Blog Smith is inspired by the myth of Hephaestus in the creation of blacksmith-like, forged materials: ideas. This blog analyzes topics that interest me: IT, politics, technology, history, education, music, and the history of religions.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
Government Size and Growth: A Survey and Interpretation of the Evidence
A 2011 working paper by the Sweden-based Research Institute of Industrial Economics, “Government Size and Growth: A Survey and Interpretation of the Evidence” (PDF), analyzed 13 previous studies to better understand their contradictory results by accounting for their varying contexts and definitions of government size.
“The most recent studies find a significant negative correlation: An increase in government size by 10 percentage points is associated with a 0.5 to 1 percent lower annual growth rate.”
The researchers conclude that these “results do not imply that government must shrink for growth to increase. There is potential for increasing growth by restructuring taxes and expenditures so that the negative effects on growth for a given government size are minimized.”
There is no causal relationship but I find it interesting that the Swedish researchers had to try so hard to try and prove the economy is too complex for a simple answer, that social trust, or other factors are crucial, and they are at pains to point out that there is no clear policy implications following their study. How about, well, we know what does not work? Big government and failed social welfare policies?
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Campaign Contributions: Obama vs. Romney, No Significant Difference
Romney Fails To Sway Ron Paul Supporter At Huckabee Forum
Airing Date Jan.14, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Audit of the Federal Reserve Reveals $16 Trillion in Secret Bailouts
$16 Trillion in Secret
To place $16 trillion into perspective, remember that GDP of the United States is only $14.12 trillion. The entire national debt of the United States government spanning its 200+ year history is "only" $14.5 trillion. The budget that is being debated so heavily in Congress and the Senate is "only" $3.5 trillion. Take all of the outrage and debate over the $1.5 trillion deficit into consideration, and swallow this Red pill: There was no debate about whether $16,000,000,000,000 would be given to failing banks and failing corporations around the world.
The list of institutions that received the most money from the Federal Reserve.
Citigroup: $2.5 trillion ($2,500,000,000,000)
Morgan Stanley: $2.04 trillion ($2,040,000,000,000)
Merrill Lynch: $1.949 trillion ($1,949,000,000,000)
Bank of America: $1.344 trillion ($1,344,000,000,000)
Barclays PLC (United Kingdom): $868 billion ($868,000,000,000)
Bear Sterns: $853 billion ($853,000,000,000)
Goldman Sachs: $814 billion ($814,000,000,000)
Royal Bank of Scotland (UK): $541 billion ($541,000,000,000)
JP Morgan Chase: $391 billion ($391,000,000,000)
Deutsche Bank (Germany): $354 billion ($354,000,000,000)
UBS (Switzerland): $287 billion ($287,000,000,000)
Credit Suisse (Switzerland): $262 billion ($262,000,000,000)
Lehman Brothers: $183 billion ($183,000,000,000)
Bank of Scotland (United Kingdom): $181 billion ($181,000,000,000)
BNP Paribas (France): $175 billion ($175,000,000,000)
Audit
http://www.scribd.com/doc/60553686/GAO-Fed-Investigation
Source: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-696
FULL PDF on GAO server: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11696.pdf
Senator Sander’s Article: http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=9e2a4ea8-6e73-4be2-a753-62060dcbb3c3
NDAA: Is This The Omerica You Want to Live In?
NDAA: Is This The America You Want to Live In? Why or why not?
"Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
First Amendment
NDAA - National Defense Authorization Act
The relevant sections of the bill are 1021 and 1022.
* Section 1021 asserts the President’s authority to arrest suspected (not convicted) terrorists and gives him the option to choose whether or not they even get a trial, and if so, what kind of trial.
* Section 1022 requires that a certain class of terrorist get no trial. Instead they must be held in military prisons, for as long as this President, or any future President desires.
SECTION 1021
Section 1021 is very expansive in its reach. It “includ[es] any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces.”
* Who is “any person?”
* What is a “belligerent act?”
* What is “direct support?”
One could be safe in assuming these words mean whatever a creatively-minded prosecutor, a flexible judge, and an ignorant jury define them to mean — except that, under this act, one might never get as far as a court hearing.
These terms will be defined by the bureaucrats in power.
They could be used against political opponents.
1021 has no exceptions. There’s not even a hint of an exception. Remember, that section gave the President the authority to arrest you and a set of options on how you were to be handled. These choices are completely divorced from the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments, as well as the Treason provisions of Article III. The President’s new alternatives are:
1. Detention without trial by the military
2. Trial by a military commission
3. Trial by some other court of the President’s choosing
4. Shipping you off to a foreign jurisdiction
SECTION 1022
1022 is a requirement — a binding mandate upon the President.
Lauren Digioia was the only arrested person I could identify.
At 2:15 the undercover bald guy gives the signal and the police officer moves in to arrest.
NDAA Protests End In Ironic Swarm Of Arrests
Friday, January 13, 2012
Americans across the country will gather outside congressional offices Feb. 3rd from noon to 7 p.m. to protest NDAA 2012 (H.R. 1540).
NDAA 2012 allows for Americans to be indefinitely detained without access to an attorney or a trial by jury. Amendments to exclude American citizens were rejected by Obama.
Congress and President Obama have declared war on Americans. The last time America was declared a military zone President Roosevelt authorized the internment of Americans with Executive Order 9066, issued February 19, 1942.
NDAA 2012 repeals the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th amendments to the Constitution. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land and declares our right to due process. No law shall supersede it. We have a right to our day in court with a jury of our peers.
One of the causes of the American Revolution was the denial of the right to jury trial, the use of admiralty courts (military tribunals) instead, and the application of the laws of war to the colonists. After that experience, and being well aware of the infamous Star Chamber in English history, the Founders ensured that the international laws of war would apply only to foreign enemies, not to the American people. Thus, the Article III Treason Clause establishes the only constitutional form of trial for an American, not serving in the military, who is accused of making war on his own nation. Such a trial for treason must be before a civilian jury, not a tribunal.
The international laws of war do not trump our Bill of Rights. We reject as illegitimate any such claimed power, as did the Supreme Court in Ex Parte Milligan (1865). Any attempt to apply the laws of war to American civilians, under any pretext, such as against domestic “militia” groups the government brands “domestic terrorists,” is an act of war and an act of treason.
Senator Graham said that America is part of the battlefield, and as such, Americans can be captured, interrogated, and killed with no due process. Senators Graham, Kyl, and McCain say the law of war (military law) applies to us.
The senators claim the 2001 AUMF is in accordance with 1971 Non-Detention Act and allows Americans to be detained indefinitely without acces to an attorney. They argue that the Supreme Court has held that the President has the constitutional authority to detain enemy combatants, including U.S. citizens.
Non - Detention Act 1971:
No citizen shall be imprisoned or otherwise detained by the United States except pursuant to an Act of Congress
The senators say the act of congress that allows you be detained indefinitely is the AUMF 2001. So, no, the paragraph below from NDAA 2012 Section 1021 does not protect you. We are talking about the law of war, according to our congressmen and president, not criminal law which includes due process.
