Nov. 21, 2012
Several dozen members of the House have introduced a resolution that calls on President Obama not to sign the United Nations's Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). It also demands that if Obama does sign it, the government should not spend any time or money on implementation until the Senate approves it.
The resolution, whose main sponsor is Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), argues that the ATT does not recognize the right of American citizens to keep and bear arms, and thus threatens to undermine the Second Amendment of the Constitution. The ATT aims to regulate international trade in conventional arms.
"There is considerable cause for alarm regarding the UN's renewed efforts to forge an Arms Trade Treaty that could trample the constitutional rights of Americans, and could seriously compromise our national security and the security of our allies, whom we will be less able to arm and less quick to defend due to the restrictions placed on us by the ATT," Kelly said Friday. "My colleagues and I stand committed to fighting this threat to our sovereignty and to standing up for the U.S. Constitution, which we are all sworn to support and defend."
Opponents of the treaty noted with alarm that soon after the November election, the U.S. government voted with other nations to advance the ATT at the U.N., and could finalize its contents early next year.
The five-page resolution, H.Res. 814, says the treaty would threaten the rights of U.S. gun owners, and rejects the idea that conventional arms trade needs to be regulated equally in the United States and other countries. The resolution says the treaty "places free democracies and totalitarian regimes on a basis of equality, recognizing their equal right to transfer arms, and is thereby dangerous to the security of the United States."
It says further the treaty could have other consequences, including limiting the right of the United States to offer aid to Taiwan or Israel. And, it argues that the ATT could hurt the U.S. defense manufacturing base, and require costly implementation assistance to other signatory nations.
The resolution concludes by resolving that the president "should not sign the Arms Trade Treaty, and that, if he transmits the treaty with his signature to the Senate, the Senate should not ratify the Arms Trade Treaty."
It adds that if the ATT were signed but not ratified by the Senate, "no Federal funds should be appropriated or authorized to implement the Arms Trade Treaty, or any similar agreement, or to conduct activities relevant to the Arms Trade Treaty, or any similar agreement."
The resolution is co-sponsored by 76 other House members, including some Democrats and key Republicans, such as Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (Mich.), Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (Texas) and Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves (Mo.).
source: The Hill
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
AP Reporter Slams State Department For Silence On Israel
Nov. 21, 2012
A spirited exchange between Associated Press reporter Matthew Lee and spokesperson Victoria Nuland marked the U.S. State Department's daily briefing Monday on the continued violence between Israel and Hamas. Lee slammed Nuland for their silence on Israel in what the Administration has labeled "quiet diplomacy." Lee concluded, "But you won't stick up for your ally Israel when the Turks, another one of your allies, say that they're engaged in terrorism in Gaza..." The exchange goes on for nearly three minutes, while Nuland is left defenseless against the charges of silence from the press pool.
source: Breitbart.com
A spirited exchange between Associated Press reporter Matthew Lee and spokesperson Victoria Nuland marked the U.S. State Department's daily briefing Monday on the continued violence between Israel and Hamas. Lee slammed Nuland for their silence on Israel in what the Administration has labeled "quiet diplomacy." Lee concluded, "But you won't stick up for your ally Israel when the Turks, another one of your allies, say that they're engaged in terrorism in Gaza..." The exchange goes on for nearly three minutes, while Nuland is left defenseless against the charges of silence from the press pool.
source: Breitbart.com
Student Expelled for Refusing Location Tracking RFID Badge
Nov. 21, 2012
School makes good on threat of ‘consequences’ for refusing to submit to ‘Mark of the Beast’ ID scheme
Aaron Dykes
Prisonplanet.com
November 20, 2012
After months of protesting a policy requiring high school students to wear an RFID-enabled ID badge around their necks at all times, Andrea Hernandez is being involuntarily withdrawn from John Jay High School in San Antonio effective November 26th, according to a letter sent by the district that has now been made public.
The letter, sent on November 13, informs her father that the Smart ID program, which was phased in with the new school year, is now in “full implementation” and requires all students to comply by wearing the location-tracking badges.
Since Andrea Hernandez has refused to wear the badge, she is being withdrawn from the magnet school and her program at the Science and Engineering Academy, and instead will have to attend William Howard Taft HS, which is not currently involved in the ID scheme, unless she changes her position.
Civil liberties lawyers at the Rutherford Institute told Infowars.com that they are in the process of filing a temporary restraining order petition to prevent the school from kicking Hernandez out until further appeals can be made to resolve the matter. Representatives for John Jay did not return calls for comment by the time of publishing.
Andrea, backed by her family, has claimed the policy violates her religious beliefs and unduly infringes on her privacy. The controversial ID badge includes the photo and name of each student, a barcode tied to the student’s social security number, as well as an RFID chip which pinpoints the exact location of the individual student, including after hours and when the student leaves campus.
The battle over the IDs has been an ongoing saga. The Hernandez family has previously attended several school board meetings, organized protests and filed formal grievances with the district over the matter, and has been backed by numerous civil rights advocates.
Infowars reporters covered a protest that took place in early October, following up with appearances by the Hernandez family on the Alex Jones Show and the Infowars Nightly News programs.
Texas Students Treated Like Cattle with Mandatory RFID Tags
In response to public outcry and pressure from rights groups, the school has offered to remove the battery and chip, but wouldn’t budge on mandating the ID. Their offer would also require the Hernandez family to end their criticism and agree to comply with and even tout the policy, something Andrea’s father Steve Hernandez finds unacceptable.
Steve Hernandez stated, “[A]s part of the accommodation my daughter and I would have to agree to stop criticizing the program and publicly support … it. I told [the Deputy Superintendent] that was unacceptable because it would imply an endorsement of the district’s policy and my daughter and I should not have to give up our constitutional rights to speak out against a program that we feel is wrong.”
Andrea has instead agreed to carry her original ID card, which was issued when she began at the school, and was told would be valid for her entire four years there.
But she has already been effectively punished for her non-compliance. She was not allowed to vote for Homecoming King & Queen because she didn’t have the proper identification, and has also been barred from some school functions. The school originally threatened to suspend, fine, or involuntarily transfer students who wouldn’t wear the ID once the program was fully instituted.
Deputy Superintendent Ray Galindo vowed in October that the consequences would be worse if Andrea did not change her mind: “I urge you to accept this solution so that your child’s instructional program will not be affected. As we discussed, there will be consequences for refusal to wear an ID card as we begin to move forward with full implementation,” Galindo wrote.
Hernandez’ case first made news back in August, when the school tried to impose the new technology at the start of the school year. John Jay HS, along with other participating schools, stands to receive $2 million dollars in state funding for a program supposedly instituted to reduce tardiness and truancy. However, Hernandez and other students only qualified for the magnet school by having good attendance, grades and test scores in the first place.
Christian Family Refuses Mandatory RFID Chip at Texas School
For many Christian families, including the Hernandez’, the mandatory policy is eerily close to the predictions of Revelations 13: 16-18, which warns of the Mark of the Beast:
16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or[a] the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (New King James Version)
As such, the policy has also been considered a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees the right to free speech and freedom of religion. Many also consider it to be an unreasonable and unwarranted violation of privacy, protected under the Fourth Amendment.
Gov’t Bribing School Children with Candy to Wear RFID Chip
source: Prison Planet
School makes good on threat of ‘consequences’ for refusing to submit to ‘Mark of the Beast’ ID scheme
Aaron Dykes
Prisonplanet.com
November 20, 2012
After months of protesting a policy requiring high school students to wear an RFID-enabled ID badge around their necks at all times, Andrea Hernandez is being involuntarily withdrawn from John Jay High School in San Antonio effective November 26th, according to a letter sent by the district that has now been made public.
Since Andrea Hernandez has refused to wear the badge, she is being withdrawn from the magnet school and her program at the Science and Engineering Academy, and instead will have to attend William Howard Taft HS, which is not currently involved in the ID scheme, unless she changes her position.
Civil liberties lawyers at the Rutherford Institute told Infowars.com that they are in the process of filing a temporary restraining order petition to prevent the school from kicking Hernandez out until further appeals can be made to resolve the matter. Representatives for John Jay did not return calls for comment by the time of publishing.
Andrea, backed by her family, has claimed the policy violates her religious beliefs and unduly infringes on her privacy. The controversial ID badge includes the photo and name of each student, a barcode tied to the student’s social security number, as well as an RFID chip which pinpoints the exact location of the individual student, including after hours and when the student leaves campus.
The battle over the IDs has been an ongoing saga. The Hernandez family has previously attended several school board meetings, organized protests and filed formal grievances with the district over the matter, and has been backed by numerous civil rights advocates.
Infowars reporters covered a protest that took place in early October, following up with appearances by the Hernandez family on the Alex Jones Show and the Infowars Nightly News programs.
Texas Students Treated Like Cattle with Mandatory RFID Tags
In response to public outcry and pressure from rights groups, the school has offered to remove the battery and chip, but wouldn’t budge on mandating the ID. Their offer would also require the Hernandez family to end their criticism and agree to comply with and even tout the policy, something Andrea’s father Steve Hernandez finds unacceptable.
Steve Hernandez stated, “[A]s part of the accommodation my daughter and I would have to agree to stop criticizing the program and publicly support … it. I told [the Deputy Superintendent] that was unacceptable because it would imply an endorsement of the district’s policy and my daughter and I should not have to give up our constitutional rights to speak out against a program that we feel is wrong.”
Andrea has instead agreed to carry her original ID card, which was issued when she began at the school, and was told would be valid for her entire four years there.
But she has already been effectively punished for her non-compliance. She was not allowed to vote for Homecoming King & Queen because she didn’t have the proper identification, and has also been barred from some school functions. The school originally threatened to suspend, fine, or involuntarily transfer students who wouldn’t wear the ID once the program was fully instituted.
Deputy Superintendent Ray Galindo vowed in October that the consequences would be worse if Andrea did not change her mind: “I urge you to accept this solution so that your child’s instructional program will not be affected. As we discussed, there will be consequences for refusal to wear an ID card as we begin to move forward with full implementation,” Galindo wrote.
Hernandez’ case first made news back in August, when the school tried to impose the new technology at the start of the school year. John Jay HS, along with other participating schools, stands to receive $2 million dollars in state funding for a program supposedly instituted to reduce tardiness and truancy. However, Hernandez and other students only qualified for the magnet school by having good attendance, grades and test scores in the first place.
Christian Family Refuses Mandatory RFID Chip at Texas School
For many Christian families, including the Hernandez’, the mandatory policy is eerily close to the predictions of Revelations 13: 16-18, which warns of the Mark of the Beast:
16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or[a] the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (New King James Version)
As such, the policy has also been considered a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees the right to free speech and freedom of religion. Many also consider it to be an unreasonable and unwarranted violation of privacy, protected under the Fourth Amendment.
Gov’t Bribing School Children with Candy to Wear RFID Chip
source: Prison Planet
Big Sis promotes welfare to new immigrants
Nov. 21, 2012
In 'welcome' materials posted on DHS website
(DAILY CALLER) Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your new country can do for you.
“Welcome to USA.gov,” a website maintained by the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), bills itself as the “primary gateway for new immigrants to find basic information on how to settle in the United States” — featuring a prominent section for new immigrants about how to access government benefits.
“Depending on your immigration status, length of time in the United States, and income, you may be eligible for some federal benefit programs,” the Web page reads.
Read the full story ›
In 'welcome' materials posted on DHS website
(DAILY CALLER) Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your new country can do for you.
“Welcome to USA.gov,” a website maintained by the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), bills itself as the “primary gateway for new immigrants to find basic information on how to settle in the United States” — featuring a prominent section for new immigrants about how to access government benefits.
“Depending on your immigration status, length of time in the United States, and income, you may be eligible for some federal benefit programs,” the Web page reads.
Read the full story ›
Ten Commandments judge issues wake-up call
Nov 21, 2012
Says America has strayed from Constitution
WND EXCLUSIVE:
As the newly elected chief justice of the state supreme court in Alabama, Judge Roy Moore, who for some 10 years has run the Foundation for Moral Law, says he’s looking forward to educating judges, lawyers and others on the constitutional foundation of America.
