Some consider the Nation’s Capital as “Fantasyland on the Potomac”. Other outsiders are “Fed Up” with the Federal City. It's better to consider D.C. as “the District of Calamity” (sic).
Despite the happy news reports from the Lamestream Media that the economy is on the mend and the end of the housing meltdown, a record number of Americans are on food stamps. In 2012, the federal government spent $74.6 billion on food stamps, which was increase of 70% from the amount spent prior to the 2008 downturn. Now 15% of the populace or 47.8 million people on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). *** In this artificially austere environment, the Obama Administration continues sharing the SNAP program for illegal aliens.
So a government that is so supposedly cash strapped that it is laying off air traffic controllers, government contractors and risking military readiness continues a campaign for what the politically correct Obama Administration (and the White House stenographers working for the Associated Press) would label "undocumented immigrants." Or as Jay Leno joked, "undocumented Democrats." ***
Rather than appealing to Mexicans, maybe we should target our advertising to give succor to Chavistas, as America is currently being run like a banana republic, albeit without the comfy upscale clothing.SEE MORE at DCBarroco.com
It is fascinating to witness how the gory details of the Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s capital murder case has made pro-choice people uncomfortable. The elite liberal media had to be shamed to cover the serial killing string infanticides of seven babies who were born but had their spinal cords “snipped” to “ensure fetal demise”. The New York Times, whose mast proclaims “All the News that is fit to print”, which tends to be the vanguard for the mainstream media (really the elite liberal media) stopped covering it because it had already published six articles. The New York Times’ editorial editor Andrew Rosenthal rationalized the Old Gray Lady’s lack of curiosity over the gruesome details of Gosnell by opining:
What does the trial of a Philadelphia doctor who is accused of performing illegal late-term abortions by inducing labor and then killing viable fetuses have to do with the debate over legal abortion?
That rhetorical question is easy to answer– it gives insights how some of our high ranking elected officials actually hold political positions which condone Gosnell’s acts of infanticide and how government officials and medical turn a blind eye to existing law protecting the newly born to ensure the viability of their perceived sacred right of abortion on demand. ***
Although this author is appalled by abortion, it is currently the law of the land with some caveats (like the 24 week rule, and Born Alive). But consider the appalling medical conditions described in the Gosnell trial, and the aforementioned Orlando abortion instance and the lack of regard for the Born Alive Protection Act. Does this type of treatment represent the sentiments which President Obama alluded to when quoting President Bill J. Clinton that “Abortion should be rare, safe and legal”.
***
If abortionists routinely skirt the law on infants born alive and give sub-par medical treatment to women wanting abortions on the cusp of legally recognized viability, then how does it bode for other medical treatment, especially under Obamacare?
Those who oppose abortion know that pro-choice people become uncomfortable when the ghastly facts about abortion as practice are exposed. That is why the Lamestream Media ignores cases like Gosnell and Hollywood stereotypes pro-lifers as hayseed, obsessed bitter clingers. But as we are all being fed into the machine of Obamacare, people should be fully cognizant how medical ethics are being skirted for profit and professional integrity as well as the ethics of removing the voice for the defenseless such as the unborn may soon imperil you.
The Space Shuttles were retired after 30 years of service in 2011. Since the surviving shuttles made their final trips to the District of Calamity (sic), New York City and Southern California to rest in museums, there have not been new sounds from the American Manned Space Program.
But NASA has released High Definition video footage taken from the point of view of a Solid Booster Rocket. The gauge in the upper right corner is the airspeed of the spacecraft.
What really makes this this film interesting is that the sound was remastered by Skywalker Sound. The video dramatically capture the release of a Solid Rocket Booster being released in the atmosphere at 150,000 feet falling to Earth. The high fidelity audio captures haunting moans and eerie rattling hints of a horror show. But Hollywood has molded us to believe that in space no one can hear you scream.
Some may be scandalized by comparing the unsavory actions of abortionist Kermit Gosnell and President Barack Obama. Yet the facts hold out that as a legislator in the Illinois Senate, Mr. Obama twice opposed the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act.
That if that fetus, or child, however you want to describe it, is now
outside of the mother's womb and the doctor continues to think that it's
non viable but there's lets say movement or some indication that
they're not just coming out limp and dead that in fact they would then
have to call in a second physician to monitor and check off and make
sure that this is not a live child that could be saved?
The salient point is that the requirement to have a second physician on call was an undue burden that would inhibit access to an abortion. Furthermore, Mr. Obama dismisses the notion that physicians would not attend to mistakes and have a fetus outside of the mother's womb that was viable.
