BloggeRhythms

With Super Tuesday coming up tomorrow, April 1st, there isn’t much to discuss on the presidential primary’s. Because the results will likely seal the fates of several candidates, defining the picture far more clearly. At present, regardless of massive speculation in the media, no one knows what the outcomes will be. Therefore, we’ll all have to wait for the final counts.

On another recurring topic, global-warming, a couple of things took place yesterday.   

Stephen Foley @ft.com, reports: “Warren Buffett has dismissed the possibility that climate change could prove a big risk to Berkshire Hathaway’s insurance business, in a combative annual letter to shareholders. 

“In the letter, released on Saturday, Mr Buffett took on a dissident shareholder who plans to raise global warming at Berkshire’s annual meeting next month.”  

A proposal has been filed by the Nebraska Peace Foundation, as to whether Berkshire should file a formal report on the risks posed to its business from climate change. While the foundation owns only a single share in the company, questioning Buffett on the subject sets the stage for a showdown at the annual meeting.   

It seems, however, that by targeting Berkshire in its attempt to promote its cause, the foundation picked the wrong guy to fool around with.  

Buffett responded, “However, for Berkshire, which is one of the world’s largest property insurers and insurers against catastrophic risks, climate change is not on its list of worries. Since insurance policies are customarily written for one year and repriced upwards to reflect growing risks, climate change could actually increase Berkshire’s profitability.” 

So, what we have here is a win/win for Buffett and Berkshire created by an organization seeking to help itself. Yet proving that aside from being wrong about the climate, it certainly doesn’t know an iota about business either.  

And then, as if adding to the misguided foundation's embarrassing foray against Berkshire, Mother Nature again stepped up to put some real frosting on the cake. 

According to meteorologist Domenica Davis @weather.com, “Winter Storm Quo has been named and will deliver a swath of snow and some ice from parts of the Midwest to the Great Lakes and the interior Northeast through Wednesday.

“Low pressure at the surface of the earth will organize along an arctic frontal boundary while strengthening, as it sweeps from Missouri Tuesday morning to New York by Wednesday morning. Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will be pumped in and over the cold air at the surface, wringing out some snow and even, potentially, a little freezing rain or sleet along the path of that low.” 

While Quo doesn’t appear to be a major snowstorm with the potential to dump over a foot of snow over a widespread area, the combination of snow and ice will impact travel in the Great Lakes and interior Northeast the next couple of days. 

In this case, story’s like these always cause wonder as to why global-warming alarmists, such as the afore mentioned Nebraska Peace Foundation, continually make every effort to find ways to promote their cause in the most visible way possible. Yet, they apparently never step outside, open a window or simply check a thermometer.

Bringing us to today’s update on Bill Clinton’s wife.

Although the polls show that Super Tuesday should bode quite well for Bill’s wife, Joe Biden seems to be seeking national attention again.

Natalie Stone @hollywoodreporter.com, writes: “Lady Gaga performed "Til It Happens to You" at the 88th annual Academy Awards on Sunday evening. 

“The singer, whose song from The Hunting Ground — a documentary focusing on sexual assault on college campuses — was in contention for the best original song Oscar, was introduced to the stage by Vice President Joe Biden. 

“Biden, who received a standing ovation from the audience, said of the song, "Too many women and men … are still victims of sexual abuse." 

At the same time,  Fredric U. Dicker @nypost.com, reported, “There are some Democrats who think that Hillary can be taken if Trump mounts a strong campaign,’’ one of [NY] state’s most prominent Democrats said. 

“Most of the polling didn’t address the possibility that former Mayor Michael Bloomberg would run as an independent, but some of it did — and found the former mayor took “significant’’ votes away from Clinton in heavily Democratic New York City and the surrounding suburbs, a source familiar with the data said. 

“The new polls, a second source said, showed Trump’s support, even without Bloomberg in the race, was “surprisingly strong’’ in Westchester and on Long Island, the key suburbs often viewed as crucial swing bellwethers on how statewide elections will turn out.” 

So, even at this stage in the primary process, many apparently believe it’s not too late for Biden, Bloomberg, or perhaps even someone else, to enter the Democrat contest.  

And, whoever that late entry might be, articles like the following one by Pam Key @breitbart.com, can only help them. 

Ms Key writes: “Sunday at the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan said don’t “fall” for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s “crap” on African-American issues because she and her husband, former President Bill Clinton are responsible for mass incarceration of black people.” 

Farrakhan said, “How many of you are going to vote for Hillary Clinton? You don’t have to raise your hands. I do not blame you for wanting a female president, but that is a wicked woman. She can be sweet but so can you. And you know when you are sweet but playing a game.  All of a sudden she knows about Trayvon Martin. All of a sudden—the boy’s been dead two years now—she talking about him like she met the mother and oh…  White people this is Satan. And you fall for that crap? Most of you went to jail for having a little blunt. They arranged that—the Clintons. Mass incarceration  came about under the Clintons, Don’t forget that.” 

