Monday, February 28, 2011
African mercenaries in Libya nervously await their fate (recruited by "political organizer")
Crowded into an empty classroom which was stinking of unwashed bodies and reeking of fear, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's defeated mercenary killers awaited their fate. A week earlier the men – Libyan loyalists of the dictator and black African recruits – had been landed at airports throughout eastern Libya and sent out into the streets to shoot protesters in a murderous rampage... The survivors were exhausted, filthy, far from home, and fearful of execution, even though they had been assured of good treatment....Most looked dazed. Some were virtually children. "A man at the bus station in Sabha offered me a job...
Upending Our Caste System (curtailing union political power)
As Wisconsin flips its wig, there has been a great deal of dishonest, ill-informed, and indeed knavish commentary on the relationship between public-sector unions and the fiscal conditions of the states. The thrust of these unenlightening analyses has been that public-sector unions are not to blame for the dire fiscal situation facing Wisconsin and many other states. The general shape of the Left’s argument here has been that of a compound error with two distinct components: 1) the inability to distinguish between the short-term problems facing states as a result of the recent recession and their long-term fiscal problems; 2)...
Sharpton and Obama Ignore Planned Parenthood's Racist Underbelly
Reverend Al Sharpton called a press conference this past week to denounce an anti-abortion billboard overlooking New York City's Soho district. The sign depicting a young black girl read "The Most Dangerous Place for an African-American is in the Womb." Sharpton's spokesman characterized the message as "classic racial profiling." The pro-life non-profits responsible for the billboard positioned it in close proximity to three Planned Parenthood facilities who reported performing 17,000 abortions between them for the year 2010. Sharpton's charge of racial profiling prompted Lifealways to remove the sign before the Friday press conference. The fact that for every 1000 African-American...
Voting for the National Interest, Not Self-Interest
It's a question that puzzles most liberals and bothers some conservatives. Why are so many modest-income white voters rejecting the Obama Democrats' policies of economic redistribution and embracing the small-government policies of the tea party movement? It's not supposed to work out that way, say the political scientists and New Deal historians. Politics is supposed to be about who gets how much when, and people with modest incomes should be eager to take as much from the rich as they can get. Moreover, as liberal economists and columnists point out, income levels for middle-class Americans remained stagnant for most of...
L.A. Police Union Urges Members to ‘Stand in Solidarity’ with SEIU and MoveOn.Org
LAPD cops were asked to pick up picket signs and march alongside a bunch of leftist kooks and government bureaucrats to show encouragement to Wisconsin’s public sector workers. I had been expecting it, but when it finally came it was far worse than I had feared. I could scarcely believe my eyes.The message that appeared in my email in-box Thursday evening came from the board of directors of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents rank-and-file LAPD officers, of which I have been a member for many years. It was an email version of the latest post...
Does America Need a "Civility Institute"?
Fred DuVal, a friend of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and a member of the Arizona Board of Regents, has proposed a “Civility Institute” to promote compromise among opposing political parties and views. He believes the best way to start is by attempting to define “best practices and corrosive practices” in public discourse. DuVal puts it this way: “How do we nurture robustness on one hand and not in any way chill speech, and keep it in bounds that are not destructive to democracy? Will it change the nature of dialogue? That will be a tall order.” Fox News host Greta Van...
Obama to face Shariah court?
WND Exclusive GLOBAL JIHAD Obama to face Shariah court? Cleric says president 'must embrace Islam' or be tried when Muslims take over U.S. Posted: February 27, 2011 4:00 pm Eastern © 2011 WorldNetDaily Anjem Choudary President Obama must embrace Islam as a way of life or face the consequences of a trial under the Shariah Islamic court system, declared British extremist cleric Anjem Choudary. Choudary, founder and former chief of two Islamic groups disbanded by the British authorities under anti-terror legislation, is planning a Washington protest later this week in which he says he will call on American Muslims to...
On Teachers Unions
On Teachers Unions
I've been watching the whole episode up in Wisconsin and have been fairly amused by the happenings across the board. This has been the most entertained by political drama that I think I can remember being. I've largely stayed out of the debate, as I have with much of anything for a while, as I've been incredibly busy with both work and in my personal life, and haven't sat down to formulate my thoughts on the matter. I ventured into the fray a little bit over at my favorite leftwing lunatic blog, d r i f t g l a s s, and admittedly made an ass of myself, mostly because I felt like stirring up the rats nest.
While the post itself is fairly inane nonsense attempting to tie Walker to the Koch brothers (driftglass is one of the more vehement "vast right wing conspiracy" bloggers I know of, and of the general Liberal ilk of "everyone on the Left is smarter than everyone on the Right, so every idea on the Right is stupid, and I never have to prove it so I'll just be snarky"), three of the comments were fairly instructive to me. The first was from a commenter called "double nickel" who informed me after I expressed my thoughts that I see no reason for teachers unions to exist, that I am an asshole. Touche to that. Well argued and a very reasonable way to carry on a conversation.
A more important comment to me, however, was one from "zombie rotten mcdonald" who responded to my assertion that I find it nonsensical that there should be a public sector union for anything, least of all for the white collar professions. His response:
It used to be that white collar professionals were protected by demand for their services; good working conditions and wages were necessary to attract decent employees. But In our new, exciting Republican Wage-slave economy, employers are perfectly happy to hold people hostage to employment and most especially, health care.
Unions created the middle class. And that aggravates the Koch brothers no end.
First of all, I will largely agree that unions created the middle class. I agree that history bears this out, and vehemently agree that private sector unions were, and remain, necessary to bring stability to wages for workers, and prices to the end client. An organization like UAW over history has been indispensable to bringing good wages and benefits to auto workers. They have vastly overreached of late and continue to do so at the peril of the industry itself, but they have been immensely important in bringing a voice to the working class against a small group of employers that collectively can tip the scale of an entire economy.
This comment, despite the commenter not intending it, makes a very strong argument for privatization of most any service that is currently monopolized by the government. Services such as firefighting, law enforcement and teaching, for example, have little or no private sector equivalent, and are therefore compensated at a rate that is determined only by the local government that oversees them. I will set aside the professions of firefighting and law enforcement where individuals put their lives on the line in service to the safety of the public and focus on the the collective bargaining of the white collar governmental professions.
White collar professionals in the private sector are indeed protected by demand for their services. This is the reason that there is not a union for say, civil engineers or project managers. There is a general ceiling to what the market will bear compensating those positions, to be sure, and one is unlikely to rise above that ceiling unless he or she has management potential and can eventually command some form of percentage bonus structure or profit sharing, but since there are always many different employers willing to compensate these positions they are always likely to garner good salaries and benefits. Private companies continue to require the best and brightest to remain competitive in the quality of service their clients expects, for what their clients will pay. The constant demand for high level performance yields a relatively constant supply of well compensated positions. But this is not the case in white collar government work because there is only one possible major employer: the government.
White collar government workers and the supporters of their union, might be quick to make the elementary observation that this is all the more reason for public sector unions. Somebody has to negotiate for better wages and benefits, because they've got nowhere else to go! Ignoring the fact that many governments cannot afford what they are currently paying the positions, hence the current dilemma, this qualifies as a monstrous distortion of the marketplace by the government. This is the argument for something like a school voucher program. Put money back into the hands of the people, and the market would self regulate to more of a balance of people sending their kids to private schools. More private schools offsetting the public schools would create a better market for teachers, allowing compensation for teacher positions to be driven by the market, rather than by political lobbying by the union.
This brings me to driftglass commenter, "CC," who left this impassioned comment (while taking me hugely out of context):
Paul K said "...it's teachers working 9 months a year in pleasant conditions..."
Yep. Pleasant conditions. 25-30 kids an hour each day in a room with no windows with intermittent heat/air, especially at the change in season; outdated equipment; kids that come to school sick; high stakes tests; being shit on (I mean advised) by asshats (I mean concerned citizens) like you; chalk dust; white board markers; poor lighting. Yep conditions are perfect.
I'd agree that I only work for 9 months of the year. Can I remind you that I plan and grade on my own time (also on the weekends) bringing my weekly hourly work time to somewhere in the area of 70-80 hours a week. So if I spread that over the entire 52 week year (with no time off ever) I would put in about 48 to 55 hours a week. Sounds like a great job for $70K a year...oh wait, it will take me 25 years to reach that pay.
Couple that with the fact I'll take a month in the summer to take a required class (on my own dime) as well as run classes for other dedicated teachers--correction--brothers and sisters.
Teachers unions, while we fight for better pay for teachers, also fight for better conditions for students, better teaching materials, better administrators and school board officials. All of this in addition to trying to provide a quality education for students.
The job is so difficult and stressful that more than 50% of teachers don't make it past the first 5 years. But you're right, screw it, get rid of unions so that you can pay teachers $8 an hour to balance the budget.
I love the work that I do and I do my job well. But try to tie me to my job by my love of it and I'll walk and many of my counterparts will do the same thing. Guess what? We are good at other things. Private sector beware. Teachers will take your jobs.
I'll throw a little irony on the fire here by taking the "I have black friends" approach to defending against being called racist, and say that one of my best friends is a teacher. I know quite well how hard she has to work to keep pace with the paperwork end of things, and she's teaching early childhood, so there's not even homework to deal with. It was stressful enough at one point when she was preparing for the beginning of the school year that several of us got together with her for big group preparation sessions, helping her prepare materials for her classroom, deep into the night. This was just preparing for the beginning of the year. She's been one of the busiest people I know since the year started, besides. She always is. The amount of work that teachers do on their own time is phenomenal, and it's absolutely the unfortunate tragedy of our lifetime that they are not paid better than they are.
But when we look at the relationship between the teacher and the employer, the perception among the unionized is that there is only one way to achieve better wages and benefits, and that is to support the union. The flaw in this idea, however, is that, as FDR knew, the relationship between government and its employees is fundamentally different from the relationship between the private sector and its employees. Government has always paid its employees less than the private sector, and offset that by providing vastly superior benefits. This grew out of the nature of working for the government being one of serving the public. Government workers were assumed to be people who were sacrificing their private earning potential to serve the public for a certain amount of time, before going back to their own lives. Only when the government monopolized certain industries, such as education, and working for the government necessarily became a career pursuit, did a union also arise, the view being that falsely espoused by CC, that the government would pay teachers $8/hour just to balance the budget.
This is nonsense because the government also sets values like the minimum wage and the cost of living allowance. These are meant to be guideposts for the private sector that the government sets in its role as referee. If the government didn't also at least follow these guideposts, its legitimacy as referee would be reduced to zero. Also making this nonsense is that when government does need to hire white collar positions that are not unionized, they are not paying people $8/hour to do them. The aforementioned civil engineers and project managers are positions that the government also hires, and that are hired by the government at compensation packages that rival that of the private sector. If they did not rival those of the private sector, the people simply wouldn't go work for the government. This would also be the case in a privatized, open market teaching industry.
What would not be the case in a privatized, open market teaching industry is what we see today: a gigantic, overly-bureaucratic employer attempting to balance its books, that's wound up in a ludicrous political showdown with a gigantic, overly-bureaucratic employees union that is pitching the biggest sore loser shit-fit this side of Kanye West simply because it no longer has the employer in its hip pocket.
I've been watching the whole episode up in Wisconsin and have been fairly amused by the happenings across the board. This has been the most entertained by political drama that I think I can remember being. I've largely stayed out of the debate, as I have with much of anything for a while, as I've been incredibly busy with both work and in my personal life, and haven't sat down to formulate my thoughts on the matter. I ventured into the fray a little bit over at my favorite leftwing lunatic blog, d r i f t g l a s s, and admittedly made an ass of myself, mostly because I felt like stirring up the rats nest.
While the post itself is fairly inane nonsense attempting to tie Walker to the Koch brothers (driftglass is one of the more vehement "vast right wing conspiracy" bloggers I know of, and of the general Liberal ilk of "everyone on the Left is smarter than everyone on the Right, so every idea on the Right is stupid, and I never have to prove it so I'll just be snarky"), three of the comments were fairly instructive to me. The first was from a commenter called "double nickel" who informed me after I expressed my thoughts that I see no reason for teachers unions to exist, that I am an asshole. Touche to that. Well argued and a very reasonable way to carry on a conversation.
A more important comment to me, however, was one from "zombie rotten mcdonald" who responded to my assertion that I find it nonsensical that there should be a public sector union for anything, least of all for the white collar professions. His response:
It used to be that white collar professionals were protected by demand for their services; good working conditions and wages were necessary to attract decent employees. But In our new, exciting Republican Wage-slave economy, employers are perfectly happy to hold people hostage to employment and most especially, health care.
Unions created the middle class. And that aggravates the Koch brothers no end.
First of all, I will largely agree that unions created the middle class. I agree that history bears this out, and vehemently agree that private sector unions were, and remain, necessary to bring stability to wages for workers, and prices to the end client. An organization like UAW over history has been indispensable to bringing good wages and benefits to auto workers. They have vastly overreached of late and continue to do so at the peril of the industry itself, but they have been immensely important in bringing a voice to the working class against a small group of employers that collectively can tip the scale of an entire economy.
This comment, despite the commenter not intending it, makes a very strong argument for privatization of most any service that is currently monopolized by the government. Services such as firefighting, law enforcement and teaching, for example, have little or no private sector equivalent, and are therefore compensated at a rate that is determined only by the local government that oversees them. I will set aside the professions of firefighting and law enforcement where individuals put their lives on the line in service to the safety of the public and focus on the the collective bargaining of the white collar governmental professions.
White collar professionals in the private sector are indeed protected by demand for their services. This is the reason that there is not a union for say, civil engineers or project managers. There is a general ceiling to what the market will bear compensating those positions, to be sure, and one is unlikely to rise above that ceiling unless he or she has management potential and can eventually command some form of percentage bonus structure or profit sharing, but since there are always many different employers willing to compensate these positions they are always likely to garner good salaries and benefits. Private companies continue to require the best and brightest to remain competitive in the quality of service their clients expects, for what their clients will pay. The constant demand for high level performance yields a relatively constant supply of well compensated positions. But this is not the case in white collar government work because there is only one possible major employer: the government.
White collar government workers and the supporters of their union, might be quick to make the elementary observation that this is all the more reason for public sector unions. Somebody has to negotiate for better wages and benefits, because they've got nowhere else to go! Ignoring the fact that many governments cannot afford what they are currently paying the positions, hence the current dilemma, this qualifies as a monstrous distortion of the marketplace by the government. This is the argument for something like a school voucher program. Put money back into the hands of the people, and the market would self regulate to more of a balance of people sending their kids to private schools. More private schools offsetting the public schools would create a better market for teachers, allowing compensation for teacher positions to be driven by the market, rather than by political lobbying by the union.
