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SEPTEMBER 27,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:31 P.M. ET: 

VOCABULARY PROGRESS? – We'll see.  From Breitbart:   "MOORE, Oklahoma -- On Friday one woman was beheaded and another was brutally stabbed at their workplace, Vaughan Foods based in Moore, Oklahoma. The suspect is a man who had allegedly converted to radical Islam. The incident is being considered a 'terror event' by local police, Breitbart Texas has learned.   'It absolutely was a terror event,' Moore Police Department Public Affairs Officer Jeremy Lewis told Breitbart Texas. 'What is a terror event? Something that causes terror. This caused terror.'   He added that the suspect 'made a statement, absolutely...[he] brought terror to that business and now has everyone in a frenzy and did what we categorize terrorists as doing.'  Lewis said that if the federal government deems the crime to be a 'terrorist event,' the case and investigation would be taken over by the FBI. The feds will also take over if the case is categorized as a hate crime."  It was both a terrorist event and a hate crime, according to what we know, but I don't have much confidence that the federal government will act accordingly.  Don't be shocked if this is simply declared "workplace violence." 

DON'T TELL AL GORE – From Climate Depot:  "NOAA – 1695 Low Max Records Broken or Tied From Sept 11 to Sept 20. One record broken by 25.  Via: http://sunshinehours.wordpress.com/2014/09/27/noaa-1695-low-max-records-broken-or-tied-from-sept-11-to-sept-20-one-record-broken-by-2.  Wow.   A 'Low Max' means that the maximum temperatures for the day was the lowest it has ever been. This indicates daytime cooling."  This will be ignored by the mainstream media.  It's an inconvenient truth.

POOF! – From Reuters:  "ROCHESTER N.Y. (Reuters) - Watch out Harry Potter, you are not the only wizard with an invisibility cloak.  Scientists at the University of Rochester have discovered a way to hide large objects from sight using inexpensive and readily available lenses, a technology that seems to have sprung from the pages of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter fantasy series.  Cloaking is the process by which an object becomes hidden from view, while everything else around the cloaked object appears undisturbed."  The White House is trying to apply the process to President Obama's record.

September 27, 2014       Permalink 

PETRAEUS JOINS "GROUND TROOPS NEEDED" SIDE – AT 11:12 A.M. ET:  Retired General and CIA Director David Petraeus has added his voice to those cautioning that ground troops will be needed to defeat ISIS.  Field Marshal of the United States and Chicago Barack Obama has already ruled out ground troops.  From Newsmax: 

The U.S.-led fight against Islamic State will take years and will need ground forces to succeed, retired General David Petraeus said.

“We’re talking about years, many years in the case of Syria,” Petraeus said today in a presentation to business executives at a Tokyo hotel. “What we’re doing right now is disrupting. We are gradually chipping away at the strength” of Islamic State, he said, adding that gains could not be sustained without ground forces.

“I do believe the Iraqis can be the ground forces that can deal with this over time, but again it will be months and years, not days or weeks,” he added.

A U.S.-led coalition extended a campaign of airstrikes against Islamic State from Iraq to Syria this week after the group seized control of parts of both countries and killed two U.S. journalists and a British aid worker. Obama told the UN General Assembly in a speech this week that extremists targeted by the strikes understand only “the language of force.”

Petraeus, 61, who also served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2011 to 2012 and is now chairman of KKR Global Institute, an investment management firm, compared the situation to attempts to gain control over al-Qaeda forces in western Pakistan. He said it was necessary to avoid any let-up in airstrikes.

“We have seen this elsewhere,” he said. “You have to keep on disrupting. If you let up the pressure, then al-Qaeda senior leadership will come back.”

COMMENT:  Petraeus has said he has confidence in the ultimate abilities of the Iraqi ground forces, but that confidence is not widely shared.  He also cautioned against overestimating ISIS (or ISIL, depending on who you talk to), and that is probably good advice.  They are not supermen. 

If Iraqi ground forces don't measure up, then what?  This administration provides no answer.

But everyone agrees that this fight will go on for years, contradicting Field Marshal Obama's assurance that all wars must end.  There's no God-given requirement that they end.  If we sustain our interest, we'll be militarily involved in the Mideast through several more presidential administrations.

Please note that we've been in Korea for 64 years, and in Europe for about 70, depending on how you measure it.

