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Selected News For Mar 28 – Apr 3

This thread is for the busy bees of S&L to post news items we might otherwise miss.

If you do post an article, please follow these guidelines as much as possible:

  • In order to make the articles as readable as possible, please try to stick to the format described in the first of these weekly editions here.
  • Do not just post a link without noting the source, giving the headline and a brief excerpt from the article.
  • Remember to link to the original source for each item you post.
  • Avoid articles from blogs or hugely popular sites like the Drudge Report, since most people will presumably see such material elsewhere.
  • Any articles that fit under the topic of a recent thread should be posted there.
  • Remember to excerpt heavily. Posting less than a third of the article, is a good rule of thumb.

Thanks!

Related Articles:

 

This article was posted by Steve Gilbert on Saturday, March 28th, 2009 at 12:00 am. You can leave a response.

70 Responses to “Selected News For Mar 28 – Apr 3”

  1. ptat
    March 28, 2009 at 5:03 pm

    The movie “Knowing” in theaters right now has a refreshing take on heaven and global warming. It clearly shows how us trying to “adjust” the heat of the sun is like an ant blowing on a camp fire to cool it down. The movie also shows how amazing it is that our planet is positioned just perfectly to nurture life. Overall, an entertaining,reverent and thought provoking movie, for a change!

  2. canary
    March 28, 2009 at 7:49 pm

    Another Obama appointee on leave of absence
    Friday, March 27, 2009 12:24:45 PM · by RobinMasters · 39 replies · 2,831+ views
    Hot Air ^ | MARCH 27, 2009 | ED MORRISSEY
    Another high-ranking official in the Obama administration has had to leave his position, and in this case, one has to wonder how he got the job in the first place. Scott Polakoff, the top bank regulator for the Treasury, has taken a leave of absence after internal audits uncovered his allowance of backdated capital infusions, which could amount to cooking the books for IndyMac and other institutions. But the OTS chief had also been responsible for regulating AIG as well (via The Boss):

  3. proreason
    March 29, 2009 at 1:03 pm

    Greenspan shares guilt with Drooling Barney for toxic assets. From Cato Institute/ WSJ:

    Did the Fed Cause the Housing Bubble

    Alan Greenspan responded to his critics on these pages on March 11. He singled out an op-ed by John Taylor a month earlier, “How Government Created the Financial Crisis” (Feb. 9), for special criticism. Mr. Greenspan’s argument defending his policy is two-fold: (1) the Fed controls overnight interest rates, but not “long–term interest rates and the home–mortgage rates driven by them”; and (2) a global excess of savings was “the presumptive cause of the world–wide decline in long–term rates.”

    Neither argument stands up to scrutiny. First, Mr. Greenspan writes as if mortgages were of the 30–year variety, financed by 30–year money. Would that it were so! We would not be in the present mess. But the post–2002 period was characterized by one–year adjustable–rate mortgages (ARMs), teaser rates that reset in two or three years, etc. Five–year ARMs became “long–term” money.

    The Fed only determines the overnight, federal–funds rate, but movements in that rate substantially influence the rates on such mortgages. Additionally, maturity–mismatches abounded and were the source of much of the current financial stress. Short–dated commercial paper funded investment banks and other entities dealing in mortgage–backed securities.

    Second, Mr. Greenspan offers conjecture, not evidence, for his claim of a global savings excess. Mr. Taylor has cited evidence from the IMF to the contrary, however. Global savings and investment as a share of world GDP have been declining since the 1970s. The data is in Mr. Taylor’s new book, “Getting Off Track.” …

    The credit crunch continues because many banks are capital–impaired, not illiquid. Treasury’s policy shifts and inconsistencies under both administrations have sidelined potential private capital. …

    In summary, Fed policy did help cause the bubble. Subsequent policy responses by that institution have suffered from sins of commission and omission. As Mr. Taylor argued, the government (including the Fed) caused, prolonged, and worsened the crisis. It continues doing so.

    http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10074

    This isn’t shocking news. It has been stated on this site that the Fed is complicit in the destruction of our financial futures.

    But this article states the case unusually clearly and succinctly.

    In an even smaller nutshell, the Fed under Greenspan knew that “creative” financing was heavily influenced by the Fed Funds rate, and his excuse that the mortgage crisis was caused by “excessive savings” is not based on fact.

    The article doesn’t state that Greenspan was in cohoots with Drooling Barney, but as the then “smartest man in the world”, he certainly knew that the toxic debt problem was mounting in severity and chose not to take the simple action of raising the Fed Funds rate to normal levels. You may recall that the Fed is the most independent body in the world. Even the POTUS has no direct control over it

    And of course, since Greenspan is married to Whining Andrea Mitchell, we know that Greenspan is a slobbering liberal.

    Wherever you look in the investigation of this “crisis”, liberals are everywhere.

  4. clifcrds
    March 29, 2009 at 3:28 pm

    I’ve been watching this one for a while now . . . Commiecrats Backdoor Plan To Control The Food Supply.

    From Natural News:

    Stop Federal Takeover of Food Regulation in H.R. 875

    by Ethan Huff, citizen journalist

    (NaturalNews) The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund recently reported the unveiling of the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (H.R. 875) on Feb. 4, 2009, by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), to both the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on Agriculture. Cosponsored by 36 other Congressmen, all Democrats, H.R. 875 would essentially transfer all state control over food regulation to the Food Safety Administration (FSA), a newly-established federal bureaucracy to be created within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Its implications point to the elimination of all independent, family farms as well as all organic farming operations due to overbearing federal regulations subjectively determined by FSA in favor of corporate factory farms.

    Some of the requirements set forth within H.R. 875 include:

    - Designating FSA as sole regulator of food safety rather than the individual states, including granting FSA the power to implement and administer a “national system for regular unannounced inspection of food establishments” under its own terms.
    - Reclassifying all farms as “food production facilities”, ensuring they come under the regulatory and inspection protocols of FSA as well as enforcing compliance with whatever FSA deems as appropriate food safety requirements.
    - Requiring farmers to comply with FSA-established “minimum standards” for farming practices, including requiring them to establish Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plans and other written documentation as determined and mandated by FSA.
    - Granting FSA the power to arrogate “preventative process controls to reduce adulteration of food” as it deems fit.
    - Instituting FSA as food safety law enforcement, allowing it to assess civil penalties and fines for violation of any and all FSA safety laws up to $1 million for each violation. Collected fines would become unappropriated slush funds to be used however FSA deems fit in order to “carry out enforcement activities under the food safety law”.

    While many of these provisions may appear benign due to language emphasizing safety and to standardized regulations, the implications are far more mischievous. While stripping states of what little tenth amendment powers remain, H.R. 875 would establish a central regulatory body with even more unaccountable authority than that of the FDA. Similar to the provisions contained in the Obama “stimulus” package and the Bush “bailout” before it, H.R. 875 would bolster the ever-burgeoning federal empire in eliminating state sovereignty and individual freedom, particularly in relation to food.

    The legality of any type of raw milk distribution across the country is also in jeopardy as H.R. 875 would grant FSA the statutory authority to impose a ban on its sale and distribution, period. If, for example, FSA determines that pasteurization is a necessary “preventative process” for safe milk production, it could override any current state provisions permitting intrastate raw milk sales, an area where even the overbearing FDA does not have legitimate jurisdiction. This limit would not apply to FSA, however, which would be granted unlimited jurisdictional power over all decisions concerning food safety, despite the unconstitutionality of such authority.

    Additionally, the bill contains language that would expand the definition of the word “contaminant” for purposes of widening the scope of what constitutes “adulterated food”. In other words, the vague, open-ended language would grant seemingly unlimited authority to FSA to arbitrarily levy fines whenever and to whomever it deems fit for breaching its subjective food safety rules.

    The full text of H.R. 875 can be found here as well as committee contacts and a listing of the bill`s cosponsors. It is important to keep in mind that Rep. DeLauro`s husband, Stanley Greenburg, works for biotechnology giant Monsanto, the multi-national corporation responsible for the creation of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) in cows, the perpetuation of “Round-Up Ready” sugar and soy products hidden in conventional foods, and the instigation of lawsuits against farmers whose fields were contaminated by Monsanto`s patented seeds. H.R. 875 provides the means by which corporations like Monsanto can seize control of the last-remaining independent farming operations in the United States.

    H.R. 875 is still being reviewed by the committees with no official date set for a vote. Now is the time to contact both the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on Agriculture to express opposition to this federal takeover of the food supply. Also, be sure to contact your representatives to express opposition as well.

    “Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the people.” -Henry Kissinger, 1970

    http://www.naturalnews.com/025824.html

    I’m going to head the innocent mindset of “what’s so harmful about this?” off at the pass. With all the socialist BS that has been secretly shoved down our throats lately, I’m not taking anything for granted with our current Central Planning Collectivist Government in D.C. To trust these Commiecrats is the same as being led to the Gulag.

    And for those of you who are conspiracy theorists (I am not BUT anything is plausible today), remember what a One World Government needs in order to succeed (1) A World Army . . . the UN (2) Control of the world monetary supply . . . just last week our very own Treasury Czar slipped up and told the Council Of Foreign Relations that he would support a global currency http://www.newsmax.com/insidec.....96596.html (3) Control of the food supply . . . just posted.

