Intelligent politics for savvy people: Common sense view of world politics and news. Roundup of best stories. News analysis and news opinion unfettered by media mogul ownership or agendas - and some funny political humor. - Denny Lyon
A demonstrator holds a sign during a rally near the Israeli Consulate in New York, March 3, 2015. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
A Truth Journal: Bibi Defies God To Steal Election: Time For U.S. to Quit Funding Israel?: From Denny: OK, everyone, get as far away as possible from the physical proximity of Netanyahu as you can. Run. This man is about to get hit with Heavenly lightning bolts that will burn him to a crisp. God is furious with Bibi for defying Holy Spirit's instruction to step aside and relinquish power.
Yeah, Netanyahu was praying so loudly to God to retain power that I could hear God's angry reply all the way over here in my writer's cave in south Louisiana, the U. S. Bibi defied God and declared he was going to take the election in spite of what God told him.
And we all know you don't blaspheme Holy Spirit and get away with that level of crass spiritual rebellion, especially if you are Jewish. There is a reason God calls the Jews his Chosen People. It's because if you can take the most rebellious folks on the planet and teach them spiritual obedience, then, well, anyone is capable of learning it too. Bibi seriously screwed up by forcing his will against God's.
Bibi is so clueless that he doesn't even realize he is already circling the drain before he makes his first speech as the "reelected" crook. It didn't help any that he used racism and fear mongering as a kick starter. Yeah, that really helps advance humanity on the development scale. (serious eye rolling happening at our house)
Of course, to ensure his fragile hold on a win, Bibi stole the election because the U. S. Republicans showed him how to do it. If the shocked and surprised Israeli pollsters are smart they will do some digging and investigation into how this election was stolen because American pollsters "enjoyed" the same experience in the same manner for the last U. S. election ...
Grim Grammar pokes some fun: "Why should i silently correct your grammar???" Design also available in t-shirts, mugs, coffee mugs, pajamas, jewelry, bandanas and more; come see! Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - see what's new!
BAGHDAD/ARBIL - Iraqi forces launched an airborne assault on rebel-held Tikrit on Thursday with commandos flown into a stadium in helicopters, at least one of which crashed after taking fire from insurgents who have seized northern cities. Source: Reuters
Dennys World News: June 2014: U.S., World News Links: From Denny: Yes, I took a month off from posting. It was interesting to observe how well the government and the Pentagon would do without me constantly fussing at them, pricking their bloated egos, prodding to action and offering solutions they usually adopted to some degree a few days later, trying not to be obvious they had no good ideas.
Sure rattled the Pentagon I took time away from posting any analysis. "Where the hell is she?" demanded them of former Navy Seal Richard Marcinko, trying to scorch his butt for thinking he had not kept up with me. They seem to be worried I'm too smart for them all - like a Snowden. These guys have a long standing caustic military culture of trying to dominate what they don't understand, attempts to control what they are clueless about and then go ballistic when things don't go their way. Yeah, we women are a mysterious bunch. Women are the new Snowdens. :) Read on for more laughs ...
Volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi Army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), gather with their weapons during a parade on the streets in Basra, southeast of Baghdad, June 16, 2014. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani
A Truth Journal:Iraq Sectarian Violence: Will U.S. Be Sunni Or Shiite Puppet?: From Denny: While the U.S. Congress rings its collective hands about how to stem the violence erupting in Iraq, everyone is missing the point. Too many Republican politicians are trying to force a military return to Iraq in order to please their war profiteering defense contractors that support their campaign war chests.
Everyone is shoving bad advice President Obama's way, mostly to support that idiot Shi'ite puppet government that President Bush 43 installed. This is the same Shi'ite government that aligned itself with Iran to be their puppet instead of the U.S. puppet. This same Shi'ite government shut out the Sunni faction from participating in its own government. Is it any surprise the Sunnis went rogue?...
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A Truth Journal: Kudos Watch: First Step Iran Nuke Deal A Win For ALL:From Denny: Israel is not in charge of America. So, zip it, Israeli PM Netanyahu. Entitled to his opinion? Sure. Not entitled to lobby Congress and bully this President to get the legislation Israel wants instead of what the American people expect.