(d) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section is in
tended to limit or expand the authority of the President
or the scope of the Authorization for Use of Military
Force.
Senator Graham: Under domestic criminal law, we can't hold someone indefinitely.The only way to do that legally is under the law of war.
http://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/111201-Senate-NDAA-Debate.pdf
Senator Kyl - I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a statement that makes very clear where military detention is necessary: to allow intelligence gathering that will prevent future terrorist attacks against the American people.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: Wartime Detention of Enemy Combatants--Including U.S. Citizens Who Join the Forces of the Enemy--Is An Established Practice That Is Clearly Constitutional.
Senator Kyl goes on to say:
Nothing precludes the United States, the executive branch, from thereafter deciding to try the individual as a criminal in the criminal courts with all the attendant rights of a criminal. But until that determination, it cannot be denied that the executive has the authority to hold people as military combatants, gather intelligence necessary, and hold that individual until the cessation of hostilities.
In military custody, by contrast, not only are there no lawyers for terrorists. The indefinite nature of the detention--it can last as long as the war continues--itself creates conditions that allow effective interrogation. It creates the relationship of dependency and trust that experienced interrogators have made clear is critical to persuading terrorist detainees to talk. Navy Vice-Admiral Lowell Jacoby, who at the time was the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, explained how military custody is critical to effective interrogation in a declaration that he submitted in the Padilla litigation. He emphasized that successful noncoercive interrogation takes time--and it requires keeping the detainee away from lawyers.
http://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/111201-Senate-NDAA-Debate.pdf
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Deliver Us Obama
"Hear our cry Obama!" and "deliver us Obama," the Gamaliel Foundation chants in December 2008. The Foundation is the community organizing group that helped sponsor Obama's initial work in Chicago.
Dr. Thomas Sowell: FDR, The New Deal and Obama
Dr. Thomas Sowell addresses the economy, FDR, and Obama.
FED JUDGE SIDES WITH TEEN ATHEIST & ORDERS PUBLIC SCHOOL TO REMOVE PRAYER MURAL
FED JUDGE SIDES WITH TEEN ATHEIST & ORDERS PUBLIC SCHOOL TO REMOVE PRAYER MURAL
Should the prayer mural have been removed? Why or why not?
‘YOU’LL BE TARRED AND FEATHERED!’: UNION PROTESTERS GROWING DESPERATE IN INDIANA
If the measure clears the next round of voting, it could be passed into law, making it illegal for Indiana businesses and unions to negotiate contracts that require all workers to pay union fees.
Indiana House Democrats boycotted the chamber four out of the first five days of the 2012 session.
By the time they returned, they had missed the deadline for submitting amendments to the measure. Therefore, under Indiana House Rules, the Chairman refused any Democrat amendments to the bill.
And that drew a reaction.
Union Protestor Says Legislators Will Be Tarred and Feathered
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The Dead Voting in New Hampshire
Filmmaker James O’Keefe and his organization, Project Veritas, taped the fraud. “There is fraud going on and our goal is to visualize it for people,” he said.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Update: DEVOUT MUSLIM ATTACKS, BLOODIED CHRISTIAN PREACHERS, CONVERT "BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE"
"Street Preacher is attacked by Muslim while preaching at a Lady Gaga Concert. This may be a bad thing but what is worse is the way the police handled the attack. They actually charge the Christian with battery. They would not view the video nor did they talk to any of the witnesses. Here is the video you be the judge and then call the Tampa police department and tell them to drop these trumped up charges and do their job properly. Case # 11-217735, ORI# 0290200 The (I hate to give him this title) police officers name and badge number are Kevin Krupa Badge # 565.
Here is their number (813) 242-3800
You can also call the Chief of Police 813-276-3799
Or the Mayor at 813-274-8251"
Yesterday, a Muslim from Kosovo was arrested in Florida in a massive night club bomb plot: "We all have to die, so why not die the Islamic way?" This is video from a previous encounter. The guy was bad news and if the Tampa police had done their job; he might not have graduated to his bombing shenanigans.
This is the same town that classified the honor killing of Fatima Abdullah as a "suicide."
Monday, January 9, 2012
"We all have to die, so why not die the Islamic way?" Another Muslim Bomber; this time in Florida
The bomber "asked for al Qaeda flags" according to police reports.
New 9/11 Eyewitness Evidence of Bombs at WTC
http://www.facebook.com/LukeWeAreChange
http://www.twitter.com/LukeRudkowski
http://www.WeAreChange.org
New Chief of Staff: Former Hedge Fund Exec. at Citigroup, Made Money Off Mortgage Defaults
On Feb. 13, 2011, Jack Lew appeared on CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley and said of Obama’s proposed budget:
"Our budget will get us, over the next several years, to the point where we can look the American people in the eye and say we’re not adding to the debt anymore; we’re spending money that we have each year, and then we can work on bringing down our national debt."
Lew’s statement was deemed “false” by the nonpartisan, Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact.com.
Cf. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/feb/15/barack-obama/barack-obama-says-white-house-budget-would-not-add/
“The contention that ‘we will not be adding more to the national debt’ after the middle of the decade seems incorrect on its face,” reported PolitiFact. “So what is the administration thinking?”
On interest payments alone, Obama’s budget would have accrued $884 billion, and in the end, Obama’s budget was considered so misguided that it was unanimously rejected by the U.S. Senate in a 97-0 vote.
Lew’s false statement did not escape scrutiny and came under fire when he questioned by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL):
Emmanuel, Obama's first chief of staff once sat on the board of Freddie Mac. Daley, whose departure was announced today (9 January 2012), was previously a top executive at J.P. Morgan Chase. Obama's latest chief, Lew, was a former COO of Citibank. Lew got $900,000 after Citigroup bailout; The payout came on top of the already hefty $1.1 million Citigroup compensation package for 2008 that he reported last year.
Victory Mosque Iman Promotes Sharia in America
An essential element of this interweaving of cultures, Imam Rauf says, will have to be the incorporation of Sharia law into the legal systems of Europe and the US. In this, he is in agreement with the Archbishop of Canterbury who said that the adoption of some aspects of Sharia law “seems to be unavoidable”.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace: Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Reince Priebus
Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace: Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Reince Priebus
Chris Wallace vs. Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Obama's one term proposition statement
Ottoman Herzl Caliphate Revival
MEMRITV - The Middle East Media Research Institute
#3250 - Prince Orhan Aal Othman, Grandson of Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II: Herzl Was the Cause of the Fall of the Ottoman Empire
Transcript
http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/3250.htm
Newt Blasts Media for Ignoring Anti-Christian, Anti-Catholic Bigotry
Newt Blasts Media for Ignoring Anti-Christian Bigotry
“I just want to raise a point about the news media bias,” Gingrich said after a rhetorical skirmish about gay marriage. “You don’t hear the opposite question asked.
