Back To Iraq

Obama is fired up and ready to go back to Iraq:

WASHINGTON — President Obama said Thursday that he authorized "targeted airstrikes" if needed to protect U.S. personnel in Iraq, as well as airdrops of food and water to religious minorities in Iraq who are under siege from Islamic militants and trapped on a mountaintop.

"Today, America is coming to help," Obama said.

The president's announcement Thursday amounts to a significant escalation of involvement in the growing Iraqi crisis, but Obama attempted to assure the American public that it would not lead to U.S. involvement in a ground war there.

The reassurance about no ground troops is hardly necessary - we all understand Obama is not committed to success here.

Peter Baker of the Times unleashed his inner auteur; it's "news analysis", not straight reporting, so let the prose flow:

WASHINGTON — In sending warplanes back into the skies over Iraq, President Obama on Thursday night found himself exactly where he did not want to be. Hoping to end the war in Iraq, Mr. Obama became the fourth president in a row to order military action in that graveyard of American ambition.

The mandate he gave to the armed forces was more limited than that of his predecessors, focused mainly on dropping food and water. But he also authorized targeted airstrikes “if necessary” against Islamic radicals advancing on the Kurdish capital of Erbil and others threatening to wipe out thousands of non-Muslims stranded on a remote mountaintop.

As he explained himself to a national television audience, Mr. Obama made a point of reassuring a war-weary public that the president who pulled American forces out of Iraq at the end of 2011 had no intention of fighting another full-scale war there. Yet his presence in the State Dining Room testified to the bleak reality that the tide of events in that ancient land have defied his predictions and aspirations before.

We see this "war-weary public" meme everywhere. But are we weary of war, or weary of endless, inconclusive struggles fought with no plan for victory? I opposed Obama's Hokey-Pokey surge in Afghanistan (You put the troops in, you take the troops out...) because Obama clearly had no conviction or commitment and becasue our hazy objectives were probably not attainable. I would oppose an effort by Obama to put troops back in Iraq for similar reasons. But under new leadership (not Hillary!) maybe a renewed US-led push in Iraq could make sense. Leaving ISIS to fester seems like an insane alternative.

WRONG ALL SUMMER: This is interesting if unsurprising, from Mr. Baker:

Mr. Obama has spent months resisting just that. Even after the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, seized Falluja and other territory in the western part of the country at the beginning of the year and marched through Mosul and toward Baghdad by summer, the president expressed no enthusiasm for American military action. 

In June, he sent in 300 special forces troops not to fight but to assess the situation, an assessment that has yet to be completed, and he increased surveillance passes over Iraq. But Mr. Obama rebuffed calls, including those from within his administration, to quickly send in air power to hit ISIS forces.

Aides said his hand was not forced until ISIS won a series of swift and stunning victories last weekend and Wednesday night against the Kurds in the north, who have been a loyal and reliable American ally, especially compared to the Baghdad government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. ISIS threats to wipe out Yazidis and other religious minorities trapped on Mount Sinjar, they said, added to the urgency.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Or would have been.

Comments

[Threadkiller]

First, Danube, you must understand what Extraneous meant with the association in the first place.

Do you get the ironic nature of his question?

[Danube on iPad]

Wow. So Obama graduated from Punahou and entered college at age 13. No wonder they say he's a genius.

[NKinLimbo]

Jane-- the TPs will simply be Obummer won't drive Iraq into a ditch like Bush. He'll simply let it burn on the side of the road. WINNING!

[daddy]

We see this "war-weary public" meme everywhere. But are we weary of war,

I just saw the Presidents new Press Spokesguy Josh Earnest(?) on TV, and he looked and acted more excited and thrilled and animated than I have ever seen him act. He was giggling and cracking jokes like a school girl.

I think he loves being able to pretend our decisive Prez is bold enough to use Military force when it's necessary for whatever poll says its necessary. I don't think I've seen a less "War Weary" White House Press guy in ages.

