Wednesday, August 26, 2015

The Vicious ISIS Movement is Protected By Political Correctness

BALTIMORE, Maryland August 25, 2015 - In the 6th century Christians built a monastery at Qaryatain in Syria.  Some 300 years before the building began, St. Elian was martyred in the same location.  In the monastery are, actually were, frescoes.  They are among the oldest of all Christian Frescoes and are the oldest in Syria.  Now, the hounddogs that are ISIS have raised the monastery.  Our allegedly Christian president sits back, golfing with the rich, and otherwise doing nothing as tens of thousands of Christians are slaughtered.

Let that thought swish around in your being for a bit.  Tens of thousand of innocent Christians are slaughtered by the dogs of ISIS, brazenly, and we raise not so much as a wimper.  Do we acquiesce so timidly and with such cowardice?  Where are the leaders?  Has the Holy Father spoken out?  I know he has said a few things, but I believe in my heart that he should do more?  What about leaders other than Obama?  Do they not understand the horrific slaughter we are witness to?  Where are their objections to the west's inaction?  What about the Rev. Welby, current Archbishop of Canterbury and head the Anglican Church?  We could go on, because if the truth be known, no Christian leader has expressed the kind of vicarious outrage that seems appropriate.  

It was revealed recently that an American citizen, Kayla Muellar, was held captive, repeatedly raped and tortured and then murdered by the leader of ISIS.  The Guardian in London reported that, "the late American hostage Kayla Mueller was repeatedly raped by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group, US officials have said."  

To be honest, this is starting to compare in the shear violence and debauchery of the events to Peart Harbor.  And yet, here in these United States, the sickness of political correctness lead ESPN's leaders to pull Curt Schilling off of his job at the Little League World Series because he Tweeted something to the effect that ISIS ia comparable to the Nazi movement.  The ESPN people have succumbed to the kind of mind-numb cowardice that has infected all of the western world, and they took their illness out on a man who had the courage to speak out against the terror of ISIS.  ISIS is every bit as bad as the Nazi slop, and they're still warming up.

Some short-sighted folk recoil at anything Glen Beck is involved in.  They will be the ones not reading Mr Beck's latest book on what the Islamic Faith stands for.  The lads at ESPN may want to hold someone's hand when they open that book up.  It is scary.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Mainstream Media Fire Panic-Stricken Fuselade at All Things and Anything Connected WithTrump; Down-Bound Stocks Get a Hand-Hold in Their Free Fall, Rebound Gets Going; Burnley Shakes Off Blues, Stops Brentford to Gain Three Points; Scripture From St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians; Comments on Truth and Humility by St. Bernard of Clairvaux; Poetry by John Cleveland

BALTIMORE, Maryland August 24, 2015 - Over this past weekend, the New York Times and CNN led an illustrious but embarassing parade of pernicious media folk hell-bent on trashing Donald Trump as the GOP frontrunner stormed into Mobile, Alabama to speak to a throng of people gathered at the football stadium at South Alabama University.  Law Enforcement spokespeople said that some 30,000 people were in the facility, impressive when you consider that the election for President is still 15 months away.  The figure is also impressive when you realize that the event was originally scheduled at a Hotel Conference Room.  When tickets for that venue flew out the window, Trump's folk moved it to a convention center.  Even that wasn't enough, and at the last Mr. Trump's planned remarks were re-located to the football stadium.

Leave it to CNN and the New York Times to yellow-up these facts.  CNN's stunt was so slimy it made me wash my hands (no hand-sanitizer would begin to handle this goo).  Early in the evening the CNN camera crew on site took pictures of the venue as it began - began! - to fill.  Even when the University of Michigan's legendary football stadium (it seats well over 100,000) is sold out, there is a point when only 10,000 are inside.  Anyway, CNN makes all of these pictures of the South Alabama stadium with 10,000 people inside.  Then, later, the CNN reporter continually says that only 10,000 people are at the speech, and viewers are shown pictures of the stadium with 10,000 people inside, the same ones they made when only 10,000 people were there.  The folk at Pravda would be proud.  And then the CNN dogs wonder why no one watches their awful channel.  The New York Times was almost as bad.  They underestimated the crowd at 20,000, and captioned their coverage with the headline "Trump fails to fill stadium.'  Now, you know and I know that Hilary was not filling college lecture halls at some of her awful events, but in the minds of the New York Times, it is news that 15 months prior to an election, a hurriedly planned speech by a northerner only drew 30,000.  To me, an even bigger and much more profound question is what kind of depraved mind (or, in this case, minds) believe that electing Hilary president is anything but the worst kind of debauchery.  Think about it.  This abjectly failed person is incapable of original thought, incapable of human leadership, fully capable of criminal acts and fully capable of engaging in the kind of debauched behavior demonstrated in the Benghazi affair, including the sinister behavior at the Andrews Air Force Base when the coffins of four massacred Americans lay on the tarmac and Hilary tells the families of the dead that she will bring the man who made the film that caused the deaths to justice.  Except she knew full well that no film had anything to do with the four deaths.  The deaths were caused by filthy Islamic Terrorists carrying out a planned attack that Hilary knew of in advance and did absolutely nothing to prevent.

Over at the left-wing Politico web page, a breathless Sunday dispatch informed readers that Trump is just like George Wallace.  Oh, Please!  Like I said, the election is still 15 months away and you're already into this kind of scum.  Get comfortable in your seats, because it is only now getting started, and if the gang is already using this kind of yellowish unjournalistic space-fill, imagine if you dare what is looming.

