From Bobby's apparently well-stuffed-with-such-things email in-box (which therefore has no URL, causing the latest iteration of Penelope to think it's a duplicate:
Jun 13 at 11:45 AM
Organizing for Action
Robert --
Have you ever filled out a survey and just known that your thoughts were going straight into some black hole, never to be seen by another human being again?
Robert, this is not one of those surveys.
When OFA asks for your feedback, we pore over what you tell us, and we use it to guide this organization's strategy.
At the end of last year, supporters told us overwhelmingly that we should focus on health care reform and the big push to get Americans covered. Really? Supporters support you? Maybe you should widen your horizons.
That's exactly what we did -- as Carson likes to say, we went all in, putting as many resources as we could toward the tactics that worked best to get the word out about Obamacare.
I am too polite to say what I am thinking at this juncture...
I'm really glad we did. The successes of the health care law -- and the millions of people whose lives are better off today because of it -- are finally forcing the other side to come to terms with reality a little bit. But you guys have yet to come to terms with the reality - even a little bit - of those that are worse off, due to O'care.
They that are worse off deserve it for having been favoured before, I imagine.
But trust me -- there are still powerful interests focused on repeal. And there are plenty of other big fights ahead, such as going toe-to-toe with the polluters and dirty interests
... and always that Emmanuel Goldstein!
who are prepared to fight the President's climate plan tooth and nail. We want to raise the minimum wage, fight for equal pay for women,
...though not pay either ourselves,because since we are good, we needn't comply with laws meant for those who are not...
pass comprehensive immigration reform,
...more cheap lawncare and nannies and housekeepers for the deserving!
keep driving progress on marriage equality, and so much more.
But we're asking you.
So don't hold back -- tell us what you think. Fill out this quick, one-question survey right now:
http://my.barackobama.com/OFA-Summer-2014-Survey
Thanks,
Lindsay
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/14/2014 08:19 ||
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#1
They wanted me to give an amount higher than $3.00 and swear I was a good citizen. So forget it.
[DAWN] HOLD a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on National Security: check. Call a corps commanders conference: check. Set up an inquiry committee to investigate the recent Taliban attack on Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... airport: check.
With all the boxes ticked, the government can claim it has done all it could, and move on. For over two decades, successive governments have put this well-oiled procedure into action in the wake of every terrorist atrocity. But once the blood has dried and the headlines are forgotten, Pakistain sleepwalks to the next attack.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
06/14/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
I wonder if the writers of the 1975 Doctor Who episode "Genesis Of The Daleks" had the ISI in mind when they dreamed up Davros.
[BusinessInsider] By wanting to get out of Iraq for good, the [American] administration might have contributed to a situation that could have exactly the opposite result.
Posted by: Uncle Phester ||
06/14/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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#1
Yeah, the Americans were out maneuvered and the Iraqis/Iranians were laughing at them...
That's encouraging to know.
We REALLY are the laughing stock of the middle east, a region in which POWER and manliness are very important to good diplomacy.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
06/14/2014 0:15 Comments ||
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#2
Amateurs don't concern themselves with the long-term impacts of their actions. Short-term gratification and political goals are all that matter. I doubt Champ was seriously thinking he'd be re-elected anyway. Might as well leave the mess for the next poor bugger and set him up for failure.
#4
This bunch in Washington are like pampered, spoiled, children who toss their toys around, throw a tantrum and pound their fists and stamp their feet when they don't get their own way.
Please send some adults to DC to clean up this mess that has been created.
I've seen him have harsh words for "the neocons," but I've also seen him have harsh words for both Israel and those in America who support it unconditionally. As seen above.
Frankly, your insistance that there's no real difference at all between the conservatives here who oppose Obama's attempts to dismantle America and Israel and Obama himself reminds me strongly of what he's said in the past both in the quoted section and elsewhere about Israel's treatment of Palestinians and how Israel has often cut off its nose to spite its face. (As does your "what innocents?" performance from last night. Oh, and your comments on the Ted Cruz thread. Among many others.)
