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News/Politics 8-20-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

Further evidence against the Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Egypt.

From CNSNews  “In the four days since security forces cleared two sit-in camps by supporters of Egypt’s ousted president, Islamists have attacked dozens of Coptic churches along with homes and businesses owned by the Christian minority. The campaign of intimidation appears to be a warning to Christians outside Cairo to stand down from political activism.

Christians have long suffered from discrimination and violence in Muslim majority Egypt, where they make up 10 percent of the population of 90 million. Attacks increased after the Islamists rose to power in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that drove Hosni Mubarak from power, emboldening extremists. But Christians have come further under fire since President Mohammed Morsi was ousted on July 3, sparking a wave of Islamist anger led by Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.

Nearly 40 churches have been looted and torched, while 23 others have been attacked and heavily damaged since Wednesday, when chaos erupted after Egypt’s military-backed interim administration moved in to clear two camps packed with protesters calling for Morsi’s reinstatement, killing scores of protesters and sparking deadly clashes nationwide.”

Meanwhile the Obama State Dept. is speaking out about the poor treatment and deaths….. of Muslim Brotherhood prisoners.

The treatment of the Christian minorities? Yep, those are crickets you hear.

From TheStar/Reuters  “The U.S. State Department voiced deep concern on Monday about the deaths of Muslim Brotherhood prisoners while in custody in Egypt, terming them “suspicious,” and made clear that it does not believe the Islamist group should be banned.

“We are … deeply troubled by the suspicious deaths of Muslim Brotherhood prisoners in a purported prison escape attempt near Cairo,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, referring to 37 supporters of ousted President Mohamed Mursi who died in disputed circumstances on Sunday.”

Leave it to the Obama admin to speak up for the terrorists, but not their victims.

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And John Kerry has cleared the only ones ever punished for the Benghazi debacle. I know, “What difference does it make?” right?

From TheDailyBeast  “Secretary of State John Kerry has determined that the four State Department officials placed on administrative leave by Hillary Clinton after the terrorist attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi do not deserve any formal disciplinary action and has asked them to come back to work at the State Department starting Tuesday.”

“Last December, Clinton’s staff told four mid-level officials to clean out their desks and hand in their badges after the release of the report of its own internal investigation into the Benghazi attack, compiled by the Administrative Review Board led by former State Department official Tom Pickering and former Joint Chiefs Chairman Ret. Adm. Mike Mullen. Those four officials have been in legal and professional limbo, not fired but unable to return to their jobs, for eight months… until today.

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Raymond Maxwell, the only official from the State Department’s Near Eastern Affairs bureau to lose his job over the Benghazi attack, told The Daily Beast Monday he received a memo from the State Department’s human resources department informing him his administrative leave status has been lifted and he should report for duty Tuesday morning.

“No explanation, no briefing, just come back to work. So I will go in tomorrow,” Maxwell said.”

Since the employees filed grievances, the Obama admin took this route rather than have those employees speaking out on the matter. That might make things uncomfortable when it comes time for Hillary to run for President. So this ensures they won’t have unflattering details leaking out later.

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Laws? Pffftt… That’s for you little people.

From TheChicagoTribune  “The mandate that employers provide insurance next year or pay a penalty, as the law requires? Delayed for at least a year.

The law’s dictate that people applying for federal subsidies to buy insurance provide proof that they’re eligible for the government aid? Scaled back.

Sharp limits on Americans’ out-of-pocket costs for health care? Suspended for a year.

Providing members of Congress and more than 10,000 staff members with federal health care subsidies that the law does not allow? Done, via a deal brokered by President Barack Obama.”

He must do all this by Presidential decree, because he can’t risk admitting it’s faults and letting the legislature fix it. They might change other things too.

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This one? No comment. After all, it really does speak for itself.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Federal welfare benefits pay more than minimum wage jobs in 35 states, according to a new report from the Cato Institute.

Hawaii provides the most benefits, or $49,175 a year. The District of Columbia provides the second highest welfare benefits in the country, providing $43,099 a year.

Cato’s calculations were based upon how much a mother with two children would receive from the seven most widely used welfare programs, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; Medicaid; Women, Infants and Children Program; Emergency Food Assistance Program; housing assistance and utilities assistance.

In 12 states and D.C., the amount she would receive from those programs exceeds what she could earn working full-time at a $15-an-hour job, according to Cato.”

For those interested, or for a look at how your state did,  the Cato Institute study is here.

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And here’s the last one from me today.

This would be funny, if they weren’t totally serious about this. Since they are serious, it’s sad. And clueless.

