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including
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"Lenin
is
reputed
to have
said
that
the best
way to
destroy
a
capitalistic
society
is to
debauch
its
currency."
Samuelson,
Robert
J.:
The
Great
Inflation
and Its
Aftermath,
Random
House
Inc., p.
20, 2008
]
"The
problem
with
socialism
is that
you
eventually
run out
of other
people's
money."
-
Margaret
Thatcher
"Fascism
-- a
philosophy
or
government
system
marked
by
stringent
socioeconomic
control"
-
Webster's
II New
Collegiate
Dictionary

7/3/09
Liberty
And
Liberation
On July
4
By
INVESTOR'S
BUSINESS
DAILY
"Mission
Accomplished:
The
withdrawal
of U.S.
troops
from 15
Iraqi
cities
makes
this a
time to
remember
the
sacrifices
that
made
success
possible
— and
the
president
who
refused
to lose.
. . .
"Bush's
response
to a
unified,
defeatist
Washington
was the
Surge —
substantial
reinforcements
led by a
new
commander,
counterinsurgency
warfare
guru
Gen.
David
Petraeus.
Most
experts
and
commentators
said it
had no
chance
of
succeeding.
Today,
all
concede
that the
Surge
turned
Iraq
around.
"It is
questionable
if even
Reagan
could
have
resisted
the kind
of
united
pressure
from
political
friend
and foe
alike
that
George
W. Bush
was
under
during
the
months
preceding
the
Surge.
As we
celebrate
this 4th
of July,
we
should
be
thankful
for a
43rd
president
who
refused
to allow
another
Vietnam.
"And we
should
hope his
successor
does not
undo
what
history
will
remember
as one
of the
great
instances
of
presidential
fortitude."
7/3/09
Palin
Announces
No
Second
Term
No Lame
Duck
Session
Either

Full
Text of
Speech.
7/3/09
Video of
part of
Alaska
Governor
Sarah
Palin's
Resignation
speech.
Associated
Press
chico.er.com
[Wait
through
commercial
to see
and hear
a Great
American
speaking
from the
heart.]
7/3/09
Beware
of the
Not-So-Hidden
Agendas
In
Honduras
Heritage
Foundation,
FOXNews.com
"Honduras
presents
the
Obama
administration
with its
first
real
Latin
American
crisis.
"Since
the 1981
return
of
civilian
rule,
Honduras
has
regarded
itself
as a
friend
of the
U.S. In
the
'80s, it
allowed
the
Nicaraguan
Resistance
or
'Contras'
to
operate
from
base
camps
there.
It lent
troops
for
Operation
Iraqi
Freedom
and
continues
to
support
a small
U.S.
military
presence
on
Honduran
soil.
Economic
ties are
strong.
Now
those
cordial
relations
are in
jeopardy.
"On June
28,
Honduran
President
Manuel
Zelaya
was
expelled
from the
country
for
multiple
constitutional
violations.
The U.S.
quickly
joined
an
international
chorus
deploring
the
expulsion,
denouncing
as a
military
coup
what the
Honduran
Supreme
Court
and
Congress
called
for a
defense
of their
constitution
and rule
of law.
"The new
Honduran
government
says it
wants to
end
polarization,
restore
order,
and move
to
elections
in
November,
but the
international
community
demands
Zelaya's
restoration
to
power.
"The
U.S.,
anxious
to send
a
pro-democracy
message,
finds
itself
running
with a
dangerous
crowd --
one
whose
agenda
is not
necessarily
dedicated
to
defending
democracy."
7/3/09
Preventing
a
Honduran
Bloodbath
Carlos
Alberto
Montaner,
The
Washington
Post
"The United States Ambassador to Honduras, Hugo Llorens, an extremely competent diplomat, tried very hard to keep Honduras's Congress from ousting President Manuel Zelaya. After his arguments and pressures were exhausted, and faced with something that seemed inevitable, he did what he could: he sheltered the president's son at his residence to save him from any violent outcome. "Fortunately, Zelaya's expulsion from the presidency and from his country was bloodless. It wasn't exactly a military coup: the Army acted on orders from the Supreme Court after Zelaya's continued violations of the law. The ousted president seemed intent on getting reelected, even if it meant violating the Constitution, and on dragging the nation into Hugo Chávez's "21st century socialism" camp against the will of the Honduran people.
"Nevertheless, if there is still something worse than the depressing spectacle of a freely elected president forced to leave his country at gunpoint, it is that same leader trying to force his way back in. If Zelaya returns, he will be arrested and charged with an array of crimes. His imprisonment will embarrass any who decide, irresponsibly, to accompany him on such a mad adventure.
"This is most grave. Hugo Chávez and Daniel Ortega are already talking about invasions and resorting to force. That could unleash a bloodbath and would certainly destroy the weak political institutions that Honduras labored to achieve three decades ago, when the era of military dictatorships mercifully ended."
7/3/09
Russia
Opens
Route
for U.S.
to Fly
Arms to
Afghanistan
By
PETER
BAKER,
The New
York
Times
"MOSCOW — The Russian government has agreed to allow American troops
and
weapons
bound
for
Afghanistan
to
fly
over
Russian
territory,
providing
an
important
new
corridor
for
the
United
States
military
as
it
escalates
efforts
to
win
the
eight-year-old
war,
officials
from
both
sides
said
Friday.
"The
agreement,
to
be
formally
announced
when
President
Obama
visits
here
on
Monday
and
Tuesday,
represents
one
of
the
most
concrete
achievements
of
the
effort
to
rebuild
a
relationship
severely
strained
by
last
year’s
war
between
Russia
and
Georgia.
The
new
transit
route
will
give
American
forces
more
alternatives
as
they
encounter
increasing
trouble
elsewhere.
“'Afghanistan
is
one
of
the
areas
where
we
must
cooperate,'
Mikhail
Margelov,
chairman
of
the
foreign
affairs
committee
in
Russia’s
upper
house
of
Parliament,
said
in
an
interview.
Russia
understands,
he
said,
that
the
United
States
and
NATO
forces
in
Afghanistan
are
effectively
defending
Russia’s
southern
flank."
7/3/09
Putin
rejects
Obama
criticism
before
meeting
By
Gleb
Bryanski,
Swiss
News
Worldwide
"MOSCOW
(Reuters)
-
Russian
Prime
Minister
Vladimir
Putin on
Friday
rejected
U.S.
President
Barack
Obama's
charge
that he
was
mired in
Cold War
thinking,
setting
the
scene
for a
stormy
first
meeting
at a
Moscow
summit
next
week."
7/3/09
Israel
hopes
Congress
will
lift
F-22 ban
By
YAAKOV
KATZ,
Jerusalem
Post
"The
Israel
Air
Force
will
review
the
possibility
of
purchasing
the
advanced
American
F-22
fifth-generation
stealth
fighter
jet if a
congressional
ban is
lifted,
enabling
it to be
sold
abroad,
defense
officials
told
The
Jerusalem
Post
on
Thursday.
"Referring
to
recent
reports
in the
US that
Congress
had
asked
the Air
Force to
submit a
report
on the
possibility
of
exporting
the jet
to
Japan,
Israel
and
other
allies,
a senior
defense
official
said if
this
happened,
'we will
have to
consider
the
option.'S"
7/3/09
John
Ziegler
Exposes
How
Palin
Derangement
Syndrome
Works
By
Noel
Sheppard,
NewsBusters
"As
NewsBusters'
Mike
Sargent
reported
Tuesday,
Vanity
Fair's
Todd
Purdum
is
gravely
afflicted
with the
illness,
and
needs to
see a
team of
doctors
quickly
if he
ever
wants to
be taken
seriously
by
anyone
other
than the
extreme
Left.
"With
that in
mind,
Palin
documentarian
John
Ziegler
had a
fascinating
radio
interview
with
Politico's
Mike
Allen
Wednesday
that
shed
some
light on
how PDS
works
and why
it's so
pernicious.
. . .
"[T]herein
lies the
heart of
Palin
Derangement
Syndrome:
making
totally
false
statements
about
the
Alaska
governor
without
being
able to
back
them up.
"Sadly,
as this
is what
most
media
outlets
want --
dirt
about
Palin
irrespective
of
veracity
-- the
mudslingers
not only
easily
get away
with it,
but are
revered
for
doing
so.
"Fortunately,
Ziegler
was
having
none of
it, and
pointed
out the
hypocrisy
to his
guest:"
7/3/09
Gibbs-erish
Jennifer
Rubin,
Commentary
Magazine
"Such is the lot of the White House press secretary that he will stick to
the
White
House
line,
no
matter
how
dumb
it
sounds.
Robbert
Gibbs
was
up
at
bat
on
Thursday
and
went
down
swinging.
In
the
process
he
pointed
out
just
how
untenable
the
White
House
spin
is.
The
Hill
reported:
Despite losing almost a half-million jobs in June, the economy is showing signs of recovery, the White House said Thursday.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the president joins the American people in being 'impatient for results' as Republicans are howling that Obama’s $787 billion stimulus plan has done nothing to halt job losses.
"We are
recovering.
But
unemployment
is
getting
worse.
And the
stimulus
is
definitely
working.
Got it?
It
sounds
like
they
haven’t
a clue
what to
do and
don’t
want to
admit
they
have
been
concocting
a
disaster.
And we
shouldn’t
pick on
Gibbs.
The
president
and the
rest of
the
administration
are
no
better:"
7/3/09
Celebrating
the End
of
American
Independence
By
JB
Williams,
Canada
Free
Press
July 4th
2009,
Federal
government,
rob
fellow
Americans
of
freedom,
liberty
and hard
earned
prosperity
"2009
marks
the
end of
an era
in which
the
United
States
of
America
led the
world in
prosperity,
power,
individual
liberty
and
freedom.
The US
Constitution
no
longer
stands
as the
cornerstone
of
freedom.
The
average
American
is no
longer
well
suited
for
self-governance.
The
federal
government
no
longer
serves
at the
pleasure
of the
people
and the
states
and the
future
of the
greatest
nation
ever
known to
mankind,
is
beyond
bleak. .
. .
"I am
ashamed
of my
fellow
Americans
who will
celebrate
this
American
holiday
as if
all is
well, as
their
country
is
shoved
off the
cliff,
right
before
their
eyes.
"Like
the good
colonel
and so
many
like him
that I
hear
from day
in and
day out,
I weep
for the
loss of
my
country
on this
July
4th. The
freedom
and
Independence
our
forefathers
bought
and paid
for with
their
blood is
gone.
And most
Americans
no
longer
have the
stomach
to
realize
it, much
less
save it!
"May God
have
mercy on
those
who have
been so
foolish.
"But I
pray
that he
will
show NO
mercy to
those
who have
systematically
destroyed
the
greatest
nation
of free
men ever
known to
mankind.
For as
they
destroy
American
freedom,
they
destroy
the hope
of
freedom
for all
others
around
the
globe.
This is
not a
deed
that can
go
unpunished!"
7/2/09
Senate
Bill
Would
Fine
People
More
Than
$1,000
for
Refusing
Health
Care
Coverage
Fox News
Senate
aides
said the
penalties,
estimated
to raise
around
$36
billion
over 10
years,
would be
modeled
on the
approach
taken by
Massachusetts,
which
now
imposes
a fine
of about
$1,000 a
year on
individuals
who
refuse
to get
coverage.
"Bipartisan
talks on
the
Finance
panel
aim to
hold the
overall
price
tag to
$1
trillion.
. . .
"The
Health
Committee
could
complete
its
portion
of the
bill as
soon as
next
week,
and the
presence
of a
government
health
insurance
option
virtually
assures
a
party-line
vote. .
. . The
government's
costs
would be
covered
by a
combination
of
higher
taxes
and cuts
in
projected
Medicare
and
Medicaid
spending."
[Sounds
fair
with
social
security
demolished
by hyper
inflation.
Screw us
old
folks.]
7/2/09
Power
bills
could
soar
under
Obama's
energy
plan
WRAL.com Imagine your power bill going up
by
$200
a
month.
"Progress
Energy spokesman Mike Hughes said Thursday that it's a possibility under
President Barack Obama's energy plan that narrowly passed the U.S. House of
Representatives last week."
7/2/09 [Repeat]
Power bills could soar
under Obama's energy plan WRAL.com Imagine your power bill
going up by $200 a month.
"Progress Energy spokesman Mike Hughes said Thursday that it is a
possibility under President Barack Obama's energy plan that narrowly passed the
U.S. House of Representatives last week."
7/2/09
North
Korea
carries
out
further
short-range
missile
test-launches
defproNews
"North
Korea
has
conducted
two
test
launches
of
short-range
missiles,
a
South
Korean
news
agency
reported
on
Thursday,
according
to
RIA
Novosti.
"According to Yonhap, two anti-ship missiles were launched from a coastal
site
near
the
port
of
Wonsan
in
the
east
of
the
country."
7/2/09
South
Korea
getting
U.S.
missiles
to boost
defences
Reuters
" South Korea is acquiring 40 U.S.-made missiles for an Aegis destroyer this month to boost its defenses amid reports North Korea may soon test-fire missiles, Yonhap news agency on Sunday quoted a military source as saying. . . . "The surface-to-air missiles for the Aegis destroyer, designed to track and shoot down objects including missiles, can hit targets up to 160 km (100 miles) away, Yonhap quoted the source as saying.
North Korea has also warned ships to stay away from waters off its east coast city of Wonsan, Japan's Coast Guard said last week, in a possible indication of a missile test."
7/2/09 Obama Turns Focus to War in Afghanistan
By Anna Mulrine, U.S. News and World Report
A new offensive in the Helmand province is the first test of a new counterinsurgency strategy
7/2/09
Taliban
activity
in
Pakistan
draws
army
response
Mark
Seltzer,
Asia
Policy
Examiner
"A
great
democracy
is
under
threat.
Despite
the
war
in
neighboring
Afghanistan,
growing
extremism
in
the
Northwest
border
tribal
areas
and
occasional
terrorist
attacks
on
politicians,
hotels
and
police
facilities
in
major
Pakistani
cities,
modern
Pakistan
has
not
been
plunged
into
civil
war
–
until
now.
"One
of
the
world’s
great
democracies
is
perched
between
old
and
new
worlds
and
between
contemporary
urban
life
and
militant
holy
war."
7/2/09
Selected
Lucianne.com's
8:46
p.m.
"Must
Reads":
7/2/09
Comical
State-Run
Media
Tries to
Talk Up
Tanking
Obama
Economy
By Rush
Limbaugh
[Today's
show
transcript]
"The
NASDAQ
is down
big
today. .
. . The
Dow
Jones
Industrial
Average
. . . is
down
179.
"Betty
Nguyen
is
speaking
with the
Your
Money
host,
Christine
Romans,
about
the
economy.
Betty
Nguyen,
says,
'Christine
Romans
is here
to
explain.
How did
we do in
the
first
half of
the
year?' (
laughing)
This is
Monday
on CNN.
"ROMANS: (giddy) We've seen a spring stock market rally that has been
quite
incredible!
Job
losses
are
slowing!
Consumer
confidence
is
improving!
People
are
feeling
a little
better.
They're
feeling
better
because
they're
spending
less.
They're
saving
more
money.
They're
getting
back to
basics.
There's
a new
frugality
that's
making
them
feel
better.
