People, we must take our country back from these idiots before it is too late.

Biodiesel fuel woes close Bloomington schools

By LORA PABST, Star Tribune

All schools in the Bloomington School District will be closed today after state-required biodiesel fuel clogged in school buses Thursday morning and left dozens of students stranded in frigid weather, the district said late Thursday.

Rick Kaufman, the district’s spokesman, said elements in the biodiesel fuel that turn into a gel-like substance at temperatures below 10 degrees clogged about a dozen district buses Thursday morning. Some buses weren’t able to operate at all and others experienced problems while picking up students, he said.

“We had students at bus stops longer than we think is acceptable, and that’s too dangerous in these types of temperatures,” Kaufman said.

About 50 of the district’s 10,000 students were affected. Some waited at bus stops for up to 30 minutes; others were stuck on stalled buses.

Backup buses were sent out, but four of the district’s 10 backup buses were also affected, Kaufman said.

Several students had to go to the nurse’s office to warm up once they reached school and some returned home instead of waiting for buses that never came or were late, but there were no reports of students who required medical attention, he said. Transportation staffers were dispatched to make sure that there weren’t any students left at bus stops.

http://www.startribune.com/loc.....89189.html

No worries. As The One has proclaimed, alternative energy will deliver us from dependence on foreign oil.

Not all is lost. At least the kids will have plenty of syrup for their pancakes.

“I love the sound of a rifle bolt chambering a round.” An actual quote from my oldest daughter.

The death tax depends on the quality of lawyers one can afford to hire. The law really just applies to working people who through some miracle amass small estates. We can’t allow that. They might get uppity.

Now the Kennedys, why they are our aristocracy! It wouldn’t be right to punish people better than ourselves. Besides, they have to pay the bribes that keep our criminal politicians in the splendor they deserve for ruling us so ably.

Ex-WSU provost makes $245K teaching part-time

By Shannon Dininny

RICHLAND, Wash. — Philosopher and revolutionary Karl Marx touted sharing the wealth in class-divided Europe. So what would he think about $245,000 a year to teach one class on the Russian revolution?

That’s what Washington State University is paying Steven Hoch. He was briefly hired as the school’s provost, but the arrangement fell apart after a hallway altercation with a colleague. A twist in Hoch’s contract turned him into an extremely expensive part-time history professor.

The incident left some questioning the university’s hiring practices, while faculty members praise the addition of a respected scholar — despite the irony of the subject matter — for a department they say is short-staffed.

Hoch, 57, is a well-regarded historian who has written books and articles on Russian history and socioeconomics.

“We’re happy to have another colleague, and we badly need a Russian historian,” said Steve Kale, interim chair of WSU’s history department. “It’s just not rational to be upset about the salary situation.“

Hoch was less than two months into the job as provost when he took a personal leave Sept. 23 following an altercation at a staff meeting, which ended in a shoving incident with another administrator.

Hoch and WSU President Elson Floyd agreed he should not remain as provost, effective Oct. 31. But his contract allows him to continue as a tenured faculty member at an annual salary of $245,000, roughly 80 percent of his original salary.

The average salary for WSU full professors of history was $74,770 last fall. Nationally, the average salary for full professors at large public universities was $109,569 in the 2007-08 school year, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

University administrators assigned Hoch to the WSU branch campus in Richland, where one of two history professors and the university’s lone Russian specialist are on sabbatical. At the time, they said Hoch would assist with expanding course offerings at the branch campus that recently began offering four-year degrees.

Whether Hoch will remain in the Tri-Cities or is reassigned to another campus beyond this semester remains to be seen. He is teaching History 469, a seminar required of all history majors to graduate. The subject matter is determined by the professor.

Hoch also will be advising some students and is expected to eventually assume a full course load.

While it’s true that Hoch will be making far more than any other history professor, Kale said, the focus should be on his credentials and not his salary.

“He has a Ph.D. from Princeton, and he is a quite accomplished Russian historian, even though he has not been active for a time because he’s been an administrator,” Kale said.

Before coming to WSU, Hoch served as dean of the University of Kentucky’s School of Arts and Sciences. He declined to be interviewed for this story.

Retired Richland teacher Laurel Piippo signed up to become a citizen lobbyist in Olympia this session to demand that lawmakers hold the school’s president accountable for the situation.

