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Opinion

Random thoughts on the passing scene:

thomas-sowell-thumbSome financial institutions may be considered “too big to fail,” but contemporary Western society may be too frivolous to survive. The Romans had bread and circuses to keep the masses passive and unthinking. We have electronic gadgets, drugs and pornography. Like the Roman Empire, we too may decline and fall. What happened in Paris may be just the beginning.

With the “global warming” zealots predicting catastrophic consequences over the next century, I wonder if anyone has studied how accurate five-day weather forecasts turn out to be.

Cheap shots at the police by politicians and the media are in fact very expensive, in terms of the human lives that are lost when the effectiveness of law enforcement is undermined. The sharp increase in murders in places like Baltimore, New York and other places where the police have been trashed, shows how expensive.

It is bad enough to hear someone boasting about his past achievements. What is truly repulsive is hearing someone boasting about the future achievements he thinks he is going to have, as Donald Trump does repeatedly.

Why have a national debt ceiling if it doesn’t really put a ceiling on the national debt? What the national debt ceiling does is allow Democrats to gain votes by spending the government’s money — and then force Republicans to share responsibility for raising the national debt ceiling, under threat of being blamed for shutting down the government if they don’t.

Since doctors have the same 24 hours a day as the rest of us, do believers in Obamacare understand that every hour a doctor spends filling out government forms is an hour that is not spent treating patients?

With all the charges of “racism” against conservatives, has anyone noticed that Dr. Ben Carson’s strongest supporters are in the conservative wing of the Republican party?

In what part of the world is the situation better for America than it was when Barack Obama became President and Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State? If you want an easier question, in what part of the world is the situation worse?

How can anyone consider it to be either logical or moral to force other people to be defenseless because of a theory without any factual evidence? Yet that is what gun control laws amount to.

Some Americans will never appreciate America, until after they have helped destroy it, and have then begun to suffer the consequences.

People who argue that the hostility to Israel in the Middle East is due to Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians should explain why hostility to Jews in the Middle East was so great back in the 1930s that Middle East leaders were pro-Hitler. This was long before there was a modern state of Israel or a Palestinian problem.

If the 2016 election comes down to Hillary Clinton versus Donald Trump, my advice to the younger generation would be to try to find some other country to live in. Australia or New Zealand might be a good place to start looking.

Now that President Obama has sent a few dozen American troops into Syria, will they be wearing sneakers, so that he can claim that he has kept his promise not to put “boots on the ground”?

Racism is not dead. But it is on life-support, kept alive mainly by the people who use it for an excuse or to keep minority communities fearful or resentful enough to turn out as a voting bloc on election day.

The way the Obama administration’s Department of Justice has been used politically to put local police under siege, and to shield the administration’s own law-breakers, suggests that the Department of Justice should be taken out of the control of any future administration, and made an independent agency like the Government Accountability Office.

Have we become a country whose leaders are charlatans, and whose people are sheep?

Our situation today reminds me of what Winston Churchill said to his bodyguard, after the king appointed Churchill prime minister in the darkest days during World War II: “All I hope is that it is not too late. I am very much afraid it is. We can only do our best.” He had tears in his eyes.

[mybooktable book=”wealth-poverty-and-politics-an-international-perspective” display=”summary” buybutton_shadowbox=”true”]

Random thoughts on the passing scene: Have

World

Paris-France-Raid-Saint-Denis

Nov. 18, 2015: Police forces gear up in Paris after reports of a shooting in the northern suburb of Saint Denis. (Photo: AP/Francois Mori)

Seven suspected terrorists have been arrested and two are dead in a raid targeting the mastermind of the Paris attacks in the northern suburb of Saint Denis.

Earlier Wednesday, a senior police official told the Associated Press he believed Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a 27-year-old Belgian ISIS militant, was inside the apartment with five other heavily armed people. Officials identified 27-year-old Abaaoud, a Belgian of Moroccan descent, as the chief architect of the attacks that killed 129 and wounded at least 350 others.

The official, who was informed routinely about the operation, said scores of police stormed the building and were met with unexpectedly violent resistance. French police confirmed that five officers suffered minor injuries in the raid. A police dog was also killed when the female suicide bomber blew herself up.