That focuses on, in a phrase, the fact the rights of U.S. citizens come from God, and not Washington, and government needs to acknowledge that.
“Without an understanding of God,” he told WND in a recent post-election interview, “you can’t understand the Constitution.”
Moore, many will remember, was the judge who was removed from the same position he’s now assuming 10 years ago for refusing a federal court’s order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state judicial building in Alabama.
He’s explained repeatedly that he has no plans to bring that back, because the monument became a distraction from the real issue: the acknowledgement of God as explained in the national and state constitutions. And he says there’s no possibility of true justice without that.
He said he will be sworn in on the promise to uphold the Constitution of the United States as well as the Alabama Constitution.
“The only way you can do that is acknowledge that morality and law does come from God,” he said.
It’s not really that complicated, he noted. Human beings unrestrained by law misbehave, so the Constitution is set up with the goal of restraining human excesses, specifically in government.
“The whole basis of the Constitution is the restraint of human power,” he said.
He cited the state of the United States now, following the 2012 election, as an example of things gone wrong.
“No president has the power to violate constitutional restraints of power,” he said. “[The members of the legislature] don’t and neither does the Supreme Court.”
Yet, he said, Barack Obama has violated its standard by bombing Libya, when the Constitution provides only Congress shall declare war.
“The Constitution is the rule of law, and [my job is] to uphold is to uphold the rule of law,” he said.
“I get criticized for my professions that God is the basis of all rights or liberties,” he told WND, “and yet, the rule of law, being the Constitution, and its companion, the Declaration of Independence, organize the laws of our country on [the premise that] our rights come from God.”
Government’s job, he said, is to secure and protect those rights.
Further, the full Constitution needs to play an active role today, he said.
“There is little regard for the Constitution in the courts today, even the U.S. Supreme Court,” he said.
“You go back and you read Thomas Jefferson’s letter to William Giles, of 1825,” he said. “Read what he said about the usurpation of the rights of states. It sounds like he was speaking today.”
In that 1825 letter, which is online at Constitution.org, Jefferson writes that he is concerned that the federal government is becoming to powerful.
“I see, as you do, and with the deepest affliction, the rapid strides with which the federal branch of our government is advancing towards the usurpation of all the rights reserved to the states, and the consolidation in itself of all powers, foreign and domestic; and that too, by constructions which, if legitimate, leave no limits to their power,” he wrote. “Take together the decisions of the federal court, the doctrines of the president, and the misconstructions of the constitutional compact acted on by the legislature of the federal branch, and it is but too evident, that the three ruling branches of that department are in combination to strip their colleagues, the state authorities; of the powers reserved by them, and to exercise themselves all functions foreign and domestic.”
He noted the misbehavior at that time – a taxation plan for roads – was being pursued under the color of the government’s power to regulate commerce, the same precedent cited for the imposition of Obamacare today.
“They assume indefinitely that also over agriculture and manufactures, and call it regulation to take the earnings of one of these branches of industry, and that, too, the most depressed, and put them into the pockets of the other, the most flourishing of all,” Jefferson wrote. “Under the authority to establish post roads, they claim that of cutting down mountains for the construction of roads, of digging canals, and aided by a little sophistry on the words ‘general welfare,’ a right to do, not only the acts to effect that, which are specifically enumerated and permitted, but whatsoever they shall think, or pretend will be for the general welfare.”
And think Congress today is in conflict? Jefferson said of the state of Washington then: “And what is our resource for the preservation of the Constitution? Reason and argument? You might as well reason and argue with the marble columns encircling them. The representatives chosen by ourselves? They are joined in the combination, some from incorrect views of government, some from corrupt ones, sufficient voting together to outnumber the sound parts; and with majorities only of one, two, or three, bold enough to go forward in defiance.”
He said patience is needed, and the nation should “keep ourselves in a situation to profit by the chapter of accidents; and separate from our companions only when the sole alternatives left, are the dissolution of our Union with them, or submission to a government without limitation of powers. Between these two evils, when we must make a choice, there can be no hesitation.”
He said America is burdened under Obamacare now because of the circumstances Jefferson outlined, the “decisions of the federal court, the doctrines of the president” and the “misconstruction of a constitutional compact acted on by the legislature.”
“The solution is the reversal of the thing that got us here,” he told WND. “Going back and educating ourselves to what the Constitution is about, what it stands for, upon what basis it was formed…
“We have got to become educated again to the constitutional republic in which we live, what got us here,” he said.
That’s a long road, he said, noting that most contemporary calendars no longer even recognize Constitution Day, Sept. 17.
But he said when people start waking up to the deprivation of their rights, and “putting our foot down,” officials will see what has been happening.
Moore said he’ll personally be teaching judges and lawyers about the Constitution, and leading those efforts for school children, “because that’s where judges and lawyers come from.”
WND reported as Moore battled for the position in Alabama, he said, “I will … lead the judicial system of Alabama to uphold constitutional principles and moral values contained in our law and will resist all efforts to disparage or destroy our beloved constitution.”
Says America has strayed from Constitution
WND EXCLUSIVE:
That focuses on, in a phrase, the fact the rights of U.S. citizens come from God, and not Washington, and government needs to acknowledge that.
“Without an understanding of God,” he told WND in a recent post-election interview, “you can’t understand the Constitution.”
Moore, many will remember, was the judge who was removed from the same position he’s now assuming 10 years ago for refusing a federal court’s order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state judicial building in Alabama.
He’s explained repeatedly that he has no plans to bring that back, because the monument became a distraction from the real issue: the acknowledgement of God as explained in the national and state constitutions. And he says there’s no possibility of true justice without that.
He said he will be sworn in on the promise to uphold the Constitution of the United States as well as the Alabama Constitution.
“The only way you can do that is acknowledge that morality and law does come from God,” he said.
It’s not really that complicated, he noted. Human beings unrestrained by law misbehave, so the Constitution is set up with the goal of restraining human excesses, specifically in government.
“The whole basis of the Constitution is the restraint of human power,” he said.
He cited the state of the United States now, following the 2012 election, as an example of things gone wrong.
“No president has the power to violate constitutional restraints of power,” he said. “[The members of the legislature] don’t and neither does the Supreme Court.”
Yet, he said, Barack Obama has violated its standard by bombing Libya, when the Constitution provides only Congress shall declare war.
“The Constitution is the rule of law, and [my job is] to uphold is to uphold the rule of law,” he said.
“I get criticized for my professions that God is the basis of all rights or liberties,” he told WND, “and yet, the rule of law, being the Constitution, and its companion, the Declaration of Independence, organize the laws of our country on [the premise that] our rights come from God.”
Government’s job, he said, is to secure and protect those rights.
Further, the full Constitution needs to play an active role today, he said.
“There is little regard for the Constitution in the courts today, even the U.S. Supreme Court,” he said.
“You go back and you read Thomas Jefferson’s letter to William Giles, of 1825,” he said. “Read what he said about the usurpation of the rights of states. It sounds like he was speaking today.”
In that 1825 letter, which is online at Constitution.org, Jefferson writes that he is concerned that the federal government is becoming to powerful.
“I see, as you do, and with the deepest affliction, the rapid strides with which the federal branch of our government is advancing towards the usurpation of all the rights reserved to the states, and the consolidation in itself of all powers, foreign and domestic; and that too, by constructions which, if legitimate, leave no limits to their power,” he wrote. “Take together the decisions of the federal court, the doctrines of the president, and the misconstructions of the constitutional compact acted on by the legislature of the federal branch, and it is but too evident, that the three ruling branches of that department are in combination to strip their colleagues, the state authorities; of the powers reserved by them, and to exercise themselves all functions foreign and domestic.”
He noted the misbehavior at that time – a taxation plan for roads – was being pursued under the color of the government’s power to regulate commerce, the same precedent cited for the imposition of Obamacare today.
“They assume indefinitely that also over agriculture and manufactures, and call it regulation to take the earnings of one of these branches of industry, and that, too, the most depressed, and put them into the pockets of the other, the most flourishing of all,” Jefferson wrote. “Under the authority to establish post roads, they claim that of cutting down mountains for the construction of roads, of digging canals, and aided by a little sophistry on the words ‘general welfare,’ a right to do, not only the acts to effect that, which are specifically enumerated and permitted, but whatsoever they shall think, or pretend will be for the general welfare.”
And think Congress today is in conflict? Jefferson said of the state of Washington then: “And what is our resource for the preservation of the Constitution? Reason and argument? You might as well reason and argue with the marble columns encircling them. The representatives chosen by ourselves? They are joined in the combination, some from incorrect views of government, some from corrupt ones, sufficient voting together to outnumber the sound parts; and with majorities only of one, two, or three, bold enough to go forward in defiance.”
He said patience is needed, and the nation should “keep ourselves in a situation to profit by the chapter of accidents; and separate from our companions only when the sole alternatives left, are the dissolution of our Union with them, or submission to a government without limitation of powers. Between these two evils, when we must make a choice, there can be no hesitation.”
He said America is burdened under Obamacare now because of the circumstances Jefferson outlined, the “decisions of the federal court, the doctrines of the president” and the “misconstruction of a constitutional compact acted on by the legislature.”
“The solution is the reversal of the thing that got us here,” he told WND. “Going back and educating ourselves to what the Constitution is about, what it stands for, upon what basis it was formed…
“We have got to become educated again to the constitutional republic in which we live, what got us here,” he said.
That’s a long road, he said, noting that most contemporary calendars no longer even recognize Constitution Day, Sept. 17.
But he said when people start waking up to the deprivation of their rights, and “putting our foot down,” officials will see what has been happening.
Moore said he’ll personally be teaching judges and lawyers about the Constitution, and leading those efforts for school children, “because that’s where judges and lawyers come from.”
WND reported as Moore battled for the position in Alabama, he said, “I will … lead the judicial system of Alabama to uphold constitutional principles and moral values contained in our law and will resist all efforts to disparage or destroy our beloved constitution.”
Why the GOP won’t challenge vote fraud
The Republican Party made an agreement 30 years ago with the Democrat Party NOT to ensure voting integrity and NOT to pursue suspected vote fraud.
Yes. You read it correctly. Here's the Full Story>>
Yes. You read it correctly. Here's the Full Story>>
The Obama Effect: S&P 500 Has Lost $806 Billion Since Election Day
Nov. 21, 2012
They’re just getting warmed up. Expect losses in the trillions before long.
The post-election rout in U.S. stocks has driven the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index down so far that it would have to advance 26 percent to reach the valuation of bull markets since John F. Kennedy was in the White House.
Investors have seen $806 billion erased from the value of American equities since President Barack Obama was re-elected Nov. 6 in the biggest decline since May. The combination of falling stocks and rising profits as the economy recovers has left the S&P 500’s price-earnings ratio below the ending level of eight of the nine bull markets since 1962 and beneath the average of any since Ronald Reagan was in power.
Bears say the 4.8 drop in the S&P 500 and valuations show investors are losing confidence that Congress and Obama will reach a budget compromise that would keep the recovery from stalling. Bulls, including the top strategists at six Wall Street firms, say that the declines are another reason to buy and that stock prices from Apple Inc. to Dollar Tree Inc. are bound to improve as earnings increase.
But don’t worry, the GOP will get all the blame.
source: jwf
The post-election rout in U.S. stocks has driven the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index down so far that it would have to advance 26 percent to reach the valuation of bull markets since John F. Kennedy was in the White House.
Investors have seen $806 billion erased from the value of American equities since President Barack Obama was re-elected Nov. 6 in the biggest decline since May. The combination of falling stocks and rising profits as the economy recovers has left the S&P 500’s price-earnings ratio below the ending level of eight of the nine bull markets since 1962 and beneath the average of any since Ronald Reagan was in power.
