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Selected News For Mar 21 – Mar 27

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

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

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

Thanks!

Related Articles:

 

This article was posted by Steve Gilbert on Saturday, March 21st, 2009 at 12:00 am. You can leave a response.

66 Responses to “Selected News For Mar 21 – Mar 27”

  1. BillK
    March 21, 2009 at 1:58 am

    From the Los Angeles blog “L.A. Observed”:

    City wishes Xenu happy birthday

    By Kevin Roderick

    The deficit-facing city council has made noise recently about halting its practice of waiving the fees levied on community events — but for sci-fi writer and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s birthday, no problem. From the council agenda:

    8-0568-S1 CD 8 e. MOTION (PARKS – LABONGE) relative to declaring the L. Ron Hubbard Birthday Event on March 21, 2009 a Special Event (fees and costs absorbed by the City = $3,000)

    Others up for fee waivers at that price level include the March for Water on March 22 ($3,000) and the 16th Annual Cesar E. Chavez March for Justice and Cultural Arts Street Festival on March 29 ($4,872.)

    http://www.laobserved.com/arch.....ppy_bi.php

    Good to see Los Angeles has their budget priorities in order.

    • Flession
      March 21, 2009 at 2:04 am

      Isn’t California under some sort of deficit right now?

      Hell, take it those Scientologist wackos and sue them for some of your well needed revenue!

    • wardmama4
      March 27, 2009 at 8:20 am

      However the bigger point would be – how many citizens would not ’storm’ city halls around the country if this crappola was required to be printed and/or posted before the vote? And how many of these klownposse-in-training would ever get re-elected?

  2. Flession
    March 21, 2009 at 2:01 am

    From my Local News Media Outlet WRAL:

    New N.C. House Bill Asks Businesses To Uncover Past Links To Slavery

    Companies that want to do business with state government would have to disclose any past financial links to slavery under a new bill.

    The bill does not call for any sanctions against companies that profited from slaves unless they refuse to research and disclose the information.

    Rep. Larry Womble, D-Forsyth County, said his bill calling on North Carolina businesses to search their records for any links to slavery is not about punishment. He said it’s documenting history — warts and all.

    “Once we admit that this kind of thing went on here in North Carolina, we can move on,” Womble said.

    Critics said they don’t want to be seen as supporting slavery, but they question the purpose in digging up sins of the past.

    Phil Kirk, executive director of North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry, calls Womble’s bill a well-intentioned but unfair, burden.

    “It’s a meaningless bill that doesn’t do anything,” he said. Kirk believes it could open Pandora’s box if slave reparations pick up support.

    The bill also would require companies to file affidavits stating they have searched records for any investments in or profits derived from slavery. The names of slaves or slaveholders discovered also would have to be disclosed.

    “If anybody thought they had some information on something they thought a business did 150 years ago, and that business signed a pledge or statement saying they didn’t, that’s grounds for a lawsuit,” Kirk said.

    This legislation is patterned after bills in other states. Some longstanding corporations in Chicago ended up apologizing for their past links to slavery.

    Womble said he doesn’t know of any companies doing business with the state with that kind of past.

    The measure will soon go before the full House.

    http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/1090851/

    That’s just too funny. They say that they just want it to be out there so that everyone knows it and we can move on, yet anyone with any sort of common sense on either side of the debate know that this is just the beginning.

    Not to mention how much of a waste of taxpayer money this is.

    Unfortunatly, it’s been over a century since the last legal slave was owned in the United States, yet we continue to hear about it, with talks of reperations and oppression; especially during the election of Lord Barry.

    It also shouldn’t be shocking which party Mr. Womble is part of.

    “Once we admit that this kind of thing went on here in North Carolina, we can move on”

    Until black people realise that they can stand on their own two feet and strive to move beyond the control of the government, we will never be able to ‘move on’.
    ******

    • Celina
      March 21, 2009 at 1:45 pm

      What?! There was slavery in a southern state a long time ago? The hell you say ;)

    • U NO HOO
      March 22, 2009 at 5:46 pm

      If life is soooooo baaaaaddd for certain ethnicities, what can those people be thinking of when they create children of that ethnicity?

    • BannedbytheTaliban
      March 23, 2009 at 10:00 am

      Do you suppose the state will admit to their extensive use of slaves to build the UNC School system? The fact that UNC-Chapel Hill was built by slaves was well documented. Of course those at UNC-CH would be aghast to learn that fact.

    • Rusty Shackleford
      March 23, 2009 at 9:38 pm

      “Once we admit that this kind of thing went on here in North Carolina, we can move on”

      Yes, because unfettered hatred without a target is so unproductive.

      Just ask Hitler.

    • Flession
      March 28, 2009 at 12:42 am

      Speaking of Hitler, this is how the Kristallnacht stared out: Getting Jews to register with the government.

      So when the moment to strike happened, they knew where and who to hit.

      Writing’s on the wall…

  3. grits
    March 21, 2009 at 8:55 am

    “Once we admit that this kind of thing went on here in North Carolina, we can move on”

    Sure we can – move on to the systematic destruction of those businesses and everyone connected to them.

    Did I miss something? I haven’t been aware of a movement of “slavery deniers”. I honestly thought everyone was pretty clear on the factual history of slavery in America. Southern white people get lambasted all the time for “glorifying” it. Haven’t noticed the “deniers” in this category.

    • Liberals Demise
      March 27, 2009 at 9:19 am

      Can ya’ll say, “R-E-P-E-R-A-T-I-O-N-S”? I smell a law suit that is to follow once it is admitted so they can continue to be lazy hacks and do nothings!!

  4. proreason
    March 21, 2009 at 2:26 pm

    Economist John Taylor discusses the root causes of the economic “crisis” (short, clear video).

    http://reason.com/blog/show/132357.html

    Hint: the crisis results from g…v….m..t intervention.

  5. proreason
    March 21, 2009 at 5:27 pm

    BIG surprise. Iran is not enraptured with The Moron’s YouTube outreach. From the UK’s Telegraph:

    Iran responds to Barack Obama’s video appeal with nuclear pledge

    Mr Obama sent Iran an unprecedented videotaped message offering a fresh start in diplomatic engagement after decades of US hostility to the Islamic Republic.

    He went further than he has since taking office on Jan 20 in extending an olive branch to Tehran, which has been locked in bitter disputes with Washington over Iranian nuclear ambitions and support for militants operating in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    In an unusually swift reaction to Mr Obama’s overture, Aliakbar Javanfekr, an aide to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said Iran welcomed “the interest of the American government to settle differences”.

    But he said that the US government “should realise its previous mistakes and make an effort to amend them”.

    In an almost simultaneous announcement, from Iran’s energy minister, Parviz Fattah, said that the country would “finish and operate” its controversial Russian-built Bushehr nuclear plant by the end of the year.

    “Iran has chosen a direction for achieving peaceful nuclear energy. We have mainly reached this aim,” he said at the World Water Forum in Istanbul.

    “Exactly 20 days from now we will have another celebration for celebrating the achievements we have gained for peaceful nuclear energy. You will hear about the news,” he said.

    “Iran will finish and operate the Bushehr nuclear plant by the end of this year.”

    He added that while Mr Obama’s message to his country on the occasion of the Iranian New Year was “positive”, it had to be followed by “positive action”.

    “Absolutely this message is positive … although it might also have negative points in itself as well,” he said.

    “The Iranian leaders will precisely assess this message. We believe that we need that in addition to messages we need positive action from Mr Obama as well as from his government. So in addition to talk, we need actions.”

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....ledge.html

    Isn’t this swell.

    First, the idiot bends from the waist, athletically of course, and shoots a spitball message to the the other team. They say (paraphrased), “hey, thanks for showing us how weak you are, fool. Now we can escalate our lunatic actions. And oh yes, butt boy, we not only want to hear a better apology, send over some reparations next time you grovel so we know you mean it.

  6. Al Morone
    March 21, 2009 at 6:27 pm

    Ann Coulter on C-SPAN 3/22 @ 12noon ET
    Repeat of last week’s interview airs Sunday 3/22 at high noon:
    http://www.booktv.org/program......e=Politics

  7. caligirl9
    March 21, 2009 at 8:38 pm

    I honestly am speechless … from the LA Times. “This is not necessarily a presidency that duplicates or copies. The Obamas have their own style.” Oh please. Make me puke.

