from Hanson:
...So you can stop apologizing for America’s recent behavior—unless you think the world would be a better place with the Taliban, and Saddam and his two boys in power. Or maybe Europe should have Schroeder and Chirac back, or Libya with nuclear weapons, or Khalid Sheik Mohammed freed from Guantanamo. Or maybe America shouldn’t have given that $15 billion for AIDs relief in Africa, or helped with earthquakes in Pakistan and tsunamis in Indonesia. Now all that was sorta impulsive.”
...
As he thinks about this apology business, the battered American always gets a little angrier, “And another thing. Mr. Holder, I’ve never said or done a racist thing in my life, not one. Always supported equal opportunity, always will. So don’t call me a “coward” or my countrymen “cowards,” not when you’re my Attorney General. You are The Attorney General of the United States of America, so please, no more playing Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson, leveling the latest shake-down charge on television. That’s not really in your job description to call your own countrymen “cowards.”
...
...So please don’t tell me that the 93% of us that played by our grandfathers’ rules are obligated to come to the rescue of the 7%, who did the exact opposite. At one of your town meetings, just one, instead of pandering to those who defaulted, ask one of us to stand up for paying our debts and then say to the crowd, “Give a hand to Mrs. Battered American. She pays her mortgage, so the rest of us don’t have to!” Try that just once.”
...
Finally, Mr. Battered American would snap back to Mr. President: “I played by the rules, and put a little away in my 401(k). I knew the risks, not because the broker, the bank, or the firm told me all the risks, but because I never shook hands with any of them or even knew those who took my money and promised it was safe—and so I was never sure it really was. And I lost 30% of it. I will live by that too. But please, don’t tell me I must pay for AIG, and the state of California, and all those who charged too much on their VISAs. Just take more of my money in taxes to do all that—but, again, please, no more lectures that I have to, that I must, that I am obligated to. And no more of your team’s lecturing me about being patriotic in paying my taxes, and unpatriotic in not wanting to borrow more trillions that my kids’ kids will have to pay back.”
I'd make one change: "Mr. President, I'm already taxed to death, and you know it; stop telling me I'm 'unpatriotic' to want to keep more of what I earned to spend or save as I need and can; I'm sick of hearing rich people who dodge taxes tell me I'm not paying enough, and that it's 'patriotic' to pay more."
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
I don't like Bill Moyers, haven't for quite a while
due to his bullshit. Now some interesting things are coming out about Mr. Conservatives Are Intolerant Bigots, like
Moyers and J. Edgar Hoover worked together to illegally bug Martin Luther King jr. as well as leak unflattering information about political enemies to the press. Andy Ferguson wrote the definitive Bill Moyers takedown years ago, but sadly it's not online (it is collected in one of Ferguson's books). Anyway, in lieu of the main course, as an appetizer here's a very damning excerpt on Moyers from Morley Safer's autobiography.
and
When the press reported this, I received a call in my office from Mr. Moyers. Several of my assistants were with me. He was outraged; he claimed that this was another example of the Bureau salting its files with phony CIA memos. I was taken aback. I offered to conduct an investigation, which if his contention was correct, would lead me to publicly exonerate him. There was a pause on the line and then he said, "I was very young. How will I explain this to my children?" And then he rang off. I thought to myself that a number of the Watergate figures, some of whom the department was prosecuting, were very young, too.
From the linked excerpt from Morley Safer's book:
"I find it hard to believe that Bill Moyers would engage in character assassination over one evening news broadcast — even given the political imperatives of the moment. But I confess, I find it harder not to believe it.
His part in Lyndon Johnson and J. Edgar Hoover's bugging of Martin Luther King's private life, the leaks to the press and diplomatic corps, the surveillance of civil rights groups at the 1964 Democratic Convention, and his request for damaging information from Hoover on members of the Goldwater campaign suggest he was not only a good soldier but a gleeful retainer feeding the appetites of Lyndon Johnson.
It's all too confusing. Bill Moyers, the sometimes overly pious public defender of liberal virtue, the First Amendment, and the rights of miniorities playing the role of Iago."
Just a wonderful guy, isn't he?
Moyers and J. Edgar Hoover worked together to illegally bug Martin Luther King jr. as well as leak unflattering information about political enemies to the press. Andy Ferguson wrote the definitive Bill Moyers takedown years ago, but sadly it's not online (it is collected in one of Ferguson's books). Anyway, in lieu of the main course, as an appetizer here's a very damning excerpt on Moyers from Morley Safer's autobiography.
and
When the press reported this, I received a call in my office from Mr. Moyers. Several of my assistants were with me. He was outraged; he claimed that this was another example of the Bureau salting its files with phony CIA memos. I was taken aback. I offered to conduct an investigation, which if his contention was correct, would lead me to publicly exonerate him. There was a pause on the line and then he said, "I was very young. How will I explain this to my children?" And then he rang off. I thought to myself that a number of the Watergate figures, some of whom the department was prosecuting, were very young, too.
From the linked excerpt from Morley Safer's book:
"I find it hard to believe that Bill Moyers would engage in character assassination over one evening news broadcast — even given the political imperatives of the moment. But I confess, I find it harder not to believe it.
His part in Lyndon Johnson and J. Edgar Hoover's bugging of Martin Luther King's private life, the leaks to the press and diplomatic corps, the surveillance of civil rights groups at the 1964 Democratic Convention, and his request for damaging information from Hoover on members of the Goldwater campaign suggest he was not only a good soldier but a gleeful retainer feeding the appetites of Lyndon Johnson.
It's all too confusing. Bill Moyers, the sometimes overly pious public defender of liberal virtue, the First Amendment, and the rights of miniorities playing the role of Iago."
Just a wonderful guy, isn't he?
