From the oh-so serious and gravitas-laden Palin-hater, David Brooks:

The Other Education By DAVID BROOKS
Published: November 26, 2009

Like many of you, I went to elementary school, high school and college. I took such and such classes, earned such and such grades, and amassed such and such degrees.

But on the night of Feb. 2, 1975, I turned on WMMR in Philadelphia and became mesmerized by a concert the radio station was broadcasting. The concert was by a group I’d never heard of — Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Thus began a part of my second education…

We don’t usually think of this second education. For reasons having to do with the peculiarities of our civilization, we pay a great deal of attention to our scholastic educations, which are formal and supervised, and we devote much less public thought to our emotional educations, which are unsupervised and haphazard. This is odd, since our emotional educations are much more important to our long-term happiness and the quality of our lives.

I feel so betrayed. I thought David’s crusade against Sarah Palin was based on his worship of the Obama “brain trust” and all those Ivy League degrees. Now all of a sudden it seems his Ivymania has dissipated, and he has discovered the value of ….. “common-sense conservatives”? Could it be? Will he apologize to Gov. Palin any time soon for calling her an under-educated and incurious “cancer”?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11.....ks.html?em

Bobby

SHAMEFUL: 16,000 UNPROCESSED FILES OF VETS WITH THE V.A.

By Dr. Laurie Roth
November 27, 2009
NewsWithViews.com

We are apparently still at war with our troops and veterans when they come home from war. Apparently it is not enough for them to bravely fight for their country and to come back mangled and needing major help. For decades now the VA (Veterans Administration) has grown into a disorganized, unaccountable monster of non- representation to our vets in dire need of treatment. It has become an unbelievable, bureaucratic nightmare.

This week my blood pressure went through the roof when I interviewed Dick Phenneger a retired businessman and vet who had reviewed thousands of pages of veterans documents only to discover an enormous, not talked about sea of betrayal to our troops, not just recently but several decades back. He found and verified among other things that a Detroit regional office turned in 16,000 pieces of unprocessed mail and 717 unprocessed documents that had been sent to storage without any review. In another investigation many documents were actually found in shredding bins not in one office but several regional offices. The VA has a habit of saying “we don’t have your records.” NOW WE CERTAINLY KNOW WHY!

It also came to my horrified attention that Veterans are required to complete a 23 page application with endless details required for even the most basic disability and loss. As we speak, according to Phenneger’s exhaustive and accurate research http://www.veteranservicestransparency.org even the application process to get help (before the VA often loses the file), is a quagmire of legal documents and forms designed to confuse and discourage. Just think of a sick or injured vet trying to get help with the VA and finding an absurd amount of paperwork just to begin the process of getting help.

Then like many thousands, finding that they have lost your file and turned you down for care again and again. I found in my review of this topic that a good chunk of those that are homeless, you know that homeless, drunk looking long haired vet hanging out under the bridge, we just assume is a Viet Nam Vet….well guess what, most of them had their applications for help turned down by the VA. For others the YES for getting help was so long in waiting that their life was in ruins anyway.

Just when I thought I was losing it, it got even worse. The VA has set up an internal award system where they actually award employees who “dispose” of claims rapidly. Phenneger found in his digging that this causes in most cases an automatic denial of veteran’s first claim and in most cases a denial for a second or third attempt for help. The records from hell speak for themselves! 70% of claims taken to the Veterans Claims Court are sent back to VA for more work or to be redone. Isn’t that special? Turn a claim down so you can build a big bonus. Money talks and service apparently rots!

As is typical bureaucracy that is out of control and poorly run, most the big shot leaders think things are just fine. Michael Walcoff, the VA Deputy Undersecretary for Benefits talks about needing a system in place that holds employees accountable. There is apparently no accountability to give medical attention desperately and quickly needed by our vets.

It is sadly and vividly clear that the VA needs a total overhaul and confrontation by the Department of Defense and congress! We all must have a zero tolerance policy for anything but speedy and clear treatment offered to our Vets. They must also redesign the application to a sane 5 or under pages, not 23 pages of idiot legal documents and forms, designed to blow off Vets.