This brings me to driftglass commenter, "CC," who left this impassioned comment (while taking me hugely out of context):
Paul K said "...it's teachers working 9 months a year in pleasant conditions..."
Yep. Pleasant conditions. 25-30 kids an hour each day in a room with no windows with intermittent heat/air, especially at the change in season; outdated equipment; kids that come to school sick; high stakes tests; being shit on (I mean advised) by asshats (I mean concerned citizens) like you; chalk dust; white board markers; poor lighting. Yep conditions are perfect.
I'd agree that I only work for 9 months of the year. Can I remind you that I plan and grade on my own time (also on the weekends) bringing my weekly hourly work time to somewhere in the area of 70-80 hours a week. So if I spread that over the entire 52 week year (with no time off ever) I would put in about 48 to 55 hours a week. Sounds like a great job for $70K a year...oh wait, it will take me 25 years to reach that pay.
Couple that with the fact I'll take a month in the summer to take a required class (on my own dime) as well as run classes for other dedicated teachers--correction--brothers and sisters.
Teachers unions, while we fight for better pay for teachers, also fight for better conditions for students, better teaching materials, better administrators and school board officials. All of this in addition to trying to provide a quality education for students.
The job is so difficult and stressful that more than 50% of teachers don't make it past the first 5 years. But you're right, screw it, get rid of unions so that you can pay teachers $8 an hour to balance the budget.
I love the work that I do and I do my job well. But try to tie me to my job by my love of it and I'll walk and many of my counterparts will do the same thing. Guess what? We are good at other things. Private sector beware. Teachers will take your jobs.
I'll throw a little irony on the fire here by taking the "I have black friends" approach to defending against being called racist, and say that one of my best friends is a teacher. I know quite well how hard she has to work to keep pace with the paperwork end of things, and she's teaching early childhood, so there's not even homework to deal with. It was stressful enough at one point when she was preparing for the beginning of the school year that several of us got together with her for big group preparation sessions, helping her prepare materials for her classroom, deep into the night. This was just preparing for the beginning of the year. She's been one of the busiest people I know since the year started, besides. She always is. The amount of work that teachers do on their own time is phenomenal, and it's absolutely the unfortunate tragedy of our lifetime that they are not paid better than they are.
But when we look at the relationship between the teacher and the employer, the perception among the unionized is that there is only one way to achieve better wages and benefits, and that is to support the union. The flaw in this idea, however, is that, as FDR knew, the relationship between government and its employees is fundamentally different from the relationship between the private sector and its employees. Government has always paid its employees less than the private sector, and offset that by providing vastly superior benefits. This grew out of the nature of working for the government being one of serving the public. Government workers were assumed to be people who were sacrificing their private earning potential to serve the public for a certain amount of time, before going back to their own lives. Only when the government monopolized certain industries, such as education, and working for the government necessarily became a career pursuit, did a union also arise, the view being that falsely espoused by CC, that the government would pay teachers $8/hour just to balance the budget.
This is nonsense because the government also sets values like the minimum wage and the cost of living allowance. These are meant to be guideposts for the private sector that the government sets in its role as referee. If the government didn't also at least follow these guideposts, its legitimacy as referee would be reduced to zero. Also making this nonsense is that when government does need to hire white collar positions that are not unionized, they are not paying people $8/hour to do them. The aforementioned civil engineers and project managers are positions that the government also hires, and that are hired by the government at compensation packages that rival that of the private sector. If they did not rival those of the private sector, the people simply wouldn't go work for the government. This would also be the case in a privatized, open market teaching industry.
What would not be the case in a privatized, open market teaching industry is what we see today: a gigantic, overly-bureaucratic employer attempting to balance its books, that's wound up in a ludicrous political showdown with a gigantic, overly-bureaucratic employees union that is pitching the biggest sore loser shit-fit this side of Kanye West simply because it no longer has the employer in its hip pocket.
Barack Hussein Obama Bursts Out Of The Closet!
Barack Hussein Obama is looking for a base to fire up, now that a good portion of the country has been made aware that, instead of delivering “hope and change“, his first two years in office showed him to be the wicked, foolish, reckless, and irresponsible empty suit that he tried so hard to hide during his meteoric presidential campaign. Instead of concentrating his efforts on improving the lives of Americans, and as if he doesn’t have his hands full already with a country experiencing a nearly 20% effective rate of unemployment, a housing market turned upside down, a human...
The Democrats' Tactic: Fearmongering
Democrat leaders have been working overtime to foster fear among Americans by exaggerating the potential repercussions of a shutdown of the federal government. Why? Fearmongering is a great diversionary tactic for Democrats who do not want to be held accountable for out-of-control government spending and who have no intention of getting serious about budget cuts. They myth of a reign of chaos induced by a government shutdown is just that—a myth. Harkening back to the shutdown of 1995, it seems as if every would-be pundit with a tale of woe has been paraded on the liberal media circuit. In reality,...
Blaming Israel, Ignoring Radical Islam at J Street’s National Conference
The first session of J. Street’s 2nd National Conference has just come to an end. The first plenary session, held at the Washington Convention Center, was attended by about 2000 delegates, many of them — at least 500 — young people from J Street chapters at different campuses across the country. The main speaker was Rabbi David Saperstein, director and counsel of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. After his presentation, the organization honored three “heroes”: journalist Peter Beinart, Israeli activist Sara Benninga, and Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, a physician whose three daughters lost their lives during the Gaza war...
Return of the (Genocidal) Native
A message to our brothers in Palestine: I harbor the hope that just like Allah allowed me to witness the triumph of Egypt, He will allow me to witness the conquest of the Al-Aqsa Mosque…. Oh Allah, allow us to preach in the Al-Aqsa Mosque. [Crowds: Amen.] Allow us to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque safely. [Crowds: Amen] Allow us to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque without fear. [Crowds: Amen] Accomplish this complete victory for us. [Crowds: Amen] Oh, the sons of Palestine, rest assured that you will be victorious. So MEMRI translates a passage from Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s speech, marking his...
More vindication for Mr. Bush
In the aftermath of 9/11, George W. Bush frequently spoke of the desire of all people, regardless of their corner of the world, to live in freedom. Mr. Bush became a supporter of efforts to spread freedom and democracy around the world, arguing that the more free people feel, the less likely they are to fall under the spell of terrorist ideologies. In his second inaugural address, Mr. Bush said "the force of human freedom" is the only "force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes...
Republicans Can't Give an Inch in Budget Debate
Let’s be clear about the implications of the upcoming budget showdown between Democrats and Republicans over the Republican proposal to cut $61 billion in federal spending for what remains of this fiscal year. It is vitally important that Republicans do not give an inch. Am I being an unreasonable? No. The $61 billion already reflects compromise. It is miniscule. This is the equivalent of a family with a $50,000 budget finding $850 to eliminate. A few less trips to the movies or dinner. Not even the annual cost of an iPhone. It’s not hard to do if you want to....
Foreclosures Help Change Color Of Suburbs
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. -- Three years ago, Lamar Grace left Detroit for the suburb of Southfield. He got a good deal - a 3,000-square-foot colonial that once was worth $220,000. In foreclosure, he paid $109,000. The neighbors were not pleased. "They don't want to live next door to ghetto folks," he says. That his neighbors are black, like Grace, is immaterial. Many in the black middle class moved out of Detroit and settled in the northern suburbs years ago; now, due to foreclosures, it is easy to buy or rent houses on the cheap here. The result has been a new,...
The Waco siege began on February 28, 1993
which lead to the murders of 74 Branch Davidians, including 25 children...
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov condemns use of military force in Libya
GENEVA, February 28 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia demands that Libya should immediately stop violence against civilians, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declared at the 16th session of the UN Human Rights Council on Monday. "It is inadmissible to use military force against the population, which was done in Libya where hundreds of civilians were killed," Lavrov stressed.
Ohio, Wisconsin shine spotlight on new union battle: Government workers vs. taxpayers
COLUMBUS, OHIO - Across Ohio last week, the legislative push to restrict the union rights of government workers was greeted again and again by noisy protests. But in this state dotted with manufacturing plants and their locals, this may have been more striking: At least some elected officials normally sympathetic to industrial unions were questioning whether they should side with government workers. "I believe in what unions do, but as an elected official I represent the taxpayers," said Jeff Berding, a registered Democrat on the Cincinnati City Council who ran as an independent after he opposed the party on a...
Big Labor's Dilemma
What we are witnessing in Wisconsin and elsewhere is the death knell of Big Labor. Once upon a time, most Americans could identify the head of the AFL-CIO. He was George Meany, the cigar-chomping ex-plumber who ran the union federation from 1955 to 1979. He was one of the nation's great power brokers, much quoted and wooed by presidents. It's doubtful that as many Americans can name Meany's present successor. (Answer: Richard Trumka, ex-head of the mine workers' union.) The American labor movement has been in eclipse for decades, but public- sector unions were one of its few remaining bastions....
Iran Has Several Military Bases In Libya
In an interview today on the Al Arabyia news network, an informed source within the Revolutionary Guards Corps revealed that Iran has several military bases in Libya. The source, who requested anonymity due to his sensitive position within the Guards, elaborated further that the Iranian military bases are located mostly along Libya's borders with the African countries of Chad and Niger. From there, he said, the Guards actively smuggle arms and supply logistical assistance to rebellious groups in the African countries. According to this source, Guards enter Libya under the guise of oil company employees. Most of these companies are...
Libya: rebels claim to have shot down jet
Libyan forces have been launched fresh offensives again Zawieh, 30 miles from Tripoli, and Misrata, 125 miles to the east. Rebels said some 2,000 troops loyal to the regime had surrounded Zawieh, but that they had succeeded in holding on to the town centres. "An aircraft was shot down this morning while it was firing on the local radio station," a witness, who was identified only as Mohamed, said by telephone from Misrata. "Fighting to control the military airbase started last night and is still going on," he added
California plans 1,550% tax hike on some wines
The Board of Equalization has proposed taxing certain wines as distilled spirits, which would increase the excise tax on the wine from 20 cents a gallon to$3.30 a gallon, a 1,550% jump.
The higher tax is on wines to which distilled alcohol has been added, such as wine specialties, flavored table wine, wine cocktails, wine coolers or blends of wine from different fruits. It is set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2012.
The excise tax is paid by manufacturers, wine growers and importers and if they fail to pay it, by retailers who typically pass it on to consumers, several retailers told the Register. In the past two years, the state has collected an average $158 million for beer and wine and $165.5 million for distilled spirits per year, the board said.
The San Francisco-based Wine Institute has taken no position on the tax increase, said spokeswoman Gladys Horiuchi.
The board does not say the tax increase will raise money at a time the state faces a $25 billion deficit. Instead the hike is represented as a clarification and an equality issue.
In 2006, the California Friday Night Live Partnership, Students Making a Community Change, and the California Youth Council asked the board for the tax hike from 20 cents to $3.30 a gallon on flavored malt beverages to discourage underage drinking.
These malt beverages include hard lemonade, hard ice tea and Smirnoff Ice.
The board approved the increase in 2008, saying the higher tax would raise $41 million for the state coffers. Instead, it raised almost nothing because the beverage producers reformulated their drinks, said Ari Dana, in the office of board member Michelle Steel, who represents Orange County and who cast the sole vote against the tax hike.
The issue exemplifies the slippery slope that government starts down with a well-intentioned tax increase with unexpected consequences, Dana said.
Steel said, “This is a new, unnecessary regulation that created an added burden for wine producers.”
Board Chairman Jerome E. Horton said, “This new regulation clarifies the definition of wine products and the application of tax on wine-based products that contain distilled alcohol.”
Dana countered, “They say it clarifies the regulation but we say it’s not clarifying, it’s a complication.”
This new definition for state tax purposes is different than the one used by the state Alcohol Beverage Control board and by the federal government, according to the board’s staff.
The public has 45 days to comment on the tax increase before the board’s public hearing on the issue in May.
The higher tax is on wines to which distilled alcohol has been added, such as wine specialties, flavored table wine, wine cocktails, wine coolers or blends of wine from different fruits. It is set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2012.
The excise tax is paid by manufacturers, wine growers and importers and if they fail to pay it, by retailers who typically pass it on to consumers, several retailers told the Register. In the past two years, the state has collected an average $158 million for beer and wine and $165.5 million for distilled spirits per year, the board said.
The San Francisco-based Wine Institute has taken no position on the tax increase, said spokeswoman Gladys Horiuchi.
The board does not say the tax increase will raise money at a time the state faces a $25 billion deficit. Instead the hike is represented as a clarification and an equality issue.
In 2006, the California Friday Night Live Partnership, Students Making a Community Change, and the California Youth Council asked the board for the tax hike from 20 cents to $3.30 a gallon on flavored malt beverages to discourage underage drinking.
These malt beverages include hard lemonade, hard ice tea and Smirnoff Ice.
The board approved the increase in 2008, saying the higher tax would raise $41 million for the state coffers. Instead, it raised almost nothing because the beverage producers reformulated their drinks, said Ari Dana, in the office of board member Michelle Steel, who represents Orange County and who cast the sole vote against the tax hike.
The issue exemplifies the slippery slope that government starts down with a well-intentioned tax increase with unexpected consequences, Dana said.
Steel said, “This is a new, unnecessary regulation that created an added burden for wine producers.”
Board Chairman Jerome E. Horton said, “This new regulation clarifies the definition of wine products and the application of tax on wine-based products that contain distilled alcohol.”
Dana countered, “They say it clarifies the regulation but we say it’s not clarifying, it’s a complication.”
This new definition for state tax purposes is different than the one used by the state Alcohol Beverage Control board and by the federal government, according to the board’s staff.
The public has 45 days to comment on the tax increase before the board’s public hearing on the issue in May.
Why liberals love trains: High Speed to Insolvency
High Speed to Insolvency
Why liberals love trains.
Generations hence, when the river of time has worn this presidency’s importance to a small, smooth pebble in the stream of history, people will still marvel that its defining trait was a mania for high-speed rail projects. This disorder illuminates the progressive mind.
Remarkably widespread derision has greeted the Obama administration’s damn-the-arithmetic-full-speed-ahead proposal to spend $53 billion more (after the $8 billion in stimulus money and $2.4 billion in enticements to 23 states) in the next six years pursuant to the president’s loopy goal of giving “80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail.” “Access” and “high-speed” to be defined later.
Criticism of this optional and irrational spending—meaning: borrowing —during a deficit crisis has been withering. Only an administration blinkered by ideology would persist.