    The lady to see for a White House invitation

    Reporting from Washington — Desiree Rogers once made millionaires of a lucky few. Now she plans to give Americans dinner invitations to the White House.

    Rogers, a business executive and socialite — and a former Illinois lottery director — is turning again to Lady Luck in her role as social secretary for a White House that hopes to balance glamour, history and an urban sensibility with populism.

    “Something that we’ve talked about from early on is making it the people’s house,” said Rogers, sitting at a table in her East Wing office. “How can we salute — encourage the American spirit?”

    Her vision includes inviting ordinary citizens chosen by lottery to join in a social life that reflects the eclectic interests of President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

    Along with state events and dinners with artists and intellectuals, the calendar she plans includes poetry slams and a ball celebrating everyday American heroes…

    At Rogers’ suggestion, the water in the fountains outside the White House was dyed green on St. Patrick’s Day for the first time, inspired by the Obamas’ hometown tradition of dying the Chicago River green on the holiday.

    The traditional White House Easter Egg Roll this year is planned to be the largest ever, with tens of thousands of visitors and tickets distributed to the public online for the first time. The idea is that an assured spot will make it easier for families to come from across the country to join the egg hunt on the South Lawn; in the past, tickets were distributed in Washington the week before, making it less likely that people would travel a long distance.

    For many, the Obamas evoke John and Jacqueline Kennedy, a presidency surrounded by an enduring mystique and sense of possibility…
    Even before the election, Vogue editor at large Andre Leon Talley dubbed the Obama era “Black Camelot.”

    Whatever name ultimately sticks to the Obama White House, Rogers … rejects comparisons with the Kennedys and Camelot.

    “This is not necessarily a presidency that duplicates or copies. The Obamas have their own style,” she said.

    That style is livelier than the Bushes, more hip than the Reagans, more multicultural than the Clintons, and more accessible than the Kennedys.

    … Not only is Rogers the first African American to be White House social secretary but she is the first with a Harvard MBA. She’s spent much of her career at the intersection of politics, business and marketing.

    …Though Rogers approaches planning events with an eye toward imagery that will reinforce Obama’s vision of the presidency and help him build relationships with the capital’s other political players, she said her job ultimately was about “creating environments where people can kind of relax a little bit and experience a tiny slice of what America has to offer.”

    Such as the conga line at the governor’s ball.

    “In the course of the evening, I looked up and they were doing a conga line,” said White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett. “That’s the perfect example of how comfortable people were able to get very quickly. And, you know, when you’ve done the conga line with somebody, it’s very hard to have a heated dispute with them the next day.”

    http://www.latimes.com/news/na.....7564.story

    Okay this whole thing just made me sick. “Black Camelot?” Barf. Invites to dinner by lottery? Bet none of us will even know of anyone this happens to …

    The whole thing is so damned … pretentious.

    • grits
      March 22, 2009 at 8:10 am

      “The traditional White House Easter Egg Roll this year is planned to be the largest ever, with tens of thousands of visitors and tickets distributed to the public online for the first time. The idea is that an assured spot will make it easier for families to come from across the country to join the egg hunt on the South Lawn; in the past, tickets were distributed in Washington the week before, making it less likely that people would travel a long distance.”

      What happened to the “climate crisis”? Aren’t we all supposed to be reducing our “carbon footprint”? How can the White House encourage people to travel long distances for a party?

      What happened to the “recession/depression crisis”? How can anyone afford to travel across the country for an egg hunt?

      What happened to assuring equal opportunity for all? Don’t egg hunts have winners and losers?

      Barf just about covers it.

      I do now understand the choice of DVDs for the PM – it’s that populist, urban-sensibility thing. The format problem with the DVDs underscores the plight of the urban population that can only afford boot-leg DVDs that may or may not function properly. Very symbolic. Much more thoughtful than I first perceived.

      Perhaps after a few weeks of reflection the whole egg-hunt thing will come to me.

  8. Professor_Repulso
    March 21, 2009 at 9:21 pm

    Pretentious?! Yes, but what else would you expect. Remember this dustup?
    “In the latest contretemps, observers are marveling at his back of hand to Red English Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Mrs. Brown apparently devoted considerable attention to gifts for the Husseins. For instance, there were designer dresses for the girls with matching necklace. Brown gave Big Ears some elaborately thoughtful mementos. But B.O. responded in an afterthought with some videos – ‘Hey Michelle, send some honky to Blockbusters.’ – and some junk from the White House gift shop.
    “The official explanation is that B.O. could not do right by the Browns because he was ‘exhausted’ from his efforts to reduce the levels of the oceans. No, the reason is a lot less complicated. Remember the Billy Bubba Slime administration? When they left the White House – your house – they actually stole laptops, china and some of the decor. The Washington Post says they left obscene graffiti and ripped a presidential seal off a wall. They wrecked computer keyboards and sliced telephone lines.
    “Why? Simple. The Bubba Slimes are white trash. That is true wherever they live, however fancy the house. Also Known As is black trash, except that you can’t blame him entirely on blacks because he is more white than anything else, thanks to Stanley (Dunham), who as far as we know paradoxically never slept with a white man.”

    • Right of the People
      March 21, 2009 at 10:24 pm

      They remind me of when some yellow-toothed bubba wins the lottery and goes on a spending spree buying cars and houses and other stuff he would never normally be able to afford. Remember his comments about Air Force One? I don’t remember the exact quotes but it was similar to: “Man did you see that cool plane I own now? I can call someone and they bring me stuff and I can jump on my plane and go anywhere I want, man this is really cool!”

      Bubba Barry and his hillbilly family. Makes me want to puke.

      10-7

  9. artboyusa
    March 22, 2009 at 6:18 am

    The latest from the UK’s Number One terrorist apologist, thief, liar, traitor and Islamist stooge, the MP for Bethnal and Bow, George Galloway.

    [From the AFP]:

    Canada bars Galloway over Hamas support

    OTTAWA (AFP) — George Galloway has been blocked from visiting Canada because of his support of Hamas, which is banned here, the Canadian immigration minister’s office said.

    “I’m sure Galloway has a large Rolodex of friends in regimes elsewhere in the world willing to roll out the red carpet for him,” Alykhan Velshi, spokesman for Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, told AFP.

    “Canada, however, won’t be one of them,” he said in an email.

    Galloway was to give a speech in Toronto at the end of the month, but has been denied entry over his opposition to Canadian troops in Afghanistan, said the Sun.

    In a comment piece published in the Guardian on Saturday, Galloway described the ban as “absurd, hypocritical, and in vain” because his allies in the country were seeking a judicial review.

    “And there are other ways I can address those Canadians who wish to hear me,” he wrote.

    “From coast to coast, minister Kenney notwithstanding, I will be heard — one way or another.”

    Velshi said Galloway was deemed inadmissible to Canada due to national security concerns.

    It was an “operational decision” by border security officials “based on a number of factors, not only those mentioned in the Sun piece,” he said.

    Such a decision could be overturned by ministerial order, but it is not warranted in this case, he said.

    “We’re going to uphold the law, not give special treatment to a street-corner Cromwell who brags about giving ‘financial support’ to Hamas, a terrorist organization banned in Canada,” Velshi said.

    Opposition New Democratic Party MP Olivia Chow however accused the government of “censorship” for not allowing Galloway to tout his anti-war messages in Canada.

    Denying him entry to this country is “an affront to freedom of speech” and shows the Canadian government “is frightened of an open debate on an unpopular war,” she said in a statement.

    This week, Galloway traveled to Gaza at the head of a humanitarian convoy. He praised the Palestinian “resistance” and condemned Israel’s 22-day offensive launched in December, in which 1,300 Palestinians died, as “genocidal aggression.”

    [http://tinyurl.com/dalor7]

    The MP also donated thousands of dollars and dozens of vehicles to the Hamas-run government in the Gaza Strip.