Bears say the 4.8 drop in the S&P 500 and valuations show investors are losing confidence that Congress and Obama will reach a budget compromise that would keep the recovery from stalling. Bulls, including the top strategists at six Wall Street firms, say that the declines are another reason to buy and that stock prices from Apple Inc. to Dollar Tree Inc. are bound to improve as earnings increase.
But don’t worry, the GOP will get all the blame.
source: jwf
Video:Obamacare And The Origins Of The Nazi Holocaust
November 21, 2012
Here is some background on German Universal Healthcare of the 1930′s and 40′s…hopefully,you will see how it ties in to the current Obamacare debate…
Few may realize it, but the Holocaust started in the national healthcare system of Germany with a project called the T4 program. It began with the idea that the distribution of healthcare should be based on the welfare of society, according to Government priorities. Hitler ordered the hospitals and mental institutions to euthanize hundreds of thousands of the handicapped and mentally ill, in order to save money. In any universal healthcare system the Government will be deciding at some level, who gets healthcare and who doesn't, that is, who lives and who dies.
Much of the early work in Eugenics was done in the United States and Hitler was inspired by the work by of American scientists. Eugenics is the idea that Government can improve that health of the population by making decisions that change the genetics of the population. The German government decided that the Jewish race is genetically inferior and their genes should be eliminated from the population. Many of the techniques used in the extermination of the Jews were developed in the hospitals of the German universal healthcare system. Following is an excerpt of a documentary on the Nazi T4 program.
For more info, see the webpage below.
Obamacare & Eugenics -- Why the Government should NOT Control Healthcare!
http://stop-obama-now.net/obamacare-eugenics/
Hat Tip: ExposeObama.com
Here is some background on German Universal Healthcare of the 1930′s and 40′s…hopefully,you will see how it ties in to the current Obamacare debate…
Few may realize it, but the Holocaust started in the national healthcare system of Germany with a project called the T4 program. It began with the idea that the distribution of healthcare should be based on the welfare of society, according to Government priorities. Hitler ordered the hospitals and mental institutions to euthanize hundreds of thousands of the handicapped and mentally ill, in order to save money. In any universal healthcare system the Government will be deciding at some level, who gets healthcare and who doesn't, that is, who lives and who dies.
Much of the early work in Eugenics was done in the United States and Hitler was inspired by the work by of American scientists. Eugenics is the idea that Government can improve that health of the population by making decisions that change the genetics of the population. The German government decided that the Jewish race is genetically inferior and their genes should be eliminated from the population. Many of the techniques used in the extermination of the Jews were developed in the hospitals of the German universal healthcare system. Following is an excerpt of a documentary on the Nazi T4 program.
For more info, see the webpage below.
Obamacare & Eugenics -- Why the Government should NOT Control Healthcare!
http://stop-obama-now.net/obamacare-eugenics/
Hat Tip: ExposeObama.com
Obama SS show true fascist face -- warrantless searches of your emails
November 21, 2012
Democratic Controlled Senate Bill Allows Warrantless Access To Email
A Senate proposal touted as protecting Americans' e-mail privacy has been quietly rewritten, giving government agencies more surveillance power than they possess under current law.
CNET has learned that Patrick Leahy, the influential Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, has dramatically reshaped his legislation in response to law enforcement concerns. A vote on his bill, which now authorizes warrantless access to Americans' e-mail, is scheduled for next week. ...
Leahy's rewritten bill would allow more than 22 agencies -— including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission — to access Americans' e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant. It also would give the FBI and Homeland Security more authority, in some circumstances, to gain full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge.
source: Times247.com
additional editing: mine
Democratic Controlled Senate Bill Allows Warrantless Access To Email
CNET has learned that Patrick Leahy, the influential Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, has dramatically reshaped his legislation in response to law enforcement concerns. A vote on his bill, which now authorizes warrantless access to Americans' e-mail, is scheduled for next week. ...
Leahy's rewritten bill would allow more than 22 agencies -— including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission — to access Americans' e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant. It also would give the FBI and Homeland Security more authority, in some circumstances, to gain full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge.
source: Times247.com
additional editing: mine
Elmo voice actor Kevin Clash resigns as second man makes underage sex claim against him
November 21, 2012
The voice of Elmo, Kevin Clash, resigned today amid new allegations of sexual misconduct with underaged boys, “Sesame Street” producers and the famed puppeteer said.
Since last week, two young men have accused Clash of picking them up for underaged sex.
Clash was granted a leave of absence last week to fight accusations made by Sheldon Stephens, 24, of Harrisburg, Pa.
But Clash quit today, after a lawsuit was filed by 24-year-old Harlem student Cecil Singleton, who claims he was just 15 when the Elmo voice had sexual contact with him in 2003.
"I am resigning from Sesame Workshop with a very heavy heart. I have loved every day of my 28 years working for this exceptional organization,” Clash said in a prepared statement.
“Personal matters have diverted attention away from the important work `Sesame Street’ is doing and I cannot allow it to go on any longer. I am deeply sorry to be leaving and am looking forward to resolving these personal matters privately."
Clash’s sudden downfall came hours after Singleton’s lawsuit was filed Manhattan federal court.
Singleton claims he met Clash in 2003, through a gay telephone chat line.
The plaintiff said there was no intercourse with Clash until after he turned 18.
Before then, their intimate contact included "groping, masturbation, just a lot of intense kissing, touching, that kinda thing, dry-humping,” Singleton matter-of-factly told reporters during a Midtown press conference this afternoon.
When they first met, both initially lied about their ages, according to Singleton.
"I was 15. At the time I was unaware of his occupation. Initially, as far as [Clash] knew I was an 18-year-old student and he was a 36-year-old school official who traveled and was recently out of a relationship,” Singleton said, summing up their initial hookup.
They allegedly both came clean at their first dinner together.
"I remember confessing to him while we were eating that I wasn't 18, but that I would be turning 16 in the near future. He told me he wasn't 36 either,” said Singleton. "I felt really uncomfortable about the idea that he was two years older than my mother.”
From a distance, the striking accuser could pass for a runway model – average height for a woman, slight build with sleek, long black hair down to his mid-back.
With his beautifully arched eyebrows and black scoop-neck sweater, Singleton calmly explained how he fell for Clash despite the big age gap.
“He made a comment about maturity and that age was nothing but a number,” Singleton recalled.
Despite his sensational claims against Clash, Singleton actually had many kind words for the puppeteer: "He was a gentlemen. There wasn't nothing overly aggressive. He made me feel very comfortable."
Singleton had kept this secret for years and didn’t think about coming out, until Stephens’ story emerged last week.
“Honestly, I put Kevin on a pedestal,” Singleton said.
“If I would have known that this was a recurrent thing, or that I wasn't special and that wasn't a unique circumstance I would have said something much sooner."
Singleton’s lawyer Jeffrey Herman said his client had a duty to come forward.
“Kevin Clash was an unmarried adult male living a prominent public life centered around the entertainment of toddlers, while at the same time he was, in secret, preying on teenage boys to satisfy his depraved sexual interests,” Herman wrote in the lawsuit.
Clash pushed all the right emotional buttons to make his young target feel special, the lawyer said.
“He [Singleton] thought he was the only one. He never looked at himself as a victim,” Herman said. “He was a compliant victim, he just wasn’t a consenting victim because he couldn’t be. He was only 15.”
Singleton believes there might be other boys who have been seduced by Clash.
“After seeing what happened last week, he saw the pattern and the other potential teens this has probably happened to,” Herman said. “That’s when he decided to come forward.”
Clash took Singleton to dinner, once helped him pay a phone bill and helped him out with spending money from time to time -- no more than “three digits,” according to Herman.
"[Clash] trolled gay telephone chat line rooms to meet and have sex with underage boys,” according to the explosive lawsuit.
"[Clash] groomed Cecil to gain his trust by, among other things, taking him to nice dinners and giving him money."
The lawsuit said Singleton "did not become aware that he had suffered adverse psychological and emotional effects from Kevin Clash's sexual acts and conduct until 2012."
Singleton is asking more than $5 million, and Herman said he's been in touch with other, potential accusers.
Clash faced a similar accusation of underage sex last week, in another complaint that just won’t go away.
The first accuser Stephens said he and Clash had intimate contact when the young man was just 16. The puppeteer concedes they had a relationship, but claims any sex happened after Stephens turned 18.
Stephens withdrew his complaint against Clash last week, but now wants to recant his recantation.
He’s interviewing lawyers in hopes of ripping up the $125,000 deal he made with Clash last week, according to TMZ.
Stephens’ Pennsylvania lawyers released this statement on his behalf last week: 'He [Stephens] wants it to be known that his sexual relationship with Mr. Clash was an adult consensual relationship.”
Sesame Workshop, the educational non-profit that produces the venerable kids show, said Clash’s battle with accusers made it impossible for him to work on “Sesame Street.”
“Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us wants, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from `Sesame Street,’ “ according a statement by Sesame Workshop.
“This is a sad day for `Sesame Street.’ ”
Sesame Workshop today thanked Clash, who has been the voice of Elmo since 1984, for all his years of service.
“Sesame Workshop’s mission is to harness the educational power of media to help all children the world over reach their highest potential,” according to Sesame Workshop.
“Kevin Clash has helped us achieve that mission for 28 years, and none of us, especially Kevin, want anything to divert our attention from our focus on serving as a leading educational organization.”
source: New York Post
*Additional reporting by Leonard Greene
**Additional editing: Mine
 |
| **Accused of Pedophylia Actor/Puppeteer Kevin Clash poses with child icon Elmo. |
The voice of Elmo, Kevin Clash, resigned today amid new allegations of sexual misconduct with underaged boys, “Sesame Street” producers and the famed puppeteer said.
Since last week, two young men have accused Clash of picking them up for underaged sex.
Clash was granted a leave of absence last week to fight accusations made by Sheldon Stephens, 24, of Harrisburg, Pa.
But Clash quit today, after a lawsuit was filed by 24-year-old Harlem student Cecil Singleton, who claims he was just 15 when the Elmo voice had sexual contact with him in 2003.
"I am resigning from Sesame Workshop with a very heavy heart. I have loved every day of my 28 years working for this exceptional organization,” Clash said in a prepared statement.
“Personal matters have diverted attention away from the important work `Sesame Street’ is doing and I cannot allow it to go on any longer. I am deeply sorry to be leaving and am looking forward to resolving these personal matters privately."
Clash’s sudden downfall came hours after Singleton’s lawsuit was filed Manhattan federal court.
Singleton claims he met Clash in 2003, through a gay telephone chat line.
The plaintiff said there was no intercourse with Clash until after he turned 18.
Before then, their intimate contact included "groping, masturbation, just a lot of intense kissing, touching, that kinda thing, dry-humping,” Singleton matter-of-factly told reporters during a Midtown press conference this afternoon.
When they first met, both initially lied about their ages, according to Singleton.
"I was 15. At the time I was unaware of his occupation. Initially, as far as [Clash] knew I was an 18-year-old student and he was a 36-year-old school official who traveled and was recently out of a relationship,” Singleton said, summing up their initial hookup.
They allegedly both came clean at their first dinner together.
"I remember confessing to him while we were eating that I wasn't 18, but that I would be turning 16 in the near future. He told me he wasn't 36 either,” said Singleton. "I felt really uncomfortable about the idea that he was two years older than my mother.”
From a distance, the striking accuser could pass for a runway model – average height for a woman, slight build with sleek, long black hair down to his mid-back.
With his beautifully arched eyebrows and black scoop-neck sweater, Singleton calmly explained how he fell for Clash despite the big age gap.
“He made a comment about maturity and that age was nothing but a number,” Singleton recalled.
Despite his sensational claims against Clash, Singleton actually had many kind words for the puppeteer: "He was a gentlemen. There wasn't nothing overly aggressive. He made me feel very comfortable."
Singleton had kept this secret for years and didn’t think about coming out, until Stephens’ story emerged last week.
“Honestly, I put Kevin on a pedestal,” Singleton said.