[Threadkiller]

Danube, did you read the part where the age calculation was based off of Obama's own statements?

[lyle]

Jane, refer them to this:

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2014/06/19/what-kind-of-iraq-did-obama-inherit/

Wehner cites numerous quotes from Pravda the NYT. They may not like what the see...

[narciso]

I've referred to Widlanski on many occasions, he's chronicled the reign of error and malfeaseanc

[Threadkiller]

The natives will be getting restless soon.

[Threadkiller]

It will be best for the harmony if I disengage.

[Beasts of England]

A little surprised that Valhalla hasn't yet yielded any truly low rounds today. A couple of -3's are the best so far on the rain-soaked course. El Tigre tees off within the hour. Curious to see what he does this afternoon - sitting three off the cut line is not a neighborhood with which he's familiar.

[Ignatz]

--Wow. So Obama graduated from Punahou and entered college at age 13. No wonder they say he's a genius.--

It's hard not to conclude sometimes that willful obtuseness is being employed just to get a gratuitous shot in.

[Thomas Collins]

Playing hooky from work to attend a session on National Security Surveillance after Snowden put on by the American Bar Asdociation Committee on Law and National Security (the ABA Annual Meeting is in Boston). When I play hooky, I really party it up!

[daddy]

NK,

Sorry I can't answer your question. I'm clueless on anti-sub stuff since at least the mind 80's. Maybe Sandy Daze knows.

BTW, the Devil is beating his wife in Memphis. The thunder outside is kabooming. Thank I'm going to go try to hunt up a cup of coffee so I'll have the energy to do catch-up.

[lyle]

Wasn't it just two weeks ago, this administration was asking congress to repeal the Iraq AUMF? Why, yes. Yes it was:

http://hotair.com/archives/2014/07/25/white-house-finally-addresses-isiss-rise-in-mideast-by-demanding-repeal-of-iraq-war-resolution/

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

If only we had a military base in the area.

Oh my goodness. So true....

[rse]

henry-just sent you an email of something I stumbled across on my downloading proof before I write frenzy.

[rse]

Notice the Joyce Foundation sponsorship. I have also downloaded that template of what they say is research from the Great Lakes region that is to now be nationalized.

[NKinLimbo]

Lyle is en fuego today. AUMF repeal demanded by Susan Rice. Unreal... that idiot is dumber than she looks.

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

With the world in chaos...it is probably a good time for Mikey of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation to bring some more lawsuits. He runs our military now, right?
How bout another picture of some women kissing to show the might of our military?

Are we gettin' enough atheist & homosexual recruits to keep us safe?
Thank heaven those Christians are being harassed & run out of our military.

[Danube on iPad]

"did you read the part where the age calculation was based off of Obama's own statements"

Yes, and I took Cashill's alternative explanation: that the statement was pure bullshit, precisely on a par with Hillary's claiming she was named for Sir Edmund.

[lyle]

Just one more:

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/townhallmagazine/2014/08/08/obamas-bush-complex-n1872464?utm_source=BreakingOnTownhallWidget_4&utm_medium=story&utm_campaign=BreakingOnTownhall

Nothing that any of you astute JOMers have not alluded to but it boils BOzo's motives down to an intense reduction.

[Threadkiller]

Obama makes bullshit statments regarding his birth circumstances.

[henry]

rse, got the email, thanks.

[daddy]

Nice line about Commander In Chief Obama from S E Cupp in Lyle's link at 02:15.

...it’s not a product that he believes in. And not because of any ideological impulse or conviction. He doesn’t know what he believes. “Not being Bush” has been his only guide. And so he hums that mantra until it becomes totally untenable. And then he’s surprised when, at the 11th hour, no one’s with him.

Just for purposes of catch-up since I missed all the Iraq action yesterday and today, is there anybody in the MSM giving the Prez "attaboys" for his speech and his F/A-18 pinprick?

