Good morning, and a lovely one again: not much wind and the snow is melting fast where I am.

Let me start out with some good news or ideas, for once.

North Korean Born in a Prison Camp: ‘My Favorite Word is Freedom’ with very good reason, clearly.  The point that too many people miss is that ALL of North Korea is a prison camp, and the same is true of many countries around the world, and even more (like many or all of our own Fifty States) are moving in that direction.

Scalia to Cadets: Constitution ‘Deserves Your Affection and Your Oath’ so why don’t our senior officers and political leaders have the same concept?  And why don’t the other eight Nazgul seem to think so?  (There are SOME field grade and flag grade officers who DO, but they are powerless or gutless or both, as the corruption of the military gets worse.)

Bill Gates: ‘It Makes Sense to Believe in God’ is NOT one of the things I would have expected this man to say.  Still, a pleasure to hear him say that.  He certainly is not following God’s will in many things, but maybe he is trying.

This next is “good news” but only if you are willing to put aside the rhetoric and propaganda which seems to infect many who claim to be lovers of liberty.

Sounds to me like Putin understands the current regimes in DC, Brussels, and Mons (NATO headquarters) pretty well:  rule of guns and not rule of law.  For once, I find myself almost in full agreement with Steven Lendman, who provides a great synopsis of the entire Ukraine/Crimea business (if you ignore his normal fanatic digs at various and sundry). The FedGov’s hypocrisy is showing big time.  Putin is NOT a nice man, he is a very typical Russian strong man: no one who is a genuinely nice person could ever lead or even guide Russia.  He is no doubt corrupt, as well – same reasons.  But compared to what we have in DC, he is a saint.

Compare Lendman’s column to this one: Crimea Crisis: A Timeline of U.S. Appeals, and Russian Defiance Oh for crying out loud:  these are not “US Appeals” but rather, US demands.  If this was Canada and not Ukraine, and it was Russia “appealing” then the US would be far MORE “defiant” than Russia is being about Crimea and Ukraine.

Tensions Rise Along Israel-Syria Border After Bombing of Israeli Patrol, as well as fighting: Israeli forces attacked Syrian positions.  One more spark in the region.

Tax Revenues Hit Record in First 5 Months of FY14; 5-Month Deficit Still $377B: greed of the kind found in DC cannot be slaked by all the money in the world.

WH: ‘Real Treat’ for Michelle Obama to Take Her Mom and Daughters to China on the taxpayer’s dime (or rather, millions).  Such gratitude shown by the little people to let their royals have such a pleasant excursion.

Obama The ‘messiah’ praises Abbas: ‘Somebody who has consistently renounced violence’ in what?  His family?  His stomach?  Because he hasn’t personally killed someone for “honor?”  Disgusting to watch a video of one incredible hypocrite (the ‘messiah’) praising another accomplished hypocrite.  As many websites have been quick to point out, Abbas and his rabid and loyal gang of thugs has committed a huge number of violent aggressive acts against both Israelis and their own people, including some as recently as last week.  But shucks, the squatter in 1600 Pennsy knows how short the memories of the public are.

The Congressional Homeland Security Chair says the missing plane may be in the hands of terrorists, an idea (as I pointed out earlier this week) that he took straight from a dozen conspiracy websites.  On the other hand, Rep. King babbles about Flight 370: ‘Nothing out there indicating it’s terrorists’, a statement clearly based on his omniscience and secret NSA/CIA/FBI briefings.  Neither of them are willing to admit that they don’t really know anything but speculation.  Meanwhile, the search continues.  You know, the failure to find the plane’s remains using satellite photos points out the major problem with that sort of “mass data collection” intelligence: if you don’t have SOME general idea of what or where something is, it is very difficult to find it.  It is the same problem we have with finding intelligence in the halls of Congress: you just don’t know where to start looking.

Senator Rand Paul states, For GOP to Grow, It Must ‘Agree to Disagree on Social Issues’ Like Gay ‘Marriage’ which will no doubt endear him still more to many Libertarians, who seem to turn off their sensitivity to liberty when anything to do with sexual preferences (I probably shouldn’t use a word like “perversions”) come up.  But does the GOP really need to do this?  Despite all the court cases and all the acts of various legislatures, to say nothing of the White House, a majority of Americans do not favor homosexual “marriage” – some may be willing to tolerate it, but not accept it, and certainly not “affirm or embrace” it.

EPA Administrator apologizes for saying little Alaskan girl’s moose meat gift could ‘gag a maggot’ which is about what the rest of us are thinking when we meet one of the ‘messiah’s’ minions like this woman.  There is something to be said for those commenting that she was chosen more for her sexual preferences than for her brains or skills or experience.

Several States Mulling ‘Free’ Tuition to Community Colleges which is really nothing more than a grand slam: expanding the nanny state, creating another major mess in the market system, destroying the value of education even more, excusing an increase in taxing and spending, and extending “childhood” a few more years.  Community colleges do little or nothing for students that a mere century ago were done by elementary schools (1-6th grade), just as other colleges and universities spend most of their time and money providing knowledge, skills, and discipline once expected of 9th-12th graders in high school.  This will simply accelerate all these poor outcomes, and make an A.S. or A.A. as meaningless as a high school diploma.