Cliff Kincaid
August 31, 2012
AIM.ORG
Although the Associated Press and ABC’s Nightline program have taken apart Dinesh D’Souza’s film, “2016: Obama’s America,” another film about the President is strangely getting the silent treatment from the major media. This film, “Dreams from My Real Father,” explores in detail the relationship that Obama had with Frank Marshall Davis, a Communist Party member suspected by the FBI to be a Soviet agent.
The film was being shown this week at the Troublemaker Fest, a film and entertainment festival held during the Republican National Convention in Tampa. The D’Souza film was also being shown at the same location.
Joel Gilbert, the director of the film, has been challenging the media to review his film. “Obama has a deeply disturbing family background, which he intentionally hid, in order to obscure a Marxist political foundation,” Gilbert says. “While voters will overlook some fudging by politicians, promoting a false family background to hide a Marxist agenda irreconcilable with American values is a totally unacceptable manipulation of the electorate.”
Gilbert has traveled to Hawaii on several occasions, in order to conduct fact-finding on the ground. He obtained access to police files and interviewed retired Honolulu police detectives and former friends of Davis. His film features shocking examples of pornography from Davis, including nude photos of Obama’s mother. The latter suggests an illicit relationship between Obama’s mother and Davis, leading to the most shocking charge—that Davis was in fact Obama’s real father.
On Thursday night, ABC News Nightline followed the Associated Press with a critique of the D’Souza film. Nightline reporter David Wright said D’Souza “argues Obama is motivated by an effort to please the radical father he barely knew, a man who has been dead for nearly 25 years.”
As AIM has noted, this is the main flaw in the film, and the media have seized upon it in order to discredit any discussion of the foreign influences that guide Obama’s thinking and policies.
D’Souza took Obama at his word that Barack Hussein Obama, the “Kenyan goat herder,” was his father. However, D’Souza does include a brief interview in his film with Paul Kengor, author of The Communist, which is about Davis and the Obama-Davis relationship.
Gilbert tells AIM that the assertion that Obama assumed the alleged anti-colonialism dream of the Kenyan Barack Obama is indeed “a logical stretch at best,” as AP contended in its scathing review.
Gilbert goes on, “As presented in evidence in my new film, “Dreams from My Real Father,” Obama’s real biological father was Frank Marshall Davis. President Obama’s story of his early childhood has been proven false by multiple researchers and documentation…The evidence points to a sham marriage only between the Kenyan student and Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, to cover up an illicit affair between Dunham and Frank Marshall Davis.”
The AP review of “2016: Obama’s America” ignored D’Sousa’s interview with Kengor, which presents incontrovertible facts about the Obama-Davis relationship.
In terms of family history, Gilbert notes that Obama was partially raised, by his own account, by Frank Marshall Davis from ages 9-18. This is alluded to in Obama’s own book, Dreams from My Father, with 22 references to “Frank,” later identified as Davis. “The fact that Obama arrived at Occidental College at age 18 admittedly as a committed revolutionary Marxist, ‘to study with the Marxist professors,’ points to an indoctrination in Marxism by Frank Marshall Davis during his formative years,” Gilbert adds.
Gilbert maintains that Frank Marshall Davis was the biological and ideological father, “and remains so today.”
He said, “Obama’s policies in office mirror Davis’s Marxist world view of evil straw men oppressing the proletarian masses, the ‘top 1 percent’ and ‘the breathtaking greed of a few.’”
He said that the Associated Press and other news organizations “should engage in real journalism and report on the evidence in my film and evidence other researchers have produced which demonstrate that Barack Obama built his political career upon a fairy tale.”
Summing up, Gilbert contends that Obama is a “Red Diaper Baby,” the child of a CPUSA member. “This is a known phenomenon in the radical left—many of the leaders of the SDS and Weather Underground were children of Communist Party USA members, including Kathy Boudin and Jeff Jones,” he points out.
During an appearance at the National Press Club, Gilbert said the media are “intentionally suppressing the truth about Barack Obama’s history and agenda.”
Gilbert, however, has been appearing on many radio talk shows, including most recently the Savage Nation with Michael Savage. He told Savage that people watching the film during the GOP convention were absolutely astonished by the revelations and angry that the mainstream media are not covering the film.
News organizations are afraid to be the first to cover it, Gilbert told Savage. He explained that they are waiting for somebody else to cover it, so they can then “cover them covering it.”
This is what passes for “investigative reporting” from the media.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Former Democrat Congressional Aide Accused of Drugging and Sexually Assaulting Women
By Keith L. Alexander
Updated: Saturday, September 1, 12:00 AM
(Washington Post) - A former senior congressional aide was indicted this week in D.C. Superior Court on charges that he sexually assaulted two women after drugging them with a sedative that he allegedly put in their drinks.
Donny Ray Williams Jr., 36, who served as staff director for a Senate subcommittee and worked in the offices of several members of Congress, gave at least one woman Ambien and assaulted her while she was unconscious, according to court papers.
Williams was charged with 10 counts of first- and second-degree sexual abuse and related charges in connection with attacks that authorities said occurred between July and December 2010. During that time, according to his profile on the LinkedIn Web site, Williams was staff director of a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee.
A third woman made similar allegations against Williams, attorneys and Williams said, and a fourth woman said that he threatened her. As a result of that fourth allegation, Williams was indicted on one count of threatening to injure or kidnap a person. Additional details of that charge were not made public.
Outside the courthouse Friday, Williams said the allegations are “absolutely and completely false.”
“I’m not guilty. I’ve never done anything to hurt anybody. I tried to live my life to help people,” he said, his voice cracking with emotion.
In response to a question about his Capitol Hill career, Williams said that “everything was destroyed.”
“Until this is over,” he said, “I don’t have a future.”
According to his LinkedIn profile, Williams was a member of the staff of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs disaster recovery subcommittee from 2002 to 2007 and staff director for the same committee’s state, local and private sector preparedness and integration subcommittee from April 2010 to July 2011.
The profile says he is now managing director of a private company.
According to his profile, he began his Capitol Hill career in 1999. He worked for panels chaired by Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.). He also said he worked for Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.). The Washington Post confirmed that he had held those positions.
Williams was arrested last year in connection with one alleged assault and made his first appearance before a judge May 13, 2011, according to court records.
Williams was released from jail, but at a subsequent hearing he was ordered to stay away from the alleged victim.
In that incident, the woman visited Williams’s Northeast Washington apartment July 22, 2010, to discuss issues before the Senate subcommittee, including Hurricane Katrina and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to an arrest warrant filed in court.
While she was at the apartment, Williams allegedly prepared her a sparkling water and vodka. The woman said she drank it and lost consciousness.
When she came to, according to the warrant, her pants had been removed and she felt a “burning sensation” in her vaginal area. She also was groggy. Williams drove the woman home, the court papers say. She later went to George Washington University Hospital, where she was examined.
On July 27, detectives went to Williams’s apartment, and he told them that he had prescription medication he was taking for back pain, Ambien for a sleep disorder and Adderall for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to court papers.
At the hearing Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharon Marcus-Kern said she expected the trial, which is set to begin March 19, to last about two weeks.
Williams has admitted having sex with at least one of the alleged victims, Marcus-Kern said at the hearing. She did not elaborate.
Williams has been ordered to undergo drug testing, according to court records.
According to his biographical information on LinkedIn, Williams left Capitol Hill two months after his arrest.
Williams’s attorney, Jason M. Kalafat, said his client “denied” the allegations and would “probably” go to trial.
Alice Crites contributed to this report.
Updated: Saturday, September 1, 12:00 AM
(Washington Post) - A former senior congressional aide was indicted this week in D.C. Superior Court on charges that he sexually assaulted two women after drugging them with a sedative that he allegedly put in their drinks.
Donny Ray Williams Jr., 36, who served as staff director for a Senate subcommittee and worked in the offices of several members of Congress, gave at least one woman Ambien and assaulted her while she was unconscious, according to court papers.
Williams was charged with 10 counts of first- and second-degree sexual abuse and related charges in connection with attacks that authorities said occurred between July and December 2010. During that time, according to his profile on the LinkedIn Web site, Williams was staff director of a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee.
A third woman made similar allegations against Williams, attorneys and Williams said, and a fourth woman said that he threatened her. As a result of that fourth allegation, Williams was indicted on one count of threatening to injure or kidnap a person. Additional details of that charge were not made public.
Outside the courthouse Friday, Williams said the allegations are “absolutely and completely false.”
“I’m not guilty. I’ve never done anything to hurt anybody. I tried to live my life to help people,” he said, his voice cracking with emotion.
In response to a question about his Capitol Hill career, Williams said that “everything was destroyed.”
“Until this is over,” he said, “I don’t have a future.”
According to his LinkedIn profile, Williams was a member of the staff of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs disaster recovery subcommittee from 2002 to 2007 and staff director for the same committee’s state, local and private sector preparedness and integration subcommittee from April 2010 to July 2011.
The profile says he is now managing director of a private company.
According to his profile, he began his Capitol Hill career in 1999. He worked for panels chaired by Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.). He also said he worked for Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.). The Washington Post confirmed that he had held those positions.
Williams was arrested last year in connection with one alleged assault and made his first appearance before a judge May 13, 2011, according to court records.
Williams was released from jail, but at a subsequent hearing he was ordered to stay away from the alleged victim.
In that incident, the woman visited Williams’s Northeast Washington apartment July 22, 2010, to discuss issues before the Senate subcommittee, including Hurricane Katrina and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to an arrest warrant filed in court.
While she was at the apartment, Williams allegedly prepared her a sparkling water and vodka. The woman said she drank it and lost consciousness.
When she came to, according to the warrant, her pants had been removed and she felt a “burning sensation” in her vaginal area. She also was groggy. Williams drove the woman home, the court papers say. She later went to George Washington University Hospital, where she was examined.
On July 27, detectives went to Williams’s apartment, and he told them that he had prescription medication he was taking for back pain, Ambien for a sleep disorder and Adderall for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to court papers.
At the hearing Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharon Marcus-Kern said she expected the trial, which is set to begin March 19, to last about two weeks.
Williams has admitted having sex with at least one of the alleged victims, Marcus-Kern said at the hearing. She did not elaborate.
Williams has been ordered to undergo drug testing, according to court records.
According to his biographical information on LinkedIn, Williams left Capitol Hill two months after his arrest.
Williams’s attorney, Jason M. Kalafat, said his client “denied” the allegations and would “probably” go to trial.
Alice Crites contributed to this report.
Will ObamaNation DOJ Prosecute Hate Crime Against Whitey?
Friday, August 31, 2012
Conservative Nation News
White Man Brutally Beaten By Blacks For Daring To Date Black Woman
SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) - A Savannah couple says they were attacked in Ellis Square because they are not the same race.
Andrew Quade's eye is swollen shut and his face is swollen after the 23 year old says he was attacked in Ellis Square Friday night.
He was with his African-American girlfriend walking through the square when he says three men shouted racial slurs at them. The next thing the couple remembers, Quade was unconcious on the ground.
"He was basically left for dead. I don't want to go into all the gory details, but they could have stopped, but they kept going," said Quade's girlfriend Olufisayo Bakre.
Bakre says three black men began yelling at them as they walked to a friend's birthday party.
"One of them was making racial comments at us and one of them was blowing kisses. It was very aggravating," Bakre said.
Quade said he tried to ignore the comments.
"I didn't want to freak out on them because I thought they were saying something about me and my girlfriend. I wanted to get more information and understand the situation. But before I could, I was knocked out," Quade said.
Quade said the next thing he remembers is waking up in an ambulance.
"I think of this as a hate crime. It's that simple," Bakre said
Read rest here...
Conservative Nation News
White Man Brutally Beaten By Blacks For Daring To Date Black Woman
SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) - A Savannah couple says they were attacked in Ellis Square because they are not the same race.
Andrew Quade's eye is swollen shut and his face is swollen after the 23 year old says he was attacked in Ellis Square Friday night.
He was with his African-American girlfriend walking through the square when he says three men shouted racial slurs at them. The next thing the couple remembers, Quade was unconcious on the ground.
"He was basically left for dead. I don't want to go into all the gory details, but they could have stopped, but they kept going," said Quade's girlfriend Olufisayo Bakre.
Bakre says three black men began yelling at them as they walked to a friend's birthday party.
"One of them was making racial comments at us and one of them was blowing kisses. It was very aggravating," Bakre said.
Quade said he tried to ignore the comments.
"I didn't want to freak out on them because I thought they were saying something about me and my girlfriend. I wanted to get more information and understand the situation. But before I could, I was knocked out," Quade said.
Quade said the next thing he remembers is waking up in an ambulance.
"I think of this as a hate crime. It's that simple," Bakre said
Read rest here...
Government ends criminal probe of controversial Arizona sheriff
Published: 31 Aug 2012 11:07 PM ET
PHOENIX (Reuters) - The federal government has closed a criminal probe of alleged financial misconduct by Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio, who styles himself as "America's toughest sheriff," saying no charges would be filed, the U.S. Attorney's Office said on Friday.
A separate federal investigation relating to allegations of civil rights abuses by Arpaio's office is continuing.
The announcement on Friday marked the end of an investigation that began in November 2010 at the behest of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to examine alleged financial improprieties by the county sheriff and his deputies.
A federal criminal inquiry into several of those matters was concluded last summer with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona declining to initiate criminal charges.
Maricopa County authorities were informed on Friday that federal prosecutors had likewise declined to bring charges in connection with allegations that the sheriff's office had misused county credit cards or misspent money from jail facilities excise taxes.
In addition, the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to prosecute two former officials of the county attorney's office who were accused of wrongfully prosecuting a local judge.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Birmingham Scheel said in a statement that her office "is closing its investigation into allegations of criminal conduct by current and former members of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and the Maricopa County Attorney's Office."
Arpaio, 80, who is seeking re-election to a sixth term as sheriff in November, has been under a separate federal inquiry since 2008 over allegations that he and his deputies engaged in an extensive pattern of civil rights abuses.
Arpaio has denied any wrongdoing.
Lisa Allen, a spokeswoman for his office, said the sheriff was flying back to Phoenix from the Republican National Convention in Florida, and was not immediately available for comment.
The Justice Department's long-running civil rights probe of Arpaio led to a lawsuit in May accusing the sheriff and his office of racial profiling and unlawful arrests of Latinos in a bid to crack down on illegal immigration.
The civil suit also accused Arpaio's office of routinely violating the constitutional free-speech rights of political opponents by retaliating against them through unsubstantiated legal action, including unlawful arrests.
(Reporting By Tim Gaynor; Editing by Steve Gorman and Peter Cooney)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
PHOENIX (Reuters) - The federal government has closed a criminal probe of alleged financial misconduct by Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio, who styles himself as "America's toughest sheriff," saying no charges would be filed, the U.S. Attorney's Office said on Friday.
A separate federal investigation relating to allegations of civil rights abuses by Arpaio's office is continuing.
The announcement on Friday marked the end of an investigation that began in November 2010 at the behest of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to examine alleged financial improprieties by the county sheriff and his deputies.
