Break out the “Bellbottoms”, dust off the “Earth Shoes”… Similar to establishing ties toward the Palestinian terror network, the Palestinian Authority/HAMAS, President Obama is once again set to complete the unfinished work of Jimmy Carter… this time with Cuba.

HAVANA — Fidel Castro called the building a “nest of spies,” routinely marshaling tens of thousands of people to protest at its doorstep. His government even made a television mini-series with what it called images of American diplomats lurking in a forest nearby, dropping off suspicious bags and marking benches in acts of espionage.

President George W. Bush took swipes of his own, installing a Times Square-style ticker on the building’s side to flash news and political statements. The move so enraged Cuban officials that they erected a thicket of 138 black flags on towering poles to block the sign.
Now the building, the American government’s main outpost in Cuba, for decades a hulking symbol of the tensions between the two countries, is supposed to become something else: a full-fledged embassy operating in the open for the first time in more than five decades. (more…)

The White House cries “breach of protocol“, or something:

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that usually leaders inform the White House before planning a trip to the U.S. He said the administration will decide a course of action after speaking with the Israelis about what Netanyahu will say in his address, the Associated Press reported.  (link)

WASHINGTON DC – Speaker John Boehner has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to a joint session of Congress about Iran next month, a move sure to inflame the Obama administration, which is trying to negotiate a nuclear deal with the Islamic republic.
Netanyahu is vehemently opposed to the emerging deal, and has been very vocal that the United States is making a mistake in negotiating with the nation. In many ways, he’s served as President Barack Obama’s foil as negotiations have progressed. Boehner, an Ohio Republican, is setting up a major confrontation with the Obama administration one day after the State of the Union – a move that is sure to put him in good graces with his House Republican Conference. Boehner has invited Netanyahu to address Congress for a third time Feb. 11. (more…)

This is so typically Clintonian. Hillary is asked about whether or not she supports the Keystone Pipeline.
She’s frozen in political fear. If she supports it, she’s undermining the far left and fueling the Elizabeth Warren support crowd; if she doesn’t support it, she’s against 70% of the U.S. electorate’s position. So, she takes the position of “no position”.

WASHINGTON DC – The woman whose story of economic recovery was showcased by President Barack Obama in his State of the Union address is a former Democratic campaign staffer and has been used by Obama for political events in the past.
Rebekah Erler has been presented by the White House as a woman who was discovered by the president after she wrote to him last March about her economic hardships. She was showcased in the speech as proof that middle class Americans are coming forward to say that Obama’s policies are working.
Unmentioned in the White House bio of Erler is that she is a former Democratic campaign operative, working as a field organizer for Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash.). (more…)

This is a weird story without too many details to come to a decision. But on the initial reports it does look like a ridiculous governmental overreach.  The family tried to avoid any contact with government, self-identify as “preppers” and homeschool their kids…
(Via Truth Revolt) group of fully-armed sheriff’s deputies entered an Arkansas family’s home and removed their seven children for 72 hours after an anonymous tip led them to find a mineral supplement used by the father for its alleged health benefits.
On Monday afternoon of last week, a search warrant was issued at the home of Hal Stanley after an anonymous caller tipped off officers to search for a product known as Miracle Mineral Solution. This substance is said to be used to treat serious medical conditions — even by the Red Cross in Africa for malaria — and is used as a water purification agent.

The FDA has issued a warning to users of the product saying it turns into a “potent bleach” when mixed according to the directions and has caused “some users” to experience nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration.
Stanley said that he is the only one in the home that uses the supplement and that he adds it to the water that feeds their vegetable garden.
(more…)

Toward the end of President Obama’s SOU speech you find:

 […] Imagine if we broke out of these tired old patterns. Imagine if we did something different.
Understand — a better politics isn’t one where Democrats abandon their agenda or Republicans simply embrace mine.
A better politics is one where we appeal to each other’s basic decency instead of our basest fears.
A better politics is one where we debate without demonizing each other; where we talk issues, and values, and principles, and facts, rather than “gotcha” moments, or trivial gaffes, or fake controversies that have nothing to do with people’s daily lives.

Immediately followed by this: (more…)

Everyone can rest easy knowing Obama has the priorities in order.

OBAMA: In the Asia Pacific, we are modernizing alliances while making sure that other nations play by the rules — in how they trade, how they resolve maritime disputes, and how they participate in meeting common international challenges like nonproliferation and disaster relief. And no challenge — no challenge — poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change.

2014 was the planet’s warmest year on record. Now, one year doesn’t make a trend, but this does — 14 of the 15 warmest years on record have all fallen in the first 15 years of this century. (more…)

Example: 2013 President Obama announces 41 new legislative proposals.  Two actually came to fruition.

WASHINGTON – Judging by his recent history, it doesn’t really matter what President Obama says in Tuesday’s State of the Union address — Congress is going to ignore him anyway.
Mr. Obama has the second-worst record of getting his State of the Union policy requests enacted into law of any president in the last five decades, according to an analysis by two scholars that puts him only above the unelected two-year presidency of Gerald Ford.
From 2009 through 2014, Mr. Obama issued 209 different calls for action from Congress in his speeches, but only saw lawmakers follow through on 64 of them — good for just 30 percent. That’s only slightly better than Mr. Ford’s 28 percent success rate, and is well below the likes of President Clinton, the previous Democratic president, who won 44 percent of his policies even though he faced a Congress more Republican than Mr. Obama has. (more…)

I’ve spent some time going back through the post election -yet pre-holiday- white house briefings, and comparing them to recent pre-SOU leaks.
What strikes me as odd is how people are discussing the Obama “Legislative Proposals“, ie. “free college” and “tax the rich”, as if he actually means it. I’m sure people reading this understand that: ♦ the legislative branch passes laws; ♦ the executive branch enforces laws; and ♦ the judicial branch interprets laws.
So why is so much attention being paid to President Obama’s “legislative proposals”?
Why doesn’t everyone in congress just ignore him. Elections have consequences, he lost.
Let President Obama banter on listening to his own voice at yet another grand State of The Union speech, filled with so much rhetoric and nonsense, that no-one can ever remember from year to year. And then ignore it. I certainly hope the “GOP response” which customarily follows the SOU doesn’t give the “legislative proposals” any mention, because there is simply no need to.
Republicans control the House and the Senate chambers with majorities in both legislative houses – they don’t need to engage in a futile discussion about legislation they will never bring forward, so why talk about it. (more…)

Yes, this is very progressive…

ENGLAND – Alex Nash, from Cornwall, was invited to the party just before Christmas.
An invoice for £15.95 was sent by his schoolfriend’s mother Julie Lawrence, who said Alex’s non-attendance left her out of pocket and his parents had her details to tell her he was not going.
Alex’s father Derek said he had been told he would be taken to the small claims court for refusing to pay.
‘Understand she’s upset’ – Alex’s parents, from Torpoint, had accepted an invitation to the party at a dry ski slope in Plymouth, Devon, just before Christmas.
However, they realised their son was double-booked and due to spend time with his grandparents, which he did.  His parents said they had no contact information for Ms Lawrence at that time. (more…)