Dave Barry’s Review of 2013, the Year of the Zombies

By Dave Berry
...But getting back to the zombies: It wasn’t just people who came back alarmingly in 2013. The Cold War with Russia came back. Al-Qaeda came back. Turmoil in the Middle East came back. The debt ceiling came back. The major league baseball drug scandal came back. Dennis Rodman came back and went on humanitarian missions to North Korea (or maybe we just hallucinated that). The Endlessly Looming Government Shutdown came back. People lining up to buy iPhones to replace iPhones that they bought only minutes earlier came back. And for approximately the 250th time, the Obama administration pivoted back to the economy, which has somehow been recovering for years now without actually getting any better. Unfortunately, before they could get the darned thing fixed, the administration had to pivot back to yet another zombie issue, health care, because it turned out that Obamacare, despite all the massive brainpower behind it, had some “glitches,” in the same sense that the universe has some “atoms.”

Obamacare Vending Machine Mandate Expected to Cost Millions

By Sarah Jean Seman
Not even vending machines are outside the scope of Obamacare mandates. Under the bill's new labeling regulations nutrition information must be placed next to each slot of candy bars, chips, peanuts and cracker-jacks.
Around 457 pages into Obamcare, section 4205 stipulates:

"the vending machine operator shall provide a sign in close proximity to each article of food or the selection button that includes a clear and conspicuous statement disclosing the number of calories contained in the article."

This new mandate will cost the vending machine industry an estimated $25.8 million initially and an additional $24 million for every subsequent year.
...It is difficult to say whether or not seeing the nutrition information next to a Twinkie will deter someone from buying it. However this regulation will certainly be a burden to businesses forced to pay millions more each year and is evidence of the expansion of the nanny state.

DNC sends out email warning of Obama impeachment

By Thomas Lifson
Guilty conscience? More likely, just a device to open the pocketbooks of Democrat donors. But nevertheless it is quite a sign of the times that the Democratic National Committee is raising the specter of impeachment as a means of urging financial supporters to prevent the GOP from taking over the US Senate. Patrick Howley of the Daily Caller reports:

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) sent out a paranoid email Saturday evening urging supporters to vote for Democrats so that Republicans can't impeach President Obama.

The email, subject line "Impeachment," was sent to Obama for America supporters, imploring them to contribute to the DNC's 2014 efforts. "What do these people all have in common?," the email asked, featuring quotes from Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Rep. Kerry Bentivolio of Michigan, and Rep. Blake Farenthold of Texas discussing the possibility of impeaching Obama for one of his numerous instances of presidential misconduct.

There is little doubt in my mind of two things:

1. Obama has committed impeachable offenses. His knowing lie about keeping health care coverage materially enabled the passage of the Obamacare law on fraudulent grounds;

2. There is no political upside for the GOP to sponsor impeachment legislation. Not only did the Clinton impeachment backfire, but Obama's status as the first black president (sorry, Bill Clinton but you don't qualify, Maya Angelou to the contrary notwithstanding) would make the political blowback intolerable.

Open Letter: Veteran Blasts Rep. Paul Ryan Over His Back Room Budget Deal “With the Enemy”

To Congressman Paul Ryan
Today at 8:19 AM
Congressman Ryan,
Please note that this request by you for a cash donation from me is extremely unfortunate and very ill-timed. You see sir, I am one of the military retirees your “bipartisan” budget just impacted. You and every Republican (both in the House and Senate that voted to pass this travesty betrayed and broke trust with me and everyone like me. You may not know us by name, but we’re the people, Congressman, who answered our Nation’s call, some of us at a very early age to willingly serve YOU and others LIKE YOU so you could safely attend college and pursue your personal ambitions without fear of harm.
You might also want to note that for at least 20 years, my brothers-in-arms answered that call of duty EVERY SINGLE DAY, without fail, without complaint, without enough money to sustain our loved ones we had to leave behind while we DID OUR JOB in every corner of the Earth. And for that service, we were given absolute assurance our so-called retirement benefits would be protected by law. The very law you shattered in your zeal to impress your Democratic cohorts in your back room deal–with the enemy. Yes, I said it. The liberal Democrats are an enemy to the American people and our Nation. Your lack of judgement and eagerness to compromise on the backs of us who protected you is sickening. Congressman, you and every Republican that voted for injuring military retirees have engaged in a complicit, sordid affair with the Democrats who’s objective has always been to dismantle the military. By climbing into their bed on this issue, you have confirmed you are absolutely no better than they and have proven it with your vote.
Congressman Ryan, the audacity which you display is noteworthy, but to unceremoniously snatch earned money from a small group that has added so much more value than the paltry $6B you looked to “save” (which is all smoke and mirrors and you know it), is reprehensible and insulting.
We have, despite the hardships, meager salaries and harsh conditions, have performed with honor and excellence…in silence, which is something most members of Congress have no idea about doing. Our job approval was, is and always be better than yours. We knew our mission and we got it done, then handed it off to a new generation in better shape than we found it.
Your ability to look us in the eye, take money from us (apparently there was ZERO, other source of waste within the federal government that you could have recovered this money from…right, got it), while simultaneously holding your hand out to beg (with passion) for our cash is stunning. Your actions have proven you do not have the tremendous intellect you’ve sold the American people on. I say, with all seriousness, Congressman, what you lack in intellect and spinal rigidity, you make up for in cajones.
I hope you and your cowardly, Republican “colleagues” hear a message from me loud and clear. You will NEVER receive another cent of financial support from me. Further, if you happen to be at a Capitol Hill dinner or at a K Street cocktail party with RNC Chair Reince Priebus, Rep. Ron Barber, Sen. Jeff Flake or Sen. John McCain, I would be honored if you communicate with them that I am launching an effort to ensure NONE of you traitorous “representatives of the people” ever receive another vote from a military retiree. Remove me from your contact lists.
Chuck Wooten,
Chief Master Sergeant, USAF (Ret)

Krauthammer: Obama Siding with Mullahs Over Congress on Sanctions

SHANNON BREAM: And Charles, the news today, the head of Iran’s atomic energy agency saying uranium enrichment is progressing and new centrifuges are being built. He calls them “a new generation of centrifuge” he says, are now under development. Does that square to you with what was negotiated in the short-term deal?

