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News/Politics 9-12-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open Thread, here’s a few from me.

The State Dept continues to ignore the Benghazi and 9-11 anniversaries.

From TheWeeklyStandard  “At 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 11 was crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City by terrorists.  Eleven years later on September 11, 2012, events unfolded in Benghazi, Libya, that would ultimately leave a U.S. diplomatic facility gutted and four Americans dead.  As of 8:46 AM today, the U.S. State Department had not acknowledged either anniversary.

Up until yesterday, as noted by THE WEEKLY STANDARD, neither the White House or the State Department had mentioned the upcoming anniversary of the Benghazi attack.  Then Tuesday night around 8 p.m., the White House issued a statement by the press secretary noting a preparedness meeting the president held on Tuesday in anticipation of the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.  The notice referenced the Benghazi attack as well:”

“The silence from the State Department, however, continues.  There is nothing on Wednesday’s public schedule of the State Department regarding any observance, memorial, or remembrance of either 9/11 or Benghazi.  There are no mentions of 9/11, Benghazi, or Ambassador Christopher Stevens any time recently on the State Department website, the Facebook page, or the Twitter account.”

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This one is interesting. But I have no idea on the credibility of what these former hostages say. The part about overhearing an English language Skype conversation doesn’t sound right. Why would Syrian rebels be communicating in English? Anyway, it wouldn’t surprise me either way.

From TheBlaze  “Belgian teacher Pierre Piccinin and Italian journalist Domenico Quiric both say they were able to eavesdrop on an English-language Skype session between their abductors in which they allegedly revealed that it was the Syrian rebels who perpetrated the attack so that the West would intervene.”

“In this conversation, they said that the gas attack on two neighborhoods of Damascus was launched by the rebels as a provocation to lead the West to intervene militarily,” Quirico told the Italian daily newspaper La Stampa. “We were unaware of everything that was going on during our detention in Syria, and therefore also with the gas attack in Damascus.”

“Quirico, a journalist, correctly acknowledged that there is no proof that the conversation he overheard was based on irrefutable facts. He was sure to point out that he “cannot say for sure that it is true because I have no means of confirming the truth of what was said.” However, he also revealed that one of the three people he overheard in the alleged conversation identified himself as a Free Syrian Army general, according to the La Stampa report.

Italy’s Quotidiano Nazionale reports Quirico as saying: “I am extremely surprised that the United States could think about intervening, knowing very well how the Syrian revolution has become international jihadism – in other words Al-Qaeda.”

Surprised? You’re not the only one. It makes no sense.

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We discussed this lady and her influence with Kerry, the Obama admin, and McCain a few days ago. Looks like they’ve been taking advice from a fraud.

From BuzzFeed  “A young researcher whose opinions on Syria were cited by both Senator McCain and Secretary of State John Kerry in congressional testimony last week has been fired from the Institute for the Study of War for allegedly faking her academic credentials.

The institute issued a statement on its website concerning the researcher, Elizabeth O’Bagy:

The Institute for the Study of War has learned and confirmed that, contrary to her representations, Ms. Elizabeth O’Bagy does not in fact have a Ph.D. degree from Georgetown University. ISW has accordingly terminated Ms. O’Bagy’s employment, effective immediately.

O’Bagy and her op-ed drew scrutiny last week when the Wall Street Journal failed to disclose O’Bagy’s ties to an advocacy group backing the Syrian opposition and lobbying the U.S. government to intervene in Syria. The Journal was forced to post a clarification that “in addition to her role at the Institute for the Study of War, Ms. O’Bagy is affiliated with the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a nonprofit operating as a 501(c)(3) pending IRS approval that subcontracts with the U.S. and British governments to provide aid to the Syrian opposition.”

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Maybe listening to Syrian rebel advocates like her are why they’re under the mistaken impression that the rebels are mostly moderate. But they’re not.

From NBCNews  “Syrian opposition activists tell NBC News that Bashar Assad is getting away with having used chemical weapons to massacre hundreds of civilians, and that giving the regime a pass will only benefit al-Qaeda extremists.

“If there is no action, everyone will be desperate. We are already desperate. We are dying. Many will join al-Qaeda. Even the educated will join them, because no one else is helping,” a Syrian rebel said.

There is a battle underway within the Syrian revolt — a war within the war — between the generally moderate, US-backed Free Syrian Army and Islamic extremist groups.  

The Free Syrian Army put its faith in Washington, which promised action, but so far hasn’t delivered. The moderates say they have lost hope and face. Islamists, on the other hand, always doubted Washington would act, and instead of attending meetings, they are putting bullets in their guns; and they are sending men.”