There
was a
hu-u-uuge
rally in
the
stock
market
in the
second
quarter.
The
stock
market
[is]
telling
us that
it
thinks
things
are
going to
get
better
eventually,
and
you're
going to
see that
rally.
If you
are
still
invested
in
stocks
-- if
you had
faith
and you
were
buying
stocks
along
the way
this
spring,
you're
buying
them at
cheap
prices
--
you're
going to
see that
rally
when you
open up
your
401(k)
statement.
"RUSH: God! This is just comical. The best satire writer could not
write
the CNN
scripts."
Staged
News:
MSNBC
Talks Up
Second
Stimulus
--
Rush
Limbaugh's
stack of
stuff
"RUSH: How's that stimulus working for you, eh? Nine-point-four percent
unemployment.
I'm
watching
some
Obamaite
on MSNBC
this
morning,
I think
it was
Lisa
Jackson
from the
Labor
Department,
and that
idiot
Carlos
Watson
who is a
propagandist.
I mean
he takes
dictation
from
Rahm
Emanuel.
(imitating
Watson)
"Lisa,
are we
approaching
the
point
that we
might
need a
second
stimulus?"
I'm
watching
this, I
thought,
"Where
do they
find
brain
dead
people
at
NBC?"
They
must
have an
island
where
they
grow 'em,
7/2/09
Firefighter
Case
Shows
Seamy
Side of
Racial
Politics
By
Michael
Barone,
Real
Clear
Politics
"The Supreme Court's decision in Ricci v. DeStefano, the case of the New
Haven
firefighters,
was
a
ringing
endorsement
of
the
Civil
Rights
Act
of
1964's
ban
on
racial
discrimination
and
a
repudiation
of
Supreme
Court
nominee
Sonia
Sotomayor's
decision
in
the
Second
Circuit
U.S.
Court
of
Appeals.
While
five
justices
flatly
rejected
Sotomayor's
ruling,
even
the
four
dissenters
wouldn't
have
let
stand
her
ruling
allowing
the
results
of a
promotion
exam
to
be
set
aside
because
no
black
firefighter
had
a
top
score.
. .
.
"I think
we ought
to
reserve
some of
our
sympathy
for the
purported
beneficiaries
of this
wretched
discrimination,
the
black
firefighters.
Their
champions
--
Kimber
and
DeStefano,
Bazelon
and
Sotomayor
-- are
telling
them
that
their
way up
in life
should
not be
determined
by the
content
of their
character
or by
mastery
of their
worthy
craft,
but by
the
color of
their
skin.
Not by a
fair and
unbiased
test,
but by
dishonest
wire-pulling
and
threats
of
political
retaliation.
"Thanks
to
Justice
Alito,
for
pulling
back the
curtain
and
showing
the ugly
reality
of
racial
discrimination
in
America
today."
7/2/09
Why
Obama's
Communist
Connections
Are Not
Headlines
Paul
Kengor,
American
Thinker
“The
leftist
intelligentsia
that
dominates
higher
education,
and
which
writes
the
civics
texts
used in
high
schools
-- I've
read and
studied
these
texts --
and
which
trains
the
teachers
who
teach in
high
schools,
is not
in the
slightest
bit
notably
anti-communist.
These
liberals
do not
teach
the
lessons
of
communism.
“What's
more,
aside
from
failing
to
instruct
their
students
in the
crass
facts
about
communism's
unprecedented
destruction
-- its
purges,
mass
famines,
show
trials,
killing
fields,
concentration
camps --
these
educators
are
negligent
in
failing
to teach
the
essential,
non-emotional,
but
crucial
Econ 101
basics
that
contrast
capitalism
and
communism
and,
thus,
that get
at the
heart of
how and
why
command
economies
simply
do not
work.
Each
semester
in my
Comparative
Politics
course
at Grove
City
College,
it takes
no more
than 50
minutes
to
matter-of-factly
lay out
the
rudimentary
differences.
Whereas
capitalist
systems
are
based on
the
market
forces
of
supply
and
demand,
which
dictate
prices
and
production
levels
and
targets,
communist
systems
are
based on
central
planning,
by which
a
government
bureau
attempts
to
manage
such
things.
Capitalism
is based
on
private
ownership;
communism
on
public
ownership.
Capitalism
thrives
on small
government
and
taxes;
communism
on large
government
and
taxes,
typically
progressive
income-tax
rates
and
estate
taxes --
both
advocated
explicitly
by Marx
-- and
much
more.”
[This
was
written
last
year,
but we
can use
reminders.
Remember
this is
"George's
Information
and
Comments."]
7/1/09
THE TWO
MOST
FRIGHTENING
VIDEOS
YOU’VE
EVER
SEEN!
[From
the
South
Strand
Republican
Club Web
site.]
"TOP:
Financial
Services
Subcommittee
on
Oversight
and
Investigations
hearing
of May
5, 2009.
Rep.
Alan
Grayson
asks the
Federal
Reserve
Inspector
General
about
the
trillions
of
dollars
lent or
spent by
the
Federal
Reserve
and
where it
went,
and the
trillions
of off
balance
sheet
obligations.
BOTTOM:
Rep.
Michele
Bachmann
(R-Minn.)
speaking
on the
House
floor.
'We’ve
moved
into the
realm of
gangster
government
the Feds
have set
up a new
cartel
forcing
private
businesses
to go
begging
with
their
hand out
to their
local -
hopefully
well
politically-connected
Congressman
or their
Senator
so they
can buy
a peace
offering.
Is that
the kind
of
country
we are
going to
have in
the
future?'"
7/1/09
Elections
Have
Consequences:
Feds
Door-to-Door
Seizing
Guns
By Rush
Limbaugh
[This
links to
his
overall
Web site
on
today's
show
transcript
where
you can
link to
this
topic or
others]
7/1/09
Lucianne.com
[Another
link to
an
overall
Web
site.
Some of
her
"must
read"
links
today
are
below.]
Honduras
and
Chavez:
What you
should
know,
what the
centralized
media is
not
telling
you
"A
brave
stand
has been
taken
against
Marxist
tyranny,
and the
American
people
should
have
accurate
knowledge
about
it."
Coleman
Concedes,
Sending
Franken
to
Senate
Minnesota
sends a
self-important
goldmine
for
jokes
and
ridicule
to the
Senate.
Let the
screw-ups
commence.
Our
Melting
President
Make
way, the
flutter
and
cluck of
roosting
chickens
is heard
in the
land.
CBS,
Helen
Thomas
Challenge
Gibbs
On
"Controlled"
Town
Hall
Meeting
8th
Grade
back and
forth at
White
House
press
briefing
starring
Helen
"Who
does she
work for
again?"
Thomas
and a
snappish
Chip
Reid.
7/1/09
6
Mousavi
supporters
reportedly
hanged
By
SABINA
AMIDI,
SPECIAL,
THE
JERUSALEM
POST
"As the Iranian authorities warned the opposition on Tuesday that they would tolerate no further protests over the disputed June 12 presidential elections, a report emerged of the hangings of six supporters of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. . . . "Underlining the climate of fear among direct and even indirect supporters of Mousavi's campaign for the election to be annulled, the sources also reported that a prominent cleric gave a speech to opposition protesters in Teheran earlier this week in which he publicly acknowledged that the very act of speaking at the gathering would likely cost him his life."
7/1/09
Revolution
Fatigue
Guy
Sorman,
City
Journal
Events
in
Honduras
and
Argentina
point
to a
continent
weary
of
socialism.
"Last weekend’s ousting of Honduras president Manuel Zelaya, and the electoral
defeat
of
former
Argentinean
president
Nestor
Kirchner
in
his
bid
for
a
seat
in
that
nation’s
Congress,
may
seem
unrelated
at
first
glance.
But
the
Honduran
military
coup
and
the
parliamentary
victory
of
Argentinean
pro-market
parties
are
both
signs
of a
profound
evolution
across
Latin
America."
7/1/09
Yahoo!
News on
Korea
[Scroll
down for
additional
information
-- the
top
article
was
linked
to from
GIAC
yesterday]
7/1/09
Q+A: The
new U.S.
strategy
in
Afghanistan
By
Jonathon
Burch,
Reuters
"KABUL
(Reuters)
-
Concrete
signs of
Washington's
new
strategy
for
Afghanistan
are
taking
shape
with the
final
elements
of some
8,500
U.S.
Marines
arriving
in
southern
Helmand
province,
a
Taliban
stronghold,
to
bolster
over-stretched
British
forces.
"The
Marines
launched
a
helicopter
assault
early on
Thursday
in the
lower
Helmand
river
valley,
with
nearly
4,000
Marines
and U.S.
sailors
and
about
650
Afghan
troops
and
police
involved."
7/1/09
FACTBOX
- Is
Pakistan's
Taliban
war
about to
get
bigger?
By
Robert
Birsel,
Reuters
India
"There
are
numerous
militant
factions
in
Pakistan's
northwest
with
differing
objectives,
some
intent
on
forcing
foreign
troops
out of
Afghanistan,
others
fighting
Pakistan."
"Why did
the
founders
of our
nation
give us
the Bill
of
Rights?
The
answer
is easy.
They
knew
Congress
could
not be
trusted
with our
God-given
rights.
Think
about
it. Why
in the
world
would
they
have
written
the
First
Amendment
prohibiting
Congress
from
enacting
any law
that
abridges
freedom
of
speech
and the
press?
The
answer
is that
in the
absence
of such
a
limitation
Congress
would
abridge
free
speech
and free
press.
That
same
distrust
of
Congress
explains
the
other
amendments
found in
our Bill
of
Rights
protecting
rights
such as
our
rights
to
property,
fair
trial
and to
bear
arms.
The Bill
of
Rights
should
serve as
a
constant
reminder
of the
deep
distrust
that our
founders
had of
government.
They
knew
that
some
government
was
necessary
but they
rightfully
saw
government
as the
enemy of
the
people
and they
sought
to limit
government
and
provide
us with
protections.
. . .
"To
mollify
Alexander
Hamilton's
and
James
Madison's
fears
about
how a
Bill of
Rights
might be
used as
a
pretext
to
infringe
on human
rights,
the
Ninth
Amendment
was
added
that
reads:
'The
enumeration
in the
Constitution
of
certain
rights
shall
not be
construed
to deny
or
disparage
others
retained
by the
people.'
In
essence,
the
Ninth
Amendment
says
it's
impossible
to list
all of
our
God-given
or
natural
rights.
Just
because
a right
is not
listed
doesn't
mean it
can be
infringed
upon or
disparaged
by the
U.S.
Congress.
"The
Tenth
Amendment
is a
reinforcement
of the
Ninth
saying,
'The
powers
not
delegated
to the
United
States
by the
Constitution,
nor
prohibited
by it to
the
states,
are
reserved
to the
states
respectively,
or to
the
people.'
That
means if
a power
is not
delegated
to
Congress,
it
belongs
to the
states
of [or,
I would
assume
meant
instead]
the
people.
"The
Ninth
and
Tenth
Amendments
mean
absolutely
nothing
today as
Americans
have
developed
a level
of naive
trust
for
Congress,
the
White
House
and the
U.S.
Supreme
Court
that
would
have
astonished
the
founders,
a trust
that
will
lead to
our
undoing
as a
great
nation."
7/1/09
Rasmussen
Poll:
Obama's
Popularity
Plunging
Jim
Meyers,
Newsmax
"Newsmax.TV's
Ashley
Martella
asked
Rasmussen
for an
overview
of the
latest
tracking
poll.
"'The
raw
numbers
are
pretty
straightforward
� 31
percent
of
Americans
strongly
approve
of the
way
Barack
Obama is
handling
his job,
33
percent
strongly
disapprove,'
Rasmussen
said.
"Before
the last
week we
never
had a
circumstance
where
the
number
who
disapprove
outweigh
the
number
who
approve.
So we're
in new
territory.
Right
now the
approval
index,
at minus
two, is
as low
as it's
been.
"What
we've
seen in
the last
month is
a
growing
number
of
people
who
strongly
disapprove,
and
we're
seeing
it at a
time
when the
president's
honeymoon
is
coming
to an
end and
people
are
beginning
to look
at the
policies
that
he's
promoting."
"The
closeness
of the
approve/disapprove
numbers
are 'yet
another
indicator
of how
evenly
divided
our
nation
is,' he
added.
"On
specific
issues,
Rasmussen
disclosed:.
. ."
7/1/09
Obama's
One-World,
America-Last
Government
by Ben Shapiro, TownHall.com
"You may be liked and admired around the world, but if you're unwilling to impose an American perspective on problems, you're not doing your job. America's national interests must be protected and defended; so must her values. Certainly Obama can buy peace with his self-led one-world government concept. The only problem is the price: America's liberties, her power, and her values."
7/1/09 "Better" Health Care? By John Stossel, Real Clear Politics
"President Obama says government will make health care cheaper and better. But there's no free lunch. "In England, health care is "free" -- as long as you don't mind waiting. People wait so long for dentist appointments that some pull their own teeth. At any one time, half a million people are waiting to get into a British hospital. A British paper reports that one hospital tried to save money by not changing bedsheets. Instead of washing sheets, the staff was encouraged to just turn them over."
6/30/09
ACORN
Rent-A-Mob
Thugs to
Harass
Lenders
in 14
Cities
Tuesday
By
Matthew
Vadum,
The
American
Spectator
"ACORN, which played a starring role in creating the subprime mortgage crisis, plans to add insult to injury by harassing lenders across the nation with protests tomorrow in an effort to coerce them into supporting President Obama's Making Home Affordable foreclosure-avoidance program.
"Austin King, director of ACORN Financial Justice, sent out a press release today advising of the demonstrations that are planned as part of its 'Homewrecker 4' campaign. The four financial companies targeted are Goldman Sachs, HomEq Servicing, American Home Mortgage, and OneWest. Read the whole document here. . . .
"But let's not forget that ACORN helped to cause the mortgage bubble by strongarming banks into making loans they shouldn't have. And cheering them on was ACORN's lawyer, Barack Obama, who contributed to the increasingly hostile environment for banks when he represented plaintiffs in the 1995 class action lawsuit Buycks-Roberson v. Citibank. The suit demanded that Citibank grant mortgages to an equal percentage of minority and non-minority mortgage applicants. The bank settled the case three years later and reportedly agreed to beef up its lending to unqualified applicants."
6/30/09 The Law Triumphs in Honduras
By John Fund, The Wall Street Journal
"Many foreign observers are condemning the ouster of Honduran President Mel Zelaya, a supporter of Hugo Chavez, as a "military coup." But can it be a coup when the Honduran military acted on the orders of the nation's Supreme Court, the step was backed by the nation's attorney general, and the man replacing Mr. Zelaya and elected in emergency session by that nation's Congress is a member of the former president's own political party?
"Mr. Zelaya had sacked General Romeo Vasquez, head of the country's armed forces, after he refused to use his troops to provide logistical support for a referendum designed to let Mr. Zelaya escape the country's one-term limit on presidents. Both the referendum and the firing of the military chief have been declared illegal by the Honduran Supreme Court. Nonetheless, Mr. Zelaya intended yesterday to use ballots printed in Venezuela to conduct the vote anyway."
