ACA Consequenc​es?.....................from Rico

"Affordable Care Act" Consequences? - You ain't seen nuthin' yet! The "offishul" ACA [read: ObamaCare] numbers have been quietly released by the Red Shed. Cue Warren Zevon: "It's not that pretty at all" - 2.1 million "signed-up" (this is a bit misleading, since it neither means paid-up, or on the books of an insurer yet). - 3.9 million enrollees on Medicaid (almost twice as many people decided to go this route and avoid ObamaCare completely). - 6.1 million have LOST ther insurance THANKS to ObamaCare. As an added bonus, a lot of this steaming pile of 'legislation' has been delayed until after the mid-term elections in 2014 (read: more millions of people will 'lose' their coverage, more people will PAY more for less coverage, and the lucky-duck taxpayer will again be royally shafted because of this).

John Kerry's Track Record: Piss-Poor....................from Dan Friedman

Past performance does not necessarily predict future results. Most likely they'll only get worse.

Dan Friedman
NYC

 

Secretary of State, John Kerry's, Proposal Assessed
Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, "Second Thought: US-Israel Initiative”
"Israel Hayom”, January 4, 2014, http://bit.ly/Kq550P

The value of Secretary John Kerry's assessments and proposed peace agreement, which would reduce Israel to a 9-15 mile waistline (the pre-1967 lines), in the increasingly raging Middle East, is consistent with Kerry's track record.

Change. Transforma​tion...................from Rico

There is a "fundamental transformation" taking place in America today. - It is being CHANGED from a free country into a totalitarian police state. The nitwits that asked for CHANGE without asking what kind of change, or change into what, are discovering that 'change' isn't always for the better. - Neither is 'fundamental transformation' always a positive thing...at least NOT when it means transforming Mayberry, USA into Communist-occupied Eastern Europe. The police once used to "protect and serve" the public, but that was before they were given tanks, MRAPS and other military gear. They are now being transformed into militarized "compliance officers"....armed enforcers for the state, and no longer public servants protecting private citizens. - The former citizens are now the subjects of the state...at least according to the state. When did this start to happen? - Oh, I'd say about the time when the concept of "innocent until proven guilty" was transformed into "guilty until proven innocent" (unless you're 'connected') and everyone in America became a criminal in the state's eyes. The state no longer respects or fears the people,and instead demands the people not only respect the state, but obey it. Or else. - And now the people fear the state. Well....some of them do, it's the rest that the state fears.



 

Saturday Night is Bath Night..................

Interestin​g Theoretica​l Question....................from Rico

In all honesty, I'm not exactly sure who these people are in the photo which refers to Kanye and Kim. My first impression is that they are the typical American celebrities of today...namely famous for being famous, although they both strike me as no-talents, and my impression of Kanye is he's just another hate-America type, despite the wealth the country has lavished upon them both. - A bit of 'attitude', hates America, plus no-talent and not 'sure' who this cat really is? Why sounds like a perfect candidate to be pResident for the Dem's (C) if they did not already have a Communist murderess lined up for the job in 2016. BUT this does raise an interesting theoretical question "what kind of sandwich?" which suggests either ham & swiss or perhaps baloney & American cheese as an answer. Since we're being theoretical here, how about another couple? No-talent, not sure who they are, America-haters with a bit of 'attitude'....hmmmm, Barry what's-is-name and Moochelle fit the bill nicely here also. In their case, a couple BLT's sound appropriate. Bacon-Lettuce-Tomato sandwiches require the bacon be cooked to crispy, the bread toasted, tomatoes sliced, the lettuce washed, and the mayo made from scratch...well you get the idea by now. Making them fresh might not leave any time for silly things like rescuing theoretical people. - Besides, bacon makes everything better from sandwiches to bookmarks for the Koran.

"Horse Pucky John" - Wild Bill

John Boehner gets the Wild Bill "Biggest Pile of Horse Pucky" award for his two faced politics.

Bikini Babe Maria Menounos

Ima post on this lady more often.

Jeez, freakin' hot.

See, "Maria Menounos Bikini Hotness in Cabo San Lucas."

