PrairiePundit

AP/Arab News: Egyptian court declares Hamas a ‘terrorist organization’ They tie several attacks directly to Hamas, especially the ones in the Sinai.

Seth Mandel: The most important piece of information about the IRS’s targeting of conservative and pro-Israel groups is this: it is still going on. Politico reported yesterday that there are two categories of groups still being delayed and silenced by the IRS’s tax-exempt apparatchiks. The first category is Karl Rove (and his Crossroads organization). The second category is financially strapped mom-and-pop shops who have been driven into debt by the IRS’s corrupt practices in which critics of the Obama administration are deprived of some of their constitutional rights. The story notes that this contradicts new IRS director John Koskinen’s claim that the agency “completed” its set of recommendations to get the corruption under control. As of this week, it’s still taking place. What this means in practice is that these groups, some of which applied several years ago, are still in limbo, unable to proceed. The point is to destroy the groups by bankrupting and suffocating them. Politi...

Washington Examiner: Members of the media were quick to report that, included in Gov. Scott Walker's budget, was a removal of the requirements that colleges report campus sexual assault statistics to the state. The Daily Beast, Huffington Post and others all jumped on a report in Jezebel that tried to paint Walker as being unsympathetic to sexual assault victims. Daily Beast writer Brian Weidy went so far as to claim that Walker's proposal was "just short of explicitly violating Title IX regulations" and possible even "crossing a legal line." So not only is Walker a terrible person who hates victims, but he's also maybe breaking the law. Or so they said. But for all their eagerness to pile on a leading GOP candidate for president (note the contrast to reporting on Obama in 2008), they were just plain wrong. The outlets involved had to retract the story, although a simple Google News search could have spared them the humiliation. Walker had actua...

This really looks like the IRS response to Congress was in bad faith.  They did not even try to get the data.

NY Times: Online, American Helps to Fuel Attacks in Egypt Shahid King Bolsen, an American convert to Islam, has emerged as the unlikely apostle for a distinctive blend of anti-globalization sloganeering and Islamist politics that is fueling a new wave of violence against businesses in Egypt. The Obama administration has alienated Egypt and has backed the Muslim Brotherhood despite their religious bigotry.  Egypt now has a government that is fighting the bigots of the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIL.  The US should be treating them like an ally and not pushing them into the hands of the Russians.

The Washington Post has a graphic which shows broad categories of degrees and the percentage of graduates without jobs.  Those doing best got their degree in agriculture of science.   Those doing the worst got degrees in social science and architecture.  If you are you child is taking out student loans to get a degree, you would do well to look at this chart and think about whether you will be able to replay it.

AFP: Once again this winter, following days of very heavy rainfall across the region, the banks of a riverbed running through central Gaza were breached, flooding dozens of Palestinian homes. For the residents, there was no doubt: Israel was responsible after deliberately opening "a dam" to flood the enclave. But an examination of the facts on the Israeli side tells another story, shattering a long-held Palestinian myth. People living in Wadi Gaza say flooding happens every year after heavy rain, creating yet another challenge for those struggling to survive in the tiny coastal territory. Residents of the Gaza Strip have lived through three wars in the past six years and are unable to leave due to an Israeli blockade. That Israel, the invisible enemy on the other side of the fence, would flood Gaza in a bid to make life even worse is therefore accepted as fact -- as is the alleged existence of one or more dams upstream controlled by the Jewish state. Following the lat...

Reuters: Exclusive: Chicago nears fiscal free fall with latest downgrade They are approaching the investment status of Russia and Chicago can't blame sanctions and the drop in the price of oil.  There are Texas utility districts with higher ratings.  It is an example of what happens when liberals starts to run out of other people's money.  Illinois is even worse shape, but at least it has a governor who is finally trying to do something about the Democrats spending and regulation problems.

NY Times: New Party in Charge, Same Challenges Congress is stalled in a tense meltdown that threatens funding of the Department of Homeland Security. Harry Reid continues to try to thwart democracy and the rule of law and supporting Obama's illegal actions.

NY Times: Russian Authorities Say Fellow Opposition Members May Have Killed Boris Nemtsov A Saturday statement said the police would examine several theories about the opposition leader’s fatal shooting, including the possibility that he had been a “sacrificial victim.” Charging another opposition leader would give Putin a twofer in removing those who don't approve of his despotic rule.

Perry talks about immigration and the process of governing.