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Yes. The only surprising thing is here is that the Iranians are so confident about how supine Obama is on this, is that they stick their finger in his eye and announce it publicly. There is nothing in the agreement that stops the Iranians from producing more uranium, or from producing the machines that enrich the uranium. That was the problem at the beginning, that’s what made the agreement a farce at the start. Unless you go after the uranium enrichment, unless you curtail or destroy the machines that enrich the uranium, you have done nothing to stop the progress of Iran. So at the same time there are reports of Iran using loopholes in the agreement to get all kinds of new commerce going, we know there are Japanese, Indian, Chinese, Russian and even European concerns that are now talking with Iran about a wide range of relations. They know the sanctions have been weakened and Obama speaks as if he can turn them on at will. And he can’t. And for him to take the side of the mullahs against the Congress, if he really was serious about this, then why wouldn’t he use the fact that Congress is being tough and say the Congress is the “bad cop.” You go to the Iranians and say “look I’m trying to be reasonable but the Congress is out of control and they want to wreck your economy unless you shut down your program. I can’t hold them back. So are you going to negotiate seriously or not?” But instead of doing that, he’s arguing with the mullahs against the Congress and that shows to me a total lack of seriousness which is what the gulf Arabs and the Israelis have seen at the beginning of the process. The president is simply not serious and the Iranians know it as well.

The End of Erdogan’s Cave of Wonders: An I-Told-You-So

By David P Goldman
Turkey is coming apart. The Islamist coalition that crushed the secular military and political establishment–between Tayip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party and the Islamist movement around Fethullah Gulen–has cracked. The Gulenists, who predominate in the security forces, have arrested the sons of top government ministers for helping Iran to launder money and circumvent sanctions, and ten members of Erdogan’s cabinet have resigned. Turkey’s currency is in free fall, and that’s just the beginning of the country’s troubles: about two-fifths of corporate debt is in foreign currencies, so the cost of servicing it jumps whenever the Turkish lira declines. Turkish stocks have crashed (and were down another 5% in dollar terms in early trading Friday). As the charts below illustrate, so much for Turkey’s miracle economy.
...Turkey is a mediocre economy at best with a poorly educated workforce, no high-tech capacity, and shrinking markets in depressed Europe and the unstable Arab world. Its future might well be as an economic tributary of China, as the “New Silk Road” extends high-speed rail lines to the Bosporus.
For the past ten years we have heard ad nauseum about the “Turkish model” of “Muslim democracy.” The George W. Bush administration courted Erdogan even before he became prime minister, and Obama went out of his way to make Erdogan his principal pal in foreign policy. I have been ridiculing this notion for years, for example in this 2010 essay for Tablet.
The whole notion was flawed from top to bottom. Turkey was not in line to become an economic power of any kind: it lacked the people and skills to do anything better than medium-tech manufacturing. Its Islamists never were democrats. Worst of all, its demographics are as bad as Europe’s...
...Now that Turkey is coming unstuck, along with Libya, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, we should conclude that the entire project of bringing stability to the Muslim world was a hookah-dream to begin with. Except for the state of Israel and a couple of Sunni monarchies that survive by dint of their oil wealth, we are witnessing the unraveling of the Middle East. The best we can do is to insulate ourselves from the spillover effect.

Rose Parade to Feature Same-Sex Wedding Float

By William Bigelow
The Pasadena Star news reports that a San Diego woman has called for the Rose Parade to be boycotted because it will feature a gay wedding atop a float. The float, sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), is titled, “Love is the Best Protection.” The parade will be watched by an estimated 68 million people around the world.

San Diegan Karen Grube, who said her protest is not out of her religious convictions, and says she is opposed to having any wedding featured in the parade, has requested that corporate sponsors drop their funding of the parade if the wedding proceeds, asked the Tournament of Roses to ban the float, and established a Facebook page to look for additional supporters. Grube said, “Gay marriage is illegal in over 30 states, why would they promote something that is blatantly illegal? That’s just stupid.” She added that the Tournament shouldn’t support a “political agenda,” and concluded, “It used to be a family thing, to get up on New Year’s Day morning and watch the parade. It no longer is.”

Danny Leclair, one of the two hairdressers getting married on the float, said that some of the negative responses to the wedding are “heinous,” and continued, “It’s something that they don’t understand and so I expected it. We’re not dissuaded or upset or concerned. We’re simply acknowledging it … There’s a lot of people who think we’re doing this as a political statement. It couldn’t be further from the truth. Our stance is love is love and love will save lives.”

Ralph E. Shaffer, a professor emeritus of history at Cal Poly Pomona, disagreed, saying the wedding is an “in your face” act that might make people angrier toward gays. Shaffer, noting there will be several kisses between LeClair and his intended, Aubrey loots, added, “The problem is going to be the wedding kiss … I don’t know what the response is going to be.” he said.