Hobby Lobby so far

Did Hobby Lobby do well at Supreme Court oral argument?   "The Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in the Hobby Lobby HHS mandate case.
"After oral arguments had concluded, a member of Hobby Lobby’s counsel told the Daily Caller, “the general tenor of the questions [from the justices] were in our favor.' ”  However....

"As the Daily Caller notes,  it’s not easy — or necessarily wise — to predict how the Justices will rule based on their line of questioning during oral argument.
"Recall CNN legal analyst Jeffery Toobin’s musings following the Obamacare oral argument phase.

“This was a train wreck for the Obama administration. This law looks like it’s going to be struck down,” Toobin said on CNN. “All of the predictions including mine that the justices would not have a problem with this law were wrong.”

"Take every prediction with a grain of salt, especially those made in response to oral arguments.
"The Supreme Court is slated to rule on the case before the term concludes this June."

Sen. Ted Cruz rallies religious freedom activists at the Supreme Court in support of Hobby Lobby ..."Cruz pointed out that the Obama administration had given Obamacare exemptions to powerful special interests, but refused to exempt people of faith from the contraception mandate."

Hobby Lobby, freedom, and compulsion

 

"As the so-called “Hobby Lobby case” (which also includes another defendant, a company called Conestoga Wood Specialties Corporation) reaches the Supreme Court, several excellent summaries of the underlying issues have been created.  The Heritage Foundation produced a short video, which begins with the interesting approach of pointing out that the families who own these companies are the true defendants in this case, not faceless corporate interests:

 

 

Sen. Patty Murray: 'Stunning to Me' That 9 Justices Will Decide Hobby Lobby Case -   ... "Murray said the "compelling" question for her is, "Should a private CEO of a corporation or their shareholders' religious rights trump the right of employees?' "

Petition: 'Mr. President: Weakness Is Dangerous'

Weekly Standard  ... " 'Bottom line: America's enemies don't fear us, our allies don't trust us, and the world is more dangerous. For decades, a national
security policy of 'Peace through Strength' underwrote U.S. security at home and our interests abroad—but not any more. Mr. President, in just five short years, you have managed to gut our military, dismiss clear and present threats, and leave America's image and stature in tatters. We can't stand for this."

Watch this Vets For Freedom video:

 

Vets for Freedom Petition: Mr. President: Weakness is Dangerous
Mr. President,
For veterans of the Iraq War, watching the black flag of Al Qaeda fly over Fallujah—as the adjacent video outlines—is the ultimate symbol of weak and feckless national security policy. Dismissing this American battlefield is an insult to the sacrifice and honor of our warriors and their families. Unfortunately, it's just another recent example of your administration's dangerous approach to national security; let us briefly recount other ways.
Afghanistan War veterans bemoan a failed 'surge then withdraw' strategy—costing lives and losing ground. In Syria, we set rhetorical red-lines that a Iranian-backed dictator ignored—and then did nothing. Speaking of Iran, their nuclear ambitions continue unabated—with Israel left standing alone. In Libya we 'led from behind'—with spiraling violence and a dead US ambassador in Benghazi to show for it. China’s increases their defense budget substantially—while we gut ours precipitously. And most recently, an empowered Russia had their way with a sovereign nation—while we did nothing. Other fault lines—in Pakistan, North Korea, Turkey and Egypt—haven't escaped our gaze either.
Bottom line: America's enemies don't fear us, our allies don't trust us, and the world is more dangerous. For decades, a national security policy of 'Peace through Strength' underwrote U.S. security at home and our interests abroad—but not any more. Mr. President, in just five short years, you have managed to gut our military, dismiss clear and present threats, and leave America's image and stature in tatters. We can't stand for this.
Join Vets for Freedom—veterans, military families, and patriotic Americans of all generations—by signing our White House petition and sending a clear message to the President: American Weakness is Dangerous.

Obama Didn't Ask Carter For Advice Because Jimmy Was a Foreign Policy FAILURE

Yid With Lid 

 

"Former President Jimmy Carter keeps showing up in the news pimping his new book. To balance the "love" the mainstream media is showering the peanut POTUS with, I feel compelled to remind people what a failure he really was.  For those of you who may not remember,  along introducing America to malaise, and stagflation, Jimmy Carter can be counted amongst the worst foreign policy presidents of all time.

