a little distressed how the meeting went. I tried to console her that this meeting was unusual, that it had attracted a lot of rude people who were there just disrupt and there will be better meetings in the future. I came away not really learning much more about the Affordable Care Act than when I went in…and that was a shame. This is something we all needed to know, because it’s about to change how medicine is practiced in America.

by Jack

By all indications we’re about to launch a missile strike on Syrian forces, but less than 27% of American’s think it’s the right thing to do, according to the latest polling. I think most of us have mixed feelings on this one.  We don’t want anyone using poison gas on people… no matter what the reason.  But, we also don’t want to get played by those we’re supposed to be defending…or worse, inadvertantly help Muslim fanatics take over a moderate secular government.

If I recall correctly, the UN can’t do much about Syria since Russia and China can veto any actions.   Neither country supports military action against Syria.   So in theory this comes down to a situation where countries of good conscience have to step up because the UN can’t.    

Unfortunately, the world being what it is, nobody is going to love America for launching cruise missiles into a sovereign country for any reason.   Right has nothing to do with it.  If we launch missiles you can count on this being exploited by all the American haters around the world.    Ultimately, we’ll come out the worse for having done it, even if we halted the use of poison gas.   So, there are many negatives to be considered before being involved in Syria’s civil war.   

There’s almost no upside for us, other than doing what we thought was right and I’m not convinced that is Obama’s true motives.   We’ve been burned too many times by politicians not be cynical.  It’s only prudent to suspect a hidden agenda or that possibly we’re falling for a baited trap?   Tough call.   

What would you do?

Posted by Tina

The Washington Times article indicates that thousands were in attendance for what I imagine was a kickoff event marking the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s historic speech in Washington DC. There are no photos of those in attendance but “thousands” sounds pretty low for such an important anniversary. Were there any prominent black speakers in attendance today? The reporter mentions a local official but other than that she doesn’t say. Perhaps the lack of news from this event is a reflection of the disappointment many are feeling about the first black presidency. How sad that the trash left on the mall, and in the reflecting pool, was the most attention grabbing aspect of the day for this Times reporter.

this site lists a pretty well organized week for attendees.

and I did find one image by Getty here. It looks like a resentment rally with Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson featured prominently in front of the Trayvon Martin banner and posters. One person’s poster says, “JOBS NOT WAR” and another demands, “Protect Voting Rights”. (Which is exactly what Republicans intend to do!) Once again how unfortunate that such a large part of America has been made to believe that Republicans would attempt to deny them the right to vote.

France.com tells us that the President will speak on Wednesday standing on the spot where MLK made his famous speech. Better get out the grounds crew…according to the pictures in the times today the Mall isn’t ready for company. We’ll see what happens on Wednesday. I hope there is something better than a trashed mall to commemorate the day on Wednesday. So far it hasn’t been a good start.

Posted by Tina

The photo at the top of the page shows an Egyptian proponent of President Morsi holding up a poster. The poster features a photo of President Obama crossed out in red next to a photo of the American flag with a big green check mark. The message: We want American support but we sure don’t think much of your president.

The scathing article that accompanies the AP photo was written by Prof. Walter Russell Mead who voted for President Obama in 2008. Meads observations reflect the overall failure in Middle East policy and define five basic failures:

With the advantages of hindsight, it appears that the White House made five big miscalculations about the Middle East. It misread the political maturity and capability of the Islamist groups it supported; it misread the political situation in Egypt; it misread the impact of its strategy on relations with America’s two most important regional allies (Israel and Saudi Arabia); it failed to grasp the new dynamics of terrorist movements in the region; and it underestimated the costs of inaction in Syria.

This article is well worth reading. Not only does it articulate many of the failures of the administration but it also acknowledges a truth that was understood and made plain by President George W. Bush as it suggests a way forward. Meads first point is that it is extremely important for the president of the United States to recognize and value the allies America has in the Middle East. Obama needs to mend some fences with our allies in the region. George Bush understood these relationships from the start and was well respected by our allies. He was also respected by our enemies but Mead avoids this point as he attempts to instruct President Obama. I will let the Professor make his second and third points:

Second, the struggle against terror is going to be harder than we hoped. Our enemies have scattered and multiplied, and the violent jihadi current has renewed its appeal. In the Arab world, in parts of Africa, in Europe and in the U.S., a constellation of revitalized and inventive movements now seeks to wreak havoc. It is delusional to believe that we can eliminate this problem by eliminating poverty, underdevelopment, dictatorship or any other “root causes” of the problem; we cannot eliminate them in a policy-relevant time frame. An ugly fight lies ahead. Instead of minimizing the terror threat in hopes of calming the public, the president must prepare public opinion for a long-term struggle.

