Dumbing Down for the Americans

"Using graphs, charts and layman's terminology, the online portal is an example of how the tech-savvy Obama administration is taking its message to the American people."

I do not believe CNN, or many for that matter, catch the irony in that statement as yet again, Obama's minions reveal (ho hum), yet another web site. But for those of you who missed it, let me run that boondoggle by you again. No one, including the politicians, were allowed to read, or had time to actually read the document in question, and the administration broke a promise to post the bill online for 48 hours so the American people can examine it and decide what they think of it. Now however, graphs, charts, and simple terms will be used to tell people what someone at least twice removed claims is in the text. God forbid if someone actually trusted Americans to be able to read and decide for themselves what they thought about the bill.

Top American Lawman Calls Americans "Cowards"

"Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards," said Eric Holder.

I take it this is a salvo in the new Administration's post-racial policies.

Economist Says U.S. Like Zimbabwe, or a Banana Republic

Marc Faber concludes, from his perspective in Thailand, that the U.S. is moving along the lines of Zimbabwe or a banana republic.

Faber was born in Zurich and schooled in Geneva, Switzerland. He studied Economics at the University of Zurich and, at the age of 24, obtained a Ph.D. in Economics magna cum laude.

St. Obama

St. Obama is the reincarnation of St. Martin de Porres, a Peruvian-born Dominican friar, who became one of the first black saints in the Americas upon his canonization in 1962.

That is at least what some say, on the other hand, the Reverend Tony La Torre of St. Philip the Apostle Church in San Francisco says the candles, sold by the Just for Fun store for $15, "mock and ridicule the Catholic/Christian faith."

Take a look; you decide.

Live Free or Die

Glenn Beck interviews the sponsor of the New Hampshire sovereignty resolution.

Obama Jugend

The exact details of this seemingly paramilitary force are unclear but an Obama Civilian National Security Force is in the offing.

The Department of Defense Directive (Number 1404.10) establishes a “DoD Civilian Expeditionary Workforce” and rescinds a prior directive dealing with the emergency use of civilian personnel.

The new 1404.10, 23 January 2009 is effective immediately, and cancels the prior directive of the same designation (”Emergency-Essential (E-E) DoD U.S. Citizen Civilian Employees”), that was issued in 1992 under Clinton. One significant difference is that the 1992 directive specifically deals with overseas deployments of civilian personnel, and mentions the term “overseas” no fewer than 33 times.

The new directive does not mention the term “overseas” in the body of the directive. Only indirectly is “overseas” even mentioned.

The key seems to be deployment of civilians in the United States mainland.

The previous Directive does not mention “restoration of order” or “stability operations.” The new guidelines feature these operations. In fact, these functions are central to the mission of Obama’s new DoD Civilian Expeditionary Workforce:

Members of the DoD Civilian Expeditionary Workforce shall be organized, trained, cleared, equipped, and ready to deploy in support of combat operations by the military; contingencies; emergency operations; humanitarian missions; disaster relief; restoration of order; drug interdiction; and stability operations of the Department of Defense.

While the directive suggest that the DoD will seek volunteers, Section 4 (d), subsection {e} paragraph 2 states: "Management retains the authority to direct and assign civilians either voluntarily, involuntarily, or on an unexpected basis to accomplish the DoD mission."

There are two clips, a short excerpt first, then a fuller statement available from 2 July 2008 where the service was announced.

The new directive seems to be in line with campaigner Obama's statements on 2 July 2008 to establish a paramilitary “civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded as our military."

Perhaps more to the point, and perhaps adding the appropriate details, are from Obama’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel who wrote (in his 2006 book, “The Plan: Big Ideas for America”):

“It’s time for a real Patriot Act that brings out the patriot in all of us. We propose universal civilian service for every young American. Under this plan, all Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 will be asked to serve their country by going through three months of basic training, civil defense preparation and community service.”