A federal criminal inquiry into several of those matters was concluded last summer with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona declining to initiate criminal charges.
Maricopa County authorities were informed on Friday that federal prosecutors had likewise declined to bring charges in connection with allegations that the sheriff's office had misused county credit cards or misspent money from jail facilities excise taxes.
In addition, the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to prosecute two former officials of the county attorney's office who were accused of wrongfully prosecuting a local judge.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Birmingham Scheel said in a statement that her office "is closing its investigation into allegations of criminal conduct by current and former members of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and the Maricopa County Attorney's Office."
Arpaio, 80, who is seeking re-election to a sixth term as sheriff in November, has been under a separate federal inquiry since 2008 over allegations that he and his deputies engaged in an extensive pattern of civil rights abuses.
Arpaio has denied any wrongdoing.
Lisa Allen, a spokeswoman for his office, said the sheriff was flying back to Phoenix from the Republican National Convention in Florida, and was not immediately available for comment.
The Justice Department's long-running civil rights probe of Arpaio led to a lawsuit in May accusing the sheriff and his office of racial profiling and unlawful arrests of Latinos in a bid to crack down on illegal immigration.
The civil suit also accused Arpaio's office of routinely violating the constitutional free-speech rights of political opponents by retaliating against them through unsubstantiated legal action, including unlawful arrests.
(Reporting By Tim Gaynor; Editing by Steve Gorman and Peter Cooney)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
BLM declares Burning Man Second Amendment-free zone
Burning Man
August 31, 2012
By: David Codrea
The Examiner:
The Bureau of Land Management has declared the Burning Man “radical self-expression/self-reliance" community “experiment” in northern Nevada’s Black Rock Desert a temporary weapons-free zone, GunLeaders Blog reported today. Citing a Department of the Interior “Notice of Temporary Closure and Temporary Restrictions of Specific Uses on Public Lands in Pershing County, NV” appearing in the Federal Register Volume 77, Number 157 (Tuesday, August 14, 2012), the edict mandates “temporary closures and temporary restrictions will be in effect from August 13, 2012 to September 17, 2012.
Proclaiming its authority under 43 CFR 8364.1., and issued by Gene Seidlitz, District Manager, Winnemucca District, the restriction notice declared “The possession of any weapon is prohibited except weapons within motor vehicles passing through the public closure area, without stopping, on the west or east playa roads.
“The prohibitions above shall not apply to county, state, tribal, and Federal law enforcement personnel, or any person authorized by Federal law to possess a weapon," the notice continued. "‘Art projects' that include weapons and are sanctioned by BRC LLC will be permitted after obtaining authorization from the BLM authorized officer.”
“Any person who violates the above rules and restrictions may be tried before a United States Magistrate and fined no more than $1,000, imprisoned for no more than 12 months, or both,” the notice warned, adding “Such violations may also be subject to the enhanced fines provided for at 18 U.S.C. 3571.”
Whether this upsets Burning Man organizers and participants, and there does not appear to be any mention of weapons in the almost-anything-goes gathering’s “rules and regulations,” remains unknown, but there are larger principles at stake here.
First, it’s not like crimes of violence, particularly sexual assault and rape are unheard of there, and Mr. Seidlitz’s edict is silent on any responsibility or duty to protect those he demands be defenseless. His notice does admit “Actions by a few participants at previous events have resulted in law enforcement and public safety incidents similar to those observed in urban areas of similar-size populations,” documenting that he knows people he is disarming may be exposed to physical danger.
Second, where does this guy get off, dictating away the right to keep and bear arms? Who first decided there was a “need” to do this? Who authorized it? What is the approval process? Did it have to go beyond a district manager? What other federal agencies think they have this power? Can any bureaucrat declare himself the boss of you, or does one need to be a certain pay grade?
“If they (think they) can ban guns for Burning Man, essentially a private festival that as far as I can tell has no specific rules of this manner, then DOI can do it for pretty much any reason they want,” Dave Yates, co-founder of GunLeaders Blog observed to Gun Rights Examiner by email.
Indeed. If unaccountable self-anointed masters are allowed to get away with arbitrary rulings, if their demands for kneejerk authority over our unalienable rights are tolerated, then what is to stop them from declaring any place off limits, and extending the time period to whatever interval they choose, that is, what is to stop them from effectively burning the Bill of Rights?
August 31, 2012
By: David Codrea
The Examiner:
The Bureau of Land Management has declared the Burning Man “radical self-expression/self-reliance" community “experiment” in northern Nevada’s Black Rock Desert a temporary weapons-free zone, GunLeaders Blog reported today. Citing a Department of the Interior “Notice of Temporary Closure and Temporary Restrictions of Specific Uses on Public Lands in Pershing County, NV” appearing in the Federal Register Volume 77, Number 157 (Tuesday, August 14, 2012), the edict mandates “temporary closures and temporary restrictions will be in effect from August 13, 2012 to September 17, 2012.
Proclaiming its authority under 43 CFR 8364.1., and issued by Gene Seidlitz, District Manager, Winnemucca District, the restriction notice declared “The possession of any weapon is prohibited except weapons within motor vehicles passing through the public closure area, without stopping, on the west or east playa roads.
“The prohibitions above shall not apply to county, state, tribal, and Federal law enforcement personnel, or any person authorized by Federal law to possess a weapon," the notice continued. "‘Art projects' that include weapons and are sanctioned by BRC LLC will be permitted after obtaining authorization from the BLM authorized officer.”
“Any person who violates the above rules and restrictions may be tried before a United States Magistrate and fined no more than $1,000, imprisoned for no more than 12 months, or both,” the notice warned, adding “Such violations may also be subject to the enhanced fines provided for at 18 U.S.C. 3571.”
Whether this upsets Burning Man organizers and participants, and there does not appear to be any mention of weapons in the almost-anything-goes gathering’s “rules and regulations,” remains unknown, but there are larger principles at stake here.
First, it’s not like crimes of violence, particularly sexual assault and rape are unheard of there, and Mr. Seidlitz’s edict is silent on any responsibility or duty to protect those he demands be defenseless. His notice does admit “Actions by a few participants at previous events have resulted in law enforcement and public safety incidents similar to those observed in urban areas of similar-size populations,” documenting that he knows people he is disarming may be exposed to physical danger.
Second, where does this guy get off, dictating away the right to keep and bear arms? Who first decided there was a “need” to do this? Who authorized it? What is the approval process? Did it have to go beyond a district manager? What other federal agencies think they have this power? Can any bureaucrat declare himself the boss of you, or does one need to be a certain pay grade?
“If they (think they) can ban guns for Burning Man, essentially a private festival that as far as I can tell has no specific rules of this manner, then DOI can do it for pretty much any reason they want,” Dave Yates, co-founder of GunLeaders Blog observed to Gun Rights Examiner by email.
Indeed. If unaccountable self-anointed masters are allowed to get away with arbitrary rulings, if their demands for kneejerk authority over our unalienable rights are tolerated, then what is to stop them from declaring any place off limits, and extending the time period to whatever interval they choose, that is, what is to stop them from effectively burning the Bill of Rights?
'Pray for Obama' sign stirs controversy over Biblical verse
by James Muñoz
Updated Aug 30 6:21 PM
KENS5 - VICTORIA, Tx. -- The Secret Service is looking into a sign posted in Victoria, Texas.
The sign says "Pray for Obama", but it's the scripture quoted below those words that is raising eyebrows: Psalms 109:8.
Psalms 109:8 reads, "Let his days be few, and let another take his office."
Milton Neitsch Jr., who has lived in Victoria since 1961, says he didn't intend for people to pick up on the hateful wishes of death and pain surrounding the tiny verse.
But some people say it is hateful and inappropriate. They say it misuses the holy scripture and it must come down.
Neitsch recently received an email from a friend and decided to post it on his advertising billboard along North Navarro Street. He had no idea the firestorm of controversy it would create.
"Pray for the president. He needs it," said Neitsch.
When asked what the sign means, Neitsch responded, "Exactly what it says. Hope he's gone soon and somebody different takes his place."
Reverend Amy Danchik started a petition demanding Neitsch take down the sign. They've since met and Neitsch and agreed to replace the billboard.
"He shared with me a little about some of the threats that have come at his family, which is incredibly inappropriate, and in no way helpful and in no way how we're called to react when we disagree with somebody," said Danchik. "So I hope that those stop. I hope that people will react with the graciousness that he has reacted with and leave his family alone."
Neitsch says he is also getting plenty of support. He said he might replace the sign with something like, "Vote for the American", a sign that would no doubt stir emotion, while leaving the word of God to the experts.
Code enforcement in the City of Victoria says they don't review the content of signs. They said they would only get involved if the sign affected traffic.
Hope & Change? Food prices jump will hit poor, World Bank warns
Global food prices have leapt by 10% in the month of July, raising fears of soaring prices for the planet's poorest, the World Bank has warned.
Updated at 17:20 ET
30 August 2012
BBC - The bank said that a US heatwave and drought in parts of Eastern Europe were partly to blame for the rising costs.
The price of key grains such as corn, wheat and soybean saw the most dramatic increases, described by the World Bank president as "historic".
The bank warned countries importing grains will be particularly vulnerable.
From June to July this year, corn and wheat prices each rose by 25% while soybean prices increased by 17%, the World Bank said. Only rice prices decreased - by 4%.
In the United States, the most severe, widespread drought in half a century has wreaked havoc on the corn and soybean crops while in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, wheat crops have been badly damaged.
The World Bank said that the use of corn to produce ethanol biofuel - which represents 40% of US corn production - was also a key factor in the sharp rise in the US maize price.
Overall, the World Bank's Food Price Index - which tracks the price of internationally traded food commodities - was six percent higher than in July of last year, and one percent over its previous peak, in February 2011.
'Lifetime of perils'
The organisation is urging governments to bolster programmes to protect their most vulnerable communities from the increase in the cost of food.
"We cannot allow these historic price hikes to turn into a lifetime of perils as families take their children out of school and eat less nutritious food to compensate for the high prices," World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said.
He said countries in North and Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East were among those most exposed to such price increases because much of their food was imported and food bills make up a large proportion of average household spending.
Already, the bank said, maize prices had increased by 113% over the past quarter in Mozambique, while sorghum had risen 220% in South Sudan.
Although the bank said that it did not foresee the kind of price increases which led to riots in many countries in 2008 there were, it said, other potential risks which could push grain prices higher.
These included exporters pursuing panic policies, a severe El Nino, disappointing Southern hemisphere crops and strong increases in energy prices.
The G20 group of leading economies has said it will not take any decision on joint action until after the US agriculture department's September estimate of this year's harvest.
But aid charity Oxfam said it was not acceptable for governments to delay acting on food prices until the situation had deteriorated further.
"This 'wait and see' attitude is unacceptable," Colin Roche said.
"Oxfam is already seeing the devastating impact of food price volatility in developing countries that rely on food imports."
Updated at 17:20 ET
30 August 2012
The price of key grains such as corn, wheat and soybean saw the most dramatic increases, described by the World Bank president as "historic".
The bank warned countries importing grains will be particularly vulnerable.
From June to July this year, corn and wheat prices each rose by 25% while soybean prices increased by 17%, the World Bank said. Only rice prices decreased - by 4%.
In the United States, the most severe, widespread drought in half a century has wreaked havoc on the corn and soybean crops while in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, wheat crops have been badly damaged.
The World Bank said that the use of corn to produce ethanol biofuel - which represents 40% of US corn production - was also a key factor in the sharp rise in the US maize price.
Overall, the World Bank's Food Price Index - which tracks the price of internationally traded food commodities - was six percent higher than in July of last year, and one percent over its previous peak, in February 2011.
'Lifetime of perils'
The organisation is urging governments to bolster programmes to protect their most vulnerable communities from the increase in the cost of food.
"We cannot allow these historic price hikes to turn into a lifetime of perils as families take their children out of school and eat less nutritious food to compensate for the high prices," World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said.
He said countries in North and Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East were among those most exposed to such price increases because much of their food was imported and food bills make up a large proportion of average household spending.
Already, the bank said, maize prices had increased by 113% over the past quarter in Mozambique, while sorghum had risen 220% in South Sudan.
Although the bank said that it did not foresee the kind of price increases which led to riots in many countries in 2008 there were, it said, other potential risks which could push grain prices higher.
These included exporters pursuing panic policies, a severe El Nino, disappointing Southern hemisphere crops and strong increases in energy prices.
The G20 group of leading economies has said it will not take any decision on joint action until after the US agriculture department's September estimate of this year's harvest.
But aid charity Oxfam said it was not acceptable for governments to delay acting on food prices until the situation had deteriorated further.
"This 'wait and see' attitude is unacceptable," Colin Roche said.
"Oxfam is already seeing the devastating impact of food price volatility in developing countries that rely on food imports."
Drunken Stupor: Biden Kisses Supporter on Lips
4:00 PM, Aug 31, 2012
By DANIEL HALPER
The Weekly Standard - Interesting details from Vice President Joe Biden's campaign trip today. From the pool report:
At 2:30, Biden stopped at Antone's Italian Grill, a slightly swankier-than-average, food booth. "I just ate lunch," Biden said before considering the options on the menu and then asking the staff for their recommendation. They suggested the $6 fried cheese -- balls of fried cheese, with tomato sauce and pasta. "This is a meal," he said, after being handed the plate. "Holy mackerel." He handed over a $20 bill and didn't ask for any change. "Good recommendation, man," he said after tasting the dish.
Biden posed for a few photos with the food in hand, before passing it off to an aide. He kept on greeting fairgoers, including a little boy with a dark blonde buzz cut. "I used to have hair like that. Look what happened," he said.
One woman, who the pool later identified as Bev Kalmer, of Poland, Ohio, told the VP: "Welcome to Ohio." His response: "I've been waitin' all day to be here."
She said "You gotta keep the chair" to him -- a reference to Clint Eastwood's speech last night at the RNC -- and he gave her a kiss right on the lips. She swooned. Asked if she wants Biden to run for president in 2016, she told the pool: "I don't know. We've got to keep the chair." She paused. "You got that? The invisible chair."
By DANIEL HALPER
The Weekly Standard - Interesting details from Vice President Joe Biden's campaign trip today. From the pool report:
At 2:30, Biden stopped at Antone's Italian Grill, a slightly swankier-than-average, food booth. "I just ate lunch," Biden said before considering the options on the menu and then asking the staff for their recommendation. They suggested the $6 fried cheese -- balls of fried cheese, with tomato sauce and pasta. "This is a meal," he said, after being handed the plate. "Holy mackerel." He handed over a $20 bill and didn't ask for any change. "Good recommendation, man," he said after tasting the dish.
Biden posed for a few photos with the food in hand, before passing it off to an aide. He kept on greeting fairgoers, including a little boy with a dark blonde buzz cut. "I used to have hair like that. Look what happened," he said.
One woman, who the pool later identified as Bev Kalmer, of Poland, Ohio, told the VP: "Welcome to Ohio." His response: "I've been waitin' all day to be here."