A local resident tweeted a 10-second video of the scene on the street near her location. Automatic weapons fire and a series of explosions could be heard. The tweet accompanying the video translates roughly into English as: “It’s an intervention by police … street closed, officers, etc.”

A statement made by police did not identify the arrested suspects or the two who died. Even as police declared the raid over, which was shortly after 11:30 a.m. local time, at least one other person was still inside the apartment. It was not clear whether that person was dead or alive. However, sources tell PPD he was not in the building in Saint Denis, and another claimed Monday he was believed to be in Belgium.

Seven suspected terrorists have been arrested and

Opinion

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (Photo: AP)

After a terrorist attack, it’s natural to ask: What can politicians do to keep us safe?

One thing they could do is actually focus on keeping us safe rather than devoting so much time, energy and hot air to the many things government does instead of protecting lives and property.

My state’s politicians are particularly bad. New York’s legislators regularly go to jail for taking bribes to pass, or not pass, special regulations.

One recent governor, Eliot Spitzer, perhaps because his rich father gave him money, didn’t take bribes (to my knowledge). Instead, he had sex with prostitutes, meanwhile publicly declaring that sex work was “modern-day slavery.” He then signed a law that increased penalties for people caught doing it. When Spitzer was caught, he resigned. He’s a felon, but he managed to avoid jail.

Today, New Yorkers suffer under a new anti-liberty politician, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. He hasn’t been jailed yet, but the public would be better served if he were. Schneiderman pushes “pro-consumer” laws that win media attention while depriving consumers of good choices.

Schneiderman has sought to limit wonderful “sharing economy” innovations like Uber and Airbnb. Home-sharing companies let people rent out their apartments while they’re away. Ride-hailing companies efficiently bring together customers and products that might have just sat around unused.

But to Schneiderman (and economically clueless autocrats in some other states), these innovations are dangerous “unregulated” services. Politicians want politicians to decide what you use your property for.

After Airbnb delighted tourists by giving them better and cheaper vacation experiences, Schneiderman issued a press release announcing that he was “aggressively tackling this growing problem.”

I suspect his real motive was tackling campaign contributions from hotels and their Democrat-supporting unions. Politicians are also eager to collect hotel taxes, which in New York City, add 15 percent to your bill.

Schneiderman launched his lawyers at Uber, claiming that the company’s “surge” pricing violates price-gouging laws. Calling price increases “gouging” is a way politicians mislead consumers into thinking that government must protect us. But competition protects us from unfair prices better than government ever can.

Uber’s ever-changing prices ensure cars are available when consumers most want them. No one is tricked into paying a higher price. It’s clearly marked on your phone and passengers are given every chance to decline it.

Attorney General Schneiderman also continued his predecessors’ ban on “mixed martial arts” contests. When MMA first became visible, some politicians called it “barbaric” and “unregulated.” Several states banned it, a move some politicians make against most anything new and different.

But while states were busy banning it, it became one of the most popular and lucrative sports in America. Smarter states got rid of their bans, but not New York. MMA supporters and the Ultimate Fighting Championship are fighting the ban. May the best man win — and the regulators lose.

And now, after taking campaign contributions from the casino industry, my ambitious attorney general has ordered fantasy football betting companies DraftKings and FanDuel to stop taking bets from New Yorkers. He pompously announced, “Today we have sent a clear message: not in New York and not on my watch.”

Schneiderman says that fantasy football involves no skill and thus is gambling — illegal under New York law. His argument is nonsense. The games obviously involve skill — people constantly argue about how wise their picks were.

Either way, who cares? Let people take chances if they want to. New York’s own government runs a much worse gambling operation — a state lottery. It clearly involves no skill, preys on poor people and has odds worse than illegal bookies offer.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie got it right when he yelled at an unctuous CNBC moderator during the second Republican presidential debate: “We have ISIS and al-Qaida attacking us, and we’re talking about fantasy football?” Exactly.

I dream of a world with fewer regulators.

John Stossel: NY politicians are particularly anti-liberty

Politics

Bobby-Jindal-Special-Report

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal during an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on “Special Report” (Photo: FOX News)

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal suspended his 2016 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday night during an appearance on Special Report.

