All the Way to Timbuktu

On the November night in 2008 when the United States elected Barack Obama President, I listened to the coverage on a transistor radio on a rooftop in Timbuktu. (Read more about Timbuktu in National Geographic magazine.)

I sat with a local teacher named Issaka and a businessman named Mohammed atop the small guesthouse Mohammed owned on the outskirts of the city, just a stone's throw from the rolling dunes that mark the southern edge of the Sahara.

Deep into the night we huddled against the desert chill wrapped in quilts, listening to the reports on French radio, discussing politics, and drinking glasses of steaming mint tea dutifully served by Mohammed's ten-year-old nephew Akbar.

To my great surprise, I found Timbuktu, the ancient city in northern Mali whose name is synonymous with the back of beyond, gripped with Obama fever. As I walked through the markets and visited local mosques, several men stopped me to ask if I was American and then gave a thumbs-up and an enthusiastic "Obama!"
 

Yes...YES...the chosen one was elected in 2008, and that was great news for Bali's Timbuktu.  There was hope.  There was joy.  There was...ummm...misrepresentation.  Four years later, Obama said that al-Qaeda was "decimated."   There were a lot of problems with such a statement, not the least of which is that the word, itself, since it only meant one in ten items no longer exists.  But, it was used by the President in Wisconsin to suggest that al-Qaeda was on its heels.

Unfortunately, Timbuktu tells a different story.  It's now owned by al-Qaeda.  So, one wonders what Issaka thinks of Obama now.

Last month, on Election Day in the U.S., I called Issaka, who himself had relocated to Bamako. He described how the capital, swollen with refugees from the north, remains tense with uncertainty and rife with rumors.

I reminded him of how Obama's election had stirred jubilance among Timbuktu residents four years before. He laughed. "That was a long time ago." But then in a wistful voice added, "We need Obama now more than ever."

James Bond is Not the Same Guy

Yikes...Bill O'Reilly and I are on the same page.

However, the biggest difference between Connery and Craig is that the former seemed to be having fun racing around the world doing the bidding of the British government. Craig does not seem to be having a lot of laughs.

In fact, Craig is a major brooder, and so is his boss, played by Judi Dench. Watching these two have a conversation is like watching Dr. Phil yell at some guy who just abandoned his family.
 

Never a fan of political correctness, I even am more annoyed when this "disease" overtakes a fictional character.   James Bond may always win against the bad guy, but he didn't even put of a fight against the real enemy.  He broods.  He emotes.  He looks like he would be happier serving as greeter to the local Wal-Mart.

AP By-line Always Contradicts the Facts

By-Line:

The U.S. economy added 146,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008. The government said Superstorm Sandy had only a minimal effect on the figures.

YAY!!!!!

 

And the unemployment rate fell to a four-year low in November from 7.9 percent in October mostly because more people stopped looking for work and weren't counted as unemployed.

 

 BOOOO!!!!!!

I Knew It, and I Still Feel Like Crap

I wrote this back on October 9th, when it became apparent that the State Department was lying.

Here’s a thought. What if the military knows that the weapons used to gain access to, and kill the American’s in Benghazi were provided to the Libyan rebels by the Presidential Finding decision that circumvented Congress back in March 2011. Therefore, the White House (under the advice of the State Department) armed the rebels, who turned out to be terrorists. Essentially, the White House and State Department provided the means and opportunity for terrorists to attack our Embassy and now they are focusing everyone on the opportunity to turn everyone away from the means (weapons).
 

That was far fetched.  That would never happen with this Administration.  Right?

 WASHINGTON — The Obama administration secretly gave its blessing to arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar last year, but American officials later grew alarmed as evidence grew that Qatar was turning some of the weapons over to Islamic militants, according to United States officials and foreign diplomats.
 

There you go.  Our president used a loophole to go around Congressional approval, handed weapons to a non-vetted group, and those weapons were likely used to kill our Ambassador, and three other fellow Americans.  That is why the White House, State Department and Intelligence agencies answering to the president were obligated to lie with impunity despite the facts right out in front of us all.  It was to distract from the real incompetence of our president who was campaigning for re-election.

Lincoln to be Screened in the Senate

From: Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: I’ve just learned that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has invited Steven Spielberg to screen Lincoln on December 19th 12th. But what’s different about this invitation is that Reid is offering to provide the U.S. Senate to Spielberg as the theatre. Reid’s invite only recently went out — and I’m told Spielberg will accept for his movie to play in the historic setting.
 

What I find amusing about this is the fact that Speilberg did not re-write history for the movie "Lincoln."  The Democrats are shown in their full colors as they fight tooth and nail to avoid the passing of the 13th Amendment.  The representatives of the Confederate Government (Democrat as well) take the same stance.

In short, you have a film that actually highlights that the Republicans (both party and Radical) support the abolition of slavery, while Democrats do not.  It's a shame that Robert Byrd will not be there to see it. 

Costas: Words Matter

Bob Costas last Sunday:

Handguns do not enhance our safety. They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it.
 

Bob Costas today:

 "Domestic violence is part of it. Drugs and alcohol could be part of it," Costas said. "And I didn't say anything specifically about gun-control legislation or the Second Amendment. I don't want to repeal the Second Amendment. I think we should have responsible gun control, but that wouldn't prohibit somebody from carrying a gun."
 

You would think that someone who spends his career talking would take the time to understand the words that come out of his own mouth.  The whole basis of the "gun-control" lobby labors far and wide to suggest that guns only kill, and never protect.  His comments played right into their argument.

I Think They're Doing it Wrong...

I'm going to tell you a secret.

Wait...but, if you tell me the secret.  It won't be a secret any more.

Right.

The Pentagon has announced plans to assemble an espionage network large enough to rival the CIA in size, according to reports.

As part of the project, US military officials would send hundreds of additional spies overseas, the Washington Post reported.

It would also see the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) overhauled, away from a primary focus on activities related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

When the expansion is completed, the DIA could have as many as 1,600 intelligence "collectors" around the world - far more than its current overseas presence which numbers in the hundreds.

That total would include military attaches and others who will not work undercover, the newspaper wrote.

But US officials said the plans also include deployment of a new generation of clandestine operatives to be trained by the CIA.