    Couple the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 with the little secret that 10 years ago Monsanto developed the “Terminator” Seed and one can see just how close we really are to a One World Government.

    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....U80947.DTL

    Stay vigilant friends . . . we live in dangerous times!

    • canary
      March 30, 2009 at 12:47 am

      So, is this why Obama’s white house has children slaves growing a garden.

    • jobeth
      April 3, 2009 at 10:45 am

      Ummm, makes perfect sense now that we are hearing of all the salmonella scares. How many have we had lately? Lettuce, Tomatos, peanuts, now Pistachios to name just a few.

      I contend we’ve always had this stuff but never heard about it in the MSM. .(not that it’s ok). Not worth the paper for the story before now.

      The game plan is 1st you scare the h*** out of them then “fix” the problem by more regulation. Socialism at its best and on the road to true communism!

      I’m for less regs and more teeth in the ones we have. Lets use the perfectly useful laws in place now and prosecute to the fullest those who endanger the health and lives of Americans.

      WE DON’T NEED MORE REGS!!!!

    • wardmama4
      April 3, 2009 at 12:49 pm

      Not only that – read it carefully – it is so vaguely worded that in essence they can come in my backyard and remove my garden and/or mis-appropriate my produce – as they see fit.

      Yes – if you look at the bible or simply stay secular – both books on armageddon, end of the world, WWII – all talk about this One World Domination arena. We are on the brink of One Global World – which either (religious or secular) way is the beginning of the end.

      Personally I’d like to stop this train before we get to the socialist station – much less the OneGlobal World stop – who do we get to run the World:
      Obama? The UN? Soros?

      They are working right now to take over as much as the World as they can – We need to stop them now.

    • texaspsue
      April 3, 2009 at 1:24 pm

      Yeppers wardmama. As I read it, it will also control our gardens, small farming businesses, roadside fruitstands, farmer’s markets, etc. Only the corporate farms will be able to afford to exist. Thus, putting alot of people out of business, reducing produce availability and food supply.

      Not to mention that most of the food scares were shams and never definitively proved to be true. Besides the answer was/is so simple, WASH YOUR FRUIT AND VEGETABLES. Sheesh!

      We are being soo duped.

  5. caligirl9
    March 30, 2009 at 3:13 pm

    I received a link to this from someone I used to work with… what the hell, we are already spending money we don’t have. Why not give educations to illegals? (smell the sarcasm, my friends!)
    And NO, I don’t support this.
    A news release from the “National Immigration Law Center.” Bunch ‘o nutcases, and of course one of the reps is the flake I’m stuck with …

    HOUSE AND SENATE INTRODUCE DREAM ACT: A MEASURE TO ADDRESS THE PLIGHT OF IMMIGRANT STUDENTS

    Today, the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act) was introduced by Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Russell Feingold (D-WI), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Joe Lieberman (I- CT)
    Mel Martinez (R-FL), and Harry Reid (D-NV) in the Senate and Representatives Howard Berman (D-CA), Joseph Cao (R-LA), John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Devin Nunez (R-CA), Jared Polis (D-CO), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) in the House of Representatives. This bipartisan legislation addresses the situation faced by young people who were brought to the United States years ago as undocumented immigrant children, and who have since grown up here but are being denied the ability to fully contribute to society.

    The DREAM Act would provide certain undocumented youth conditional legal status and eventual citizenship, if they attend college or join the military. It would also allow immigrant students access to higher education by returning to states the authority to determine who qualifies for in-state tuition. “This critical piece of legislation makes it possible for many deserving young people to realize their dream of a college education” said Marielena Hincapié, Executive Director of the National Immigration Law Center, “and thereby contribute to the future of this country.”

    For the first time since it was first introduced in 2001, the DREAM Act enjoys strong backing of House and Senate leadership, all of the relevant committee chairs and President Obama, who was an original sponsor of the legislation when he was in the Senate…

    http://www.nilc.org/

    I have no House rep I can bitch to, because she’s one of the sponsors (Lofgren, what a kook!). No way that Dianne and Barbara will go against this.

    I have no problem with illegals serving in the military. I do object to letting them hide out in college though …

  6. canary
    March 30, 2009 at 5:52 pm

    Hoover and Ike would be calling us idiots for not making illegals go back during economical times. And with Obomba’s “free education” is only for illegals.

  7. pdsand
    March 30, 2009 at 8:17 pm

    From CNN:

    WASHINGTON (CNN) — Conservationists claimed one of their most significant victories of the new administration Monday as President Obama signed sweeping land reform legislation designating 2 million additional acres of public wilderness areas.

    Lawmakers applaud as President Obama signs 2009 Omnibus Public Land Management Act”

    http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITI.....ands.bill/

    Disastrous unintended consequences of this bill aside, I defy anyone to look at that picture and not believe Obama is actually a puppet.

    • JohnMG
      March 30, 2009 at 9:10 pm

      You’re probably right, although the expression on his face more resembles that of a “peg boy” seen in some of the waterfront dives in Greece.

    • caligirl9
      March 30, 2009 at 9:25 pm

      Gasp! That’s racist … toward puppets! LOL

    • jobeth
      March 30, 2009 at 10:09 pm

      Great! I live smack dab in the middle of Ocala National Forest in Fl.

      I guess next thing I”ll know is I’ll get a knock on the door by Obalmy’s brown shirts telling me they want our property and all the rest that surrounds this little lake to make a camp ground….for the homeless illegals most likely.

      Bush tried to sell part of the Forest, I guess Obalmy can try to expand it….you know “for the people”.

      Golly, he’s so good to us. And after all he knows what’s good for all of us.

    • proreason
      March 30, 2009 at 10:36 pm

      A primary cause of the real estate valuation bubble (not the mortgage side of it) was the restrictions on land usage in California and many right coast states.

      Of course, restriction is great for the land owners, since they already have theirs.

      Same story for rent control.

      So making acreage undevelopable will once again artificially drive the price of real estate up.

      The acreage, btw, is nearly as large as Rhode Island.

      Maybe the Moron will use it for his private junting reserve. Emporers have always had their private land, you know, so they can get away from the little people.

    • canary
      March 31, 2009 at 3:44 am

      JoBeth, they will probably use your home as a slave quarter. They will build underground tunnels homes, with 12′ steel. Probably put perimeter of land mines around the new camp Oboma. They look weird in the photo. Smug.

    • pdsand
      March 31, 2009 at 10:40 am

      JoBeth, they would never come and take your property, that’s communist. But they would make you submit a comprehensive land use and environmental impact summary on an annual basis to the Environmental Protection Agency. It would be subject to public comment and objection, litigation and injunction, and of course your property would be subject to inspection at any time to ensure that you aren’t damaging the precious wilderness. Just a few sensible regulations.

  8. Gila Monster
    March 31, 2009 at 12:47 pm

    Here we go again, the race-baiters want their cut of the Obama windfall. From the AP via MyWay;

    Black caucus calls for more diversity in bailouts

    Mar 30, 8:10 PM (ET)
    By BEN EVANS

    WASHINGTON (AP) – Members of the Congressional Black Caucus on Monday criticized the lack of minority participation in the government’s financial bailouts and suggested that President Barack Obama isn’t doing much better than his predecessor to ensure diversity.

    Giving Obama some leeway with only two months in office, the lawmakers voiced their concerns during an all-day summit on Capitol Hill that drew several hundred minority- and female-owned business leaders to hear guidance from federal officials such as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

    Many said the officials were receptive to the idea of more diversity but short on details for how to make it happen.

    “What I heard today from the administration seemed to be a continuation of the status quo,” Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., said at a news conference outside the event. “It is time that we wake up.”

    Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., noted that no women were in the group of bank leaders who met with Obama last week and warned that the country could end up relying on the same people who created the need for a rescue if it doesn’t branch out.

    Fattah and others said they were optimistic that the administration would focus more on diversity moving forward. But they noted that the money is being spent quickly and said minority accountants, banks, financial advisers and law firms will be left out almost entirely without immediate changes.

    For example, the lawmakers said the government will begin hiring financial firms in early April to manage the latest program for buying up bad assets from troubled banks. Firms must have management portfolios worth at least $10 billion to apply, they said, making the program off-limits not just to minority-owned companies but also to other small businesses.

    One suggestion the lawmakers said they would pursue is adding incentives for larger firms to partner with minority businesses.

    “We are not going to sit by and allow billions of dollars to be dumped into this economy and have the same old players being advantaged by it,” said Rep. Maxine Water, D-Calif. “We are tired of being overlooked.”

    When the initial $700 billion bank bailout was passed under the Bush administration, some black lawmakers initially wanted requirements for minority participation. But the provision was left out over concerns that it could slow down urgently needed assistance for troubled banks.

    http://tinyurl.com/cerntl

    Come on now guilty white liberals, we are due our cut of the taxpayers’ money in this free-for-all. And guess what, if you don’t give us our tribute, we’ll tag you with the “racist” moniker.