September 27, 2014        Permalink

NOTHING TO SEE, NOTHING TO SEE – AT 10:34 A.M. ET:  The cover-up by the soooo politically corrrect authorities has already begun.  From Fox: 

FBI officials are investigating a beheading at an Oklahoma food distribution center after co-workers said the suspect tried to convert them to Islam after his own recent conversion.

The suspect, Alton Nolen, 30, was recently fired from Vaughan Foods in Moore prior to Thursday’s attack. Moore Police Department Sgt. Jeremy Lewis told KFOR that Nolen drove to the front of the business and struck a vehicle before walking inside. He then attacked Colleen Hufford, 54, stabbing her several times before severing her head. He also stabbed another woman, 43-year-old Traci Johnson, at the plant.

Lewis said Mark Vaughan, the company’s chief operating officer and a reserve county deputy, shot Nolen as he was stabbing Johnson, who remains hospitalized in stable condition Friday.

“He’s a hero in this situation,” Lewis told the station. “It could have gotten a lot worse.”

Nolen was apparently attacking employees at random, authorities said. The motive for the attack is unclear, but FBI officials confirmed to Fox News that they were assisting the Moore Police Department in investigating Nolen's background and whether his recent conversion to Islam was somehow linked to the crime.

The police department issued a statement saying, "After conducting interviews with Nolen's co-workers, information was obtained that he recently started trying to convert several employees to the Muslim religion. Due to the manner of death and the initial statements of co-workers and other initial information, the Moore Police Department requested the assistance of the FBI in conducting a background investigation on Nolan."

Initial reports say Nolen shouted Islamic oaths during the attack.  Sounds like Fort Hood, where an attack by a clearly identified Muslim extremist is still being described as "workplace violence," even by our own Defense Department.  When you don't want to name the enemy, how can you effectively fight him?

Saad Mohammad, a spokesman for the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, told NewsOK.com that leaders of the society’s mosque are taking security precautions to protect Muslims who gather there from any potential retaliatory violence.

Mohammad said any anti-Muslim sentiments local residents might have could be heightened due to the beheadings and violence overseas by Islamic State militants.

“They have this ISIS thing on their minds and now this guy has brought it to America,” Mohammad told the website.

COMMENT:  Already the feds are downplaying the Islamic connection, although beheading isn't what we usually get in our pedestrian American murders.  The FBI seems to be playing deaf and dumb.

The feds take their lead from President Obama, who consistently plays down the threat from radical Islamists.  That's how we got to drag our feet in the Mideast, requiring the new strikes against ISIS. 

September 27, 2014       Permalink

ARKANSAS SENATE – AT 10:16 A.M. ET:  Every Senate race is critical.  Republicans have a chance to gain control of the U.S. Senate, but need six pickups to do so, assuming they hold all current Republican seats.  With Kansas incredibly slipping into the loss column as incumbent Republican Pat Roberts falls behind an independent, a gross gain of seven may be required.  And in Georgia, Republicans are not assured of holding on to the seat being vacated by Saxby Chambliss. 

There appears to be some tentative good news in Arkansas.  From Rasmussen:

Republican challenger Tom Cotton has pulled to his largest lead yet over Democratic incumbent Mark Pryor in Arkansas’ race for U.S. Senate.

Cotton now picks up 47% of the vote to Pryor’s 40% in the latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Arkansas Voters. Five percent (5%) like some other candidate in the race, while eight percent (8%) are undecided.

COMMENT:  Cotton has gained through ads suggesting that Pryor is a career politician and that his family has been on the public payroll too long. 

We are also seeing analyses pointing to the possibility that we won't know who controls the new Senate for weeks after the election.   Several states require a winner to have 50% of the vote or more.  If that doesn't happen on election day – and it may not when more than two candidates are running – a runoff must be held.  Look for that possibility in Georgia and in Louisiana.

September 27,  2014     Permalink

SEPTEMBER 26,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:52 P.M. ET: 

ANOTHER DAY IN AMERICA – From Powerline:  "Oklahoma got a dose of peace yesterday, when Alton Nolen, apparently a Muslim convert, beheaded a co-worker at the food company where he worked. He attacked a second woman and would have killed her too, except that the company’s COO has a gun and knows how to use it.  This could actually be a case of workplace violence, as the attack occurred immediately after Alton had been fired. (For what, has not been reported.) Nolen had a colorful criminal record, which makes one wonder how he got a job at all when millions are unemployed. Paul has written about the fact that the Obama/Holder Department of Justice has brought discrimination lawsuits against employers who use criminal history to screen prospective employees. Did a woman in Oklahoma lose her life because Eric Holder wouldn’t let her employer “discriminate” against violent criminals?"  Nothing to see, nothing to see.