“Should the Catholic Church be forced to close its adoption services in Massachusetts because it won’t accept gay couples, which is exactly what the state has done? Should the Catholic Church be driven out of providing charitable services in the District of Columbia because it won’t give in to secular bigotry? Should the Catholic Church find itself discriminated against by the Obama administration on key delivery of services because of the bias and the bigotry of the administration?”
“The bigotry question goes both ways,” Gingrich added. “And there’s a lot more anti-Christian bigotry today than there is concerning the other side. And none of it gets covered by the news media.”
The Cold, Cold Wind of Reality, Neal Boortz
The Cold, Cold Wind of Reality, Neal Boortz
Cf. http://www.boortz.com/news/news/local-education/commencement-speech/nCG7H/
I am honored by the invitation to address you on this august occasion. It's about time. Be warned, however, that I am not here to impress you; you'll have enough smoke blown your way today. And you can bet your tassels I'm not here to impress the faculty and administration.
You may not like much of what I have to say, and that's fine. This isn't the first time you're not going to like what someone has to say … your bosses, for instance. Things change today. There will be a lot less pandering to your every whim, and a lot more demands for performance. You will remember what I had to say though. Especially after about 10 years out there in the real world. This, of course, does not apply to those of you who will seek your careers and your fortunes as government employees … or as college professors.
You've heard the old saying that those who can - do. Those who can't - teach. That sounds deliciously insensitive. But there is often raw truth in insensitivity, just as you often find feel-good falsehoods and lies in compassion. Say good-bye to your faculty because now you are getting ready to go out there and do. These folks behind me are going to stay right here and teach.
By the way, just because you are leaving this place with a diploma doesn't mean the learning is over. When an FAA flight examiner handed me my private pilot's license many years ago, he said, 'Here, this is your ticket to learn.' The same can be said for your diploma. Believe me, the learning has just begun.
OK .. it's time for you to hear something – to learn something – that may, but should not, come as a complete surprise.
You are the victims of a terrible fraud. You have just completed your travels through an educational system that had no real intention of educating you … at least not too much.
You're pretty hot at research right now, aren't you? While those skills are still with you, perhaps you would like to put them to work studying the start of compulsory government education in the early part of the last century. Do you really think that the goal of our compulsory government education system has been to actually educate you?
Did you study H. L. Mencken? In 1924 he wrote an article for the American Mercury where he defined the true aim of our then-fledgling system of education. Listen carefully:
The aim of public education is not to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim … is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is the aim in the United States and that is its aim everywhere else.
Think about this. Who owns the schools? The government. Who mandates attendance? The government. Who staffs the schools? The government … with government workers. Who directs the work of the schools? The government. Can you see where it is in the best interests of government to suppress dissent and originality? Can you understand why government would want a standardized citizenry? Those who dissent; those who produce originality of thought; those who exceed the standards are a threat to what? The status quo, that's what … and government likes the calming influence of the status quo.
There's an amazing book that you need to put at the top of your reading list … now that you don't have to focus on college texts any more. The book is by John Taylor Gatto, and it's called "The Underground History of American Education." Gatto was the teacher of the year in New York City. He wrote an extraordinary letter to the Wall Street Journal in 2001. Let me share the first part of that letter with you:
I've taught public school for 26 years but I just can't do it anymore. For years I asked the local school board and superintendent to let me teach a curriculum that doesn't hurt kids, but they had other fish to fry. So I'm going to quit, I think.
I've come slowly to understand what it is I really teach: A curriculum of confusion, class position, arbitrary justice, vulgarity, rudeness, disrespect for privacy, indifference to quality, and utter dependency. I teach how to fit into a world I don't want to live in.
I just can't do it anymore. I can't train children to wait to be told what to do; I can't train people to drop what they are doing when a bell sounds; I can't persuade children to feel some justice in their class placement when there isn't any, and I can't persuade children to believe teachers have valuable secrets they can acquire by becoming our disciples. That isn't true.
Just google "I quit, I think" and you can read the rest of Gatto's letter to the Wall Street Journal. You've been had .. big time. Read the letter. You'll see how ---- and how bad.
Can you see why government would want to keep you dumbed down and placated? Gatto's book explains it all. He talks about the effort to bring the Prussian style of education to the United States in the early 1900s. He describes his shock that Americans were to eager to adopt what he calls "one of the very worst aspects of Prussian culture … an educational system deliberately designed to produce mediocre intellects, to hamstring the inner life, to deny students appreciable leadership skills, and to ensure docile and incomplete citizens in order to render the populace "manageable."
So … do you think you know enough to be a threat to the ruling class?
How many of you can name your two US Senators? How about the Vice President? Who is your congressman? How often is he elected? Can you give me the gist of the 10th Amendment?
Am I trying to insult you here? No, I'm trying to illustrate something.
What are the three branches of government? Who officially represents the government of this state – not the people, the government -- in Washington?
How strong is your economic knowledge? Do you believe that the rich should pay their fair share? If so, can you tell me what percentage of total income the hated top 1% earns and what percentage of income taxes they pay? If you can't, don't worry too much. I've interviewed presidential candidates who can't tell you.
Here's a toughie …. What is the difference between a profit and a profit margin? Do corporations pay taxes? If so, where do they get the money?
A person who cannot answer virtually all of these questions is a person who is going to present absolutely no threat at all to current political thought. This is a person who will repeat government feel-good slogans and political mantras .. and then turn to a discussion of the last episode of "Lost."
Feeling pretty good about your education now, aren't you?
Now, I realize that most of you consider yourselves Liberals. In fact, you are probably very proud of your liberal views. You care so much. You feel so much. You want to help so much. After all, you're a compassionate and caring person, aren't you now? Well, isn't that just so extraordinarily special. Now, at this age, is as good a time as any to be a Liberal; as good a time as any to know absolutely everything. You have plenty of time, starting tomorrow, for the truth to set in. Over the next few years, as you begin to feel the cold breath of reality down your neck, things are going to start changing pretty fast .. including your own assessment of just how much you really know.
So here are the first assignments for your initial class in post-graduate reality: Pay attention to the news, read newspapers – as long as we have newspapers -- and listen to the words and phrases that proud Liberals use to promote their causes. Then compare the words of the left to the words and phrases you hear from those evil, heartless, greedy conservatives. From the Left you will hear "I feel." From the Right you will hear "I think." From the Liberals you will hear references to groups --The Blacks, The Poor, The Rich, The Disadvantaged, The Less Fortunate. From the Right you will hear references to individuals. On the Left you hear talk of group rights; on the Right, individual rights.
That about sums it up, really: Liberals feel. Liberals care. They are pack animals whose identity is tied up in group dynamics and the principal of looting. Conservatives and Libertarians think -- and, setting aside the theocracy crowd, their identity is centered on the individual – individual worth and achievement.
Liberals feel that their favored groups, have enforceable rights to the property and services of productive individuals. Conservatives (and Libertarians, myself among them I might add) think that individuals have the right to protect their lives and their property from the plunder of the masses.
