Monday, December 31, 2012

Breaking: Fiscal Cliff Deal Reached

From the AP:
A Democratic aide says the White House and congressional Republicans have reached an agreement to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.

The measure would extend Bush-era tax cuts for family incomes below $450,000 and briefly avert across-the-board spending cuts set to strike the Pentagon and domestic agencies this week.

Vice President Joe Biden was set to sell the agreement to Senate Democrats at a meeting at the Capitol on Monday night.
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Doctors: Blood Clot Located in Near Hillary Clinton's Brain

From Boston.com:
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton developed a blood clot in her head but did not suffer a stroke or neurological damage, her doctors said Monday. They say they are confident that she will make a full recovery.

In a statement that revealed the location of the clot, Clinton’s doctors said it is in the vein in the space between the brain and the skull behind the right ear. She is being treated with blood thinners to help dissolve the clot, the doctors said, and she will be released once the medication dose has been established.

Clinton, 65, is making excellent progress and is in good spirits, Dr. Lisa Bardack of the Mount Kisco Medical Group and Dr. Gigi El-Bayoumi of George Washington University said in a statement.
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Senate Report Finds State Department at Fault for Benghazi Attack


The United States Senate Committe on Homeland Security and Government Affairs has released a damning report on the September eleventh terrorist attack on our consulate in Benghazi, blaming the failure to secure the consulate after numerous concerns were raised almost entirely on the State Department's shoulders.

The report concluded that the State Department essentially ignored the consulate's continued pleas for more personnel and funding to properly secure the grounds, while leaving protection of our diplomatic mission to Libyan guards, which the report stated was "deeply troubling, especially since this problem was recognized long before the attack."

It also found the Defense Department, intelligence services and the administration's reaction to be at fault and ineffective to the situation, and at times - blaming the assault on an anti-muslim youtube video - to be incorrect and causing confusion over the actual nature of the Benghazi attacks among the populace.

This evidence was compiled by a bipartisan group of Senators and is rather daming to the administration not just in singled out departments, but as a whole. It reflects incompetence in protecting our consulates in heavy risk areas and dismissiveness towards the requests coming from the ground.

What say you?

CNBC: "We Are Going Over the Fiscal Cliff"

Breaking: CNBC has stated officially that, in fact, the United States will be going over the fiscal cliff. One of the main reasons? President Obama's horribly polarizing, shitty, shitty speech that made it incredibly apparent that he wants the US over the cliff.

Well, he's going to get his wish.

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NBC Reporter Raises Hillary Clinton Questions


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Joe Biden Joins Fiscal Cliff Talks as Time Counts Down


With time no longer on anyone's side in Washington, the U.S. Senate has just reconvened on this chilly New Years Eve to hopefully consider whatever deal Minority Leader McConnell and Vice-President Biden, who was requested to join the negotiations by McConnell after he said Majority Leader Reid apparently gave up on discussions.

Just thirteen hours to go and there is no deal in place for averting the fiscal cliff in either house of Congress as our elected leaders attempt to reach some sort of compromise, which relies on D.C. overcoming the even more threatening leadership crisis that led to this situation in the first place...

Currently, Iowa Democratic Senator Tom Harkin is lecturing the Senate floor on the benefits of raising taxes on the wealthy, which is a perfect example of why compromise has failed - neither side is willing to budge on this contentious issue to perhaps deal with more manageable ones that hold mutual concern and desire to resolve.

What say you?

Clock Ticks as Fiscal Cliff Looms


With only one day left before the nation goes over the so-called "fiscal cliff," Congress has yet to reach a compromise in either house as negotiations between the two sides continue late into early Monday morning.

Majority leader Reid (D-NV) has the Senate set to reconvene at eleven Monday morning, which means Congress will have thirteen hours (this is assuming some deal is worked out over night) to debate and vote on whatever deal is crafted in both houses before sending it to the White House some point in the evening.

Since when has Congress been able to do anything in thirteen hours? Let alone something they have failed to accomplish in nearly eight or nine weeks since election day...

I hate sounding pessimistic, but I tend to be in agreement with Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) that Washington is unlikely to agree on anything before midnight New Year's and that we are in fact going over the fiscal cliff, higher taxes and another recession for all.

What say you?

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Hillary Clinton in Hospital with Blood Clot

From Fox News:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been admitted to a hospital in New York with blood clot stemming from a concussion she sustained several weeks ago.