The 44-year-old said Tuesday it was an “honor” to run for president, and noted how amazing it is that his parents immigrated to America from India 45 years ago yet their son was elected governor and had the chance to run for the nation’s top office.

“They raised me to believe Americans can do anything, and they were right, we can. But this is not my time, so I am suspending my campaign for president,” he said.  “Going forward, I believe we have to be the party of growth and we can never stop being the party that believes in opportunity,” Jindal said.

He exits the race roughly two months after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry called it quits. In the last undercard debate hosted by FOX Business Network, Jindal swung for the fences during an exchange with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie that the establishment media widely criticized him over. Still, Jindal, who was highly critical of former 2012 nominee Mitt Romney, didn’t have a lack of criticism for the party.

“We cannot settle for the left’s view of envy and division,” the governor said. “We have to be the party that says everyone in this country – no matter the circumstances of their birth or who their parents are – can succeed in America.”

The Louisiana governor touched on the recent terror attacks in Paris, saying the U.S. needs “different leadership”Jindal is one of a growing number of governors who said his state will not accept Syrian refugees per President Obama’s plan.

“We don’t want these refugees in our state,” Jindal said. “Immigration without assimilation is not immigration, it’s an invasion.”

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal suspended his 2016

Economy

Janet-Yellen-Federal-Reserve

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. (Photo: Reuters)

We’ve been suffering through the weakest recovery since the Great Depression. Labor force participation hasn’t recovered and median household income is stagnant. So how are our benevolent and kind overseers in Washington responding?

Are they reducing the burden of spending? Nope, they just busted the spending caps. Are they cutting back on red tape? No, they’re moving in the other direction. Are they lowering taxes? With Obama in the White House, that’s not even a serious question.

But that doesn’t mean all the people in Washington is sitting on their collective hands. The folks at the Federal Reserve have been trying to goose the economywith an easy-money policy.

Unfortunately, as I argue in this recent interview, that’s not a recipe for success.

[brid video=”20284″ player=”1929″ title=”CATO Economist Dan Mitchell on December Rate Hike from the Fed”]

At best, an easy-money policy is ineffective, akin to “pushing on a string.” At worst, it creates bubbles and does serious damage.

Yet if you don’t like the Fed trying to manipulate the economy, you’re often perceived as a crank. And if you’re an elected official who questions the Fed’s actions, you’re often portrayed as some sort of uninformed demagogue.

I explored this issue today in The Federalist. In my column, I defended Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz.

Rand Paul and Ted Cruz…deserve credit for criticizing the Federal Reserve. …This irks some folks, who seem to think Fed critics are knuckle-dragging rubes and yahoos with a superstitious fealty to the gold standard.

This isn’t a debate over the gold standard, per se, but instead of fight over monetary Keynesianism vs. monetary rules.

The dispute isn’t really about a gold standard, but whether the Federal Reserve should have lots of discretionary power.  …On one side are the advocates of…the monetary component of Keynesian economics. Proponents explicitly want the Fed to fine-tune and micromanage the economy. …On the other side are folks who believe in rules to limit the Fed’s powers…because they believe discretionary power is more likely to give us bad results such as higher price inflation, volatility in output and employment, and financial instability.

And the Joint Economic Committee is on the side of rules. Here’s an excerpt from a JEC report that I cited in my article.

Well-reasoned, stable and predictable monetary policy reduces economic volatility and promotes long-term economic growth and job creation. Generally, ‘rules-based’ policies reduce uncertainties and facilitate long-term planning and investment. …Conversely, activist, interventionist, and discretionary monetary policies have been historically associated with increased economic volatility and subpar economic performance.

I then mention various rules-based methods of limiting the Fed’s discretion and conclude by commenting on the legitimacy of those who want to curtail the Federal Reserve.

Paul and Cruz may not be experts on monetary policy, just as left-wing senators doubtlessly have no understanding of the intricacies of discretionary monetary policy. But the two senators are on very solid ground, with an illustrious intellectual lineage, when they assert that it would be a good idea to constrain the Fed.

Now, let’s expand on two issues. First, I mention in my article the gold standard as a potential rule to constrain the Fed. I’ve previously shared some analysis by George Selgin on this topic. He’s concluded that governments won’t ever allow its return and probably couldn’t be trusted with such a system anyway, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work.