"During Meet The Press last week, Carter complained that President Obama doesn't ask him for advice. It was the Carter administration that helped create the oppressive rule of Mugabe in Zimbabwe, the Taliban in Pakistan, and the repressive Islamist government of Iran.

"Perhaps that's why Obama never called him for advice." ...More...

Hat tip to Jeffrey Dunetz

MSM Reporter To Obama – Didn’t Romney Have a Point About Russia?

American Glob  "Kudos to Jonathan Karl of ABC News for finally coming around to reality.

"Although Mitt Romney still patiently waits for his apology, it’s refreshing to see a member of the MSM throw a hardball at The Won.

"As Allahpundit notes, rather than giving a direct answer, Obama sank into his typical habit of creating a straw man out of thin air.

"He also called Russia a “regional power.' ”
 

Superpower Once Lived Here

 

The Foreign Policy Initiative   "Putin understands Obama’s message. He knows he’s won Crimea. The question is whether he’ll win Ukraine.

"He thinks he will. He’s dealing with the Obama administration, after all. He looks at the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, he witnesses the failure to enforce the red line in Syria and the subsequent successes of his friend Assad, he chortles at the relaxation of the sanctions on Iran and the desperate desire to cut a nuclear deal, and he sees Obama’s defense cuts. And he reads the New York Times, where David Sanger reports, “Mr. Obama acknowledges, at least in private, that he is managing an era of American retrenchment.”

"So Putin sees retrenchment. Putin sees retreat. And Putin sees that Obama is unlikely to reverse course."

DEBKAfile  World leaders play nuclear terror game. Obama more worried about nuke in Manhattan than Russia;  "The game was designed by American nuclear experts as a scare tactic “to make them think seriously about the security of their nuclear materials.”

Obama used the occasion to say he is far more worried about the possibility of a nuclear weapon exploding in New York City than he is about Russia. The German chancellor grumbled that the world’s leaders had more urgent business to attend to than playing games."

The Filming Locations of Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks

Beyond the Marqee   "Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks landed at theaters in wide release on December 20^th and if you haven’t yet seen this remarkable film, definitely make your way to the theater soon. The movie details the real-life story of how Walt Disney courted author P.L. Travers to allow him to option the rights to her book, Mary Poppins, for a silver screen adaptation.

"One of the remarkable aspects of the film is that the filmmakers were able to utilize many filming locations where the actual events of the story took place – namely The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California in addition to several other locations throughout Southern California. What follows is a comprehensive look at the locations the filmmakers used to bring Saving Mr. Banks to life.

"If you haven’t yet seen the film and still plan to, we suggest you bookmark this page and visit it later as some plot points may be uncovered here." ...
 

Hat tip to Jeff Hayden; Plano, TX

SEIU Uses Federal Inspections to Target Houston Small Business

Jillian Kay Melchior  "Union organizers are showing up at Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspections of an open-shop business that has been targeted by the country’s second-largest union.

"Professional Janitorial Service (PJS), the largest non-union janitorial company in Houston, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) haven’t gotten along for seven years. The company is currently suing SEIU for $9 million, alleging that the union has repeatedly slandered it.

"On three recent occasions, SEIU representatives accompanied federal safety inspectors to examine PJS cleaning sites, says Evelyn Meza, the human-resources manager for PJS. The inspections resulted in fines.

"Such an organized-labor presence on OSHA inspections at non-union businesses is becoming more commonplace, owing to a rule clarification quietly drafted in February 2013. Responding to a union inquiry, OSHA decided that third-party agents who are not affiliated with the employees or the federal government are now allowed to tag along on safety inspections. A SEIU spokesman would neither confirm nor deny the presence of union representatives on inspections and did not respond to a request for comment.

This is just one more reason Why liberals can't govern

Loud + Weak = War

"China and Russia are no more impressed with empty bluster today than Japan was in 1941."

legalinsurrection.com/

Victor Davis Hanson   "The Roosevelt administration once talked loudly of pivoting to Asia to thwart a rising Japan. As a token of its seriousness, in May 1940 it moved the home port of the Seventh Fleet from San Diego to Pearl Harbor — but without beefing up the fleet’s strength.

