Senator Claire McCaskill said What?!?!?

This also comes via HotAir.com and yes, via Ed Morrissey: (I only link to this one, because like Ed, My jaw went “CLANK!” when I saw this…)

Transcript:

BOB SCHIEFFER, “FACE THE NATION”: Do either of you at this point think there’s a chance that we would have to put U.S. troops in there or that we would want to?
SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL (D-MISSOURI): I don’t think you want to ever rule it out because I think this is, kind of, as — as Saxby said, this thing has really deteriorated, and it’s not really at a tipping point. So I don’t think you ever want to say absolutely not. Obviously, we don’t want to do that unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Do either of these two ding-a-lings have any idea what kind of troop commitment that would take? I mean, Syria is a huge Country and we would be fighting all sorts of people. (You know, kind of like….um, Iraq?)

Ed Morrissey sums it up:

We might be able to prevent that with a large-scale invasion and an equally large-scale occupation that lasts a decade or more, if we can get enough NATO members to come along with us and sell it to a Congress that has been acting as though Iraq was a huge mistake. That would include having to quell any insurgencies from Jabhat al-Nusra or related groups, along with fighting Hezbollah again. Anyone up for that kind of commitment? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Funny how the same Democrats who were all like, “The War lost and we need to come home!” during Presidency of George W. Bush are the same ones who are now all, “A yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!” when it comes to Syria and Obama. I think that some voices of sanity on the left really need to speak up right about now and tell these people, “Um, Folks? We tried that in Iraq and our butts are still sore and we lost like a bunch of people. Lets not do that, okay?”

This also proves a few things that I always did suspect; that the Anti-War movement, among the beltway Democrats; unlike the real grassroots Progressive anti-war movement —- was nothing more than an Anti-Bush partisan pet cause. Which quickly dried up once Obama was in office. I am thinking that Bush knew this and this is why he would not cave to their demands, despite the fact that there was no WMD’s.

To be fair, I have always suspected that Libya was a partisan pet cause among the Republicans; which explains why it never gained in traction in Congress at all. I mean, there were obviously some mistakes made; but the way the Republicans have drummed that story up, and yes, I do mean via Fox News —- makes me think it falls among partisan lines. True, many Military people and grassroots Conservatives are concerned about it and rightly so. The Republicans simply made it their pet cause and will in 2014 and 2016; you watch. This is until it starts to generate backlash and they quickly drop it; like when they are elected. Again, watch what happens. I know the game, I have been around it long enough.

“Stay the hell out of Syria!” Says, HotAir.com?!?!?!??!

I happen to be checking out one of my many blogs that I read on a daily basis here, and I happen to see the following:

From a strictly strategic point of view, why not let Hezbollah fight al-Qaeda affiliates and let them drain each other of strength? That has to be a better outcome than victory for Assad or for the Nusrah Front and its AQ allies. An American intervention that tips the scales towards AQ would be absurd, and yet that seems to be exactly what Republicans and Democrats in Washington want from the Obama administration.
If we are going to intervene, it should be with a heavy footprint that ends the Nusrah Front’s control of wide swaths of Syria. That will take years, hundreds of thousands of troops, and probably trillions of dollars — but it’s the only way to intervene and keep Islamist terrorists from taking over large parts of Syria like they did in Libya, after a 30,000-foot intervention by Obama and NATO. If we don’t want to pay that kind of price for intervention, then let’s stay the hell out of Syria in the first place.

Now, who would make such a statement? Lew Rockwell? Ron Paul? Rand Paul? The Editors at The American Conservative? Patrick J. Buchanan?

Why, No.

It was none other than Ed Morrissey at HotAir.com.

For what it is truly worth, Ed has a good point. This whole neocon idea of controlling the entire arab world is absurd and would come back to bite us anyhow. We lost a good deal of American treasure in Iraq and for what? Some bad intelligence that no one could be bothered to verify? As Ed basically said here; lets not make that same mistake twice. We cannot afford it anyhow, and I just happen to believe that America is war-weary anyhow, any sort of military action would a disaster for the Democrats and for America in general.

So, hats off to Ed Morrissey for speaking a truth, that might not be that popular in his own circles. Being a truth-teller in politics, especially in Conservative circles is a really hard thing at times. I am sure that he took it on the chin to speak that truth on that blog. My thoughts are with him, because, as I well know; speaking from the heart and shooting from the hip is not easy sometimes.

Man stabs 4 choir members at Albuquerque Catholic church

Crazy times we live in…:

Police say a knife-wielding lunatic ran into an Albuquerque, N.M. Catholic church Sunday, jumping pews before stabbing four choir members.
He yelled “fake preacher!” as he started his stabbing spree, witnesses told KOAT.
RELATED: QUEENS MAN STABBED TO DEATH
Several parishioners jumped on and held down the suspect, identified as 24-year-old Lawrence Capener, an Albuquerque police spokeswoman tells the Daily News.
via Man stabs 4 choir members during Sunday mass at Albuquerque Catholic church – NY Daily News.