LATEST CRIMINAL CONDUCT NEWS – From the College Fix:  "Examples of abuse listed on the University of Michigan’s domestic violence awareness website say 'sexual violence' includes 'withholding sex and affection' and 'discounting the partner’s feelings regarding sex' – definitions that have come under fire by some men’s rights activists.  The terms, found under the heading 'definitions' also suggest verbal or psychological abuse include: 'insulting the partner; ignoring the partner’s feelings; withholding approval as a form of punishment; yelling at the partner; labeling the partner with terms like crazy [and] stupid.'"  This is what is being taught to college students.  No wonder some employers say that many college graduates can't reason, think, or write.  Neither, apparently, can some of those who teach them.

BAD CHOICE – Colin Kahl, a former Georgetown professor, has been named national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden.  Kahl authored a report for containing, not preventing, a nuclear-armed Iran.  He's been cozy with elements of the Iranian lobby in Washington.  He was also for removing pro-Israel language from the Democratic platform of 2012, language that was later restored.  Some choice for Biden.  I guess he's not serious about running in 2016.

September 26, 2014       Permalink

WORRY IN EUROPE – AT 11:19 A.M. ET:  We're concerned here about America jihadists going to the Mideast to join terror groups, and returning, using their American passports, to do violence here.  But the situation in Europe is much, much worse, owing to decades of lax immigration policies and left-wing social philosophies.  Europe may pay the price.  From The Times of Israel: 

A major terror attack on European soil is practically inevitable as Western powers ramp up their assault on Jihadist fighters in Iraq and Syria, the Guardian reported Friday, citing an unnamed senior EU official.

The official said Europe was scrambling to deal with the threat of hundreds and possibly thousands of Islamist fighters returning to the European Union from combat in Iraq and Syria with plans to carry out large-scale attacks in the union.

“It is pre-programmed,” the official told the newspaper. “We have clear signals that this is what the foreign fighters are doing. This is the main threat we are facing.”

He added that EU leaders were “very aware and very frightened of this” and currently did not have an effective strategy in place to deal with the threat. “They all fear this could be totally out of control. It may already be too late.”

The EU’s anti-terrorism chief also warned Friday that Europe’s support for the aerial campaign against the Islamic State group would likely lead to attempts at retaliation by Muslim extremists.

“I think we have to acknowledge that it will,” Gilles de Kerchove told the BBC.

“That was clear with the French because three days ago (Islamic State) issued a statement saying there would be retaliation against the coalition. A French man was kidnapped in Algeria and he has been beheaded. So…sadly enough, they did what they announced.”

In addition to the threat posed by Islamic State itself, De Kerchove said the group’s burgeoning popularity among Muslim radicals could encourage other terror groups such as al-Qaeda to carry out attacks in order to prove their worth.

“The rise of (Islamic State) may prompt al-Qaeda to do something to show that it is still relevant,” he said.

De Kerchove said that over 3,000 European citizens have joined the ranks of the Islamic State group in the Middle East. The number, he said, included those who had gone to the region and returned, as well as those who had been killed in fighting.

Signs of rising terror threats against the US and its allies have been gathering in recent days.

COMMENT:  And to think, Obama came to office basically claiming that if he made some speeches, and waved his magic wand, all this would go away.  And plenty of people believed him.  Some probably still do.

September 26, 2014       Permalink

A WARNING – AT 10:58 A.M. ET:  Air traffic in the major hub of Chicago has been thoroughly disrupted by a fire, apparently started by an arsonist.  This is a good warning about how vulnerable the air system is to a single act.  You may be sure that our enemies are taking notes.  From CNN: 

CNN) -- Air travel for thousands of people across the country was thrown into disarray Friday morning after a fire closed a major Chicago-area air traffic control center that directs traffic across a large swath of the Midwest.

Mystery surrounded the interruption, as authorities reported not only that a fire closed the Federal Aviation Administration control center in Aurora, Illinois, but also that a man was found with self-inflicted wounds there.

Responders found a person suffering from cuts to at least one wrist, two law enforcement officials told CNN, citing initial reports from investigators. The person is being treated and questioned about the fire, which appears to have been intentionally set, the officials said. Investigators believe the person tried to commit suicide, the officials said.

The fire is not believed to be a terrorism act, Aurora Police Chief Greg Thomas told reporters. It appears to have been set by a contract employee, he said. Two people were injured: the male suffering from self-inflicted wounds and a man, 50, who was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, Thomas said.

