Victor Davis Hanson: War Clouds on the Horizon? A large war is looming absent preventive American vigilance.

VDH's Private Papers

 

... "The subsequent appeasement of Britain and France, the isolationism of the United States, and the collaboration of the Soviet Union with Nazi Germany green-lighted Hitler’s aggression — and another world war.

 

"We are entering a similarly dangerous interlude. Collapsing oil prices — a good thing for most of the world — will make troublemakers like oil-exporting Iran and Russia take even more risks.

Terrorist groups such as the Islamic State feel that conventional military power has no effect on their agendas. The West is seen as a tired culture of Black Friday shoppers and maxed-out credit-card holders.

 

"NATO is underfunded and without strong American leadership. It can only hope that Vladimir Putin does not invade a NATO country such as Estonia, rather than prepare for the likelihood that he will, and soon."

"The United States has slashed its defense budget to historic lows. It sends the message abroad that friendship with America brings few rewards while hostility toward the U.S. has even fewer consequences. ..."

Emphasis mine, TD 

Obama calls for tougher Internet regulation

MSN See the pros and cons of this discussed at the bottom. I do not know if this is a good idea or bad; I only know that so far everything the Obama administration touches turns to, well... not gold. The Tunnel Dweller

Against net neutrality:

 

"President Barack Obama on Monday embraced a radical change in how the government treats Internet service, coming down on the side of consumer activists who fear slower download speeds and higher costs but angering Republicans and the nation's cable giants who say the plan would kill jobs.

"Obama called on the Federal Communications Commission to more heavily regulate Internet providers and treat broadband much as it would any other public utility. He said the FCC should explicitly prohibit Internet providers like Verizon and AT&T from charging data hogs like Netflix extra to move their content more " ...

Pro-net neutrality:

The Pros and Cons of Net Neutrality "Currently, the Internet is considered to be neutral, however there is a lot of confusion over what exactly is Net Neutrality. So, I've collected a list of both the advantages and disadvantages of Net Neutrality to help people, especially lawmakers, decide what is best for the Internet." 

Pros and Cons of Net Neutrality in Two Lists    "Net neutrality advocates are licking their wounds following reports that the FCC will likely leave broadband services deregulated. Activists had hoped the Obama administration would prohibit Internet service providers from charging individuals by how much bandwidth they consume. Yet as the Washington Post reports, FCC Commissioner Julius Genachowski will likely keep in place the “current regulatory famework.” Does this threaten
freedom and openness on the Internet as net neutrality activists claim? How would net neutrality impact future investments in broadband? Here are two opposing views on the issue."

Net Neutrality Pros and Cons

Death Is A Fearful Thing, But Not Always Lonely

Rabble Writer   "Eric Garner is dead. That’s how you begin. Say his age. Where was he from? Who has he left behind? Explain how he died.

 

"Say who is to blame.

 

"Now you have your story. This week, we all have the same story. And the same question to answer: Who, exactly, is to blame? The system? Daniel Pantaleo, certainly. His hands, his elbow, his decision … all killed Eric Garner, that much is a certainty. This is not alleged, it is fact eternal, recorded on video, admitted by all, confirmed by autopsy. Daniel Pantaleo is the reason Eric Garner is dead.

... 

 

The writer lays out the list of causes leading to Mr. Garner's death, but I especially chose this one which I see as the enabling factor bringing all the other motives into play:

 

"The government? Much has been made of the tax that has resulted in the criminal enterprise of selling cigarettes person to person. The nanny state oppressor cum executioner, wielding the headsman’s axe of oppressive law and unreasonable taxation. Under the weight of oppression many a back has been broken and man pushed to resist. That has been a matter of life and death at times. Well then, that must be to blame."
 

Hat tip to Thomas LaDuke at Conservative Bloggers on Facebook

Krauthammer: The real fight is among the Democrats

Charles Krauthammer  "Old habits die hard. The media are so enamored of the continuing (and largely contrived) story about the great Republican civil war that they fail to appreciate that the real internecine fight is being waged on the other side of the aisle.

"I grant that there’s a lot of shouting today among Republicans. But it’s a ritual skirmish over whether a government shutdown would force the president to withdraw a signature measure — last time, Obamacare; this time, executive amnesty." ...
...
"The underlying Schumer challenge is that catering to coastal elites and select minorities is how you end up losing 64 percent of the white working class — which, though shrinking, is almost 50 percent larger in size than the black and Hispanic electorates combined."