We negotiate with Iran, the Taliban and the Palestinians! Why not Kim Jong Un too!...from TPC

Given the terrorist organizations and countries that Barack Obama seems to think negotiations are possible with, why not North Korea as well.

The story in this article about Kim Jong Un's style of execution should convince the President a sit-down would be a good idea!

At The Political Commentator here.

Saturday Totty................

Smokin'! Alice Goodwin Poses for 2014 Calendar

See, "Enough of the Homos: Time for Some Hot, Sexy Women!"

Yeah, check out all of Alice Goodwin at the link.

Need some hot ladies after all o' that psycho leftist blogging!

Some Evening Linkage (From the Fringes of the Radical Psycho Left)

It's been a wild couple of days of blogging (psycho left blogging), but worth sharing.

At left, "Rachael Sacks, New York College Student Whose Essay, 'I'm Not Going to Pretend That I'm Poor to Be Accepted by You', Now Mad That Media Overlooked Her Lesbianism." (She only thinks she's lesbian; probably just needs a man to make her whole.)

More crazy leftist psychos, "What Next for Homosexual Rights?":

Of course the agenda goes far beyond dismantling the heteronormative patriarchy and the redistribution of economic resources from the "oppressors" to the "oppressed" --- queers, the transgendered, people of color, illegals, drug addicts, criminals, and the poor. It is, in other words, the destruction of society's institutions of regeneration and stability. Grant this agenda and you'll be pulling off the Marxist goal of total obliteration of the family unit in furtherance of the complete violent demolition of bourgeois society. This is what's next for homosexual rights? They will bury you. Sally Kohn just pulls the mask right off.

And here, "The End of Men."

Also, not to be missed, the Communist Manifesto for Millennials, "'In any case, we have to stop letting rich people pretend they privately own what nature provided everyone...'"

Another Jewish Bastion Falls Into Enemy Hands..................from Dan Friedman

Via Charles Jacobs, a modern-day Jewish hero

 

 

[The “Reform movement” may be withering, and the “Conservatives” may not be far behind, but their remnants aren’t going quietly. Whenever you need a “hechsher” (rabbinical seal of approval) to declare a pig kosher, just round up the usual suspects from their roster of rabbis and rabbinettes. This case study from Boston is unfortunately not an exception. On the contrary, the descent of America’s liberal Jewish communities into full blown anti-Zionism and bitter self-hatred seems to be a trend. df]

Jewish Russian Telegraph, January 02, 2014

JRT: The Boston Jewish Establishment’s War on Dissent

Not just a sceptic, but a denier = realist.................from Rico

I am not just a sceptic, but a denier of the "Global Warming" hoax (sometimes called 'climate change' in places like Minnesota with -50 windchills in Winter).

- Call me a realist for thinking it to be a con, a scam, and a complete fraud. Gee, no wonder the Democrats (C) are drawn to it like moths to a flame!

It is a completely PHONEY 'issue' that uses fake 'science' in order to steal money while ostensibly 'fighting' what does not exist, and justify further state intrusion into people's lives as well as tightening control over them.

- You all 'knew' that the heir to the Occidental Petroleum Fortune [OXY] created a 'carbon exchange' run by his former campaign finance manager to scam some money off suckers, right? Yes, I mean Al "An Inconvenient Truth" Gore.

Instead of rattling-on about all the flaws, fallacies, frauds, fakes, and lies ad nauseum of this faux 'movement' to save us all from ourselves, I'll quote two headlines from Matt Drudge's website today instead. They tell you everything you need to know in a few words:

"Americans spent $7.45 billion fighting Global Warming...in other countries..."

"Frozen out: 98% of network stories ignore that ice-bound ship was on 'Global Warming' mission..."

Bedtime Totty...................

News.................

Cambrian Dissenters:The State Removes Baby From Mothers Womb - Scandal Of Britain's Secret Courts

Iraqi troops press battle against al-Qaida at Fallujah, Ramadi

Progress notes on my "plywood gun," an ar-15 which holds a .308 winchester magazine .... the magazine well is mortised, and the magpul ar-10 magazine fits ....