It seems some guy named Pelton has aroused upset
from people like Blackfive, and the gentleman from Mudville, and, oh, a whole bunch of people. It seems Pelton wrote an article for Men's Journal that basically painted a bunch of people as fools and juveniles allowed to play with firearms. Such as
But Jones does have cool toys. During our initial chat he is constantly pulling his Beretta pistol out of his belt, playing with it, putting it on the desk, then back in his pants. He has a custom-made cowboy holster and a tricked-out assault rifle. “No one who is cool carries an M16,” he says. “The army owns this” — he points to the standard base — “but it doesn’t own this” — he points to the multiple accessories, such as an optical sight and the collapsing light stock, that convert his M16 into an M4. “It gives me more credibility.”
?
What the hell?
And the whole article goes on like this. Bill and Bob have a serious takedown of the article here: well worth reading.
But Jones does have cool toys. During our initial chat he is constantly pulling his Beretta pistol out of his belt, playing with it, putting it on the desk, then back in his pants. He has a custom-made cowboy holster and a tricked-out assault rifle. “No one who is cool carries an M16,” he says. “The army owns this” — he points to the standard base — “but it doesn’t own this” — he points to the multiple accessories, such as an optical sight and the collapsing light stock, that convert his M16 into an M4. “It gives me more credibility.”
?
What the hell?
And the whole article goes on like this. Bill and Bob have a serious takedown of the article here: well worth reading.
You don't have to be a lawyer to know that when a judge says
"That was a court order, that wasn't a request," he said. "Is the Department of Justice taking court orders seriously these days?", it's an indication of a problem. Big problem.
This is on the trial of former Senator Ted Stevens. And if the article is correct, the Justice Department, at the least, acted badly.
The Justice Department this week took the highly unusual step of replacing the team handling posttrial litigation in the case. This followed last week's bizarre turn, when the chief of the public integrity section at Justice, William Welch, and his deputy, Brenda Morris -- the federal prosecutors who won the Stevens conviction -- were held in contempt of court.
Read that again. The 'chief of the public integrity section' and' his deputy', held in contempt. That's not the result of a slight error, I wouldn't think; that's the result of deliberately screwing around. And that's bad.
Those 33 documents relate to a complaint filed December 2 by one of the two FBI agents assigned to the case. Chad Joy claimed prosecutors covered up evidence and tried to keep a witness from testifying. He also said his partner, Mary Beth Kepner, had an unspecified "inappropriate relationship" with the state's star witness, Bill Allen, and other potential witnesses.
...
During the trial, Judge Sullivan had also admonished the prosecution for failing to share documents with the defense and redacting exculpatory passages from witness transcripts. Under the so-called Brady rule, Justice isn't obliged to share everything. But in a high-profile case prosecutors usually err on the side of absolute disclosure.
First off, I didn't know about the 'Brady rule'; I thought the prosecution HAD to share exculpatory evidence with the defense. The fact that they don't bothers hell out of me. Second, the 'redacting exculpatory passages' crap: translation is "We found this evidence that shows the defendant may not be guilty so we hid it." Which is fairly disgusting, and ought to be flatly illegal. It comes across to people as "We now know this guy may well be innocent of the charges, but we'll try to cover that evidence up and get a conviction anyway." Which is the kind of crap that's caused people like me to have very little trust in the Justice Department anymore. A lot of other CJ agencies, for that matter.
This is on the trial of former Senator Ted Stevens. And if the article is correct, the Justice Department, at the least, acted badly.
The Justice Department this week took the highly unusual step of replacing the team handling posttrial litigation in the case. This followed last week's bizarre turn, when the chief of the public integrity section at Justice, William Welch, and his deputy, Brenda Morris -- the federal prosecutors who won the Stevens conviction -- were held in contempt of court.
Read that again. The 'chief of the public integrity section' and' his deputy', held in contempt. That's not the result of a slight error, I wouldn't think; that's the result of deliberately screwing around. And that's bad.
Those 33 documents relate to a complaint filed December 2 by one of the two FBI agents assigned to the case. Chad Joy claimed prosecutors covered up evidence and tried to keep a witness from testifying. He also said his partner, Mary Beth Kepner, had an unspecified "inappropriate relationship" with the state's star witness, Bill Allen, and other potential witnesses.
...
During the trial, Judge Sullivan had also admonished the prosecution for failing to share documents with the defense and redacting exculpatory passages from witness transcripts. Under the so-called Brady rule, Justice isn't obliged to share everything. But in a high-profile case prosecutors usually err on the side of absolute disclosure.
First off, I didn't know about the 'Brady rule'; I thought the prosecution HAD to share exculpatory evidence with the defense. The fact that they don't bothers hell out of me. Second, the 'redacting exculpatory passages' crap: translation is "We found this evidence that shows the defendant may not be guilty so we hid it." Which is fairly disgusting, and ought to be flatly illegal. It comes across to people as "We now know this guy may well be innocent of the charges, but we'll try to cover that evidence up and get a conviction anyway." Which is the kind of crap that's caused people like me to have very little trust in the Justice Department anymore. A lot of other CJ agencies, for that matter.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
And, as a last note for the evening, "The poles are MELTING!!"
is bullcrap.
"The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has been at the forefront of predicting doom in the arctic as ice melts due to global warming. In May, 2008 they went so far as to predict that the North Pole would be ice-free during the 2008 'melt season,' leading to a lively Slashdot discussion. Today, however, they say that they have been the victims of 'sensor drift' that led to an underestimation of Arctic ice extent by as much as 500,000 square kilometers.
That's one bleep of an 'underestimation'.
The AMSR-E data is updated daily and is available to the public. Thus far, sea ice extent in 2009 is tracking ahead of 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008, so the predictions of an ice-free north pole might be premature."
Snork. You think maybe?
"The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has been at the forefront of predicting doom in the arctic as ice melts due to global warming. In May, 2008 they went so far as to predict that the North Pole would be ice-free during the 2008 'melt season,' leading to a lively Slashdot discussion. Today, however, they say that they have been the victims of 'sensor drift' that led to an underestimation of Arctic ice extent by as much as 500,000 square kilometers.
