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Selected News For Aug 1 – Aug 7

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

To make the articles as readable as possible, please stick to the format described here.

  • Only post ‘hard news’ from established media outlets.
  • Avoid editorials and ‘thought pieces,’ unless they are truly newsworthy.
  • Avoid ‘major news’ items that most people will likely have seen elsewhere.
  • Articles that fit under the topic of a recent thread should be posted as a comment there.

  • Always post less than a third of the original article.

Posts of articles that do not follow these guidelines are susceptible to being edited or deleted.

Related Articles:

 

This article was posted by Steve Gilbert on Saturday, August 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am. You can leave a response.

67 Responses to “Selected News For Aug 1 – Aug 7”

  1. BillK
    August 1, 2009 at 2:41 am

    From an overjoyed AP:

    Dems win approval of health bill in committee

    By David Espo and Erica Werner

    (07-31) 21:16 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — In a triumph for President Barack Obama, Democrats narrowly pushed sweeping health care legislation through a key congressional committee Friday night and cleared the way for a September showdown in the House.

    The 31-28 vote in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, along party lines, was weeks later than either the White House or Democratic leaders had hoped.

    As part of a last-minute series of changes, the committee agreed to cap increases in the cost of insurance sold under the bill, and also to give the federal government authority to negotiate directly with drug companies for lower prices under Medicare.

    The new provisions were part of an intensive effort Democrats made in recent days to satisfy the conflicting demands of liberals and conservatives on the panel, unity necessary to overcome a solid wall of Republican opposition.

    “We have agreed we need to pull together,” said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the committee chairman who presided over hours of private negotiations and public committee meetings. Five Democrats opposed the bill.

    The measure is designed to extend health insurance to millions who now lack it, at the same time it strives to slow the growth in medical costs nationwide — Obama’s twin goals.

    While the pace of action was slower than party leaders had hoped, it was speedier by far than the timetable in the Senate.

    There, Democrats said a deadline of Sept. 15 had been imposed on marathon talks aimed at producing a bipartisan compromise. Several officials said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., had informed fellow senators he intends to convene his Finance Committee to begin voting by then. …

    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....836D92.DTL

    Fear not, it’s coming no matter what anyone opposed to it says or does.

    Needless to say the rush to increase the slaughter of unborn babies continues as well:

    On a vote that crossed party lines, abortion opponents failed in an attempt to bar insurance plans that offer abortion services from accepting customers with government subsidies. The vote was 31-27.

    Recall Americans willingly gave up the right to stop any of this last November.

    Nancy Pelosi, of course, is completely accurate in her comment:

    “Let me assure you: There will be a health care reform bill passed and it will make a big difference in the lives of the American people,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in an interview.

    Yes – it will destroy our lives, and Americans will be left to remember when medical care was available and when they had any choice in what care they could receive.

    • Confucius
      August 2, 2009 at 10:17 am

      “Recall Americans willingly gave up the right to stop any of this last November.”

      So true. So very, very true.

  2. canary
    August 1, 2009 at 3:10 am

    Lawmakers seek refiling in Panther case
    The Washington Times Jerry Seper July 31 2009

    Congressional Republicans on Thursday escalated their criticism of the Justice Department for dismissing a controversial voter-intimidation case, demanding that civil charges against the New Black Panther Party be restored.

    Rep. Frank R. Wolf of Virginia, a senior Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, obtained an opinion Thursday from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) affirming that charges could legally be refiled without violating the double-jeopardy clause of the U.S. Constitution and said he thought Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. was obligated to refile the case.

    Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, also Thursday renewed his request that Mr. Holder make available the head of the department’s Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division for a closed-door briefing on its decision to seek the complaint’s dismissal.

    “Time and again, I have sought information from the Justice Department regarding the sudden dismissal of a case against members of the New Black Panther Party,” Mr. Smith said. “Time and again, the Justice Department has claimed there was no wrongful political interference in the dismissal of the case.

    “Now, according to news reports, it appears the Justice Department’s political appointees did in fact play a role in the dismissal of this case,” he said.

    In January, Justice filed a civil complaint in federal court in Philadelphia against the NBPP and three of its members. Two NBPP members, wearing black berets, black combat boots, black dress shirts and black jackets with military-style markings, were charged with intimidating voters, including brandishing a nightstick and issuing racial threats and racial insults. A third was accused of managing, directing and endorsing their behavior. The incident was captured on videotape.

    A Justice memo shows that the front-line lawyers who brought the case decided as early as Dec. 22 to seek a complaint against the NBPP; its chairman, Malik Zulu Shabazz, a lawyer and D.C. resident; Minister King Samir Shabazz, a resident of Philadelphia and head of the Philadelphia NBPP chapter who was accused of wielding the nightstick; and Jerry Jackson, a resident of Philadelphia and a NBPP member.

    Witnesses said Mr. Samir Shabazz, armed with the nightstick, and Mr. Jackson used racial slurs and made threats as they stood at the door of the polling place. The department’s injunction against Mr. Samir Shabazz prohibits him from displaying a weapon at a polling place until 2012.

    Mr. Jackson was an elected member of Philadelphia’s 14th Ward Democratic Committee and was credentialed to be at the polling place Nov. 4 as an official Democratic Party polling watcher, according to the Philadelphia city commissioner’s office. A check of his MySpace Web page shows similar taunts. It also shows him in numerous poses with a variety of weapons.

    Records show Mr. Jackson obtained new credentials as a poll watcher “at any ward/division in Philadelphia” just days after the charges against him were dismissed.

    None of the NBPP members responded to the charges or made any appearance in court. Samir Shazee

    The delay was ordered by Loretta King, who was acting assistant attorney general, after she discussed concerns about the case with Mr. Perrelli. Ms. King, a career senior executive service official, had been named by President Obama in January to temporarily fill the vacant political position of assistant attorney general for civil rights..

    … yet to provide any records sought by The Times under a Freedom of Information Act request filed in May seeking documents detailing the decision process.

    http://www.washingtontimes.com.....d&

    Unbelievable the Black Panthers Jackson is allowed to continue work at the polls, Shamir Shazee is allowed to repeat his threatening behavior next election. It’s doubtful they are on Obama’s DHS terrorism list as tea party goers are.

  3. canary
    August 1, 2009 at 3:29 am

    Disturbing content on New Black Panther’s MySpace page
    The Washington Times By Kerry Picket on July 30, 2009

    Appointed to be a poll watcher in 2008 for the Democratic Party and the Obama campaign, Mr. Jackson is also an elected member of Philadelphia’s 14th Ward Democratic Committee.

    The NBPP member has not stayed away from expressing his views on a social media site like MySpace. Mr. Jackson’s(WARNING DISTURBING CONTENT) MySpace site is chock full of disturbing images with explicit racial overtones. A sample of some of the phrases and images on his MySpace page include:

    “BLACK POWER,BLACK LOVE,BLACK UNITY,BLACK MINDS,KILLIN CRAKKKAS”

    “F*** Whitey’s Christmas”

    An image of an execution scene from the cult hit film “Pulp Fiction”

    A photo of a man holding a sign saying, “DEPORT WHITE PEOPLE”

    A derogatory anti-cop poster titled “BEWARE OF PIG”

    An image of Saddam Hussein before his execution

    A photo of a cop sitting next to a black child in a toy car. Beneath the image the phrase “Racial Profiling: It Starts Early”

    A photoshopped movie poster of the “Bourne Supremacy” is re-worded to say “The Bourne White Supremacy” A swastika is added to Matt Damon’s cheek, and the scope of his firearm is photoshopped to look as if he is about to shoot a black man. The “n” word is used to describe who “Matt Damon hates” in this movie poster. The phrase, “They should have just stayed in Africa” is photoshopped at the top of the image.

    It is hard to believe such web content is coming from an elected party official in Philadelphia, yet Mr. Jackson has been appointed again to be a poll watcher for the upcoming Democratic Primary in Philadelphia’s municipal election. Mr. Obama may think a White House “beer summit” will help smooth over racial ills, but his justice department is doing the country no favors when they give Jerry Jackson and Malik Zulu Shabazz a free pass.

    Update 10:00pm: Mr. Jackson’s MySpace page has been removed. A cached version is available through the link now.
    Update 11:00pm: description of The Bourne Supremacy poster has been re-worded to show further detail.

    http://www.washingtontimes.com.....pace-page/

    The site is now down, no easy quick feat with myspace. I’m not sure their anger towards Matt Damon or his politics, other than he recently co-produced and narrated a documentary Running the Sahara and his been raising money for clean water for the poor black people there.

  4. canary
    August 1, 2009 at 6:19 pm

    Afghan poll workers ambushed; U.S. soldiers killed
    By Hamid Shalizi Sat Aug 1, 11:32 am ET 2009

    KABUL (Reuters) – A convoy of campaign workers for Afghan President Hamid Karzai was ambushed five times on Saturday, officials said.

    The U.S. military also said three U.S. troops were killed in the south, while a French soldier died and two were wounded in fighting in Kapisa province in the east, French officials said.

    Violence had already reached its highest level since the Taliban were toppled in 2001 .

    Civilians and security forces have been killed at record rates in recent weeks, with attacks by insurgents now also focusing on election candidates and officials.

    Fazel Ahmad, a campaign worker for Karzai, said the convoy was attacked by Taliban insurgents five times as it drove back to Kabul from Ghazni in the southeast. One security guard was killed, he said.

    Juma Gul, a candidate for Ghazni provincial elections, and another security guard were wounded, Ahmad said.

    It was the fourth ambush of a candidate or campaign official in little more than a week, although no national candidates have been seriously wounded.

    Among those attacked were Karzai’s vice-presidential running mate Mohammad Qasim Fahim.

    Several campaign offices have also been bombed

    “It is the government’s duty to provide proper security for the election campaign but, unfortunately, they have absolutely failed to do so,” Abdullah told reporters…

    Karzai remains a clear front-runner ahead of Abdullah and former finance minister Ashraf Ghani.

    On Monday, Karzai’s government said it had struck a ceasefire deal with the Taliban for the election in a remote province in the northwest, the first of its kind.

    *Senior Taliban leaders however later said there was no ceasefire with the government anywhere in Afghanistan. Three days later the Taliban issued a statement vowing to disrupt the poll and called on Afghans to boycott the vote.

    *Little information was available about the latest three U.S. military casualties other than they were killed when their patrol was hit by two roadside bombs.

    A total of 41 U.S. troops were killed in Afghanistan in July, well above the previous monthly high of 26 in September 2008.

    Britain has also suffered its worst battlefield losses in almost a generation, with 22 killed in July.

    The Helmand operations are the first under U.S. President Barack Obama’s new regional strategy to defeat the Taliban and stabilize Afghanistan. .

    (Additional reporting by Golnar Motevalli in KABUL, Sayed Salahuddin in KAYAN and Sudip Kar-Gupta in PARIS; Writing by Paul Tait; Editing by Myra MacDonald)
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/200.....fghanistan

  5. canary
    August 2, 2009 at 3:40 am

    AP: Sen. Franken relishes policy role in new position
    By Henry C. Jackson, Associated Press Writer Aug 2 2009

    WASHINGTON – Just weeks into his Senate term, Al Franken’s portfolio compares favorably to any of the Senate’s freshman members…asked thoughtful questions of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor

    before he was seated, Franken and his aides intoned he would take a path well-trod by already-famous Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama before him. The idea is….to drown your celebrity by focusing on the detail of day-to-day work in the Senate.