NYT: Oh, by the way, we had a reporter on the scene during the Benghazi attack

Air Force plans review board to further trim ranks

The New York Times destroys Obama

Obama administration proposes new executive actions on gun background checks

Iraq arrests Shi'ite militia commander

Where is Turkey Going?

EagleSpeak: Frickin' Navy Laser Beams in 2014?

CDR Salamander: Fullbore Friday

Ship involved in Antarctic rescue faces trouble

Study: Concealed-carry means fewer murders

Baltimore hiring firemen;
but there's catch: You can't be...

Detroit police chief: Want crime to drop? Start carrying

MD Helicopters to close $50 million deal with Iraqi Kurdistan

More Civil Disobedience, Lobbying Blitzes for Amnesty in 2014

Brazilian wet t-shirt soccer! (Video)...from TPC

If you are currently facing heavy snow or below 0 degree temperatures, this video of Brazilian women playing soccer in t-shirts and booty shorts may be just what the doctor ordered!

Watch at The Political Commentator here.

Booty Football................

H/T Doverthere

Krauthammer Stays a Step Ahead of the Obamacare Game.................from Dan Friedman

WaPo, January 2

Stop the bailout — now

By Charles Krauthammer

Part 3--2013 in Review: Anticipation for Future Elections

As we enter 2014, Zo reminds all Republicans out there not to get too excited for 2016, especially without knowing who our alternative is going to be. He warns that, if its Chris Christie, the side effects might be worse than the problem.

Ben Franklin Redux: "A Jewish State, If You Can Keep It"...................from Dan Friedman

Who would have thought that Franklin’s proviso would apply to Israel 226 years later? But that is the crossroad Israel is approaching now.

Don’t look for equanimity from the Nations when it comes to Jews or our state. It has never happened - not once – in all of history. The solution, which is finally in our grasp, is a mighty Jewish defense force and the will to use it without anyone’s permission. Unfortunately, it’s the latter that’s lacking because too many Israelis and other Jews are obsessed with “being accepted,” and they’re going to chase after that even if they must die trying. As long as the twisted Israeli Left gains political traction by alleging that their leaders are alienating Barack Hussein Obama (and not fear being booed off the stage) things will continue to go from bad to worse.

Oh, one more thing. As in Franklin’s day, no one in Israel can afford to be be complacent. If Jews don’t value their great gift – two thousand years in the making – then the odds are against Israel being granted a happy ending.

A 1,000:1 "split"...​................from Rico

This has GOT to be making the FED green with envy! - It also makes their efforts to "juice" the US equities markets via QE 'cheap money' look puny in comparison. The Caracas Exchange had the highest return of ANY market in the world in 2013. The Venezuelan stock market has been hugely successful...second only to the even more "successful" Zimbabwe stock market last decade...and is proceeding wth a 1000:1 index split. Why? - Because an index trading at 2,737 "looks better" than one trading at 2,737,000 (and appearance matters more than substance). - Because removing zeroes...from the index, not the socialist politicians...allows the facade of "everything is OK, really it is" to be maintained a little longer, and allows the option of removing more pesky zeroes when the index reflates (you have to admit a number like 2,737,000,000,000 would be clumsier to work with for socialist planners who have to get into a shower to be able count to 21. This is all being pointedly ignored by the FTV and the socialist poliiticians elsewhere, because very unpleasant inflation caused by currency debasement just isn't polite conversation in central planning-Keynesian-Krugmanite circles any more than is the coincident shortage of toilet paper caused by socialists in places like Zimbabwe or Venezuela ight rouse the slumbering masses in places that are next in line to be so deprived....like the US.

Slaving Away

California Farm Academy - America's Heartland

Rolling acres of pristine and prime farmland in Winters, CA are where seeds are being planted to grow farmers for the future of America and the world.

Watcher's Council Results 'Bone Marrow Registry' Edition!...from TPC

This weeks edition of the Watcher's Council is dedicated to raising awareness for the national bone marrow donation registry.

By becoming part of this organization you will be in the potential position to give someone who is suffering with a blood cancer the opportunity to get well!

At The Political Commentator here.

Bonus Totty.................

Socialism: Let them eat cake!...from TPC

Let them eat cake, eh Barack?