I'm not seeing anything but "too little, too late."

[Jeff Dobbs]

Via Hot Air:

Lined up and executed, their severed heads put on display as a warning to others: Horrific new photographs of ISIS atrocities

So . . . we're bombing ISIS now. Remember, if you will, Obama's "this is why we're going into Libya"...

"To brush aside America's responsibility as a leader and—more profoundly—our responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are," Obama said. "Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different. And as president, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action."

Whew. He barely got in under the deadline of that standard, kicking off a little kinetic military action right before these images came out.

[Danube on iPad]

"Obama makes bullshit statments regarding his birth circumstances."

He did on that occasion. Concerning his Hawaiian birth in August 1961 he doesn't have to, and he hasn't.

[rse]

henry-if you read the description on page 2 of what I sent they are tying it to Marx's human development vision of society. His name is about all left out of that description.

[Jane]

Already did lyle and was told that was a right wing nutcase publication.

I just saw the Presidents new Press Spokesguy Josh Earnest(?) on TV, and he looked and acted more excited and thrilled and animated than I have ever seen him act. He was giggling and cracking jokes like a school girl.

I noticed that too Daddy. I thought maybe he'd been snorting coke.

I hope AB is okay. Daddy are you getting any weather updates?

[James D.]

Everyone else has already said anything I could say about Zero's return to Iraq, so I'm not going to repeat it.

I'm just imagining how this would be covered, and what public opinion would look like right now, if we had a functioning press corps that wasn't a bought and paid for appendage of Organizing for America or whatever Zero's brownshirts-in-training are called these days.

[James D.]

On a different topic, if you're looking for some weekend reading, I sent out a mass email with a code to download one of my books for free, today through Monday. I'll include it here, too, for y'all:

This is the link to go to:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/296975

And this is the code you'll need to get the book free:
XE25U

[Jane]

Isis just captured 100's of Yazidi women

[Ignatz]

I again link this Andrew WK guy's article in the Village Voice about telling a left winger to treat his conservative dad with a little respect and to be just as ready to question his own brainlocked views as he does others'.

I link it this time for the comments which demonstrate, as if we needed more confirmation of it, not many leftist's like to hear they should respect, let alone love, those who disagree with them.
It's a handy reminder for us too IMO that there are millions of misguided but well meaning liberals out there. The Dem party leadership and many hardcore leftists of course are such True Believers™® they're pretty far gone, but just the number of people here who say they used to be liberals is indicative of how many people we can influence positively by treating them as merely wrong not evil.

[Porchlight]

So thrilled to hear your update, Jim! Wonderful news. Hope your recovery continues to go well.

[Porchlight]

And I am glad to have some good news today, so thank you Jim.

[lyle]

Even with the extensive NYT cites, Jane? Not surprising.

[Captain Hate]

I somehow missed Jim's good news before and it's great to hear no matter how timely.

[Jane]

Oh I'm pretty sure they didn't get that far lyle.

[lyle]

Fercryinoutloud! Althouse actually wrote this in her comments:

He would do better to find his inner George Bush right now. Bush would make what he believed was the right decision and allow the media to beat him up all they wanted. That's what I want Obama to do.

I've read some delusional shit from libprogs before but this breaks all new ground.

[daddy]

Old hashtag:

New Hashtag: #Bring Back our Yazidi Girls

Hundreds of Yazidi Women Taken Captive by Islamic State Militants

[Danube on iPad]

Wonderful news, Jim. Take care.

[daddy]

Jane,

Just talked to our weather folks and they say we should probably pass well north of the second hurricane and that the first one has essentially dissipated, so no problem. If the phone rings at 01:18 AM then I know we'll be going. That'a when they alert us tonight to get up, take a shower, and get ready for pick-up.

Basically we overfly San Francisco, so if I expand the Satellite shots of the eastern Pacific to include the west coast of the US, the second hurricane looks pretty well south of the line we'll take from San Fran to Oahu, so most probably no big deal at all.