Emmanuel described his mandatory civil service plan to NY Daily News reporter Ben Smith in 2006.

Contemporary models for organizing a cadre of personal, civilian national security forces currently exist at fifteen centers.

Public Allies has an impressive list of donors.

Champions

Atlantic Philanthropies
Helen Bader Foundation
Cisco Systems
Fannie Mae Foundation
Ford Foundation
William C. Graustein
Greater Milwaukee Foundation
William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Microsoft Corporation
Omidyar Foundation

Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, and his wife, Pam, established Omidyar as a philanthropic investment firm. A typical program is Comat which is bridging the digital divide by bringing access to Internet and basic government and educational services to rural India.

Procter & Gamble Corporation
Rockefeller Brothers
Surdna Foundation
Woodcock Foundation

Top Allies

ABC/Capital Cities
ABN/Amro (LaSalle Bank)
Advanta Foundation
Amoco Foundation
Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation
Badger Meter, Inc
Bank of America
Bank One
Booth Ferris Foundation
Brico Fund
Butler Family Fund
Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation
California Endowment
California Wellness Foundation
Carnegie Corp. of NY
Castellini Family Foundation
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
Charles Young
Chicago Community Trust
Community Foundation of Greater New Haven
Community Technology Foundation of CA
Arie & Ida Crown Memorial
Daniels Fund
Deutsche Bank
DeWitt Wallace
Discover Bank
Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
Duke Power
Duke University
DuPont Company
Echoing Green
Empowerment Corporation
Entertainment Industry Foundation
First 5 California Public Education Team
Firstar Milwaukee Foundation/US Bank
Forrest County Potawatomi Community Foundation
Lloyd A. Fry Foundation
Fund for the City of New York
David Geffen Foundation
The Gill Foundation
GO SERV
Greater Cincinnati Foundation
Haas Foundation
Luke B. Hancock Foundation
Harnischfeger Industries Foundation
Harris Bank Foundation
William Randolph Hearst Foundation
Richard & Ethel Herzfeld Foundation
Honkamp Family Foundation
IBM
Inbusch Foundation
Intel Foundation
Henry Jackson Foundation
Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation
Jones Foundation
Joyce Foundation
JP Morgan
Mayer & Morris Kaplan Family Foundation
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Knight Foundation
Laffey-McHugh Foundation
Levi Strauss & Co.
Longwood Foundation
Henry Luce Foundation
Marquette Medical Foundation
Mayerson Foundation
MBNA America
Faye McBeath Foundation
Mead Family Foundation
Meyer Foundation
Miller Brewing Company
New York Community Trust
Northern California Grantmakers
Northwestern Mutual Life Foundation
Open Society
David & Lucile Packard Foundation
Ralph M. Parsons Foundation
John Pepper
Daniel & Susan Pfau Foundation
Albert Pick, Jr. Fund
Pinkerton Foundation
Points of Light Foundation
Polk Bros. Foundation
Private Industry Council
Public Welfare Foundation
Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation
Rockefelller Foundation
Jack & Lucile Rosenberg
Sallie Mae
Sara Lee Foundation
Murray & Agnes Seasongood Foundation
Louise Taft Semple
Smart Family Foundation
A.O. Smith Foundation
Sobrato Family Foundation
The Otho S.A. Sprague Memorial Institute
Sprint
Steans Family Foundation
Sidney Stern Memorial Trust
Texaco
Times Mirror Foundation
Tow Foundation
Triangle Community Foundation
University of Delaware
Van Ameringen Foundation
Verizon
Wachovia Foundation, Inc.
D. Michael Warner Foundation
Weingart Foundation
Welfare Foundation
WGN-TV Children's Charities
William Blair & Company
William Randolph Hearst Foundation
Wilmington Trust Company
Wisconsin Energy Foundation
Woods Fund of Chicago
William T. Grant Foundation

Government Sources

Corporation for National and Community Service (AmeriCorps)
City of Cincinnati, Dept. of Neighborhood Services
City of San Jose
City of San Jose BEST
City of Wilmington CDBG
Delaware Dept. of Health & Social Services
Delaware Dept. of Labor
State of California
US Dept. of Housing & Urban Development

Obama has called to “change America.” American youth will be a part of “The Movement,” and part of the United States of America.”

