Some Response To Obama's Mosque Speech

On February 3, President Obama gave a speech at a mosque in Baltimore, in which he stated that Islam has "always been part of America".  Three websites have presented opinions on the speech.

In Frontpage Mag, Joseph Klein responds to some of Obama's points, in the process pointing out that the first mosque in America was built in 1929.

In National Review, Dennis Prager says:

If you seek to understand Barack Obama and his views, the best place to go is his speeches. But you have to read them in their entirety, not rely on hearing them or on the media’s summary of them. When you do, you come to realize how often what Obama says is morally and intellectually confused and even untrue.

And in Investor's Business Daily, Paul Sperry says that:

In the course of a 48-minute speech, Barack Hussein Obama whitewashed Islam’s dark history, sugarcoated its violent texts and rewrote America’s founding as one embracing Islam - all to mainstream Islam and pander to Muslim voters ahead of the presidential election.

Senate Report: ObamaCare Subsidies Went To Illegal Aliens

According to a report released by Republican members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, more than 500,000 people who are either illegal aliens or whose status is unclear received about $750 million in tax credits.  From Fox News:

Illegal immigrants and individuals with unclear legal status wrongly benefited from up to $750 million in ObamaCare subsidies and the government is struggling to recoup the money, according to a new Senate report obtained by Fox News.

The report, produced by Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, examined Affordable Care Act tax credits meant to defray the cost of insurance premiums. It found that as of June 2015, "the Administration awarded approximately $750 million in tax credits on behalf of individuals who were later determined to be ineligible because they failed to verify their citizenship, status as a national, or legal presence."

Read the full story.  The problem of ObamaCare enrollees having unclear status was reported by Breitbart's Big Government back in 2014, which I learned via Right Side News.  In one of the recent Democratic presidential debates, Hillary Clinton (NY) said that she would allow illegal aliens to buy health insurance on the ObamaCare exchanges, but not to receive subsidies, while Martin O'Malley (MD) would extend the subsidies to illegal aliens.  (I'm pretty sure that Clinton and O'Malley did not actually use the term "illegal alien".  Among the linked articles, only RSN uses that term.  But as far as I'm concerned it's the factually and legally correct term for someone illegally present in the country, so I will use it regardless of whether any else does.)

Bill Clinton: Bernie Sanders's View Is A "Hermetically Sealed Box"

Former President Bill Clinton recently had something to say about the man competing against Mrs. C. for the Democratic nomination to succeed him.  From the Huffington Post:

Former President Bill Clinton took the gloves off and laid into Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Sunday, launching some of his most pointed attacks on his wife's Democratic presidential rival thus far. 

"Hillary's opponent has a different view," Clinton said, declining to mention Sanders by name. "It's a hermetically sealed box. It's very effective. The system is rigged against you by the big banks, and both parties are in the thrall of the big banks. Anybody who takes money from Goldman Sachs couldn't possibly be president."

Read the full story.  When a rightwing nutjob such as myself cites the HuffPo, you know it's gotta be interesting.

Phyllis Schlafly Comes Out Against Marco Rubio

Via Gateway Pundit:

Phyllis Schlafly, founder of the Eagle Forum and longtime conservative icon, has released a long and detailed memorandum against Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), detailing the differences between his positions during his Senate candidacy and his legislative record.  From GP:

Phyllis Schlafly was the first major conservative to endorse Marco Rubio for US Senator over Governor Charlie Crist.

Yesterday Phyllis Shlafly said freshman Senator Marco Rubio should be disqualified from the presidential race for lying to conservatives in English and saying something entirely different on Spanish language television.

Schlafly released a 15 page “Rubio Betrayal Memo“ Friday to denounce Rubio’s actions as US Senator. Check Eagle Forum for updates.

The above-mentioned endorsement was given during the 2010 campaign.  The bold emphasis has been reproduced from the original.  Read the entire memorandum here, and click above for the GP post.

And while I'm at it, let me point out that according to Breitbart, Rubio recently gained the support of a billionaire who desires open borders.

Friday Links

Here are some things going on, as the weekend approaches:

From Real Clear Politics, President Obama gives a speech about the economy.

From American Thinker, an opinion on Obama's proposed $10/barrel tax on oil.

From Crain's Chicago Business, the Chicago Stock Exchange will be sold to a Chinese investor group.  (Interesting how a country that's supposed to be communist allows some of its people to participate in American capitalism.)

From The Baltimore Sun, a federal appeals court overturns a lower court ruling that had upheld Maryland's ban on "assault weapons".  (via Truth Revolt)

From Reuters, the German government acknowledges that ISIS is sending fighters disguised as refugees.

