Thanks to friends and fellow conservative bloggers for their help

It is past time to give some recognition to two fellow bloggers for helping me learn the ropes at blogging. All the features that make the blog as attractive as it is comes from the counsel given by me Ron Barbour at The Freedom Fighter's Journal . Ronbo taught me how to insert videos along with other technical tricks that make the blog more pleasing to the eye.

Ron has been a fountain of support for the Tunnel Wall and I am grateful for his friendship.
Here is a recent post by Ronbo about Judge Robert Bork that I regret was not seen by Ted Kennedy.

Another mentor is Alan Caruba, a prolific writer at Warning Signs . Alan has advised  me at times on the business side of blogging and the hazards of wrong decisions, keeping me out of much trouble, I'm sure.
(Forgive the cut off photo as it was the only jpg I could work with and that is how it was originally. Alan deserved much better than this, I know.)
Here is Mr. Caruba's most recent work at Warning Signs. I trust you will all find it as readable as I have. Especially cogent are Mr. Caruba's essays on the global warming hoax, such as Shouting from the Rooftops , which should be assigned reading for students.

Thank you both, gentlemen. The Tunnel Dweller.

The Gloater-in-Chief

American Thinker  "Yesterday I watched the President of the United States once again disgrace his office with a partisan speech disguised as a news conference, attacking the Republican Party even as his minions are negotiating with it."
....

"If you don't believe me, force yourself to sit to actually read what your fellow legislators say about you. Force yourself to sit through an evening of MSNBC. They despise you. Even worse, they have no respect for you. The President treats you like pond scum. Force him to wipe that sneer off his face. It is time you start respecting yourself."

Big Government; King Obama the Irrelevant   "The "fiscal cliff" fiasco has made it clear that President Barack Obama is entirely irrelevant to the everyday task of governing. He is not interested in it, and he is not good at it. He is great at campaigning and terrible at leading. He is essentially a symbol, a political celebrity who could be re-elected forever because people seem to like what they think he stands for, and what he tells them he stands against. But he does nothing positive for the country."

White House Brags Obama Forced Republicans To Break Their No Tax Pledge…

"WH tells colleague Ed Henry Obama broke R's tax pledge. Calls it "1 of the most consequential policy achievements of the last couple decades." With his trophy audience behind him.

More on this:
Obama’s Gloating and Attacks Leaves GOP Angry and Confused   "He’s a uniter. Obama’s ripped Republicans during his “fiscal cliff” speech today for not agreeing to raise taxes. He praised himself for his “responsible” approach. At one point in his speech he bragged about how he got Republicans to agree to raise taxes on wealthy Americans."

Beware Obamacare’s Looming Conscience Cliff

Be sure to shop at Hobby Lobby

Heritage  "The fiscal cliff isn’t the only abyss that the Obama Administration and Congress have created for individuals and employers. The Obamacare mandate that forces employers to provide and pay for coverage of abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization has created a cavernous void for religious liberty that will threaten the existence of many businesses in the new year.
"On January 1, religious business owners whose employee health plans renew at the beginning of the year will face the impossible decision to either violate their deeply held beliefs by complying with the mandate or jump over Obamacare’s conscience cliff and face ruinous fines.
"Among those employers peering over the Obamacare ledge is Hobby Lobby. "

Tax Hikes to Start the New Year

Heritage  "While you were sleeping—or ringing in 2013—the Senate voted to raise taxes.
"After missing the midnight deadline, Congress and the President have technically sent the nation over the fiscal cliff, meaning higher tax rates are already in effect for all income tax brackets. But the Senate’s deal, brokered by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) and Vice President Joe Biden, would target the tax increases on those making more than $250,000.

"The Senate voted 89-8 to limit deductions for taxpayers making more than $250,000, which would raise their taxes, and to hike tax rates for those making more than $400,000."

Who were those eight Senators and why did they vote against the deal?

Strange bedfellows: Tom Harkin, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio all voting the same? Hmmmm
Rubio Slams Deal: ‘I Just Couldn’t Vote for It’

Here is the roll call of voting Who said what? By the way, this was the name of the measure:

Measure Number: H.R. 8 (Job Protection and Recession Prevention Act of 2012 )

Measure Title: An act entitled the "American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012".
From Politico;The eight senators who voted 'no'

We Have Officially Gone Over the Sanity Cliff

"Maybe the Mayans were right and we’re all too apathetic to notice that the world really has come to an end.

"We are no longer facing the fiscal cliff…We’ve officially gone over it, for now. Today, maybe tomorrow or perhaps later in the week, the House will attempt something only seen previously in cartoons…Hanging in mid-air, turning around and trying to run back to safety before gravity sets in."  Craig Andresen

I never expected to read this dept: Did Obama Cave to Republicans Again?

"I think the president made a huge mistake by negotiating over what he'd previously said was non-negotiable (namely, the expiration of the Bush tax cuts on income over $250,000). Then the White House compounded that mistake by sending Biden to 'close' the deal when Harry Reid appeared to give up on it. As a practical matter, this signaled to Republicans that the White House wouldn't walk away from the bargaining table, allowing the GOP to keep extracting concessions into the absolute final hours before the deadline."

But on the other hand: Obama's idea of 'compromise'  "What was McConnell thinking?

"The fiscal cliff deal passed by the Senate contains $1 in spending cuts for every $41 in tax hikes."

Al Qaeda Offers Bounties for Deaths of US Ambassador and US Soldiers

Fox News  "Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen is offering a bounty of gold worth $160,000 to anyone who kills Gerald M. Feierstein, the U.S. ambassador to Yemen.
"According to the Associated Press, the group announced that it will pay tens of thousands of dollars to anyone who kills the U.S. ambassador in Sanaa or an American soldier in the country.
...".The bounties were set to "inspire and encourage our Muslim nation for jihad," the Al Qaeda statement said, according to the AP."