New York Stock Exchange Free Falls Another 1,000 Points, Then Halts Slide and Rebounds 200 Points by 11 am
Fox News reported at 11 am that the New York Stock Exchange free fell another 1,000 points after opening Monday morning, but then managed to catch itself and rebound some 200 points by 11 am.   The Guardian and NBC also put the plunge at 1,000 points before the rebound began.  The Guardian said that the Chinese Market experienced its biggest drop since the start of the current imbroglio.  A Philadelphia analyst advised The Guardian that the free fall of stock prices would continue until "policy" makers "get a grip" on the current problems (whatever that means).  On Wall Street, a reporter for The Guardian, Rupert Neate,  wrote, "US stock markets collapsed on Monday, continuing a global stock market rout that has wiped hundreds of billions of dollars off shares across the world.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 6.4%, the S&P 500 dropped 4%, and the Nasdaq lost 8.5%, raising fears that a fresh tech bubble has burst. The drops followed already-heavy falls last week.  Technology stocks were the hardest hit with Facebook losing 14% at one point and Apple off 11%....."

Michael Keane Heads In Match-Winner as Burnley Beats Back Bees, 1-0
Burnley had but two points - coming on two draws- while Brentford was undefeated.  Burnley, on Friday, reportedly paid a club-record 9 million pounds for Brentford striker Andre Gray, but the closest Gray got to the Turf Moor pitch was the stands. Burnley's long struggle to find the kind of consistent offense they enjoyed during the 2013-2014 campaign seems to have no end. No matter.  Defender Michael Keane, once of Manchester United, headed in a corner kick taken by David Jones, and Burnley grabbed three precious points by stopping the Bees, 1-0.  The win left the Claret, 1-2-1 in 13th place, five points behind the leader, Ipswich Town (3-1-0), which has ten points. Recall that in the Championship, the first and second place finishers in the 24 team league are promoted to the Premier, while the third, fourth, fifth and sixth place finishers enter into a playoff for a third promotion to the Premier.  The 22nd, 23rd and 24th place finishers are demoted to League One.

Throughout the long stretch of offensive difficulties, Burnley has continued to play competitive and exciting soccer due largely to the wonderful play of Keeper Tom Heaton and a defense led by the likes of Michael Duff, Keane, Ben Mee and Michael Kightly.  Despite being demoted out of the Premier last season, Burnley at one point played three straight scoreless draws, while also winning at Arsenal and Chelsea and drawing with Manchester United.  Heaton came up big again on Saturday before a crowd of almost 15,000 at Turf Moor.  According to the BBC, Heaton "pushed away Alan Judge's free-kick, then kept out two shots from Lasse Vibe," keeping the match even until Keane scored to give the Claret the victory.

From The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians, Chapter 1, Verses 3 through 10: 
Verse 3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, Verse 4: even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.  Verse 5: He destined us in love (other sources say: "Before him in love, having destined us) to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, Verse 6: to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.  Verse 7: In him we have redemption through his blood,  the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace Verse 8: which he lavished upon us.  Verse 9: For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ Verse 10: as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

From Bernard of Clairvaux, Essential Writings (translated by Dennis E. Tamburello, O.F.M., The Crossland Publishing Company, New York, 2000).  Fr. Tamburello quotes from St. Bernard's writings on attaining true humilty.  I believe that humility is the great overlooked and underemphasized trait of Christians.  The Bible returns to the subject endlessly, so often, I believe, that we allow our eyes to blur is studying the Scripture on  it.  According to St. Bernard and Fr. Tamburello, humility has truth as a base and jumping off point.  

St. Bernard, who was born in 1090 in Fontaines-les-Dijon in Burgundy, France, once wrote a letter to a new Abbot who had complained to the Saint that he was new to his office and, thus, inexperienced.  "Barren modesty is not acceptable nor is humility praiseworthy when it is not in accordance with the facts.  Attend to your duty.  Put aside false modesty by considering youor position...You say you have no capacity for these things.  As though you would have to answer for what you cannot do as well s for  what you can!  No, prepare yourself to answer for the one talent entrusted to you, and set your mind easy about the rest.  If you have received much, then give much; if little, then give little."

About truth and its relationship to modesty, St. Bernard wrote: "There are three degrees in the perception of truth...We must look for truth in ourselves; in our neighbors; in itself.  We look for truth in ourselves when we judge ourselves; in our neighbors when we have sympathy for their sufferings; in itself when we contemplate it with a clean heart.  It is important to observe the order of these degrees as well as their number.  First of all, truth teaches that we must look for it in our neighbors before we seek it in itself.  You will then see easily why you must seek it in yourself before you seek it in your neighbors."

John Cleveland was an English poet who lived between 1615 and 1658.  The emminent and essential scholar on all things poetical, Harold Bloom (b. 1930), the Sterling Professor at Yale, says that Cleveland enjoyed quite a bit of fame during his life, when he was viewed as a kind of last stand "of John Donne's metaphysical wit." Today, Bloom concedes, he is mostly known only to scholars.  Too bad, because he was an outstanding and memorable poet.  But what do I know?  This is his poem "The Scot's Apostasie."