In college you developed a group mentality, but if you look closely at your diplomas you will see that they have your individual names on them. Not the name of your school mascot, or of your fraternity or sorority, but your name. This group identity nonsense needs to go away … now. Your recognition and appreciation of your individual identity should begin immediately.
There's a chance that, over the next eight to ten years, the lessons of life will not have brought you to the rational thinking processes of a libertarian or a conservative. If you find that to be your reality when you reach the age of 30 … 35 tops … then you need to rush right back here as quickly as you can and apply for a faculty position. These people will welcome you with open arms. They will welcome you, that is, so long as you haven't developed an individual identity. Once again you will have to be willing to sign on to the group mentality you embraced during the past four years.
Something is going to happen soon that is going to really open your eyes. You're going to actually get a full time job! You're also going to find that you have a partner. This partner isn't going to help you do your job. This partner is just going to sit back and wait for payday. This partner doesn't want to share in your effort -- just your earnings.
Your new lifelong partner is actually an agent; an agent representing a strange and diverse group of people. An agent for every single mother raising an illegitimate child. An agent for a research scientist who wanted to make some cash answering the age-old question of why monkeys grind their teeth. An agent for some poor aging hippie who considers herself to be a meaningful and talented artist ... but who just can't manage to sell any of her artwork on the open market.
Your new partner is an agent for every person with limited, if any, job skills; for every person who ignored all proffered educational opportunities, for every loser dreaming of nothing more than a job at City Hall. Your partner will be an agent for tin-horn dictators in fancy military uniforms grasping for American foreign aid. An agent for multi-million-dollar companies who want someone else to pay for their overseas advertising. An agent for everybody who wants to use the unimaginable power of this agent's for their personal enrichment and benefit.
That agent is our wonderful, caring, compassionate, oppressive Imperial Federal Government. Believe me, you will be awed by the unimaginable power this agent has. Power that you do not have. A power that no individual has, will have or should have. This agent has the legal power to use force – deadly force – to accomplish its goals.
You have no choice here. Your new friend is just going to walk up to you, introduce itself rather gruffly, hand you a few forms to fill out, and move right on in. Say hello to your own personal one ton gorilla with a gun. It will sleep anywhere it wants to.
Now, let me tell you, this agent is not cheap. As you become successful it will seize about 40% of everything you earn. And no, I'm sorry, there just isn't any way you can fire this agent of plunder, this looter, and you can't decrease it's share of your income. That power rests with him, not you.
Does it bother you that I'm not particularly fond of our government? Well, be clear on this: It is not wrong to distrust government. It is not wrong to fear government. In certain cases it is not even wrong to despise government for government is inherently evil. Oh yes, I know it's a necessary evil, but it is dangerous nonetheless ... somewhat like a drug. Just as a drug that in the proper dosage can save your life, an overdose of government can be fatal.
Now – let's address a few things that have been crammed into your minds at this university. There are some ideas you need to expunge as soon as possible. These ideas may work well in academic environment, but they fail miserably out there in the real world.
First – that favorite buzz word of the media, government and academia: Diversity!
You have been taught that the real value of any group of people - be it a social group, an employee group, a management group, whatever - is based on diversity. This is a favored liberal ideal because diversity is based not on an individual's abilities or character, but on a person's identity and status as a member of a group. Yes – it's that liberal group identity thing again.
Within the great diversity movement group identification - be it racial, gender based, one of the fourteen different classifications of sexual proclivities, or some other minority status - means more than the individual's integrity, character or other qualifications.
Brace yourself. You are about to move from this academic atmosphere where diversity rules, to a workplace and a culture where individual achievement and excellence actually count. No matter what your professors have taught you over the last four years, you are about to learn that diversity is absolutely no replacement for excellence, ability, and individual hard work. Unless, of course, you are working for the government or academia.
From this day on every single time you hear the word "diversity" you can rest assured that there is someone close by who is determined to rob you of every vestige of individuality you possess.
We also need to address this thing you seem to have about "rights." We have witnessed an obscene explosion of so-called "rights" in the last few decades, usually emanating from college campuses.
You know the mantra: You have the right to a job. The right to a place to live. The right to a living wage. The right to health care. The right to an education. You probably even have your own pet right - the right to a Beemer, for instance, or the right to have someone else provide for that child you plan on downloading in a year or so.
Forget it. Forget those rights! I'll tell you what your rights are! You have a right to live free, and you have a right to whatever wealth you are able to produce with your labor. You'll be disappointed to learn that you have no right to any portion of the life or labor of another.
You may think, for instance, that you have a right to health care. After all, the president said so, didn't he? But you cannot receive health care unless some doctor or health practitioner surrenders some of his time - his life - to you. He may be willing to do this for compensation, but that's his choice. You have no "right" to his time or property. You have no right to any portion of his or any other person's life.
You may also think you have some "right" to a job; a job with a living wage, whatever that is. Do you mean to tell me that you have a right to force your services on another person, and then the right to demand that this person compensate you with their money? What if he doesn't need your services? I can't wait for you to point that one out for me in our Constitution. I sure would like to be a fly on the wall when some urban outdoorsmen (that would be "homeless person" for those of you who don't want to give these less fortunate people a romantic and adventurous title) came to you and demanded his job and your money.
And while I'm on the subject of jobs … let's straighten out a bit of a misconception you may have. Jobs belong to the employer, not to the employee. You will go "look" for a job. Well, if the job belonged to you wouldn't have to look very far would you? Businessmen create those jobs. The jobs belong to them, not you. They will, with conditions, offer you that job if they believe them to be capable. And guess what? They're not going to pay you what you're worth. They're going to pay you less. Know why? Because if every employer out there paid every employee exactly what that employee was worth, where is the profit for the employer? You are there to make money for the person who gave you the job. To do that you have to produce wealth. You get a good portion of it … but some must go to the employer. There is simply no other reason to hire you. And another thing … there is no "shipping OUR jobs overseas." They are the employer's jobs, not yours. They can do with them what they wish. Get used to it.
The people who have been telling you about all the rights you have are simply exercising one of theirs - the right to be imbeciles. Their being imbeciles didn't cost anyone else either property or time. It's their right, and they exercise it brilliantly.
By the way, did you catch my use of the phrase "less fortunate" a bit ago when I was talking about the urban outdoorsmen and the poor, poor, pitiful, pathetic poor? That phrase is a favorite of the Left. Think about it, and you'll understand why.
To imply that one person is homeless, destitute, dirty, drunk, spaced out on drugs, unemployable, and generally miserable because he is "less fortunate" is to imply that a successful person - one with a job, a home and a future - is in that position because he or she was "fortunate." The dictionary says that fortunate means "having derived good from an unexpected place." There is nothing unexpected about deriving good from hard work. There is also nothing unexpected about deriving misery from choosing drugs, alcohol, and the street instead of education and personal responsibility.