This task force president

Remember at the very start of his reign, Obama summoned business leaders from around the country to the White House? He sent them all off to form brainstorming groups on how to get this economy moving again. That was the first of many such gatherings. How did that all work out?

AP's Julie Pace to Josh Earnest: Is Obama Planning Anything But Another Task Force?
... "Pace asked, "Things like task forces and commission, as the president even [alluded] too(sp), these happen all the time, they don't really result in anything is he thinking about anything beyond what he talked about Monday in terms of a broader national effort to address some of these issues we have seen?"

"Earnest replied  "Considering the task force was announced four days ago I think the President deserves a little benefit of the doubt here."

A few of his "task forces":

• President Obama forms White House task force to combat college rape
• Obama Announces Task Force To Help Young Minority Men
• President Obama Announces Gun Task Force
• 100+ Scientists Call on Obama’s Bee Task Force to Take Action on Pesticides
• Obama Task Force on Chemical Dangers: Strong Enough?
• Obama's Middle Class Task Force
• And many more brain trusts that appear to teach Mr. Obama nothing.

Cartoon Czar. How appropriate

Obama on Garner: 'My Tradition is Not to Remark on Cases'

Big Government  Video here.

President reacts to no indictment in NYC chokehold case

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) The President spoke out after a New York grand jury decided not to charge a police officer who killed an unarmed black man with a chokehold while trying to arrest

Reuters

 

"In his remarks Wednesday on the non-indictment of the New York police officer who allegedly choked Eric Garner to death during a routine arrest, President Barack Obama claimed that he does not involve himself in such controversies. "My tradition is not to remark on cases where there may still be an investigation," he said. 

"The opposite is true: from Skip Gates to Trayvon Martin to Michael Brown, Obama nearly always weighs in.

This Regulation Has Chuck Schumer Talking Like a Tea Partier

 

Daily Signal   "Sen. Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.) has amassed the most liberal voting record in the U.S. Senate, according to National Journal. Yet, when it comes to Washington regulators, even he is willing to speak out against the Obama administration.

“ 'Sometimes Washington does things that make the rest of America scratch their heads in wonderment and say, ‘What the heck are they doing down there?’ ' ”...

Related:   How Obama Is Strangling the Economy in Red Tape  "Regulation: It’s a mostly hidden drain on the economy—and a favorite of the Obama administration.

"It affects all of our lives—and wallets—yet rarely makes headlines. Why? It’s complex; it’s constant; and the sheer volume of regulations is stunning.

"Heritage experts James Gattuso and Diane Katz have just updated their one-of-a-kind report on the Obama administration’s unrelenting use of regulation to push its policy agenda. Check out our new infographic to see how this presidency compares to the previous one, and what it’s costing us." ...

[Watch] NYPD cop in Eric Garner chokehold death not indicted. Commentaries

The Daily Dose

 

"I couldn’t agree more with the following statement from Charles Krauthammer said. “The timing is unfortunate,” he said. “This has no connection with what happened in Ferguson. From looking at the video, the grand jury’s decision here is totally incomprehensible. It looks as if at least they might have indicted him on something like involuntary manslaughter, at the very least. The guy actually said, ‘I can’t breathe,’ which ought to be a signal that the guy was unarmed, and the crime was as petty as they come … He was selling loose cigarettes, which is in and of itself almost absurd that someone has to die over that,' ”

 

From the NY Times

This from The Volokh Conspiracy: Will the Justice Department expeditiously investigate Eric Garner death? Mike Brown’s?

"I want to focus on the Attorney General’s promise that the Garner investigation will be “expeditious.”  Sadly, the Department’s track record in recent highly-publicized cases — i.e., the Michael Brown case and particularly the Trayvon Martin case — does not inspire confidence. We still have no decision from the department about whether it will file federal charges in these cases even after it appears that it has collected all significant evidence." ...

Andrew C. McCarthy: The grand jury may have gotten it wrong.
 

 

... "In any event, others counter that Garner could be heard repeatedly telling the police he could not breathe. While this actually undercuts the claim that a banned chokehold was used (since, if it had been, Garner would have had great difficulty speaking so audibly), Garner’s pleas suggest that the police used excessive force — a problem that makes the chokehold debate nearly irrelevant. In the absence of any apparent threat to the police, critics forcefully ask, shouldn’t Pantaleo have stopped whatever hold was being applied?" ...

