For Darrik

One of my cousins lost a stepson in the Chinook that went down.

The U.S. military said one civilian interpreter and seven Afghan commandos also died in the crash of the Chinook CH-47 chopper. The military believes the Chinook was shot down by insurgents, perhaps by a rocket-propelled grenade. The team was carrying out another night raid against the Taliban in Wardak province southwest of Kabul.

The attack and the losses are a reminder of the extraordinary risks our soldiers take with every mission in that war zone. The Taliban can't defeat U.S. troops, especially our special forces, in head-on clashes. But they can kill and maim with roadside bombs and every so often by getting lucky with a shot at a helicopter.

President Obama hailed the sacrifice of these troops in remarks Saturday, but he also has an obligation to make sure our forces aren't drawn down too quickly in a way that exposes them to greater risks. Amid the bad economic news and the budding Presidential campaign, the rest of us should find a moment to remember and be grateful for the bravery of those 30 soldiers and their families.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904140604576494673484617118.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_AboveLEFTTop

Citizens, Not Victims

AUGUST 8, 2011 12:00 A.M. Citizens, Not Victims Why aren’t voters moving to the left, toward parties favoring bigger government, during what increasingly looks like an economic depression? That’s a question I’ve asked and one that was addressed with characteristic thoughtfulness by Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg in the New York Times last week. Greenberg argues that voters agree with Democrats on issues but don’t back them on policy, because they don’t trust government to carry it out fairly. I think he overstates their agreements on policies: They may favor “investment in education” until they figure out that it actually means political payoffs to teachers’ unions. But his larger point rings true. He points out that “the growth of self-identified conservatives” began during the fall 2008 debate over the TARP legislation supported by George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and John McCain. The voters’ take: “Government works for the irresponsible, not the responsible.” I think the larger mistake the Obama Democrats have made is that they suppose ordinary voters want government to channel more money in their direction. But ordinary Americans don’t want money as much as they want honor. They want what the chance to achieve what American Enterprise Institute president Arthur Brooks calls “earned success.”

"Welfare State is unsustainable"

ANTICIPATING THE COMING CONVULSIONS as the welfare state dies. Both here and in Europe. It’s never pretty when they run out of other people’s money. “The problem with the Tea Party is not what it does – at best, right now, it can only make a moral and political case; it does not have the numbers to make anything happen without non-Tea Partiers joining it. The problem with the Tea Partiers, in the eyes of the liberal establishment and the pet moderate GOP enablers, is that it dares to point out the indisputable truth that must be hidden at all costs: That the social welfare state is unsustainable and will collapse.”

Priorities

Dow Dives 600 Points, Obama Hits Fundraiser

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Obama Main Attraction at Fundraisers Monday Night

Read more: http://nation.foxnews.com/president-obama/2011/08/08/obama-talks-dow-drops#ixzz1UThn1fHq

No wonder the markets tanked. He won't even recognize reality.

 “We’ve always been, and always will be, a AAA country”

Denial.

London RIots. Police lose control due to PC.

 

Prime Minister to return to Britain overnight as widespread riots grip London and buildings burn out of control.

Riots: why did the police lose control?

 

Police have become so sensitive to the issue of race that it is impairing their ability to do the job, argues

We need more of this. We need to bring spending down and abuse and cheaters are a no brainer.

30,000 college students kicked out of food aid program in Michigan

State's new eligibility rules to save $75M; more students got aid than thought

Paul Egan/ Detroit News Lansing Bureau

Lansing — Michigan has removed about 30,000 college students from its food stamp program — close to double the initial estimate — saving about $75 million a year, says Human Services Director Maura Corrigan.

Federal rules don't allow most college students to collect food stamps, but Michigan had created its own rules that made nearly all students eligible, said Brian Rooney, Corrigan's deputy director. As a result, the number of Michigan college students on this form of welfare made the state a national leader. For example, Michigan had 10 times the number of students on food stamps as either Illinois or California, Rooney said.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110808/POLITICS02/108080356/30-000-college-students-kicked-out-of-food-aid-program-in-Michigan#ixzz1UTTjAJsJ

The unemployment rate when Obama was elected.

November 2008 Monthly Unemployment Rate at 15-Year High - Chart of ...

U.S. Labor Department released monthly unemployment data for November 2008 and it’s not a pretty picture: the monthly unemployment rate reached a 15-year high of 6.7%

A message to North Korea and Iran?

Biggest Bunker Buster Ever Is In Production

August 8, 2011: After nearly a decade of development, the U.S. Air Force has ordered eight MOP (massive ordnance penetrator) GBU-57A/B bunker buster bombs. These 14 ton weapons cost $3.5 million each. In the last few years, several B-2 bombers have been equipped to carry these weapons (two bombs per B-2). This was apparently meant to send a message to Iran and North Korea. There were no known targets for such a weapon in Iraq or Afghanistan, but there are plenty of such targets in Iran and North Korea. Moreover, even were there deep bunkers in Iraq or Afghanistan, you didn't need a stealth bomber to deliver a MOP. The enemy in those countries have no way of detecting a high flying B-52, much less a stealthy B-2.

Boys and Bears

The boy Horatio

We heard about this story, but were reluctant to post about it. Now, however, the parents of the boy Horatio have said what we were thinking.

As you have probably heard, Horatio was a schoolboy who hoped to be a doctor. With two other boyshe was attacked by a polar bear, interested in them as prey, in his tent in Norway.

