THE WEEK THAT WAS

“Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.”

─ Mark Twain

Monday was Veterans Day and we honored our heroes. Also this week more than 1000 US troops deployed to help the people of the Philippines whose lives have been devastated by Typhoon Haiyan.

Obamacare has started out with neither a bang nor a whimper. It hasn’treally started out at all yet. For those wondering about the status of the healthcare.gov website, please refer back to last week’s Week That Was.

Many Obamacare navigators have been found-out as being fraudulent hacks. Fulfilling the old “takes one to know one” saying, former President Bill Clinton himself came out and denounced Obamacare as an ill-planned scam. (You know it’s bad when not even Slick Willy wants to be associated with it.) Referring to the whole deceptive principle of Obamacare, the navigators shrugged and said, “What did you expect?”

President Obama tried to rally more support for his unpopular law and Obamacare’s failure to launch by saying it was OK that the government failed big time, because other people have failed before, too. Barry O. needs to watch more inspirational sports movies.

The House passed the Keep Your Plan Act proposed by Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI). The bill holds President Obama (who threatened to veto it) accountable for his promise that “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan.” 39 House Democrats voted in favor of the act and against Obama’s agenda: a sign that the end of the world is nigh.

The Victoria’s Secret lingerie show took place this week and Jennifer Lawrence cut her hair off. That’s all.

Via: Human Events

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U.S. Sends Marines to Help Philippines After Typhoon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A team of about 90 U.S. Marines and sailors headed to the Philippines on Sunday, part of a first wave of promised U.S. military assistance for relief efforts after a devastating typhoon killed at least 10,000 people, U.S. officials said.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel this weekend ordered the U.S. military’s Pacific Command to assist with search and rescue operations and provide air support in the wake of super typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded.

The team of U.S. forces from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade left for the Philippines from a U.S. base in Okinawa, Japan, aboard two KC-130J Hercules transport aircraft, the Marines said in a statement.

Two Florida-based Navy P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft, which had been on a six month rotation to Misawa, Japan, have been prepositioned in the Philippines to assist with search and rescue operations, the Marines said.

The typhoon is estimated to have killed at least 10,000 people in the central Philippines. Most of the deaths appear to have been caused by surging sea water strewn with debris that many said resembled a tsunami, leveling houses and drowning its victims.

Via: WFB

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Philippine typhoon deaths climb into thousands

TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) - As many as 10,000 people are believed dead in one Philippine city alone after one of the worst storms ever recorded unleashed ferocious winds and giant waves that washed away homes and schools. Corpses hung from tree branches and were scattered along sidewalks and among flattened buildings, while looters raided grocery stores and gas stations in search of food, fuel and water.

Officials projected the death toll could climb even higher when emergency crews reach areas cut off by flooding and landslides. Even in the disaster-prone Philippines, which regularly contends with earthquakes, volcanoes and tropical cyclones, Typhoon Haiyan appears to be the deadliest natural disaster on record.

Haiyan hit the eastern seaboard of the Philippine archipelago on Friday and quickly barreled across its central islands before exiting into the South China Sea, packing winds of 235 kilometers per hour (147 miles per hour) that gusted to 275 kph (170 mph), and a storm surge that caused sea waters to rise 6 meters (20 feet).

It wasn't until Sunday that the scale of the devastation became clear, with local officials on hardest-hit Leyte Island saying that there may be 10,000 dead in the provincial capital of Tacloban alone. Reports also trickled in from elsewhere on the island, and from neighboring islands, indicating hundreds, if not thousands more deaths, though it will be days before the full extent of the storm's impact can be assessed.

Via: My Way News

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Philippines typhoon leaves an estimated 1,000 dead in one coastal town alone, report says

One of the most powerful storms on record devastated the central Philippines, reportedly killing an estimated 1,000 people in one town alone and leaving the airport in the hard-hit city of Tacloban in shambles.

The Philippine Red Cross told Reuters that based on reports itestimates at least 1,000 dead in Tacloban, which is located about 360 miles southeast of Manila, and 200 in Samar Provice.

"An estimated more than 1,000 bodies were seen floating in Tacloban as reported by our Red Cross teams,'' Gwendolyn Pang, the secretary general from the agency told Reuters. "In Samar, about 200 deaths. Validation is ongoing."

With communications and roads still cut off, Capt. John Andrews, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, said he had received "reliable information" by radio from his staff that more than 100 bodies were lying in the streets of Tacloban on Leyte Island. It was one of five islands where Typhoon Haiyan slammed Friday.

PHOTOS: Typhoon leaves trail of destruction

Regional military commander Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda said that the casualty figure "probably will increase," after viewing aerial photographs of the widespread devastation caused by the typhoon.

Via: Fox News

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REPORT: GOVERNMENT BENEFIT RECIPIENTS OUTNUMBER FULL-TIME WORKERS

Americans who were recipients of means-tested government benefits in 2011 outnumbered year-round full-time workers, according to data released this month by the Census Bureau.

They also out-numbered the total population of the Philippines.

There were 108,592,000 people in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2011 who were recipients of one or more means-tested government benefit programs, the Census Bureau said in data released this week. Meanwhile, according to the Census Bureau, there were 101,716,000 people who worked full-time year round in 2011. That included both private-sector and government workers.

Via: CNS News

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Obama Pivots to Asia, Announces Trip to Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines

HOW MUCH IS THIS TRIP GOING TO COST THE TAXPAYERS?

President Barack Obama will be traveling to Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines, at the beginning of next, the White House announced today. 

"The President will travel to Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines from October 6 – 12 as part of his ongoing commitment to increase U.S. political, economic and security engagement with the Asia Pacific," reads the press secretary's announcement.

In Indonesia, he will attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders meeting.   APEC is the region’s leading forum for trade and investment integration.  On the margins of the APEC meeting, the President will host a meeting of Leaders of the Trans-Pacific Partnership countries. He will also meet with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to reaffirm our close bilateral ties and celebrate the third year of our Comprehensive Partnership.

The President will then travel to Brunei for the U.S.-ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit (EAS) and to meet with the Sultan of Brunei.  ASEAN and the EAS are key forums for regional multilateral cooperation. During those meetings the President will discuss the wide range of U.S. cooperation in the Asia Pacific region, including energy, maritime security, investment, development and trade promotion, as well as other topics of regional and global concern. 

In Malaysia, the President will meet with Prime Minister Najib of Malaysia to highlight our growing bilateral ties with Malaysia, and will deliver the keynote address to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit.  Now in its fourth year, the Global Entrepreneurship Summit is an initiative the President announced in 2009 to spur job creation through entrepreneurship by connecting young innovators to resources, ideas, and each other.

Via: Weekly Standard

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