This article explains how, in a political performance that has been perfected by Barack Obama, the President of France said one thing while doing the exact opposite.  

At The Political Commentator here.

Friday Totty..................

Ellie Goulding Poses Topless for Magazine Shoot

She's a luscious little lady.

See, "'Reckless' Ellie Goulding Poses Topless for Marie Claire."

Minister Compares New York City to 'Plantation' at Mayor Bill de Blasio Inauguration

It's gonna be a bizarre four years in New York, and that's without this de Blasio getting reelected.

See, "Mayor Bill de Blasio's Inauguration Hammers Outgoing Mike Bloomberg."

Enjoy Some Hannah Davis!

A great clip, and photos at the link, "Hannah Davis for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit."

Bedtime Totty..............

50 years........................from Rico

This reminds me of the very wise counseling I was given by a Marine Col pal of mine.

- He was divorced, had been financially skinned-alive in the process, and was newly remarried to a very hot 23 yr-old whom I had just been introduced to.

- I was happily divorced, and swimming the endless seas of single young women....some of whom I had considered as possible candidates to be the next ex-Mrs.

He took me aside, looked me seriously in the eye, and said "Don't fuck up!" 

- When I asked him to clarify, he said "I have a young wife, a new baby, I get no sleep, and I'll have to work now until I drop dead. I can never 'retire.' Don't fuck up like I did."

Wise words from a wise man. I never got bad advice from a Marine, btw.

- I did not fuck up. At least i haven't yet.....

 

After being married for 50 years, I took a careful look at my wife one day and said, "Fifty years ago we had a cheap house, a junk car, slept on a sofa bed and watched a 10-inch black and white TV, but I got to sleep with a hot 23-year-old girl every night. Now, I have a $500,000 home, a $45,000 car, a nice big bed and a large screen TV, but I'm sleeping with a 69-year-old woman. It seems to me that you're not holding up your side of things." My wife is a very reasonable woman. She told me to go out and find a hot 23-year-old girl and she would make sure that I would once again be living in a cheap house, driving a junk car, sleeping on a sofa bed and watching a 10-inch black and white TV. Aren't older women great? They really know how to solve an old guy's problems.

Late News.................

To give money to poor people is piss poor social policy ....

England My England - Witnessing The Death Of A Much Loved Friend

The Year Ahead for Obamacare

NBC Mocks Pearl Harbor Survivors On New Years Eve Special

The hidden costs of ObamaCare

Jail survey: 7 in 10 felons register as Democrats

Will Arabs Have the Courage to Label Muslim Brotherhood a Terrorist Group?

Mayor de Blasio, first Democrat in 20 years, takes oath of office at City Hall

Pedal Tavern rolls into the new year with beer on board

A New Year's plunge at the Flora-Bama on Perdido Key

Not a 'Bogus' Benghazi Connection

Immigration Reform, Haley Barbour Style

Gun from botched 'Fast and Furious' operation turns up after Mexican resort shootout

'Duck Dynasty' Family Launches Gun Line, Including 'Military-Style Rifles and Pistols'

Civilian death toll in Iraq highest in years, fueling concern of Al Qaeda 'resurgence'

Into the River!

Social Proof, used to be called 'Peer-pressure,' is essentially a type of mob mentality that convinces people to go along with the herd. President Obama is really President Social Proof--he convinced a slew of voters that to question him was to be racist. Now, several voices are crying out that the Emperor...President...is wearing no clothes, and all that's left to do is run the hollow people into the river.

The Guardian Slams Funding of Anti-Global Warming Groups

 

 

By Alan Caruba

The Guardian, a London-based daily newspaper, has been a leading advocate of the global warming theory—now called climate change—and its December 20 edition published an article by Susanne Goldenberg, “Conservative groups spend up to $1bn a year to fight action on climate change.”

The article focused on a study by Drexel University sociologist Robert Brulle that had been published in the journal Climate Change asserting that “The anti-climate effort has been largely underwritten by conservative billionaires, often working through secretive funding networks. They have displaced corporations as the prime supporters of 91 think tanks, advocacy groups and industry associations which have worked to block action on climate change.”

