Powered by Access Paid http://www.tothepointnews.com Mon, 20 May 2013 09:56:46 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5437/130/ Thanks to the testimony of whistleblowers last week, and subsequent reporting of how talking points were systematically scrubbed of every reference to the truth, we know for sure President Barack Hussein Obama and senior aides were lying when they blamed a Youtube video for the attack on our consulate in Benghazi. More important is what is being covered up. To get to the bottom of what may be more a looming national security crisis than a scandal in the past, we must have answers to a large number of critical questions. The way to get them is for the House of Representatives to form a Select Committee, armed with subpoena power, to investigate what was going on before and during the attack on 9/11/2012, and what's been happening since. Here's how to form it, who should be on it, and what its members should focus on. Hint: not impeachment. There are very good reasons why - at least not before the mid-term elections in November 2014. Kelly's Panorama - Free Articles Tue, 14 May 2013 12:38:33 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5439/87/ To borrow the climactic line from Easy Rider (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064276/), We blew it. Or, to be fully accurate, President Obama blew an unprecedented chance to aid Syria's then-moderate opposition back in 2011. We could have helped end the monstrous Assad regime, gaining good will and practical advantage in a hopeful new state. Now it's too late. And Obama may be ready to act at last. The result could be disastrous. Strategy isn't only about doing the right thing, but about doing the right thing at the right time. Doing what appears to be the right thing too late often makes things worse. How did the window for aiding the Syrian rebels close? Guest Authors - Free Articles Wed, 15 May 2013 09:07:23 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5443/85/ AND THERE'S SO MUCH MORE TO COME! Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 17 May 2013 12:57:23 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5432/87/ Some three years ago, as a retired Texas State Trooper, I taught a high school Criminal Justice class entitled Crime in America. This course covered the types and trends of crime in our nation, and illustrated what someone working in our criminal justice system would most likely encounter in a future career. In this course I also identified future trends in crime, including terrorism and mass killings. Examples of the Chechen experience were utilized to explain how monstrous this could be, and was chosen due to the high likelihood of it coming to our nation. On April 15th, 2013, that calculation was proven true in Boston. Authorities have learned those involved in this hideous act originated from Chechnya, in the Northern Caucasus region of Russia, which serves as a fertile breeding ground for violent Islamic extremist groups. What follows is a brief history that may illuminate the horrifically bloody nature of Moslem Chechen violence -- which has now been perpetrated on us. Guest Authors - Free Articles Thu, 09 May 2013 12:20:20 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5435/85/ Music by Rossini (William Tell Overture), lyrics that any Mom - and her kids - can relate to. Happy Mother's Day! O-018qBMlBs Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 10 May 2013 12:36:49 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5424/85/ Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 03 May 2013 12:03:02 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5415/85/ Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:06:33 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5401/87/ Bitcoin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin) - poorly understood and frequently talked about ignorantly - is a wonderful new financial tool... and a very timely one. But because of its virtues, it is about to be attacked. But before I explain how, why, and my recommended responses, let me get everyone up to speed on what this stuff really is: Bitcoin is digital cash. Bitcoin is distributed. Bitcoin can't be printed up, like national currencies. Bitcoin is limited. Bitcoin can't be changed. Bitcoin is pseudonymous. Bitcoins are oblivious to borders, laws or rules. While Bitcoin's future looks bright right now, don't underestimate the power of the state. They're coming and they aim to shut Bitcoin down. Here's how.. Guest Authors - Members Only Articles Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:26:42 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5405/85/ After Montana Democrat Sen. Max Baucus Wednesday told the Health and Human Services Secretary that Obamacare implementation looks like “a huge train wreck” the White House released a statement noting that “train wrecks would be covered under the Affordable Care Act, including preexisting train wrecks, like Medicaid.” Sen. Baucus should not be alarmed at the chaos and confusion (http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/294501-baucus-warns-of-huge-train-wreck-in-obamacare-implementation) surrounding the startup of state-based health care exchanges and the expansion of Medicaid, slated to begin October 1, the White House said. “Not only will train wrecks be covered,” according to the Obama administration, “but also.... Humor File - Members Only Articles Thu, 18 Apr 2013 20:08:59 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5398/85/ Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:00:33 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5383/87/ Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it and then hand it to them with the well-taught lessons of how they in their lifetime must do the same. And if you and I don't do this, then you and I may well spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it once was like in America when men were free. President Reagan's words, spoken 52 years ago this weekend, still ring true, with one modification. If we don't defend our freedoms now against the onslaught of President Obama's policies, we won't have to wait until our sunset years