Dave Barry’s Year in Review: 2013 was a zombie of a year

Dave Barry  ... "But getting back to the zombies: It wasn’t just people who came back alarmingly in 2013. The Cold War with Russia came back. Al-Qaida came back. Turmoil in the Middle East came back. The debt ceiling came back. The Major League Baseball drug scandal came back. Dennis Rodman came back and went on humanitarian missions to North Korea (or maybe we just hallucinated that). The Endlessly Looming Government Shutdown came back. People lining up to buy iPhones to replace iPhones that they bought only minutes earlier came back. And for approximately the 250th time, the Obama administration pivoted back to the economy, which has somehow been recovering for years now without actually getting any better. Unfortunately, before they could get the darned thing fixed, the administration had to pivot back to yet another zombie issue, healthcare, because it turned out that Obamacare, despite all the massive brainpower behind it, had some “glitches,” in the same sense that the universe has some “atoms.' ” ...

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/static/media/projects/2013/year-in-review/#dave-barry-year-in-review#storylink=cpy

On the NY Times report about Benghazi

Video: NYT editor defiant on Benghazi report amid lawmaker criticism

From Lucianne:
The New York Times Whitewashes Benghazi   "While much in Kirkpatrick’s report is not new, the piece is receiving a considerable amount of attention because of this sweeping conclusion: “Months of investigation by The New York Times, centered on extensive interviews with Libyans in Benghazi who had direct knowledge of the attack there and its context, turned up no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault.' ”
'Completely false': Sources on ground in Benghazi challenge NYT report    "Fox News has learned that the attack on the consulate started with fighters assembling to conduct an assault.
" 'Guys were coming into the compound, moving left, moving right…and using IMT (individual movement techniques). … That’s not a spontaneous attack,” one special operator said.
" 'One guy was shooting, one guy was running. There are guys watching the gates. … The bosses on the ground were pointing, commanding and coordinating -- that is a direct action planned attack.' "

From NRO:
Missing the Lessons of Benghazi   "The scary thing is that there are still many in the Obama/Clinton/Kerry foreign-policy regime who believe that negotiating with terrorists will lead to positive outcomes. The story of Benghazi is exactly the opposite. Those who hate us will exploit any and every perceived weakness. Benghazi is a sad testament to a failed U.S. foreign policy throughout the Middle East and North Africa" ...

Krauthammer’s Take: Times Benghazi Story Written to Defend the Democrats  

 

... "Krauthammer responded saying that Rosenthal’s defensiveness shows that the reason the Times invested so much time in to the story and put it on the front page was “to protect the Democrats, to deflect the issue, and to protect Hillary who is exposed on this issue.”

“ 'It is obviously a political move,” Krauthammer said."

 

The Good, the Bad, and the Pathetic of the New York Times’ Benghazi Report   ... "What’s most pathetic of all? That 65 years after Arab armies launched their first war of extermination against Israel, 34 years after the hostage crisis, and twelve years after 9/11, we still don’t understand our enemy, and we still blame ourselves for their reckless hate.

From The Weekly Standard:
Times Ignores Evidence of Al Qaeda Link to Benghazi; Contradicts previous reporting from the New York TImes  "Muhammad Jamal, is not mentioned in the Times’s latest piece. Why not? The Times had previously reported the involvement of his network. When Mohammad Jamal was arrested in Egypt in December of 2012, two months after the Times article that mentioned him, the Wall Street Journal reported on his extensive ties to al Qaeda and its senior leadership, as well as his alleged involvement in the Benghazi attacks." STEPHEN F. HAYES

Politico Jumps in the Benghazi Debate  "In the end, Hounshell’s discussion of Benghazi is a welcome sign. It shows that some are still willing to weigh and discuss the actual evidence about what happened in Benghazi – not just the politics of its aftermath.

"Hounshell says that “there will always be some who wonder if we simply haven’t looked hard enough” for evidence of al Qaeda’s ties to the Benghazi attack."

 

From PJ Media:

Andrew Klavan: What Difference Does It Make?

 "The woman who had lost her promised shot at the presidency to a dishonest neophyte Chicago radical had disgraced herself and betrayed our founding values by promising the father of a heroic SEAL killed in the attack that she would bring justice, not to those who had done the killing, but to the schmuck who’d made the obscure video ridiculing the small-minded, bigoted followers of an ideology currently responsible for a majority of the armed conflicts on earth."

Issa: Evidence Still Proves Benghazi Was a ‘Planned Attack That Came Quickly’   "House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) stood by his committee’s investigation that found an al-Qaeda link to the Benghazi attack, and disputed any assertion that the New York Times story on the attack undercuts that finding."

Global warming scientists trapped in a sea of irony

"Antarctica"

Icebreaker Efforts Fail, Research Vessel Still Trapped in Antarctica  "According to the Guardian, the passengers consist of about 25 professors and graduate students, 20 tourists and 22 Russian crew members.  As of now all passengers are safe, but that could change suddenly with the encroachment of an iceberg in the direction of the stuck ship." ...

 

MSM Glosses Over Irony of Global Warming Scientists Trapped in Antarctic Ice   
... "Finally, National Geographic bluntly states the mission purpose:

...The current crop of explorers are hoping to document some of the same data and compare them to Mawson's numbers, "using the twist of modern technology," Turney told National Geographic earlier this month.
As may be expected, global warming might play a role in this, he suggests, particularly with respect to melted ice in the East Antarctic.