Under Dick Phenneger’s fine leadership, Veteran Services Transparency inc. http://www.veteranservicestransparency.org plans to inform the public about this betrayal and problem that has been building for years with the VA and explore solutions and action. They intend to expose those who are responsible, provide supporting documents and explore many solutions including lawsuits if necessary. They intend to send a letter and demand that those who destroyed veteran claims be held accountable and those who allowed such conduct be terminated. If they do not get an acceptable response within 10 days legal action will be initiated with their supportive law firm DLA Piper.

When a service person takes an oath to serve their country, takes heat and comes home battered, they expect and need real care that was promised to them not autocratic bull rot, turn downs and delays!!! This cannot stand. We owe much more to our troops!

http://www.newswithviews.com/Roth/laurie191.htm

***
I have been saying here on this site (S&L) than one only needs to look at the Veterans Administration to see what Obama Health Scare would look like and how efficient it would be. The proof is here………..need there be more?

We Veterans have paid in full and this is our reward.
Be afraid……….Be very afraid!!

Guerrilla stings of ACORN don’t meet standards of journalism

By James Rainey

It’s been two months since a couple of young political guerrillas made a splash with a series of hidden-camera videos about the liberal social service organization ACORN.

Now agents provocateurs James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles have released their latest installment via the Internet and Sean Hannity’s program on Fox News, with the promise that there could be more to come.

Fans of O’Keefe and Giles — and they have many on the political right — describe them as heroes. They win cheers at conservative gatherings. Hannity said last week that they deserved a journalism award.

The duo certainly has caused a stir — and raised questions about an organization that in the past had received substantial government funding — but, sorry folks, please don’t call this journalism.

That profession has been under considerable attack and retrenching in the face of daunting economic forces, but it still attempts to live by a set of standards. That includes getting a fair representation of all sides.

Giles and O’Keefe have made no bones about living by a different code. Giles, 20, advised a recent leadership conference for young conservatives on how to take down liberal groups. “Above all, attack, attack, attack,” she urged the enthusiastic crowd. “Never defend.”

O’Keefe, 25, told the Washington Post that he had grown furious at ACORN (Assn. of Community Organizations for Reform Now) after viewing a YouTube video of workers from the group breaking off the locks of foreclosed homes and barging inside. He said in an interview that the deception involved in video stings is warranted if it exposes what he believes are greater evils.

Armed with that zeal and a hidden video camera, O’Keefe and Giles visited a series of ACORN offices this summer, with the scantily clad young woman presenting herself as a prostitute and O’Keefe often posing as her boyfriend.

The duo presented ACORN employees with outlandish scenarios, including one about starting a house of prostitution with underage immigrant girls and then hiding the source of the income so O’Keefe could one day use some of the money to run for political office.

I wrote a couple of months ago that “no mitigating factors can explain away the behavior of pathetically accommodating ACORN workers (some since terminated) captured on some of the video.” The employees went along with the unsavory and illegal proposals. As I wrote: “Here’s how to conceal your prostitution income! How about cutting your taxes by claiming those underage immigrants as dependents!” I reach the same conclusion today that I did then: “Not pretty.”

The coverage of the ACORN “stings” has centered on the videos and replies from the organization. ACORN leaders argued that the interactions were taken out of context and that mitigating events were edited out of the final videos.

As has been noted previously, the response from ACORN employees was not so uniformly compliant as the videographers have implied. Workers in a couple of offices called police after the stings to report, or inquire how to handle, the unusual visitors. An employee at an Inland Empire ACORN office responded by spinning out a wild fantasy of her own (describing how she murdered her ex-husband), suggesting she had played the undercover players.

Despite all that, anti-ACORN activists previously have insisted that none of the organization’s employees demonstrated any qualms about the corrupt proposals. Yet last week, in the newest ACORN video, O’Keefe shows an employee at one of the group’s L.A. offices and says he “wouldn’t offer us any help.” (When I asked about the apparent discrepancy, O’Keefe claimed that even this worker’s actions were equivocal.)