    There is nothing flashy about Franken’s first legislative victory. The Service Dog Veterans Act, which Franken introduced with Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., will set up a pilot program with Department of Veterans Affairs to pair service dogs with wounded veterans.

    During the Sotomayor hearings, Franken said he did not particularly enjoy being on camera, but was happy he was able to ask illuminating questions to the judge. He brimmed with pride when he discussed praise from Dahlia Lithwick, a legal writer for Slate magazine, who praised his performance.

    “The wonkiest wonk in all of wonkdom,” he said, of Lithwick.

    Democrats have appreciated Franken’s ability to get up to speed quickly on the issues.

    “This is not some passing fancy of his. This is something he’s been intellectualizing on and studying for many, many years.”

    “He’s a very friendly guy and very outgoing,” Harkin said. “He’s an easy guy to get to know.”

    Democrats, meanwhile, quietly appreciate Franken’s decision to avoid grabbing the spotlight. Apart from a few encounters coming on and off the Senate floor, Franken has largely avoided national media and broadcast outlets,

    oo.com/s/ap/20090802/ap_on_go_co/us_franken_at_work;_ylt=AgmymkDGIbvaouasZ8j1BZL9xg8F;_ylu=X3oDMTJsNXZxdDZqBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwODAyL3VzX2ZyYW5rZW5fYXRfd29yawRjcG9zAzYEcG9zAzYEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNzZW5mcmFua2VucmU-
    Think I’ll give him a call on the dog for soldiers and give my expertise. I’ll have a hand full of dog jokes on hand. I’ll ask what he think’s of Obama eating dogs
    as a boy in Indonesia?

    • caligirl9
      August 2, 2009 at 7:30 pm

      The phrase “He’s a very friendly guy and very outgoing” is used very often in the context of getting cats and dogs at animal shelters adopted. Not something I really care much about in my elected leaders, but very important for a new four-legged family member.

  6. canary
    August 2, 2009 at 4:36 am

    U.S. General Eric Holder’s office sends out threatening letter to OK

    DELEGATION QUESTIONS JUSTICE DEPARTMENT’S THREAT TO CUT FEDERAL FUNDING July 28 2009

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Members of the Oklahoma Congressional Delegation today sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder seeking justification and clarification for a letter the Department of Justice (DOJ) sent to Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson threatening Oklahoma with a loss of federal funding if the state passed a constitutional amendment making English the official language of the state.

    The original DOJ letter, characterized by delegation members as dubiously timed at the peak of legislative debate, advises the state that “implementation of this [English-only] amendment may conflict with Oklahoma’s obligations to protect the civil rights of limited English proficient (LEP) persons.”

    Dated April 14, 2009 from Acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King, the DOJ letter states, “As you know, recipients of federal financial assistance must comply with various civil rights statutes, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964…which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin.” The letter continues, “State agencies and other entities in Oklahoma that receive federal financial assistance thus would be precluded by federal law from abiding by an English-only requirement where it conflicts with their obligations under Title VI.”

    The Oklahoma Congressional Delegation’s letter to Holder points out that several other states have passed similar legislation and asks if they too have been “accused by the Department of Justice to be in violation with Title VI, or formally threatened with funding termination.” The delegation letter asks for an explanation for what prompted the DOJ to write the state of Oklahoma on this issue and seeks explanation for what funds would be eliminated should Oklahomans pass the English only amendment.

    U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe stated, “This nation’s cultural diversity is one that contributes to the greatness of our country. I support the state’s effort to pass a constitutional amendment making English the official language of the state because it ultimately facilitates better communication across the many lines of diversity within our state. The state legislature has overwhelmingly passed this amendment, and now it is up to the voters of Oklahoma to decide if they wish to accept it. It is entirely unacceptable for the federal government to try to strong arm the state by threatening to remove federal funding. I look forward to hearing the Justice Department’s explanation for such behavior.”

    Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. said, “Attorney General Holder owes the residents of Oklahoma an explanation as to why this thinly veiled threat was issued to Oklahoma on a state matter. The last thing Oklahoma needs is a bureaucrat in Washington dictating more of what we can and cannot do. Officials at the Department of Justice should focus on more pressing matters under their jurisdiction before issuing statements about a state issue that has yet to become law.”

    Rep. Dan Boren said, “The state of Oklahoma deserves a clear explanation of why it seems the Department of Justice has singled out the state and threatened funding retribution over a State Legislature initiative that has been approved in other states already. I join my colleagues in urging the Department to give us a full account of their actions on this issue.”

    Rep. John Sullivan said, “It is inappropriate for the United States Department of Justice to interfere in what is ultimately a state matter. In 2010, voters in Oklahoma will decide if the state constitution will be amended to make English the official language of the state and I proudly stand with the rest of the state delegation in supporting Oklahoma’s right to decide this issue.”

    Rep. Frank Lucas added, “Our country benefits from the diversity of our people. However, throughout our history, it has been our common language that binds us as one nation. In order for new immigrants to our country to be successful and realize the American Dream, they must be able to speak the English language. Punishing the state of Oklahoma for encouraging that is unnecessary.”

    Rep. Mary Fallin said, “This incident should send shock waves through every state in the union. The letter from DOJ is an affront to Oklahoma’s tenth amendment rights under the Constitution. We should be allowed to pursue this policy without facing preemptive manipulation from the federal government.”

    http://inhofe.senate.gov/publi.....ce16d5f883

  7. wardmama4
    August 2, 2009 at 8:22 am

    RIP – You will finally be coming home – for good.

    Remains of pilot missing 18 years in Iraq found
    By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer Pauline Jelinek, Associated Press Writer – 2 mins ago

    WASHINGTON – The remains of the first American lost in the Persian Gulf War have been found in Iraq, the military said Sunday, after struggling for nearly two decades with the question of whether he was dead or alive.

    The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology has positively identified the remains of Navy Capt. Michael “Scott” Speicher, whose disappearance has bedeviled investigators since his fighter jet was shot down over the Iraq desert on the first night of the 1991 war.
    http://tinyurl.com/mnpgn8

    Another great reason that going into Iraq was worth it – if push came to shove, I’d bet Saddam would have taken a page from the Communist Vietnam book – and sold his remains back – ‘pearls’ they were called – for a little scratch.
    [Aside, catch this:

    "There are people that know," Buddy Harris, a former Navy commander and a close friend of Speicher's who has since married Speicher's ex-wife, said at that time. "It's just a matter of getting to them."

    I have to ask - what exactly are they teaching at Journalism schools these days and did Ms Jelinek miss that day - The correct term is widow - they did not divorce - CPT Spicher was declared KIA (dead for those civilian idiots in the media).]

    I for one am relieved that this fine young man will come home to rest.

    • catie
      August 2, 2009 at 10:17 am

      Wardmama, it is a good thing he will finally be coming home.

      As an aside, I dated a pilot who was in his squadron in Jax during the first Gulf War. He didn’t have kind things to say about Buddy & Speicher’s widow believing they had married too soon and that even though Cheney declared him “dead” during a press conference, no one was really quite sure he was indeed deceased (I dated this man in 96-97). I am glad for his family though as they now know for sure.
      It is nice to know that they continued to promote him as he was a LCDR or CDR when he was shot down.

    • canary
      August 2, 2009 at 4:43 pm

      WardMama, I’ve seen the government evenmake the same mistake, on calling a grieving widow and ex-wife.

  8. canary
    August 2, 2009 at 9:02 am

    I was reading an article in my DAV magazine for members, they have an expedition and bringing home more bodys from Vietnam. I have a sticker on my car, and a pin. I remember about 20 years ago, when they flew balloons from the China coast with phamplets in the ballons offering rewards.

  9. BillK
    August 2, 2009 at 9:37 am

    Once again, policy trumps common sense and instead of celebrating heroism, we must further ingrain that one should always act like a frightened sheep.

    From a thrilled AP:

    Seattle Bank Teller Fired for Chasing, Apprehending Robber

    SEATTLE — A Seattle bank teller has lost his job because he ran down a would-be bank robber and held him until police arrived.

    Jim Nicholson, who worked at a Key Bank branch, says he understands the bank’s policy that employees comply with robbery demands and avoid dangerous confrontations. But he tells The Seattle Times that his instincts took over when the man demanded money during the Tuesday incident.

    Nicholson says he tried to grab the man, then chased him several blocks before knocking him down with help from a passer-by. The man turned out to be unarmed.

    The 30-year-old Nicholson was fired Thursday. Key Bank officials declined to comment, but Seattle police and the FBI say they advise tellers against acting against robbers. Instead, police Sgt. Sean Whitcomb says, they should be good witnesses and comply with demands unless their personal safety is in jeopardy.

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,536061,00.html

    Of course complying with demands “unless their personal safety is in jeopardy” is how mass shootings happen as people comply until it’s too late.

    I’m sure official FBI policy in dealing with plane hijackers remains to quietly comply with their wishes and let law enforcement sort things out “when they land.”

    • caligirl9
      August 2, 2009 at 4:50 pm

      Perhaps with the government being the only entity that seems to be hiring, perhaps the FBI or Secret Service might consider hiring this guy. Obviously he’s got guts.

  10. BillK
    August 2, 2009 at 9:45 am

    But I thought Newsweek said the recession was over and the Government said it was “ending?”

    From a fear-mongering Associated Press:

    America’s Recession ‘Safe Zone’ Shrinking

    TORRINGTON, Wyo. — Carl Rupp and his neighbors follow the old rancher’s creed: “Keep your money in your pocket.”

    Rupp has farmed his whole life. He lives in Goshen County, a rural spot along the Nebraska line where cattle outnumber humans 16 to 1 and you can still see the ruts cut by wagons that hauled pioneers along the Oregon Trail. “We’re very conservative,” said Rupp, 62. “We don’t go out too far on a limb.”

    That prudent financial bent, matched with the high prices paid for crops and energy in the past few years, has largely protected Goshen County and a core group of several hundred other counties in 10 states from the recession’s chokehold. The Associated Press Economic Stress Index shows they make up a “safe zone” that covers a long swath of middle America, from the Great Plainssouth to Texas.

    But the safe zone is shrinking. Energy production and prices are sliding, especially for coal and natural gas. Crop prices are dropping, too, as there’s less demand in Asia for American wheat, corn and soybeans. There were 800 counties in the safe zone a year ago, a number that dropped to about 300 counties in May and slid further to 200 counties in June.

    “To say that you’re doing pretty well is just to say that it’s the best-looking puppy in a pretty ugly litter,” said Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, who recently imposed a 10 percent budget cut across his state’s government in response to falling tax revenue …

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,536167,00.html

    Can you believe the AP has the guts to bring up “production and prices are sliding, especially for coal and natural gas” when those are two of the fuels that emit evil carbon dioxide and thus must be legislated out of existence by cap and trade?