Is't come to this? What shall the cheeks of fame
Stretch'd with the breath of learned Loudon's name,
Be flogg'd again? And that great piece of sense,
As rich in loyalty and eloquence,
Brought to the test be found a trick of state,
Like chemist's tinctures, proved adulterate;
The devil sure such language did achieve,
To cheat our unforewarned grand-dam Eve,
As this imposture found out to be sot
The experienced English to believe a Scot,
Who reconciled the Covenant's doubtful sense,
The Commons argument, or the City's pence?
Or did you doubt persistence in one good,
Would spoil the fabric of your brotherhood,
Projected first in such a forge of sin,
Was fit for the grand devil's hammering?
Or was't ambition that this damned fact
Should tell the world you know the sins you act?
The infamy this super-treason brings.
Blasts more than murders of your sixty kings;
A crime so black, as being advisedly done,
Those hold with these no competition.
Kings only suffered then; in this doth lie
The assassination of monarchy,
Beyond this sin no one step can be trod.
If not to attempt deposing of your God.
O, were you so engaged, that we might see
Heav'ns angry lightning 'bout your ears to flee,
Till you were shrivell'd to dust, and your cold land
Parch't to a drought beyond the Libyan sand!
But 'tis reserv'd till Heaven plague you worse;
The objects of an epidemic curse,
First, may your brethren, to whose viler ends
Your power hath bawded, cease to be your friends;
And prompted by the dictate of their reason;
And may their jealousies increase and breed
Till they confine your steps beyond the Tweed.
In foreign nations may your loathed name be
A stigmatizing brand of infamy;
Till forced by general hate you cease to roam
The world, and for a plague live at home:
Till you resume your poverty, and be
Reduced to beg where none can be so free
To grant: and may your scabby land be all
Translated to a generall hospital.
Let not the sun afford one gentle ray,
To give you comfort of a summer's day;
But, as a guerdon for your traitorous war,
Love cherished only by the northern star.
No stranger deign to visit your rude coast,
And be, to all but banisht men, as lost.
And such in heightening of the indiction due
Let provok'd princes send them all to you.
Your State a chaos be, where not the law,
But power, your lives and liberties may give.
No subject 'mongst you keep a quiet breast
But each man strive through blood to be the best;
Till, for those miseries on us you've brought
By your own sword our just revenge be wrought.
To sum up all ... let your religion be
As your allegiance--maskt hypocrisie
Until when Charles shall be composed in dust
Perfum'd with epithets of good and just.
He saved--incensed Heaven may have forgot--
To afford one act of mercy to a Scot:
Unless that Scot deny himself and do
What's easier far--Renounce his nation too.  





Yearning for Peace

BALTIMORE, Maryland August 24, 2015 - Many people believe that peace can only come, and then take hold, if mankind acts as one and lays down all of its weapons.  The thinking is that we are by nature a militaristic species bent on destruction in all of its forms.  Only if we renounce the substance of what we are can we actually change.  I do not accept any of that.  As a Christian, it is clear to me that the Lord has clearly showed us a way of life that will provide eternal peace and happiness.  We were created in the very image of God.  We are challenged to live our lives in a way that reflects our creator.  If we live our lives in the manner spelled out in the Gospels of Christ, we will achieve our goals of a just and peaceful society. 

"I was reading a review of the movie “Joyeux Noel,” a French-made movie about an actual incident that took place on Christmas Eve during World War I.  The incident was a truce that broke out spontaneously along the horrid fronts between the respective combatants.  The truce was not arranged by diplomats or even generals; it was arranged by soldiers in the trenches.  The words below were sung, supposedly by a German soldier:
"Still through the cloven skies they come
with peaceful wings unfurled,
and still their heavenly music floats
o'er all the weary world;
above its sad and lowly plain
they bend on hovering wing,
and ever o'er its Babel-sounds
the blessed angels sing."
Yet with the woes of sin and strife
the world has suffered long;
beneath the heavenly hymn have rolled
two thousand years of wrong;
and warring humankind hears not
the tidings which they bring;
O hush the noise and cease your strife
and hear the angels sing!"
What beautiful and profound thoughts and hopes.  A lad by the name of Leonard Feisig wrote the review I was reading.  It was posted on Amazon in December, 2006.  Humans are imbued with a sanctity that is straight from the Lord.  With the power of the Holy Spirit, one can change his life and find a peace that is more powerful than all of the evil of the world combined. The Western World developed and grew as Christian.  There was a time, and it was a long time, when the great universities in Europe had larger Schools of Theology than they did Academic Schools.  I continue to feel it is outrageous that things secular have overtaken our society and even our way of thinking.  It is to the point where Christian people are looked down on.  This, even though our greatest people and our greatest minds were Christian  How we got to the point in time would take months to properly analyze.  I do not need anytime to conclude that the move to secularism in our society and culture is not a good thing.  Christians yearn for peace and pray to the Lord to grant peace.  Dear God, grant peace to this world and those who live here.  Grant serenity to your people, and me.. 

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Former Prosecuter in Baltimore State's Attorney's Office Blasts Mosby for Incompetance and Failure to Attack Crime

"BALTIMORE, Maryland August 20, 2015 - Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby is incompetent and hardly a crime fighter, according to an articlei n the Commentary Section of the Baltimore Sun.  The paper itself has morphed into an uber left newsletter (except for the Sports Pages, which continue to hold out), so the placement of this article seems unfathonable.  Under the headline, "Mosby derailed program to analyze Baltimore homicides," and the sub-headline, "Baltimore police and prosecutors struggle with witness cooperation," writer Roya Hanna, a former Assistant State's Attorney, wrote in the August 12 editions of the paper:

"It is only August, and Baltimore is staring at 200 dead men, women and children. Having been a prosecutor in this city for 12 years, four in the Homicide Division, I can no longer stand idly by and watch State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby avoid taking responsibility for her role in the increase in violence.  The most recent example of her questionable leadership is her decision to restrict the Homicide Review Commission to closed cases that occurred before she became state's attorney. She claims the program is a waste of money, places witnesses in jeopardy and is pointless because she knows the reason for the increase in violence is drugs.

