Happy New Year!

Serious Business

Yessir, we're real serious about this physical - er, fiscal cliff stuff! Serious! Attached is the executive order signed by President Obama increasing the pay of Federal employees, including the VP and members of Congress.

www.opm.gov/oca/compmemo/2012/2013PAY_Attach.pdf

God Arrives in Bethlehem

Christmas blessings to you and yours.

Post Tragedy Thoughts

The arguments about more gun control and other policy issues can wait until after Christmas. I hope both sides will back off and allow a decent interval before starting a strident public debate. There are some things, however, that should be said now.

First and foremost, my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of both the Connecticut and the Clackamas Town Center shootings. I cannot imagine your sadness and can only mourn with you and pray for God's peace in the days ahead. 

Secondly, it is this same world into which Christ was born. Our lives are lived out against a background that is both light and dark like a Rembrandt painting. The light will not disappear because God will continue turning the darkness into light. That is the real Good News of Christmas. Christ came into the world to do just that and His Word will not be defeated. We have a choice to cooperate with Him or sit it out.  Choose hope; choose real life!

Finally, let the light of Christmas flow into you and love your loved ones - don't get caught up in the commercial rush. Spend time, listen to them, love them - really love them.  That is ultimately what is lasting and not the trinkets that we exchange. Despite the abundant reasons for sadness, let the love overcome the darkness. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Advent: The Chain is Broken (Third Sunday)

We live in a horribly broken world that is growing worse every day. The unspeakable atrocities at Clackamas Town Square and in Connecticut are but the latest illustrations and on the world scene, they are mere blips when hundreds more are being cruelly slaughtered or persecuted each day elsewhere. It was no different in Mary's day. The Romans, the Assyrians, the Babylonians and many others killed slowly to set an example and sometimes just for sport. Darkness ruled but God's Word does not return to Him empty and He sent light into Mary's womb to overcome the darkness. There was finally hope and Mary responds with faith in her beautiful song to God, The Magnificat, which is recorded in these verses. She knew she was favored among all women, but so were we all. Blessed is He who fulfilled His promises of long ago in a humble young girl and brought a living Hope to the world. Luke 1:39-56

Clackamas Shooter in Draw Down

Here is a story that we haven't heard much about. Thanks KGW for getting it out.

The shooter's weapon jammed during his murderous rampage at Clackamas Town Center, but while he was trying to clear it, he looked up and saw 22-year old Nick Meli drawing down on him with a loaded pistol. Meli has a concealed weapon permit and had the shooter in his sights when he held fire because of the risk of hitting someone behind the assailant. Rather than holding his ground against an armed combatant, the shooter fled and apparently ended up in a dead-end corridor where he took his own life. Kudos to Meli, but one wonders if the outcome would have been different for the victims if 4-5 people drew down on this guy as he started shooting. 

www.kgw.com/news/Clackamas-man-armed-confronts-mall-shooter-183593571.html

(Tip o' the hat to Bill Brooks)

NDEs

Near Death Experiences. As a Christian, I certainly believe that death is not the end. It is nevertheless interesting to read first person stories of what the other side may look like. 

Dr. Mary Neal, an orthopedic surgeon describes her NDE in Chile during a whitewater kayak trip. As a general rule, in my experience surgeons are not given to flights of fancy and her account is no-nonsense. She concludes by saying that God is more than we can ever imagine. That statement I know to be true having caught glimpses of Him now and again. Whatever may come, because He is good, so too will we find heaven. 

www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/december-web-only/mary-neal-describes-her-visit-to-gates-of-heaven.html?order=&start=1

Obama's Private Swearing-In

Betcha didn't know that the President is having a private swearing-in ceremony at his second inauguration and the press isn't invited. There is some precedent in terms of a private swearing-in ceremony, Ronald Reagan for instance, but the press was there. Even Chuck Todd, NBC's White House correspondent, is dumbfounded:

" 'I'm stunned that this is even an issue; it boggles the mind," NBC News White House correspondent Chuck Todd told POLITICO. 'This is not their oath, this is the constitutional oath. It's not for them. It's for the public, the citizens of the United Sates. It just boggles the mind. How is this even a debate?' "