She said "You gotta keep the chair" to him -- a reference to Clint Eastwood's speech last night at the RNC -- and he gave her a kiss right on the lips. She swooned. Asked if she wants Biden to run for president in 2016, she told the pool: "I don't know. We've got to keep the chair." She paused. "You got that? The invisible chair."
KNOCK! KNOCK! State Department: 'Hold down the fort,' other common phrases could be offensive
Published August 31, 2012
FoxNews.com - Watch your mouth -- everyday phrases like "hold down the fort" and "rule of thumb" are potentially offensive bombshells.
At least according to the State Department.
Chief Diversity Officer John Robinson penned a column in the department's latest edition of "State Magazine" advising readers on some rather obscure Ps and Qs.
Robinson ticked off several common phrases and went on to explain why their roots are racially or culturally insensitive. The result was a list of no-nos that could easily result in some tongue-tied U.S. diplomats, particularly in an administration that swaps "war on terror" for "overseas contingency operation" and once shied away from using the word "terrorism."
For instance, Robinson warned, "hold down the fort" is a potentially insulting reference to American Indian stereotypes.
"How many times have you or a colleague asked if someone could 'hold down the fort?'" he wrote. "You were likely asking someone to watch the office while you go and do something else, but the phrase's historical connotation to some is negative and racially offensive."
He explained: "To 'hold down the fort' originally meant to watch and protect against the vicious Native American intruders. In the territories of the West, Army soldiers or settlers saw the 'fort' as their refuge from their perceived 'enemy,' the stereotypical 'savage' Native American tribes."
He singled out another phrase, "Going Dutch," as a "negative stereotype portraying the Dutch as cheap."
And "rule of thumb," he wrote, can according to women's activists refer "to an antiquated law, whereby the width of a husband's thumb was the legal size of a switch or rod allowed to beat his wife."
Further, he explained, "If her bruises were not larger than the width of his thumb, the husband could not be brought to court to answer for his behavior because he had not violated the 'rule of thumb.'"
He went on to urge caution over the word "handicap," as some disability advocates "believe this term is rooted in a correlation between a disabled individual and a beggar, who had to beg with a cap in his or her hand because of the inability to maintain employment."
What to make of all this?
Robinson cited the cautionary tale of Nike rolling out a "Black and Tan" sneaker without realizing the phrase once referred to a group "that committed atrocities against Irish civilians." Nike later apologized.
"Choose your words thoughtfully," Robinson wrote. "Now that you know the possible historical context of the above phrases, perhaps you will understand why someone could be offended by their use. Let us agree that language will continue to evolve with continually improving consciousness and respect for others."
Robinson also serves as the director of the Office of Civil Rights and an adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on diversity issues. He earlier worked as chief diversity officer with the IRS.
FoxNews.com - Watch your mouth -- everyday phrases like "hold down the fort" and "rule of thumb" are potentially offensive bombshells.
At least according to the State Department.
Chief Diversity Officer John Robinson penned a column in the department's latest edition of "State Magazine" advising readers on some rather obscure Ps and Qs.
Robinson ticked off several common phrases and went on to explain why their roots are racially or culturally insensitive. The result was a list of no-nos that could easily result in some tongue-tied U.S. diplomats, particularly in an administration that swaps "war on terror" for "overseas contingency operation" and once shied away from using the word "terrorism."
For instance, Robinson warned, "hold down the fort" is a potentially insulting reference to American Indian stereotypes.
"How many times have you or a colleague asked if someone could 'hold down the fort?'" he wrote. "You were likely asking someone to watch the office while you go and do something else, but the phrase's historical connotation to some is negative and racially offensive."
He explained: "To 'hold down the fort' originally meant to watch and protect against the vicious Native American intruders. In the territories of the West, Army soldiers or settlers saw the 'fort' as their refuge from their perceived 'enemy,' the stereotypical 'savage' Native American tribes."
He singled out another phrase, "Going Dutch," as a "negative stereotype portraying the Dutch as cheap."
And "rule of thumb," he wrote, can according to women's activists refer "to an antiquated law, whereby the width of a husband's thumb was the legal size of a switch or rod allowed to beat his wife."
Further, he explained, "If her bruises were not larger than the width of his thumb, the husband could not be brought to court to answer for his behavior because he had not violated the 'rule of thumb.'"
He went on to urge caution over the word "handicap," as some disability advocates "believe this term is rooted in a correlation between a disabled individual and a beggar, who had to beg with a cap in his or her hand because of the inability to maintain employment."
What to make of all this?
Robinson cited the cautionary tale of Nike rolling out a "Black and Tan" sneaker without realizing the phrase once referred to a group "that committed atrocities against Irish civilians." Nike later apologized.
"Choose your words thoughtfully," Robinson wrote. "Now that you know the possible historical context of the above phrases, perhaps you will understand why someone could be offended by their use. Let us agree that language will continue to evolve with continually improving consciousness and respect for others."
Robinson also serves as the director of the Office of Civil Rights and an adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on diversity issues. He earlier worked as chief diversity officer with the IRS.
That’s Odd?… Three-Fifths of Milwaukee’s Black Voters Have Vanished Without a Trace
Posted by Jim Hoft on
Friday, August 31, 2012, 7:18 AM
@ The Gateway Pundit:
Milwaukee is a long time member of the voter fraud hall of shame.
(Chicago News Bench)
Now this…
Sixty percent of Milwaukee’s black voters have vanished without a trace.
Slate reported:
Sixty percent of Milwaukee’s black voters have disappeared.
Democrats have feared for years that one of the particular challenges of running campaigns in 2012 would be simply locating their voters. The party’s constituencies (young people, immigrants, minorities) tend to be among the most mobile demographic groups. And as NPR speculated this week in an analysis of battleground-state foreclosure figures, the housing crisis will likely only have made things more difficult for Democrats looking for their supporters.
New data from Milwaukee give an indication of how dire the Democrats’ disappearing-voter problem already is. This spring, the League of Young Voters, which was created to mobilize young minority communities, collaborated with the liberal Wisconsin Voices coalition to dispatch teams of young canvassers. Starting in April, they spent eight weeks knocking on 120,882 doors across 208 of Milwaukee’s 317 wards to raise awareness of the gubernatorial recall election scheduled for June. The doors had one thing in common: the voter file said they were all home to a registered voter whom a commercial data vendor had flagged as likely to be African-American.
But the voter file represented a fiction, or at least a reality that had rapidly become out of date. During those eight weeks, canvassers were able to successfully find and interact with only 31 percent of their targets. Twice that number were confirmed to no longer live at the address on file — either because a structure was abandoned or condemned, or if a current resident reported that the targeted voter no longer lived there.
Based on those results, the New Organizing Institute, a Washington-based best-practices lab for lefty field operations, extrapolated that nearly 160,000 African-American voters in Milwaukee were no longer reachable at their last documented address — representing 41 percent of the city’s 2008 electorate. It is a staggering figure in a battleground state where Democratic prospects rely on turning out Milwaukee’s urban population, an ever more urgent cause since Paul Ryan’s presence on the ticket could help mobilize core Republican constituencies in the city’s suburbs. Over half of those identified as displaced were under the age of 35, and thus also less likely to be reachable through traditional landline phones.
Last month the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office subpoenaed the national office of the Service Employee International Union (SEIU) in Washington D.C. for the employment documents of a senior organizer currently under investigation for vote fraud in Wisconsin.
Hat Tip Kathy
Friday, August 31, 2012, 7:18 AM
@ The Gateway Pundit:
Milwaukee is a long time member of the voter fraud hall of shame.
(Chicago News Bench)
Now this…
Sixty percent of Milwaukee’s black voters have vanished without a trace.
Slate reported:
Sixty percent of Milwaukee’s black voters have disappeared.
Democrats have feared for years that one of the particular challenges of running campaigns in 2012 would be simply locating their voters. The party’s constituencies (young people, immigrants, minorities) tend to be among the most mobile demographic groups. And as NPR speculated this week in an analysis of battleground-state foreclosure figures, the housing crisis will likely only have made things more difficult for Democrats looking for their supporters.
New data from Milwaukee give an indication of how dire the Democrats’ disappearing-voter problem already is. This spring, the League of Young Voters, which was created to mobilize young minority communities, collaborated with the liberal Wisconsin Voices coalition to dispatch teams of young canvassers. Starting in April, they spent eight weeks knocking on 120,882 doors across 208 of Milwaukee’s 317 wards to raise awareness of the gubernatorial recall election scheduled for June. The doors had one thing in common: the voter file said they were all home to a registered voter whom a commercial data vendor had flagged as likely to be African-American.
But the voter file represented a fiction, or at least a reality that had rapidly become out of date. During those eight weeks, canvassers were able to successfully find and interact with only 31 percent of their targets. Twice that number were confirmed to no longer live at the address on file — either because a structure was abandoned or condemned, or if a current resident reported that the targeted voter no longer lived there.
Based on those results, the New Organizing Institute, a Washington-based best-practices lab for lefty field operations, extrapolated that nearly 160,000 African-American voters in Milwaukee were no longer reachable at their last documented address — representing 41 percent of the city’s 2008 electorate. It is a staggering figure in a battleground state where Democratic prospects rely on turning out Milwaukee’s urban population, an ever more urgent cause since Paul Ryan’s presence on the ticket could help mobilize core Republican constituencies in the city’s suburbs. Over half of those identified as displaced were under the age of 35, and thus also less likely to be reachable through traditional landline phones.
Last month the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office subpoenaed the national office of the Service Employee International Union (SEIU) in Washington D.C. for the employment documents of a senior organizer currently under investigation for vote fraud in Wisconsin.
Hat Tip Kathy
Rubio: Obama trying ideas people came to America to get away from
Posted By Ian Schwartz
August 30, 2012
Real Clear Politics:
Transcript of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's speech as prepared for delivery at the Republican National Convention:
In 1980, I watched my first Republican convention with my grandfather.
He was born to a farming family in rural Cuba. Childhood polio left him permanently disabled. Because he couldn't work the farm, his family sent him to school, and he became the only one in the family who could read.
As a boy, I would sit on our porch and listen to his stories about history, politics and baseball while he puffed on one of his three daily Padron cigars.
I don't recall everything we talked about, but the one thing I remember, is the one thing he wanted me to never forget. The dreams he had when he was young became impossible to achieve.
But there was no limit to how far I could go, because I was an American.
For those of us who were born and raised in this country, it's easy to forget how special America is. But my grandfather understood how different America is from the rest of the world, because he knew what life was like outside America.
Tonight, you'll hear from another man who understands what makes America exceptional.
Mitt Romney knows America's prosperity didn't happen because our government simply spent more. It happened because our people used their own money to open a business. And when they succeed, they hire more people, who then invest or spend their money in the economy, helping others start a business and create jobs.
Mitt Romney's success in business is well known. But he's more than that.
He's a devoted husband, father and grandfather. A generous member of his community and church.
Everywhere he's been, he's volunteered his time and talent to make things better for those around him.
We are blessed that soon, he will be the president of the United States.
Our problem with President Obama isn't that he's a bad person. By all accounts, he too is a good husband, and a good father — and thanks to lots of practice, a pretty good golfer.
Our problem is he's a bad president.
The new slogan for the president's campaign is "Forward."
A government that spends $1 trillion more than it takes in.
An $800 billion stimulus that created more debt than jobs.
A government intervention into health care paid for with higher taxes and cuts to Medicare.
Scores of new rules and regulations.
These ideas don't move us "Forward," they take us "Backwards."
These are tired and old big government ideas. Ideas that people come to America to get away from. Ideas that threaten to make America more like the rest of the world, instead of helping the world become more like America.
Under Barack Obama, the only "Change" is that "Hope" has been hard to find.
Now millions of Americans are insecure about their future. But instead of inspiring us by reminding us of what makes us special, he divides us against each other.
He tells Americans they're worse off because others are better off. That people got rich by making others poor.
Hope and Change has become Divide and Conquer.
No matter how you feel about President Obama, this election is about your future, not his. And it's not simply a choice between a Democrat and a Republican.
It's a choice about what kind of country we want America to be.
As we prepare to make this choice, we should remember what made us special. For most of history almost everyone was poor. Power and wealth belonged to only a few.
Your rights were whatever your rulers allowed you to have. Your future was determined by your past.
If your parents were poor, so would you be. If you were born without opportunities, so were your children.
But America was founded on the principle that every person has God-given rights. That power belongs to the people. That government exists to protect our rights and serve our interests.That we shouldn't be trapped in the circumstances of our birth. That we should be free to go as far as our talents and work can take us.
We are special because we've been united not by a common race or ethnicity. We're bound together by common values. That family is the most important institution in society. That almighty God is the source of all we have.
Special, because we've never made the mistake of believing that we are so smart that we can rely solely on our leaders or our government.
Our national motto is "In God we Trust," reminding us that faith in our Creator is the most important American value of all.
And special because we've always understood the scriptural admonition that "for everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required."
We are a blessed people. And we have honored those blessings with the enduring example of an exceptional America.
I know that for so many of you, these last few years have tested your faith in the promise of America.
Maybe you are at an age when you thought you would be entering retirement. But now, because your savings and investments are wiped out, your future is uncertain.
Maybe, after years of hard work, this was the time you expected to be your prime earning years. But instead, you've been laid off, and your house is worth less than your mortgage.
Maybe you did everything you were told you needed to do to get ahead. You studied hard and finished school. But now, you owe thousands of dollars in student loans. You can't find a job in your field. And you've moved back in with your parents.
You want to believe we're still that place where anything is possible. But things just don't seem to be getting better. And you are starting to wonder if things will ever be the same again.
Yes, we live in a troubled time. But the story of those who came before us reminds us that America has always been about new beginnings.
And Mitt Romney is running for president because he knows that if we are willing to do for our children what our parents did for us, life in America can be better than it has ever been.
My mother was one of seven girls whose parents went to bed hungry so their children wouldn't. My father lost his mother when he was nine. He left school and went to work for the next 70 years.
They emigrated to America with little more than the hope of a better life.
My dad was a bartender. My mom was a cashier, a maid and a stock clerk at K-Mart. They never made it big. They were never rich. And yet they were successful. Because just a few decades removed from hopelessness, they made possible for us all the things that had been impossible for them.
Many nights I heard my father's keys jingling at the door as he came home after another 16-hour day. Many mornings, I woke up just as my mother got home from the overnight shift at K-Mart
When you're young, the meaning of moments like these escapes you. But now, as my own children get older, I understand it better.
My Dad used to tell us: "En este pais, ustedes van a poder lograr todas las cosas que nosotros no pudimos" "In this country, you will be able to accomplish all the things we never could."
A few years ago during a speech, I noticed a bartender behind a portable bar at the back of the ballroom. I remembered my father who had worked for many years as a banquet bartender.
He was grateful for the work he had, but that's not the life he wanted for us.
He stood behind a bar in the back of the room all those years, so one day I could stand behind a podium in the front of a room.
That journey, from behind that bar to behind this podium, goes to the essence of the American miracle — that we're exceptional not because we have more rich people here.
We're special because dreams that are impossible anywhere else, come true here.
That's not just my story. That's your story. That's our story.
It's the story of your mother who struggled to give you what she never had.