Florida’s new Republican governor, Rick Scott, has joined Ohio’s (John Kasich) and Wisconsin’s (Scott Walker) in rejecting federal incentives—more than $2 billion in Florida’s case—to begin a high-speed rail project. Florida’s 84-mile line, which would have run parallel to Interstate 4, would have connected Tampa and Orlando. One preposterous projection was that it would attract 3 million passengers a year—almost as many as ride Amtrak’s Acela in the densely populated Boston–New York–Washington corridor.
The three governors want to spare their states from paying the much larger sums likely to be required for construction-cost overruns and operating subsidies when ridership projections prove to be delusional. Kasich and Walker, who were elected promising to stop the nonsense, asked Washington for permission to use the high-speed-rail money for more pressing transportation needs than a train running along Interstate 71 between Cleveland and Cincinnati, or a train parallel to Interstate 94 between Milwaukee and Madison. Washington, disdaining the decisions of Ohio and Wisconsin voters, replied that it will find states that will waste the money.
California will. Although prostrate from its own profligacy, it will sink tens of billions of its own taxpayers’ money in the 616-mile San Francisco–to–San Diego line. Supposedly 39 million people will eagerly pay much more than an airfare in order to travel slower. Between 2008 and 2009, the projected cost increased from $33 billion to $42.6 billion.
Randal O’Toole of the Cato Institute notes that high-speed rail connects big-city downtowns, where only 7 percent of Americans work and 1 percent live. “The average intercity auto trip today uses less energy per passenger mile than the average Amtrak train.” And high speed will not displace enough cars to measurably reduce congestion. The Washington Post says China’s fast trains are priced beyond ordinary workers’ budgets, and that France, like Japan, has only one profitable line.
So why is America’s “win the future” administration so fixated on railroads, a technology that was the future two centuries ago? Because progressivism’s aim is the modification of (other people’s) behavior.
Forever seeking Archimedean levers for prying the world in directions they prefer, progressives say they embrace high-speed rail for many reasons—to improve the climate, increase competitiveness, enhance national security, reduce congestion, and rationalize land use. The length of the list of reasons, and the flimsiness of each, points to this conclusion: the real reason for progressives’ passion for trains is their goal of diminishing Americans’ individualism in order to make them more amenable to collectivism.
To progressives, the best thing about railroads is that people riding them are not in automobiles, which are subversive of the deference on which progressivism depends. Automobiles go hither and yon, wherever and whenever the driver desires, without timetables. Automobiles encourage people to think they—unsupervised, untutored, and unscripted—are masters of their fates. The automobile encourages people in delusions of adequacy, which make them resistant to government by experts who know what choices people should make.
Time was, the progressive cry was “Workers of the world unite!” or “Power to the people!” Now it is less resonant: “All aboard!”
Why liberals love trains.
Generations hence, when the river of time has worn this presidency’s importance to a small, smooth pebble in the stream of history, people will still marvel that its defining trait was a mania for high-speed rail projects. This disorder illuminates the progressive mind.
Remarkably widespread derision has greeted the Obama administration’s damn-the-arithmetic-full-speed-ahead proposal to spend $53 billion more (after the $8 billion in stimulus money and $2.4 billion in enticements to 23 states) in the next six years pursuant to the president’s loopy goal of giving “80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail.” “Access” and “high-speed” to be defined later.
Criticism of this optional and irrational spending—meaning: borrowing —during a deficit crisis has been withering. Only an administration blinkered by ideology would persist.
Florida’s new Republican governor, Rick Scott, has joined Ohio’s (John Kasich) and Wisconsin’s (Scott Walker) in rejecting federal incentives—more than $2 billion in Florida’s case—to begin a high-speed rail project. Florida’s 84-mile line, which would have run parallel to Interstate 4, would have connected Tampa and Orlando. One preposterous projection was that it would attract 3 million passengers a year—almost as many as ride Amtrak’s Acela in the densely populated Boston–New York–Washington corridor.
The three governors want to spare their states from paying the much larger sums likely to be required for construction-cost overruns and operating subsidies when ridership projections prove to be delusional. Kasich and Walker, who were elected promising to stop the nonsense, asked Washington for permission to use the high-speed-rail money for more pressing transportation needs than a train running along Interstate 71 between Cleveland and Cincinnati, or a train parallel to Interstate 94 between Milwaukee and Madison. Washington, disdaining the decisions of Ohio and Wisconsin voters, replied that it will find states that will waste the money.
California will. Although prostrate from its own profligacy, it will sink tens of billions of its own taxpayers’ money in the 616-mile San Francisco–to–San Diego line. Supposedly 39 million people will eagerly pay much more than an airfare in order to travel slower. Between 2008 and 2009, the projected cost increased from $33 billion to $42.6 billion.
Randal O’Toole of the Cato Institute notes that high-speed rail connects big-city downtowns, where only 7 percent of Americans work and 1 percent live. “The average intercity auto trip today uses less energy per passenger mile than the average Amtrak train.” And high speed will not displace enough cars to measurably reduce congestion. The Washington Post says China’s fast trains are priced beyond ordinary workers’ budgets, and that France, like Japan, has only one profitable line.
So why is America’s “win the future” administration so fixated on railroads, a technology that was the future two centuries ago? Because progressivism’s aim is the modification of (other people’s) behavior.
Forever seeking Archimedean levers for prying the world in directions they prefer, progressives say they embrace high-speed rail for many reasons—to improve the climate, increase competitiveness, enhance national security, reduce congestion, and rationalize land use. The length of the list of reasons, and the flimsiness of each, points to this conclusion: the real reason for progressives’ passion for trains is their goal of diminishing Americans’ individualism in order to make them more amenable to collectivism.
To progressives, the best thing about railroads is that people riding them are not in automobiles, which are subversive of the deference on which progressivism depends. Automobiles go hither and yon, wherever and whenever the driver desires, without timetables. Automobiles encourage people to think they—unsupervised, untutored, and unscripted—are masters of their fates. The automobile encourages people in delusions of adequacy, which make them resistant to government by experts who know what choices people should make.
Time was, the progressive cry was “Workers of the world unite!” or “Power to the people!” Now it is less resonant: “All aboard!”
The Children’s Jihad (VIDEO)
The Children’s Jihad
The following video shows footage from Sudan of a jihad terror training camp for boys, some of them very young. What is particularly chilling about it is that these scenes of brainwashing and weapons training are being used as propaganda directed at Muslims in Europe and North America to induce them to donate their zakat payments for the maintenance of the camp.
Many thanks to Kitman for YouTubing this video:
The following video shows footage from Sudan of a jihad terror training camp for boys, some of them very young. What is particularly chilling about it is that these scenes of brainwashing and weapons training are being used as propaganda directed at Muslims in Europe and North America to induce them to donate their zakat payments for the maintenance of the camp.
Many thanks to Kitman for YouTubing this video:
Obama gave $400,000 to Gaddafi family (VIDEO)
Obama gave $400,000 to Gaddafi family
NoWorldSystem.com
February 27, 2011
The U.S. continues to support dictators around the world militarily and financially.
Last year the Obama administration contributed $400,000 of taxpayer money to the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, run by his son Saif, and to ‘Wa Attassimou’ which is another charity run by Gaddafi’s daughter, Aisha.
The money would be divided between two foundations run by the family of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi. A $200,000 share is set to go to the Gadhafi Development Foundation, which is run by Gadhafi’s son, Saif, and another $200,000 are to go to Wa Attassimou, an organization run by Muammar Gadhafi’s daughter, Aisha.
Kirk says the grants should be withdrawn in light of the recent return to Libya of Pan Am Flight 103 bomber Abdel Baset Megrahi. The terminally ill prisoner was released from in Scotland on compassionate grounds, and got a hero’s welcome from Muammar Gadhafi and other Libyans upon his return.
Saif Gadhafi was involved in negotiating for Megrahi’s release, and accompanied him back to Libya.
“Just weeks after the Gadhafi family celebrated the return of a terrorist responsible for the murders of 189 Americans, the U.S. taxpayer should not be asked to reward them with $400,000,” Kirk wrote to the president. “For the sake of the victims’ families who have endured so much pain these last few weeks, I ask you to withdraw your Administration’s request.” Clearly there has been no ‘change’ in the U.S. supporting dictators that are a menace to the population. America funds so many dictators around the world, the most famous are; Hosni Mubarak, Anwar El Sadat, Saddam Hussein, Papa Doc, Pol Pot, Noriega, Fahd bin’Abdul-Aziz, and many more.
NoWorldSystem.com
February 27, 2011
The U.S. continues to support dictators around the world militarily and financially.
Last year the Obama administration contributed $400,000 of taxpayer money to the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, run by his son Saif, and to ‘Wa Attassimou’ which is another charity run by Gaddafi’s daughter, Aisha.
The money would be divided between two foundations run by the family of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi. A $200,000 share is set to go to the Gadhafi Development Foundation, which is run by Gadhafi’s son, Saif, and another $200,000 are to go to Wa Attassimou, an organization run by Muammar Gadhafi’s daughter, Aisha.
Kirk says the grants should be withdrawn in light of the recent return to Libya of Pan Am Flight 103 bomber Abdel Baset Megrahi. The terminally ill prisoner was released from in Scotland on compassionate grounds, and got a hero’s welcome from Muammar Gadhafi and other Libyans upon his return.
Saif Gadhafi was involved in negotiating for Megrahi’s release, and accompanied him back to Libya.
“Just weeks after the Gadhafi family celebrated the return of a terrorist responsible for the murders of 189 Americans, the U.S. taxpayer should not be asked to reward them with $400,000,” Kirk wrote to the president. “For the sake of the victims’ families who have endured so much pain these last few weeks, I ask you to withdraw your Administration’s request.” Clearly there has been no ‘change’ in the U.S. supporting dictators that are a menace to the population. America funds so many dictators around the world, the most famous are; Hosni Mubarak, Anwar El Sadat, Saddam Hussein, Papa Doc, Pol Pot, Noriega, Fahd bin’Abdul-Aziz, and many more.
Unions vs. the Right to Work
Unions vs. the Right to Work
The Wall Street Journal reports:
There is evidence that right-to-work laws—or, more broadly, the pro-business policies offered by right-to-work states—matter for economic growth. In research published in 2000, economist Thomas Holmes of the University of Minnesota compared counties close to the border between states with and without right-to-work laws (thereby holding constant an array of factors related to geography and climate). He found that the cumulative growth of employment in manufacturing (the traditional area of union strength prior to the rise of public-employee unions) in the right-to-work states was 26 percentage points greater than that in the non-right-to-work states.
Posted by Steve Bartin
The Wall Street Journal reports:
There is evidence that right-to-work laws—or, more broadly, the pro-business policies offered by right-to-work states—matter for economic growth. In research published in 2000, economist Thomas Holmes of the University of Minnesota compared counties close to the border between states with and without right-to-work laws (thereby holding constant an array of factors related to geography and climate). He found that the cumulative growth of employment in manufacturing (the traditional area of union strength prior to the rise of public-employee unions) in the right-to-work states was 26 percentage points greater than that in the non-right-to-work states.
Posted by Steve Bartin
Attrition in the Ranks of Useful Idiots
Attrition in the Ranks of Useful Idiots
The photograph above shows a handful of Leftists and Nazis grooving together at a anti-Israel demonstration in the Netherlands on Thursday. The protesters were expressing their outrage at the presence of Israelis in Groningen during the third in a series of concerts given by the Tzahal band. The event was sponsored by a Christian group, but that was not enough to mitigate the Zionist taint in the eyes of the protesters.
Our Dutch correspondent Timo (who is also the leader of the Dutch Defence League) attended the first night’s concert in Barneveld. Many thanks to Shirai of the DDL for translating Timo’s report:
Anja Meulenbelt is so pathetic
Anja — Every once in a while you feel ashamed to be Dutch. The pro-Palestinian blogging digital-troll Anja Meulenbelt[1] can cause such moments. This blond mental twin-sister of Greta Duisenberg[2] has lost all sense of reality — so much became clear when she posted her anti-Semitic cry for help while disturbing the concert of the Israeli army band Tzahal organized by Christenen voor Israël (Christians for Israel). Banging tin pots, pans and other objects sold in any random third world store would cause this disturbance.
IDF — According to Anja the army band of Israel doesn’t deserve to make music; instead it should be brought to justice for war crimes at the international court in the Hague. Because Israel and everything which has anything to do with Israel is by definition wrong. According to Anja, Israel has no right to defend itself against the continuous threat of terror, inhumane crimes in the form of rocket launches, suicide bombers and the ever-growing anti-Semitic climate worldwide. That Anja lacks respect and decency, and has a rather limited knowledge of history, is made clear by the fact that she fails to recognize that because of the current situation in Israel both sons and daughters throughout the country have no choice but to serve the Israeli army (IDF). An obligation that has caused many parents eternal grief. Anja cannot see that. Anja would rather side with those who make makeshift metal objects and launch them from a justly isolated terrorist-reservoir called the Gaza strip. And in addition to doing that, they exploit underage children for both defensive and offensive purposes in their never-ending attempts to destroy the state of Israel and the Jewish people in general.
Turnout — Therefore it was very amusing to see that Anja’s call had united a whopping five people! Four demented old women, including Anja herself and a pathetic, underfed-looking man who was probably dragged to the demonstration in exchange for food. A big failure if ever there was one. An action by Ben Kok[3], an active Judeo-Christian pastor, had assembled at least three times as many friends and sympathizers, and tried to invite the opponents to join a civil discussion. Ben Kok appeared much more reasonable and left a far better impression. Not to mention that the sold out concert for 1200 people itself was a success, of course.
Concert — In the intermission during concert by the beautiful Israeli singers, which was very decent and amusing, our attention was drawn to more serious problems, such as the fate of Jewish Ethiopians who are being outlawed in their own country, and the Israeli private Gilad Shalit who has been a captive for more than four years now. Judging by the generosity of the Christian audience, one can easily determine that they were sympathetic to Israelis. And so they should be!
Incognito — The Dutch Defence League sent a small delegation to the concert, but maintained a low profile and a passive role. An announcement up front could have easily shifted the focus, and we had no intention of hijacking this event for our purposes, which would probably have happened, given the sensation-hungry media present at that time. Besides, we didn’t know how the organization would respond to our presence. The label of aggressiveness that the media has wrongly placed on the Leagues might have discouraged the Christians who had planned to attend. Our low-profile tactics have proven to be effective: before the show and during the breaks of the event we could tell by the pleasant conversations with other guests that the people feel sympathy for the Leagues and the flyers we distributed were appreciated.
Pain — Leftist activism is slowly dying. This was already the case with the low turnout for an anti-PVV (Geert Wilder’ Party For Freedom) demonstration in the Hague yesterday, where fewer than ten people showed up. It must have hurt the leftists a lot: the successes of organizations they deem “right-wing”, the growing support for Israel and the collapse of their own empire built on their own egotistical ways of thinking. Pain, for which you don’t have to feel any sympathy. Pain, which is in sharp contrast to people who really suffer, suffer from terrorist attacks and religious barbarism. Pain, for which I as a Dutchman can feel sympathy and compassion.