Consider the gory facts exposed in the Gosnell capital murder case in Philadelphia. Abortionist Gosnell's special technique, which he instructed other unlicensed staff in his office to also perform, was to snip the spinal cord of a just born-alive child in an illegal late term abortion so that it "ensured fetal demise". Does that give Mr. Obama some cause for pause?
The media continues to ignore the inconsistencies in Obama's extreme abortion stance as well as the details of the Kermit Gosnell trial because facts challenging their secular shibboleths exposes the hypocrisy of doing everything "for the children" and exposes the callousness of their "choices". And to add insult to mortal injury, both Gosnell and Mr. Obama justify their actions to help the poor and marginalized, with little regard for the law, ethics, or the ultimate consequences.
It is amazing how Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's official story has changed about the Saudi so called student who was guarded as a person of interest before the Obama Administration dropped all concerns about an individual due to be deported as a terrorist.
In a fluid investigation of an atrocity like the Boston Marathon Bombing, it is understandable the investigators might have false leads. But it is curious how Napolitano's story has changed. On April 18th Big Sis sarcastically refused to answer any questions from Representative Jeff Duncan (R-SC 3rd) about any person in custody. Napolitano said on the record: :“I am unaware of anyone being deported for national security reasons
at all...again, I don’t think that he was
technically a person of interest or a suspect that was a wash”.
He was not on a watchlist. What happened is — this student was,
really when you back it out, he was in the wrong place at the wrong
time. He was never a subject. He was never even really a person of
interest. Because he was being interviewed, he was at that point put on a watchlist, and then when it was quickly determined he had nothing to do with the bombing, the watch listing status was removed..
Obviously, there was double speak from the Secretary in the DHS in that utterance as he was not on a watchlist before he was put on a watch list. And now the U.S. government officially does not know where this material witness to the Boston Bombing has gone.
Napolitano also relied on the student visa, where he was supposed to be a student at the University of Findley, except this foreign exchange student never showed up for classes in Northeast Ohio, yet managed to be front and center for the Boston Marathon when there was a terror attack. The government claims that the Saudi student transferred to Boston. The problem is that the University of Findley has no records of the transfer.
There continues to be a hub of strange activity about the Boston Marathon bombing, but the bizarreness continues to emanate from between the beltways in the District of Calamity. But if America is still has the rule of law instead of a rule of men, it might be woe for the most interesting Woman still in the Obama Cabinet.
As news of the death of longtime country star George Jones began to circulate, the aforementioned witticism was shared on social media. During his 69 year career in country music, Jones was renowned for his distinctive honky tonk phrasing and his hard-living lifestyle reputation. Jones was married twice before the age of 24 and had four marriages during his lifetime.
Jones' addition to alcohol was so intense that Jones' second wife Shirley Ann Corley hid the keys to their cars before leaving, knowing that her soused spouse would not walk eight miles to Beaumont to get more hooch. But Jones bragged in his autobiography "I Lived to Tell It All" (1997) that she failed to hide all the keys as she left the lawnmower key.
There, gleaming in the glow, was that ten-horsepower rotary engine
under a seat. A key glistening in the ignition. I imagine the top speed
for that old mower was five miles per hour. It might have taken an hour
and a half or more for me to get to the liquor store, but get there I
did.
Sadly, this was not a one off experience. Jones' third wife, country star Tammy Wynette recalled in her autobiography "Stand By Your Man" (1979)that she noticed that her husband was gone at 1 am. So she drove 10 miles to the nearest bar, only to find that Jones had driven his riding mower on the highway to get there. When Wynette arrived, Jones looked up and said: "Well, fellas, here she is now. My little wife, I told you she'd come after me."
In 1996, George Jones made a video of the Honky Tonk Song which parodied these instances of "John Deere" infamy.
Jones perpetuated this hard living mythos with his hit "If Drinking Doesn't Kill Me." Jones did not make light of his addition to cocaine.
Now that his inner demons have been quelled by shedding his mortal coil, may George Jones rest in peace.
The horrific testimony about Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell, who is being tried for
the murder of seven newborns and a Bhutanese female refuge after a botched abortion has shown that ideology isolates opinion on mass murder. While America is outraged over the cruel killing and maiming that the Boston Marathon Bombers inflicted, the media had to be shamed into briefly covering a doctor who's groundbreaking technique was to snip the spinal cords of infants after being born to "ensure fetal demise" and storing dozens on jars of dismembered body parts on shelves.
***
The lack of curiosity in the Lamestream Media over the testimony for the House of Horrors at 3801 Lancaster is understandable as political partisans who do not want the sacrament of abortion on demand to be endangered.