It's the story of your father who worked two jobs so doors closed for him would open for you.
The story of that teacher or that coach who taught you the lessons that shaped who you are today.
And it's the story of a man who was born into an uncertain future in a foreign country. His family came to America to escape revolution.
They struggled through poverty and the great depression. And yet he rose to be an admired businessman, and public servant.
And in November, his son, Mitt Romney, will be elected President of the United States.
We are all just a generation or two removed from someone who made our future the purpose of their lives.
America is the story of everyday people who did extraordinary things. A story woven deep into the fabric of our society.
Their stories may never be famous, but in the lives they lived, you find the living essence of America's greatness. To make sure America is still a place where tomorrow is always better than yesterday, that is what our politics should be about.
And that is what we are deciding in this election.
Do we want our children to inherit our hopes and dreams, or do we want them to inherit our problems?
Mitt Romney believes that if we succeed in changing the direction of our country, our children and grandchildren will be the most prosperous generation ever, and their achievements will astonish the world.
The story of our time will be written by Americans who haven't yet been born.
Let's make sure they write that we did our part. That in the early years of this new century, we lived in an uncertain time. But we did not allow fear to cause us to abandon what made us special.
We chose more freedom instead of more government.
We chose the principles of our founding to solve the challenges of our time.
We chose a special man to lead us in a special time.
We chose Mitt Romney to lead our nation.
And because we did, the American Miracle lived on for another generation to inherit.
August 30, 2012
Real Clear Politics:
Transcript of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's speech as prepared for delivery at the Republican National Convention:
In 1980, I watched my first Republican convention with my grandfather.
He was born to a farming family in rural Cuba. Childhood polio left him permanently disabled. Because he couldn't work the farm, his family sent him to school, and he became the only one in the family who could read.
As a boy, I would sit on our porch and listen to his stories about history, politics and baseball while he puffed on one of his three daily Padron cigars.
I don't recall everything we talked about, but the one thing I remember, is the one thing he wanted me to never forget. The dreams he had when he was young became impossible to achieve.
But there was no limit to how far I could go, because I was an American.
For those of us who were born and raised in this country, it's easy to forget how special America is. But my grandfather understood how different America is from the rest of the world, because he knew what life was like outside America.
Tonight, you'll hear from another man who understands what makes America exceptional.
Mitt Romney knows America's prosperity didn't happen because our government simply spent more. It happened because our people used their own money to open a business. And when they succeed, they hire more people, who then invest or spend their money in the economy, helping others start a business and create jobs.
Mitt Romney's success in business is well known. But he's more than that.
He's a devoted husband, father and grandfather. A generous member of his community and church.
Everywhere he's been, he's volunteered his time and talent to make things better for those around him.
We are blessed that soon, he will be the president of the United States.
Our problem with President Obama isn't that he's a bad person. By all accounts, he too is a good husband, and a good father — and thanks to lots of practice, a pretty good golfer.
Our problem is he's a bad president.
The new slogan for the president's campaign is "Forward."
A government that spends $1 trillion more than it takes in.
An $800 billion stimulus that created more debt than jobs.
A government intervention into health care paid for with higher taxes and cuts to Medicare.
Scores of new rules and regulations.
These ideas don't move us "Forward," they take us "Backwards."
These are tired and old big government ideas. Ideas that people come to America to get away from. Ideas that threaten to make America more like the rest of the world, instead of helping the world become more like America.
Under Barack Obama, the only "Change" is that "Hope" has been hard to find.
Now millions of Americans are insecure about their future. But instead of inspiring us by reminding us of what makes us special, he divides us against each other.
He tells Americans they're worse off because others are better off. That people got rich by making others poor.
Hope and Change has become Divide and Conquer.
No matter how you feel about President Obama, this election is about your future, not his. And it's not simply a choice between a Democrat and a Republican.
It's a choice about what kind of country we want America to be.
As we prepare to make this choice, we should remember what made us special. For most of history almost everyone was poor. Power and wealth belonged to only a few.
Your rights were whatever your rulers allowed you to have. Your future was determined by your past.
If your parents were poor, so would you be. If you were born without opportunities, so were your children.
But America was founded on the principle that every person has God-given rights. That power belongs to the people. That government exists to protect our rights and serve our interests.That we shouldn't be trapped in the circumstances of our birth. That we should be free to go as far as our talents and work can take us.
We are special because we've been united not by a common race or ethnicity. We're bound together by common values. That family is the most important institution in society. That almighty God is the source of all we have.
Special, because we've never made the mistake of believing that we are so smart that we can rely solely on our leaders or our government.
Our national motto is "In God we Trust," reminding us that faith in our Creator is the most important American value of all.
And special because we've always understood the scriptural admonition that "for everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required."
We are a blessed people. And we have honored those blessings with the enduring example of an exceptional America.
I know that for so many of you, these last few years have tested your faith in the promise of America.
Maybe you are at an age when you thought you would be entering retirement. But now, because your savings and investments are wiped out, your future is uncertain.
Maybe, after years of hard work, this was the time you expected to be your prime earning years. But instead, you've been laid off, and your house is worth less than your mortgage.
Maybe you did everything you were told you needed to do to get ahead. You studied hard and finished school. But now, you owe thousands of dollars in student loans. You can't find a job in your field. And you've moved back in with your parents.
You want to believe we're still that place where anything is possible. But things just don't seem to be getting better. And you are starting to wonder if things will ever be the same again.
Yes, we live in a troubled time. But the story of those who came before us reminds us that America has always been about new beginnings.
And Mitt Romney is running for president because he knows that if we are willing to do for our children what our parents did for us, life in America can be better than it has ever been.
My mother was one of seven girls whose parents went to bed hungry so their children wouldn't. My father lost his mother when he was nine. He left school and went to work for the next 70 years.
They emigrated to America with little more than the hope of a better life.
My dad was a bartender. My mom was a cashier, a maid and a stock clerk at K-Mart. They never made it big. They were never rich. And yet they were successful. Because just a few decades removed from hopelessness, they made possible for us all the things that had been impossible for them.
Many nights I heard my father's keys jingling at the door as he came home after another 16-hour day. Many mornings, I woke up just as my mother got home from the overnight shift at K-Mart
When you're young, the meaning of moments like these escapes you. But now, as my own children get older, I understand it better.
My Dad used to tell us: "En este pais, ustedes van a poder lograr todas las cosas que nosotros no pudimos" "In this country, you will be able to accomplish all the things we never could."
A few years ago during a speech, I noticed a bartender behind a portable bar at the back of the ballroom. I remembered my father who had worked for many years as a banquet bartender.
He was grateful for the work he had, but that's not the life he wanted for us.
He stood behind a bar in the back of the room all those years, so one day I could stand behind a podium in the front of a room.
That journey, from behind that bar to behind this podium, goes to the essence of the American miracle — that we're exceptional not because we have more rich people here.
We're special because dreams that are impossible anywhere else, come true here.
That's not just my story. That's your story. That's our story.
It's the story of your mother who struggled to give you what she never had.
It's the story of your father who worked two jobs so doors closed for him would open for you.
The story of that teacher or that coach who taught you the lessons that shaped who you are today.
And it's the story of a man who was born into an uncertain future in a foreign country. His family came to America to escape revolution.
They struggled through poverty and the great depression. And yet he rose to be an admired businessman, and public servant.
And in November, his son, Mitt Romney, will be elected President of the United States.
We are all just a generation or two removed from someone who made our future the purpose of their lives.
America is the story of everyday people who did extraordinary things. A story woven deep into the fabric of our society.
Their stories may never be famous, but in the lives they lived, you find the living essence of America's greatness. To make sure America is still a place where tomorrow is always better than yesterday, that is what our politics should be about.
And that is what we are deciding in this election.
Do we want our children to inherit our hopes and dreams, or do we want them to inherit our problems?
Mitt Romney believes that if we succeed in changing the direction of our country, our children and grandchildren will be the most prosperous generation ever, and their achievements will astonish the world.
The story of our time will be written by Americans who haven't yet been born.
Let's make sure they write that we did our part. That in the early years of this new century, we lived in an uncertain time. But we did not allow fear to cause us to abandon what made us special.
We chose more freedom instead of more government.
We chose the principles of our founding to solve the challenges of our time.
We chose a special man to lead us in a special time.
We chose Mitt Romney to lead our nation.
And because we did, the American Miracle lived on for another generation to inherit.
Free Today, but after November? Michelle Obama offers course: 'Supermarket Shopping 101'
By Elizabeth Harrington
August 31, 2012
(CNSNews.com) - As part of her anti-obesity Let's Move campaign, First Lady Michelle Obama is now presenting a brief online course: “Supermarket Shopping 101.”
The course, which now appears on the letsmove.gov website, provides novice shoppers with tips such as “steer clear of the cookie, snack and soda aisle.”
“Supermarket Shopping 101: Read This Before You Hit the Grocery Store,” written by Lisa Cericola, was first published among the materials the first lady presented online last week when she was a "guest editor" at iVillage.com. Now, it has been republished on the Let’s Move blog.
As CNSNews.com previously reported, iVillage.com, which featured Mrs. Obama as a guest editor, also features graphic sex tips, including from prostitutes.
A self-described “cheat sheet” for grocery shopping, "Supermarket Shopping 101" includes tips on when is the best time to shop and how to navigate a grocery store.
“You’ve got your list, you’ve got your cart--let’s get shopping!” the article says. “Focus on the perimeter of the store first--that’s typically where you’ll find the produce, meat and dairy sections, which stock fresh, whole foods that should comprise the bulk of your shopping list.”
“Supermarket Shopping 101” instructs shoppers to leave the junk food for last, in order to “train yourself” to eat healthy.
“Steer clear of the cookie, snack and soda aisle until after you’ve collected everything on your list--at that point, your cart should be full, which might make you feel less tempted to buy things you don’t need,” the article says.
“By always heading to the essential areas of the store first, you’ll train yourself to form a shopping pattern that’s healthier – and, in time, will get you in and out of the store faster.”
The tips emphasize the importance of making a list: “To avoid walking in circles around the supermarket, divide your ingredient list into categories such as ‘Produce,’ ‘Dairy & Eggs,’ ‘Meat,’ ‘Canned Goods,’ ‘Dry Goods’ and ‘Frozen Foods.’”
“That way, you know where to go and what you need. (And hopefully steer clear of impulse buys!),” the article adds.
Wednesday is the preferred shopping day, according to Let’s Move, which adds, “Whenever you decide to shop, just don’t do it on an empty stomach--hunger pangs will tempt you to stray from your shopping list.”
“Like Santa Claus, you should always check your grocery list twice,” the guide continues. “Before you grab your keys and head to the store, do a quick check of your pantry, refrigerator and freezer to make sure you don’t already have any of the items on your list. Not only will you avoid coming home with an extra carton of eggs, you might also notice that you’re nearly out of an everyday staple like orange juice or butter.”
Under guidance on “making healthy choices,” the article offers healthy snack options, such as: “plain popcorn, frozen edamame, nuts, dried fruit, low-fat yogurt, hummus and raw veggies or salsa and baked tortilla chips.”
The posting appeared among a series of articles on introducing “healthy new habits for everyone in the household” that Mrs. Obama featured at iVillage.com during her time as guest editor there. On the site, the first lady also shared her personal stories of grocery shopping.
“Of course, I was the primary shopper before coming to the White House,” she said. “I had a more flexible work schedule, so sometimes I would go to our Dominick's…which was not right in our neighborhood, but it was nearby.”
“I am an absolute list person,” she said. “And I actually enjoy the efficiency of the list because it also keeps me from buying stuff that we didn’t need. I had my path through the grocery store and I would make my list based on the path that I took.”
Mrs. Obama continued: “I would start in the frozen--no, I would go over to the far right aisle in Dominick's and work my way up. And the last thing I would do was the produce section and get all the vegetables and fruits and all that, and then get right into the line. And I stayed on the outer aisle.”
“And if you stay at the outer aisles ... you try to avoid going in and getting the processed, packaged foods,” she said.
Hat tip: Michael Savage
August 31, 2012
(CNSNews.com) - As part of her anti-obesity Let's Move campaign, First Lady Michelle Obama is now presenting a brief online course: “Supermarket Shopping 101.”
The course, which now appears on the letsmove.gov website, provides novice shoppers with tips such as “steer clear of the cookie, snack and soda aisle.”
“Supermarket Shopping 101: Read This Before You Hit the Grocery Store,” written by Lisa Cericola, was first published among the materials the first lady presented online last week when she was a "guest editor" at iVillage.com. Now, it has been republished on the Let’s Move blog.
As CNSNews.com previously reported, iVillage.com, which featured Mrs. Obama as a guest editor, also features graphic sex tips, including from prostitutes.
A self-described “cheat sheet” for grocery shopping, "Supermarket Shopping 101" includes tips on when is the best time to shop and how to navigate a grocery store.
“You’ve got your list, you’ve got your cart--let’s get shopping!” the article says. “Focus on the perimeter of the store first--that’s typically where you’ll find the produce, meat and dairy sections, which stock fresh, whole foods that should comprise the bulk of your shopping list.”
“Supermarket Shopping 101” instructs shoppers to leave the junk food for last, in order to “train yourself” to eat healthy.
“Steer clear of the cookie, snack and soda aisle until after you’ve collected everything on your list--at that point, your cart should be full, which might make you feel less tempted to buy things you don’t need,” the article says.
“By always heading to the essential areas of the store first, you’ll train yourself to form a shopping pattern that’s healthier – and, in time, will get you in and out of the store faster.”
The tips emphasize the importance of making a list: “To avoid walking in circles around the supermarket, divide your ingredient list into categories such as ‘Produce,’ ‘Dairy & Eggs,’ ‘Meat,’ ‘Canned Goods,’ ‘Dry Goods’ and ‘Frozen Foods.’”
“That way, you know where to go and what you need. (And hopefully steer clear of impulse buys!),” the article adds.
Wednesday is the preferred shopping day, according to Let’s Move, which adds, “Whenever you decide to shop, just don’t do it on an empty stomach--hunger pangs will tempt you to stray from your shopping list.”
“Like Santa Claus, you should always check your grocery list twice,” the guide continues. “Before you grab your keys and head to the store, do a quick check of your pantry, refrigerator and freezer to make sure you don’t already have any of the items on your list. Not only will you avoid coming home with an extra carton of eggs, you might also notice that you’re nearly out of an everyday staple like orange juice or butter.”
Under guidance on “making healthy choices,” the article offers healthy snack options, such as: “plain popcorn, frozen edamame, nuts, dried fruit, low-fat yogurt, hummus and raw veggies or salsa and baked tortilla chips.”
The posting appeared among a series of articles on introducing “healthy new habits for everyone in the household” that Mrs. Obama featured at iVillage.com during her time as guest editor there. On the site, the first lady also shared her personal stories of grocery shopping.
“Of course, I was the primary shopper before coming to the White House,” she said. “I had a more flexible work schedule, so sometimes I would go to our Dominick's…which was not right in our neighborhood, but it was nearby.”
