Pray for Michael Medved.....just heard that he will leave the radio show for medical reasons......we wish Michael a speedy recovery.....get well soon and get back on the air......Michael is one of the very best in the business.....
..http://t.co/RXWgxCYMVx
— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) January 31, 2015
"Real gross domestic product -- the value of the production of goods and services in the United States, adjusted for price changes -- increased at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 5.0 percent."
"The disappointing growth at the end of the year comes on the heels of the economy's incredible 5% growth in the third quarter, which was the best since 2003."There were these grand hopes for 3% growth and it still seems elusive on a sustainable basis," says Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group. "We still can't get out of this 2 to 2.5% GDP growth rate box you could call it. I don't expect anything different in 2015."
Romney out, US economy down, Mr Blow & other thoughts with Jim Yardley at http://t.co/3b4rabpoBH. #BlogTalkRadio
— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) January 30, 2015
"I had specifically come to this rally because it was supposed to be especially diverse.And, on the stage at least, it was.The speakers included a black doctor who bashed Democrats for crying racism, a Hispanic immigrant who said that she had never received a single government entitlement and a Vietnamese immigrant who said that the Tea Party leader was God.It felt like a bizarre spoof of a 1980s Benetton ad."
"At The New York Times, it seems, some key facts are just not fit to print when they don’t fit the liberal narrative.That appears to be the case with Charles Blow’s column in Monday’s edition of the paper. It was about how his son, a student at Yale, had been “accosted by a campus police officer, at gunpoint!”Blow, who is black, described his horror at learning how the officer questioned his son, Tahj, who’s also black, with gun drawn -- presumably because of his son’s race.“In these moments,” he wrote, “what you’ve done matters less than how you look.” In tweets, Blow invoked hashtag slogans from the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases, #BlackLivesMatter and #ICantBreathe, saying his son’s experience shows why young black men are right to fear cops.Yet in his entire 867-word piece, and in all his tweets, Blow omitted a key fact: The officer who drew his gun is also black.OK, maybe Blow didn’t think this was relevant -- black cops can be biased, too. But why not let readers decide for themselves?There were other omissions and distortions.Yale’s police chief, for example, is also black.And while Blow did concede his son was stopped because cops were responding to a call about a burglary suspect who fit Tahj’s description, a Yale official says Blow’s claim that his son was “accosted” is “deeply inaccurate.”
Yemen, Iran and others..hosted by Silvio Canto Jr http://t.co/a2oVToNJsF
— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) January 29, 2015
Indeed, the students’ parents reject the government’s theory, and are accusing the government of trying to close the investigation.
The case has generated a great deal of controversy, as there are contradictory statements from witnesses, but lack of definitive forensic evidence.
Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto declared yesterday, “I’m convinced that we should not remain trapped in this instant, this moment in Mexico’s history, of sorrow, of tragedy and pain. We just can’t dwell here,” which of course is very convenient for him.
For people like myself, the Iguala case shows Mexico as a failed state when it comes to justice and the rule of law – not a country one wants to maintain an open border with.
Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman made headlines before his mysterious death last weekend by accusing President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of trying to cover up Iran’s role in the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires, but there was another — more important — leader who was at the center of the deceased prosecutor’s probe: Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani.Again, these two incidents point out the importance of transparency and credibility. Both governments insulted the public's intelligence with quick explanations, such as "suicide" in the case of Mr. Nisman.
In several telephone conversations and e-mail exchanges I had with Nisman over the past three years, the prosecutor told me that Rouhani was among the top Iranian officials who had “participated in the decision” to bomb the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. The attack left 85 dead and 300 wounded, and was the biggest terrorist bombing in the Western hemisphere before 9/11.
A look at US-Cuba talks, the latest from Argentina, Mexico and the students plus Jose Marti... http://t.co/J2dwCVoX0c
— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) January 28, 2015
"Cuban President Raul Castro demanded on Wednesday that the United States return the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, lift the half-century trade embargo on Cuba and compensate his country for damages before the two nations re-establish normal relations.Castro told a summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States that Cuba and the U.S. are working toward full diplomatic relations but "if these problems aren't resolved, this diplomatic rapprochement wouldn't make any sense.""
In his remarks to the Citizens United Summit in Des Moines a few days ago, former Speaker Newt Gingrich continued to sound the alarm about the growing threat to the U.S. and the world from Islamic terrorism.Frankly, Gingrich is perfectly suited for the job.
Some have noted that Gingrich, as a senior statesman of his party, is acting as then-senior British leader Winston Churchill did in the mid-1930’s when he warned about the growing Nazi threat to Europe and the world. (Churchill, then in his mid-60’s, was considered a has-been conservative politician at that time.)