Matthew Continetti: Why Bibi’s Speech Matters Column: It exposes the Iran deal as indefensible—and Obama's politics as bankrupt They know the public will not support their proposal if it is exposed.  They are left to demonizing the opposition to their scheme rather than defending it.  That is a pretty good sign they know they can't sell it on the merits.  It is a typical Obama deal with our adversaries giving away the store and getting little to nothing in return.

Jon Cassidy: A few Republican state senators demonstrated Thursday that they aren’t willing to ignore the admissions scandal at the University of Texas, even if Gov. Greg Abbott is. The Senate Nominations Committee heard testimony Thursday from Abbott’s three nominees to join the UT Board of Regents, two of whom bear some responsibility for the recent scandals: Steven Hicks, known for opposing investigations into favoritism and a forgivable loan scandal; David Beck, who approved those forgivable loans; and Sara Martinez Tucker, a former Bush administration official who appeared to win over committee members initially troubled by her support for the Common Core education standards. Republican state Sen. Brian Birdwell went straight to the most urgent problem: The political favoritism in UT admissions still may be going on. In the wake of a blockbuster report that uncovered more than 2,000 examples of special treatment for the children of the wealthy and well-connected, not one offic...

Daily Beast: Pentagon Scrubs Major Attack on ISIS The Iraqi troops do not appear to be ready for such an attack.  It always seemed doubtful to me that they would be.  They are after all the same guys who fled in panic and have had poorly trained militia fighters to their ranks.  It should also be noted that when the fled they left their equipment behind.

Daily Mail: Fury over charities that fund ISIS killer Jihadi John apologists: Calls for end to grants for 'warped' human rights group Campaign group Cage described Jihadi John as 'beautiful' person Lord Carlile, a former reviewer of anti-terror legislation said there are 'serious concerns' surrounding the group Added that he would never advise donating money to organisation Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust has given £305,000 to Cage The Brits are suddenly looking at the support for terrorism in charities that support Islamic extremism and religious bigots.  Jihadi John is the man believed to be seen cutting off the heads of  ISIL hostages.

Bloomberg/Fuel Fix: Islamic State’s oil revenue cut by air raids, falling oil The strikes are beginning to concentrate on the refineries in the area ISIL controls.  The Islamic religious bigots have also made money from looting banks in towns and villages they have taken, but that requires continued conquest which has become harder now that they are on the defensive in many areas. They were selling their oil at a discount on the black market, but eh falling prices has made it less attractive.

Daily Mail: 'Oh dear mother, they are chanting Allahu Akbar!': Footage recorded by terrified Iraqis as they see a convoy coming towards their home... and realise it is ISIS Video shows a number of ISIS trucks and lorries speeding towards a house Frightened occupants secretly film the convoy from inside building in Iraq One man heard saying: 'Oh dear mother, they are chanting Allahu Akbar!' Truck carrying group of extremists drives past before screen goes black This attack would have been wiped out if an A-10 had been in the area.  It is more evidence of the inadequate force Obama has put in place and the ridiculous restrictions on operations.  The A-10 Gatling guns would have wiped out this assault.

AFP: North Korea vowed to wage a "merciless, sacred war" against the United States on Thursday, days before the launch of annual joint South Korea-US military exercises that have incensed Pyongyang. "Nuclear weapons are not a monopoly of the US," the ruling party's official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, warned in an editorial carried by the state KCNA news agency. "The US is seriously mistaken if it thinks its mainland is safe," the editorial added. ... The Norks have ban Christianity and other religious groups and having a bible is deemed a criminal offense, but their leaders are crazy enough to believe this taunt.

Fox News: Boris Nemtsov, leading Putin critic, shot and killed in Moscow Putin would have a conflict of interest in any investigation of this murder.

Washington Times: The message from a dozen prominent black pastors this week to the Congressional Black Caucus was loud and clear: Don’t skip out on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyuhu’s speech. About two dozen House and Senate Democrats, most of them black caucus members, have said they will not attend Mr. Netanyahu ’s speech Tuesday before a joint session of Congress , which one pastor described as a “slap in the face to the people of Israel .” “The thing to me that makes no sense is why the Congressional Black Caucus has teamed up with this current administration against Israel ,” said Pastor Dexter D. Sanders of the Rock Center for Transformation in Orlando, Florida. “And yes, black caucus, I’m saying you have gone against Israel when you decide to protest the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu , from coming and speaking on the behalf of the nation of Israel ,” Mr. Sanders said. “That is a slap in the face to the people of Israel , and not only that, it’s a slap in the fac...

