Coordinated Terrorist Attacks on Global Energy Infrastructure: Modeling the Risks

Insider Online  The abstract states in part: "Careful implementation of select policies could limit the economic damage, but implementation of misguided policies could easily make such a crisis even worse. The United States and its allies would need to exercise decisive and effective leadership to deal with the crisis, but this requires the U.S. to develop an assertive international energy policy, preferably before such a crisis."
 Published on March 17, 2011 by Ariel Cohen, Ph.D. , David Kreutzer, Ph.D. , William Beach , James Carafano, Ph.D. and John Ligon
Good luck with all that.

Cut the fat! No! Wait!

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/danasummers

Media Matters Plans "Guerrilla Warfare and Sabotage” on Fox News And Conservative Websites

Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion  "The attacks will be very personal, extending not just to Fox News coverage (which is fair game for criticism) but trying to dig up dirt on Fox News executives:"

Media Matters, he said, is also conducting “opposition research” on a dozen or so “mid- and senior-level execs and producers,” a campaign style move that he and Brock said would simply involve recording their public appearances and digging into public records associated with them.

"But it doesn't stop at Fox News. Media Matters also plans to attack conservative websites:"

I fear for all those conservatives who stand against Obama and the Democrats. They already have a site dedicated to destroying Darrel Issa and the political atmosphere is becoming toxic for all conservatives by design of the left.  A deep darkness appears to have descended on political discourse in this nation. Tunnel Dweller.

Media Matters  See for yourself what they are doing.

From Politico : Media Matters' war against Fox  "The group, launched as a more traditional media critic, has all but abandoned its monitoring of newspapers and other television networks and is narrowing its focus to Fox and a handful of conservative websites, which its leaders view as political organizations and the “nerve center” of the conservative movement."

President Obama’s weak message to Latin America

Washington Post editorial!  "Most curious was Mr. Obama’s decision to simply ignore the fact that in large parts of Latin America, the “shared values” that he said bind the hemisphere are being trampled. In a speech directed to the region that he delivered in Santiago, the president declared that “today, Latin America is democratic” — even though rulers in a number of countries are shutting down media, eliminating judicial independence and rigging elections. He said “Latin America is contributing to global prosperity and security,” even though many of those same rulers are forging ties with Iran and have been defending the regime of Libya’s Moammar Gaddafi."

Dem Senator Lautenberg: Republicans Don’t Deserve Freedom’s of Constitution

LifeNews

Democrat dept. of Civility "“Planned Parenthood is under attack by Tea Party Republicans who have put their extremist ideology above women’s health,” Lautenberg said while pro-life advocates who counterprotested shouted, “Shame on you, Lautenberg.”

"The pro-abortion New Jersey senator fired back: “These people (referring to the pro-life advocates) don’t deserve the freedoms in the Constitution.”

"Then, as an afterthought, he said, “but we’ll give it to them anyway.”

"The comment is coming under heavy criticism from Marie Tasy, the director of New Jersey Right to Life."

Foreign Policy as Wishful Thinking

Bruce S. Thornton  "The current military intervention in Libya by the West has been marketed with the claim that its purpose, as French President Sarkozy put it, is “to protect the civilian population from the murderous madness of a regime that has forfeited all claim to legitimacy.” Behind this humanitarian idealism, however, lurk a host of questions and dangers, reflecting wishful thinking rather than a prudent foreign policy."

In six weeks, Obama fails miserably at what Bush père did so very well in one  "And in a straight-forward but powerful speech to America and the world on the evening of August 8, he laid out exactly what he had done, was doing, and promised to do about Saddam's invasion of Kuwait.

"It was an expanded version of the same message he'd had since his very first public statements on the crisis: "This will not stand." No bluster, nothing grand, and certainly no diplomatic double-speak, but just the kind of grim and absolutely credible determination the American men of his generation were known for."

Libyan rebel commander fought against US in Afghanistan, or did he?

Rick Moran  "Shortly after unrest broke out in eastern Libya in mid-February, reports emerged that an "Islamic Emirate" had been declared in the eastern Libyan town of Darnah and that, furthermore, the alleged head of that Emirate, Abdul-Hakim al-Hasadi, was a former detainee at the American prison camp in Guantánamo. The reports, which originated from Libyan government sources, were largely ignored or dismissed in the Western media.

"Now, however, al-Hasadi has admitted in an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore that he fought against American forces in Afghanistan."

Former Guantanamo Detainee Denies Islamic Emirate Has Been Set Up in Eastern Libya [UPDATE:1]  "Libya’s deputy foreign minister, Khaled Khaim, has reportedly told European Union ambassadors in Tripoli that al-Qaeda has set up an Islamic emirate in Derna in Eastern Libya. He allegedly said a former Guantanamo Bay detainee is heading the emirate. Residents in Derna deny this has happened."