    • Rusty Shackleford
      August 3, 2009 at 10:14 pm

      Tax revenues across the nation are down by huge numbers. Sales/income taxes which are the primary movers of the day-to-day ops of any infrastructure are so diminished that may states are doing a four-day work week, post offices are closing on Saturdays, and so on.

      From this, it’s not hard to see the upcoming subway operators’ strikes, sanitation engineers’ strikes, postal workers’ strikes, etc. The giant sucking sound that Blammo has never had to live through or deal with. He doesn’t understand basic economics and how money works. To him, money is a magical thing and he thinks he’s the candy man and can just run around with buckets of cash, tossing it all over and making people like him.

      Eventually, the bucket comes up empty…and he’s left standing there not knowing what to do.

      Then, add to that his hatred of people who have money who have earned it, whose families protected their wealth over the years, and the people who he thinks are rich simply because they somehow “won the lottery of life” when in reality….it took time, sweat, effort, patience, perseverance, discipline, character, and all those other qualities which Blammo is unfamiliar.

      Then, add to that the failing of this president to be introspective…His inability to look inside himself and determine objectively why the wealthy bother him. We can see it from the outside but it is not obvious to him.

      Wrap it all together and you have a 5 year old with a chain saw.

  11. canary
    August 2, 2009 at 6:11 pm

    AP: Afghan odyssey by air land and sea ends in Australia, and exacts a heavy price AP writer Tamalee Smith 8 02 2009

    ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA — Two years ago, Ali Khosh Razaee bought his freedom. The price he paid was his brother….a welder in neighboring Pakistan

    ..18,500 Afghans who sought asylum in another country in 2008….according to the United Nations. That’s up 85 percent from the year before… putting their trust in smugglers

    After bribing their way into Pakistan,.. a 12-hour ride to Quetta, on bumpy backroads to avoid checkpoints.

    Razaee found a smuggler, who gave him a fake passport. The smugglers are easy to find ..

    Razaee was put on a plane in Quetta…fearful that.. his false documents would be discovered.

    10 hours of flying and a stopover, he ended up in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.
    An Indonesian man who spoke his language, Dari, guided him through immigration into a waiting car.

    three months after he had left Afghanistan, Razaee boarded a small fishing boat. Three Indonesian crew members, 21 Afghans, nine Arabs and four Sri Lankans

    ..Australian Navy ship intercepted the boat, 110 miles off the northern Australian city of Darwin, on Dec. 16, 2008.

    Afghan refugees have ended up all over the world.
    More than 2 million live in neighboring Pakistan, which sees them as a burden and a security threat. About a million live in Iran, which earlier this year was accused of deporting Afghan refugees. Others have fled as far as they can go, to the United States, Canada, Europe, Brazil, Indonesia, even New Zealand.

    Australia accepts 13,500 refugees every year from all over the world. But Australia does not have the resources… those who pay smugglers and enter illegally are in less need than many others… argues Sharman Stone, a spokeswoman for Australia’s opposition Liberal party.

    More than 95 percent of Australia’s refugees come by plane…last year..15 boats from Indonesia .. intercepted in Australian waters.

    About 1,500 people are registered as refugees in Indonesia, according to the U.N. Another 1,500 are believed to be living there unregistered waiting for smugglers..

    “There are people in Indonesia who have been waiting up to nine years for refugee status. .”

    Australia has beefed up its spending on border protection, adding AU$65 million ($52 million) for more ships, aircraft and people to patrol the waters. Refugees are taken to a 1,000-bed detention center on Christmas Island, a remote Indian Ocean territory closer to Indonesia than Australia.

    Former Prime Minister John Howard tried to crack down on refugees by forcing them to reapply every five years to stay in Australia and barring their families from joining them.

    But last year, new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd relaxed a mandatory detention policy for asylum seekers and allowed full residency visas for refugees.

    http://www.washingtonexaminer......66147.html

    excerpts from long article going into one man’s story, his family, wife and 6 children still in Pakistan. I hope the photo he holds up of his children does not endanger their lives, as they can’t escape as easily as he did, on his own.
    Our American soldiers are legally smuggled, forced to leave their families” and fight the terrorists, while the civilians flee, who’s men run to escape their own danger, instead of taking up arms, and fighting the terrorists. The thousands of men refugees who illegally find their ways into the world, has come to thousands of our own
    American soldiers forced to fight and live in worse conditions than this pitiful man’s story of bumpy roads, sea sickness, hiding, missing his family, afraid to go back. These refugees, should be given weapons and sent back to save their own families. There’s nothing wrong with putting up a sign. Sorry, no vacancy left.

    • canary
      August 2, 2009 at 6:59 pm

      The likings of Obama’s murderous muslim idols and relatives, the bad company he’s kept and his new ties with barbaric tyrants, along with his furthering ties with the murderous drug cartels in the world, refusal to aid the states in tightening the borders…..
      Well, Obama’s crowd, those draft dodging live on the streets hippies and the black panthers who spit on our U.S. soldiers who were “drafted” to fight in Vietnam, calling them baby killers This was easy for them to do as brave draft dodgers who expected Americans who did not dodge the draft, “”to lead a coup”" against the American government. The radical’s anger at the “drafted” soldiers serving the U.S., was for their refusal to join their coup against the U.S. government. It was their chance to full fill the dreams of their violent, socialistic and communistic idols. When Obama worships mentors who believe it is okay to tax the rich 100%, in that the government can still give them perks the poor will never gets. Hitler, Russia, China, know how it works. How to make the people competitive, reward the best servants. Well, I don’t believe Obama suddenly changed over-night. He has never changed his ideals, yet alone his many personality defects, at the least shown in his arrogance and that he is above everyone in the world. His belief that everyone in the world should follow him. Everyone in his life, every leader in every country, was beneath him, and it just fueled his anger and contempt for everyone.

  12. texaspsue
    August 2, 2009 at 9:57 pm

    From the Stateman:

    Lloyd Doggett faces angry crowd at Randalls

    By Patrick George

    Back in Central Texas while Congress is on a month-long recess, Congressman Lloyd Doggett faced an angry reception at a town hall meeting at an Austin Randalls store yesterday.

    Doggett, D-Austin, spoke at the Randalls at Brodie and Slaughter lanes on Saturday. A video of the event on YouTube shows many in the crowd showed up with signs denouncing President Obama’s proposed health care plan.

    Witnesses say that when Doggett was asked if he would support the plan even if he found his constituents opposed it, Doggett said he would still support the plan. From there, the crowd began chanting “Just Say No,” and overwhelmed the congressman as he moved through the crowd and into the parking lot.

    “The folks there thought their voices weren’t being heard,” said Kathy Acosta, a Bastrop resident who attended the meeting at Randalls and another one later that day in her hometown. “They were angry, but they were respectful. There wasn’t any violence.”

    Calls and emails to a Doggett’s office were not immediately returned today.

    http://tinyurl.com/lpjjwp

    Youtube video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8UjY3YDlwA

    The Democrats are off to a fine start, trying to convince their constituents to support (eat) the HealthCareReformCapandTrade crap sandwich. :-)

  13. canary
    August 3, 2009 at 1:47 am

    Strange differing accounts from Obama as to his birth, mother & father’s marriage, education. The sudden move from Texas to Washington, abrupt leaving to Hawaii. Obama even mentions fabrications, murkey stories. Then at informal wikipedia, 18-24 are articles that place Obama and mother in Washington state in 1961. Link at bottom claims some educational transcripts of enrollments of his mother. Wikipedia being informal, I looked up some articles in Seattle Times by friends that place her as a single parent student,
    one ‘61 friend said she was visiting with newborn baby Obama her claiming on way to Harvard to visit husband. Quite an out of the way route from Hawaii to WA, then to MA. And according to Obama, Obama Sr. started college in 59 and graduated in 63 when Obama was 2. So he would not have been in Harvard as mother claimed in 1961 while in Washington. It appears alot of secrets from his family.
    Also, links on same site, which I posted a couple during Presidential campaing, Obama claimed to have always been a Christian and his mother too. Obama says opposite in his book back in 94, but then he wasn’t running for President.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Dunham

    Interviews Obama claimed always a Christian by Christian mother.
    http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com.....31492.aspx
    http://www.nydailynews.com/new.....obama.html

    Obama’s questioning of murkey facts in regards to family
    (very difficult read, as constant, annoying jumping back and forth in time, so sorry for any further annoying)

    misc. excerpts from “Dreams from My Father” by Barack Obama 1994
    “”"”"pg 5) At the time of his death, my father remained a myth to me, both more and less than a man.
    He had left Hawaii back in 1963, when I was only 2 years old, so that as a child I knew him only through the stories that my mother and grandparents told.
    pg10) He won another scholarhsip – this time to pursue his Ph.D at Harvard – but not the money to take his new family with him.
    pg12) … 1967…the problem of discrimination presumably solved – that the Supreme Court of the United States would get around to telling the state of Virginia that it’s ban on interracial marriages violated the Constitiution. In

    1960, the year that my parents were married, miscegenation still described a felony in over half the states of the Union.
    15-16)…then finally to Seattle, where they stayed long enough for my mother to finish high school. ..they bought a house…when she was offered early admission into the University of Chicago, my grandfather forbade her to go,..
    And that’s where the story might have stopped: a home, a family, a respectable life. Except something must have still been gnawing at my grandfather’s heart. … So that when the manager of the furniture company where he worked happened to mention that a new store was about to open in Honolulu, that business prospects seemed limitless there, what with statehood right around the corner, he would rush home that same day and talk my grandmother into selling their house and packing up yet again, to embark on the final leg of their journey, ..
    In 1960, though, my grandfather had not yet been tested; the disappointments would come later, and even then they would come (pg 17) slowly, without the violence that might have changed him, for better or worse…And so when my mother came home one day and mentioned a friend she had met at the University of Hawaii, and African student named Barack.”"”"

    {Intermission by Canary. grandfather tells many story’s they moved from Texas to Washinton long enough for Obama’s mother to graduate because of racism in Texas. Grandmother tells Obama none of his Grandfather’s racism story’s are true. Obama claims his grandfather lied alot. end of intermission by Canary}

    “”"”"pg21) I know how strongly Gramps believed in his fictions, how badly he wanted them to be true, even if he didn’t always know how to make them so. After Texas I suspect that black people became a part of these fictions of his, the narrative that worked it’s way though his dreams. The condition of the black race, their pain, their wounds, would in his mind become merged with his own:
    the absent father and the hint of scandal, a mother who had gone away, the cruelty of other children, the realization that he was no fair-haired boy – that he looked like a “wop,” … the smirks and whispers and gossip that had kept him on the outside looking in. ..
    And although Gramp’s relationship with my mother was already strained by the time they reached Hawaii – she would never quite forgive his instability…
    22) Not that such self-knowledge, even if accessible, would have made my mother’s engagement any easier for him to swallow.

    In fact, how and when the marriage occurred remains a bit murky, a bill of particulars that I’ve never quite had the courage to explore.