Weekly Standard: ... As THE WEEKLY STANDARD first reported , the al Qaeda cell selected to take part in al Mauritani’s plot transited through Iran and some of its members received safe haven there after the planned attacks were thwarted. In the memo to bin Laden, a top al Qaeda manager wrote, “Sheikh Yunis is ready to move and travel.” The file continues: “The destination, in principle, is Iran, and he has with him 6 to 8 brothers that he chose. I told him we are waiting for final complete confirmation from you to move, and agree on this destination (Iran). His plan is: stay around three months in Iran to train the brothers there then start moving them and distributing them in the world for their missions and specialties. He explained those to you in his report and plan.” ... Although Iran and al Qaeda have had significant differences, there is much intelligence showing that the two continue to collude. During President Obama’s administration, the Treasury and State Department...

Andrew McCarthy: Hillary Clinton’s Top Aides Knew from First Minutes that Benghazi Was a Terrorist Attack, E-mails Disclose This makes the blaming of the attacks on the video look even more contrived  in order to avoid political blame.

Carolyn Glick: ... For his part, for the past six years Obama has undermined Israel’s national security. He has publicly humiliated Netanyahu repeatedly. He has delegitimized Israel’s very existence, embracing the jihadist lie that Israel’s existence is the product of post-Holocaust European guilt rather than 4,000 years of Jewish history. He and his representatives have given a backwind to the forces that seek to wage economic warfare against Israel, repeatedly indicating that the application of economic sanctions against Israel – illegal under the World Trade Organization treaties – are a natural response to Israel’s unwillingness to bow to every Palestinian demand. The same goes for the movement to deny the legitimacy of Israel’s very existence. Senior administration officials have threatened that Israel will become illegitimate if it refuses to surrender to Palestinian demands. Last summer, Obama openly colluded with Hamas’s terrorist war against Israel. He tried to coer...

Gallup: As Nuclear Talks Progress, 11% in U.S. See Iran Favorably This is why Obama is not willing to go to Congress before agreeing to a deal and why he will not get any approval of anything he comes up with at this point.  He has utterly failed to develop political support for his agenda.

Blaze: Rick Perry’s Texas-Sized Speech Fires Up Conservative Activists He also introduced a new ad that touts being the only veteran of military service in the race at this point. I think his best argument is this one: Fueled by a booming energy industry, Texas added some 1.4 million jobs over the last seven years, jobs that Perry said buoyed the national economy. “Minus those jobs created in Texas, the U.S. lost a quarter of a million jobs [in the past seven years],” Perry said. ... He also made the case for border enforcement, noting that Texas took steps to secure the border when Obama refused to do so.

Daily Star: Syrian activists and Kurdish representatives say Kurdish fighters have captured dozens of villages following days of clashes with the Islamic State group in northeastern Syria. The Kurdish fighters, known as the People's Protection Units or YPG, have been making territorial gains since capturing the Syrian border town of Kobani last month following a several-month struggle. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Kurdish fighters, supported by Arab militias and airstrikes from the U.S.-backed coalition, captured Friday the eastern and southeastern approaches to the town of Tel Hamees in Hassakeh province. Nawaf Khalil, a YPG spokesman, says Kurdish forces have actually entered the ISIS-held town. The Observatory says ground battles and air strikes around Tel Hamees have killed at least 175 ISIS fighters in the past several days. Additionally, 30 fighters from the YPG and Arab rebel units fighting alongside them have been killed. Among the ...

CNN: This is how top national security reporters Souad Mekhennet and Adam Goldman of the Washington Post, who broke the story that Mohammed Emwazi has been identified as the notorious ISIS terrorist known as "Jihadi John," describe him : "a Briton from a well-to-do family who grew up in West London and graduated from college with a degree in computer programming." They go on to say that Emwazi "was raised in a middle-class neighborhood in London" and attended the University of Westminster, which is a university in London that was founded in the early 19th century. Emwazi poses something of a problem for the Obama administration's narrative about who becomes a terrorist and why. Last week, the administration hosted a three-day conference on "Countering Violent Extremism," which is a government euphemism for how best to deal with Islamist terrorism. We heard from Obama administration officials and even the President himself that terrorism has...

Kurt Schlichter: Liberals, Stop Lying About Everything There are so many misstatements of fact by liberals that it is hard to get a comprehensive list into a column.