LA Times reports:

Another parishioner, Vanessa Lucero, 14, told The Times she was sitting right behind the man, who “was kind of twitchy, sketchy looking. He had a tattoo of an upside-down star on his wrist.”
Lucero said the man climbed over the pews, punched and then repeatedly stabbed the choir’s lead singer.
“He said, like, ‘False preacher!’ ” Lucero said. “I don’t know why.”
The congregation subdued the attacker, at which point more parishioners could have been stabbed, Stinson said.
After the suspect was in handcuffs, Lucero said, “Old ladies were telling him, ‘God bless you, forgive yourself,’ and he was saying, ‘You don’t know about the Masons.’ ”
Neither witness had seen the man before. After the attack, Stinson said that the choir’s lead singer had stab wounds on his left arm and that his jacket was “torn to pieces.”

“At this point, we’re just trying to deal with it,” Father John C. Daniel said in a brief phone interview with The Times. “It sounds like everybody is going to be OK.”
In a statement, Albuquerque police confirmed that the suspect was in custody but did not release his identity.
[Update, 4:15 p.m. April 28: On Sunday afternoon, police identified the suspect as Lawrence Capener, 24. “He is currently being interviewed and will be facing numerous felony charges,” Albuquerque Police Department spokeswoman Tasia Martinez said in a statement.]
“It has been determined that he is not a parishioner,” police said. “As to the motive regarding the multiple stabbing, this has not yet been determined.”

Crazy days, Crazy people. Unreal. Oh, and I happen to know quite a bit about the Masons. (another good resource here too.)

Others: Los Angeles Times, Scared Monkeys, Wake up America, The Hinterland Gazette and Riehl World News (Memeorandum)

Photos and videos: dad goes cat fishing for first time this year

Once again: A gun saves a life, prevents a crime

Tell me again why these guns grabbing pukes want to take our guns?

The story:

BETHEL PARK, PA. – Police in western Pennsylvania say a man was shot to death after reportedly brandishing a wooden club in an attack on the owners of a Pittsburgh-area music store.
Police Chief John Mackey told reporters that the 32-year-old man entered Armen’s House of Music in Bethel Park shortly before noon Saturday but left after two or three minutes.
Mackey said he went outside to his car and then returned carrying the club, which the chief said he used to strike the wife of the store owner.
Mackey said the owner came to his wife’s defense and was also attacked, and the two struggled briefly before the owner pulled a revolver and shot and killed the attacker.
The store owner and his wife were taken to UPMC Mercy for treatment of unspecified injuries. Police said they are expected to recover.
Mackey said robbery appeared not to be the motive, and he didn’t know whether the owners knew the man, whose name was not immediately released.
via Pennsylvania music store owner fatally shoots intruder, police say | Fox News.

Once again, guns saves lives and prevent crime; as always.

A nice video:

About that Marathon Oil refinery fire near my house

I guess you all might have heard that there was a fire at the Marathon Oil refinery near my house.

Here’s a picture:

The News-Herald, WXYZ-TV in Detroit, CBS in Detroit are all are reporting on it.

Here is what I know from the local reporting here: It was a diesel tank and a diesel tanker truck that was being filled; hence the small fire and a whole lot of smoke! If that had been a tank something dealing with gasoline; it would have been much worse. Anyhow, something caused a spark and hence the fire.

Now, judging from the headlines, in the blogosphere, this was a HORRIBLE EVENT! Just look: (via memeorandum)

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit: EXPLOSION ROCKS SOUTHWEST DETROIT – Refinery Catches on Fire (Video)

Susie Madrak / Crooks and Liars: Explosion Reported At Detroit Tar Sands Refinery

David Sands / The Huffington Post: Detroit Refinery, Owned By Marathon, Reveals Another Side Of The ‘Tar Sands Oil’ Debate

Ahem… Well, it was a little overdone. 🙄

Um, Guys? Here’s the story from the local CBS Station:

A spokesman for Marathon Petroleum says no injuries have been reported after a fire broke out at a refinery in Detroit.
Shane Pochard tells The Associated Press the fire occurred Saturday evening in one of the small tanks at the Marathon Petroleum refinery. He says the fire has been put out. Pochard says there are no reports of any injuries to employees or contractors.

If there was any sort of explosion around here at all, I did not hear it at all. There are two things that usually never get by me and that are noises and smells. If anything out of the ordinary happens, I usually know about it. Now, keep in mind; I am a little to the south of that location. In fact, we used to pass that refinery every Friday, when my parents and my grandmother would go grocery shopping in Lincoln Park, back years ago, when I was a kid living in Detroit. I remember driving by there, and there were times; when that place reeked with odor! It really has not been that bad as of late, that I can remember anyhow.

