NY Times Op-ed: Obama’s Anemic Speech in Europe

NY Times editorial   "Better late than never: The Russian president has benefited from the perception of a United States in full-tilt, war-weary retrenchment; of American red lines turning amber and then green; of a divided European Union; and a hollow NATO living more on the past than any vision of a 21st-century future. Obama has been making up for lost ground.

"Still, his Brussels speech, presented as a capstone of his visit and one of those Obama specials designed to offset with eloquence a deficit of deeds, was a poor performance overall, a jejune collection of nostrums about binding values of free-market Western societies and their appeal to the hearts (and pocketbooks) of people throughout the world, not least Ukrainians."

Krauthammer; Obama vs. Putin: The mismatch

Charles Krauthammer  

“The United States does not view Europe as a battleground between East and West, nor do we see the situation in Ukraine as a zero-sum game. That’s the kind of thinking that should have ended with the Cold War.”
— Barack Obama, March 24

"Should. Lovely sentiment. As lovely as what Obama said five years ago to the United Nations: “No one nation can or should try to dominate another nation.”

"That’s the kind of sentiment you expect from a Miss America contestant asked to name her fondest wish, not from the leader of the free world explaining his foreign policy."
....
... "Asked whether he’d misjudged Russia, whether it really is our greatest geopolitical foe, he disdainfully replied that Russia is nothing but “a regional power” acting “out of weakness.”

"Where does one begin? Hitler’s Germany and Tojo’s Japan were also regional powers, yet managed to leave behind at least 50 million dead. And yes, Russia should be no match for the American superpower. Yet under this president, Russia has run rings around America, from the attempted ingratiation of the “reset” to America’s empty threats of “consequences” were Russia to annex Crimea."
....
"Indeed, Obama’s dismissal of Russia as a regional power makes his own leadership of the one superpower all the more embarrassing. For seven decades since the Japanese surrender, our role under 11 presidents had been as offshore balancer protecting smaller allies from potential regional hegemons.

"What are the allies thinking now? Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and other Pacific Rim friends are wondering where this America will be as China expands its reach and claims."....     Full article...

Hobby Lobby and Conestoga vs. the power of this Democrat Administration

NRO 

 

"Thank goodness there are women on the Supreme Court: That was a common sentiment I heard on cable news Wednesday in the wake of oral arguments at the Supreme Court challenging the Obama administration’s abortion-pill, contraception, and sterilization mandate on the Hobby Lobby arts-and-crafts chain and Conestoga Wood Specialties, a Mennonite cabinetmaker in Pennsylvania. Lori Windham is part of Hobby Lobby’s legal team and senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. She talks with National Review Online’s Kathryn Jean Lopez about women, religious freedom, Hobby Lobby’s day in Court, and more."

....

"WINDHAM: I hope they understand that this case is about Americans, women and men, living out their faith. Whether you agree or disagree with the Green family about religion, I hope you will agree that the government should not have unfettered authority to strip family-business owners of fundamental freedoms." 

The 15 Dumbest Anti–Hobby Lobby Signs at the Supreme Court 

 

The War on Hobby Lobby; The Obama administration wants to win this to prove a point.   "Hobby Lobby went from an inoffensive business to a scofflaw and an alleged combatant in the “war on women” in no time at all — and without changing any significant employment or business practice. Thus is the transformation wrought by the coercive sweep of Obamacare, which risks doing as much damage to conscience rights as it has done to the insurance market.

"Hobby Lobby is trying to fend off the federal government via the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a law that Democrats used to support before they realized how inconvenient it would prove to the Obama-era project of running roughshod over moral traditionalists. " ...

"Make no mistake, the culture war is alive and well, and the aggressor isn’t Hobby Lobby. The Greens will be happy to go back to minding their own business — if the federal government sees fit to permit them."

Rich Lowry is the editor of National Review. He can be reached via e-mail: comments.lowry@nationalreview.com . © 2014 King Features Syndicate

Professors school anti-Israel divestment forum, and get results

Legal Insurrection   "Anti-Israel vitriol from Max Blumenthal and others at U. Michigan fell flat as two professors methodically laid out the history."

"The University of Michigan student assembly rejected the anti-Israel divestment resolution pushed by a coalition of student groups."
 

But the stars of the night were the opening guest speakers.

The pro-divestment group picked Max Blumenthal, who gave a predictably flame-throwing anti-Israel speech. 

....

"First up was Michigan State – James Madison College Associate Professor Yael Aronoff, who responded directly to Blumenthal. She spoke somewhat quickly so as to leave time for other guest speakers against the resolution, but basically destroyed Blumenthal by pointing out the one sided presentation and the resolution: "

 

"The next speaker was U. Michigan Professor of History Victor Lieberman. Resolution supporters on Twitter were furious with his presentation, which quite accurately reflected the history of Arab rejectionism. While I have some quibbles with his take on international law, by and large his presentation was fair and balanced."  Watch it here.