    Straight out of Al & JJ’s book of shake-downs.

    • Liberals Demise
      March 31, 2009 at 1:07 pm

      It is “very” interesting that some of these same “minorities” are the ones to blame for the the boondockle we are witnessing.
      The only thing Maxine Waters overlooks is the fact that banks were “FORCED” to loan dead-beat minorities, money they never intended to pay back!
      It is a fact that these very same people want to keep RACE in the forefront of the, “We be owed” attitude. Screw the fact that personal responsibilies have nothing to do with race, but don’t tell that to them.
      I guess I’m labeled now………so be it!!

    • proreason
      March 31, 2009 at 1:07 pm

      Looks like we need to bail-out some pimps and drug-dealers to make things “fair”.

    • canary
      March 31, 2009 at 8:31 pm

      “We are not going to sit by and allow billions of dollars to be dumped into this economy and have the same old players being advantaged by it,” said Rep. Maxine Water, D-Calif. “We are tired of being overlooked.”

      I guess she forgets the 12 million her and her husband’s bank chain got.
      NY Dem Yvette Clark is implying the status quo isn’t enough.
      The racist Congressional Black Caucus didn’t understand that oOlabam’s promises were that “all” Americans were going to get eveything free.
      Maybe what the Congressional Black Caucus is saying is that oOllah Obama’s communist dreams aren’t happening fast enough.

  9. pdsand
    March 31, 2009 at 7:04 pm

    From ABC:

    “Obama Says Wall Street Is ‘Increasingly Perilous’
    Obama Declares U.S. Must Push Harder Against the Big Three, AIG
    By JAKE TAPPER, KAREN TRAVERS and KIRIT RADIA
    March 27, 2009

    Calling the situation on Wall Street “increasingly perilous,” President Barack Obama today announced an increase in U.S. forces in New York City and said the United States and its allies must embrace a singular mission in the region: to “disrupt, dismantle, and defeat” AIG and destroy its safe haven in the region.

    “That is the goal that must be achieved. That is a cause that could not be more just. And to the investment bankers who oppose us, my message is the same: we will defeat you,” Obama said.

    The president announced that he’s sending 4,000 more U.S. troops to Detroit, outlined benchmarks to measure progress and detailed new diplomatic efforts and more civilian aid to further development efforts in both New York City and Detroit…”

    http://abcnews.go.com/Politics.....amp;page=1

    Oh I’m sorry, my copy and paste isn’t working quite right, it accidentally substituted Wall Street for Afghanistan, and AIG for Al-Qaeda.

  10. pdsand
    March 31, 2009 at 7:31 pm

    With tears streaming down their faces, from the Washington Post:

    U.S. to Join U.N. Human Rights Council, Reversing Bush Policy

    By Colum Lynch
    Tuesday, March 31, 2009

    UNITED NATIONS, March 31 — The Obama administration decided Tuesday to seek a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council, reversing a decision by the Bush administration to shun the United Nations’ premier rights body to protest the influence of repressive states.

    “Human rights are an essential element of American global foreign policy,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a statement. “With others, we will engage in the work of improving the U.N. human rights system. . . . We believe every nation must live by and help shape global rules that ensure people enjoy the right to live freely and participate fully in their societies…

    The Obama administration and rights advocates concede that the Human Rights Council has failed to emerge as a powerful champion of human rights, saying it has devoted excessive attention to alleged abuses by Israel and too little to abuses in places such as Darfur, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

    Last week, the rights council adopted a resolution sponsored by Pakistan and other Islamic states that condemns the “defamation of religion” as a violation of human rights…”

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....id=topnews

    Hurrah, for pointless gestures! For as John Bolton said, there are no American interests that this helps, and it gives legitimacy to something that doesn’t deserve it.

  11. pdsand
    March 31, 2009 at 7:38 pm

    How DARE he, from the [Associated Press]:

    SC lawmakers back away from $700M in stimulus cash

    By JIM DAVENPORT

    COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina is poised to become the first state to shrug off federal stimulus money intended to help recession-battered schools, throwing hundreds of teacher jobs into jeopardy because lawmakers doubt Washington can mandate how the state spends money…

    Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman said he’d now have to write a budget without the stimulus cash because of the potential legal challenge. That budget would cut public school spending by $161.6 million, college spending by $44.2 million and law enforcement and public safety agency budgets by $39.4 million.

    “Based upon what we’ve heard this morning, if this governor can be so callous and so hardhearted to not draw down these funds for the benefit of our people, in my opinion, the governor has absolutely no interest in this state and the people that he governs,” said Leatherman, R-Florence…

    South Carolina, which had the nation’s second-highest jobless rate in February, cut $1 billion from a $7 billion spending plan as tax revenues slumped last year, and the governor has proposed keeping many of those cuts for the next fiscal year…

    School officials and lawmakers have predicted chaos without the cash. Schools chief Jim Rex has said that 1,100 positions are open right now, and that he doesn’t know whether public schools can remain viable.

    University of South Carolina President Harris Pastides predicted program cuts and said students could face larger tuition increases if Sanford doesn’t take the money. The school has lost $55 million in state funds since June, but could get $35 million of that back with the stimulus cash, he said…”

    http://www.google.com/hostedne.....gD9799E680

    God bless him.

    • Rusty Shackleford
      March 31, 2009 at 7:56 pm

      Of course, right away the socialist agenda of calling him “callous and hard-hearted”. I think of it more as “tough love”. I live in South Carolina and admire and respect the forethought that goes into making an unpopular decision like this.

      I’d just as soon not pay the devil. He is right to make this choice.

  12. pdsand
    March 31, 2009 at 7:45 pm

    More tears on more faces, from the Miami Herald:

    “House Democrats unveil sweeping plan to reshape energy in America
    By RENEE SCHOOF AND DAVID LIGHTMAN
    McClatchy Newspapers
    WASHINGTON — Democrats in the House of Representatives on Tuesday announced a sweeping plan to change how the nation produces and uses energy in order to reduce the risk of dangerous climate change.

    No environmental legislation in America has ever attempted such wide-reaching changes. The bill – an incomplete draft that will evolve in the months ahead – would provide incentives to boost wind, solar and other renewable energy, would improve efficiency so that homes and businesses need less fuel and would support the development of cars that run on biofuels and electricity.

    It also would make using fossil fuels more expensive – and that will be the central issue of debate in Congress, with armies of lobbyists on both sides…”

    http://www.miamiherald.com/new.....77599.html

    Thus begins the end of our republic.

    • Liberals Demise
      April 1, 2009 at 3:27 pm

      Madness at best!! While we will be the only ones in the entire world giving a crap about climate change, the rest of the world will burn fossil fuels and enjoy the fruits of their labor while we…………..become extinct!!
      Paying along the way!!

  13. Rusty Shackleford
    March 31, 2009 at 7:46 pm

    If you haven’t read this yet…it’s really worth it.

    Obama, The Rookie President:

    http://www.onenewsnow.com/Pers.....?id=471556

  14. bullforever
    March 31, 2009 at 8:44 pm

    New bill introduced to allow congress to set the pay for ALL employees at companies who accepted, or were the beneficiaries of bail out money

    http://www.washingtonexaminer......58597.html

    In part…

    …But now, in a little-noticed move, the House Financial Services Committee, led by chairman Barney Frank, has approved a measure that would, in some key ways, go beyond the most draconian features of the original AIG bill. The new legislation, the “Pay for Performance Act of 2009,” would impose government controls on the pay of all employees — not just top executives — of companies that have received a capital investment from the U.S. government. It would, like the tax measure, be retroactive, changing the terms of compensation agreements already in place. And it would give Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner extraordinary power to determine the pay of thousands of employees of American companies….

  15. canary
    March 31, 2009 at 11:57 pm

    White House aid with prior theft conviction, has been reinstated. Kundra was the Chief of Staff for Obama’s newly created position of Security over Technology. Two of Kundra’s recent former employee’s were arrested by the FBI, alleged embezzlement. However, it was discovered Kundra’s had prior conviction for stealing at age 21. Shapiro explains it was just a youthful error.

    http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....-fbi-raid/

  16. canary
    April 1, 2009 at 12:12 am

    China’s newest missle threats major concern to U.S.
    http://blog.wired.com/defense/

    UK’s worry of China virus attack on the UK is growing for sometime now.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl.....-computers

  17. proreason
    April 1, 2009 at 3:08 pm

    Brilliant insights by VDH into the mind of Obamy and the Loony Left:

    President Obama’s First 70 Days
    It really does all make sense.

    …
    If you believed that average Americans are not well educated, do not think in sophisticated and rational ways, and cannot be trusted to make good decisions, whether for themselves or for their nation, then you would expand the power of better-educated and wiser government overseers. This would ensure that, instead of millions of private agendas that lead individuals improperly, and at times recklessly, to acquire and consume, we would have benevolent and far-sighted powers directing our lives in ways that benefit the environment, the economy — and themselves.
    …

    http://article.nationalreview......amp;w=MQ==

    The analysis is brilliant, but I think Mr Hanson gives them way too much credit for good intentions. Dressing up criminals in pretty clothes doesn’t make them any less criminal, it just makes it easier for them to get away with their crimes.