What action these organizations or even entire governments could take to have any affect whatever on “climate change” defies common sense. Nothing they could do, for example, would have any effect on the action of the Sun, the primary determinant of climate. For the past seventeen years the Sun has been in a natural cycle of reduced radiation, less warmth for the Earth. The result has been a cooling cycle on Earth that has crushed decades of lies about “global warming.”

It’s not that the Earth hasn’t had previous cycles of warmer climate, but they had nothing to do with anything humans do. There was warming before the Industrial Revolution introduced the use of coal, oil and natural gas to provide the energy that has marked the development and use of technologies that have improved human life in countless ways. “Global warming” is blamed on the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other so-called greenhouse gases. The most prominent of these gases in the Earth’s atmosphere is nothing more than water vapor.

Apparently, if Brulle and The Guardian are to be believed, anyone or any organization that donates to any group that doubts the claims of Big Green are the enemies of “global warming”, but this conveniently ignored estimates that the U.S. government, according to an October article in The New American “will spend more money on fighting global warming than it will on tightening border security.” The spending is estimated to cost approximately $22.2 billion this year, twice as much as the $12 billion estimated for customs and border enforcement.”

There are, according to the White House, “currently 18 federal agencies engaged in activities related to global warming. These agencies fund programs that include scientific research, international climate assistance, renewable energy technology, and subsidies for renewable energy producers.” 

The Guardian article caught my eye because, among the organizations that have been active in debunking the “global warming” theory has been The Heartland Institute. I have been an advisor to the Institute which, since 2008, has organized eight international conferences on global warming that have featured some of the world’s leading skeptics.

If you want to know how the Institute is funded, you can go to their website where you will find, for example, that it does not solicit or accept grants from any of those government agencies using billions of taxpayer dollars to convince Americans that “global warming” is real or that anything the government does about “climate change” can have any effect on it. In 2012, Heartland received 50% of its income from foundations, 28% from individuals, and 18% from corporations. No corporate donor contributes more than 5% of its annual budget.

In contrast, a recent article by Ron Arnold, a Washington Examiner columnist and executive vice president of the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, noted that over the past decade environmental organizations received 345,052 foundation grants totaling $20,826,664,000—over twenty billion dollars—largely from a 200-plus member Environmental Grantmakers Association and the smaller, farther-left National Network of Grantmakers. Arnold said that “Today, foundations are the backbone of Big Green.”

On a recent CNN television program, Marc Morano, the communications director of the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) took on the Sierra Club director, noting that this major environmental organization has received $26 million from natural gas corporations to support its attacks on the coal industry. So “fossil fuels” industries are okay if they are giving the Sierra Club money.

“So record cold,” said Morano, “is now evidence of man-made global warming.”

While the Koch-affiliated foundations that provide grants to conservative groups were singled out, along with Exxon Mobil, in The Guardian article, no mention was made of multi-billionaire George Soros who is famed for funding all manner of liberal groups and who reportedly has invested heavily in “clean energy” companies—solar and wind—whose products do not produce the so-called greenhouse gas emissions.

One of the more recent articles in The Guardian was titled “Global warming will intensify drought, says new study.”  The problem, of course, is that there is NO global warming.

By contrast, a July Fox News article, “Billions spent in Obama climate plan may be virtually useless, study says” was not also reported in the mainstream media. Suffice to say that those billions came from taxpayer’s pockets.

I am happy to know that the Heartland Institute, a 29 year old non-profit research organization, CFACT, and other free market research and activist groups receive foundation and other support. Without them, the lies about “climate change” from the Obama administration and the many environmental organizations would not be debunked.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

New York City Socialist-style Blizzard Snow Removal Plan...from TPC

For newly sworn-in New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio who is facing his first significant weather event, this article provides him with the ideal method of socialist-style snow removal!

At The Political Commentator here.

Bonus Totty................

"Welfare Warpath" - Wild Bill

What happens when corrupt government turns millions of people into welfare dependents? It gives the government the ability to start riots on command.

Flying Dagger wrist cam Jeb Corliss

Thursday Totty..............

Never Again? Eu nations lurch to the politics of hate! (Video and Links)...from TPC

Today far-right neo-Nazi political groups in the EU like the Golden Dawn party in Greece focus their hate on immigrants but, as the economy there continues to languish, can the Jews be far behind? 