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The dueling rallies in Washington happened yesterday. One side clearly had more supporters. 🙂

From TheWashingtonTimes  “Thousands of bikers from around the country roared into the D.C. area on  Wednesday in a show of support for Sept. 11 victims and in solidarity against a  controversial Muslim rally on the Mall.

The 2 Million Bikers to DC ride might have fallen short of 2 million strong,  but the numbers were impressive. A line of shining chrome and steel bikes  stretched about a third of a mile from the starting point at the Harley  Davidson of Washington store just  outside the District in Prince George’s County.”

A couple dozen attended the Million Muslim March.

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Two Colorado officials have been recalled for their role in the states new, more restrictive, gun laws.

From WeaselZippers  “AWESOME: Colorado Voters Recall Dem State Senator Who Led Gun Control Push – Update: Second Democrat Loses Recall Election For Backing Anti-Gun Legislation…

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PPP, or Public Policy Polling has always been a left leaning group. Now they’re being accused of not releasing poll data that didn’t jive with their liberal assumptions about the Colorado recall elections. It showed Democrats losing, and that couldn’t be right. 🙄

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “A spokesman for Public Policy Polling admitted Wednesday to withholding a poll showing Colorado voters were going to recall State Sen. Angela Giron by a 12-point margin.

The reason, according to PPP pollster Tom Jensen, was that “in a district that Barack Obama won by almost 20 points, I figured there was no way that could be right and made a rare decision not to release the poll.”

When the votes were counted in race, the poll turned out to be on target, as Giron lost by 12 points. “We should have had more faith in our numbers,” Jensen said.”

Why? No one else does. 😯

sheldon

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Next up, I say good, serves you right for being a horse’s posterior. But at the same time I’m troubled by the possible violating of his right to free expression, offensive as that expression is.

From TheLATimes  “Florida officials have arrested radical anti-Islam preacher Terry Jones as he was on his way to a Sept. 11 event where he planned to burn 2,998 Korans, according to local news reports Wednesday.

Jones is best known for stoking Muslim anger by publicly desecrating the religion’s holy book, sometimes with international consequences.

This time law enforcement officials intervened before Jones could carry out his plans for a ceremonial Sept. 11 burning.”

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And lastly, this little gem. It’s stuff like this that gives capitalists a bad name.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “On Tuesday, the chief human resources officers of more than 100 large corporations sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi urging quick passage of a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

The officials represent companies with a vast array of business interests: General Electric, The Walt Disney Company, Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, McDonald’s Corporation, The Wendy’s Company, Coca-Cola, The Cheesecake Factory, Johnson & Johnson, Verizon Communications, Hewlett-Packard, General Mills, and many more. All want to see increases in immigration levels for low-skill as well as high-skill workers, in addition to a path to citizenship for the millions of immigrants currently in the U.S. illegally.”

“Of course, the U.S. unemployment rate is at 7.3 percent, with millions of American workers at all skill levels out of work, and millions more so discouraged that they have left the work force altogether. In addition, at the same time the corporate officers seek higher numbers of immigrants, both low-skill and high-skill, many of their companies are laying off thousands of workers.

For example, Hewlett-Packard, whose Executive Vice President for Human Resources Tracy Keogh signed the letter, laid off 29,000 employees in 2012. In August of this year, Cisco Systems, whose Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Kathleen Weslock signed the letter, announced plans to lay off 4,000 — in addition to 8,000 cut in the last two years. United Technologies, whose Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Organization Elizabeth B. Amato signed the letter, announced layoffs of 3,000 this year. American Express, whose Chief Human Resources Officer L. Kevin Cox signed the letter, cut 5,400 jobs this year. Procter & Gamble, whose Chief Human Resources Officer Mark F. Biegger signed the letter, announced plans to cut 5,700 jobs in 2012.”

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OK, yeah, that was more than a few. 🙂

19 thoughts on “News/Politics 9-12-13”

  2. An unusually cold Arctic summer has resulted in almost a million more square miles of ocean covered with ice compared to the same time last year, bucking predictions that global warming would result in the disappearance of the ice cap by 2013.

    According to the MailOnline, Arctic sea ice averaged 2.35 million square miles in August 2013 compared to the low point of 1.32 million square miles recorded in September 2012.

    “We are already in a cooling trend, which I think will continue for the next 15 years at least. There is no doubt the warming of the 1980s and 1990s has stopped,” Anastasios Tsonis of the University of Wisconsin told the Mail.

    A 2007 BBC report predicted the Arctic would be ice free in 2013, the Mail reported.