If the Left can create the common perception that success and failure are simple matters of "fortune" or "luck," then it is easy to promote and justify their various income seizure and redistribution schemes. After all, you didn't work for the money, did you? You were just lucky, and here we are just evening out the odds a little bit, aren't we?
This "success equals luck" idea the liberals like to push is seen everywhere. One time Democrat presidential candidate Richard Gephardt liked to refer to high-achievers as "people who have won life's lottery." He wanted you to believe they are making the big bucks because they are lucky; all they did was buy the right lottery ticket. What an insult this is to the man or woman who works that 60 hour week to provide for a family.
It's not luck, my friends. It's choice. One of the greatest lessons I ever learned was in a book by Og Mandino, entitled "The Greatest Secret in the World." The lesson? Very simple: "Use wisely your power of choice."
That bum sitting on a heating grate, smelling like a wharf rat? He's there by choice. He is there because of the sum total of the choices he has made in his life. This truism is absolutely the hardest thing for some people to accept, especially those who consider themselves to be victims of something or other - victims of discrimination, bad luck, the system, capitalism, whatever. After all, nobody really wants to accept the blame for his or her position in life. Not when it is so much easier to point and say, "Look! He did this to me!" than it is to look into a mirror and say, "You S.O.B.! You did this to me!"
The key to accepting responsibility for your life is to accept the fact that your choices, every one of them, are leading you inexorably to either success or failure, however you define those terms.
Some of the choices are obvious: Whether or not to stay in school. Whether or not to get pregnant. Whether or not to hit the bottle. Whether or not to keep this job you hate until you get another better-paying job. Whether or not to save some of your money, or saddle yourself with huge payments for that new car.
Some of the choices are seemingly insignificant: Whom to go to the movies with. Whose car to ride home in. Whether to watch the tube tonight, or read a book on investing. But, and you can be sure of this, each choice counts. Each choice is a building block - some large, some small. But each one is a part of the structure of your life. If you make the right choices, or if you make more right choices than wrong ones, something absolutely terrible may happen to you. Something unthinkable. You, my friend, could become one of the hated, the evil, the ugly, the feared, the filthy, the successful, the rich.
Quite a few people have followed that tragic path.
The rich basically serve two purposes in this country. First, they provide the investments, the investment capital, and the brains for the formation of new businesses. Businesses that hire people. Businesses that send millions of paychecks home each week to the un-rich.
Second, the rich are a wonderful object of ridicule, distrust, and hatred. Few things are more valuable to a politician than the envy most Americans feel for the evil rich.
Envy is a powerful emotion. Politicians use envy to get votes and power. And they keep that power by promising the envious that the envied will be punished: "The rich will pay their fair share of taxes if I have anything to do with it.'
The truth is that the top 10% of income earners in this country pays almost 50% of all income taxes collected. I shudder to think what these job producers would be paying if our tax system were any more "fair."
You have heard, no doubt, that in America the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Interestingly enough, our government's own numbers show that many of the poor actually get richer, and that quite a few of the rich actually get poorer. But for the rich who do actually get richer, and the poor who remain poor ... there's an explanation -- a reason. The rich, you see, keep doing the things that make them rich; while the poor keep doing the things that make them poor.
Speaking of the poor, during your adult life you are going to hear an endless string of politicians bemoaning the plight of the poor in America. So, you need to know that under our government's definition of "poor" you can have a $5 million net worth, a $900,000 paid-for home and a new $160,000 Bentley, all completely paid for. You can also have a maid, cook, and valet, and $10 million in a checking account, and you can still be officially defined by our government as "living in poverty." Now there's something you haven't seen on the evening news.
How does the government pull this one off? Very simple, really. To determine whether or not some poor soul is "living in poverty," the government measures one thing -- just one thing. Income. It doesn't matter one bit how much you have, how much you own, how many cars you drive or how big they are, whether or not your pool is heated, whether you winter in Aspen and spend the summers in the Bahamas, or how much is in your savings account. It only matters how much income you claim in that particular year. This means that if you take a one-year leave of absence from your high-paying job and decide to live off the money in your savings and checking accounts while you write the next great American novel, the government says you are 'living in poverty."
This isn't exactly what you had in mind when you heard these gloomy statistics, is it?
Do you need more convincing? Try this. The government's own statistics show that people who are said to be "living in poverty" spend more than $1.50 for each dollar of income they claim. Something is a bit fishy here. just remember all this the next time Katie Couric puffs up and tells you about some hideous new poverty statistics.
And please remember this: The average person in this country described as "poor" has a higher standard of living than the average European. Not the average "poor" European, the average European.
Why has the government concocted this phony poverty scam? Because the government needs an excuse to grow and to expand its social welfare programs, which translates into an expansion of its power. If the government can convince you, in all your compassion, that the number of "poor" is increasing, it will have all the excuse it needs to sway an electorate suffering from the advanced stages of Obsessive-Compulsive Compassion Disorder.
Well, it looks like I'm about to be given the hook. The faculty looks a little angry. Come to think of it … some of you look a little ticked off too. Are you starting to get it? The fun times are fading … it's time to get down to business, and the people you will be working for have a much tighter grip on reality than these people who have been teaching you for the past years have. Why don't you try occupying the boss's office the next time something doesn't go your way. Let us all know how that works out for you.
Well … I'm guessing that they've already changed their minds about that honorary degree I was going to get. That's OK, though. I still have my Ph.D. in Insensitivity from the Neal Boortz Institute for Insensitivity Training. You're about to start studying for yours. I learned that, in short, sensitivity sucks. It's a trap. Think about it - the truth knows no sensitivity. Life can be insensitive. Wallow too much in sensitivity and you'll be unable to deal with life, or the truth. So, get over it.
Now, before the dean has me shackled and hauled off, I have a few random thoughts.You need to register to vote, unless you're part of the moocher class. If you are living off the efforts of others, please do us the favor of sitting down and shutting up until you are on your own again. While we're paying the bills you can keep your gripes to yourself. As long as we're taking care of you we would appreciate it if you would just sit down, shut up and get a skill. Or have the decency to just stay out of our way so we can get the job done.
When you do vote, your votes for the House and the Senate are more important than your vote for president. The House controls the purse strings, so concentrate your awareness there. Try to put as much importance on learning your congressman's name as you do remembering the name of your aerobics or yoga instructor.
Don't bow to the temptation to use the government as an instrument of plunder. If it is wrong for you to take money from someone else who earned it -- to take their money by force for your own needs -- then it is certainly just as wrong for you to demand that the government step forward and do this dirty work for you.
Don't look in other people's pockets. You have no business there. What they earn is theirs. What you manage to earn is yours. Keep it that way. Nobody owes you anything, except to respect your privacy and your rights, and leave you the hell alone.
Speaking of earning, the revered 40-hour workweek is for losers. Forty hours should be considered the minimum, not the maximum. You don't see highly successful people clocking out of the office every afternoon at five. The losers are the ones caught up in that afternoon rush hour. The winners drive home in the dark.