But even for those who fervently support the right of a mother to an unborn baby, they should be concerned at the basically unregulated health and sanitary conditions and disparate treatment of their desperate customers.
If the Lamestream Media would do its job, there would be little need to have a slew of summer Horror flicks as all one would need to do is review Gosnell trial coverage. However the elite liberal media reports on what it cares about, ignores the rest while disparaging journalists who do not follow the party line. For those who can stomach the gory details, it is worth watching the documentary 3801 Lancaster (2013) by director David Altrogge.
ANZAC Day is a national day of remembrance observed on April 25th in Australia and New Zealand to honor the fallen on the battlefield. Originally, the holiday was to recognize those who fought at Gallipoli against the Ottoman Empire in the Great War (a.k.a. World War I).
While the Gallipoli campaign failed to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul) after an eight month stalemate, but the allied troops from Down Under distinguished themselves. In fact, Turkish President Kemal Atatürk said of the opposing troops in 1934:
Those heroes that shed their blood
And lost their lives.
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.
Therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies
And the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side
Here in this country of ours.
You, the mothers,
Who sent their sons from far away countries
Wipe away your tears,
Your sons are now lying in our bosom
And are in peace
After having lost their lives on this land they have
Become our sons as well
The ANZAC Legend created a powerful legacy which shaped how Ozzies and Kiwi's saw their past and their understanding of the present.
br />
The tradition is to remember their valor to the sounds of a bugler playing the last post, reciting the final lines of Lawrence Binyon's poem "For the Fallen" (1914), also known as "Ode To Remembrance".
They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
While ANZAC Day is a solemn day of remembrance, surely the ANZAC Legend contributes to Australian and New Zealand good cheer, which should appreciate Charles Schultz world ending witticism .
Between the Lamestream Media reactions to Sandy Hook, the Pop Gun primary school suspension and the willful ignorance about the Dr. Kermit Gosnell slaughterhouse, it's no wonder that Mark Steyn thinks that America is doomed.
The media meme seemed to be be a casual linkage between Tax Day and Patriots Day to smear the Tea Party as violent right wing extremists.
But when the Democrat Senate failed to pass gun grabbing legislation, the designated message of the day was supposed to change to cover President Obama's temper tantrum in the Rose Garden. But Fox's "The Five" continued to explore the Lamestream Media's knee jerk reaction to blame right wingers.
.
So when it became clear that the Boston Marathon Bombing was not committed by angry white men, the media's myth was exploded. But it still had softened the battlefield so that Maret Tsarnaev could continue her campaign to insist that her terrorist nephews were innocent, despite the evidence
No wonder why Ruben Blades opined "I think that we risk being the best informed society that dies of ignorance."
After being Blinded with Science from the East Anglia hockey stick fixed data about the Climategate anthropogenic Global Warming, it is apropos to celebrate this years Earth Day with sardonic skepticism.
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s Aunt, Maret Tsarnaev, who lives in Ontario, Canada, gave a presser when Boston was on lock-down in pursuit of the fleeing terrorists. She insists that they are being framed.
Hearing that your kin has killed and crippled scores of innocent people at the Boston Marathon might not compute so it is somewhat understandable the Maret Tsamaev would proclaim her newphews innocence when besieged by the press. What is not as easily excused is seeking out the media to shill her fantastic viewpoint. On Saturday, the Blaze Radio Network’s Buck Sexton Show had an unprompted phone call from Maret Tsarnaev.
At first, it sounded as is Ms. Tsarnaev was extending an olive branch to those impacted by the atrocity. But shortly afterwards, she continued to peddle the narrative of “The boys were framed, there is no proof–you do the math.” While it is possible that this was a crank call, the grief in the woman’s voice along with the consistency of the denial made it less likely that it was a Howard Stern cohort or other crank yankers. Buck Sexton blazed with stinging impeachment of the Aunt’s proclamation of innocence, which he later seemed to regret, as he assumed that it was family still in denial. Granted, that is a charitable assessment but it begs the question of why such a person would seek out media and push crackpot conspiracy theories. It frankly sounds like a foundation is being laid for a “Loose Change” campaign which has persuaded a significant minority of people to believe that 9/11 was an inside job, despite all of the probative facts. SEE MORE at DCBarroco.com
One of the more striking images from the Boston Marathon bombing was a photograph of a ashen hued, gravely injured victim being wheeled away from the terror site.