"When I was involved in the commission in its early stages, organizers asked us to send one prosecutor, for one afternoon, once a month. It did not cost the state's attorney's office anything except time. Coming off the deadliest month in decades –— deadliest in our history per capita — is now really the time to be turning down free help? In Ms. Mosby's recent op-ed she claimed that she was limiting the office's participation to closed cases out of concern for witnesses' safety. All experienced prosecutors know the dangers of being labeled a snitch do not end when the case closes. Where was her purported concern for witnesses' safety when her administration published a press release including the name of a witness on April 15? (It was later changed after complaints.) Certainly sharing a witness' involvement with the whole city is more dangerous than sharing it with three researchers from Johns Hopkins who could have been required to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

"Ms. Mosby indicated that she already knows the reason for the increase in homicides: drugs and gangs. In February, her administration sent out a memo stating that for all nonviolent crimes prosecutors were "expected and encouraged" to offer probation and services, unless the defendant had a violent history. If, as she claims, the increase in violence is caused by drugs, constantly offering probation to drug dealers is senseless.  Her decisions also have led to irresponsibly light plea offers for violent crimes. Despite the prosecutor's office already being short staffed, in her first week, Ms. Mosby fired six well respected prosecutors with extensive violent crime experience — one in the middle of a robbery trial. At least 10 more trial attorneys have left the office since then. Their cases were redistributed to new prosecutors who were forced to try the cases unprepared or plea them to incredibly low sentences. I have been in court and watched case after case plea to sentences that would have never been offered a year ago. While Ms. Mosby's predecessor had a strict policy about invoking mandatory sentences for gun cases, the current administration has no such policy. The "bad guys with guns" get slaps on the wrist.

"Felony prosecutor positions have been left vacant for months while Ms. Mosby added staff to her media team and community outreach people. Before becoming a prosecutor, I helped found the National Center for Community Prosecution. I fully understand the benefit of community outreach programs, but first and foremost the prosecutor's office has to prosecute crimes. Ms. Mosby has allocated over $1 million in salaries for newly created positions for people who do not regularly prosecute cases.  Ms. Mosby's press conference announcing her decision to indict the officers involved in the Freddie Gray arrest had a chilling effect on the Baltimore Police Department. The state's attorney's office has always prosecuted police officers for crimes, including murder, and I have personally tried and convicted a former police officer for shooting an unarmed man and was trying another one for murder when I left the office. It is not officers being charged that impacted the department but the words and political rhetoric that accompanied those charges. Ms. Mosby has demonstrated that if she disagrees with an officer's assessment of probable cause to make an arrest, the officer will be charged. Following her press conference, city arrests dropped and violence increased because officers cannot trust that she won't again decide to place their futures in jeopardy.

"While specifics needed to be worked out, the Homicide Review Commission could hold agencies accountable. Unlike programs that just track trends, the fledgling commission looked to see if a homicide could have been prevented. It could do that without any witness information. For example, if a suspect had a case dismissed, the commission would see if better case handling could have prevented the suspect from being released.  Of the 200 murders so far this year, 28 cases have led to charges against roughly 30 people. Five of those defendants were released this year in earlier cases under the Mosby administration. Had these cases been handled differently, had her office worked more effectively with police or made stronger arguments in court, perhaps the victims would still be alive.

"I call upon the Mosby administration to allow an independent group to examine the records of suspects involved in the recent violence to see if they were released under the current administration. The administration should also release statistics reflecting outcomes and sentences in felony cases. Those statistics will allow for an accurate assessment of the performance of her office.  It is time for the community to have an informed discussion about what is happening in the state's attorney office and how it is affecting the lives of every resident.  Ms. Mosby speaks often of her commitment to transparency; now is the time to see if those words are genuine.

Roya Hanna is a former Baltimore assistant state's attorney who left the office in April to open a criminal defense practice. Her email is attorney@baltimorejustice.com.  The Story below ran the same day as a feature article.

"Repeat offenders?  Though Ms. Mosby's office argues extenuating circumstances in some instances, five of the roughly 30 people charged in the city's 200 killings thus far this year were released in other cases under Marilyn Mosby's administration:

"Donnell Walker: His handgun case pled to probation before judgment on Jan. 8; he is alleged to have killed Victor Gwaultney on March 25.

"Charles Henson: He was out on bail in a felony drug case pending when he allegedly killed Davon Johnson on Jan. 28. Even though the SAO indicted him for murder in February, his felony drug case, in which he could have received 20 years or more, was pled in June to time served.

"Brandon Payton: He was charged with rioting and released on bail on June 4; he is alleged to have killed Steve Bass on June 12.

"Davon Vennie: His felony drug case was dismissed on June 26; he is alleged to have killed Nathaniel Jackson on July 2.

"Randy Jones: He was out on bail in a first-degree assault case when his case was postponed July 2; he is alleged to have killed Antonio Anderson on July 7."
  

