“It is not an easy task to unring a bell, nor to remove from the mind an impression once firmly imprinted there*”

“I’m not anti-government …. I’m just pro Freedom”.

-Ladar Levison, (the founder of secure email provider Lavabit, facing a court case because he closed his company rather than hand over encryption keys) interviewed in the interactive UK Guardian piece published November, 2013

Whether or not you think Snowden was a traitor or a hero; the fact remains that “the bell can not be unrung”.

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This MBOB has a word picture about January thaws, a true story from the 1950s and a book recommendation.

It’s a Sunday afternoon in eastern Montana in the 1950s. It’s been bitterly cold for a long time, but the blizzard has finally moved on. The main roads have been plowed and things look like they might be settling back to normal for the season. While the temperature is still hovering around zero (F) every night, at least the everlasting wind has stopped.

When it’s dead quiet on the prairie after a storm and it’s really cold, everything crunches.

Every step crunches – sharply – boots squeaking against the surface of the tile-hard snow put in place by just slightly-less-than-hurricane-force winds, which then polished it smooth.

A glance out the frosted kitchen window reveals diamonds spread as far as the eye can see. A million facets of frigid, glittering carats.

The triangle of frost on every pane of glass documents the escape of precious heat but we didn’t know that. We just knew Jack Frost had paid a visit and had left spectacularly detailed art for our viewing pleasure.

By the time we were five or so, we knew not to touch the windows when Jack Frost had come, but just watch the kaleidoscopic beauty of each square of glass change over the hours. The frost was usually gone by evening and if we didn’t touch the window, it departed quietly and left clean glass behind. If we couldn’t resist and had touched the window there was a little fingerprint at every point of contact meaning that the windows had to be cleaned in the dead of the winter. Moms were happier if they didn’t have to do that job over and over again. (more…)

It is remarkable how laser focused people tend to be around Libya and Hillary Clinton. The focus is almost exclusively on the Benghazi attack which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.
The Benghazi attack which occurred on Sept 11, 2012, was a symptom of foreign policy failure; the actual cause of the policy failure happened a full year-and-a-half earlier in February 2011.
Part 1 – The Origin of the Libyan Crisis
Part 2 – The White House Tries To Catch Up

Part 3 – R2P Gives Cover To al-Qaeda’s Rise

It is ironic to see press reports today “The U.S. government is trying to apprehend an al Qaeda terrorist wanted for his role in the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack that killed four Americans”. The irony is the terrorist we now seek, Muhammad Jamal, was released from Egyptian prison specifically because of the U.S. policy outlined in PART 1.
We digress.
In Part 1 we outlined the reality of President Obama remaining detached as the Libyan crisis began. In Part 2 we outlined the mistakes that were specifically a consequence of that disengagement strategy; including the failure to vet “the rebels”.
Today we’ll review the consequences of the March, April, May, June 2011 rush to catch up.
Senior foreign policy advisor Samantha Power exerted a strong influence during the response to a Libyan uprising. She was soon joined by then Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice. Together they convinced Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, to approach the Libyan rebels as “freedom fighters”.

While this was happening between the White House in D.C., and the U.N. in New York, Kaddaffi had regained his footing from an initial successful uprising and was asserting his military might toward attacking the “rebels”. He really had no fallback position once the International Criminal Court filed charges of War Crimes against him and publicly stated they fully intended to arrest him and his family.
In essence Kaddaffi had nothing to lose by fighting as no seat at a table of cease fire possibility was afforded. So Kaddaffi began to deploy his air force to attack the Benghazi rebels, as his ground troops moved in toward their positions.
If no-one intervened on behalf of the “rebels”, it was only a matter of time before Kaddaffi regained control. (more…)

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

Go here for full story and follow up

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

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“March of the Phlegm-quins”  
The original Russian Vessel now abandoned, stuck in the ice;  the Chinese rescue vessel now abandoned, stuck in the ice;  the Glo-bull scientists are transferred to ship #3 an Australian Ice-Breaker.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian icebreaker carrying 52 passengers who were retrieved from an icebound ship in the Antarctic resumed its journey home on Saturday, leaving behind another two icebreakers trapped in pack ice.

The Aurora Australis will continue its interrupted resupply mission to Australia’s Antarctic base Casey Station before returning to the Australian island state of Tasmania in mid-January with the rescued scientists, journalists and tourists.
It had been slowly cracking through thick ice toward open water after a Chinese ship’s helicopter on Thursday plucked the passengers from their stranded Russian research ship and carried them to an ice floe near the Australian ship. But on Friday afternoon, the crew of the Chinese icebreaker that had provided the helicopter said they were worried about their own ship’s ability to move through the ice. (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.

Bill Whittle is joined by the President of Hillsdale College, Dr. Larry Arnn. Hillsdale College is the only college in the nation to accept no government funding, whether it be Federal or State money. The College still holds true to the old notions of a real liberal arts education, teaching the classics and educating about the higher things, like our Greco-Roman heritage.

Hillsdale College is a ‘Trustee of Modern Man’s Intellectual and Spiritual Inheritance’

Hillsdale also sponsors on-line courses free of charge for any who wish to learn.  They recently added a series on Economics.  If you would like to learn more about Hillsdale, click Here.