Libyan opposition leader wasn't held at Guantanamo  "In his interviews with Western publications, Al Hasadi has denied that he was held at Gitmo. And while that is not necessarily dispositive in and of itself, there is no record of his detention at Gitmo in any of the declassified files that have been produced and released from the military detention facility.
"This doesn't mean that al Hasadi, who says he is in charge of defending Derna, a known hotbed for Islamic extremism in eastern Libya, is necessarily a benign actor, however." From The Long War Journal

Environmentalists, farmers clash over water quality rules

CaliforniaWatch  via California Chronicle "Regulators estimate that out of 7 million irrigated acres of land in the Central Valley, between 2.5 million and 3 million acres would fall under the “highest threat” category. Areas where very little is known about groundwater quality are also considered a high threat. Some types of farms, like organic farms, would receive almost no regulation."
If California was a convict, he would be placed on suicide watch.

The Abbott and Costello Libya Strategy

http://www.calchronicle.com/

Donald Trump and the Birth Certificate

American Thinker  "But run for the highest office in the land and it's bad form to enquire if the candidate can pass one of the two very low bars to the presidency. Age and natural-born citizenship are low bars. I happen to think that a presidential candidate should pass a background check for a security clearance, because it's s an open question whether Bill Clinton or Barack Hussein Obama would pass such a check, but the Constitution does not require that. Just age and birth. Easily determined."

Imagine for a moment: say it is proven that Mr. Obama is NOT a citizen of this country as required by the Constitution. He is required to step down, Obama supporters take to the streets and something like this happens all across the US.

Obamacare One Year Later: Why America Needs Full Repeal Now

Heritage  "Raising Costs, Fewer Options:
Higher Premiums: Requiring insurance plans to have certain benefits inevitably raises the cost of providing insurance, which is passed onto policyholders. Regence Blue Cross/Blue Shield in Oregon cited Obamacare for 3.4% of its 17.1% rate increase, while Celtic Insurance Company of Wisconsin and North Carolina said half of its 18% rate jump was because of Obamacare mandates.

Dropped Child-Only Plans: Obamacare’s requirement that insurers who sell child-only plans offer coverage without considering pre-existing conditions had unintended consequences. Insurers in at least 34 states have dropped child-only insurance plans, and 20 states no longer have child-only plans sold in their insurance marketplaces.

Will I Get to Keep My Plan? Despite assurances that health insurance plans wouldn’t change, there have been several reports of confusion and inconsistent rulings regarding the “grandfathering” status for current Then this article goes on...health plans. The federal government has enormous power to arbitrarily select policies it deems in violation of the law. So far, the Administration has estimated that anywhere from half to 80% of small-employer plans, up to 67% of large-employer plans, and up to 67% of individual plans won’t be grandfathered in by the end of 2013."   

Obama and Libya

Michael Barone: The Damning Contradictions of Obama's Attack on Libya  "Instead, members of Congress, like the general public, heard the president make the announcement in Rio de Janeiro. That's quite a contrast with George W. Bush, who sought and obtained congressional approval of military action in Afghanistan in September 2001 and Iraq in October 2002.
"Since then, many Democrats have denounced Bush's "rush to war" in Iraq. But military action there began a full five months after Congress approved. Obama didn't wait five days after the Security Council resolution."

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/lisabenson/2011/03/17/84271

 
Who's in charge? Germans pull forces out of NATO as Libyan coalition falls apart  "Yesterday a war of words erupted between the U.S. and Britain after the U.K. government claimed Muammar Gaddafi is a legitimate target for assassination.
"U.K. government officials said killing the Libyan leader would be legal if it prevented civilian deaths as laid out in a U.N. resolution.
"But U.S. defence secretary Robert Gates hit back at the suggestion, saying it would be 'unwise' to target the Libyan leader adding cryptically that the bombing campaign should stick to the 'U.N. mandate'.

From Blackfive:  A new use of military force doctrine  "Our leading from the rear President may have stumbled upon a decent compromise while attempting to Eurocratize the mission in Libya. Barry says no ground forces, period."

Row over role of Nato splits coalition forces

Navy chief: We don’t know what happens next in Libya war

 Libya, the West and the Narrative of Democracy from STRATFOR : "In this case, the United States, France and Britain are intervening in favor of a poorly defined group of mutually hostile and suspicious tribes and factions that have failed to coalesce, at least so far, into a meaningful military force. The intervention may well succeed. The question is whether the outcome will create a morally superior nation. It is said that there can’t be anything worse than Gadhafi. But Gadhafi did not rule for 42 years because he was simply a dictator using force against innocents, but rather because he speaks to a real and powerful dimension of Libya."

Somehow all this brings this from May, 2009 to mind: Letterman writer: Obama 'too competent' to make jokes about   Then Letterman writer, Bill Scheft: "It's not because he's black and it's not because we're afraid. It's just that he's, just so far, just a little too damn competent and we ain't used to that. [multiple panelists say "yeah."] .