6/30/09 A 'COUP' TO PROTECT A CONSTITUTION
By Ray Walser, New York Post
HONDURAS OUSTS A ROGUE PRESIDENT
6/30/09 U.S. Cautious on Calling Honduras a "Coup"
Mary Beth Sheridan, Washington Post "President Obama said yesterday that the military ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was illegal and could set a 'terrible precedent,' but Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States government was holding off on formally branding it a coup, which would trigger a cutoff of millions of dollars in aid to the impoverished Central American country.
"Clinton's statement appeared to reflect the U.S. government's caution amid fast-moving events in Honduras, where Zelaya was detained and expelled by the military on Sunday. The United States has joined other countries throughout the hemisphere in condemning the coup. But leaders face a difficult task in trying to restore Zelaya to office in a nation where the National Congress, military and Supreme Court have accused him of attempting a power grab through a special referendum."
6/30/09 It Can't Happen in America? By Rush Limbaugh
"[T]here are already a whole lot of things happening in this country the president does not have the authority to do that he's doing. The establishment of czars, 13 or 14 czars that are not subject to confirmation hearings by the United States Senate. He pays them whatever he wants them to be paid. He tells them what to do. They have more power than his cabinet secretaries. 'It can't happen. The president doesn't have the authority.' Nobody is stopping him.
"The president of the United States is firing chief executive officers of automotive companies. 'That can't happen in the United States. That just can't happen. The president doesn't have that kind of authority.' The United States government owns Chrysler and General Motors and bequeathed a majority stake of Chrysler to the United Auto Workers. 'That would never happen in America, Rush, that can't happen. The president doesn't have that kind of authority.'
"People who can't pay their mortgages are being sustained in their homes and it's being called affordable housing. 'That can't happen in America. Can't happen, Rush, president doesn't have that kind of authority.'
"Banks were threatened to buy other banks, banks were threatened. We know this to be true. Banks were threatened. They were called into Henry Paulson's office and they were told they were going to sign the paper accepting TARP money whether they needed it or not. 'That can't happen, Rush, the president doesn't have that kind of authority. Just can't happen.' . . .
"[W]hy is there a 22nd Amendment in the United States limiting to two the number of terms the president of the United States? Her answer is so he doesn't get too much power. Why were people worried that the president might get too much power? Something had to cause it. Have you ever heard of Franklin Delano Roosevelt? By reputation, one of the greatest if not the greatest presidents we've ever had. He wouldn't go away. He was packing the Supreme Court. 'Can't happen in America, Rush, it just can't happen here, president doesn't have that kind of authority.' He was gonna serve for life. He was going to become like an African colonel himself, Colonel Franklin Delano Roosevelt, he wouldn't go away, four terms. We said, hell no! Hello 22nd Amendment. 'Can't happen in America, Rush, why, president doesn't have that kind of authority.'
"How about the cap-and-trade bill passed in the House of Representatives? Do you realize, ladies and gentlemen, that if this bill becomes law, every home in America, every new home will have to meet California's building codes? Immediately upon enactment, this Democrat bill would demand a 30% increase in energy efficiency for new construction. Two years after it's enacted, the Democrat bill would require an additional 50% improvement. 'It can't happen in America, Rush, people don't have this kind of authority.' . . .
"In Europe it's the opposite. Merkel coming out for tax cuts. Hungary coming out for tax cuts. Merkel says we need growth, we need growth in Germany. She's gonna cut taxes. But in our hemisphere the Marxists are rising to power and they are being supported by the president of the United States. 'Yeah, Rush, come on, the president of the United States doesn't have that kind of authority. It can't happen here.'
"There's a lot of stuff that you didn't think could happen here that's happening right before your very eyes and it's not happening according to the Constitution. The President of the United States is threatening and firing CEOs. The president of the United States with a compensation czar. The president of the United States, not the US Congress, the president of the United States wants to determine how much everybody in this country can earn per annum. 'Ah, Rush, presidents don't have that kind of authority, can't happen here.' Folks, getting rid of the 22nd Amendment is chump change compared to what this man's already achieved that nobody thought could happen."
6/30/09 Iraqis cheer -- and fear --U.S. pullout from cities
CNN, by Staff
"BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqis celebrated in the streets Tuesday, the deadline for U.S. troops to pull out of Iraq's towns and cities -- a long-anticipated date marked by street festivals in Baghdad.
"Celebrations were tempered, however, by fears of renewed violence as insurgents seek to use the date to stage new attacks.
At least 30 people, including women and children, were killed Tuesday in what security sources called a "huge bombing" in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.
"More than 100 also were wounded in the attack on a busy shopping area in a predominantly Kurdish part of Kirkuk, a disputed oil-rich city about 235 miles north of Baghdad. Rescuers are searching the rubble for people who might have been buried, a local police official said."
6/30/09 North Korean Ship Turning Around CBS
News Report: Under Threat Of U.N. Resolution, Changes Course
"The North Korean ship Kang Nam has turned around and is heading back toward the south coast of China, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin.
"The ship, which left a North Korean port on June 17, is the first vessel monitored under U.N. sanctions that ban the regime from selling arms and weapons-related material.
"It is currently in the vicinity of the Parcel Islands 100 miles off Vietnam, Martin reports, adding that there is no specified reason as of now for why it has changed course.
"'With still no long range missiles on the launch pads and no time to get them ready for a July 4 launch, it would appear the temperature is being lowered,' Martin said of North Korea's threats to launch missiles at Hawaii on the U.S.'s Independence Day.
"'If the ship is on its way back, it would mean that Resolution 1874 is taking effect and causing the North to retreat,' Kim Tae-woo, vice president of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, told the Korea Herald."
6/30/09 New US Commander Takes Over at Key Moment
By Al Pessin, Voice of America
"A new commander has taken charge of U.S. forces in Europe, and will take command of all NATO forces on Thursday, as the alliance makes a new push to bring stability to Afghanistan. . . .
"The relationships are important because responsibility for the war in Afghanistan is split between General Petraeus, who is responsible for all U.S. military activity in the Middle East and Central Asia, and Admiral Stavridis, who, as NATO commander, will have ultimate responsibility for the majority of U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan."
6/30/09 Russian corruption reporter dies from head injury
Taiwan News, Associated PRess
"Police in southern Russia say a local corruption reporter has died of head injuries sustained in a drunken fall _ but colleagues are sure he was attacked. . . .
"Russia is considered one of the world's most dangerous countries for reporters. They are frequently harassed, threatened and killed for exposing facts that embarrass authorities."
6/30/09 Suppressed EPA scientist breaks silence, speaks on Fox News By: Mark Tapscott, The Washington Examiner
"Alan Carlin, the senior EPA research analyst who authored a study critical of global warming that was suppressed by agency officials, has broken his silence and spoken on Fox News about his situation. Carlin told 'Fox & Friends' Steve Ducy and Gretchen Carlson that his most important conclusion in the study was that the U.S. should not rely upon recommendations of the UN in making policy decisions regarding global warming.
"'The most important conclusion, in my view, was that EPA needed to look at the science behind global warming and not depend upon reports issued by the United Nations, which is what they were thinking of doing and in fact have done,' Carlin said.
"Asked what happened to his study once it was completed, Carlin said "my supervisors decided not to forward it to the group within EPA who had the responsibility for preparing an overall report which would guide EPA on whether to find that the emission of global warming gases would be something that EPA should regulate."
You can watch entire interview with Carlin here.
"Carlin has been at EPA for 38 years and until the Fox interview was telling reporters seeking interviews that he was instructed by EPA officials not to speak with them. He almost certainly risks retalitation by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and other Obama appointees within the agency.
"There are federal laws designed to protect whistle blowers like Carlin from political retaliation. It will be fascinating to watch how an administration of the Left deals with a whistleblower who for whatever reason opposes their political agenda. Will they persecute him or protect him?"
6/30/09 Same 'sins' produce condemnation for Bush, absolution for Obama By Kevin O'Brien, Cleveland Plain Dealer
6/29/09
Latin
America
Leaders
Call
Summit
to
Restore
Zelaya
By
Nathan
Gill and
Joshua
Goodman,
Bloomberg.com
"Zelaya
said he
was
arrested
at
gunpoint
in his
night-shirt
before
dawn and
put on a
plane to
Costa
Rica.
Lawmakers
then
ratified
his
removal,
naming
Roberto
Micheletti,
the head
of
congress,
as his
replacement.
Lawmakers
accused
Zelaya
of
'repeated
violations
of the
constitution.'
"Micheletti
denied
there
had been
a coup
d’etat,
saying
Honduras
is a
'civil
state'
that
isn’t
controlled
by the
military.
"Over
the past
year,
Zelaya
alienated
Honduras’s
political
and
business
elite by
aligning
with the
Chavez-led
bloc of
socialist
Latin
American
leaders,
said
Heather
Berkman,
a
political
risk
analyst
at the
Eurasia
Group in
New
York.
“'Zelaya
took a
substantial
turn
from
traditional
Honduran
politics
by
moving
dramatically
to the
left,'
Berkman
said in
a
telephone
interview.
"Zelaya
had
planned
to
conduct
a
nationwide
poll
last
weekend
on
whether
to hold
a
referendum
later
this
year for
a
national
assembly
to
rewrite
the
nation’s
constitution,
as
Bolivia,
Ecuador
and
other
countries
in the
region
have
done. He
moved
ahead
with his
plans
even
after
Supreme
Court
ruled
them
unconstitutional,
and
members
of the
opposition
and some
in his
own
party
registered
objections.
"New
President
"Micheletti
said he
would
step
down
after a
new
president
is
elected
in
November."
6/29/09
Support
for
Pakistan's
anti-Taliban
war seen
solid
By
Faisal
Aziz,
Reuters
"KARACHI, June 29 (Reuters) - Two months into a Pakistani military
offensive
against
Taliban
militants,
public
opinion
is
firmly
behind
the
civilian
government
and the
military
and it
shows no
sign of
wavering.
"The offensive was launched after defiant Taliban fighters thrust towards
the
capital,
raising
alarm
both at
home and
among
Western
allies
who need
nuclear-armed
Pakistan's
help to
fight al
Qaeda
and to
tackle a
raging
Taliban
insurgency
in
Afghanistan."
6/29/09
Russian
exercises
anger
Georgia
BBC
Russian
forces
have
begun
their
biggest
military
exercise
in the
Caucasus
since
the war
with
Georgia
last
year.
6/29/09
High
Court
Rules
for
White
Firefighters
in
Discrimination
Suit
By
Robert
Barnes,
Washington
Post
Ruling
Reverses
High-Profile
Decision
by
Supreme
Court
Nominee
Sonia
Sotomayor
6/29/09
Climate
Bill
Faces
Long
Odds in
Senate
By Jay
Cost,
Real
Clear
Politics
6/29/09
Pelosi
Won't
Give
Public a
Week to
Review
Text of
Health-Care
Bill
Before
House
Votes on
It
By
Marie
Magleby
and
Monica
Gabriel,
CNS News
"House
Speaker
Nancy
Pelosi
(D.-Calif.)
will not
give the
public a
week to
review
the
final
text of
a
health-care
reform
bill
before
it is
voted on
later
this
year.
"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) has also declined to commit
to
giving
the
public a
week to
read and
consider
the
final
health-care
bill. .
. .
"President
Obama is
pushing
for both
houses
of
Congress
to vote
on
health-care
legislation
before
they
take a
recess
in
August.
He wants
the bill
on his
desk by
October.
Republicans
argue
that
such a
sweeping
reform
should
not be
rushed.
“'This
is much
more
serious
than the
rushed
and
ill-conceived
stimulus
legislation,'
Sen.
Orrin
Hatch
(R-Utah)
said
last
week.
'If we
fail to
do this
the
right
way in
order to
simply
check
the
health
reform
box, we
will all
suffer
the
consequences
for the
rest of
our
lives.'”
6/29/09
Angry
Obama
Aims to
Get Even
By Rush
Limbaugh
"Folks,
the best
way to
understand
this, I
think --
and it's
hard for
those of
us who
are
patriots
who love
this
country
the way
we do,
it's
hard to
understand
there
are
people
who
detest
it, who
hate it,
who
think it
is
immoral
and
unjust
and
always
has
been.
This
really
took
root in
the
sixties,
and all
these
kids in
the
sixties,
a lot of
them in
government
now, a
lot of
them in
universities
teaching
your
kids
various
classes,
a lot of
them are
on the
bench,
the
federal
bench,
they
arrive
at these
positions
with
anger in
their
hearts.
I firmly
believe
this
describes
Obama.
I think
Obama is
angry,
he's not
this
cool,
calm,
collected
guy.
He's
very
cold,
he's
very
anger,
he's
angry at
the
British
over the
colonization
of
Africa,
he's
angry at
Churchill,
he's
angry at
this
country
for its
discrimination
and
slavery
past and
so
forth,
and he
doesn't
think
that the
proper
price
has been
paid for
it.
Some
people
are
speculating
that all
of this
cap-and-trade
legislation,
health
care
reform
is
nothing
more
than
reparations
in
disguise,
that it
is a way
of
transferring
the
nation's
wealth
to its,
quote,
unquote,
rightful
owners.
"They're smart enough to know that if they call a piece of legislation
reparations,
it
doesn't
have a
prayer,
but if
they
couch
the
legislation
in
fairness
and
compassion,
the
usual
liberal
terms,
then
people
will go
for it
because
they
think
that
they
have
created
enough
white
guilt at
all of
the
unjust
immorality
of the
history
of this
country
that
people
sit by
and let
it
happen
so that
their
own
personal
guilt
can be
assuaged,
regardless
of the
impact
on the
country.
They're
playing
this
tune
very
consistently,
and
they're
playing
it very
well.
Political
correctness
has gone
a long
way to
shutting
people
up and
making a
lot of
people
afraid
to stand
up and
oppose
all this
rotgut,
which is
exactly
what it
is, and
we'll
just see
how far
they're
going to
be able
to take
it and
get away
with
it. "
6/29/09
The
Partisan
President
By Dana
Perino,
National
Review
Onine
“'I
think
those 44
Democrats
are
sensitive
to the
immediate
political
climate
of
uncertainty
around
this
issue,'
Mr.
Obama
said.
'They’ve
got to
run
every
two
years,
and I
completely
understand
that.'
Many of
them
represent
districts
that
rely
heavily
on coal
for
power
generation
or that
are home
to
industries
vulnerable
to
international
competition.
Mr.
Obama
said the
House
bill
contained
transitional
assistance
for
these
regions.
"But he expressed scorn for the Republicans who fought the bill. He noted
that
some of
them
were
predicting
political
doom for
those
who
voted
for it,
recalling
the 1993
battle
over an
energy
tax that
failed
and
helped
Republicans
gain
control
of the
House a
year
later."
6/28/09
Boehner:
Climate
bill a
'pile of
s--t'
Molly K.
Hopper,
The Hill
"Minority
Leader
John
Boehner
(R-Ohio)
had a
few
choice
words
about
House
Speaker
Nancy
Pelosi's
(D-Calif.)
landmark
climate-change
bill
after
its
passage
Friday.
"When asked why he read portions of the cap-and-trade bill on the floor
Friday
night,
Boehner
told The
Hill,
'Hey,
people
deserve
to know
what's
in this
pile of
s--t.'"