for American freedom to be a distant memory. Guest Authors - Free Articles Wed, 03 Apr 2013 09:28:12 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5388/85/ Gives all new meaning to bling. It's by no mere coincidence that Nork general's uniforms resemble Russian uniforms of the 1950s. Hats designed to make them look taller. In most countries, metals and ribbons usually indicate campaigns where one fought, theaters where one was stationed, wounds received, or valorous combat acts. Since these guys haven't been in any wars since 1953, then it must mean an awful lot of good conduct or present at roll call (probably NOT flying drones from the safety of deep bunkers in Pyongyang). Very impressive look, indeed. Must be much like Hollywood's awards to each other. Always presenting themselves with terribly impressive-looking awards because no one else will and they desperately need some love and recognition. Humor File - Members Only Articles Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:02:55 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5376/2/ It was ten years ago this week, in late March 2003, that I launched To The Point. I was almost 60 then, and I am perilously close to 70 now. I figure the only way to keep from slowing down is to speed up. So I am launching a series of what I call Hidden Adventures. Adventures and expeditions to amazingly cool places in the world that few people know about, and far fewer have ever been to. I start tomorrow with The Hidden Atlantic, which begins here in Ushuaia, where I and the people with me board an expedition vessel bound for Antarctica and South Georgia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Georgia_and_the_South_Sandwich_Islands), home to fur seals and penguins numbering in the millions; the world's most isolated community at Tristan da Cunha (http://www.tristandc.com/); the island the Brits exiled Napoleon on, St. Helena (http://www.sthelena.se/); and secretive Ascension Island (http://www.pbs.org/edens/southgeorgia/), with its joint US-Brit military base. I'll be at sea for a month, and most of the time be in touch with the world only with my satphone. I have to admit, I am really looking forward to this, not having to pay attention to all the craziness in Washington and everywhere else in the slightest way. Of course, TTP will still be here! I'll be posting my articles whenever I can. Jack Kelly will be manning the HFR ramparts, and Miko will make sure the TTP Weekly Report with a full complement of articles goes out every Friday. So -what Hidden Adventures are upcoming? (Hint: look in the TTP left side bar.) And what's the Easter message in this? Behind The Lines - Free Articles Thu, 28 Mar 2013 08:47:12 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5374/130/ The Iraq war began 10 years ago last Wednesday (3/20). It cost 4,487 American lives, and about $1 trillion, and caused sharp divisions among Americans. Was it worth it? From today's vantage point, unfortunately, the answer looks increasingly to be ‘no,' said Max Boot of the Council on Foreign Relations. He was referring to the re-emergence of sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia since Barack Hussein Obama withdrew (essentially all) U.S. troops in 2011, and to Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's drift toward Iran since then. He is unrepentant about supporting the war, but wouldn't have if he knew then that Saddam Hussein's regime did not in fact possess weapons of mass destruction, Mr. Boot said. I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Boot about that. But even if I'd known then Saddam was bluffing about WMD, I still would have supported going to war against him. Here's why. Kelly's Panorama - Free Articles Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:00:00 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5380/85/ Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 29 Mar 2013 11:11:59 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5363/151/ Perhaps the most troublesome question that investors and business decision makers confront today is, When will significant inflation and interest rate increases show up? The next quarter, the next year, the next decade? Everyone fears these, but no one can predict exactly when they will appear. Investment is severely hampered by this uncertainty. The potential inflationary/interest rate pressures exist largely as a result of Fed's massive purchase of government bonds and mortgage-backed securities. But much of this increase in money is locked up in the banks because the Fed now pays interest on the bank reserves held at the Fed (and therefore it is not lent or spent), because of increased regulatory restrictions that discourage banks from making loans to small businesses and consumers, and because of the lack of demand for new loans. In addition, many individuals and businesses are holding unusually high sums to weather regulatory and economic uncertainties. Yet, there are many factors that could trigger inflationary/interest rate increases that are largely out of the Fed's ability to forecast and control. Rahn on Econ101 - Free Articles Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:27:15 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5370/85/ Credentialed specialists in political cosmology and government-approved astrophysics are grappling with a mind-bending possibility: what if there is some force other than government power that is responsible for the world in which we live? This unexpected schism is caused by recent experiments at the Large Handout Deficit Collider, in which generated sequester particles did not cause the universe to implode as predicted. The original plan called for shooting highly charged irresistible Keynesian public stimulus forces at immovable wealthy private capital objects, in the hope of creating enough monetary fusion products to keep the economy's momentum from decelerating for another summer. Theoreticians believed if the deficit could not reach sanity escape velocity, huge numbers of sequester particles would be released, which would generate financial black holes and quickly envelop all observable too-big-to-fail banks, eventually compressing the entire world economy into a space smaller than Joe Biden's brain. However.... Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 22 Mar 2013 14:45:34 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5361/85/ Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 15 Mar 2013 07:27:08 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5349/87/ (AP) The formal announcement yesterday (3/05) by the Venezuelan government that Hugo Chavez has died sent shockwaves through the ranks of the Hollywood elite, who had long been the Venezuelan leader's staunchest supporters. Throughout the day, celebrities struggled to cope with the devastating loss. Sean is devastated, completely inconsolable, Sean Penn's publicist Amy Glattensturmer told the AP. He's been in his bedroom all day. He won't eat, he won't berate his staff, he won't punch women, he wouldn't even come outside to look at the brand new Ferrari Enzo the studio sent him as incentive to read a script. He realizes that a true champion of the working class has died today, and, as one himself, Sean has taken the hit very hard. The relationship between celebrities and their dictators is a very close one, PR guru Benjamin Shaltzberg told the AP. Hollywood celebrities had formed a huge bond with Chavez. It will be difficult to replace. Guest Authors - Free Articles Tue, 05 Mar 2013 23:10:37 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5353/85/ WASHINGTON, DC (AP March 8, 2013) Sources close to the White House have learned that Barack Hussein Obama is planning to run for the office of Pope when the College of Cardinals convenes next week to elect a successor to ailing Benedict XVI. Calling on the promise of Equality for All, Obama is said to firmly believe that the time has come for a non-Catholic to occupy the Vatican's highest office. Foreseeing a looming citizenship issue, he states that he has discovered an Italian birth certificate that proves he was born in Rome before he was born in Kenya. That Hawaiian birth certificate never has been worth what I paid for it anyway, he noted. Continuing, he concluded... Humor File - Free Articles Thu, 07 Mar 2013 18:44:09 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5345/87/ It is imperative that you tend to your Plan B program, whether you decide to stay in Dodge (the US) or not! One significant part of your preparation should be to put together a medicine cabinet, because when the Unaffordable Healthcare Act fully kicks in, it may not be possible to secure critical prescription items such as antibiotics, even with a prescription. Yet it is possible to acquire antibiotics and other items today without a prescription. Furthermore, as has already been the case in Canada for some years under socialized medicine, certain surgical procedures may be unavailable because of your lack of social utility, especially depending on your age. Or wait lines may be so long that your prognosis changes from problematic to critical during the intervening time. Also, new medical modalities may not be available here in the United States. This is why, as part of your Plan B, you need to know about medical tourism, through which it will be possible to access new alternatives, and to do so far less expensively than in the U.S. A healtcare storm is about to descend upon us. How do you prepare for it? Guest Authors - Free Articles Fri, 01 Mar 2013 13:27:16 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5344/85/ Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 01 Mar 2013 13:14:08 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5334/87/ The biggest problem we now face is the most basic of all: our elections are tainted, and our government is becoming more illegitimate each election cycle. Totalitarian control of our lives is just over the horizon. There are several concrete steps that can be taken to ensure fair elections, but Republicans on Capitol Hill are either too fearful or too corrupted themselves to propose a solution that would result in a legitimate government. I'm writing to ask TTPers what you think should be done. This week (2/19), Fox News headlined a story: Did An Obama Supporter Vote 6 Times? (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/19/ohio-poll-worker-obama-supporter-investigated-for-potentially-voting-six-times/#content) This article represents the barest tip of the iceberg. We all know who is benefiting from the fraud, which gets more and more brazen every electoral cycle. Every politician who opposes rational and reasonable steps to prevent cheating and ensure honest elections deserves to be thrown out of the Capitol then prosecuted for knowingly enabling or perpetrating election fraud. Fraud is rampant and naked, especially in national elections. If it's not stopped -- and it can be -- you realize that we no longer have a legitimate government. And illegitimate governments deserve to be overthrown, indeed they must be. Guest Authors - Free Articles Thu, 21 Feb 2013 04:52:02 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5336/85/ This letter was written to the London Daily Mail in response to stories about the proposed British Mega-Mosque (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2214150/Muslim-place-worship-times-capacity-St-Pauls-Cathedral-planned-east-London.html) Dear Sirs, I am truly perplexed that so many of my friends are against another mosque being built in London on the Thames. After all, Greater London already has 356 mosques, so why should another matter, even though it would be four times the size of St. Paul's Cathedral. I think it should be the goal of every Englishman to be tolerant. Thus the Mega-Mosque should be allowed, in an effort to promote tolerance. That is why I also propose that two nightclubs be opened next door to the mosque, thereby promoting tolerance from within the mosque. We could call one of the clubs, which would be gay, The Turban Cowboy, and the other a topless bar called You Mecca Me Hot. Right next door to them should be... Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 22 Feb 2013 06:12:35 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5329/85/ Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 15 Feb 2013 11:54:42 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5312/86/ A Special Announcement: To The Point is co-sponsoring, along with Life Enhancement Magazine, a Life Enhancement Symposium (http://www.life-enhancement.com/messages/1301symposium4/index.html) with Durk Pearson Sandy Shaw in Las Vegas, March 22-24. Shortly after Merv Griffin, the beloved talk show host, passed away in August 2007, I penned a tribute to him in To The Point, How Merv Griffin Enhanced and Extended the Lives of Millions (content/view/2852/2/). I told the story of how I introduced Merv to one of my dearest friends, Durk Pearson. He was a completely unknown scientist with an IQ so high MIT could not measure it. It was 1978, and Durk was dedicating his IQ to figuring out how to live healthily for a very, very long time. What's more, Durk could explain how to do so with incredible clarity. 35 years have passed since Durk's first appearance on Merv. The amount of anti-aging research, the number of years added and quality of life improved for so many millions of people stemming from it is incalculable. But as Durk and his partner in science Sandy Shaw say, there is so much more to come! The latest advancements in life extension science are astounding - but how do you learn about them? To enable TTPers and friends of To The Point learn about where Durk Sandy's latest research is leading, my wife Rebel and I are co-sponsoring, along with my friend Will Block, publisher of Life Enhancement Magazine (http://www.life-enhancement.com/magazine), a rare public appearance of Durk Sandy at a Life Enhancement Symposium (http://www.life-enhancement.com/messages/1301symposium4/index.html) in Las Vegas next month. The length and quality of your life may indeed depend on what you learn at it. Special Features - Free Articles Sat, 02 Feb 2013 11:50:56 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5316/87/ After Mr. Obama delivered his second inaugural address week before last, it has been dawning on people that his political strategy is that of the Thunderdome in Mel Gibson's Mad Max 3 movie: Two men enter, one man leaves. He is totally win/lose, the total antithesis of win/win. From Mau-Mau tautology mixed with Marxist ideals inbred from his absent father and a mother enriched in the heresies of the deep left Communism of Frank Marshall Davis, this man has unfurled his true colors. Unbridled by the need to appear moderate for his next campaign, the One has declared war on anything or anyone who would stand in the way of his Progressive radical agenda. Yes, Saul Alinsky's hand can be seen everywhere along with Chicago thuggery, but there is much more. Guest Authors - Free Articles Wed, 06 Feb 2013 12:21:44 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5320/85/ A Republican in a wheelchair entered a restaurant one afternoon and asked the waitress for a cup of coffee. The Republican looked across the restaurant and asked, Is that Jesus sitting over there? The waitress nodded yes, so the Republican requested that she give Jesus a cup of coffee, on him. The next patron to come in was a Libertarian with a hunched back. He shuffled over to a booth, painfully sat down, and asked the waitress for a cup of hot tea. He also glanced across the restaurant and asked, Is that Jesus over there? The waitress nodded, so the Libertarian asked her to give Jesus a cup of hot tea, My treat. The third patron to come into the restaurant was a Democrat on crutches. Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 08 Feb 2013 09:41:31 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5307/2/ Col. Robert K. Brown, Founder, Publisher and Editor of Soldier of Fortune Magazine (http://www.sofmag.com/), is writing his memoirs. It's about time, as Bob turned 80 a couple of months ago. Bob and I have been good friends since 1977, when we met as guests on the Merv Griffin Show and instantly hit it off. The most memorable adventure we had together was in Afghanistan with the Mujahidin fighting the Soviets. That was in 1988, and Bob asked me to recount it for his book. I thought I'd share it with you. Early on in the Reagan Presidency, I began working with my buddy from our Youth For Reagan days (Reagan's original campaign for California governor in 1966), Dana Rohrabacher and other friends in the White House, such as Constantine Menges on the National Security Council, on a strategy that became known as The Reagan Doctrine. (That wasn't our name for it - we just called it FTC... Foil the Commies, or something like that.) My role was to go inside captured guerrilla-held territory in those Soviet colonies where anti-Soviet insurgencies had emerged, such as the Contras in Nicaragua, UNITA in Angola, RENAMO in Mozambique, the EPLF/TPLF in Ethiopia, the KPNLF in Cambodia, the Hmong in Laos, and most of all, the various groups of Muj in Afghanistan. I did this all through the 80s, and Dana and I often talked of his going inside with me at some time. His chance came after he left the White House to run for Congress in his California home town district, and got elected. He celebrated by coming with me and Bob, who I'd been promising to take inside as well. We convened in mid-November, 1988, at Green's Hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan. Behind The Lines - Free Articles Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:21:37 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5305/87/ The Marine Corps Times (http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/) recently published a handful of articles in regard to opening Infantry Officer Course (IOC) to females and the possibility of integrating women into the infantry community. In mid-April the Commandant has directed the ‘integration' of the first wave of female officers into IOC this summer following completion of The Basic School (TBS). Before the Marine Corps moves forward with this concept, should we not ask the hard questions and gain opinions of combat-experienced Marines (male and female alike) as to the purpose, the impact, and the gains from such a move? As a combat-experienced Marine officer, and a female, I am here to tell you that we are not all created equal, and attempting to place females in the infantry will not improve the