That's one bleep of an 'underestimation'.
The AMSR-E data is updated daily and is available to the public. Thus far, sea ice extent in 2009 is tracking ahead of 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008, so the predictions of an ice-free north pole might be premature."
Snork. You think maybe?
Democrats: if they can't ban guns,
they want to make owning one so expensive you can't afford one:
Dunkin’s bill amends the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act, a previous bill aimed at chipping away at the Second Amendment. Dunkin’s amendment states “that any person who owns a firearm in this State shall maintain a policy of liability insurance in the amount of at least $1,000,000 specifically covering any damages resulting from negligent or willful acts involving the use of such firearm while it is owned by such person.”
Democrats; because they know what's good for you. Whether you agree or not.
Dunkin’s bill amends the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act, a previous bill aimed at chipping away at the Second Amendment. Dunkin’s amendment states “that any person who owns a firearm in this State shall maintain a policy of liability insurance in the amount of at least $1,000,000 specifically covering any damages resulting from negligent or willful acts involving the use of such firearm while it is owned by such person.”
Democrats; because they know what's good for you. Whether you agree or not.
Just some standard 'pretend journalism' in a CNN report
Pastor and Hakim note that the United States helps fuel the violence, not only by providing a ready market for illegal drugs, but also by supplying the vast majority of weapons used by drug gangs.
Pastor says there are at least 6,600 U.S. gun shops within 100 miles of the Mexican border and more than 90 percent of weapons in Mexico come from the United States.
And it's not just handguns. Drug traffickers used a bazooka in Tuesday's shootout with federal police and army soldiers in Reynosa, Mexico, across the border from McAllen, Texas.
If you've read here for a while(or at Uncles, where I found this mentioned, or a lot of other places) you know what bullcrap that is. But as Uncle notes, This Mexican gun canard is now officially dogma. For a reason.
Additionally, Opposing Views has, as noted, '19 facts' that aren't.
And, as if you needed it, one more proof of just how 'useful' the UN is when people are in danger:
BANGADI, Congo — Rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army sent torture victims _ including a man whose back was sliced with a machete _ to warn the people of this Congolese town they would be next.
The town's three policemen fled and there was no response from the military and U.N. peacekeepers to the increasingly panicked pleas for help. That's when residents realized they were on their own.
...
So Akoyo called a town meeting and told everyone to bring whatever weapons they had: pre-World War II rifles, homemade shotguns, lances, swords, machetes, hunting knives, bows with sheaths of poisoned arrows.
The women came armed with kitchen knives and log-sized wooden pestles used to pound yams into flour.
Since then, the residents of Bangadi have successfully driven off two attacks by the Ugandan rebels, who have killed at least 900 people in this remote northeastern corner of Congo over the past seven weeks.
But- of course- this is a horrible thing, because
Aid workers and human rights activists are watching the phenomenon with trepidation. In a part of Congo with dozens of militias and rebels, they fear these self-defense groups could transform into a menacing force.
So the UN won't/can't help, and the Army can't, but they'd rather people died than actually arm themselves and fight. Like the UN and Amnesty International have kittens- purple ones with pink spots- when the thought of arming people in Sudan so they can protect themselves is mentioned: "That is just continuing the cycle of violence", etc., translation "We'd rather these people be raped/tortured/enslaved/murdered than they be armed and protect themselves; don't they know only the government(preferably the UN) has the moral authority to protect them?"
Pastor says there are at least 6,600 U.S. gun shops within 100 miles of the Mexican border and more than 90 percent of weapons in Mexico come from the United States.
And it's not just handguns. Drug traffickers used a bazooka in Tuesday's shootout with federal police and army soldiers in Reynosa, Mexico, across the border from McAllen, Texas.
If you've read here for a while(or at Uncles, where I found this mentioned, or a lot of other places) you know what bullcrap that is. But as Uncle notes, This Mexican gun canard is now officially dogma. For a reason.
Additionally, Opposing Views has, as noted, '19 facts' that aren't.
And, as if you needed it, one more proof of just how 'useful' the UN is when people are in danger:
BANGADI, Congo — Rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army sent torture victims _ including a man whose back was sliced with a machete _ to warn the people of this Congolese town they would be next.
The town's three policemen fled and there was no response from the military and U.N. peacekeepers to the increasingly panicked pleas for help. That's when residents realized they were on their own.
...
So Akoyo called a town meeting and told everyone to bring whatever weapons they had: pre-World War II rifles, homemade shotguns, lances, swords, machetes, hunting knives, bows with sheaths of poisoned arrows.
The women came armed with kitchen knives and log-sized wooden pestles used to pound yams into flour.
Since then, the residents of Bangadi have successfully driven off two attacks by the Ugandan rebels, who have killed at least 900 people in this remote northeastern corner of Congo over the past seven weeks.
But- of course- this is a horrible thing, because
Aid workers and human rights activists are watching the phenomenon with trepidation. In a part of Congo with dozens of militias and rebels, they fear these self-defense groups could transform into a menacing force.
So the UN won't/can't help, and the Army can't, but they'd rather people died than actually arm themselves and fight. Like the UN and Amnesty International have kittens- purple ones with pink spots- when the thought of arming people in Sudan so they can protect themselves is mentioned: "That is just continuing the cycle of violence", etc., translation "We'd rather these people be raped/tortured/enslaved/murdered than they be armed and protect themselves; don't they know only the government(preferably the UN) has the moral authority to protect them?"
Yeah, Captain, confiscating somebody's sign "...was not
a good decision..."
The police officers who stopped Oklahoma City motorist Chip Harrison and confiscated a sign from his car told him he has a right to his beliefs, but the U.S. Secret Service "could construe this as a threat against President Obama," according to the incident report released this morning.
The sign, which read "Abort Obama Not the Unborn," was returned to Harrison later that day, the report said.
Police spokesman Steve McCool said this morning that the sign was taken in error, and Oklahoma City residents should not be worried that their First Amendment rights will be violated. He said a supervisor "intervened and quickly returned the sign" after Harrison called the police department.