Chuck, Chuck, Chuck! How could you guys in the media have ever known Obama was like this? I mean just because he has always acted like Il Duce - who could have guessed that he would do something like this? I can hardly wait until the decrees start coming down. 

townhall.com/columnists/tonykatz/2012/12/11/obama-to-take-oath-in-private-because-its-none-of-your-business-thats-why-n1464446

Google's Fair Share

Google's folks heavily supported President Obama this last election. Yessir, they pay their fair share alright. Well, as it turns out, not so much. Can you say Bermuda? 

That's right - Bermuda with no corporate income tax! Google offshores money there and saves a boodle (technically billions) in taxes from both Europe and the U.S. by so doing. OK kids, do as I say and not as I do. Hypocrites.

www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-10/google-revenues-sheltered-in-no-tax-bermuda-soar-to-10-billion.html

Advent: The Door Opens (Second Sunday)

Gabriel opened the door and briefly paused at the portal peering into the gloom. His vision sharpened as he looked through the twilight for the person to whom he was to deliver the very special greetings from the Father Himself.  Gabriel's gaze settled on her walking through a small village and he quickly parted the veil and stepped on to earth appearing before Mary almost immediately. 

To Mary, it all came in a rush. Blinding light; a dazzling giant figure addressing her: "Most favored among women." She felt faint and terrified simultaneously. Just as suddenly, a warm wind blew, tousling her hair and a feeling of complete peace settled on her. Son of God. Me, Mary? How can this be? Let it be done. And it was.   Luke 1:26-38.

Remember Pearl Harbor

The 2012 Bullpucky Man of the Year

Like a lot of companies, Costco is paying out a huge dividend to its shareholders before December 31 to avoid the tax increase on dividends effective January 1. In fact, the company borrowed $3.5 billion to do this and dropped its credit rating as a result. Not like a lot of companies, co-founder and former CEO Jim Sinegal spoke at the Democratic Convention about how the rich need to step up and pay their "fair share" and show concern for the long term health of their companies and not be "reap and run" executives. Sinegal pocketed a cool $14 million in the dividend payout and saved himself $4M in taxes by doing it before December 31. Way to go Jim! And for that, you are the Bullpucky Man of the Year for 2012!

www.nbcnews.com/business/costco-spend-3-billion-special-dividend-1C7316258

Coulter's Apology

Confession is good for the soul and Ann Coulter is undoubtedly feeling a lot better today. She makes an apologia to young voters for thinking they were all Obama zombies. The Pew Research analysis that she highlights, though, is very disturbing and does not bode well for the future of this country. Thus saith Coulter:

" I apologize to America's young people, whose dashed dreams and dim employment prospects I had laughed at, believing these to be a direct result of their voting for Obama.

On closer examination, it turns out that young voters, aged 18-29, overwhelmingly supported Romney. But only the white ones.

According to Pew Research, 54 percent of white voters under 30 voted for Romney and only 41 percent for Obama. That's the same percentage Reagan got from the entire white population in 1980. Even the Lena Dunham demographic -- white women under 30 -- slightly favored Romney.

Reagan got just 43 percent of young voters in 1980 -- and that was when whites were 88 percent of the electorate. Only 58 percent of today's under-30 vote is white and it's shrinking daily.

What the youth vote shows is not that young people are nitwits who deserve lives of misery and joblessness, as I had previously believed, but that America is hitting the tipping point on our immigration policy."

townhall.com/columnists/anncoulter/2012/12/05/america_nears_el_tipping_pointo

Observation Point

Yesterday's Breakpoint column focused on Bob Welch, a talented writer that I really like, who makes his daily living as a sportswriter for the Eugene Register Guard and fulfills his calling by writing thoughtful novels about how Christ impacts the relationships of those closest to us. Welch says that, "Grace is the foundation of the Christian faith. Jesus' granting us grace by forgiving our sins flies in the face of virtually every other religion, which operates on a you-get-what-you-deserve basis. But Jesus says, in essence, you don't get what you deserve. You get what you don't deserve.” Christmas is the season commemorating the fullest expression of God's grace in the form of His son coming into the world - the substance of things long hoped for. That is something for which I am very, very thankful and is deserving of the grand celebration of Christmas. 

www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/20953

Get a Clue!