    There’s no record of a real wedding, a cake, a ring, a giving away of the bride.
    No families were in attendance; it’s not even clear that people back in Kansas were fully informed. Just a small civil ceremony, a justice of the peace. The whole thing seems so fragile in retrospect, so hap-hazard. …
    26) There was only one problem: my father was missing. …Their stories did not tell me why he had left….
    In an article published in the Honolulul Star-Bulletin upon his graduation, he appears guarded, the model student, ambassador for his continent. He mildly scolds the university…. Although he hasn’t experienced any problems himself, he detects self-segregation and overt discrimination talking place between the vatious ethnic groups and expresses wry amusement at the fact that “Caucasions” in Hawaii are occasionally at the receiving end of predjudice. …..
    I discovered this article, folded away among my birth certificate and old vaccination forms, when I was in high school. I’ts a short piece, with a photograph of him.

    No mention is made of my mother or me, and I’m left to wonder whether the omission was intentional on my father’s part,….I wonder, too whether the omission caused a fight between my parents.”"”"”"”"”"

    THIS is an interesting speculation, and after scrolling below to the Raila Odinga photo and part, I looked up some video’s of Obama on Senate dime campaigning for the radical muslim in Kenya, and saw Obama wearing a “rainbow pin” which is amusing considering the Rainbow Coalition connection. Not sure I guy the Malcom X being his father, even though that is Obama’s super hero, but interesting take on Ayers, and the entire ball of wax, and claims of mother’s school records. Just wanted to try matching Obama’s fairytale with other’s.

    http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.....stanl.html

  14. canary
    August 3, 2009 at 9:54 am

    AP: Turbulence injures 26 on flight, diverted to Miami Aug 3 2009

    MIAMI – A Continental Airlines night flight from Brazil to Texas hit turbulence over the Atlantic ocean that injured 26 people, forcing an emergency landing in Miami early Monday, officials said.

    Continental Flight 128 was traveling from Rio de Janeiro to Houston with 168 people on board when it was diverted, Miami International Airport spokesman Marc Henderson says.

    Rio was also the departure airport for Air France Flight 447 that crashed in the mid-Atlantic. more than 900 miles off Brazil’s northeastern coast, in thunderstorms on June 1, killing all 228 people on board.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....xlbmNlaW4-

  15. canary
    August 3, 2009 at 10:28 am

    Somali pirates get $2.7 million ransom for German ship 8/3/09

    MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somali pirates holding a German ship with five Germans, three Russians, two Ukrainians and 14 Filipinos on board have received a $2.7 million ransom and are counting it before releasing the ship, a pirate told Reuters.

    The German-flagged container vessel Hansa Stavanger was captured about 400 miles off the southern Somali port of Kismayu on April 4.

    The release of the 20,000 tonne ship, owned by Hamburg shipping company Leonhardt & Blumberg, was expected last week but it was delayed after the pirates demanded a higher ransom.

    Earlier, a Malaysian-owned tugboat held for over seven months was released after a ransom was paid, with 11 Indonesian crew.

    (Reporting by Mohamed Ahmed and Abdi Guled; Editing by Sophie Hares)
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/200.....xpcGlyYXRl

  16. wardmama4
    August 3, 2009 at 10:38 am

    Ah I can’t let it die – as it is a Constitutional Crisis Issue – And it is very simple to resolve – President Obama simply provides the raised seal, long form Birth Certificate. That is all. Game over, case(s) closed. And they could cement Dem victories for decades to come by proving ‘birthers’ were indeed on the crazy train.

    Is this really smoking gun of Obama’s Kenyan birth?
    Attorney files motion for authentication of alleged 1960s certificate from Africa
    Posted: August 02, 2009
    11:55 am Eastern

    © 2009 WorldNetDaily

    WASHINGTON – California attorney Orly Taitz, who has filed a number of lawsuits demanding proof of Barack Obama’s eligibility to serve as president, has released a copy of what purports to be a Kenyan certification of birth and has filed a new motion in U.S. District Court for its authentication.

    http://tinyurl.com/lsknpx

    It has a raised seal & a registrar’s signature (the date of the signature is interesting too – just after Ann Dunham filed for divorce, but before it was legally binding.)

    I do not think that Ms Taitz is going to stop at all. All I can say is this –

    You Go Girl!

    • U NO HOO
      August 3, 2009 at 6:43 pm

      I love it.

      I’d have to say Obama was born in HI.

      But it is fun watching the MSNBCers proving the latest is fake. The substitute for “the other end of Mr. Ed” show just finished smuggly debunking. He was sooooo proud to be so smart, almost as smart as Beschloss’ Obama.

    • Steve
      August 4, 2009 at 8:21 am

      As you all probably will recall, I have been against the ‘birther’ movement from the start. (Even before the start.) I am pretty sure I coined the phrase ‘birther.’

      I have removed ‘birther’ posts before, because they were simply a waste of everyone’s time. And it is just as much a waste of time now, if not moreso.

      Indeed, Ms. Taitz’s ‘birth certificate’ has already been proved to be a clumsy forgery. As could have been readily foretold.

      So please do not post any more ‘birther’ material here at S&L.

      And, for that matter, do not post any material from WND, who are completely untrustworthy — unless they are plagiarizing from us.

    • wardmama4
      August 7, 2009 at 9:10 am

      I am sorry that I put ‘birther’ stuff on S& L – this will be my last posting.

      1) It is a Constutional Issue – and if Obama is willing to legally parse thinly this issue – what else is he willing to legally parse thinly – and how is it going to affect America?

      2) On WND – isn’t that exactly what the Dems said about National Enquirer (which I agree we all laugh at regularly) in regards to the Edwards affair issue? And look at how that one turned out.

  17. wardmama4
    August 3, 2009 at 10:00 pm

    Come on Canary – did you really think Obama was only going to tax the rich – Obama plans to take as much money as he can from every single working American to redistribute it back to those from whom it was stolen – who rightfully earned it – the black slaves. . . Too damn bad for him there are none in America, so I expect he is going to have a very hard time getting that one through.

    “I’m not for reparations – I just want to redistribute the wealth.’

    Words, it’s just words.

  18. canary
    August 4, 2009 at 12:30 am

    TIME: Does the U.S. Have an Exit Strategy in Afghanistan?
    By Tony Karon Aug 3 2009

    At first glance, the Obama Administration’s Afghanistan policy doesn’t seem to make sense…its own officials freely admit can’t be won on the battlefield – and this despite the growing cost in blood and treasure..

    July was the deadliest month for U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan since they arrived there at the end of 2001

    Six more U.S. soldiers were killed on the first two days of August.

    In fact, the Washington Post reported July 31 that General Stanley McChrystal, the commander appointed by Obama to
    try to reverse the Taliban’s remarkable comeback in Afghanistan,

    Recognizing the limits of what could be achieved in Afghanistan, the President has scaled back U.S. ambitions from the Bush Administration’s

    “We have a clear and focused goal,” he said in a policy speech in March, “to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future.” That goal does not necessarily require the defeat of the Taliban per se – .

    Today’s Taliban insurgency is… united mostly by hostility to foreign troops in their country…

    Al-Qaeda is no longer even based in Afghanistan, its leaders now thought to be operating underground in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

    General McChrystal, explained “The reason I believe we need to be successful is … everybody’s watching.

    Americans don’t want a long war in Afghanistan. But the only way to avoid one may be to convince Afghans that the U.S. isn’t going anywhere.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/2.....RoZXVzaGF2

  19. canary
    August 4, 2009 at 1:06 am

    AP: 5 rockets hit Afghan capital, 1 near US Embassy
    By Associated Press Writer Alfred De Montesquiou Aug 4 2009

    KABUL – At least five rockets slammed into Kabul at daybreak Tuesday, one of them falling near the U.S. Embassy in a rare attack on the Afghan capital fewer than three weeks before presidential elections, police and residents said.

    The impact of one of the rockets could be seen about 200 yards (meters) from the U.S. Embassy on a main road in central Kabul. It hit the house of a senior Interior Ministry official but caused no casualties, security officers said.

    “The capital is closely guarded. They had to fire from far away,” Rasul said.

    Col. Fatih Uddin, “Of course, it seems that the target was more the American Embassy,” Uddin said.

    The U.S. Embassy strongly questioned whether this was the case.

    “There’s no indication these rockets were targeting any particular site in Kabul,” embassy spokeswoman Fleur Cowan said. She said the embassy had not implemented any special security measures Tuesday

    Kabul’s deputy police chief, Mohammad Khalil Dastyar, said it was too early to ascertain what the attackers were aiming for.

    He blamed Taliban fighters for the attack. “They’re just trying to sabotage and create tension in Kabul,” Dastyar said. Police have found that only one child was injured by the rockets, he said. No damage was caused to any parts of the international airport.

    Standing next to a damaged house near the U.S. Embassy, witness Abdul Wali Zai said it was lucky that the attack took place in the early morning when streets were still largely empty.

    A few rounds of sporadic gunfire came shortly after the rockets. A police officer in eastern Kabul said that it was not clear why the shots had been fired

    The Taliban have vowed to disrupt the Aug. 20 vote, and 11 people were killed in a bombing Monday in Herat, western Afghanistan’s largest city.

    Some 101,000 NATO and U.S. forces are deployed to secure the country. This includes a record 62,000 U.S. troops, more than double the number a year ago.

    Nine NATO troops have been killed in fighting or bombings this month, including three Americans on Sunday and three on Saturday, along with two Canadians and one French.

    Associated Press writer Amir Shah contributed to this report.
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....fghanistan

    Well, I think eyes should be kept on Ms. Fleur Cowan and Kabul’s deputy police Chief Mohammad Kahlil Dastyar, since they can’t figure out where, and aren’t worried in the least.

  20. canary
    August 4, 2009 at 1:25 am

    WardMama “Come on Canary – did you really think Obama was only going to tax the rich?”

    heck no. I was just angry at the liberals that donated so much money. I’ve said along, I think Obama is a communist that wants to bankrupt and control the entire country. Take every freedom away.
    I don’t understand the reluctance and timidness of even the conservatives to call Obama a Socialist. Obama is a tyrant. I am serious that I do believe he hates our soldiers. I do not believe Obama has any compassion. None of this is from compassion, but to control and bring us down. Obama only loves himself and his commie buddies.

    • canary
      August 4, 2009 at 1:37 am

      at that, I’m not sure where I ever said only the rich will be taxed. I told my 14 year old son, who get’s harrassed by his liberal friends, don’t worry, just give it a few years when they try and get free college from their idol. Some of his black friends say that Obama’s mom was black, and that it was his grandmother that was white. Guess they picked up on Obama’s bad mouthing the woman who loved and raised him, and in his book never ever accused either his grandmother or grandfather of ever using a racial slur. They raised and loved him, just to be kicked in the teeth by his poor me story’s.

  21. BillK
    August 4, 2009 at 1:38 am

    From the times of London, a story of religious tolerance from Pakistan:

    Eight Christians burnt to death in Pakistan after Koran is ‘defiled’

    By Zahid Hussain

    Paramilitary troops patrolled the streets of a town in eastern Pakistan yesterday after Muslim radicals burnt to death eight members of a Christian family, raising fears of violence spreading to other areas.

    Hundreds of armed supporters of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an outlawed Islamic militant group, set alight dozens of Christian homes in Gojra town at the weekend after allegations that a copy of the Koran had been defiled.