Carlos Arredondo assisting Jeff Bauman, at Boston Marathon Bombing
[photo credit : Charles Crupa/ AP]
Jeff Bauman, Jr. is a 27 year old was waiting near the finish line to cheer on his girlfriend running in her first Boston Marathon. After the first explosion, Bauman had lost both legs below the calf and his shirt was on fire. The man in the cowboy hat, Carlos Arredondo, stopped distributing flags, jumped over the fence and ran toward the victims laying on the ground. Arredondo extinguished Bauman’s burning shirt with his hands, tore off a shirt to act as a tourniquet on a leg stump. Arredondo stayed with Bauman to comfort him until emergency workers reached the blast victim. Bauman had to be resurrected during surgery as he had almost exsanguinated. Unfortunately, both of Bauman’s legs had to be amputated. But while Bauman was still in intensive care on Tuesday under heavy sedation, he asked for paper and a writing utensil. The patient wrote “bag, saw the guy, looked write at me.” When Bauman was put in contact with the FBI, he was able to describe the bomber as wearing “cap, sun glasses and a black jacket over a hooded sweatshirt.” Bauman noted that he locked eyes with the terrorist who placed the backpack at the finish line. This description was enough for law enforcement to eventually identify Tamerlan Tsarnaev, suspect number 1. As news broke out that Bauman was instrumental in identifying one of the terrorists, bloggers began a crowd-funding campaign to cover Bauman's medical costs, which had raised $160,000 by Friday afternoon. In addition, Jeff Bauman was visited at Boston Medical Center on Thursday by Silver Lining Playbook star Bradley Cooper and New England Patriots Receiver Julius Edelman. The football player tweeted a photo with the Twitter message: 'Visited #survivor #stud #hero Jeffrey Bauman Jr. today. He was looking great and is a true inspiration. #strong'.
Jeff Bauman, Jr. being visited by Bradley Cooper and Julius Edelman [photo credit: @Edelman11/Twitter]
After the hub of strange activity around the Boston Bombing and the the bloody manhunt which shut down Beantown on Friday, it is good to give fanfare for the common men like Bauman and Arrendondo who facilitated the capture of the terrorist bombers. May there be more stories of heroics to bring ALL of the perpetrators of the Boston Marathon Bombing to justice.
One of the nicknames for the city of Boston is “The Hub” as Bostonians consider themselves living in “The Hub of the Universe”. Alas, after the Boston Marathon Bombing, it has become the hub of strange activity. The race of government investigators to find those responsible for exploding two IED bombs that currently have killed three people and severely injured at least 150 has been conducted over a strange path indeed. On the one hand, it is wise to remember in breaking news stories that initial reports are often wrong and the fog of war can obscure the truth. Yet on the other hand, the Fort Hood shootings and the Benghazi bungle has shown how the Obama Administration will consciously publicize false stories, obstruct the truth and deny responsibility when it comes to linking the White House to foreign inspired terrorism during President Obama’s watch. *** Yesterday was a strange day in the Lamestream Media. Major news organizations like CNN and Fox News were reporting at 1:30 EDT from tips from high placed police sources that a suspect in the Boston Bombings was going to be arrested. CNN’s John King reportage revealed that it was a “dark skinned man, but he did lingustical gymnastics so as not to report that he was foreign or a Muslim. The media expected a 1 PM FBI briefing on the impending arrest that was delayed five times then cancelled. It is strange that two prominent media sources were burned with this explosive information. But putting these strange events in the Hub can best be understood by breaking the Bostonian conceit that it is the Hub of the Universe. Events our nation's Capital, the District of Calamity (sic) may have severely impacted the Boston Bombing investigations. On Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry had a photo op scheduled with a Saudi counterpart. At the last minute, the meeting became a closed door meeting and the photo op was explained away as a scheduling mistake. It is strange that Foggy Bottom would have set up a photo op for a scheduling mistake. On Wednesday, President Barack Obama had an unscheduled meeting with the Saudi Ambassador. It was a “walk by” meeting, so as not to have it on the White House schedule. The procedure is for a lower level Executive Branch official to have a meeting with an open office door and the Chief Executive walks by and notices someone and then has a closed door meeting. What makes these instances of Executive Branch minutia relevant is how the story changed in Boston. Sudden, there was no suspect that was going to be arrested. In fact, the Saudi who had been a person of interest was suddenly slated to be deported.
