Pray For Jim Hoft Over At Gateway Pundit

One of the long time fixtures of the blogosphere is Jim Hoft over at the renowned site Gateway Pundit. He also, as an aside, is a pretty nice and decent human being...and now, a victim of ObamaCare:

In August 2013 I became very sick with what I thought was a cold. After a few days I lost vision in my left eye and I checked into the hospital. I soon found out that what I thought was a summer cold was actually Strep bacteria poisoning my blood stream. The bacteria blinded my left eye, ate a hole through my heart, caused five strokes on both sides of my brain and forced the removal of my prosthetic left knee.

Dr. Lee was the surgeon assigned to perform open heart surgery. What was originally scheduled to last four hours ended up lasting twelve. My heart was severely damaged. Dr. Lee later told me the surgery was one of the most difficult of his career. He also said I only had a few days to live without the surgery.

Thanks to the excellent insurance I carried I was able to receive life-saving medical treatment at St. Louis University.

This week I found out I am going to lose my insurance. The company that carried me is leaving the Missouri market. I will have to find something else.

I am one of the millions who will be looking for new insurance. God willing, I will be able to keep my doctors at St. Louis University. I trust them. They saved my life. Please pray for me and the millions of working Americans who are going through this same ordeal.

Why is our government doing this to us?

Well Jim, it's because they feel they can..and because they don't feel they're our government, but that we're their cash cow.

Simply disgraceful.

Rest assured Jim that prayers for a refuah shlemiah, a complete a total recovery addressed to the Maker of us all are a given...and I'll see what I can do to add to the prayer circle, because there are lots of us who care about you and wish you the best.

UPDATE: Jim Hoft is holding a Wheel-In Obamacare protest this Saturday between 11 AM CT to Noon at Senator Claire McCaskill’s St. Louis office, located at 5850 Delmar Blvd, Ste. A, St. Louis, Missouri 63112. Jim will be leading the protest in his wheel chair, with the theme, Why is Our Government Punishing the American People-Give Us Back Our Healthcare!”.

More info here.

Senate Panel Okays Legislation Attacking Bloggers And New Media

 

The senate judiciary committee just cleared the way for legislation defining who a journalist is..and thus who qualifies for protection from warrantless surveillance, having to reveal sources and secret government subpoenas of phone records, e-mails and personal information.

This emerged out of the Obama Administration scandal involving the Associated Press, when the Justice Department secretly subpoenaed almost two months of telephone records for 21 phone lines used by reporters and editors for The Associated Press and secretly used a warrant to obtain some emails of a Fox News journalist.

The new legislation follows closely on guidelines given to the committee by Attorney General Eric Holder, and they are designed specifically to make it a lot easier to attack bloggers and new media journalists and video makers.

Under these guidelines, a "covered journalist" is defined as an employee, independent contractor or agent of an entity that disseminates news or information. The individual would have been employed for one year within the last 20 or three months within the last five years.

It would apply to student journalists or someone with a considerable amount of freelance work in the last five years.

'Freelance' in this case is defined as paid work.

For example, writing unpaid freelance pieces for internet outlets like American Thinker, or unpaid op-eds for other publications is not does not protect your rights.

The committee later approved the overall bill on a 13-5 vote.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a chief proponent of the medial shield legislation, worked with Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., as well as representatives from news organizations, on the compromise.

"I think journalism has a certain tradecraft. It's a profession. I recognize that everyone can think they're a journalist," Feinstein said.

The overall measure would incorporate many of the changes proposed by Attorney General Eric Holder in July. Criticism of the collection of the material without any notice to the news organizations prompted President Barack Obama to order Holder to review the department's policy.

Holder's revised guidelines called for the government to give advance notice to the news media about subpoena requests for reporters' phone records unless the attorney general determines such notice would pose a clear and substantial threat to the investigation. Search warrants for a reporter's email would only apply when the individual is the focus of a criminal investigation for conduct not connected to ordinary newsgathering.

The bill makes clear that before the government asks a news organization to divulge sources, it first must go to a judge, who would supervise any subpoenas or court orders for information. Such orders would be limited, if possible, "in purpose, subject matter and period of time covered so as to avoid compelling disclosure of peripheral, nonessential or speculative information."