Captain, his rights WERE violated, in case that's something you've managed to overlook here. And as to the end of this report,
McCool said although the sign should not have been confiscated, the situation was made right in the end.
''We always try to do the right thing and in the end we believe we did the right thing by returning the sign," McCool said.
the rest doesn't sit all that well with how you 'made it right':
''The Secret Service called and said they were at my house," Harrison said.
After talking to his attorney, Harrison went home where he met the Secret Service.
''When I was on my way there, the Secret Service called me and said they weren't going to ransack my house or anything ... they just wanted to (walk through the house) and make sure I wasn't a part of any hate groups."
Aside from the bullcrap of OCPD both stopping him and taking his property AND reporting this to the Secret Service, as Insty put it Since when do government officials search homes to ensure the absence of impure political thoughts?(why, in the Age of Obama, of course)
So some OCPD officers didn't like the sign and stopped him, confiscated his sign and turned him in to the Secret Service(there are times it's just so damned tempting to simply abbreviate 'SS') who wanted to search his house(and by the way, how the hell are they defining 'hate group'?)...
Not one of the better moments for OCPD.
The police officers who stopped Oklahoma City motorist Chip Harrison and confiscated a sign from his car told him he has a right to his beliefs, but the U.S. Secret Service "could construe this as a threat against President Obama," according to the incident report released this morning.
The sign, which read "Abort Obama Not the Unborn," was returned to Harrison later that day, the report said.
Police spokesman Steve McCool said this morning that the sign was taken in error, and Oklahoma City residents should not be worried that their First Amendment rights will be violated. He said a supervisor "intervened and quickly returned the sign" after Harrison called the police department.
Captain, his rights WERE violated, in case that's something you've managed to overlook here. And as to the end of this report,
McCool said although the sign should not have been confiscated, the situation was made right in the end.
''We always try to do the right thing and in the end we believe we did the right thing by returning the sign," McCool said.
the rest doesn't sit all that well with how you 'made it right':
''The Secret Service called and said they were at my house," Harrison said.
After talking to his attorney, Harrison went home where he met the Secret Service.
''When I was on my way there, the Secret Service called me and said they weren't going to ransack my house or anything ... they just wanted to (walk through the house) and make sure I wasn't a part of any hate groups."
Aside from the bullcrap of OCPD both stopping him and taking his property AND reporting this to the Secret Service, as Insty put it Since when do government officials search homes to ensure the absence of impure political thoughts?(why, in the Age of Obama, of course)
So some OCPD officers didn't like the sign and stopped him, confiscated his sign and turned him in to the Secret Service(there are times it's just so damned tempting to simply abbreviate 'SS') who wanted to search his house(and by the way, how the hell are they defining 'hate group'?)...
Not one of the better moments for OCPD.
If solar power works so well and is such a good idea,
why all the pork needed to push people into buying it?
Well, if Pelosi actually gave a crap about the teachings of the church she claims to be a member of, this would be a bit uncomfortable; but she only cares about it so far as she can use it to help further her politics, so she'll just ignore it.
This is the level of politics Obama is used to; any surprise he is what he is?
Assistant U.S. Atty. Joseph Alesia called Troutman's conduct "a five-year crime spree." In some instances she blocked low-income housing because no one involved would pay her a bribe, he said. "Even by Chicago standards, it's no small crime," Alesia said.
Don't you just love that qualification?
Former Chicago Alderman Arenda Troutman today was sentenced four years in prison for fraud, becoming the 28th Chicago Alderman since 1972 to be measured for pinstripes.
A good thing came out of court the other day:
Fairfax, Va. – Today, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in support of allowing employees to store legally owned firearms in locked, private motor vehicles while parked in employer parking lots. This decision upholds NRA-backed legislation passed in 2004.
...
In March 2004, the Oklahoma legislature passed an amendment holding employers criminally liable for prohibiting employees from storing firearms in locked vehicles on company property. A number of corporations subsequently filed suit in opposition to the new laws, alleging they were: unconstitutionally vague; an unconstitutional taking of private property; and preempted by various federal statutes. The lower court ruled in favor of the injunction.
...
In October 2008, Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry and Attorney General Drew Edmondson appealed to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals the lower court decision to strike down the NRA-backed worker protection laws. Today’s proceedings handed down by Circuit Judges Paul J. Kelly, Bobby R. Baldock, and Michael W. McConnell reversed the lower court’s grant of a permanent injunction.
This is from a NRA Alert, and I'm glad to read it. In one of the cases that brought this about, AOL fired some people because they were 'caught' on tape moving firearms among vehicles; some people were going to the range after work and were going in one or two vehicles. AOL fired them for 'having firearms on company property' even though it's a parking lot that doesn't belong to AOL. There were other cases, and hopefully this will put an end to the bullcrap. Probably won't, because the Brady Gun-Ban Group will push the companies to take it to the next level, and some of the "I'm the boss, and nothing else matters" types won't like it. It's a mix; I don't like government telling business "You must do this" on their property when it has nothing to do with the business; neither do I like business trying to control all aspects of employees lives, and that's what this was: "You can't have anything I don't like in your car".
Oh gee, something else dirty hidden in the 'stimulus' package that nobody had time to read?
When Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, a longtime champion of inspectors general, read the words “conduct or refrain from conducting,” alarm bells went off. The language means that the board — whose chairman will be appointed by the president — can reach deep inside a federal agency and tell an inspector general to lay off some particularly sensitive subject. Or, conversely, it can tell the inspector general to go after a tempting political target.
Congress: trying to protect itself in unethical and illegal activities for, oh, a long time now.
A view on how the "Bush is rushing us into (fill in)!!!" clowns have a different standard when it's Obama and Pelosi and Reid rushing us into crap. And she's right; the major media have, generally speaking, blown any reason for people to trust a word they say to be unbiased, and they're paying for it; they'll BE paying for it for a long time to come.