6/28/09
Breakthrough
on the
Authorship
of
Obama's
'Dreams'
By
Jack
Cashill,
American
Thinker
"Within
days of
my going
public
last
September
with the
speculation
that
terrorist
emeritus
Bill
Ayers
helped
Barack
Obama
write
his
acclaimed
memoir,
Dreams
From My
Father,
I
learned
that I
was not
alone in
that
intuition.
"Since
then,
I
have
received
helpful
contributions
from
serious
people
in
at
least
five
countries
and
any
number
of
states
and
have
integrated
many
of
their
observations
into
my
ongoing
narrative,
summarized
here.
If
you
are
unfamiliar
with
this
research,
please
read
this
before
going
forward."
By
George:
I
disagree
with
Cashill
here
in
that
I
believe
his
earlier
May
24
Article
may
well
deserve
reading
first.
Jack
Cashill
has
written
six
books
this
decade,
one
of
which,
"Hoodwinked,"
dealt
with
literary
fraud.
There
has
been
considerable
speculation
on
how
much
of
Obama's
academic
career
at
Occidental,
Columbia
and
Harvard,
including
being
admitted
as a
member
and
then
becoming
president
of
the
Harvard
Law
Review,
has
been
due
to
his
ability
as
opposed
to
political
connections
and
affirmative
action.
It
would
appear
that
he
wants
to
cover
something
up
or
at
least
is
not
proud
of
his
academic
prowess
in
that
he
refuses
to
allow
disclosure
of
his
transcripts
at
any
institution
--
similar
to
his
refusal
to
produce
a
birth
certificate
other
than
a
"certificate
of
life
birth"
(which
no
one
doubts).
However,
his
magna
cum
laude
from
Harvard,
traditionally
indicates
his
grades,
on
whatever
basis
given,
were
in
the
upper
10%
of
his
class.
This
might
argue
that
his
presidency
in
following
the
tenets
of
the
Cloward-Pliven
Strategy
--
that,
with
his
background
he
is
surely
aware
of
--
are
intentional
in
driving
our
capitalist
economy
to
ruin
to
replace
it
with
socialism
--
not
incompetence.
6/28/09
Uranium
gives
NKorea
second
way to
make
bombs
By KWANG-TAE KIM, The Associated Press, The Washington Post
"Following
nearly
seven
years of
adamant
denials,
North
Korea
announced
it can
enrich
uranium
- a
simpler
method
of
building
nuclear
weapons
than
reprocessing
plutonium.
Uranium
can be
enriched
in
relatively
inconspicuous
factories
that can
better
evade
spy-satellite
detection,
and
uranium
bombs
may work
without
test
explosions.
"The
admission
- made
in a
threatening
response
to a
June 12
U.N.
Security
Council
resolution
punishing
Pyongyang
for an
underground
plutonium
bomb
test
last
month -
poses a
new
challenge
to the
U.S.,
China,
South
Korea,
Russia
and
Japan
as they
seek to
stem the
reclusive
country's
atomic
ambitions."
6/28/09
U.S.
House
panel
cuts
DPRK
energy
aid
Keiichi
Honma
Yomiuri
Shimbun
Correspondent,
DailyYomiuriOnLine
"WASHINGTON--The
U.S.
House
of
Representatives'
Appropriations
Committee
has
cut
all
95
million
dollars
(9.1
billion
yen)
in
energy
aid
earmarked
for
North
Korea
from
the
U.S.
government's
budget
for
fiscal
2010,
sources
said
Wednesday.
"The
aid
budget,
which
spans
the
October
2009
to
September
2010
period,
had
been
requested
by
the
administration
of
U.S.
President
Barack
Obama.
"It
is
highly
likely
that
both
the
House
and
U.S.
Senate
will
pass
the
budget
without
restoring
the
cut
funds."
6/28/09
Hundreds
missing
in
Iran
Article
from:
Agence
France-Presse
MORE than 2000 people are still in detention and hundreds more are missing in Iran since a government crackdown on protests over a disputed presidential election, the FIDH human rights group says.
"'According to the latest information we have, more than 2000 people have been arrested and are currently in detention,'' Karim Lahidji, vice president of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), said.
"'Hundreds of people are missing, according to independent information that has came to us from Tehran since yesterday,'' he said at a protest meeting in Paris held to denounce the crackdown in Iran.
"Lahidji, who is also president of the Iranian League for the Defence of Human Rights, said the information had come from several different sources inside Iran, including from families with members missing or detained."
6/28/09 Israel pressing Russia to cancel arms deal with Iran
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz.com 
"Relations between Israel and Russia have grown tense over a significant change in Moscow's attitude regarding the possible sale of S-300 air defense missiles to Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and asked him to prevent the arms deal from going through.
"Ahead of a meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev next week, Israel has began an international effort to pressure Russia not to complete the sale of the advanced air defense system."
6/28/09 The stakes in Waziristan Syed Mohammad Ali, Pakistan Observer
6/28/09
Beware
'cosy
relationships'
By
LORRIE
GOLDSTEIN,
TORONTO
SUN
Climate
hysterics
need to
stop
focusing
on
foolish
criticism,
beware
of hot
air
pushers
"[T]he
idea
that
I've
been
sitting
here for
over two
years
reading
book
after
book,
doing
hours
upon
hours of
independent
research
and
pounding
out
column
after
column,
trying
to get
people
to calm
down
about
anthropogenic
climate
change
before
we do
something
really
stupid,
all
because
I'm
secretly
in the
pay of
the
fossil
fuel
industry,
is
simply,
utterly,
laughably
absurd.
Plus,
it's a
lie.
"Besides,
if you
really
want to
skim the
fiscal
cream on
the
issue of
man-made
global
warming
these
days,
the last
place
you want
to be is
in the
camp of
the
so-called
skeptics,
or, as I
prefer
to call
us --
sane.
"No,
where
you want
to be if
you're
in it
for the
money,
is in
like
flint
with the
politicians,
environmentalists
and
energy
companies
who
constantly
preach
that
they're
all
about
saving
the
planet,
even if
it costs
us every
last
cent we
own."
6/27/09
Iran
pledges
'crushing'
response
to US
critiques
By
MICHAEL
WEISSENSTEIN,
Yahoo!
News,
Associated
Press
EDITOR'S
NOTE:
Iranian
authorities
have
barred
journalists
for
international
news
organizations
from
reporting
on
the
streets
and
ordered
them
to
stay
in
their
offices.
This
report
is
based
on
the
accounts
of
witnesses
reached
in
Iran
and
official
statements
carried
on
Iranian
media.
___
"President
Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad
vowed
Saturday
to
make
the
U.S.
regret
its
criticism
of
Iran's
postelection
crackdown
and
said
the
"mask
has
been
removed"
from
the
Obama
administration's
efforts
to
improve
relations.
"Ahmadinejad
—
with
his
internal
opponents
virtually
silenced
—
all
but
dared
Obama
to
keep
calling
for
an
end
to
repression
of
demonstrators
who
claim
the
hardline
leader
stole
re-election
through
massive
fraud."
6/27/09
NKorea
threatens
to
shoot
down
Japanese
spy
planes
By
KWANG-TAE
KIM,
Seattle.pi.com,
ASSOCIATED
PRESS
WRITER
"North
Korea
threatened
Saturday
to
shoot
down
any
Japanese
planes
that
enter
its
airspace,
accusing
Tokyo
of
spying
near
one
of
its
missile
launch
sites.
"The
North
has
designated
a
no-sail
zone
off
its
eastern
coast
from
June
25
to
July
10
for
military
drills,
raising
concerns
that
it
might
test-fire
short-
or
mid-range
missiles
in
the
coming
days,
in
violation
of a
U.N.
resolution."
6/27/09
The
four-pronged
attack
on our
future
prosperity
Irwin Stelzer, TimesOnLine
"Death
by a
thousand
cuts. Or
in the
case of
the
efficiency
of the
American
economy,
by at
least
four —
energy
policy,
healthcare
policy,
trade-union
resurgence,
and
fiscal
madness.
. . .
"The
administration
simply
has no
credible
plan to
reduce
the
deficit
to
preserve
the
value of
the
dollar
and to
prevent
interest
rates
from
rising
as wary
investors
price
the risk
of
inflation
into
what
they are
prepared
to pay
for
government
IOUs.
"Two
thoughts
pierce
the
gloom.
The
first is
that the
American
economy
might be
large
enough,
and
resilient
enough,
to
remain
competitive
even
bearing
the
weight
of the
new
inefficiencies.
The
second
is that
voters
will
demand a
change
of
course
before
Obamanomics
is
permanently
embedded
in our
system.
Voters
worry
that
they are
leaving
their
children
a
mountain
of debt.
Already
Obama’s
approval
rating
among
independent
voters —
Wall
Street
Journal
analyst
Gerald
Seib
calls
them
“the
canaries
in the
coal
mine of
American
politics”
— has
fallen
from 60%
to 45%.
Even if
the
president
doesn’t
get the
message,
Congress
might.
Irwin
Stelzer
is a
business
adviser
and
director
of
economic
policy
studies
at the
Hudson
Institute
6/27/09
Obama
implores
Senate
to pass
climate
bill
By
Charles
Babington,
The
Washington
Times,
ASSOCIATED
PRESS
"Hailing
the
House,
President
Barack
Obama
put
pressure
on
senators
Saturday
to
follow
its lead
and pass
legislation
to limit
greenhouse
gas
emissions,
helping
usher
the U.S.
into a
new age
of
energy
efficiency.
'Now
my call
to every
senator,
as well
as to
every
American,
is this:
We
cannot
be
afraid
of the
future.
And we
must not
be
prisoners
of the
past,'
the
president
said in
his
weekly
radio
and
Internet
address.
"'Don't
believe
the
misinformation
out
there
that
suggests
there is
somehow
a
contradiction
between
investing
in clean
energy
and
economic
growth.
It's
just not
true.'"
[What a
load of
absolute
B.S.
This con
man is
bent on
destroying
the
economy
and
taking
America
to
complete
socialism.
This
embodies
the
Cloward-Piven
Strategy.]
6/27/09
Eight
Republicans
make
Pelosi's
job
easier
Paul,
Powerline
"[T]he
House
passed
cap-and-trade
energy
tax
legislation
last
night
even
though
no
complete
copy of
that
legislation
existed,
making
it
impossible
for our
representatives
to know
exactly
what
they
were
voting
on. The
vote was
219-212.
"Eight
Republicans
voted in
favor of
the
legislation.
They
are:
Mary
Bono
(CA),
Mike
Castle
(DE),
Mark
Kirk
(IL),
Leonard
Lance
(NJ),
Frank
LoBiondo
(NJ),
Chris
Smith
(NJ),
John
McHugh
(NY),
and
David
Reichert
(WA)."
6/27/09
Lies the
President
told us
Robert
Fulford,
National
Post
"In his
attempt
to
sympathize
with the
Iranian
struggle
against
a cruel
theocracy
while
maintaining
his own
reputation,
Barack
Obama
has
jumped
over
standard-issue
political
bombast
and
landed
in the
realm of
pure
fiction.
He’s
presented
his
views as
an
honest
and
realistic
response
to
Iran’s
tragedy
but
instead
delivered
a
fairy-tale
version
of
geopolitics."
6/27/09
a.m.
Drudge
Report
HOUSE
PASSES
'GLOBAL
WARMING'
LEGISLATION...
'BILL OF
THE
CENTURY'
VOTED ON
UNREAD...
Boehner
Tried
'Filibuster'...
Video...
300 PAGE
DUMP AT
3AM--
REPUBLICANS
CRY
FOUL...
6/26/09
The hot
one from
the
Democrats
By
Wesley
Pruden,
The
Washington
Times
"You
can't
blame
the
Democrats
for
hurrying
to enact
their
hot-air
legislation.
The
public
is
finally
paying
attention,
recognizing
the
global
warming
crisis
for what
it is, a
giant
scam
that
will
cost
every
American
plenty.
The
globe
isn't
warming
- it's
actually
cooling,
in fact
- and
there's
no
crisis.
. . .
"'We've
been
talking
about
this
issue
for
decades,'
he [Obama]
said.
'Now is
the time
to act.'
Quickly,
before
the
globe
cools
even
more
than it
has over
the past
decade,
he
didn't
dare to
say."
6/26/09
President
Obama or
Czar
Obama?
By
Geoff
Caldwell,
Wichita
Independent
Examiner
"President
Obama's
fascination
with
'Czars'
and
proliferation
of
appointing
such is
passed
off by
his
supporters
as just
a new
way of
doing
business;
a 'cut
through
the
bureaucracy
let's
get
things
done
approach.'
"Others,
(this
writer
included)
couldn't
disagree
more.
Wikipedia
lists
more
than
twenty
and
still
counting.
[Also
see
Obama
fashions
a
government
of many
czars
By
Steve
Holland,
Reuters]
. . .
"I find
it
troubling
that the
candidate
who
promised
to post
bills
five
days
before
signing
and have
the most
transparent
administration
in
history
(still
waiting
for him
to
deliver
on those
two) is
appointing
so many
aides
outside
the
accountability
sphere.
These
“czars”
undergo
no
Congressional
review
and fly
in the
face of
one of
our most
fundamental
principles:
separation
of
powers.
. . .
"A cabal
of czars
may be
the
Chicago
way, but
it's
certainly
not the
American
way."
6/26/09
Obama,
the
African
Colonial
By
L.E.
Ikenga,
The
American
Thinker
[Only
the
barest
gist
follows:]
"Had
Americans
been
able to
stop
obsessing
over the
color of
Barack
Obama's
skin and
instead
paid
more
attention
to his
cultural
identity,
maybe he
would
not be
in the
White
House
today.
The key
to
understanding
him lies
with his
identification
with his
father,
and his
adoption
of a
cultural
and
political
mindset
rooted
in
postcolonial
Africa.
. . .
"Before
I
continue,
I need
to say
this: I
am a
first
generation
born
West
African-American
woman
whose
parents
emigrated
to the
U.S. in
the
1970's
from the
country
now
called
Nigeria.
. . .
"Barack
Obama is
nothing
more
than an
old
school
African
Colonial
who is
on his
way to
turning
this
country
into one
of the
developing
nations
that you
learn
about on
the
National
Geographic
Channel.
. . .
"Barack
Obama is
intrinsically
undemocratic
and as
his
presidency
plays
out,
this
will
become
more
obvious.
. . .
"Like imperialists of Old World Europe, the ACP sees their constituents not as free thinking individuals who best know how to go about achieving and creating their own means for success. Instead, the ACP sees his constituents as a flock of ignorant sheep that need to be led -- oftentimes to their own slaughter.
"Like the European imperialist who spawned him, the ACP is a destroyer of all forms of democracy. . . . "Also, understand this: the African colonial who is given too much political power can only become one thing: a despot."
6/26/09 The Role of Government is to Secure Our Liberty, Not to Seize It By Rush Limbaugh -- from today's show transcript
"RUSH: You know, folks, time for a little philosophy here. Government's role... You look at the Constitution; you read the Constitution. Government's role is to secure liberty, not seize it. As is stated in the Declaration of Independence, in fact, Americans are 'endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness.' We all know that phrase. But what follows is just as important. Here's the whole thing. 'Americans are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights: life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. To secure these rights, governments are instituted among men,' da da da. To secure the right to life, to secure the right to liberty, to secure the pursuit of happiness. 'To secure these rights governments are instituted....' The United States government's purpose is to secure our unalienable rights, not seize them, as socialized medicine certainly does. . . .