So, Biden, Bloomberg and whoever else might run, may well be counting on one’s like Farrakhan to bring Bill’s wife down, providing a chance for them. However, another major reason for their staying in contention is probably from a far better ally: the FBI. 

Which leads to the ongoing question: Jerry Brown, and Starbuck’s chairman and CEO, Howard Schultz, are you guys reading this?      

That’s it for today folks.        

Adios

BloggeRhythms

Yesterday, in a guest appearance on FoxNews.com, "KT" McFarland expressed her opinion that at this point in time, Iran has effectively replaced Israel as the major U.S. ally in the Middle-East.

The importance of Ms McFarland’s rationale is underlined by her resume in foreign affairs, beginning as a key member of Henry Kissinger's National Security Council Staff. Later, after the Ford Administration, she studied at Oxford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with concentrations on nuclear weapons, China and the Soviet Union. 

She was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1985, after which she served as a speech writer to Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger. Currently she’s a Fox News contributor on foreign policy and national security issues.

Ms McFarland’s conclusions come as no surprise to those reading similar entry’s here for the past four years, including often mention of the POTUS’s longtime pastor at Trinity United Church in Chicago, Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

In March of 2012, the reverend voiced strong support for the “March to Jerusalem,” a massive campaign designed to send anti-Israel partisans across Israel’s borders and into Jerusalem. 

At that time, the National Conference on Jewish Affairs reported that Iran’s government was involved in the organization of the event and planned to send thousands of participants in caravans, whose schedules have been published by the Quds News agency.

What’s most interesting at present is that, with the help of Valerie Jarrett in the White House, along with John Kerry and his wife Teresa Heinz, in only seven short years the POTUS has undone a relationship between the two nations, the U.S. and  Israel, that began 68 years ago. 

On May 14, 1948 the United States, under Harry Truman, became the first country to extend any form of recognition to Israel. Occurring within hours of the Jewish People's Council gathering at the Tel Aviv Museum and David Ben-Gurion declaring "the establishment of a Jewish state be known as the State of Israel."

During Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency, in 1967  US policy shifted to a whole-hearted, but not unquestioning, support for Israel. And from there, the relationship’s grown stronger over time, providing both nation's with a firm element of control in the continually festering region.

Until the present, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been holding meetings with Soviet leader Vladimir Putin. Seeking safety and protection from whatever hostility might arise around or within his nation, now that Iran and the U.S. are bound together. 

Making one wonder what all those lock-step ardent Democrat voters that are Jewish and vote blindly, think about what they’ve helped do to Israel and it's abandonment by the administration.

On another issue, the major media once again is making mountains out of molehills. Treating Chris Christie's endorsement of Trump as an indication of widespread governor’s support to come across the nation. However, while there’s no guarantee that that won’t happen, the Christie/Trump relationship is unique and most likely an individual occurrence. 

The pair go back a long way together, as shown by Daniel Strauss @politico.com on May 7, in 2015, as follows:

“In multiple media interviews, Christie has noted his long friendship with Trump [13 years], even while saying the real estate tycoon’s comments were wrong. Christie has recently said he’d prefer not to talk about Trump anymore.” 

However, the two have had other significant disagreements in the past, especially regarding Trump’s four failed New Jersey casino's. In September 2014, NJ.com reported that Christie responded favorably regarding Trump, saying: “Listen, anything Donald wants to save, I’m for. If Donald wants to come back and save something, good.” 

Also in 2014, when the scandal with the George Washington Bridge closures were gathering steam, Trump defended his friend but also expressed concern for him. According to NJ.com, Trump said of Christie: “He’s a good friend of mine. He’s a good guy, but you know, he’s one email away from a disaster.”

So, although Christie’s a governor, there’s far more to this relationship than a simple presidential endorsement would indicate.  

Bringing us to today’s update on Bill Clinton’s wife.

According to FoxNews.com: “The State Department has released another batch of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails from her private server, including 88 documents that were upgraded to the lowest classification level.”

While the department said none of those emails was marked classified at the time they were sent, there is still the question of a cabinet level officer's application of sound judgment. However, none of the speculation really matters. Because it’s the FBI that will determine the gravity of what transpired regarding the nation’s security, and no one else. 

But, aside from the scandals surrounding Bill’s wife, himself and their foundation, there are other indication’s of what may be trouble ahead for her presidential campaign.

Olaf Ekberg @theamericanmirror.com via Drudge, reports: “The long hours and grueling pace of the presidential campaign may be finally catching up with a rapidly aging Bill Clinton.

