The origin of the Arab Spring did not begin on December 17th, 2010 in Tunisia with the self-immolation Mohamed Bouazizi.

Bouazizi’s decision to douse himself with gasoline and light himself on fire was an outcome of an economic and social reality in Tunisia at a very specific moment in time – the origin for that event happened many years earlier in Europe.

Understanding the earlier origin helps to set the stage to understand Libya in 2011,  the rise of al-Qaeda, and Obama’s short-sighted folly leading NATO intervention.

A basic tenet of humanity is freedom, a natural yearning to be free.  To be able to move, decide, act and strive, is as natural as the flow of water through the path of least resistance.

When Europe formed a collective Union there were multiple political, social, and socio-economic factors which aligned to create an environment where the formation was constructed.

A tireless movement of Fabian Socialists with a history of long-term strategy were behind the rise of the EU as a collective union.  (more…)

Comical in the extreme.   In an effort to stop the network from continual embarrassment MSNBC appoints Rich Stockwell to oversee pundit expressions.

(Via NRO)  MSNBC, the left-leaning cable-news network, has settled on one solution to its recent problems. It now has an executive reviewing scripts before they go on the air.

The role, which has fallen to Rich Stockwell, a former executive producer of The Ed Show and Countdown with Keith Olbermann who now oversees special projects at the network, was created as several of the network’s hosts have, to the embarrassment of network brass, conducted a master class in political incorrectness.

In recent months, Alec Baldwin, Martin Bashir, and, most recently, Melissa Harris-Perry have awkwardly crashed into the trinity of sexual orientation, gender, and race, leading many to wonder if there are any adults in charge at MSNBC. […] (more…)

Sometimes timing is just, well, serendipitous….  Back in 2011 …”Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, the chairman of the National Transitional Council and de facto president, had already declared that Libyan   laws in future would have Sharia, the Islamic code, as its “basic source”.  And so today:

TRIPOLI, LIBYA  — Minority Christians in Libya have begun the New Year with concern after parliament voted to make sharia, or Islamic law, the source of all legislation.

A special committee has begun reviewing existing laws to ensure that they comply with sharia, BosNewsLife learned Sunday, January 5.

Last month’s vote was seen by Christians as an attempt to counter criticism from “militant Islamists”, who called some of the country’s lawmakers “un-Islamic”.

Advocacy group Barnabas Fund, which supports Christians in Islamic nations, expressed concern about growing influence of Islamists.

After the ‘Arab Spring’ pro-freedom demonstrations toppled autocratic leaders across the Arab world, it “initially appeared that Islamists had not gained the upper hand in Libya as they had done in Tunisia or Egypt,” the group noted. (more…)

While assembling Part 4, to discuss the actual consequences from the short-sighted Obama/Clinton U.S. policy toward Libya in 2011, it became obvious that a key aspect is missing.   The “real” cause of the Arab Spring.

Having travelled in the area, against all prior research, and with hundreds of correspondence conversations, it just hit me like a ton of bricks that perhaps most people don’t know “why” it started.

As I began to assemble the reference points, and outline, this article appeared.    The substance contained inside that article further solidified the need to lay out the big picture before getting down into the micro-level consequences of Obama’s modern day Libyan folly.

The Westernized media version of what started the Arab Spring in Tunisia all revolve around some ubiquitous and vague talk of freedom, and a local market owner, Mohamed Bouazizi,  setting himself on fire in protest to oppressive government. (more…)

Representative Peter King is a fully vested Decepticon.

However, after listening to King’s descriptions of NSA phone spying data use, one could be left with a rather curious consideration.

If what Rep King says is true, couldn’t the al-Qaeda affiliates wreak havoc merely with ownership of several yellow page books?

All they would have to do is start down the list of random U.S. phone numbers making calls and not only would the NSA would be bogged down, but thousands of U.S. citizens would be automatically subjected to terroristic stalking by their own government.

…. and how do we know they’re not?

Note the question “if I am unemployed, why would I become a Republican“?

So Ms. Crowley’s prism believes the unemployed are Democrats. But the transparent word in her question is actually the word “become”.

(more…)

WASHINGTON DC – While members of Congress ended 2013 congratulating themselves for passing a budget, the media missed the fact that the agreement doesn’t actually avoid a government shutdown. The deal reached by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) provides simply a blueprint for government spending. Congress must still pass legislation detailing specific spending before January 15, when government’s spending authority expires. Government still faces a potential shutdown in a little over a week.
The budget agreement passed by Congress in the closing days of last year provides what is called the “top-Line” number, setting the overall level of discretionary spending. Congress still has to pass appropriations bills authorizing specific spending for thousands of government agencies, departments and programs. While there is agreement on the total amount of discretionary spending, there is far less agreement on how this spending is allocated. These agreements will have to be reached by the 15th, of the government would shut down again. (read more)
I am reminded of a previous conversation point we discussed in 2011.

Obama and the Magic Monkey Routine

(more…)

Via BFH @iOTW.

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Just Go Read This !

The apology by itself appears genuine, but also appears more apologetic for reflecting the truth behind almost all liberals.   They are, by ideological disposition, genuinely trapped in a life fraught with expressed hypocrisy.
Liberal advocacy is always, 100% of the time, structured around a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ advancement.   I have never met, nor witnessed, a modern liberal who actually walk their talk.

Subsequently, to me at least, this apology is more associated with an outcome of being called to the mat. Watch the entire video and toward the end you’ll see this is not an apology toward Mitt Romney, it’s an apology toward a mirror.