Here are some excerpts from a recent article by George. Read the entire thing, but here’s the part that matters most for this discussion.

…the gold standard was hardly perfect, and gold bugs themselves sometimes make silly claims about their favorite former monetary standard. …the classical gold standard worked remarkably well (while it lasted). …it certainly did contribute both to the general abundance of goods of all sorts, to the ease with which goods and capital flowed from nation to nation, and, especially, to the sense of a state of affairs that was “normal, certain, and permanent.” The gold standard achieved these things mainly by securing a degree of price-level and exchange rate stability and predictability that has never been matched since.

And Norbert Michel of the Heritage Foundation touches on some of the same issues in a new column for Forbes.

Several candidates suggested the gold standard was a good system, and they’re all getting flak for talking about gold.

But here’s the most fascinating revelation from Norbert’s column. It turns out that even Ben Bernanke agrees with George Selgin that the classical gold standard worked very well. Norbert quotes this passage from Bernanke.

The gold standard appeared to be highly successful from about 1870 to the beginning of World War I in 1914. During the so-called “classical” gold standard period, international trade and capital flows expanded markedly, and central banks experienced relatively few problems ensuring that their currencies retained their legal value.

Both Norbert’s article and George’s article have lots of good (but depressing) analysis of how governments went off the gold standard because of World War I and then put in place a hopelessly weak and impractical version of a gold standard after the war (the politicians didn’t want to be constrained by an effective system).

So here’s Norbert’s bottom line, which is very similar to the conclusion in my column for The Federalist.

Many who favor the gold standard recognize that it provided a nominal anchor as opposed to the discretionary fiat system we have now. Maybe the gold standard isn’t the best way to achieve that nominal anchor, but we shouldn’t just dismiss the whole notion.

The second issue worth mentioning is that the best way to deal with bad monetary policy may be to have no monetary policy.

At least not a monetary policy from government. This video explains the merits of this approach.

[brid video=”7813″ player=”1929″ title=”Time to End the Fed The Origin of Central Banking And Possible Alternatives”]

Gee, maybe Friedrich Hayek was right and private markets produce better results than government monopolies.

The Federal Reserve has given us the

Opinion

Sanders-Clinton-Obama

Presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders (socialist) and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the second Democratic debate, left, and President Barack Obama during a press conference at the G-20 Summit in Turkey. (Photos: Reuters)

In today’s topsy-turvy world, down means up, bad means good and, the term “Islamic terrorist” is not permitted in public policy conversation. Search the American press releases for the two words together from major media outlets. You will only find the recent challenge to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to put the two words together.

Neither Hillary nor Obama will allow this concept to be communicated to the public. Hillary did say instead that we are fighting against “jihadis” but flat out refused to state it was a battle against “Islamic terrorism.”

Is this semantics?

No, it is a propaganda machine for creating a vacuum effect that removes the “who factor” of just who it is we are at war against. For too long a battle has been waged, with the refusal to acknowledge who it is we are fighting against. This is not solely an Obama problem. It is first and foremost a military problem that has continued through two administrations!

The President of the United States holds the title of Commander-in-Chief (CIC). He is the true head of our military. No one else bears the responsibility. No blame can be placed on generals or admirals, for it is their duty to follow the orders of their commander. It is the CIC alone who has the responsibility of identifying the enemy and he alone who issues orders regarding military actions against foreign entities.

Generals, admirals and lower-ranking officers may be the ones on the front lines, but they ultimately receive their orders from the commander-in-chief.

What kind of war would have been fought in World War II if we refused to say that the enemy was “Nazi Germany” and instead said, “The enemy is only a few German people, but not all Germans are the problem.”

Today America’s enemy stands unidentified!

This enemy is guilty of the following attacks on America, but is not identified by the Obama administration nor will it be identified by any of the presidential contenders from the Democratic Party.