Marine Corps as the Nation's force-in-readiness or improve our national security. This issue is being pushed by several groups, one of which is a small committee of civilians appointed by the Secretary of Defense called the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Service (DACOWITS) (http://dacowits.defense.gov/). Surprise: none of the current committee members are on active duty or have any recent combat or relevant operational experience relating to the issue they are attempting to change. Here's what they and the DoD need to know: should the Marine Corps attempt to fully integrate women into the infantry, we as an institution are going to experience a colossal increase in crippling and career-ending medical conditions for females. Guest Authors - Free Articles Wed, 30 Jan 2013 10:58:21 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5310/85/ This news article was recently published by the Brush News-Tribune, the community newspaper of Brush, a small town in northeast Colorado. Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 01 Feb 2013 13:38:42 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5302/85/ Whoopi Goldberg (http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/24/whoopi-goldberg-cheers-on-hillary-the-bitch-is-back/) had high praise yesterday (1/24) for Hillary's testimony to Congress the day before, exclaiming, The bitch is back! Indeed, she certainly is... Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 25 Jan 2013 13:12:56 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5294/85/ President Obama will be sworn in with his hand resting on two Bibles. Is that how screwed up Washington is now? One Bible can't get the job done anymore? –Jay Leno The White House announced today that the theme for President Obama's second inauguration will be 'Faith in America's Future.' The idea is to get our minds off of America's present. –Jay Leno President Obama's inauguration is coming up. During next week's inauguration, he will be sworn in with not one, but two Bibles. Relax, Mr. President. We get it. You're not a Muslim. You're overcompensating. –Conan O'Brien President Obama recently came under fire over the lack of diversity in his cabinet. Then Obama said, 'You guys know I'll be there, too, right?' –Jimmy Fallon The White House announced that the theme for President Obama's inauguration will be 'Faith in America's Future.' Which is proof that no one in the White House has ever seen 'Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.' –Jimmy Fallon Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:22:12 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5284/2/ [Note: this is a Free Access article to enable it to go viral. Every Republican on Capitol Hill, every talk show host like Limbaugh and Levin, every conservative organization needs to be aware of it. There is a federal law that can remove the President from office and put him in prison without impeachment. Here it is.] Neither the Senate, nor the President, nor the Supreme Court, nor any federal agency secretary or bureaucrat, has the constitutional authority to spend one single dime by themselves, without a majority of the House giving it to them. This is the power of the purse. There is, however, a problem - a legal problem, not just a psychological one, such as Congressistas being spendaholics or too cowardly to refuse the begging of various constituencies for handouts. This problem is epitomized by the Senate Republicans' inability to force Harry Reid to pass an annual budget, even though there is a law requiring the Senate to do so. Thanks to Reid's blocking all attempts, the Senate hasn't passed a budget since April, 2009, which clearly violates federal law - the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. So how come Reid can't be prosecuted? Why can't the Senate Pubs take legal action against him? As Byron York (http://washingtonexaminer.com/byron-york-why-cant-republicans-enforce-law-against-harry-reid/article/2517963#.UO6EeHcXLjA) explains, the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 doesn't have an enforcement mechanism. Lawmakers are required by law to pass a budget each year by April 15, but there's no provision to punish them, or even slightly inconvenience them, if they don't. So we arrive at what may well be the single most important question to ask in America today. Given that the current President of the United States seems determined to bypass the House's appropriation authority and spend gigantic sums on whatever programs he wants or enforcing whatever Executive Orders he issues, is there an... Behind The Lines - Free Articles Thu, 10 Jan 2013 07:46:21 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5285/164/ Best of Weekly Mind Food (So Far) Weekly Mind Food aims to show you what TTPers without a regular column, but with deep expertise in key fields, are paying attention to. We call ourselves TTP's Team B. Note the Weekly Mind Food category (content/section/23/164/) in the left side-bar now, which will have all our issues. They're Free Access, as are all the linked articles, so feel free to read them at your leisure - and to mail the article's URL to your friends! This issue has a simple premise: The best links from the last 6 months of Team B's WMF! It's a subjective ohmakase view, but I think you'll find the content and the presentation eye-opening, even if you've read WMF before. I did, and I wrote them! This is the last issue I write. After this issue, TTP is adopting hunkajunk's idea, and calling for section editors in order to continue this feature. That will help minimize each individual's time commitment. If you would like to take full responsibility for a section, email us (http://scr.im/2p0b), using the address the web link will show you. I thought about doing the best of in the same sections as the regular briefings, but some themes emerged that were best broken out to their own headings. Copybook Heading offers my parting credo, and USSA: United Surveillance State of Amerika? is actually a mild title, compared to what the links suggest. The Oligarchic Road to Serfdom looks at the socio-structural foundation beneath. A set of 3 video Orations offers first steps toward a way forward. Fighting Back: Sharpen the Saw offers a combination of previous personal, professional, and political links that will give you strength, perspective, and some useful solutions tools. We do still have the best of Polis (domestic politics), Economos (global economy), Ekpolitismos (culture civilization), Techne Logos (tech, incl. citizenk2's awesome story about the disaster that made the Gulf of Mexico come north), Stratiootika (geopolitics... Weekly Mind Food - Free Articles Fri, 11 Jan 2013 08:21:56 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5287/85/ A new standard in First Lady fashion. $1,596,899.49 to attend a one day national event dressed like a hooker. Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 11 Jan 2013 10:08:04 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5270/86/ Are you ready to start 2013 with a great adventure? I'd like you to come with me to the countries that don't exist: one that does exist but the world says it doesn't - and the other that doesn't exist but the world says it does. Imagine a Moslem country that is a real democracy, pro-America, pro-free market, despises Islamist ideology and terrorism, and lies athwart one of the world's most critical chokepoints in global shipping and trade. The US State Department would leap at the chance to support such a country, right? You are probably cynically shaking your head no - but it's much worse than that. Our government refuses to recognize the country's existence. In fact, no government or international organization in the world does - yet it has been sovereign and independent since 1991. With no help or recognition from anyone, this country has managed to survive - and survive as a capitalist Moslem terrorist-free democracy - for over 20 years. This is a heroic achievement - and unknown to most everyone on the planet. We are talking about Somaliland - the country that does exist but the world says it doesn't. The other country that doesn't exist but the world insists that it does? Somalia. Yes, we are going to both. More precisely, Somaliland and the one part of Somalia that remains: the capital of Mogadishu. Yet it would be foolish in the extreme to travel to Mogadishu without professional security protection. Thus our movement security guarding our every move in Mogadishu will be conducted by teams of ex-US and British Special Forces, the same experienced soldiers who protect UN, diplomatic, and international agency personnel. While Somaliland is peaceful and far safer than Mogadishu, we will nonetheless have Somaliland military protection while there. We'll find Somaliland to be a peaceful, safe, and bustlingly busy place, with friendly people overjoyed to see us.... Special Features - Free Articles Mon, 31 Dec 2012 08:46:04 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5274/2/ TTPers are readers and thinkers. A number of you have asked what I've been reading lately. I thought that now would be a good time, as we start a new year, to answer. It's also a chance to take a break from the general insanity of current events. What follows is not advice for you. Your interests are specifically yours, and none of these books may ring your bell. But they all rang mine to various degrees. There are too many to provide reviews. The link for each is to the listing on Amazon containing a multitude of comments and quotes. The list here is the books I read in 2012. Most of them, I bought the Kindle version and read them on my iPad. I really recommend this. Yet I also re-read favorites ensconced in my library - such as Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (http://www.amazon.com/Aristotles-Nicomachean-Ethics-ebook/dp/B006J8QAT2/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8 qid=1357231105 sr=1-1) (the link is to the Kindle edition, at $4.27). Also on Kindle now is Ludwig von Mises' compact classic, The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004H8G48I/ref=wms_ohs_product)This should be required reading for every conservative. About once a decade I complete Will Durant's entire The Story of Civilization. This takes some time, as it's eleven volumes, 10,000 pages, and four million words. I've had the set in my library for 40 years, and last year I finished it once again. Amazon has The Story of Civilization (11 Volume Set) (http://www.amazon.com/Story-Civilization-11-Set/dp/1567310230/ref=sr_1_1?s=books ie=UTF8 qid=1357217868 sr=1-1 keywords=will+durant+story+of+civilization+set) in hardcover for $439 - but the Kindle edition (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text field-keywords=will+durant) is only $12.74 per volume. OK, so here we go - one year's reading. I think you'll find at least some things here that will intrigue you. And now, please tell us what your favorite books are on the Forum! Behind The Lines - Free Articles Thu, 03 Jan 2013 10:55:50 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5275/130/ Jack Wheeler has recommended (content/view/5274/2/) some books he thinks we ought to read. One, The Jade Steps (http://www.amazon.com/The-Jade-Steps-Jack-Wheeler/dp/1450709818/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8 qid=1357315990 sr=8-1 keywords=%22jack+wheeler%22), is by one of my favorite writers -- Jack Wheeler. Jack has shilled for his book about as much as is seemly, so I thought I'd pick up the slack. The Jade Steps is a fictionalized account of a fascinating, and profoundly important historical event which has been grossly misrepresented. I love good historical fiction, because it brings to life events which would seem dry and dusty in a history book. The best historical fiction entertains as much as it informs. It is faithful to history, both by reporting events as they actually happened, and by putting them in context. But it is history made more urgent, more gripping, more exciting through the interaction of fictional characters with the historical figures, or by imagined conversations and interactions between actual historical figures. To my mind, no one was better at this than Kenneth Roberts. I learned more about the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 from his novels than from any other source, and it was from Roberts that I