NY Times Is Very Concerned Over Chris Christies Luxury Travel

By William Teach February 3, 2015 – 6:50 am

Alternate title: NY Times Totally Unconcerned About Barack Obama’s Luxury Travel On Public Credit Card

(NY Times) As Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey waited to depart on a trade mission to Israel in 2012, his entourage was delayed by a late arrival: Mr. Christie’s father, who had accidentally headed to the wrong airport.

A commercial flight might have left without him, but in this case, there was no rush. The private plane, on which Mr. Christie had his own bedroom, had been lent by Sheldon G. Adelson, the billionaire casino owner and supporter of Israel. At the time, he was opposing legislation then before the governor to legalize online gambling in New Jersey.

Mr. Christie loaded the plane with his wife, three of his four children, his mother-in-law, his father and stepmother, four staff members, his former law partner and a state trooper.

King Abdullah of Jordan picked up the tab for a Christie family weekend at the end of the trip. The governor and two staff members who accompanied him came back to New Jersey bubbling that they had celebrated with Bono, the lead singer of U2, at three parties, two at the king’s residence, the other a Champagne reception in the desert. But a small knot of aides fretted: The rooms in luxurious Kempinski hotels had cost about $30,000; what would happen if that became public?

So, let me ask: did this violate any ethics? Let’s also ask, where the taxpayers paying for this? Nope on both accounts. However, this has obviously unsettled the NY Times. He’s taken quite a few trips at the expense of other people, often foreign trips, often in an attempt to bring business to NJ. Jerry Jones paid for his trip to see the Cowboys play several times. The only mentions of taxpayer funded travel are about using car services rather than taxis and

State taxpayers paid for Mr. Christie, his wife and two aides to travel to the 2013 Super Bowl in New Orleans, as New Jersey prepared to host the 2014 game. Airfare for four passengers came to $8,146; Mr. Christie’s hotel for three nights cost $3,371.

And here comes the mention of Obama

Mr. Christie is hardly the first politician, in either party, whose embrace of luxury travel has prompted criticism. Hillary Rodham Clinton, for example, a potential Democratic candidate for president, is known for her dependence on private planes often paid for by others.

Oh, nope.

Notice, the majority of the complaint is about the use of private money for luxurious travel. It’s apparently OK in NY Times World to take luxurious travel at the expense of the American Public, otherwise they’d have to mention Barack Obama. Nancy Pelosi and most elected politicians play the same free luxury travel game whether it is paid for by billionaires or the tax payer. It doesn’t make it right, but, they all do it.

It is interesting that the Times chooses to take a shot at Christie over this, while completely ignoring Obama and his travel. That’s the point, and highlights what Conservatives mean by media bias.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Bummer: “world could turn nearly uninhabitable within current lifetimes” From Hotcoldwetdry

By William Teach February 2, 2015 – 4:06 pm

Doom

Abrupt Climate Change, Already?

There are some serious scientists who believe it is already here. If their analysis is correct, the world could turn nearly uninhabitable within current lifetimes.

And those serious scientists are looking at real data, right?

Nevertheless, it’s the scientists who base their opinion on first hand knowledge, “boots on the ground,” who are screaming the loudest. They do not let the “ computer models” override what they personally experience. In contrast, they see and feel the reality “in the field.”

So, we’ve blown by computer models and now look towards feelings based “science”. Good grief.

As it goes, the American public may be caught off guard, unprepared, and ill equipped to press its political establishment for appropriate action because abrupt climate change has a history of happening very, very quickly, within decades, not over hundreds of years.

Strange that Warmists aren’t actually living the carbon neutral life, eh? It’s always about some government solution that harms Other People.

There’s lots of hand wringing over the Arctic, and

According to John Nissen: “Sea ice could disappear at the end of summer as soon as next September.

Despite a general increase in Arctic sea ice over the last few years. And it still wouldn’t prove anthropogenic causation.

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If All You See…

By William Teach February 2, 2015 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible plastic water bottle causing desertification, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Lonely Conservative, with a post on home ownership rates.