Holder's revised guidelines do not call for a judge to be involved before the government asks a news organization to divulge sources. However, the guidelines call for a new standing News Media Review Committee to advise the attorney general on such requests.

These protections only apply to the new definition of 'journalist'. If you have a blog or a YouTube channel, no matter how well established or reputable and the writers or videographers are unpaid citizen journalists, it's open season.

First amendment? Huh? Wha?

Call your representatives to broaden this narrow definition if you value your freedom of speech and press.

I get Tagged Again For Most Influential Blogger Award

Ah, it appears I've been tagged in a Blogger meme again. This is a nifty ritual where one blogger nominates another and poses questions to be answered. The rules are simple:

1. Display the award logo on your blog.

2. Link back to the person who nominated you.

3. Answer 7 questions decided by your nominator.

4. Nominate (no limit of nominations) other bloggers for this award and link back to them.

5. Notify those bloggers of the award requirements.

In this case, the tagger was my dear friend Dymphna over at Gates of Vienna.

Here are her questions for me, and my answers:

1. You’ve been at this for a number of years now. Looking back, what was the biggest illusion you had about blogging before you started?

Honestly, none. I first got into blogging after I had a pro-Israel op-ed  accepted for publication by none other than the NY Times...provided I agreed to certain 'editorial changes' that would have turned the piece's direction around 180 degrees and included facts about the intifada and the so-called 'occupation'  I knew to be totally bogus.

I declined, and the experience led me to take the plunge and take a stab at writing what I wanted via the 'sphere


2.In your opinion, is anti-Semitism in your corner of the world getting worse or better?

Depends on how you define  my corner of the world. If we're talking my immediate locale, no. If we're talking America as a whole, I think there has definitely been a change, and Jew hatred - oh, pardon, 'anti-Zionism' -  is now a mainstream trend in politics and the media. Anyone who saw what happened at the last Democratic convention was able to observe this first hand. And the influx of Muslims into America isn't helping.

3. What do you do to keep on keeping on?

Several things. I keep in mind that we are in a war that I think the majority of Americans don't even perceive, and it's obvious that a lot of the legacy media and the current crop of politicians want to keep it that way. I focus on the fact that in my small way, this is my attempt to help to fight that war, by inspiring and educating people and articulating ideas in a way perhaps a number of them can't. Even a small pebble dropped in a pond sends out a lot of ripples, and the more pebbles that get dropped the bigger and more powerful the ripples. That can actually be a force for change.

Another thing that revs me up is when I remember is that when my children look back on these times and ask me what it was all about, They will have a first hand look at the historical truth as I perceived it and will realize not everyone was a Good German with their heads in the sand.
 
And finally,  it helps that I've met so many wonderful folks via Joshuapundit. 

Also, if I get bogged down  I have correspondents on six continents, some of whim I've known for years. A hot inside tip from one of what I call my notorious   Lil' Birdies can often be enough to start my brain and fingers moving. You can literally become part of what you're writing about, and there's nothing more fun than having something you wrote go viral long before the legacy media gets a clue.

Oh, and there's also the vast sums of money I make blogging, the blogging groupies, the fame and notoriety...

I may have exaggerated that last one, just a little bit.

4. As a second part of #3, do you ever feel like quitting?

Sure..who hasn't? But then I remember why I got into this in the first place.

5. What are your biggest concerns about America right now?

I think my number one concern is the way a number of my fellow Americans seem to be adapting to totalitarianism, the emergence of a Ruling Class and state control. This has been aided and abetted by a president with an historically unique contempt for the Constitution, the Separation of Powers and law. 

Another concern is the vast influence the Muslim Brotherhood has in America, especially in Washington.

6. Do you have any ideas about how we might address those concerns?

Very much so, but a response would take pages. A search on Joshuapundit under some of the obvious topics would be recommended to interested parties.

7. What is the most important characteristic (or virtue) for any would-be blogger considering firing up their own page?

Determination and persistence.

Most Influential Blogger Award

Ah, it appears I've been tagged in a Blogger meme. This is a nifty ritual where one blogger nominates another and poses questions to be answered. The rukes are simple:

1. Display the award logo on your blog.

2. Link back to the person who nominated you.

3. Answer 7 questions decided by your nominator.

4. Nominate (no limit of nominations) other bloggers for this award and link back to them.

5. Notify those bloggers of the award requirements.


In my case Debbie at Right Truth and Terresa at The Noisy Room nominated and tagged me and they want answers.

