Thomas Sowell on Hit Piece Journalism

Townhall  "Front-page editorials, disguised as news stories, have become such familiar features of the New York Times that it should have been no surprise to discover in the December 28th issue a front-page story about a professor of finance at the University of Houston who has been a paid consultant to financial enterprises.

"Since professors of all sorts have been paid consultants to organizations of all sorts, it is questionable why this was a story at all, much less one that covered an entire inside page, in addition to a central front-page opening, under the headline "Academics Who Defend Wall St. Reap Reward.' "

Speaking of hit pieces:
Controversial black sports columnist Jason Whitlock compared black conservative scholar Thomas Sowell to a house slave in a series of tweets on Wednesday.
This is how the left treats those who dare to have the courage to speak openly about race and liberal policies toward blacks.

Obama gave away all our troops fought and died for

Battle of Fallujah Redux: Al-Qaeda rises in Anbar province
"The president's failure to sign a new status of forces agreement with the Maliki government led to our early withdrawal from Iraq. Many analysts believe Obama gave up on the negotiations too early - as he appears to be doing in Afghanistan with his inability to come to an agreement with President Karzai on future American troop deployments there."

Obama’s Afghanistan Mess    "It’s safe to say that “freeing imprisoned Taliban and al-Qaeda jihadists who targeted and killed American troops” wasn’t on any military family’s New Year’s wish list.
"As for the commander-in-chief? It’s back to the golf course. Fore!"

From DEBKAfile: " Ironically, the tribal militias backing al Qaeda are the same “Awakening” groups which the US army sustained and armed for the battle to root out Al Qaeda from western Iraq during the 2005-2007 landmark “surge” campaign devised by Gen. David Petraeus.
"That surge wheel has clearly turned round in favor of al Qaeda." ...
Obama has been al Qaeda's main ally in their return:
"1.  There is no military force in the region capable of going into Iraq and stopping al Qaeda’s advance, which was allowed to happen in consequence of the US army’s precipitate exit from the country three years ago."

Blackfive: Al Qaeda seizes partial control of 2 cities in western Iraq  "The ISIS began retaking control of areas in Iraq after the US withdrew military, intelligence, and logistical support from the Iraqi military and intelligence services and abandoned its support of the Awakening in December 2011. The Syrian civil war and a political standoff between Prime Minister Maliki and Sunnis in Anbar have also fueled the resurgence of al Qaeda in Iraq." 

 

Is our healthcare going to work well, or are we condemned to a lifetime of this?

I still think of Michael J. Fox on a daytime talk show discussing treatment for Parkinson's; he said nobody can do it as well as the US government. We'll see.

Doctor’s Office Spends 2 Hours On Hold With Health Insurer For Patient’s Surgery Authorization

 

Certified Enrollment Specialist, Marlene Nesmith, waits on the HealthCare. gov website that reads, “HealthCare.gov has a lot of visitors right now!” as she waits for it to allow her entry into the Affordable Care Act website at a Miami Enrollment Assistance Center on Dec. 20, 2013 in Miami, Fla.

 

"The new year brought relief to some Illinois patients newly insured under the nation’s health care law. Others still weren’t sure whether they were covered, despite their best efforts to navigate the often-balky new system.

"The major benefits of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul took effect Wednesday, the first day of 2014." ...

 

This next is from the UK Daily Mail, where people have known screwed-up nationalized healthcare for decades. Even they think our health Obamacare is bad.
Obamacare confusion reigns as frustrated patients walk out of hospitals without treatment  "Patients in a close-in DC suburb who think they've signed up for new insurance plans are struggling to show their December enrollments are in force, and health care administrators aren't taking their word for it.
In place of quick service and painless billing, these Virginians are now facing the threat of sticker-shock that comes with bills they can't afford.
" 'They had no idea if my insurance was active or not!' a coughing Maria Galvez told MailOnline outside the Inova Healthplex facility in the town of Springfield.

She was leaving the building without getting a needed chest x-ray.

" 'The people in there told me that since I didn't have an insurance card, I would be billed for the whole cost of the x-ray,' Galvez said, her young daughter in tow."

Gallup: U.S. Uninsured Still Rate Exchange Experience Negatively
"Uninsured Americans who have visited a health insurance exchange website mostly say their experience was negative rather than positive, by 59% to 39%. That reading, from Gallup Daily tracking throughout December, is only a slight improvement from Gallup's combined October and November polling, when 63% reported a negative experience and 33% a positive one."

That health care law, by the numbers  "The government churns out tons of numbers, but here's one you won't see: 0.0002. That's the percentage of estimated online visitors to healthcare.gov who actually signed up for coverage the first day. Altogether, that's six people out of just over 3 million. Not all the figures associated with the rollout of President Barack Obama's health care law are so ridiculously dreary. Three million tells a happier tale, too..."

Galen Institute: Obamacare's utter chaos 

 

"Grace-Marie Turner and Avik Roy join Larry Kudlow to discuss the recent decision by the Obama administration to exempt millions of previously insured Americans from the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate." ...