Who knows what we might find — either damaging or benefiting ACORN’s image — if we could see the unedited video of these encounters? The raw material could be posted on YouTube for all to see. …

http://www.latimes.com/news/lo.....974.column

Where are the calls for 60 Minutes to post their raw material for all to see?

How about the raw interview material from Katie Couric’s interview with Sarah Palin?

Did Dan Rather interview Mr. Bush on the National Guard piece?

Didn’t think so.

Uh, yeah.

From the Boulder, CO Daily Camera:

Boulder Valley teachers reject contract offer, again

By Vanessa Miller

Teachers across the Boulder Valley School District have voted to reject a contract offer that included a 1 percent cost-of-living raise, meaning the possibility of a strike continues.

Boulder Valley School District administrators were hoping that an impasse with the teachers’ union was finally over, after months of stalled negotiations. But those hopes were dashed Friday evening, when the union announced that its members rejected the tentative agreement.

The rejection of the school district’s offer — which included a 1 percent pay raise, extra teacher work days and additional stipends for some employees — extends the longest impasse over teacher compensation in recent Boulder Valley history.

“In rejecting this offer again, the members are saying they refuse to be the district’s last priority,” union President Melissa Tingley said in a news release. “They want the new school board to work with them to ensure that the district keeps its high quality teachers who are key to student achievement.”

In September, the teachers’ union threatened to strike if the district didn’t show movement toward a “professional salary schedule,” which would have increased starting pay and rewarded teacher education. Teachers have picketed outside schools, called in sick in groups, leafleted the community about their cause and “worked to contract,” meaning they quit working after class.

Union leaders turned down the 1 percent pay raise in September, but they decided to put it to a vote of the 1,500-some members last week when district officials made it clear they weren’t going to improve their offer, Tingley said.

“Teachers and district employees are angry and frustrated,” Tingley said. “This year’s contract negotiations were filled with disrespect and ultimatums. The collaborative process that we once enjoyed in this district has been destroyed.” …

http://www.dailycamera.com/sch.....i_13835978

While thousands of those who pay their salaries go unemployed, teachers reject a raise.

Nice.

A 1 percent cost of living raise. Despite the fact that – whoops! – the cost of living fell this year.

“I think this sends a message that teachers aren’t willing to settle for a take-it-or-leave-it offer,” Peoples said. “We want to be considered higher on the budget priority scale.”

Perhaps teachers need to take a look outside their insular worlds and see what’s actually going on in the world for once.

Nah…

From Fox News:

From ‘Rogue’ Politician to Best-Selling Author: Defining Sarah Palin’s ‘It Factor’

By Allison McGevna

While Sarah Palin is hardly the first politician to release a memoir, in many ways, the enthusiastic response to the former Alaska governor’s “Going Rogue: An American Life” boasts a story like no other.

Since the announcement of its impending release months ago, numbers for “Going Rogue” have been remarkable. Harper Collins initially announced a first printing of 1.5 million copies, half a million more than the first printing of Hillary Clinton’s long-anticipated memoir, “Living History.” But by last Friday, just three days after its release, the publisher announced it would increase those numbers by 1 million.

By Tuesday morning, the Associated Press, which had assigned a whopping 11 reporters to fact-check the book, announced that it had sold 700,000 copies in its first week alone, trailing the first-week sales of Bill Clinton’s “My Life” by just 200,000 units. And if sales weren’t telling enough, Palin’s appearance on “Oprah” in support of “Rogue” earned the talk-show giant her highest ratings in two years.

Indeed, in just a week alone, it seems Palin’s already massive celebrity has soared to even greater heights. At just 44 years old, with less than two years in the national political spotlight, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee is the politician of whom America cannot seem to get enough.

So what is it about Palin — a less-than-one-term former governor from Alaska — that makes her such a star?