Notes:
[1] Anja Henriëtte Meulenbelt is a Dutch publicist, writer, feminist, and politician. Since June 2003 she has been a member of the appointed house of lords in the Netherlands for the Socialist Party.
[2] Greta Duisenberg is a well-known Dutch pro-Palestinian activist and widow of Wim Duisenberg.
[3] Ben Kok is a Jewish-Christian priest who actively stands up for minorities in the Middle-East. Ben once waved with an Israeli flag during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Amsterdam. See this video (at 01:00).
This video (in Dutch) shows the huge turnout — five people — who responded to the call from the lefties to disturb a benefit concert by Christian friends of Israel aiding Ethiopian refugees.
Photo #1 (counter-protesters)
Photo #2 (Tzahal band )
Photo #3 (Ben Kok)
The photograph above shows a handful of Leftists and Nazis grooving together at a anti-Israel demonstration in the Netherlands on Thursday. The protesters were expressing their outrage at the presence of Israelis in Groningen during the third in a series of concerts given by the Tzahal band. The event was sponsored by a Christian group, but that was not enough to mitigate the Zionist taint in the eyes of the protesters.
Our Dutch correspondent Timo (who is also the leader of the Dutch Defence League) attended the first night’s concert in Barneveld. Many thanks to Shirai of the DDL for translating Timo’s report:
Anja Meulenbelt is so pathetic
Anja — Every once in a while you feel ashamed to be Dutch. The pro-Palestinian blogging digital-troll Anja Meulenbelt[1] can cause such moments. This blond mental twin-sister of Greta Duisenberg[2] has lost all sense of reality — so much became clear when she posted her anti-Semitic cry for help while disturbing the concert of the Israeli army band Tzahal organized by Christenen voor Israël (Christians for Israel). Banging tin pots, pans and other objects sold in any random third world store would cause this disturbance.
IDF — According to Anja the army band of Israel doesn’t deserve to make music; instead it should be brought to justice for war crimes at the international court in the Hague. Because Israel and everything which has anything to do with Israel is by definition wrong. According to Anja, Israel has no right to defend itself against the continuous threat of terror, inhumane crimes in the form of rocket launches, suicide bombers and the ever-growing anti-Semitic climate worldwide. That Anja lacks respect and decency, and has a rather limited knowledge of history, is made clear by the fact that she fails to recognize that because of the current situation in Israel both sons and daughters throughout the country have no choice but to serve the Israeli army (IDF). An obligation that has caused many parents eternal grief. Anja cannot see that. Anja would rather side with those who make makeshift metal objects and launch them from a justly isolated terrorist-reservoir called the Gaza strip. And in addition to doing that, they exploit underage children for both defensive and offensive purposes in their never-ending attempts to destroy the state of Israel and the Jewish people in general.
Turnout — Therefore it was very amusing to see that Anja’s call had united a whopping five people! Four demented old women, including Anja herself and a pathetic, underfed-looking man who was probably dragged to the demonstration in exchange for food. A big failure if ever there was one. An action by Ben Kok[3], an active Judeo-Christian pastor, had assembled at least three times as many friends and sympathizers, and tried to invite the opponents to join a civil discussion. Ben Kok appeared much more reasonable and left a far better impression. Not to mention that the sold out concert for 1200 people itself was a success, of course.
Concert — In the intermission during concert by the beautiful Israeli singers, which was very decent and amusing, our attention was drawn to more serious problems, such as the fate of Jewish Ethiopians who are being outlawed in their own country, and the Israeli private Gilad Shalit who has been a captive for more than four years now. Judging by the generosity of the Christian audience, one can easily determine that they were sympathetic to Israelis. And so they should be!
Incognito — The Dutch Defence League sent a small delegation to the concert, but maintained a low profile and a passive role. An announcement up front could have easily shifted the focus, and we had no intention of hijacking this event for our purposes, which would probably have happened, given the sensation-hungry media present at that time. Besides, we didn’t know how the organization would respond to our presence. The label of aggressiveness that the media has wrongly placed on the Leagues might have discouraged the Christians who had planned to attend. Our low-profile tactics have proven to be effective: before the show and during the breaks of the event we could tell by the pleasant conversations with other guests that the people feel sympathy for the Leagues and the flyers we distributed were appreciated.
Pain — Leftist activism is slowly dying. This was already the case with the low turnout for an anti-PVV (Geert Wilder’ Party For Freedom) demonstration in the Hague yesterday, where fewer than ten people showed up. It must have hurt the leftists a lot: the successes of organizations they deem “right-wing”, the growing support for Israel and the collapse of their own empire built on their own egotistical ways of thinking. Pain, for which you don’t have to feel any sympathy. Pain, which is in sharp contrast to people who really suffer, suffer from terrorist attacks and religious barbarism. Pain, for which I as a Dutchman can feel sympathy and compassion.
Notes:
[1] Anja Henriëtte Meulenbelt is a Dutch publicist, writer, feminist, and politician. Since June 2003 she has been a member of the appointed house of lords in the Netherlands for the Socialist Party.
[2] Greta Duisenberg is a well-known Dutch pro-Palestinian activist and widow of Wim Duisenberg.
[3] Ben Kok is a Jewish-Christian priest who actively stands up for minorities in the Middle-East. Ben once waved with an Israeli flag during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Amsterdam. See this video (at 01:00).
This video (in Dutch) shows the huge turnout — five people — who responded to the call from the lefties to disturb a benefit concert by Christian friends of Israel aiding Ethiopian refugees.
Photo #1 (counter-protesters)
Photo #2 (Tzahal band )
Photo #3 (Ben Kok)
New Media Meade catches protesters leaving the Capitol and the scene outside — including the scoop from police that anyone who wants to stay will be allowed.
New Media Meade catches protesters leaving the Capitol and the scene outside — including the scoop from police that anyone who wants to stay will be allowed.
Video by Meade, edited by me — all done today...
0:01 — People line the front walk of the State Street exit to the Capitol, preparing to honor the protesters who file out after the building is closed, as promised, at 4 p.m.
0:30 — Protesters file out to the chant of "Thank You... Thank You..."
1:45 — Meade asks a man with an "Ask Gandhi" sign if he's Gandhi.
2:13 — People lined up as if to ring the perimeter of the Capitol and sing "We will be peaceful, we will be strong."
3:16 — Dane County Sheriff's deputies tell Meade that no one will be arrested and, in fact, anyone who doesn't leave will be allowed to stay. They'll just have to get out of the way when the floor scrubbers come through.
4:53 — Meade talks to the woman with the "Greedy Obfuscating Plutocrats" sign.
5:35 — And older man questions the woman's ideological credentials.
6:24 — "What is a legal observer?"
7:02 — "Unions are hot."
Video by Meade, edited by me — all done today...
0:01 — People line the front walk of the State Street exit to the Capitol, preparing to honor the protesters who file out after the building is closed, as promised, at 4 p.m.
0:30 — Protesters file out to the chant of "Thank You... Thank You..."
1:45 — Meade asks a man with an "Ask Gandhi" sign if he's Gandhi.
2:13 — People lined up as if to ring the perimeter of the Capitol and sing "We will be peaceful, we will be strong."
3:16 — Dane County Sheriff's deputies tell Meade that no one will be arrested and, in fact, anyone who doesn't leave will be allowed to stay. They'll just have to get out of the way when the floor scrubbers come through.
4:53 — Meade talks to the woman with the "Greedy Obfuscating Plutocrats" sign.
5:35 — And older man questions the woman's ideological credentials.
6:24 — "What is a legal observer?"
7:02 — "Unions are hot."
Farrakhan: Libya's Gadhafi remains a friend
Monday, February 28, 2011
Farrakhan: Libya's Gadhafi remains a friend
From AP:
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan says Moammar Gadhafi has always been a friend and he won't distance himself from the Libyan dictator.
Farrakhan spoke Sunday at the Chicago-based organization Saviours' Day convention.
Farrakhan didn't talk specifics about the deadly uprisings in Libya, but the 77-year-old said no leader has been loved by 100 percent of his people.
Farrakhan also said that if Gadhafi is persecuted for crimes against humanity, the same should apply to former President George W. Bush for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Farrakhan visited Gadhafi in the 1980s and has since considered him a friend of the Nation of Islam, which espouses black nationalism.
Farrakhan: Libya's Gadhafi remains a friend
From AP:
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan says Moammar Gadhafi has always been a friend and he won't distance himself from the Libyan dictator.
Farrakhan spoke Sunday at the Chicago-based organization Saviours' Day convention.
Farrakhan didn't talk specifics about the deadly uprisings in Libya, but the 77-year-old said no leader has been loved by 100 percent of his people.
Farrakhan also said that if Gadhafi is persecuted for crimes against humanity, the same should apply to former President George W. Bush for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Farrakhan visited Gadhafi in the 1980s and has since considered him a friend of the Nation of Islam, which espouses black nationalism.
The Media Myth of Japan's "Lost Decades"
The Media Myth of Japan's "Lost Decades"
The chart above shows annual real GDP per capita for Japan and the U.S. (data here) from 1980 to 2010, where each series has been converted to an index, with a value of 100 for the year 1980. Compared to 1980, Japan's real GDP per capita in 2010 was nearly 70% higher, vs. a 66% increase for US real GDP per capita over the last 30 years. Japan had higher economic growth than the U.S. during the 1980s, slightly lower growth during the 1990s, about the same growth during the 2000s, and slightly higher overall growth during the entire 30-year period from 1980 to 2010.
So what about Japan's "Lost Decades" and economic failure and stagnation that we hear so much about from the media? According to Tokyo-based Eamonn Fingleton writing in The Atlantic:
"After studying the facts on the ground in Tokyo for decades I find it hard to avoid the conclusion that the story of Japan's stagnation is a media myth.
Certainly anyone who visits Japan these days is struck by the obvious affluence even among average citizens. The cars on the roads, for instance, are generally much larger and better equipped than in the 1980s (indeed state of the art navigation devices, for instance, are more or less standard on many models). Overseas vacation travel has more than doubled since the 1980s. The Japanese boast the world's most advanced cell phones, and the biggest and best high-definition television screens. Japan's already long life expectancy has increased by nearly two years. Its Internet connections are some of the world's fastest -- something like ten times faster on average than American speeds.
At the heart of my analysis is a story of extraordinary progress by Japanese manufacturing. The reason you don't hear much about Japanese manufacturers these days is that the best of them have moved from making consumer goods to concentrate on so-called producers' goods -- items that though invisible to the consumer happen to be critical to the world economy. Such goods include the highly miniaturized components, advanced materials, and super-precise machines that less sophisticated nations such as China need to make final consumer goods. The label on everything from cell phones to laptop computers may say "Made in China" but actually, via producers' goods, highly capital-intensive and knowhow-intensive manufacturers in Japan have quietly done much of the most technologically demanding work.
In the early years after World War II the United States utterly dominated the higher reaches of the producers' goods business. Under pressure from foreign competition, however, American players one by one have closed down or outsourced in the last quarter of a century. The competition has come principally from Japan, which now enjoys broadly as dominant and geopolitically important a position as the United States did in the 1960s."
MP: The writer feels so strongly about the "lost decades" myth that he has issued a challenge to numerous myth proponents to debate him this year on the 20th anniversary of the great Tokyo stock market crash (details here).
The chart above shows annual real GDP per capita for Japan and the U.S. (data here) from 1980 to 2010, where each series has been converted to an index, with a value of 100 for the year 1980. Compared to 1980, Japan's real GDP per capita in 2010 was nearly 70% higher, vs. a 66% increase for US real GDP per capita over the last 30 years. Japan had higher economic growth than the U.S. during the 1980s, slightly lower growth during the 1990s, about the same growth during the 2000s, and slightly higher overall growth during the entire 30-year period from 1980 to 2010.
So what about Japan's "Lost Decades" and economic failure and stagnation that we hear so much about from the media? According to Tokyo-based Eamonn Fingleton writing in The Atlantic:
"After studying the facts on the ground in Tokyo for decades I find it hard to avoid the conclusion that the story of Japan's stagnation is a media myth.
Certainly anyone who visits Japan these days is struck by the obvious affluence even among average citizens. The cars on the roads, for instance, are generally much larger and better equipped than in the 1980s (indeed state of the art navigation devices, for instance, are more or less standard on many models). Overseas vacation travel has more than doubled since the 1980s. The Japanese boast the world's most advanced cell phones, and the biggest and best high-definition television screens. Japan's already long life expectancy has increased by nearly two years. Its Internet connections are some of the world's fastest -- something like ten times faster on average than American speeds.
At the heart of my analysis is a story of extraordinary progress by Japanese manufacturing. The reason you don't hear much about Japanese manufacturers these days is that the best of them have moved from making consumer goods to concentrate on so-called producers' goods -- items that though invisible to the consumer happen to be critical to the world economy. Such goods include the highly miniaturized components, advanced materials, and super-precise machines that less sophisticated nations such as China need to make final consumer goods. The label on everything from cell phones to laptop computers may say "Made in China" but actually, via producers' goods, highly capital-intensive and knowhow-intensive manufacturers in Japan have quietly done much of the most technologically demanding work.
In the early years after World War II the United States utterly dominated the higher reaches of the producers' goods business. Under pressure from foreign competition, however, American players one by one have closed down or outsourced in the last quarter of a century. The competition has come principally from Japan, which now enjoys broadly as dominant and geopolitically important a position as the United States did in the 1960s."
MP: The writer feels so strongly about the "lost decades" myth that he has issued a challenge to numerous myth proponents to debate him this year on the 20th anniversary of the great Tokyo stock market crash (details here).
Socialist Opinion Shapers 1 John Nichols, Propagandist and Rabble Rouser
(VIDEO)
Socialist Opinion Shapers 1 John Nichols, Propagandist and Rabble Rouser
The founder of an organization that has influenced the Obama Administration's media and information policy, is both reporting on and leading the labor union/socialist occupation occupation of Madison Wisconsin.
John Nichols
John Nichols founded Free Press, "a national, nonpartisan organization" with Marxist Robert McChesney in 2002 to "engage citizens in media policy debates and create a more democratic and diverse media system".
Free Press has contributed former affiliates to Obama Administration positions, including pro Hugo Chavez "Diversity Czar" Mark Lloyd and State Department policy adviser Ben Scott.
John Nichols from The Nation and the Madison Capital Times has been a major national spokesman for the strikers and demonstrators currently occupying Madison Wisconsin.
Nichols has not simply reported events in Madison, he has played a major activist role in the disruption.