Debbie's Questions:

1. Should the United States pass a law forbidding a Muslim from running for and being elected as President of the United States? Why?

Nope. The Constitution's agin' it. There's no test of faith to run for office.



2. What is your favorite joke to tell others?

Are you kidding? I can't repeat that here!



3. What do you see as the most dangerous thing the Obama administration has done while in office?

How long do you have? The START treaty, amnestia, out of control spending, ObamaCare, the president's embrace of the Muslim Brotherhood, the hollowing out of our military? I guess if I have to  pick one, it is this president's unprecedented disregard for law and the Constitution.



4. What advice would you give the Republican National leadership, assuming they might actually listen?

Resign.Turn it over to at least someone with a fighting chance of intestinal fortitude and the ability to articulate it.


5. Should toilet paper be hanging forward or backward?

Forward. Toujours l'audace, l'audace.



6. Rock-N-Roll or Blues and why?

Both.And why not?



7. Where do you see race relations and religious freedom headed in the next few years in the United States?

Race relations will continue to be poor as long as the Left sees grievance politics as a necessity to win elections and its activists see it as a vehicle for profit. Religious freedom like all other American freedoms is in for some rocky times, at least over the short haul.

Terresa's Questions:

1. What is the most important issue facing America?
Overall, I'd say our lack of leadership.

2. If you could have anyone out there be President, who would you choose?

Sarah Palin.She'd make the changes that need to be made.

3. Who is your hero?

Hmmm...Joshua, with  Rafael Eitan and George Washington as runners up. I have quite a list.


4. Who is the greatest enemy of America and why?

Ourselves. Because no one else can defeat us.

5. If you were fighting for your way of life, would you choose principle or security?

I'm uncertain of what you mean here. Without one, the other is useless.

6. Who are the conservative leaders that you admire?

Ted Cruz, Margaret Thatcher, Stephen Harper, Churchill, Reagan, Coolidge, John Howard, Naftali Bennett.Again, there's a list.

7. Has communism/Marxism/progressivism infiltrated America and what would you do to stop it?

It infiltrated America a long time ago, as an express Soviet policy. It's why the Comintern was created. The only way to stop it is to fight it on the same battlegrounds it attacked us on  - the culture, the courts, and the classroom.

Now, I suppose I.m going to have to tag a few others..starting with these two! I'll figure out the questions later...

UPDATE: OK, here are the questions:

Debbie at Right Truth:

1) What do you most like about living in the South?


2) Who would you most like to see in the White House as president?


3) What was the most influential book you ever read?


4) Radical Islam is obviously a problem in America. What would you do to solve this

problem?


5) If you could be anyone in history, whom would it be?


6) Who is your favorite singer?


7) If you could change one thing in America, what would it be?


Terresa at The Noisy Room:

1) Who is your favorite fictional character?


2) Whom would you like to see as president?


3)What do you feel is the most vital issue facing America?


4) What do you find most satisfying about blogging?


5)Do you have a secret talent few people if any know about?


6)What would you say the odds are on America remaining a free country?


7)What's your favorite comedy movie or play?

'Think Progress' Lefty Female Blogger Cited By Police For Making Phony Rape Threat To Herself

Meg Lanker-Simons is a well known paid shill for the Soros-funded Think Progress,  as a radio host at the University of Wyoming (UW) and on her own blog, Cognitive Dissonance (no link, I don't want to give her traffic).

Apparently that wasn't enough attention for her, so she decided to manufacture some more by putting up a phony rape threat on a college “crush” Facebook page earlier this week and pretending it came from a 'conservative' :

 


"“I want to hate f**k Meg Lanker-Simons so hard. That chick that runs her liberal mouth all the time and doesn’t care who knows it,” it read.  “I think its hot and it makes me angry. One night with me and shes gonna be a good Republican bitch.”

Needless to say, Ms. Lanker-Simons got a lot of mileage out of this on her usual outlets.

Unfortunately for her, she took it way too far.