“If I would have known that this was a recurrent thing, or that I wasn't special and that wasn't a unique circumstance I would have said something much sooner."
Singleton’s lawyer Jeffrey Herman said his client had a duty to come forward.
“Kevin Clash was an unmarried adult male living a prominent public life centered around the entertainment of toddlers, while at the same time he was, in secret, preying on teenage boys to satisfy his depraved sexual interests,” Herman wrote in the lawsuit.
Clash pushed all the right emotional buttons to make his young target feel special, the lawyer said.
“He [Singleton] thought he was the only one. He never looked at himself as a victim,” Herman said. “He was a compliant victim, he just wasn’t a consenting victim because he couldn’t be. He was only 15.”
Singleton believes there might be other boys who have been seduced by Clash.
“After seeing what happened last week, he saw the pattern and the other potential teens this has probably happened to,” Herman said. “That’s when he decided to come forward.”
Clash took Singleton to dinner, once helped him pay a phone bill and helped him out with spending money from time to time -- no more than “three digits,” according to Herman.
"[Clash] trolled gay telephone chat line rooms to meet and have sex with underage boys,” according to the explosive lawsuit.
"[Clash] groomed Cecil to gain his trust by, among other things, taking him to nice dinners and giving him money."
The lawsuit said Singleton "did not become aware that he had suffered adverse psychological and emotional effects from Kevin Clash's sexual acts and conduct until 2012."
Singleton is asking more than $5 million, and Herman said he's been in touch with other, potential accusers.
Clash faced a similar accusation of underage sex last week, in another complaint that just won’t go away.
The first accuser Stephens said he and Clash had intimate contact when the young man was just 16. The puppeteer concedes they had a relationship, but claims any sex happened after Stephens turned 18.
Stephens withdrew his complaint against Clash last week, but now wants to recant his recantation.
He’s interviewing lawyers in hopes of ripping up the $125,000 deal he made with Clash last week, according to TMZ.
Stephens’ Pennsylvania lawyers released this statement on his behalf last week: 'He [Stephens] wants it to be known that his sexual relationship with Mr. Clash was an adult consensual relationship.”
Sesame Workshop, the educational non-profit that produces the venerable kids show, said Clash’s battle with accusers made it impossible for him to work on “Sesame Street.”
“Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us wants, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from `Sesame Street,’ “ according a statement by Sesame Workshop.
“This is a sad day for `Sesame Street.’ ”
Sesame Workshop today thanked Clash, who has been the voice of Elmo since 1984, for all his years of service.
“Sesame Workshop’s mission is to harness the educational power of media to help all children the world over reach their highest potential,” according to Sesame Workshop.
“Kevin Clash has helped us achieve that mission for 28 years, and none of us, especially Kevin, want anything to divert our attention from our focus on serving as a leading educational organization.”
source: New York Post
*Additional reporting by Leonard Greene
**Additional editing: Mine
James Clyburn – Republicans Are Using Racial ‘Code Words’ To Attack Susan Rice
November 21, 2012
BUSTED! Yep, James Clyburn figured us out... Did you know that white folks are so organized that we created universal code language to communicate or racist views between each other?
Democratic congressman James Clyburn appeared on CNN’s Starting Point earlier today to defend U.N. ambassador Susan Rice from criticism over her role in a possible cover-up following the attacks on a U.S. consulate in Benghazi. Soledad O’Brien specifically asked Clyburn about the tone of the attacks leveled at Rice. Clyburn said that Republicans have been using racial “code words” to attack Rice and have gone over the line in attacking her qualifications.
NewsNinja2012 has the Full Story + Video>>
BUSTED! Yep, James Clyburn figured us out... Did you know that white folks are so organized that we created universal code language to communicate or racist views between each other?
 |
| World's smartest Democrat |
NewsNinja2012 has the Full Story + Video>>
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
House investigates EPA emails, as agency says administrators have two accounts
Nov. 20, 2012
SUDDENLY, now that the election is over, investigations bust out everywhere!!
House Republicans are investigating allegations that EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and other high-ranking agency officials have been conducting officials business with email aliases or secret accounts to avoid scrutiny from agency watchdogs and the public.
The House Science, Space and Technology Committee is leading the investigation and has asked Jackson to turn over information connected to the email account “Richard Windsor” – one of the alleged alias accounts.
The committee has sent letters to White House lawyers and the EPA inspector general asking them into investigate the allegations and report on their findings by the end of the month.
The Daily Caller reported first that Jackson was using an email alias, based on research by Competitive Enterprise Institute fellow Christopher Horner.
He says the agency’s use of secret email accounts dates back to the Clinton administration and then-Administrator Carol Browner.
“You remember Ms. Browner, the lady who suddenly ordered her computer hard drive reformatted and backup tapes erased, hours after a federal court issued a ‘preserve’ order … that her lawyers at the Clinton Justice Department insisted they hadn’t yet told her about?” Horner said in the Daily Caller story.
Horner and the institute filed a lawsuit in September claiming EPA employees are using the private Gmail-type accounts to send official emails.
The House committee says federal law requires agencies to preserve all internal records associated with official activities and prohibits the use of private email accounts for government business, unless there are procedures in place to track and store such messages.
An EPA spokesman said Monday the agency has for roughly a decade assigned internal and public email addresses to administrators and that they use the internal one to communicate with staff because of the massive amount of traffic on the public accounts.
The spokesman also said both accounts are reviewed and made available when a Freedom of Information Act request is made.
The committee also said the email allegations follow “similarly secretive and highly questionable methods of communication by senior officials at science agencies within the White House, Commerce Department and Energy Department.”
source: Fox News
Additional editing: Mine
SUDDENLY, now that the election is over, investigations bust out everywhere!!
 |
| Hon. = Lisa the Hon? |
The House Science, Space and Technology Committee is leading the investigation and has asked Jackson to turn over information connected to the email account “Richard Windsor” – one of the alleged alias accounts.
The committee has sent letters to White House lawyers and the EPA inspector general asking them into investigate the allegations and report on their findings by the end of the month.
The Daily Caller reported first that Jackson was using an email alias, based on research by Competitive Enterprise Institute fellow Christopher Horner.
He says the agency’s use of secret email accounts dates back to the Clinton administration and then-Administrator Carol Browner.
“You remember Ms. Browner, the lady who suddenly ordered her computer hard drive reformatted and backup tapes erased, hours after a federal court issued a ‘preserve’ order … that her lawyers at the Clinton Justice Department insisted they hadn’t yet told her about?” Horner said in the Daily Caller story.
Horner and the institute filed a lawsuit in September claiming EPA employees are using the private Gmail-type accounts to send official emails.
The House committee says federal law requires agencies to preserve all internal records associated with official activities and prohibits the use of private email accounts for government business, unless there are procedures in place to track and store such messages.
An EPA spokesman said Monday the agency has for roughly a decade assigned internal and public email addresses to administrators and that they use the internal one to communicate with staff because of the massive amount of traffic on the public accounts.
The spokesman also said both accounts are reviewed and made available when a Freedom of Information Act request is made.
The committee also said the email allegations follow “similarly secretive and highly questionable methods of communication by senior officials at science agencies within the White House, Commerce Department and Energy Department.”
source: Fox News
Additional editing: Mine
Islamic Community Forms Own Government, in the USA
November 20, 2012
What a great idea!!! I know, let's try this once and see what happens. Hmmm...
source: vinienco
What a great idea!!! I know, let's try this once and see what happens. Hmmm...
source: vinienco
Flashback to April 2012: Obama Sends $147 Million to Hamas-Run Gaza
by AWR Hawkins
Breitbart.com
Against GOP objections, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has announced that the Obama administration is sending $147 million in funding to the West Bank and Hamas-run Gaza.
Despite a “hold by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.,” the administration is arguing the money needs to be sent on humanitarian grounds. They did not, however, explain how they plan to force Hamas to use the money for humanitarian purposes.
And while “administrations generally do not disburse funding over the objections of lawmakers on relevant committees,” those associated with Obama have proven more than willing to sidestep Congress to place American tax-dollars in the hands of their friends throughout the world. It was, after all, just last month that the administration circumvented Congress and gave $1.5 billion in aid to the Muslim Brotherhood-run Egyptian government.
The bottom line is that President Obama, who claims he will act if Congress refuses to act domestically, has now begun applying that same philosophy to international affairs. And the problem with this is that the Founding Fathers placed many of our nation’s purse strings in the hands of Congress in order to place a check on executive power. Thus the solution for an impasse between the legislators and the executive branch is to either seek compromise or for one governmental branch to convince the other of the validity of their argument.
But the solution isn’t for the president to bypass Congress and send money to whomever he wishes, whenever he wishes, with impunity.
On another note, I wonder if Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu feels a bit taken aback by all this? After all, the Obama administration got Israel to promise not to bomb Iran until after our presidential elections, right before they announced this aid to Hamas.
The Looters Are in Control
November 20th, 2012
[And now it’s time for Mr. Obama to start paying for all those votes by reaching deep into our pockets. If you intend to avoid paying your “fair share,” however, please take note: There will be few places to hide. For a gimlet-eyed view of what may lie in store for taxpayers and citizens of all political persuasions during the next four years, ponder the guest commentary below, from Wayne Siggard, a regular in the Rick’s Picks forum. RA]
The election was all about new math: 47 = 51. The foresight and genius of the Founders knew no bounds. Ben Franklin said, “Once the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” The trumpets have sounded. The heralds have announced the awakening of the masses to that reality. The greatest and most free nation the world has ever known has just sold its birthright for a mess of pottage; or, at least, the promise of an Obama phone. The takers have voted to take control over the producers.
Everyone will now get a fair shot — except that those who work in government and those who take government welfare will get a fairer shot. Obama knows that you didn’t build that company. You didn’t live frugally and save more money than your neighbor while they spent theirs on drugs or riotous living. He knows this because he didn’t get anything without government assistance — affirmative action put him ahead of more qualified people who earned a spot that he took, just like Elizabeth Warren. You couldn’t possibly have gotten anything on your own merit or hard work.
"A claim for material position can be met only by a government with totalitarian powers."
– Friedrich von Hayek
Von Mises said that full government control of all activities of the individual is virtually the goal of both national parties. Have you ever tried to drill an oil or gas well? Have you ever tried to build a house or commercial building? Have you ever tried to manufacture and sell a product? The International Building Code (IBC) increases in size, restrictions and requirements every year. Why? Because a bureaucracy needs to expand to justify its existence.
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." – Lord Acton
Have you ever experienced the disdain and contempt of a bureaucrat whose permission you sought? It used to be that their power to grant a license or permit was retribution for their pay being less than that of the private sector. Now, you get to pay them 50% more than you would get for the same job, and the disdain has not decreased. Firemen, police officers, and military personnel can retire as young as 38, many making over $100,000 per year if they work until 50, and many can take another job and collect another pension on top of the first. Meanwhile, according to the Census Bureau, the average middle class family’s income has decreased $4,019 during the Obama years, to $50,964. More than half of the lifeguards in Newport Beach, CA, make over $150,000 per year and can collect more than $100,000 in pension benefits starting under 50 years of age.
So, What’s Coming?
That paradigm of preternatural prestidigitation, the Federal Reserve Bank, will continue its policy of zero percent interest. The big banks will mask their insolvency with free money from the Feds. Greedy speculators and fools who overspent on housing will have their mistakes paid for by those taxpayers who had the foresight to save and invest wisely. Obama bundlers and other insiders will continue to get billion dollar investments from the government, sucking valuable capital from the private sector. The official inflation rates will miraculously stay low while you are paying 100% more for gasoline and food.