  1. Feb. 26, 1993 New York City a bomb exploded in the basement garage of the World Trade Center, killing 6 and injuring at least 1,040 others.
  2. Nov. 13, 1995 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia a car bomb exploded at U.S. military headquarters, killing 5 U.S. marines.
  3. June 25, 1996 Dhahran, Saudi Arabia: truck bomb exploded outside Khobar Towers military complex, killing 19 American servicemen and injuring hundreds of others. 13 Saudis and a Lebanese, all alleged members of Islamic militant group Hezbollah, were indicted on charges relating to the attack in June 2001
  4. Aug. 7, 1998 Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: truck bombs exploded almost simultaneously near 2 U.S. embassies, killing 224 (213 in Kenya and 11 in Tanzania) and injuring about 4,500.
  5. Oct. 12, 2000 Aden, Yemen: The USS Cole, a U.S. Navy destroyer is heavily damaged when a small boat loaded with explosives blew up alongside it. 17 US Navy personnel were killed.
  6. Sept. 11, 2001 New York City, Arlington, Va., and Shanksville, Pa.: hijackers crashed 2 commercial jets into the twin towers of World Trade Center; 2 more hijacked jets were crashed into the Pentagon and a field in rural Pa. Total dead and missing numbered 2,992.
  7. June 14, 2002 Karachi, Pakistan: a bomb exploded outside American consulate killing 12.
  8. May 12, 2003 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: suicide bombers killed 34, including 8 Americans, at housing compounds for Westerners.
  9. June 11–19, 2004 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: terrorists kidnap and execute Paul Johnson Jr., an American, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 2 other Americans and BBC cameraman were killed by gun attacks.
  10. Dec. 6, 2004 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: terrorists stormed the U.S. consulate, killing 5 consulate employees..
  11. Nov. 9, 2005 Amman, Jordan: suicide bombers attacked 3 American hotels, Radisson, Grand Hyatt, and Days Inn, in Amman, Jordan, killing 57.
  12. Sept. 13, 2006 Damascus, Syria: an attack by four gunman on the American embassy is foiled.
  13. Jan. 12, 2007 Athens, Greece: the U.S. embassy is fired on by an anti-tank missile causing damage but no injuries.
  14. Sept. 16, 2008 Yemen: a car bomb and a rocket strike the U.S. embassy in Yemen as staff arrived to work, killing 16 people, including 4 civilians.
  15. June 1, 2009 Little Rock, Arkansas: Abdulhakim Muhammed, a Muslim convert from Memphis, Tennessee, is charged with shooting two soldiers outside a military recruiting center. One is killed and the other is wounded.
  16. Nov. 5, 2009 Fort Drum, Texas: Major Nidal Hasan, goes on a rampage killing 13 and injuring 30.
  17. Dec. 25, 2009: A Nigerian man on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit attempted to ignite an explosive device hidden in his underwear. The explosive device that failed to detonate was a mixture of powder and liquid that did not alert security personnel in the airport
  18. May 1, 2010 New York City: a car bomb is discovered in Times Square, New York City after smoke is seen coming from a vehicle. The bomb was ignited, but failed to detonate and was disarmed before it could cause any harm. Times Square was evacuated as a safety precaution.
  19. Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi, Libya: militants armed with antiaircraft weapons and rocket-propelled grenades fire upon the American consulate, killing U.S. ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other embassy officials.
  20. April 15, 2013 Boston, Mass.: multiple bombs explode near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Two bombs go off around 2:50 in the afternoon as runners finish the race. Three people are killed. One is an eight year old boy. More than 260 people are injured.
  21. July 16, 2015 Chattanooga, Tenn: 4 US Marines killed after a terrorist attacked two recruiting stations.

(Source: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001454.html)

While many of the events listed above had groups or persons identified as committing the terrorist act, no general identifying group of persons is identified. This is a statement that in the 21 events listed above, no commonality exists among the actors of these terrorist deeds.

Is this true, or has the American people been lied to by their commander-in-chiefs? Yes, as in plural. The timeline includes the leadership of not two but three U.S. presidents. Each of them failed to identify that there exists a common thread amongst all 21 acts, which is by no means a complete list. That commonality is persons who want Islamic law to rule the world. Thus, there exists a need to identify the enemy as being Islamist terrorists.