    • Gila Monster
      March 22, 2009 at 1:52 pm

      Denying him entry to this country is “an affront to freedom of speech” and shows the Canadian government “is frightened of an open debate on an unpopular war,” she said in a statement.

      Freedom of speech? Spin baby spin, yeah it’s all about freedom of speech Ms. Chow.
      I believe it’s more about aiding and abetting a known terrorist organization Ms. Chow-derhead.

      IMHO, the UK should ban this moron or better yet, try him for sedition.

  10. clifcrds
    March 22, 2009 at 3:55 pm

    Had a little time this weekend to “poke” around the internet. I came across this little flick called “The Obama Deception”. If you have some time to view it, I would highly recommend it (its about 2 hours long). Some of it is over my head, some of it I don’t agree with, some of it I had never seen before, and some of it points directly to a few things that SG has brought to my attention. You combine what is talked about in the last 40 minutes with what SG has on this site about Obama’s civilian thug brown shirt cultist army and it sends shivers down my spine (rather than a tingle up my leg). Take some time and check it out:
    http://video.google.com/videop.....1843120756

    • proreason
      March 22, 2009 at 5:41 pm

      I watched a good bit of this film because I was interested to see if it had any information about how Obama has been groomed for the role, since I believe that is exactly what happened.

      The film is about the international Bilderberger organization and the central premise is that the Bilderberger’s are a group of extremely wealthy Wall Streeters who run the world economy and control the U.S. political structure from behind the scenes. The film claims that Obama was created as a counter image to Bush, but that they have both served the same Bilderberger masters.

      The film is from a far left perspective….hates the Iraq War, for example.

      From the quality of the film and other clues, the authors are a well-established, funded and long-term organization. There seems to be a link between this organization and Ron Paul’s supporters.

      A couple of years ago, I would have blown them off as kooks.

      But after what we have seen with The Moron, I have to say a good bit of what is stated sounds plausible to me:
      - The idea that uber-wealthy people groomed Obamy and are pulling his strings aligns with my belief that Soros and allies are doing that.
      - The idea that the true agenda is to keep the uber-wealthy in power also aligns what I have frequently advocated.
      - The film doesn’t speak much about socialism as a tool but it does speak about the propaganda machine.

      The missing ingredient is direct proof, but that may be impossible to produce if the Bilderberger’s are as powerful as the authors claim.

      And personally, I have never thought a monolithic “Wall Street” is the force pulling The Moron’s strings….but that part doesn’t sound crazy to me either.

  11. canary
    March 22, 2009 at 4:24 pm

    Obama’s Take Over going full speed ahead.

    [From the Washington Post:]

    Obama Makes Pitch for Budget Priorities

    By Michael A. Fletcher

    President Obama, working to reframe his $3.6 trillion budget proposal that has come under attack for its large size and even larger ambitions…

    Speaking in his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama called the budget, “an economic blueprint for the future – a vision of America where growth is not based on real estate bubbles or over leveraged banks, but a firm foundation of investments in energy, education, and health care that will lead to a real and lasting prosperity.”

    The plan would reform health care, invest heavily in renewable energy, create a new tax on greenhouse gases, and sharply increase federal spending on all levels of education.

    The budgetary concerns, voiced by congressional Republicans and some deficit-wary Democrats, were only amplified yesterday by a new forecast from the independent Congressional Budget Office estimating that this year’s deficit will surpass $1.8 trillion.

    Still, Obama did not back off any of his priorities in his address. Instead, he called his budget the “central part of a comprehensive strategy” to grow the economy.

    “I realize there are those who say these plans are to ambitious to enact,” Obama said. “To that I say that the challenges we face are too large to ignore. I didn’t come here to pass on our problems to the next president or next generation–I came here to solve them.”

    http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/

    Nothing mentioned about paying China back, who rather owns us. Shouldn’t that come before all the green overhaul he is planning. One more year of Air Force 1 and Pelosi’s jet, won’t kill us. One more year before the federal governement owns the schools.

    As far as health care, why not start with states that need it. Look at Oregan, with more socilaism and freebee’s and their unemployement rate is skyrocketing…

    And Delaware is owned by off shore companies

    To bad some can’t get vouchers to opt like elite and Royality from UK who bought an island. One Isle Man? Got three armed flag.

  12. rakkasan
    March 22, 2009 at 5:19 pm

    Source: Missing Somali-American Spotted at Minneapolis Shopping Mall
    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510073,00.html

    At least one of the Somali-American men who returned to the U.S. after being recruited to join an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group was spotted at a Minneapolis mall in November. But the man hasn’t been seen or heard from since and may have been arrested, a local Muslim leader told FOX News.

    A source familiar with the FBI investigation into the case said “several” of the men recruited to join the Somalia-based terrorist group — known as al-Shabaab — have returned to the U.S.

    “Some of the guys who were missing aren’t missing anymore,” the source told FOX News. “Some of them got blown up and some of them came back, and some of them are still there [in Somalia].”

    As a Twin City resident, this importation of failed nation-state people is both troubling and stupid. The “chickens are coming home to roost” as someone (who cannot be talked about) once said.

  13. BillK
    March 23, 2009 at 5:35 am

    Wisconsin’s Governor Jim Doyle continues on the in-state tuition for immigrants crusade.

    From the (Madison) Wisconsin State Journal:

    Doyle tries again on illegal immigrant tuition

    By Deborah Ziff

    For the fourth straight budget, Gov. Jim Doyle has included a provision that would allow illegal immigrants who graduate from Wisconsin high schools to pay in-state tuition at University of Wisconsin institutions.

    The state Legislature has stripped the item out of each budget in the past, but with a Democratic majority in both houses, advocates are hopeful it will be successful this time.

    But even some Democrats say the measure faces serious problems, including the potential to conflict with a 1996 federal law. That law prohibits states from providing any higher education benefit based on residency to illegal immigrants unless they provide the same benefit to other U.S. citizens, regardless of where they live.

    That could mean a student from, for instance, Montana, would pay in-state tuition at UW-Madison, said Rep. Kim Hixson, D-Whitewater, chairman of the committee on colleges and universities.

    “We can’t go against what is federal law,” Hixson said. “We certainly could not afford to let anyone in the U.S. outside of Wisconsin … come to school here (and pay in-state tuition). I think as long as that’s out there, we just have to do what federal law says.”

    That issue is pending in a court case in California, one of 10 states that permit certain illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition, according to the National Immigration Law Center. No state’s law has been overturned.

    Linton Joaquin, an NILC attorney, said he thinks language in the legislation should render the problem moot, because students must be graduates of a Wisconsin high school to be eligible. …

    http://www.madison.com/wsj/mad/latest/444013

    While the students involved should not necessarily be punished for the crimes of their parents, save being deported with their parents as a group if ICE were doing their job, they also shouldn’t benefit from the crimes committed by their parents by receiving lower tuition.

    The advocates say these are some of their brightest students, but does that make a difference when they cannot legally hold a job in the United States?

    Or is it our duty to educate these kids at our expense so they can go back to their home countries and innovate?

  14. BillK
    March 23, 2009 at 5:41 am

    We somehow missed this last week in the wake of “AIGgate.”

    From our friends at Reuters:

    U.N. panel says world should ditch dollar

    By Jeremy Gaunt

    LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – A U.N. panel will next week recommend that the world ditch the dollar as its reserve currency in favor of a shared basket of currencies, a member of the panel said on Wednesday, adding to pressure on the dollar.

    Currency specialist Avinash Persaud, a member of the panel of experts, told a Reuters Funds Summit in Luxembourg that the proposal was to create something like the old Ecu, or European currency unit, that was a hard-traded, weighted basket.

    Persaud, chairman of consultants Intelligence Capital and a former currency chief at JPMorgan, said the recommendation would be one of a number delivered to the United Nations on March 25 by the U.N. Commission of Experts on International Financial Reform.

    “It is a good moment to move to a shared reserve currency,” he said.

    Central banks hold their reserves in a variety of currencies and gold, but the dollar has dominated as the most convincing store of value — though its rate has wavered in recent years as the United States ran up huge twin budget and external deficits.