“Sarah Palin is a celebrity by virtue of her meteoric rise to fame,” says Fraser Seitel, a public relations professor and managing partner of the communications firm Emerald Partners. “Celebrity sells in this country, and she has the ‘it factor’ that makes people watch her. She is controversial, and controversy sells. And she is a firebrand; she has many qualities that make her incredibly appealing.”

But controversy and strong convictions aren’t all that set her apart, says image expert Marian Salzman, president of Euro RSCG Worldwide Public Relations. “Sarah Palin’s packaging is sublime. Her appearance has had an extraordinary effect on her popularity. …

http://www.foxnews.com/enterta.....ns-factor/

The standard dismissal of Palin as a packaged flash in the pan – then the Republicans jump in:

But while Palin will always be a draw due to her appearance, Republican strategist Steve Castleton says she has to further hone her arguments if she wants to be a potent political force.

“What gets her in the door is that she is eye candy,” Castleton said. “She is using her appearance to get shows and notoriety, something Hillary didn’t have the option to do. Hillary couldn’t be on the cover of a magazine in running shorts, but Hillary did have her politics and her comments to stand on, which is what Palin will need if she is going to go on and be successful as a politician.

“People will go see her because she is gorgeous, but they will only vote for her if she has substance. Is she the kind of leader to whom America can turn in the wake of tragedies and wars, or will she be spending too much time on her hair and her outfit? She will need to show that she is prepared and knowledgeable and has a strong team behind her.”

Remind me again why the GOP hasn’t seen a single dime from me since 2004?

From Fox News:

Maryland Could Adjust State Insurance Plan to Meet Mammography Guidelines

By Sharmina Manandhar

Maryland may update its state-provided insurance plan to reduce coverage for mammograms, based on new and controversial recommendations released by a federal panel last week.

The Maryland Health Insurance Plan, which covers high-risk individuals unable to get health insurance from other sources, usually follows the recommendations by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, said Rex Cowdry, executive director of the Maryland Health Care Commission.

The task force last week recommended that women should have routine mammography every two years starting at age 50 instead of having it yearly at age 40. In a report published last week in the medical journal, “Annals of Internal Medicine,” the USPSTF also recommended against teaching women self-breast examination, citing anxiety and unnecessary tests and treatments caused by false alarms.

The task force, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, is an independent panel of experts in primary care and prevention, but does not include any breast surgeons or oncologists. The recommendations, which came amid the health care debate in Congress, have led to speculation that the government and the insurance companies might stop covering the preventive service.

Cowdry said changes to the state plan, if any, won’t be effective until July 1.

However, the guidelines could affect future policies, he said.

“If we are going to spend 16 percent of the GDP wisely, we will have to follow where the evidence leads,” Cowdry said, referring to the nation’s health care spending. …

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

See? Why was anyone concerned?

What’s a few hundred thousand dead women if it saves millions of dollars?

Cuba Launches Military Exercises Designed to Guard Against U.S. Invasion

HAVANA — Cuba’s armed forces launched three days of intense military exercises across the island Thursday, a mobilization that state-controlled media says is designed to guard against an American invasion.

Americans focused on a U.S. military assault more likely are thinking about how President Barack Obama will pursue war in Afghanistan — not Cuba. But the siege mentality of the Cold War hasn’t faded on the island, where the communist government continues to warn about imperialist aggression and the menace from the north.

The exercises, which run through Saturday, are the first since President Raul Castro took over from his brother Fidel in February 2008 — and since relations between Havana and Washington began to thaw somewhat under Obama.

The U.S. leader has loosened financial and travel restrictions on Cuba. The two countries have begun negotiations on restarting direct mail service, and there is talk of future cooperation on counter-narcotics and disaster relief, among other things.

More than the specifics, officials on both sides speak of a new tone between Havana and Washington that has made further progress a possibility. …

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,577124,00.html

Of course there’s no way Mr. Obama would ever invade Cuba, unless perhaps they threatened to convert from Communism to a market economy.

