Most of the doomsday budget-cutting talk has focused on the Pentagon—and rightly so, as cuts being bandied about will unquestioningly turn the United States into a second-class military power. The worst news, however, is that the cuts could have an even more disastrous impact on homeland security, in particular the U.S. Coast Guard. The service is coming under great pressure to curtail replacing its fleet of large cutters, the most capable and critical asset in the Coast Guard fleet. Cutting this force—in conjunction with the reductions in the Navy—will mean …
The Obama Administration, which has been tragically slow to condemn President Bashar al-Assad’s violent repression of peaceful demonstrators and call for his resignation, finally took action to do so yesterday. After muting its criticism of Assad’s serial mass murders of his own people for five months, the White House released a statement that ratcheted up sanctions on Syria’s dictatorship and called for Assad to step down. Since protests erupted in March, the Assad regime has killed more than 1,800 Syrians and jailed more than 10,000 in a brutal crackdown against …
Yesterday in New York City, NASA’s last space shuttle astronauts visited a World War II aircraft carrier-turned-museum docked on the west side of Manhattan. The carrier is one of four museums where retired NASA shuttles will go to rest now that the historic shuttle program has ended. But as NASA sends its shuttles to museums, China is making great strides in its space program—with preparations under way for the launch of a Chinese spacelab in the next few weeks. These advances are beginning to threaten U.S. space superiority and America’s ability to support …
A new problem has surfaced with New York Times reporter Eric Lichtblau front-page story on Rep. Darrell Issa. Toyota confirmed that DEI Holdings, a company Issa founded, is not a “major supplier” to the car manufacturer. That’s a direct contradiction to Lichtblau story. Issa asked for a correction Monday. Lichtblau has refused, maintaining the claim is correct. He did not cite a source in Monday’s story and did not provide one to us when we inquired. Lichtblau asserted in Monday’s 2,700-word story that the California Republican should have recused himself …
In this week’s Heritage in Focus, experts Nina Owcharenko and Todd Gaziano discuss the recent Obamacare ruling from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, from both a legal and policy angle. Listen here. Though the decision did not uphold the entirety of Judge Vinson’s prior ruling in Florida, conservatives won a victory nonetheless, as the individual mandate was struck down. However, the question remains: If only the mandate is ultimately ruled unconstitutional, what happens to the rest of Obamacare? Will the law unravel? Furthermore, the 11th Circuit’s decision splits from the …
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe. The Movie Obama Won’t Want You to See – James Jay Carafano, FoxNews.com Why Tea Party should resist gutting defense – John R. Bolton, The Washington Times Big Brother Goes Green – Audrey Hudson Solar, we have a problem – Nicolas Loris, Washington Times Taxes and Business, There We Go Again – Mark Green Gov’t May Be Lowballing Medicare Shortfall By $6 Trillion – David Hogberg, Investor’s Business Daily Police grants …
The chief of Russia’s air force announced this week that the PAK FA, Russia’s fifth-generation stealth fighter, will enter service in 2015. This would be close to the time when two U.S. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter variants for the U.S. Air Force (F-35A) and the Navy (F-35C) are expected to attain initial operational capability in 2016. This display means the U.S. must keep its own Joint Strike Fighter program on schedule for production. The public flight of a PAK FA’s T-50 prototype before the world, at the MAKS–2011 International Aviation …
***UPDATE BELOW: Video of Verizon’s Bernadette Phillips discussing the many instances of apparent sabotage.*** Verizon has alleged more than 200 incidents of vandalism and sabotage against its equipment and facilities since 45,000 company employees went on strike on August 7. A source sent these photos, which seem to show very neatly sliced fiber-optic lines – apparent acts of sabotage, in other words, and potentially violations of federal law. Verizon says that the FBI is looking into the reports of sabotage. UPDATE (Aug. 18 – 19:00)
A too-clever-by-half marketing team at Kraft Foods has come up with what they think is a hot seller: a contest offering a cash prize to the best YouTube video answering the question, “How has Miracle Whip Affected Your Relationship?” The winner of the contest, which runs until August 23, takes home (or to two homes, quite possibly) $25,000 to help pay for a wedding—or a divorce. Kraft officials have been stung by the criticism that has been justly leveled against the contest, which attempts to take a lighthearted and evenhanded …
Yesterday, the White House announced that President Obama would once again be giving a “major jobs speech” in September after his Martha’s Vineyard vacation. If spending three years delivering identical speeches created jobs, President Obama would be taking credit for 4% unemployment today. Alas, they do not. In fact, President Obama has given many “major“ speeches and addresses on jobs since taking office. While some news organizations treated this announcement as “breaking news” yesterday, it is unfortunately more of the same from a President who is long on speeches and short …