The video and links in this article tells the real story.

At The Political Commentator here.

Awesome New Year's Blog Roundup

And some babes.

An awesome blog and babe roundup, "New Year's Day Roundup."

I love this, for example, at Bro-Bible, "Iowa Player Pulls the Derpiest Play of the Day By Dropping the Ball Before Entering the Endzone."

Check the whole hot thing.

And Happy New Year!

In-Your-Face Homosexuals Defile Tournament of Roses

See, "Gays on Parade in Pasadena!"

And People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals were arrested for protesting the Sea World float, but leftist enviro-terrorsts aren't anywhere as important as homosexuals getting married!

In your face, mofos!

Coney Island Polar Bear Plunge (Video) for bone marrow donation awareness!...from TPC

Learn how you can potentially help someone who is deathly sick with a blood cancer receive a bone marrow transplant and the chance to get well! 

It is a simple and painless process to register for the national bone marrow registry!

At The Political Commentator here.

NYT Signs On to Hillary 2016..............................from Dan Friedman

[The Times and its faithful employees have gone from slimy creatures living in two inches of water to hysterical old biddies who have lost control. Of course, they try to hide it behind a mountain of easy-reading rhetoric and diligent “research.” But as we approach the countdown to 2014 and then 2016, expect their frenzy to get out of hand - especially if signs emerge that America is finally waking up from its Obama nightmare. NB: A number of fascinating video links in this story don't work in emails. Click on the original and watch them there. df]

Why NY Times Lied about Benghazi

By Shoebat Foundation on December 31, 2013

Cairo Bureau Chief should know better

The New York Times’ David D. Kirkpatrick may have a motive for wanting to leave out any evidence of an Egyptian connection to the Benghazi attacks on 9/11/12; he is the Cairo Bureau Chief. After reading what amounts to his “novel” – replete with actual chapters – in the New York Times, two things are made clear about what he believes. The attackers were Libyans exclusively and the central figure – Ahmed Abu Khattala – may have been central but his involvement was entirely questionable (doesn’t make sense, does it?).

Bedtime Totty...................

Marine Corps Proves Osprey Capabilities in Embassy Rescue Training Mission.

Students from the Infantry Officer Course at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., completed a "Proof-of-Concept" 1,100 mile, long-range operation from Twentynine Palms, Calif., to Fort Hood, Texas, via MV-22 Ospreys. The Marines fast-roped into a mock city to secure the embassy and rescue key U.S. personel. The Marine Corps is the only military branch with the proven capability to missions of this magnitude, whether for humanitarian, rescue, combat operations or other special-forces type missions.

It Can't Happen Here?..................from Rico

Connecticut. 2013. Citizens line up for mandatory registration of firearms and ammunition - Juxtaposed with a line for mandatory registration of Jews. 1942. There is a novel from 1935 by Sinclair Lewis, likely no longer either taught in government-run schools nor in their libraries, about what happens when America has a dictator. It is titled "It Can't Happen Here." - Wanna bet?

Some Consider These as Qualificat​ions and Prerequisi​tes.....................from Rico

There clearly are some who would consider side-stepping the Constitution plus being an unethical liar and dishonest to be prerequisites for the Presidency these days. - That Comrade Hitlery has added murderess (Benghazi) to her list of qualifications is added icing on the collectivist cake for them And yes, she is next in line to become pResident after Comrade Barry. - There are now enough stupid voters and economic parasites (combined with ACORN-style voting fraud) to guarantee that she will 'win' too. It may have been Stalin who said the number of votes didn't count as much as who was counting the votes, but sensitive Communist murderer that he was he also remarked that one death was a tragedy, while one million deaths was merely a statistic. - I wonder were the four dead at Benghazi would have fallen for him? We already KNOW Hillary's position: "What does it matter?"