“I am an absolute list person,” she said. “And I actually enjoy the efficiency of the list because it also keeps me from buying stuff that we didn’t need. I had my path through the grocery store and I would make my list based on the path that I took.”
Mrs. Obama continued: “I would start in the frozen--no, I would go over to the far right aisle in Dominick's and work my way up. And the last thing I would do was the produce section and get all the vegetables and fruits and all that, and then get right into the line. And I stayed on the outer aisle.”
“And if you stay at the outer aisles ... you try to avoid going in and getting the processed, packaged foods,” she said.
Hat tip: Michael Savage
Friday, August 31, 2012
Rick Santorum: Convention Speech – Full Transcript
August 28th, 2012
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Thanks. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Bless you. Thank you.
Thank you Pennsylvania.
It is a great honor for me to be here tonight with the love of my wife, life, Karen, over here, and my 93-year-old mother, from Florida, and some of our children. My oldest son, John, wanted to be here tonight, but he’s a first year cadet at the Citadel, and… so I just want to say to you John, I’m proud of you son. Thank you.
I am a first-generation American. At age seven, my dad came to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, from the mountains of northern Italy, on a ship named Providence. How providential that one day his son would announce for President just down the road from the deep mines where his father - my grandfather - mined coal until he was 72 years old.
When my grandfather died, I remember as a kid kneeling at his casket and not being able to take my eyes off his thick strong hands - hands that dug his path in life - and gave his family a chance - at living the American Dream.
Working the mines may not have been the dream he ever dreamed - I never dared to ask him. But I think his answer would have been that America gave him more than he had ever hoped. America believed in him, that's why he believed in America.
My grandfather, like millions of other immigrants, didn't come here for some government guarantee of income equality or government benefits to take care of his family.
In 1923 there were no government benefits for immigrants except one: Freedom!
Under President Obama, the dream of freedom and opportunity has become a nightmare of dependency with almost half of America receiving some government benefit.
It is no surprise fewer and fewer Americans are achieving their dreams and more and more parents are concerned their children won't realize theirs.
President Obama spent four years and borrowed five trillion dollars, trying to convince you that he could make things better for you - to put your trust in him and the government to take care of every problem.
The result - massive debt, anemic growth and millions more unemployed. The President's plan didn't work for America, because that's not how America works.
In America we believe in freedom and the responsibility that comes with it to work hard to make that dream of reaching our God-given potential come true.
We believe it because it still works. Even today.
Graduate from high school, work hard, and get married before you have children and the chance you will ever be in poverty is just two percent.
Yet if you don't do these three things you're 38 times more likely to end up in poverty!
We understand many Americans don't succeed because the family that should be there to guide them, and serve as the first rung on the ladder of success, isn't there or is badly broken.
The fact is that marriage is disappearing in places where government dependency is highest. Most single mothers do heroic work and an amazing job raising their children, but if America is going to succeed, we must stop the assault on marriage and the family.
From lowering taxes to reforming social programs, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are dedicated to restoring the home where married moms and dads are pillars of strong communities raising good citizens.
A solid education should be the second rung on the ladder to success, but the system is failing.
President Obama's solution has been to deny parents choice, attack private schools and nationalize curriculum and student loans.
Mitt Romney believes that parents and the local community must be put in charge - not the Department of Education.
We all know there is one key to success that has helped people overcome even the greatest of obstacles - hard work. That's why work was the centerpiece of the bipartisan welfare reform law.
Requiring work as a condition for receiving welfare succeeded - and not just because the welfare rolls were cut in half - but because employment went way up, poverty went down and dreams were realized. It's a sturdy ladder to success that is built with healthy families, education and hard work.
But President Obama's policies undermine the traditional family, weaken the education system.
And this summer he showed us once again he believes in government handouts and dependency by waiving the work requirement for welfare.
I helped write welfare reform; we made the law crystal clear - no president can waive the work requirement. But as with his refusal to enforce our immigration laws, President Obama rules like he is above the law.
America take heed, when a president can simply give a speech or write a memo and change the law to do what the law says he can't, we weaken our republic.
Yet as my family and I crisscrossed America, something became so obvious to us.
America is still the greatest country in the world - and with God's help and good leadership we can restore the American Dream.
Why?
I held its hand. I shook the hand of the American Dream. And it has a strong grip. I shook hands of farmers and ranchers who made America the bread basket of the world.
Hands weathered and worn. And proud of it.
I grasped dirty hands with scars that come from years of labor in the oil and gas fields, mines and mills.
Hands that power and build America and are stewards of the abundant resources that God has given us. I gripped hands that work in restaurants and hotels, in hospitals, banks, and grocery stores.
Hands that serve and care for all of us. I clasped hands of men and women in uniform and their families.
Hands that sacrifice and risk all to protect and keep us free. And hands that pray for their safe return home. I held hands that are in want.
Hands looking for the dignity of a good job, hands growing weary of not finding one but refusing to give up hope.
And finally, I cradled the little, broken hands of the disabled. Hands that struggle and bring pain, hands that ennoble us and bring great joy.
They came to see us - oh did they come - when they found out Karen and I are blessed with caring for someone very special too, our Bella. Four and a half years ago I stood over a hospital isolette staring at the tiny hands of our newborn daughter who we hoped was perfectly healthy.
But Bella's hands were just a little different - and I knew different wasn't good news.
The doctors later told us Bella was incompatible with life and to prepare to let go. They said, even if she did survive, her disabilities would be so severe that Bella would not have a life worth living.
We didn't let go… and today, Bella is full of life and she has made our lives and countless others much more worth living.
I thank God that America still has one party that reaches out their hands in love to lift up all of God's children - born and unborn - and we say, and we say, that each of us has dignity and all of us have the right to live the American Dream.
And we also say, without you, without you, America is not keeping faith with its dream that all men, all men, were created equal, and endowed by their creator with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
We are stewards of a great inheritance. In November we have a chance to vote for life and liberty, not dependency. A vote for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will put our country back in the hands of leaders who understand what America can, and for the sake of our children, must be to keep the dream alive.
Thank you, and God bless you.
And God bless America. Thank you.
SOURCE
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Thanks. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Bless you. Thank you.
Thank you Pennsylvania.
It is a great honor for me to be here tonight with the love of my wife, life, Karen, over here, and my 93-year-old mother, from Florida, and some of our children. My oldest son, John, wanted to be here tonight, but he’s a first year cadet at the Citadel, and… so I just want to say to you John, I’m proud of you son. Thank you.
I am a first-generation American. At age seven, my dad came to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, from the mountains of northern Italy, on a ship named Providence. How providential that one day his son would announce for President just down the road from the deep mines where his father - my grandfather - mined coal until he was 72 years old.
When my grandfather died, I remember as a kid kneeling at his casket and not being able to take my eyes off his thick strong hands - hands that dug his path in life - and gave his family a chance - at living the American Dream.
Working the mines may not have been the dream he ever dreamed - I never dared to ask him. But I think his answer would have been that America gave him more than he had ever hoped. America believed in him, that's why he believed in America.
My grandfather, like millions of other immigrants, didn't come here for some government guarantee of income equality or government benefits to take care of his family.
In 1923 there were no government benefits for immigrants except one: Freedom!
Under President Obama, the dream of freedom and opportunity has become a nightmare of dependency with almost half of America receiving some government benefit.
It is no surprise fewer and fewer Americans are achieving their dreams and more and more parents are concerned their children won't realize theirs.
President Obama spent four years and borrowed five trillion dollars, trying to convince you that he could make things better for you - to put your trust in him and the government to take care of every problem.
The result - massive debt, anemic growth and millions more unemployed. The President's plan didn't work for America, because that's not how America works.
In America we believe in freedom and the responsibility that comes with it to work hard to make that dream of reaching our God-given potential come true.
We believe it because it still works. Even today.
Graduate from high school, work hard, and get married before you have children and the chance you will ever be in poverty is just two percent.
Yet if you don't do these three things you're 38 times more likely to end up in poverty!
We understand many Americans don't succeed because the family that should be there to guide them, and serve as the first rung on the ladder of success, isn't there or is badly broken.
The fact is that marriage is disappearing in places where government dependency is highest. Most single mothers do heroic work and an amazing job raising their children, but if America is going to succeed, we must stop the assault on marriage and the family.
From lowering taxes to reforming social programs, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are dedicated to restoring the home where married moms and dads are pillars of strong communities raising good citizens.
A solid education should be the second rung on the ladder to success, but the system is failing.
President Obama's solution has been to deny parents choice, attack private schools and nationalize curriculum and student loans.
Mitt Romney believes that parents and the local community must be put in charge - not the Department of Education.
We all know there is one key to success that has helped people overcome even the greatest of obstacles - hard work. That's why work was the centerpiece of the bipartisan welfare reform law.
Requiring work as a condition for receiving welfare succeeded - and not just because the welfare rolls were cut in half - but because employment went way up, poverty went down and dreams were realized. It's a sturdy ladder to success that is built with healthy families, education and hard work.
But President Obama's policies undermine the traditional family, weaken the education system.
And this summer he showed us once again he believes in government handouts and dependency by waiving the work requirement for welfare.
I helped write welfare reform; we made the law crystal clear - no president can waive the work requirement. But as with his refusal to enforce our immigration laws, President Obama rules like he is above the law.
America take heed, when a president can simply give a speech or write a memo and change the law to do what the law says he can't, we weaken our republic.
Yet as my family and I crisscrossed America, something became so obvious to us.
America is still the greatest country in the world - and with God's help and good leadership we can restore the American Dream.
Why?
I held its hand. I shook the hand of the American Dream. And it has a strong grip. I shook hands of farmers and ranchers who made America the bread basket of the world.
Hands weathered and worn. And proud of it.
I grasped dirty hands with scars that come from years of labor in the oil and gas fields, mines and mills.
Hands that power and build America and are stewards of the abundant resources that God has given us. I gripped hands that work in restaurants and hotels, in hospitals, banks, and grocery stores.
Hands that serve and care for all of us. I clasped hands of men and women in uniform and their families.
Hands that sacrifice and risk all to protect and keep us free. And hands that pray for their safe return home. I held hands that are in want.
Hands looking for the dignity of a good job, hands growing weary of not finding one but refusing to give up hope.
And finally, I cradled the little, broken hands of the disabled. Hands that struggle and bring pain, hands that ennoble us and bring great joy.
They came to see us - oh did they come - when they found out Karen and I are blessed with caring for someone very special too, our Bella. Four and a half years ago I stood over a hospital isolette staring at the tiny hands of our newborn daughter who we hoped was perfectly healthy.
But Bella's hands were just a little different - and I knew different wasn't good news.
The doctors later told us Bella was incompatible with life and to prepare to let go. They said, even if she did survive, her disabilities would be so severe that Bella would not have a life worth living.
We didn't let go… and today, Bella is full of life and she has made our lives and countless others much more worth living.
I thank God that America still has one party that reaches out their hands in love to lift up all of God's children - born and unborn - and we say, and we say, that each of us has dignity and all of us have the right to live the American Dream.
And we also say, without you, without you, America is not keeping faith with its dream that all men, all men, were created equal, and endowed by their creator with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
We are stewards of a great inheritance. In November we have a chance to vote for life and liberty, not dependency. A vote for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will put our country back in the hands of leaders who understand what America can, and for the sake of our children, must be to keep the dream alive.
Thank you, and God bless you.
And God bless America. Thank you.
SOURCE
That Chair Was Racist
August 31, 2012
William L. Gensert
American Thinker - Who does Clint Eastwood think he is? Having an empty chair next to him on stage while he pretended to talk to a non-existent Barack Obama supposedly sitting in that chair was racism. It was intended to make our President seem small, inconsequential, like a black man who doesn't count -- or counts at most as 3/5 of a person.
Was the empty chair a metaphor for Barack Obama as an empty suit, or an emperor with no clothes? This is clearly code for society's assumption that a black man cannot be taken seriously and is not up to the job. Towering above the empty chair Eastwood talked down to an imaginary Barack Obama. A black man does not need to be talked down to by a white man, especially a white man who is famous for playing characters always armed and dangerous.
And where does he get off mentioning the President's record of failure? Barack Obama doesn't need a record of success. He is Barack Obama, and that should be enough.
Wait...I'm sure some pundits on the left will make all the arguments above, and maybe throw in the fact that when he called for Obama's firing and drew his hand across his neck it was a coded message for the President's lynching.
When you have been a complete and utter disaster as a President, charges of racism are all you have left. Of course he won't make those charges himself, his stooges in the media will.
William L. Gensert
American Thinker - Who does Clint Eastwood think he is? Having an empty chair next to him on stage while he pretended to talk to a non-existent Barack Obama supposedly sitting in that chair was racism. It was intended to make our President seem small, inconsequential, like a black man who doesn't count -- or counts at most as 3/5 of a person.
Was the empty chair a metaphor for Barack Obama as an empty suit, or an emperor with no clothes? This is clearly code for society's assumption that a black man cannot be taken seriously and is not up to the job. Towering above the empty chair Eastwood talked down to an imaginary Barack Obama. A black man does not need to be talked down to by a white man, especially a white man who is famous for playing characters always armed and dangerous.
And where does he get off mentioning the President's record of failure? Barack Obama doesn't need a record of success. He is Barack Obama, and that should be enough.
Wait...I'm sure some pundits on the left will make all the arguments above, and maybe throw in the fact that when he called for Obama's firing and drew his hand across his neck it was a coded message for the President's lynching.
When you have been a complete and utter disaster as a President, charges of racism are all you have left. Of course he won't make those charges himself, his stooges in the media will.
New survey of Florida’s Millennials (18 – 29 year olds shows the “Obama thrill” is gone
By Coach Collins, on August 31st, 2012
By Derrick Hollenbeck, staff writer
(CoachisRight) A just released survey conducted for Generation Opportunity (G.O) among Florida’s Millennials (the term for 18 to 29 year olds) says they are very dissatisfied with the economy given to them by governmental policies over the past four years. While 71% say they will be voting in November just 34% think today’s political leaders represent their interests.
The G.O. survey was done by inc./WomanTrend (i/WT) who interviewed 524 young Floridians randomly chosen from online opt-in respondents invited to make themselves heard via a secure link to a questionnaire they were sent. Quotas were established to insure proper representation of all racial regional and gender groups, and i/WT claims a 4.4 +/- margin of error.
Eighty nine percent (89%) of Florida’s millennials say the state of the economy has altered their everyday life for the worse.
More than a third of the respondents (34%) said (keep in mind these are young people speaking) they had to reduce their: entertainment budget; giving gifts to family and friends; food budget; vacations; and personal driving – forcing use of public transit.
Thirty five percent (35%) said they had to try to find an additional job. Others reported having to move in with family, taken in roommates and/or downgraded their living accommodations.
At least twenty percent (20%) of the respondents said the economy has caused them to postpone major parts of their lives. They mentioned being unable buy a home; start a family; save for retirement; continue or extend their education or vocational training; move to another city and perhaps saddest of all get married.
Other opinions expressed by respondents worth noting are:
64% of Florida’s young people rate the availability of genuine and fulfilling jobs as more important than lower student loan costs and 74% said the lack of jobs is killing the middle class.
