By Nathan Barton

Good morning, and here are a few news stories from last week and over the weekend: this and that.  Amazing what all is going on!

Raqqa, Syria is the new capitol of the ISIS caliphate in Syria and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The free people of Iraq are begging for American help to hold off the ISIS threat (how foolish of them).  Meanwhile, the “free people” of neighboring Syria are more and more rallying to the victorious and bloodthirsty victors of the Islamic State. Whether it is religious-political fervor OR self-protective fear, the state is worshiped by these people as part of their practice of Islam.  We can condemn them for this, but too many who claim to be “christian” or Jew do the same.

Oh, by the way: If you ever hoped to visit the (supposed) tomb of the prophet Jonah… you can’t, it’s no longer there, ISIS has blown it up. It seems that it was a cherished religious icon of Middle Eastern Christians (no Jews left in most of those areas, of course, and Christians are rapidly going away). Just another example of how Islam, that “religion of peace” operates (even though they claim that Jonah was a prophet of Allah). The Taliban did it in Afghanistan, Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, ISIS in Iraq, and Hamas would do it where ever they can.

Good grief!  Did John McCain REALLY say this about his buddy, the Fuehrer? SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ): “The self-pity that he continues to exhibit is really kind of sad, really. I can’t work with him and all of that. When is the last time that he really called leaders of both parties together over at the White House for a dinner? A social event? You know, what Reagan was best at, what Clinton did, Bush did… I cannot explain it except to say that he does not have this desire to have social interface with people and sit down and try to work things out.”  Seems that even the most dense of people can sometimes see reality.  Fortunately, they have medication for that today: how could we stand having this beloved nutcase restored to the status of a reasoning human being?

George Will claims that there is a new Barry Goldwater – named Neel Kashkari who wants to redefine the Republican Party while fixing the MANY problems in California:  Kashkari said, “Today, California is a one-party state: Democrats have 2–1 majorities in both legislative chambers and 40 of 55 members of Congress. Republicans hold no statewide office and have only 28 percent of voters registered by party. All of which has something to do with these facts: California has the nation’s highest income tax, sales tax, and poverty rate (adjusted for the cost of living), and the second-highest gasoline tax. Only four states have higher unemployment rates.” Kashkari says California’s “U-6 unemployment rate” — which includes unemployed people seeking full-time jobs, and part-time workers who want full-time jobs, and people too discouraged to seek jobs — is above 16 percent. I have news for both Will and Kashkari: if the GOP  were in charge in California, the numbers would be different but still distressful, because the problem with California is NOT who is in charge of government, but government itself. Honestly, this is NOT the time for a Barry Goldwater, but rather for a Tom Jefferson or Daniel Morgan, willing and able to tear apart the chains that bind us to the tyrants and with the military and political skills to do so.

So, it seems that Wal-Mart is preparing for a new, major earthquake on the New Madrid fault line? I surely hope so, and hope lots of other folks are as well.  Frankly, with all the things people complain about with Wal-Mart, letting them (and Target and K-Mart and Family Dollar) take over most of FEMA’s responsibilities for emergency response after disasters would save lives AND save money.

A huge majority of football fans say “DON’T change the Redskins name!”In fact, 71% of their fans in politically-correct Washington (District of Criminals) itself say they want to keep the name.  Hopefully, all these evil fanatics will soon be charged criminally for liking the name: I’m sure that most of them will recant.  Seriously, what business does government have even having an opinion on this?

Canadians deliver water to protest Detroit shutoffs, according to USA Today. This is, frankly, bizarre.  Protesters fighting water shutoffs in Detroit greeted a convoy of Canadians who traveled to the city with hundreds of gallons of water (oohhh!!) to help those who have been cut off because of unpaid bills. Maude Barlow, a leading water rights [sic] advocate [Obviously a totally different definition than used in Colorado or South Dakota] in Canada, and other activists brought 750 gallons of water [wow!  AMAZING!] in a seven-vehicle convoy that traveled through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel to deliver the water and the message that the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department’s policy of shutting off service to delinquent customers violates the United Nations’ 2010 declaration that water is a human right [sic].  Of course, water is a human right just like food and air: provided you PAY for it.  No one – NO ONE – is going to deny those people the water they need to drink: that critical gallon a day.

A recent poll finds that Darth Vader has a better approval rating than all 2016 presidential candidates  According to the New York Daily News: “Don’t underestimate the power of the dark side. Darth Vader polls better than any potential 2016 candidate, according to a new study, making him a would-be presidential front-runner — if this was a galaxy far, far away. The Sith Lord had a higher net favorability than any of the possible presidential contenders, the Washington Post’s Wonkblog found, after pitting a recent FiveThirtyEight poll of readers’ favorite Star Wars characters against a recent Gallup poll on how voters viewed top politicians.”  Notice they don’t report Palpatine’s ratings.