Free speech is meant to protect unpopular speech. Popular speech, by definition, needs no protection.
Finally (and aren't you glad to hear that word), as Og Mandino wrote,
1. Proclaim your rarity. Each of you is a rare and unique human being.
2. Use wisely your power of choice.
3. Go the extra mile ... drive home in the dark.
Care as much about America's future as you do about American Idol.
Oh, and put off buying that flat screen as long as you can.
Now, if you have any idea at all what's good for you, you will get the hell out of here and never come back.
Class dismissed.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Vermin Supreme: Better Than Obama
Would this presidential candidate get your vote? Why or why not?
Vermin Supreme At the Lesser-Known Democratic Candidates Presidential Forum, Forget The Phony, Vote For The Pony
Reagan’s Attorney General on Impeaching Obama, “Close to a Constitutional Crisis”
Reagan’s Attorney General on Impeaching Obama, “Close to a Constitutional Crisis”
What are your thoughts on this latest Constitutional Crisis?
Appearing on Neil Cavuto’s program on the Fox Business channel,Meese said the appointments of Richard Cordray to serve as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and three pro-union members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) were historically unprecedented and violated constitutional order. He noted that since the House did not give consent for the Senate to go on recess for more than three days,nor did the Senate go into recess,there was no recess;thus,the president could not legally make a recess appointment.
The interview quickly touched upon impeachment. Cavuto asked Meese if these actions “get to the level of a serious crime or misdemeanor?” Meese replied:
Whether it’s an impeachable offense —or I think more particularly whether Congress would impeach,whether the House would impeach –- I think there may be some reticence on that. That’s an extreme,last resort measure…I think it should play in the next election process.
Meese concluded,“Whether you go to that point or not really depends on what the House decides to do.”
He said all Americans must ponder on’question:“If the president is willing to violate the Constitution now,when he has an election upcoming,think what he would do if he was in his second term with no election ahead. To what extent he would literally shred the Constitution during that period of time.”
Sekulow Now: Obama's Unconstitutional Appointments
West readies oil plan in case of Iran crisis
The Saudis have an East-West pipeline system to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea which is only a temporary measure in light of Obama's inability to forge an effective strategy against Iran. The neighboring United Arab Emirates also has export flexibility. It is nearing completion of the Abu Dhabi crude oil pipeline, which will bypass the strait to ship as much as 1.5 million bpd to the Indian Ocean.
Cf. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ffcf3450-3890-11e1-9ae1-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1imh2GnOS
The US and Israel are gearing up for a major missile defence exercise in the next few weeks. The drill, called “Austere Challenge 12”, is designed to improve defence systems and co-operation between the US and Israeli forces.
Friday, January 6, 2012
AmeriKa: Public Taping of Public Events and Political Speech
Republican Congressman Steve Chabot (Ohio) limits freedom to record public events.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
National Defense Authorization Act 2012
7 shades of void "Have You Heard The News Today" NDAA 2012 Mix
Featuring Alyona Minkovski
Lawrence Wilkerson
Max Igan
Barack Hussein Obama
Donald Rumsfeld
Adolf Hitler
http://www.infowars.com/the-inauguration-of-police-state-usa-2012-obama-signs...
http://www.prisonplanet.com/ron-paul-calls-national-defense-authorization-act...
With minimal media debate, at a time when Americans were celebrating the New Year with their loved ones, the "National Defense Authorization Act " H.R. 1540 was signed into law by Obama. The actual signing took place on the 31st of December.
According to Obama's "signing statement", the threat of Al Qaeda to the Security of the Homeland constitutes a justification for repealing fundamental rights and freedoms, with a stroke of the pen.
The Lessons of History
This New Year's Eve December 31, 2011 signing of the NDAA will indelibly go down as a landmark in American history.
If we are to put this in a comparative historical context, the relevant provisions of the NDAA HR 1540 are, in many regards, comparable to those contained in the "Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State", commonly known as the "Reichstag Fire Decree" (Reichstagsbrandverordnung) enacted in Germany under the Weimar Republic on 27 February 1933 by President (Field Marshal) Paul von Hindenburg.
Implemented in the immediate wake of the Reichstag Fire (which served as a pretext), this February 1933 decree was used to repeal civil liberties including the right of Habeas Corpus.
Article of the February 1933 decree suspended civil liberties under the pretext of protecting democracy: "Thus, restrictions on personal liberty, on the right of free expression of opinion, including freedom of the press, on the right of association and assembly, and violations of the privacy of postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications, and warrants for house-searches, orders for confiscations, as well as restrictions on property rights are permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed." (Art. 1, emphasis added)
Democracy was nullified in Germany through the signing of a presidential decree. The Reichstag Fire decree was followed in March 1933 by "The Enabling Act" ( Ermächtigungsgesetz) which allowed (or enabled) the Nazi government of Chancellor Adolf Hitler to invoke de facto dictatorial powers. These two decrees enabled the Nazi regime to introduce legislation which was in overt contradiction with the 1919 Weimar Constitution.
The following year, upon the death of president Hindenburg in 1934, Hitler "declared the office of President vacant" and took over as Fuerer, the combined function's of Chancellor and Head of State.
Obama's New Year's Gift to the American People
To say that January 1st 2012 is "A Sad Day for America" is a gross understatement.
The signing of NDAA (HR 1540) into law is tantamount to the militarization of law enforcement, the repeal of the Posse Comitatus Act and the Inauguration in 2012 of Police State USA.
The NDAA is "Obama's New Year's Gift" to the American People. ...
Michel Chossudovsky, Montreal, Canada, January, 1st 2012
Today, January 1st, 2012, our thoughts are with the American people.
Many thanks to Max Igan & Alex Jones
http://www.youtube.com/user/aodscarecrow
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAlexJonesChannel
The relevant sections of the bill are 1021 and 1022.
* Section 1021 asserts the President’s authority to arrest suspected (not convicted) terrorists and gives him the option to choose whether or not they even get a trial, and if so, what kind of trial.
* Section 1022 requires that a certain class of terrorist get no trial. Instead they must be held in military prisons, for as long as this President, or any future President desires.
SECTION 1021
Section 1021 is very expansive in its reach. It “includ[es] any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces.”
* Who is “any person?”
* What is a “belligerent act?”
* What is “direct support?”
One could be safe in assuming these words mean whatever a creatively-minded prosecutor, a flexible judge, and an ignorant jury define them to mean — except that, under this act, one might never get as far as a court hearing.
These terms will be defined by the bureaucrats in power.
They could be used against political opponents.
1021 has no exceptions. There’s not even a hint of an exception. Remember, that section gave the President the authority to arrest you and a set of options on how you were to be handled. These choices are completely divorced from the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments, as well as the Treason provisions of Article III. The President’s new alternatives are:
1. Detention without trial by the military
2. Trial by a military commission
3. Trial by some other court of the President’s choosing
4. Shipping you off to a foreign jurisdiction
SECTION 1022
1022 is a requirement — a binding mandate upon the President. Obama threatened to veto the bill, but only because he feared 1022 would restrict his power too much.