It's bad enough Israel has its long reach tentacles into our poorly managed NSA and a stranglehold on our intelligence community, now it's Congress. Enough. Stay out of interfering in our national politics, Israel, before we all give you the bum's rush out of the room permanently. Or, to quote cheeky Stephen Colbert, "You aren't the boss of me!"
Sec. of State Kerry has done a marvelous job of steering the negotiations between the United States and Iran just to get the two countries to engage in this first step toward thawing a deep freezer cold relationship.
Are there a number of problems wooing this new relationship with a vicious regime after 34 years of throwing feces at each other like a room full of gregarious chattering monkeys? Oh, yeah...
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War dogs don't enjoy being told to heel, especially when one group had Snowden in their cross hairs. Snowden has some fierce warrior angels looking out for him these days. He had better appreciate them because they are protecting him on their own time.
Adding to the international drama stupidity, the typical idiot response from China is talking openly about kidnapping Snowden to torture him for details. Let me share a thought with China. Kidnapping Snowden is NOT in China's best interest.
The Social Poets: Cartoons: Obamas Israel Peace Speech, Register Your Solution to Middle East Peace: "From Denny: Sagging poll numbers for President Obama has sent him off in the direction most presidents run trying to grab some greatness, this time in the form of the famous Middle East Peace talks. This week Obama kept to the usual American rhetoric of 'so, give back the land you took in 1967' strategy that the past three presidents have also tried to sell to no avail.
In case you were not alive in 1967 - or watching the news the past 30 years or maybe living under a rock - Israel did a huge land grab in 1967, taking the Sinai peninsula, the Golan Heights and the West Bank. To make peace with Egypt they gave back the Sinai."
From Denny: Israel created a world storm of fury against them when they used excessive force on a boat raid of Gaza activists. You just don't shoot a man in the head four times and call it self-defense.
While most reasonable people agree that a country has the right to fight terrorism and the right to search aid boats for bombs and weapons, everyone also agrees that excessive force is unnecessary. What is also in evidence is that if the aid workers want to be taken seriously then they have to not provide resistance against Israel when they run a military blockade. It's suicide by bullets.
This week the mostly Turkish aid workers used more wisdom and chose to be calm and cooperative when boarded. This time the situation did not get out of hand with both sides making a better effort. And the biggest winners were the starving people in Palestine suffering from the Israeli blockade. It was a good week.
North Korea continues to be as weird as ever, declaring war with this country and that. Whether another war blows up between South Korea and North Korea remains to be seen. The good news is that South Korea has built up a million man army over the decades America has been there keeping the peace. There is no longer a reason for America's 38,000 troops to remain in South Korea. They have stood up their army and can take care of themselves.
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From Denny: Today was an historic first for America. For 100 years various Presidents have tried to do what President Obama finally accomplished: get basic health care available at a decent price for everyone. It's not to say there will not be bumps on the road to polishing and refining how it is carried out.
For the moment, we are past the first high hurdle. Now we can get down to business of stripping out fraud from various agencies like Medicare and the like where we will save $60 billion. What we could do with that much money... how about a tax rebate, folks? I wish. :)
Eventually, the government will have to offer some kind of public option if the health insurance companies don't get their prices in line for the lowest income Americans. As it looks now, with the lobbyists fighting hard to repeal a law, it does not appear they are willing to do right by the American people.
You know when this escalation of insurance premiums through the roof started? When Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005, Bush was in office, and suddenly insurance companies realized there was no one to stop them from being greedy or capricious with their customers. And the nightmare began, first on the Gulf Coast and then spread across the nation years later when fire struck in California and floods in the Midwest. Insurance companies offered ten cents on the dollar to "repair" a house roof, and then drug their feet paying for it for as long as three years. This is not an uncommon occurrence but rather a common one.
Historic Health Care Bill Signed: (CBS) President Obama today signed his comprehensive health care overhaul legislation into law, marking the most significant legislative accomplishment of his presidency to date.
"Today, after all the votes have been tallied, health insurance reform becomes law in the United States of America. Today," Mr. Obama said from the East Room of the White House. "The bill I'm signing will set in motion reforms that generations of Americans have fought for."
Mr. Obama hailed "a new season in America" in which "all of the overheated rhetoric over reform will finally confront the reality of reform.'' The legislation, Mr. Obama said, enshrines into law the "core principle" that everyone should have some health care security...