“I’m not just going to let it sit there and die,” Piippo told the Tri-City Herald. “I want this guy on the hot seat.”

Hoch’s students, though, are generally unfazed by the situation. Students said they were happy with their new professor’s knowledge and experience, though one said he planned to drop the class because Hoch’s Boston accent drove him nuts.

http://www.chron.com/disp/stor.....14025.html

Which statement that better shows the arrogance of higher education?

“We’re happy to have another colleague, and we badly need a Russian historian,” said Steve Kale, interim chair of WSU’s history department. “It’s just not rational to be upset about the salary situation.“

or:

While it’s true that Hoch will be making far more than any other history professor, Kale said, the focus should be on his credentials and not his salary.

It’s great to be in education – you can charge whatever you want without any loss in “demand” because the Federal Government will eventually provide your funding anyway.

http://sweetness-light.com/arc.....ent-129575

also:

http://sweetness-light.com/arc.....ent-129676

You’ll also see Illinois’ race-baiting Bobby Rush has introduced legislation that would require a permit from the Federal Government to own a handgun.

I don’t recall government sponsored DOCSIS modem’s…

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual… (Introduced in House)

HJ 5 IH

111th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. J. RES. 5
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

January 6, 2009
Mr. SERRANO introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

——————————————————————————–

JOINT RESOLUTION
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:

`Article–

`The twenty-second article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.’.

——————————————————————————–

THOMAS Home | Contact | Accessibility | Legal | USA.gov
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:hj5:

Court Affirms Wiretapping Without Warrants

By James Risen and Eric Lichtblau

WASHINGTON — In a rare public ruling, a secret federal appeals court has said telecommunications companies must cooperate with the government to intercept international phone calls and e-mail of American citizens suspected of being spies or terrorists.

The ruling came in a case involving an unidentified company’s challenge to 2007 legislation that expanded the president’s legal power to conduct wiretapping without warrants for intelligence purposes.

But the ruling, handed down in August 2008 by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review and made public Thursday, did not directly address whether President Bush was within his constitutional powers in ordering domestic wiretapping without warrants, without first getting Congressional approval, after the terrorist attacks of 2001.

Several legal experts cautioned that the ruling had limited application, since it dealt narrowly with the carrying out of a law that had been superseded by new legislation. But the ruling is still the first by an appeals court that says the Fourth Amendment’s requirement for warrants does not apply to the foreign collection of intelligence involving Americans. That finding could have broad implications for United States national security law.

The court ruled that eavesdropping on Americans believed to be agents of a foreign power “possesses characteristics that qualify it for such an exception.”

Bruce M. Selya, the chief judge of the review court, wrote in the opinion that “our decision recognizes that where the government has instituted several layers of serviceable safeguards to protect individuals against unwarranted harms and to minimize incidental intrusions, its efforts to protect national security should not be frustrated by the courts.”

The three-judge court, which hears rare appeals from the full Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, addressed provisions of the Protect America Act, passed by Congress in 2007 amid the controversy over Mr. Bush’s program of wiretapping without warrants. It found that the administration had put in place sufficient privacy safeguards to meet the constitutional standards of the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches. Because of that, the company had to cooperate, the court said.

That finding bolstered the Bush administration’s broader arguments on wiretapping without warrants, both critics and supporters said.

William C. Banks, a law professor at Syracuse University who has criticized the administration’s legal position on eavesdropping, said that while the ruling did not address Mr. Bush’s surveillance without warrants directly, “it does bolster his case” by recognizing that eavesdropping for national security purposes did not always require warrants.

“It provides a very good result; it reaffirms the president’s right to conduct warrantless searches,” said David Rivkin, a Washington lawyer who has served in Republican administrations.

Representative Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said the ruling “reinforces the significant, bipartisan political consensus” in favor of the president’s broad assertions of wiretapping powers.

But others were cautious about the significance of the ruling.

“I think this kind of maintains the status quo,” said Scott Silliman, an expert on national security law at Duke University. “I don’t think it is a surprise that the FISA court found that the legislation was constitutional. They are going to defer to Congress, especially since there was a lot of discussion when the law was passed about the ability of the government to compel providers.