From The Blaze, an AP fact-check on the latest debate between Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton (NY) and Bernie Sanders (VT).

From Reason, supporters of Clinton and Sanders in their own words.

From the New York Post, due to reports alleging that Johnny Manziel abused his girlfriend, he gets dumped - by his agent.

From MarketWatch, a teenage girl who found a gold bar while swimming in a German lake gets to keep it.  (via the New York Post)

From AL.com, the crime spree of a modern "Bonnie & Clyde" ends with a hail of police gunfire.  He's dead, she's wounded.

From the Express, a new version of the Barbie wears a hijab.

From the Mirror, a gang of six thugs in Britain are sentenced for torturing a Muslim man, including taunting him with beer and KFC.

From the Daily Mail, a Belgian man and five Iraqi migrants are investigated for allegedly raping a drunk unconscious girl at a party.

From Fox News, the death of a British writer in Romanian has been classified as suspicious, and a Spanish man is suspected of killing a fellow Spaniard in Thailand.

From BBC News, German police have recorded 22 sexual assaults on the first night of Carnival.  (via The Washington Times)

From CBS Chicago, six people killed in a house in Gage Park were members of the same family.

From Wired, after several quiet months, Mount Sakurajima erupts.

And from Inside The Magic, "Weird Al" Yankovic will voice the title character of Disney's Milo Murphy's Law.

Two Suspensions And A Possible Lawsuit

The fallout from the Iowa caucus continues.

From CNN, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is "dropping out" (if you believe the headline) from the race for this party's nomination, or "is suspending" his campaign (if you believe the text of the article).

From The Washington Times, former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) is suspending his campaign.

And from BuzzFeed, Donald Trump (R-NY) says that he'll "probably" sue Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) over the results in Iowa, accusing him of voter fraud.

Stories From The Iowa Caucus

Some stories relating to yesterday's caucus in Iowa:

From AOL, Hillary Clinton (D-NY) won six precincts by coin tosses.

From The Daily Caller, just before the Iowa caucus, a Super-PAC supporting Clinton received $6 million from George Soros.

From The Hill, NY tabloids mock Donald Trump (R-NY) after his loss.

From American Thinker, why Trump "got schlonged in Iowa".

From Fox News, Ben Carson (R-MD) accuses the campaign of Ted Cruz (R-TX) of "spreading false rumors".

From National Review, Marco Rubio (R-FL) makes a comeback.

From Yahoo News, the strong performance by Rubio is a win for the GOP establishment.

From Frontpage Mag, the Iowa results are good for Republicans and bad for the left.

From The Weekly Standard, Trump lost (if you define "losing" as coming in second) because evangelicals leaned toward Cruz.

And from the Washington Examiner, after his second-place showing, Trump had some things to say about voters and the media.

Machine Gun Bacon

In a YouTube video posted by Independent Journal Review, here's how Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) cooks bacon:

I'm not even sure that the gun he's using is automatic and thus a true machine gun.  Perhaps "assault weapon bacon" might be a better title, since the gun at least looks scary.  But either way, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME.

Clinton And Cruz Win The Iowa Caucus

The 2016 Presidential Primary/Caucus season is now upon us, with the results coming in for the Iowa Caucus.  According to NBC News, on the Democratic side, former First Lady/Senator/Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (NY) has edged Senator Bernie Sanders (VT) 50%-49%, and on the Republican side, Senator Ted Cruz (TX) took 28% of the vote, with Donald Trump (NY) getting 24%, just ahead of Senator Marco Rubio (FL) at 23%.

Former Governors Martin O'Malley (D-MD) and Mike Huckabee (R-AR) have suspended their respective campaigns.

Some "Small Perks" Returning To Airline Travel

It looks like some of the old amenities of airline travel, which largely disappeared after 9/11, have been surely but slowly coming back.  From the Chicago Tribune:

After 15 years of near austerity, U.S. airlines are restoring some small perks for passengers crammed into coach.

Don't expect ample legroom or free checked bags. But fliers will find improved snacks, a larger selection of free movies and — on a few select routes — the return of free meals.

Monday, American Airlines became the latest carrier to add something back. It announced the return of free snacks in the economy section and more free entertainment options on some aircraft.

American, which recently merged with US Airways, hasn't offered free snacks since 2003. US Airways stripped passengers of snacks in 2008.

As someone who has spent some time "crammed into coach", I can appreciate the small improvement.  Read the full story.