Assistant Deputy Secretary of State Philippe Reines said in a statement that during a follow-up exam, Clinton's doctors discovered a blood clot had formed. She is being treated with anti-coagulants and is at New York-Presbyterian Hospital so that they can monitor the medication over the next 48 hours.

Doctors will continue to monitor Clinton's condition to determine if further action is necessary.
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US Layoffs Up Astronomical 20% in Single Month

And somehow, the unemployment rate is magically falling. From Reuters via NBC:
Planned layoffs at U.S. firms rose for the third month in a row in November, partly driven by the bankruptcy of Hostess Brands, a report showed on Thursday.

Employers announced 57,081 job cuts last month, the highest level since May and up nearly 20 percent from 47,724 in October, according to the report from consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

November's job cuts were also up 34.4 percent from the 42,474 seen a year ago.
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Mali Continues to Suffer as World Sits Idly By


The Tuareg uprising that caused great upheaval in Mali last summer, including a military coup and a brutal Islamist takeover of everything North of Timbuktu has seemingly been forgotten by the international community, as their inaction to aid the people has led to the construction of terror and evil in the once peaceful nation.

In fact, when asked to consider militarily intervening in the Sub-Sahara nation to uproot the brutal Islamists and prevent the establishment of al-Qaida's presence, UN secretary general Moon said it could cause a humanitarian crisis, apparently ignorant to the horrifying conditions on the ground.

This led Oumou Sall Seck, who is the mayor of a small town in northern Mali that she was forced to flee from as Islamists started enforcing their sharia will on the populace, to pen a plea for help from the United States, France and other western bodies to come to the aid of her nation and her people who are suffering.

It was translated and published in the New York Times this past week and hopefully will awaken the eyes of the international community to the plight of the dear souls in Mali and maybe stir men of power to realize we must rally some forces, or aid African forces in driving out the wolves of barbarity and butchery.

I hope increasing awareness to the declining state of affairs in northern Mali, along with the ever increasing threat of al-Qaida constituting themselves will cause some to pause and consider whether our current strategy of non-interventionism and allowing the Islamists to run wild is actually a good course for not only the enslaved populace but of the world in general and Africa particularly.

What say you?

CNN: The Hobbit "The Worst Movie of 2012"

I don't know what CNN's writers are smoking, but not only are they bad at reporting the news, they're nuts at covering movies.

According to CNN, a station currently bereft of readers and viewers, the Hobbit was the worst movie of 2012. Forget about the fact that the Hobbit is actually fairly good (if a bit longer than it should be). By far the worst part of this analysis is the horrendous movies that CNN considers better (or less bad) than JRR Tolken's book turned movie.
Utter garbage, according to CNN
A Thousand Words? With a staggering 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes? Still better than the Hobbit.

That's My Boy? Quite possibly the worst Adam Sandler film in the last 10 years (an accomplishment by any measure)? Still better than the Hobbit.

Even fucking Battleship, a major motion picture based on a board game? Victorious over the Hobbit. In fact, none of these awful, awful movies are on CNN's 10 worst list.

Sweet Jesus.

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Obama: We Must Limit 2nd Amendment Despite "Resistance"

Unfortunately, this is not a satirical headline. This is from the President of the United States. From MW News:
"I am skeptical that the only answer is putting more guns in schools," Obama said. "And I think the vast majority of the American people are skeptical that that somehow is going to solve our problem."

Obama said he intended to press the issue with the public.

"Will there be resistance? Absolutely there will be resistance," he said.

"The question then becomes whether we are actually shook up enough by what happened here that it does not just become another one of these routine episodes where it gets a lot of attention for a couple of weeks and then it drifts away. It certainly won't feel like that to me. This is something that - you know, that was the worst day of my presidency. And it's not something that I want to see repeated."

Besides getting gun violence legislation passed next year, Obama also listed immigration as a top priority for 2013 as well as deficit reduction.
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Washington's Leadership Crisis


With just hours left to avoid the impending doom of the so called "fiscal crisis" and no solution to the catastrophe likely, the citizenry of the United States will be left to deal with another crippling recession, this time caused by the lack of leadership and abundance of partisanship in Washington.

Imagine the 2008 recession occurring again, but this time with massive cuts to military and social spending, the lapse of unemployment benefits for two million Americans, tax increases on every single citizen, maxing our national debt once again and further shaking trust in our already rather unreliable credit rating...

Oh.. You mean reality on Tuesday

And why is this all occurring?

Because the politicians in Washington are too concerned with the good of their future political ambitions rather then their children's economic ambitions...