Amir Taheri: ... The first signal, according to Iraqis, came when Washington refused to change the rules under which Iraqi forces can call for US airstrikes in support of a ground operation. Under President Obama’s orders, such “calls” must be cleared with Washington — presumably with the White House itself. The president has also rejected an Iraqi request to have US military technicians and logistical experts present in “theaters” where battles are under way. Obama’s demand that the Congress give him three years to pursue an extremely limited campaign against IS reinforces that impression. One Iraqi commander tells me Obama’s approach amounts to “slow-motion warfare.” The authorization he has demanded from Congress will guarantee IS at least three more years as a main player, while tying the hands of the next US president so that he or she can’t really go after the terrorist outfit. ... Turning bombing decisions over to Susan Rice or Obama is a recipe for failure.  Neither has ...

Washington Times: Hillary Clinton takes fire from Democrats as Libya chaos creates terrorist safe haven Jim Webb could make national security focal point of rival 2016 presidential campaign Her failures have turned Libyan into the chaotic situation Afghanistan was in before 9-11 and became a breeding ground for terrorist mass murder on a grand scale.

Washington Times: The IRS ’s inspector general confirmed Thursday it is conducting a criminal investigation into how Lois G. Lerner ’s emails disappeared, saying it took only two weeks for investigators to find hundreds of tapes the agency’s chief had told Congress were irretrievably destroyed. Investigators have already scoured 744 backup tapes and gleaned 32,774 unique emails, but just two weeks ago they found an additional 424 tapes that could contain even more Lerner emails, Deputy Inspector General Timothy P. Camus told the House Oversight Committee in a rare late-night hearing meant to look into the status of the investigation. “There is potential criminal activity,” Mr. Camus said. He said they have also discovered the hard drives from the IRS ’s email servers, but said because the drives are out of synch it’s not clear whether they will be able to recover anything from them. “To date we have found 32,744 unique emails that were backed up from Lois Lerner ’s email box. We ...

Phillip Klien: ... This is where the current tax season could tilt the scales. In the next few months — leading up to a decision by the Supreme Court — a major healthcare story will be about how the Obama administration has made tax season a mess for millions of Americans through it’s bungled handling of subsidies. We’ve already begun to see headlines reflecting this. For instance, the administration has already announced that it had sent 800,000 erroneous tax forms to individuals that calculated their subsidies, forcing them to delay filing taxes. The error affected up to 20 percent of those who received subsidies through the federal exchange in 2014. Meanwhile, H&R Block, the nation’s largest tax preparer, has found that 52 percent of tax filers who obtained subsidies to purchase insurance through Obamacare had to pay back money to the federal government because the subsidies they received were higher than they should have been. The average amount that these filers had to send...

AP/Huffington Post: Rick Perry Attorneys Ask Texas Appeals Court To Toss Felony Case This is a case that should never have been brought.  It reflects the worst of liberalisms attempt to criminalize political differences.  It also shows their sinister attempt to shut down free speech.

Michael Gerson: Questioning Obama’s faith Scott Walker may have thought he was being clever, but his words have no place in politics. It was a question on a non issue in the campaign and the Washington Post and its op-ed writers seem obsessed with it.  As a Republican voter, I could care less and I don't understand why they keep pushing this.  No one is running for office on the issue of whether Obama is a Christian.  No one.  If it ever were an issue it would have been one in 2008 when people learned about the kooky things said from the pulpit of the church he attended on occasion.  God is perfectly capable of sorting out whether Obama is a Christian without endorsements from other politicians or reporters. The media should let this go before people start asking why Obama is so indifferent to the genocide underway against Christians in the Middle East.

NY Times: ISIS Enslaves Assyrians and Destroys Their Art An estimated 300 people have been taken captive, 30 villages have been emptied and irreplaceable works of art destroyed, while Christians are forced to pay a tax to the Islamic State. This administration reminds me of the ROTC officer at the end of Animal House who is seen yelling "Remain calm.  All is well." in the middle of a parade riot. They are either willfully ignorant are they hope that the rest of the world is.  No drama, Obama is determined not to let the terrorist interfere with his delusions or his golf game.  The DNI blows the whistle on this delusion and the media is largely silent. Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

Red States: ... There are two point to address here. First is the idea that the Obama administration’s conduct of nuclear negotiations with Iran has done anything but make the world a profoundly more dangerous place. The administration has willfully traded away to Iran the right to make a nuclear weapons for the utterly bull**** idea that a nuclear Iran would be happy with the United States and become a force for stability in the Middle East. You don’t have to have a Ph.D. in international relations to poke holes in that theory, but it was good enough for Obama ( RedState has documented this pathetic history of wishful thinking substituting for policy ). The second point is much more a commentary of Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)0%‘s lack of honor, character and integrity. When Benjamin Netanyahu supported the invasion of Iraq he was a private citizen. When Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)0% supported the war he was a US Senator. Though Kerry has lied repeatedly over the years about his support saying...