    The mob opened fire indiscriminately, threw petrol bombs and looted houses as thousands of frightened Christians ran for safety. “They were shouting anti-Christian slogans and attacked our houses,” Rafiq Masih, a resident of the predominantly Christian colony, said. Residents said that police stood aside while the mob went on the rampage. “We kept begging for protection, but police did not take action,” Mr Masih said.

    Police and local officials said that at least eight people, including four women and a child, were killed in the fires. Two others died of gunshot wounds. Residents said that the casualties were much higher; one claimed that the number of dead could be in the dozens as many bodies were still buried under the rubble.Shahbaz Bhatti, the Minister for Minorities, said that 40 Christian homes were torched in rioting. He said there was no truth to allegations that a Koran had been defiled, and accused the police of ignoring his appeal to provide protection to Christians.

    Tension started mounting last week after Muslims accused three Christian youths of burning a copy of the Koran. They denied the allegations, but clerics called for their death. On Saturday hundreds of supporters of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an outlawed Sunni sectarian group, poured into the town from surrounding districts. The group is believed to have close links with al-Qaeda and has been involved in several terrorist attacks targeting security forces in recent years. …

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/t.....736696.ece

    Christians killed over allegations that a Koran was defiled.

    Who knew radical Muslims now use Kristallnacht as a behavioral guide?

  22. BillK
    August 4, 2009 at 1:43 am

    Bipartisan and beyond politics, huh?

    From a triumphant Associated Press:

    Democrats Pledge to Push Health Care Through Senate, With or Without Republicans

    WASHINGTON — Frustrated with the pace of bipartisan talks, Democratic leaders on Monday promised to push a sweeping health care bill through the Senate whether they get Republican support or not.

    Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the third-ranking Senate Democrat, raised the prospect of the leadership crafting a bill to Democratic specifications and using a rare legislative procedure to expedite legislation fulfilling President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.

    “We will have contingencies in place. These plans will likely be considered as a last resort, but they are on the table,” Schumer told reporters on a conference call. He declined to elaborate.

    After numerous delays, three Democrats and three Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee are facing a Sept. 15 deadline to wrap up secretive talks and come up with a plan.

    “If we cannot produce a bipartisan solution by then you have to wonder if the Republicans will ever to be willing to agree to anything,” Schumer said.

    Four House and Senate committees have already passed sweeping health care bills, but none has attracted a single Republican vote. That makes it unlikely or impossible that they could attract the 60 votes necessary to advance in the 100-seat Senate.

    Schumer said Democratic leaders continue to look at invoking a procedural maneuver that would allow them to pass the health bill with 51 instead of 60 votes. That route is viewed as a last resort since it limits what legislative measures would be allowed and any broad policy initiatives would probably have to be limited.

    Schumer wouldn’t say what other contingencies were being considered. He accused Republican leaders of trying to hinder bipartisan progress to deny President Barack Obama a political victory. …

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

    Yes, Mr. Schumer, it matters not whether the plan is destructive for the country, it’s all just politics and wanting to deny The Chosen One his latest victory in the road to socialism.

    • pdsand
      August 4, 2009 at 7:58 pm

      We all know this, but any “compromises” given up by the Democrats in these secretive talks will be removed in house-senate conference.

  23. canary
    August 4, 2009 at 4:11 am

    Video Democrat Austin Tx deals with demonstrators against health care

    Video In Philadelphia, Kathleen Sebelius and Arlen Specter get an earful (the YouTube user who posted the video calls the protesters “crazies.” You’re going to get a lot of that. Just carry on):
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....r_embedded

    http://michellemalkin.com/2009.....obamacare/

    • canary
      August 4, 2009 at 4:32 am

      Liberal media headlines are calling people protesting their state Democrats healh care, crazies. I’ve given up linking them, as the Obama goonies seem to be at work. I really wanted to see the one the liberal claimed Carl Levin (Democrat Michigan) being chased. Yeah right. Anyways, Dem’s NY, PA, TX, MI, being protested at home hall meetings. Maybe someone else can have better luck.
      Basically they are just getting boos and laughs whenever they open their dumbocrat mouths.
      How the media can say they are all republicans. Did they ever think that Democrats might be worried too.

    • canary
      August 4, 2009 at 7:10 pm

      I was finally able to get video of Senator Carl Levin D-MI reported by liberal media as being chased by right-wingers. Doesn’t appear to be the case.
      http://vodpod.com/watch/200027.....carl-levin

  24. canary
    August 4, 2009 at 4:54 am

    AP: Australia foils terrorist plot to attack army base
    By Associated Press Writer David Crosling Aug 4 2009
    1 hr 33 mins ago

    MELBOURNE, Australia – Australian police said Tuesday they have thwarted a terrorist plot in which extremists with ties to an al-Qaida-linked Somali Islamist group planned to invade a military base and open fire with automatic weapons until they were shot dead themselves.

    Some 400 officers from state and national security services took part in 19 raids on properties in Melbourne.

    Australian Federal Police Acting Commissioner Tony Negus said the raids followed a seven-month surveillance operation of a group of people with alleged ties to al-Shabaab, an Islamist organization based in that country’s south that has been fighting to overthrow Somalia’s transitional government.

    Negus said the investigation had also found that some of the group had traveled to Somalia “to participate in hostilities” there.

    All four arrested are Australian citizens of Somali or Lebanese descent and aged between 22 and 26, police said.

    Another suspect, Saney Aweys, also appeared in court, where police sought and were granted permission to detain him longer without charge for questioning.

    Federal police agent David Kinton told the court that police evidence included intercepted phone calls and text messages between the suspects.

    He said the group was actively seeking a fatwa, or Islamic religious ruling, approving their plans for the Australian attack.

    Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the plot underscored that Australia is still under threat from extremist groups enraged that the country sent troops to join the U.S.-led military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

    “As the Australian government has said consistently, there is an enduring threat from terrorism at home here in Australia as well as overseas,” Rudd told reporters in the northern city of Cairns. “This is a sober reminder that the threat of terrorism to Australia continues.”

    But dozens of Australians have died in terrorist attacks overseas, mostly in Indonesia including the 2002 bombings in Bali that targeted nightclubs frequented by Australians and other foreigners.

    Al-Shabaab, which conducts frequent attacks in Somalia, is seeking to overthrow the Horn of Africa nation’s Western-backed government and establish an Islamic state.

    Associated Press writers Kristen Gelineau and Rohan Sullivan in Sydney contributed to this report.
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....FsaWFmb2k-

    That’s what Rudd get’s for allowing the recent large amount of Afganistan refugees through Indonesia free citizenship, etc.

  25. canary
    August 4, 2009 at 5:03 am

    BBC News: Al-Qaeda Seek to Infiltrate M15

    A senior Tory MP has asked the home secretary whether al-Qaeda sympathisers were mistakenly recruited by MI5.

    Patrick Mercer, chairman of the Home Affairs counter-terror sub-committee, said sources told him six had sought to infiltrate the security service.
    Four were ejected at the initial vetting stage but two got “further down the system”, he told the BBC.

    The Home Office declined to comment but Whitehall officials firmly rejected the claims, saying there was no evidence.

    Mr Mercer said: “What concerns me is that not all of these individuals… have necessarily been nailed and that is why I’ve written to the home secretary to seek his reassurance.”

    Mr Mercer has written to Home Secretary Alan Johnson for clarification
    The MP believes the security services rushed to try and take on Muslim recruits after the 7/7 bombings on London’s transport network in 2007.

    He told the BBC: “The trouble is when you start recruiting in a hurry… your enemies will try to take advantage of any gaps that have been created.”

    The former intelligence officer said three separate sources had told him of the claims, which came as no surprise to him.

    He said: “Any subversive organisation worth its salt is trying to do to our intelligence agencies what we are trying to do to them, I don’t think we should be surprised.

    “I do think this is a very, very useful reminder that our enemies are out there, that they are alive and kicking and they wish to do us harm.”

    Mr Mercer has written to Home Secretary Alan Johnson for clarification on exactly how far, if at all, the reported al-Qaeda sympathisers got in the organisation before they were ejected.

    Whitehall officials told BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner there was no evidence anyone with al-Qaeda sympathies had ever been recruited into MI5.

    Two years ago the MI5 spoke openly about their drive to broaden recruitment among ethnic minorities.

    Video Interview
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8179407.stm

    • Steve
      August 4, 2009 at 8:16 am

      Canary, please always post a link and an excerpt from a news item.

      Don’t just post vague references to the news. Otherwise, this thread will get out of hand.

      Thanks!

    • canary
      August 4, 2009 at 7:49 pm

      So sorry Steve. I changed the post. On occasions like last night when I try and edit a great box with only save appears on top. Last night was strange. Think some Obomie hackers may have been at work, to remove all the conservatives prostests Senators and Congress were confronted with are their arrival home. Don’t think the Obombies want the country to see so many not happy.

  26. canary
    August 5, 2009 at 1:37 am

    Political: Ads citing Obama girls may anger W.H.
    By: Erika Lovley August 4, 2009

    Sasha and Malia Obama are largely off limits to the news media, but that hasn’t stopped a Washington nonprofit from making the first daughters the subject of a new advertising campaign. Though the ads, placed in Union Station by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, could certainly get White House attention, they risk a father’s anger.

    In the ad, Jasmine Messiah, an 8-year-old vegetarian from a Florida public school, asks the question: “President Obama’s daughters get healthy school lunches. Why don’t I?”

    Jasmine has also written a letter to Sasha and Malia, urging them to help by signing the committee’s petition to Congress, which urges lawmakers to increase the number of vegan, vegetarian and nondairy food options in public schools. The Obama girls attend Sidwell Friends, an elite private school in Washington.

    “A lot of schools, including mine, don’t offer enough healthy fruits, vegetables and vegetarian meals,” third-grader Jasmine writes. “I’m glad that your school, Sidwell Friends, already has lots of healthy options in the cafeteria, including vegetarian chili and roasted vegetable pizza. If we work together, we can make sure all students can eat healthy school lunches.”

    The risk of a White House backlash is one the Physicians Committee says it’s willing to take. After months of advocacy work, the Obama administration and much of Congress have only paid lip service to their concerns.

    “I am not concerned with the White House being disappointed in this ad,” said committee nutrition education director Susan Levin. “I’m more concerned that Congress gets the message. And if they get it because it raises Obama’s eyebrow, so be it.”

    Despite the Obamas’ work to shield their daughters from the spotlight, Roberts argues the girls have still been used as political pawns.

    “Let’s be honest, [Obama] has selectively used the girls when it suited his political purpose. He’s used the girls to send a message that Obama is just like you — a family man, a loving father,” Roberts said. “When you put the girls forward, you run the risk of opening ways like this to use them as well.”

    © 2009 Capitol News Company, LLC
    photo at
    http://www.politico.com/news/s.....25792.html

  27. BillK
    August 5, 2009 at 1:56 am

    From Fox News:

    Expansion of Islamic Saudi Academy in Virginia Approved, Outraging Opponents

    A controversial Saudi-funded academy that teaches strict adherence to traditional Islamic law has been given the green light to expand its Virginia campus — a decision by local officials that infuriates opponents who say the school’s teachings are anti-American.