[NKinLimbo]

Yep, that Althouse comment was as pathetic as it was delusional.

BTW-- INSTY's 13 anniversary today? turns out I've been reading him since virtually the get go, when he chimed in about Bush's Stem Cell decision.

[jimmyk on iPhone]

Checking in from beautiful Lake Placid. Great to hear JimR's good news. Has ISIS dropped all its weapons begun singing kumbaya in response to Barry's tough talk?

That Andrew WK link is great too.

[daddy]

No surprise this: Press Release – FAA Statement–New Notice to Airmen Issued for Iraq

Press Release – FAA Statement–New Notice to Airmen Issued for Iraq

For Immediate Release
August 8, 2014

The Federal Aviation Administration today issued a new Notice-To-Airmen (NOTAM) restricting US operators from flying in the airspace above Iraq due to the hazardous situation created by the armed conflict. The new NOTAM supersedes previous FAA guidance for this airspace.

The NOTAM reads:
!FDC 4/1621 ZZZ SECURITY …IRAQ … POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS SITUATION—IRAQ AIRSPACE
DUE TO THE POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS SITUATION CREATED BY THE ARMED CONFLICT BETWEEN MILITANTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ISLAMIC STATE IN IRAQ AND THE LEVANT AND IRAQI SECURITY FORCES AND THEIR ALLIES, ALL FLIGHT OPERATIONS IN THE BAGHDAD FLIGHT INFORMATION REGION (ORBB) BY THE PERSONS DESCRIBED IN PARAGRAPH A BELOW ARE PROHIBITED UNTIL FURTHER ADVISED.

[Ignatz]

Armenia and Azerbaijan trading shots again in another largely ethnic and religious conflict.
If Barry were actually interested in plugging holes in the dike rather than golfing he'd be running out of fingers about now.
Any ArchDukes gonna be in Sarajevo in the near future?

[Bori]

Great news Jim R, hope you have a quick and painless recovery.

Iggy,

Those true believers they see what is happening in the ME, where Muslim religious fanaticism is rampant and they project that to Christian.

They can not differentiate the two, it is why they have such extreme reactions, as in the Hobby Lobby decision.

They are too scared to admit that in reality it is not Christianity that they fear but religion, itself. In Islamic fanatics they see a Christian, so they pretend. Let them be that way, over there, while ensuring that it Christians and their rights are subdued over here.

[daddy]

This is interesting: it's an overhead radar depiction of Aviation traffic transiting Iraq from and to Europe, and it compares flights over Iraq from 8 July with flights from today 8 August.

You can see that if Ukraine is closed, and Russia decides to shut down their airspace, it's either overfly our friends in Iran, or pretty much do the southern route over our friends in Syria, then via Jordan.

My guess is most of the traffic will do the Iran route and I suspect the Iranians will figure out how to use their overflight permission as leverage.

[Jeff Dobbs]

daddy:
FAA Statement–New Notice to Airmen Issued for Iraq

Hah! After Jane asked you about the weather, I was going to say that we needed a NOTAM. I had to run to a meeting . . . but upon my return I see you posted a NOTAM.

Last NOTAM posted on JOM - anyone remember?

I'll give a hint . . . under the weather youthful canine

[Jane]

Sheesh Daddy, I don't know how you sleep.

[Jeff Dobbs]

(after a minute of google, i now think I know that notams are not issued for weather)

[Dave (in MA)]

Nice to see that the FAA still hasn't discovered lower-case.

I'm surprised their notices don't HAVE A BUNCH OF ^H CHARAS^HCTERS IN TE^HHEM TO FIX TYPOS

[PD]

Quagmire.

[NKinLimbo]

"Nice to see that the FAA still hasn't discovered lower-case."

wait.. Gus works for the FAA?