Sure it’ll stop legally carrying gun owners from coming in and spending their money, but who here thinks it’ll work for criminals? Yeah, me neither. 🙄

From CNSNews  “Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, a Democrat, is inviting  local merchants to voluntarily post “Gun Free Zone” signs in their  businesses, letting customers who have guns know they should shop  elsewhere.

“We are here to support businesses that do not wish to have guns on  their premises” McGinn said in a press release issued by Washington  CeaseFire, which is partnering with the mayor for the campaign. “The  police department regularly enforces trespass laws when a visitor to a  business violates that business’s rules.”

“We will continue to do so, and I thank these businesses for standing up for the safety of their customers,” McGinn said.”

Why not just paint a “Please Rob Me, I’m Unarmed” sign out front?

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9 thoughts on “News/Politics 8-20-13”

  1. Egypt — Its a gov’t to gov’t exchange of words. The State Dept is criticizing the de facto gov’t of Egypt for its treatment of prisoners. As you’ve noted previously, the current Egyptian is trying to protect the Copts hence there’s no need for the State Dept to criticize the Egyptian gov’t for its treatment of Copts.

    Benghazi — typical end to a labor dispute. Something goes wrong and workers are place on leave until the investigation is finished. Employees file grievances, employers do due diligence, etc. In the end the employer has no smoking gun to fire the employees with and hence hires them back to prevent the grievance from having any effect. You can place political connotations around it but this is a typical end to a labor dispute.

    Welfare — Cato admitted in their study that not all welfare receipts received all the benefits that they used to calculate the total sums. In other words this is maximum one can receive. Also the utilities and housing assistance grants are often one time only grants and vary even within a state. Finally, the figure for medicaid was not based on services received (which could be anything from $0 to thousands) but rather the cost of purchasing health care insurance. In the end, all this study points to is the need to raise the minimum wage to match the cost of living.

    Gun free zones — Every US embassy I have walked past in Europe was a gun free zone. In fact it was a gun, knife and explosive free zone according to the sign posted on the gate. Yes, its true there is no second amendment in US embassies. But I’m sure the guard standing right behind that sign is well armed. If I saw a sign “Gun Free Zone” I would assume it applied to customers only not the staff at the store.

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  3. Ricky – on your abortion link from two days ago: The interviewee was inaccurate in saying that Canada legalizes abortion after 20 weeks. There is no abortion law in Canada, period. The law that was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1988 actually legalized abortion; but because the decision to abort was to be made by a panel of doctors, the Court ruled that the law was too restrictive on women’s rights. The law was never replaced, so abortion is neither legal nor illegal.

    The Canadian Medical Association now regulates anything to do with abortion and they discourage abortion after 20 weeks. I know from reading and first-hand information that public hospitals do not perform abortions after 20 weeks unless there are exceptional circumstances. Those who wish to obtain such abortions either go to private clinics or travel to the U.S. There are also a couple of laws in Canada’s Criminal Code that make partial birth abortion a homicide and punishable to the fullest extent of the law. In other words, no law in Canada is producing the very situation that your link’s interviewee envisioned.

    No regulation might seem just as bad as legalization, but actually, laws against abortion were not made until the late 1800s, early 1900s in Britain and North America countries. Before that, it was the medical profession which regulated themselves, and doctors who performed abortions were often shunned by their colleagues, especially as it violated their Hippocratic Oath. There seems to be something of a similar effect in Canada right now. I know in at least one regional health centre in my province, there was only one doctor who would perform abortions (and not after 20 weeks), and he only did it one afternoon of one day a week in a region of over 20.000; another province has no doctors who are willing to perform abortions, and because there is no federal law on abortion, yet another province actually outlaws abortion. The public healthcare system in Canada allows each province to make its own healthcare decisions.

    I notice increasingly that the right-wing media is using talking points, sounds bytes and partial truths to make their points just as much as the left-wing media. It is always necessary to check the facts. I have taken to reading the actual laws and regulations in order to confirm or refute news reports.

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  5. addedum to welfare — many programs continue even if a person is working especially if its a minimum wage job. Food stamps, medicaid and some housing/utilities programs all continue even after a person is off welfare. Thus the Cato Institute is misleading here

    Roscuro — You’re correct but just some added comment. A province cannot outlaw abortion — that would be a matter for the criminal code which is a federal responsibility. It can refuse to pay for abortions or allow abortions to occur in provincially funded facilities — that is “de-list” those services. Thus, New Brunswick and PEI provide no funding and Nova Scotia only partially funds abortion. In addition, PEI has no abortion facilities and most hospitals will not perform out of province abortions which means PEI women will go to the US for abortions. Not surprisingly Nunavut also has no abortion facilities.

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