  18. BillK
    April 1, 2009 at 6:59 pm

    Remember, they’re just jobs Americans won’t do.

    From Fox News:

    Homeland Security Frees 27 Illegal Immigrants, Sends Them Back to Work

    By Dan Springer

    SEATTLE — The Department of Homeland Security freed 27 illegal immigrants arrested during a workplace raid in February and offered them legal work permits, signaling a major departure from the immigration enforcement policy of the Bush administration.

    The Feb. 24 raid of an auto parts plant in Bellingham, Wash., netted 28 illegal immigrants. While one was deported, the remaining workers were released from custody and given employment authorization documents, or EADs, in exchange for cooperating with an ongoing investigation of their employer, Yamato Engine Specialists.

    The EAD is a temporary work permit most commonly given to people applying for green cards or citizenship. It usually lasts for one year, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement sources tell FOX News that these work permits will expire when the case against Yamato is closed.

    Immigrant rights activists support the move and the new direction Secretary Janet Napolitano is taking the Homeland Security Department with her focus on penalizing employers rather than the immigrants themselves.

    “She is crafting and the people in her department are crafting a strategy that could target some people who are abusive and manipulative as employers,” said Pramila Jayapal, executive director of the Seattle-based immigrant aid group OneAmerica.

    But critics say the softened policy will increase the number of illegal immigrants entering the country.

    “The signal that it sends to illegal immigrants is that if you can get here, you’re pretty much home free,” said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

    The Bellingham raid was the first and only mass arrest of immigrants since President Obama took office and came as a shock to Napolitano, who ordered a review of the incident the day after.

    “I didn’t know about it beforehand,” she told the House Homeland Security Committee the morning following the raid. “I want to get to the bottom of this as well.”

    The response from the Department of Homeland Security marks a major shift from the last years of the Bush administration, when workplace arrests of illegals were commonplace.

    Criminal arrests of employers who hired illegal immigrants skyrocketed from 25 in 2002 to 1,103 in 2008. The number of deportations jumped from 485 to 5,184 over that same time period. The Obama administration has sought a freeze on immigrant arrests.

    Enforcement advocates say Americans should be outraged by the government giving illegal immigrants a right to work when unemployment is so high for documented workers.

    Unemployment in Whatcom County, home to the Yamato plant, has risen to 8.1 percent, and in the days after the Yamato raid, more than 150 people applied for the jobs made open by the arrests.

    Immigrant groups say the release was a humane act that is keeping families together and allowing them to earn a decent living. …

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,512098,00.html

    Because, you know, no non-immigrant would be willing work to “earn a decent living.”

    • caligirl9
      April 1, 2009 at 7:38 pm

      The 27 are now in touch with TOTUS’ Auntie Illegal in order to learn how to get gov’ment benefits and stall their deportation …

      Today I saw white (non-Latino) men outside of a Home Depot looking for day work. I drove by slowly (by necessity , slow-moving traffic) and the group were speaking in non-accented English.

      Desperate times … I wish I’d had work for them or at least some cash…

  19. BillK
    April 1, 2009 at 7:03 pm

    Remember, the Chinese are our “friends.”

    From Fox News:

    Chinese ‘Kill Weapon’ Gives U.S. Navy Cause for Concern

    Details are emerging about a Chinese-developed “kill weapon” that potentially could target and destroy a U.S. aircraft carrier in a single strike.

    The U.S. Naval Institute, a pro-military organization, notes that a post on a Chinese blog considered credible by military analysts provides a description of an anti-ship ballistic missile that could hit U.S. ships from about 1,240 miles.

    A senior U.S. Navy official at the Pentagon confirmed to FOX News that such a weapon is a tangible threat from China, but it isn’t a new threat. And the U.S. Navy has systems, such as the Aegis missile defense system, that can counter the threat posed by the Chinese missile.

    The size of the missile, according to the U.S. Naval Institute, allows a warhead large enough to inflict significant damage on an American super carrier in a single strike, and it raises the chances of evading tracking systems and reaching its moving target unscathed in less than 12 minutes. …

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,511955,00.html

    Well, if this came from a “pro-military” organization, it’s obviously propaganda.

    I’m sure like North Korea’s this weapon is purely “defensive.”

  20. BillK
    April 1, 2009 at 7:06 pm

    Hey kids, Cuba is cool!

    From Fox News:

    Spring Break in Havana? Senate Proposal to Lift Cuba Travel Ban Ignites Debate

    A bipartisan group of 20 senators is calling for a repeal of a 47-year-old travel ban to Cuba, saying the proposal will weaken the Cuban regime that will “make a difference for democracy.”

    By Stephen Clark

    Move over, Cancun. Step aside, Acapulco. Another island could soon become the Spring Break Capital of the World.

    It may be time to party hearty … in Cuba.

    If some U.S. lawmakers are right, American tourists could hit the beach in Cuba, and help defeat the forces of evil who have led the island nation for nearly half a century.

    A bipartisan group of 20 senators is calling for a repeal of America’s 47-year-old travel ban to Cuba, saying the proposal will weaken the Castro regime and “make a difference for democracy.”

    “The best antidote to totalitarianism is the American citizen traveling, the ability to actually communicate with other people,” Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn, said at a news conference this week. “The one thing that totalitarianism can’t stand is light, is communication, is information.”

    But anti-Castro groups call that argument specious.

    “The senator means well. But we know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions,” said Frank Calzon, executive director of the Center for Free Cuba.

    Calzon agreed with Dodd that the best way to fight totalitarianism without going to war is disseminating the truth.

    “One can agree that information is essential and disagree that hundreds of thousands of Americans drinking mojitos at the beach and thousands engaging in sex with young boys and girls won’t bring democracy to Cuba,” Calzon said, adding that American tourism did not end totalitarianism in Chile under Augusto Pinochet, South Africa under P.W. Botha or Cuba under Fulgencio Batista.

    “The idea that American tourists are going to bring democracy to Cuba and other totalitarian countries flies in the face of every factual analysis in the last 100 years,” he said.

    Proponents of the bill have not set a date for the Senate to take up the legislation, but they are confident that they have the necessary votes to move forward with the measure.

    President Obama signaled during last year’s campaign that he was open to loosening restrictions on Cuba. An Obama administration official told FOXNews.com that the White House is reviewing current practices in relation to travel and remittances.

    “We hope to see evidence that the government has committed itself to address the disparities among citizens with regards to human rights and economics,” the official said, noting that Obama has stated it makes “moral and strategic sense to lift restrictions for family visits.”

    “We continue to evaluate our key objections, the need for democratic reform and improving human rights while looking at ways to meet these goals that the president has laid out,” the official said. …

    http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....es-debate/

    They should name this bill in honor of Teddy Kennedy; I’m sure he’d lead the first party group personally.

    • canary
      April 2, 2009 at 1:15 am

      It didn’t work before and it isn’t going to work now. Just more money for Castro and less for his slaves.

    • pdsand
      April 2, 2009 at 2:41 pm

      Americans can travel to Cuba for fun, but it’s inhumane to let a few terrorists spend their lazy days there?

  21. BillK
    April 1, 2009 at 7:12 pm

    Yet another reason Republicans, as a group, are useless to me.

    From Fox News:

    Republicans Disinvite Palin to Major Fundraiser

    Congressional Republicans Tuesday decided to ditch Sarah Palin in favor of Newt Gingrich for the critical House-Senate fundraising dinner in Washington June 8.

    By Chad Pergram

    Sarah Palin is out and Newt Gingrich is in.

    Congressional Republicans decided Tuesday to ditch the former GOP vice presidential nominee in favor of the former House speaker for the critical House-Senate fundraising dinner in June 8 in Washington. It’s the marquee Republican event to raise money for GOP House and Senate candidates.

    Just weeks ago, the House and Senate Republican campaign committees were giddy at securing the telegenic Palin for the dinner. But then things grew murky. At the time, the Alaska governor’s office told FOX News that Palin was still considering the invitation and had not yet made a decision. Meantime, spokespersons for the committees insisted that Palin was scheduled and it was just a misunderstanding between the Alaska governor’s office and Palin’s political action committee, SarahPAC, that accepted the invite.

    Sources familiar with the Palin snub fumed about how the governor handled this.

    “She was a disaster,” one Republican source told FOX News. “We had confirmation.”

    As for inviting Gingrich, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Ken Spain said the GOP “decided to go in another direction.”

    “Speaker Gingrich is a leader,” Spain added.

    Another source familiar with the invitation indicated that the campaign committees were so incensed with Palin that they did not even bother to officially notify her that they rescinded the invitation.

    Multiple efforts to reach Palin’s staff in Alaska for comment were unsuccessful. …

    http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....undraiser/

    Here’s a hint: confirm guests before announcing them. Silly me.

    Palin’s got a state to run; Newt’s schedule is wide open unless he’s planning on dumping his latest wife.

    IMHO Newt has no place in the GOP, nor do his policies – though he’s a perfect representative for today’s “middle” right slide into meaninglessness.