Sunday, August 16, 2015

The Peace of the Green Mountains

MIDDLEBURY, Vermont August 16, 2015 - Mist begins to gather in the still quiet valleys as Dusk approaches.  The mist soon gathers into low-hanging clouds. They are beautiful clouds, especially with the majestic Green Mountains as a backdrop.  There is no moon over Vermont on this mid-summer night, and the mist will make the dark night even darker.  The cars on Vermont's small and winding country roads are scurrying to get where they are going while the daylight still lingers.  While the clouds are forming low, up high the sky is clear and when you come into a space where there is no low cloud, the billions of stars in His Firmament hold  sway.  

It is as if the Lord is pulling a soft wool blanket up over the shoulders of his sleeping and precious children.  The soft clouds seem to cling to the majesty of the mountains.  It is an awesome sight.  

The Green Mountains are one of the most under-appreciated wonders of these United States.  When viewed from the western part of Vermont, they rise up like a serene and awe-inspiring bulwark against the blue sky.  The incredible sight compels staring.  There is no piedmont here, just stark heights against a flat plain surrounding the also beautiful Lake Champlain.  Crossing the Lake on the Fort Ticonderoga Ferry - the founding of which predates the Revolutionary War - one gets his first view of the mountains to the east.  They are the big brothers to the Adirondack Mountains of New York, and if you drive north from Albany along the shores of Lake George on New York Route 9A, you will see all of the mountains you could hope to see.  

North of central Vermont is the incredible Mount Mansfield, the tallest of the Green Mountains.  The ski resorts at Stowe take advantage of the soaring mountain for the benefit of the tens of thousands of ski enthusiasts who come here each winter.  Even in the summer the resort runs its gondola up the spine of the Mountain.  It stops about halfway up at a Lodge, where a lunch, a drink, a sweatshirt or some other hiking gear can be had.  Very near the lodge the Green Mountain Club, which maintains the legendary Long Trail, also maintains several side trails which scale the heights of Mount Mansfield and hook up with the Long Trail at the mountain's peak.  The Long Trail snakes along the peaks of many of the most inspiring peaks before ending at the Canadian border.  The trail begins at the border of Vermont and Massachusetts.  If you make it from one end of the Long Trail to the other in one hike you can have your name included in the list of master hikers known as the 'End to Enders."  The Green Mountain Club publishes maps, even waterproof maps, of the Long Trail and its side trails, and rates their difficulty so you might avoid trails that are too difficult for you.  They also sell guides, books and other stuff associated with the Trail and Vermont.  Your writer has been a member - off and on, admittedly - for many years.  While the trails ascending Mount Mansfield are not for the faint of heart, much of the Long Trail is quite tame.  Any part of the Trail is worth any time you allot for hiking it.  It is a treasure for the ages.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Obama - Who Has Claimed to be Christian - Slams Closed the Door to Thousands of Yazidi Refugees Seeking Asylum; Former President Jimmy Carter Diagnosed With Cancer of the Liver

BALTIMORE, Maryland August 12, 2015 - President Obama used to claim he was a Christian.  But he has consistently criticized Christians for everything imaginable, including, even, their conduct during the Crusades of over one thousand years ago.  At the same time, he has lavished praise on anything and everything Muslim.  These, of course, are his absolute rights under our First Amendment to the USA Constitution (and even the Constitution has come under his attack; he calls the Constitution a collection of "negative rights.")

Given the chance to walk back this intensifying narrative, he instead has made the genocidal conduct of the purely evil ISIS movement much more feasible by denying thousands of requests for asylum by Yazidi citizens of Iraq, Syria and other Middle Eastern nations.  The Yazidi - an ancient group of monotheistic believers who live in scattered settlements throughout the nations feeling the evil grip of ISIS - were forced like cattle to take refuge on a mountaintop in Iraq late last summer, where up to 4,000 were killed, and hundreds of others kidnapped and pillaged by evil Islamic ISIS plunderers.  Of those who survived, many succumbed to the elements of their mountain refuge.  Only air drops by the USA and Iraqi Air Forces saved any of the Yazidis.  They were finally sprung from their mountain prison by Coalition Soldiers.

As thousands of Yazidi asked for asylum from the USA, they learned, to their shocked horror, that Obama wanted nothing to do with them.  “What we are seeing, in real time, is genocide,” said Frank Wolf, a former congressman from Virginia and senior fellow at 21st Century Wilberforce, a nonprofit that seeks to protect Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East. “To declare it genocide, that would expedite State Department declined to comment to Fox about their failure to grant visas to the Yazidi.

Former President Jimmy Carter Diagnosed with Liver Cancer; Disease Apparently Has Spread to Other Parts of Mr. Carter's Body
Former United States President Jimmy Carter has been diagnosed with cancer of the liver, and doctors have told the 90-year-ikd former Chief Executive that the disease has also spread to other parts of his body.  According to the New York Times, Carter is being treated at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. News of the former president's health was released to the Times and other media outlets by the Carter Center. 

New Hampshire Poll Has Sanders in Huge Lead Over Hilary Clinton

BALTIMORE, Maryland August 12, 2015 - A new Franklin Pierce University/ Boston Herald opinion poll shows that erstwhile socialist Bernie Sanders has surged into a 7 point lead over listless uber Leftist Hilary Clinton.  Sanders garnered 44% of the respondents, to Clinton's 37%.  Unannounced Vice-President Joe Biden got 9% of the respondents to favor him.  The other Democratic candidates - Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, Former Virginia Senator Jim Webb, and former Rhode Island Governor and Senator Lincoln Chaffee, all received barely one percent of the support, or less.