A massive, organized, youth political action force, a personal paramilitary organization on behalf of a president, has never existed before: in America.

Pakistanis Cede Territory to Sharia

Graphic source: The Long War Journal

The Pakistani government has negotiated an agreement with the Taliban in the war-torn district of Swat to end the fighting in exchange for the implementation of sharia, or Islamic law in a large region of the Northwest Frontier Province.

Negotiations on the five-point agreement have been conducted between the government of the insurgency-infested Northwest Frontier Province and Sufi Mohammed, the spiritual leader of the Movement for the Implementation of Mohammad's Sharia Law, and Mullah Fazlullah, the leader of the Swat Taliban and Sufi's son-in-law.

The provincial government agreed to allow for the implementation of sharia law the entire Malakand Division, a large region in the Northwest Frontier Province made up of the districts of Malakand, Swat, Shangla, Buner, Dir, and Chitral.

Other parties have been advocating for the implementation of sharia. Imran Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf, or the Pakistan Movement for Justice, called for the government to allow for sharia law not just in the tribal areas and the northwest, but throughout the country. Khan and his party are considered moderate by some observers of Pakistan.

Cf. http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/02/pakistan_to_end_mili.php

Obama: Half Way Measure in Afghanistan

Obama has approved adding about 17,000 U.S. troops for the war in Afghanistan.

About 8,000 Marines are expected to go in first, followed by about 9,000 Army troops.

The additional forces only partly answer a standing request from the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, who has sought as many as 30,000 additional U.S. forces.

The United States has slightly more than 30,000 troops in Afghanistan now.

More importantly, Obama seemed to be unaware of recent developments in Pakistan now that the government there has conceded ground to the Taliban.

Indonesian Muslim Women Tell Hillary to Go Home

Graphic source: REUTERS/Stringer

Muslim women hold placards during a protest outside the U.S. embassy in Jakarta to protest against the upcoming visit by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

I suppose this is the improved view of America under an Obama administration.

Obama Needs a Tele-Prompter Writer

Michael Hammer, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, confirmed to WND Obama did not authorize the migration of any Palestinians to the U.S. A State Department spokesman provided the same comment.

Perhaps the text of Obama's executive order left the matter open for interpretation.

The order stated the money was to be used for the "purpose of meeting unexpected and urgent refugee and migration needs."

Sounds like someone needs a Tele-Prompter writer who can write.

Obama Dissed by Afghans

Afghan President Hamid Karzai sparred with Obama, saying he hopes the president shows better judgment in his plans for Afghanistan once his administration has "put itself together."

In his first major interview since Obama assumed the presidency, Karzai was asked by CNN host Fareed Zakaria on his show "GPS" to respond to charges made by Obama that the Afghan president has demonstrated a "bunker mentality."

"I was surprised to see that statement," Karzai said. "Perhaps it's because the administration has not yet put itself together. Perhaps they have not been given the information yet. And I hope as they settle down, and as they learn more, we will see better judgment."

I guess this was the respect from the rest of the world that Obama has described will be characteristic of his administration.

Karzai added that Obama has a tough act to follow, calling former President George W. Bush "a great person."

Obama Against Democracy, Free Speech, Opposes Counter-Terrorism

Representatives of the United States will take part in discussions for the first time in years which is the strongest indication yet that the Obama administration could end up participating in the Durban Review Conference, also known as “Durban II.”

Doing so would undercut a campaign calling on democracies to boycott the event, undermine Western counter-terrorism initiatives, and endanger free speech.

Israel and Canada have formally announced they will not take part.