"Britain at the same time promoted a loud Singapore Strategy, trumpeting its Malaysian base as the “Gibraltar of the Pacific.” But London did not send out up-to-date planes, carriers, or gunnery to the Pacific.

"Japan was not impressed. It surprise-attacked the base right after Pearl Harbor. The British surrendered Singapore in February 1942, in the most ignominious defeat in British military history."
 ....
"The Japanese, Taiwanese, South Koreans, Filipinos, and Australians are more likely to assume their democracies are safe when they see a U.S. carrier that means business than when they hear the president or his secretary of state lecture an aggressor about its unacceptable 19th-century behavior, the Third World about its homophobia, or the world about the dangers of climate change."
....
"Being weak is sometimes dangerous. Being loud, self-righteous, and weak is always very dangerous indeed."

Democrat pollster warns Senate Dems on ObamaCare: Don’t defend it

Hot Air 
“In terms of Obamacare, don’t defend it, say it was flawed from the beginning, and we’re going to fix it,” said Lake at a poll briefing hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
But, she added, it is key for Democrats to also stick to their historic approach of looking out for the little guy when it comes to health care. “Say,” she added, “we’re not going to go back to the days of leaving you on your own with the insurance companies.”
Lake said the approach has several positives for Democrats. Namely, she said polling shows that most voters “want to fix it rather than start all over again.” She said women are especially “exhausted” by the drawn out fights over Obamacare.

“In terms of Obamacare, don’t defend it, say it was flawed from the beginning, and we’re going to fix it,” said Lake at a poll briefing hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

"But, she added, it is key for Democrats to also stick to their historic approach of looking out for the little guy when it comes to health care. “Say,” she added, “we’re not going to go back to the days of leaving you on your own with the insurance companies.”

"Lake said the approach has several positives for Democrats. Namely, she said polling shows that most voters “want to fix it rather than start all over again.” She said women are especially “exhausted” by the drawn out fights over Obamacare." ...

How's this for a strategy?
Democrats Have Made Attacking The Koch Brothers Part Of Their 2016 Election Strategy Despite Majority Of Americans Not Knowing Who They Are

Putin borrows famed line from Obama

World Net Daily    

John Darkow illustrates Russian leader making promise to Ukraine, Georgia, Baltic nations
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/putin-borrows-famed-line-from-obama/#i6ZVuGHEJZczdqPa.99

John Darkow illustrates Russian leader making promise to Ukraine, Georgia, Baltic nations
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/putin-borrows-famed-line-from-obama/#i6ZVuGHEJZczdqPa.99

John Darkow illustrates Russian leader making promise to Ukraine, Georgia, Baltic nations
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/putin-borrows-famed-line-from-obama/#i6ZVuGHEJZczdqPa.99

This Is What It's Like To BASE Jump Off The World Trade Center

Digg  "Last September three daredevils (or crazy people, depending who you ask) jumped off 1 World Trade Center, 1,368 feet up in the air. All three turned themselves into authorities Monday, and this incredible footage of the long leap, shot from a helmet cam, was released for the first time. For those of you with a fear of heights, you might want to skip this one."

Via New York Daily News

 

How to thwart a gunman at 29,000 feet, by the only pilot who ever did

"With world attention focused on MH370, Uri Bar-Lev recalls how he saved his El Al passengers from an attempted skyjacking, and says other pilots should have been trained to do the same — on 9/11 and in countless other cases"
Times of Israel   ... "On September 6, 1970, Bar-Lev, who had flown as a 16-year-old in the 1948 War of Independence and later during the 1956 War, was picked up from his Amsterdam hotel and brought to Schiphol airport to fly the second leg of El Al Flight 219 from Tel Aviv to New York. Before take-off, El Al’s security officer on duty at the airport told the pilot that there were four suspicious people seeking to board the flight. Two held Senegalese passports with consecutive numbers; two others, a couple, carried less suspicious looking Honduran passports, but all had ordered their tickets at the last minute." ...

....

"Seconds later a flight attendant’s voice came through the intercom: two people, armed with a gun and two grenades, wanted to enter the cockpit. If he didn’t open the door, they would blow up the plane."