Why Did Obama Use So Many Pens to Sign the Health Care Bill?: (Time) After more than a year of bitter political debate and seemingly inescapable congressional deadlock, President Obama sat down in the White House East Room on March 23 and signed the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law with a stroke of his pen. And then another pen. And another. Obama used 22 pens to sign the landmark $938 billion health care bill. It would seem that either the President has an undiagnosed case of OCD or the White House needs better office supplies.
Actually, the President was just adhering to an obscure Washington tradition. The practice of using multiple pens to sign important legislation dates at least as far back as Franklin Roosevelt and is now one of our government's frivolous little quirks, much like that oversize gavel Nancy Pelosi carried around the other day.
The rationale is fairly simple. The pen used to sign historic legislation itself becomes a historical artifact. The more pens a President uses, the more thank-you gifts he can offer to those who helped create that piece of history. The White House often engraves the pens, which are then given as keepsakes to key proponents or supporters of the newly signed legislation...
Funny of the Day: VP Biden slip of the tongue and microphones pick up him saying, "This is a big f---ing deal!"
(CNN) -- President Obama signed sweeping health care reform into law Tuesday. The Senate must now pass a package of changes that will reconcile the differences between Senate and House bills. If those changes are worked out, here is how health care reforms will affect you:
Within the first year
• Young adults will be able stay on their parents' insurance until their 27th birthday.
• Seniors will get a $250 rebate to help fill the "doughnut hole" in Medicare prescription drug coverage, which falls between the $2,700 initial limit and when catastrophic coverage kicks in at $6,154.
• Insurers will be barred from imposing exclusions on children with pre-existing conditions. Pools will cover those with pre-existing health conditions until health care coverage exchanges are operational.
• Insurers will not be able to rescind policies to avoid paying medical bills when a person becomes ill.
• Lifetime limits on benefits and restrictive annual limits will be prohibited.
• New plans must provide coverage for preventive services without co-pays. All plans must comply by 2018.
• A temporary reinsurance program will help offset costs of coverage for companies that provide early retiree health benefits for those ages 55 to 64.
• New plans will be required to implement an appeals process for coverage determinations and claims.
• Adoption tax credit and assistance exclusion will increase by $1,000. The bill makes the credit refundable and extends it through 2011.
• A 10 percent tax will be imposed on amounts paid for indoor tanning services on or after July 1.
• Businesses with fewer than 50 employees will get tax credits covering 35 percent of their health care premiums, increasing to 50 percent by 2014.
2011
• Medicare will provide free annual wellness visits and personalized prevention plans. New plans will be required to cover preventive services with no co-pay.
• States can offer home- and community-based services to the disabled through Medicaid rather than institutional care beginning October 1.
• A 50 percent discount will be provided on brand-name drugs for Prescription Drug Plan or Medicare Advantage enrollees. Additional discounts on brand-name and generic drugs will be phased in to completely close the "doughnut hole" by 2020.
• Additional tax for health savings account withdrawals before age 65 for nonqualified medical expenses will increase from 10 percent to 20 percent. Additional tax for Archer medical savings account withdrawals not used for qualified medical expenses will increase from 15 percent to 20 percent.
• A plan to provide a vehicle for small businesses to offer tax-free benefits will be created. This would ease the small employer's administrative burden of sponsoring a cafeteria plan.
• The Medicare payroll tax will increase from 1.45 percent to 2.35 percent for individuals earning more than $200,000 and married filing jointly above $250,000.
2013
• Health plans must implement uniform standards for electronic exchange of health information to reduce paperwork and administrative costs.
• Contributions to flexible savings accounts will be limited to $2,500 per year, indexed by the Consumer Price Index in subsequent years.
• The Employer Medicare Part D subsidy deduction will be eliminated. Employers will lose the tax deduction for subsidizing prescription drug plans for Medicare Part D-eligible retirees.
• There will be increases to the income threshold from 7.5 percent to 10 percent of adjusted gross income. Those older than 65 can claim the 7.5 percent deduction through 2016.
• The hospital insurance tax will increase 0.9 percentage points for those earning more than $200,000 ($250,000 for married filing jointly), and it includes net investment income.