The poll took the opinions of those who said it was likelty that they would participate in the February, 2016 New Hampshire Primary, the first true primary in next year's Presidential Race.  Iowa holds a caucas shortly before the New Hampshire Vote.


The  telephone poll, conducted with each respondent being interviewed live, was conducted Aug. 7-10 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.7 percentage points.

Burnley's Offensive Troubles Continue; 1-0 Loss to League One's Port Vale in Capital One Cup Prove Claret Still Lacking Scoring Punch

BALTIMORE, Maryland August 12, 2015 - After Sam Vokes' late score on opening day lifted visiting Burnley into a 1-1 draw with Leeds United, there was hope in Lancastershire that the Claret's season-plus scoring woes were showing signs of coming to a close.  Then Burnley took on Port Vale - of League One - in the opening round of the Capital One Cup, and all of that optimism flew out an open window at historic Turf Moor.  A post on the ESPN web site from a journalist at the match termed the Claret's offensive effort "disappointing."  Burnley Coach Sam Dyche was asked by the BBC if the result surprised him.  "I'm not so sure there are any shocks in this competition any more." the Claret mgr. said.

The match remained scoreless until the 82nd minute, when Sam Kelly, who had entered the match just two minutes earlier, fired a shot at Burnley reserve keeper Matt Gilks.  Gilks made the save, but could not control the ball.  It rolled onto the foot of a charging Byron Moore, who rifled a shot past Gilks and into the corner of the goal.  To their credit, the Claret did charge back.  In the add on minutes just priot to time, George Boyd unloaded a bristling shot that richocheted off the bar.  In fact, it was Boyd who sparked what little offense Burnley could muster.  As usual, it was Burnley's tenacious defense that kept the Claret in the match, and they did it this time without their dependable keeper, Neal Heaton, who sat out the affair.

Saturday, August 8, 2015

The First GOP Debate: Trump Stands Out, But Is It a Good Thing?

Baltimore, Maryland August 7, 2015 - The Debates - the first ones, anyway - are over and the talking heads are doing their thing.  I believe that some things jumped right out of the boob tube and into America's laps.  Whether any of these things will still be striking a chord tomorrow at this time is quite ambiguous.  Charles Krauthammer thought Donald Trump bombed, but the Drudge Report said instant poll results immediately after the debate ended said otherwise.  A focus group of Republican Voters put together by the imitable Frank Luntz on Fox News revealed that the big winners were Ted Crews and Mike Huckabee.  The same group of some 40 folks believed that Trump was a loser.  Krauthammer and other pundits thought that Dr. Ben Carson did not shine until the end, but then he shone as bright as could be.  He is a passionate man, a gifted man and, like Crews, a brilliant man.  His closing remarks allowed all of those characteristics to shine forth.  Because it is clear that this campaign will be long and passionate, as well as mean and vindictive, candidates who can stay the course and keep on message are never really out of it.  For instance, even though Carly Fiorina was demoted to the "B" debate at 5 pm, she still drew good reviews and the respect of her fellow candidates.  She, like Carson and candidates like Ohio Governor John Kasich, Florida Senator Marco 'Rubio, Former New York Governor George Pataki, Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker seem to be well equipped to go the distance.  Jeb Bush is also in that group, and he has the added advantage of a campaign war chest that is already overflowing.  Four years ago Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania Senator, remained in the GOP race against a well-heeled Mitt Romney even though he was all but broke.  He is still broke but still running.  He, too, will not go away.

One part or fact of the evening that angered me was the way that the three Fox panelists conducted the debate.  Fifteen years ago their hard-edged anti-candidate questions would have drawn praise from anyone who appreciated the objectivity of their approach.  But things have changed greatly since then, and not for the better.  Fox News has leaped to the top of the TV News World because they treat the right with respect while always remembering that much of America watches their coverage of world and national events because they do not bootlick the Left.  That separates it from the three "old" network news organizations, and the print journalists at most American newspapers.  Tonight, three journalists who I greatly respect - Megan Kelly, Brett Baier and Chris Wallace - acted like they wanted to earn praise from the rest of the mainstream media that were forced to watch the night's events.  Every single question began be boring in on the candidate to whom it was directed.  Why?  Anyone who pays even a little bit of attention already knew the weaknesses that the questions dutifully recited.  A question to Gov. Walker did not merely inquire about his abortion views, it recited that he is generally against all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest, then asked how he could justify such views.  If Ms. Kelly was going to ask the Democratic hopefuls the same kind of questions, her question to Walker would have been all well and good, but there is absolutely no chance that she will get such a chance.  Blabbermouth Shultz announced this week that the Democrats would hold a series of debates beginning in October.  Wait until the panelists are selected for those debates, or, if you wish, wait until the first debate amongst those folk.  The panelists will never in a million years ask Hilary a question that is premised with an incisive remark about some specific pecadillo of the Democratic Royalist.  Instead, you can almost imagine that type of softball questions coming her way. 

Instead of "Mrs. Clinton, you headed a squad of operatives who contacted women who threatened to go public with allegations of improprieties by your husband, the former president.  History tells us that the goal of such contacts was to brow-beat these women into keeping their stories out of the public domain.  How do such threats square with your claim to be a "champion" of women everywhere?"   Viewers of such debates will hear, "Mrs. Clinton, the GOP candidates are, as a group, profoundly anti-women.  How will you deal with such intransigence by your opponents?"  