Rest assured, ISIS events in Syria and Iraq have been monitored and assessed for weeks and months by the U.S. Intelligence Community. A 'Strategic Surprise was most certainly averted. What may be at issue is the coordination or tacit approval of the Iranian el Quds as a Quick Reaction Force (QRF).
#1
But, but, but I thought the oceans were going to part, the country was going to be healed, and the world would respect us again with the election of the ONE.
If we are not careful the mistake is going to be repeated with Hildebeast. We will end up with another narcissistic incompetent. There's got to be someone out there who is not named Obama, Clinton, or Bush to run for President.
#2
Put a bunch of Lefty academics in charge and this is what you get. People who don't understand the real world, only one of a Marxist interpretation. It never dawns on them that the very premises of their belief system may be faulty. It's beyond their comprehension.
#6
Amateur hour was well coordinated. Keystone cops was a well rehearsed show. Obama is both, there are no hip shots here, he is deliberate and demanding. People underestimate him, he is doing exactly what he has set out to.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/14/2014 21:00 Comments ||
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#2
"...in the minds of the British Foreign Office, which carved it and other equally imaginary countries out of the rump of the Ottoman Empire after the First World War."
Political "Old School" said define your conquered enemies into ideologically-separated and easily-defeated strata (sound familiar?). As organized western religions were well past the Crusades, few, if any, political minds recognized the umbra of Islam as a supra-uniting ideology.
Muhammad seemed like "small ball" at the time, I'm sure.
Western democracies shall have to find the will to resist or shall die.
[Ynet] Analysis: Terrorist groups have high motivation for carrying out kidnappings; reconciliation feeds terrorism, which threatens unity.
While security officials have yet to confirm that three Israeli teens missing in the West Bank since Thursday night were in fact kidnapped by terrorists, all of the signals are suggesting that this is the unfortunate reality.
It can be assumed that Israel is in the midst of a planned kidnapping crisis - firstly because contact was lost with all three boys at once, and secondly because there was no police report of a crash or theft involving the vehicle that was found in flames.
In the last few days, security officials have received warnings of potential attacks, specifically kidnappings that could be motivated by several issues including the ongoing hunger strike of Paleostinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
With this initial evidence, the following facts must also be considered:
1. Terrorist organizations in Gazoo and in the West Bank, including Fatah, Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, and Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... , are involved in repeated attempts to kidnap Israeli soldiers or civilians, and Hamas has created special units in Gazoo that try to incite actions for the same purpose in Judea and Samaria.
Even prisoners in Israel and those who were released in the deal to bring Gilad Shalit home have been busy recently trying to initiate and direct kidnappings in order to trade Israelis for the release of more Paleostinian prisoners.
The deal for Shalit, which included the release of 1,027 terrorists, 470 of whom were considered "severe" murderers, created a lot of motivation to repeat the success, particularly within Hamas, but also with other organizations.
The kidnapping of Israelis for with the intention of bargaining for the release of prisoners is considered legitimate today by all the Paleostinian factions - including Abu Mazen's people.
At the moment, Hamas has much more motivation than before, to counter claims that it has abandoned the armed struggle against Israel and the fight for the release of prisoners in favor of a reconciliation with Abu Mazen that brings Hamas economic gains.
On the Paleostinian street, the kidnapping operation could restore the prestige of Hamas, or any other organization that may have carried it out.
2. The organizations that kidnap Israelis, whether in Gazoo or the West Bank, have gained a great deal experience in the strategies of the Shin Bet and the IDF. Therefore, they know how to blur the traces of a kidnapping with very great skill.
This fact is evident in the field. It can be seen by the way the network that kidnapped the boys on Thursday night operated under the radar and evaded Israeli detection measures in the area. Israel's unparalleled superiority in intelligence and military operations failed to thwart what can only be assumed to be an abduction.
It's reasonable to assume as well that information has been painstakingly collected by terrorist organizations for a long time on potential target areas and the station where the boys were hitchhiking may have been under observation.