From a deeply sympathetic Associated Press:

Palestinians Appeal to U.S. to Put Pressure on Israel

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinians appealed to the United States on Thursday to raise pressure on Israel, saying an Israeli plan to halt new construction in the West Bank was insincere.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top presidential adviser, said he hopes U.S. envoy George Mitchell can bring about what he called “a real peace process” that would halt all settlement construction. Mitchell is expected in the region soon in his latest attempt to bring the sides back to the negotiating table.

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a 10-month halt to new construction in West Bank settlements as a step toward restarting Mideast peace negotiations.

The Palestinians swiftly rejected the plan because it did not include a building freeze in Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem, the sector of the city they want as the capital of a future state, and because it would not apply to some 3,000 homes already under construction.

“Netanyahu’s declaration yesterday doesn’t signal any intention of Israel to go through a genuine and serious peace process because it doesn’t include a serious settlement freeze,” Abed Rabbo said. …

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,577131,00.html

Those sneaky Israelis!

As a reminder:

Israel captured east Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it, a step no nation has recognized. Trying to cement its claim, Israel built new quarters around east Jerusalem, where 180,000 Israelis now live. Palestinians denounce them as settlements, but Israel considers them neighborhoods.

You know, the war in which Israel was attacked?

Web Site Publishes 9/11 Pager Messages

By Lily Fu

Messages that people sent each other via pagers during the Sept. 11 attacks were released Wednesday by the non-profit activist group WikiLeaks.

The messages were sent by first responders, victims of the attack as well as family members checking on their loved ones.

“We’re under another ‘terrorist’ attack in New York City at the World Trade buildings!!!” said one message sent at 9:11 a.m. “It’s horrible. Two planes crash into the top floors of each building.”

“Honey wanted to tell you how much I love you,” another message said. “I was a little worried. I don’t want to lose you now that I got you back. You mean everything to me. You have my whole heart and life. I love you so much.”

“Life is changing — so are our plans — call me when you get a chance,” a third message said.

The WikiLeaks 9/11 page indicates that half a million pager messages will be posted from 3 a.m. EST on Nov. 25 until 3 a.m. EST on Nov. 26. The messages cover the 24-hour period surrounding the Sept. 11 attacks. WikiLeaks said that the intent of the project was to document history. “The archive is a completely objective record of the defining moment of our time. We hope that its entrance into the historical record will lead to a nuanced understanding of how this event led to death, opportunism and war,” it said on its Web site .

USA Mobility, a pager company, told MSNBC that it was troubled to see that the messages had been intercepted and published. It writes that a WikiLeaks spokesperson said the messages were given to the group anonymously. …

http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/new.....9193766412

Gee, I wonder what the ideology of WikiLeaks is?

We hope that its entrance into the historical record will lead to a nuanced understanding of how this event led to death, opportunism and war

Enough said.

They aren’t reducing emission per capita or net emissions. They are reducing emisions relative to the GDP, because the GDP is increasing far more rapidly than the emissions.

It’s a function of GDP. It has little if anything to do with the rate of emissions.

They are promising something that will happen anyway. It’s unavoidable.

China Vows to Dramatically Slow Emissions Growth

BEIJING — China promised Thursday to slow its carbon emissions, saying it would nearly halve the ratio of pollution to GDP over the next decade — a major move by the world’s largest emitter, whose cooperation is crucial to any deal as a global climate summit approaches.

Beijing’s voluntary pledge comes a day after President Barack Obama promised the U.S. would lay out plans at the summit to substantially cut its own greenhouse gas emissions. Together, the announcements are building momentum for next month’s meeting in Copenhagen.

But environmental experts warned that China’s plan does not commit it to reducing emissions — and that they will in fact continue to increase, though at a slower rate.

With the United States now offering specifics — reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 — China seemed to follow its lead.

China pledged Thursday to cut “carbon intensity,” a measure of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product, by 40 to 45 percent by 2020, compared with levels in 2005. Beijing also said Premier Wen Jiabao will take part in the Copenhagen meeting.

“There’s no question their carbon emissions would continue to grow under this scenario,” said Charlie McElwee, an international environmental and energy lawyer based in Shanghai. “This isn’t by any means an agreement by China to either cap, much less reduce, the amount of its carbon emissions. It’s only slowing down the rate at which emissions are growing.”