[Jim Rhoads f/k/a vnjagvet]

I wonder what the Situation Room looks like in that 10,000+ sq. ft. house on the Vinyard. On his excellency's favorite golf course?

[Ignatz]

Sorry for the length of this but it's worth reading in full.
Wretchard with an update from his column someone previously linked.

Update: President Obama has authorized “targeted airstrikes” to stop the Yehzidi genocide according to USA Today which reports that Obama said “today, America is coming to help”.

President Obama said Thursday he authorized “targeted airstrikes” if needed to protect U.S. personnel in Iraq, as well as airdrops of food and water to religious minorities in Iraq who are under siege from Islamic militants and trapped on a mountain top….

Obama attempted to assure the American public that it would not lead to U.S. involvement in a ground war there. The airstrikes would be used to prevent militants from reaching Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish region. Irbil is home to a U.S. Consulate and a joint U.S.-Iraqi security base.

In Obama’s gesture is an implicit lie. Nobody ever comes to a war “to help”. It’s not like stopping by a picnic or helping a neighbor move house, where you can participate as much or little as you want and then walk away. The only valid object of joining a conflict is ‘to win’, or at least, be on the winning side. Fighting to look good is neither moral nor does it work. You don’t ever want to “help” and be among the defeated. For those in the field, defeated means dead.

Bombing once started makes enemies and kills people. Unless it is done for a definite object and terminal state in mind, then it is better not done at all. Any action sufficient to ‘stop the genocide’ requires defeating ISIS. Either Obama aims to defeat ISIS or he is merely prolonging the agony. Lyndon Johnson was a great fan of “targeted airstrikes” in Vietnam. Johnson famously boasted of his fine grained control over the USAF.

“LBJ liked to pick bombing targets himself”. More strongly expressed in Vietnam Magazine, December 1997, by Air Force Major John Keeler (Ret) – who quotes LBJ as saying: “Those boys can’t hit an outhouse without my permission”.

Lyndon Johnson was in Vietnam to ‘send a message’. Ho Chi Minh was in it to win. How did that work out?

[daddy]

Jane,

No big deal. Since tonights is a long flight (scheduled for over 8 hours), they give us a 3rd guy, so we each get to take a turn in back lying on the floor on a futon with a blanket over our heads for a few hours. That helps, and being the senior guy on board I get to pick which sleep period I want, so if I don't get any sleep between now and wake-up, again no big deal.

I dropped my new Library book 3 times last evening from nodding off. It was A Dog's History of the World---Canines and the domestication of humans

Rather sleep inducing, but I perked up at this bit from page 31:

Another interesting hint from the children-women-puppies-dogs relationship is the role of breastfeeding. The practice of women breastfeeding puppies has been documented in at least four different cultural settings---Copper Inuit (Canada), Aranda (Australia), Yanomamo (Venezuela and Brazilian Amazon), and Andamanese (Bay of Bengal). It is possible that tis practice was much more widespread, with some evidence of women nursing puppies in European and North American cultures also.

Personally I think Sophia Loren could raise some terrific "KayyyyyRoooo's":

Off now with my co-worker to find some BBQ. Cheers.

[Beasts of England]

lol, PD! At least you waited a full thirty minutes - or twenty-nine minutes longer than the MSM gave GWB!

[Jane]

Daddy,

Any word from AB? I sure hope she is okay.

[PD]

BoE, I'm waiting to see which Democrat is first to dare to whisper that word.

[Extraneus]

Wasn't it just two weeks ago, this administration was asking congress to repeal the Iraq AUMF?

Great point, lyle.

"Stop me before I have to decide whether to kill again."

And hello PD.

[Exasperated]

"No entity in the world--save the United States of America--is capable of stopping the Islamic State army."

Your ignorance is stunning. They are rabble.

Unrestrained and left to their own devices, any one of a half dozen of your "entities" could send that trash home whining to their mommies.

!