    The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted 6-4 Monday to grant a zoning exemption to the Islamic Saudi Academy. The officials said the outcome was based strictly on zoning issues, not on what goes on in the school’s classrooms.

    That left some in the community outraged.

    “How could they … say they are such fine students? They are fine students but they are learning the wrong thing,” academy critic Ruth Mizell said after the vote, according to MyFOXDC.com.

    Jim Lafferty, another opponent, vowed political retaliation against the supervisors who supported the expansion.

    “We need to resist these people, make it clear they may have bought six votes in there but they are not buying my vote,” said Lafferty, according to MyFOXDC. “We will support — even if it’s Pee-Wee Herman — we will support whoever is running against them.”

    Scores of people spoke at hearings in the spring and summer on the academy’s plans. Some neighbors opposed the expansion because of traffic worries; others voiced ideological concerns about the school’s curriculum. …

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,536624,00.html

    What could be so bad?

    The school has undergone a series of high-profile examinations of its religious curriculum, which has been revised repeatedly to remove passages that extolled militant jihad and martyrdom. In 2007, at least one textbook still said that the killing of adulterers and apostates was “justified.”

    But students, parents and teachers say the school does not teach intolerance.

    “Throughout my whole time in ISA, I’ve never been taught to hate anyone,” said Heba Rashed, 16, a junior at the school.

    The school’s curriculum was revised at the start of the 2008-09 school year after the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom condemned its textbooks.

    Critics of the academy say most of the offensive material has been taken out. But they say the textbooks clearly remain guided by Wahhabism, the fundamentalist school of Sunni Islam that is dominant in Saudi Arabia.

    Oh. Silly me.

    • canary
      August 5, 2009 at 3:38 am

      I encourage reading the entire article. About 80 percent of its students are U.S. citizens. and I don’t think Obama’s beer drinking stops them from voting for him. References to jihad being removed from the curriculum, and some Al-Ahmed said he felt moderate jihad had been kept. It’s the moderate Quran and Sharia b.s. that’s the threat. And the Wahhabism is an epidemic in the UK and Michigan and they are extremely military organitzed.
      Anyways, considering Sotomayor banning small sticks, I saw a new lawn tool, light weight, long stick so you don’t have to get to close and as cheap as pitch-fork, and less aiming required. It’s called the Original Garden Weasle. Order yours today
      htp://www.gardenweasel.com/

  28. canary
    August 5, 2009 at 4:15 am

    AP: `Cash for clunkers’ effect on pollution? A blip
    By AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein Aug 4, 2009

    WASHINGTON – “Cash for clunkers” could have the same effect on global warming pollution as shutting down the entire country — every automobile, every factory, every power plant — for an hour per year.

    “As a carbon dioxide policy, this is a terribly wasteful thing to do,” said Henry Jacoby, a professor of management and co-director of the Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change at MIT. “The amount of carbon you are saving per federal expenditure is very, very small.”

    Officials expect a quarter-million gas guzzlers will be junked under the original $1 billion set aside by Congress — money that is now all but exhausted.

    “This is a win-win program for everybody,” said National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spokesman Eric Bolton. “The program is raising the average fuel economy of the fleet

    But some energy experts say the country is overpaying for the pollution reductions

    Paying up to $4,500 per clunker means the government is spending more than $160 for every ton of carbon dioxide removed over 10 years, said MIT’s Jacoby

    Associated Press Writer Ken Thomas in Washington contributed to this report.
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200....._pollution

  29. canary
    August 5, 2009 at 4:24 am

    AFP: Afghan suicide attack kills five as vote nears: govt AFP – Wednesday, August 5 2009
    KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) – – A suicide bomber killed five people in a busy bazaar in Afghanistan on Tuesday

    In the southern province of Zabul, a suicide attacker walked up to an intelligence agency vehicle in the bazaar and blew himself up, killing one of the agency’s staff and four civilian passers-by, police said.

    A provincial governor survived an assassination attempt just 10 kilometres (six miles) outside the Afghan capital Kabul

    The Taliban claimed responsibility for the volley of rockets at dawn, saying they were aimed at an Afghan military base and the international airport.

    The interior ministry said eight slammed into the city, including one several hundred metres (feet) from the US embassy

    Just outside the capital early Tuesday, the governor of the neighbouring province of Wardak, Mohammad Haleem Fidyee, escaped with his life when four mines placed under a bridge exploded as his vehicle crossed

    A British soldier was killed Tuesday in an explosion

    On July 21, six suicide bombers

    in wigs and burkas armed with rifles and suicide vests tried to storm government buildings in Gardez, killing four people in an attack claimed by the Taliban.

    http://asia.news.yahoo.com/afp.....5be5e.html

  30. BannedbytheTaliban
    August 5, 2009 at 2:47 pm

    In typical socialist fashion, CNN and the DNC project their own tactics on their enemy:

    Democrats say Republicans staging town hall protests

    (CNN) — Democrats are accusing Republicans of organizing “angry mobs” to disrupt town hall meetings across the country, but conservatives say the protests are a sign of the opposition to President Obama’s health care plans.

    …Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, was badgered by a crowd in Austin this weekend over his support of Obama’s health care plans. An angry group repeatedly shouted, “Just say no!” and some protesters carried posters with devil’s horns added to a picture of Doggett.

    …”But I have never had neighbors cut off discussion with the Republican-organized mob-type conduct of last Saturday,” Doggett told CNN in a statement.

    Not at all like the ACORN protesters outside of banking executive’s homes using the mob-style conduct of intimidation. At least the ACORN protesters had corporate supplied pre-printed signs, unlike the amateurish home-made signs of those who want to control their own health care.

    “After engaging this Republican crowd for an hour of explaining the health care bill and listening to their objections and taunts, the ‘just say no’ crowd, insisted upon silencing their neighbors by blocking a store entrance and yelling at the top of their lungs.”

    Has he even read the bill yet? How can you explain something you haven’t even read? Innuendo?

    …”I think that a fair amount of the activity was orchestrated. I think a fair amount of it was involved individuals who came without being orchestrated. But it was a battleground,” Specter told The Associated Press.

    I didn’t know Code Pink showed up.

    Organizing for America, Obama’s political wing, is planning strategy for such protesters at an event Vice President Biden is holding in Detroit, Michigan, on Wednesday. The group sent its activists in Michigan an e-mail encouraging them to “stand with the vice president and against the angry mobs being directed by Republican operatives in Washington to disrupt events throughout the month of August.”

    Since when does a sitting President need a political wing? That is kind of a creepy. And isn’t his ‘political wing’ directed by Democratic operative in Washington to disrupt dissent and open political discussion by personal attacks. After all, you don’t have to be right to win an argument; you just have to discredit the person who speaks the truth. Perhaps the GOP needs to launch a website to refute all of Obama smears.

    DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse charged Tuesday that mobs are being transported to rallies by “well- funded, highly organized groups run by Republican operatives and funded by the special interests who are desperately trying to stop the agenda for change the president was elected to bring to Washington. ”

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

    i.e. the oil companies.

    What a bunch of lies. I’d like to see some actual proof of what Mrs. Pelosi calls “astroturfing.” But I figure they would be proud of the GOP orgainzing, since “the organizer’s first job is to create the issues or problems…”

    • JohnMG
      August 5, 2009 at 3:23 pm

      These town hall meetings are a farce. And I’ll bet those dems who have to face their constituents are really pissed at the Obama cadre of tag-team thugs twisting their tails and forcing them to spew the party propaganda that even they, themselves, don’t believe. There seems to be no shortage of angry citizens on the other side anxious to vent their collective spleen, and these tools are an easy target. Obama should get used to it. Actually he should recognize it easily as it has been his stock-in-trade for all these years. Community organizers the world over got their way in just such a fashion. Saul Alinski would be proud except for the fact that it is now CONSERVATIVES AND DISGRUNTLED MODERATES pissing in the liberal punchbowl. I hope the August recess is long and hot. I’m doing my part to make it that way. Carnahan modified his ‘town hall meeting’ into a press conference, and Claire McCaskill didn’t even show up for hers, using as an excuse that she was in Texas visiting with wounded veterans at the time. Yet she was the one who scheduled the meeting many weeks ago. What a couple of dweebs.

    • sheehanjihad
      August 5, 2009 at 3:48 pm

      The reason they are having trouble finding the organizers of the citizens who are disrupting townhall meetings using liberal’s tactics that they learned for the past 8 years from the left is simple: THERE ARENT ANY ORGANIZERS!!!!!! People are fed up, and they are coming to these meetings to tell their elected official to stop the bullsh*t and vote against the pile of crap health care bill, or be faced with removal from office.

      It’s all legal…it’s called the bosses taking the employees out on the carpet for poor work, ideological stupidity, and a simple greed for office.

      WE ARE THE BOSSES!!! Unlike the left, we dont have organizations who pay us to show up, we dont have professional protestors who do nothing but agitate like they are told to, and unlike the democrats, we, the freakin people are going to be heard once and for all.

      Remember this liberal leftist democrats. YOU YOU YOU wakened that sleeping giant called Americans. Now, you have discovered a dog without a leash…..or a collar….like your bought and paid for minions.

      Deal with it…and oh, sending your operatives to disrupt proper dissent is going to lead to your professional protestors getting their big fat mouths shut in a way they never imagined. We, the people, are pissed off, and we flat out arent going to take it lying down anymore.

      You asked for it by thinking us weak and stupid. Now, you are going to reap the harvest of your seeds of discontent you so fervently sowed these past 8 years. You are in for a hell of a ride…buckos.

  31. BillK
    August 6, 2009 at 2:54 am

    The jury must have been racists… or something.

    From the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

    William Jefferson guilty on 11 of 16 corruption counts; sentencing is Oct. 30

    By Bruce Alpert and Jonathan Tilove

    William Jefferson, the former Democratic congressman who served the New Orleans area for nine terms, was found guilty today of 11 of 16 corruption charges.

    Jefferson was charged with soliciting bribes and other crimes for a series of schemes in which he helped American businesses broker deals in West Africa in exchange for payments or financial considerations to companies controlled by members of his family, including his brother Mose, his wife, Andrea, their five daughters and a son-in-law.

    Jefferson faces sentencing Oct. 30 by Judge T.S. Ellis III, who earlier meted out stiff sentences for lesser figures in the case. According to the U.S. attorney’s office, Jefferson faced 235 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Chief prosecutor Mark Lytle said Jefferson could face more than 20 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.

    With Jefferson, 62, facing what could be the equivalent of a life sentence, prosecutors asked Ellis to remand him to jail as a flight risk. But the judge allowed him to remain free pending his sentencing. A forfeiture hearing will be held Thursday to decide what assets Jefferson will have to surrender.

    In a post-verdict news conference, Jefferson referred all questions to his attorney Robert Trout. When asked how he was holding up, the former congressman said, “I’m holding up.”

    Trout said he was very disappointed in the verdict and did not believe that the government had proved its case. He said he was planning to file an appeal.