"The president and this Congress are behaving as captors and oppressors. Not only in healthcare, but this whole cap and trade BS, and this must not stand. Thomas Jefferson said in his first inaugural address that the president was to lead, quote, 'a wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government and this is necessary to close the circle of our happiness.' Now, most of these are felicities, but happiness? Most Americans are not happy with the state of affairs in Washington. In fact, most are outraged and are frightened. Under this administration, our pursuit of happiness is grounded with complete halt and it's been replaced with a pursuit of survival.
James Madison, the speech delivered in 1788 in favor of the federal constitution, said: 'Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgements of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent or sudden usurpations.' It's amazing. Every time you go back and consult Founding Fathers, you find that their wisdom was timeless. Their ability to foresee the future was incomparable. Liberty is the birthright of every American. The usurpation of liberty -- whether it be by nationalized healthcare or taxing the energy we need to live -- that's a seizure of liberty. That's a usurpation of liberty under the false pretense of providing security or 'saving the planet.'"
6/26/09
Alinsky:
a
radical
who
matters:
Barack
Obama
has been
greatly
influenced
by Saul
Alinsky's
radical
theories
of
political
organizing.
What
effect
is this
likely
to have
on an
Obama
presidency?
By
Gregory
A.
Hession,
The New
American
[Published
on
November
10,
2008]
"After
Alinsky's
death in
1972,
many
large
new
community-organizing
networks
developed
using
his
methods.
These
include
Alinsky's
own
Industrial
Areas
Foundation
(IAF),
along
with
ACORN,
Citizen
Action,
National
People's
Action,
PICO,
DART,
and the
Gamaliel
Foundation.
IAF and
its
progeny
have
produced
radical
organizing
luminaries
such as
Cesar
Chavez.
Many of
these
groups
have
been
instrumental
in
promoting
Barack
Obama's
presidential
candidacy.
"One Alinsky offshoot that has received recent notoriety is the 'Association
of
Community
Organizations
for
Reform
Now,' or
ACORN.
Through
scores
of front
organizations,
ACORN
organizes
workers,
conducts
'living
wage'
campaigns,
registers
voters,
and
promotes
an array
of
leftist
social
issues
like
public
housing.
Generally
operating
quietly,
ACORN
has been
thrust
into the
limelight
because
of voter
registration
fraud
allegations
in over
a dozen
states
and
because
of
Barack
Obama's
current
and
former
association
with it.
In
addition
to
paying
some
$800,000
to one
of its
scores
of front
organizations,
Obama
worked
for
ACORN in
his
community-organizing
days in
Chicago,
before
he
started
his
political
career.
ACORN
activism
has also
substantially
benefited
Obama's
presidential
campaign.
. . .
"[Alinsky]
unleashed
a
socialist
virus of
community
organizing
into the
country
that has
blossomed
into new
centers
of
government
power
which he
himself
might
have
felt
compelled
to
organize
against."
[Hillary
Clinton
wrote
her
80-page
senior
thesis
on
Alinsky.]
6/26/09
Early
EPA's
Game of
Global
Warming
Hide-and-Seek
by Michelle Malkin, Townhall.com "The Obama administration doesn't want to hear inconvenient truths about global warming. And they don't want you to hear them, either. As Democrats rush on Friday to pass a $4 trillion, thousand-page 'cap and trade' bill that no one has read, environmental bureaucrats are stifling voices that threaten their political agenda.
"The free market-based Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington (where I served as a journalism fellow in 1995) obtained a set of internal e-mails exposing Team Obama's willful and reckless disregard for data that undermine the illusion of 'consensus.' In March, Alan Carlin, a senior research analyst at the Environmental Protection Agency, asked agency officials to distribute his analysis on the health effects of greenhouse gases. EPA has proposed a public health 'endangerment finding' covering CO2 and five other gases that would trigger costly, extensive new regulations of motor vehicles. The open comment period on the ruling ended this week. But Carlin's study didn't fit the blame-human-activity narrative, so it didn't make the cut. [Emphases added.]
"On March 12, Carlin's director, Al McGartland, forbade him from having 'any direct communication' with anyone outside his office about his study. 'There should be no meetings, e-mails, written statements, phone calls, etc.' On March 16, Carlin urged his superiors to forward his work to EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, which runs the agency's climate change program. A day later, McGartland dismissed Carlin and showed his true, politicized colors:" [Emphasis added]
6/26/09 Early CEI Releases Global Warming Study Censored by EPA by Richard Morrison, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Public Shouldn’t Be Kept in the Dark by an Agency Supposedly Committed to Transparency
"The Competitive Enterprise Institute is today making public an internal study on climate science which was suppressed by the Environmental Protection Agency. Internal EPA email messages, released by CEI earlier in the week, indicate that the report was kept under wraps and its author silenced because of pressure to support the Administration’s agenda of regulating carbon dioxide.
"The report finds that EPA, by adopting the United Nations’ 2007 'Fourth Assessment' report, is relying on outdated research and is ignoring major new developments. Those developments include a continued decline in global temperatures, a new consensus that future hurricanes will not be more frequent or intense, and new findings that water vapor will moderate, rather than exacerbate, temperature.
"New data also indicate that ocean cycles are probably the most important single factor in explaining temperature fluctuations, though solar cycles may play a role as well, and that reliable satellite data undercut the likelihood of endangerment from greenhouse gases. All of this demonstrates EPA should independently analyze the science, rather than just adopt the conclusions of outside organizations."
6/25/09
DEMOCRAT’S
NATIONAL
ENERGY
TAX WILL
COST 2.5
MILLION
AMERICAN
JOBS,
HITTING
EVERY
REGION
OF THE
COUNTRY By
Henry E.
Brown,
Jr.
"All
year
long,
Democrats
have
been
promising
more and
more
jobs,
but
nearly
three
million
have
been
lost
since
January.
After a
record
spending
binge on
the
trillion-dollar
'stimulus,'
the $400
billion
omnibus
loaded
with
9,000
earmarks,
a $3.6
trillion
budget
that
spends,
taxes,
and
borrows
too
much,
and
endless
bailouts,
American
workers
are
asking,
'Where
are the
jobs?'
If House
Democrats
get
their
way and
pass
Speaker
Pelosi’s
national
energy
tax,
those
jobs
will be
leaving
America
and
headed
to
competitors
like
China
and
India,
who
won’t
enact a
national
energy
tax of
their
own."
[This is
the same
bill --
officially:
"The
American
Clean
Energy
and
Security
Act of
2009 HR
2454,"
that I
e-mailed
my
"Forward
Emergency
Alert"
to many
of you
about
with a
copy and
paste of
the
6/24/09
Early
Edition
Statement
on
Waxman-Markey
Energy-Rationing
Bill
shown
below.]
"We urge
that
voters
contact
their
Representative
immediately
by
calling
the
House
switchboard
at (202)
225-3121. Tell
your
Representative
to vote
No on H.
R. 2454,
the
American
Clean
Energy
and
Security
Act. Voters
may also
send
their
Member
an
e-mail
by going
to
www.cei.org/1984
and
clicking
on the
link to
the
action
page."
[Quote
from the
earlier
published
6/24/09
Early
Edition
item]
6/25/09
Waxman-Markey:
Man-Made
Disaster
By
INVESTOR'S
BUSINESS
DAILY
"Fiscal
Policy:
The
House of
Representatives
is
preparing
to vote
on an
anti-stimulus
package
that in
the name
of
saving
the
earth
will
destroy
the
American
economy.
Smoot-Hawley
will
seem
like a
speed
bump.
Read
More:
Global
Warming
|
Business
&
Regulation
"Not
since a
misguided
piece of
legislation
imposed
tariffs
that
turned a
recession
into a
depression
has
there
been a
piece of
legislation
as bad
as
Waxman-Markey.
"The
1,000-plus-page
American
Clean
Energy
and
Security
Act
(H.R.
2454) is
being
rushed
to a
vote by
House
Speaker
Nancy
Pelosi
before
anyone
can
seriously
object
to this
economic
suicide
pact."
6/25/09
Atlanta
Tea
Party in
Gwinnett
forced
to
cancel
"Please
visit
www.teapartypatriots.org
to get
plugged
in on
the
nationwide
Tea
Party
Patriot
protests
on July
17th.
[to show
opposition
to
government
run
healthcare]
. . .
"Suwanee, GA. - The Atlanta Tea Party was forced to cancel it's Independence
Day
celebration
in
Gwinnett,
after
losing
it's
location
due to
the
objection
of
Gwinnett
Place
Mall (a
Simon
company.)
The Tea
Party
had been
scheduled
to take
place in
the
parking
lot of
the old
Macy's
building
at
Gwinnett
Place
since
March."
6/25/09
Ask Your
Congressman
If He'll
Join the
Obama
Public
Health
Care
Plan
Rush
Limbaugh
[Today's
show
transcript]
"[T]he
question
that
needs to
be
asked,
the only
question,
really,
you need
to call
your
senator
and your
member
of
Congress
and you
need to
ask them
very
simply:
Are you
going to
opt out
and
forego
your
current
health
care
plan in
order to
join the
health
are plan
provided
for most
Americans
by the
Obama
government?
And what
do you
think
the
answer
you're
going to
get is?
The
answer's:
Hell,
no, I'm
not
giving
up my
health
care
plan,
but we
can't
provide
this
kind of
health
coverage
for
every
American.
So
members
of
Congress
and the
Obama
Administration
will not
be
subjected
to the
health
care
plan
they are
going to
come up
with.
This is
what the
doctor
was
trying
to get
at in
his
question
to Obama.
Okay.
You're
going to
come up
with a
public
plan.
Your
wife or
your
daughter
comes
down
with an
illness
that
your
current
plan,
the
public
plan,
doesn't
cover.
Are you
going to
opt out
of it
because
you
can?
And are
you
going to
go get
better
coverage?
He
wouldn't
answer
the
question.
The
answer
to the
question
is: He
is never
going to
be
subjected
to the
plan
that
they
come up
with for
everybody
else.
So you
need to,
just
today,
send
them an
e-mail
and call
them up
and ask
them:
Are you
going to
give up
your
current
health
care
plan and
enroll
in the
new
public
plan the
Obama
Administration
comes up
with?
You know
damn
well
they
won't. .
. .
"If it's
a good
plan,
it's a
good
plan.
If
they're
going to
come up
with the
best
plan for
us, it's
the best
plan for
them.
They
work for
us.
It's
very
simple:
Are you
going to
opt out
on your
great
healthcare
plan and
join the
public
option
you're
going to
write?
That's
the only
question
that
needs to
be asked
about
any of
this."
6/25/09
Obama's
Government
Will
Decide
If You
Deserve
Medical
Treatment?
Rush
Limbaugh
[Today's
show
transcript]
Member
of the
audience.
Jane
Sturm:
'My
mother
is now
over
105.
But at
100, the
doctors
said to
her, 'I
can't do
anything
more
unless
you have
a
pacemaker.'
I said,
'Go for
it.'
She
said,
'Go for
it.'
But the
specialist
said,
'No,
she's
too
old.'
But when
the
other
specialist
saw her
and saw
her joy
of life,
he said,
'I'm
going
for
it.'
That was
over
five
years
ago. My
question
to you
is: 'Outside
the
medical
criteria
for
prolonging
life for
somebody
who is
elderly,
is there
any
consideration
that can
be given
for a
certain
spirit,
a
certain
joy of
living,
a
quality
of life,
or is it
just a
medical
cutoff
at a
certain
age?
Obama:
'I don't
think
that we
can make
judgments
based on
people's
'spirit.'
Uh, that
would
be, uh,
a pretty
subjective
decision
to be
making.
I think
we have
to have
rules
that,
uh, say
that,
uh, we
are
going to
provide
good
quality
care for
all
people.
End-of-life
care is
one of
the most
difficult
sets of
decisions
that
we're
going to
have to
make.
But
understand
that
those
decisions
are
already
being
made in
one way
or
another.
If
they're
not
being
made
under
Medicare
and
Medicaid,
they're
being
made by
private
insurers.
At least
we can
let
doctors
know --
and your
mom know
-- that
you know
what,
maybe
this
isn't
going to
help.
Maybe
you're
better
off, uhh,
not
having
the
surgery,
but, uhh,
taking
the
painkiller.'
Rush:
Do you
realize
how cold
and
heartless
that
answer
is?
This
woman is
asking
about
her
mother.
And
everywhere
she
went,
except
one
doctor,
refused
to put
in the
pacemaker.
'Nah,
she's
too old;
she's
going to
die
anyway.'
"So they found a specialist: 'Maybe this woman really loves living. I'll
put it
in.'
She's
lived
five
years
with the
pacemaker,
and
still
Obama:
'Maybe
you're
better
off to
tell
your
mother
to take
a pill,
take a
painkiller.'
See, we
have to
have
rules.
'We have
to have
rules.
Your
mother
should
have
died
five
years
ago,
lady.
She
would
have
been
better
off
taking
that
painkiller.'
Who says
we have
to have
his
rules?
The
President
of the
United
States
is not a
king.
He's not
an
autocrat.
He's not
a
ruler.
He
doesn't
get to
set the
rules.
Obama
has
taken it
upon
himself
to do
so.
This
woman
found a
way to
get her
mother a
pacemaker.
With
Obamacare,
you just
heard
the
answer:
It
wouldn't
have
happened.
I know
how this
stuff
works.
"The hospitals are under pressure to free up beds. If they think
somebody's
terminal,
get them
out of
there.
I
understand
how all
this
works.
But
we're
not
talking
about a
terminal
woman.
We're
talking
about a
woman
who
needed a
pacemaker.
'I don't
think we
can make
judgments
based on
people's
'spirit.'
That
would be
a pretty
subjective
decision
to be
making.'
Maybe
not if
the
government's
in
charge.
That's
the
whole
point.
What
about if
families...
Do not
families
have the
right to
judge
the
spirit
of their
fathers
and
mothers
and
family
members?
Of
course!
Do we
want to
have a
cold,
cruel,
unfeeling
government
saying,
'Spirit
doesn't
matter
to us'?
That's
exactly
right.
Obama
wants
you...
"The
best way
to put
it, and
it's
working,
is he's
trying
to kill
spirit.
All this
hope and
change?
He's
trying
to kill
it. You
know how
many
frustrated
Americans
there
are out
there at
what's
happening?"
6/25/09
Let Post
Office,
Not
ACORN,
Take
Census?
transcript
from
"Glenn
Beck,"
June 24,
2009
JUDGE
ANDREW
NAPOLITANO,
GUEST
HOST:
Utah
Congressman
Jason
Chaffetz
is here
with his
solution.
Congressman,
welcome
here.
•
Video:
Watch
the
segment
REP.
JASON
CHAFFETZ,
R-UTAH:
Thanks,
Judge.
NAPOLITANO:
So, what
should
the post
office
do that
the
census
people
shouldn't?
CHAFFETZ:
Well,
the
Census
Bureau
has been
given
some $11
billion
to
conduct
the
census
on April
1st of
2010.
The
problem
that I
have
with it
is that
they're
partnering
with
nefarious
organizations
— like
ACORN —
in order
to hire
750,000
people
to go
out and
do this
counting.