Warming Hobbits Hoisted on Their Own Petard.....................from Dan Friedman

[The Obama-run media has diverted our attention to the cliffhanger rescue of all aboard a ship frozen in the ice off Antarctica, while ignoring the real story. But some of the unwashed on the Web insist on bringing us the real lesson lurking behind the news. df]

thenationalpatriot.com, 2013/12/30

Summer in Antarctica – An EPIC Global Warming FAIL

There are an ever growing number of people in the world who shouldn’t be allowed to walk from their couch to their fridge without wearing a helmet and being guided by Sherpas with a certified EMS provider on standby and…74 OF THEM ARE ON THAT SHIP!!!!

By Craig Andresen

Obama's 2014 Big Lie: Income Inequality

 

 

 

By Alan Caruba

As the liberal disaster called Obamacare unfolds, President Barack Obama is already embarked on his next Big Lie: income inequality.

It’s useful to visit some of the planks of Karl Marx’s 1848 Communist Manifesto. They included abolition of private property—the keystone of capitalism—and the application of all rents of land to a public purpose. Marx advocated a heavy progressive or graduated income tax whereas a fair tax that treats all Americans fairly by taxing what you spend instead of what you earn. The current tax code is more than 73,000 pages! Marx wanted to eliminate all rights of inheritance and centralize credit by means of a national bank.

What Obama is talking about is socialism/communism when he claims that income inequality must be altered by more government intrusion into our lives and his claims are false. He said that “a dangerous and growing inequality and lack of upward mobility” is “the defining challenge of our time”

His objective is to further divide Americans by promising what government cannot and should not deliver. This is now the Democratic Party theme leading up to the midterm elections in November. He is right about one thing, only economic growth can provide the opportunity for Americans to increase their personal incomes, provide a choice of investments, and save more for the future. In his first five years in office, economic growth has been historically slow.

In a Wall Street Journal opinion commentary by Robert A. Grady he cites a 2011 study by Lee Ohanian and Kip Hagopian, “The Mismeasure of Inequality”, that concluded that “inequality actually declined 1.8% during the 16-year period between 1993 and 2009.” According to studies by the U.S. Treasury, the capitalist system in America, providing mobility (up or down), found that “considerable income mobility” in the decades 1987-1996 and 1996-2005, found that approximately half of those in the bottom income quintile in 1996 had moved to a higher quintile by 2005. They were decades, the 1980s and 1990s, in which the vast majority of Americans gained higher incomes.

In the past four and a half years since the recession officially ended, poor people and the middle class were hurt the most and opportunity slowed. Under Obama millions of Americans are out of work and dependent on government programs such as food stamps and unemployment compensation. The later ended for many on December 31. The inequality that Obama cites is the direct result of the failure of his economic programs as well as a dramatic surge in federal regulations that harm economic growth.

The Affordable Care Act—Obamacare—is discouraging full-time employment. According to Gallup’s payroll-to-population ratio, the proportion of the American population working full-time, has dropped almost two percentage points in the last year to 43.8%. Wall Street Journal columnist noted that Obama spent 2013 fund-raising for the Democratic Party “making 30 separate visits to wealthy donors” at “more than twice the rate of the President’s two-term predecessors. On the day following the September 11, 2012 attack that killed an American ambassador and three others in Benghazi, Obama flew to Las Vegas on a fund-raising trip.

In the year ahead you will hear him cite figures based on 1979 income rates to justify his call for more opportunity, but in 1979 the mean (average) household income of the bottom 20% of wage earners was $4,000. By 2012, it was $11.499, an increase of 186%. For the middle class, the increase was 211%. Despite the 2008 financial crisis, it still rose.

Did the rich get richer? Yes. But the rich earn their money from inheritance, from business development (jobs) and investment. Under communism there is no inheritance; the state gets it all. And the state owns the factories and instruments of production, as well as collectivizing agriculture. It maintains a “progressive” or graduated income tax.

Does the political theme of income inequality work? Bill de Blasio, New York’s new mayor, ran on an income inequality platform and will be sworn in by former President Bill Clinton who will be accompanied by his wife, Hillary.