Nichols is a very influential journalist - he is also a committed socialist, with close ties to America's largest Marxist organization - Democratic Socialists of America.
On April 28 2000, the Sacramento D.S.A. Local hosted a regional Harrington-Hamer Institute training in "media skills and community organizing" featuring John Nichols of The Nation and Salim Muwakkil of In These Times
Based in Chicago In These Times includes former Weather Underground terrorists and Obama associates Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn on its Board of Editors. Nichols is an I.T.T. contributing editor.
Democratic Socialists of America kicked off events at the 2000 Democratic National Convention by organizing a major panel on the presidential and congressional elections.
Panelists John Nichols, Maria Elena Durazo, president of H.E.R.E in LA, and Antonio Villaraigosa, then Speaker Emeritus of California’s Assembly, later Mayor of Los Angeles and member of the Obama Transition Team.
John Nichols, was a featured speaker at a media workshop held in conjunction with the Democratic Socialists of America 2001 National Convention in Philadelphia. He discussed with the audience "various ways of having an impact on media in an age of media concentration and decreasing attention to local news".
In 2006 attendees at the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America local’s 48th annual Debs-Thomas-Harrington dinner heard keynoter John Nichols predict that “this year is the end of [the Bush] administration. The only thing that stands in the way is the Democratic Party".
Nichols, 2008 Chicago DSA dinner
The Chicago Democratic Socialists of America 48th Annual Eugene V. Debs - Norman Thomas - Michael Harrington Dinner was held on Friday evening, April 28, 2008 at the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza, just across the Chicago River from the Loop.
It was held on the eve of a major anti-war demonstration in New York City that drew some 350,000 participants. A few days later, on May 1st, there were demonstrations across the nation in support of immigrant rights. The march and rally in Chicago was estimated to have drawn nearly a half-million participants.
The featured speaker was John Nichols, a radical journalist whose work appeared regularly in The Nation and Wisconsin's Capitol Times.
According to a D.S.A. advertisement for the event,
John Nichols of The Nation, will speak to the need to go beyond taking back our country, beyond things just not getting worse, and the need for a progressive agenda.
On the weekend of March 18th-20th, 2011, the D.S.A. junior wing, Young Democratic Socialists held their annual Winter outreach conference "Their Crisis, Our Pain: The Democratic Socialist Response to the Great Recession". Former Obama Black Advisory council member Cornel West was the featured speaker, alongside John Nichols, New York ACORN leader Bertha Lewis, DSAer Mark Engler, and Dan Cantor from the Working Families Party.
Nichols is also close to the Communist Party spin-off Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism.
At the C.C.D.S. National Conference and Convention, July 25-28, 2002, San Francisco State University, the Plenary Panel and Discussion on Electoral Reform and the Struggle for Democracy comprised; John Nichols, former Berkeley mayor, D.S.A. and C.C.D.S. member Gus Newport, "peace" activist Medea Benjamin, and C.C.D.S. leader Mildred Williamson.
John Nichols, "The Nation magazine writer, who covers electoral issues", addressed the C.C.D.S. 5th National Convention and Symposium July 20 - 23 2006 in Chicago - Panel 3: "Strategies for Winning at the Polls in 2006 and 2008".
John Nichols is more than an activist and journalist. He is a propagandist. His mission in life is to increase the ability of the far left to reach the American public with its message.
Whether influencing the Obama Administration toward "net neutrality" or rabble rousing in Madison, John Nichols is an influential opponent of American liberty.
Socialist Opinion Shapers 2 here
posted by Trevor Loudon at 2/28/2011 06:02:00 PM
Socialist Opinion Shapers 1 John Nichols, Propagandist and Rabble Rouser
The founder of an organization that has influenced the Obama Administration's media and information policy, is both reporting on and leading the labor union/socialist occupation occupation of Madison Wisconsin.
John Nichols
John Nichols founded Free Press, "a national, nonpartisan organization" with Marxist Robert McChesney in 2002 to "engage citizens in media policy debates and create a more democratic and diverse media system".
Free Press has contributed former affiliates to Obama Administration positions, including pro Hugo Chavez "Diversity Czar" Mark Lloyd and State Department policy adviser Ben Scott.
John Nichols from The Nation and the Madison Capital Times has been a major national spokesman for the strikers and demonstrators currently occupying Madison Wisconsin.
Nichols has not simply reported events in Madison, he has played a major activist role in the disruption.
Nichols is a very influential journalist - he is also a committed socialist, with close ties to America's largest Marxist organization - Democratic Socialists of America.
On April 28 2000, the Sacramento D.S.A. Local hosted a regional Harrington-Hamer Institute training in "media skills and community organizing" featuring John Nichols of The Nation and Salim Muwakkil of In These Times
Based in Chicago In These Times includes former Weather Underground terrorists and Obama associates Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn on its Board of Editors. Nichols is an I.T.T. contributing editor.
Democratic Socialists of America kicked off events at the 2000 Democratic National Convention by organizing a major panel on the presidential and congressional elections.
Panelists John Nichols, Maria Elena Durazo, president of H.E.R.E in LA, and Antonio Villaraigosa, then Speaker Emeritus of California’s Assembly, later Mayor of Los Angeles and member of the Obama Transition Team.
John Nichols, was a featured speaker at a media workshop held in conjunction with the Democratic Socialists of America 2001 National Convention in Philadelphia. He discussed with the audience "various ways of having an impact on media in an age of media concentration and decreasing attention to local news".
In 2006 attendees at the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America local’s 48th annual Debs-Thomas-Harrington dinner heard keynoter John Nichols predict that “this year is the end of [the Bush] administration. The only thing that stands in the way is the Democratic Party".
Nichols, 2008 Chicago DSA dinner
The Chicago Democratic Socialists of America 48th Annual Eugene V. Debs - Norman Thomas - Michael Harrington Dinner was held on Friday evening, April 28, 2008 at the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza, just across the Chicago River from the Loop.
It was held on the eve of a major anti-war demonstration in New York City that drew some 350,000 participants. A few days later, on May 1st, there were demonstrations across the nation in support of immigrant rights. The march and rally in Chicago was estimated to have drawn nearly a half-million participants.
The featured speaker was John Nichols, a radical journalist whose work appeared regularly in The Nation and Wisconsin's Capitol Times.
According to a D.S.A. advertisement for the event,
John Nichols of The Nation, will speak to the need to go beyond taking back our country, beyond things just not getting worse, and the need for a progressive agenda.
On the weekend of March 18th-20th, 2011, the D.S.A. junior wing, Young Democratic Socialists held their annual Winter outreach conference "Their Crisis, Our Pain: The Democratic Socialist Response to the Great Recession". Former Obama Black Advisory council member Cornel West was the featured speaker, alongside John Nichols, New York ACORN leader Bertha Lewis, DSAer Mark Engler, and Dan Cantor from the Working Families Party.
Nichols is also close to the Communist Party spin-off Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism.
At the C.C.D.S. National Conference and Convention, July 25-28, 2002, San Francisco State University, the Plenary Panel and Discussion on Electoral Reform and the Struggle for Democracy comprised; John Nichols, former Berkeley mayor, D.S.A. and C.C.D.S. member Gus Newport, "peace" activist Medea Benjamin, and C.C.D.S. leader Mildred Williamson.
John Nichols, "The Nation magazine writer, who covers electoral issues", addressed the C.C.D.S. 5th National Convention and Symposium July 20 - 23 2006 in Chicago - Panel 3: "Strategies for Winning at the Polls in 2006 and 2008".
John Nichols is more than an activist and journalist. He is a propagandist. His mission in life is to increase the ability of the far left to reach the American public with its message.
Whether influencing the Obama Administration toward "net neutrality" or rabble rousing in Madison, John Nichols is an influential opponent of American liberty.
Socialist Opinion Shapers 2 here
posted by Trevor Loudon at 2/28/2011 06:02:00 PM
Farrakhan: Mideast uprisings will come to US
Us White Folks need civilizin' and preparin' before the UFO's and mideast uprisings come to our door.or something.
Union Thuggery in Sacramento
Union Thuggery in Sacramento
Listen to this union thug lie his little bald head off.
Listen to this union thug lie his little bald head off.
How the House of Morgan Controlled the Fed in the Early Years, 1914-1928 (Audio)
http://mises.org/media/5777/42-The-Early-Fed-19141928-The-Morgan-Years
TEA and ACLU slam critical thinking
NASHVILLE — An American Civil Liberties Union leader says a bill sponsored by Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, is a backdoor means of promoting the teaching of creationism and the debunking of evolution in Tennessee schools.
In a House Education Subcommittee meeting, the measure was also criticized by Jerry Winters, lobbyist for the Tennessee Education Association, as a 'lawyer's dream' containing 'some of the most convoluted language I've ever seen in a bill.'
Dunn said the measure — HB368 — is simply a move to help students become 'critical thinkers' on scientific subjects and that opponents are trying to 'get off on some tangent' by wrongfully saying 'we think there may be something hidden in there.'
The bill itself says it would apply to science subjects causing controversy, 'including, but not limited to, biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning.' Some teachers, the bill says, 'may be unsure of the expectations concerning how they should present information on such subjects.'
It then declares that the state Board of Education and local school officials 'shall endeavor to create an environment within public elementary and secondary schools that encourages students to explore scientific questions.'
Further, it declares that state and local officials cannot 'prohibit any teacher in a public school system … from helping students understand, analyze, critique and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses in existing science theories.'
Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the ACLU in Tennessee, said the bill was reminiscent of the 1925 'Monkey Trial' of a Dayton, Tenn., teacher charged with violating the state's law of the time prohibiting the teaching of evolution.
'This legislation, we believe, is the latest line of attack against evolution in a long-standing campaign,' she said, declaring the bill 'riddled with various euphemisms' used by promoters of creationism or intelligent design who 'seek to subvert scientific principle to religious ideology.'
Weinberg said the measure, if passed, would infringe on constitutional rights by effectively promoting religion in classrooms.
Rep. Harry Brooks, R-Knoxville, noted a provision in the bill declaring it 'shall not be construed to promote any religious or nonreligious doctrine.' With that as part of the bill, Brooks said, he believes it 'expands First Amendment rights.'
Robin Zimmer of Knoxville spoke to the subcommittee in support of the bill, citing a report that said only 28 percent of science students nationwide are proficient in the subject at grade level and that the United States ranks '31st in the world in scientific education.' He declared that promotion of critical thinking would 'start turning those statistics around.'
Zimmer identified himself as a scientist who previously headed a research company on genetics and has learned that many scientific theories are refuted by more research triggered by critical thinking. He did not give his current affiliation in testimony to the subcommittee. The website of Center for Faith and Science International, which states a belief in God as creator of the universe as a core principle, refers to Zimmer as director.
A vote on the bill was postponed, with Democrats on the panel saying they wanted to hear more testimony on exactly what the bill does and its impact on teaching.
In a House Education Subcommittee meeting, the measure was also criticized by Jerry Winters, lobbyist for the Tennessee Education Association, as a 'lawyer's dream' containing 'some of the most convoluted language I've ever seen in a bill.'
Dunn said the measure — HB368 — is simply a move to help students become 'critical thinkers' on scientific subjects and that opponents are trying to 'get off on some tangent' by wrongfully saying 'we think there may be something hidden in there.'
The bill itself says it would apply to science subjects causing controversy, 'including, but not limited to, biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning.' Some teachers, the bill says, 'may be unsure of the expectations concerning how they should present information on such subjects.'
It then declares that the state Board of Education and local school officials 'shall endeavor to create an environment within public elementary and secondary schools that encourages students to explore scientific questions.'
Further, it declares that state and local officials cannot 'prohibit any teacher in a public school system … from helping students understand, analyze, critique and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses in existing science theories.'
Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the ACLU in Tennessee, said the bill was reminiscent of the 1925 'Monkey Trial' of a Dayton, Tenn., teacher charged with violating the state's law of the time prohibiting the teaching of evolution.
'This legislation, we believe, is the latest line of attack against evolution in a long-standing campaign,' she said, declaring the bill 'riddled with various euphemisms' used by promoters of creationism or intelligent design who 'seek to subvert scientific principle to religious ideology.'
Weinberg said the measure, if passed, would infringe on constitutional rights by effectively promoting religion in classrooms.
Rep. Harry Brooks, R-Knoxville, noted a provision in the bill declaring it 'shall not be construed to promote any religious or nonreligious doctrine.' With that as part of the bill, Brooks said, he believes it 'expands First Amendment rights.'
Robin Zimmer of Knoxville spoke to the subcommittee in support of the bill, citing a report that said only 28 percent of science students nationwide are proficient in the subject at grade level and that the United States ranks '31st in the world in scientific education.' He declared that promotion of critical thinking would 'start turning those statistics around.'
Zimmer identified himself as a scientist who previously headed a research company on genetics and has learned that many scientific theories are refuted by more research triggered by critical thinking. He did not give his current affiliation in testimony to the subcommittee. The website of Center for Faith and Science International, which states a belief in God as creator of the universe as a core principle, refers to Zimmer as director.
A vote on the bill was postponed, with Democrats on the panel saying they wanted to hear more testimony on exactly what the bill does and its impact on teaching.
Ted Kennedy 'rented out a Chilean brothel for the entire night, FBI files says
Monday, February 28, 2011
Ted Kennedy 'rented out a Chilean brothel for the entire night, FBI files says
Once again true journalism occurs overseas.
Ted Kennedy, one of the worst drunkards in the history of the U.S. who literally got away with murder at Chappaquiddick and benefited from the same state run media that continues to white wash the incompetent that sits in the White House, has another peccadillo that has come to light.
The Daily Mail reports that the late U.S. senator Ted Kennedy has been accused of renting an entire Chilean brothel and seeking meetings with communists who had left-wing views.
The information came to light after a Freedom of Information request by Judicial Watch - the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption - who put pressure on the FBI to release the material.
Their file on the late senator, who died from brain cancer in August 2009, was released but contained a large amount of blacked out information - until now.
The statements previously withheld include accusations that during a tour of several Latin American countries he 'made arrangements to "rent" a brothel for an entire night, allegedly inviting one of the Embassy's chauffeurs to participate in the night's activities'.
In each country he visited he was also said to have 'insisted on interviewing "the angry young men" of the country as well as Communists who had extreme left-wing views'.
When he was in Mexico, it is said that his request to have certain left-wingers - one of whom was later linked with a Soviet spy ring - was refused as he was warned not to associate himself with such people.
More details here
Ted Kennedy 'rented out a Chilean brothel for the entire night, FBI files says
Once again true journalism occurs overseas.
Ted Kennedy, one of the worst drunkards in the history of the U.S. who literally got away with murder at Chappaquiddick and benefited from the same state run media that continues to white wash the incompetent that sits in the White House, has another peccadillo that has come to light.