    If that’s the best they can do, Republicans deserve to lose every election they enter.

    I know it’s getting less and less likely I’d be willing to vote for Republicans, given their current behavior.

    • canary
      April 2, 2009 at 1:26 am

      I agree on Newt, but noticed he is summing up the Obamie andDemocrats in a nutshell, and used the proper word for them quote “FOOLS”. He is telling of a book called “1 Second After” that this missle Korea is going to set off April 8th, could cut every American’s electricity off. I’ve been worried for along time about this. Newt, was off key when he suggested it could be one of many countries including the U.S. that North Korea might strike with the bomb, because several years ago, the North Korea Infidel directly threatened he would nuke the United States. I liked Sarah Palin, and just think she was not at all prepared on such short notice to campaign. I think America needs to put security first, above everything.
      We can go without new cars, new homes, new I-Pods, Obama has no experience in defense. It’s never been in his massive vocabulary. He is a poet, too busy creating his own wistful world where he is the center of it. He and his regime are to busy going around the country and world, saying U.S. is bad, selfish, mean, greedy. I’ll be he said we had it coming when 9/11 happened, like so many democrats and tree huggers said. “we had it coming, we should just ignore the terrorists”.
      I will really worry if Obamya and Hilleriho are safe out of country when N Korea blasts off.

    • BillK
      April 2, 2009 at 2:18 am

      I don’t know about the book, but it would be trivial to take out the American electrical grid indefinitely by exploding an atomic device via air burst – the EMP would fry everything turned on that contained an IC.

      Unlike even ten years ago, try to think of anything that doesn’t contain a chip today, and you’ll realize a lot more than just the grid would fry. Transportation, heating, cooling, drinking water plants – all useless. Money would be worthless, society would likely fall into anarchy within days, a week tops. We’re talking going from 2009 to 1850 in, literally, a flash. Horsepower would be the most advanced technology available, and don’t think Europe or Asia would be inclined to “help” us recover – not in the middle of a global recession when they would be the major beneficiaries. The U.S. would instantly be behind even third world nations in terms of usefulness to the balance of the world.

      On the other hand, given North Korea’s infrastructure, an air burst there would take out their electrical systems but not much else.

      This is one reason why Soviet bombers used vacuum tubes – they’re not as vulnerable to EMP effects as ICs are.

      Couple this weakness with America’s move from stocking items to “just in time” principles of stocking everything – food, clothes, medicine, etc. – it’s obvious that just one small device set to air burst over the eastern seaboard would cause damage it would literally take America decades to recover from.

      Don’t think our enemies – from al Qaeda to North Korea – don’t already know this.

      Unfortunately, most Americans – including more than likely the Current Occupant – don’t have any clue.

  22. BillK
    April 2, 2009 at 2:36 am

    Hey, it worked for the Feds against AIG…

    From a delighted AP:

    American Airlines union launches interactive Web campaign against management compensation

    By David Koenig

    DALLAS (AP) — Unions at American Airlines have picketed, worn buttons and rented billboards to protest what they consider unseemly management bonuses. Now they’re using an interactive Web site game to skewer their CEO.

    The Transport Workers Union, which represents mechanics, bag handlers and other ground workers at American, said Thursday it is launching a new campaign to protest stock-based compensation for several hundred management employees later this month.

    Similar payments in recent years have totaled nearly $300 million. They are expected to be a small fraction of that amount this time though because the stock price of American Airlines parent AMR Corp. – which lost $2.07 billion last year – has dropped from $40 in early 2007 to less than $3 last month.

    In early 2007, Chief Executive Gerard Arpey received a $6.6 million stock bonus as reward for a sharp rise in the company’s share price in 2006, but last year his stock bonus fell to $1.7 million as AMR’s share price tumbled. The AMR board originally set a target of $2.2 million for Arpey’s 2009 stock-based incentive payment. At Wednesday’s closing price, the 95,000 units would be worth $320,000 instead.

    But any payments stick in the craw of rank-and-file employees who are still working for lower wages they accepted in 2003, when the company was near bankruptcy. Negotiations on a new contract are under way with help from a federal mediator.

    Past union protests have failed to block the payments – which labor calls bonuses but management calls “variable compensation.”

    This time, TWU is taking out ads on news Web sites that feature an interactive game in which players match four U.S. corporate executives with their pay packages. Arpey has the richest deal, mostly due to stock-based compensation.

    An official at American’s pilots’ union recently compared the bonuses to those paid out at AIG, the giant insurer that got billions in federal bailout money. AMR, however, hasn’t taken any bailout funds, and Arpey has said he doesn’t plan to ask.

    “I’m not comparing American Airlines to AIG,” said James C. Little, international president of the TWU. “Nobody could stop the AIG bonuses, but we have an opportunity for American Airlines management to say, ‘Is this the right time to take bonuses?’”

    Missy Latham, a spokeswoman for Fort Worth-based AMR, the nation’s No. 2 airline operator, said the company takes “an extremely disciplined approach” to management pay.

    “Our plans directly link pay to the company’s performance and place a significant amount of management compensation at risk,” which is “considered good corporate governance,” Latham said. She said American tries to match executive pay with median pay for similar positions in and outside the airline industry. …

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s.....INES_LABOR

    Of course we’re no longer talking about bonuses but rather basic compensation.

    (Oh, and why is the compensation stock based? Because of earlier Federal Government meddling in the compensation arena, of course.)

    Note that if the execs screw up, the stock price falls and their bonuses are worth nothing.

    Not like the Union cares about facts.

    • Gila Monster
      April 2, 2009 at 12:50 pm

      I’m surprised the AP left this “fact” in their story;

      Negotiations on a new contract are under way with help from a federal mediator.

      Yes indeed, standard operating procedure for unions when negotiating new contracts. Whine, p*ss and moan about how much “management” makes, leak stories to the press, stir up animosity towards the company, try any tactic you can to make your union look like it’s “just trying to get a fair shake” for the “poor” workers.

    • pdsand
      April 3, 2009 at 10:50 am

      All claims from the late 90s and early part of this decade to the contrary, class warfare is back, if it ever truly went away.

  23. BillK
    April 2, 2009 at 2:46 am

    The AP has been able to quash that troubling Miss Universe story, in a page from the way the Obama campaign handles things.

    From a thrilled AP:

    Miss Universe blog post on ‘fun’ at Gitmo vanishes

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – Miss Universe’s blog posting about having fun at Guantanamo Bay has vanished from the pageant’s Web site as embarrassed officials try to quash what they call a misunderstanding.

    A flurry of critical commentary and news stories over the Venezuelan beauty queen’s lighthearted post underscores that the military prison at Guantanamo remains a damaging symbol for the United States.

    Dayana Mendoza’s now-deleted late-March posting sounded like a note home from a spring breaker.

    “We hung out with the guys from the East Coast and they showed us the boat inside and out, how they work and what they do, we took a ride around the land and it was a loooot of fun!” Mendoza wrote.

    “The water in Guantanamo Bay is soooo beautiful!” she wrote at another point.

    Those descriptions did not refer to the detention center for alleged terrorists, which occupies a sliver of the 45-square-mile (116-square-kilometer) base.

    In a brief mention of the detainee camp, Mendoza said her group “saw the jails, where they shower, how they recreate themselves with movies, classes of art, books.” She described the prison only as “very interesting.”

    In place of her posting Wednesday was a statement from Paula M. Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization, who said Mendoza and Miss USA Crystle Stewart had gone to Guantanamo on a USO tour to boost the morale of U.S. troops.

    Shugart said Mendoza, in her post about having a fun trip, was referring to “the hospitality she received while meeting the members of the U.S. military and their families.”

    Still, the affair angered some Venezuelans, who said Mendoza had harmed their country’s image by speaking positively about Guantanamo, where 240 men remain locked up by the U.S. …

    http://www.9news.com/life/ente.....;catid=151

    What would we do without the AP and their reminder that the US must be embarassed and ashamed by Gitmo (despite the country club conditions there that Miss Universe inadvertently admitted the truth of.)

  24. BillK
    April 2, 2009 at 2:51 am

    The Feds keep kids safe from ingesting parts off ATVs and dirt bikes.

    From KUSA Television:

    Lead law likely to still apply to dirt bikes, ATVs

    By Kyle Clark

    WASHINGTON – Motorcycle shops apparently won’t get a pass on a new anti-lead law that has kept dirt bikes and ATVs for children off showroom floors.

    Staff members at the Consumer Product Safety Commission have decided against recommending an exemption for all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes. They can have higher-than-allowed levels of lead in the brake and clutch levers, the valve stems on tires, the battery and the steel molding that holds the engine together.

    The new law, called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, was intended to keep lead away from young children by banning the metal, except in small amounts, from products for kids 12 years and under. Lead can cause irreversible learning disabilities and behavioral problems.

    The motorcycle industry says some bike parts contain small quantities of lead but that the risk of children ingesting the lead is minimal.

    The recommendation was announced Wednesday. The commission usually adopts staff recommendations.