Now,
at the
same
time, we
have a
postal
service
with
760,000
employees
who is a
trusted
entity,
who
already
is
charged
with
going
door-to-door
to every
home in
America.
So,
it just
seems to
me that
we
already
have a
federal
workforce
in
place.
They are
a
trusted
organization.
And I do
not
trust
ACORN,
do not
want
them to
be part
of the
process.
I'd much
rather
have the
postal
service
execute
on this.
. . .
NAPOLITANO:
All
right.
So,
under
your
proposal,
would
the
postman
or
postwoman
simply
knock on
your
door and
say, how
many
people
live in
this
house,
or would
they
give you
that
four or
five or
10 or
20-page
form and
ask you
how many
showers
you have
and how
many
bathrooms
and what
the
educational
level
and
income
level is
of the
people
living
there,
and how
many
times
you go
to
church
during
the
week?
(LAUGHTER)
CHAFFETZ:
It's not
as
comprehensive
as the
one you
just
articulated.
It's the
basic
information
about
the age,
the
number
of
members
in that
household,
the
race,
when
they
were
born, so
we can
better
understand
what's
happening
within
the
population
as a
whole. .
. .
NAPOLITANO:
Right. I
got to
tell
you, I
hope
this
passes,
because
it's
going to
save us
a lot of
money,
and for
all of
its
faults
in the
post
office,
it's
certainly
a lot
more
honest
than
ACORN.
6/25/09
North
Korea
Threatens
Nuclear
'Fire
Shower'
Against
the
United
States
By
Queenie
Wong,
U.S.
News and
World
Report
Tensions
continue
to mount
between
Pyongyang
and
Washington
"North
Korea
stepped
up
its
threats
against
the
United
States
today,
warning
that
the
Obama
administration's
recent
pledge
to
provide
nuclear
defenses
to
South
Korea
could
invite
what
the
state-run
media
called
a
"fire
shower"
of
nuclear
retaliation.
"The
threat
was made
in the
Rodong
Sinmun
newspaper
on the
eve of
the 59th
anniversary
of the
beginning
of the
Korean
War. In
lengthy
editorials,
North
Korea
accused
the
United
States
of
provoking
the war
in 1950.
The
paper
also
reported
that
North
Korea
would
'never
give up
its
nuclear
deterrent
. . .
and will
further
strengthen
it' if
attacked
by the
United
States."
6/25/09
Endgame
closing
in on
Baitullah
Daily
Times
[Pakistan]
"Baitullah
Mehsud
has had
his
opponent
Qari
Zainuddin
murdered
in Dera
Ismail
Khan for
disclosing
facts
about
him that
he had
denied.
If this
is a
measure
of how
Baitullah
will
react to
his
diminishing
hold
over his
objectors,
then he
is sure
to kill
another
local
rival
Turkistan
Bitani
who had
made
public
his
criminal
activities
last
week.
Does
this
mean
that
Baitullah
is
gaining
the
upper
hand in
the
region
where
the
Pakistan
Army is
now
challenging
him with
an
operation?
The fact
to keep
in mind
is that
Zainuddin
and
Bitani
were
encouraged
to speak
out
because
of the
hope
revived
in them
by the
military
operation.
That
Baitullah
has had
to kill
Zainuddin
instead
of
ignoring
him as
in the
past
points
to his
growing
insecurity.
"Pakistan has been opposed to the American drone attacks on its territory,
but not
without
some
evidence
that the
local
population
living
under
the heel
of
Baitullah
Mehsud
did not
mind
them.
There
was a
time
when the
drones
did not
target
Baitullah
simply
because
he was
not
attacking
American
troops
across
the
Durand
Line.
This was
a tactic
of
keeping
down the
number
of
people
operating
in
Afghanistan
through
the
“incentive”
of
“non-strikes”.
Now that
pattern
is
changing
and the
Tehreek-e
Taliban
Pakistan
(TTP) is
feeling
the heat
of
missiles
coming
from the
drones.
On
Tuesday,
these
missiles
killed
at least
51
Taliban
in South
Waziristan,
where
the army
is
poised
for an
attack
on
Baitullah’s
stronghold."
6/25/09
Lucianne.com
Her
'Must
Reads'
Obama,
the
African
Colonial
A
perspective
that
should
give you
pause.
Hope
Fades
but
Anger Is
Alive as
Iran's
Rulers
Crack
Down
Rethink
meddling.
Seems
like all
but 14
sheet-wearing
Iranians
would
say
"thanks."
At
least 56
killed
in
Baghdad
attack
Weren't
we
warned
about
this?
Michelle
Obama
shifts
to more
substantive
policy
role
Stay
back.
Something
annoying
this way
comes.
Your
Thursday
BlogTruth:
Iran
Parliament
Crackdown!
Bloody
Sniper
Video!
Frantic
Callers!
Meanwhile...back
in the
bloody
real
world....
Watch
this
Video:
Go to
your
windows.
Open
them and
scream
New
York
area
rally on
Saturday,
June
27th
information
here
6/25/09
Rahm
Emanuel
redefines
bipartisanship
By
Linda
Feldmann,
The
Christian
Science
Monitor
Obama's
chief of
staff
says the
final
vote on
a bill
is not
the only
yardstick.
Presidential
outreach
and
incorporating
GOP
ideas
count,
too.
[I've
included
this not
for
Immanuel's
misleading
words
but to
exhibit
the
comments.]
6/24/09
Friedman
Predicts
the
Destruction
of the
Dollar
[The
linked
to
article
is an
advertisement
for the
book,
but its
message
as
extracted
below is
extremely
important
today:]
"[T]he
Obama
administration
is
embracing
massive
inflationary
deficit
spending.
"In just
100
days,
Barrack
Obama
has more
than
doubled
the U.S.
money
supply .
. .
committed
the
government
to at
least $7
trillion
in new
spending
. . .
and
warned
the
American
people
to
expect
trillion-dollar
deficits
for the
foreseeable
future.
"While
the
media
has been
falling
over
itself
to
praise
Obama's
'bold
initiatives,'
the
question
no one
has been
asking
is,
'Where
is all
of this
money
coming
from?'
"Decades
ago,
Milton
Friedman
answered
these
questions
clearly
and
precisely
in his
insightful
— and
very
topical
— book,
Money
Mischief:
Episodes
in
Monetary
History.
"In
Money
Mischief,
Friedman
even
warned
that the
coming
inflation
could
'destroy'
our
country.
"Here's
what he
wrote:
'Inflation
is a
disease,
a
dangerous
and
sometimes
fatal
disease
that, if
not
checked
in time,
can
destroy
a
society.'
. . .
"You see
the end
result
of that
process
in
countries
like
Zimbabwe
today,
where
prices
double
every
day, and
it now
takes a
$10
billion
Zimbabwe
note to
buy a
single
loaf of
bread -
assuming
you can
find
one.
"Could
America
suffer
the same
fate?
Friedman
wrote
ominously,
"The
fate of
a
country
is
inseparable
from the
fate of
its
currency."
6/24/09
The Iran
crisis
moves
closer
to home
Melanie
Phillips
Spectator.co.uk
"There
is
chatter
in some
quarters
that the
Iranian
‘green
revolution'
may be
petering
out.
Well, it
depends
whom
you’re
reading.
"The
Iran
expert
Michael
Ledeen
says he
has no
idea
what’s
going to
happen.
But
there
are
signs
that the
regime
is
preparing
for an
all-out
assault;
and that
they are
panicking
and the
ayatollahs
are at
odds
amongst
themselves;
and
that,
most
interestingly
of all,
this:
...that
there
are
cracks
in
the
regime’s
edifice,
ranging
from
declarations
of
small
groups
of
Revolutionary
Guards
calling
on
their
brothers
to
defect
to
“the
people,”
to a
phenomenon
that
is
just
beginning
to
be
discussed
here
and
there,
mostly
on
the
Net
but
originally
in
an
Arab
newspaper.
Steve
Schippert
posted
on
it
and
did
a
first-class
analysis.
Steve
starts
with
a
report
from
al
Arabiya
that
says
senior
ayatollahs
have
been
meeting
secretly
in
Qom
to
discuss
significant
changes
in
the
structure
of
the
Iranian
state.
. .
.
"As
Ledeen
also
says,
however,
the
protesters
know
they
are
on
their
own
facing
the
thugs
of
the
basiji.
Despite
Obama’s
belated
condemnation
today
of
the
brutality
being
meted
out,
his
remarks
were
far
too
little,
far
too
late
and
still
far
too
inadequate.
As
Mladen
Andrijasevic
notes,
his
strategy
of
engaging
the
regime
remains,
regardless
of
how
many
protesters
have
been
killed,
tortured
or
jailed
--
and
will
remain,
it
would
appear,
even
if
worse
happens
in
the
days
to
come.
And
as
Joseph
Ashby
devastatingly
notes
:
Obama believes, on some significant level, the propaganda promoted by America's enemies that the United States is the main instigator and perpetrator of international unrest. So shockingly, amazingly, unbelievably, Obama is saying that Iran may very well use America as a propaganda tool, but at least this time they won't be right.
"What
a
disgrace
that
this
man
is
leader
of
the
free
world;
and
at
such
a
point
in
history.
If
he
had
put
America
stoutly
behind
the
protesters
and
championed
them
against
the
regime,
by
now
they
might
have
toppled
it.
There
are
signs
today
that
even
the
fawning
American
media
is
appalled."
6/24/09
N. Korea
Threatens
to Wipe
U.S. Off
the
Globe
NewsMax.com,
Associated
Press
6/24/09
Pentagon
Dismisses
as
‘Silliness’
North
Korea’s
Threat
to Wipe
Out U.S.
6/24/09
Moore:
Washington
Making
Crisis
Worse
Dan
Well,
MoneyNews.com
"Author
Stephen
Moore
says the
Obama
administration's
policy
puts the
economy
at risk
rather
than
saving
it, as
most
would
presume.
"Moore,
a member
of The
Wall
Street
Journal
Editorial
Board,
co-wrote
the
recently
published
book,
'The End
of
Prosperity:
How
Higher
Taxes
Will
Doom the
Economy'
If We
Let It
Happen.'
His
co-authors
include
Reagan-era
economist
Art
Laffer
and
investment
adviser
Peter
Tanous.
"'All of
the
policies
we've
put in
place
since
the
housing
bubble
burst
and the
stock
market
crashed,
I really
believe
everything
we've
done in
Washington
has made
the
crisis
worse,'
he tells
Moneynews."
By
George:
When the
stock
market
does
return
to its
previous
dollar
levels
-- big
whoopee
with the
dollar
value
halved,
at best.
6/24/09
Where's
the
Outrage?
Goldman
Sachs
and
Citigroup
in Fat
City
By Rush
Limbaugh
"'The
company
also
plans to
award
millions
of new
stock
options
to
employees
in an
effort
to
retain...'
What's
going on
here?
What in
the
world's
going on
in
Goldman
Sachs, a
record
2009, or
something
like
that.
Citibank,
50%
raises
in lieu
of
bonuses.
Citibank
is not
doing
well,
and they
got
bailout
money.
What is
going
on?
Remember
the
outrage
sparked
at AIG
when
they
were
getting
bonuses
that
were
contractually
permitted?
Maybe
these
Obama
voters
that
called
us last
week had
a
point.
This is
the last
thing we
all
expected
to
happen
here.
Except
the
smart
money,
smart
people
like
me. I
know
exactly
what's
going
on. The
Goldman
Sachs
people
are
practically
running
this
show.
The
Goldman
Sachs
people
ended up
getting
some
bailout
money
from AIG.
People
have
forgotten
this.
AIG was
used as
a
cut-out,
essentially,
to send
money to
Goldman
Sachs.
Paulson
was from
Goldman
Sachs.
Geithner
was at
New York
Fed
Reserve.
Goldman
Sachs.
The one
financial
institution
on Wall
Street
that was
not
bailed
out, the
one
financial
institution
that was
allowed
to hit
the
bricks
and go
south
was
what?
Lehman
Brothers.
They
just
happened
to be,
in
Goldman
Sachs's
view,
their
number-one
competitor.
They're
gone.
Everybody
else was
bailed
out."
6/24/09
We're on
the Road
to Jimmy
Carter
By Rush
Limbaugh
"Back
last
fall
when we
were
bailing
these
people
out,
John
Kerry
(who
served
in
Vietnam,
by the
way) was
bashing
all of
these
Wall
Street
entities,
all of
these
banks.
Now all
of a
sudden,
[Kerrry
says]
'Well,
you
know,
they
gotta
pay a
lot of
people,
and
gotta
pay good
people,
and they
gotta
pay 'em
appropriately.
It's
competition
in the
marketplace.'
That's
all fine
now!
It's all
fine
when the
Democrats
and
Obama
are
running
the
show.
I'm
telling
you,
folks,
this is
going to
filter
out to
the
average
Obama
voter.
This is
not what
the
average
Obama
voter
thought
he or
she was
voting
for, to
make
Citibank
rich, to
make
Goldman
Sachs
rich.
Forget
whether
they're
right or
wrong
for a
second
here.
I'm not
concerned
with
whether
or not
these
Obama
voters
understand
capitalism
or not.
In this
instance
-- and I
remain
influenced
by that
bunch of
calls we
got last
week
from
Obama
voters
who were
livid.
"They thought they were going to be getting all this money and they just
see
Obama
doing
what
Republicans
have
done:
bail out
the
banks,
bail out
the big
rich
people.
Well,
now,
with the
Goldman
Sachs
and
their
big
bonuses
and
their
'record
first
half of
'09,'
whatever
it was;
now
Citibank
50%
raises
to get
around
the
bonus
requirements,
limitations?
And
Democrats
now
talking
about,
'Well,
yeah, we
have to
do
this.'
See,
back in
the
early
days of
the
administration,
when AIG
was
doing
this, it
was time
to hang
'em and
burn 'em
at the
stake
and send
ACORN up
there to
protest
on the
lawns of
the
homes of
the
executives
at AIG!
Now, 'Weeeell,
we gotta
pay
people.
It's a
competitive
business
out
there.
We gotta
pay
people,
good
people.'
It's all
fine
now.
I'm
going to
tell you
what
we're
looking
at here,
folks.
Democrats
don't
get it.
"We're looking at Jimmy Carter 2. We're looking at it. We're right on
the cusp
of it.
Warren
Buffett's
told us
today
that the
economy
is going
to be in
shambles."
6/24/09
Barney
Frank
Wants to
Do It
Again!
By Rush
Limbaugh
"Two
U.S.
Democratic
lawmakers
want
Fannie
Mae and
Freddie
Mac to
relax
recently
tightened
standards
for
mortgages
on new
condominiums,
saying
they
could
threaten
the
viability
of some
developments
and slow
the
housing-market
recovery,
the Wall
Street
Journal
said.
... In a
letter
to the
CEO's of
both
companies,
Representatives
Barney
Frank,
the
chairman
of the
House
Financial
Services
Committee,
and
Anthony
Weiner
warned
that a
70
percent
sales
threshold
'may be
too
onerous'
and
could
lead
condo
buyers
to shun
new
developments,
according
to the
paper."