The survey didn’t ask respondents how they planned to vote in November, but no group that holds sentiments like these can still be relied upon to vote for another four years of the same conditions they seriously don’t like.
It is any wonder that Barack Obama’s support among young voters has gone from 66/32 in 2008 to 48/38 today?
By Derrick Hollenbeck, staff writer
(CoachisRight) A just released survey conducted for Generation Opportunity (G.O) among Florida’s Millennials (the term for 18 to 29 year olds) says they are very dissatisfied with the economy given to them by governmental policies over the past four years. While 71% say they will be voting in November just 34% think today’s political leaders represent their interests.
The G.O. survey was done by inc./WomanTrend (i/WT) who interviewed 524 young Floridians randomly chosen from online opt-in respondents invited to make themselves heard via a secure link to a questionnaire they were sent. Quotas were established to insure proper representation of all racial regional and gender groups, and i/WT claims a 4.4 +/- margin of error.
Eighty nine percent (89%) of Florida’s millennials say the state of the economy has altered their everyday life for the worse.
More than a third of the respondents (34%) said (keep in mind these are young people speaking) they had to reduce their: entertainment budget; giving gifts to family and friends; food budget; vacations; and personal driving – forcing use of public transit.
Thirty five percent (35%) said they had to try to find an additional job. Others reported having to move in with family, taken in roommates and/or downgraded their living accommodations.
At least twenty percent (20%) of the respondents said the economy has caused them to postpone major parts of their lives. They mentioned being unable buy a home; start a family; save for retirement; continue or extend their education or vocational training; move to another city and perhaps saddest of all get married.
Other opinions expressed by respondents worth noting are:
64% of Florida’s young people rate the availability of genuine and fulfilling jobs as more important than lower student loan costs and 74% said the lack of jobs is killing the middle class.
The survey didn’t ask respondents how they planned to vote in November, but no group that holds sentiments like these can still be relied upon to vote for another four years of the same conditions they seriously don’t like.
It is any wonder that Barack Obama’s support among young voters has gone from 66/32 in 2008 to 48/38 today?
Mexican Drug Cartels Have 'Taken-Over' Pemex Oil Pipleline System, Now Engaged in Widespread Bribery of DHS Employees
31 August 2012
'clandestine tap'
Despite 130-ton pot busts and their being locked in a five year, multilateral war with the government/other gangs in which 5x more people have died than US losses for the entire Iraq war, frightening Mexican drug mafias continue to grow in wealth, power, and influence... and are now extending their unique
brand of chaos directly to US soil.
The Mexican federal government already had enough problems facing an utterly ruthless enemy equipped with machine guns, narco-tanks and homemade submarines attained via almost unlimited cash- now the gangs have gone on the offensive against the feds' own primary revenue source, Pemex: over thirty of the oil company's employees have been kidnapped and operations 'crippled' as the familias drain almost two million barrels from the nation's oil pipeline system via over 5000 'clandestine taps' in areas the army is simply unable to control...
CNS News:
Pemex said on Aug. 10 that the national pipeline systems 'are practically taken over by organized crime gangs associated with heavily armed groups.' Criminals use devices called “clandestine taps” to steal the oil from the pipelines.
According to Pemex, more than 1.84 million barrels of oil were stolen from the pipeline system in the first six months of this year, meaning that on average, at least 17,500 gallons of oil were stolen per hour...
But while the nationalized Pemex is basically a jobs program run in an extremely inefficient manner, the company has still provided the Mexican government with over half it's revenue for some time now. The problem is that old wells combined with the company's lack of investment/drilling technology has Pemex oil output in decline... NOW the cartels are swooping-in to bleed the ailing company -thus federal government/Army- completely dry.
But the monstrous Mexican drug gangs aren't just sitting on their swelling power and wealth... smelling weakness, they're charging right over the US border to put their boot -along with new client Al Qaida's- on our throat, too:
Mexican cartels are increasingly engaged in the 'systematic corruption' of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) workers to expand their smuggling operations — including the trafficking of aliens from terrorism-linked countries.
'Drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) have become not only more violent and dangerous, but more clever as well.' The DTOs have turned to recruiting and corrupting DHS employees' Charles Edwards, the acting DHS inspector general, told a hearing of a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee.
'A corrupt DHS employee may accept a bribe for allowing what appear to be simply undocumented aliens into the U.S. while unwittingly helping terrorists enter the country. Likewise, what seems to be drug contraband could be weapons of mass destruction, such as chemical or biological weapons or bomb-making materials.'
...
He also said DHS employees may be bribed to leak or sell sensitive law enforcement information to smugglers, and provide them with documents such as immigration papers....
141 CBP employees 'have been arrested or indicted for acts of corruption' since October 2004.
If President Romney doesn't send the Army down to the border his first week in office... given the situation, why do we even have a military anymore? Might as well just surrender to everybody now, open the borders, and save us all that money...
Despite 130-ton pot busts and their being locked in a five year, multilateral war with the government/other gangs in which 5x more people have died than US losses for the entire Iraq war, frightening Mexican drug mafias continue to grow in wealth, power, and influence... and are now extending their unique
brand of chaos directly to US soil.
The Mexican federal government already had enough problems facing an utterly ruthless enemy equipped with machine guns, narco-tanks and homemade submarines attained via almost unlimited cash- now the gangs have gone on the offensive against the feds' own primary revenue source, Pemex: over thirty of the oil company's employees have been kidnapped and operations 'crippled' as the familias drain almost two million barrels from the nation's oil pipeline system via over 5000 'clandestine taps' in areas the army is simply unable to control...
CNS News:
Pemex said on Aug. 10 that the national pipeline systems 'are practically taken over by organized crime gangs associated with heavily armed groups.' Criminals use devices called “clandestine taps” to steal the oil from the pipelines.
According to Pemex, more than 1.84 million barrels of oil were stolen from the pipeline system in the first six months of this year, meaning that on average, at least 17,500 gallons of oil were stolen per hour...
But while the nationalized Pemex is basically a jobs program run in an extremely inefficient manner, the company has still provided the Mexican government with over half it's revenue for some time now. The problem is that old wells combined with the company's lack of investment/drilling technology has Pemex oil output in decline... NOW the cartels are swooping-in to bleed the ailing company -thus federal government/Army- completely dry.
But the monstrous Mexican drug gangs aren't just sitting on their swelling power and wealth... smelling weakness, they're charging right over the US border to put their boot -along with new client Al Qaida's- on our throat, too:
Mexican cartels are increasingly engaged in the 'systematic corruption' of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) workers to expand their smuggling operations — including the trafficking of aliens from terrorism-linked countries.
'Drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) have become not only more violent and dangerous, but more clever as well.' The DTOs have turned to recruiting and corrupting DHS employees' Charles Edwards, the acting DHS inspector general, told a hearing of a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee.
'A corrupt DHS employee may accept a bribe for allowing what appear to be simply undocumented aliens into the U.S. while unwittingly helping terrorists enter the country. Likewise, what seems to be drug contraband could be weapons of mass destruction, such as chemical or biological weapons or bomb-making materials.'
...
He also said DHS employees may be bribed to leak or sell sensitive law enforcement information to smugglers, and provide them with documents such as immigration papers....
141 CBP employees 'have been arrested or indicted for acts of corruption' since October 2004.
If President Romney doesn't send the Army down to the border his first week in office... given the situation, why do we even have a military anymore? Might as well just surrender to everybody now, open the borders, and save us all that money...
Doctors told to try and talk women giving birth out of having epidurals to save NHS money (as they cost £200 a pop)
Caesareans cost around £1,200 a time while epidurals – anaesthetic injections into the spine – are around £200
'Only the woman in pain can decide whether and what analgesia, or pain relief, she needs,' say critics
Pain relief: Plans to ration epidurals have met with criticism from senior doctors
By Sophie Borland
PUBLISHED: 10:06 EST, 30 August 2012
UPDATED: 04:38 EST, 31 August 2012
Daily Mail (UK) - Family doctors are being told to try to talk women out of having Caesareans and very strong painkillers during birth to save the NHS money.
New guidelines drawn up for GPs urge them to encourage women to have natural labours with as little medical help as possible.
But for many women the prospect of giving birth without the painkillers is unthinkable.
And critics have said the move has been made without any thought for the women themselves.
The guidelines also remind doctors to tell women to consider having their babies outside hospital in midwife-run units or in their own homes.
Caesareans cost the NHS around £1,200 a time while epidurals – anaesthetic injections into the spine – are around £200.
The guidelines state that, as well as being expensive, they both slow down a mother’s recovery after labour and impede breastfeeding.
The advice does not suggest women should not be given any painkillers, such as gas and air which are commonly used.
However, it specifically tells doctors to try to reduce the numbers given epidurals and other anaesthetic injections into the spine.
The advice – drawn up by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives and the National Childbirth Trust – has enraged campaigners and some senior doctors.
Felicity Plaat, consultant anaesthetist at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital, London, said: ‘In the 21st century, where the resources are available, it’s unacceptable and unethical to withhold effective pain relief from women who require it.
‘Furthermore, only the woman in pain can decide whether and what analgesia, or pain relief, she needs.’
Deborah Morgan, of Perinatal Illness UK, a charity which supports women with post-natal depression, said: ‘The physical and mental health of women and the lives of babies are now being compartmentalised to fit a system.
‘It is not really in their interests, and instead is all about saving money – bottom line.
‘Under the guise of “choice”, women are being covertly pushed into accepting a supposedly cheap option.’
Professor Philip Steer, editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said: ‘To try to achieve increased rates of uncomplicated births – by reducing the availability of induction, epidural anaesthesia and Caesarean section for informed women who request them – reduces choice without any guarantee of an improved outcome.’
Supermodel Miranda Kerr is an advocate of natural births.
Professor Philip Steer, editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said the move would reduce choice
The advice has been sent out to the new groups of GPs – clinical commissioning groups – which are replacing primary care trusts under NHS reforms.
It tells GPs to think of midwife-led centres as the ‘default’ option, rather than hospitals.
Although the majority of women have their babies in hospital, most are perfectly capable of giving birth at home or in such centres, it points out.
These clinics aim to help women to give birth naturally without epidurals, anaesthetics or the help of doctors.
GPs are also told to discourage women from having Caesareans, particularly if they had one for their first birth and are convinced they are unable to have their second baby naturally.
But the advice conflicts with guidelines from the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence, which states that women should be offered Caesareans if they were very worried about giving birth.
Earlier this year NICE relaxed its rules and stated that those who had a particular phobia of birth should be allowed the operations.
The RCOG has removed the guidelines from its website although they have already been read by a number of doctors and health professionals.
It will hold a meeting next week to discuss if they should be rewritten.
'Only the woman in pain can decide whether and what analgesia, or pain relief, she needs,' say critics
By Sophie Borland
PUBLISHED: 10:06 EST, 30 August 2012
UPDATED: 04:38 EST, 31 August 2012
Daily Mail (UK) - Family doctors are being told to try to talk women out of having Caesareans and very strong painkillers during birth to save the NHS money.
New guidelines drawn up for GPs urge them to encourage women to have natural labours with as little medical help as possible.
But for many women the prospect of giving birth without the painkillers is unthinkable.
And critics have said the move has been made without any thought for the women themselves.
The guidelines also remind doctors to tell women to consider having their babies outside hospital in midwife-run units or in their own homes.
Caesareans cost the NHS around £1,200 a time while epidurals – anaesthetic injections into the spine – are around £200.
The guidelines state that, as well as being expensive, they both slow down a mother’s recovery after labour and impede breastfeeding.
The advice does not suggest women should not be given any painkillers, such as gas and air which are commonly used.
However, it specifically tells doctors to try to reduce the numbers given epidurals and other anaesthetic injections into the spine.
The advice – drawn up by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives and the National Childbirth Trust – has enraged campaigners and some senior doctors.
Felicity Plaat, consultant anaesthetist at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital, London, said: ‘In the 21st century, where the resources are available, it’s unacceptable and unethical to withhold effective pain relief from women who require it.
‘Furthermore, only the woman in pain can decide whether and what analgesia, or pain relief, she needs.’
Deborah Morgan, of Perinatal Illness UK, a charity which supports women with post-natal depression, said: ‘The physical and mental health of women and the lives of babies are now being compartmentalised to fit a system.
‘It is not really in their interests, and instead is all about saving money – bottom line.
‘Under the guise of “choice”, women are being covertly pushed into accepting a supposedly cheap option.’
Professor Philip Steer, editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said: ‘To try to achieve increased rates of uncomplicated births – by reducing the availability of induction, epidural anaesthesia and Caesarean section for informed women who request them – reduces choice without any guarantee of an improved outcome.’
The advice has been sent out to the new groups of GPs – clinical commissioning groups – which are replacing primary care trusts under NHS reforms.
It tells GPs to think of midwife-led centres as the ‘default’ option, rather than hospitals.
Although the majority of women have their babies in hospital, most are perfectly capable of giving birth at home or in such centres, it points out.
These clinics aim to help women to give birth naturally without epidurals, anaesthetics or the help of doctors.
GPs are also told to discourage women from having Caesareans, particularly if they had one for their first birth and are convinced they are unable to have their second baby naturally.
But the advice conflicts with guidelines from the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence, which states that women should be offered Caesareans if they were very worried about giving birth.
Earlier this year NICE relaxed its rules and stated that those who had a particular phobia of birth should be allowed the operations.
The RCOG has removed the guidelines from its website although they have already been read by a number of doctors and health professionals.
It will hold a meeting next week to discuss if they should be rewritten.
5 Reasons "Negro Spotting" At The Republican National Convention Is Stupid
John Hawkins
Aug 31, 2012
Townhall.com - Have you heard of "Negro Spotting?" It's a liberal game on Twitter. Libs see a black person at the Republican National Convention and they laugh and laugh at the hilarity! Why, there aren't a lot of black people there! That must mean Republicans are racist! Ha, ha, ha! This actually tells you a lot about how liberals think -- or more accurately, don't think.
1) "Negro Spotting" is a sign of how little racism the Left can find: Most liberals believe deep down in their bleeding hearts that conservatives are evil, bigoted racists! Yet, there's no racist rhetoric coming from the stage at the Republican National Convention. Worse yet, from their perspective, is the vast number of minority speakers. Among others, Tim Scott, Mia Love, Lucé Vela Fortuño, Brian Sandoval, Ted Cruz, Nikki Haley, Artur Davis, Francisco Canseco, Ricky Gill, Sher Valenzuela, Luis Fortuño, Susana Martinez, and Marco Rubio were able to speak. Percentage-wise, there may be more minorities speaking at the Republican National Convention than at the Democratic National Convention. Yet, since liberals can't admit the obvious truth, that the Republican Party isn't even remotely racist, they have to invent ever more ludicrous phony examples of "racism" to keep the cognitive dissonance from shaking their puny little minds apart. So, they claim that words like Chicago are racist dog whistles and the fact that there aren't a lot of black Americans attending the RNC, which is hardly a surprise given that 90% of black Americans regularly vote for the Democratic Party, is evidence of racism.