[PD]

President Obama said Thursday he authorized “targeted airstrikes”

Because most people with authority to order airstrikes go for the aimless, no-target version.

The "smart" President in action.

[Extraneus]

Now that Obama has broken Iraq, I'd like to hear more from Powell about the Pottery Barn rule.

[Danube on iPad]

Read this one and weep:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/07/historic-fail-greatest-americans-missing-from-proposed-curriculum/?cmpid=edpick&google_editors_picks=true

[jorod]

Too little too late. We snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

[Danube on iPad]

From what I have been able to glean, these ISIS fighters are something above a rabble, showing some semblance of discipline and military training. But they have no air force and precious little armor.

Recall that with about 200 men on the ground we used laser-guided bombs to absolutely devastating effect on the Taliban in the early days. It was only when we undertook the impossible task of nation-building that things headed south.

I should think that with a very few Spec Ops and CIA guys coordinating with the Kurds we could use air power to make mincemeat out of these savages.

But we won't.

[NKinLimbo]

I have no idea of ISIS's order of battle or combat capabilities, I do know that with respect to helpless women and prisoners, they are medieval savages. God help me for saying this, but they need to be exterminated.

[Captain Hate]

Now that Obama has broken Iraq, I'd like to hear more from Powell about the Pottery Barn rule.

As tempting as that sounds, the next time I hope to see Powell is testifying in front of Trey Gowdy on what a stooge like he was doing when the Benghazi bodies returned.

[NKinLimbo]

Powell was a stooge at Andrews AFB, wasn't he.

[Extraneus]

If only they'd have stuck to strategic degrading of US interests, they'd be in the pink, but now that Iraq has become a political problem for Obama, I pity the fool who rides with ISIS over the next week or two. They should hunker down and send a couple of moderate negotiators for a meet & greet, maybe a reset.

[NKinLimbo]

"They should hunker down and send a couple of moderate negotiators for a meet & greet, maybe a reset."

Or maybe ISIS should only target Jews, Obummer doesn't seem to object to that.

[maryrose]

Too little ,too late-its his signature response.

[Ignatz]

If ISIS only targeted Jews he'd be dropping MREs and Perrier on ISIS's positions.

[A good doctor will do it gradually.]

Jim, be careful getting back to euthyroid. Hypothyroidism may have protected you while the artery was obstructed.

[Extraneus]

Islam ‘Helped to Shape’ CIA Nominee Director John Brennan’s World View

(CNSNews.com) – As a college student in the 1970s, John Brennan, President Obama’s nominee for CIA director, traveled in Indonesia where – he recalled in a speech in New York in 2010 – “despite my long hair, my earring and my obvious American appearance, I was welcomed throughout that country, in a way that is a reflection of the tremendous warmth of Islamic cultures and societies.”

Brennan’s Feb. 13, 2010 address to a meeting at the Islamic Center at New York University, facilitated by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), provided an insight into his views on Islam, a faith which he said during the speech had “helped to shape my own world view.”

Travels around the world over more than three decades had taught him about “the goodness and beauty of Islam,” said Brennan, whose 25-year career at the CIA until 2005 included a stint as station chief in Riyadh.

This is the man we should put in charge of negotiating with the ISIS moderates.

[Not that it can't be pretty mean even then.]

The hurricane is collapsing, Jane.

[narciso]

they are Iraqi army, at the top they may be some of the Republican Guard that were part of the Anfal campaign, regardless these avowedly secular officers, easily make common cause with the Salafi

[Jim Rhoads f/k/a vnjagvet]

Lyndon Johnson was in Vietnam to ‘send a message’. Ho Chi Minh was in it to win. How did that work out?

And I have never forgiven LBJ for that.

[narciso]

Baghdadi follows the rape and pillage model, that Zarquawi began and Al Masri continued,
there really is no grand strategy, at last at the footsoldier level, they are like the zombie hordes in World War Z, at the leadership level, there is a more organized framewor

[It wasn't me, darnit.]

noaaprogrammer commenting @ Watts Up says of the storm in Hawaii: A low ha ha ha.