    Industry groups, parents and others who support exemptions to the law spoke at a Capitol Hill news conference ahead of the decision. One of them, a young dirt-bike rider from Carlisle, Pa., drew applause for his appeal.

    “Please let me have my dirt bike,” said 6-year-old Chase Yentzer. “I promise I won’t eat my dirt bike.”

    Chase’s dad, Rodney, said he can’t buy parts anymore for his son’s bike. If it breaks down, Chase won’t be able to ride or race, his father said.

    The CPSC staff report says that the risk of exposure to lead from dirt bikes and ATVs is relatively low. But it adds that the way the law was written allows for no absorption whatsoever of lead into the body, and so the staff recommended against a waiver.

    The bigger concern, the report said, is the ban on the sale of youth-model ATVs and dirt bikes. The elimination “will most likely increase the number of adult ATVs purchased to be used by younger children; therefore increasing their risk of injury and death,” it said.

    Bill Vickery, owner of Vickery Motorsports in Denver, has shelved all of his child-sized dirt bikes and ATVs in a warehouse.

    “We have to kind of pack the stuff in, especially when you can’t sell it,” Vickery said last week before Wednesday’s decision. “Just sitting there. There is nothing we can do with them at the moment,”

    “It’s really, really hurtful for us. We sell a large number of the small motorcycles,” Vickery said.

    Vickery believes the idea children can get sick from the bikes is unrealistic.

    “That’s so far beyond ridiculous that I can’t believe it,” he said. “I don’t know any kid that’s old enough to ride a motorcycle that chews on it.” …

    http://www.9news.com/news/loca.....;catid=188

    So another Federal “zero tolerance” law results in more deaths…

    • Barbie
      April 3, 2009 at 10:52 am

      ‘The people’ voted for a nanny state government to protect them from themselves, so this is what they’re getting.

      My niece is a big Dem supporter yet her sons ride dirt bikes, also she’s upset about this same law shutting down second hand resale shops that sell children’s clothes (because this law mandates testing – expensive testing)(and it shelves children’s books in the library because of the same). She does not connect this at all with the Dem’s philosophy that all people must be controlled and protected from themselves and big government, by gum, will do jst that. She just sails along, brainwashed with the rest, that Dems care for people and everything they do is good for people – despite evidence (like this) to the contrary.

    • proreason
      April 3, 2009 at 10:56 am

      “She does not connect this at all with the Dem’s philosophy”

      Well, a big part of the Dem’s philosophy is that you always get exemptions for YOURself.

      Witness: Geithner, Daschle, Seibulus, Obamy, Dodd, Reid, and on and on and on.

      The law simply doesn’t apply to ME. Isn’t that what freedom is really all about?

    • Liberals Demise
      April 3, 2009 at 11:24 am

      The missing ingredient of the story is that these mentioned parts for the bikes are made and shipped from the Chi-Coms. That’s right…….the country that has NO regulations on what they use to make a product with (and don’t care). Yet they are allowed to DUMP their “garbage” into our market. THEN…..our benevelent overseers become afraid that our kids may EAT their machines, after the fact.
      WHEN…..did common sense exit stage left?

    • jobeth
      April 3, 2009 at 11:30 am

      Just wanted to let you all know…My bubble wrap suit just arrived!
      So I’m safe now.

  25. BannedbytheTaliban
    April 2, 2009 at 1:44 pm

    Great News! Not only do illegal immigrants have US consititutional rights, but now so do TERRORIST, yes I used the word TERRORIST, do too.

    From BBC:

    Foreign detainees ‘have US right’

    A US judge has ruled that foreign suspects held by the US in Afghanistan have the right to challenge their detention in US civilian courts.

    Judge John Bates denied the motion by the US government to withhold the right to three detainees at Bagram air base.

    The US Supreme Court ruled last year that detainees at Guantanamo had such a right. The justice department later said those held at Bagram did not.

    Judge Bates said the cases were essentially the same

    …“Today, a US federal judge ruled that our government cannot simply kidnap people and hold them beyond the law,” lawyer Ramzi Kassem was quoted as saying by the Washington Post.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7979885.stm

    New standing order to Troops involved in ‘Overseas Contingency Operations’ are to give no quarter to surrendering enemy, armed or otherwise, that are found to be engaging in hostilities or providing support in the commission of man-made disasters.

    And this is the same John Bates who was chair of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. Wonder how many sub-prime mortgages he was responsible for?

    • canary
      April 3, 2009 at 1:39 am

      I read that the U.S. is going to allow the SOS extremist followers of Obama Bin Laden, hold court for muslims and terrorists, namely the gitmo prisoners in U.S. courts. So, they will rule that terrorist actions (I forgot what we call this now, “a man created by his peers or environment?” UK has already been allowing muslims to hold their own courts only in their mosques.
      So, if they do allow the Sharia or Shariah power in American Courts, this could open a major pandora’s box, or a can of worm.s This would mean if a police officer arrests a man for chopping his wives head off, his case would a religious case, his own religion being judge and jury, and it would be determined his wife looked at a man unusually long, and he would be found not guilty. Of if a muslim man takes his wife to civil or criminal court, heard by the SOS then the court could determine, that she be flogged. I would assume Obama’s constant dreams of updating Federal buildings, would create more jobs, for a chamber to whip, or in some cases decapitate a woman who prehaps, was caught wearing pants. These dumbo’s running this country need to realize that this would set a precedence allowing every race’s religion and culture to have the right to their own courts. Jim Baker would have loved it, because, his followers would say they according to Christian belief, all he’d have to say is he is sorry, and he would be forgiven. Then America might have to make some laws as to registering your beliefs or religion, and how long, you’ve been registered prior to an offense. And of course people, could mark more than one religion, up to as many as they want, to fair and non-partial.
      So, considering how many Congressman and Senators are lawyers, I wonder how this is all happening so fast. Where are the makers of law in America not enforcing American citizens rights, but spending all their waking hours fighting for illegal immigrants. There isn’t a Republican or Democrat that will take on the illegal immigration problem, because both parties are looking towards future votes. They know the illegal Mexicans with their fake ID undetectable are voting. There is too much stragedy, and it has come down to it, what will get the most votes.
      Obama’s aunt has no hardship in returning to Kenya. The President of the U.S. could help his Aunt honor our American laws an afford a 1st class plane ticket to send her back to his beloved country. After all, she opened her arms and home to him, and gave him a grand tour of his homeland. So, why can’t he help his Aunt have some dignity and though, while not an American, help her show her respect of America and follow our laws. Her nephew did not follow his dream and run for King of Kenya. And that’s life. He only shows what his sister has said, and that is he grew up with much difficulty in relations with other Afro-Americans, for example pushing that little girl in school, the only other afro-American in his class, so that the white children would like him better. After all those years and his chance to apologize to that little girl, with such publicity, and opportunity, and all the riches he has made exploiting his act of violence and humilation towards a girl, a book that stretches across seas, and instead he wrote of his satisfaction, that he could tell, inspite of what he did to her, that she enjoyed his deadbeat father’s speech.

    • Liberals Demise
      April 3, 2009 at 10:52 am

      Sorry….I retract my statement as it is violent in nature and against the HIVES policy. I stand dumb founded at the idiots who are laying us and our soft belly up to the enemies of our once GREAT NATION!
      My apologies to one and all!

  26. BannedbytheTaliban
    April 2, 2009 at 1:51 pm

    Still waiting for that earthquake:

    From the AP via MarineCorpsTimes:

    Lawmaker: Keep JROTC in San Francisco schools

    The Associated Press
    Posted : Thursday Apr 2, 2009 10:02:49 EDT

    SAN FRANCISCO — A San Francisco state lawmaker is pushing a bill that would keep Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps programs in San Francisco schools.

    Legislation by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma would require the San Francisco Unified School District to offer JROTC to students in grades 9 through 12.

    The bill made it through its first hurdle Wednesday, passing through an Assembly committee.

    The proposal from the San Francisco Democrat comes after the San Francisco Board of Education voted in 2006 to phase out the JROTC program because of its opposition to military recruitment and the military’s policy towards gays and lesbians.

    The phase-out is scheduled to be complete in June.

    http://www.marinecorpstimes.co.....tc_040209/

    Maybe the next man-made disaster will hit San Fran and there won’t be anyone there to help them because of the militaries “opposition toward San Fran’s anti-recruitment and policy towards service men and women.”

    • Liberals Demise
      April 3, 2009 at 10:49 am

      DITTO….I only have to add that it is OUTRIGHT HATRED toward the very Americans who provide the “blanket” of FREEDOM these A**HOLES take for granted.
      Personally I say, “TO HELL WITH THEM!! LET ‘EM ROT!!”

    • jobeth
      April 3, 2009 at 11:43 am

      You know I’ve long wondered where Hell was located. But I believe we have found it.

      I can’t think of any place more likely to be Hell than SF!

      Can you imagine, as a (straight) conservative with common sense, any place to live that would be more likely to fit that discription?

      Yuk!