"History is largely a history of inflation, usually inflations engineered by governments for the gain of governments." – Friedrich von Hayek
Foreign nations are no longer purchasing U.S. government bonds. The largest purchaser is the Federal Reserve Bank. In other words, the government is printing money from thin air. In 1970, you could go to Las Vegas and buy a silver dollar for one paper dollar. It now costs around $35. A mansion behind the Beverly Hills Hotel sold for $200,000. It resold in 2004 for $16 million. A house in Flintridge, CA, sold for $115,000. Its current value is $4.5 million. The base price for a Corvette was $5192. It is now $49,600, a comparative bargain. What you could buy for $1 million in 1970 now takes $36 million. Senator Everett Dirksen in the 1960s is reputed to have remarked,” a billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon we’re talking real money.” You can now add three zeros. The bottom line is that if you are collecting 0.15% interest on your CD, you are losing real purchasing value of at least 10%, and that rate will be accelerating in the next four years. Carlo Ponzi was a hopeless naïf compared to our elected officials.
Harry Reid Has a Plan
Harry Reid already has a bill on his desk which requires that all pension plans (except for the unions, of course), 401Ks, and IRAs be converted to annuities from the government. This pile of cash represents the largest pile of readily available cash in the world right now. The money will be gone as soon as it hits the government’s account, and you will be left with empty promises. There is no money, only a printing press.
Capital export controls will be enacted. You will not be able to get your money out of the country. Already you can no longer open a bank account in Switzerland unless you have over $30 million because the reporting requirements are too onerous for a smaller account. All requests to Switzerland for visas from Americans will be suspended. History will be repeated (shocking, I know), and all gold in private hands will be confiscated. The Republicans will cave, the tax rates will rise, and anyone making more than the insider politicians and government employees will encounter ever-increasing marginal tax rates.
Payoffs for votes will be made. Affirmative action requirements will be increased in every field of endeavor. Women’s abortions and contraceptives will be free. Regulations will stop the advent of fracking and the boom in oil and natural gas will come to an abrupt halt. Payments to environmental groups for lawyer’s fees will expand exponentially. Government-controlled lands with oil and gas potential will be declared wilderness or national monuments, just like Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah. I could go on for another ten pages, but , in a nutshell, the message from Mr. Obama is, “You lost.”
And finally, Israel has recognized that Mr. Obama will offer no succor. Before the end of January, they will raid Iran. Gasoline will reach $7 per gallon, and voila, solar and wind energy will be competitive. No matter that your thermostat is set at 40 degrees, if you can get fuel or power.
The looters are in control. Set your alarms.
*Submitted by RickAckerman on 11/19/2012 to Zero Hedge
[And now it’s time for Mr. Obama to start paying for all those votes by reaching deep into our pockets. If you intend to avoid paying your “fair share,” however, please take note: There will be few places to hide. For a gimlet-eyed view of what may lie in store for taxpayers and citizens of all political persuasions during the next four years, ponder the guest commentary below, from Wayne Siggard, a regular in the Rick’s Picks forum. RA]
The election was all about new math: 47 = 51. The foresight and genius of the Founders knew no bounds. Ben Franklin said, “Once the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” The trumpets have sounded. The heralds have announced the awakening of the masses to that reality. The greatest and most free nation the world has ever known has just sold its birthright for a mess of pottage; or, at least, the promise of an Obama phone. The takers have voted to take control over the producers.
Everyone will now get a fair shot — except that those who work in government and those who take government welfare will get a fairer shot. Obama knows that you didn’t build that company. You didn’t live frugally and save more money than your neighbor while they spent theirs on drugs or riotous living. He knows this because he didn’t get anything without government assistance — affirmative action put him ahead of more qualified people who earned a spot that he took, just like Elizabeth Warren. You couldn’t possibly have gotten anything on your own merit or hard work.
"A claim for material position can be met only by a government with totalitarian powers."
– Friedrich von Hayek
Von Mises said that full government control of all activities of the individual is virtually the goal of both national parties. Have you ever tried to drill an oil or gas well? Have you ever tried to build a house or commercial building? Have you ever tried to manufacture and sell a product? The International Building Code (IBC) increases in size, restrictions and requirements every year. Why? Because a bureaucracy needs to expand to justify its existence.
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." – Lord Acton
Have you ever experienced the disdain and contempt of a bureaucrat whose permission you sought? It used to be that their power to grant a license or permit was retribution for their pay being less than that of the private sector. Now, you get to pay them 50% more than you would get for the same job, and the disdain has not decreased. Firemen, police officers, and military personnel can retire as young as 38, many making over $100,000 per year if they work until 50, and many can take another job and collect another pension on top of the first. Meanwhile, according to the Census Bureau, the average middle class family’s income has decreased $4,019 during the Obama years, to $50,964. More than half of the lifeguards in Newport Beach, CA, make over $150,000 per year and can collect more than $100,000 in pension benefits starting under 50 years of age.
So, What’s Coming?
That paradigm of preternatural prestidigitation, the Federal Reserve Bank, will continue its policy of zero percent interest. The big banks will mask their insolvency with free money from the Feds. Greedy speculators and fools who overspent on housing will have their mistakes paid for by those taxpayers who had the foresight to save and invest wisely. Obama bundlers and other insiders will continue to get billion dollar investments from the government, sucking valuable capital from the private sector. The official inflation rates will miraculously stay low while you are paying 100% more for gasoline and food.
"History is largely a history of inflation, usually inflations engineered by governments for the gain of governments." – Friedrich von Hayek
Foreign nations are no longer purchasing U.S. government bonds. The largest purchaser is the Federal Reserve Bank. In other words, the government is printing money from thin air. In 1970, you could go to Las Vegas and buy a silver dollar for one paper dollar. It now costs around $35. A mansion behind the Beverly Hills Hotel sold for $200,000. It resold in 2004 for $16 million. A house in Flintridge, CA, sold for $115,000. Its current value is $4.5 million. The base price for a Corvette was $5192. It is now $49,600, a comparative bargain. What you could buy for $1 million in 1970 now takes $36 million. Senator Everett Dirksen in the 1960s is reputed to have remarked,” a billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon we’re talking real money.” You can now add three zeros. The bottom line is that if you are collecting 0.15% interest on your CD, you are losing real purchasing value of at least 10%, and that rate will be accelerating in the next four years. Carlo Ponzi was a hopeless naïf compared to our elected officials.
Harry Reid Has a Plan
Harry Reid already has a bill on his desk which requires that all pension plans (except for the unions, of course), 401Ks, and IRAs be converted to annuities from the government. This pile of cash represents the largest pile of readily available cash in the world right now. The money will be gone as soon as it hits the government’s account, and you will be left with empty promises. There is no money, only a printing press.
Capital export controls will be enacted. You will not be able to get your money out of the country. Already you can no longer open a bank account in Switzerland unless you have over $30 million because the reporting requirements are too onerous for a smaller account. All requests to Switzerland for visas from Americans will be suspended. History will be repeated (shocking, I know), and all gold in private hands will be confiscated. The Republicans will cave, the tax rates will rise, and anyone making more than the insider politicians and government employees will encounter ever-increasing marginal tax rates.
Payoffs for votes will be made. Affirmative action requirements will be increased in every field of endeavor. Women’s abortions and contraceptives will be free. Regulations will stop the advent of fracking and the boom in oil and natural gas will come to an abrupt halt. Payments to environmental groups for lawyer’s fees will expand exponentially. Government-controlled lands with oil and gas potential will be declared wilderness or national monuments, just like Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah. I could go on for another ten pages, but , in a nutshell, the message from Mr. Obama is, “You lost.”
And finally, Israel has recognized that Mr. Obama will offer no succor. Before the end of January, they will raid Iran. Gasoline will reach $7 per gallon, and voila, solar and wind energy will be competitive. No matter that your thermostat is set at 40 degrees, if you can get fuel or power.
The looters are in control. Set your alarms.
*Submitted by RickAckerman on 11/19/2012 to Zero Hedge
Nov. 20, 2012
The tolerant, all so inclusive left againdisplays proves it's hypocrisy. They truly are all of that (as long as you agree with them.)
Judge Rejects Nativity Displays in Santa Monica
There's no room for the baby Jesus, the manger or the wise men this Christmas in a Santa Monica park following a judge's ruling Monday against churches that tried to keep a 60-year Nativity tradition alive after atheists stole the show with anti-God messages.
U.S. District Judge Audrey B. Collins rejected a motion from the Santa Monica Nativity Scenes Committee to allow the religious display this season while their lawsuit plays out against the city.
Collins said the city was within its constitutional right to eliminate the exemption that had allowed the Nativity at the oceanfront Palisades Park because the change affected all comers — from Christians to Jews to atheists — and provided other avenues for public religious speech.
The coalition of churches that had put on the life-sized, 14-booth Nativity display for decades argued the city banned it rather than referee a religious dispute that began three years ago when atheists first set up their anti-God message alongside the Christmas diorama.
The judge, however, said Santa Monica proved that it banned the displays not to squash religious speech but because they were becoming a drain on city resources, destroying the turf and obstructing ocean views. Churches can set up unattended displays at 12 other parks in the city with a permit and can leaflet, carol and otherwise present the Christmas story in Palisades Park when it is open, she said.
"I think all of the evidence that is admissible about the aesthetic impacts and administrative burden shows that this was a very reasonable alternative for the city to go this way — and it had nothing to do with content," she said during a hearing in federal court in Los Angeles.
William Becker, the attorney for the Christian group, said he expects the case will be dismissed at a hearing on Dec. 3 based on Monday's proceedings and plans to appeal.
"The atheists won and they will always win unless we get courts to understand how the game is played and this is a game that was played very successfully and they knew it," Becker said, comparing the city to Pontius Pilate, the Roman official who authorized Jesus' crucifixion.
The trouble in Santa Monica began in 2009, when atheist Damon Vix applied for and was granted a booth in Palisades Park alongside the story of Jesus Christ's birth.
Vix hung a simple sign that quoted Thomas Jefferson: "Religions are all alike -- founded on fables and mythologies." The other side read "Happy Solstice." He repeated the display the following year but then upped the stakes significantly.
In 2011, Vix recruited 10 others to inundate the city with applications for tongue-in-cheek displays such as an homage to the "Pastafarian religion," which would include an artistic representation of the great Flying Spaghetti Monster.
The secular coalition won 18 of 21 spaces. Two others went to the traditional Christmas displays and one to a Hanukkah display.
The atheists used half their spaces, displaying signs such as one that showed pictures of Poseidon, Jesus, Santa Claus and the devil and said: "37 million Americans know myths when they see them. What myths do you see?"
Most of the signs were vandalized and in the ensuing uproar, the city effectively ended a tradition that began in 1953 and earned Santa Monica one of its nicknames, the City of the Christmas Story.
"The birth of Jesus Christ is the linchpin of Western civilization, our calendar derives from it, but now somehow it's just not right to have a classic depiction of this event in a Nativity scene in a city park," said Hunter Jameson, head of the Nativity committee.
In court Monday, Deputy City Attorney Yibin Shen said the ban had been under consideration for years and was ultimately motivated by the cost to the city after the number of applicants spiked in recent years.
The department in charge of running the lottery for booth spaces doubled its staff and spent 245 hours annually running the system and reviewing applications, he said.
"This is a 20-year decision in the making," he said.
For his part, Vix said he was pleased with Monday's ruling, but was also saddened by the anger being directed against atheists since he hung his first anti-God sign in 2009.
"So many people don't understand atheists," he said. "If you read the signs we put up, one said, 'Love is all around you.' That's really a better understanding of who most atheists are."
source: AP/ABC News
The tolerant, all so inclusive left again
Judge Rejects Nativity Displays in Santa Monica
U.S. District Judge Audrey B. Collins rejected a motion from the Santa Monica Nativity Scenes Committee to allow the religious display this season while their lawsuit plays out against the city.
Collins said the city was within its constitutional right to eliminate the exemption that had allowed the Nativity at the oceanfront Palisades Park because the change affected all comers — from Christians to Jews to atheists — and provided other avenues for public religious speech.
The coalition of churches that had put on the life-sized, 14-booth Nativity display for decades argued the city banned it rather than referee a religious dispute that began three years ago when atheists first set up their anti-God message alongside the Christmas diorama.