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Global Warming Created Snow Is Like Totally Bad For Animals

By William Teach February 2, 2015 – 10:21 am

Because animals never had to deal with winter before

Winter Storms Impact Connecticut Wildlife In Different Ways by Gregory B. Hladky

Bitter cold and heavy snowfall of the kind we’ve been experiencing lately is usually just an inconvenience for people. For Connecticut’s wildlife, these violent winter storms can be life or death events.

Deep snow can make finding food tough for animals and birds. Sustained frigid temperatures are often even more dangerous, according to state wildlife biologists. And most scientists agree that climate change is likely to bring us more volatile weather patterns, including frequent and harsher winter storms, creating new challenges for our wildlife.

Pretty much the rest of the article ignores the notion of Hotcoldwetdry, but, one has to wonder how these same birds and animals survived during the Little Ice Age, much less the last glacial age. As for the notion of heat creating “frequent and harsher winter storms”, these people are just nuts.

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Surprise: Libyan Officials Were Very Concerned About Arms Transfers Ending Up In Hands Of Jihadis

By William Teach February 2, 2015 – 7:18 am

Here’s the Obama/Clinton “Smart Power” at work

(Washington Times) Libyan officials were deeply concerned in 2011, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was trying to remove Moammar Gadhafi from power, that weapons were being funneled to NATO-backed rebels with ties to al Qaeda, fearing that well-armed insurgents could create a safe haven for terrorists, according to secret intelligence reports obtained by The Washington Times.

The reports included a 16-page list of weapons that Libyans supposedly tracked to the rebels from Western sources or their allies in the region. The memos were corroborated by a U.S. intelligence asset familiar with the documents as well as former top Gadhafi regime official Mohammed Ismael.

That report, which was prepared in English so it could be passed by a U.S. intelligence asset to key members of Congress, identified specific air and sea shipments observed by Libyan intelligence moving weapons to the rebels trying to unseat the Gadhafi regime.

“There is a close link between al Qaeda, Jihadi organizations, and the opposition in Libya,” the report warned.

In the documents and separately recorded conversations with U.S. emissaries, Libyan officials expressed particular concern that the weapons and training given the rebels would spread throughout the region, in particular turning the city of Benghazi into a future terrorist haven.

Even before Ghadafi was deposed, Islamic jihadis were known to be streaming into eastern Libya, turning the opposition from a legitimate movement into just another hardcore Islamic jihad push.

Mrs. Clinton, now considering a run for president, was the moving force inside the Obama administration to encourage U.S. military intervention to unseat Gadhafi in Libya. The latest documents and audio recordings are likely to give her Republican critics on Capitol Hill fresh ammunition to question whether she had an adequate plan and whether her efforts led to the tragedy in Benghazi a year later and the general lawlessness and chaos that have gripped Libya since.

She and Obama lived in their own bubble world. The question is, will information like this damage her with squishy Democrat voters and Independents during the general election, if she was to get the Democrat nomination?

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Obama Budget Pushes Overseas Corporate Profit Tax

By William Teach February 2, 2015 – 6:56 am

This makes it pretty darned clear that Obama is simply looking to pick a fight with not just Congressional Republicans, but all Republicans and conservatives. The only other option is that he is completely divorced from reality, that he’s a total political hack, that he’s still out of ideas, and has absolutely no idea that he and his Party go thumped during the midterms

(Fox News) President Obama will on Monday give Congress his $4 trillion spending plan for fiscal 2016 that includes a request for billions of dollars in much-needed public works projects — an idea that has bipartisan support but little backing for the proposed tax increases to fund such efforts.

Obama will propose a six-year, $478 billion public-works program for highway, bridge and transit upgrades, with half of it to be financed with a one-time, 14 percent tax on U.S. companies’ overseas profits.

The tax would be due immediately. Under current law, those profits are subject only to federal taxes if they are returned, or repatriated, to the U.S., where they face a top rate of 35 percent. Many companies avoid U.S. taxes on those earnings by simply leaving them overseas.