President Bush informed us that it would take at least twenty years to defeat the radical elements in the region. He knew and made clear that the radicals were dedicated killers that we had to defeat. It’s too bad his accomplishments in that direction went unappreciated by the left and the media. In fact it is too bad the left and the left media used the Middle East as a political issue to discredit Bush for their own selfish reasons. Had they remained focused and supported President Bush we might not have lost valuable time, standing, and lives with the failures of the past 4.5 years.

Third, the focus must now return to Iran. Concern with Iran’s growing power is the thread that unites Israel and Saudi Arabia. Developing and moving on an Iran strategy that both Saudis and Israelis can support will help President Obama rebuild America’s position in the shifting sands. That is likely to mean a much tougher policy on Syria. Drawing red lines in the sand and stepping back when they are crossed won’t rebuild confidence.

I don’t know if Mead actually believes President Obama is up to the task ahead or not. Clearly Mead understands the problems and is still willing to give Obama the benefit of the doubt.
I’m not certain the President believes he has made mistakes. It’s more likely he will continue to blame others for the mess and stumble along in the same uninvolved fashion that marked the last 4.5 years.

According to The Hill President Obama played golf today with a couple of friends.

According to The Telegraph the Britain will join with America to respond with a show of force to the Assad regimes use of chemical weapons:

Royal Navy vessels are being readied to take part in a possible series of cruise missile strikes, alongside the United States, as military commanders finalise a list of potential targets.
Government sources said talks between the Prime Minister and international leaders, including Barack Obama, would continue, but that any military action that was agreed could begin within the next week.
As the preparations gathered pace, William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, warned that the world could not stand by and allow the Assad regime to use chemical weapons against the Syrian people “with impunity”.

Read more in The Wall Street Journal

by Jack Lee

The ink hasn’t quite dried on the Chris Lane murder story, the aspiring baseball star who was shot in the back by two black teens who did it because they were bored.  Now we have a WWII Vet who was sitting in his car in the parking lot in front of the Eagles Lodge when he was attacked by two black teens who apparently did it for the fun of   it.  
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Spokane -Wa. Delbert Belton, was a retired aluminum worker and had a reputation for fixing up old cars as a hobby. He was also a member of the local Eagles Lodge in Spokane. During World War II, he was an Army combat veteran and saw some of the worst fighting of the war on Okinawa. This was the last island to fall before the invasion of Japan.

The Japanese made a desperate last stand to protect the homeland from invasion. The US invasion force had 102,000 Army and 81,000 Marine soldiers. On the other side the Japanese had around 77,000 soldiers ,but they included 9,000 battle hardened troops from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJN) and  39,000 Ryukyuan fighters.   We suffered the worst causalities of the war, 62,000 US soldiers were killed or wounded. This is the Hell Delbert “Shorty” Belton went through.  He was one of the lucky combat wounded, because he would later return home to make a full recovery and lead a normal life as a hard working family man.  Then as his final years came into view his life ended in violence.

 Last Wednesday “Shorty” was suddenly attacked while he sat in his vehicle.  He was punched knocked out, possibly with flashlights carried by the attackers. The blood gushed from wounds all over his 88 year old face. The hemorrhaging was so severe he died in the hospital yesterday.   The suspects were two black male teenagers, about 16-19, one was wearing a do rag, said a witness.  A nearby surveillance camera picked up their possible photos. One of the teens has been arrested, the other is still being sought.

“Shorty” wasn’t armed, but if he had been we would be writing a different kind of story. “White man shoots two unarmed Black teens” and the country would outraged.   I’m sjure Rev. Al Sharpton would be racing to Spokane to inflame the Black community, and just as likely President Obama would soon be taking to the podium to lecture us on gun violence and race relations. The news would have 4th grade pictures of the victims on page one.  And no doubt MSNBC, CNN and others would be interviewing the usual racist crackpots who would once again be making threats of retaliation and demand for justice! But, Shorty wasn’t armed… no, he was an old man killed for unknown reasons. No story here. No candle light vigils warranted, no members of Congress will be showing solidarity for Shorty, no angry mobs of Whites will be blocking traffic or destroying property. Shorty’s just dead and nothing much will come from it. Juvenile murderers tend to get less than a two year sentence, hardly worth the cost of a trial. So this one death represents nothing, as in, there’s nothing in it for Obama , Al, Jesse or the NAACP.

UPDATE:  Keenan Kinnard is the suspect still on the run.   See his picture on the right.   Note his do rag.   He’s a real patriotic American, isn’t he?

UPDATE: 26 Aug. 2013 – Kenan Kinnard has been arrested and has been charged with 1st degree murder and robbery. Both teen suspects have a history of violence.