    Some analysts said news of the U.N. panel’s recommendation extended dollar losses because it fed into concerns about the future of the greenback as the main global reserve currency, raising the chances of central bank sales of dollar holdings.

    “Speculation that major central banks would begin rebalancing their FX reserves has risen since the intensification of the dollar’s slide between 2002 and mid-2008,” CMC Markets said in a note.

    Russia is also planning to propose the creation of a new reserve currency, to be issued by international financial institutions, at the April G20 meeting, according to the text of its proposals published on Monday.

    It has significantly reduced the dollar’s share in its own reserves in recent years. …

    http://www.reuters.com/article.....CY20090318

    Soros at work behind the scenes again?

    • Steve
      March 23, 2009 at 10:10 am

      “A U.N. panel will next week recommend that the world ditch the dollar as its reserve currency in favor of a shared basket of currencies…”

      The UN and other anti-Americans have been pushing this since I first began following the news back in the 1960s.

      Somehow it never comes about. But they never give up their dreams.

  15. BillK
    March 23, 2009 at 5:47 am

    How he dare he!

    From an offended AP:

    Chavez Calls Obama ‘Ignorant’

    CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday called President Barack Obama “ignorant,” saying he has a lot to learn about Latin America.

    The Venezuelan leader said he had been ready to name a new ambassador in Washington when Obama took office, but put that on hold after the new U.S. president accused him of “exporting terrorism” and being an obstacle to progress in the region.

    “At least one could say, ‘poor ignorant person,”‘ Chavez said on his weekly television and radio program, adding that Obama “should read a little bit so that he learns about … the reality of Latin America.”

    Chavez’s relations with Washington grew increasingly strained under former President George W. Bush. The Venezuelan president expelled the U.S. ambassador and withdrew his envoy from Washington in September. Top diplomats have yet to be restored at either embassy.

    Chavez and Obama both plan to attend a summit of leaders from across the Americas next month in Trinidad and Tobago. There, Chavez said he will make a case for Cuba to be included in regional talks, saying “we can no longer continue to accept the impositions of the U.S. empire.”

    “We ask only for respect for Venezuela, nothing else,” Chavez said. “If Obama respects us, we’ll respect him. If Obama tries to keep disrespecting Venezuela, we will confront the U.S. empire.”

    Chavez said he showed some of the U.S. administration’s critical remarks about him to U.S. Rep. William Delahunt when the Massachusetts Democrat visited Caracas last week.

    “They keep pointing to me as the bad boy, as the one who attacks,” Chavez said. “Who stared the attack first? Obama.” …

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510080,00.html

    Wow, this really makes it difficult for the AP; whose side will they take in this?

    Expect the Treason Times to chastise Mr. Obama for his ignorance of the wonders Mr. Chavez is trying to perform…

    • GL0120
      March 26, 2009 at 10:30 am

      Seriously, this little spat is nothing more serious than watching one of those wrestling shows on TV.
      Chavez knows that TCO is doing his best to bring capitalism to it’s knees but he also knows that it’s important that the dimwits in this country don’t realize what’s going on until it’s too late.
      Chavez knows that Obama loves and admires him, this little spat is all part of the show!

  16. canary
    March 23, 2009 at 9:11 pm

    Vidio: Acorn says we need regine change. Let’s take over the world. Mobilize Make Obama new leader of people over the world. warning: cuss word. This vidio from one of their speeches.
    http://catholics4mccain.org/?p=221

    Inspite of regulations that Acorn if claiming to be non-profit must disclose finances they won’t. This also implies there may be some branches that are non-profit, but some that aren’t. Either way, they are above the law.

    http://www.charitygovernance.c.....tay-o.html

    Corporate Governance and the Board’s Role. We should be bored by Strom’s story. It initially looked like another garden-variety nonprofit embezzlement until Strom dropped the bombshell. The alleged embezzlement took place some eight years ago. When it was discovered, a small group of executives decided to keep the information from ACORN’s board (at least from most of the board). Moreover, despite the fact that the organization was out $948,607.50, it did not report the alleged embezzlement to the law enforcement officials. Yes, you read that correctly, management decided to keep most of the board in the dark and did not prosecute. Even more astonishing, management kept the alleged embezzler on the payroll until last month, according to Strom’s article.

    There is no way to look at the non-disclosure without condemning the organization and its management. Wade Rathke told Strom that the decision was made to keep the matter secret because those who oppose Acorn would use it as a weapon. It is the board that is charged with overseeing the organization, setting executive director compensation, and assessing the overall financial condition of the organization.

    As is typical with embezzlements, ACORN has yet to recover its full loss. According to Strom’s article, ACORN signed a restitution agreement with Dale Rathke “in which his family has agreed to repay the amount embezzled in exchange for confidentiality.” To date, the family has repaid about $210,000 of the $948,607.50 that was allegedly embezzled. A donor, in light of the still unpaid balance, has agreed to contribute the unpaid balance to ACORN. Whether the donor will receive an assignment of the restitution agreement is unclear.

    Overall, the entire situation stinks. The tone at the top was and may still be wrong. We were not impressed with ACORN’s press release, which did not even state the amount of the alleged embezzlement or acknowledge the fact that management kept the information from the board, as reported by Strom. The board is not the only one who was denied material information. Most organizations don’t want to reveal this sort of information because they fear the impact on donors. Well, that’s exactly the point. Donors have a right to know whether the money they give to an organization is being used wisely. This was material information.

    We suspect ACORN would be the first to demand transparency in consumer finance transactions. Yet, when the shoe is on the other foot, it doesn’t seem to like transparency. Openess isn’t always convenient or comfortable, but it assures accountability.

    .

    What Exactly is ACORN? As taxpayers, we would be angry if ACORN were a Section 501(c)(3) organization that we were subsidizing. The absence of a Form 990 raises a fundamental question: What exactly is ACORN? It is an acronym for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. The organization is not listed–at least as far as our search went–in IRS Publication 78, which is the database of charities maintained by the IRS. Interestingly, there is a nonprofit corporation having that name registered with the Arkansas Secretary of State as an Arknasas nonprofit corporation. If that is the ACORN in question, then it raises the tantalizing possibility that ACORN is a nonprofit, but not a Section 501(c)(3) organization.

    As we noted, a search of GuideStar’s database doesn’t turn up an Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which could mean that ACORN is not even a tax-exempt entity. GuideStar does return several entities with Acorn or Acorn Foundation in their names. If none of these are “the” ACORN referred to in Strom’s article and ACORN is not tax-exempt, that would mean that ACORN is not required to file publicly disclosable tax returns. For an organization that is concerned about attacks from the right, that is some pretty clever planning, but does it work?

    We thought we would check the Arkansas Attorney General’s Web site to see whether ACORN is registered as a charity in the State of Arkansas. Section 4-28-401 through 4-28-416 contain what appears to be Arkansas’ charitable solicitation statute. Section 4-28-401 defines a charitable organization as one established:

    for any benevolent, educational, philanthropic, humane, scientific, patriotic, social welfare or advocacy, public health, environmental conservation, civic, or other eleemosynary purpose.

    Section 4-28-402 requires that any charitable organization register prior to registration. Section 4-28-404 exempts certain organizations from registration. It does not contain an exemption for advovacy organizations, but it does contain one for organizations that don’t receive more than $25,000 per year in contributions. An organization with the name Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now apparently takes that position. The question is whether this is the same association that Strom is referring to as ACORN. The filing reports this organizations address as 1024 Elysyan Fields Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70117. The ACORN Web site shows that address as what appears to be ACORN’s national office.

    In short, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now may, if this is the Arkansas entity, have figured out how to avoid disclosing information about itself on a Form 990, but should it be making information available through state charitable solicitation annual reports? Notice that the Arkansas statute does not define charitable by reference to Section 501(c)(3). It uses more encompassing language.

    To this point, we have been playing ACORN’s game, assuming we have identified the organization and classified it properly. That game focuses on choice of form and regulators. We took a look at the online donation page for ACORN, hoping we would see the full corporate name and whether donations are tax-deductible. The page we viewed did not state whether the organization is a Section 501(3) or 501(c)(4) organization, or whether the donations are tax-deductible.