“During an appearance in Bluffton, South Carolina on Friday, a former Marine interrupted Clinton’s speech and asked him to address what Hillary was going to do about the VA. 

“What do you think should be done with the VA?” Clinton said in a raspy voice, turning the question back on him and yielding the floor. 

“The thing is, we had four lives in Benghazi killed and your wife tried to cover it up,” the Marine responded, eliciting boos and jeers from the crowd. 

As the man continued to talk, audience members yelled at him to sit down. “Are you going to let me answer?” Clinton asked. “This is America. I get to answer,” he said. “You listen to me. I heard you,” Clinton snapped as the man turned around and began addressing the crowd. 

“I heard your speech. They heard your speech. You listen to me now,” Clinton said, his voice cracking. 

“Am I allowed to answer? I’m not your commander in chief anymore but if I were, I’d tell you to be more polite and sit down.” 

“I wouldn’t listen!” the man shouted in return. 

“Do you have the courage to listen to my answer? Don’t throw him out. Shut up and listen to my answer. I’ll answer it,” Clinton said as the man was pushed out of the gymnasium by sheriff’s deputies. 

“Can I just saying something? That’s what’s wrong: his mind has been poisoned by lies and he won’t listen,” Clinton said. 

A woman just jumped up and began shouting at the former president. 

“Hillary lied over four coffins,” she said as a man near her yelled “BS.” 

“She lied and she lied to those families. So all those families are liars?” she said as Clinton tried to stop her and a Secret Service agent moved closer to the former president. 

“Did she lie?” the woman said as Clinton responded, “Will you let me answer?” 

“No,” she said. “Why are you afraid to listen to my answer?” Clinton said. 

“Are you afraid?” he asked her. “No I’m not afraid because I know you’re going to lie,” she responded. 

While video shows her then forcibly removed from the room, typically "Clinton never did answer." But, sooner or later, they are going to have to.

Bringing up the ongoing question: Joe Biden, Mayor Bloomberg, Jerry Brown, and Starbuck’s chairman and CEO, Howard Schultz, are you guys reading this?    

That’s it for today folks.      

Adios

BloggeRhythms

Skipped the Republican debate last night. As usual, couldn’t figure out why candidates competing for the most important job in the world believe that standing and insulting each other demonstrates presidential capabilities. And, from the recaps this morning, once again, I missed absolutely nothing important at all.

What’s more, three of the four remaining viable candidates still in the race can offer no proof of performance in their careers qualifying them to attain the most important job on the planet. In fact, all that Cruz, Rubio,and Trump can offer is a continuous spewing of very hot air. So, what’s the point of watching them try to destroy each other verbally?

John Kasich, on the other hand, is the only one still in the race for POTUS from either party that actually knows what he’s doing in regard to governance. As the highly successful, re-elected Governor of Ohio since 2011, a few of his other qualifications follow, much of the information derived from Wikipedia:

While none of the other three served in the military, Kasich was a member of the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. He developed a "fairly hawkish" reputation on that committee, although he "also zealously challenged" defense spending he considered wasteful.

On the nation’s  financial matters: “In 1993, he became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee. In that position, he and other House Budget Committee Republicans proposed an alternative to President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction bill, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. That proposal included funds to implement Republican proposals for health care, welfare, and crime control legislation and for a child tax credit.”

And then, “In 1995, when Republicans gained the majority in the United States Congress following the 1994 election, Kasich became chairman of the House Budget Committee. In 1996, he introduced the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act in the House, an important welfare reform bill signed into law by President Clinton.”

Most importantly, considering the miserable shape that the current POTUS has sunk the nation debt-wise, “In 1997, Kasich rose to national prominence after becoming "the chief architect of a deal that balanced the federal budget for the first time since 1969"—the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.” Something the nation desperately needs at the moment.

Matching up with Trump as far as business experience is concerned, “Kasich served on the board of directors for several corporations, including Invacare Corporation and the Chicago-based Norvax Inc. In 2001, Kasich joined Lehman Brothers' investment banking division as a managing director in Columbus, Ohio. So, he’s no amateur when it comes to the “real” financial world either. 

He also has a logical approach to the highly questionable issue of global-warming. “In a speech in April 2012, Kasich acknowledged that climate change is real and is a problem. In the same speech, however, Kasich said that the Environmental Protection Agency should not regulate carbon emissions and that instead states and private companies should be in charge of regulating coal-fired power plant emissions. In 2015, Kasich stated that he was unsure what causes climate change.

Thus, he presents a format for dealing with the climate issue that prevents government from over-regulating and also permits private industry to solve their own problems at individual state levels where it belongs when appropriate.  