For some reason, the trip wire of explosives, which should have alerted them of an intrusion, did not function. No watches or dogs had been posted.

Two other boys and two adult leaders were badly injured before one of them, Mike Reid, "managed to grab a rifle the group carried for protection from another member of the group" and kill the bear with a shot to his head. Update: Reid managed to make the gun work after it had failed to fire four times.

Horatio died of his wounds.

In their statement, Horatio's parents "also pointed out the irony of their son's death, in that Horatio Nelson, after whom he was named, had also had an encounter with a polar bear on Spitsbergen, an island in the Svalbard archipelago, while on an expedition there as a teenager, in 1773".

We have written about young Horatio Nelson's encounter. In a painting depicting the scene, Horatio is holding a rifle. (Since he knew how to use it, presumably he turned it right way round.)

Young Brits once knew how to use rifles - competently and safely. They had working guns, too.

The young Brits who survived unscathed managed to administer life-saving emergency aid to two badly wounded young men and their two leaders.

Horatio Nelson could have done that, but only modern medicine, to which Brits have made so many contributions, could save them.

Why does theLeft fear the Tea Party? Substitute Americans for Tea Party and you will understand

BLAZE ORIGINAL VIDEOObama‘s Union Buddy Trumka Says Tea Party Is Actually Trying to Destroy America’s Government and That Is Super Hard for the President to Deal With

 

US

This is the guy that called Bush a nazi? Welcome to the hard Left.

Michael Moore to Obama: 'Show some guts,' arrest S&P head...

They don't believe him

Obama Talks, Dow Drops

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FNC/AP

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14451687#ixzz1UTKupfZ3

Ouch!

DOW10809.85-634.76-5.55%
NASDAQ2357.69-174.72-6.9%
S&P 5001119.46

From Dr. Y

Actually the tea part types should be all in favor of this -- it will keep down the number of abortions which they usually abhor. In addition, generic birth control is a light years cheaper than paying for the birth and maintenance of a child for the next 18 years. This is a huge step forward in saving money in health care. No one says you have to use it....

By strattye on Why are we paying for birth control for all women?... at 2:25 AM

Original posting

SUNDAY, AUGUST 7, 2011

Why are we paying for birth control for all women? Did Obama just miss the last month in DC? Has he heard of Standard & Poor?

FREE BIRTH CONTROL: ONE SMALL STEP FOR FEMINISTS; ONE GIANT ATTACK ON THE CONSUMER’S POCKETBOOK

by Danielle Saul

Earlier this week the Obama administration announced that health insurance plans must now be extended to include birth control without copay. These new guidelines for women’s health also include breast pumps, regular “well woman” visits, counseling about HIV and sexually transmitted infections, screening for gestational diabetes, domestic violence counseling and screening, in addition to several other services. For the most part, these new requirements will take effect Jan. 1, 2013.

Space Art

Bob Eggleton
Eggleton is widely recognized for his beautifully detailed space art, and is a highly acclaimed scifi, fantasy, and horror artist. He has also had a hand at film concept work on movies like Jimmy Neutron and The Ant Bully, and sells artwork through his pages on Nova Space Art (here, here, and here), as well as his personal "Art du Jour" blog; you'll find prints and the like on Nova Space Art, and everything from painting to chalk pieces on his blog.

I put this under the heading of "those uppity blacks won't stay on the plantation." Libs think that Blacks, because they vote Dem, should embrace all of the left's causes. Personally, drive what you want.

I FEEL GASSY

BY CHARING BALLAUG 8, 2011 12:00 PM

8,294 167

Why aren’t black people driving electric cars?

Here is something you will not hear come out of a black person's mouth: "That 2012 Toyota Prius? I need that." I hate to generalize but think about it, when was the last time you heard any one of your black friends hype up a Prius, a Nissan Leaf or any other environmental-safe automobile? You haven't.

It is hard not to read into this

The tall and the short of it: Shaquille O'Neal and Nicole Alexander stepped out to go shopping in Calabasas, California

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2023772/A-pair-2ft-heels-fix-problem--Shaquille-ONeal-tiny-Nicole-Hoopz-Alexander-struggle-share-kiss.html#ixzz1UStpKZyq

Sounds so easy

What can the government do to promote real job growth? Quite simply, get out of the way.

The Left is having buyer's remorse

HILLARY TOLD YOU SO: As Democratic disgust with Obama’s debt fumbling spreads, Clinton supporters recall her ’3 a.m. phone call’ warnings—and angry, frustrated liberals are muttering that she should mount a 2012 challenge.

As the DailyBrisk pointed out last week, the jobs numbers are not as good as the press makes them.

SCARY JOB NUMBERS:

The White House and much of the chattering class cooed on Friday when unemployment dropped to 9.1 percent and 117,000 jobs were reportedly created in July. But these numbers, upon closer inspection, show no progress on the jobs front.

Buried in the job stats was a number — 193,000 — that dwarfed all the rest. That is the number of workers who left the job market. If 193,000 left and only 117,000 jobs were added, we lost 76,000 jobs. Moreover, this is not an aberration.

This afternoon's headlines

S&P EXPANDS DOWNGRADES TO FANNIE MAE, FREDDIE MAC, OTHERS...
ARE STATES NEXT?

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Obama campaign blames Tea Party for downgrade...
Barney Frank blames military...

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US to announce $100m in new aid for Somalia...