You want to know how freaking stupid some of Pres. The Obama's supporters are?
President Please is a non-profit organization dedicated to the abolition of "the N-Word" and it's replacement with the word "President".
Yeah, I wonder how much Obama will like a bunch of thugs and rappers calling each other 'president'?
Murtha and Pelosi, corrupt in a tree... or something like that:
And Pelosi's name comes into play as well regarding an earmark she secured for a PMA client. No wonder she wanted Murtha as her number two. He ran the tollgate on the fast lane to the money.
...
According to CQ MoneyLine, the same House members who took responsibility for PMA’s earmarks in that spending bill have, since 2001, accepted a cumulative $1,815,138 in campaign contributions from PMA’s political action committee and employees of the firm.
Murtha, who used to boast that his middle initial stands for “power,” carved out $38.1 million for PMA clients in the fiscal 2008 defense spending law, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.
Of the Democratic leaders, only Pelosi cold be documented as having secured an earmark for a PMA client in the first Democratic-written Defense spending bill: $2 million for SA Photonics’ Satellite Coherent Optical Receiver.
And, having just signed to take money from us, our kids, our grandkids(assuming this country still exists by the time these effing watermelons are done), now they want to destroy the economy even faster:
The decision, which most likely would play out in stages over a period of months, would have a profound impact on transportation, manufacturing costs and how utilities generate power. It could accelerate the progress of energy and climate change legislation in Congress and form a basis for the United States’ negotiating position at United Nations climate talks set for December in Copenhagen.
And Hope! and Change! from our new Attorney General:
At a Department of Justice program this morning celebrating African American History Month, the nation's first black attorney general -- Eric Holder -- said the United States is a "nation of cowards" when it comes to racial issues.
Yeah, this is a 'post-racial' administration; except when they'll use racial bullcrap to shove their views on us. Wonderful.
And please note: these bastards flat hate actual free speech, precisely because they can't control it:
Waxman is also interested, say sources, in looking at how the Internet is being used for content and free speech purposes. "It's all about diversity in media," says a House Energy staffer, familiar with the meetings. "Does one radio station or one station group control four of the five most powerful outlets in one community? Do four stations in one region carry Rush Limbaugh, and nothing else during the same time slot? Does one heavily trafficked Internet site present one side of an issue and not link to sites that present alternative views? These are some of the questions the chairman is thinking about right now, and we are going to have an FCC that will finally have the people in place to answer them."
...
But Copps has been a supporter of putting in place policies that would allow the federal government to have greater oversight over the content that TV and radio stations broadcast to the public, and both the FCC and Waxman are looking to licensing and renewal of licensing as a means of enforcing "Fairness Doctrine" type policies without actually using the hot-button term "Fairness Doctrine."
Blah. I've got cleaning to do. Unfortunately my broom won't reach to DC, but need to do it anyway.
Well, if Pelosi actually gave a crap about the teachings of the church she claims to be a member of, this would be a bit uncomfortable; but she only cares about it so far as she can use it to help further her politics, so she'll just ignore it.
This is the level of politics Obama is used to; any surprise he is what he is?
Assistant U.S. Atty. Joseph Alesia called Troutman's conduct "a five-year crime spree." In some instances she blocked low-income housing because no one involved would pay her a bribe, he said. "Even by Chicago standards, it's no small crime," Alesia said.
Don't you just love that qualification?
Former Chicago Alderman Arenda Troutman today was sentenced four years in prison for fraud, becoming the 28th Chicago Alderman since 1972 to be measured for pinstripes.
A good thing came out of court the other day:
Fairfax, Va. – Today, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in support of allowing employees to store legally owned firearms in locked, private motor vehicles while parked in employer parking lots. This decision upholds NRA-backed legislation passed in 2004.
...
In March 2004, the Oklahoma legislature passed an amendment holding employers criminally liable for prohibiting employees from storing firearms in locked vehicles on company property. A number of corporations subsequently filed suit in opposition to the new laws, alleging they were: unconstitutionally vague; an unconstitutional taking of private property; and preempted by various federal statutes. The lower court ruled in favor of the injunction.
...
In October 2008, Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry and Attorney General Drew Edmondson appealed to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals the lower court decision to strike down the NRA-backed worker protection laws. Today’s proceedings handed down by Circuit Judges Paul J. Kelly, Bobby R. Baldock, and Michael W. McConnell reversed the lower court’s grant of a permanent injunction.
This is from a NRA Alert, and I'm glad to read it. In one of the cases that brought this about, AOL fired some people because they were 'caught' on tape moving firearms among vehicles; some people were going to the range after work and were going in one or two vehicles. AOL fired them for 'having firearms on company property' even though it's a parking lot that doesn't belong to AOL. There were other cases, and hopefully this will put an end to the bullcrap. Probably won't, because the Brady Gun-Ban Group will push the companies to take it to the next level, and some of the "I'm the boss, and nothing else matters" types won't like it. It's a mix; I don't like government telling business "You must do this" on their property when it has nothing to do with the business; neither do I like business trying to control all aspects of employees lives, and that's what this was: "You can't have anything I don't like in your car".
Oh gee, something else dirty hidden in the 'stimulus' package that nobody had time to read?
When Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, a longtime champion of inspectors general, read the words “conduct or refrain from conducting,” alarm bells went off. The language means that the board — whose chairman will be appointed by the president — can reach deep inside a federal agency and tell an inspector general to lay off some particularly sensitive subject. Or, conversely, it can tell the inspector general to go after a tempting political target.
Congress: trying to protect itself in unethical and illegal activities for, oh, a long time now.
A view on how the "Bush is rushing us into (fill in)!!!" clowns have a different standard when it's Obama and Pelosi and Reid rushing us into crap. And she's right; the major media have, generally speaking, blown any reason for people to trust a word they say to be unbiased, and they're paying for it; they'll BE paying for it for a long time to come.