    .

    Must ACORN disclose that it is not a Section 501(c)(3)organization if that is the case? If it qualifies for exemption under another subsection of Section 501(c), it must disclose that contributions to it are not tax-deductible as charitable contributions. See Section 6113 of the Internal Revenue Code. The apparent absence of any such disclosure on ACORN’s Web site may be further evidence that ACORN is a taxable nonprofit rather than a tax-exempt organization.

    Tax is Still an Issue. Strom’s article notes some 30 foundations and large donors have been discussing the unfortunate incident. One of the organizations quoted in the article is the Needmor Fund. Its 2006 tax return, available through GuideStar, shows that it is a private foundation. It makes reference to the Acorn Foundation, but it shows no grants to the Acorn Foundation.

    The question is whether these foundations are funding a Section 501(c)(3) public charity (the Acorn Foundation[?]) or making contributions to taxable nonprofit (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now[?]). If it is the latter, then Section 4945(d)(4)(B) requires that the donors exercise expenditure responsibility to the extent they are private foundations. Roughly speaking, that means a private foundation such as the Needmor Fund must make sure that its grants are spent solely for the purpose for which the grants were made and that it obtain full and complete reports from the grantee as to how the funds were spent. As we said, much depends on the identity of the recipient, but we suspect that any private foundation donors–like the Needmor Fund if it is a donor–were not happy to hear about the embezzlement and its non-disclosure. That would be particularly true if they were making grants to a taxable nonprofit.

  17. BillK
    March 24, 2009 at 12:42 am

    Sorry, missed this last week.

    From NewsMax:

    Obama Resolution Leads to Uproar in Ga. House

    Two dozen black lawmakers angrily stalked out of the Georgia House on Friday amid claims a decision by white Republican leaders to delay passage of a resolution honoring President Barack Obama had racist overtones.

    House Speaker Glenn Richardson said the proposal to make Obama an honorary member of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus required some changes to its language and sent it to a committee. Supporters, including black lawmakers, claimed the move was a snub to the nation’s first black president.

    “It drips with racism,” said state Rep. Al Williams, a Democrat. “I call it just like it is.”

    State Rep. Austin Scott said he and other Republicans objected to wording that would have put the full chamber on record backing the resolution and its declaration of Obama as a man with an “unimpeachable reputation for integrity.”

    He said he blocked the proposal after Democrats balked at revising the wording.

    “All we’ve requested is minor changes to the language,” he said.

    Some noted it was a rare move in the Georgia Capitol, where lawmakers routinely adopt all manner of resolutions without debate and often through a show of hands, from measures honoring a constituent’s wedding anniversary to others offering condolences upon a death.

    The furor began Thursday when the Republican-controlled House voted 70-68 to reject the resolution. Black lawmakers then walked out Friday, seconds after leaders sent the measure to a committee for reworking.

    Black lawmakers pointed out that they’ve gone along in the past with other largely symbolic resolutions out of respect for their colleagues, including a 2005 measure commending then-President George W. Bush’s much-criticized response to Hurricane Katrina. …

    http://www.newsmax.com/insidec.....94354.html

    I love the potential irony in the use of the phrase “unimpeachable reputation for integrity.”

    • canary
      March 24, 2009 at 1:47 am

      Bilk I read this two and a 2nd article, that the language included some wording following like “by this administration” and that was the wording the Republicans felt could come back as an agreement. It’s unbelievable to me the they walked out. The anti-Isreal terrorists are really growing in Georgia too.

    • Odie44
      March 24, 2009 at 10:13 am

      Here in Atlanta – this story was covered by all the local radio/TV outlets… with little to no response in any direction.

      Oddly enough – the Bambi lovers don’t seem too vocal or even interested in whats going on lately.

      My neighbor is a college professor and Obama supporter. Solid person, aside form her political leanings, ;). We had a lovely conversation concerning Obama on Sunday and she just shook her head and said “not exactly the Jackie Robinson of politics”. I asked permission to use this metaphor…

  18. sheehanjihad
    March 24, 2009 at 1:47 am

    So, let me get this straight…..republican leaders delay homage to obama, they are racist…but a group of blacks demands homage be payed to an untested black-ish man, and then walk out if they dont get their way? THAT is more racist than denying obama accolades he has yet to earn…..racist black leaders acting in a racist manner to get their way, and accusing level headed opposition leaders of racism if they dont? Hubris has no color barrier.

  19. Liberals Demise
    March 24, 2009 at 7:25 am

    This is going to be a “nasty” coupe.

  20. BillK
    March 24, 2009 at 9:32 am

    OK, here we officially go…

    From Fox News:

    EPA Says Global Warming a Public Danger

    Declaring that greenhouse gases are a significant threat to human health, the Environmental Protection Agency proposes regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as pollutants.

    WASHINGTON — The White House is reviewing a proposed finding by the Environmental Protection Agency that global warming is a threat to public health and welfare.

    Such a declaration would be the first step to regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act and could have broad economic and environmental ramifications. It also would likely spur action by Congress to address climate change more broadly.

    The White House acknowledged Monday that the EPA had transmitted its proposed finding on global warming to the Office of Management and Budget, but provided no details. It also cautioned that the Obama administration, which sees responding to climate change a top priority, nevertheless is ready to move cautiously when it comes to actually regulating greenhouse gases, preferring to have Congress act on the matter.

    The Supreme Court two years ago directed the EPA to decide whether greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels, pose a threat public health and welfare because they are warming the earth. If such a finding is made, these emissions are required to be regulated under the Clean Air Act, the court said.

    “I think this is just the step in that process,” said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, noting the Supreme Court ruling. Another White House official, speaking anonymously in deference to Gibbs, predicted “a long process” before any rules would be expected to be issued on heat-trapping emissions.

    But several congressional officials, also speaking on condition of anonymity because the draft declaration had not been made public, said the transmission makes clear the EPA is moving to declare carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases a danger to public health and welfare and views them as ripe for regulation under the Clean Air Act.

    Such a finding “will officially end the era of denial on global warming,” said Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., whose Energy and Commerce subcommittee is crafting global warming legislation. He said such an endangerment finding is long overdue because of the Bush administration’s refusal to address the issue.

    The EPA action “signals that the days of ignoring this pressing issue are over,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., whose Senate committee is working on a climate bill.

    Many business leaders argue, as did President Bush, that the Clean Air Act is ill suited to deal with climate change and that regulating carbon dioxide would hamstring economic growth.

    “It will require a huge cascade of (new clean air) permits” and halt a wide array of projects, from building coal plants to highway construction, including many at the heart of President Barack Obama’s economic recovery plan, said Bill Kovacs, a vice president for environmental and technology issues at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

    Abigail Dillen, an attorney for the environmental advocacy group Earthjustice, which is involved in a number of lawsuits challenging permits for new coal plants, dismissed the dire economic warnings from business groups about carbon dioxide regulation.

    “It’s to their interest to say the sky is falling, but it’s not. … The truth is we’ve never had to sacrifice air quality to maintain a healthy economy. The EPA has discretion to do this in a reasonable way.” …

    http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....ic-danger/

    When has the EPA ever been reasonable?

    I really wish someone had the fortitude to tell Ms. Boxer that we’re going to reduce the nations CO2 output by requring that California emit none, and specifically we’re going to add huge carbon taxes for motorists in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas.

    It’s not like they’re not two of the biggest contributors in the country…

    • Odie44
      March 24, 2009 at 10:19 am

      Hmmm, methinks a valuable strategy could evolve…

      Considering the high rate of CO2 emmissions from large urban areas, which also happen to be liberal and minority populated – I think messaging could begin with

      “Why do liberals want to kill more black and latino people?”
      “Go red – stay alive”
      “Blue States are a Public Threat – Fact!” (my favorite)

      I see a great toss up of $$$’s filtering from blue states to red states to protect the welfare of human beings…

  21. BillK
    March 24, 2009 at 9:34 am

    From a peeved [Associated Press]:

    Report: N. Korea Suspects U.S. Journalists Were Spying

    SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean military intelligence officers in Pyongyang are questioning two American journalists for alleged espionage after they illegally crossed into the country from China, a South Korean newspaper reported Tuesday.