Gingrich is not running for president this cycle, but uses his podium eloquently to exhort conservatives to wake up to the increased and unrelenting terroristic activity against the West.
Tuesday Jan 27..............The political landscape with Barry Casselman, The Prairie Editor http://t.co/fmwmu1ElYB
— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) January 27, 2015
"Greek voters handed power to a radical leftist party in national elections on Sunday, a popular rebellion against the bitter economic medicine Greece has swallowed for five years and a rebuke of the fellow European countries that prescribed it.With nearly all votes counted, opposition party Syriza was on track to win about half the seats in Parliament. In the wee hours of the morning, it clinched a coalition deal with a small right-wing party also opposed to Europe’s economic policy to give the two a clear majority."
"Now that he has formed a coalition, Mr. Tsipras must quickly determine which of his populist promises he can carry out quickly, setting up a likely showdown with Greece’s European partners -- most notably Germany.Mr. Tsipras has said he wants to negotiate directly with Ms. Merkel and other European leaders to reduce Greece’s debt burden.Some officials, however, have characterized Mr. Tsipras’s demands as unrealistic and rife with the potential to drive Greece toward default or even out of the eurozone, the group that shares the currency.Officials in Germany reacted swiftly, warning Greeks against abandoning their course of overhauls."
"The expansion of Greece’s huge government sector took decades to create, but its growth in recent years has been particularly striking.
Public employment grew by fivefold from 1970 through 2009 -- at an annual growth rate of 4 percent, according to a recent academic study by Zafiris Tzannatos and Iannis Monogios.Over the same four decades, employment in the private sector increased by only 27 percent -- an annual rate of less than 1 percent."
Elections in Greece and what it means for the US and Europe......Listen in now at http://t.co/w4l9pD55OH. #BlogTalkRadio
— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) January 26, 2015
"Negotiations between seasoned Cuban diplomats and the highest-level US delegation to visit the island in 35 years failed to produce a single significant agreement — beyond the need for more talks.As Roberta Jacobson, America’s top diplomat for Latin America, told reporters, ‘‘It’s very hard to say how exactly this will work.’’
The two days of talks were hyped, starting hours after President Obama declared in his State of the Union address that the new engagement effort had ‘‘the potential to end a legacy of mistrust in our hemisphere’’ and provided ‘‘new hope for the future in Cuba.’’
Yet by Friday it appeared negotiators had not advanced Obama’s basic objective: restoring diplomatic ties between the United States and President Raul Castro’s governments.On Thursday, Jacobson called reestablishing diplomatic ties a ‘‘relatively straightforward process.’’ A day later, her Cuban counterpart suggested a key US demand of unrestricted travel for US diplomats was already being snarled over Washington’s support for dissidents the Cuban government sees as mercenaries trying to dissolve the communist system.Josefina Vidal, Cuba’s top diplomat for the United States, said US support for dissidents is ‘‘action that isn’t acceptable for Cuba, and they know it.’’Asked whether Cuba would allow US diplomats to go where they want, she said, ‘‘for Cuba, this consideration is associated with better behavior.’’At its most fundamental level, the US-Cuba divide comes down to separate visions of where closer ties should lead.Jacobson said the US goal is a ‘‘free and democratic” Cuba. Vidal outlined a different idea — that of two states with deep differences but no economic or diplomatic restrictions."
A group of Senate Republicans pressed Attorney General Eric H. Holder on Friday to explain the administration’s policy for U.S. fugitives in Cuba, including a convicted cop killer, following President Obama’s announced normalization of relations with the communist island nation.“As the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, do you support the normalization of relations with Cuba without the return of fugitives from justice for prosecution who have the blood of Americans, including law enforcement officers on their hands?” said the three senators in a letter to Mr. Holder.The letter was signed by Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas and David Vitter of Louisiana. Mr. Rubio and Mr. Cruz are Cuban Americans.The senators demanded information about the number of U.S. criminals currently harbored by the Castro regime and the indictments against the fugitives, as well as Mr. Holder’s legal opinion on the plan to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.They also demanded an explanation of Mr. Holder’s involvement in the decision to free three convicted Cuban spies, including one convicted of a murder conspiracy, from U.S. prison and transfer them to Cuba.Mr. Holder’s office did not immediately respond to the letter or an inquiry from The Washington Times about it."
The week in review with Bill Katz of Urgent Agenda...by Silvio Canto Jr on 1/25/2015 8:00 AM http://t.co/CWudDgHZgF
— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) January 24, 2015
"“I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.”“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”"It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."