The Daily Mail reports that the late U.S. senator Ted Kennedy has been accused of renting an entire Chilean brothel and seeking meetings with communists who had left-wing views.
The information came to light after a Freedom of Information request by Judicial Watch - the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption - who put pressure on the FBI to release the material.
Their file on the late senator, who died from brain cancer in August 2009, was released but contained a large amount of blacked out information - until now.
The statements previously withheld include accusations that during a tour of several Latin American countries he 'made arrangements to "rent" a brothel for an entire night, allegedly inviting one of the Embassy's chauffeurs to participate in the night's activities'.
In each country he visited he was also said to have 'insisted on interviewing "the angry young men" of the country as well as Communists who had extreme left-wing views'.
When he was in Mexico, it is said that his request to have certain left-wingers - one of whom was later linked with a Soviet spy ring - was refused as he was warned not to associate himself with such people.
More details here
Single-Payer Hell: British NHS denies cancer patients life-extending drugs to save $$$
Monday, February 28, 2011
Single-Payer Hell: British NHS denies cancer patients life-extending drugs to save $$$
From the UK Telegraph: Cancer sufferers refused life-extending drugs despite Government pledge. And the subline: "Dying cancer patients have been refused costly life-extending drugs on cost grounds despite a Government promise to end the "scandal" forever." If you want to know what ObamaCare will be like, check out how this story starts out:
Their requests have been rejected by regional health authorities who were accused of operating covert “blacklists” to restrict dozens of treatments to save money.
Blacklists. Coming soon, your liver transplant is going to be decided based on your politics.
An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph has uncovered more than 80 cases in which desperately sick NHS patients have been refused the cancer drugs their doctor sought, in the four months since a £200 million fund was introduced to stop health authorities rationing treatments.
...Ministers were responding to years of anger over a system which meant patients were unable to secure life-extending drugs because central NHS rationers had decided the treatments were not “cost effective”.
Announcing the fund last summer, Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, promised to end “the scandal” of cancer patients being refused the drugs that their doctors sought, because of restrictions by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
Turns out, that promise was as good as one made by Obama. The UK Telegraph's investigation found this:
* At least 86 cases involving terminally-ill patients being turned down;
* Extreme variations in access to drugs, with one NHS region promising free access to more than three times as many cancer treatments as another;
* Local policies so restrictive that in many parts of the country, consultants are expected not to even bother asking for drugs which are not on the “priority lists”.
And this snippet pretty much explains what we have been saying ObamaCare ius going to take this country: "Bureaucrats have created complex structures, leaving terminally-ill patients to spend their last months fighting for drugs which could increase their survival."
No government-run healthcare system embodies all that is wrong and unholy with the very concept of Obamacare more than Britain's barbaric, medieval, hellhole the National Health Service (NHS), the 3rd largest employer in the world with more bureaucrats on the payroll than doctors. In Britain, under the draconian NHS, cancer patients are denied life-saving drugs to save money, millions of operations are being slated for cancellation to save money, wives have to go on hunger strikes to get their spouses car, Alzheimer's patients are denied coverage because the disease is not classified as a health condition, the ambulance service gets paid to NOT take patients to hospitals, patients are encouraged to email doctors rather than visit, patients are denied life-extending drugs because of the expense, broken arms sometimes take up to 10 months to fix, patients are left on operating tables for lack of equipment, babies born prematurely are left to die if they come out before a certain date, terminally ill patients, and some that are not ill at all, are put on a fast track to death, grandmas are left to die of starvation, patients with chest pains are sent home with pain pills only to die later that same day, patients are denied water only to die later of dehydration, women give birth on the pavement, and in hospital toilets and hallways, and prisoners eat better than NHS patients. More than 1 million people are subject to neglectful care and surgeries have failure rates up to 33%, with some surgeries done or not done in error, the infirm are routinely neglected and patients die routinely due to filth and blood-splattered equipment. For many, the only thing standing between them and deranged 3rd world doctors shipped into Britain to save money is a nurse. The horror stories go on and on. BUT... NHS does have money to have violent child predators put on Viagra, and to irreversibly mutilate 12-year olds. Oh yeah - the bureaucrats exempt themselves from NHS and instead get private coverage. Just like in ObamaCare! If you yourself try to get even a private consultation? They'll bar you from necessary surgery. Take that you anti-socialist scum!
HT: memeorandum. More from The Lonely Conservative
Single-Payer Hell: British NHS denies cancer patients life-extending drugs to save $$$
From the UK Telegraph: Cancer sufferers refused life-extending drugs despite Government pledge. And the subline: "Dying cancer patients have been refused costly life-extending drugs on cost grounds despite a Government promise to end the "scandal" forever." If you want to know what ObamaCare will be like, check out how this story starts out:
Their requests have been rejected by regional health authorities who were accused of operating covert “blacklists” to restrict dozens of treatments to save money.
Blacklists. Coming soon, your liver transplant is going to be decided based on your politics.
An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph has uncovered more than 80 cases in which desperately sick NHS patients have been refused the cancer drugs their doctor sought, in the four months since a £200 million fund was introduced to stop health authorities rationing treatments.
...Ministers were responding to years of anger over a system which meant patients were unable to secure life-extending drugs because central NHS rationers had decided the treatments were not “cost effective”.
Announcing the fund last summer, Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, promised to end “the scandal” of cancer patients being refused the drugs that their doctors sought, because of restrictions by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
Turns out, that promise was as good as one made by Obama. The UK Telegraph's investigation found this:
* At least 86 cases involving terminally-ill patients being turned down;
* Extreme variations in access to drugs, with one NHS region promising free access to more than three times as many cancer treatments as another;
* Local policies so restrictive that in many parts of the country, consultants are expected not to even bother asking for drugs which are not on the “priority lists”.
And this snippet pretty much explains what we have been saying ObamaCare ius going to take this country: "Bureaucrats have created complex structures, leaving terminally-ill patients to spend their last months fighting for drugs which could increase their survival."
No government-run healthcare system embodies all that is wrong and unholy with the very concept of Obamacare more than Britain's barbaric, medieval, hellhole the National Health Service (NHS), the 3rd largest employer in the world with more bureaucrats on the payroll than doctors. In Britain, under the draconian NHS, cancer patients are denied life-saving drugs to save money, millions of operations are being slated for cancellation to save money, wives have to go on hunger strikes to get their spouses car, Alzheimer's patients are denied coverage because the disease is not classified as a health condition, the ambulance service gets paid to NOT take patients to hospitals, patients are encouraged to email doctors rather than visit, patients are denied life-extending drugs because of the expense, broken arms sometimes take up to 10 months to fix, patients are left on operating tables for lack of equipment, babies born prematurely are left to die if they come out before a certain date, terminally ill patients, and some that are not ill at all, are put on a fast track to death, grandmas are left to die of starvation, patients with chest pains are sent home with pain pills only to die later that same day, patients are denied water only to die later of dehydration, women give birth on the pavement, and in hospital toilets and hallways, and prisoners eat better than NHS patients. More than 1 million people are subject to neglectful care and surgeries have failure rates up to 33%, with some surgeries done or not done in error, the infirm are routinely neglected and patients die routinely due to filth and blood-splattered equipment. For many, the only thing standing between them and deranged 3rd world doctors shipped into Britain to save money is a nurse. The horror stories go on and on. BUT... NHS does have money to have violent child predators put on Viagra, and to irreversibly mutilate 12-year olds. Oh yeah - the bureaucrats exempt themselves from NHS and instead get private coverage. Just like in ObamaCare! If you yourself try to get even a private consultation? They'll bar you from necessary surgery. Take that you anti-socialist scum!
HT: memeorandum. More from The Lonely Conservative
Poll: More Americans Would Blame Democrats for Government Shutdown
Poll: More Americans Would Blame Democrats for Government Shutdown
At this point in our history, I think a majority of Americans would cheer a government shutdown. Just think of the billions we'd save if we shut things down for a few days.
Whatever the case, Democrats want a shutdown. They're still living in 1995, thinking they can bamboozle the public into believing Republicans want to throw grandma out in the street and make her eat dog food. Demagoguery is all they've got left in the outdated playbook.
Twenty-nine percent of likely voters would blame Democrats for a government shutdown, compared to 23 percent who would hold Republicans responsible, according to a new poll conducted for The Hill.
The results are surprising because most people blamed the GOP for the last government shutdown, which occurred during President Clinton’s first term. A week before the 1995 shuttering, polls showed the public blamed Republicans by a two-to-one-margin.
The Hill’s survey, conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, comes as lawmakers are heading into high-stakes spending negotiations that will seek to avert a shutdown.
Republicans have a substantial edge among independents: Thirty-four percent would blame Democrats, while only 19 percent would blame the GOP.
Fleebagger Democrats have already done their best to shut down government in Wisconsin and Indiana and I don't see any groundswell of support for their infantile tactics.
At this point in our history, I think a majority of Americans would cheer a government shutdown. Just think of the billions we'd save if we shut things down for a few days.
Whatever the case, Democrats want a shutdown. They're still living in 1995, thinking they can bamboozle the public into believing Republicans want to throw grandma out in the street and make her eat dog food. Demagoguery is all they've got left in the outdated playbook.
Twenty-nine percent of likely voters would blame Democrats for a government shutdown, compared to 23 percent who would hold Republicans responsible, according to a new poll conducted for The Hill.
The results are surprising because most people blamed the GOP for the last government shutdown, which occurred during President Clinton’s first term. A week before the 1995 shuttering, polls showed the public blamed Republicans by a two-to-one-margin.
The Hill’s survey, conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, comes as lawmakers are heading into high-stakes spending negotiations that will seek to avert a shutdown.
Republicans have a substantial edge among independents: Thirty-four percent would blame Democrats, while only 19 percent would blame the GOP.
Fleebagger Democrats have already done their best to shut down government in Wisconsin and Indiana and I don't see any groundswell of support for their infantile tactics.
Shocker: Obama Makes Oscars Cameo
Shocker: Obama Makes Oscars Cameo
I'd have probably thrown up if I'd bothered to watch this dreck.
President Obama made a cameo at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, broadcast on Sunday.
The president appeared in a montage of man-on-the-street interviews, during which participants were asked to name some of their most memorable songs from movies.
Obama appeared in the montage to say that his favorite was "As Time Goes By," the song sung by actor Dooley Wilson in the classic "Casablanca."
Of course Obama's the first person I think of whenever I hear that song.
Memo to Hollywood: America doesn't care to see Obama when they go to the movies. If anything, they're trying to get away from seeing his face.
Meanwhile, as they fawn over Obama, the Hollywood pinheads bash Governor Scott Walker.
I'd have probably thrown up if I'd bothered to watch this dreck.
President Obama made a cameo at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, broadcast on Sunday.
The president appeared in a montage of man-on-the-street interviews, during which participants were asked to name some of their most memorable songs from movies.
Obama appeared in the montage to say that his favorite was "As Time Goes By," the song sung by actor Dooley Wilson in the classic "Casablanca."
Of course Obama's the first person I think of whenever I hear that song.
Memo to Hollywood: America doesn't care to see Obama when they go to the movies. If anything, they're trying to get away from seeing his face.
Meanwhile, as they fawn over Obama, the Hollywood pinheads bash Governor Scott Walker.
America's Last World War I Veteran, Frank Buckles, Has Died
Unfortunately we have some bad news to share with our audience this morning. The United States has lost its last hero from the First World War. Frank Buckles, 110, has died. Buckles had lied about his age to join the military and was captured in World War II.
Picture credit HyperVocals
He is one of the last remaining veterans of World War I. There are reportedly just two remaining on the planet.
Born in Missouri in 1901 and raised in Oklahoma, Buckles visited a string of military recruiters after the United States entered the "war to end all wars" in April 1917. He was repeatedly rejected before convincing an Army captain he was 18. He was 16½.
"A boy of (that age), he's not afraid of anything. He wants to get in there," Buckles said.
Picture credit HyperVocals
He is one of the last remaining veterans of World War I. There are reportedly just two remaining on the planet.
Born in Missouri in 1901 and raised in Oklahoma, Buckles visited a string of military recruiters after the United States entered the "war to end all wars" in April 1917. He was repeatedly rejected before convincing an Army captain he was 18. He was 16½.
"A boy of (that age), he's not afraid of anything. He wants to get in there," Buckles said.
Safety when a Food Crisis strikes
Hi, my name's Dustin Merritt, and as a father and a husband I've always been worried about the safety of my family in case a food crisis strikes.
Like anyone else, I guess, I'm hoping that it's never going to happen to me. But just in case it does happen, I want to make sure that my family is prepared.
I've been looking for something that is...
•Better than storing dollar bills under my pillow. It's obvious. When a crisis strikes, food is going to be worth literally more than gold, and money under my pillow is going to turn into paper that I can't eat.
•Better than stockpiling food in my freezer. Since a food crisis can last for years, it's way too expensive to set up a whole freezing room that would have the capacity to store enough food for a family. Even just for one year.
•Better than buying canned beans. I don't know about you. But I don't want to find myself eating nothing but beans day after day. I'd like to be able to vary my menu.
•Better than any other method of safeguarding food that I know of. By the way, if you know an interesting way to preserve food over long periods of time, please let me know
I've been looking for a backup way to live off my land completely self-sufficient and independent from the outside world during a food crisis.
That's how I came up with something so amazing that I just can't wait to share with you.
I've created it for myself. I'm using it myself, and I'm sure you're going to love it.
It's an Emergency Seed Bank, and it enables you to plant your very own 1-acre victory garden year after year regardless of the economic conditions. It's guaranteed to stay on guard against any food shortage for the next 10 years, and is capable of producing a virtually unlimited amount of food for years to come.
•Designed specifically for an emergency growing situation. Emergency Seed Bank combines the best types of emergency seeds with superior packaging into a product you can depend on.
•Buy once, use as many times as you need. Emergency Seed Bank includes only non-hybrid seeds, which means that every year your victory garden will produce seeds you can use next year...
•All-natural. Free from genetic modification, these seeds are just as pure as they possibly can be.
•Hard to find. One package combines a variety of seeds, all of which are produced by small, independent farmers, and are among the hardest ones to get.
•Your garden will flourish in any region within the U.S. Your Emergency Seed Bank will grow in any of the 11 climate zones across the country.
•High seed germination rate is guaranteed for 10 years.
Buy Now!
Like anyone else, I guess, I'm hoping that it's never going to happen to me. But just in case it does happen, I want to make sure that my family is prepared.
I've been looking for something that is...
•Better than storing dollar bills under my pillow. It's obvious. When a crisis strikes, food is going to be worth literally more than gold, and money under my pillow is going to turn into paper that I can't eat.