• A 2.9 percent excise tax on the first sale of medical devices will be established. Excepted are eyeglasses, contact lenses, hearing aids or other items for individual use.
2014
• Citizens will be required to have acceptable coverage or pay a penalty of $95 in 2014, $325 in 2015, $695 (or up to 2.5 percent of income) in 2016. Families will pay half the amount for children, up to a cap of $2,250 per family. After 2016, penalties are indexed to Consumer Price Index.
• Workers who are exempt from individual responsibility for coverage but don't qualify for tax credits can take their employer contribution and join an exchange plan.
• Companies with 50 or more employees must offer coverage to employees or pay a $2,000 penalty per employee after their first 30 if at least one of their employees receives a tax credit. Waiting periods before insurance takes effect is limited to 90 days. Employers who offer coverage but whose employees receive tax credits will pay $3,000 for each worker receiving a tax credit.
• Insurers can no longer refuse to sell or renew policies because of an individual's health status. Health plans can no longer exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions. Insurers can't charge higher rates because of heath status, gender or other factors.
• Health plans will be prohibited from imposing annual limits on coverage.
• Health insurance exchanges will open in each state to individuals and small employers to comparison shop for standardized health packages.
• Credits will be available through exchanges for those whose income is above Medicaid eligibility and below 400 percent of poverty level who are not eligible for or offered other acceptable coverage.
• Medicaid eligibility will increase to 133 percent of poverty for all nonelderly individuals to ensure that people obtain affordable health care in the most efficient and appropriate manner. States will receive increased federal funding to cover these new populations.
• An annual health insurance provider fee will be Imposed across the health insurance sector according to insurers' market share to companies whose total premiums exceed $25 million.
2018
• 2018 Taxing "Cadillac" plans: An excise tax will be imposed on high-cost, employer-provided health plans beyond $27,500 for family coverage and $10,200 for single coverage; it will increase to $30,950 for families and $11,850 for individuals, retirees and employees in high-risk professions.
How Health Reform Affects Small Businesses: (CBS) More than half of all American workers are employed by businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Forty-six percent of them get their health insurance through work. The rest have to look elsewhere for coverage.
Will companies still offer insurance under the new health care law?
Last year, Allentown, Pa., businessman Dick Bus saw his health insurance costs spike 33 percent - a trend that will quickly make providing coverage unaffordable.
The new law seeks to limit those kinds of increases, while giving businesses incentives to cover more workers.
Here's how:
• Businesses with fewer than 25 employees that pay an average of no more than $40,000 will get a tax credit - up to 35 percent of the company's share of their total health care premium.
• Companies with 26-49 workers are unaffected.
• Businesses with 50 or more workers must offer coverage or pay $750 per worker. That penalty applies for every employee if even one signs up for government-subsidized insurance....
Obama Meets with Netanyahu: (CBS) WASHINGTON (AP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is criss-crossing the Washington power grid Tuesday, striving to explain his country's position in a widening debate over its plans to construct new housing in east Jerusalem.
Netanyahu had a Capitol Hill meeting scheduled with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a day after holding talks with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. He plans to meet later Tuesday at the White House with President Barack Obama.
Netanyahu has been trying to deflect U.S. criticism of his government's announcement of plans for 1,600 housing units in a part of Jerusalem that Palestinians claim as their own. He bluntly asserted before the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee Monday that "Jerusalem is not a settlement. It's our capital."
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U.S.: Pennsylvania woman tried to recruit terrorists: Washington (CNN) -- A Pennsylvania woman has been indicted for conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and kill a person in a foreign country, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
Colleen LaRose, known as "Jihad Jane" and "Fatima LaRose," has also been charged with making false statements to a government official and attempted identity theft.
She was arrested in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 15, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office said. No arraignment date has been set, the official said.
LaRose is being held at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
LaRose and five unindicted co-conspirators recruited men on the Internet "to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe, and recruited women on the Internet who had passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe in support of violent jihad," according to a Justice Department statement.
If convicted, LaRose faces a possible life prison sentence and a $1 million fine, the statement said.