If China did nothing and its economy doubles in size as expected in coming years, its emissions would likely double as well. Thursday’s pledge means emissions would only increase by 50 percent in such a scenario.

Environmental groups and leaders largely welcomed China’s move.

“Before Copenhagen, we desperately need this good news,” said Yu Jie, head of policy and research programs for The Climate Group China, a non-governmental group. She described China’s 45 percent target as “quite aggressive.” …

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,577127,00.html

So the bigger question is why the ChiComs are bothering…

See, this should quiet those right-wing conspiracy theories about those “fake” emails…

From Fox News:

Plan to Restrict Health Accounts Will Hurt the Disabled, Critics Warn

By Judson Berger

Families with special-needs children and people with chronic illnesses stand to lose hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in tax benefits under proposed health care reform legislation, critics say, warning that a plan to cap the amount of money people can put into special “flexible spending” health accounts will have “cruel” and “unintended consequences.”

The Senate and House health care bills both include a revenue-raising provision that would cap at $2,500 the amount of money workers can put into flexible spending accounts. The accounts, used by millions, allow workers to store pre-tax dollars to cover out-of-pocket health care expenses during the year.

Many employers set a cap on contributions at about $5,000, according to Save Flexible Spending Plans, a group formed by benefits providers over the summer to lobby against the changes. Federal government workers are subject to a $5,000 limit, and most state governments impose a $3,000-$6,000 cap. But legally there is currently no cap across the board.

The change is projected to bring in about $15 billion over the next decade by limiting the pre-tax dollar savings, but critics say it could have devastating effects on families that rely on flexibile spending accounts to pay for health care expenses that are not covered by their insurance policies.

“It’s really become kind of a revenue grab rather than good sound health policy,” said Jody Dietel, chief compliance officer for WageWorks, a company that helps administer the accounts. She is also executive director of Save Flexible Spending Plans.

Dietel said her group has succeeded in convincing Congress not to eliminate the accounts altogether, an idea that was floated, but is still pushing to raise the cap to $5,000. The group also wants the Senate bill to make sure the cap is adjusted for inflation. …

http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....tics-warn/

Once again, the lie is put to Mr. Obama’s “keeping your current health care plan” statement.

The administration’s position on this is clear:

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities suggested eliminating the accounts altogether when the health care reform debate was kicking into high gear over the summer.

“FSAs encourage the overconsumption of health care, which runs directly counter to a critical goal of health care reform,” the group said in a study, arguing that other health care reform provisions that limit out-of-pocket expenses would make FSAs less important anyway.

Read: It’s the government, not you that determines what health care spending is “necessary.”

Those of you who don’t fit the government’s definitions can just go slink off into a corner and die, or live an otherwise miserable life. You’re just not that important.

The push for the cap came from the Senate Finance Committee, and the cap eventually made its way into both the full House and Senate bills. A representative for Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., could not be reached for comment.

Indeed, why should he be available? It’s not like he or the rest of the Democrats actually give a damn about people.

——————Father Upset Over Sons Denial—————————

By Katie Nilsson

ROCKFORD (WREX) – Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signs a new bill, that helps servicemen and women hurt in the war. But a local dad is upset and says the law is unclear, after finding out his son doesn’t qualify.

The bill says service members deployed after September 11th of 2001 can apply for state grants, if they’re injured. The confusion, is over when those injuries happen, and what makes soldiers eligible.

Bill Graves’ son Lucas joined the Army in 2004. In 2006 he was sent over to Iraq, then was sent back to Afghanistan in 2008. During his second tour overseas, he hurt his hand when an improvised explosive device went off. Bill heard about this new law signed by Governor Pat Quinn over the weekend, and thought his son would be eligible. “It came across as they were taking care of Illinois veterans and actually they’re not.”

The bill makes servicemen and women hurt in the war eligible for a $5,000 grant from the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund.