Which is precisely what John Boehner and Mitch McConnell have not managed to do. They have shown up for a nice cozy backroom, smoke-filled poker game with the Administration where you bluff, raise, draw, etc., you know, the game that Washington pols always play. Too bad Obama and his guys are out on the football field playing a football game with no opposition to the cheers of the media and the public. In consultant talk - the paradigm has changed. In real people talk: "Earth to Boehner and McConnell: the other team doesn't want to negotiate - they want to stomp you into the ground and be done with you!" Obama is campaigning and he will not stop until he reaches his goal of eliminating Republicans as a serious political force. Get in the real game or soon it will be too late and you will be sitting there wondering what happened!

Advent: Heaven is Stirring (First Sunday)

God has not spoken to his People, the Israelis, for 400 years. He starts to speak now. Heaven is stirring.

Luke 1:5-25

The Future of Aerial Combat

Look Ma, no hands! Well, at least no pilot on board. This is the Navy's new X-47B UCAV (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle) making it's first catapult launch. In the next few years this aircraft will probably be joining the fleet as an attack aircraft. It is very stealthy, has good range, and as you can see from the size, is able to carry a lot of ordinance. The pilots will be comfortably seated in a building  in Nevada with much of the mission on an auto-profile which the pilot can override at any time. Bad guys will not have a good day when these things arrive on the scene looking for trouble.

A Whole New Meaning for Harvard Crimson

Harvard and other Ivy League schools supposedly graduate the best and the brightest and many go on to top leadership posts in government and industry. The GIGO principle applies, however, and it looks the "GI" part is on the upswing at Harvard according to the blog College Insurrection:

"Because Orgasm Seminars are not enough. And Incest Fest is so yesterday. The logical next step was official recognition of a BDSM Club:
'It started last October with a meal in Currier dining hall with a handful of friends who shared something in common: an affinity for kinky sex.

More than a year after the group first began informally meeting over meals to discuss issues and topics relating to kinky sex, Harvard College Munch has grown from seven to about 20 members and is one of 15 student organization that will be approved by the Committee on Student Life this Friday.' "
collegeinsurrection.com/2012/11/harvard-approves-bdsm-club/

As I recall, The Germans from the 1930s were into this stuff. Yes indeed - here come the leaders of tomorrow! 

The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!

The thought that a few coal trains may roll through Oregon to one or more new coal export facilities on the Columbia River and/or Coos Bay throws the usual suspects into a tizzy.  You may have seen the letters to the editor proclaiming all the maladies that will afflict us if this happens. I say - "Bunk!"

This is an aerial shot of the Lambert's Point coal export facility in Norfolk, Virginia. It is the largest in the world.This facility exports coal in quantities that far exceed anything even dreamt of for the Columbia or Coos Bay. Dozens of trains move in and out of Lambert's Point every day. My wife's sister and her family lived just a few blocks north of Lambert's Point for 30 years with no ill effects. Their neighborhood was and is one of the more desirable areas of Norfolk. People are not dying of black lung in Norfolk, hollow-eyed children racked by coughing fits do not stare pitifully at you as you drive by. Indeed, this facility has helped the Norfolk area buck the national economic malaise because nations around the world still want to buy our coal. 

The Chicken Little stuff is getting real old. It is just bunk and it's about time that Oregonians recognize it for what it is and ignore these phony Jeremiahs. A few more trains per day may cause a slight inconvenience, but if the economy ever improves it could just as easily be freight trains with lumber - although come to think of it they will try to block those too. If Oregon ever wants to be anything other than an economic backwater, we are going to have to ignore these phony "doom and gloomers" and get back to business so that our children and grandchildren can afford to live in Oregon. 