    Laura Ling and Euna Lee, journalists working for the San Francisco-based media outlet Current TV, were undergoing “intense interrogation,” with investigators poring through their notebooks, videotapes and camera for signs they were spying on the North’s military facilities, the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said, citing an unnamed South Korean intelligence official.

    The two were being held at a guesthouse run by North Korean military intelligence agency on the outskirts of the capital, the report said.

    South Korea’s main spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, said South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities were keeping a close watch on the case but that it could not immediately confirm the report.

    Seoul’s Unification Ministry, which handles relations with the North, also said it could not confirm the details.

    In Washington, the State Department has confirmed that two U.S. journalists were being held in North Korea. A U.S. official said Saturday that Washington was in touch with North Korean representatives.

    However, Washington does not have diplomatic relations with Pyongyang, and U.S. intelligence officials have asked South Korea for help in gathering information about the Americans’ whereabouts, the JoongAng report said.

    A third U.S. journalist, Current TV cameraman Mitch Koss, reportedly escaped arrest last week but was detained by Chinese border guards. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing that he left the country Tuesday, without providing further details. …

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510234,00.html

    Hey, they worked for AlGore’s Current – they were likely just seeing how North Korea was reducing carbon emissions.

    Nevertheless, only liberals could believe they could walk into North Korea from China consequence-free…

  22. BillK
    March 24, 2009 at 9:37 am

    The [Associated Press] excitedly reports parental rights are eroded further.

    Judge Orders FDA to Let 17-Year-Olds Obtain Plan B

    NEW YORK — The Food and Drug Administration let politics cloud its judgment when it denied teenage girls over-the-counter access to the Plan B morning-after pill, a federal judge said Monday as he ordered the FDA to let 17-year-olds obtain the medication.

    In a thorough denunciation of the Bush administration, U.S. District Judge Edward Korman blasted the FDA’s handling of the issue, saying it had “repeatedly and unreasonably” delayed issuing a decision on the medication.

    The morning-after pill is a source of tension for social conservatives who held great sway in the Bush administration and who believe the pill is tantamount to abortion.

    The ruling said the FDA in several instances had delayed issuing a ruling for suspect reasons and on two occasions only took action to facilitate the confirmation of acting FDA commissioners whose confirmations had been held up by the repeated delays.

    “These political considerations, delays, and implausible justifications for decision-making are not the only evidence of a lack of good faith and reasoned decision-making,” Korman said. “Indeed, the record is clear that the FDA’s course of conduct regarding Plan B departed in significant ways from the agency’s normal procedures regarding similar applications to switch a drug product from prescription to non-prescription use.” …

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510230,00.html

    As far as I know, the only over-the-counter drug explicitly designed to kill humans – no big deal.

    • Consilience
      March 24, 2009 at 9:39 am

      These leftists (like TAO and his ghoulish cohorts in Congress and on the national bench) love death. Life means nothing to them.

  23. canary
    March 24, 2009 at 6:57 pm

    Obama Sends America’s Watchdog on Suicide Mission.

    500 Federal agents as foot troops to hand on hand fight the Mexican drug cartel? Why on earth isn’t he using the National Guard as was requested. And why the heck isn’t ACORN along with their huge number of illegal Mexican workers, demanding volunteers to aid the poor Mexicans, instead of spilling American blood. It’s genocide of federal agents, so less to watch the corruption going on in the federal office of Obama. Sissy illegals that wouldn’t fight to better their own country, and still not fighting. We’re dying for them.

    Article AP
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....r_violence

    • Liberals Demise
      March 27, 2009 at 9:45 am

      Canary…….the National Guard is under the heading of State Government. The Governor of the State can call out the National Guard. POTUS can call on the Armed Forces and Feds to man the line only!!
      It truly is a waste of manpower to send in the FBI when the U.S.Marines are the ones best suited for this mission.

    • canary
      March 28, 2009 at 3:15 am

      Liberil Demis, thanks for the heads up. Apparently, John McCains complaint of wanting the National Guard, might be becasuse AZ’s governor is a Democrat and close to Obama. NM’s also has a democratic governor. So, Obama could over-ride them, but won’t. I think with most of the Guard in the middle-east, there may be a shortage, and apparently, those that come back, don’t come back with the equipment and supplies. I just think the idea of Federal agents doing this is Obama’s way of downsizing the watchdog, so he can create his own watchdog to watch over him and his team. So prehaps the demo gov in Obama’s pockets, is why McCain is trying to get the Guard. Apparently, LA would not allow the Gaurd to help in Katrina so Bush passed regulations that the President could go over the governors head. Recently, I saw on news, where the gaurds really didn’t want to leave New Orleans, thouogh things were better. They made a big difference. I do believe the former Army can re-enlist at any age (physical qualifiying) but not sure of the marines.

  24. pdsand
    March 24, 2009 at 7:14 pm

    From an exasperated Associated Press:

    Specter shifts stance to oppose card check

    By SAM HANANEL

    WASHINGTON (AP) — In a setback for organized labor, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter said Tuesday he will oppose a bill that would make it easier for workers to form unions.

    Specter was the only Republican to support the Employee Free Choice Act two years ago, and unions were hoping he might be the crucial 60th vote needed to overcome an expected GOP filibuster of the measure when it’s taken up this summer.

    Specter has faced unusually heavy pressure from both labor and business interests and is likely to face a tough Republican primary challenge next year from former Pennsylvania Rep. Pat Toomey. In a statement, Toomey called Specter’s decision a “flip flop,” prompted by the threat of primary opposition to the five-term senator…

    “Anyone (who) thinks they’re burying card check because of Specter’s statement in an effort to avoid a primary in Pennsylvania should not think this legislation is going to go away,” Reid told reporters…

    If Democrat Al Franken is seated in the contested Minnesota Senate, “it appears that 59 Democrats will vote to proceed, with 40 Republicans in opposition,” Specter said. “If so, the decisive vote would be mine.”

    “In a highly polarized Senate, many decisive votes are left to a small group who are willing to listen, reject ideological dogmatism, disagree with the party line and make an independent judgment,” he said. “It is an anguishing position, but we play the cards we’re dealt.”

    http://www.google.com/hostedne.....wD974LL1O0

    Well at least they assure us that this decision was only made for political purposes.

  25. pdsand
    March 24, 2009 at 7:28 pm

    The campaign continues, enthusiastically supported by CNN:

    “Obama to make case for economic plan in prime time

    President Obama will call on Americans to look to the future with a “renewed confidence that a better day will come,” in his second prime time news conference Tuesday.

    “We will recover from this recession,” the president will say, according to excerpts of his opening remarks…

    The president also is expected to use the forum to promote his ambitious budget, which has come under fire from Republicans and conservative Democrats for its hefty price tag.

    “The budget I submitted to Congress will build our economic recovery on a stronger foundation, so that we do not face another crisis like this ten or twenty years from now,” he will say, according to the excerpts…

    “At the end of the day, the best way to bring our deficit down in the long run is not with a budget that continues the very same policies that have led to a narrow prosperity and massive debt. It’s with a budget that leads to broad economic growth by moving from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest.”"

    http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITI.....onference/

    This will be great, I’m sure. Remind me again why this man needs to talk directly to the American people so much? Also, I thought every single one of the goals that will be addressed were already supposed to have been handled by one of the other trillion dollar spending bills. What’s up with that?

  26. pdsand
    March 24, 2009 at 7:43 pm

    From Reuters:

    Goldman Sachs’ speed to repay TARP may spur others

    Tue Mar 24, 2009

    By Jonathan Stempel – Analysis

    NEW YORK (Reuters) – News that Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) might quickly pay back taxpayer money could pressure able rivals to do the same.

    The Treasury Department’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program was intended to provide lenders with more capital to spur lending and improve the economy.

    Hundreds of companies have taken TARP money, ranging from $45 billion accepted by both Citigroup Inc (C.N) and Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) to $541,000 by The Victory Bank of Limerick, Pennsylvania.