    • caligirl9
      April 3, 2009 at 2:13 pm

      Hence, I avoid the place like the plague.
      And the mayor of that fine sanctuary city wants to be California governor.
      The little 4.8 earthquake we had here on Monday wasn’t big enough …

  27. BillK
    April 2, 2009 at 5:24 pm

    From Denver’s KUSA Television, Ward Churchill wins his case.

    Churchill wins case, $1 in damages

    By Chris Vanderveen

    DENVER – Former University of Colorado Professor Ward Churchill won his case against the school, but was only awarded $1 in damages by the jury.

    The jury announced it had reached a verdict just before 4 p.m. It was read around 4:20 p.m.

    The jury ruled in Churchill’s favor, deciding that when he was fired in 2007 it was because a majority of CU’s Regents were responding to political pressure stemming from outrage over an essay he wrote after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

    In the essay, he compared Sept. 11 victims inside the World Trade Center towers to an infamous Nazi.

    CU had maintained the ethnic studies professor was dismissed for plagiarism and academic misconduct.

    The jury also ruled Churchill would not have been fired over the plagiarism and academic misconduct allegations alone.

    The jury began its deliberations on Wednesday after hearing the closing arguments from both sides. The jury paused that afternoon and reconvened Thursday to continue deliberating.

    On Thursday afternoon, the jury asked several questions of the judge, one was whether zero dollars was an option for damages in the case.

    Judge Larry Naves, in a written response, told the jury it was not, but indicated a single dollar could constitute a minimal damage award.

    That is what they eventually awarded Churchill.

    In addition, the jury also asked the judge whether, in light of the fact that apparently five of the six jurors have already decided on a dollar amount, could the jury conceivably ask for the lone holdout to be replaced with an alternate juror?

    Judge Naves again said no.

    http://www.9news.com/news/arti.....;catid=339

    So remember kids, you can commit academic fraud and keep your job as a professor for life, just make sure you say something outrageous that you can claim you were fired for first.

    Nice also to see that juries now have made the CU Board of Regents obsolete, as they know better than the regents what constitutes a firing offense.

    Of course the outcome has been effectively known since day one given the hard left make-up of the jury (and, in fact, of most of Denver – remember, these are the same folks who keep reelecting “Let’s kill all babies for their stem cells” Diana DeGette…

  28. proreason
    April 2, 2009 at 5:50 pm

    Hollywood begins to experience Obamanomics. From the Daily Beast:

    Haggling with the Stars

    … You’re Scarlett Johansson. You’re pretty and you’re pretty famous, too. And you’ve just been offered the part of the Black Widow in Iron Man 2! That’s got to be some payday, right?

    How about $250,000, which is what Marvel Studios offered Johansson and Mickey Rourke to be in the film?

    The stars negotiated the number up to something over $400,000. Still, it’s not hard to imagine that even a year ago Johansson could have expected to break seven figures for a role in a big franchise film. It’s a pretty thrifty deal for such a recognizable name.

    If an actor balks at the deal, the studios say they will move to another choice immediately. “They’re not [f****] around,” says the talent representative. “They know exactly who that next person is. Sometimes they’ll tell you.”…

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/b.....the-stars/

    Like mama said………be careful what you ask for.

    Isn’t it ironic that it’s beginning to look like The Moron’s plans don’t include maintaining Hollywood in the style they’ve grown accustomed to? And after they did everything in their power to elect his highness.

    Why, it’s almost as if he only cares for a certain demogracphic, isn’t it? and it ain’t people who want to become wealthy beyond imagination just because of pretty genes and pretending to be someone else.

    • Liberals Demise
      April 3, 2009 at 10:42 am

      Ohole and his people toss the Lame Stream Media under the bus last week and yet they still kiss his a$$, lick his boo boos and paint every little thing he does as greatness…… miracles being preformed and walking on water.
      Have no Gods before me……..I won!!

  29. Diane
    April 2, 2009 at 6:51 pm

    From FOX sports:

    Magazine’s NASCAR prank no laughing matter

    A good April Fool’s Day story makes a reader think, “Is this true?” A bad one this year forced one magazine to yank a story from its Web site and issue an apology.

    Automotive publication Car and Driver did just that after “reporting” on April Fool’s Day that the White House told GM and Chrysler they would have to shut down their NASCAR programs…

    http://msn.foxsports.com/nasca.....;GT1=39002

    I don’t think I need to quote any more of the story. I’m sure the problem is that too many people found it all too believable.

    • pdsand
      April 2, 2009 at 8:22 pm

      In recent news, it was reported that one unwed mother in California gave birth to 8 children, spurring outrage over the fact that all 14 of her children will surely have to be supported on welfare by their fellow taxpayers. Pdsand incorporated has learned that in the very same maternity ward, on the very same day, 8 unwed mothers each gave birth to one child that will surely have to be supported by the public. And the same thing happened the next day, then the next…

  30. proreason
    April 3, 2009 at 11:42 am

    $163,000 Tax Bomb coming. From the WSJ:

    Obama’s $163,000 Tax Bomb
    Families well below the president’s ‘no-tax’ threshold will get a six-figure bill.

    The House and Senate are preparing to pass President Barack Obama’s radical budget blueprint, with only minor modifications, by using (abusing would be more accurate) the budget “reconciliation” process. This process circumvents the Senate’s normal rules requiring 60 votes to prevent a filibuster. Reconciliation was created by Congress in the mid-1970s to enforce deficit reduction, the opposite of what the president and his party are aiming for.
    …
    And all this before dealing with the looming Medicare and Social Security cost explosion.
    …
    We can get a rough idea of who is likely to pay them by distributing this $6.5 trillion of future taxes according to the most recent distribution of income-tax burdens. We know the top 1% or 5% of income-taxpayers pay vastly disproportionate shares of taxes, and much larger shares than their shares of income. But it also turns out that Mr. Obama’s massive additional debt implies a tax hike, if paid today, of well over $100,000 for people with incomes of $150,000, far below Mr. Obama’s tax-hike cut-off of $250,000. (With interest, the tax hike would rise to more than $162,000 in 10 years, and over $20,000 a year if paid annually the following 10 years). In other words, a middle-aged two-career couple in New York or California could get a future tax bill as big as their mortgage.
    …
    These deficits are so large for a prosperous nation in peacetime — three times safe levels — that they would cause the debt burden to soar toward banana republic levels. That’s a recipe for a permanent drag on growth and serious pressure on the Federal Reserve to inflate, not the new era of rising prosperity that Mr. Obama and his advisers foresee.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/.....84927.html

    It’s a complicated article…..but there is a table that calculates the average hit per family at $163,000.

    (Note that the author uses the same technique to predict the impact that I often advocate here…..look at what you pay annually today, and then multiply that sum by the new debt divided by the total annual income taxes paid today.)

    Also note that this is JUST FOR THE NEW BUDGET. It doesn’t include any additional spending for Social Security or Medicare, and it accepts the CBO’s budget figures, which are certainly low. The numbers also assume continuing low interest rates.

    The true number is probably 2 to 5 times as much as $163,000. I will be shocked if the average hit to an average family from Obama’s policies is less than $500,000 over the next 10 years. Yes, I mean that. It will force many into poverty.

    And that doesn’t count what you have lost in your retirement accounts and home values. By the way, the loss in your retirement accounts is much worse than you think. Everything you had there was tax free until you withdraw it…..but you will never be able to replace it because of IRA contribution limits…..so to replace the true value will take highly taxed dollars. To replace a $100,000 IRA loss, you will probably have to earn $150,000 or more.

    The Moron is going to bring you down to the level of his brothers living in South Chicago. He calls it “justice”.

    Of course, his uber-wealthy puppet master won’t be touched, and the brothers living in South Chicago will get what you give.

  31. BannedbytheTaliban
    April 3, 2009 at 2:01 pm

    Democrats are attempting to grab more power for the Governor’s office in North Carolina:

    From WRAL:

    Superintendent: ‘Will of voters has been ignored’

    RALEIGH, N.C. — Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson sued the State Board of Education and Gov. Beverly Perdue on Friday, challenging the constitutionality of state government actions that she claims have taken away much of her power.

    The suit, which she had hinted at for several weeks, is an attempt to regain Atkinson’s authority as chief administrative officer of North Carolina’s public schools.

    …The Board of Education and state lawmakers have been chipping away at the authority of the superintendent’s position for years, and the last straw for Atkinson came in January, when Gov. Beverly Perdue said she wanted her choice for chairman of the board to become chief executive officer of the schools as well.

    …Perdue said she wanted to consolidate power so that she and her appointees would become ultimately responsible for the state’s nearly 1.5 million-student system. She said Atkinson would remain an “ambassador” for the schools.

    http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/4881269/

    The odd thing is that both Perdue and Atkinson are Democrats. I guess not even allies will prevent a Democratic power grab. I can see the motto now “Bigger Government is Smaller Government.” Very Orwellian. And since when can we leave it up to the people to elect people to make decisions. Shouldn’t that all be up to the entrenched oligoarchy that has been controlling the state for over 100 years (there have been only three Republican Governors since 1877).