Hitting .900 Ain't Bad!

The next time you hear someone - almost always a liberal - say that anti-missile defense doesn't work, show them this video. The Israeli "Iron Dome" system, developed with U.S. help, has worked well. Is it perfect? No. If we can take out 90% of incoming shots is it worth it? I think so. We also have theater and strategic anti-missile defense capabilities that are getting better every day. Look for President Obama to kill these programs. 

Who Needs 'Em?

I hope that your Thanksgiving was a good one and that you gave thanks to God for all the many blessings He bestowed this year. Interestingly, President Obama did not give God thanks even once in his official Thanksgiving message to the nation. A pity but understandable.
www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/11/22/For-Fourth-Straight-Year-Obama-Thanksgiving-Message-God

It also helps explain why he is trotting out once again a proposal to limit the charitable deduction (see blog 2/5/10) - he thinks the government should do it all and charitable organizations are just superfluous. The President's proposal is to limit anyone making over $250,000 to total deductions that do not exceed 28% of their gross income. Of course this has non-profits of all kinds hopping mad. philanthropy.com/article/Nonprofits-Oppose-Obama-Plan/130776/  Many donors who funded Obama's campaign are upset as well. dailycaller.com/2011/09/14/obama-alienates-wealthy-donors-with-plan-to-limit-charitable-tax-deductions/  None of this seems to bother Obama one whit and you have to ask - why? 

The answer I believe lies in the fact that the guy is a True Believer and now that he has won a second term he flat doesn't care who takes issue with him. In the previous go-around Congress made short shrift of the proposal to limit the charitable deduction as they faced reelection and didn't need this albatross around their necks. Hopefully it will do the same thing this time. Obama can be exceptionally stubborn when he thinks he is right and I think this will be a preview of how bi-partisanship will go during his second term, or rather not go. Not going is good for the country in that no new idiotic ideas will come to fruition, but it also means that the nation's enormous problems will march on and D.C. will do bupkis to address them. Well, elections have consequences and I hope that we will still have the option of trying to address them. That, however, remains to be seen. 

A Light is Come into the World

There are certain rhythms in life that one ignores at one's peril. Anyone who has traveled internationally and gone through the rigors of jet lag knows this - their Circadian rhythm has been disturbed. There are deeper rhythms, though, that God has placed in life to keep our lives oriented toward Him and one of these begins on December 2.

Advent is the preparation for God intervening in human history in a way so profound that we measure time as Before Christ and After (His) Death. If we look at the time that He came into the world, not a lot has changed. The Middle East was and is a mess. Man plotted and betrayed man; decadence ruled; nations went to war with each other; famine, disease, and all the sordidness of the human condition existed then just as it does now. God made an emphatic statement, however, in the person of Jesus, that this was not the way things were supposed to be and there was hope that God would do what mankind had been unable to do  for all the thousands of years of human history. For the first time there was really hope.

And there is hope still, which brings us back to Advent. The Hope of the World continues to shine despite all the efforts to erase Him for our collective consciousness. Advent is the annual reaffirmation to ourselves and to others that the Hope is still there and that He will straighten the world out some day in God's good time. Until then, keep the faith and remember the Advent season. 

Observation Point

Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in.
Aim at earth and you get neither.

                                                               C.S. Lewis

Wrong Gun

Did you know that women are the fastest growing group taking out concealed weapon permits? Here's why.

A woman and her 6-year old were walking their dog at the park when a man walked up, flashed them and suggested that she watch while he did lewd things with his "shooter." Unfortunately for him she was carrying a real shooter, a Ruger .380 pistol to be exact, and suggested that she was going to shoot off his package if he didn't immediately vamoose, which he did. 

Nicely done. Think about it ladies.

www.kgw.com/news/local/Flasher-flees-after-woman-pulls-gun-on-him-179658621.html

We're From the Government and ...