You want to know how freaking stupid some of Pres. The Obama's supporters are?
President Please is a non-profit organization dedicated to the abolition of "the N-Word" and it's replacement with the word "President".
Yeah, I wonder how much Obama will like a bunch of thugs and rappers calling each other 'president'?
Murtha and Pelosi, corrupt in a tree... or something like that:
And Pelosi's name comes into play as well regarding an earmark she secured for a PMA client. No wonder she wanted Murtha as her number two. He ran the tollgate on the fast lane to the money.
...
According to CQ MoneyLine, the same House members who took responsibility for PMA’s earmarks in that spending bill have, since 2001, accepted a cumulative $1,815,138 in campaign contributions from PMA’s political action committee and employees of the firm.
Murtha, who used to boast that his middle initial stands for “power,” carved out $38.1 million for PMA clients in the fiscal 2008 defense spending law, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.
Of the Democratic leaders, only Pelosi cold be documented as having secured an earmark for a PMA client in the first Democratic-written Defense spending bill: $2 million for SA Photonics’ Satellite Coherent Optical Receiver.
And, having just signed to take money from us, our kids, our grandkids(assuming this country still exists by the time these effing watermelons are done), now they want to destroy the economy even faster:
The decision, which most likely would play out in stages over a period of months, would have a profound impact on transportation, manufacturing costs and how utilities generate power. It could accelerate the progress of energy and climate change legislation in Congress and form a basis for the United States’ negotiating position at United Nations climate talks set for December in Copenhagen.
And Hope! and Change! from our new Attorney General:
At a Department of Justice program this morning celebrating African American History Month, the nation's first black attorney general -- Eric Holder -- said the United States is a "nation of cowards" when it comes to racial issues.
Yeah, this is a 'post-racial' administration; except when they'll use racial bullcrap to shove their views on us. Wonderful.
And please note: these bastards flat hate actual free speech, precisely because they can't control it:
Waxman is also interested, say sources, in looking at how the Internet is being used for content and free speech purposes. "It's all about diversity in media," says a House Energy staffer, familiar with the meetings. "Does one radio station or one station group control four of the five most powerful outlets in one community? Do four stations in one region carry Rush Limbaugh, and nothing else during the same time slot? Does one heavily trafficked Internet site present one side of an issue and not link to sites that present alternative views? These are some of the questions the chairman is thinking about right now, and we are going to have an FCC that will finally have the people in place to answer them."
...
But Copps has been a supporter of putting in place policies that would allow the federal government to have greater oversight over the content that TV and radio stations broadcast to the public, and both the FCC and Waxman are looking to licensing and renewal of licensing as a means of enforcing "Fairness Doctrine" type policies without actually using the hot-button term "Fairness Doctrine."
Blah. I've got cleaning to do. Unfortunately my broom won't reach to DC, but need to do it anyway.
Awww, President Lightworker, is the mean Democrat
accusing you of war crimes?
The United States' presence in Pakistan and Afghanistan is only furthering the spread of terrorism and President Obama could be charged with war crimes, former Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) wrote Wednesday.
"Why are we killing GIs to spread terrorism?" Hollings, a longtime (though now-retired) lawmaker asked in a blog post for the Huffington Post. "The best way to stabilize is to get out. It became a matter of conscience for me years ago."
Hollings argued that Obama's continuation of some of former President Bush's tactical strategies in the war on terror could make Obama liable for war crimes charges.
Etc. ad nauseum from a "Let's hurry up and lose!" Evil Party member.
He's already tried to talk the NATO allies into living up to their obligations and been told to to away, now this; ike it says, Very soon Obama will understand what it's been like to be in Bush's shoes.
The United States' presence in Pakistan and Afghanistan is only furthering the spread of terrorism and President Obama could be charged with war crimes, former Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) wrote Wednesday.
"Why are we killing GIs to spread terrorism?" Hollings, a longtime (though now-retired) lawmaker asked in a blog post for the Huffington Post. "The best way to stabilize is to get out. It became a matter of conscience for me years ago."
Hollings argued that Obama's continuation of some of former President Bush's tactical strategies in the war on terror could make Obama liable for war crimes charges.
Etc. ad nauseum from a "Let's hurry up and lose!" Evil Party member.
He's already tried to talk the NATO allies into living up to their obligations and been told to to away, now this; ike it says, Very soon Obama will understand what it's been like to be in Bush's shoes.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Normally I wouldn't mention the personal side of yesterday
but President Barack Cartmann Obama has now screwed up my birthday by having signed that giant crap on our heads on that day.
So I spent part of the day at the range enlarging my carbon footprint. More on that later.
I effing hate Illinois fascists.
So I spent part of the day at the range enlarging my carbon footprint. More on that later.
I effing hate Illinois fascists.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Two pieces of bureacratic bullcrap,
one by a media outlet with their tail in a crack, trying to talk their way out of it; the other is federal agents who apparently falsified work records while in Iraq.
On the first,
It seems as though the Commercial Appeal (and, more specifically, its editor - Chris Peck) cannot stop putting up half-assed rationalizations for their handgun carry permit holder database. Once more into the fisking breach I go.
And it goes from there. It appears Peck may have studied a lot of things, but honest reporting may not have been one of them.
On the second,
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Justice recently (December 2008) reported on “An Investigation of Overtime Payments to FBI and Other Department of Justice Employees Deployed to Iraq” during the period 2003 through 2008. The “other” employees in the title of the report included ATFE Special Agents as well as DEA Special Agents and Deputy U.S. Marshals.
ATFE Special Agents were deployed in Iraq on 90-day TDY assignments between 2003 and 2008. During that time, they were paid $4,175,731.00 in unauthorized and unlawful overtime pay. They filed fraudulent claims for the overtime and ATFE senior officials did nothing to monitor the claims or review them for conformity with federal law and regulations. In other words, the ATFE Special Agents, law enforcement officers who are sworn to faithfully execute the laws of the United States, filed false time and attendance reports claiming pay for overtime which was not worked and for which payment was not authorized under federal law.