So he
wants
them to
relax
condo
loan
rules
while
more and
more
foreclosures
are
taking
place,
and all
the
while
Barney
Frank
and the
boys and
Chris
Dodd
denying
they had
anything
to do
with the
existing
problem!"
6/24/09
Who's
Funding
the
Obamacare
Campaign?
by Michelle Malkin, TownHall.com
6/24/09
Early
Edition
Statement
on
Waxman-Markey
Energy-Rationing
Bill
By
Myron
Ebell,
Competitive
Enterprise
Institute
(CEI)
"House
Democratic
leaders
plan to
bring to
the
floor
this
week the
Waxman-Markey
energy-rationing
bill, H.
R.
2454.
If
enacted,
Waxman-Markey
would be
the
biggest
tax
increase
in the
history
of the
world
and the
biggest
government
intervention
in
people’s
lives
since
the
Second
World
War,
which is
the last
time
that
Americans
needed
ration
coupons
to buy
gasoline,
food,
and
other
necessities.
The
energy
price
increases
required
by H. R.
2454,
the
American
Clean
Energy
and
Security
Act, are
not a
one-time
event,
but will
go up
steadily
year
after
year
until at
least
2050.
"Speaker
Nancy
Pelosi
(D-San
Francisco)
and
Energy
and
Commerce
Committee
Chairman
Henry
Waxman
(D-Beverly
Hills)
are
moving
ahead
with
their
stupendous
energy-rationing
bill
despite
strong
statements
from
China
and
India
that
they
will not
similarly
hamper
their
economies
and
impoverish
their
peoples.
Waxman-Markey
is all
pain and
no
gain.
"Waxman-Markey
is a
1,201-page
economic
suicide
note. Those
Members
of the
House
who vote
for it
are
voting
for
long-term
economic
decline
and for
turning
the
United
States
into a
second-rate
economy.
"We urge
that
voters
contact
their
Representative
immediately
by
calling
the
House
switchboard
at (202)
225-3121. Tell
your
Representative
to vote
No on H.
R. 2454,
the
American
Clean
Energy
and
Security
Act. Voters
may also
send
their
Member
an
e-mail
by going
to
www.cei.org/1984
and
clicking
on the
link to
the
action
page."
CEI is a
non-profit,
non-partisan
public
policy
group
dedicated
to the
principles
of free
enterprise
and
limited
government.
For more
information
about
CEI,
please
visit
our
website
at
www.cei.org.
6/24/09
Early
Edition
AmeriCorps
feared
bad
press if
IG
investigation
continued
By:
Byron
York,
Washington
Examiner
"One of the mysteries surrounding President Obama's firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin is what prompted the White House, supported by the board of directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps, to try to get rid of Walpin so quickly and quietly?
"On the evening of Wednesday, June 10, an official of the White House counsel's office called Walpin to tell him he had one hour to resign or be fired. The action flew in the face of a law (sponsored by Barack Obama when he was a senator) that requires the president to give Congress 30 days' notice, plus cause, when he intends to fire an IG. In this case, the White House apparently wanted to dispatch Walpin quickly by pushing him to resign, which would not have required the president to go through the congressional notification process. Instead, Walpin refused to quit, and only then did the White House tell Congress.
"Why the rush? [click the headline to read more]"
6/23/09
Lucianne.com
Her
"must
reads"
and
comments
below:
George's
Excerpted
quote:
"Rep.
Steve
King,
Iowa
Republican,
said in
an
interview
on The
Washington
Times'
morning
radio
show
'America's
Morning
News'
that
Mrs.
Pelosi
and the
Democratic
majority
had
recently
authorized
an
unprecedented
change
in House
rules to
curb the
right of
the
minority
to offer
amendments
to
appropriations
spending
bills.
"The
debate
over the
new
rules
governing
how
bills
are
dealt
with
sparked
a bitter
partisan
clash in
the
House
last
week.
Democrats
say the
restrictions
are
needed
to
ensure
Congress
has the
time to
pass a
dozen
individual
spending
bills in
the next
few
months
to fund
the
government,
while
lawmakers
also
deal
with
health
care and
energy
reform.
Mr. King
and
other
Republicans
charge
the
rules
violate
the
House's
traditions
for
debate
and are
meant to
protect
Democrats
from
politically
embarrassing
votes."
6/23/09
A More
Contentious
Obama
Press
Conference
"Todd: Mr. President, I want to follow up on Iran. You have avoided, twice,
spelling
out
consequences.
You've
hinted
that
there
would
be
from
the
international
community,
if
they
continue
to
violate
--
and
you
said
"violate
these
norms."
You
seemed
to
hint
that
there
--
there
are
human
rights
violations
taking
place.
"MR. OBAMA: I'm not hinting. I think that when a young woman gets shot on
the
street
when
she
gets
out
of
her
car,
that's
a
problem.
"Todd: Then why won't you spell out the consequences that the Iranian
people...
"MR. OBAMA: Because I think that we don't know yet how this thing is going
to
play
out.
I
know
everybody
here
is
on a
24-hour
news
cycle.
I'm
not.
OK?
"The next questioner was ABC's Jake Tapper, who opened, with, 'Before I
ask my
question,
I wonder
if you
could
actually
answer
David's
[on
health
care].'
Mr.
Obama
didn't
seem to
like
that.
"'You think you're going to -- are you the ombudsman for the White House
press
corps?,'
he
asked.
'What's
your
question
-- is
that
your
question?'
"The president soon attempted an uneasy joke after Tapper's question
referenced
Mr.
Obama's
'Spock-like
language
about
the
logic of
the
health
care
plan' –
the
president
quipped
'is that
a crack
on my
ears?' –
but it
fell
flat
[etc.]."
6/23/09
Pakistanis
Flee
Tribal
Zone as
Army
Prepares
Assault
on
Taliban
By
Khalid
Qayum
and
Michael
Heath,
Bloomberg.com
"Thousands
of
Pakistani
civilians
fled a
tribal
zone
bordering
Afghanistan
as the
military
prepared
an
offensive
to drive
Taliban
insurgents
from the
area.
“'We are
expecting
hundreds
of
thousands
to flee
the
region
when the
operation
starts,'
Adnan
Khan, a
spokesman
for the
relief
commission
of North
West
Frontier
Province,
said
today by
telephone
from the
provincial
capital,
Peshawar.
"The
military
said
yesterday
it is in
the
'preparatory
stage'
of an
offensive
in South
Waziristan,
a
stronghold
of
Pakistani
Taliban"
6/23/09
North
Korean
ship
poses
challenge
for US
allies
along
its
route
By Simon
Montlak,
The
Christian
Science
MonitorThailand
and
Singapore
have
longstanding
military
ties
with
America
but also
trade
with
Burma,
where
the
vessel
is
headed.
"[I]t
raises
the
question
of how
far
United
States
allies
in Asia
are
prepared
to go to
enforce
a
comprehensive
United
Nations
ban on
North
Korean
arms
exports.
Should
the Kang
Nam, the
North
Korean-registered
ship at
the
center
of the
row,
seek to
refuel
in
Singapore
or
another
port,
the ban
would be
put to
the
test.
"Under
the UN
Security
Council
resolution,
adopted
after
North
Korea's
May 25
nuclear
test,
vessels
suspected
of
breaking
the
embargo
must
undergo
inspection,
either
on the
high
seas or
at port.
But any
inspection
depends
on the
cooperation
of a
ship's
captain.
Few
believe
that the
Kang Nam
would
comply."
6/23/09
Whose
side is
the New
York
Times
on?
By:
Michael
Barone,
Washington
Examiner
"The
New
York
Times
has
revealed
that
its
reporter
David
Rohde
was
kidnapped
and
held
by
terrorists
in
Afghanistan
for
seven
months
and
that
it
and,
at
its
request,
other
media
refrained
from
reporting
this
to
protect
Rohde’s
safety.
. .
.
To which I’m inclined to say, good for the Times and for all those, including conservative blogger Ed Morrissey, who kept the lid on this story.
"But the Times of course did not take the same approach when it published its December 2005 story on NSA surveillance of communications between suspected terrorists abroad and persons in the United States and its June 2006 story on the entirely legal Swift surveillance of terrorist financing. . . .
"They [at the Times] are determined to protect their brave and admirable colleagues from danger. But they are not concerned to protect the people of the United States and friendly nations from dangers which, while perhaps more remote, have proved painfully real, and not only on September 11, 2001. They seem to see themselves as transnational journalists, with responsibilities to their colleagues and their profession, but with no particular responsibilities as American citizens."
Many top traders and bankers have left the financial giants for rivals. The trend may continue as long as Citi and BofA remain under the government's thumb.
6/23/09
a.m.
Obama's
Game
Plan
Becomes
Clearer
By: Ronald
Kessler,
NewsMax.com
[I
suggest
that you
read
this in
its
entirety
to get
the
entire
indictment.
I can't
do it
justice
with an
abstract
other
than its
end:]
"[T]he
passage
from
'Dreams
From My
Father'
tells
you
everything
you need
to know
about
Obama's
game
plan
that we
now see
being
played
out: It
amounts
to a con
job on
the
American
people."
6/23/09
a.m.
Jewish
Leader:
Obama
May Be
'Most
Hostile
President
to
Israel'
By: Ronald
Kessler,
NewsMax.com
6/23/09
a.m.
President
Barack
Obama
Violates
Defense
of
Marriage
Act!
Christian
Family
Coalition
"President
Barack
Hussein
Obama
violated
the
federal
law,
specifically,
the
Defense
of
Marriage
Act (D.O.M.A.)
which
defines
marriage
as the
legal
union of
one man
and one
woman as
husband
and
wife, by
signing
a
presidential
memorandum
giving
federal
benefits
to the
'so-called
partners'
of
federal
homosexual
employees.
In 1996,
DOMA
passed
overwhelmingly
in both
the
House
and
Senate
and was
then
signed
by
President
Clinton.
"On
January
20th,
2009,
the
President
took an
oath to
uphold
the law,
he has
now
openly
undermined
current
law . .
.
"The
President
is free
to lobby
Congress
to enact
these
benefits
if he so
wishes,
but he
has
absolutely
NO
RIGHT to
impose
his will
on the
rest of
society"
6/22/09
Blood on
the
Streets
of
Tehran
6/22/09
Iranian
Student
to Obama
and the
World:
'Don't
Leave Us
Alone'
By
Matthew
Balan,
NewsBusters
"Contrary to the claims of many liberals, at least some of Iran's anti-government protesters are anxious for Barack Obama to lend American support to their cause. An Iranian student interviewed on CNN’s American Morning on Monday pleaded for the world, and President Obama by name, to become more active in assisting the protests against the Islamic regime in Tehran: “International community....especially, I ask President Barack Obama directly...this government is a huge threat to global peace....We need your help international community. Don’t leave us alone.” [Audio from the segment available here.]"
6/22/09 Secularizing the Mullahs
Abe Greenwald, Commentary Magazine
"I can’t say I agree with Jeffrey Goldberg on this one:
Yesterday, on Meet the Press, Netanyahu told David Gregory that recent events have 'unmasked' the true nature of the regime, and this is undoubtedly true: No one, not even the regime’s apologists, believes that these men are secret moderates interested in seeing Iran rejoin the civilized world. So in one way, the regime’s murderous response to dissent helps Netanyahu make his case that this is indeed a fanatic regime. But recent events also cut against Netanyahu’s analysis, I think: The Iranian regime has exposed itself as interested mainly in self-preservation. Netanyahu told me earlier this spring that Iran is run by a 'messianic, apocalyptic cult.' But I think there’s an argument to be made that Khamenei and Ahmadinejad are grubby men mainly interested in perpetuating their power."
6/22/09
Al-Qaida:
We Would
Use
Pakistani
Nukes On
America
NewsMax.com
"Some
Taliban
fighters
have
been
able to
ward off
attacks
by U.S.
aircraft
by
wearing
special
infrared
patches
on their
shirts
that
signal
that
they are
friends
rather
than
foes.
"The
patches,
which
can also
help
suicide
bombers
get
close to
U.S.
targets,
are
supposed
to be
the
property
of the
U.S.
government
alone,
but can
be
easily
purchased
over the
Internet
for
about
$10
each.
Also
available
online:
night-vision
goggles
and
military-grade
communications
systems
like the
ones
used by
the
terrorists
who
attacked
the
Indian
city of
Mumbai
last
year."
6/22/09
Taliban
averts
attacks
with
U.S.
equipment
Eli
Lake,
The
Washington
Times
6/22/09
Bombings
and
shootings
kill
more
than 30
in Iraq
By KIM
GAMEL,
SeattlePi.com,
ASSOCIATED
PRESS
WRITER
"BAGHDAD
--
Bombings
and
shootings
killed
more
than 30
people
across
Iraq on
Monday,
including
high
school
students
on their
way to
final
exams,
part of
a new
round of
violence
ahead of
next
week's
deadline
for U.S.
troops
to
withdraw
from
urban
areas.
The
attacks
pushed
the
three-day
Iraqi
death
toll
over
100,
shattering
a recent
lull and
adding
fresh
doubt to
the
ability
of
government
forces
to
protect
people
without
U.S.
soldiers
by their
sides.
American
combat
troops
have
already
begun
moving
from
inner-city
outposts
to large
bases
outside
Baghdad
and
other
cities."
6/22/09
North
Korea
warns of
military
drill
off
coast -
Japan
Reuters,
India
6/22/09
Georgia-Russia:
Still
Insecure
and
Dangerous
International
Crisis
Group
"Ten
months
after
the
'August
war'
between
Georgia
and
Russia,
violent
incidents
and
the
lack
of
an
effective
security
regime
in
and
around
the
conflict
zones
of
South
Ossetia
and
Abkhazia
create
a
dangerous
atmosphere
in
which
extensive
fighting
could
again
erupt.
Russia
has
not
complied
with
key
aspects
of
the
ceasefire
agreements
that
President
Medvedev
reached
in
August/September
2008
with
French
President
Sarkozy
in
his
then
EU
presidency
role.
Its
15
June
Security
Council
veto
of
an
extension
of
the
sixteen-year-old
UN
observer
mission
mandate
in
Georgia
and
Abkhazia
and
its
apparent
intention
to
require
the
removal
of
the
mission
of
the
Organisation
for
Security
and
Cooperation
in
Europe
(OSCE)
by
the
end
of
the
month
are
blows
to
regional
security
that
will
further
fuel
tensions.
Most
of
the
on-the-ground
conflict
resolution
machinery
is
thus
being
dismantled."
6/22/09
ACORN
drops
tarnished
name and
moves to
silence
critics
By:
Kevin
Mooney,
Washington
Examiner
"Association
of
Community
Organizers
for
Reform
Now
(ACORN)
leaders
are
using
the
threat
of a law
suit to
silence
and
intimidate
critics,
according
to
current
and
former
members
of the
liberal
activist
group.
In a
letter
dated
June
11
an
attorney
for
ACORN
advised
top
whistleblowers
that
their
unauthorized
use
of
the
organization’s
name
could
make
them
liable
for
monetary
damages
and
injunctive
relief.
"ACORN
executives
have
also
changed
their
organization’s
name,
which
was
tarnished
by
investigations
in
at
least
14
states
of
allegations
of
voter
registration
fraud
during
the
2008
presidential
campaign,
and
charges
by
current
and
former
members
of
financial
mismanagement
and
misrepresentation.