"JihadJane" Charged With Terror Recruiting: (AP) A suburban Philadelphia woman "desperate to do something" to help suffering Muslims has been charged with using the Internet to recruit jihadist fighters and help terrorists overseas, even agreeing to move to Europe to try to kill someone, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Authorities said the case shows how terror groups are looking to recruit Americans - even suburban women - to carry out their goals.
A federal indictment charges that Colleen R. LaRose agreed to kill a Swedish citizen on orders from the unnamed terrorists and traveled to Europe to carry out the killing. It doesn't say whether the Swede was killed, but LaRose was not charged with murder.
U.S. Attorney Michael Levy told The Associated Press the indictment doesn't link LaRose, a U.S. citizen who moved to Europe in August 2009, to any organized terror groups.
Authorities describe LaRose as in her 40s and from Montgomery County. They say she called herself JihadJane in a YouTube video in which she said she was "desperate to do something somehow to help" ease the suffering of Muslims. According to the indictment, she agreed to obtain residency in a European country and marry one of the terrorists to enable him to live there.
"Today's indictment, which alleges that a woman from suburban America agreed to carry out murder overseas and to provide material support to terrorists, underscores the evolving nature of the threat we face," said David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security.
U.S. condemns Israel's decision to build in disputed territory: Jerusalem (CNN) -- Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the United States condemns Israel's decision to build 1,600 housing units in a Jerusalem neighborhood, calling it "a step that undermines the trust we need right now."
"I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem," Biden said in a statement issued just hours after he met with Israeli leaders in the region.
"The substance and timing of the announcement, particularly with the launching of proximity talks, is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now and runs counter to the constructive discussions that I've had here in Israel."
The construction, announced earlier Tuesday, will be in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, located in disputed territory in East Jerusalem. The Israeli Interior Ministry denies the territory is in East Jerusalem.
Michelle Obama Donates Inaugural Gown to Smithsonian: Continuing a long tradition, First Lady Michelle Obama donated her inauguration dress on Tuesday to the Smithsonian National Museum on American History in Washington.
The white chiffon, one-shoulder gown created by designer Jason Wu will be displayed in a new gallery called "A First Lady's Debut" which will showcases 11 gowns from the past 11 first ladies starting with Mamie Eisenhower through Michelle Obama.
"I truly recognize the significance of this day. This gown -- and all of the items that we'll see in this wonderful exhibit -- help us connect with a moment in history in a very real way," Obama said as she unveiled the gown at the Smithsonian.
"The detail of each gown -- the fabric, the cut, the color -- tells us something much more about each single first lady. It's a visual reminder that we each come from such different backgrounds, from different generations, and from different walks of life," she continued.
Obama also reminisced about inaugural ceremony that took place a little over a year ago, and what this dress meant to her.
"I remember that it was freezing cold in Washington. I know we all remember that. Yet, despite the frigid temperatures, hundreds of thousands of people flooded the Mall. Nothing was going to stop them from being part of history," she said.
GOP Begins Attacks on Pelosi, Democrats Over Ethics: The Republican National Committee has released a new ad designed to capitalize on Democrats' recent ethical troubles and cast doubt on House speaker Nancy Pelosi's claim that she would help oversee the most ethical Congress ever.
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From Denny: Well, Ahmadinejad was busy screaming against Israel to stir up the populace. So, the Iranian protestors against his stealing the election in June came out to protest him - again! This guy really knows how to keep the opposition in the news. He's their best public relations guy in reverse. :)
From Denny: While this may be a simplistic overview with an interesting twist - it really is a good video to familiarize you with the focus of what people are thinking and feeling in the Middle East. As someone who grew up in the American intelligence community it did give me an ironic smile to see they used the demographics from the CIA's World Factbook. Well, the CIA has been the clearinghouse for world statistics for decades now and practically invented the discipline of demographics.
Demographics is a good way to track trends and that is what these reporters are talking about: How the population trend among the Palestinians can possibly push the Israelis to a new stance on the two-state solution. Of course, what no one mentioned as to the reason for the Palestinian uptick in population is that they tend to die young - and violently - therefore creating greater fertility.
Any time a population, human or animal, faces a harsh march to achieving adulthood or a long life, they tend to have a lot of offspring - in the hopes some of those offspring achieve full flower. Let's hope and pray both sides get their heads screwed on straight, their hearts emptied of hate and revenge and get truly serious about a lasting peace effort.
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