Political Digest for August 20, 2012

The Old Jarhead Blog: Bringing you news and information the MSM is too busy covering American Idol, celebrity affairs and sensational missing person cases to cover. Please forward to friends who need to be informed.

I am back in Illinois. Please resume your regular e-mail flow. ~Bob

Information on my books

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html

A Must-Read Book: America-Lite: How Imperial Academia Dismantled Our Culture (and Ushered In the Obamacrats). By David Gelernter

http://www.amazon.com/America-Lite-Imperial-Academia-Dismantled-Obamacrats/dp/1594036063/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345369236&sr=8-1&keywords=america+lite+david+gelernter

Safe to say that no Transnational Progressive (or, as Gelernter calls them, PORGIs—Post Religious, Globalist Intellectuals) will be caught dead reading this short book (160 pages) by a professor, which details how the “cultural” revolution created the Imperial University and is destroying America by destroying our culture—turning us into “America Lite,” a shallow representation of what was. That’s okay—his target audience is those of us who still believe that the American ideal is worth saving, who still care about the history and future of our country and who want to preserve it. The book is well-written and entertaining, but very important. Gelernter draws on many examples and historical details to put the modern, internationalist university on trial, and has a short formula for how those of us wishing to preserve America can work to do so. According to his Wikipedia entry, Gelernter is “is an artist, writer, and professor of computer science at Yale University. He is a former national fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and senior fellow in Jewish thought at the Shalem Center, and sat on the National Endowment for the Arts.” Also safe to say he’s probably not invited to all the best parties at the homes of “right-thinking” (read “Politically Correct”) people on campus! You will note that the reviews by readers on Amazon vary between those who deeply appreciated this book, and one-stars from outraged progressives, shocked that a professor and artist might challenge their belief system. Read the reviews—then read the book.

Worth Reading: Paul Greenberg: Ryan is a man of ideas who is clear about them
http://host.madison.com/news/opinion/column/guest/paul-greenberg-ryan-is-a-man-of-ideas-who-is/article_f63f4b14-e731-11e1-ad9a-001a4bcf887a.html?comment_form=true

Excerpt: This Mitt Romney means business, in more than one sense of the word. He has just chosen the most businesslike member of Congress as his running mate. Not only is Paul Ryan a serious man, a man of ideas, but he's had the courage to put them into specific form, complete with numbers and goals, and let the American people be the judge. And invite the opposition to take its best shot.

Worth Reading: Niall Ferguson: Obama’s Gotta Go: Why does Paul Ryan scare the president so much? Because Obama has broken his promises, and it’s clear that the GOP ticket’s path to prosperity is our only hope.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/08/19/niall-ferguson-on-why-barack-obama-needs-to-go.html

Excerpt: Yet the question confronting the country nearly four years later is not who was the better candidate four years ago. It is whether the winner has delivered on his promises. And the sad truth is that he has not. (Almost shocking that liberal magazine Newsweek will publish this devastating article about Obama. --GBH. Ferguson is a brilliant Scots historian at Harvard. His books such as Civilization, The World at War and The Ascent of Money are well worth reading. ~Bob)

Vandals destroy ‘Repeal Obama’ billboard in Sarasota just two days after it went up; reward offered for information

http://saintpetersblog.com/2012/08/vandals-destroy-repeal-obama-billboard-in-sarasota-just-two-days-after-it-went-up-reward-offered-for-information/

I suspect George Bush, because liberals assured us Bush was destroying constitutional rights like Freedom of Speech. Surely no liberal would do this... ~Bob.

Psychologists blacklist conservative colleagues: 'The more liberal respondents are, the more willing they are to discriminate'

http://www.wnd.com/2012/08/psychologists-blacklist-conservative-colleagues/

Excerpt: A recent study by Tilburg University is gaining attention for its stunning conclusion that among psychologists, conservatives have reason to fear negative consequences should their political beliefs be revealed. “In decisions ranging from paper reviews to hiring, many social and personality psychologists admit that they would discriminate against openly conservative colleagues,” the authors, Yoel Inbar and Joris Lammers, wrote. (Interesting and disappointing to see this, but not totally unexpected. Psychology is a field which automatically attracts those with higher IQs and a tendency towards careers in part in academia, and such a grouping is bound to be dominated by people tending more on the liberal side than the conservative. However, even I didn't expect it to be quite as bad as this report indicates. And this was not a report generated by some Far Right US investigators, these are Dutchmen, in Holland, a nation which itself is dominated by what we would call liberal thought. The note that 'The more liberal respondents are, the more willing they are to discriminate' is merely a confirmation of the idea that such individuals are dominated much more by their emotional centers than their rational one. Strong emotions lead people of any intelligence to flawed reasoning, or no reasoning, as is seen in many other instances. But this is the kind of thing that increases my concern for the future of Western Civilization. When a group as prominent and in many was as influential as this one is shown to be so heavily biased, that is a very bad thing for the future of the culture. It's perfectly fine for people to be liberal or conservative or libertarian or socialist or whatever- it IS a free country. What's not OK is for a very influential subgroup to be dominated so heavily by one school of thought (liberal OR conservative). Everybody is big on "diversity", and if that is to mean anything, it has to apply to important subgroups, whether psychologist or professors or lawyers, etc. But once a group becomes dominated by people who not only have a bias, but are happy, indeed eager, to apply it within the profession, that is a very bad thing. --Del. Progressives are for every type of diversity, except the one that matters--diversity of though. Liberal ain't what it once was. ~Bob.)