Social Security and Medicare have combined unfunded liabilities of $25 TRILLION and even this is probably understated. To put this number in perspective, the output of the entire U.S. economy for a whole year (GDP) is about $15 trillion. Congress and the White House have raided the Social Security and Medicare "trust finds" for decades and given them i.o.u.'s, which are worth about squat. Even so, the Feds are ringing up budget deficits in the general fund to the tune of $1.2 trillion per year. 

Having done such a stellar job across the board, they now want to grab your 401(K) accounts and other private retirement investment accounts and pour them into a "safe" government administered system. Translation: having burned through all their money, they now want to burn through all yours too. Two Federal agencies have held initial hearings to do just this. This is going to get ugly fast. 

www.nationalseniorscouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=89%3Aobama-begins-push-for-new-national-retirement-system&catid=34%3Asocial-security&Itemid=62

They Did It

Updating my blog from the other day about the union-caused trouble that Twinkies were in, the situation has now gone terminal. Hostess announced yesterday that it is shutting down because the 5,000 members of the bakers' union hadn't budged. Another 13,500 employees not affiliated with that union will also be terminated. 

It's a sad day in America. It's a sad day for the 13,500 Hostess employees who had nothing to do with this debacle. I hope the union guys enjoy their non-jobs. Oh that's right - they get 99 weeks of unemployment courtesy of Obama. Even so, I bet the bennies aren't as good. Enjoy.

finance.yahoo.com/news/18-500-workers-jobs-hostess-125500616.html

Obama Zombies

It is an understatement to say that I was disappointed in the election results.Pity parties aren't healthy, though, so it's important to understand what happened and adjust and adapt accordingly. In that regard, Daniel Henninger of the Wall Street Journal has the most interesting analysis that I have read so far.

There are a lot of theories and post postmortems floating around. For the record, I think Romney and Ryan did a good job with the campaign. Sure they could have done some things differently, but I think these are in the category of minor tweaks and changes of emphasis rather than fatal grand themes or blown strategic decisions. The GOP can also go after minority voters more enthusiastically, Hispanics in particular. What really happened, though, according to Henninger is a permanent campaign for re-election that never stopped after the first election and is anchored by young Obama zombies who are more like Communist youth workers than traditional political volunteers. 

They lived in swing states for 4 years and pushed Obama 24/7 with as many people as they could. I wouldn't be surprised if they had little red books and stood on street corners reading from them for Chairman O. Essentially it is morphing the "community organizer" into a permanent political organizer. This is, I fear, the new political paradigm to which Republicans are going to have to quickly adjust or continue losing a string of Presidential elections. We were all sick of the the election by the time November 6 rolled around, but we ain't seen nothing yet.

 online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323551004578117420761844996.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

WHAT???!!!

Have you ever gazed on something so lovely as these little pieces of sponge cake filled with white goo? Never mind that they are totally synthetic and have a half life of centuries - I love 'em! And now they are in danger of disappearing forever.

That's right. Hostess has filed bankruptcy and as part of the process received court permission to cut the wages of their union employees that were killing the company. The union's response was to go out on strike. With revenues dwindling, Hostess says that unless the union employees go back to work soon they will shut down and liquidate the assets. 

C'mon Mr. President - this is a true national emergency! Let those injunctions and back-to-work orders roll forth! The Twinkie must be saved!

www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/11/14/Unions-May-Kill-Off-The-Twinkie

Taking the Lid Off

Victor Davis Hanson takes at look at the garbage from the Obama Administration that is now coming out after the election is behind them. It should be an interesting second term.

townhall.com/columnists/victordavishanson/2012/11/14/oh_we_forgot_to_tell_you

What Are the Odds?

"According to one CBO analysis, U.S.-government spending is sustainable as long as the rest of the world is prepared to sink 19 percent of its GDP into U.S. Treasury debt." The Edge of the Abyss, Mark Steyn

www.nationalreview.com/articles/333116/edge-abyss-
mark-steyn

Always Faithful - Semper Fi

I'm tired of politics. I'm tired of politicians. This is a story about a real hero. 