THE END of the California Orange

Take this article for what it is worth to you. TD

Dams intentionally completely drained to destroy California agriculture.

 

Before It's News 

"FACT:  Many of the orchards and prime agricultural zones have already been intentionally killed via denial of water by the choice of the elite. This was caused by draining all the dams and flushing all the water out to the ocean ON PURPOSE.  Here is what is really going on -"...

The San Joaquin agricultural zone was far too much of an asset for America’s conquerors to tolerate having around, so they just took control via government corruption afforded by rigged elections and shut off the water.

... "Now there are hundreds of miles of dead orchards there, stretching as far as the eye can see. And the State mandates that the growers cut these dead orchards down, so six years into this war there are equally vast expanses of dead earth that were only a short time ago fertile orchards." ...

 

The San Joaquin agricultural zone was far too much of an asset for America’s conquerors to tolerate having around, so they just took control via government corruption afforded by rigged elections and shut off the water. 

Now there are hundreds of miles of dead orchards there, stretching as far as the eye can see. And the State mandates that the growers cut these dead orchards down, so six years into this war there are equally vast expanses of dead earth that were only a short time ago fertile orchards.

Even in 2010 and 2011 the liars in the MSM talked all about how little rain California got, and the chart proves that those were both very wet years. But people still trust the MSM, even when getting soaked. The subsequent years were NOT BAD ENOUGH TO MAKE THE DAMS LOOK LIKE THIS:

 

 Full article  No emphases are mine, TD

On Global Warm....er....Climate Change

Alan Caruba: A History of the Disastrous Global Warming Hoax    " 'It is the greatest deception in history and the extent of the damage has yet to be exposed and measured,” says Dr. Tim Ball in his new book, “The Deliberate Corruption of Climate Science”.

"Dr. Ball has been a climatologist for more than forty years and was one of the earliest critics of the global warming hoax that was initiated by the United Nations environmental program that was established in 1972 and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) established in 1988."

But...but.... climate change is settled science!  Settled, I tell you!
 
Unsettling “Settled Science”    ... "The Earth was flat and the sun revolved around it. Bleedings were prescribed for healing at one point by science. But we don’t need to go back that far to find confusion and contradictions in “settled science.' ” ...

The Coming Paradigm Shift on Climate  ... "Watch for it: We may be on the threshold of a tipping point in climate history.  No, I’m not talking about a tipping point in the sense that the Earth will be covered with ice or become hellishly hot.  I’m talking about a tipping point in our views of what controls the climate -- whether it’s mainly humans or whether it’s mainly natural.  It makes an enormous difference in climate policy: Do we try to mitigate, at huge cost, or do we merely adapt to natural changes -- as our ancestors did for many millennia?

Smearing Climate Skeptics

No Joke: Feds Spend $700,000 On “Climate Change Musical”…

 

'Cesar Chavez' Review: Biopic Hijacked by Modern Propaganda, Reagan Bashing

Big Hollywood

"This directorial effort from actor Diego Luna starts nobly enough, as Michael Pena plays well-regarded figure Cesar Chavez talking about the plight of workers in the CA fields. We watch as workers are forced to pay for the water they drink while enduring the long, hot days. We meet Cesar's family, settling into a new home. We find Cesar's intentions to be genuine in helping improve wages and working conditions, all seen through Diego's up-front directorial narrative.

"Cesar eventually decides to take on the landowners who employ the workers, the most prominent featured being Bogdanovich Senior played by John Malkovich, and decides to do so by means of non-violence.

"Sadly, this is where the film's nobility ends." ...

Untruthful and Untrustworthy Government

The massaging of critical data undermines our society.

Victor Davis Hanson   ... "Presidents fib. The nation gets outraged. The independent media dig out the truth. And so the system of trust repairs itself.

"What distinguishes democracies from tinhorn dictatorships and totalitarian monstrosities are our permanent meritocratic government bureaus that remain nonpartisan and honestly report the truth."
....
"It is no longer crackpot to doubt the once impeccable and nonpartisan IRS. When it assured the public that it was not making decisions about tax-exempt status based on politics, it lied. One of its top commissioners, Lois Lerner, resigned and invoked the Fifth Amendment.

"A system of voluntary tax reporting rests on trust. If the IRS itself is untruthful, will it be able to expect truthful compliance from taxpayers?

"Many doubt the officially reported government unemployment rates. That statistic is vital in assessing economic growth and is of enormous political importance in the way citizens vote."

Obama had indeed fundamentally transformed this nation, as he promised.