Washington Post: A top Texas law enforcement agency says border security organizations have apprehended several members of known Islamist terrorist organizations crossing the southern border in recent years, and while a surge of officers to the border has slowed the flow of drugs and undocumented immigrants, it’s costing the state tens of millions of dollars. In a report to Texas elected officials, the state Department of Public Safety says border security agencies have arrested several Somali immigrants crossing the southern border who are known members of al-Shabab, the terrorist group that launched a deadly attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, and Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, another Somalia-based group once funded by Osama bin Laden. Another undocumented immigrant arrested crossing the border was on multiple U.S. terrorism watch lists, the report says. According to the report, one member of al-Shabab, apprehended in June 2014, told authorities he had been trained fo...

Katie Pavlich: Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in front of a Senate Armed Services Committee today that the terror threat against the United States is expanding and revealed 2014 as the deadliest year on record for attacks around the world. "When the final accounting is done, 2014 will have been the most lethal year for global terrorism in the 45 years such data has been compiled," Clapper said, detailing thousands of attacks throughout the year. Just yesterday Secretary of State John Kerry said in front of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the world is safer than ever from terror. "We are actually living in a period of less daily threat to Americans and to people in the world than normally; less deaths, less violent deaths today, than through the last century," Kerry said. Last summer, President Obama echoed that by saying the world is "less violent" than ever. ... This should be a bigger story, but the mainstream ...

Hot Air: Dem Rep: You tea partiers want to bring back segregation and roll back women’s rights Why are there so many women and blacks in the Tea Party if that is its objective.  What this guy is doing is making unfounded accusations because he does not want to be confronted on the issues of spending and taxes.

Daily Mail: 5G could download 30 movies in a SECOND: Scientists develop technology that is 65,000 times faster than 4G Scientists at the University of Surrey showcased their new 5G technology, which is 65,000 times faster than current 4G technology. You could download a movie (stock image shown) in a split second. This makes the concerns raised by proponents of net neutrality look pretty silly.

USA Today: Ted Cruz served hungry conservatives a platter of red meat, delivering a speech heavy with themes of liberty and freedom alongside biting attacks on President Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and the ways of Washington. “Washington wants Obamacare, the people want liberty,” the Texas senator said at the Conservative Political Action Conference. “Don’t believe President Obama when he says when you like your Internet, you get to keep your Internet.” Cruz took aim at Clinton, suggesting she’s the embodiment of all that’s wrong with Washington. He also threw out a zinger amid reports that the Clinton Foundation accepted funding from foreign governments when the likely Democratic presidential candidate was secretary of State. “We could have had Hillary here, but we couldn’t find a foreign nation to foot the bill,” he joked. As for his GOP rivals also eyeing the White House, Cruz seemed to raise doubts about their credentials and called on the audience to demand that all presidenti...

Fox News: AR-15 UNDER FIRE ATF pushes bullet ban, threatens top-selling rifle So far there is no explanation.  I don't think the weapon is used in criminal activity  to any major extent, so it is unlikely rated to preventing crime.  This appears to be another backdoor attempt at gun control by an administration that does not like the 2nd amendment.

BBC: A paratrooper who showed "complete disregard" for his own safety during a Taliban attack in Afghanistan has been awarded the Victoria Cross - the highest British military honour. L/Cpl Joshua Leakey, 27, of the Parachute Regiment, was recognised for his valour during the 2013 attack. ... After dismounting from helicopters, a group of UK and US forces came under attack from around 20 insurgents armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Soldiers from the group became pinned down by fire on the side of the hill and surrounded by insurgents. L/Cpl Leakey ran to the top of a hill, despite enemy fire, to assess the situation and provided first aid to a wounded US Marine Corps captain. He then ran back up the hill to reposition a machine gun and began firing at the insurgents, despite bullets "ricocheting" off the machine gun's frame. Despite the danger, he returned to the injured captain - drawing enemy fire again - to retrieve a second machine gu...

Forbes: ... The Manhattan project produced the bomb; the Apollo program put men on the moon; the Hoover Dam tamed the Colorado and let a desert bloom; the interstate highway system unleashed America’s mobility. What is there to show for the decades of effort, and trillions of dollars spent, trying to make “renewables” a major part of the nation’s energy portfolio? Last year, two tirelessly-touted workhorses of the “renewables revolution,” wind and solar, combined generated roughly 2.2% of America’s electricity. Wind accounted for just over 1.6% of that share— and solar just 0.6%. And the tiny share of power they did produce was unreliable, impractical and still not really “cost competitive” if you subtract the direct and indirect subsidies, coming from all levels of government, that keep this teetering house of cards from falling over. ... There is much more. In their current form these programs are too inefficient and unreliable.  They also cost too much and deliver too lit...