A funeral was recently held in Yuma, Arizona for a Marine, Lt. Col. Chris "Otis" Raible. He was the commanding officer of the maintenance wing of VMA-211, a Marine air wing flying AV-8 Harriers. When Afghan insurgents penetrated their base and began blowing up aircraft and trying to get to the barracks where Marines were sleeping, Raible led his men with a pistol and counterattacked stopping the enemy before they could get there. The bravery of Raible and his men saved untold numbers of fellow Marines but cost him his life in the sharp firefight. 

Lt. Col. Raible - well done Marine. This is what the real America looks like. If we are to survive as a free nation it is men and women like this who will get the job done. 

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324439804578104850491484908.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

But I Voted for Obama!

There were 5 pages of upcoming layoff notices filed with the Feds today by major companies. Today's Best of the Web contained a tweet with excellent advice for the folks about to experience the joys of unemployment:

"Dear people being laid off today - it is day 1 of your new involuntary polysci/Econ class. Pay attention. There's a test in 4 years."--tweet, @pigwithwings, Nov. 8

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324439804578109051314776698.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_MIDDLETopOpinion

A Once Great Nation

Homecoming

On Sunday November 4, 2012, Lisa Harder, homecoming queen, (see blog 10/1/12) went home. Welcome home Lisa.

statesmanjournal.com/article/20121106/NEWS/311050044/West-Salem-student-who-spread-positive-messages-during-cancer-fight-dies?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home

President Romney's Foreign Policy To-Do List

This is a bit premature I realize but I wanted to get a jump on some important items that should be on incoming President Romney's to-do list. Take China and the Azores. 

What? Where the Sam Hill is the Azores? Well, it's a Portugese territory in the Atlantic 2,300 miles from New York and the site of a major U.S. air base. Unfortunately, the base is being discussed for closure and the Chinese are interested in buying rights to it from Portugal. 

Is anyone awake in D.C. any more when it comes to the geopolitical implications of decisions like this? There have been many times when various European governments have refused overflight permission, especially it involved Israel and the Middle East and this base (Lajes) was very useful.  The Chinese already run the Panama Canal because we bailed. Now they want a jumping off point for Europe and could effectively use it to block maritime access to a large area in the Atlantic, as well as destinations in the Middle East. 

Mitt - get somebody with half a brain on this ASAP!

www.nationalreview.com/articles/332454/red-flag-over-atlantic-gordon-g-chang

Vote!

NYC Marathon - Way to Finish!

The race was canceled and many runners did help in the recovery efforts in New York and New Jersey. Thank you for your decency and demonstrated compassion.

One by One

My wife Clover has been nominated for a second time for a Crystal Apple Award recognizing educational excellence. I am of course justly proud of her and have seen how many students and sometimes parents that she has positively affected over the years by being salt and light as a Christian in an often trying environment. There is no doubt in my mind that South Salem High School is a much better place because of her presence. She is not the only one.

I have also seen from our circle of friends how Barb Cameron and Kelly Jamieson have done the same thing in their Salem-Keizer classrooms, Marsha Lyons at Blanchet High School, and Peggy Ramsay at Salem Academy.  Although the venues are different, they have all poured themselves into children's live. In a lot of cases, what they have been and done are one of the few redeeming lights in these kid's lives. 

Thank you all for being salt and light. It is scary to think what this city would be like without your contributions bringing the redemptive work of Christ into the schools. 

Let Them Eat Sand

While 90-year olds on Staten Island are without heat, light, and food, Mayor Bloomberg is diverting the NYPD, other volunteers, and food and generators to the New York Marathon to be held this weekend. I am not surprised at Hizzonor. I am a little surprised that the runners did not cancel on their own and instead go out and work to help the victims of the hurricane. 

www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/11/01/Bloomberg-Diverts-Needed-Food-and-Generators-Away-From-Desperate-Staten-Island-to-NYC-Marathon

Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself

"This administration is an embarrassment on foreign policy and incompetent at best on the economy - though a more careful analysis shows what can only be a perverse and willful attempt to destroy our prosperity. Back in January 2008, Barack Obama told the editorial board of the San Francisco Chronicle that under his cap-and-trade plan, "If somebody wants to build a coal-fired power plant, they can. It's just that it will bankrupt them." He added, "Under my plan ... electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket." It was also in 2008 that Mr. Obama's future Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, famously said it would be necessary to "figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe" - $9 a gallon.