In the final version of the bill, after a public storm started to erupt, the title of the section was changed to indicate that it only applied to “foreign al-Qaeda terrorists.” However, titles are not normally considered part of the law but merely summary descriptions to the reader of a bill.
But this title is especially ironic, because it’s this section that includes the so-called exemption for American citizens. Why would you need to exempt American citizens from a section of law that applies to “foreign al-Qaeda terrorists?”
The answer is because the section applies to any kind of “terrorist,” domestic or foreign, no matter what the title says.
And here’s the so-called exemption, with the key word highlighted:
The REQUIREMENT to detain a person in military custody under this section does not extend to citizens of the United States.
That means that military custody, without a trial, is mandated by law, but that the President, at his discretion or by written policy, may issue a waiver on the basis that a person is an American citizen.
If this provision was a true safeguard for American citizens, then the line would’ve been written like this:
Military custody of citizens of the United States is still prohibited under this act.
The difference is critical. It’s a requirement that can be waived at discretion, as opposed to a prohibition.
Cf. http://blogsmithconsulting.blogspot.com/2012/01/update-obama-i-can-violate-civil.html
http://blogsmithconsulting.blogspot.com/2011/12/coming-soon-americans-in-gitmo.html
U.N. Taking Over City Councils Across America
U.N. Taking Over City Councils Across America
Stacy Lynne educates We Are Change Colorado about the International Council on LOCAL Environmental Initiatives. An arm of the United Nations Agenda 21 and how they are using "GREENWASHING" to take over America.
Obama's Consumer Chief Cordray: Commerce Clause Trumps Constitution
There is more to the Constitution than the Commerce Clause but as he points out you need activist judges to push this down the throat of the American people.
President Obama's appointee to the Consumer protection bureau Richard Cordray is a staunch supporter of Obamacare. He has said the lawsuits against the legislation were "frivolous" because of the commerce clause.
Cordray, before his recess appointment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, served as the Attorney General of Ohio and declined to file a lawsuit against Obamacare like many other states in the nation. He explains his reasoning of why this is a "pretty frivolous" lawsuit in an interview with Capitol Square, a program that airs in Ohio. Transcript of they key portion of the interview is below.
"The commerce clause claim is pretty frivolous under standing jurisprudence prudence. It goes back 70 years where the court has held that any legislation that affects the national economy, even if it affects matters that are not economic themselves, that have incident effects on the economy. And healthcare insurance clearly does. It is [a] valid exercise of Congressional authority.
"I think that disagree with this law, and I understand there's deep disagreements and it's a complicated law and I'm sure that over time some pieces will work and some pieces will not, and they'll have to go back and revise and tweak it. If they want to continue to battle on this, it should be in the political arena. We don't typically go to the courts and ask the courts to micromanage the democratic process. I don't think that is a good expenditure of taxpayer resources. As I said, the lawsuit will go forward but Ohio will not be part of it."
'Thousands of US soldiers will be deployed in Israel' this Spring...
Israel preparing for Iran.
The drill, which is unprecedented in its size, will include the establishment of US command posts in Israel and IDF command posts at EUCOM headquarters in Germany – with the ultimate goal of establishing joint task forces in the event of a large-scale conflict in the Middle East.
The US will also bring its THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) and shipbased Aegis ballistic missile defense systems to Israel to simulate the interception of missile salvos against Israel.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
More Than Meets the Eye: L.A. Arsonist is Chechen Who Hates America
LA Arson Suspect Harry Burkhart Has Chechen Docs: Germany Wants Extradition of Mother Dorothee Burkhart – Breast Augumentation Angle
Chechen (a region that is 94% Muslim)
Islamist
U.S. State Department provided information for Harry Burkhart’s arrest
LA arson suspect's captor patrols for $1 a year
Captor: reserve sheriff's deputy is Shervin Lalezary, a 30-year-old Beverly Hills real estate attorney who was born in Tehran and moved to the U.S. with his family about 25 years ago.
There are so many strange twists to this story it reads like a novel; you can't make it up. The lamestream media will simply report that a lone crazed arsonist was arrested and go back to sleep without any more research. However, this may be an active Islamist cavorting in L.A. Perhaps the State department is doing the job that Justice or Immigration refuses to do. Perhaps the L.A.P.D. is protecting the city, as is the NYPD, since the Feds will not track Islamists. One person can do so much damage and I can only wonder the effect of just a handful of these miscreants let loose in an urban setting.
It was less than a month ago that the Hollywood Jihad occurred with a shootout and a gunman calmly targeted drivers while shouting ALLAHU AKBAR!
Bumper Sticker, Allah Victory Invasion
This car was spotted in Portland, ME, August 24th, 2011. The translation on the sticker says "Help from Allah and present victory."
In Arabic it says "Victory from Allah, and invasion soon." The word "FATTEH = Invasion" was used during Muhammad's era when he conquered areas killing people who did not submit to Shariah. After they were done, they would celebrate for the "FATTEH" of this country.
This bumper sticker was made for the USA, and was translated so it would sound good to the non-Arabic speaking Americans.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
CA JUDGE DEEMS RAMMING JEWISH WOMAN WITH SHOPPING CART ‘FREE SPEECH’
The Greeley Gazette reports:
On Thursday U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg said the harassment, even if true, constituted protected political speech and dismissed the case against the university. Seeborg said the university did not have any obligation to intervene in any dispute where a private individual on campus was allegedly interfering with another’s constitutional rights. He instead appeared to indicate that the incident was an outcome of Felber’s counter protest. Felber and another Jewish student claimed the University did not do enough to prevent the harassment which included the Muslim group conducting checkpoints around the campus. Students were asked if they were Jewish while passing the checkpoints.
In June of 2010 a leader of a pro-Palestinian student group at University of Berkeley allegedly rammed a Jewish woman with a shopping cart as she staged a counter-protest to an anti-Israel “Apartheid Week” rally conducted by the Muslim Student Association and Students for Justice in Palestine. The counter-protest was dubbed “Israel Wants Peace Week.”
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Seeborg has deemed that the Muslim students who harassed Jessica Felber and other Jewish students were simply engaging in protected political speech.
Obama To Release Taliban Terrorists
Should terrorists be released in exchange for peace talks? Why or why not?
Vice President Biden has stated the Taliban are not our enemy; White House Stands by Biden Statement That Taliban Isn't U.S. Enemy..
U.S. Weighs Releasing Taliban Commander From Gitmo as Part of Peace Talks
http://video.foxnews.com/v/1353983358001/us-considers-releasing-top-taliban-commander
Three terrorists are being readied to be released in response to the Taliban agreeing to talk about peace.