"The
new
name
will
let
ACORN
leaders
continue
their
operations
without
worrying
about
prior
bad
publicity,
according
to
Marcel
Reid
of
ACORN
8, a
group
of
present
and
former
members.
. .
.
"Meanwhile, ACORN’s Project Vote affiliate has filed suit against Anita MonCrief, a former employee, who has testified under oath on voter registration allegations. ACORN is currently under investigation in at least 14 states for electoral irregularities. The Project Vote suit claims that Anita MonCrief and an unidentified accomplice gained access into private e-mails from group executives and stole the group’s name without permission. It also accuses Moncrief of using a company credit card for her own purposes.
“ACORN is attempting to silence me, and the allegations in the lawsuit are false,' MonCrief said in statement emailed to The Examiner.
"ACORN 8 has released its own statement on 'whistleblower retaliation' through its national spokesman Michael McCray that expresses support for new protective legislation.
“'On behalf of the national board of ACORN 8, we are all saddened by and express great concern due to ACORN’s court action filed against whistleblower Anita MonCrief,' the statement reads."
6/22/09 ACORN By Any Other Name Is Still ACORN
by: Michele Bachmann, Town Hall Magazine
"Recently, ACORN International, which works in 12 countries across the world, has switched their name to 'Community Organizations International.' Apparently, being investigated in 14 states for voter registration fraud and facing repeated accusations by ACORN board members of financial mismanagement will inevitably take its toll on an organization’s image. It will be interesting to see if ACORN as a whole takes on a new name as well.
"Meanwhile, ACORN is taking legal action against the group of whistleblowers known as the ACORN 8. This group of current and former members believes that ACORN 'has been corrupted from its original purpose by senior management and an organizational structure that exploits the low and moderate income membership it was founded to serve.' They are not looking for the complete dismantling of ACORN, but hope to restore the organization to its original and meaningful purpose through an independent audit and Congressional hearings."
DesMoineRegister.com
6/22/09
Inspector
General
Fired by
Obama
Wants
Congressional
Hearing
on His
Case
By
Fred
Lucas,
CNSNews.com
"The ousted inspector general who reported that his office found misuse of AmeriCorps funds granted to a charity run by a political ally of President Barack Obama sees an assault on the institution of government watchdogs, noting that besides himself, the inspectors general in both the Treasury Department and the International Trade Commission (ITC) have faced reported hurdles in doing their jobs."
6/22/09 Taking a Razor to the President's Plan George Will, TownHall.com
"To dissect today's health care debate, the crux of which concerns a "public option," use the mind's equivalent of a surgeon's scalpel, Occam's razor, a principle of intellectual parsimony: In solving a puzzle, start with the simplest explanatory theory.
The puzzle is: Why does the president, who says that were America 'starting from scratch' he would favor a 'single-payer' -- government-run -- system, insist that health care reform include a government insurance plan that competes with private insurers?
"The simplest answer is that such a plan will lead to a single-payer system.
Conservatives say that a government program will have the intended consequence of crowding private insurers out of the market, encouraging employers to stop providing coverage and luring employees from private insurance to the cheaper government option. . . .
"Insuring
the
perhaps
20
million
persons
who are
protractedly
uninsured
because
they
cannot
afford
insurance
is
conceptually
simple:
Give
them
money --
(refundable)
tax
credits
or debit
cards
(which
have
replaced
food
stamps)
loaded
with a
particular
value.
This
would
produce
people
who are
more
empowered
than
dependent.
Unfortunately,
advocates
of a
government
option
consider
that a
defect.
Which is
why the
simple
idea of
the
dependency
agenda
cuts
like a
razor
through
the
complexities
of this
debate."
6/21/09
A
Supreme
Leader
Loses
His Aura
as
Iranians
Flock to
the
Streets
Roger
Cohen,
The New
York
Times
"I don’t
know
where
this
uprising
is
leading.
I do
know
some
police
units
are
wavering.
That
commander
talking
about
his
family
was not
alone.
There
were
other
policemen
complaining
about
the
unruly
Basijis.
Some
security
forces
just
stood
and
watched.
'All
together,
all
together,
don’t be
scared,'
the
crowd
shouted.
"I also
know
that
Iran’s
women
stand in
the
vanguard.
For days
now,
I’ve
seen
them
urging
less
courageous
men on.
I’ve
seen
them get
beaten
and
return
to the
fray.
“Why are
you
sitting
there?”
one
shouted
at a
couple
of men
perched
on the
sidewalk
on
Saturday.
“Get up!
Get up!”
"Another
green-eyed
woman,
Mahin,
aged 52,
staggered
into an
alley
clutching
her face
and in
tears.
Then,
against
the
urging
of those
around
her, she
limped
back
into the
crowd
moving
west
toward
Freedom
Square.
Cries of
'Death
to the
dictator!'
and 'We
want
liberty!'
accompanied
her.
"There
were
people
of all
ages. I
saw an
old man
on
crutches,
middle-aged
office
workers
and
bands of
teenagers.
Unlike
the
student
revolts
of 2003
and
1999,
this
movement
is
broad."
6/21/09
Mousavi
Accuses
Obama of
'Misleading
the
World'
NewsMax.com
"Author
and
foreign
policy
expert
Michael
Ledeen
has
published
a letter
reportedly
from the
office
of Mir
Hossein
Mousavi,
in which
the
Iranian
opposition
leader
criticizes
President
Barack
Obama
for
saying
Mousavi
and
Iranian
President
Mahmoud
Ahmadenijad
are 'two
of a
kind.'
"The
letter,
addressed
to Obama,
takes
the
president
to task
for the
remark,
calling
it 'a
grave
and deep
insult,
not just
to Mr.
Mousavi
but
especially
against
the
judgment
of the
Iranian
people,
against
our
moral
conviction
and
intelligence,
especially
those of
the
young
generation
that
comprises
a
population
of 31
million.
"'It is
a
specially
grave
insult
for
those
who are
now
fighting
for
democracy
and
freedom,
and an
unwarranted
gift and
even
praise
for
[Supreme
Leader
Ayatollah
Ali]
Khamenei,
whose
security
forces
are now
killing
peaceful
Iranians
in the
streets
of every
major
city in
the
country.
"'Your
statement
misled
the
people
of the
world.'"
6/21/09
The
Koran
and the
Ballot
Box
By
REUEL
MARC
GERECHT,
The
New
York
Times
"[I]nside
Iran,
the
nuclear
issue
isn’t
what the
people
are
fighting
about.
They are
fighting
for
freedom.
Even if
Ayatollah
Khamenei
proves
triumphant
in this
round,
the
president
should
get on
the
right
side of
history.
He has
nothing
to lose:
the
supreme
leader
is never
going to
give
ground
on the
nuclear
issue.
And as
the
clerical
regime
gets
nastier
at home,
it will
become
nastier
abroad.
Mir
Hussein
Moussavi
is Mr.
Obama’s
only
hope."
6/21/09
Pakistan
faces
limits
as it
widens
war on
Taliban
By
Ben
Arnoldy,
Christian
Science
Monitor
The Army
is
preparing
for a
new
offensive
in South
Waziristan.
A US
drone
strike
Thursday
killed
at least
nine in
the
area.
"The
Pakistani
military
is
preparing
to open
a new
front in
its
fight
against
the
Taliban,
this
time
targeting
South
Waziristan,
a tribal
region
and home
base for
Taliban
factions
fighting
the
Pakistani
state.
In
recent
days, it
has
launched
softening-up
operations,
including
air
raids
and
shelling.
"The
military
has the
momentum
of
battlefield
gains
and
popular
support
after
pushing
back one
Taliban
faction
in
northwestern
Swat
Valley
and
nearby
areas.
"But
South
Waziristan
is no
Swat.
"The
tougher
terrain,
more
entrenched
foe, and
stretched
forces
lead
experts
to
suspect
that
this
operation
will
adopt
modest
aims,
not a
fight to
the
finish
between
Pakistan
and the
wider
Taliban
movement."
6/21/09
Senate
leader
lectures
Obama on
Israeli-Arab
conflict
Israel
Today
"US
Senate
majority
leader
Harry
Reid (D-Nev.)
sent a
letter
to
President
Barack
Obama
last
week
criticizing
the
latter
for his
administration's
heavy
pressure
on
Israel
to be
the
facilitator
of the
Middle
East
peace
process.
"Reid
noted
that
Israel
has
already
met many
of its
peace
obligations,
while
the
Palestinians
after 15
years
have not
fulfilled
even
their
most
basic
commitments,
namely
to
recognize
the
Jewish
state's
right to
exist
and
eliminate
the
threat
of
anti-Israel
Palestinian
terrorism.
"'I
believe
negotiations
will be
successful
only
with a
renewed
commitment
from the
Palestinians
to be a
true
partner
to
peace,'
wrote
Reid."
6/21/09
Dodge
facts,
skip
details,
govern
Chicago-style
By:
Michael
Barone,
Washington
Examiner
"We
pundits
like to
analyze
our
presidents
and so,
as
Barack
Obama
deals
with
difficult
problems
ranging
from
health
care
legislation
to
upheaval
in Iran,
let me
offer my
Three
Rules of
Obama.
"First,
Obama
likes to
execute
long-range
strategies
but
suffers
from
cognitive
dissonance
when new
facts
render
them
inappropriate.
. . .
Second,
he does
not seem
to care
much
about
the
details
of
policy.
.
"Third,
he does
business
Chicago-style.
His
first
political
ambition
was to
be mayor
of
Chicago,
the boss
of all
he
surveyed;
he has
had to
settle
for the
broader
but less
complete
hegemony
of the
presidency.
From
Chicago
he
brings
the
assumption
that
there
will
always
be a
bounteous
private
sector
that can
be
plundered
endlessly
on
behalf
of
political
favorites.
Hence
the
government
takeover
of
General
Motors
and
Chrysler
to bail
out the
United
Auto
Workers,
the
proposal
for
channeling
money
from the
private
nonprofits
to the
government
by
limiting
the
charitable
deduction
for high
earners,
the plan
for
expanding
government
(and
public
employee
union
rolls)
by
instituting
universal
pre-kindergarten.
"Chicago-style,
he has
kept the
Republicans
out of
serious
policy
negotiations
but has
allowed
left-wing
Democrats
to veto
a
measure
upholding
his own
decision
not to
release
interrogation
photos.
While
promising
a
politics
of
mutual
respect,
he
peppers
both his
speeches
and
impromptu
responses
with
jabs at
his
predecessor.
Basking
in the
adulation
of
nearly
the
entire
press
corps,
he
whines
about
his
coverage
on Fox
News.
Those
who
stand in
the way,
like the
Chrysler
secured
creditors,
are told
that
their
reputations
will be
destroyed;
those
who
expose
wrongdoing
by
political
allies,
like the
AmeriCorps
inspector
general,
are
fired."
6/21/09
Why I
dumped
Obama's
party
Sherman
Frederick,
Las
Vegas
Review
Journal
"Republicans
offer
our only
hope in
slowing
the
Obama
"change"
juggernaut
before
the
America
of
unbridled
optimism
and
opportunity
goes the
way of
the
buffalo.
I don't
want my
great-grandchildren
growing
up in
cradle-to-grave
government
care,
where
only the
privileged
few may
afford a
car, or
own a
home, or
get
non-rationed
health
care.
"The
only
institution
positioned
to stop
the
progression
of the
Obama
welfare
state is
the
Republican
Party,
coupled
with
independent-minded
Americans
like me.
"Second,
the
popular
myth
that the
Democratic
Party is
the
party of
tolerance
and
big-tent
ideas is
spectacularly
false.
"A
fiscal
conservative
such as
myself
is
treated
by
Obamaniacs
like a
ringing
cell
phone in
church.
'Shhhh!'
they
say. The
only
debate
among
Democrats
is how
fast and
how
deeply
to run
up the
national
debt.
Any
Democrat
who
questions
deficit
spending
or a
limit to
federal
power is
simply
not
invited
to the
party."
6/20/09
Iran
Riot
Police
Clash
With
Thousands
of
Protesters
in
Bloody
Tehran
Crackdown
Fox
News

TEHRAN —
Police
beat
protesters
and
fired
tear gas
and
water
cannons
at
thousands
who
rallied
Saturday
in open
defiance
of
Iran's
clerical
government,
sharply
escalating
the most
serious
internal
conflict
since
the 1979
Islamic
Revolution.
"Witnesses
described
fierce
clashes
after
some
3,000
protesters,
many
wearing
black,
chanted
'Death
to the
dictator!'
and
'Death
to
dictatorship!'
near
Revolution
Square
in
downtown
Tehran.
Police
fired
tear
gas,
water
cannons
and guns
but it
was not
clear if
they
were
firing
live
ammunition."
6/20/09In
Iran,
you win
or you
die
By
David
Warren,
Ottawa
Citizen
"[I]f
the
Iranian
regime
were to
fall, by
far the
largest
organized
threat
to peace
in the
region
would be
removed.
This
includes
not only
a fairly
proximate
nuclear
threat
to
Israel
(for all
we know
North
Korea’s
second
nuclear
test was
actually
Iran’s
first),
but
sponsorship
of the
most
efficient
part of
the
world’s
Islamist
terror
apparatus.
"Hezbollah
and
Hamas
are
both,
today,
for all
practical
purposes,
Iranian
proxies.
. . .
"North
Korea’s
chief
conduit
into the
illicit
Middle
Eastern
arms
trade
would be
lost. .
. .
"In
economic
terms,
the
threat
of a
world
crisis
provoked
by the
interdiction
of oil
shipments
from the
Persian
Gulf
would
disappear.
"Both
Russia
and
China
would
lose a
very
important
lever of
influence
on world
affairs
"If the
ayatollahs
come
down,
the
whole
world
situation
is
changed,
and in
every
conceivable
way for
the
better.
It is
impossible
to
overestimate
the
stakes
of the
insurrection
in Iran.
. . .
"As I
wrote
Wednesday,
I expect
the
regime
to win,
in a
bloodbath.
Guns
trump
warm
bodies.
But it
may well
be a
close-run
thing.
"If the
regime
does
win, it
will
emerge
from the
carnage
as an
even
deadlier
enemy to
the
West.
The only
leverage
the West
will
have is
appeasement,
and that
has
never
worked,
anytime
or
anywhere
in
history.
"President
Obama
bet,
with his
Cairo
speech,
that it
will
work
this
time.
"He
disavowed
his
predecessor’s
bellicose
rhetoric,
and
committed
the U.S.
to
dialogue
with
Iran’s
monstrous
rulers.
"President
Reagan,
who
extracted
more
concessions
from
Soviet
tyrants
than all
previous
presidents
combined,
did not
do so by
making
nice to
them."
6/20/09
Dozens
hurt in
Iran;
even
firmer
hand
vowed
MSNBC
Thousands
defy ban
as
Mousavi
reportedly
urges
strike
if he's
arrested
"As
police
beat and
fired
tear gas
at
protesters
in
Tehran
who
defied a
ban and
the
country's
supreme
leader,
the
nation's
police
chief
said
Saturday
that his
response
would
only get
tougher
if
anti-government
protests
continue.
Dozens
of
people
were
injured,
and
unconfirmed
reports
suggested
several
were
killed."
6/20/09
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