The judge, however, said Santa Monica proved that it banned the displays not to squash religious speech but because they were becoming a drain on city resources, destroying the turf and obstructing ocean views. Churches can set up unattended displays at 12 other parks in the city with a permit and can leaflet, carol and otherwise present the Christmas story in Palisades Park when it is open, she said.
"I think all of the evidence that is admissible about the aesthetic impacts and administrative burden shows that this was a very reasonable alternative for the city to go this way — and it had nothing to do with content," she said during a hearing in federal court in Los Angeles.
William Becker, the attorney for the Christian group, said he expects the case will be dismissed at a hearing on Dec. 3 based on Monday's proceedings and plans to appeal.
"The atheists won and they will always win unless we get courts to understand how the game is played and this is a game that was played very successfully and they knew it," Becker said, comparing the city to Pontius Pilate, the Roman official who authorized Jesus' crucifixion.
The trouble in Santa Monica began in 2009, when atheist Damon Vix applied for and was granted a booth in Palisades Park alongside the story of Jesus Christ's birth.
Vix hung a simple sign that quoted Thomas Jefferson: "Religions are all alike -- founded on fables and mythologies." The other side read "Happy Solstice." He repeated the display the following year but then upped the stakes significantly.
In 2011, Vix recruited 10 others to inundate the city with applications for tongue-in-cheek displays such as an homage to the "Pastafarian religion," which would include an artistic representation of the great Flying Spaghetti Monster.
The secular coalition won 18 of 21 spaces. Two others went to the traditional Christmas displays and one to a Hanukkah display.
The atheists used half their spaces, displaying signs such as one that showed pictures of Poseidon, Jesus, Santa Claus and the devil and said: "37 million Americans know myths when they see them. What myths do you see?"
Most of the signs were vandalized and in the ensuing uproar, the city effectively ended a tradition that began in 1953 and earned Santa Monica one of its nicknames, the City of the Christmas Story.
"The birth of Jesus Christ is the linchpin of Western civilization, our calendar derives from it, but now somehow it's just not right to have a classic depiction of this event in a Nativity scene in a city park," said Hunter Jameson, head of the Nativity committee.
In court Monday, Deputy City Attorney Yibin Shen said the ban had been under consideration for years and was ultimately motivated by the cost to the city after the number of applicants spiked in recent years.
"This is a 20-year decision in the making," he said.
For his part, Vix said he was pleased with Monday's ruling, but was also saddened by the anger being directed against atheists since he hung his first anti-God sign in 2009.
"So many people don't understand atheists," he said. "If you read the signs we put up, one said, 'Love is all around you.' That's really a better understanding of who most atheists are."
source: AP/ABC News
Defensive Medicine: How To Survive ObamaCare
November 20, 2012
By Richard Amerling, M.D. - http://Twitter.com/DrAmerling
It’s been a horrible year for individual liberty. First, John Roberts re-writes the Obamacare legislation in order to side with the four liberals on the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of the individual mandate. Then Mitt Romney, a moderate technocrat, failed to make the case to change course with the electorate, in my view largely because he was unable to effectively challenge Obamacare. The federal noose is tightening inexorably around our collective neck! How can we, as individuals, defend our families and ourselves? These are desperate times and require desperate measures. Allow me to suggest a few.
There is simply no way that greatly expanded federal control over medicine will be anything but a disaster. Central planners will tighten their grip using price controls and other heavy-handed means of “cost control” that will inevitably mean shortages and rationing. To understand how this happens, look no further than hours-long lines to get gasoline in New York and New Jersey. These are a direct result, not of Hurricane Sandy, but of the strict “anti-gouging” laws in these states that prevent retailers from raising prices in response to scarcity. Higher prices will signal suppliers to overcome barriers to delivering more supply. Gas lines would vanish overnight with suspension of price controls. In medicine, price controls on doctors and hospitals will mean shortages of both.
To assure continued access to a personal physician, concerned Americans should immediately seek out and contract with a direct-pay or concierge doctor. This is even more important if you have significant medical problems. You will not get the care you need in Medicaid, or an “Accountable Care Organization,” the latest version of managed care.
Doctors should strongly consider opting out of Medicare and other major third-party payers, as our practices will increasingly be under their direct control. If a critical mass of physicians opt out, it will be difficult for the federal government to compel participation.
Under your doctor’s guidance, wean yourselves off expensive drugs by adopting a healthy lifestyle. Don’t take illicit drugs or tobacco, and limit alcohol. Avoid processed carbohydrates and high-fructose corn syrup. Exercise regularly and maintain ideal body weight. Most medications for hypertension, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and osteoporosis are toxic, and don’t address the underlying problem.
To pay for care, consider setting up a Health Savings Account, which somehow survived Obamacare, albeit with some restrictions. The HSA can be used to pay for routine care, such as office visits and tests. Get used to the idea of paying directly for your routine care. An HSA should be coupled with a catastrophic insurance policy with a high deductible. These too are still available. The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons has information on all of the above, and frequently sends updates on Twitter.
This leads to my final recommendation: If you live in a blue state, consider relocating to a red state, particularly one that is not complying with Obamacare. According to Twila Brase, we can add Montana, Alabama, and Wyoming to the list of states refusing to set up the Obamacare state insurance “exchanges.” The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal government couldn’t force states to expand Medicaid, or set up exchanges. States that opt out effectively defend their citizens from some of the more objectionable aspects of Obamacare.
There are other major advantages for conservatives who move from a blue to a red state. Your vote will suddenly count, and over time, the Electoral College and Congress will shift to favor red states. You will also enjoy lower taxes and cost of living, and if moving from the northeast, a better climate! Many of the blue states, such as California, New York, Illinois, and Michigan, are in dire financial straits due to high taxes, public sector unionism, and overspending on welfare programs, including Medicaid. If millions of productive conservatives (i.e., taxpayers) bail out, the fiscal picture worsens considerably and these states will either collapse or reform. Long term, this is the only way to win the non-shooting civil war that is raging between those who favor expanding the welfare state and those who desire a return to our founding principles of a limited federal government and max imal personal freedom.
source: AAPS
Richard Amerling, MD is a nephrologist practicing in New York City. He is an Associate Professor of clinical medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and the Director of Outpatient Dialysis at the Beth Israel Medical Center. Dr. Amerling studied medicine at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, graduating cum laude in 1981. He completed a medical residency at the New York Hospital Queens and a nephrology fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He has written and lectured extensively on health care issues and is a Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Amerling is the author of the Physicians' Declaration of Independence. Follow Dr. Amerling on Twitter at http://twitter.com/dramerling
 |
| Richard Amerling, M.D. |
It’s been a horrible year for individual liberty. First, John Roberts re-writes the Obamacare legislation in order to side with the four liberals on the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of the individual mandate. Then Mitt Romney, a moderate technocrat, failed to make the case to change course with the electorate, in my view largely because he was unable to effectively challenge Obamacare. The federal noose is tightening inexorably around our collective neck! How can we, as individuals, defend our families and ourselves? These are desperate times and require desperate measures. Allow me to suggest a few.
There is simply no way that greatly expanded federal control over medicine will be anything but a disaster. Central planners will tighten their grip using price controls and other heavy-handed means of “cost control” that will inevitably mean shortages and rationing. To understand how this happens, look no further than hours-long lines to get gasoline in New York and New Jersey. These are a direct result, not of Hurricane Sandy, but of the strict “anti-gouging” laws in these states that prevent retailers from raising prices in response to scarcity. Higher prices will signal suppliers to overcome barriers to delivering more supply. Gas lines would vanish overnight with suspension of price controls. In medicine, price controls on doctors and hospitals will mean shortages of both.
To assure continued access to a personal physician, concerned Americans should immediately seek out and contract with a direct-pay or concierge doctor. This is even more important if you have significant medical problems. You will not get the care you need in Medicaid, or an “Accountable Care Organization,” the latest version of managed care.
Doctors should strongly consider opting out of Medicare and other major third-party payers, as our practices will increasingly be under their direct control. If a critical mass of physicians opt out, it will be difficult for the federal government to compel participation.
Under your doctor’s guidance, wean yourselves off expensive drugs by adopting a healthy lifestyle. Don’t take illicit drugs or tobacco, and limit alcohol. Avoid processed carbohydrates and high-fructose corn syrup. Exercise regularly and maintain ideal body weight. Most medications for hypertension, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and osteoporosis are toxic, and don’t address the underlying problem.
To pay for care, consider setting up a Health Savings Account, which somehow survived Obamacare, albeit with some restrictions. The HSA can be used to pay for routine care, such as office visits and tests. Get used to the idea of paying directly for your routine care. An HSA should be coupled with a catastrophic insurance policy with a high deductible. These too are still available. The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons has information on all of the above, and frequently sends updates on Twitter.
This leads to my final recommendation: If you live in a blue state, consider relocating to a red state, particularly one that is not complying with Obamacare. According to Twila Brase, we can add Montana, Alabama, and Wyoming to the list of states refusing to set up the Obamacare state insurance “exchanges.” The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal government couldn’t force states to expand Medicaid, or set up exchanges. States that opt out effectively defend their citizens from some of the more objectionable aspects of Obamacare.
There are other major advantages for conservatives who move from a blue to a red state. Your vote will suddenly count, and over time, the Electoral College and Congress will shift to favor red states. You will also enjoy lower taxes and cost of living, and if moving from the northeast, a better climate! Many of the blue states, such as California, New York, Illinois, and Michigan, are in dire financial straits due to high taxes, public sector unionism, and overspending on welfare programs, including Medicaid. If millions of productive conservatives (i.e., taxpayers) bail out, the fiscal picture worsens considerably and these states will either collapse or reform. Long term, this is the only way to win the non-shooting civil war that is raging between those who favor expanding the welfare state and those who desire a return to our founding principles of a limited federal government and max imal personal freedom.
source: AAPS
Richard Amerling, MD is a nephrologist practicing in New York City. He is an Associate Professor of clinical medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and the Director of Outpatient Dialysis at the Beth Israel Medical Center. Dr. Amerling studied medicine at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, graduating cum laude in 1981. He completed a medical residency at the New York Hospital Queens and a nephrology fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He has written and lectured extensively on health care issues and is a Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Amerling is the author of the Physicians' Declaration of Independence. Follow Dr. Amerling on Twitter at http://twitter.com/dramerling
Obama in Burma: 'I Wish I Could... Impose My Will on Congress'
November 20, 2012
by Ben Shapiro
Breitbart.com
(Big Peace) - Today, President Obama spoke in Burma – or as he termed it, Myanmar, despite official US practice to call the country Burma – and repeatedly botched the name of the country’s famed Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, instead calling her Aung YAN Suu Kyi. Then he called President Thein Sein “President Sein,” which was a diplomatic snafu, since the president of Burma is to be called by his full name.
His speech was just as bad. After getting through the basics – acting as though his doctrine, not President Bush’s multiple actions on behalf of democracy in Burma, had created more freedom in Burma -- Obama cited Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “four fundamental freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.”
When it came to freedom of speech, Obama said all the right things – after all, he was not talking about an anti-Islam YouTube video in Burma. But he then followed up that glowing language with this bombshell: “Now, on other hand, as President, I cannot just impose my will on Congress -- the Congress of the United States -- even though sometimes I wish I could.” Yes, he does. And he does everything in his power to exceed his constitutional bounds. And he said this in Burma, a military dictatorship for decades, shortly after calling it Myanmar, the name for the country used by the military dictatorship. Talk about undermining America on the world stage.
Obama moved on to freedom from want, which he said was accomplished through private property which could be seized by government. Really. Here was his take on how economics makes peoples prosperous:
When ordinary people have a say in their own future, then your land can’t just be taken away from you. And that's why reforms must ensure that the people of this nation can have that most fundamental of possessions -- the right to own the title to the land on which you live and on which you work. When your talents are unleashed, then opportunity will be created for all people …. as more wealth flows into your borders, we hope and expect that it will lift up more people. It can't just help folks at the top. It has to help everybody. And that kind of economic growth, where everybody has opportunity -- if you work hard, you can succeed -- that's what gets a nation moving rapidly when it comes to develop.