U.S. representatives attending the inter-governmental working group discussions will possess a draft agenda that equates references to racism impacting on counter-terrorism efforts, and calls for governments to act against “negative stereotyping of religions and defamation of religious personalities, holy books, scriptures and symbols.”

Arguing that “Islamophobia” is a “contemporary form of racism,” the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is using Durban II to further its campaign to have religious “defamation” outlawed-–a drive which critics say is designed to prevent criticism of Islam and practices associated with it.

The Bush administration walked out of the last U.N. racism conference, held in Durban, South Africa, in September 2001.

The chief planners for Durban II are a 20-strong panel, chaired by Libya, and comprising a group that includes countries hostile to America, among them Iran, Pakistan, and Cuba.

Anne Bayefsky, editor of Eye on the U.N., a project of the Hudson Institute, said Obama’s decision to take part in the preparatory discussions “sends a terrible signal.”

“Durban II is a cover for an assault on free speech, the demonization of the Jewish state, and an effort to undermine anti-terrorism activities by labeling them all racist,” she said.

The United States will legitimize the undercutting of free speech and anti-Western policies.

Bayefsky noted “Now Obama has handed fascists pretending to be interested in human rights a victory without anything in return,” she said. “He’s legitimized a process designed to defeat democracy, a process which the U.S. has refused to legitimize since September 2001.”

Obama's `Welfare Spendathon'

Clinton's economic adviser, Robert Rector, a prominent welfare researcher who was one of the architects of Clinton's 1996 reform bill, warned last week that Obama’s stimulus plan was a “welfare spendathon” that would amount to the largest one-year increase in government handouts in American history.

Douglas Besharov, author of a big study on welfare reform, said the stimulus bill passed by Congress and the Senate in separate votes on Friday would “unravel” most of the 1996 reforms that led to a 65% reduction in welfare caseloads and prompted the British and several other governments to consider similar measures.

Obama is most adept at bread and circuses.

"Well, a little state control wouldn't hurt anybody."

Jerry Brown, California's Democrat attorney general, remarked in on air comments yesterday about the possible reinstatement of the so-called "Fairness Doctrine." He stated about the Doctrine: "Well, a little state control wouldn't hurt anybody."

The Doctrine has been called for by numerous liberal politicians. Senator Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., expressed support about introducing legislation to bring "accountability" to the airwaves. Senator Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., told Albuquerque radio station KKOB last year. "I think the country was well-served. I think the public discussion was at a higher level and more intelligent in those days than it has become since." Senator John Kerry, D-Mass., told WYNC's Bryan Lehrer Show in 2007, "I think the Fairness Doctrine ought to be there and I also think equal time doctrine ought to come back." In June of last year, John Gizzi reported in Human Events a conversation with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in which she personally supported revival of the "Fairness Doctrine." And as recently as December, Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. – who serves on the Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee – told the Palo Alto Daily Post she still believes in the "Fairness Doctrine" and will work on bringing it back. The debate heated up again recently, however, when Obama singled out Rush Limbaugh, the king of talk radio, for criticism: "You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done."

The "Fairness Doctrine" is an assault on First Amendment liberty.

The Fairness Doctrine, abolished in 1987, was a policy of the Federal Communications Commission that required the holders of broadcast licenses to present controversial issues of public importance in a manner the agency considered "balanced." Reagan vetoed the Doctrine and since then, right wing commentators, and free speech liberty flourished, something which apparently the left in this country is not comfortable with.

Congressman Burton on China, Carter, and Inflation

Representative Dan Burton describes the current situation in regards to China, the hyperinflation of Carter, and how the next generation will pay for the present mistakes.

The One for Children to Worship

Obama book display: Borders Bookstore in Dallas, Texas, in the Children's Reading section, displayed as "Religion."

Obama's Islamic Agenda Progresses

The 18 February 2009 edition of Geostrategy Direct is reporting:

DOSSIER: Ehud Barak
‘Change’ the mullahs can believe in: Obama to drop sanctions on Iran

But “Change” is taking place, Barak has intimated, originating not in the Mideast but in Washington, D.C. in the form of a U.S. reconciliation with Iran.