Islamists are those who want every single person on the planet to submit to the rule of sharia–Islamic law. However, if this simple identifier was used today, it would require several federal agencies to take action:

  1. The Muslim Brotherhood would be identified as a terrorist group. Any and all of its entities in the U.S. would be closed and their officers considered for revocation of citizenship and deportation.
  2. All persons entering the U.S., including those planning on becoming citizens, those classified as refugees or classified as other, would have to declare: “I do not believe sharia should be applied to those who are non-Muslim.” Persons refusing to state this would be refused entry.
  3. Those in this country who have made public statements of supremacy of sharia or Islamic law over the U.S. Constitution could have their citizenship revoked.
  4. All federal funding to sources that currently subscribe to this belief would be cut off. Currently, several federal agencies provide financial support both here in the U.S. and abroad to persons and groups that promote the teaching of sharia.

[mybooktable book=”civilization-jihad-and-the-myth-of-moderate-islam” display=”summary” buybutton_shadowbox=”true”]

In today’s world, down means up, bad

Polls

With Terror Concerns Nearing Post 9/11 Levels, Syrian Refugees are a Deal-Breaker

Obama-Paris-Statement

Barack Obama delivers a statement on the attacks in Paris from the press briefing room on Friday Nov. 13, 2015. (Photo: Pete Souza)

America is the most generous, charitable nation on the face of the earth, but they draw the line on taking in Syrian refugees. Where does public opinion stand exactly and why is it so adamantly against President Obama’s plan to take in thousands of so-called asylum-seekers from Syria? It’s actually pretty straightforward.

The single most important job of any president is to defend the United States and ensure the America people are safe As far as voters are concerned, President Obama has failed and continues to fail miserably at that job. Further, the American people have more common sense than ridged leftwing ideologues like Obama, as well as misplaced bleeding hearts like Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham.

First, let’s look at where the numbers are and, then, why they are where they are.

In a recent poll–which was conducted in September, before the deadly Paris attacks on Friday–half (49%) of likely voters said no to allowing any and all Syrian refugees to come to the U.S., while only 20% said they would support taking in 10,000, total. In yet another poll, 50% said they were opposed to the idea of allowing 10,000 to come to the U.S. in a poll conducted immediately after the president’s first announcement. Only 36% said they were on board.

It’s fair to say, considering the developments and facts on the ground, those numbers are likely to be worse now and very well could further worsen for Obama and the Democrats. At least one terrorist in the Paris attacks entered the European Union (EU) through Leros, Greece on Oct. 3, “where he was identified [as a ‘refugee’] based on EU rules,” officials told PPD Saturday. The Syrian passport in question was found on one of the dead suicide bombers, who was supposedly not known to French intelligence officials.

On Monday, Homeland Security Committee Chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas, sent a letter urging Obama to suspend admission of all alleged Syrian refugees. Meanwhile, the governors of 30 states are either opposed to or have pledged to fight the federal government relocating refugees to their states. The American public backs Chairman McCaul and the governors, and by 59%-29% say they believe the intelligence community over the president and his advisors on these matters. Ben Rhodes, the president’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communication, said there was a “rigorous” vetting process in place to screen the Syrian refugees.

Americans aren’t buying it.

In fact, according to a new Gallup survey, the number of Americans expressing confidence in the government to protect the nation from future terrorist attacks was at the lowest level ever recorded in the history of this trend question, which began in late 2001. Overall, public concerns about the possibility of future terrorist attacks in the U.S. rose this year by 12 percentage points, up from 39% who expressed “a great deal of concern” in 2014 to 51% in 2015. Now, terrorism has become the third-highest on the list of 15 concerns included in Gallup’s list, coming in behind only healthcare and the economy.

“Worry that oneself or a member of one’s family will be a victim of terrorism” has also increased substantially throughout the year. As of this week, 49% of Americans told Gallup they are “very” or “somewhat worried” about it, the highest rating on this measure since late 2001. Since Gallup began tracking, the number saying they were at least somewhat worried has ranged from 36% to 42% over the past seven years, and was just 39% when President George W. Bush handed over the keys to the Oval Office to Barack Obama.

We also observe a clear and related trend in other tracking surveys polling sentiment regarding the War on Terror. The latest Rasmussen tracking survey released Tuesday found voters remain less confident in their safety here at home than they have ever been, and that was conducted before the Paris attacks. When President Bush left office, despite the unpopular Iraq War, the percentage who thought the U.S. was winning the War on Terror was 24% higher than those who thought the Islamists were winning.