So property ownership is good, except that it promotes inequality, so it must be redistributed. Got it.
When Obama moved on to freedom of worship, he moved back into his “red states and blue states” nonsense from the campaign. Instead of taking religious differences seriously and recommending a separation of church and state, Obama talked happy talk about culture:
My own country and my own life have taught me the power of diversity. The United States of America is a nation of Christians and Jews, and Muslims and Buddhists, and Hindus and non-believers. Our story is shaped by every language; it’s enriched by every culture. We have people from every corners of the world. We’ve tasted the bitterness of civil war and segregation, but our history shows us that hatred in the human heart can recede; that the lines between races and tribes fade away. And what’s left is a simple truth: e pluribus unum -- that’s what we say in America. Out of many, we are one nation and we are one people. And that truth has, time and again, made our union stronger. It has made our country stronger. It’s part of what has made America great.
Well, e pluribus unum, until such time as Obama needs to win an election. Then he divides us by race, religion, ethnicity, age, and gender.
Finally, Obama addressed freedom from fear. He didn’t talk about the need to discard tyrannical societies. Instead, he talked in vague terms about xenophobia, fear of change, and the like. Some more typical Obama happy talk:
In many ways, fear is the force that stands between human beings and their dreams. Fear of conflict and the weapons of war. Fear of a future that is different from the past. Fear of changes that are reordering our societies and economy. Fear of people who look different, or come from a different place, or worship in a different way. In some of her darkest moments, when Aung San Suu Kyi was imprisoned, she wrote an essay about freedom from fear. She said fear of losing corrupts those who wield it -- “Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it, and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.” That's the fear that you can leave behind. We see that chance in leaders who are beginning to understand that power comes from appealing to people’s hopes, not people's fears. We see it in citizens who insist that this time must be different, that this time change will come and will continue. As Aung San Suu Kyi wrote: “Fear is not the natural state of civilized man.” I believe that.
What does any of this mean? Even Obama would be hard-pressed to explain.
by Ben Shapiro
Breitbart.com
(Big Peace) - Today, President Obama spoke in Burma – or as he termed it, Myanmar, despite official US practice to call the country Burma – and repeatedly botched the name of the country’s famed Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, instead calling her Aung YAN Suu Kyi. Then he called President Thein Sein “President Sein,” which was a diplomatic snafu, since the president of Burma is to be called by his full name.
His speech was just as bad. After getting through the basics – acting as though his doctrine, not President Bush’s multiple actions on behalf of democracy in Burma, had created more freedom in Burma -- Obama cited Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “four fundamental freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.”
When it came to freedom of speech, Obama said all the right things – after all, he was not talking about an anti-Islam YouTube video in Burma. But he then followed up that glowing language with this bombshell: “Now, on other hand, as President, I cannot just impose my will on Congress -- the Congress of the United States -- even though sometimes I wish I could.” Yes, he does. And he does everything in his power to exceed his constitutional bounds. And he said this in Burma, a military dictatorship for decades, shortly after calling it Myanmar, the name for the country used by the military dictatorship. Talk about undermining America on the world stage.
Obama moved on to freedom from want, which he said was accomplished through private property which could be seized by government. Really. Here was his take on how economics makes peoples prosperous:
When ordinary people have a say in their own future, then your land can’t just be taken away from you. And that's why reforms must ensure that the people of this nation can have that most fundamental of possessions -- the right to own the title to the land on which you live and on which you work. When your talents are unleashed, then opportunity will be created for all people …. as more wealth flows into your borders, we hope and expect that it will lift up more people. It can't just help folks at the top. It has to help everybody. And that kind of economic growth, where everybody has opportunity -- if you work hard, you can succeed -- that's what gets a nation moving rapidly when it comes to develop.
So property ownership is good, except that it promotes inequality, so it must be redistributed. Got it.
When Obama moved on to freedom of worship, he moved back into his “red states and blue states” nonsense from the campaign. Instead of taking religious differences seriously and recommending a separation of church and state, Obama talked happy talk about culture:
My own country and my own life have taught me the power of diversity. The United States of America is a nation of Christians and Jews, and Muslims and Buddhists, and Hindus and non-believers. Our story is shaped by every language; it’s enriched by every culture. We have people from every corners of the world. We’ve tasted the bitterness of civil war and segregation, but our history shows us that hatred in the human heart can recede; that the lines between races and tribes fade away. And what’s left is a simple truth: e pluribus unum -- that’s what we say in America. Out of many, we are one nation and we are one people. And that truth has, time and again, made our union stronger. It has made our country stronger. It’s part of what has made America great.
Well, e pluribus unum, until such time as Obama needs to win an election. Then he divides us by race, religion, ethnicity, age, and gender.
Finally, Obama addressed freedom from fear. He didn’t talk about the need to discard tyrannical societies. Instead, he talked in vague terms about xenophobia, fear of change, and the like. Some more typical Obama happy talk:
In many ways, fear is the force that stands between human beings and their dreams. Fear of conflict and the weapons of war. Fear of a future that is different from the past. Fear of changes that are reordering our societies and economy. Fear of people who look different, or come from a different place, or worship in a different way. In some of her darkest moments, when Aung San Suu Kyi was imprisoned, she wrote an essay about freedom from fear. She said fear of losing corrupts those who wield it -- “Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it, and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.” That's the fear that you can leave behind. We see that chance in leaders who are beginning to understand that power comes from appealing to people’s hopes, not people's fears. We see it in citizens who insist that this time must be different, that this time change will come and will continue. As Aung San Suu Kyi wrote: “Fear is not the natural state of civilized man.” I believe that.
What does any of this mean? Even Obama would be hard-pressed to explain.
Americans Ask For The Rich To Pay A Greater Fair Share
Nov. 20, 2012
Americans Ask For The Rich To Pay A Greater Fair Share
But let’s call it a middle-class tax cut…
Please enjoy these threeclips examples of the benefits of mislabeling concepts for political gain
Tiffany’s husband is out of work, so she needs help to pay for her child’s summer camp, better tasting dinners and ice cream truck treats.
Ron feels that privileged Americans need to contribute back a greater fair share then the rest of us because we have given them so much.
Dalia feels we should not fight about those things we disagree on. But we all agree on extending tax cuts only for the middle class.
source: free republic chat
Americans Ask For The Rich To Pay A Greater Fair Share
But let’s call it a middle-class tax cut…
Please enjoy these three
Tiffany’s husband is out of work, so she needs help to pay for her child’s summer camp, better tasting dinners and ice cream truck treats.
Ron feels that privileged Americans need to contribute back a greater fair share then the rest of us because we have given them so much.
Dalia feels we should not fight about those things we disagree on. But we all agree on extending tax cuts only for the middle class.
source: free republic chat
California gets face scanners to spy on everyone at once
Nov. 20, 2012
Russia Today
A news story about big brother, by big brother...
In a single second, law enforcement agents can match a suspect against millions upon millions of profiles in vast detailed databases stored on the cloud. It’s all done using facial recognition, and in Southern California it’s already occurring.
Imagine the police taking a picture: any picture of a person, anywhere, and matching it on the spot in less than a second to a personalized profile, scanning millions upon millions of entries from within vast, intricate databases stored on the cloud.
It’s done with state of the art facial recognition technology, and in Southern California it’s already happening.
At least one law enforcement agency in San Diego is currently using software developed by FaceFirst, a division of nearby Camarillo, California’s Airborne Biometrics Group. It can positively identify anyone, as long as physical data about a person’s facial features is stored somewhere the police can access. Though that pool of potential matches could include millions, the company says that by using the “best available facial recognition algorithms” they can scour that data set in a fraction of a second in order to send authorities all known intelligence about anyone who enters a camera’s field of vision.
“Live high definition video enables FaceFirst to track and isolate the face of every person on every camera simultaneously,” the company claims on their website.
“Up to 4 million comparisons per second, per clustered server” — that’s how many matches a single computer wired to the FaceFirst system can consider in a single breath as images captured by cameras, cell phones and surveillance devices from as far as 100 feet away are fed into algorithms designed to pick out terrorists and persons of interest. In a single setting, an unlimited amount of cameras can record the movements of a crowd at 30-frames-per-second, pick out each and every face and then feed it into an equation that, ideally, finds the bad guys.
"I realized that with the right technology, we could have saved lives,” Joseph Rosenkrantz, president and CEO of FaceFirst, tells the Los Angeles Times. He says he dreamed up the project after the attacks of September 11, 2001 and has since invested years into perfecting it. Not yet mastered, however, is how to make sure innocent bystanders and anyone who wishes to stay anonymous is left alone as he expands an Orwellian infrastructure that allows anyone with the right credentials to comb through a crowd and learn facts and figures of any individual within the scope of a surveillance cam.
Speaking to reporters with Find Biometrics in August, Rosenkrantz said that the system is already in place in Panama, where computers there process nearly 20 million comparisons per second “using a FaceFirst matching cluster with a large number of live surveillance cameras on a scale beyond any other system ever implemented.”
“Within just a couple of seconds whoever needs to know receives an email containing all the evidence and stats about the person identified along with the video clip of them passing the camera so they may be approached then and there,” he says.
Earlier this year, RT broke the story of TrapWire, a surveillance system marketed by global intelligence firm Stratfor to law enforcement agencies across the world. Through investigation of TrapWire and its parent companies, it became apparent that surveillance devices linked to the system could be monitored from remote fusion centers with access to an endless array of cameras and databases. According to FaceFirst’s developers, their technology doesn’t need a second person to scour video feeds to find suspected terrorists. Complex algorithms instead make finding a match the job of a computer and positive IDs can be returned in under a second.
"It doesn't do me any good if I'm able to look at a face with a camera and five minutes later, there's a match," says Paul Benne, a security consultant who tells the Los Angeles Times that he recommended his clients use FaceFirst in high-security areas. "By then, the person's gone."
Rosenkrantz admits in his interview to the use of the technology at Panama’s Tocumen airport, as well as other border crossings along the perimeter of the country. The deployment of FaceFirst in the United States still begs questions concerning the relationship between security and privacy, though, and is likely to remain an issue of contention until agencies in San Diego and elsewhere explain what exactly they’re up to.
According to a report in Southern California’s News 10 published this week, an unnamed law enforcement agency in San Diego County has been testing a handheld version of FacecFirst for about five months now. On the record, though, no agency in the US has been forthcoming with why it’s using those specific facial scanners or even confirming it’s in their arsenal of ever expanding surveillance tools.
"If they spot someone who doesn't have identification, they can take their picture with their phone and immediately get a result," Joseph Saad, business development director for FaceFirst, tells News 10.
Saad says his company predicts that "facial recognition will be in every day society” soon, perhaps before many Americans want to admit. According to filings available online, Airborne Biometrics was already cleared by the Government Services Administration (GSA) last year to have FaceFirst sold to any federal agency in the country.
“The ability to apply our technology for the advancement of our country has always been my number one goal,” Rosenkrantz said in April 2011 when Airborne was awarded an IT 70 Schedule contract for FaceFirst by the GSA. Because that contact has since been signed with Uncle Sam, Rosenfratz and company can see that goal through, at least until its up for renewal in 2017, through a deal that lets them sell FaceFirst to “all federal agencies and other specified activities and agencies.”
In a demonstration video on the FaceFirst website, the company touts their product as being a great addition to any acquisition device, specifically suggesting that clients consider integrating the software with tactical robots, mobile phones and surveillance drones. Coincidently, just last month the sheriff of Alameda County, California asked the US Homeland Security department for as much as $100,000 in order to have an unmanned aerial vehicles — a drone — in his agency’s arsenal for the sake of protecting the security of his citizens.