•Better than stockpiling food in my freezer. Since a food crisis can last for years, it's way too expensive to set up a whole freezing room that would have the capacity to store enough food for a family. Even just for one year.
•Better than buying canned beans. I don't know about you. But I don't want to find myself eating nothing but beans day after day. I'd like to be able to vary my menu.
•Better than any other method of safeguarding food that I know of. By the way, if you know an interesting way to preserve food over long periods of time, please let me know
I've been looking for a backup way to live off my land completely self-sufficient and independent from the outside world during a food crisis.
That's how I came up with something so amazing that I just can't wait to share with you.
I've created it for myself. I'm using it myself, and I'm sure you're going to love it.
It's an Emergency Seed Bank, and it enables you to plant your very own 1-acre victory garden year after year regardless of the economic conditions. It's guaranteed to stay on guard against any food shortage for the next 10 years, and is capable of producing a virtually unlimited amount of food for years to come.
•Designed specifically for an emergency growing situation. Emergency Seed Bank combines the best types of emergency seeds with superior packaging into a product you can depend on.
•Buy once, use as many times as you need. Emergency Seed Bank includes only non-hybrid seeds, which means that every year your victory garden will produce seeds you can use next year...
•All-natural. Free from genetic modification, these seeds are just as pure as they possibly can be.
•Hard to find. One package combines a variety of seeds, all of which are produced by small, independent farmers, and are among the hardest ones to get.
•Your garden will flourish in any region within the U.S. Your Emergency Seed Bank will grow in any of the 11 climate zones across the country.
•High seed germination rate is guaranteed for 10 years.
Buy Now!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Educators Reveal Grim Test Scores For APS Students (ABQ-Only 13% Of 8th-Graders Pass Math Test)
Educators said only 13 percent of Albuquerque Public Schools eighth-graders passed a standard math test. According to January's district benchmark assessment test results, only 13 percent of about 4,500 APS eighth-graders are proficient in math.“If they're not proficient in math, they're not going to be successful in life,” said parent Patricia Duran.Teachers said if the eighth-graders are not proficient now, there is serious doubt they will pass an exam as a junior, which is required for them to graduate.
NY Teachers Union Unveils New Slogan: "Educate, Collaborate, Agitate"
Being an educator in Upstate New York I am forced to pay dues into the corrupt union structure, even though I am not a member nor intend to be. Among the many benefits of (not) joining one of the public employees unions in New York include the union taking nearly one percent of my gross pay to use towards political campaigns. Among the "benefits" not immediately clear is a mandatory subscription to their monthly propaganda. This month's naturally rails against the cuts of Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo as well as against Governor Walker's actions in Wisconsin. In this era of...
Lawmakers Should Vote on License Reform (NM-Martinez vs. Dems)
New Mexico's legislative Democrats are busy dialing up controversy over Republican Gov. Susana Martinez' use of robocalls to voters in her effort to get an up-or-down vote on issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Lawmakers should try dialing up Illinois, Georgia, Florida or New York instead. In recent months people have been charged with bringing over immigrants who are living in those states, which do not provide driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, to New Mexico. Or they could take an extra step and punch in a foreign area code to call Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Poland or Russia....
The Original Hater of Reality - Lucifer, Son of the Morning
Lucifer, God’s greatest of all God's creation (Ezek. 28:12, 15), in eternity past enjoyed a relationship to Almighty God. I truly believe there was a point in his existence that he loved and adored and the Triune God with all his heart. He had the chief place as Protector of the Holiness of God (Ezek. 28:14) and was the worship and choir director of Heaven (Ezek. 28:13). Lucifer enjoyed all the heavenly blessings of his rank and position. As events proceeded, though, there came a time when he became proud, arrogant, envious and bitter. In his foolish heart he sought...
President Obama Danced At Motown Bash, But No Dancing In The Streets of Detroit
Take a one minute tour of today's Detroit from the safety of your home. Its not hard to believe that Michigan deserves to sing the blues because it is such a Blue State. Democrat Governors, Congressman, Senators, Mayors, Councilmen, and the UAW have been ignoring the problems since the 1960's. At least Dearbornistan has some semblance of law (quasi Sharia) and order, but like African-Americans who have carved out their own and separate culture, so are Moslems desiring to supercede American culture with their own, thus fracturing a broken state even more. Detroit Poverty 40% United States Violent Crime 430...
A First-Hand Report from a ‘Jasmine Rally’ in Shanghai
In mid-February, as the anti-authoritarian wave sweeping the Middle East continued to gather momentum, a Twitter user using the account name of Shudong posted a tweet announcing that “Jasmine Revolution” rallies would be held on February 20th in every large city in China, and announced that the details would be posted later elsewhere. This information was indeed posted as promised, apparently on the U.S.-based website Boxun.com; it called for rallies to be held on the 20th in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Nanjing, and other major cities around the country, and repeated every seven days thereafter, until such time as the organizers’...
Union protester threatens to break FOX's Mike Tobin's neck
Classy union protestor threatens Fox News reporter Mike Tobin. Date: 27 Feb 2011 Location: WI State House Video at link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ANPk_vBFEM
Bridging the gap (Marxist, Hawaii governor to cut public union benefits)
The governor's proposals to close the state's budget shortfall expect more concessions from public workers Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who has been loyal to the labor movement for four decades, has said he does not want to demonize public workers as he attempts to close a projected two-year budget deficit of $700 million. But he has also said that public-sector union health care and retirement benefits are unsustainable and in some instances unjustified, that the many can no longer afford to pay for the benefits of the few — rhetoric that mirrors what conservative Republican governors are saying on the mainland....
GOP governors undermine Obama's agenda in states
Their ranks swollen after the last election, Republican governors from Florida to Alaska are undermining President Barack Obama's agenda at every turn ahead of the Democrat's 2012 re-election campaign.
Eleanor Clift Amazingly Asks "Since When Does Scott Walker Represent 'The People'?"
Newsweek's Eleanor Clift on Friday amazingly asked, "Since when does Scott Walker represent 'the people'?" Such happened during a heated discussion on PBS's "The McLaughlin Group" about the goings-on in Wisconsin (video follows with transcript and commentary):
NPR Insists Buffalo Wife's Beheading by Muslim Outreach TV Founder Has No Islamic Overtones
Almost the entire media skipped this chilling honor-killing verdict from Arizona on Tuesday, from Reuters: "An Arizona jury on Tuesday found an Iraqi immigrant guilty of second-degree murder for running down his daughter with a Jeep because she had become too Westernized." Faleh Almaleki killed his daughter Noor in October 2009 because she spurned his arranged marriage and was living with her boyfriend. Apparently, to report this is to be "Islamophobic." NPR skipped Almaleki, but they noted the verdict in another horrific killing on Monday night's All Things Considered: Aasiya Hassan was beheaded by her husband Mozzamil in 2009 as...
Two Year History of The Tea Party
SO TODAY IS BEING CALLED THE TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE TEA PARTY The ramp-up was more a process than an event, beginning a couple of weeks earlier. But here’s a post from two years ago exactly. Here’s one from Feb. 21st, and here’s another, plus an Insta-Poll. Here’s a post from Denver on Feb. 17, and here are pics from Seattle on Feb. 16. Plus, getting in Obama’s face in Mesa, Arizona that weekend. Plus, my early look at the movement from April 15, 2009. And give InstaPundit reader Donald Gately credit for prescience. On December 27, 2008 he wrote:...
Murder suspect is an alleged illegal immigrant
KINGMAN — A Bullhead City man was indicted for first-degree murder for the alleged shooting death of another man. A Mohave County grand jury indicted Carlos Elisianio Gomez, 24 of first-degree murder. He is expected to be arraigned on the charge Thursday before Superior Court Commissioner Derek Carlisle. Originally from Guatemala, Gomez is being held in county jail without bond. He also has a border patrol hold for being an illegal immigrant, according to the county jail. Gomez is charged with shooting Daniel Mares Lopez on Feb. 17 while Lopez was in the street at Coronel and Coronado drives. He...
Hey, What Happened To That Maxine Waters Ethics Trial?
Waters stands accused of obtaining $12 million in TARP money for the bank OneUnited, on whose board her husband Sidney Williams once sat, and in which he owned more than $350,000 in stock. According to a story by the Washington Post in September of last year, Waters — together with Rep. Barney Frank, (D-MA) who was then the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee — changed a law and obtained the financing. Her trial was delayed because new evidence had supposedly come to light. What that evidence is was not specified. But according to a story on SFGate.com, at...
High School shuts down all clubs to block Gay-Straight Alliance
A Corpus Christi, TX school district has responded to a student's request to create a Gay-Straight Alliance -- by shutting down all extracurricular clubs on campus. Flour Bluff Intermediate School District's move comes after its high school gained national attention by blocking senior Bianca "Nikki" Peet's request to start a GSA. Hundreds of people have emailed the district on behalf of Peet through a Change.org petition, which was also linked to by the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN). Texas A&M's GSA, which has been advocating for Peet, had called for a protest Monday, Feburary 28, 2011. But Flour Bluff...
Public Sector Unions
Public Sector Unions. Just follow the money and you will see why Democrats are up in arms about what is happening in Wisconsin!!!!
Feds to let airport screeners gain union rights
A union leader says the government has decided to grant collective bargaining rights to the nation's 40,000 airport screeners... Republican opponents say that could jeopardize national security. James Sherk, a labor expert at The Heritage Foundation, calls the decision a huge loss for airline security and passengers. He says there is a reason that most national security agencies by law do not have unions -- and that is because the union contracts make it more difficult for them to do their jobs. "Canada has a system where they allow their security screeners to unionize -- and they've had problems where,...
Failed coup attempt in Congo
Armed gunmen with machetes attacked Congo's presidential residence, in an attempted coup that left nine people dead after a shoot-out. The president and his wife were not home at the time of the attack. President Joseph Kabila Communications minister Lambert Mende appeared on national television later and said the situation was under control. "These people wanted to physically harm the president, but the country and all its institutions are functioning normally," Mr Mende said. He said some of the assailants had been killed and wounded, while others were arrested. A witness near the presidential residence reported seeing the bodies of...
Farrakhan: Mideast uprisings will come to US
ROSEMONT, Ill. — Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan believes uprisings happening in the Middle East will come to the U.S. Farrakhan spoke Sunday at the Chicago-based movement's Saviours' Day convention.
The Plague
We see evidence of the Plague all around us. A recent book called Ruins of Detroit by Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre illustrates evidence of the Plague quite well. Far from being a voice alone in the wilderness, though, I find prophets of Doom all around me. There was a band out a few years back called Rage against the Machine “I’ll give ya a dose But it’ll never come close To the rage built up inside of me Fist in the air, in the land of hypocrisy” They seem to have a sense of the Plague but who are...
Since We’re Screwed Anyway, I Have Some Suggestions
So it seems the dollar’s days are numbered. With the latest numbers from around the reporting agencies, it can really only be a matter of time. Between the bailouts, Obamacare, and the government covering the shortcomings of Fannie and Freddie, the federal government should be broke by late next year (if not sooner). From everything I have read and seen, there’s really no way of stopping it unless we do something drastic right away. I have some ideas that may be able to help but, being as how I’m a realist and, there’s nothing more uncommon than common sense, I...
Obama "Misspeaks" and says his Father Served in WW2
http://www.youtube.com/v/Fv4jnlkxOaw&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3 FACTS: quote: Barack Hussein Obama Sr. (Obama’s father) Born: 4/4/36 Died: 11/24/82 at the age of 46. He was 5 years old when WW II started, and less than 9 1/2 yrs old when it ended. Lolo Soetoro (Obama’s step father) Born: 1935 Died: 3/2/87 at the age of 52. He was 6 years old when WW II started, and 10 years old when it ended.
Palin's India trip build-up to Prez bid?
America's political theater is spewing snickers and sarcasm over Sarah Palin's proposed trip to India next month amid uncertainty over whether she will run for the White House in 2012. While state governors bidding for Presidency typically make overseas trips to shore up their foreign policy credentials, Palin, ex-governor of Alaska and former vice-presidential candidate, is famously shy of foreign travel. She got a passport only in 2006, and before signing up with John McCain for the Republican ticket in 2008, she had travelled overseas only once, to visit US troops in the Middle East. Since then, she has gone...
Libya: special forces return to rescue more stranded civilians
Three RAF Hercules carrying members of the SAS and SBS flew into remote locations in the desert collecting and evacuating more than 150 people. The passengers were flown to Malta, where they put in hotels overnight. It was not immediately clear how many among the rescued workers were British, but those with UK passports were expected to be flown back to the UK on Monday. Sunday night's mission takes to five the number of rescue flights ordered by the Government over the weekend.
Gov. Malloy Proposes Measure To 'Tax' Coupons (tax original, not sale price)
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Devotees of coupons and discounts are angry at Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's proposal to slap a new sales tax on the original price of a good or service rather than the discounted price. Ending the sales tax exemptions for coupons, discounts and automobile trade-ins are among tax exemptions Malloy has proposed ending to help close the state's projected $3.5 billion deficit. For example, the tax would be imposed on the $30 price of a blouse, not the $15 sales price. ... Like many avid couponers, Juliano pays little or nothing for items after matching coupons with sales....
Was the Obama Administration Motown Event Insulting to Black People?
I have the interesting privilege of being on an email list owned by the White House. Whenever the administration holds an event that they believe to be of interest to African Americans in media, they shoot out an email to all of us. This week, at least two times in my email inbox, there was a message from the White House bragging about the administration’s Black History Month celebration of Motown music. I saw news of the event everywhere. Most interesting was the image of President Obama dancing with Michelle and his kids with Stevie Wonder, Smokie Robinson, Jamie Foxx...
Officials at odds over gang presence in Elizabeth
Every single municipality in New Jersey filled out the State Police gang survey last year except one: Elizabeth. The absence of one of the state’s most violent cities from the resulting report, released last month, is strange on its own. But it only scratches the surface of a bizarre dispute between a bulldog mayor who has said the city doesn’t have a gang problem, and Union County’s top law enforcement official, who claims countless documents prove that it does.
LePage (Maine Gov.): 'We're going after right-to-work'
Maine Gov. Paul LePage said Saturday he would push forcefully ahead with right-to-work legislation in his state, even if it means a Wisconsin-style fight with unions. In an interview at the National Governors Association, the Republican praised Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and couched his own proposal in the language of liberty loved by tea partiers. "He's got a big challenge, and quite frankly, once they start reading our budget they're going to leave Wisconsin and come to Maine because we're going after right to work," LePage told POLITICO. "I believe that the Declaration of Independence says 'life, liberty and the...