Such a process could result in U.S. acceptance of Teheran’s nuclear weapons program and the downplaying of its threats against Israel.

Obama entered office facing a massive economic crisis beyond the scope of his experience.

The United States has abandoned its policy of sanctioning companies that aid Iran’s nuclear and missile program, they said.

The officials said the new Obama administration of has decided to end sanctions against Iranian government agencies or companies that aid Teheran’s missile and nuclear program. The officials said Israel has been informed of the new U.S. policy.

“We were told that sanctions do not help the new U.S. policy of dialogue with Iran,” an official said.

Barak confirmed the new U.S. policy. In an address to the Herzliya Conference on Feb. 3, Barak said Washington did not say whether it would resume sanctions against Iran.

Obama decided to end sanctions against Iran after determining that the U.S. measures had failed to block Teheran’s missile or nuclear weapons program, officials said. Under the administration of former President George Bush, the United States accelerated sanctions on Iran in 2008.

In his address, the Israeli defense minister indicated that Obama had forged an entirely new approach toward Iran. He said the Israeli government has sought a briefing from the new U.S. administration.

A U.S. defense source said the White House would no longer enforce sanctions imposed by the Bush administration. The source said the decision has already been relayed to Iran.

“The administration has abandoned sanctions entirely,” the U.S. source said. “It is a completely new ballgame.”

Similarly, Obama has decided on a new U.S. ambassador to Syria and is expected to lift sanctions against a nation charged with aiding Al Qaida in Iraq and secretly building a nuclear reactor with North Korean assistance.

Diplomatic sources said Obama, in consultation with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has asked Frederic Hof to become the first U.S. ambassador to Damascus since 2005. The sources said Hof, a member of the National Advisory Committee of the Middle East Policy Council, agreed to take the post.

The sources said the Obama administration was expected to suspend U.S. sanctions on Syria’s military and energy programs.

They said Hof would be authorized to facilitate an expansion of U.S. relations with Syria, which deteriorated under President George Bush.

In 2005, the United States withdrew its ambassador to Damascus in wake of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Syria was blamed for the car bombing in Beirut in which Hariri and many of his bodyguards were killed.

The sources said Obama sent emissaries to Syria in September 2008 and pledged that if elected he would reconcile with the regime of President Bashar Assad. After his election victory, they said, Obama sent another message that promised to appoint an ambassador within the first weeks of his administration.

Obama's Islamic agenda continues.

Update on Kanjorski: Additional 9/11 Attack

Kanjorski states that there was a closed meeting of Congress on about the 15th of September. This would be a Monday. But he then lets it slip out that the financial meltdown occurred on a Thursday of the previous week. Thursday was September 11th. The markets were under attack on the anniversary of 9/11.

"The Federal Government Is Bankrupt"

As the Obama administration shoved down the unread $800 billion deficit-spending boondoggle, the true deficit of the federal government should be grasped. The $65.5 trillion in total obligations exceeds the gross domestic product of the world.

The total U.S. obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits to be paid in the future, effectively have placed the U.S. government in bankruptcy, even before new continuing social welfare obligation embedded in the massive spending plan are taken into account.

The real 2008 federal budget deficit was $5.1 trillion, not the $455 billion previously reported by the Congressional Budget Office, according to the "2008 Financial Report of the United States Government" as released by the U.S. Department of Treasury.

The difference between the $455 billion "official" budget deficit numbers and the $5.1 trillion budget deficit cited by "2008 Financial Report of the United States Government" is that the official budget deficit is calculated on a cash basis, where all tax receipts, including Social Security tax receipts, are used to pay government liabilities as they occur.