Washington Times: Hillary Rodham Clinton ’s 2011 campaign to drive Moammar Gadhafi from power did significant damage to U.S. intelligence , according to a top Libyan aide and U.S. intelligence officials. The Libyan dictator provided regular reports to the CIA that helped capture or kill key al Qaeda figures and thwart terrorist attacks against American targets overseas, those sources said. The Libyan regime, for instance, helped U.S. forces kill a key al Qaeda operative of a suicide attack on a U.S. air field in Afghanistan in 2007 when Vice President Dick Cheney was visiting. SEE ALSO: Exclusive: Secret tapes undermine Hillary Clinton on Libyan war It also helped foil a plan to attack the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria in 2005, according to U.S. intelligence sources who spoke to The Washington Times on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. “The Gadhafi regime was a productive source for counterterrorism intelligence,” said a former senior ...

NY Times: Talk Toughens as U.S. and Israel’s Relations Fray What started out as a dispute over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned speech to Congress about the dangers of a nuclear deal with Iran has consumed both sides, threatening long-term consequences. Obama has a team of intellectual lightweights trying to sell a deal with Iran to Israel as if they have nothing at stake in the matter and he knows better than they what their security situation is.   He blithely ignores the genocidal ambitions of Iran and pushes a deal that does not do enough to prevent that country from developing and building nuclear weapons to attack Israel and dominate others in the region.  The Israelis are not the only ones who don't trust Iran or the Obama team negotiating the deal with Iran.  The response to that distrust is to lash out with insults.  That is not much of a confidence builder for those with the most at stake in a deal to which they are not allowed to be a par...

NY Times: Terrorist in ISIS Videos Is Identified as British National British security services identified the man, who has seemed to have beheaded several foreign hostages in Islamic State videos, as Mohammed Emwazi from London. What would make someone like him think he is a Muslim?  The name may be a clue.  He is a person who appears to have no inhibitions when it comes to war crimes.

He seems pretty clueless, which probably made him a perfect fit with Obama's control freak ambitions.

PJ Media: Secretary of State John Kerry told a congressman today to stop making fun of what State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said. At this morning’s House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) asked Kerry about Harf’s comments last week, in which she said “we cannot win this war” by killing ISIS and job development was one facet of the plan to combat extremism. In clarifying her comments on CNN, Harf then said her argument about getting to the “root cause” of terrorism “might be too nuanced an argument for some.” “Harf espoused the interesting proposition that we should create a jobs program for people who might be inclined to support groups like ISIS, jobs for jihadists. She didn’t call it that, but I will,” Chabot said in his questioning of Kerry. “And just where will these jobs come from? I guess not at the mall. It’s apparently too dangerous to work there now. And are these shovel-ready jobs, or are they yet to be created, like Keystone Pipeline jo...

Bloomberg/Fuel Fix: Tissue paper-for-Venezuelan oil swap offered by Trinidad Venezuela's command economy is so inefficient there are shortages of basic commodities such as toilet paper and laundry soap, not to mention food.  The economy is set to contract about seven percent this year and it has the highest inflation rate in the world despite slumping oil prices.

This surprises me not at all.  This agency remains poorly run and they just put veteran claims in a file cabinet and forget some of them.

Bloomberg/Fuel Fix: U.S. climate negotiators have told their Canadian counterparts that Canada’s plan to cut carbon emissions could be one of the factors that President Barack Obama weighs as he considers whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, a U.S. official said. The U.S. hasn’t suggested it might approve the $8 billion proposed project in exchange for climate commitments, the official said. Canada is developing a proposal as part of United Nations-sponsored talks aimed at cutting carbon emissions that governments were encouraged to submit by next month. Obama has secured climate concessions from China and India as part of those UN talks. A similar deal with Canada could help offset the anticipated environmental damage from the TransCanada Corp. pipeline, responding to project opponents. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday that Obama could approve the oil pipeline even though he vetoed a Republican bill that would have circumvented the review process that’s ...

Washington Post: Foreign donation to Clinton Foundation violated pact The group also accepted millions from six other foreign governments while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state. This raises potential conflicts of interest in dealing with foreign countries while she was Secretary of State and in future dealings with those countries.  The big paydays from speeches could also be a problem.