So, to everyone who was thinking this was SOME HORRIBLY TRAGIC EVENT!!!111 ELEVENTY!!!!

I had to laugh at the headlines:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Kh7nLplWo

Relax man, it was small refinery that was quickly put out. Nobody was hurt and nothing major was damaged; an diesel tank and a tanker truck….maybe. Everything is a-okay in Detroit. We’re all still alive here! Maybe a little crazy… But, happy nonetheless!

Someone needs to tell Warren, Michigan Mayor James Fouts to please calm down!

Man, talk about an angry man!

In a profanity-filled tirade being investigated by Michigan State Police, Warren Mayor James Fouts blasts two former employees, complaining about litigation and his online profile.
In a recorded telephone conversation between the mayor and an appointee — a copy of which was obtained by The Macomb Daily — Fouts said of one of the former workers: “If I had a baseball bat, I’d beat the f—– down to the f—— ground. I mean, it would take me just a little bit to get a f—— gun and blow his f—— head out. That’s how p—– off I am.”
During the first taped call, Fouts complains about an online public forum about Warren, the City Council’s involvement in a money transfer and political headaches.
via Warren Mayor James Fouts blasts ex-employees in tirade – The Macomb Daily.

Hey James, calm it down a little man! Take deep breaths...one, two, three…. four. Now, listen. I know you are angry. But, look: You are the Mayor of a city, not dictator of the world.

There are more saner ways of handling your problems. You know, like Lawyers? Might want to look into one.

(H/T Deadline Detroit)

The United States Government is giving Welfare Benefits to Illegal Immigrants

They are also being encouraged to do so by the Mexican Government.

Now before I begin to report this, I must be clear on something: THIS WAS HAPPENING ALSO IN THE GEORGE W. BUSH ADMINISTRATION AS WELL AS THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION.

The Story via WND and Judicial Watch:

The U.S. government has been caught promoting the delivery of taxpayer-funded welfare benefits to foreigners, and Judicial Watch’s conclusion is that the Obama administration “cannot be trusted to protect our borders.”
Judicial Watch, the Washington watchdog which is known for tracking down and trying to stamp out government corruption, has issued a report revealing that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is working with the Mexican government to promote the U.S. food stamp program to illegal aliens.
The report said the program, called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, features a Spanish-language flyer supplied to the Mexican Embassy by the USDA “with a statement advising Mexicans in the U.S. that they do not need to declare their immigration status in order to receive financial assistance.”
Just so they don’t miss the idea, the message is in bold and underlined on the brochure: “You need not divulge information regarding your immigration status in seeking this benefit for your children.”
“The revelation that the USDA is actively working with the Mexican government to promote food stamps for illegal aliens should have a direct impact on the fact of the immigration bill now being debated in Congress,” said Tom Fitton, the president of the organization.
“These disclosures further confirm the fact that the Obama administration cannot be trusted to protect our borders or enforce our immigration laws. And the coordination with a foreign government to attack the policies of an American state is contemptible,” he said.
Last year, Judicial Watch reported that Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., wrote to USDA chief Tom Vilsack asking questions about the Obama’s administration partnership with Mexican officials to hand out taxpayer-paid benefits to those illegally in the U.S.
At the time, Sessions wrote, “It defies rational thinking for the United States – now dangerously $16 trillion in debt – to partner with foreign governments to help us place more foreign nationals on American welfare and it is contrary to good immigration policy.”
Now Judicial Watch has released documents it obtained in response to a Freedom of Information Act request made to USDA on July 20, 2012. The FOIA request sought: “Any and all records of communication relating to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to Mexican Americans, Mexican nationals, and migrant communities, including but not limited to, communications with the Mexican government.”

Judicial Watch puts a finer point on it:

The documents, obtained by Judicial Watch in August 2012, include the following:
March 30, 2012 – The USDA seeks approval of the Mexican Embassy in drafting a letter addressed to consulates throughout the United States designed to encourage Mexican embassy staffers to enroll in a webinar learn how to promote increased enrollment among “the needy families that the consulates serve.”
August 1, 2011 – The USDA FNS initiates contact with the Mexican Embassy in New York to implement programs already underway in DC and Philadelphia for maximizing participation among Mexican citizens. The Mexican Embassy responds that the Consul General is eager to strengthen his ties to the USDA, with specific interest in promoting the food stamp program.
February 25, 2011 – The USDA and the Mexican Consulate exchange ideas about getting the First Ladies of Mexico and United States to visit a school for purposes of creating a photo opportunity that would promote free school lunches for low-income students in a predominantly Hispanic school. Though a notation in the margin of the email claims that the photo op never took place, UPI reported that it actually did.
March 3, 2010 – A flyer advertises a webinar to teach Hispanic-focused nonprofits how to get reimbursed by the USDA for serving free lunch over the summer. The course, funded by American taxpayers, is advertised as being “free for all participants.”
February 9 , 2010 – USDA informs the Mexican Embassy that, based on an agreement reached between the State Department and the Immigration & Naturalization Service (now ICE), the Women, Infants & Children (WIC) food voucher program does not violate immigration laws prohibiting immigrants from becoming a “public charge.”