The University of Wyoming Police Department investigated, as they should have. And they ended up issuing a citation to Lanker-Simons for “interference” for “false statements she made to the UW Police Department,” according to a UW statement referred to by Laramie Boomerang Online.

"Subject admitted to making a controversial post on UW Crushes webpage and then lied about not doing it," according to the citation.

The University of Wyoming also said that the police had "obtained substantial evidence verifying that the offending Facebook post came from Lanker-Simons' computer, while the computer was in her possession.”

Below is a picture of Ms. Lanker-Simons :



This is no joke..if Lanker-Simons wasn't fairly stupid and had actually been able to frame someone credible, this could have had life changing consequences for one of her 'enemies'.

If a male student was even suspected of making a threat of this kind, even if there was no conclusive proof, he would have been summarily expelled, with little chance of ever getting into another university in the future.

Even worse, it might affect how seriously campus police investigate  a future rape threat and lead to another innocent woman being attacked.

Lanker-Simons got off with a citation. She should have been tossed out of the university on her ample derrière.

According to her Facebook page, Lanker-Simons is a member of the University of Wyoming Gender & Women's Studies group (of course!) as well as the school’s chapter of The Nonviolent Communist.

To give you an idea of how serious she is about that whole 'non-violence' thing, she was one of the plaintiffs in a successful 2010 lawsuit against the University of Wyoming when they rescinded an invitation to have domestic terrorist Bill Ayers speak on campus.

Of course, being a Leftist means never having to say you're sorry. So naturally, since she was outed as as an attention seeking liar, her supporters have put together a Facebook page entitled “Meg Lanker-Simons is innocent.”

"“Meg Lanker-Simons is innocent we believe what she did was justified and deserves not to be held accountable for her accusations we stand behind you sister”

You see, even if there wasn't an actual rape threat by an Evil Conservative.you know, there should have been. Just because, you know.

(h/t Campus Reform)

How The Left Does Discourse and Respects Free Speech

By now, you've probably heard a little bit about convicted Speedway Bomber Brett Kimberlin, who works for a Leftist 501 C group .

Aside from threats to Robert Stacy McCain's family, Kimberlin and his associates also specialize in SWATing, which involves making a 911 call to local law enforcement and sending a SWAT team to your target's home. Pat Patterico, who was a victim of Kimberlin's has a story you should read.

Ace has some decent suggestions on what to do to counteract this kind of political terrorism.

And here's a list of pieces on the subject by Watcher's Council members:


Bookworm Room: Hurrah! It’s Everybody Blog About #BrettKimberlin Day *UPDATED*

Gay Patriot:I stand with Stacy. And Aaron. And Patterico

The Noisy Room:Stalking the Blogosphere – BlogBurst Friday for Free Speech (with a lot of links to other stories on this throughout the blogpsphere)

The Political Commentator:Re: Brett Kimberlin Day and at least for today, a true bipartisan issue!

Rhymes With Right: Brett Kimberlin -- Terrorist

The Right Planet:BlogBurst Friday: Blog About #BrettKimberlin Day

Simply Jews:Brett Kimberlin: an American success story?

My apologies to anyone whom I inadvertently missed....

A Bridge Too Far: CAIR Versus Bare Naked Islam

I note with interest a PR wire sent out by the The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) boasting that they had taken down an 'anti-Islam hate site'. The site in question is Bare Naked Islam. ( h/t memeorandum)

CAIR's PR wire is entitled "CAIR Asks FBI to Probe Internet Threats to Mosques" and they cite their successful attempt to have Wordpress shut the site down.

Predictably, a collective shriek went through the blogosphere, starting with Jim Hoft over at Gateway Pundit and there were a multitude of calls to 'boycott sharia compliant Wordpress.'

I doubt this will make me any friends, but I don't support that action at all, and I think it's worth the time to explain why.

I don't need to tell my regular readers what I think of CAIR. The information that came out in the Holy Land Federation trial on CAIR and other Muslim Brotherhood fronts should have been enough to shut them down permanently and provide jail sentences for a number of their members, and that's exactly what would have happened if the Obama Department of Justice hadn't filed Disinclination to Prosecute briefs in what were likely open and shut cases, letting the Islamists walk free.

But in this case, I took an actual look at the content CAIR was protesting before joining the hue and cry.