Fairness, I believe, required that Megan Kelly and the rest of the panel to conduct themselves in a way that acknowledged that the other party's candidates will never be subjected to the kind of brutal vetting they were treated to last night.  For years, many in the GOP have wondered aloud why their candidates continue to subject themselves to the abusive questions they were subjected to when panelists were culled from the mainstream media.  The outrageous behavior of TV reporter Candy Crowley, during a debate between Romney and Barack Obama, is still talked about.  As I write this post, radio commentators in the early morning (Eastern Daylight Time) say that the Fox panel went way too far.  Some have called for Ms. Kelly's termination.  Like I say, 15 years ago the panel would've been uniformly praised.  Blabbermouth Shultz, in fact, praised Ms. Kelly after the debate for her tough questions.  But were the shoe on the other foot, it is a given that Blabbermouth's comments would not be called "praise." And the truth is, neither Ms. Kelly, Mr. Baier, Mr. Wallace, or anyone like them, will ever get a chance to serve on a Democratic Debate panel.  Instead, those panelists will likely be pulled from The View or MSNBC, and one has to think ole George Stephanopoulos is also a likely selectee.

Which candidates stood out?  In the first debate, Ms. Fiorina and Governor Jindal of Louisiana were outstanding.  In the prime time event, Senator Crews was right on his game, handling deftly the allegation - during a question - that his inability to get along with Congressional leaders is evidence of problems to come should he be president.  He promised to always tell the truth, even when it is painful to hear and to say.  Gov.
Huckabee seemed totally at ease, also handling every question confidently and with answers packed with elegant commentaries about shortcomings amongst the Democrats.  In his closing he made a comment that seemed to be a criticism of Mr. Trump, until he concluded his remark by telling the raucous audience at the Quicken Loan Center that he was speaking about Hilary.  As mentioned above, Dr. Carson was also impressive.  Marco Rubio showed his stuff, too.  His weakness, at least with conservatives, is his immigration record.  When a controversial immigration bill was before Congress, he joined an infamous "Gang of Eight" that sought to shepard the measure through the United States Senate.  It was a mistake because most Republicans wanted nothing to do with the bill because most Americans want nothing to do with amnesty.  Rubio has been trying to live this error down ever since.  But he is a wonderful and honest man, a fine and maturing leader and would be, I strongly believe, an outstanding President.  During his brief minutes on camera during the debate, he made his mark, showing a sure command on all of the issues, and a sure and strong presence that will serve him well should he gain the high office.  I thought all of the candidates in the prime time debate came across well.  I'm not a Rand Paul fan because of his very strong isolationist tendencies.  Even with him, however, the prospects of him as President appeals to me a whole lot more than a Clinton, Sanders or O'Malley presidency.  Hilary should not even be a candidate.  She is particularly ill equipped for the office, what with her penchant for telling bald faced lies, her fear of speaking publicly, her penchant for back room business, her failure to confront her broken family situation, and her abhorent behavior during the Benghazi Massacre.  She knew in advance of the Al Qaeda attack on the United States Consulate that our personnel, including our ambassador, were in profound danger.  But instead of doing the correct thing, she towed the line on the Obama administration's public front of having crippled the terrorist group when it "took out" Osama bin Laden.  On the night of the attack, she was fully briefed on the extreme danger that American personnel were in, but again she did nothing.  Instead of acting, she called or was called from the White House, speaking with Obama.  In that conversation Hilary and Obama agreed or finalized to go with the ruse that the attack was caused by reaction to some obscure You Tube Video that had less than 100 hits prior to the September attack.  

Clinton and Obama stuck to this ludicrous story for weeks, even, disgracefully, using it when the two of them met with the families of the four dead Americans at Andrews Air Force Base as the bodies were unloaded from the airplane that carried the bodies from Libya.  Hilary was quoted as telling one grieving family member that she promised to bring the person who made the video to justice.  Justice? For making a video about Mohammed?  What about the First Amendment?  Believe it or not, the Obama administration dispatched law enforcement to arrest the film maker on some unrelated charge, then sat back as the destitute man sat in jail for months awaiting trial.

Enough about Hilary.  She is losing, rapidly, her title as Democratic front-runner to Bernie "the Proud Socialist" Sanders.  I hope and pray that our nation hasn't gone down the toilet so far that someone like Sanders can get elected.



"

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Burnley In Convincing Friendly Victory; Regular Season Opener Looms; With the Burnley Championship League Schedule

BALTIMORE, Maryland August 4, 2015 - Burnley shut down Bradford City, 2-0, on Saturday in their final preseason friendly before beginning play in the English Championship League on August 8 at Leeds United.  Lukas Jutkiewicz and Matt Taylor each scored and dependable Neal Heaton and the Claret's always tenacious defense blanked the League One opponent at Turf Moor on a day that Burnley dedicated to 37-year-old stalwart Michael Duff.