Woman sues over lottery numbers miscue
NEWARK, N.J., A New Jersey woman says a New York City television station caused her thousands of dollars in emotional damage when it broadcast the wrong lottery numbers. In a lawsuit against WABC-TV and its parent companies, American Broadcasting Co. and Walt Disney, Rakel Daniele of Fort Lee said she believed she was $250,000 richer and was "severely damaged" upon learning that was not true, The Record of Hackensack reported Saturday. The suit, originally filed in New Jersey Superior Court, was transferred to federal court last week. In legal papers, Daniele said WABC compounded the wrong by broadcasting the same...
Obama Unfazed By Impact Of Rising Oil Prices
United States president Barack Obama has said that he feels the global economy can bear the current spike in oil and energy prices report Jeff Mason and Amena Bakr for Reuters. Obama’s comments came as key US ally Saudi Arabia vowed to increase output to cover any shortfall from Libya. Unrest in Libya has seen a decline in that country’s oil output, as foreign companies seek to evacuate staff from operations. Brent crude prices reached highs unseen in 30 months as they edged near $120/barrel. Speaking to a group of executives, Obama said :” We actually think that we’ll be...
Breaking Public Unions: Good!
When the delinquent state democrats who had illegally abandoned their duties as representatives of the good people of Wisconsin finally showed up for work, Gov. Scott Walker will have won a decisive victory against the public sector unions in his state. But in reality he was fighting for all of us, even those far beyond the cheese curd borders. What the unions were doing to the education of the state of Wisconsin was derelict but what they were doing against the taxpayers of the nation was criminal. The State of Wisconsin had been awarded hefty sums in the Obama stimulus...
Lieberman, McCain Call for More Forceful U.S. Response to Libya Violence
Senators Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and John McCain, R-Ariz., both expressed disappointment Sunday that President Obama has not responded more forcefully against the violence spreading in Libya and called for the arming of rebel forces in that country. (snip) Lieberman stopped short of calling for direct American military involvement, but McCain did not rule it out. "I think there possibly could be," the Arizona Republican said of using military force, though he hastily added that Libyan pilots are sure to obey a no-fly zone.
Have You Noticed That "Big Government" Is Failing Everywhere?
“Big government” is failing around the globe. From Sacramento to Saudi Arabia , big, controlling, impersonal and coercive government is failing to fulfill the most basic human needs of the people it is purports to serve. And while scores of individuals around the world struggle to free themselves of “big government’s” shackles - some in the Middle East even losing their lives in the process - many of my fellow Americans have been gathering publicly and chanting and banging drums and carrying banners and demanding more of it. It’s quite a spectacle to watch. And depending on whether the demonstration...
China floods Beijing with security before planned protest
For the second weekend in a row, anonymous calls by organizers for a pro-democracy demonstration in Beijing were overshadowed by heavy security presence. Hundreds of Chinese police officers along with more than 120 vehicles flooded Beijing's central pedestrian shopping area, Wangfujing, around the site of a second attempted "jasmine" rally inspired by pro-democracy protests in Tunisia. There was no sign of protest as the police deployed unusual tactics to prevent demonstrations. At least three foreign press photographers at the scene were reportedly beaten by police officers and detained. Other foreign journalists, including CNN, were manhandled, detained and escorted away from...
Un-American Revolutions: Why are Americans cheering on the Arab revolutionary wave?
Americans love a revolution. Their own great nation having been founded by a revolutionary declaration and forged by a revolutionary war, they instinctively side with revolutionaries in other lands, no matter how different their circumstances, no matter how disastrous the outcomes. This chronic reluctance to learn from history could carry a very heavy price tag if the revolutionary wave currently sweeping across North Africa and the Middle East breaks with the same shattering impact as most revolutionary waves. Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson hailed the French Revolution. “The French have served an apprenticeship to Liberty in this country,” wrote the...
Liberalism an ideology of rage and hate
One thing has become crystal clear in the last few days; Liberalism is an ideology of hate. After the Tucson shootings that left Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords fighting for her life, liberals twisted themselves into pretzels trying to convince Americans that “rhetoric” from conservatives was the culprit. Almost immediately after the shootings, liberals blamed Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, the Tea Party and cross-hairs. At a memorial that looked more like a campaign rally, President Obama said Americans should “…listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams...
Hollister v. Soetoro/Obama eligibility case to be reconsidered by Supreme Court
WASHINGTON – On Dec. 30, 2010, the day after Hollister v. Soetoro, challenging the constitutional eligibility of President Barack Obama, was docketed for the Jan. 14, 2011 conference of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), retired USAF Col. Gregory Hollister’s Attorney John Hemenway filed a motion for justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, both appointed by Obama, to recuse themselves.
The Regime Kidnaps Mousavi and Karroubi (IRAN)
Yes it is true, not exactly as any one source has been reporting, but the two top leaders of the Green Movement, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, were kidnapped on Thursday night — when the streets of Tehran were full of armed men. It was a typical Mafia-style snatch. The two men — already under house arrest — were beaten and bloodied, and then were led out of their homes in blindfolds and handcuffs, stuffed in the trunks of their captors from the Revolutionary Guards and, along with their wives, taken to a location in Tehran, then, on Friday,...
Which Executive order Allows the Gov't to Confiscate 401Ks?
Which executive order will allow the Feds to take our savings?
Mr. President, ‘Listen to the People’ on ObamaCare
If it's good advice for Mubarak, why not for you? During the recent anti-Mubarak uprising, President Obama told us he’d urged the embattled Egyptian to “listen to the people” in deciding what course to take. Whether or not it was the best advice for the now-deposed pharaoh of Egypt, it certainly would be excellent advice for our president himself when it comes to ObamaCare. The American people sent him a series of clear and increasingly louder messages to back off from his ill-conceived takeover of the nation’s health-care system — a surprise election in blue-trending Virginia, a shocking upset in...
Video Fun: A Liberal Teacher explains Union Busting (Don't let her near your kids!)
A liberal teacher tries to explain about the Wisconsin protests and when asked questions shows what progressives (liberals) are all about: Liberal Teacher: "I can’t believe what is going on in Wisconsin." Taxpayer: "What do you mean?" Liberal Teacher: "That conservative extremist governor Walker is trying to break the unions in Wisconsin." Taxpayer: "He is?" Liberal Teacher: "Yes, look at the mess he created in Wisconsin. The public schools are closed. The state is not passing any bills." Taxpayer: "Didn’t the Democrat senators flee to other states to block a vote? Didn’t the public teachers walk off their jobs while...
NEWS CORP - ROGER AILES: Judith Regan's New Story Is That Roger Ailes Did Not Tell Her To Lie
NEWS CORP ISSUES WEAK STATEMENT ON ROGER AILES: Judith Regan's New Story Is That Roger Ailes Did Not Tell Her To Lie Henry Blodget Feb. 27, 2011, 11:32 AM Now that there's a rumor going around that FOX boss Roger Ailes is going to be indicted for telling underling Judith Regan to lie to federal investigators, it makes sense to take a closer look at what News Corp. has said about the matter. When the New York Times broke the story last week that Judith Regan had accused Ailes of this--and had a recording of the telephone call to prove...
Yemen, a Key US Ally May Fall as Al-Qaeda Urges Revolt
An al-Qaeda offshoot is encouraging revolt in Yemen. The key U.S. ally faces new threats from two leading tribal groups, who join protesters one day after at least five people – and perhaps 11 – were killed in clashes on Friday. Amnesty International stated that 11 people died, bringing the total death toll to 27 since anti-government demonstrations began to demand the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose soldiers reportedly opened gunfire on protesters Friday night. The Arabian Peninsula al-Qaeda group, an offshoot of the Yemen-based terrorist network, produced and posted an audio tape on Saturday, urging revolutions. The...
Well-Meaning or Not, Obama Threatens America
A wealth of evidence points to an inescapable conclusion. In an Feb. 14 Wall Street Journal article, Michael Medved asserts, by way of title, “Obama Isn’t Trying to Weaken America. A film critic and generally conservative cultural commentator, Medved only approaches the primary thrust of his argument in his final paragraph when he writes: Americans may not see a given president as their advocate, but theyre hardly disposed to view him as their enemy and a furtive, determined enemy at that. For 2012, Republicans face a daunting challenge in running against the president. That challenge becomes impossible if they
Not all unions onboard with labor rally in Trenton (No "solidarity" with Wisconsin public workers)
Leaders of some of New Jersey's most politically powerful brick-and-mortar unions refused to endorse the organized labor's wall-of-solidarity rally Friday in Trenton. Ray Pocino, president of the New Jersey Laborer's Union chose not to encourage his 25,000 members to participate in the rally, fearing that it would turn into an anti-Chris Christie protest rather than a show of support for besieged public workers in Wisconsin. (It was both.) "We want to keep that dialogue going with Governor Christie, and we didn't want to be viewed as part of a governor bashing" event, Pocino said. [Snip] Christie has pledged support, and...
Ireland's new government on a collision course with EU
Exit polls and early tallies from Ireland's general election heralded political annihilation for Fianna Fail (FF), the party which has ruled Ireland for more than 60 years of the Irish Republic's eight decades of independence. The unprecedented and historic defeat, Fianna Fail's worst result in 85 years, makes the Irish government the first eurozone administration to be punished by voters in the aftermath of the EU's debt crisis. Voter turn-out was exceptionally high at more than 70 per cent, indicating public anger at the government and the EU. Late last year, Ireland was forced to accept a £72 billion EU-IMF...
Media Hides Real Reason for Rise in Gas Prices
Fill ‘er up folks. Gas prices in Southern California have hit $4.59 a gallon. Oh, the media has finally started covering “Pain at the Pump” but they are not giving us the real reasons for the jump. Unrest in the middle east has given the cabal of President Obama and the media, “cover” to blame others for the spike to the stratosphere. The real reasons are three-fold, with unrest in the middle east being the least of the three.
Become A Teacher? 10 Examples That Show Why Becoming A Teacher Is A Dead End In This Economy
Today budget cutters are on the rampage from coast to coast and often one of their first targets is public school teachers. What we have witnessed recently in Wisconsin is just one example of this. The truth is that you do not want to become a teacher if you want to have financial security in America today. Teacher salaries are being slashed from sea to shining sea. But to a certain extent the teachers that are having their wages cut are the fortunate ones. There are thousands upon thousands of teachers that have already been laid off, and there...
Caption: Hillary Clinton: US prepared to offer "any kind of assistance" to Libyans
The United States is prepared to offer "any kind of assistance" to Libyans seeking to overthrow the regime of strongman Moamer Kadhafi, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.(AFP/File/Jewel Samad)
Traveler May Have Spread Measles in 5 US Airports
Public health officials are scrambling to reach airline passengers and staff who may have had contact with a woman infected with measles who passed through as many as five U.S. airports last week. The New Mexico woman was on a transatlantic flight from London to Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 20. Over the next few days, she's believed to have passed through airports in Baltimore, Denver, Albuquerque and San Diego. New Mexico authorities refused to identify the woman, but described her as a 27-year-old who had never been vaccinated for measles as a child. Her symptoms were...
U.N.-friendly acts--The world body needs to explain why it's been cozy with despots
With Libyans dying by the hundreds in their uprising to evict Moammar Gadhafi, the United Nations is speedily backing away from the same Libyan regime it so recently embraced as one of its most favored darlings. Since lifting sanctions on Libya in 2003, the U.N. has honored Gadhafi’s envoys with seats on the Security Council and Human Rights Council, plus the 2009-10 presidency of the entire U.N. General Assembly. Now the U.N. is professing itself shocked — shocked! — that Gadhafi is displaying brutality consistent with his previous four decades of terror, repression and slaughter. The U.N. Security Council just...
Thousands awaiting homes pose challenge for Chavez
In a warehouse converted into a disaster shelter, hundreds of people are living out of backpacks and duffel bags while they wait for President Hugo Chavez to come through on his promises of new homes....posted using frpa
MICHAEL GOODWIN: Union Bile Runneth Over
The Boiling Over of the Liberal Mind is on full display these days, and it is not a pretty sight. Union protesters in Wisconsin compared Gov. Scott Walker to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and other tyrants. A sign showed him in a Nazi salute and screamed, "Heil Walker." Another said, "Hitler, Stalin, Walker." Still another showed a swastika next to his name. New York unions also reached back to World War II, although with a twist. "Wisconsin: Our Pearl Harbor," wrote John Samuelson, president of the local Transport Workers Union, which represents transit workers. He railed against "enemies of...
Drug horses being left to die by Mexican cartels
A pitiful, malnourished abandoned drug horse, used to move drugs across the Mexican border into Arizona, was so weak it kept trying to sit back on its hind legs because its front legs were too weak to hold it up, according to [the] NY TIMES. Brad Cowan, a 28 year livestock officer with the Arizona Department of Agriculture, and his partner had to carry it into a horse trailer. “I’d get angry when I’d see the condition these horses were in,” he said. Horrible sores from poorly fitting make shift saddles become infected, and their hooves get severely cut and...
Recall Wirch, 1 of the 14 Wisconsin Hijackers.
Recall Wirch - http://www.recallwirch.com/ Elections are for hiring. Recalls are for firing. Bob Wirch should be fired for not upholding the duties he swore to uphold. By fleeing the state, he refuses to represent the citizens of Wisconsin 22nd State Senate District in Madison.
Rep. Steve King: Cut DOJ Budget Over Obama's DOMA Decision
ABC News’ Devin Dwyer reports: Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King says he wants to penalize the Obama administration for its decision to drop a legal defense of the Defense of Marriage Act with fresh budget cuts for the Department of Justice. “We have the authority to do a few things, and one of them is to control the budget,” King said in an interview with ABC News from Frankfurt, Germany, where he has been attending trade meetings this week. [Snip] “The resources that they would be using to defend the DOMA law in court are not necessary to appropriate to them,"...
A Weak Horse in the White House
Here’s a mismatch: While Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi is flying in mercenaries from around Africa to ensure the survival of his regime, President Obama is dispatching his diplomatic corps to Europe and the Middle East for consultations regarding the impending civil war in the North African state. It will be interesting to see how U.S. envoys are received by Washington’s Arab allies, especially in Riyadh, where King Abdullah was once targeted by Qaddafi to be “killed either through assassination or through a coup.” Qaddafi hired the hit man in the wake of a 2003 Arab League summit meeting in Cairo,...
China For A Day Or America For Eternity
Back in 2008, the Clown Prince of the New York Slimes' editorial page, Thomas Friedman, wrote this in his book, "Hot, Flat, and Crowded" (What's that, you say ? You haven't read it ? Most of America hasn't. Like most lib books, Hot, Flat, and Crowded was a dud. The only reason I read it is the fact that I bought it for one measly dollar at the library.) : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "That night I thought a lot about our conversation. I replayed it several times in my head, and eventually a mischevious thought occurred to me: If only...If only America...
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