Odds are the abduction was carried out by a large group of Death Eaters who needed to physically overcome three young men while assuring that no one was would catch them in the act and alert security forces or the residents of Gush Etzion.
What will happen now?
Firstly, an aggressive operation will be carried out by security forces in all of Judea and Samaria, particularly in the area where the Shin Bet and IDF suspect that the victims are located, alive or just maimed.
This dedicated operation is already well underway, collecting information and preventing potential movement by the kidnappers. Success hangs on the level of aggression and determination by security forces as they gather information by any and all means, including undercover agents.
Afterwards will undoubtedly come the moment when the kidnappers announce their demands and then will come the hour that will test the defense minister and the entire Israeli government. It will be up to them to decide whether they will act on the recommendations of the Shamgar Commission for Prisoner Releases, which were submitted to the government in January 2012 but only discussed in the security cabinet two weeks ago due to political pressure.
The committee, headed by former Supreme Court president Meir Shamgar, along with the participation of Professor Asa Kasher and former Defense Ministry director-general Maj. Gen. Amos Yaron, recommended that the government not release prisoners and that the defense minister be the one to manage this kind of scenario.
As far as the Paleostinian Authority is concerned, this is no doubt an extremely embarrassing event for Abu Mazen and as such PA officials must be believed when they say that their security forces are doing all they can to gather information on the kidnappers.
Politically, this is a strong blow for the president from Ramallah, and proof that Israel is correct in claming that the reconciliation between Hamas and Abbas only increased terrorist activity and defeats of the principle of unity.
[Ynet] Number of Israelis who believe in annexing settlement blocs is gradually surpassing number of Israelis who believe in peace with Abbas.
There was something quite odd about the Israeli attack on the United States following its de-facto recognition of the new government in Ramallah.
Washington cannot be more aggressive than us on such issues. When Jerusalem responds to Paleostinian Authority Chairman the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... ' recent deeds by virtually doing nothing, how can it complain about US President Barack Obama Republicans can come along for the ride, but they've got to sit in the back...
It's worth paying attention to the fact that the White House waited with its response to the establishment of the Fatah-Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, government until after the cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. The Americans wanted to see the size of the stick Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would wave at Abbas, and when they noticed the mere toothpick, they reached the conclusion that Jerusalem was also very close to recognizing this government.
Israel's statement that it would now see Abbas as responsible for the firing of Qassam rockets from Gazoo was not taken seriously by them -- and they were right not to take it seriously. After Israel has always made sure not to exact the price of Qassams from Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank... himself, it's unlikely that it will exact the price from Abbas of all people.
All signs points to the fact that the cabinet's decision to look into the proposal to annex the settlements blocs is not being taken seriously by the Americans either, but on this issue they are probably wrong. This is the only important decision made at the aforementioned cabinet meeting, mainly because of its symbolic aspect: For the first time since the annexation of the Golan Heights in 1981, the political echelon here decided to look into the option of annexing additional areas.
The bad word "annexation" is not so bad anymore. The third Netanyahu government is willing to finally take it out of its mouth. Only several weeks ago, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni announced that she would quit the government the moment it decided on any type of annexation, and now the lady is humbly accepting this quite unpleasant situation.
Of course no one is about to annex any bloc tomorrow morning, definitely not Netanyahu himself, but the opposition to the annexation is beginning to dwindle. The train of applying Israeli law in Judea and Samaria has left the station. It's safe to assume that more and more passengers will get on this train in the near future, because the demand for this destination is higher than people think.
The number of Israelis who believe in annexation is gradually surpassing the number of Israelis who believe in the possibility of peace with Abbas. When the PA chairman tightens his relations with Israel's haters in the Gazoo Strip, the people of Israel tighten their mental and legal relations with Gush Etzion and the surrounding areas.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[DAWN] HOLD a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on National Security: check. Call a corps commanders conference: check. Set up an inquiry committee to investigate the recent Taliban attack on 
I wonder if the writers of the 1975 Doctor Who episode "Genesis Of The Daleks" had the ISI in mind when they dreamed up Davros. 