But the numbers in the 2008 report are calculated on a GAAP basis ("Generally Accepted Accounting Practices") that include year-for-year changes in the net present value of unfunded liabilities in social insurance programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

Under cash accounting, the government makes no provision for future Social Security and Medicare benefits in the year in which those benefits accrue.

"As bad as 2008 was, the $455 billion budget deficit on a cash basis and the $5.1 trillion federal budget deficit on a GAAP accounting basis does not reflect any significant money [from] the financial bailout or Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, which was approved after the close of the fiscal year," economist John Williams, who publishes the Internet website Shadow Government Statistics.

"The Congressional Budget Office estimated the fiscal year 2009 budget deficit as being $1.2 trillion on a cash basis and that was before taking into consideration the full costs of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, before the cost of the Obama nearly $800 billion economic stimulus plan, or the cost of the second $350 billion in TARP funds, as well as all current bailouts being contemplated by the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve,"

stated Williams.

"The federal government's deficit is hemorrhaging at a pace which threatens the viability of the financial system," Williams added. "The popularly reported 2009 [deficit] will clearly exceed $2 trillion on a cash basis and that full amount has to be funded by Treasury borrowing."

"It's not likely this will happen without the Federal Reserve acting as lender of last resort for the Treasury by buying Treasury debt and monetizing the debt," he said.

"Monetizing the debt" is a term used to signify that the Federal Reserve will be required simply to print cash to meet the Treasury debt obligations, acting in this capacity only because the Treasury cannot sell the huge of amount debt elsewhere.

The Treasury has been largely dependent upon foreign buyers, principally China and Japan and other major holders of U.S. dollar foreign exchange reserves, including OPEC buyers purchasing U.S. debt through London.

"The appetite of foreign buyers to purchase continued trillions of U.S. debt has become more questionable as the world has witnessed the rapid deterioration of the U.S. fiscal condition in the current financial crisis,"

Williams noted.

"Truthfully," Williams pointed out, "there is no Social Security 'lock-box.' There are no funds held in reserve today for Social Security and Medicare obligations that are earned each year. It's only a matter of time until the public realizes that the government is truly bankrupt and no taxes are being held in reserve to pay in the future the Social Security and Medicare benefits taxpayers are earning today."

Calculations from the "2008 Financial Report of the United States Government" also show that the GAAP negative net worth of the federal government has increased to $59.3 trillion while the total federal obligations under GAAP accounting now total $65.5 trillion.

The $65.5 trillion total federal obligations under GAAP accounting not only now exceed four times the U.S. gross domestic product, or GDP, the $65.5 trillion deficit exceeds total world GDP.

"In the seven years of GAAP reporting, we have seen an annual average deficit in excess of $4 trillion, which could not be possibly covered by any form of taxation," Williams argued.

"Shy of the government severely slashing social welfare programs, federal deficits of this magnitude are beyond any hope of containment, government or otherwise," he said.

"Put simply, there is no way the government can possibly pay for the level of social welfare benefits the federal government has promised unless the government simply prints cash and debases the currency, which the government will increasingly be doing this year," Williams said, explaining in more detail why he feels the government is now in the process of monetizing the federal debt.

"Social Security and Medicare must be shown as liabilities on the federal balance sheet in the year they accrue according to GAAP accounting," Williams argues. "To do otherwise is irresponsible, nothing more than an attempt to hide the painful truth from the American public. The public has a right to know just how bad off the federal government budget deficit situation really is, especially since the situation is rapidly spinning out of control."

"The federal government is bankrupt," Williams stated. "In a post-Enron world, if the federal government were a corporation such as General Motors, the president and senior Treasury officers would be in federal penitentiary."

Maxmimus Porkulus Passes: Bipartisan, Or, American Taxpayers Optional

House Republican leader Congressman John Boehner noted: "Not one" member of the House has read the $787 Billion Stimulus Bill, yet, it passed, with 7 Democrats opposing the boondoggle. "They loaded every big government idea of the last 40 years into this bill," Rep. Jeb Hensaring, R-Texas stated.