While it is certainly true that the percentage of voters opposing sending U.S. ground troops to deal with ISIS slightly outnumbers the percentage of those who support doing so, it is also true that Obama himself is influencing a significant number of voters. Historically, the role of a peacetime commander-in-chief has been to make the case for an unpopular military action to a reluctant republic willing to go to war only as a last resort.

Listening to the president and the Democrats, one might think that Presidents Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt or either Bush were elected by a war-willing public. They weren’t. Obama and the Democrats talk as if he is the first president in history to have the polls against military action. And he isn’t.

They argued and made the case for military action and the public rallied behind them. But because Americans either don’t trust or flat-out disagree with President Obama, who has been insincere on basically all things military and security, they are unwilling to follow his lead as their commander-in-chief.

America is the most generous, charitable nation on

Entertainment

[brid video=”20260″ player=”1929″ title=”Charlie Sheen Admits He is HIV Positive on Today Show”]

In an interview on NBC’s “Today” on Tuesday, Hollywood bad boy Charlie Sheen revealed he tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS about four years ago.

“It’s a hard three letters to absorb. It’s a turning point in one’s life,” the 50-year-old Sheen said. The former “Two and a Half Men” actor said. Sheen said he had already paid “upwards of $10 million” to keep the information secret.

“We’re talking shakedowns,” he said.

Sheen admitted to having unprotected sex since being diagnosed, but also claimed he had told every partner since being diagnosed that he was HIV positive. Tabloids have hammered Sheen for hiding his HIV status and having unprotected sex without disclosing his status. In some states, people with previous knowledge of their condition have been prosecuted for knowingly contracting the virus to sexual partners.

His personal physician sat by his side during part of the interview and detailed the star’s treatment. He said after the actor was diagnosed he was “immediately put on treatment, strong anti-viral drugs, which have suppressed the virus.” Sheen and his doctor declared the star has an undetectable level of the virus in his blood.

“Charlie does not have AIDS,” his physician declared. “Charlie is healthy.”

Sheen said he takes four pills every day and he has never missed a dose.

“I still drink a little bit,” he admitted.

In an interview Tuesday on NBC's "Today"

Politics

Hillary-Clinton-Watermark-Silicon-AP

Hillary Rodham Clinton jokes during her keynote address at the Watermark Silicon Valley Conference for Women in Santa Clara, Calif., on Feb. 24, 2015. (Photo: AP)

Newly obtained emails show Huma Abedin, a top aide to Hillary Clinton, expressed concern that the Democratic frontrunner and former secretary of state was “often confused” on the job at the State Department. The emails and documents also show a culture of providing business associates and relatives preferential treatment.

In the first email, Abedin advised another Clinton aide and frequent companion Monica Hanley that it was “very important” to go over phone calls with Clinton because she was “often confused.” The emails, which were obtained by Judicial Watch, again came from Abedin’s “[email protected]” address, the very server that is currently in the possession of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The agency that recently expanded its investigation into Clinton’s use of a private server to conduct official government business.

“Huma Abedin’s description of Hillary Clinton as ‘easily confused’ tells you all you need to know why it took a federal lawsuit to get these government emails from Clinton’s illegal email server ,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “These emails also show that Hillary Clinton’s and Huma Abedin’s decision to use the Clinton email server to conduct government business was dangerous and risky.”

 

The Abedin email material contains a January 26, 2013, email exchange with Clinton aide Monica Hanley regarding Clinton’s schedule in which Abedin says Clinton is “often confused:”

Abedin: Have you been going over her calls with her? So she knows singh is at 8? [India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh]

Hanley: She was in bed for a nap by the time I heard that she had an 8am call. Will go over with her

Abedin: Very imp to do that. She’s often confused.

They also expose repeated security breaches, as details of Clinton’s schedule and movements were being sent and received through Abedin’s non-governmental and unsecured Clinton server account.