Yet the president now claims he's in favor of oil development and pipelines, taking credit for increased oil production on private lands where he's powerless to block it, after he halted the Keystone XL Pipeline and oversaw a 50 percent reduction in oil leases on public lands.

These behaviors go far beyond "spin." They amount to a pack of lies. To return to office a narcissistic amateur who seeks to ride this nation's economy and international esteem to oblivion, like Slim Pickens riding the nuclear bomb to its target at the end of the movie "Dr. Strangelove," would be disastrous.

Candidate Obama said if he couldn't fix the economy in four years, his would be a one-term presidency.

Mitt Romney is moral, capable and responsible man. Just this once, it's time to hold Barack Obama to his word. Maybe we can all do something about that, come Tuesday."

Las Vegas Review-Journal

townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2012/11/02/nevadas_largest_daily_newspaper_obama_unfit_to_serve

Signs that the Apocalypse is Upon Us

The Statesman Journal has endorsed Romney, The Oregonian declined to endorse anybody, and polling shows Romney within 5 points in Oregon. Oregon! I'm going outside to watch from the deck and see if the sky is opening up. 

Grilled or Fried?

I am not making this up. PETA wants Irvine, California to erect a highway memorial to hundreds of sea bass that were killed when the truck that they were riding to market crashed, spilling the poor unfortunate piscine citizens of the sea on to the roadway. After all, they are our brothers and sisters. Grilled with butter and lemon please.

www.ocregister.com/news/sign-376051-fish-letter.html

Save the Fish!

Taking fish oil for omega-3 fatty acids like I am? The AMA says based on a new large-scale study - don't bother. The new study throws cold water on the idea that taking these supplements does anything for you. Oh well, easy come; easy go. Now maybe the cod can live in peace.

health.lifegoesstrong.com/article/fish-oil-pills-dont-help-heart-health-study-says

Hope Denied

A new revelation on Libya - an AC-130 gunship was on station in Benghazi. Now it makes perfect sense that one of the CIA guys on the ground had a laser on the mortar crew that was targeting the CIA annex. He knew the aircraft was there and could probably even hear it circling overhead. Who said "stand down" and why?

www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2012/10/27/U-S-Had-Two-Drones-AC-130-Gunship-and-Targets-Painted-In-Benghazi-But-Obama-Didn-t-Pull-The-Trigger

They Left Our Guys to Die

I hope that the American people are paying attention, but I fear they are not, aided and abetted by the former mainstream media (FMSM) who are doing their best to bury this story.

Jennifer Griffin from Fox News/Washington Post broke the Libya story wide open yesterday with sources who were on the ground during the 7 HOUR attack. We learned that the secret CIA station a mile from the American Consulate heard the shooting and immediately sent a flash traffic message to headquarters and were then told twice to "stand down." We know that the two former Navy SEALS who were killed disobeyed these orders and went to the Consulate to help where they fought the attackers and successfully evacuated 30 people to the CIA facility. We know that the bad guys followed and they fought an extended battle for 5 hours or so, calling for military support multiple times, specifically AC-130 gunships. They were denied multiple times, even though we had these gunships 480 miles away on Sicily on standby. 

The Obama Administration let our guys die. They could have saved at least some of them by ordering our assets into the air and sorting things out in the 1-2 hours it would have taken them to arrive. Apparently this did not fit their campaign narrative that the bad guys were in retreat and was therefore very politically inconvenient. They would cover it later with references to videos as the cause or some other lame story. 

These leaks will continue and expand as to what actually happened. You are witnessing a full-blown mutiny from the military and the intelligence community at Obama's handling of this tragic affair. Essentially they are saying that if you think you can send us in harm's way and abandon us when things go in the tank; think again. 