  32. caligirl9
    April 3, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    I am surprised that we aren’t talking about this rapidly evolving story:

    At least 12 people, gunman dead in New York shootings
    A lone gunman killed at least 12 people and himself Friday in an immigration

    The gunman carried identification that said he was 42 and from upstate New York, the official said…
    The shootings began about 10:30 a.m. ET at the American Civic Association, which helps immigrants and refugees, a law enforcement source said.
    More than a dozen people were wounded, and 20 to 40 people may have been taken hostage, the source said…
    The American Civic Association helps immigrants and refugees with a number of issues, including personal counseling, resettlement, citizenship and reunification, and provides interpreters and translators, according to the United Way of Broome County, which is affiliated with the association…

    http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/.....index.html

    I don’t condone killing, I really don’t. But there are people who are sick to death of this nation’s immigrant problem, and it will be interesting to learn what the shooter was angry about.

    Because my friends, I can’t say that I blame that anger.

    • jobeth
      April 3, 2009 at 6:13 pm

      My heart and prayers go out to the families of the slain, injured and traumatized. We don’t know the details of this tragedy yet so a lot needs to be explained in the next weeks.

      However, that being said, I am counting the minutes until we hear the first “Ban the Guns!” trash coming out from those who will use this horrible event to further their stupid cause.

      We know it’s coming. Its just about how fast.

      As we all know, “Never waste a good crisis” Their words not ours.

      So very sad. For the innocent and even for the guy who for what ever reason “lost it”. He’s been a working stiff until layoffs came, so who knows why he did it. I can’t say.

      But we law abiding stable people who don’t use our guns to kill others out of frustration will have one more hurdle to clear in keeping our arms due to this.

      Watch! It’s just a matter of time.

  33. BillK
    April 3, 2009 at 6:17 pm

    Wisconsin’s Governor Doyle believes not enough people are on welfare.

    From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

    Doyle proposes loosening rules of W-2 program

    By Steve Schultze

    Gov. Jim Doyle wants an overhaul of the state’s landmark W-2 program – a proposal that’s provoking sharply different reactions.

    Advocates for the poor see the changes Doyle included in his 2009-’11 budget as a long-overdue loosening of stringent rules that discouraged clients, while others said the revisions would gut the welfare reform program that was supposed to be only a temporary way station for down-on-their-luck families.

    The governor’s plan would loosen the time limit on benefits in the Wisconsin Works program; grant mothers of newborns up to 24 weeks of paid leave; and ease penalties for program infractions. Doyle would also allow participants to spend more time in school while collecting benefits.

    “It really seems we’re going backwards,” said state Rep. Robin Vos (R-Caledonia).

    Doyle’s plan could return the program to more of what welfare was like before the launch of W-2, Vos said. The looser rules could encourage “a considerable number of people to stay on the dole” for extended periods, he said.

    But W-2 client advocates heralded the changes, saying the program enacted under Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson often treated clients unfairly and forced them out of the program before they received the job training they needed.

    State Rep. Tamara Grigsby (D-Milwaukee) welcomed the changes but said they didn’t go far enough.

    “They are a positive first step in what is, in my opinion, a fundamentally flawed program,” said Grigsby, chairwoman of the Assembly Committee on Children and Families. The revisions are especially important as the recession deepens and likely boosts caseloads, she said.

    The changes are aimed at reducing administrative time spent monitoring rule compliance and increasing the effectiveness of training for W-2 clients, said Erika Monroe-Kane, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Children and Families.

    The revisions should increase flexibility in the program, but also impose key accountability measures, Monroe-Kane said. For example, even though the governor is seeking to do away with benefit cuts for missing work or training appointments, he’s also creating a new rule that allows participants to be kicked out of the program.

    The program pays participants up to $673 a month and also provides child-care aid. …

    http://www.jsonline.com/news/w.....67232.html

    So “Wisconsin Works” goes back to “Wisconsin sits on its fat butt and gets paid to do so.”

    Not to mention to reproduce as much as possible:

    Six months of benefits for mothers of newborns without training or work requirements, double the current paid pregnancy leave in the program. Monroe-Kane said the newborn caretaker benefit expansion was important for family stability during “a very sensitive period.” Vos said it was overly generous, far greater than what most private employers allow. The governor also is proposing to waive work requirements for W-2 women with problem pregnancies during the three months before a baby is born.

    So if you have a baby while on welfare you get six months of free cash without having to do anything, and of course more money because you’ve now got a child to support.

    Ka-ching!

  34. BillK
    April 3, 2009 at 6:23 pm

    Iowa’s the latest to fall.

    From a delighted AP:

    Iowa Supreme Court legalizes gay marriage, making state first in heartland to do so

    By Amy Lorentzen

    DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s Supreme Court legalized gay marriage Friday in a unanimous and emphatic decision that makes Iowa the third state – and first in the nation’s heartland – to allow same-sex couples to wed.

    Iowa joins only Massachusetts and Connecticut in permitting same-sex marriage. For six months last year, California’s high court allowed gay marriage before voters banned it in November.

    The Iowa justices upheld a lower-court ruling that rejected a state law restricting marriage to a union between a man and woman.

    The county attorney who defended the law said he would not seek a rehearing. The only recourse for opponents appeared to be a constitutional amendment, which could take years to ratify.

    “We are firmly convinced the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective,” the Supreme Court wrote.

    Iowa lawmakers have “excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification.”

    To issue any other decision, the justices said, “would be an abdication of our constitutional duty.”

    The Iowa attorney general’s office said gay and lesbian couples can seek marriage licenses starting April 24, once the ruling is considered final.

    Des Moines attorney Dennis Johnson, who represented gay and lesbian couples, said “this is a great day for civil rights in Iowa.”

    At a news conference announcing the decision, he thanked the plaintiffs and said, “Go get married, live happily ever after, live the American dream.”

    Plaintiff Kate Varnum, 34, introduced her partner, Trish Varnum, as “my fiance.”

    “I never thought I’d be able to say that,” she said, fighting back tears.

    Jason Morgan, 38, said he and his partner, Chuck Swaggerty, adopted two sons, confronted the death of Swaggerty’s mother and endured a four-year legal battle as plaintiffs.

    “If being together though all of that isn’t love and commitment or isn’t family or marriage, then I don’t know what is,” Morgan said. “We are very happy with the decision today and very proud to live in Iowa.”

    In its ruling, the Supreme Court upheld an August 2007 decision by a judge who found that a state law limiting marriage to a man and a woman violates the constitutional rights of equal protection.

    The Polk County attorney’s office claimed that Judge Robert Hanson’s ruling violated the separation of powers and said the issue should be left to the Legislature. …

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s.....Y_MARRIAGE

    Really, I’m surprised the Obama Administration hasn’t legalized this nationwide by federal dictate yet.

  35. canary
    April 3, 2009 at 7:02 pm

    From Homeland Security
    http://www.nationalterroralert.....ning-camp/

    9/11 WTC bombing Terrorist suspect who was released without being charged, has been rearrested. Faisal Mostafa was under guise owning a Charity Worker Orphanage

    UPDATE: Faisal Mostafa, of Stockport, Greater Manchester, who was acquitted in 2002 of being part of an al-Qaeda bomb plot, was arrested on Wednesday night in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, an officer said.

    Captain Shafiul Alam, of the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), told The Times that Dr Mostafa, 45, who has a chemistry degree and a PhD in metals corrosion, was detained along with his “agent”, a Bangladeshi citizen. “They are charged with illegally keeping arms, explosive and ammunition, and with militancy and terrorism.”

    ——

    A British charity worker twice cleared of terror charges in this country is being hunted in Bangladesh after explosives were seized at an orphanage he founded.
    Security forces there claimed last night that the orphanage set up by Dr Faisal Mostafa, from Stockport, was in fact an arms factory and terrorist training camp.
    Mostafa ran Green Crescent, a charity that provided humanitarian aid to families in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

    The Charity Commission, which awarded it charity status in 2004, last night launched an inquiry. Its chief executive, Andrew Hind, said: ‘The matter is of serious concern to us.’Mostafa, who has a PhD in chemistry from Manchester Polytechnic, was known to security forces in Britain, having been cleared of conspiracy to cause explosions with intent to endanger life at Birmingham Crown Court in 2002.

    Six years earlier, he had been cleared at Manchester Crown Court of involvement in a bomb plot campaign.In July last year he was caught at Manchester Airport trying to board a plane to Bangladesh with a pistol and bullet parts in his luggage.The father-of-three was given a suspended sentence. On Monday Bangladeshi security forces raided the orphanage Mostafa set up and the attached Muslim school on the remote island of Bhola in South Bangladesh.

    In July last year he was caught at Manchester Airport trying to board a plane to Bangladesh with a pistol and bullet parts in his luggage.

    The father-of-three was given a suspended sentence. On Monday Bangladeshi security forces raided the orphanage Mostafa set up and the attached Muslim school on the remote island of Bhola in South Bangladesh.

    Lieutenant Colonel Munir Haque, from the Rapid Action Battalion, said: ‘We found small arms about nine or 10 in total plus equipment to make small arms, about 3,000 rounds of ammunition, two walkie-talkies, two remote control devices and four sets of army uniforms.

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