Burnley finished the preseason with a 3-2 record.  Besides Bradford City, Burnley defeated Fleetwood Town, 2-0. on July 28 and the Rangers, 1-0, on July 21 in Glasgow, Scotland.  Scott Arfield scored the match's only goal at the Ibrox.  The Clarets' two losses were to Chesterfield, 3-2, on July 24, and to Accrington Stanley, 4-2, on July 18.  According to Sky Sports, Burnley's Championship Fixtures are as follows:

August, 2015 
August 8 at Leeds United
August 15 Birmingham City at Turf Moor
August 18 at Ipswich Town
August 22 Brentford at Turf Moor
August 29 at Bristol City

September, 2015
September 12 Sheffield Wednesday at Turf Moor
September 15 Milton Keyes Dons at Turf Moor
September 19 at Derby County
Sepgember 26 Reading at Turf Moor

October, 2015
October 3 at Rotherham United 
October 17 Bolton Wanderers at Turf Moor
October 20 at Nottingham Forest
October 24 at Blackburn Rovers
October 31 Huddersfield Town at Turf Moor

November, 2015
November 3 Fulham at Turf Moor
November 7 at Wolverhampton Wolves
November 21 Brighton at Turf Moor
November 28 at Cardiff City

December, 2015
December 5 Preston North End at Turf Moor
December 12 at Queens Park Rangers
December 15 at Middlesbrough
December 19 Charlton Athletic at Turf Moor
December 26 at Hull City
December 28 Bristol City at Turf Moor

January, 2016
January 2 Ipswich Town at Turf Moor
January 12 at Milton Keyes Dons
January 16 at Brentford
January 23 Derby County at Turf Moor
January 30 at Sheffield Wednesday

February, 2016
February 6 Hull City at Turf Moor
February 13 at Reading
February 20 Roterham United at Turf Moor
February 23 Nottingham Forest at Turf Moor
February 27 at Bolton Wanderers

March, 2016
March 5 Blackburn Rovers at Turf Moor
March 8 at Fulham
March 12 at Huddersfield Town
March 19 Wolverhampton Wolves at Turf Moor

April, 2016
April 2 at Brighton
April 5 Cardiff City at Turf Moor
April 9 Leeds United at Turf Moor
April 16 at Birmingham City
April 19 Middlesbrough at Turf Moor
April 23 at Preston North End
April 30 Queens Park Rangers at Turf Moor


May, 2016
May 7 at Charlton Athletic


Monday, August 3, 2015

Navy Secretary Mabus Said to Seek Charges Against Heroic Marine Who Fired on Islalmic Extremist After the Jihadist Killed Five USA Soldiers; Pentagon May Be Walking Back Threat; A Notice From Google and the EU

BALTIMORE, Maryland August 3, 2015 -

Mabus Said to Ready Charges Against Chattanooga Hero
The roll call of idiots serving the Obama administration includes the current Secretary of the Navy, Raymond Edwin "Ray" Mabus, Jr. (b. 1948).  Mabus' Navy background includes all of two years, yet Obama made him Secretary of the Navy.  He is now said to be about to undertake one of the most bizarre and reprehensible acts ever undertaken by an American politician.  According to Col. Allen West of Fox News (and a great big shout out to superb Baltimore Radio Host Tom Marr), Mabus will bring charges against absolutely Heroic Lt. Cmdr. Timothy White, the Chattanooga, Tennessee Naval support center's commanding officer, who is said to have used his personal firearm to engage Muhammad Abdulazeez, the Islamic Jihadist who instigated the incident and killed five soldiers.  Had White not done so, there are great odds that many more people would have died in the Islamic-perpetrated carnage.  White owns a registered 9 mm Glock and may have been carrying it on the day of the incident, according to the Navy Times.  When Abdulazeez opened up fire on the recruiting center in the Tennessee city, White returned fire.  Whether White hit Abdulazeez is still being investigated.  Abdulazeez was killed later in a shootout with local police.  It is said that Mabus believes White violated Navy Regulations by carrying his Glock on the site of the recruiting center.

I have been torn as to whether to bring Impeachment Actions Against Obama.  It will split the country apart and give sinister fuel to the Uber Left, which is in the process of trying to destroy the USA.  The adage is to grit one's teeth for another 18 months.  It is so damn difficult because Obama seems to do more heinous acts daily.  He is a terrible President.  He is a terrible human being.  Charging a hero for saving lives? How much lower do you go?  By Monday night, the Pentagon was saying that there were great odds that such charges would not be brought, but they also declined to rule them out.

If this is confirmed in the public forum, will one public official act against it?  The "Federalist Papers" web page quoted Col. Allen West as making these comments on the Fox News Web Site upon receiving confirmation of the pending charges against Lt.  Cmdr. White:

"What kind of freaking idiots are in charge of our Armed Forces — pardon me, our “unArmed Forces”? What would they prefer that Abdulazeez had been able to kill all the Marines and Sailors at the Naval Support Reserve Center? Let me draw an interesting contrast: Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus is more concerned about lifting the ban on transgendered Sailors. Mabus has a problem in that for the first time since 2007 the US Navy will not have a Carrier Battle Group operating in the Persian Gulf. But this knucklehead has no problem with the Navy seeking to destroy the career of a Sailor, a commander of an installation, returning fire against an Islamic jihadist attack. I do not care if it was his personal weapon, he deserves a medal for facing the enemy.

"Folks, this has become the Obama military that will not implement policies for our men and women in uniform to be protected — but will punish them if they do protect themselves. What ever happened to the Navy of John Paul Jones, Farragut, Halsey, and Nimitz? What has happened in our America where we believe that our men and women in uniform — especially the commanders — are just targets for these damn Islamic jihadists?

"Can you imagine the message this sends to ISIS and all the enemies of America? We are going to end his career and court-martial a man who drew his sidearm to protect his command, and the assigned Sailors and Marines."

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