Yesterday, a local TV reporter in Denver directly asked the President the question that the FMSM have refused to ask - did you ignore the cries for help from our people in Benghazi? The President said that this wasn't what this election was about and changed the subject. No Mr. President - this is what this election is all about. This is a shameful episode the likes of which I cannot remember in my lifetime. Americans do not abandon Americans. Never!

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2012/10/26/report_us_officials_denied_three_requests_for_reinforcements_during_benghazi_attack

All Hail Apple!

Here's a good one. A Canadian anthropologist says that Apple is now a religion complete with a messianic figure, sacred texts, and rituals. Who knew? I think it's a little over the top, but certainly gets the anthropologist recognition in and beyond her field. Well, excuse me - I have to go light the incense around my MacBook.

www.zdnet.com/anthropologist-confirms-apple-is-a-religion-7000006377/?s_cid=e589

Day Late and a Dollar Short

This is probably the "smoking gun" in the whole Libya mess. If there was a drone overhead in Benghazi, and I suspect there was, then Washington had real-time coverage of the attack. This report says that it took 7 hours for the attack to finish, more than enough time to send in the commando team. The key question is why wasn't it done? I suspect that the answer will wreck two political careers - Obama's and Hillary's. I just hope that the truth comes out before the election. N.B. - Bill Clinton hasn't said bupkis about this, which may well speak just as loudly as his normal overwhelming volume.

www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57539738/u.s-military-poised-for-rescue-in-benghazi/?tag=AverageHero;leadHed

Navy Cutbacks - Part Deux

As a follow-up to my earlier post, here is a story that goes into more depth on just what the Obama Administration is forcing the Navy to decommission. The ships include the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and 6 Ticonderoga-class cruisers. All of them still have years left on their useful service lives. All are important to U.S. force projection. The Big E is one of those "ships that can land planes on their decks" that Obama was sneering about to Romney. The cruisers direct fleet air and submarine defense and can track 1000 targets in a radius of 250+ miles. Without them the vulnerability of our carriers goes up geometrically, as does the inability of this nation to deal with threats wherever they arise. We are not going to have the time to ramp up ships if things go in the dumper. I am all for walking softly, but I darn sure want to carry the biggest stick possible. This must stop.

www.nationalreview.com/articles/331448/obama-s-unready-navy-harold-hutchison

A Well Deserved Nobel Prize

Dr. Shinya Yamanaka just won the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for his pioneering work in stem cell research. He discovered a way to take adult skin cells and genetically alter them so they were identical to embryonic stem cells. It is his motivation that is moving. He was looking at human embryos at a friend's lab and realized that there was little difference between them and his own daughters. This inspired his research to find an adult stem cell source that could take the place of embryonic stem cells in scientific research. Adult stem cells are easily obtainable and his work has made the whole battle over destroying embryos for this purpose completely moot. Thank you Lord and thank you Dr. Yamanaka.

www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/20593

The Fleet of 1917

In the last Presidential debate, Mitt Romney was justifiably concerned that the U.S. Navy in the next few years will have the fewest number of ships in its fleet since 1917. This drew a snarky response from President Obama that Mitt hadn't kept up on things like planes landing on the deck of ships and vessels that go underwater. Snark all you want, but our attack carriers have been cut back already and if you don't have enough well-equipped destroyers to screen them, then the "vessels that can submerge" will sink the carriers at will. There are some other facts that people should know about why we need a sizeable and modern Navy.

Did you know that much of the world's internet traffic funnels through a couple of ocean choke points? Much of the world's oil and trade do likewise. Since these are all at sea, it takes a robust Navy to keep them open in the face of an unfriendly nation intent on doing the U.S. - or much of the rest of the world - harm. It's too bad Mitt didn't throw this right back in Obama's face and outline the strategic reasons a weak Navy endangers the U.S. I am quite sure that Obama would not have been prepared to participate in such a discussion. Somebody needs to, and soon.

townhall.com/columnists/austinbay/2012/10/24/barack_and_mitt_the_war_for_the_us_navy_has_just_begun

Debate: I Did Not Apologize to That Man