..."But it’s not that simple. Carefully examined, the ME’s homicide finding may have hurt more than helped the argument for indictment." ... (Emphases in the original)

The Actual Facts of The Eric Garner Case  "Unlike the Michael Brown killing in Ferguson, Missouri, there is excellent cause for concern here. But that concern does not mean that facts of the case ought to become irrelevant."

 Why my Staten Island isn't Ferguson ... "Most of us feel compassion and sorrow for Eric Garner's family and I am just as perplexed by the outcome of the Grand Jury. I am encouraged by their statements that far from inciting violence like Michael Brown's relatives, they are simply expressing their sorrow, disappointment and shock. There will probably be legal recourses that they can pursue and I expect them to take them. There is definite evidence that the NYPD and EMT were negligent in responding to Mr. Garner's medical emergency. There are idiot cops on Staten Island but most of them do the best they can do in preserving the Island's reputation for safety and low crime." ...

Eric Holder And His Little Racially-Tinged Federal Civil Rights Investigations  "It is obvious that holder and the Obama administration are trying to make a white-on-black violence case, but where is the outrage, and where is the federal investigation into the  2012 shooting death of a white man, who was killed by a black police officer in Mobile, Alabama?"

Thomas Lifson: Grand jury does not indict NYPD cop in death of Eric Garner; Mayor de Blasio blames 'racism'   ... " Owing to availability of the internet video showing the choke hold, many commentators across the ideological spectrum, including Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren, Andrew Napolitano, and Charles Krauthammer, expressed shock, with many expecting an indictment for at least negligent homicide or involuntary manslaughter.  But the grand jury transcripts remain sealed, so we don’t know what medical evidence was heard relating to the cause of death (Garner was obese and suffered from asthma), nor do we know what else was presented to them." 

Elsa, Kate Middleton, and Us; Wendy Shalit talks about modesty today, 15 years after A Return to Modesty.

NRO

"In Disney’s animated feature Frozen, princess Elsa’s magical snow-making powers are unfurled as her dress melts into a tight evening gown — flashing her thigh and emphasizing her breasts — as she sashays into her new ice castle and belts out her ballad of empowerment, ‘Let It Go.’”

 

"This is but one example Wendy Shalit points to of how “the expectation to look sexy” is “foisted on children” before anyone ever has the chance to explain sex “as a powerful force and something to look forward to.' ”

"...The executive director of the California NOW chapter defended the Girls Gone Wild videos because, she said, “Flashing your breasts on Daytona Beach says, ‘I’m not a good girl.’” Since these videos exploit young women to such a degree, this statement was a bit surprising, but the thinking was, “At least these girls weren’t covering up and being modest!” In their minds, that would have been the bigger crime. We now have a whole generation of parents who are literally scared to tell their pre-teen daughters not to wear something that’s inappropriate to a family gathering..." 

http://blog.referralcandy.com/2013/06/17/power-ranger-sells-modesty/

These 31 Builders Made Mistakes That Will Leave You BAFFLED. Ridiculously Hilarious.

Viral Nova  " No, these aren't pictures from inside of a funhouse. These are real-life building disasters that somehow made it from architect to contractor without anyone noticing. (That is, until someone tried to use a set of stairs that led literally nowhere.) Check out all 31 - how did anyone let this happen?!"

#8: Someone didn't think the aerial view through first:

 

 

 

Mother Nature 1, Architects 0

Ugly Christmas Sweater Suits Are Here and They Must Be Stopped

"Taking "hideous" to a whole new level."

Esquire  via Ann Althouse

"Now that Christmas is upon us, stylish people everywhere are forced to endure the eye-burning sensation known as the "Ugly Christmas Sweater." But for some, the "Ugly Christmas Sweater" is just not ugly enough. They want to take clothing choices to unprecedented levels of ugliness, a stage of ugliness so high that it can no longer even be considered ironic. And for those people, Shinesty.com is now offering a solution: the Ugly Christmas Suit."

.

Country Superstar Garth Brooks Pledges Undying Love And Support For Obama

Now The End Begins   "Grammy award-winning singer Garth Brooks told CNSNews.com that he “fully” supports President Barack Obama and that it must be “hell” serving as President of the United States.

"Before his performance at the Points of Light Institute’s ceremony honoring former President George H. W.  Bush at the Kennedy Center on Monday, Brooks was asked if President Obama has lived up to his expectations."
 

 

Full article here