[NKinLimbo]

Narc@550- so arab Muslim soldiering hasn't advanced since the days of Lawrence... or Saladin.

[Sorry, Ma.]

er, 'wasn't I'.

[Captain Hate]

I'm sure none of you saw this coming:

http://weaselzippers.us/195863-gen-barry-mccaffrey-obamas-strikes-on-islamic-state-are-useless-pinpricks-only-meant-to-satisfy-internal-politics/

[Jim Rhoads f/k/a vnjagvet]

Jim, be careful getting back to euthyroid. Hypothyroidism may have protected you while the artery was obstructed.

Thanks, doc. That is the plan as I understand it. The attending endocrinologist has mentioned how important it is to gradually treat that malady. FYI my THS was 80 and had significantly increased in the two years since the last test which was just a tad higher than normal.

[Miss Marple]

Isis has hijacked the #hawaii stream on twitter and is posting horrific pictures of executions and other atrocities. They are saying this is what they will do to Americans.

I haven't seen this, as I am prone to nightmares when seeing such stuff. However, I got it from a reliable friend who warned me.

I do not think this will get them the reaction they want from Americans, however.

[Extraneus]

narciso, can you clear something up for me?

Why do we treat these groups like "ISIL" and "Al Qaeda" as separate, distinct groups, as if they have different objectives or aren't on the same team? Aren't they all just different brigades in Muhammad's army?

[Comanche Voter]

Time to pull out the old Colin Powell pottery shop rule for Barack and Iraq.

"You drop it and break it, you own it."

Well Obozo dropped the Iraq ball, and now this mess is all his.

[Beasts of England]

I have to wonder how much targeted air striking King Putt would engage in had he not won the Peace Prize?

[Miss Marple]

James Brady's death has been ruled a homicide, due to effects of bullet from 33 years ago.

http://nypost.com/2014/08/08/james-bradys-death-ruled-homicide-from-reagan-shooting-bullet/

[Jeff Dobbs]

BoE:
targeted air striking King Putt

Wait a second. Is Obama behind the movement to increase the size of golf holes to 3 feet or whatever it is?

[Ignatz]

Uh oh; another lawsuit on the way as social psychologist Jose Duarte calls Lewandowsky and Cook of the infamous 97% of climate scientists blah, blah, blah fairy tale, liars and frauds who engage in "smear science".
Well worth reading.

[judithcurry.com has a couple of threads with Joe.]

Yah, Iggy, Joe lets them have it with both barrels.

[A comer, I believe.]

Joe's blog is worth a look, too.

I laughed when he said these things shouldn't need to be pointed out by some random Mexican.

[Beasts of England]

He'd love that, hit! But then we'd hear all about his great putting ability on ESPN. Ugh.

[A trenchant critic of the liberal bias in his community.]

A conservative social psychologist, found in a dark closet in a box of hen's teeth.

[Beasts of England]

And speaking of golf, that guy named Rory is in his usual spot atop the leader board. He's having a pretty good four weeks of golf.

[Frau Beweise, bitte]

Que Shiraz, Shiraz...ValJar speaks Farsi? She was in Persia from birth to five years of age. Anyone believe she really speaks the language? Her published account is that she speaks/spoke Farsi, French and English when her family returned to Chicago.

[Stephanie]

Yeah! Jim. Best way to end a week is with good news!

[narciso]

Basically the Nusra Front, was part of Zarqawi;s organization, and they became AQ
classic, because they pled allegiance to Zawahiri, they are more tied to Qatar, and
to the Libyan rebels, backed by Bel Hadj,

Baghdadi's group, is more Salafi, more ruthless, their tactics are considered excessive, but they are both AQ,

[Jane]

James Brady's death has been ruled a homicide, due to effects of bullet from 33 years ago.

That is just silly.