Income inequality will be the theme of Obama’s forthcoming State of the Union speech, but like everything else he says it will be a Big Lie.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

Is Islam the Obstacle to "Peace"? (Let's Hope So)..................from Dan Friedman

[The real danger in Obama's plan is the "interim agreement," which would codify the Arab's (Islamic) claims to Jewish land and Israel's agreement to recognize them. Then all meetings going forward would use the "interim agreement" as ground zero for "final status" negotiations. Once Netanyahu signs off on the “interim agreement,” short of a highly unlikely backlash from the Israeli sheeple, there will be no turning back. He, Obama, Kerry, and Abbas are well aware of that. Question is, why would Netanyahu walk into such an obvious trap? The answer? Don't ask. Or alternately, Netanyahu is not his own man. df]

JPost, 12/31/13  

The World From Here: Will Abbas defy Islam for peace with Israel?

By DAN DIKER AND HAROLD RHODE

"Can Israeli concessions influence the Palestinians to sign an historic peace deal that ends the Arab-Israeli conflict once and for all?"

TAPS - Last Post in Holland

Perhaps you have already heard this young lady play Taps before, but you might not have heard 'the rest of the story'.

The American Cemetery and Memorial is in the village of Margraten, The Netherlands, about six miles from Maastricht. There lie buried 8,301 American soldiers killed in the battles to liberate Holland in the fall and winter of 1944-5. Sgt. Bill Dukeman, 101st Airborne Division, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Second Battalion, Company C (of "Band of Brothers fame) is buried there. He was killed in the battle of "The Crossroads" in northern Holland.

The Dutch hold an annual memorial concert every September at the above cemetery to remember and honor the Americans who died to free them in Operation Market Garden and subsequent efforts to eject the German army from Holland. Sgt. Dukeman, like many other fallen GIs, was "adopted" by a Dutch family. Dukeman's family in the States was contacted and hosted in Holland, and his grave site decorated each year by his Dutch "family." They keep his portrait in their home, displayed in a place of honor. Fathers pass this obligation down to their sons in Holland. This version of the original "taps" music is played by a 17-year-old Dutch girl named Melissa Venema; she's been playing is for the past five years. The conductor of the orchestra is Andre Rieu also from Holland.

Many of you may never have heard taps played in its entirety . The original version of Taps was called Last Post, and was written by Daniel Butterfield in 1801. It was rather lengthy and formal, as you will hear in this clip, so in 1862 it was shortened to 24 notes and re-named Taps.

Melissa Venema is playing it on a trumpet; the original was played on a bugle of course.

This is the epitome of Honor . . .

- STORMBRINGER SENDS

'Best Bits' (LOVE Advent 2013)

OUR GIRL AT 27................from Shelly

Hillary at 27 - Whew!! Her record is not very comforting and not admirable, either ! Yet, she will probably run for President. Interesting that a more lengthy treatment by the Daily Kos posted back in 2008, was recently removed from their site.

Becoming Venezuela, aspiring to Cuban....................from Rico

"Painting the tape" is a Wall Street staple. - End of month, and end of year it masks spotty actual performance and assures better bonuses. This year, 2013 ends with a simply stellar example of it. Look at the DJIA chart for the last trading day of 2013. - Note the 'magical' end-of-day ramp-up before the close. This allows the FTV and other teleprompter readers and talking heads to crow "the Dow ended it's best year snce 1995" (while ignoring the +39% increase in the Fed's balance sheet). There was a corresponding effort to smash Gold and Silver to create 'lows' in Gold and Silver for 2013 to mark a clear contrast to equities. - Just to drive the point home for the slower Muppets that 'paper good, physical bad' and for the sheeple tht 'everything is swell, no worries' in case they were to doubt the power of the Fed and the intellectual capacity of their betters. All said and done, in a Socialist Centrally Planned Paradise there is no point in worryig about facts or reality when there is an ample supply of misinformation, delusion, propaganda, and wishful thinking to get you through hard times! - The markets are UP, huzzah! We be better off now. Ahem. Tell that to the Venezuelans. - The Venezuelan market jumped +475% in 2013, and is UP 350,000% since 1992. See? Socialism is not only GOOD for you, but 'for your own good' too! [Pssst! Wanna buy a watch? Maybe a nice bridge?] Please to ignore that almost the last industries functioning in America now are tattoos, burger-flipping, and banking [looting edition]. 2014 will see a change from America becoming Venezuela, to becoming Cuba...thanks to Obamacare, but that is another topic.