Now, as I wrote before, this was happening under Bush’s White House too, here is the proof from Judicial Watch:

As far back as 2006, in its Corruption Chronicles blog, Judicial Watch revealed that the USDA was spending taxpayer money to run Spanish-language television ads encouraging illegal immigrants to apply for government-financed food stamps. The Mexican Consul in Santa Ana, CA, at the time even starred in some of the U.S. Government-financed television commercials, which explained the program and provided a phone number to apply. In the widely viewed commercial the Consul assured that receiving food stamps “won’t affect your immigration status.”

The reason why I point this out, is because sometimes, the point that much of the corruption and stuff like this here; was already in place, before President Obama was in the White House. The partisans on the right sometimes forget to mention that. Illegal immigration was just as bad of a problem, when Bush was President, as it now that Obama is President. Some people contend that it is gotten worse since Obama took office. I very much highly doubt that, to be quite honest. Actually, Obama has been cracking down on illegal immigration, there are exceptions, like there are in anything else; but for the most part that is the case.

The point of all of this, is the following: This is your hard-earned tax dollars being used to fund Welfare benefits for people who are not even citizens of this Country. It is already sickening enough that legal immigrants are being given this sort of a thing, without having to live here for any reasonable amount of time; like 10 years or more. But, you now having people, living here illegally and they are getting them too? Sorry, but that is just outrageous!

Hopefully, we will elect a President in 2016, and maybe Congressmen and Senators in 2014, that will put a stop to this practice.

Whoa: Facebook CEO reaped $2.3 Billion gain on stock options

It is quite painfully obvious that I am in the wrong business.

The Story:

SAN FRANCISCO AP — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reaped a gain of nearly $2.3 billion last year when he exercised 60 million stock options just before the online social networking leaders initial public offering.The windfall detailed in regulatory documents filed Friday saddled Zuckerberg, 28, with a massive tax bill. He raised the money to pay it by selling 30.2 million Facebook Inc. shares for $38 apiece, or $1.1 billion, in the IPO.Facebooks stock hasnt closed above $38 since the IPO was completed last May. The shares gained 71 cents Friday to close at $26.85.The 29 percent decline from Facebooks IPO price has cost Zuckerberg nearly $7 billion on paper, based on the 609.5 million shares of company stock that he owned as of March 31, according to the regulatory filing. His current stake is still worth $16.4 billion.
via Facebook CEO reaped $2.3B gain on stock options – Yahoo! Finance.

Being a protected minority has its perks, I suppose. Must be nice to be born into the right bloodline.

On sequestration: The Democrats gamble….and lose

Tell me again why the Democrats put that idiot in the white house again? Hope and….what?

Read on:

The Democrats have lost on sequestration.
That’s the simple reality of Friday’s vote to ease the pain for the Federal Aviation Administration. By assenting to it, Democrats have agreed to sequestration for the foreseeable future.
Recall the Democrats’ original theory of the case: Sequestration was supposed to be so threatening that Republicans would agree to a budget deal that included tax increases rather than permit it to happen. That theory was wrong. The follow-up theory was that the actual pain caused by sequestration would be so great that it would, in a matter of months, push the two sides to agree to a deal. Democrats just proved that theory wrong, too.
In effect, what Democrats said Friday was that in any case where the political pain caused by sequestration becomes unbearable, they will agree to cancel that particular piece of the bill while leaving the rest of the law untouched. The result is that sequestration is no longer particularly politically threatening, but it’s even more unbalanced: Cuts to programs used by the politically powerful will be addressed, but cuts to programs that affects the politically powerless will persist. It’s worth saying this clearly: The pain of sequestration will be concentrated on those who lack political power.
Democrats had other choices, of course. As Politico’s Glenn Thrush pointed out on MSNBC Friday, President Obama could’ve vetoed the FAA bill while standing at a Head Start that’s about to throw needy children out of the program. He could’ve vetoed it from the home of an jobless worker who just saw her benefits cut. Democrats could simply have insisted that the powerful can’t get out of sequestration unless the powerless can, too. But they didn’t — and they show no signs that they’ll start.
But that’s game, then. Absent the willingness to accept the pain of sequestration and use it to overturn the whole policy, Democrats have no leverage to end it.
via The Democrats have lost on sequestration | Wonkblog.

So, when they’re not being classless, they’re making stupid political moves; like this here. 🙄

Others: Washington Post, Hullabaloo and Outside the Beltway (via Memeorandum)