On economic issues: “During Kasich's tenure, the state has eliminated a budget shortfall that his administration has estimated at $8 billion, but which the Cleveland Plain Dealer estimated at closer to $6 billion, and increased the state's "rainy day fund" from effectively zero to more than $2 billion.

“In March 2008, Kasich called for "phasing out" Ohio's state income tax,” and then signed a state budget in 2011 which eliminated the state's estate tax effective January 1, 2013. 

He also campaigned for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution and created a 501(c)(4) group, “Balanced Budget Forever,” to promote the cause.

On healthcare, in 2015, Kasich expressed support for many provisions of the ACA (ensuring coverage for people with preexisting conditions, the use of insurance exchanges, and Medicaid expansion), but opposed mandates.

Thus, while the three novice wannabee’s at the top of the Republican polls try to verbally shred each other, none having the slightest proof of performing effective government leadership, Kasich alone can offer a track record that unquestionably would be most beneficial to the U.S. at present.  

On the other hand, here’s a look at what the incumbent political party is doing. This one coming from Rush’s show yesterday.

“RUSH:  Did you hear what John Kerry said?  This is hilarious.  Grab sound bite number 18.  Kerry was testifying yesterday, Capitol Hill.  It was a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the State Department's budget for this year, 2017, the budget request, and during the Q&A Senator Mark Kirk, a Republican from Illinois, said, "Mr. Secretary," speaking to the haughty John Kerry (who, by the way, once served in Vietnam), "Secretary Kerry, I want to show you a picture of Ibrahim al Qosi, who was recently released by [the Regime] to Sudan, and he appeared on some Al-Qaeda videos recruiting people for Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.  You let him out of [Club Gitmo], and he goes over there and he starts recruiting.  Now that he's out, I would hope that we would end the policy of issuing terrorists to terrorist nations when they get out."

“KERRY:  Well, Senator, he's not supposed to be doing that and there are consequences for -- 

“RUSH:  Do you believe this?  Stop the tape.  We let a terrorist out. We release a terrorist. We send him back to, essentially, the terrorist front lines. We have pictures of him engaging in terrorist activity after we release him from captivity.  At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, this is mentioned to John Kerry and his answer is, "Well, he's not supposed to be doing that."  He's not supposed to be...? What is he, a child?  What, you tell him to sit in the corner instead of go back to the terrorist battlefield?” 

And then, a FB friend posted the following:

 
 

Bringing us to today’s update on Bill Clinton’s wife.

In today's case, while the subject itself is quite serious, even more important is the source of the displeasure with her fundraising activities: The Editorial Board of the New York Times, who wrote the following @nytimes.com:

“Everybody does it,” is an excuse expected from a mischievous child, not a presidential candidate. But that is Hillary Clinton’s latest defense for making closed-door, richly paid speeches to big banks, which many middle-class Americans still blame for their economic pain, and then refusing to release the transcripts. 

“A televised town hall on Tuesday was at least the fourth candidate forum in which Mrs. Clinton was asked about those speeches. Again, she gave a terrible answer, saying that she would release transcripts “if everybody does it, and that includes the Republicans.” 

“On Tuesday, Mrs. Clinton further complained, “Why is there one standard for me, and not for everybody else?” 

“The only different standard here is the one Mrs. Clinton set for herself, by personally earning $11 million in 2014 and the first quarter of 2015 for 51 speeches to banks and other groups and industries.” 

And then the Board delivered their clincher: “Voters have every right to know what Mrs. Clinton told these groups. In July, her spokesman Nick Merrill said that though most speeches were private, the Clinton operation “always opened speeches when asked to.” Transcripts of speeches that have been leaked have been pretty innocuous. By refusing to release them all, especially the bank speeches, Mrs. Clinton fuels speculation about why she’s stonewalling. 

“Her conditioning her releases on what the Republicans might or might not do is mystifying. Republicans make no bones about their commitment to Wall Street deregulation and tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Mrs. Clinton is laboring to convince struggling Americans that she will rein in big banks, despite taking their money.” 

At the same time, it seems that the voting public may also be tiring of the Clinton family in general, including the biggest gun in their arsenal. 

Kyle Olson @theamericanmirror.com via Drudge, writes about Bill Clinton’s audience in Rock Hill, South Carolina Thursday, where: “From the back of the room, things appear big — big flags, long rows. From the front of the room, things seem small. A quick head count shows only about 200 people turned out to see the former president.” 

And then a video posted by the Charlotte Observer shows no audience members behind Bill Clinton at all, which is also quite unusual at gatherings like these. 

Leading to the ongoing question: Joe Biden, Mayor Bloomberg, Jerry Brown, and Starbuck’s chairman and CEO, Howard Schultz, are you guys reading this?   

That’s it for today folks.     

Adios