It's a screen shot of what appears to be an actual page from Bare Naked Islam's site, and if that was what was actually running there, CAIR was entirely within their rights to voice their concern and bring to to WordPress's attention.

The page in question celebrates a graffiti attack on a French mosque with the text "Whoo Hoo! Will the Muslims ever get a clue they aren't welcome in France?"

The comments are even worse, with many of them calling for the burning of mosques 'with the asslifters inside of them.' Others call for violent attacks on Muslims. You can find the page and the comments at the above link.

If that was truly what BNI was allowing on their site, ( and I wouldn't put it past CAIR to manufacture something like this) the site owner definitely crossed the line. The Supreme Court has made it quite clear on a number of occasions that free speech ends when it comes to bodily harm and mayhem. That's exactly how neo-Nazi Tom Metzger's conviction was upheld - because of messages on his answering machine urging violence on various ethnic groups he didn't care for. When you provide a forum for this kind of violent hatred, you are past protected speech and yelling fire in a crowded theater.

I would also add that as far as I'm concerned, the site owner had a responsibility to monitor the comments. The fact that the owner didn't gives credence to the appearance that the owner not only didn't disagree, but supported and approved using the site as a forum for those kind of sentiments.

There is plenty to be said about Islamist infiltration in America, about jihad, about creeping sharia, about the threat of Islamists and Salafists to our civilization, and I've said it here more than once. But to call for the butchering of innocent people praying in a mosque is simply evil. In fact, it's exactly how jihadis treat churches in places like Nigeria, Pakistan and Indonesia.

And speaking just for myself,I consider that not only irresponsible but morally reprehensible.

It's also stupid, because it plays right into the Islamist's hands.

It's not well known, but a fair number of domestic jihad terrorist attacks here in America have been thwarted because an American Muslim saw or heard something in a mosque, overheard a conversation, saw something that didn't look or feel right and reported it to the authorities, often at risk to themselves.

They did it out of simple decency, which is the frame where the majority of people operate ordinarily. But they also did it because they realized that every jihad attack here in America reflected on them as Muslims and threatened their continued existence as free citizens in a free country.

It works exactly the same way for the kind of material I saw on that Bare Naked Islam page. It allows Islamists like CAIR to use it to shut down legitimate criticism of Islamism and jihad, it gives credence to the constant whining about Islamophobia and most importantly, it allows them to go to Muslims who may not support CAIR's agenda and raise money and support from them, saying: 'You see why you need us? You see now how we were right all along?'

A friend asks 'do you really think it's worth losing their site over?' That's not my decision to make. But if what CAIR linked to was what was actually appearing on Bare Naked Islam and not manufactured, then as far as I'm concerned, Wordpress was well within their rights to decide that they didn't want to be associated with that kind of material, and to invite the owners of Bare Naked Islam to take their content elsewhere.

It's a decision I would have made myself, CAIR or no CAIR. There's real danger in getting so blinded by hatred that you become what you despise without realizing it.

The devil of our lesser nature inside all of us laughs out loud at that kind of self-inflicted wound.

Joshuapundit Makes The List Of Top 150 Conservative Sites!

Well here's a nice surprise. courtesy of Doug Ross.. based on Alexa's traffic rankings, Joshuapundit is now one of the top 150 conservative news and blogs sites, clocking in at number 142. The top three FYI were the Wall Street Journal, RealClearPolitics and HotAir.

Many thanks to all my valued readers...

I'll permit myself a brief, dignified WHOO HOO!

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Bloggers Win Huge Free Speech And Fair Usage Victory

You'll remember that a sleazy, disreputable firm of weasels in legal form called Righthaven was attempting to profit by suing bloggers for supposed 'copyright infringements' of clients like The Las Vegas Journal-Review and other clients.

A federal judge not only dismissed a key test case, but accused Righthaven of making "multiple inaccurate and likely dishonest statements to the court" and has given them two weeks to explain in writing why it should not be sanctioned "for this flagrant misrepresentation to the Court."

A few bloggers who already made out of court settlements with these bandits will likely have to file suit to recoup the monies paid and any legal fees.

A huge win...but I urge people to continue not to link to or cite any news sources like the LVRJ that participated in this scam, just to teach the scum a lesson.

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