Why else would President Obama seemingly remain absent during this entire debacle on Capitol Hill, then to use his immoral abdication of duty as a political gambit to blame Republicans, and same for his cronies in both houses who refuse to rise to the occasion and work for the national tranquility... And don't forget the stubborn House conservatives who refuse to follow their man, their elected leader to avoid calamity for purity reasons.

What we are witnessing here is not just a crisis of impending economic doom, but of lack of real leadership... Leadership that used to be ingrained in statesmen on both sides of the aisle, the men who founded this country based on a common set of ideals for life, liberty and happiness by not stubbornly refusing to work together, but stubbornly searching for compromise among unwilling partners....

Today, we have a leadership crisis... and unless that crisis is resolved in the next forty-six or so hours, we will have a fiscal crisis from hell reigning upon us like an unending avalanche of doom.

What say you?

Saturday, December 29, 2012

George H.W. Bush Moved Out of Intensive Care

Good news. From the Washington Times:
Former President George H.W. Bush’s condition continued to improve Saturday, prompting doctors to move him out of intensive care, a spokesman said.

“President Bush’s condition has improved, so he has been moved today from the intensive care unit to a regular patient room at The Methodist Hospital to continue his recovery,” family spokesman Jim McGrath said Saturday. “The Bushes thank everyone for their prayers and good wishes.”

Bush was hospitalized Nov. 23 for treatment of a bronchitis-related cough. He was moved to intensive care at the Houston hospital on Dec. 23 after he developed a fever.

On Friday, McGrath said Bush had improved since arriving in the ICU. He said he was alert and in good spirits and was even doing some singing.
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Report: Assad Won't Leave Home


With the fighting continuing in Syria, the balance of power has moved away from Bashar Assad's regime. The Washington Post is reporting that Assad will not even leave his house.
Moreover, Middle Eastern intelligence officials, citing accounts from defectors that could not be verified, say Assad has ceased going outdoors during daylight hours, apparently out of fear that he will be hit by a sniper’s bullet or other fire.
“His movements suggest a constant state of fear,” a Middle Eastern official said on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.
And that Putin's comments that Russia does not care about Assad's regime's fate hit him hard.


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Is this the blog page for suspected would-be S. Fla. child rapist Dwipin Thomas Maliackal?

BIG "Horny Indian" wanted to make the girls ages 10 and 13, his "girlfriend(s) and make one of [them] pregnant"

The story has been largely ignored by the media in the U.S. Only local coverage from the Orlando Sentinel and the Tampa Bay Tribune. No national media. Most likely the U.S. media is uncomfortable given his South Asian ethnicity.

But the less politically correct UK Daily Mail finds it a major story.


Man, 24, 'traveled for sex with sisters, 10 and 13, and said he wanted to make one his girlfriend and get her pregnant'...

Dwipin Maliackal met undercover FBI agent on internet incest chat room. He 'told agent [posing as the children's dad] that he has had sex with children as young as five' [He] wanted to get 10-year-old pregnant 'if you're OK with that'...
Maliackal is a 2012 graduate of the University of South Florida where he was the president of his fraternity... He had met the undercover agent on an incest chat room on December 7 where Maliackal, who graduated from University of South Florida this summer, used the name 'Horny_Indian'.

He told the 'father' that he had had sex with other children, including relatives and a neighbour, and that his youngest victim had been just five years old, according to the criminal complaint.

He added that he wanted to have sex with the agent's 10-year-old daughter and make her his 'girlfriend', and that he hoped sex with the girls would be a 'regular thing', the complaint said.

'I would love to get her pregnant, if you're OK with that,' Maliackal told the agent.

He told agents he had planned to have sex with both of the girls and said has been sexually attracted to 'prepubescent' girls since he was a teenager.

This from his blog page Public Affairs Report:
As you can probably tell, I am not a doctor, but I did want to be one when I was younger. I am Dwipin [Doo-pin] Maliackal [Mall-ee-ah-cle] and I am an avid sports lover. I have played sports for most of my life. I am studying to become a sports broadcaster.
His blog posts in general show a keen interest in local politics. He covered Hillsborough County school board meetings, the Hillsborough County budget process and the Sheriff's Dept.

In one post, he described a visit to the local morgue on a school trip, "The most interesting part of the trip... we actually saw parts of a dead body in the room."