Just a wonderful display of integrity, isn't it?
On the first,
It seems as though the Commercial Appeal (and, more specifically, its editor - Chris Peck) cannot stop putting up half-assed rationalizations for their handgun carry permit holder database. Once more into the fisking breach I go.
And it goes from there. It appears Peck may have studied a lot of things, but honest reporting may not have been one of them.
On the second,
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Justice recently (December 2008) reported on “An Investigation of Overtime Payments to FBI and Other Department of Justice Employees Deployed to Iraq” during the period 2003 through 2008. The “other” employees in the title of the report included ATFE Special Agents as well as DEA Special Agents and Deputy U.S. Marshals.
ATFE Special Agents were deployed in Iraq on 90-day TDY assignments between 2003 and 2008. During that time, they were paid $4,175,731.00 in unauthorized and unlawful overtime pay. They filed fraudulent claims for the overtime and ATFE senior officials did nothing to monitor the claims or review them for conformity with federal law and regulations. In other words, the ATFE Special Agents, law enforcement officers who are sworn to faithfully execute the laws of the United States, filed false time and attendance reports claiming pay for overtime which was not worked and for which payment was not authorized under federal law.
Just a wonderful display of integrity, isn't it?
I think this reporter actually gets some things,
and is telling another one off about it:
I'm phobically allergic to the conservative Republican types the military is rife with, but I've only been in country four months and already I hate liberals. There's plenty of ugliness to report in Iraq (as there are thousands of stories of hope and headway)--and the U.S. military certainly isn't beyond reproach. Nobody's telling you to report on one side or the other. But manipulating the truth because of your own personal biases is wretched and works in the face of progress. The other end of the political spectrum disregards you, Dahr, and now I know why. I thought it was because you're a liar--but you aren't. You don't have enough backbone to be a liar. You're a craven obfuscationist, intent on promoting your agenda at the cost of a menagerie of much braver men and women.
Got some disgreements with him on some points, but this guy went there and actually listened and looked and learned.
I'm phobically allergic to the conservative Republican types the military is rife with, but I've only been in country four months and already I hate liberals. There's plenty of ugliness to report in Iraq (as there are thousands of stories of hope and headway)--and the U.S. military certainly isn't beyond reproach. Nobody's telling you to report on one side or the other. But manipulating the truth because of your own personal biases is wretched and works in the face of progress. The other end of the political spectrum disregards you, Dahr, and now I know why. I thought it was because you're a liar--but you aren't. You don't have enough backbone to be a liar. You're a craven obfuscationist, intent on promoting your agenda at the cost of a menagerie of much braver men and women.
Got some disgreements with him on some points, but this guy went there and actually listened and looked and learned.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
And yet another sign of the Era of Multi-Culti Surrender
we're in, and that's going to wind up with us converted, dhimmi or dead if we're not damn careful and lucky:
Muzzammil Hassan, CEO of Bridges TV, whose motto is "connecting people through understanding," apparently didn't think Thursday's honor killing -- and make no mistake about what this was -- at the station might somehow blur that message.
Of course, police and mainstream media are treating the gruesome homicide as a simple case of domestic violence. Even though the victim, 37-year-old Aasiya Zubair, had recently filed for divorce and apparently was concerned enough about her Muslim husband's reaction to obtain a restraining order. And, despite the fact that she was beheaded, a particularly hideous practice all but unthinkable to any but Islamic fundamentalists, you can bet that her murderer's religion will never be mentioned, as though it were irrelevant.
...
Let's never forget "domestic violence" victim Aqsa Parvez, the 16-year-old Canadian girl whose father strangled her for refusing to wear the traditional Muslim head scarf in 2007. Or Amina and Sarah Said of Dallas, both murdered by their father in 2008 for dating non-Muslim boys. Or Sandeela Kanwal of Georgia, who was strangled to death by her Muslim father, Chaudhry Rashid, last July.
Rashid's actions are of special note here, as he actually admitted his motive to be protecting his family's honor from the divorce his daughter was planning.
Thousands of girls are murdered by their own muslim families each year to 'cleanse their honor' of the stain of the girl being raped.
They murder their daughter. For having been raped.
I really do not give a rats ass about what the progressive minds of the EUnuchs think, or some worthless excuse for a man who thinks that's a proper way to behave; only a sick culture based on sick beliefs could do this. And only a sick culture would make excuses for the dirtbags who do it. If someone raped my daughter I wouldn't kill my daughter; I'd give the rapist the choice of going to prison or into a hole. You don't like that? Screw you. You and every multi-culti moron who won't hold muslims to civilized standards. Usually the same people who blame Israel for every palistinian who stubs his toe and cry "WAR CRIME!" when Israel whacks the filth shooting rockets at schools.
THERE ARE 'HONOR' MURDERS BEING COMMITTED IN OUR COUNTRY. And our 'PC at any cost' media don't have the balls or the integrity to say it. So we'd better spread the word. And make noise about it, and the idiots who won't call them what they are.
Muzzammil Hassan, CEO of Bridges TV, whose motto is "connecting people through understanding," apparently didn't think Thursday's honor killing -- and make no mistake about what this was -- at the station might somehow blur that message.
Of course, police and mainstream media are treating the gruesome homicide as a simple case of domestic violence. Even though the victim, 37-year-old Aasiya Zubair, had recently filed for divorce and apparently was concerned enough about her Muslim husband's reaction to obtain a restraining order. And, despite the fact that she was beheaded, a particularly hideous practice all but unthinkable to any but Islamic fundamentalists, you can bet that her murderer's religion will never be mentioned, as though it were irrelevant.
...
Let's never forget "domestic violence" victim Aqsa Parvez, the 16-year-old Canadian girl whose father strangled her for refusing to wear the traditional Muslim head scarf in 2007. Or Amina and Sarah Said of Dallas, both murdered by their father in 2008 for dating non-Muslim boys. Or Sandeela Kanwal of Georgia, who was strangled to death by her Muslim father, Chaudhry Rashid, last July.