Guardian: Al-Qaida has developed a seaborne unit to attack targets around the Mediterranean, according to a confidential report from Russian intelligence, one of a cache of secret documents from spy agencies around the world tracking jihadi terrorist groups. According to the Russians, North African al-Qaida (Aqim – al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb) has established a 60-strong team of suicide bombers to plant mines under the hull of ships and to use small, fast craft for kamikaze attacks. The claim, in a leaked document from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), is one of a string of reports on the rise of Islamic State (Isis) and al-Qaida. They include a two-month briefing by Omani intelligence estimating that Isis now has up to 35,000 fighters and an income of $1.5m (£1m) a day, reports from United Arab Emirates agents about the Isis leadership structure and a dossier from Jordanian intelligence on confessions extracted from terrorist suspects. The FSB report on Aqim – which ha...

Telegraph: Solar eclipse to disrupt power supplies It would be a good time for the birds to fly over the solar power plant.

Fox News: TERROR RECRUITS: 3 in NYC charged with trying to join ISIS to 'wage jihad' THREE NEW YORK CITY RESIDENTS are charged with plotting to travel to Syria to join ISIS militants and 'wage jihad' — with one of the defendants allegedly offering to kill the president of the United States if ordered do so.  One was apparently arrested trying to board a flight to Syria according to the media reports.  Two were Uzbekistan citizenship, and one was a citizen of Kazakhstan. The story does not indicate how they came to be in the US and whether they had a green card or some other immigration status.  That would be interesting to know with the current debate on Obama's immigration amnesty.  Hey, do you think these guys believe themselves to be Muslims?

Jonah Goldberg counterattacks against Politifacts allegations.  It is worth reading for entertainment value alone, but he makes a serious point about the genre. If these people were really serious they would be looking at Obama's ridiculous assertion about Islam being woven into the fabric of America from its founding.  That is fundamentally untrue, "pants on fire" four Pinocchios wrong, yet I have yet to see them even broach the topic.

NY Times: Justices Overturn a Fisherman’s Conviction for Tossing Undersize Catch The Supreme Court decided that grouper thrown back into the Gulf of Mexico did not meet the definition of a tangible object specified in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. It gives you an idea how ridiculous Sarbanes-Oxley can be read by a zealot bureaucrat.  That fisherman is probably luckier than companies caught in the Sarbane-Oxley net.

Holman Jenkins: It’s better to be lucky than good. President Obama, who arrived promising to heal the planet and halt the rising seas, instead presided over a fossil-fuel renaissance in America. If you were unemployed and found a decent job in Obama’s economy, there’s a good chance it was a fracking job. If things are finally looking up for the middle class, cheap gas is a major contributor. He was lucky again on July 6, 2013. Thanks to various competing news stories (a plane crash in San Francisco, the Trayvon Martin shooting trial), Americans did not dwell on a fiery oil-train accident in Canada that killed 47. For if there’s one boom Mr. Obama can claim authorship of, it’s the oil-by-rail boom. A business that barely existed when he took office now moves an impressive million barrels a day. The oil pouring forth from America’s resurgent fields, after all, has to reach market somehow. And as the Journal explained in December, political opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline has “em...

He makes a powerful case for the rule of law.

Reuters: Islamic State fighters have abducted 100 Sunni Muslim tribesmen near the city of Tikrit, local tribal leaders said on Wednesday, apparently to neutralize suspected opponents before a widely expected army offensive. Iraqi soldiers and pro-government Shi'ite militias have been massing for days in preparation for an attack on Islamic State strongholds along the Tigris River to the north and south of Tikrit, hometown of executed former president Saddam Hussein. Tikrit, about 150 km (95 miles) north of Baghdad, has been controlled by the Sunni Muslim radicals since they swept through northern Iraq in June, scattering Iraq's security forces. Tribal leaders said Islamic State fighters had detained 42 Sunni tribesmen in the village of Rubaidha on Tuesday whom they suspected of being ready to take up arms against them. "They broke into the houses and asked for mobiles," said Hatam al-Obeidi, a Rubaidha resident who escaped to the town of Tuz Khurmatu on Wednesday. ...

Politico: Poll: Obama may not love America The media may have misjudged the public mode about Obama after Giuliani made his remarks.