COMMENT:  Sometimes the term "lone wolf" is ridiculed.  How much damage can one person do?  But, aside from immediate damage, and immediate casualties, a lone wolf can terrorize and cause massive disruptions.  The most important cost of the 9-11 attacks was, of course, the human cost.  But the economic loss to the United States was in the billions of dollars. 

The news reports I've monitored agree that this was most likely not a terrorist incident.  But it could have been.

September 26, 2014       Permalink

CHENEY IS RIGHT, AS USUAL – AT 9:50 A.M. ET:  President Obama's speech at the UN, some of which was weird, is eliciting some strong reactions.  Former Vice President Cheney nails it.  From The Hill:

Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday night blasted President Obama for invoking the Ferguson, Mo., police shooting during his speech in front of the United Nations General Assembly.

Cheney accused Obama of comparing the events in Ferguson to the actions of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

"I was stunned," Cheney said on Fox News. "I mean, in one case, you've got a police officer involved in a shooting. There may be questions about it. They'll be sorted out through the legal process.

There's no comparison to that with what ISIS is doing to thousands of people throughout the Middle East, with bloody beheadings of anybody they come in contact with. I mean, to compare the two as though somehow, there's moral equivalence there, is, I think, outrageous."

Obama invoked the police shooting in Ferguson of 18-year-old Michael Brown during a section of his speech calling for the Muslim world to focus on its potential and reject sectarianism and extremism.

Obama pushed back on critics who said the United States is an imperfect messenger. He welcomed international scrutiny, saying the United States is "willing to criticize ourselves when we fall short."

"In a summer marked by instability in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, I know the world also took notice of the small American city of Ferguson, Missouri, — where a young man was killed, and a community was divided," he said. "So, yes, we have our own racial and ethnic tensions. And like every country, we continually wrestle with how to reconcile the vast changes wrought by globalization and greater diversity with the traditions that we hold dear."

COMMENT:  Actually, it was one of Obama's better speeches.  But his problem, detected by Mr. Cheney, is one of proportion.  Ferguson does not equal ISIS.  They should not be used in the same sentence.  Obama still has this compulsion to drag our defects before the world.  Okay, he wants to show that we're "fair."  It's how you do it that counts.  If he wanted to bring up Ferguson, he might have pointed out that incidents like that are remarkably rare in a nation of 319 million people.  He might have noted that there'll now be a full investigation and a presentation to a grand jury.  He might have noted that a free press is watching.  Just mentioning "Ferguson" is not enough.

And...Obama might have mentioned that we must never allow the "Fergusons" to enhance the operation of racial agitators who care only about themselves.

September 26, 2014        Permalink

SAVAGERY – AT 8:45 A.M. ET:  A new example of the barbarism we're facing.  From Fox: 

BAGHDAD – Militants with the Islamic State group tortured and then publicly killed a human rights lawyer in the Iraqi city of Mosul after their self-proclaimed religious court ruled that she had abandoned Islam, the U.N. mission in Iraq said Thursday.

Gunmen with the group's newly declared police force seized Samira Salih al-Nuaimi last week in a northeastern district of the Mosul while she was home with her husband and three children, two people with direct knowledge of the incident told The Associated Press on Thursday. Al-Nuaimi was taken to a secret location. After about five days, the family was called by the morgue to retrieve her corpse, which bore signs of torture, the two people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fears for their safety.

According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, her arrest was allegedly connected to Facebook messages she posted that were critical of the militants' destruction of religious sites in Mosul. A statement by the U.N. on Thursday added that al-Nuaimi was tried in a so-called "Sharia court" for apostasy, after which she was tortured for five days before the militants sentenced her to "public execution." Her Facebook page appears to have been removed since her death.

"By torturing and executing a female human rights' lawyer and activist, defending in particular the civil and human rights of her fellow citizens in Mosul, ISIL continues to attest to its infamous nature, combining hatred, nihilism and savagery, as well as its total disregard of human decency," Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. envoy to Iraq, said in a statement, referring to the group by an acronym. The statement did not say how she was killed.

COMMENT:  We will now wait to see if any "women's" organization on the political left show the slightest interest in her case.  I doubt if they will.  Their silence regarding the stunning oppression of women in the Muslim world is an utter disgrace.  But the reality is that many groups claiming to represent women, or, for that matter, others, are morally and intellectually bankrupt.  They exist to advance themselves or the leftist agenda.  The real needs of women are far down the checklist. 

September 26,  2014     Permalink