Coming in the final days of the Bush administration, the ruling was hailed by the administration and conservatives as a victory for an aggressive approach to counterterrorism. The Justice Department said in a statement that it was “pleased with this important ruling.” …

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01.....r=1&hp

Leave it to the Treason Times to declare that a ruling affirming the legality of warrantless wiretaps doesn’t mean Bush had the power to order them, and to repeat the lie that the wiretaps were domestic in nature.

The calls were of course not between Aunt Rose and her sister, but when one end of the call was to a known terrorist located outside the United States.

But why risk letting truth intrude on a long-told lie?

The Times of course does admit the truth, but only near the end of the article that will likely get snipped out when it goes national or is summarized by the AP:

The ruling is the latest legal chapter in a dispute dating back to the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, when Mr. Bush secretly ordered the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on the international communications of American citizens without the approval of Congress or the courts. After the agency’s program was publicly disclosed in December 2005, critics said it violated a 1978 law. The White House initially opposed any new legislation to regulate surveillance, arguing that it would be an infringement of the president’s powers.

As a reminder to anyone not aware, domestic surveillance is explicitly against the charter of the National Security Agency.

You all need to go to :
http://tinyurl.com/84tb2z

And read up on some of the gems that Pelosi’s Posse has proposed for this session of Congress – and given the Immaculate Inauguration of The One ™ the Obamamedia won’t cover a single damn one of ‘em.

Yes Indeed I just purchased my first firearm this month – Out of my cold dead hands

From Television Week:

DTV Coupon Fund Would Grow With New House Plan

By Ira Teinowitz

In what may be a hint that the date for the digital TV conversion date will be postponed past Feb. 17, a House of Representatives panel is proposing that any new government stimulus plan include a 50% increase in funds available for analog-to-digital converter box coupons.

The committee released its proposal today to add $650 million for coupons. The government originally provided $1.5 billion for the converter-box coupon program, of which about $1.34 billion was actually used for the $40-off certificates.

Last week in asking the date for the conversion date to be postponed, the Obama transition office indicated that there would be additional money to aid the DTV conversion in the president-elect’s economic recovery package, but included no specifics. The House Appropriations Committee document is the first indication of the amount.

Republicans have urged more money for coupons, but no change in the date.

Today Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez wrote the chairmen of the House Energy & Commerce Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee suggesting a $250 million boost in the coupon program, but keeping the Feb. 17 changeover date.

http://www.tvweek.com/news/200.....ow_wit.php

When did TV become a government-sponsored right?

More to the point, if you were too clueless to get a converter box in the past year despite the non-stop advertising by television stations and the Government pushing people to get their freebies, what difference is another $650 million and four months going to make?

But yeah, Obambi, just keep printing that funny money.

The Republicans’ response of course indicate they are absolutely no different from Democrats in any way any longer.

So delay the transition. Force television stations to have to run two transmitters for another four months.

I guess the workers at those stations who will have to be laid off to pay the power costs to do so (just think of the greenhouse gas emissions that could be saved by the earlier transiiton date!) don’t count among the numbers of jobs that the Chosen One is supposed to “save.”

January 15, 2009
BY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporter

John Harris — the highest-ranking employee under Gov. Blagojevich to be hit with federal corruption charges — has been providing information to federal prosecutors, the Sun-Times has learned. Harris’ attorney, Terry Ekl, told the Sun-Times the governor’s former chief of staff has had “preliminary discussions” with the feds.
Sources with knowledge of the investigation of the governor say federal authorities late last year won court authorization to tap the cell phones of Harris and Robert Blagojevich, the governor’s brother and campaign fund chairman. Harris was arrested along with the governor Dec. 9 on allegations that the governor conspired to sell the Senate seat of President-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder.
“There have been preliminary discussions with the U.S. Attorney’s office and John Harris,” Ekl said. “No decision has been made as to whether John Harris will be a witness for the government or will proceed to trial.” Ekl would not discuss details, but sources say that among the things Harris has discussed is how Blagojevich liked to talk big to his staff, but they didn’t always do what he asked them to. The Sun-Times has also learned that the government tapped cell phones belonging to Harris as well as Gov. Blagojevich’s brother. (cont)

http://www.suntimes.com/news/m.....09.article