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January 2012

DAVID MALPASS: IMF LOWERS GLOBAL GROWTH FORECAST, BUT V-SHAPED UPTURN COMES INTO VIEW

http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/davidmalpass/2012/01/25/imf_lowers_global_growth_forecast_but_vshaped_upturn_comes_into_view
We think the possibility is increasing of a synchronized global upturn in 2012 and a V-shaped inflection point in the U.S. expansion. Since 2009, we’ve been in the muddle-through camp, disagreeing with both the double-dip and V-shaped forecasts.

* We now think that the U.S. and global upswing from the deep 2011 funk may be strong enough to create some quarters in 2012 with U.S. growth well above 3%. This type of burst in growth is normal after a recession but has been delayed in the current expansion by the long series of policy setbacks – Japan’s 2011 earthquake, the ECB’s lack of engagement until late 2011, the U.S. policy disasters (too many to name), and the 2010 oil spill,. Earlier we raised our 2012 U.S. forecast to 3% Q4/Q4. Some quarters may materially exceed that after what we think will be a subpar first quarter.

BEN SHAPIRO: THE EUPHEMISMS OF PRO-CHOICE EVIL

http://townhall.com/columnists/benshapiro/2012/01/25/the_euphemisms_of_prochoice_evil/print  This week marked the 39th anniversary of the greatest American moral tragedy of the 20th century: Roe v. Wade. And yet the left cheered this anniversary with the enthusiasm of an intoxicated teenager stumbling on a free copy of Penthouse. Planned Parenthood, which rakes in millions each year by performing abortions, asked via Twitter, […]

MICHELLE MALKIN: OBAMA’S GREEN ROBBER BARONS

http://townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/2012/01/25/obamas_green_robber_barons/print Had enough of fat cat Barack Obama, his jet-setting wife and his multi-millionaire Chicago consigliere/real-estate mogul Valerie Jarrett attacking the “rich”? Well, brace yourselves. You’ll be hearing much more from the White House about the “wealthy few” who aren’t paying their “fair share” as Obama’s re-election campaign doubles down on class-war demagoguery. As usual, […]

JANET LEVY: ARE WE LOSING OUR CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC?

Are We Losing Our Constitutional Republic? By Janet Levy
Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/../2012/01/are_we_losing_our_constitutional_republic.html

While pundits at opposite ends of the political spectrum seldom agree, many seem to have reached accord over recent Obama administration deviations from constitutional principles. The conclusion on both sides: the United States is moving precariously away from its origins as a constitutional republic and toward repressive government control of many aspects of life.

These changes, sparked perhaps by 9/11, are nonetheless uncharacteristic of a free society. In a free state, access to information is unrestricted, freedom of speech by individuals and the press is upheld, dissent is lawful, and the opinions and attitudes of citizens toward government and law enforcement do not spur investigations. Further, surveillance and investigations are limited to planned or actual criminal activity, due process is honored, and unreasonable search and seizure by government agents is unacceptable absent probable cause.

DANIEL GREENFIELD: WHAT IS IT ABOUT MITT?

http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/

“This election will be a hard and ugly fight. And Romney may be the most electable robot for the job, but if we’re going down a hard road maybe it’s best we take a car that can handle the roads and leave the Prius at home.”

So far Mitt Romney has lost two out of three primaries, twice to candidates that the establishment didn’t even feel were worthy of their attention. In his biggest victory in New Hampshire he barely managed to take 40 percent of the vote.

Like it or not Republicans voters are not particularly thrilled about Romney. But how ecstatic can anyone be about a candidate whose main draw is electability. Electability is an excellent strategic calculation, but it garners about as much enthusiasm as any other form of expediency. Most people who vote the big ‘R’ recognize the importance of getting Obama out at any cost, but they are not going to get very fired up about a man whose only credential is that of being able to win.