But Major Brad Leighton says, since it just became a law, people hurt before the bill was signed, don’t qualify. “It’s a good thing going forward but it does not cover those going back to September 11th and the reason for that is, is the money is just not there.

Bill understands the state has money problems, but still feels like it should take care of vets. “Obviously people are trying to set up programs for them, they want to take advantage of it and the veterans should take advantage of any program given to him but again, here’s another thing where people go to apply, and it isn’t what they say it is.”

Sergeant Graves does have full use of his hand now. He’s in Alabama, and doesn’t get out of the service until 2010. *********END**********
http://www.wrex.com/Global/story.asp?S=11561561

Why bother to have something for the Veterans if it does not include “ALL” Veterans since 9/11/01.
To exclude anyone is a poor excuse and needs to be examined again.

A Hezbollah political official and his son-in-law sought this year to smuggle 1,200 machine guns from the United States to the militant Islamist group via Syria, according to indictments made public Tuesday against 10 men in federal court in Philadelphia.

Hassan Hodroj and Dib Hani Harb, both of Beirut, were among four men accused of conspiring to support Hezbollah,… list of terrorist groups, U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy of Philadelphia said.

Harb, Moussa Ali Hamdan of Brooklyn and Hasan Antar Karaki of Beirut were also charged …., with Hamdan acting as a U.S.-based conduit to a confidential government witness based in Philadelphia.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....03448.html

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving! I do hope all of you have a chance to spend today with people you love….and think of our troops “over there” who are giving us this opportunity. The deserve the “thanks” for what they are “giving” us.

The White House’s unprecedented use of ‘unprecedented’

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politi.....tico/29896

Carol E. Lee Carol E. Lee – Wed Nov 25, 12:54 am ET

The Obama White House is addicted to the “unprecedented.”

Perhaps it was a sign when President Barack Obama sat down in January to record his first weekly address and announced: “We begin this year and this administration in the midst of an unprecedented crisis that calls for unprecedented action.”

What has followed is declaration after declaration of “unprecedented” milestones. Some of them are legitimate firsts, like the president’s online town hall at the White House in May.

But others the president wins merely on a technicality, and several clearly already have precedents.

The White House’s announcement of its unprecedented — “a first by an American president visiting China” — town hall meeting with students in Beijing, for instance, drew a collective eye roll in certain circles back home, namely among former aides to President George W. Bush, who had already been grumbling about Obama’s carefree application of “unprecedented.”

“I think I attended a town hall with President Bush in China,” former Bush adviser Karen Hughes quipped with a laugh, recalling a 2002 Bush speech in Beijing at which he took questions from the audience. “I thought: Were they asleep? Or were they dreaming? I remember standing and watching President Bush engage in a town hall that I believe was televised.”

President Bill Clinton also took questions from Chinese students at an event during a trip to the country in 1998, then did a radio call-in show in Shanghai the next day.

The White House’s characterization of Obama’s Beijing town hall mirrored the description staff gave Obama’s address to students on the first day of school, which the Education Department called “historic.” Yet President George H.W. Bush delivered an address to students, as did President Ronald Reagan. Maybe it was the streaming online video of Obama’s speech to students that was unprecedented?

Either way, for a president whose approach to exaggerated critiques of his administration is to “call ‘em out” and who has made an issue of forcing corporate America to expose the fine print, one wonders whether his use of “unprecedented” would pass his own litmus test.

I would say more like “un-president-ed”

However, when I start reading more and more articles in the MSM that are somewhat critical of the boy, I can’t help but hope this is change I can believe in. Tonight, even CBS was criticizing where and how congress plans on getting money.

So maybe the pendulum has reached the end of it’s swing and is in the null phase just before it starts to swing the other way….maybe.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....fghanistan

From the AP:

Obama to unveil plan to add troops in Afghanistan

By ANNE GEARAN, AP National Security Writer – 16 mins ago

WASHINGTON – War-weary Americans will support more fighting in Afghanistan once they understand the perils of losing, President Barack Obama declared Tuesday, announcing he was ready to spell out war plans virtually sure to include tens of thousands more U.S. troops.