That idea is going absolutely nowhere. It will never ever pass. Even a goodly chunk of Democrats have to admit that this is a Bad Idea, one which could see even more companies move their main country registration to countries other than the U.S. prior to this “one time tax” kicking in. Especially since corporate leaders understand that if happens once, it can certainly happen again, to the point of being fully embedded in the law for every year (more on this in a moment).

But, really, this is most likely a poison pill, meant to create that aforementioned fight with the GOP, who will deem this as a non-starter, allowing Obama to demagogue the issue out on the campaign trail. The only other assumption is that Obama’s a fool.

The tax is part of a broader administration plan to cut corporate tax breaks and increase taxes on the country’s highest wage-earners to pay for projects to help the middle class.

Yet, what it would do would is, again, send more corporations headed to the door. Funny how Obama takes advantage of every tax break on the books to lower his own tax burden every year when he pays his own taxes, eh? As for infrastructure, what should generally be an easy notion to deal with becomes a massive fight, thanks to Obama’s intransigence.

Oh, wait, did the AP (it’s an AP article, posted at Fox News) mention something about the tax being one time?

At issue is how to get companies to bring back some of their foreign earnings to invest in the United States. The current 35 percent top tax rate for corporations in the United States, the highest among major economies, serves as a disincentive and many U.S. companies with overseas holdings simply keep their foreign earnings abroad and avoid the U.S. tax.

Under Obama’s plan, the top corporate tax rate for company profits earned in the U.S. would drop to 28 percent. While past foreign profits would be taxed immediately at the 14 percent rate, going forward new foreign profits would be taxed immediately at 19 percent, with companies getting a credit for foreign taxes paid.

This is a plan guaranteed to send companies running for the door to moving their registration to other countries.

What the GOP should do is simply put Obama’s budget up for a vote in both the House and Senate. Say “here it is. Vote”. Put Democrats on record. His past budgets have failed miserably.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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If All You See…

By William Teach February 1, 2015 – 1:00 pm

…is horrible pizza which makes people fat which makes climate change worse, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Lady Liberty 1885, who goes into rant mode about passing stopped school buses.

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Sorta Blogless Patriotic Pinup

By William Teach February 1, 2015 – 9:56 am

Happy Sunday! Another great day in America. It’s Super Bowl day. I’ll admit, this one really doesn’t excite me. I dislike the Seahawks, and, after Deflategate, I can’t root for the Patriots. And I don’t watch for the commercials. Oh, well. Anyhow, I’m not sure who did this pinup.

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. The Last Refuge notes Scott Walker surging in Iowa polls
  2. Dr. Roy Spencer puts some context on the “historic” blizzard’s actual standing
  3. A View From The Beach says it’s time to go with Plan B
  4. American Power covers a Democrats who acknowledges extremist Islam
  5. Cold Fury discusses the illiberal Left
  6. Baldilocks (DaTechGuy) discusses the low information nation
  7. Doug Ross presents the White House Terrorist Identification Chart
  8. Fire Andrea Mitchell notes an American killed in a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia
  9. Jammie Wearing Fools wonders about that “Jeb smoked pot” report
  10. Hot Air does, as well
  11. Jihad Watch notes that ISIS/ISIL is burning non-Islamic books
  12. Legal Insurrection discusses Scott Walker’s immigration position
  13. Powerline notes an important fact Charles Blow forgot to mention in a whiny op-ed
  14. The Daley Gator has your self defense story of the day
  15. And last, but not least, Shot In The Dark has the headline of the year

As always, the full set of pinups can be seen in the Patriotic Pinup category, or over at my Gallery page. While we are on pinups, since it is that time of year, have you gotten your “Pinups for Vets” calendar yet? And don’t forget to check out what I declare to be our War on Women Rule 5 and linky luv posts and things that interest me

Don’t forget to check out all the other great material all the linked blogs have!

Anyone else have a link or hotty-fest going on? Let me know so I can add you to the list. (BTW, since someone asked, the reason I leave links for the previous week up (or you might see a *) is because they are place holders for later in the day or for next weeks. Easier than rewriting all the time. Also, the listing order has to do with how they are added over time, not how good a post is. I just copy and paste from the previous week, then edit. If you see one of the *’s, go ahead and check out the blog anyhow, see if there is an update. I cannot update with my Android during the day.