ATP Oil And Gas Files For Bankruptcy, CEO Blames Obama

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/atp-gas-and-energy-files-bankruptcy-ceo-blames-obama

Excerpt: Now that the "alternative energy" industry is in shambles following one after another solar company bankruptcy, as the realization that at current prices, alternative energy business models are still just too unsustainable, no matter how much public equity is pumped into them, more "traditional" companies have resumed circling the drain.

See No Jihad: U.S. Still Treating Fort Hood Jihadis as Criminals. By Robert Spencer

http://pjmedia.com/blog/see-no-jihad-u-s-still-treating-fort-hood-jihadis-as-criminals/

Excerpt: Fort Hood jihad mass murderer Major Nidal Malik Hasan was in the news again last week, when he was found in contempt of court for the third time and fined $3,000 for refusing to shave his beard. (He can afford it; he is still receiving his salary from the U.S. military.) ….Both cases demonstrate, in different ways, the abject failure of government and law enforcement officials to deal adequately with the challenge of Islamic jihad terrorism.

Getting Priorities Wrong in Egypt and Syria: Three Media Case Studies

by Barry Rubin

http://pjmedia.com/barryrubin/2012/08/15/getting-priorities-wrong-in-egypt-and-syria-three-media-case-studies/

Excerpt: Focus is everything — knowing what the central problem is, and dealing with it. Here I want to discuss three articles that I basically agree with to point out how they miss the key issue and thus are somewhat misleading. I’m glad to see these three articles being published, but it’s a case of — to quote Lenin — two steps forward, one step back.

The Islamization of Knowledge in the New Egypt. By Andrew C. McCarthy 

http://pjmedia.com/andrewmccarthy/2012/08/15/the-islamization-of-knowledge-in-the-new-egypt/

Excerpt: Well, when you’ve got totalitarian ambitions, and you’ve already started locking up dissenting journalists, what’s the next logical step? If you’re the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi, newly minted president of Egypt, it is obvious: start banning books.

The Biggest D.C. Spy Scandal You Haven’t Heard About (Part Two): The Pakistani spy who went undetected in D.C. for 20 years was deeply involved with U.S. Muslim Brotherhood front groups by Patrick Poole

http://pjmedia.com/blog/the-biggest-d-c-spy-scandal-you-havent-heard-about-part-two/?singlepage=true

…..Fai was not only supported by these Islamic organizations, he served in senior leadership of these very organizations, which the U.S. government continues to consult with to help shape our domestic and foreign policy. These very same organizations are welcomed into the halls of Congress, the White House, the State Department, and the Pentagon to this day. That’s the reason I believe the story of Ghulam Nabi Fai, the Kashmiri American Council, and the Pakistani ISI is the biggest D.C. spy scandal you’ve never heard about. (Reveals the Pakistan-Muslim Brotherhood-Al Qaeda-US ties. --Barb)

Arizona Gov Brewer Issues Executive Order Denying Illegal Immigrants Benefits

by Tony Lee

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/08/16/Arizona-Gov-Brewer-Issues-Executive-Order-Denying-Illegal-Immigrants-Benefits

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Wednesday issued an executive order instructing state agencies to deny benefits to illegal immigrants who get temporary work permits -- or amnesty -- under President Barack Obama’s executive action on illegal immigration. Wednesday was the first day young illegal immigrants could apply for amnesty and thousands lined up to do so across the country. Brewer’s order instructs state agencies to deny driver's licenses and other public benefits to those who get work permits under Obama's executive order. (Huh. Executive Orders cut both ways. ~Bob.)

Four star general’s lavish spending investigated

http://dailycaller.com/2012/08/16/four-star-generals-lavish-spending-investigated/#ixzz23j0fqiED

Excerpt: As Gen. William “Kip” Ward traveled around the world as the head of the military’s U.S. Africa Command, he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in excessive hotel costs and allowed unauthorized family members to travel on his government plane, according to a Pentagon investigation. Ward, the first head of Africa Command, is facing possible demotion for the alleged lavish spending, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is expected to make a decision on his fate before the end of the month, according to several defense officials.

The Voter ID Follies

http://justcommonsense-lostinamerica.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-voter-id-follies.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FMoXTa+%28Lost+in+America%29Excerpt: We've all seen that Democrats will curry favor with any interest group, perverted or otherwise, if there's a ghost of a chance to win a few votes. The Dems biggest voting blocks, and source of campaign revenue are the Trial Lawyers Association and a corrupt and inefficient National Teacher's Association. Now the Dems have teamed up for a big group cry over voter ID laws.

11-year-old girl arrested in Pakistan on charges of blasphemy

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-18/pakistan/33261206_1_blasphemy-law-shahbaz-bhatti-pakistan-minorities-alliance

Excerpt: An 11-year-old Christian girl has been arrested in Pakistani capital on a charge of blasphemy after she was accused of burning pages of the Quran, police said on Saturday. ... However, an NGO named 'Christians in Pakistan' reported on its website that the girl has 'Down Syndrome' and had been falsely accused of burning 10 pages of the Quran.