    The verdict came a little more than four years after the Aug. 3, 2005 raids of Jefferson’s homes in New Orleans and Washington, D.C., in which the FBI found $90,000 in marked bills hidden in the freezer of his D.C. home. The government said Jefferson was going to deliver that money as a bribe to Atiku Abubakar, then vice president of Nigeria, to gain his help with a telecommunications deal in Nigeria being pursued by Lori Mody, a Northern Virginia businesswoman.

    The money was the lion’s share of $100,000 in FBI cash that the congressman was videotaped receiving packed in a briefcase days earlier in a suburban Virginia parking lot from Mody, who, beginning in March of 2005, had become a cooperating witness for the FBI, secretly taping her conversations with Jefferson.

    The jury did not find him guilty on the Foreign Corruptions Practices Act, which was the count linked to the money in the freezer. …

    http://www.nola.com/news/index.....on_11.html

    So guilty of corruption but not of the count that left him with a freezer full of cash?!?!

    Still, I’m surprised he was found guilty of anything at all.

    Perhaps Obama will pardon him.

    • Gila Monster
      August 6, 2009 at 11:44 am

      Perhaps Obama will pardon him.

      No line in Vegas on that one BillK, pretty much a lock.

      Interesting the MSM isn’t covering this story, not even Fox News. I suppose the conviction of a former US Congresscritter on corruption charges isn’t big news anymore.
      Oh fudge, that’s right, Willy Jeff had a big “D” after his name so national news coverage is naturally suppressed. ;o)

  32. canary
    August 6, 2009 at 7:20 am

    NY Times: Guantanamo Ex – Prisoners Get Jobs on Golf Course By REUTERS Aug 5 2009

    HAMILTON (Reuters) – Four Guantanamo prisoners who were released to Bermuda in June have been given jobs tending a public golf course on the tiny Atlantic island.

    The four members of China’s Muslim Uighur minority began working last week to help prepare the lush, seaside Port Royal course to host the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in October.

    The hiring raised eyebrows in the British territory, where employers can only take on foreigners if no qualified local wants the job.

    … All four of them have been given a job there. It’s on a temporary basis. Two of them speak fairly good English.”

    Brown said the men were likely to still be working there during the two-day Grand Slam tournament

    Their lawyer in Bermuda identified them as Khalil Mamut, Abilikim Turahun, Abdullah Abdulqadir and Salahidin Abdulahat, and said they had been known by a series of nicknames during the seven years they were held at the detention camp for suspected terrorists on the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

    The United States said it could not send them to China because they faced persecution there, but U.S. politicians blocked plans to settle them in the United States.

    Brown said the golf course worked with immigration officials to get the men permission to work.

    (Editing by Jane Sutton and Cynthia Osterman)
    http://www.nytimes.com/reuters.....anamo.html

  33. canary
    August 6, 2009 at 7:27 am

    Fox Business: Judicial Watch Sues Treasury Department to Obtain Documents on Bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

    WASHINGTON, DC, Aug 05, 2009 —-Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Obama Department of Treasury to obtain documents concerning the taxpayer bailouts of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

    The bailouts of Fannie and Freddie have already cost taxpayers $86 billion — and are expected to cost up to $200 billion by the end of next year. Judicial Watch filed its initial FOIA request on February 5, 2009, as part of a large-scale investigation into the government’s response to the financial crisis. By law, Treasury had until March 6, 2009, to respond. Treasury Department officials requested a 10-day extension to conduct a document review. However, since that time, Treasury has provided no documents and no indication when documents will be forthcoming.

    On his first day in office, President Obama promised that “transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.” The president further declared that “the Freedom of Information Act is perhaps the most powerful instrument we have for making our government honest and transparent, and of holding it accountable.”

    Earlier this year, Judicial Watch had to sue the Obama Treasury Department in order to obtain documents regarding an historic meeting held by former Treasury Secretary Henry “Hank” Paulson with top bank executives. The documents show that Paulson and other officials, including then-NY Fed Reserve head and current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner forced the executives to take the government’s $250 billion “investment” (and resulting control).

    ” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “When is the Obama administration going to start keeping its promises of transparency?”

    Visit http://www.JudicialWatch.org to view Judicial Watch’s lawsuit against the Treasury Department.
    http://www.foxbusiness.com/sto.....annie-mae/

  34. canary
    August 6, 2009 at 7:38 am

    AP: Iraqi teen girl gets 7 1/2 years for bombing attempt
    By Associated Press Writer Sinan Salaheddin Aug 5 2009

    BAGHDAD – A teenage Iraqi girl who claimed her husband’s female relatives strapped explosives on her has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for attempting to blow herself up at a checkpoint in northeastern Iraq

    Rania Ibrahim was sentenced Sunday in a juvenile court for the attempted attack on Iraqi security forces near Baqouba in August 2008, said Diyala provincial Judge Zaid Khalaf.

    U.S. officials said the 15-year-old turned herself in after being hooked up to the explosives against her will. Iraqi police said she was caught by a patrol after arousing suspicion while walking in downtown Baqouba.

    In the first part of the video, Ibrahim is seen standing in a street, both hands cuffed to a metal grid attached to a wall behind her. A police officer is later heard saying she apparently had been drugged. Another officer opens her robe, and shouts out to his colleagues, apparently to confirm he spotted a vest.

    Police later said the vest was packed with 33 pounds of explosives.

    In the second part of the videotape, where reporters were present, Ibrahim first said she did not know the women who gave her the vest, saying they were strangers.

    Throughout her trial, Ibrahim stuck by the story that the two women put the vest on her, said provincial police spokesman Maj. Ghalib al-Karkhi. But the court focused on the fact that Ibrahim was in possession of an explosives vest and was caught wearing it, rather than her conflicting confession, he said.

    Iraqi authorities lack enough female police to search womenentrances to public buildings.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....l0ZWVuZ2ly

  35. canary
    August 6, 2009 at 7:53 am

    Jill Stanyke August 5, 2009
    Texas Rep Senator John Cornyn asks Obama if healthcare spies should rat on his own “disinformation”
    Yesterday conservatives publicized that the White House was recruiting informants on its blog to turn in emails and web addresses of those spreading “disinformation” on Obamacare, i.e., anything in opposition.

    Senator’s letter to Obama questioning Freedom of Speech and what Obama will do with such information.

    http://briefingroom.thehill.co.....letter.pdf

    http://www.jillstanek.com/arch.....s_whi.html

  36. canary
    August 6, 2009 at 7:44 pm

    AP: Adviser: US has 2 more tough years in Afghanistan
    By National Security Writer Anne Gearan

    WASHINGTON – An incoming adviser to the top U.S. general in Afghanistan predicted Thursday that the United States will see about two more years of heavy fighting and then either hand off to a much improved Afghan fighting force or “lose and go home.”

    David Kilcullen, a counterinsurgency expert who will assume a role as a senior adviser to Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has been highly critical of the war’s management to date. He outlined a “best-case scenario” for a decade of further U.S. and NATO involvement in Afghanistan during an appearance at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

    Under that timeline, the allied forces would turn the corner in those two years, followed by about three years of transition to a newly capable Afghan force and about five years of “overwatch.”

    “We’ll fight for two years and then a successful transition, or we’ll fight for two years and we’ll lose and go home,” Kilcullen said.

    Kilcullen was speaking for himself, and it is not clear that McChrystal shares his dark assessment. McChrystal is assembling what aides describe as a blunt summing up of a war his predecessor called a stalemate. That review is due within weeks and may lead to a request for additional U.S. forces beyond those President Barack Obama has already sent to Afghanistan this year.

    Obama announced a retailored war strategy in March, with a streamlined focus on ensuring that Afghanistan cannot be used as a harbor for al-Qaida. He has committed 21,000 additional U.S. forces for Afghanistan this year, roughly doubling the U.S. footprint to 68,000 in a year.

    The United States does have compelling reasons to continue the fight, Kilcullen said, but Obama’s counterterrorism mandate isn’t “at the top of my list.”

    Kilcullen, formerly an adviser to Gen. David Petraeus and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said the Taliban-led insurgency is pursuing a classic strategy in which a militarily weaker force avoids direct warfare and sits back to “wait us out ’til we get tired and go home.”

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....hcw–

  37. canary
    August 6, 2009 at 8:12 pm

    AP: Ouch! Early flu shot season comes with 3 jabs
    By AP Medical Writer Mike Stobbe Aug 6 2009

    ATLANTA – Most people will need one shot for the regular seasonal flu and probably two others to protect against the new swine flu.
    “Get it done before we start to tackle Job 2,” the more complex task of swine flu vaccinations, he added.

    For the regular flu vaccine, elderly people, health care workers and pregnant women are among the priority groups.
    For the swine flu vaccine, health care workers and pregnant women are on the list but not older people, who seem to have some immunity to swine flu.

    Then, there are safety questions.

    Health officials are haunted by the swine flu vaccine campaign in 1976, which was stopped after unexpectedly high numbers of patients suffered a paralyzing condition called Guillain-Barre Syndrome. While it’s not clear the vaccine was to blame, health officials want to carefully monitor people who get the new swine flu vaccine for any problems.

    Scientists are just beginning to test the safety and effectiveness of the new swine flu vaccine, work that is expected to take months. If the seasonal flu and swine flu vaccines were given at the same sitting and some people developed health problems, it would be hard to single out which vaccine caused the problem, or whether it was the combination of them.

    “How you’re going to separate that out — that’s a doozer,” said Dr. Samuel Katz, a Duke University vaccines expert, who was a developer of the measles vaccine.

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

  38. canary
    August 6, 2009 at 11:47 pm

    GM, Chrysler Personal Injury Victims Left Stranded
    Bankruptcies exempt automakers from liability

    By Jon Hood
    ConsumerAffairs.com
    By Jon Hood August 6, 2009

    One of the few pieces of good news to come out of the recent bankruptcy filings from GM and Chrysler is that both companies have promised to honor “Lemon Law” claims made before the companies restructured.

    Personal injury suits, however, are a different story altogether. Consumers injured in accidents involving Chrysler and GM cars made before the bankruptcies are likely to be left in the lurch as the companies reorganize.

    Under the arrangement, neither GM nor Chrysler will be held accountable for accidents that occurred before the bankruptcy filings. While this might seem like a trivial footnote in the story of two titans’ respective financial crises, its effects are surprisingly widespread: consumers with unresolved claims against the companies number in the hundreds.

    Attorneys for accident victims were able to win a small concession from GM; the automaker will remain liable for future accidents involving cars built before the company filed for bankruptcy. Chrysler, however, is off the hook for those accidents as well.

    Chrysler spokesman Mike Palese told the Los Angeles Times that it is “really important for the future viability of the company that we would be free from this type of liability.” That may be true, but it’s likely little consolation for the accident victims drowning in medical bills and struggling to keep from filing bankruptcy themselves.

    One member of Congress is trying to hold the automakers accountable. Rep. Andre Carson (D-IA) has introduced a bill that would force GM and Chrysler to cover all future claims for vehicles built before the companies’ restructuring. The bill is named after accident victim Jeremy Warriner, who blames an accident that took both his legs on a faulty brake fluid container in his 2005 Jeep Wrangler. Jeep vehicles are manufactured by Chrysler.