"Ah, so now we see why the MSM reluctance to flat out state why the scientists are in the Antarctic. Anything to avoid an inconvenient (but accurate) headline like this:

GLOBAL WARMING SCIENTISTS TRAPPED IN ANTARCTIC ICE

 

Meanwhile, the Gorebot cartoonists keep cranking out 'toons like this:

Alan Caruba: Another Grim Year with Obama

Warning Signs

 

"The fifth year in the political marriage between Barack Obama and the rest of America has the look of a divorce in which a lot of Americans are wondering how we can rid ourselves of the worst President in the history of the nation. That’s not just my opinion.

"As 2013 comes to a close it is abundantly clear that even the starry-eyed journalists and political pundits who thought Obama was as close to the Second Coming as American politics had ever known were having, not just doubts, but serious regrets. The White House press corps is now in a state of rebellion." ...

....

Liberal cheerleader Maurine Dowd had this to say about her hero:

“Unfortunately, he still has not learned how to govern” wrote Dowd, adding “No one on Capitol Hill [is] scared of him.” Obama had devoted so much time to fund-raising and non-stop campaigning, that governing was obviously not a priority, but that is exactly why Presidents are elected.

....

Mr. Caruba sums it all up with this thought: "To say that 2013 has been a bad year for Obama is also to say it has been a bad year for over three hundred million Americans. As Obamacare kicks in, 2014 will be a year its hidden taxes take effect. In November, voters will have the midterm elections to begin ending the a record of failed domestic and foreign affairs." 

Should Unsolicited “MERRY CHRISTMAS!” Be Prosecuted As a Hate Crime?

Voice of Lillpop   ... "Which brings us to the disputed War on Christmas, a war that liberals dismiss as folly, mere figments of right-wing hysteria as they (liberals) deliberately use every ploy in the book to keep nativity scenes, Christmas carols, Christmas trees, and anything even remotely resembling endorsement of Christ, from the public consciousness.

"Regrettably, the secularization of Christmas has worked as more and more businesses are reverting to “Happy Holiday” rather than Merry Christmas to avoid offending." ...
 

Female Marines Not Required To Do 1 Pull-Up

Bloviating Zeppelin

"Now that’s the way to assure the survival of females in combat — since females can now serve in combat positions within the US military services. "From CNSNews.com:

 

...Women in the Marine Corps will be allowed into ground combat in 2016. The delay in meeting men’s physical standards has raised questions about “whether women have the physical strength to handle ground combat,” reported NPR.
“‘If you can’t pull yourself up, have the decency to pull yourself out,’  Ralph Peters, a retired Army officer and military historian, told Time.com. “‘The military, despite all the post-modern technology, is still essentially physical.’”

..."With that in mind, I recommend the exchange between Time Magazine and retired Army Lt Col Robert Maginnis in reference to his book “Deadly Consequences: How Cowards Are Pushing Women into Combat.”  It turns out he is completely correct in his fears:

...Pentagon brass are kowtowing to their political masters and radical feminists to remove exemptions for women in ground combat in defiance of overwhelming scientific evidence and combat experience. This craven behavior is terribly dangerous for our armed forces, our national security, and especially the young women who will be placed in harm’s way  ...

How can the anti-military liberals make rules for our combat units if they have not been through this?
 

An Open Letter From a Terror Victim to St. James Church, Piccadilly, England

Algemeiner.com  via Allyson’s Geo-Political Inspections

"I have given much thought to the events of that terrible day, that culminated in my near murder and the execution of my friend."

The "Bethlehem Unwrapped" festival at St. James’s Church in Piccadilly.

"A true story…..

And it came to pass that in December 2010, two Palestinian shepherds left their little town near Bethlehem and set out to walk ten miles across the Judean Hills. There in the forest, they kept watch by night. The following day, at about the 6th hour (3pm) the shepherds saw two women walking along the Israel National Trail. With great fervour they took out their knives and attacked the women ...

...."The Palestinian terrorists were indeed victims, victims of a radical and primitive Islamist regime that force feeds them a morally malnourished diet of hatred of Jews and hatred of any life – including their own. They were also deprived: deprived of an education that cherishes culture, history, literature, art, and the dignity of difference. Their impoverished morality coupled with ignorant generalizations is what enabled two men to butcher defenseless women without so much as blinking an eye.
"The “wall” that has been erected outside St. James’ Church is hopefully just a result of your own ignorance and generalisations concerning the complex situation here in the Middle East. Nevertheless, like all walls, it serves as a facade and a barrier." ...
 

A Guide to the Political Left

Discover the Networks 
"Welcome to Discover the Networks

"This website describes the networks and agendas of the political Left. The database is divided into 10 major sections:

Simply click on the items that interest you, and your tour through the Left will be underway. Navigating the site is simple, and the category headings are self-explanatory. However, if you would like a somewhat more detailed overview of the website and its contents, please see our GUIDE.

Because the term "Left" is commonly misunderstood as a synonym for "Liberal," it will be useful to clearly define, from the outset, precisely what the Left is:

 

Individuals:

Andrew Stern
Samantha Power
Harry Reid
Nancy Pelosi
Richard Trumka
Frances Fox Piven
Al Sharpton
Dennis Kucinich
Bill Ayers
Anthony Weiner

MORE INDIVIDUALS