developed my lifelong fascination with Benedict Arnold. I was reminded of Roberts as I read the The Jade Steps. I started to read it because it was Jack's book, and I figured I ought to. But after a few pages, I was hooked. Like Roberts, Jack injects important historical fact and insight smoothly into his story. It's a fast-paced, crackling good read, so entertaining you don't realize how much you're learning. Once I started reading, I couldn't put the book down. Kelly's Panorama - Free Articles Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:28:02 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5271/164/ Farewell Post I've enjoyed doing this for and with all of you, but other responsibilities require that I step back from compiling this feature. There will be a transition of a couple of weeks, but my compilation of Weekly Mind Food will end in January 2013. The good news is, I've created a template that anyone who can cut and paste can use, and the past few months gives everyone a sense of what the standard is (stuff with depth and/or making a difference, not just rah-rah). Team B/WMF has a stable set of mail-in contributors, and with the template in hand, any TTP member can take this on and run with it. If you're interested, email me (http://scr.im/2p0b), using the address the web link will show you. Weekly Intro Weekly Mind Food aims to show you what TTPers without a regular column, but with deep expertise in key fields, are paying attention to. We call ourselves TTP's Team B. Note the Weekly Mind Food category (content/section/23/164/) in the left side-bar now, which will have all our issues. They're Free Access, as are all the linked articles, so feel free to read them at your leisure - and to mail the article's URL to your friends! I'm going out with a bang thanks to dkemp, edd7, hardcharger, mae, and of course prosenberg. This week we have a whole special section on guns, liberty, and diktat, with a few dots you haven't seen connected. Plus a recurring theme throughout of psychopaths - not the ones who shoot up schools, the well-paid ones - and of dissent and dictatorships. On the cultural front, we have the Pope citing France's Chief Rabbi as an inspiration on gay marriage, Gangnam Style as the tremor before the quake, a Deep Blue discussion on God and free will, and Britain's infamous Crews Missile aimed at whiny slacker hipsters. Public education generally is in the crosshairs of criticism, incl.... Weekly Mind Food - Free Articles Wed, 02 Jan 2013 03:19:00 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5277/85/ Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 04 Jan 2013 12:45:18 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5269/85/ As we celebrate our narrow escape from the Mayan-Republican Apocalypse of December 21, 2012, the American media is living up to its reputation as the people's fearless truth-teller, by correctly attributing our miraculous collective salvation to Barack Hussein. The consensus among the media experts and celebrities can be best expressed by this unbiased quote from CNN: If you don't think Hussein is god, you're just stupid. According to an ancient prophecy, the Mayan calendar would end on 12/21/2012 with a big comet (or other large-caliber assault weapon that the NRA protects from government control) falling off a physical cliff and striking the United States in karmic retaliation for Bush's tax cuts and suppression of undocumented Mayan voters in swing states. Some experts estimated that, in addition to total death and destruction, this could result in the loss of all accrued Social Security benefits and free government-mandated health care, as well as a severe climate change as the planet would burn to a crisp. Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 28 Dec 2012 13:45:24 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5259/164/ Weekly Mind Food aims to show you what TTPers without a regular column, but with deep expertise in key fields, are paying attention to. We call ourselves TTP's Team B. Note the Weekly Mind Food category (content/section/23/164/) in the left side-bar now, which will have all our issues. They're Free Access, as are all the linked articles, so feel free to read them at your leisure - and to mail the article's URL to your friends! Thanks to dkemp, edd7, finn-san, hardcharger, mae, and of course prosenberg. Lots of Hanukkah and Christmas links this week, including a Carol of the Bells you haven't heard before. Children and control seem to be an entwined and recurring theme, mostly for reasons that are more important than recent shootings. There's also a strong discussion of class in America: Producer class, Government class - and a Praetorian class? On the technical field, we have medtech roundup, more on spying home appliances, and the US Intelligence Council's 2030 megatrend forecasts. The latter are, of course, already getting sharp criticism. And what the heck... how about reliving the biggest armored clash from Desert Storm? Or having Carl Sagan explain the wonders of the universe. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good read. To simplify your scans, I've divided the links into sections: your weekly Copybook Heading, plus Economos (global economy), Ekpolitismos (culture civilization), Polis (domestic politics), Techne Logos (tech), Stratiootika (geopolitics military), plus 1 Good News This Week item to brighten your week and/or make you better. Enjoy! Weekly Mind Food - Free Articles Thu, 20 Dec 2012 05:11:41 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5258/80/ Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed. This statement by Michelle Obama on Feb. 18, 2008, at an appearance at UCLA, initially struck me as supremely arrogant and frightening... because it is supremely arrogant and frightening; and it is an honest expression -except for the putting-down-divisions part - of what Obama has tried to do as President. It is an expression of progressive presumptuousness: trying to make people better; thinking the right leaders can mold us into the kind of people that the progressives think that we should be. But let's look at it from a different angle; perhaps we should be thanking Michelle Obama for