And this most ironic posting:
imagine yourself getting stopped by the police for drinking and driving. Do you know what happens once you’re taken to jail? Most people don’t... From this visit, it made me realize that I never want to be arrested for anything as I don’t ever want to go through the process that we learned about.

Good News: Congress Getting a Pay Raise

And you'll never guess who gave the order: President Barack Obama. All of his statements disparaging Congress for lacking common sense? It seems that he is rewarding them for their disarray.

From the Weekly Standard:
President Barack Obama issued an executive order to end the pay freeze on federal employees, in effect giving some federal workers a raise. One federal worker now to receive a pay increase is Vice President Joe Biden.

According to disclosure forms, Biden made a cool $225,521 last year. After the pay increase, he'll now make $231,900 per year.

Members of Congress, from the House and Senate, also will receive a little bump, as their annual salary will go from $174,000 to 174,900. Leadership in Congress, including the speaker of the House, will likewise get an increase.
They clearly all deserve it, right?

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Friday, December 28, 2012

Why is the national media ignoring this story? Boy saves little sister during home invasion, using his Dad's assault rifle

From Eric Dondero:

Spotty coverage in Houston. Not even the Houston Chronicle covered it. News blackout nationwide. Even supposedly "conservative-leaning" Fox News missed it.

Boy with an assault rifle comes to the rescue? Must not fit the template.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New America


In December of 1914 in the first bitter winter of a long bitter war the solders of the German Empire and the soldiers of the British Empire defied the orders of their officers.  They abandoned their hastily dug entrenchments that would soon grow into an elaborate maze of trenches stretching from Switzerland to the English Channel to meet each other in no man’s land. They sang hymns and exchanged gifts in a spontaneous outpouring of the feelings of peace, fellowship, and forgiveness which were then the staples of a Christ centered Christmas season.

If you drench yourself in the torrent of Christmas movies that bombard us from Thanksgiving till December 25th you see that the spirit of Christmas in emotional America isn’t about the Christ child who came into a lost world to die as a payment for sin and to rise again to bring new life in harmony with God.  It is instead about the sentimental ideal of love and the boy gets the girl or is it the girl gets the boy?  Who knows sometimes they throw in a curve that really builds the suspense.  There are movies about Santa Clause, his sons, his daughters; his elves and wingless angels all of whom help people learn the true meaning of Christmas which is never about Christ and always about family and friends and being nice people.

In commercial America Christmas is about Black Friday and discounts so deep they remind me of the street vendor in Mexico who follows you shouting “I’ll give you 110% off if you buy two!”  The Chia Pets come out along with snuggies, pet rocks, and every other doodad imaginable to buy for people who already have too much.

The mountains of presents which obscenely bury Christmas trees in so many American homes are ripped apart by sugar-high children. Children who get into a frenzy of getting so intense they never have time to appreciate what they get. All they want is to get something else.  The beautiful wrapping paper, the miles of ribbon, and the forests of bows are stuffed unceremoniously into big green garbage bags on their way to landfills. 

So this is Christmas, and what have we done?  Another year over, and a new one just begun.

In the still sweet morning of December 26 people start preparing for the next blast of holiday cheer, Happy New Year!!!

What will 2013 bring?

Whether we plunge over the so-called fiscal cliff or not it will bring us a New America.  An America cast in the image of our newly re-elected Community-Organizer-in-Chief.  This representative of the Saul Alinsky wing of the Progressive movement, this made man from the Chicago political Outfit has won a second term.  Whether it was through the voter fraud no one seems willing to mention or through the actual votes of those who bought into the Uncle Sugar myth and vote for Santa Clause, the man from Hawaii who says he’s from Chicago and who won’t tell us much of anything else, is poised to create the Age of Obama, or America in his own image.

In the New America more people qualify for disability than get jobs, more people get food stamps than start businesses, and more people forget that America was founded to provide individual liberty, personal freedom and economic opportunity and embrace America as a cradle-to-grave welfare state.  People forget that when you limit failure you also limit success.  They don’t understand that when you create a safety net so complete it becomes a hammock many people figure why work when you can play.

Incentive is stifled by entitlements, and innovation is strangled by regulation. 

In our New America:

·         Taxes will go up and up as spending goes up even faster. 

·         Regulations will pour out of the bureaucracy to fill in all the blanks in thousand page laws no one ever reads. 

·         Our President will continue to bow before despots and our foreign policy will continue to support radical Islam in the Mideast. 

·         No one will ever be held accountable for Fast and Furious, Benghazi, or any of the other scandals which will erupt from the pustule of corruption that is Inside the Beltway.

