Rep. Sherman States Congress Threatened With Martial Law by Obama-Bush Gang

Representative Brad Sherman (D-California) reported live on C-SPAN that members of the House were told if they did not vote for the bailout bill martial law would be declared in the U.S. This bill was rammed down the throats of our Representatives and the people.

Representative Michael Burgess (R-Texas) confirmed the same point.

Martin's Case Dismissed

The Hawai'i Court blocked the release of Obama's birth certificate. Andy Martin's case was dismissed and he will most likely appeal to the next highest court. It is a strange day in this country when a person whose name and nationality is a mystery and a simple request to release an original birth certificate is ignored.

This is a simple twist of fate. Judge Bert Ayabe upheld arguments from Governor Linda Lingle's administration that Martin had no standing under state law to obtain a copy of the document. Ayabe ruled that Martin provided "insufficient evidence to indicate that the public interest supports" release of the record. Yet, state Health Department director Dr. Chiyome Fukino has stated that her office has been barraged by requests for copies of the birth certificate.

So which is it? Is there public interest or not? Inquiring minds want to know. The Hawaiian officials are doing some double-talking.

Martin Denied Standing for Obama Certificate

Judge Bert Ayabe, Circuit Court judge, upheld arguments from Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle's administration that Andy Martin, an attorney, had no standing under state law to obtain a copy of Obama's Hawai'i birth certificate. I understand the issue of standing but if citizens do not have standing then who does?

Media Ban on Negative Obama Images

This is strange; once I had found all of one negative, smoking picture of Obama, I wondered how many photos like that had found themselves on the net. And, after searching a bit, I only found one more picture posted with Obama smoking. You mean to tell me that with all the paparazzi and politicos around, only two pictures have been taken during a media blitzed political campaign with a smoker, smoking? The web has nothing but positive images of Obama. As the Beatles sang, "Nothing is real, nothing to get upset about."

In fact, upon searching for negative images of Obama, I found more negative pictures posted of McCain and Palen. There were, of course, some posters and political

statements about Obama commenting on his politics.

Or, there were negative posters about the Democrats, or,

negative political statements about Obama,

but every image or photograph available about Obama is heroic, positive, presidential, or statesman's-like. It is as if there is a media ban on rational discussion, or ordinary discourse about Obama.

Note on Bittle, Where Does The Money Go?

The authors do not readily identify Treasury securities which are government bonds issued by the United States Department of the Treasury through the Bureau of the Public Debt. They are the debt financing instruments of the U.S. Federal government, and they are often referred to simply as Treasuries or Treasurys.

Alarmingly, the Chinese now hold the second highest total of bonds, not far behind our close ally Japan.

Major Foreign Holders Of Treasury Securities
(in billions of dollars)
Holdings At End Of Period:
Aug 2008
Japan
585.9
China, Mainland
541.0

If China decided to bank elsewhere and take their money out of the U.S., our economy would be in an even more precarious position.

Since 1970, the U.S. has operated under a deficit. In 31 of the past 35 years we have spent more than we have taken in. This is unsustainable. There are really only three options to fix the problem: raise taxes, nibble at the deficit, which the authors show is easier said than done and will not address the $9 trillion debt, or, balance the budget. In short, we can not afford our politicians who have acted so irresponsibly.

Fixing the deficit issue is difficult. A standard mantra is stop government waste, which is admirable, but this is not enough. Another tactic might be to heavily tax the "sin" taxes areas: drugs, cigarettes, etc., but the writers show also that this is an area that only effects 3% of the budget which is only make a slight dent in the problem. Even seemingly good ideas backfire which the authors demonstrate with the yacht tax. The idea was to just heavily tax yacht owners which seems like an idea that would only harm the wealthy. Unwittingly though, the little person was hurt as well. There are many more people who repair boats, sell them, maintain them and generally keep the industry as a whole afloat. They were harmed as well in the yacht tax. The federal budget is more of a conundrum that is ordinarily thought.

One good example is to examine how when even less popular or controversial programs are cut the problem remains. If all spending for the arts, space, foreign aid, and welfare were cut, only 4.08% of the federal budget would be effected. Even making deep cuts won't substantially address the budget problem.

How about bringing the troops home from Iraq? Will that work? Nope, sorry that is no solution either (p. 94). Bush moved the war funding from supplemental to the regular budget, but ending war funding won't close the deficit. The move only helped the funding become more transparent.

Another looming issue is the non-feasibility of continuing Social Security and Medicare. Until now, the programs have been pay-as-you-go arrangements which worked, until now (p. 97). The politicians had their hands in the pockets of working Americans since the money raised through these payments appeared to be a trust fund for Americans. However, the politicians treated the funds as free for the taking and they borrowed those funds to use. As boomers retire, money was available, but as more retire the question will be is there enough to pay the later retirees (p. 104). The illustrative graphs make it clearer just how severe the problem is (p. 105).