That one statement speaks volumes. “understand the perils of losing”.

To me, this means that his original intent was, and may still be, to pull out while saving face for himself. However, it smells a lot of the possibility that he has been hammered soundly by the military leaders about what pulling out means. why it should not and must not be done and why going after the terrorists is more important than ever.

I’m sure he hates the whole idea because he likes to fight with meaningless words, rather than picking up a piece and standing a post. Coward that he is. And what’s worse, he’s a sniveling little whiny but clever coward.

He is expected to make his case to the nation in a Tuesday night speech, even as the military completes plans to begin sending in reinforcements in the spring.

Eight years after the Sept. 11 attacks led the U.S. into Afghanistan, Obama said it is still in America’s vital national interest to “dismantle and destroy” al-Qaida terrorists and extremist allies. “I intend to finish the job,” he said.

Heh, he has no idea what a “job” is.

Obama said he would announce after Thanksgiving his decision on additional troops, and military, congressional and other sources said the occasion would be a Tuesday night televised speech laying out his plans for expanding the Afghan conflict — and then ultimately ending America’s military role.

….”and I’m not doing this because my poll numbers are in the toilet…and heading for the sewer….fast…..No, I’m doing this because I (once again) want to invite the conservative radical right-wing teabaggers to dissect everything I say and translate it so it can be understood”

Indeed, every time he appears on TV, he takes a hit in the polls. So, I’m all for it. I don’t watch anyway, I prefer old reruns of ADAM-12, they’ll be on at the same time.

Republican critics have been pressing him for months to decide on a next step in Afghanistan, but Obama has said repeatedly he was more concerned with making a decision that was right rather than quick.

And that he needed to focus every waking moment on ramming the healthcare bill through congress while simultaneously making it look as though he had no influence by jetting off on a junket to Asia. Which went so well. It was a space filler by design and he had no interest in going whatsoever except to look cool in the big blue jet and shiny Italian suits.

Neither he nor his advisers has detailed an exit plan, but the strategy he is expected to describe next week would include specific dates that deployments could be slowed or stopped if necessary, a senior military official said. The official and others spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision was not final.

In other words, the contingency plan is to FAIL. Once he convinces himself that “escalation is the wrong path” he will reverse course and make a hasty retreat with arrows in his ass the whole way.

With U.S. combat deaths climbing on Obama’s watch and more than half the American public opposed to escalation, the president seemed to acknowledge Tuesday that he has a lot to explain.

yes, I’m dying to hear his “explanation”: “Bush’s fault”?”, “He inherited the problem”?, “Rush was being mean”? Yeah…tell us all about it, Barry. I DON’T CARE!

And, “more than half of the American public opposed to escalation”? ????? OK…so….back to the skewed polling numbers/how they ask the questions and who they asked them to.

And here’s another hot one:

Returning to a campaign theme, Obama said the Afghan effort had been starved for resources and attention during the Bush administration and he intended to finish the war.

OK, so once again, the lack of troops is Bush’s fault. Surprise, surprise.

Then the money statement:

To that end, much of the White House discussion during months of deliberations has centered on how the U.S. would end its military role.

BINGO!!!!

Military officials have said Obama is choosing one of the least risky options he was presented, but one still expected to lead to increased U.S. casualties without guarantee of success.

No guarantee of success. He doesn’t like “victory” remember…reminds him of the Japanese surrendering on the USS Missouri in 1945. Such a hard thing to stomach, yes. Poor Barry.

I ask you, MISTER president: What are the two options in a war? If you said “not winning and losing” you no longer need to be president. GTFO

And the increase in US casualties is his ace in the hole for justifying pulling out when he “determines it cannot be won”. “Finish the job” is just like “hope” and “change”. He chose those words precisely to be ambiguous because he thinks the conservatives will get a “hell yeah” kind of sense of it as in: “go in there and win.” While it won’t offend the liberals because to them it means, “get out..and get out quick”.

He’s a real tool, this guy.