Weeks earlier, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told congressional lawmakers that she endorses the idea of sending drones to California to aid with law enforcement efforts. Pleads like the one out of Alameda have been occurring across the country in a rate considered alarming by privacy advocates, but rarely has that opposition brought into the spotlight the scary surveillance capabilities that any police agency may soon have in their hands. While the issues of Fourth Amendment erosions and privacy violations have indeed emerged, the actual abilities of surveillance devices — snagging faces from large crowds in milliseconds and sending info to the authorities — have not.
“Facial characteristics become biometric templates compared against multiple watch lists created from customer photos or massive criminal databases,” the promo explains. Those lists can be custom created by law enforcement agencies to track a ‘most-wanted’ roster of suspected criminals but can pull from databases where any biometric information is already available or can be inputted on the fly.
Discovery of San Diego’s use of FaceFirst comes just two months after the FBI announced it had already rolled out a program to upgrade its current Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) that keeps track of citizens with criminal records across the country with one that relies on face recognition. The FBI expects the Next Generation Identification (NGI) program will include as many as 14 million photographs by the time the project is in full swing in just two years, relying on digital images already stored on federal databases, such as the ones managed by state motor vehicle departments. In the state of New Jersey, the DMV has recently told drivers that they are not allowed to smile for driver’s license photos because it could cause complications in terms of logging biometric data in their own facial recognition system.
The FBI said that, by rolling out NGI, they “will be able to provide services to enhance interoperability between stakeholders at all levels of government, including local, state, federal and international partners.” The unnamed San Diego law enforcement agency already with the ability to match millions of faces in a single moment may be relying right now on that connectedness to keep track of anyone they wish.
According to an article in the Los Angeles Times last week, 70 percent of biometrics spending comes from law enforcement, the military and the government. The private sector is scooping up that scanning power too, though, with FaceFirst having already cut deals with Samsung to provide them with technology for use in closed-circuit surveillance cameras marketed to businesses. But while the Federal Trade Commission has informed companies and corporations that they need to be more transparent about how personally identifiable information is stored on their servers, the Times notes that no guidelines like that exist for law enforcement agencies, who may very well sit on mounds of intelligence without good reason.
"You don't need a warrant to use this technology on someone," Sen. Al Franken (D-Minnesota) said last year during a congressional hearing about the use of expanding surveillance technology. "You might not even need to have a reasonable suspicion that they're involved in a crime."
Aside from FaceFirst, law enforcement is using that excuse to pull data on persons — of interest and otherwise — even when their faces are protected. As RT reported recently, an ever-growing number of police departments are investing in license plate scanners that let officers identify as many as 10,000 vehicles and their registered owners in a single shift. Much like how FaceFirst can pick out dozens of suspects from a single photograph and send data to custom servers, those license plate readers can pick up the precise location of persons never suspected of a crime, making rampant invasion of privacy just collateral damage as the surveillance monster state grows larger
“The cameras will catch things you didn’t see, cars you wouldn’t have run, and the beauty of it is that it runs everything,” Lieutenant Christopher Morgon of the Long Beach, California Police Department says in promotional material for an automated license plate recognition device manufactured by PIPS Technology.
The Federal Trade Commission has offered the security industry best practice suggestions about how long to hold onto data picked up by surveillance cameras, but safeguards for law enforcement agencies are largely absent. In the case of the scanners used to find license plates on the streets of Southern California, Jon Campbell of LA Weekly writes, “The location and photo information is uploaded to a central database, then retained for years — in case it's needed for a subsequent investigation.”
Rosenkrantz says FaceFirst is experiencing triple digit growth in 2012 and expects sustainable expansion to continue throughout the next five years. By 2020, the Federal Aviation Administration expects that as many as 30,000 drones will be operating in US airspace.
Russia Today
A news story about big brother, by big brother...
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| Facial recognition technology is expected to soon be the norm among law enforcement |
Imagine the police taking a picture: any picture of a person, anywhere, and matching it on the spot in less than a second to a personalized profile, scanning millions upon millions of entries from within vast, intricate databases stored on the cloud.
It’s done with state of the art facial recognition technology, and in Southern California it’s already happening.
At least one law enforcement agency in San Diego is currently using software developed by FaceFirst, a division of nearby Camarillo, California’s Airborne Biometrics Group. It can positively identify anyone, as long as physical data about a person’s facial features is stored somewhere the police can access. Though that pool of potential matches could include millions, the company says that by using the “best available facial recognition algorithms” they can scour that data set in a fraction of a second in order to send authorities all known intelligence about anyone who enters a camera’s field of vision.
“Live high definition video enables FaceFirst to track and isolate the face of every person on every camera simultaneously,” the company claims on their website.
“Up to 4 million comparisons per second, per clustered server” — that’s how many matches a single computer wired to the FaceFirst system can consider in a single breath as images captured by cameras, cell phones and surveillance devices from as far as 100 feet away are fed into algorithms designed to pick out terrorists and persons of interest. In a single setting, an unlimited amount of cameras can record the movements of a crowd at 30-frames-per-second, pick out each and every face and then feed it into an equation that, ideally, finds the bad guys.
"I realized that with the right technology, we could have saved lives,” Joseph Rosenkrantz, president and CEO of FaceFirst, tells the Los Angeles Times. He says he dreamed up the project after the attacks of September 11, 2001 and has since invested years into perfecting it. Not yet mastered, however, is how to make sure innocent bystanders and anyone who wishes to stay anonymous is left alone as he expands an Orwellian infrastructure that allows anyone with the right credentials to comb through a crowd and learn facts and figures of any individual within the scope of a surveillance cam.
Speaking to reporters with Find Biometrics in August, Rosenkrantz said that the system is already in place in Panama, where computers there process nearly 20 million comparisons per second “using a FaceFirst matching cluster with a large number of live surveillance cameras on a scale beyond any other system ever implemented.”
“Within just a couple of seconds whoever needs to know receives an email containing all the evidence and stats about the person identified along with the video clip of them passing the camera so they may be approached then and there,” he says.
Earlier this year, RT broke the story of TrapWire, a surveillance system marketed by global intelligence firm Stratfor to law enforcement agencies across the world. Through investigation of TrapWire and its parent companies, it became apparent that surveillance devices linked to the system could be monitored from remote fusion centers with access to an endless array of cameras and databases. According to FaceFirst’s developers, their technology doesn’t need a second person to scour video feeds to find suspected terrorists. Complex algorithms instead make finding a match the job of a computer and positive IDs can be returned in under a second.
"It doesn't do me any good if I'm able to look at a face with a camera and five minutes later, there's a match," says Paul Benne, a security consultant who tells the Los Angeles Times that he recommended his clients use FaceFirst in high-security areas. "By then, the person's gone."
Rosenkrantz admits in his interview to the use of the technology at Panama’s Tocumen airport, as well as other border crossings along the perimeter of the country. The deployment of FaceFirst in the United States still begs questions concerning the relationship between security and privacy, though, and is likely to remain an issue of contention until agencies in San Diego and elsewhere explain what exactly they’re up to.
According to a report in Southern California’s News 10 published this week, an unnamed law enforcement agency in San Diego County has been testing a handheld version of FacecFirst for about five months now. On the record, though, no agency in the US has been forthcoming with why it’s using those specific facial scanners or even confirming it’s in their arsenal of ever expanding surveillance tools.
"If they spot someone who doesn't have identification, they can take their picture with their phone and immediately get a result," Joseph Saad, business development director for FaceFirst, tells News 10.
Saad says his company predicts that "facial recognition will be in every day society” soon, perhaps before many Americans want to admit. According to filings available online, Airborne Biometrics was already cleared by the Government Services Administration (GSA) last year to have FaceFirst sold to any federal agency in the country.
“The ability to apply our technology for the advancement of our country has always been my number one goal,” Rosenkrantz said in April 2011 when Airborne was awarded an IT 70 Schedule contract for FaceFirst by the GSA. Because that contact has since been signed with Uncle Sam, Rosenfratz and company can see that goal through, at least until its up for renewal in 2017, through a deal that lets them sell FaceFirst to “all federal agencies and other specified activities and agencies.”
In a demonstration video on the FaceFirst website, the company touts their product as being a great addition to any acquisition device, specifically suggesting that clients consider integrating the software with tactical robots, mobile phones and surveillance drones. Coincidently, just last month the sheriff of Alameda County, California asked the US Homeland Security department for as much as $100,000 in order to have an unmanned aerial vehicles — a drone — in his agency’s arsenal for the sake of protecting the security of his citizens.
Weeks earlier, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told congressional lawmakers that she endorses the idea of sending drones to California to aid with law enforcement efforts. Pleads like the one out of Alameda have been occurring across the country in a rate considered alarming by privacy advocates, but rarely has that opposition brought into the spotlight the scary surveillance capabilities that any police agency may soon have in their hands. While the issues of Fourth Amendment erosions and privacy violations have indeed emerged, the actual abilities of surveillance devices — snagging faces from large crowds in milliseconds and sending info to the authorities — have not.
“Facial characteristics become biometric templates compared against multiple watch lists created from customer photos or massive criminal databases,” the promo explains. Those lists can be custom created by law enforcement agencies to track a ‘most-wanted’ roster of suspected criminals but can pull from databases where any biometric information is already available or can be inputted on the fly.
Discovery of San Diego’s use of FaceFirst comes just two months after the FBI announced it had already rolled out a program to upgrade its current Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) that keeps track of citizens with criminal records across the country with one that relies on face recognition. The FBI expects the Next Generation Identification (NGI) program will include as many as 14 million photographs by the time the project is in full swing in just two years, relying on digital images already stored on federal databases, such as the ones managed by state motor vehicle departments. In the state of New Jersey, the DMV has recently told drivers that they are not allowed to smile for driver’s license photos because it could cause complications in terms of logging biometric data in their own facial recognition system.
The FBI said that, by rolling out NGI, they “will be able to provide services to enhance interoperability between stakeholders at all levels of government, including local, state, federal and international partners.” The unnamed San Diego law enforcement agency already with the ability to match millions of faces in a single moment may be relying right now on that connectedness to keep track of anyone they wish.
According to an article in the Los Angeles Times last week, 70 percent of biometrics spending comes from law enforcement, the military and the government. The private sector is scooping up that scanning power too, though, with FaceFirst having already cut deals with Samsung to provide them with technology for use in closed-circuit surveillance cameras marketed to businesses. But while the Federal Trade Commission has informed companies and corporations that they need to be more transparent about how personally identifiable information is stored on their servers, the Times notes that no guidelines like that exist for law enforcement agencies, who may very well sit on mounds of intelligence without good reason.
"You don't need a warrant to use this technology on someone," Sen. Al Franken (D-Minnesota) said last year during a congressional hearing about the use of expanding surveillance technology. "You might not even need to have a reasonable suspicion that they're involved in a crime."
Aside from FaceFirst, law enforcement is using that excuse to pull data on persons — of interest and otherwise — even when their faces are protected. As RT reported recently, an ever-growing number of police departments are investing in license plate scanners that let officers identify as many as 10,000 vehicles and their registered owners in a single shift. Much like how FaceFirst can pick out dozens of suspects from a single photograph and send data to custom servers, those license plate readers can pick up the precise location of persons never suspected of a crime, making rampant invasion of privacy just collateral damage as the surveillance monster state grows larger
“The cameras will catch things you didn’t see, cars you wouldn’t have run, and the beauty of it is that it runs everything,” Lieutenant Christopher Morgon of the Long Beach, California Police Department says in promotional material for an automated license plate recognition device manufactured by PIPS Technology.
The Federal Trade Commission has offered the security industry best practice suggestions about how long to hold onto data picked up by surveillance cameras, but safeguards for law enforcement agencies are largely absent. In the case of the scanners used to find license plates on the streets of Southern California, Jon Campbell of LA Weekly writes, “The location and photo information is uploaded to a central database, then retained for years — in case it's needed for a subsequent investigation.”
Rosenkrantz says FaceFirst is experiencing triple digit growth in 2012 and expects sustainable expansion to continue throughout the next five years. By 2020, the Federal Aviation Administration expects that as many as 30,000 drones will be operating in US airspace.
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