The only way out is to cut programs, raise taxes, or borrow more.

The politicians who attempted to level with the American people, even bipartisan stabs at the issue, failed. Gore considered the "lock box" notion a try to hold funds in reserve, and Bush as governor of Texas tried something along the same lines, but they were mocked by comedians and the ideas were abandoned.

By 2040, according to the authors, we will only have three seriously bad choices (p. 107).

They end the work on a more positive note but for the budget ideas to take hold they will need politicians who are honest, serious, and upfront about cutting the budget. I am more pessimistic about our chances.

Times Publishes Current Intelligence Assessment

Source: Cf. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/world/21intel.html?_r=1&ref=world

Global Forecast by American Intelligence Expects Al Qaeda’s Appeal to Falter

By SCOTT SHANE
Published: November 20, 2008

WASHINGTON — A new study of the global future by American intelligence agencies suggests that Al Qaeda could soon be on the decline, having alienated Muslim supporters with indiscriminate killing and inattention to the practical problems of poverty, unemployment and education.

While not contradicting intelligence assessments suggesting that Al Qaeda remains a major threat with a strong presence in the tribal areas of Pakistan, the report says that the group “may decay sooner” than many experts have assumed because of severe weaknesses: “unachievable strategic objectives, inability to attract broad-based support and self-destructive actions.”

“The appeal of terrorism is waning,” said Mathew J. Burrows, head of long-range analysis in the office of the director of national intelligence and a lead author of “Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World.” Mr. Burrows said polls and anecdotal evidence strongly suggested disillusionment among Muslims with Al Qaeda and its methods and goals since the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The predicted decline of Al Qaeda is one of the few bright spots in the generally gloomy report, which describes a decline in the United States’ world dominance as China, India and other powers assert themselves.

“Although the United States is likely to remain the single most powerful actor, the United States’ relative strength — even in the military realm — will decline and U.S. leverage will become more constrained,” the report said.

By 2025, it predicted, “the U.S. will find itself as one of a number of important actors on the world stage,” playing “a prominent role in global events” but not a decisive one as in the past.

The report said the global shift from West to East in terms of wealth and economic power “is without precedent in modern history.” Of a projected population increase of 1.2 billion worldwide by 2025, Western countries would account for only 3 percent, it said.

“We’re projecting a multipolar world,” C. Thomas Fingar, chairman of the National Intelligence Council and the government’s top intelligence analyst, said Thursday at a briefing on the report. “The unipolar moment is over, or certainly will be over by 2025.”

The previous report in the Global Trends series, completed in 2004, anticipated continued American dominance through 2020, though it recognized that the emergence of China and India as powers would transform the geopolitical landscape.

The new report describes a world riven by increased conflict over scarce food and water supplies and threatened by so-called rogue states and terrorists, widening gaps between rich and poor and an uneven impact of global warming. It said the chance of the use of nuclear weapons, while remaining “very low,” would rise in the next two decades as nuclear technology spreads.

The report said Russia’s emergence as a world power was “clouded” by persistent corruption and lagging investment in its critical energy industry. It also noted, without naming a specific country, that a government in Eastern Europe “could be effectively taken over and run by organized crime.”

Mr. Fingar acknowledged that the report, in the works for months, did not fully reflect the severity of the global economic crisis. But he said intelligence officials chose not to delay the report, judging that the long-term impact of the economic downturn would not be clear for months.

The Global Trends reports are produced every four years by the National Intelligence Council, which represents all 16 American intelligence agencies, in part to inform long-term thinking by new administrations. The reports project various possible sequences of events in the future; the new publication notes, between dire forecasts, that “bad outcomes are not inevitable.”

Even if Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups gradually lose support, the remaining violent extremists may have access to increasingly lethal technology, including biological weapons, the report found.

The comments on Al Qaeda’s future are based in part on the work of David C. Rapoport, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who has studied the cycles of terrorist activity in the past, including those associated with anarchism, Marxism and nationalism.

The report said the global Islamic terrorist movement was likely to outlast Al Qaeda itself, with other groups likely to emerge and supplant it. But it expects a future of frustration and attrition for Al Qaeda, which Osama bin Laden built during the 1990s.

The intelligence agencies noted that Al Qaeda had focused almost exclusively on terrorism, a contrast with groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, which have transformed themselves into political movements.

“Al Qaeda has not achieved broad support in the Islamic world,” the report said. “Its harsh pan-Islamist ideology and policies appeal only to a tiny minority of Muslims.”