her challenge that we start living up to and acting upon the principles of America's founding. The Virtue of Happiness - Free Articles Wed, 19 Dec 2012 05:42:08 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5263/85/ Headline today (12/21): NRA Blames Media, Music, and More for Culture of Violence (http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/21/16069537-nra-blames-media-music-and-more-for-culture-of-violence?lite) Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:56:00 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5247/164/ Weekly Mind Food aims to show you what TTPers without a regular column, but with deep expertise in key fields, are paying attention to. We call ourselves TTP's Team B. Note the Weekly Mind Food category (content/section/23/164/) in the left side-bar now, which will have all our issues. They're Free Access, as are all the linked articles, so feel free to read them at your leisure - and to mail the article's URL to your friends! Thanks to calgarydave, edd7, hardcharger, and of course prosenberg for their contributions this week. Our themes this week involve Questioning Authority, from the solution of jury nullification, to an extended set on the critical mechanisms of tagging and branding in the culture, to cypherpunks the surveillance state. Plus an exploration of culture that includes the real meaning of Channukah, and the usual set of insights into developments at home and abroad. It's a very strong set, but it's the videos that really rock the WMF house down this week, including some truly mind-blowing aerial combats. To simplify your scans, I've divided the links into sections: Your weekly Copybook Heading, plus Economos (global economy), Ekpolitismos (culture civilization), Polis (domestic politics), Techne Logos (tech), and Stratiootika (geopolitics military), plus 1 Good News This Week item to brighten your week and/or make you better. Enjoy! Weekly Mind Food - Free Articles Tue, 11 Dec 2012 20:21:53 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5250/85/ Dear Santa, How are you? How is Mrs. Claus? I hope everyone, from the reindeer to the elves, are fine. I have been a very good boy this year. I would like an X-Box 360 with Call of Duty IV and an iPhone 4 for Christmas. I hope you remember that come Christmas Day. Merry Christmas! Timmy Jones * * Dear Timmy, Thank you for your letter. Mrs. Claus, the reindeer and the elves are all fine and thank you for asking about them. Santa is a little worried, however, about all the time you spend playing video games and texting. Santa wouldn't want you to get fat! So, since you have indeed been a good boy, I think I'll bring you something you can go outside and play with. Merry Christmas to you Timmy! Santa Claus * * Mr. Claus, Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 14 Dec 2012 04:51:41 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5241/87/ In the wilds of Louisiana's St. James Parish, amid the alligators and sugar plantations, Lester Hart is building the $750 million steel plant of his dreams. Over the past decade, Hart has constructed plants for steel producer Nucor everywhere from Trinidad to North Carolina. Today, he says, Nucor sees its big opportunities here, along the banks of the Mississippi River, roughly an hour west of New Orleans by car. The political climate here is conducive to growth, Hart explains as he steers his truck up to the edge of a steep levee. We are here because so much is going on in this state and this region. With the growth of the petrochemical and industrial sectors, this is the place to be. Nucor isn't alone in coming to Louisiana, or to the vast, emerging region along the Gulf Coast. The American economy, long dominated by the East and West Coasts, is undergoing a dramatic geographic shift toward this area. The country's next great megacity, Houston, is here; so is a resurgent New Orleans, as well as other growing port cities that serve as gateways to Latin America and beyond. While the other two coasts struggle with economic stagnation and dysfunctional politics, the Third Coast - the urbanized, broadly coastal region spanning the Gulf from Brownsville, Texas, to greater Tampa - is emerging as a center of industry, innovation, and economic growth. Guest Authors - Free Articles Thu, 06 Dec 2012 09:54:50 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5239/164/ Weekly Mind Food aims to show you what TTPers without a regular column, but with deep expertise in key fields, are paying attention to. We call ourselves TTP's Team B. Note the Weekly Mind Food category (content/section/23/164/) in the left side-bar now, which will have all our issues. They're Free Access, as are all the linked articles, so feel free to read them at your leisure - and to mail the article's URL to your friends! Thanks to edd7, hardcharger, karen, RestorationGirl, and of course prosenberg for their contributions this week. Our themes this week involve deep questions about how we conduct both politics and our lives, answers some questions about ammo buys and FEMA, reminds us to look at the opportunities from new developments; and, as always, includes the usual set of insights covering developments at home and abroad. To simplify your scans, I've divided the links into sections: Economos (global economy), Techne Logos (tech), Polis (domestic politics), Stratiootika (geopolitics military), 1 Good News This Week item to brighten your week and/or make you better. We also have 2 NEW sections: Your weekly Copybook Heading, and Ekpolitismos (civilization culture). Enjoy! Weekly Mind Food - Free Articles Wed, 05 Dec 2012 06:04:26 +0100 http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/5244/85/ U.N. Me (http://www.unmemovie.com/) is a documentary film by first-time filmmaker Ari Horowitz - One man's outrageous journey to expose the corruption of the world's most revered institution. It is outrageously funny. The UN is the world's greatest collection of crooks, gangsters, dictators, scam-artists, and thieves. Horowitz exposes them all - and hilariously. Here's the trailer. To watch the full movie, click on See the Film in the link above. FIzDt5NPYfI Humor File - Free Articles Fri, 07 Dec 2012 11:35:26 +0100