 

Amal Alamuddin: George Clooney’s Anti-Israel Druze Arab Chick; My Encounter w Her & Alamuddin Family – EXCLUSIVE

Debbie Schlussel

 

"Over the past few months, actor George Clooney’s been photographed all over the place with Amal Alamuddin, a very anti-Israel Lebanese Arab who worked for the United Nations and represented Wikileaks’ anti-American former chief, Julian Assange. The Lebanese legal book she authored is extremely anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian. Alamuddin, who was Clooney’s date to the Obama White House last month, is not Muslim. She’s Druze, which is an offshoot of Islam. I’m familiar with Ms. Alamuddin (pronounced “Ah-lah-muh-DEEN”) and her family because I met her and them at the wedding of her cousin in the mid-1990s. They are extremely anti-Israel, and I was subjected to their absurd, non-stop anti-Israel questions and comments as the only non-Arab (other than the bride and her family) at a dinner the night before the wedding.

MORE PROOF OF OBAMA'S DEEP ANTI-SEMITISM: OBAMA, GEORGE CLOONEY, AND GEORGE GALLOWAY

Screw You, Mickey Kaus*

Ann Coulter  .... "Maybe Williams-Sonoma could pick up a few sales tricks from Ezekiel Emanuel! Oh, you'd like to see the bronze muffin tin? Sure, but first I'll need your Social Security number, date of birth and mother's maiden name. Sign here, here and here."....

 ..."That's not insurance! It's a huge transfer of wealth from people who work for a living to those who don't, accomplished by forcing the workers to buy insurance that's not insurance. Obamacare has made actual health insurance "illegal."

"It's not "insurance" when what I want to insure against isn't covered, but paying for other people's health care needs -- defined broadly -- is mandatory. It's as if you wanted to buy a car, so you paid for a Toyota -- but then all you got was a 10-speed bike, with the rest of your purchase price going to buy cars, bikes and helmets for other people. "Or, more precisely, it would be like having the option of car insurance that covers either collisions or liability, but not both. Your car insurance premium would be gargantuan, because most of it would go to buy insurance, gas and air fresheners for other people in the plan.

"If you have employer-provided health care, you may not have to make the 400 phone calls I had to, but the result will be the same: You're not getting what is commonly known as "insurance." You're getting a massive bill to pay for other people's chiropractors, marriage counselors, birth control pills, smoking cessation programs, "preventive care" appointments and pre-existing conditions. "
....
"You 99-percenters still unaffected by Obamacare will blithely go to the polls this November and vote on some teeny-tiny issue, completely unaware of the total destruction of health insurance in America. The waivers have worked."

* Other than healthcare, Kaus doesn't seem too bad.

Richardson, TX and it's Islamic personality

Weasel Zippers   "Exempt from common core?"

 

Via the Houston Chronicle   " 'The mosque is a significant community in Richardson," said Maczka who attended the school's opening ceremony March 1. "If you read the world news, you know the Islamic faith is the fastest-growing community in the world. As the population in Richardson grows, so does the Islamic faith."

 

"In recent years, economic opportunities in Dallas and Richardson have brought Muslims from Chicago, California and New York, said Qazi, who came to the U.S. in 1990 to pursue his master's degree in physics from Idaho State University."

 

"Richardson City Council member Amir Omar: "In addition, American-Iranian groups believe that Omar is the first Iranian-American to be elected to a municipal office in Texas.' "
In May of 2013, Omar lost the race for mayor of Richardson to Laura Maczka, 10,000+ votes to 4000+.

From The Muslim Observer:  A Model for Muslim Political Involvement: The Richardson TX City Council Elections

Muslim beliefs inspire Richardson doctor’s free medical clinics    "The services are available to anyone in need, but most patients are Muslims."

Texas: Hyatt of Richardson Enforces a Muslim-only Policy at a Special Muslim-related Event

Sharia in Texas

What Islam is All About   "The textbook is distributed by Noorart Publishing of Richardson, Texas. In short, this is a mainstream American-made textbook, written in clear standard American English, for the purpose of introducing Muslim-American children to the religion of Islam."

In hoping for a world where Muslims and non-Muslims can enjoy living side-by-side, one must always temper good feelings with awareness of how Muslims interact with those non-Muslims and how they are taught to deal with us. TD

Always keep the word Taqiyya in mind, along with incidents such as this: Previously friendly Muslim neighbors turned on Christians of Maaloula .

Maaloula Christians said, “We knew our Muslim neighbours all our lives,” Georgios says …. we thought they would never betray us. We ate with them. We are one people.    "Every time there is a conflict between Muslims and non-Muslims, "moderate" Muslims always join the jihadis. We've seen this time and time again all over the world."

Enjoy your Muslim friends; grow close to them and watch your children play together through the years. But know that if Islamists grow strong in your community and come after you to persecute your family, fully expect your Islamic friends to turn on you.

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?' "