Tweets from Iran’s Ayatollah embarrass America’s diplomatic efforts

Legal Insurrection

“We reject US fraudulent offer of reaching a deal with Iran first then lifting sanctions”

"As the arbitrary deadline to strike a deal with Iran draws close, Secretary Kerry says “genuine progress” has been made.

"France is not so sure the negotiations are going well, and neither is Israel. Both nations share concerns that Iran is receiving far too many concessions, saying any rush to relax sanctions is not a deal worth making.

"While talks proceed, and Kerry attempts to assures America with platitudes, Senator Cotton reminds us who we’re negotiating with:

Tom Cotton        ✔ @SenTomCotton

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Take a minute to scroll through @khamenei_ir’s twitter feed today. Further proof Iran is not a rational, peaceful actor. #IranTalks

3:26 PM - 21 Mar 2015

"Regardless of what Secretary Kerry tells the Associated Press, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader is not exactly a fan of Obama, America, or any deal that doesn’t remove sanctions. And if you need more proof, look no further than than the Ayatollah’s Twitter feed."  . . .

 Mr. Congeniality has much to say about all this in his numerous tweets in this link.

Her Hineyness Is Peeved

 Earl of Taint   "The very idea…watching that low-bred press rabble question her like she was some commoner. Holding her to account like she was a Republican or something! An insulting, repulsive and shockingly sexist breach of protocol that will not be forgotten."

Earl of Taint

Why I am a Climate Change Skeptic

Dr. Patrick Moore

"I am skeptical humans are the main cause of climate change and that it will be catastrophic in the near future. There is no scientific proof of this hypothesis, yet we are told “the debate is over” and “the science is settled.”

"My skepticism begins with the believers’ certainty they can predict the global climate with a computer model. The entire basis for the doomsday climate change scenario is the hypothesis increased atmospheric carbon dioxide due to fossil fuel emissions will heat the Earth to unlivable temperatures.

"In fact, the Earth has been warming very gradually for 300 years, since the Little Ice Age ended, long before heavy use of fossil fuels. Prior to the Little Ice Age, during the Medieval Warm Period, Vikings colonized Greenland and Newfoundland, when it was warmer there than today. And during Roman times, it was warmer, long before fossil fuels revolutionized civilization.

"The idea it would be catastrophic if carbon dioxide were to increase and average global temperature were to rise a few degrees is preposterous."  . . .Full Article here.

[Editor’s Note: Patrick Moore, Ph.D., has been a leader in international environmentalism for more than 40 years. He cofounded Greenpeace and currently serves as chair of Allow Golden Rice. Moore received the 2014 Speaks Truth to Power Award at the Ninth International Conference on Climate Change, July 8, in Las Vegas. . . .] 

Obama Details His Disappointment With Netanyahu In First Post-Election Comments

MSN  "President Barack Obama is operating under the assumption that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not support the creation of a Palestinian state, despite the Israeli leader's post-election efforts to recast himself as amenable to a two-state solution.

" 'We take him at his word when he said that it wouldn't happen during his prime ministership, and so that's why we've got to evaluate what other options are available to make sure that we don't see a chaotic situation in the region," the president said in an interview with The Huffington Post on Friday.

"Though he pledged to keep working with the Israeli government on military and intelligence operations, Obama declined to say whether the United States would continue to block Palestinian efforts to secure statehood through the United Nations. In a phone conversation the two had on Thursday, he said he indicated to Netanyahu that "it is going to be hard to find a path where people are seriously believing that negotiations are possible.' " . . .  Read more...

SYRIAN REBELS BOMB AND KILL SCHOOLCHILDREN - ISIS DECAPITATES KURDS - US State Department aghast at Jews building homes in Jerusalem

Obama’s Contempt for Israel Affecting Iran Policy   "Working with enemies and rejecting allies."  . . .

Wanted, Dead or Dead: ISIS Posts Kill Lists of 100 U.S. Military With Personal Information

Independent Sentinel

"ISIS released lists with the names, photos and addresses of 100 U.S. U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marines – many of them pilots, according to the NY Daily News, calling for their deaths.

"The group calls themselves the ISIS Hacking Division posted it on a website Friday evening using a Polish provider."

. . .

“[W]e have decided to leak 100 addresses so that our brothers residing in America can deal with you,” the group warned.

“Kill them in their own lands, behead them in their own homes, stab them to death as they walk their streets thinking that they are safe,” the “Islamic State Hacking Division” added.

"In February, at least four military wives had their social media accounts hacked, purportedly by ISIS. The FBI is investigating."

The Bookworm Beat; — the illustrated edition and open thread

Bookworm Room
"Less talk, more pictures (thanks to Caped Crusader):"

Rand Paul: “Difficult” For Clinton To Run On Women’s Rights While Taking Money From Saudi Arabia

Bookworm Room

BuzzFeed
“There’s a war on women and it’s in Saudi Arabia, and frankly you can be raped in Saudi Arabia and then publicly lashed for inappropriately being in a car with a man.”

"Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said Friday that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “should be ashamed” of the Clinton Foundation accepting foreign donations from countries where women lack basic rights. The potential Republican presidential candidate said it would be difficult to run as the first woman to potentially be president while her foundation takes money from such countries.

“ 'I’m calling today for Hillary Clinton to return the money to Saudi Arabia,” Paul said on Concord News Radio “There’s a war on women and it’s in Saudi Arabia, and frankly you can be raped in Saudi Arabia and then publicly lashed for inappropriately being in a car with a man. I think frankly Hillary Clinton should be ashamed of taking the money and I’m calling today for her to return that money from Saudi Arabia and I’m calling today for her to return the money to Saudi Arabia, to Brunei, to United Arab Emirates, to all of these countries that don’t give women in the basic ability to have the rights in court and voting or on juries.”

"Paul called the Clinton Foundation taking money from foreign countries “an anchor that will drag Hillary Clinton down.' ” . . .

From the "Ain't gonna happen" files: Valerie Jarrett Must Go

Jared Feldschreiber  . . . "But this is a president who is insular... [And] surrounded by people who reflect back to him what he wants to hear... For a man with an Ivy League education, he seems remarkably ignorant of the ways in which past presidents -- Lyndon Johnson and Bill Clinton -- have worked with Congress." Davis also underscores that President Obama has not received the memo put forth by American voters last November with the GOP seizing control of the Senate, giving them full command of Congress. President Obama  believed the elections were a referendum on his policies, even as Republicans gained seven seats in the Senate and maintained a solid majority in the House of Representatives. The schism between Republicans and Democrats has only widened in recent months."  . . .

Former Secretary of State Baker: I Signed Exit Form

NRO

"According to Baker’s policy assistant, John Williams, Baker signed OF-109 on August 24, 1992, the day he left the State Department to serve as White House chief of staff to George H. W. Bush. 

"Baker’s testimony casts doubt on the explanation offered by State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki about why Clinton may not have signed the same form. Psaki told reporters that the department’s most senior employees often do not sign the separation statement verifying the return of their documents because “there’s a long tradition of secretaries of state making themselves available to future secretaries and presidents and secretaries are typically allowed to maintain their security clearance and access to their own records for use in writing their memoirs and the like.”. . .

Breaking: Draft Deal Gives Iran Green Light For Nukes

Weasel Zippers

“After the deal expires, Iran could theoretically ramp up enrichment to whatever level or volume it wants.” This was exactly what everyone has been warning about, and what the White House denied, after ten years there are no restrictions. If Iran keeps to the deal, they will still get the bomb.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The United States and Iran are drafting elements of a nuclear deal that commits Tehran to a 40 percent cut in the number of machines it could use to make an atomic bomb, officials told The Associated Press on Thursday. In return, the Iranians would get quick relief from some crippling economic sanctions and a partial lift of a U.N. embargo on conventional arms.

Agreement on Iran’s uranium enrichment program could signal a breakthrough for a larger deal aimed at containing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear activities.

The sides are racing to meet a March 31 deadline for a framework pact and a full agreement by the end of June — even as the U.S. Congress keeps up pressure on the administration to avoid any agreement leaving Iran with an avenue to become a nuclear power. . . .

More at the link...

The American Flag: Flag-Folding Procedures

The American Legion
The traditional method of folding the flag is as follows:

(A) Straighten out the flag to full length and fold lengthwise once.

(B) Fold it lengthwise a second time to meet the open edge, making sure that the union of stars on the blue field remains outward in full view. (A large flag may have to be folded lengthwise a third time.)

(C) A triangular fold is then started by bringing the striped corner of the folded edge to the open edge.

(D) The outer point is then turned inward, parallel with the open edge, to form a second triangle.

(E) The diagonal or triangular folding is continued toward the blue union until the end is reached, with only the blue showing and the form being that of a cocked (three-corner) hat.

Also at this same link:  Meaning of Flag-Folding Program;  Symbols for the Folds of the Flag

Sen Lindsey Graham Threatens Cut-Off Of UN Funding If Obama Bypasses Congress On Iran

Constitution Rising

"Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) claims to be digging in his heels on the sweetheart deal that Hussein Obama is making for his dearly beloved Iranian comrades. While Graham was perfectly fine with Obama acting dictatorially on an issue he supports, the illegal alien amnesty, there’s a limit as to how tyranny he’s willing to accept at once and Dear Leader has reached it.

"If Obama follows through with his threat to exclude Congress from the process which, if unchecked, will provide Iran with a nuclear weapons capability and will lead to a Middle East nuclear arms race, Graham has a message “The United Nations will receive no more funding from the United States.”

"Graham said, “Here’s what the ‘president’ needs to understand. If you go to the UN Security Council and you try to bypass the Congress to get this deal approved by the UN Security Council but not come to your own Congress, then you’re going to risk Congress cutting off money to the United Nations.”

"It’s a kind of government shutdown of the global government, the sort of thing that Graham wasn’t willing to “risk” in defense of our national sovereignty on amnesty. Now he’s had a sudden change of heart." . . .