    Initially, even claims under state Lemon Laws were in doubt after a federal bankruptcy court exempted the “New Chrysler” from liability for defects in vehicles manufactured before the restructuring. Both GM and Chrysler relented after a number of state attorneys general poured on the pressure.

    http://www.consumeraffairs.com.....z0NStmYkR6
    http://www.consumeraffairs.com.....ers08.html

  39. BillK
    August 7, 2009 at 3:48 am

    Toke up, everyone!

    A Boulder, CO court ruled that only patients can decide how much medical marijuana is “enough.”

    From the Boulder Daily Camera:

    Acquitted, medical pot patient leaves Boulder court with drugs

    Advocates, juror agree that sick people should decide how much pot is appropriate

    By John Aguilar

    BOULDER, Colo. — Rolling out of the Boulder County Justice Center in a wheelchair Thursday with a jumble of once-confiscated pot in his lap, Jason Lauve smiled and waved to supporters after a jury acquitted him of possessing too much medical marijuana.

    Eight men and four women found the 38-year-old Louisville resident not guilty of a felony drug possession charge, as well as lesser charges of possessing marijuana and marijuana concentrate.

    Lauve, who was prescribed marijuana to relieve the pain from a back injury, burst out crying, grabbed his defense attorney and nearly fell to his knees when the verdict was announced.

    “Thank you so much,” he yelled out to the jurors.

    Boulder District Judge Maria Berkenkotter had to pause and admonish Lauve’s supporters as they applauded and called out during her reading of the verdicts.

    She ordered that more than two pounds of Lauve’s marijuana supply, which had been confiscated by police in a raid of his home last summer, be returned to him.

    “I have a right to live,” Lauve said afterward. “All of us as patients have a right to have our own life, not the government’s life. We should not be treated like criminals.”

    Laurie Borgers, a medical marijuana patient from Denver, said she was elated by the verdict.

    “I am happy and relieved as expected to see justice was served today,” she said outside the courtroom. “They need to stop picking on sick people.” …

    http://www.dailycamera.com/new.....tted-jury/

    See – so if you feel you need any other controlled substance to “live” that’s apparently your right, too.

    This is the state of the American legal system today:

    ut Lauve and his lawyer countered that the constitutional amendment voters approved in 2000 contains a provision that allows patients to present an “affirmative defense,” ultimately giving them the power to determine the amount of marijuana appropriate for their needs.

    Prosecutor Karen Lorenz contended in closing arguments that by ignoring the limits in the statute, patients and caregivers would essentially have “carte blanche” to possess whatever amount of pot they wanted, gutting the law’s intent.

    “There’s no doctor to support this, there are random numbers being thrown around based on what he thinks he needs on a day-to-day basis,” Lorenz told the jury. “That’s not what the medical marijuana statute is for.”

    Lauve’s attorney, Rob Corry, argued that prosecutors never came close to proving that his client was doing anything other than legally medicating himself and treating pain that only he could gauge.

    “There is no evidence that he had more than what was medically necessary to treat his severe debilitating medical condition,” Corry said. “Who gets to decide what is medically necessary?”

    So the next time the left calls Mr. Limbaugh a “druggie” for once being addicted to OxyContin, be sure to counter with the fact that he was just “treating his debilitating pain” and no one has the right “to decide what is medically necessary.”

    Oh, except for perhaps Mr. Obama and his “czars.”

  40. BillK
    August 7, 2009 at 3:56 am

    Proving yet again that “Free Speech” is “Speech the left agrees with.”

    From a giddily happy Associated Press:

    White House Vows to Defend Democrats on Health Reform, Will ‘Punch Back Twice as Hard’

    WASHINGTON — Top White House officials counseled Democratic senators Thursday on coping with disruptions at public events on health care this summer, officials said, and promised the party and allies would respond with twice the force if any individual lawmaker is criticized in television advertising.

    These officials also told skittish senators that fresh polling suggests an emphasis on issues such as barring insurers from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions is a political winner, able to increase support among independents, women, seniors and rural voters.

    The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss details of the closed-door session that took place hours before lawmakers headed to their home states for a monthlong vacation.

    In the week since the House began its own break, several town hall-style meetings have been disrupted by noisy demonstrators. These episodes have drawn widespread media attention, and Republicans have seized on them as well as polls showing a decline in support for President Barack Obama and his agenda as evidence that public support is lacking for his signature legislation.

    Pushing back, Democrats have accused Republicans of sanctioning mob tactics, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., accused protesters of trying to sabotage the democratic process.

    The Republican Party says it’s not behind the protests, but Reid scoffed at the notion that the protesters reflect grass-roots sentiment. He held up a piece of artificial turf during a session with reporters.

    “These are nothing more than destructive efforts to interrupt a debate that we should have, and are having,” Reid said Thursday. “They are doing this because they don’t have any better ideas.

    They have no interest in letting the negotiators, even though few in number, negotiate. It’s really simple: they’re taking their cues from talk show hosts, Internet rumor-mongerers … and insurance rackets.” …

    http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....unch-back/

    Naturally, it’s all political payback, too:

    Also Thursday, the AFL-CIO announced plans to mobilize labor activists to attend town hall meetings in 50 congressional districts this month to counter the conservative protesters.

    Yeah, that’s “grass roots.”

    Messina, the deputy White House chief of staff, also said any advertising attack would be met with a bigger response, these officials said.

    “If you get hit, we will punch back twice as hard,” Messina told senators, according to two people in the room.

    “It’s a challenge, no question about it, and you’ve got to get out there and make the case,” Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said afterward. “This is not the time for the faint-hearted.”

    Because the power of the Federal Government will be used to make whatever you have to say insignificant.

    This isn’t Soros’ minions saying this, this is the White House telling opponents that they will be “hit back twice as hard.”

    Really, can you imagine if Bush had said such a thing?

    Americans really are asleep and dumb if they will stand for this.

    In short “shut up, or we’ll destroy you, whomever you are.”

    I guess most Americans are just fine with that as long as they get their freebies.

    Stick a fork in the country, it’s done. Really.

  41. BillK
    August 7, 2009 at 12:06 pm

    We all knew this – the two Current reporters? Apparently not so innocent.

    From the Associated Press:

    Two U.S. Reporters Entered N. Korea, Sister Says

    SEOUL, South Korea — Laura Ling’s sister says the two American journalists briefly touched North Korean soil before they were captured and detained for months in that communist country.

    “She said that it was maybe 30 seconds and then everything got chaotic. It’s a very powerful story, and she does want to share it,” Lisa Ling told CNN Thursday.

    A day after the reporters returned from Pyongyang on a private plane, Lisa Ling said her sister is still weak, exhausted and emotional.

    Lisa Ling described how her sister clings to her family after months of isolation. She said she even went to a doctor’s appointment with her sister, just to keep her company.

    Lisa Ling said Euna Lee’s husband told her that his 4-year-old daughter, Hana, spent all day following Lee around the house from room to room. At one point during her detention, Lee called and left a voicemail message saying how much she loved her daughter, Lisa Ling said.

    “They could play it for Hana all the time. Of all of us, little Hana had the most confidence that she would be seeing her mom soon,” Lisa Ling said.

    Laura Ling told her family she was treated humanely, but meals were meager and her phone calls were monitored, Lisa Ling said. …

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,537780,00.html

    Hmmm, the political outcry was that they were just “near” the border, but one of the reporter’s sister admits that they went in with the intention of being on North Korean soil.

    I think Kim Jong Il is a complete lunatic, but what did they think would happen when they explicitly crossed the border into North Korea?!?! Their border isn’t massively guarded for the fun of it…

  42. BillK
    August 7, 2009 at 12:14 pm

    It’ll never pass, but you’ve got to credit him with introducing something Republicans who still have a pair can point to.

    From FoxNews.com:

    GOP Senator Seeks to Require Congress to Join Potential Health Reform Public Plan

    By Molly Henneberg

    Sen. Tom Coburn, a fierce opponent of a public option for health care reform, has introduced an amendment requiring all lawmakers to enroll in the plan if it is included in a final bill that is passed.

    “So that we feel the same effects of that plan as every other American that ends up in it and the data shows that a 104 million Americans are going to end up in that plan, so what’s good for us ought to be good for everybody else>b?,” the Oklahoma Republican and doctor said.

    While the amendment evokes the old goose and gander adage, some Democrats are crying “fowl.”

    They say the premise of the amendment is flawed because it suggests that the public option will be the only plan available.

    “Members of Congress will very likely be in the same situation as every other American will be vis-à-vis the public option,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. “They can choose it, or they can not choose it. So the idea that members of Congress would be forced into it disrupts the whole notion that underlies it — that this is a choice.”

    Other Democrats, including Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., support Coburn’s amendment. They joined most Republicans and passed the amendment out of the Senate Health committee.

    But that version ultimately will have to be merged with another committee’s bill and political analysts say Coburn’s amendment may not survive.

    “If I had to make a guess, I’d say that they will try to create a requirement to be in a public plan with a number of loopholes that would enable most senators to avoid the requirement,” said Michael Franc of the Heritage Foundation. …

    http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....blic-plan/

    Watch them continue to make believe private insurance will still exist.

  43. Al Morone
    August 7, 2009 at 6:07 pm

    Ann Coulter on C-SPAN tonight at 8pm ET:
    http://www.c-spanarchives.org/.....d=288273-4

  44. Al Morone
    August 7, 2009 at 6:24 pm

    NYC to white men: “Drop Dead!!”
    http://www.nypost.com/seven/08.....183197.htm
    Update:
    http://www.nypost.com/seven/08.....183384.htm

  45. canary
    August 3, 2009 at 9:45 am

    AP: Police beat women opposing Sudan dress code trial
    By Associated Press Writers Mohamed Osman And Sarah El Deeb Aug 4 2009

    KHARTOUM, Sudan – Sudanese police fired tear gas and beat women protesting at the trial Tuesday of a female journalist who faces a flogging for wearing trousers in public.

    In an attempt to rally support, Hussein printed invitations to diplomats, international media, and activists to attend her trial which opened last week.

    Witnesses said police wielding batons beat up one of Hussein’s lawyers, Manal Awad Khogali, while keeping media and cameras at bay.

    The 1991 indecency law was adopted by Sudan’s Islamic regime which came to power after a coup led by President Omar al-Bashir in 1989. It follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law that imposes physical punishment on “those who commit an indecent act that violates public morale; or who dress indecently.”

    Flogging is a common punishment for drinking and making alcohol, and whatever else the law enforcer deems indecent.

    Recently, a famous Sudanese singer, who took to the stage under the influence of alcohol, was flogged.

    Hussein said. “If the (rulers) claim this is based on Islamic Shariah (law), can anyone show me a verse in the Quran or in the prophet’s teachings that speak of flogging women because of their dress code?”

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

    This is why we need states in the U.S. To think that these African women once went around and danced with no tops, and now it’s the opposite. This is sign of just how much Islam law has spread from the mulitiple wifes and children

  46. caligirl9
    August 4, 2009 at 2:31 am

    Hmmm, didn’t a promise of “read my lips, no new taxes” cost Bush I his re-election?
    This could be what we need in 2010 … get some nice fiscally-conservative individuals into the House and put up more of a fight for us.
    Unfortunately the media will have forgotten about this by 2012 …

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