This repatriation to the Saudi Arabia for 20-year-old Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi was being framed as being close to his family. But Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi comes from a prominent Saudi family which may be supporters of Wahabbism (the sect of Sunni Islam that inspires Al Qaeda). So the young Saudi with powder mark burns on his hands would be an embarrassment to the Saudi Kingdom and might cause a diplomatic fissure with the United States. ***
A hospitalized Abdul Rhaman Ali Albabi [photo: Okaz]
When Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi was considered a person of interest, an event file was created. According to ICE, the reason is under section 212 3B — “Security and related grounds” — “Terrorist activities”. Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi ‘s visa had been revoked and he had submitted to voluntary departure. But before these public papers were classified and he was quietly shuffled off to Saudi, The Blaze exposed the situation and officials are reconsidering their strategy. But the Saudi newspaper Okaz reports that the Saudi consulate has been assured that all Saudis have been cleared, including Alharabi and Nura Kahlid Saleh al-Ajaji *** So if the reports about the linkage with the Saudis and dark skinned males are accurate, it does not fit the narrative which the Obama Administration would approve. *** Before jumping to conclusions, it would be wise for the facts to shake out. Unfortunately, experience has taught that the Obama Administration and the compliant Lamestream Media are happy to shun inconvenient truths. And the hub of strange activity around the Boston Bombing has done nothing to dispel this perspective. Strange days indeed. SEE MORE at DCBarroco.com
Last Thursday, President Obama posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award, to Korean War Army Chaplain Emil Kapaun for his heroic bravery. It is sad to think so soon afterwards that we need to consider how the Department of Defense fervently seems to battle the military chaplaincy and traditional religiosity to evangelize for faith in politcal correctness. Recently, the U.S. Army proffered Equal Opportunity training for Pennsylvania Reserve Troops that included this helpful poster on “extremist groups”.
The Army presentation stipulates that extremism is a complex phenomenon present in many religions when "some followers that believe that their beliefs, customs and traditions are the only 'right way' and that all others are practicing their faith the 'wrong way,' seeing and believing that their faith/religion superior to all others." It is fascinating to see how Evangelical Christians, Orthodox Jews, Latter Day Saints (Mormons) and Catholics were lumped in with Al Quaeda (spelled incorrectly in official Army materials), the Ku Klux Klan and Hamas as dangerous extremist groups. And being leery of the spread of Sharia over secular democratic civil lawyer is also defined as a hate group "Islamophobia". The American Family Association postulates that the Army relied upon propaganda from the Southern Poverty Law Center to label Catholics and Evangelicals as extremist because of this scriptural stances considering homosexual relations sinful and opposing same-sex so called marriage. The danger of the state imposing laws for same sex marriage is that the force of government makes opposing views anathematic, even if it is a tradition that has ordered Western society for thousands of years and is deeply held spiritual beliefs. There is the fear that non-profits and churches which dissent from the state stampede of same sex marriage may lose their tax exempt status, especially based upon charters for many charity organizations which stipulate following the societal law. *** Lest anyone think that the PC DOD is all about hot button societal moral issues, consider the way the Obama Administration has used America’s military to advance his political agenda with little regard to national security.
***
It is frightening to think that as we live in an increasingly dangerous world that a PC DOD is more concerned about making political points that it is about defending our nations interests. If that is the case then it is not SNAFU but FUBAR.
It is worth noting on the day of former UK Prime Minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher's British state funeral that the Obama Administration sent a low level delegation of Republican former Secretaries of Stake, George Schultz and James Baker, ages 92 and 84 respectively, to represent the United States.
In sharp contrast, when socialist revolutionary dictator Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died in March 2013, the Obama Administration had the US Charges d'Affairs to Caracas as well as Congressman Gregory Meeks (D-NY 5th) and former U.S. Representative William Delahunt (D-MA 10th) representing the Obama Administration.
But this snub at Margaret Thatcher's funeral seems more ideologically driven. Rather than respect our Special Relationship will longtime ally Great Britain and recognize the first British woman prime minister, one who saved the free market in England, Obama sent aged Grand Old Party standees. Yet Mr. Obama had the temerity of sending active Obama Administration officials and a current congressional representative to a Chavista socialist who has caused much mischief in Mezo-America as well as among its neighbors in South America.
It tells you something more about socialism and the Obama Administration.
When President Barack Obama gave his Deficit Reduction speech in 2011, which scathingly condemned Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI 1st) blueprint to fiscal sanity through some budgetary belt tightening, one can only conclude that Obama’s answer is to tax the rich.
Since it is April 15th, the traditional tax filing deadline date, it is fitting to serenade the occasion with an apropos tune.
The original version of this George Harrison song was on Revolver, the Beatles'' 7th album, released in 1966. The song attacked the high level of progressive taxation in the United Kingdom under the leadership of Labor Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