Walter Williams: President Barack Obama surprised many at the National Prayer Breakfast when he lectured us, "Lest we get on our high horse and think this (barbarity) is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ." Obama went on to explain, "In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often (were) justified in the name of Christ." In Obama's mind, Western outrage at Islamic barbarism should be tempered by the remembrance of what Christians did a thousand years ago in the name of Christ. Plus, that outrage should be chastened by our own history of slavery and Jim Crow. President Obama's vision is that of a man brainwashed through an academic vision of multiculturalism, in which American exceptionalism has no place. It's a vision that has been shaped by a longtime association with people who hate our country, people such as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Weathe...

S.E. Cupps: As a member of the political press, I have to say, the media’s recent attempts at exposing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker as an unsuitable presidential candidate have been nothing short of embarrassing. If you were dropped into America from Mars — nay, Canada! — you’d have the distinct impression that we only elected amateur psychologists, who were required to peer into the soul of some guy named Barack Obama, who is not running for President in 2016. Let’s stop the madness. Does Scott Walker believe that President Obama loves this country? Does he believe Obama is a Christian? To the first, which was asked because another person who is not running for President said he does not, Walker answered, “the mayor can speak for himself.” To the second he replied, “I don’t know,” which is apparently sacrilege, unless you are one of the many Democrats who have suggested outright that the President is not a Christian. Walker went on to rightly and articulately condemn this question as...

Real Clear Energy: ... Coal produces about half our electricity but only requires about 100,000 while solar produces less than 1 percent and employs 170,000. That’s what’s called “low productivity” or “labor intensive.” It is like using spoons to dig a canal instead of earth moving equipment.  All of that and you get intermittent electricity at increased labor costs.

Benny Avni: The political fireworks over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress next week are a distraction from two larger truths: 1) Netanyahu’s opposition is every bit as leery of the rumored Iranian nuclear deal as Bibi is. 2) That deal looks ever less like an accord that will stop Tehran from becoming a nuclear power — and more and more like a glide path to exactly that result. It’s no longer clear that President Obama’s diplomacy is even trying to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power, but only to (maybe) delay it. If leaked outlines of the looming agreement are correct, it’s a prescription for disaster — and sure to launch a nuclear-arms race in the world’s most volatile region. Fine, Secretary of State John Kerry contends that the details are yet to be finalized. “The policy is: Iran will not get a nuclear weapon,” Kerry said in a congressional hearing Tuesday. He added, in an apparent barb at Bibi, “Anyone running around right now, jumping to say ‘...

Jason Russell: Complete elimination of the corporate income tax would boost the American economy by 6 percent in the long run — enough to raise other tax revenues and, over time, make the tax cut revenue-neutral. The government would immediately lose $273.5 billion in annual corporate tax revenue if the tax were eliminated. But within roughly ten years, income, payroll, and other tax revenues would rise by an annual $273.9 billion as a result, according to the Tax Foundation . ... the more the corporate income tax rate is cut, the higher economic growth rises. Increasing the corporate tax rate would hurt economic growth and might actually cost tax revenue. Every corporate income tax cut would boost revenue, with the highest revenue boost at about a 20 percent tax rate. However, a 20 percent tax rate would only boost economic growth by 3 percent, whereas eliminating the corporate tax would boost growth by 6 percent. Without a corporate income tax, the cost of capital would be lower, i...

NY Times: Obama Aide Calls Netanyahu’s Planned Visit ‘Destructive’ to U.S.-Israel Ties The remarks by Susan E. Rice, the national security adviser, were the administration’s strongest public rebuke since the Israeli leader agreed to speak to Congress. The Obama administration is the one that can best be described as destructive to the relationship with Israel.   They are pushing forward with a Munich like arrangement with Iran which has a stated goal of destroying Israel.  This is the same woman who repeated a false narrative about the Benghazi attack ignoring substantial evidence that it was terrorist inspired and instead blaming it on a video.  In a competent administration she should have been fired by now. She is also demonstration the totalitarian tendencies of the liberals in this administration to try to shut down debate on an issue rather than allow opponents of their bad ideas to speak.  The reaction of the Obama administration to Netanyahu's speech...

NY Times: F.C.C. Is Expected to Enforce Net Neutrality The Republican resistance in Congress surrendered to President Obama’s call to protect an open Internet, with rules likely to be approved by regulators on Thursday. This is control freak liberalism at its worse.  There is zero need for this regulation.  The market is working and if providers are abusive, there are ready alternatives to their service.  I trust the market more than I trust liberals who want to control more of people's lives.  If this mess gets approved it should be reversed by Congress as soon as this administration is gone.   This looks liek a power grab solely for purposes of grabbing power.  Expect Democrats to try to use this power to esxtort more money from the tech industry.