2) How white is the Republican National Convention VS. The Occupy Movement And Netroots Nation? I've been to Netroots Nation, which is the biggest independent liberal conference in America, and guess what? It’s pretty white. How white is it? Like a snowstorm in Maine white. Like Grand Ole Opry in Alaska white. Like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man diving into a giant vat of whip cream white. The same could be said for a lot of Occupy rallies. When you consider that 90% of black Americans and roughly 70% of Hispanic Americans vote Democratic, you have to ask why there's no soul searching going on in the Democratic Party. After all, you wouldn't logically expect a lot of black and Hispanic Americans to show up at Tea Party rallies or at the RNC given the racial demographics, but why are the vast numbers of minorities in the Democratic Party shying away from Netroots Nation and the Occupy Movement? Maybe they heard the way that white liberals talk about black conservatives and concluded they wouldn't be welcome there?
3) The fact that libs are reaching this far tells you a lot about Obama's record: If Obama's stimulus had worked and unemployment was 5 1/2 percent, the economy was roaring, Obama had kept his promise to cut deficit spending in half, if he'd secured Medicare instead of taking 718 billion dollars out to fund his unpopular Obamacare plan, if the taxpayers hadn't lost 25 billion dollars on the GM and Chevrolet bailouts, and if Obama had been a successful President instead of a bailout-loving, dictator-bowing, hyper-partisan, far left wing lying machine, we'd never hear the words "Negro Spotting." "Negro Spotting" is what you have to stoop to when you're embarrassed by the terrible performance of your candidate and you want to talk about ANYTHING other than his performance in office. It's like the old saying goes, "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullflop."
4) Liberals are myopic when it comes to black Americans: Is it racist to oppose an extension of early voting? Only if you make the racist assumption that black people are too incompetent or irresponsible to make it to the polls in the same period that people from every other race can arrive. Is it racist to ask for voter ID? Only if you make the racist assumption that black Americans are too helpless and dumb to get an ID, just like people from every other race. Also, you'd have to assume that banks, ABC stores, bars, groceries, dance clubs, car rentals, and airports among many other places that require identification are also racist. The same goes for mostly white and black attendance at events. How many white people show up for a Jay Z concert? How many black Americans show up at Comic Con? Does that mean they're racist? Of course, not. Jay Z would love to have 10 times as many white fans showing up because they'd be putting more money in his pocket. Comic Con would undoubtedly feel the same about black Americans. The Republican Party would LOVE to have more black people going to Tea Parties, getting involved in local Republican politics, and showing up at the RNC because it would mean more black Americans would be voting for the GOP. But contrary to what Joe Biden says, Republicans don't want to put anybody in chains; so although black Americans are always welcome at Republican events, we can't force them to attend.
5) Liberals say "Where are the minorities?" at the RNC & then smear, racially demean, & attack every minority who does speak: If you're not a straight, white male, liberals think they own you. So, the moment that conservatives who are black, Hispanic, female, or gay get any sort of attention, liberals try to destroy them to keep them from inspiring others with their example. It's no different with the way the Left reacts to the GOP convention. Liberals yuk it up because they don't see a lot of black Americans in the crowd; then they hurl disgusting abuse at every minority conservative who gets on the stage. Just to name one of many all too typical examples, after Mia Love's speech, her Wikipedia page was edited to say that the deeply religious, married mother of three children is a "'dirty, worthless whore' who sold out to big business,' Fox News observed. 'Another section again called her a 'sell-out' to the 'right wing hate machine,' before accusing her of being exploited 'like the House N—– she truly is.'" Maybe there aren't a lot of black Republicans at the RNC because they're afraid liberals will call them "dirty, worthless whores" or "House N—–" and they're trying to save themselves the abuse.
Aug 31, 2012
Townhall.com - Have you heard of "Negro Spotting?" It's a liberal game on Twitter. Libs see a black person at the Republican National Convention and they laugh and laugh at the hilarity! Why, there aren't a lot of black people there! That must mean Republicans are racist! Ha, ha, ha! This actually tells you a lot about how liberals think -- or more accurately, don't think.
1) "Negro Spotting" is a sign of how little racism the Left can find: Most liberals believe deep down in their bleeding hearts that conservatives are evil, bigoted racists! Yet, there's no racist rhetoric coming from the stage at the Republican National Convention. Worse yet, from their perspective, is the vast number of minority speakers. Among others, Tim Scott, Mia Love, Lucé Vela Fortuño, Brian Sandoval, Ted Cruz, Nikki Haley, Artur Davis, Francisco Canseco, Ricky Gill, Sher Valenzuela, Luis Fortuño, Susana Martinez, and Marco Rubio were able to speak. Percentage-wise, there may be more minorities speaking at the Republican National Convention than at the Democratic National Convention. Yet, since liberals can't admit the obvious truth, that the Republican Party isn't even remotely racist, they have to invent ever more ludicrous phony examples of "racism" to keep the cognitive dissonance from shaking their puny little minds apart. So, they claim that words like Chicago are racist dog whistles and the fact that there aren't a lot of black Americans attending the RNC, which is hardly a surprise given that 90% of black Americans regularly vote for the Democratic Party, is evidence of racism.
2) How white is the Republican National Convention VS. The Occupy Movement And Netroots Nation? I've been to Netroots Nation, which is the biggest independent liberal conference in America, and guess what? It’s pretty white. How white is it? Like a snowstorm in Maine white. Like Grand Ole Opry in Alaska white. Like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man diving into a giant vat of whip cream white. The same could be said for a lot of Occupy rallies. When you consider that 90% of black Americans and roughly 70% of Hispanic Americans vote Democratic, you have to ask why there's no soul searching going on in the Democratic Party. After all, you wouldn't logically expect a lot of black and Hispanic Americans to show up at Tea Party rallies or at the RNC given the racial demographics, but why are the vast numbers of minorities in the Democratic Party shying away from Netroots Nation and the Occupy Movement? Maybe they heard the way that white liberals talk about black conservatives and concluded they wouldn't be welcome there?
3) The fact that libs are reaching this far tells you a lot about Obama's record: If Obama's stimulus had worked and unemployment was 5 1/2 percent, the economy was roaring, Obama had kept his promise to cut deficit spending in half, if he'd secured Medicare instead of taking 718 billion dollars out to fund his unpopular Obamacare plan, if the taxpayers hadn't lost 25 billion dollars on the GM and Chevrolet bailouts, and if Obama had been a successful President instead of a bailout-loving, dictator-bowing, hyper-partisan, far left wing lying machine, we'd never hear the words "Negro Spotting." "Negro Spotting" is what you have to stoop to when you're embarrassed by the terrible performance of your candidate and you want to talk about ANYTHING other than his performance in office. It's like the old saying goes, "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullflop."
4) Liberals are myopic when it comes to black Americans: Is it racist to oppose an extension of early voting? Only if you make the racist assumption that black people are too incompetent or irresponsible to make it to the polls in the same period that people from every other race can arrive. Is it racist to ask for voter ID? Only if you make the racist assumption that black Americans are too helpless and dumb to get an ID, just like people from every other race. Also, you'd have to assume that banks, ABC stores, bars, groceries, dance clubs, car rentals, and airports among many other places that require identification are also racist. The same goes for mostly white and black attendance at events. How many white people show up for a Jay Z concert? How many black Americans show up at Comic Con? Does that mean they're racist? Of course, not. Jay Z would love to have 10 times as many white fans showing up because they'd be putting more money in his pocket. Comic Con would undoubtedly feel the same about black Americans. The Republican Party would LOVE to have more black people going to Tea Parties, getting involved in local Republican politics, and showing up at the RNC because it would mean more black Americans would be voting for the GOP. But contrary to what Joe Biden says, Republicans don't want to put anybody in chains; so although black Americans are always welcome at Republican events, we can't force them to attend.
5) Liberals say "Where are the minorities?" at the RNC & then smear, racially demean, & attack every minority who does speak: If you're not a straight, white male, liberals think they own you. So, the moment that conservatives who are black, Hispanic, female, or gay get any sort of attention, liberals try to destroy them to keep them from inspiring others with their example. It's no different with the way the Left reacts to the GOP convention. Liberals yuk it up because they don't see a lot of black Americans in the crowd; then they hurl disgusting abuse at every minority conservative who gets on the stage. Just to name one of many all too typical examples, after Mia Love's speech, her Wikipedia page was edited to say that the deeply religious, married mother of three children is a "'dirty, worthless whore' who sold out to big business,' Fox News observed. 'Another section again called her a 'sell-out' to the 'right wing hate machine,' before accusing her of being exploited 'like the House N—– she truly is.'" Maybe there aren't a lot of black Republicans at the RNC because they're afraid liberals will call them "dirty, worthless whores" or "House N—–" and they're trying to save themselves the abuse.
When Donkeys Attack!
Mayor dead after apparent donkey attack
WOAI.COM HOLLYWOOD PARK, Texas -- A South Texas mayor has been found dead after apparently being attacked by a 500-pound donkey on his ranch.
The Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that the death of Hollywood Park Mayor William “Bill” Bohlke appears to be an accident. Bohlke was 65.
Chief Deputy David Soward says Bohlke apparently was attacked Monday morning by a male, aggressive donkey he kept on the ranch.
Investigators say the donkey and several others are still on the property with other livestock.
"He loved his animals. He loved ranching," said Sandra Wilson.
According to the neighbor, Bohlke's wife was concerned when he didn't return to Hollywood Park after checking on his animals.
After dark, Wilson said several neighbors, jumped on all terrain vehicles and went looking for the Air Force veteran.
They found his truck still running hours after he was attacked.
Soward says it’s up to the family to decide what to do with the donkey.
Mayor Pro Tem Steve Phillips will serve as acting mayor of Hollywood Park, a town of about 3,000 just north of San Antonio.
A memorial service is scheduled for next Tuesday at Saint Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church with a burial at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.
--Joseph Fenity
WAR ON CHRISTIANITY UPDATE:
Vienna church says county sign rules violate free speech
Tracy A. Woodward/THE WASHINGTON POST - The Church of the Good Shepherd in Vienna has filed a lawsuit against Fairfax County after being served with a notice saying its sign violated county code because the messages were changed more than twice in a 24-hour period.
By Corinne Reilly
August 31, 2012
Washington Post
If the Church of the Good Shepherd wanted to post the Ten Commandments on its sign on Hunter Mill Road, it would take five days to broadcast them all.
That’s because Fairfax County has a commandment of its own: Thou shall not change electronic signs more than twice a day.
So, after the Vienna United Methodist church posted three messages one day last month — offering refuge from the heat, then promoting its Web site and finally listing the time of a group prayer meeting — a zoning inspector called it a sin and hit the church with a warning letter:
“It is noted that the screens changed more than twice in a twenty-four (24) hour period,” the letter stated. “This changeable copy LED sign is considered a prohibited sign.”
The county offered two choices: permanently limit the sign to two message changes per day or remove it altogether.
At a meeting at the end of July, about two months after the church installed the sign, the county and the congregation couldn’t agree on a compromise. So the church, believing that the First Amendment also applies to the word of God, sued last week in federal court in Alexandria, saying the two-message limit violates the church’s rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion. The suit says that the county’s ordinance violates a 2000 law, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which prohibits zoning rules that place undue burdens on religious institutions.
“Under the county’s restrictive policy, the church must pick and choose which of its various functions can be displayed on its sign each day,” the suit says. “Such an impact is a substantial burden on the church’s religious exercise.”
County officials declined to comment, as is their policy when a lawsuit is pending. Several members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors said they weren’t aware of the two-message limit and didn’t want to discuss it until they learned more.
“It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me,” Supervisor Pat S. Herrity (R-Springfield) said.
Neighbors, even those who said they don’t like the sign, said it seemed a waste of government time and resources to worry about the number of messages on a church sign.
“It’s a pretty small fish in the scheme of things,” Steve Hull said.
At the crux of the matter is a zoning ordinance that bans electronic signs that use flashing lights or moving text. But what qualifies as moving? The county defines it as changing a sign’s message more than twice in 24 hours.
“It’s just too restrictive,” Sherry Spinelli, a member of the church’s board of trustees, said this week. “It doesn’t make sense.”
She noted that the church got the proper county permit to erect the $37,000 sign but said it wasn’t aware of the message limit until the county’s letter arrived.
In addition to the lawsuit, a county spokeswoman said staff members also couldn’t discuss the ordinance, including its purpose, history or past cases in which it has been enforced.
The church’s attorney, Michael York, said the limit is applied arbitrarily. Electronic signs that display the time or weather information, for instance, are exempt. Although the county provided the church with examples of past cases in which it has enforced the rule, Spinelli said that in paying closer attention to electronic signs in recent weeks, she has seen several without time or weather information that don’t comply.
She and others with the church think their sign was singled out because someone complained to the county. They suspect it might have been the same person who phoned anonymously a few weeks after the sign’s installation and angrily asked when the church got “that Las Vegas sign.”
The sign isn’t exactly flashy. It stands a few feet off the ground at the edge of the church parking lot, facing the street. The electronic portion is about 2½ feet tall and 6 feet wide. Its green letters, on a black background, can at times be hard to read.
Spinelli noted that on the day the county’s investigator observed the sign, just after the June 29 derecho storm, one of the offending messages invited neighbors without power into the air-conditioned church.
On Monday, the sign’s message was, “8:30 am prayer, 9 am Sunday school, 10 am worship.”
The next day, it read, “Morning prayer, Wednesday at 6:30 am.”
The messages for which the church was cited were similarly staid.
“Welcome, come on in and beat the heat,” read the first.
“Visit us at goodshepherdva.com,” read the second.
And the third advertised a prayer group meeting: “Practicing the Presence, Thurs., July 5, 1 pm.”
The mere fact that the new sign is more noticeable than the old one — its lettering had to be changed manually — is enough to have caused a stir along wooded, winding Hunter Mill Road. The two-lane thoroughfare predates the Civil War and is officially designated a Virginia scenic byway. More than one civic group works to preserve it.
Members of the Hunters Valley Association and the Hunter Mill Defense League said the groups consider the church a good neighbor and have no plans to try to get the sign taken down, but they acknowledged they don’t especially like it either.
“It has a commercial look,” said Hull, of the defense league. The organization would have advocated a more understated sign had it been given a chance to weigh in, he said.
“Our main concern is that we don’t see a proliferation of these kinds of signs,” Bill Cramer, another member, said.
Both groups said the number of different messages displayed in a day was of no concern to them.
Church leaders never imagined the sign might cause problems and that wasn’t their intent, Spinelli said. Rather, it was the exact opposite.
“We want to be a good neighbor,” she said. “That’s what the messages are all about.”
She said the church has no desire to use flashing or scrolling text or to change the sign numerous times each day.
But there might be situations in which more than two messages make sense, she said. Say, for example, that the sign advertises a Boy Scouts meeting in the morning and the next day’s services in the afternoon. What if a neighborhood child is kidnapped later in the day or a major storm comes in? If it abided by the rules, the church wouldn’t be able to post emergency information for the community.