NEWS AND BUZZ AT 24/7

EDITORIAL: State of the Union 2012: Losing the future Washington Times 01/24/2012 01:10 AM In 2011, President Obama pledged to help the United States win the future. Now that the future has arrived, Mr. Obama will have a hard time explaining why we are losing it. Read more… Read more at: http://times247.com/ SANDERS: America’s love affair […]

ANDREW KLAVAN: PISSING AWAY THE WAR ON TERROR *****

Pissing Away the War on Terror Posted By Andrew Klavan
http://pjmedia.com/andrewklavan/2012/01/23/pissing-away-the-war-on-terror/

“The tide of war is receding,” he lied.

The Taliban is pissed off at getting pissed on. After four U.S. Marines apparently urinated on the faces of their dead enemies in Afghanistan—and after the event was captured on video and spread on YouTube—the Taliban condemned the action as “inhuman.” And listen, if anyone knows inhuman it’s the Taliban.

The Obama administration made a great show of condemning the Marines’ actions. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called the pissing “utterly deplorable,” and promised an investigation. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed “total dismay.”

In angry response, commentators and politicians on the right puffed up and got their macho on. “Shut your mouth. War is hell,” said the wonderful congressman and war hero Allen West wonderfully. The adorable pundit Dana Loesch added adorably, “I’d drop trou and do it too.”

HERBERT LONDON: GIVING AWAY NUCLEAR SECRETS PREEMPTIVELY

Giving Nuclear Secrets Away Preemptively

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.11282/pub_detail.asp

Choosing to share nuclear defense secrets with the Russians does not create a safer world, nor does it promote trust. Such actions can only weaken America’s future standing in the world.
While public opinion polls suggest a majority of Americans support President Obama’s foreign policy, it would seem most adherents are ignorant of the failures in almost every corner of the globe, from Iraq to Egypt, from the Hindu Kush to the Urals. One of the first blunders was to renounce the agreement with Poland and the Czech Republic on missile defense in order to satisfy Russian leaders. The president has asserted he has “reset” the relationship with Putin and friends.

Unfortunately, the reset button is stuck on U.S. accommodations without reciprocal Russian concessions. Most recently the president told Congress that he is prepared to share U.S. missile defense secrets with Russia. In the president’s signing statement for the 2012 defense authorization bill, it was noted that restrictions aimed at protecting top secret technical data on U.S. Standard Missile-3, which includes velocity burnout parameters, will be given to Russian authorities.

The Murder of Muslim Women and Girls by Islamists Dave Gaubatz

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.11286/pub_detail.asp
The United Nations (UN) reports that 5000 Muslim women and girls are killed every year in the name of Islam. The UN uses the term “honor killings.” In reality there are thousands more killed but never reported, or the investigative agency does not realize the death was related to Islamic values. It is very important for readers to know that 91% of honor killings are committed by our so-called friends in Pakistan. Later I will discuss why this is important for everyone to understand. In America there are only a handful of deaths that are attributed to Islam and its ideology. This needs to be discussed in further detail because it is the author’s opinion, based on thousands of hours of firsthand research, that the number is likely to be in the hundreds.

FRANK GAFFNEY: AMERICAN LAWS FOR AMERICAN COURTS

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.11290,css.print/pub_detail.asp
Shortly before Newt Gingrich’s decisive victory in South Carolina last week, he was asked a critical question by a Palmetto State voter: Would he support a Muslim candidate for president? The former Speaker of the House answered in a way that was both characteristically insightful and profoundly helpful with respect to one of the most serious challenges our country faces at the moment.

Mr. Gingrich responded by saying it depends on a critical factor: Is the candidate “a modern person who happens to worship Allah”? Or “a person who belonged to any kind of belief in shariah, any kind of effort to impose that on the rest of us”? Speaker Gingrich observed that the former would not be a problem, while the latter would be a “mortal threat.” The Georgia Republican went on to assert the need for federal legislation that would prevent shariah from being applied in U.S. courts.