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ISIS Beheads Japanese Hostage

By William Teach February 1, 2015 – 8:44 am

The Religion Of Peace at work

(Japan Times) Despite an unusual lull that had raised hopes hostage Kenji Goto might be freed, many in Japan were shocked Sunday to learn the Islamic State group had apparently executed him.

In a new video posted online early in the morning, the same masked man seen in previous Islamic State hostage videos is shown standing next to Goto, who is kneeling in an orange jumpsuit.

Brandishing a knife and speaking in his familiar British-accented English, he says: “To the Japanese government. You, like your foolish allies in the satanic coalition, have yet to understand that we, by Allah’s grace, are a large Islamic caliphate with authority and power and an entire army thirsty for your blood.

“Abe, because of your decision to take part in an unwinnable war, this knife will not only slaughter Kenji but will carry on and also cause carnage wherever your people are found. So let the nightmare for Japan begin.”

After apparently calling out Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the man applies the knife to Goto’s throat before the video fades to black and shows an image of the journalist’s head resting on his decapitated body.

Terrible, but not unexpected, news. The White House released this statement

The United States condemns the heinous murder of Japanese citizen and journalist Kenji Goto by the terrorist group ISIL.  Through his reporting, Mr. Goto courageously sought to convey the plight of the Syrian people to the outside world.  Our thoughts are with Mr. Goto’s family and loved ones, and we stand today in solidarity with Prime Minister Abe and the Japanese people in denouncing this barbaric act.  We applaud Japan’s steadfast commitment to advancing peace and prosperity in the Middle East and globally, including its generous assistance for innocent people affected by the conflicts in the region.  Standing together with a broad coalition of allies and partners, the United States will continue taking decisive action to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL.

Very nice, but do you notice what is missing? Any mention of Islamic radicalism. It’s nice that ISIL was referred to as a “terrorist group”, but, can you imagine had this done by a far right group, what the response would have been? Barack Obama, along with so many others on the political left, as well as numerous world leaders, refuse to acknowledge that these terrorists are Muslims, and are doing what they do in the name of Allah and Mohammed. Bernie Goldber wrote, regarding Obama and his team blowing off the Paris march

This is a president who won’t even acknowledge that the Islamic State is … Islamic. Despite the fact that the stated goal of the ISIS jihadists is to create a caliphate in the Middle East, President Obama said the organization “is not Islamic.” He also said they’re not even part of the Muslim religion.

You have to wonder if Mr. Obama thinks that by not linking the words Islamic and terrorism that somehow Islamic terrorism doesn’t really exist. Howard Dean, another so-called progressive, recently said on MSNBC (where else?) that those that many of us call Muslim terrorists are not really Muslims because Islam is a religion of peace. George Orwell must be smiling.

Referring back to the original article

Brandishing a knife and speaking in his familiar British-accented English, he says: “To the Japanese government. You, like your foolish allies in the satanic coalition, have yet to understand that we, by Allah’s grace, are a large Islamic caliphate with authority and power and an entire army thirsty for your blood.

Apparently, that type of talk means that ISIS “is not Islamic”.

This is not to blame all Muslims. Yet, there is certainly a major problem with Islam, in that so many are being radicalized. Most simply travel the road to being one of the hardcore peaceful radicals, believing in full on Sharia law, subjugation of women, gays should be hung, wanting a worldwide Caliphate, wanting all the Jews killed, and everything else that goes with this, but rarely ever getting violent themselves. Once in a while, they’ll perform an honor killing. And some will go further to become one of the hardcore fighters. Sticking your head in the sand won’t make the problem go away. Saying that groups like ISIS aren’t really Islamic won’t make the problem go away. The violence will continue, as will the spread of the radicalized version of Islam. Goto’s beheading is another sad example of how the Religion of Peace acts.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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If All You See…

By William Teach January 31, 2015 – 1:00 pm

…is a wonderful bike save all plant life, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Raised On Hoecakes, with a post noting that CUNY doesn’t want you to be polite.

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