Terrorist Islamic Convert, Jihad In Jerusalem, Obamacare News, Media Malpractice

Thursday, October 23, 2014
Canadian Terrorist Islamic Convert 
 
We know more today about the man who shot and killed a soldier standing guard at Canada's National War Memorial. Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, had a long criminal history. He had spent time in prison for drugs and robbery and had recently converted to Islam. 
 
Like Martin Couture-Rouleau, who used his car as a weapon to rundown two Canadian soldiers Monday, Zehaf-Bibeau had planned to travel to Syria to fight with ISIS, but his passport had been revoked. Ironically, his mother is a top Canadian immigration official.
 
During yesterday's chaos in Ottawa, there was one man who understood the situation, stayed calm and did what had to be done. That man was Kevin Vickers, the 58 year-old Sergeant-At-Arms of the Canadian Parliament, a ceremonial position that doesn't involve arms at all. But it was Vickers, a 30-year veteran of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who brought down Zehaf-Bibeau before he was able to kill again.  
 
When the Canadian Parliament convened this morning, the hallways were lined with grateful Canadians cheering Vickers as he marched ahead. When he entered the House of Commons, the members of Parliament greeted him with thunderous applause and a standing ovation that lasted for several minutes. You can watch it here.
 
That is what manhood has meant for centuries. When fate puts you in such a position, you must stand and fight back. As has been the case throughout history, it took a good guy with a gun to stop the bad guy with a gun. And so it will be with radical Islam. Thank God we still have men like Kevin Vickers. 
 
 
Jihad In Jerusalem 
 
As we mentioned yesterday, the assault at the Canadian Parliament was the second jihadist attack in Canada in 48 hours. While the media were justifiably focused on that event, there was a terrorist attack in Jerusalem similar to Monday's attack in Canada. 
 
Abed a-Rahman a-Shaludi, a radical Palestinian Muslim, plowed his car into a crowd of pedestrians injuring nine and killing one. The victim, Chaya Zissel Braun, a 3-month-old baby girl, was an American citizen. 
 
Abed a-Shaludi was shot and killed by Israeli police when he tried to flee the scene of the attack. His family claims this was just a simple car accident. But a-Shaludi had a history of criminal offensives, including attacks against Jews. He is also the nephew of a top Hamas terrorist, who was killed in 1998, and a-Shaludi had posted online messages praising Hamas and homicide bombers.
 
There has been increasing violence in Jerusalem in recent months. It erupted again in the aftermath of yesterday's attack. Palestinians threw rocks at cars, police and even at a Jewish kindergarten. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to restore order in Jerusalem, saying:
 
"United Jerusalem was and will always remain the capital of Jerusalem. Every attempt to harm its people will be met with a stronger response. We will return peace and security to Jerusalem. . . . We support the Israeli police, and will give it all the reinforcements necessary. But the attack in Jerusalem is supported by Abu Mazen (Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas) who glorifies the murderers and embraces the organization to which the terrorists belong – Hamas."
 
 
Please join me in praying for the peace of Jerusalem. 
 
 
More Bad Obamacare News 
 
The Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, is Barack Obama's signature achievement and the crown jewel of the left. But it's hard to find any good news about Obamacare. 
 
Consider these results from a Politico poll released this week:
 
Only 17% of likely voters wants to keep Obamacare "as it is."
 
Just 18% said Obamacare had improved the quality of their healthcare, while 41% said it had made their healthcare worse.
 
57% said Obamacare was increasing the amount of money they were paying for healthcare. Only 7% said it had decreased their costs. 
 
And people are paying more. Residents of Iowa and Louisiana are facing double-digit premium increases. Moreover, recent reports suggest that many people with Obamacare policies can't afford to use them because of the high costs. 
 
So, we're paying more for less of something we don't like. 
 
Obamacare still faces major legal hurdles, including lawsuits that could undo its taxpayer-funded subsidy scheme. Liberal apologists claim these lawsuits are "wild speculation." But the Obama White House is taking them seriously.
 
Obama's Health and Human Service Department recently contracted with the Rand Corporation to study the potential impact of the lawsuits. The study concluded that if the subsidies were eliminated, enrollment in Obamacare would collapse by 68%, sending Obamacare into a "near death spiral."
 
It turns out that HHS isn't alone in worrying about these lawsuits. The insurance companies are terrified. So much so that they have included new clauses in their contracts specifying that they can cancel the plans if the subsidies are declared unconstitutional. 
 
 
Media Malpractice 
 
According to the Media Research Center, the big three networks aired 159 campaign-related stories in the weeks leading up to the 2006 elections. How many campaign-related stories have run on ABC, CBS, and NBC in the run-up to this year's election? 25. That's a 6:1 ratio. 
 
And if you were getting your news from only ABC, you could be forgiven for not even realizing there is an election this year. That network ran zero election-related stories from September 1st through October 20th. 
 
While we're on the subject of election news, be on the lookout for "calibration errors" when you vote. Such errors reportedly caused at least one touch screen voting machine in Schaumburg, Illinois, to register all its votes for the wrong candidates. This was particularly disconcerting for the gentleman who noticed the error because he was a candidate for office and couldn't even vote for himself! 
 
Local election officials blamed the trouble on a "calibration error." 
 
Folks, I almost hesitated to write this item out of fear that it might unduly alarm some people. Heaven knows the last thing I want to do is discourage anyone from voting. 
 
By all means, VOTE. 
 
But, please, when you do vote, take a few seconds to double check your ballot and make sure you don't experience any user or calibration errors.