Rashid's actions are of special note here, as he actually admitted his motive to be protecting his family's honor from the divorce his daughter was planning.
Thousands of girls are murdered by their own muslim families each year to 'cleanse their honor' of the stain of the girl being raped.
They murder their daughter. For having been raped.
I really do not give a rats ass about what the progressive minds of the EUnuchs think, or some worthless excuse for a man who thinks that's a proper way to behave; only a sick culture based on sick beliefs could do this. And only a sick culture would make excuses for the dirtbags who do it. If someone raped my daughter I wouldn't kill my daughter; I'd give the rapist the choice of going to prison or into a hole. You don't like that? Screw you. You and every multi-culti moron who won't hold muslims to civilized standards. Usually the same people who blame Israel for every palistinian who stubs his toe and cry "WAR CRIME!" when Israel whacks the filth shooting rockets at schools.
THERE ARE 'HONOR' MURDERS BEING COMMITTED IN OUR COUNTRY. And our 'PC at any cost' media don't have the balls or the integrity to say it. So we'd better spread the word. And make noise about it, and the idiots who won't call them what they are.
All righty, Sen. Specter, you miserable little lying
son of a bitch, where's that "We are not going to monitor your doctor" bullshit you spouted now?
HHS bureaucrats will soon be empowered to overrule your doctor. Doctors who don't comply with the government's treatment protocols will be fined. That's right: Instead of your treatment being determined by your doctor, it will be settled on by some narcoleptic half-wit in Washington who couldn't get a job in the private sector.
And a brand-new set of bureaucrats in the newly created office of "National Coordinator of Health Information Technology" will be empowered to cut off treatments that merely prolong life. Sorry, Mom and Pop, Big Brother said it's time to go.
Oh, sorry, Senator, did that bad nasty little Obamessiah lie to you? Or did you lie to us? Again?
Specter and Collins and Snowe, three RINOs who need to be removed from their seats. You miserable bastards, you helped bring this garbage on us, and you need to pay the price for it.
And just how well do these socialist shits in HHS and Congress think people are going to take it when said faceless bureaucrats rule that Mom or Dad can't receive a treatment because their masters don't think it's worth it?
Fascist dirtbags all, and they need to end up like Mussolini. Oh, and Sen. Specter? Just what other little surprises did you help drop on us like turds in a toilet, helping pass a bill that even the apologists for admit they never had a chance to read?
HHS bureaucrats will soon be empowered to overrule your doctor. Doctors who don't comply with the government's treatment protocols will be fined. That's right: Instead of your treatment being determined by your doctor, it will be settled on by some narcoleptic half-wit in Washington who couldn't get a job in the private sector.
And a brand-new set of bureaucrats in the newly created office of "National Coordinator of Health Information Technology" will be empowered to cut off treatments that merely prolong life. Sorry, Mom and Pop, Big Brother said it's time to go.
Oh, sorry, Senator, did that bad nasty little Obamessiah lie to you? Or did you lie to us? Again?
Specter and Collins and Snowe, three RINOs who need to be removed from their seats. You miserable bastards, you helped bring this garbage on us, and you need to pay the price for it.
And just how well do these socialist shits in HHS and Congress think people are going to take it when said faceless bureaucrats rule that Mom or Dad can't receive a treatment because their masters don't think it's worth it?
Fascist dirtbags all, and they need to end up like Mussolini. Oh, and Sen. Specter? Just what other little surprises did you help drop on us like turds in a toilet, helping pass a bill that even the apologists for admit they never had a chance to read?
I'd forgotten about this: making ammo right under the nose
of the British Army:
The head of the clandestine Israel Military Industry, Yosef Avidar, devised a plan to smuggle in machines for a secret factory to make the bullets. Though he was successful in purchasing machines in Poland in 1938, the Zionists could only get them as far as Beirut, where they were stored for nearly four years before Jews who served in the British army succeeded in bringing them to Palestine.
The ammunition plant was built almost under the noses of the British, who had a nearby base. The site was a place where pioneers would go for training in kibbutz life before moving on to establish cooperatives around the country. Under the code name "the Ayalon Institute," a group of pioneers from the Hatzofim Aleph movement and members of the Haganah (and, later, joined by members of the Palmach) dug a large underground chamber 300 square yards 13 feet underground with nearly 2-foot-thick walls and ceiling. The entire project was completed in 22 days. To conceal the clandestine project, the Jews built housing, a dining hall, chicken coop, cow barn, workshops, a laundry a bakery, and a vegetable garden to give the outward appearance of an ordinary kibbutz.
22 days. In a time and place where being caught making ammo meant a death sentence.
Thanks to Tuccille for the reminder. And some links to 'make your own gun' plans.
The head of the clandestine Israel Military Industry, Yosef Avidar, devised a plan to smuggle in machines for a secret factory to make the bullets. Though he was successful in purchasing machines in Poland in 1938, the Zionists could only get them as far as Beirut, where they were stored for nearly four years before Jews who served in the British army succeeded in bringing them to Palestine.
The ammunition plant was built almost under the noses of the British, who had a nearby base. The site was a place where pioneers would go for training in kibbutz life before moving on to establish cooperatives around the country. Under the code name "the Ayalon Institute," a group of pioneers from the Hatzofim Aleph movement and members of the Haganah (and, later, joined by members of the Palmach) dug a large underground chamber 300 square yards 13 feet underground with nearly 2-foot-thick walls and ceiling. The entire project was completed in 22 days. To conceal the clandestine project, the Jews built housing, a dining hall, chicken coop, cow barn, workshops, a laundry a bakery, and a vegetable garden to give the outward appearance of an ordinary kibbutz.
22 days. In a time and place where being caught making ammo meant a death sentence.
Thanks to Tuccille for the reminder. And some links to 'make your own gun' plans.
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