·         The burgeoning energy industry that has the potential to lift America out of its economic tailspin will be throttled as the coal industry, the fracking boom, and oil shale are all regulated to death.  

·         We will pour billions down the green energy rat hole building industries that cannot produce enough energy to exist without government support.

·         Obamacare will destroy the insurance industry and eventually a single payer system will consign the rest of us to standing in lines in converted gymnasiums for impersonal care while our leaders take limousines and private jets to the Mayo Clinic all on our dime.

·         Industry will continue to flow out as foreign made goods flow in as more imbalanced trade agreements are called free.

·         We will be monitored by drones, wire taps, and computers as Big Brother extends his grasp till freedom becomes just another name for nothing left to lose.

This may be the New America that awaits us in 2013.  Our families, friends, and neighbors have voted for it, and we all get to live in it: oh happy days are here again.  The second coming of FDR has put food stamps in every pot and a Volt in every garage. 

In our New America Christ has been purged from Christmas and sappy sentimentality has replaced the joy of being born again in a relationship with God our loving Father.  So as you prepare to celebrate the New Year be sure and thank any of the millions of Obamazombies who get their opinions from the Corporations Once Known as the Mainstream Media, and who actually believe the economy is recovering and glory in America being knocked off its high horse for the New America we are all unwrapping under the Xmas Tree this year.

Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion.  He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2012 Robert R. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com  Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens

 

 

 

2 Injured in Chemical Explosion at Cincinnati Industrial Waste Facility

From ABC 5:
An explosion at a Cincinnati business injured two people and prompted HAZMAT units to respond early Friday morning.

Emergency personnel were called to the site of the explosion at Environmental Enterprises Inc. at approximately 4 a.m.

Four men were shredding an industrial filter containing sodium chlorate, which is sensitive to friction, causing a flash fire, officials said.

Two people were injured as HAZMAT and fire crews work to extinguish any hot spots as a result of the explosion.
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Three Shot at Gloucester, New Jersey Police Station

From Fox News:
Three New Jersey police officers were reportedly wounded during a shooting inside the Gloucester Township Police station.

MyFoxPhilly.com reports that the suspected shooter has been shot and killed.

One male officer was shot twice, including once in the abdomen below his bulletproof vest, and underwent surgery Friday morning. The unidentified officer is reportedly in stable condition at Copper University Hospital.

Injuries to the other two officers, a male and a female, were "very minor,” sources said.

The early Friday morning shooting apparently occurred inside the police station, possibly near a stairwell in the rear of the building. Police said a suspect was under arrest in connection with a domestic violence-related incident when a struggle with officers ensued at around 5:30 a.m. The suspect "obtained a firearm" during the struggle, police sources said. Officers then returned fire, killing the unidentified suspect.
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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Video: Norman Schwarzkopf Biography

A little background in this documentary on the Gulf War. Rest in peace:



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Reid: House of Reps Being Run Like a Monarchy!

From the AP via CBS:
A last-gasp effort Thursday to avoid automatic tax increases and spending cuts got off on the same convulsive, partisan tone that marked congressional attempts to resolve the impasse before lawmakers left Washington to go home for Christmas.

With a Dec. 31 deadline for an agreement to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff” rapidly approaching, leaders in each party demanded the other side take the initiative. The new flare-up happened despite a round of calls that President Barack Obama made to congressional leaders by phone Wednesday night from Hawaii before he boarded Air Force One to head home from vacation...

Obama’s plane landed in late morning at a suburban Maryland Air Force base, not long after Majority Leader Harry Reid took to the Senate floor to chastise House Republicans who last week opposed Speaker John Boehner’s efforts to pass a narrowly crafted bill. Boehner’s “Plan B” would have raised tax rates only on the very wealthiest Americans. But the opposition within his own party caucus forced the Ohio Republican to cancel a vote on the bill.

Reid charged Thursday that the House was “being operated with a dictatorship of the speaker.”

“John Boehner seems to care more about keeping his speakership than about keeping the nation on sound financial footing,” the Nevada Democrat said on the Senate floor.
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Snow Buries Catskill Mountains 12-27-2012


The first snowstorm of the 2012-13 season dumped feet of snow on the Catskill Mountains in Upstate, New York, as the inhabitants struggle to dig out from the heavy wet accumulation of winter's fury the morning after.

In my small hamlet at the foot of the Catskill's, twelve inches fell on us - mostly overnight - in doing so my neighborhood woke up to their roads and driveways engulfed with snow and, if, I represent most, drank their morning coffee and bundled up to face the white death that came to face us.