The Elect to Outsource More American Jobs

The Elect's top gun to be secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, has been a strong advocate of increasing H-1B visas, a position that means more foreign IT workers can fill jobs that otherwise would go to Americans. Napolitano has urged an increasing for the H-1B visa cap to address what she has argued is a shortage of skilled workers. In September 2007, Napolitano was one of 12 governors who sent a letter to congressional leaders stating:

"Until we are able to address this workforce shortage, we must recognize that foreign talent has a role to play in our ability to keep companies located in our state and country; and therefore, need to ensure the increase availability of temporary H-1B visas and permanent residency visas (green cards)."

The governors urged hiring more foreign talent rather than Americans.

Napolitano "is as rabid a supporter of H-1B as you are likely to find," said Rob Sanchez of Chandler, Ariz., a software engineer who publishes the Job Destruction Newsletter, which is focused on technology-related labor issues.

"Napolitano has publicly and repeatedly called for major H-1B expansion," said Ron Hira, an assistant professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology and author of Outsourcing America, and "in that respect she is no friend of American IT workers."

The Elect is recruiting an administration that has forcefully advocated for increasing the use of foreign tech workers. The recession has not blunted that advocacy.

The major benefactor in the increase of visas are of course the companies based in the U.S. that benefit from hiring cheap labor.

The major contributors to The Elect's campaign include Google, Microsoft, and IBM.

Supremes Get Serious

Cf. SUPREME COURT PRACTICE, 8th Edition, the ultimate SCOTUS resource.

As reported on earlier here, the Leo C. Donofrio suit may have legal legs to stand on. The Supreme Court has taken an extraordinary expedited action in fast tracking the New Jersey Citizen's suit challenging the presidential election.

It is unclear whether the stay application has now been accepted in lieu of a more formal full petition for certiorari (and/or mandamus or prohibition). It would be unusual if this was the case since it is rare but it was used in Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 at 98 (2000):

"The court ordered all manual recounts to begin at once. Governor Bush and Richard Cheney, Republican Candidates for the Presidency and Vice Presidency, filed an emergency application for a stay of this mandate. On December 9, we granted the application, treated the application as a petition for a writ of certiorari, and granted certiorari." (Emphasis added.)

The case has certainly been "DISTRIBUTED for Conference", a process usually reserved for full petitions of certiorari. Stays are usually dealt with in a different manner.

The stay application was originally denied by Justice Souter but under Rule 22.4, Donofrio renewed it to Justice Thomas who did not deny it.

A renewed application is rare.

Justice Thomas has referred the case to the full court.

That much is clear from looking at the docket.

In any case, although it is unclear whether the full court has set this for Conference, or Justice Thomas has done it on his own, the action signifies an affirmative action inside the US Supreme Court testifying to the serious issues raised by this law suit.

Mission Failed

You can fool some of the people, some of the time, but you can't fool all the young people

all the time.

Bishops Warn The Elect

BISHOPS WARN OBAMA ON ABORTION; CATHOLIC LEFT REBUKED

November 12, 2008

In a statement released today, Francis Cardinal George, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, made it clear that the bishops will fight any expansion of abortion rights that may occur under the next administration. Specifically, the bishops are objecting to the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), a bill so sweeping and draconian that it would not only repeal every single state restriction on abortion, it would seriously jeopardize the right of Catholic hospitals and doctors to opt out of performing abortions.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue released the following remarks:

“Cardinal George is right to label FOCA ‘an evil law that would further divide the country.’ At stake are two issues: a) the rights of the unborn and, b) religious liberty.

“First, those who admit that abortion should be rare unwittingly acknowledge that there is a reason to limit its frequency: as Cardinal George said, ‘abortion kills.’ By contrast, no one maintains that root canals should be rare, and that is because this medical procedure—unlike abortion—does not result in the total denial of someone else’s rights.

“Second, religious liberty is enshrined in the First Amendment and cannot be trespassed upon lightly, and certainly not by abortion zealots. Those who support FOCA must realize that if Catholic hospitals are ever required to perform abortions, the bishops will close every one of them; no one would be hurt more than the poor.

“Cardinal George explicitly rejected the ‘common good’ mantra of the Catholic Left that justifies legal abortion while pursuing ameliorative social policies that may reduce abortions. At stake, he said, is the ‘legal protection of the unborn,’ something which is rejected by Catholics United, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Catholic Democrats. We hope they amend their ways and fall in line with Catholic thought on this grave matter. If they do not, they will become indistinguishable from Catholics for Choice, a fully discredited organization.”

Cf. http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1515

2004 Dems Cover Up Problems Leading to Economic Crisis

C-SPAN coverage from 2004 reveals clearly that the Democrats were aware of and dismissed allegations that the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Scams crisis would harm the country.