    But with TARP now seen more as an albatross, expectations are growing that more banks will repay their money as soon as they can. That would also free banks from dividend payouts, typically 5 percent a year. as well as Congress’ demonstrated willingness to change the rules of engagement…

    Some banks regret participating in TARP, including Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), which took $25 billion it did not want because former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told it to…

    Analysts at Keefe Bruyette & Woods said 184 companies have indicated they will not tap the TARP, and at least five major banks hope to repay their infusions soon: Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Northern Trust Corp (NTRS.O), PNC Financial Services Group Inc (PNC.N) and U.S. Bancorp (USB.N)….

    http://www.reuters.com/article.....24?sp=true

    Confirmation that the “crisis” wasn’t that bad to begin with, and that the government intervention in order to fix the “crisis” only messed things up and allowed for creeping socialism. Meanwhile, Obama will be on TV tonight talking about how bad the crisis is, and how his government intervention will fix it. And with a straight face.

  27. pdsand
    March 24, 2009 at 8:07 pm

    Could the first amendment make a comeback? From Foxnews.com:

    Supreme Court Hears Arguments Over Anti-Hillary Movie

    This is the third significant case before the Supreme Court to challenge the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act–widely known as McCain-Feingold–that restricts the flow of money into political races.

    By Lee Ross

    In a case that could lead to a change in how political campaigns are funded, the Supreme Court Tuesday questioned a key part of federal campaign finance law during arguments over a movie critical of former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

    Government lawyers argued that conservative group Citizens United’s 90-minute documentary “Hillary: The Movie” is a political ad just like traditional one-minute or 30-second spots and therefore regulated by the McCain-Feingold law, the popular name for 2002 revisions to the nation’s campaign finance laws.

    The test “does not depend on the length or the way it’s communicated,” Deputy Solicitor General Malcolm Stewart said.

    But Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is often the key vote in any majority decision, suggested the court may be in position to strike down a key part of that law.

    “If we think that the application of this….is unconstitutional, then the whole statute should fall,” Kennedy said…

    http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....lary-movie

    Who knows, maybe some reason will reign in this country after all.

  28. canary
    March 26, 2009 at 2:25 am

    Keep up with government waste. Citizens Against Government Waste. They keep up with pork projects and pressuring to stop our taxes going to organizations like movingon.org.
    http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer

  29. pdsand
    March 26, 2009 at 10:59 am

    Getting ready for a little global warming, from usa today:

    “Colorado, central and southern Plains bracing for blizzard

    From wire reports
    A blizzard warning has been issued for the entire eastern half of Colorado, with a major spring storm expected to bring deep snow and strong winds.
    The Denver area is expected to get up to 19 inches of snow by Friday morning, with 25 mph winds and 40 mph gusts.

    Snowfall amounts in the Eastern Plains are expected to range from 6 to 15 inches, with winds up to about 30 mph and higher gusts.

    The Colorado mountains are forecast to get around a foot of snow by Friday morning.

    The weather predicted for the next few days in western Kansas would fall into the severe category even in the dead of winter.”

    http://www.usatoday.com/weathe.....nsas_N.htm

    Isn’t scientific consensus great?

  30. proreason
    March 26, 2009 at 11:05 am

    Uncommon wisdom about taxes from today’s IBD Editorial:

    Trojan (Tax) Horse

    Former Fed chief Paul Volcker will head Obama’s six-member tax commission which will be charged with, as Bloomberg.com put it, “closing loopholes, streamlining the law and generating revenue.”
    …
    Which makes us wonder: Is it just a Trojan horse for a massive tax hike on the rich, or for a massive tax hikes on all Americans?

    Apparently, the White House doesn’t realize that taxes on the rich and corporations are ultimately paid by the poor and the middle-class through higher prices, lower incomes and fewer jobs.

    Wealthy Americans won’t sit still and let their wealth and incomes be stripped from them. They’ll find ways to avoid the greedy hand of government picking their pockets.

    There’s a better way, and we hope the Volcker panel is listening.

    From 1953 to 1982, tax rates were at their highest. As Heritage Foundation analyst Brian Riedl recently noted, during that time, the economy was in recession 21% of the time and the stock market rose 5.4% on average. This culminated in the 1970s, when inflation hit 13% and interest rates 19% under Jimmy Carter.

    Since the broad-based Reagan cuts in 1982, the economy has been in recession just 10% of the time, inflation has never gone above 5%, interest rates have never been over 12%, and the stock market — even after two record drops — has averaged gains of 7% a year.

    Reagan slashed taxes and simplified the code, and revenues and growth soared. That’s what works, as dozens of studies prove.

    So if they’re sincere, Obama’s tax reformers have a choice: follow the tax policies of Reagan and thrive, or those of Carter and fail. To us, it’s a no-brainer

    http://www.ibdeditorials.com/I.....3875315887

    But, of course, we know that the inevitable massive increase inn taxes is only incidental to the radical agenda. It’s just one tool to be used to assert total control over your life, to destroy the capitalist middle class whose freedom threatens the oligarchy, and to ensconse forever the ruling elite.

  31. canary
    March 26, 2009 at 8:18 pm

    I know this isn’t an advice column, but on a serious note, I could use some imput. We don’t have enough Grammer books for a children to take home. But, they bought that big Olabama book that paid for campaign elections. Last year there were two books I would not allow him to read. Enough for all the mid-high to have one of those too. Had no problems. Well, now they all have a book they are reading called “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie. So, I put it in google, and clicked that common encylipeida link (yes, I know it’s official, like nothing is, including the watering down of Patrick Henry’s speeches in History books). Well, I was stunned by a photo of the original book. The original poem, of ten little Indians was even worse, as Agatha Christie kept changing it to suit U.S. as she was from the U.K. who like middle-easterns alot more then Afro-Americans per population. I was taught, and my children never use that word.
    Then, everytime I thumb to a page, I see cuss words, that if the children were to say they’d be punished. And also there are brim/hell passages from the Bible, some of the victims say before they are killed. And the little china pieces like on the cover of the book. You have to take the soldier out of the poem, to understand originally minorities were there. And our children can’t say the Lord’s prayer. So, is it okay just to say he’s not reading it. I in highschool things won’t be so easy. I made sure he didn’t get the suicide class where the children write their obituaries and plan their funerals, like they did at Columbine. Probably will end up, taking a different avenue in his schooling, but meanwhile, I use it as moral learning lessons, which school doesn’t seem to do other than to quinea pig these kids. So, question, is it okay to just say no. I don’t expect any flak, just think it’s the principal.

    • canary
      March 26, 2009 at 8:36 pm

      Oh, the original book cover and name the widepedia shows has been replaced with a simple photo of a noose. I’ve not been able to edit posts. So sorry for taking so much space.

  32. MinnesotaRush
    March 26, 2009 at 8:32 pm

    From the crafty “Ask Obama” website .. (sorry if I’m in the wrong posting section) ..

    “92,934 people have submitted 104,051 questions and cast 3,604,995 votes”

    92 some thousand people submitted questions AND cast 3.6 MILLION votes. I knew ACORN was involved!

  33. Al Morone
    March 27, 2009 at 1:04 am

    Brazil President: “It’s all whitey’s fault!”
    The President of Brazil blames white people with blue eyes for the economic mess:
    http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ae49.....fd2ac.html

    “This crisis was caused by the irrational behaviour of white people with blue eyes, who before the crisis appeared to know everything and now demonstrate that they know nothing.”

    • Liberals Demise
      March 27, 2009 at 7:24 am

      Why not blame a fat white homosexual congressman and a flatulent, sun deficient, fat white slob of a criminal senator.
      The majority of us blue eyed people had nothing to do with this!!

      Lets’ call a homo a homo and a senator a criminal. Believe me…..we are ALL waiting to see if the gubbamint goes after those that truely brought this on us. With the same amount of glee they are going after the Constitution.

      After 66 days of the SEIGE on our FREEDOMS………don’t tell me crime doesn’t pay!! The suits are raping us daily!!

  34. caligirl9
    March 27, 2009 at 11:09 am

    I know this does not fit the format of this board at all, but I’ve been exploding over this whole thing all week.