    From:

    Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/SciTech/arctic-sea-ice-cooling/2013/09/10/id/524888?ns_mail_uid=42135&ns_mail_job=1537188_09112013&promo_code=14D72-1#ixzz2egYYE2wC
    Urgent: Should Obamacare Be Repealed? Vote Here Now!

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  4. As many of you know, I am not Catholic, but when I hear about things like this, then RINO’s like McCain get up on floor of the US Senate and then encourage that we Bomb Syria and promote and Arm the Syrian Rebels, who are linked to Al Qaeda, I can only surmise that McCain and his ID10T’S are in really in league with the Washington establishment seeking to have us all beheaded or worse.

    http://youtu.be/eF_ghQ_vToQ

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  10. Its entirely with the realm of possibility that one group (probably one with foreign fighters supported by the Saudis) attacked an other rebel group’s with sarin to draw the attention of the US, the story by a Belgian teacher/Italian journalist stretches credibility. The objective credibitlity of the The Blaze sufferes when it refers to the RT news service as Russian affliliated — The RT stands for Russia Today and its fully funded by the Russian gov’t in the same way as Voice of America. Its the English language mouth piece of the Russian state and although they have some freedom, they do adhere to Russian domestic and foreign policy …. you’ll never hear a word of criticism directed towards Putin. Similarly drivesguy’s video although real and probably accurate is biased in that it was aired with the intention of promoting Russian foreign policy.

    Not surprised left wing groups ignored polling that didn’t match their version of reality. All political type groups do this — most right wing groups refused to acknowledge Nate Silver’s presidential predictions.

    Terry Jones was arrested for unlawful conveyance of fuel (which is a felony — bizararely enough) and an open carry permit violation (which is a misdemenour) so technically the Florida authorities did not violate his freedom of speech. Well played.

    Giving capitalist a bad name isnt’ very hard. Congress should pass immigration reforms on the condition that the minimum wage is raised to $11 an hour and will be adjusted for inflation every year. I wonder if McDonald’s will still support immigration reform. Other portions of the labour law (shift work, length of shift, payment, etc) should also be reformed as part of the package,

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  13. Its not necessary — I don’t remember the exact numbers but if minimum wage from the early 60s kept pace with inflation it would be around $13 today. This level provides a base rate for negotiating higher. There’s enough dead capital stuffed in corporations today (not too mention excessive CEO wages) for the working class to pry some out without effecting consumer prices.

    When Ontario raised min wage from 8 to 10, critics predicted unemployment and/or inflation but neither occurred. The reason we don’t all in and set it at 100 is at that level it would produce inflation but there’s plenty of room for a higher wage.

    And its necessary for a good economy, when the working class has enough money, spending spurs needed production and trade ie greases the wheel of commerce and its also better for society. Countries with high min wag and low income inequality score better on various health and wellness indices.

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  14. HRW,

    Then what do you make of the leftist mayor of DC vetoing a law that would have raised it there? He went against liberals, Dems, and unions to do so. Did he have a moment of clarity and realize what that would do to DC business interests?

    http://hotair.com/archives/2013/09/12/dc-mayor-vetoes-living-wage-bill/

    “Washington DC Mayor Vincent Gray faced a tough choice. Should he sign a living-wage bill that would make him the darling of progressives and unions in the nation’s capital, or should he veto it and cling to the opportunities for job creation in DC? The answer may well surprise readers:

    District Mayor Vincent C. Gray vetoed legislation Thursday that would force the city’s largest retailers to pay a super-minimum wage to their workers, ending two months of uncertainty over the controversial bill’s fate and setting up a decisive override vote at the D.C. Council as early as Tuesday.

    The debate over the bill, the Large Retailer Accountability Act, has polarized local leaders while garnering national attention and putting focus on the low wages many retail chains pay their workers.”

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  15. When the minimum wage is raised, the low-skilled lose their jobs. If I am a businessman and a group of employees can only produce $8.00 an hour of value, I will fire them (or never hire them) before I pay them $10.00 an hour.

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  16. With youth unemployment at very high levels, we probably need to lower the minimum wage. This won’t happen for political reasons. It probably doesn’t matter. The spread of perversion and the low birthrate it produces will likely destroy us before our economy completely collapses.

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  18. HRW

    I am now on a fixed income. If wages (and therefore prices) go up I can buy less. I have no way to get more income, it is fixed.

    Does this mean that my property taxes will go up too?

    How about all that hard earned money we saved in those Teacher’s Annuities? Will the money buy more or less?

    Why would I want the minimum wage raised? How will it do me any good?

    You’re a teacher like I was. Think of your future!

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