My Favorite Photo of The Elect

Zawahiri Blasts The Elect for Abandoning Islam

In a new video AQ promises to heap injury on The Elect as someone who has abandoned Islam.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda deputy, stated:

"You were born to a Muslim father, but you chose to stand in the ranks of the enemies of the Muslims, and pray the prayer of the Jews, although you claim to be Christian, in order to climb the rungs of leadership in America."

The Elect was not an "honourable black American" like Malcolm X, he said, but an "abeed al-beit," a house slave or a "house negro" in the message's English subtitles.

Telepresence (Read Free) Alternatives

In the challenged confines of SMBs no one should question that full-on teleconferencing with big screens showing life-size images are preferable but if these are not are there any options? In other words, are there free alternatives?

It turns out that there are options.

High-resolution video teleconferencing is available from Ekiga. Another possibility is to be found in shared whiteboards by Access Grid. And, last but not least is a 3-D graphics virtual world teleconferencing option from OpenSim.

Obama Birth Controversy Solved: The Elect Was Born in 1776

With the blogosphere controversy around The Elect swirling, I decided to settle the matter once and for all. The Elect must have been born in 1776 along with our Founders as dual citizens of the British Empire and America. Obama was born in Kenya, or Hawaii, or Jupiter or somewhere but it really does not matter. His father was a British citizen thus the Elect has dual citizenship.

And, what does the Constitution say about the issue? The Founders allowed for their eligibility to be President, but naturally they did not want subsequent generations to be governed by a Commander In Chief with dual or split loyalties to foreign powers. The Founders grandfathered themselves in for eligibility. But they would be turning over in their graves knowing that an individual with dual or split international loyalties succeeded them. We had a Revolution for liberty; we had a Revolution for America. Unless The Elect can produce a valid birth certificate verifying he should be grandfathered in as the Founders were I believe we have a coup on our hands. We should return to demanding a government of laws and not of men.

Sharia Compliant Citi Losing 52,000 Employees

Sharia compliant Citigroup is staggering under the loss of losing 52,000 employees over the next few months, the largest reduction by a company since IBM's layoffs of 60,000 employees in 1993, and the 50,000 cuts by Sears that same year. Citigroup's latest round comes on top of the 17,000 cuts that the company has already made. Unless Citi has a Savior in Washington, D.C. Citi seems done for.

Attorney General Nod, Bananas, and Dead Civilians

In a recent report Human Rights Watch recommended that the U.S. Department of Justice end the ties between the Colombian government and paramilitary death squads. Little information will flow now that Eric Holder has relinquished his weighty law practice at Covington & Burling in favor of the U.S. Attorney General nod. Holder has a conflict of interest since he is a defense lawyer for Chiquita Brands in which Colombian plaintiffs seek damages for the murders carried out by the AUC paramilitaries, a terrorist organization. Chiquita has already admitted in a criminal case that it paid the AUC around $1.7 million in a 7-year period and that it provided the AUC with a cache of machine guns as well.

In the Clinton Administration, Holder helped to negotiate Chiquita's plea bargaining with the Justice Department in the criminal case against Chiquita. Subsequently, no Chiquita official received jail time. Moreover, the identity of the key corporoate officials involved in the shenanigans are sealed.

Mario Iguaran, the Attorney General of Colombia, is on record noting that Chiquita's payments to the AUC paramilitaries led to the murder of 4000 civilians.

Memo to the Elect

Here is a memo to the Elect.

As Japan Is, Could Iraq Become?

In the we can all dream department comes a statement from the head of al-Anbar Sahwa (Awakening) council, Abu Resha, who said that it is now the time for Iraq to become a strategic ally of the U.S. Resha added:

“President Bush and other U.S. officials confirmed to me during my last visit to Washington DC that they want to pull out troops from Iraq, after it becomes strong, free and immune to external interventions, especially from Syria and Iran.”

If it were possible to dream, Iraq could become in the Middle East what Japan became in East Asia: a formerly occupied nation, defeated in war, yet developed into a prosperous, balanced economy, and a strategic ally and military power in the region.

Obama Marines Back Up Bush on AFRICOM

Marine Corps Forces Africa, the Marine component of AFRICOM, is now officially activated. The primary focus of the new command will be on engagement through bringing U.S. Marine Corps competencies to the table in support of U.S. Africa Command. AFRICOM, which was first announced by Bush in February 2007, activated on Oct. 1 of this year, was formed in recognition of Africa’s growing strategic value. Previously, responsibilities for military activities on the continent were divided among U.S European Command, U.S. Central Command, and U.S. Pacific Command. Under the new administration, Bush's plan, originally proposed by Donald Rumsfield, will continue.