    You may have heard about the murder of four Oakland police officers last Saturday. A public funeral for the officers will be held in a few hours at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Twenty thousand people are expected, and law enforcement agencies from Canada will be in attendance, and other non-local agencies such as New York and Boston have chartered planes so their officers could attend.

    Here’s the meat of the matter: We have four dead white cops, and in the melee, the guess-what-color convicted felon perp was killed after he’d killed three officers outright (the fourth lingered on life support until his organs could be harvested).

    Please read this article about the service and the officers:
    http://www.google.com/hostedne.....QD9769VP80

    On Wednesday, there was a vigil for … the perp, a thug named Lovelle Mixon.


    Dozens march for Mixon, against police
    About 60 people marched and rallied in Oakland on Wednesday to condemn the police and honor Lovelle Mixon, who was killed by Oakland police after he fatally shot four officers Saturday.
    “OPD you can’t hide – we charge you with genocide,” chanted the demonstrators as they marched along MacArthur Boulevard, near the intersection with 74th Avenue where Mixon, 26, a fugitive parolee, gunned down two motorcycle officers who had pulled him over in a traffic stop. He killed two more officers who tried to capture him where he was hiding in his sister’s apartment nearby.
    The protest was organized by the Oakland branch of the Uhuru Movement, whose flyers for the march declared, “Stop Police Terror.” Many marchers wore T-shirts featuring Mixon’s photo, including a woman identified by march organizers as Mixon’s mother. The woman declined to comment and gave her name only as Athena.
    Lolo Darnell, one of Mixon’s cousins at the demonstration, said, “He needs sympathy too. If he’s a criminal, everybody’s a criminal.”
    Asked about police allegations that Mixon was suspected in several rapes, including that of a 12-year-old girl, marcher Mandingo Hayes said, “He wasn’t a rapist. I don’t believe that.”
    Bystanders had mixed reactions. Nicole Brown said that she can’t condone murder but that police don’t respect residents of the area. Daria Belt said she had no sympathy for the protesters but sympathized for Mixon’s family.

    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....amp;sc=903

    My friends, THAT is why blacks will never pull themselves out of their cesspool way of life. In Lovelle Mixon, we have another black male raised with no apparent father, to a mother who is no doubt unskilled, uneducated and un- or under-employed. His family knew he had weapons and allowed him to store them in their homes. His parole officer went looking for him after he’d missed 3 meetings, and his family failed to give him up. As you’ve read in the article above, he’d been linked by DNA to one rape and is a suspect in a total of five.

    His first crime was an assault at the age of 13. He leaves a son behind with a baby mama—no doubt his replacement on the streets in 10 years or so.

    Simply put, the United States has several Third World cities that need the National Guard to come in and kick some ass with lethal force. Stop sending the welfare checks and cheese to those neighborhoods—get the crap off of the street and start rebuilding. I honestly believe a majority of people—any and all colors—are decent people. But no good will happen in Oakland as long as you have a large part of the population glorifying a cop killer rapist thug.

    I don’t care about the color of the troublemakers—there are bad whites, Latinos, Asians and blacks. Just treat ‘em all the same.

    Sorry to sound so racist … I’m not, I’m just sick of the welfare state that Lyndon Johnson so generously created and a certain segment of the population turning it into a way of life.

    • Liberals Demise
      March 27, 2009 at 11:43 am

      Don’t worry about the label….if you happen to be white, you are automatically tagged as racist.
      As for LBJ and the “GREAT SHAMBLE”, it’s hard to believe that it has been almost 50 years and several Trillion $$$ later and what did we get for the taxpayers money? Look around and you see the sorrow of it all.

      Obologna has pushed race relations to the edge of the envelope and I forsee it taking a HUGE step back because of the likes of these pukes in Oakland and the Black Congressional Congress and all the others with the “We be owed” mind set!! No kidding!!

    • proreason
      March 27, 2009 at 11:53 am

      And they are emboldened by having one they consider their own in the White House.

      Here is the overwhelming irony……..The Moron could do the country a MAJOR service to the country by simply saying “I support our police. In the rare instances where they act irresponsibly, we have the processes in place to correct the wrongs. Violence directed at law enforcement will not be tolerated, no matter the cause.”

    • caligirl9
      March 27, 2009 at 12:06 pm

      proreason, the Teleprompter of the United States (TOTUS) probably wants the street cred and wishes he could be out there with his ‘bruthas. Rise against!!!!!!

      It’s a very sad day around here, I am glad to be going to work and not thinking about it. We also have a trial going on—a cop killing here in San Jose from 2001. The perp was facing the death penalty (rightly so!) until his brilliant defense attorney (NOT a public defender, but an attorney paid for by the taxpayers!) got the idea to have his client declared mentally retarded.

      White cop—guess the race of the perp.

      Google “Jeffrey Fontana.” He’s the officer who lost his life to a thug loser. His brother is blogging about it at http://justiceforjeffrey.blogspot.com/. If you have time, stop by and offer the Fontana family your support. You will be amazed at the crap going on in that courtroom!

    • BannedbytheTaliban
      March 27, 2009 at 2:15 pm

      So was Jesse there? How about Al?

    • caligirl9
      March 27, 2009 at 4:46 pm

      You know, Banned, I don’t believe either were.
      I doubt either are at the funeral services for the officers that just concluded a short time ago …
      Oakland is chock full ‘o wackos. They do fine without Al and Jesse.
      What I’m shocked (shocked!) about is how angry former governor Moonbeam (Jerry Brown, now Cali’s attorney general and former mayor of Oakland) is pissed to high heaven about this incident (and rightly so!). Of course Brown is looking to run for governor again in 2010. God help California … the dems looking for the job are said to be Moonbeam, sanctuary city mayors Newsom (SF) and Villagrosa (LA) and Senator Fenistein. Of that group, Moonbeam is looking the best. Don’t know if any Rep has the cahones to run in this wacko place…

  35. BannedbytheTaliban
    March 27, 2009 at 2:57 pm

    People benefit from Free Market Healthcare:

    From CNN:

    Lower costs lure U.S. patients abroad for treatment

    By Danielle Dellorto
    CNN Medical Producer

    NEW DELHI, India (CNN) — “I was a walking time bomb. I knew I had to get on that plane if I wanted to be around to see my grandkids.”

    Sandra Giustina is a 61-year-old uninsured American. For three years she saved her money in hopes of affording heart surgery to correct her atrial fibrillation. “They [U.S. hospitals] told me it would be about $175,000, and there was just no way could I come up with that,” Giustina said.

    So, with a little digging online, she found several high quality hospitals vying for her business, at a fraction of the U.S. cost. Within a month, she was on a plane from her home in Las Vegas, Nevada, to New Delhi, India. Surgeons at Max Hospital fixed her heart for “under $10,000 total, including travel.”

    ….Walk through a patient wing at Max Hospital in New Delhi on any given day and you’re likely to see people from around the world. In one visit, CNN met patients from the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Jordan, Afghanistan and the United States. They’re alike in choosing surgery abroad, but their reasons differ.

    Many South Asians and Africans said they travel abroad because they do not have access to care in their homeland.

    Some Canadians and Europeans said they chose to travel aboard, despite having national health plans, because they are tired of waiting — sometimes years — for treatment.

    Max neurosurgeon Dr. Ajaya Jha said the hospital can provide high-quality care at low prices because the staff work hard to cut waste.

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

    In an attempt to expose the flaws of the current health care system through an all too typical CNN personal interest story, they have shown how opening up the health care system to competition will bring down cost. They also show that people who have “free” socialized health care rather pay than use the flawed systems in Canada and Europe. And how much more waste will there be if the government controls health care, and how much more will we all pay for sub-standard health care?

  36. ptat
    March 27, 2009 at 4:16 pm

    Hey, S&L’s—-This new Nicholas Cage movie, “Knowing”, has a pretty interesting take on global warming. It is clearly explained that humans trying to control the heat of the sun is pretty much akin to an ant blowing on a camp fire to cool it off. The movie also clearly explains how amazing it is that the earth is positioned perfectly to support life. It also treats the subject of heaven in a refreshing way. A very entertaining movie, for sure…..

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