“We just want the freedom to post the messages we see fit,” Spinelli said.
Update: Fairfax County says it will revisit sign rule that sparked church lawsuit
By Corinne Reilly
August 31, 2012
Washington Post
If the Church of the Good Shepherd wanted to post the Ten Commandments on its sign on Hunter Mill Road, it would take five days to broadcast them all.
That’s because Fairfax County has a commandment of its own: Thou shall not change electronic signs more than twice a day.
So, after the Vienna United Methodist church posted three messages one day last month — offering refuge from the heat, then promoting its Web site and finally listing the time of a group prayer meeting — a zoning inspector called it a sin and hit the church with a warning letter:
“It is noted that the screens changed more than twice in a twenty-four (24) hour period,” the letter stated. “This changeable copy LED sign is considered a prohibited sign.”
The county offered two choices: permanently limit the sign to two message changes per day or remove it altogether.
At a meeting at the end of July, about two months after the church installed the sign, the county and the congregation couldn’t agree on a compromise. So the church, believing that the First Amendment also applies to the word of God, sued last week in federal court in Alexandria, saying the two-message limit violates the church’s rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion. The suit says that the county’s ordinance violates a 2000 law, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which prohibits zoning rules that place undue burdens on religious institutions.
“Under the county’s restrictive policy, the church must pick and choose which of its various functions can be displayed on its sign each day,” the suit says. “Such an impact is a substantial burden on the church’s religious exercise.”
County officials declined to comment, as is their policy when a lawsuit is pending. Several members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors said they weren’t aware of the two-message limit and didn’t want to discuss it until they learned more.
“It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me,” Supervisor Pat S. Herrity (R-Springfield) said.
Neighbors, even those who said they don’t like the sign, said it seemed a waste of government time and resources to worry about the number of messages on a church sign.
“It’s a pretty small fish in the scheme of things,” Steve Hull said.
At the crux of the matter is a zoning ordinance that bans electronic signs that use flashing lights or moving text. But what qualifies as moving? The county defines it as changing a sign’s message more than twice in 24 hours.
“It’s just too restrictive,” Sherry Spinelli, a member of the church’s board of trustees, said this week. “It doesn’t make sense.”
She noted that the church got the proper county permit to erect the $37,000 sign but said it wasn’t aware of the message limit until the county’s letter arrived.
In addition to the lawsuit, a county spokeswoman said staff members also couldn’t discuss the ordinance, including its purpose, history or past cases in which it has been enforced.
The church’s attorney, Michael York, said the limit is applied arbitrarily. Electronic signs that display the time or weather information, for instance, are exempt. Although the county provided the church with examples of past cases in which it has enforced the rule, Spinelli said that in paying closer attention to electronic signs in recent weeks, she has seen several without time or weather information that don’t comply.
She and others with the church think their sign was singled out because someone complained to the county. They suspect it might have been the same person who phoned anonymously a few weeks after the sign’s installation and angrily asked when the church got “that Las Vegas sign.”
The sign isn’t exactly flashy. It stands a few feet off the ground at the edge of the church parking lot, facing the street. The electronic portion is about 2½ feet tall and 6 feet wide. Its green letters, on a black background, can at times be hard to read.
Spinelli noted that on the day the county’s investigator observed the sign, just after the June 29 derecho storm, one of the offending messages invited neighbors without power into the air-conditioned church.
On Monday, the sign’s message was, “8:30 am prayer, 9 am Sunday school, 10 am worship.”
The next day, it read, “Morning prayer, Wednesday at 6:30 am.”
The messages for which the church was cited were similarly staid.
“Welcome, come on in and beat the heat,” read the first.
“Visit us at goodshepherdva.com,” read the second.
And the third advertised a prayer group meeting: “Practicing the Presence, Thurs., July 5, 1 pm.”
The mere fact that the new sign is more noticeable than the old one — its lettering had to be changed manually — is enough to have caused a stir along wooded, winding Hunter Mill Road. The two-lane thoroughfare predates the Civil War and is officially designated a Virginia scenic byway. More than one civic group works to preserve it.
Members of the Hunters Valley Association and the Hunter Mill Defense League said the groups consider the church a good neighbor and have no plans to try to get the sign taken down, but they acknowledged they don’t especially like it either.
“It has a commercial look,” said Hull, of the defense league. The organization would have advocated a more understated sign had it been given a chance to weigh in, he said.
“Our main concern is that we don’t see a proliferation of these kinds of signs,” Bill Cramer, another member, said.
Both groups said the number of different messages displayed in a day was of no concern to them.
Church leaders never imagined the sign might cause problems and that wasn’t their intent, Spinelli said. Rather, it was the exact opposite.
“We want to be a good neighbor,” she said. “That’s what the messages are all about.”
She said the church has no desire to use flashing or scrolling text or to change the sign numerous times each day.
But there might be situations in which more than two messages make sense, she said. Say, for example, that the sign advertises a Boy Scouts meeting in the morning and the next day’s services in the afternoon. What if a neighborhood child is kidnapped later in the day or a major storm comes in? If it abided by the rules, the church wouldn’t be able to post emergency information for the community.
“We just want the freedom to post the messages we see fit,” Spinelli said.
Update: Fairfax County says it will revisit sign rule that sparked church lawsuit
UPDATE on Obama's War against Americanism: The Controversy? "Truth" via Freedom of Expression
August 30, 2012 6:12 PM
Anti- Obama Billboard, the Talk of Hanson
http://cbsboston.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/anti-obama-signs-pkg-consol.jpg?w=200&h=150
HANSON (CBS) – Free speech or offensive?
Those are two viewpoints regarding three political billboards in Hanson that are getting the attention of everyone who drives by Sullivans Inc., a motorcycle accessories distributor off Route 27.
One shows a little girl raising her middle finger next to the message:
“Thanks Obama. You’ve spent my lunch money, my allowance, my inheritance, 35 years of future paychecks and my retirement. You Jerk. Vote Mitt Romney For 2012!”
The finger is now covered in packing tape.
Some people say the sign makes them uncomfortable.
“It’s being offensive,” one man told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Thursday. ”I think you can send out the message without being this drastic.”
Others say it’s free speech.
“I think it’s a good idea, whether it’s on private property or not,” a supporter told WBZ.
Another billboard has a smiling photo of President Obama, with the communist hammer and sickle symbols on his shirt collar, next to the message:
“Somewhere in Kenya a village is missing its idiot. Obama – One Big A** Mistake America. Vote Mitt Romney For 2012!”
The owner of the property and the signs was contacted by WBZ-TV and WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Thursday, but declined to comment.
In addition to the political debate, there is also debate about where the billboards are legal.
According to town officials, owner Robert Sullivan did not get a necessary permit from the building commissioner to put them up.
Sullivan’s attorney, however, said they are protected under the First Amendment.
Anti- Obama Billboard, the Talk of Hanson
http://cbsboston.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/anti-obama-signs-pkg-consol.jpg?w=200&h=150
HANSON (CBS) – Free speech or offensive?
Those are two viewpoints regarding three political billboards in Hanson that are getting the attention of everyone who drives by Sullivans Inc., a motorcycle accessories distributor off Route 27.
One shows a little girl raising her middle finger next to the message:
“Thanks Obama. You’ve spent my lunch money, my allowance, my inheritance, 35 years of future paychecks and my retirement. You Jerk. Vote Mitt Romney For 2012!”
The finger is now covered in packing tape.
Some people say the sign makes them uncomfortable.
“It’s being offensive,” one man told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Thursday. ”I think you can send out the message without being this drastic.”
Others say it’s free speech.
“I think it’s a good idea, whether it’s on private property or not,” a supporter told WBZ.
Another billboard has a smiling photo of President Obama, with the communist hammer and sickle symbols on his shirt collar, next to the message:
The owner of the property and the signs was contacted by WBZ-TV and WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Thursday, but declined to comment.
In addition to the political debate, there is also debate about where the billboards are legal.
According to town officials, owner Robert Sullivan did not get a necessary permit from the building commissioner to put them up.
Sullivan’s attorney, however, said they are protected under the First Amendment.
White Woman Body Slammed By Two UnNamed LAPD Officers of UnReported Race
Brutal LAPD arrest caught on video; Department investigating cops seen bodyslamming nurse twice during cell phone traffic stop (VIDEO)
Michelle Jordan, 34, mouthed off at the officers who pulled her over, her attorneys admit, but say that her behavior didn’t deserve the punishment she says she got.
By Philip Caulfield / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, August 29, 2012, 11:05 AM
While she admits through her attorneys that she yelled and cursed at the officers, they say Jordan took no action that warranted the officers’ conduct.
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating two officers who were allegedly caught on surveillance camera slamming a nurse on the ground twice — and then fist bumping afterward — during a recent traffic stop.
The two officers pulled over Michelle Jordan, 34, of Sunland, Aug. 21, for allegedly talking on her cell phone while driving in Tujunga, in northeast Los Angeles, the department said.
Jordan pulled into the parking lot of a Del Taco restaurant and got out of her car to confront the officers, cops said.
Police say they pulled her over for allegedly using her cell phone while driving. It looks like a routine traffic stop, until Jordan gets out of her vehicle.
The taco joint's surveillance video appears to show the officers, both men, yanking the 5-foot-4 inch registered nurse from the open driver's seat and then slamming her on the ground to cuff her.
The duo then yank Jordan to her feet and bring her to the patrol car, where they pat her down.
Moments later, one of the cops slams the married mom to the ground a second time.
Jordan sustained multiple scrapes.
After placing her in the cruiser's backseat, the two appear to share a celebratory fist-pound.
While she admits through her attorneys that she yelled and cursed at the officers, they say Jordan took no action that warranted the officers’ conduct.
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating two officers who were allegedly caught on surveillance camera slamming a nurse on the ground twice — and then fist bumping afterward — during a recent traffic stop.
The two officers pulled over Michelle Jordan, 34, of Sunland, Aug. 21, for allegedly talking on her cell phone while driving in Tujunga, in northeast Los Angeles, the department said.
Jordan pulled into the parking lot of a Del Taco restaurant and got out of her car to confront the officers, cops said.
Police say they pulled her over for allegedly using her cell phone while driving. It looks like a routine traffic stop, until Jordan gets out of her vehicle.
The taco joint's surveillance video appears to show the officers, both men, yanking the 5-foot-4 inch registered nurse from the open driver's seat and then slamming her on the ground to cuff her.
The duo then yank Jordan to her feet and bring her to the patrol car, where they pat her down.
Moments later, one of the cops slams the married mom to the ground a second time.
Jordan sustained multiple scrapes.
After placing her in the cruiser's backseat, the two appear to share a celebratory fist-pound.
Jordan was booked for resisting arrest and later released.
Police Chief Charlie Beck said in a statement Tuesday that the video caused him "to have serious concerns about this use of force."
"We will investigate this thoroughly and hold our officers accountable for their actions," Beck said, according to KABC-TV.
The officers, whose names were not given, were placed on desk duty while the department investigated the alleged beatdown.
Jordan is considering a lawsuit against the LAPD, reports say.
Surveillance video from a Del Taco not far from where Michelle Jordan, 34, was stopped by police has prompted an internal investigation into how LAPD handled the arrest, which the woman says was unnecessarily rough.
One was said to be a 20-year-veteran of the force while the other was a probationary officer on the force for 10 months, according to local reports.
Jordan's lawyers said Jordan mouthed-off at the cops, but that her behavior didn't warrant the officers' goon squad-style takedown.
"We have a defenseless woman in a sun dress, two fully armed police officers with training and various restraining devices that they could have used, and instead they used nothing but brute force," one of her lawyers, Arthur Corona, told KABC.
Jordan was said to be weighing a lawsuit, according to local reports.
Jordan displayed several wounds she said came from her treatment by two LAPD officers.
Surveillance video from a Del Taco restaurant showed the cops slamming the woman on the ground twice during her arrest.
VIDEO: SURVEILLANCE VIDEO APPEARS TO SHOW BRUTAL ARREST
pcaulfield@nydailynews.com
Michelle Jordan, 34, mouthed off at the officers who pulled her over, her attorneys admit, but say that her behavior didn’t deserve the punishment she says she got.
By Philip Caulfield / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, August 29, 2012, 11:05 AM
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating two officers who were allegedly caught on surveillance camera slamming a nurse on the ground twice — and then fist bumping afterward — during a recent traffic stop.
The two officers pulled over Michelle Jordan, 34, of Sunland, Aug. 21, for allegedly talking on her cell phone while driving in Tujunga, in northeast Los Angeles, the department said.
Jordan pulled into the parking lot of a Del Taco restaurant and got out of her car to confront the officers, cops said.
The taco joint's surveillance video appears to show the officers, both men, yanking the 5-foot-4 inch registered nurse from the open driver's seat and then slamming her on the ground to cuff her.
The duo then yank Jordan to her feet and bring her to the patrol car, where they pat her down.
Moments later, one of the cops slams the married mom to the ground a second time.
After placing her in the cruiser's backseat, the two appear to share a celebratory fist-pound.
While she admits through her attorneys that she yelled and cursed at the officers, they say Jordan took no action that warranted the officers’ conduct.
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating two officers who were allegedly caught on surveillance camera slamming a nurse on the ground twice — and then fist bumping afterward — during a recent traffic stop.
The two officers pulled over Michelle Jordan, 34, of Sunland, Aug. 21, for allegedly talking on her cell phone while driving in Tujunga, in northeast Los Angeles, the department said.
Jordan pulled into the parking lot of a Del Taco restaurant and got out of her car to confront the officers, cops said.
Police say they pulled her over for allegedly using her cell phone while driving. It looks like a routine traffic stop, until Jordan gets out of her vehicle.
The taco joint's surveillance video appears to show the officers, both men, yanking the 5-foot-4 inch registered nurse from the open driver's seat and then slamming her on the ground to cuff her.
The duo then yank Jordan to her feet and bring her to the patrol car, where they pat her down.
Moments later, one of the cops slams the married mom to the ground a second time.
Jordan sustained multiple scrapes.
After placing her in the cruiser's backseat, the two appear to share a celebratory fist-pound.
Jordan was booked for resisting arrest and later released.
Police Chief Charlie Beck said in a statement Tuesday that the video caused him "to have serious concerns about this use of force."
"We will investigate this thoroughly and hold our officers accountable for their actions," Beck said, according to KABC-TV.
The officers, whose names were not given, were placed on desk duty while the department investigated the alleged beatdown.
One was said to be a 20-year-veteran of the force while the other was a probationary officer on the force for 10 months, according to local reports.
Jordan's lawyers said Jordan mouthed-off at the cops, but that her behavior didn't warrant the officers' goon squad-style takedown.
"We have a defenseless woman in a sun dress, two fully armed police officers with training and various restraining devices that they could have used, and instead they used nothing but brute force," one of her lawyers, Arthur Corona, told KABC.
Jordan was said to be weighing a lawsuit, according to local reports.
VIDEO: SURVEILLANCE VIDEO APPEARS TO SHOW BRUTAL ARREST
pcaulfield@nydailynews.com