Obama is poised to release terrorists such as Mullah Fazl Akhund, who is possibly guilty of "war crimes including the murder of thousands of Shiites. . . . If released, detainee would likely rejoin the Taliban and establish ties with . . . elements participating in hostilities against US and Coalition forces in Afghanistan." Mullah Khair Khowa was "directly associated to Usama Bin Laden (UBL) and Taliban Supreme Commander Mullah Muhammad Omar. . . . Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, detainee represented the Taliban during meetings with Iranian officials seeking to support hostilities against US and Coalition forces." And finally, Noorullah Noori was a "senior Taliban military commander in Mazar-e-Sharif during hostilities against US and Coalition forces in late 2001. Detainee was also the Taliban governor for the Balkh and Laghman provinces and is wanted by the United Nations (UN) for possible war crimes including the murder of thousands of Shiite Muslims."
Obama will be giving up three high value individuals in exchange for the Taliban willingness to discuss peace.
Candidate Obama opposed talks with terrorists; now, he is releasing them.
Panel on ’Democracy in the Middle East?’:
Buck Sexton from The Blaze analyzes how uprisings & elections in the Middle East will affect policy.
Update: Washington Post Don’t let these Taliban leaders loose
Monday, January 2, 2012
VA SCHOOL DISTRICT DEFENDS SHOCKING OCCUPY-THEMED SONG PERFORMED BY THIRD-GRADERS: ‘I’M SO HAPPY TO BE PART OF THE 99%’
Should third-grade students perform a song entitled, “Part of the 99”? Why or why not?
The highly politicized song, which many believe is intended to indoctrinate children, follows below:
Some people have it all
But they still don’t think they have enough
They want more money
A faster ride
They’re not content
Never satisfied
Yes — they’re the 1 percent
I used to be one of the 1 percent
I worked all the time
Never saw my family
Couldn’t make life rhyme
Then the bubble burst
It really, really hurt
I lost my money
Lost my pride
Lost my home
Now I’m part of the 99
Some people have it all
But they still don’t think they have enough
They want more money
A faster ride
They’re not content
Never satisfied
Yes — they’re the 1 percent
I used to be sad, now I’m satisfied
’Cause I really have enough
Though I lost my yacht and plane
Didn’t need that extra stuff
Could have been much worse
You don’t need to be first
’Cause I’ve got my friends
Here by my side
Don’t need it all
I’m so happy to be part of the 99
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Zogby, ARAB ATTITUDES, 2011, Downgrade Obama
Arab World Hates Obama More Than Bush
Michael Prell explains why the Arab world hates Obama more while he bows to them—than they hated President Bush while he bombed them.
Obama's charm offensive in the Arab world has failed. After he promised to restore America's international reputation, not only does the Arab world hate America more under Mr. Obama than it did under President George W. Bush, it even hates Mr. Obama - personally - more than it detested the swaggering unilateralist cowboy from Texas.
In the Palestinian territories, where the people have rarely found a more vocal champion than in the Obama White House, 82 percent of Palestinians have an unfavorable view of the United States and they have felt emboldened to form an official coalition with the strong-horse internationally recognized terrorist group Hamas.
In Egypt, America's approval ratings have dropped since Mr. Obama's now-famous Cairo speech from 30 percent to 5 percent, and the Egyptian people are embracing the strong-horse Muslim Brotherhood as their next leader.
Obama is the president who lost Turkey. In the short time that has passed since he bad-mouthed American history and power in his speech to the Turkish parliament, Turkey's approval rating for America has dropped to 14 percent. The once-secular Turkish nation has become more radicalized and Islamist, and Turkey has gone from being the vacation destination for Israeli tourists to one of Israel's biggest threats.
Update Obama: `I Can Violate Civil Liberties But I Promise I Won't'
Update Obama: `I Can Violate Civil Liberties But I Promise I Won't'
Do you think that the military detention of American citizens within the United States is unconstitutional and illegal? Why or why not?
Obama Signed Away Liberty, Ron Paul Did Not – National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 12/31/2011
"Section 1021 affirms the executive branch’s authority to detain persons covered by the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) (Public Law 107-40; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note). . . . I want to clarify that my Administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens. Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a Nation. My Administration will interpret section 1021 in a manner that ensures that any detention it authorizes complies with the Constitution, the laws of war, and all other applicable law."
Obama is verifying that his actions are in line with what other applicable law in addition to the Constitution? International law? Sharia law? He does not specify.
Any military detention of American citizens within the United States is unconstitutional and illegal.
First, it should be recalled that Obama pressured Congress to add the controversial language to the bill, according to Senator Carl Levin. Second, Signing Statements are not law, and are not a Constitutional power granted to the executive branch; any reassuring (or troubling) language within has no binding status– though it may shed light on the character of the chief executive and does signal a dangerous trend in de facto rule by “executive fiat”–-and does not indicate any deviation of intent from the law as written. The Constitution does not authorize the President to use signing statements to circumvent any validly enacted Congressional Laws, nor does it authorize him to declare he will disobey such laws (or parts thereof). When a bill is presented to the President, the Constitution (Art. II) allows him only three choices: do nothing, sign the bill, or (if he disapproves of the bill) veto it in its entirety.
Cf. http://blogsmithconsulting.blogspot.com/2011/12/coming-soon-americans-in-gitmo.html
Signing statements allow presidents to raise constitutional objections to circumvent Congress' intent. During his campaign for the White House, Obama criticized President George W. Bush's use of signing statements and promised to make his application of the tool more transparent. He has not. He signed this privately while on vacation (again) in Hawaii.
Former FBI Chief Ted Gunderson Says Chemtrail Death Dumps Must Be Stopped
Former FBI Chief, Ted L. Gunderson, makes a statement regarding the chemtrail "death dumps", otherwise know as air crap, on January 12, 2011. Ted says the following: "The death dumps, otherwise known as chemical trails, are being dropped and sprayed throughout the United States and England, Scotland, Ireland, and Northern Europe. I have personally seen them not only in the United States, but in Mexico and in Canada. Birds are dying around the world. Fish are dying by the hundreds of thousands around the world. This is genocide. This is poison. This is murder by the United Nations. This element within our society that is doing this must be stopped. I happen to know of two of the locations where the airplanes are that dump this crap on us. Four of the planes are out of the Air National Guard in Lincoln, Nebraska. And, the other planes are out of Fort Sill, Oklahoma. I personally have observed the planes that were standing still in Nebraska - Lincoln, Nebraska - at the Air National Guard. They have no markings on them. They are huge, bomber-like airplanes with no markings. This is a crime: a crime against humanity, a crime against America, a crime against the citizens of this great country. The must be stopped. WHAT IS WRONG WITH CONGRESS? This has an affect on their population, and their people, and their friends, and their relatives, and themselves. What's wrong with them? What's wrong with the pilots who are flying these airplanes and dumping this crap, this poison, on their own families? Somebody has to do something about it. Somebody in Congress has to step forward and stop it now. Thank you. I'm Ted Gunderson." For more details, visit http://www.aircrap.org.
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