The email from Lona J. Valmoro, former Special Assistant to Secretary of State Clinton, to Abedin, other top State Department staff, and Clinton associates, reveals exact times (including driving times) and locations of all appointments throughout the day:

8:25 am           DEPART Private Residence

En route to State Department

[drive time: 10 minutes]

***

1:40 pm           DEPART State Department

En route to Council on Foreign Relations

[drive time: 15 minutes]

***

3:05 pm           DEPART Council on Foreign Relations

En route to State Department

[drive time: 15 minutes]

***

6:00 pm           DEPART State Department

En route to Private Residence

[drive time: 5 minutes]

Obviously, the Clinton aide was well aware of the potentially damaging effect of the information above falling into the wrong hands or getting in front of the wrong eyes. The detailed schedule provided in the Abedin email contains an annotation that read:

The information contained in this email is not to be shared, forwarded or duplicated.

It appears Abedin worked with Teneo co-founder and Clinton Global Initiative official Doug Band to intercede on behalf of an individual seeking a visa. In the second instance, Huma Abedin received an email from her mother, Saleha Abedin–a controversial Islamist activist many consider to be a radical–who founded and serves as dean at Dar al-Hekma University in Saudi Arabia.  In an email dated December 11, 2011, Saleha Abedin requests the assistance of her daughter to help the president of her college, Dr. Suhair al Qurashi, attend a State Department “Women in Public Service” ceremony. That which included remarks by Hillary Clinton.  (Mrs. Clinton spoke at Dar al-Hekma University in 2010.

In fact, Dr. Qurashi and Saleha Abedin introduced Mrs. Clinton’s speech and moderated the subsequent discussion.

In obtained emails, top aide Huma Abedin

World

Metrojet-Airbus-A321-200

Debris from Metrojet Airbus A321-200. (Photo: AP)

The head of Russia’s FSB security service told Russian President Vladimir Putin Russian that the Metrojet airliner that crashed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Oct. 31, which killed 224, was an act of terrorism. The crash is believed by intelligence officials to be the result of a bomb placed on the plane, which was carrying mostly vacationers on holiday.

“According to our experts, a homemade explosive device equivalent to 1 kilogram of TNT went off onboard, which caused the plane to break up in the air, which explains why the fuselage was scattered over such a large territory. I can certainly say that this was a terrorist act,” Alexander Bortnikov said.

Bortnikov also told Putin that traces of explosives were found in debris at the crash site. A $50 million reward has been offered to anyone with information that leads to the arrest of those responsible for the bombing, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency. Putin ordered special services to focus on finding those responsible for bringing down the plane.

“There’s no statute of limitations for this, we need to know all of their names,” Putin said. “We’re going to look for them everywhere wherever they are hiding. We will find them in any place on Earth and punish them.”

The Metrojet airliner, an Airbus A321-200, crashed shortly after taking off from Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport en route to Saint Petersburg. U.S. and British intelligence pointed to an act of terrorism–particular intercepted chatter, a heat signature and the condition of the debris–as the cause in the immediate aftermath of the crash, despite early denials from the Egyptian authorities.

Egypt’s economy, which is highly dependent upon the nation’s tourism industry, has been struggling and officials were concerned the act would further reduce travel.  The U.K., Russia and several other countries suspended flights to and from the popular tourist destination, stranding thousands of vacationers in the Red Sea resort, and forcing airlines and tour operators to scramble to get travelers back to their home country.

Putin doubled-down course on his war effort in Syria on Tuesday, stating that Russia’s air campaign in Syria “should not only be continued but should be intensified so that the criminals realize that retribution is inevitable.”

He also instructed the Defense Ministry and General Staff to present their suggestions on how Russia’s operation in Syria could be modified. The Islamic State shortly after the crash took responsibility for the crash, claiming all along that it was the result of a bomb. However, the group taunted officials as to how they managed to pull it off, stating it wasn’t their job to reveal that to officials in the West. It said the attack was retaliation for Russia’s air campaign against IS — and other groups — in Syria, where Moscow wants to preserve the rule of President Bashar Assad.

“In this work, including the search to find and punish the criminals, we are relying on all of our friends,” Putin said. “We will act in accordance with the U.N. Charter’s Article 51, which gives each country the right to self-defense. Everyone who tries to aid the criminals should understand that they will be responsible for giving them shelter.”

The Islamic State shortly after the crash took responsibility for the crash, claiming all along that it was the result of a bomb. However, the group taunted officials as to how they managed to pull it off, stating it wasn’t their job to reveal that to officials in the West.

The head of Russia’s FSB security service

People's Pundit Daily
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