"To an astonishing degree, it was Winston Churchill whose single-minded sense of purpose inspired the nation with hope in 1940, when Britain and her empire stood alone against Hitler and all seemed lost.Indeed, it is hard to exaggerate how much the free world owes to the vision, energy and determination of this one man, who mobilised millions and galvanised Whitehall with his red stickers demanding: ‘Action This Day.’Now fast forward to the present day, as Sir Winston’s successors at Westminster jockey for position ahead of the election.Mercifully, the challenges they face are of a far lesser magnitude than those we confronted in May 1940. And of course any comparisons with the great man are bound to be invidious.But with the tectonic plates of geopolitics fast shifting – and the public finances in a desperately precarious state – might we not expect just a glimmer of Churchillian clarity and vision from today’s politicians?Instead, we see them engaged in a puerile and self-serving spat about which of them should be invited to appear in the TV election debates, each concerned only with petty party advantage.Meanwhile, the Opposition leader hastily turns his back on fracking and stakes our future on wind farms – not to further the national interest (far from it), but merely because he fears the threat to the Labour vote from the Greens.And where Churchill offered only ‘blood, toil, tears and sweat’, Cameron, Clegg, Miliband and Co promise us the moon – whether tax cuts or vast increases in public spending – while giving us hardly a clue where the money is to come from.As for any Big Idea or sense of direction, we’re patronised instead by the politics of focus groups, Twitter, inane selfies and crude photo opportunities.Yes, it is possible that Britain will muddle through. Our recovery may even continue (though it is hard to see how, if we put the economy back into the hands of the party that destroyed it).But what if, God forbid, we should ever again find ourselves faced with a threat to our survival comparable with the fall of Europe in 1940?Where, in our ideologically impoverished political class, is the statesman of even a quarter the stature of the national saviour we remember today?"
The State of the Union speech PLUS a crumbling foreign policy........... Listen in now at http://t.co/cqhoqKkAlA. #BlogTalkRadio
— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) January 24, 2015
Like the 1920s, the 1990s were a golden age permeated by a postwar euphoria of apparently endless peace and prosperity. Both eras ended abruptly, undermined ultimately by threats that were ignored as they grew and burrowed underground.President Obama is not going to enjoy any "holiday from history." He is not that lucky. Don't blame President Obama if he prays every night for those late 1990s to come back, and come back soon! It was certainly easier to be president when all you had to do was enjoy the monthly unemployment reports.
Clinton let a decade of unprecedented American prosperity and power go without doing anything about al Qaeda, Afghanistan or Iraq (where his weakness allowed France and Russia to almost totally undermine the post-Gulf War sanctions).
And although al Qaeda declared war on America in 1996 and, as we now know, hatched the Sept. 11 plot that same year, it continued to flourish throughout the decade.
Looking the other way was largely a function of the age -- our holiday from history, our retreat from seriousness, our Seinfeld decade of obsessive ordinariness.
Clinton never could have been elected during the Cold War.
The 1990s produced a president perfectly suited to the time -- a time of domesticity, triviality and self-absorption.
IN DEVOTING 250 of the 6,800 words of his State of the Union address to the fight against “violent extremism,” President Obama offered a boilerplate description of his policy.But here is the clincher or hook from the newspaper that endorsed him twice:
The Yemen mess reveals the weaknesses of Mr. Obama’s “partners” strategy, which has been too narrowly focused on drone strikes and training of specialized units, and not enough on providing security for the population, institution-building and support for moderate political forces. Unfortunately, the president’s cursory and formulaic description of his counterterrorism policies this week, following a year in which jihadist forces and terrorist attacks expanded across the world, suggested that he remains uninterested in correcting his mistakes.Add Thomas Friedman to the list:
When you don’t call things by their real name, you always get in trouble.And Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Democrat from Hawaii:
And this administration, so fearful of being accused of Islamophobia, is refusing to make any link to radical Islam from the recent explosions of violence against civilians (most of them Muslims) by Boko Haram in Nigeria, by the Taliban in Pakistan, by Al Qaeda in Paris and by jihadists in Yemen and Iraq.
We’ve entered the theater of the absurd.
I think this is a bipartisan concern. It's a bipartisan concern for all of us to make sure that we keep the American people safe and specifically when we talk about this terminology, the use of Islamic extremism. Terminology and the use of this specific term is important because words are an expression of your feeling and your understanding. So as, for example, last night, the president came and talked to Congress about coming to request an authorization to use military force.Thanks to Mr. Friedman for saying that "we've entered the theater of the absurd."