After about an hour and a half of shoveling, with a bucket of sweat to my name and many sore muscles from lack of physical exercise to this extent for a long time, a neighbor, who may God bless his soul, enjoyed using his snow blower helped me finish the last six feet of my driveway.

With this done, and after resting to catch my breath, I walked to a nearby Stewart's Shop and I enjoyed the reoccurring views of the aftermath to a winter snowstorm - everyone pulling their weight together to clean up the village, aid their friends and neighbors in clean up, and generally remain in a healthy attitude despite the hard work the morning had been...

Do you have any stories or comments about last night's storm?

Senate Seeks to Ban Assault Weapons

Who didn't see this coming? From Dianne Fienstein's own government page:
Summary of 2013 legislation

Following is a summary of the 2013 legislation:
  • Bans the sale, transfer, importation, or manufacturing of:
  • 120 specifically-named firearms
  • Certain other semiautomatic rifles, handguns, shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and have one military characteristic
  • Semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds
  • Strengthens the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and various state bans by:
  • Moving from a 2-characteristic test to a 1-characteristic test
  • Eliminating the easy-to-remove bayonet mounts and flash suppressors from the characteristics test
  • Banning firearms with “thumbhole stocks” and “bullet buttons” to address attempts to “work around” prior bans
  • Bans large-capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of accepting more than 10 rounds.
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Southwest Plane Skids off Runway in New York

From ABC:
A Tampa bound flight skidded off the runway at a New York airport this morning, according to CNN.

Suffolk police say a Southwest flight skidded of the MacArthur Airport Thursday.

New 12 reports the plane was taxiing when it veered into the grass. No injuries have been reported.
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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Good News: U.S. to Hit Debt Ceiling on Monday

I'm so happy we have responsible leaders in Washington who will undoubtedly step up and fix our spending problem. Oy vey. From CNN:
Government borrowing will hit the debt ceiling on Monday, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said in a letter to Congress Wednesday.

As a result, the Treasury Department will soon start using what it calls "extraordinary measures" to prevent government borrowing from exceeding the legal limit.

Such measures include suspending the reinvestment of federal workers' retirement account contributions in short-term government bonds.

On Monday, debt subject to the limit was just $95 billion below the $16.394 trillion debt ceiling.

All told, the extraordinary measures can create about $200 billion of headroom under the limit -- normally about two months worth of borrowing.
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After Months of Ignoring Problem, Obama Cuts Vacation Short to Deal With Fiscal Crisis

Because we'd all still have a job if we ignored a catastrophic problem, right? Right? From Reuters:
President Barack Obama is cutting short his Hawaiian holiday to leave for Washington on Wednesday to address the unfinished "fiscal cliff"negotiations with Congress, the White House said on Tuesday.

As the clock ticks toward a Jan. 1 deadline, efforts to avert a sharp rise in taxes and deep spending cuts have stalled, worrying world financial markets.

Obama and congressional lawmakers left Washington on Friday for the Christmas holidays with talks to avert the fiscal disaster in limbo.

When Obama arrives back in Washington early on Thursday, the focus will shift to the U.S. Senate after Republicans in the House of Representatives failed to pass their own budget measures last week.
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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Video: Egypt Constitution 'Passes'


Or so the Muslim Brotherhood says:
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Jack Klugman Dead at 90

This is extremely sad news. From the AP:
For many, Jack Klugman will always be the messy one.

His portrayal of sloppy sportswriter Oscar Madison on TV's "The Odd Couple" left viewers laughing but it also gave Klugman the leverage to create a more serious character, the gruff medical examiner in "Quincy M.E." His everyman ethos and comic timing endeared him to audiences and led to a prolific, six-decade acting career that spanned stage, screen and television.

Klugman died Monday at age 90 in suburban Northridge with his wife at his side. His sons called on his fans to embrace their father's tenacious and positive spirit.

"He had a great life and he enjoyed every moment of it, and he would encourage others to do the same," son Adam Klugman said.
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Monday, December 24, 2012

William Spangler Identified as Webster Shooter

Breaking:

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Syrian Activists: Assad Just Launched Chemical Attack

This is extremely unconfirmed for two reasons: first, it is not independently verified and only comes from anti-Assad activists. Second, this comes from Al-Jazeera, well-known as one of the worst news "sources" on the planet. Regardless, it is still interesting.

Video purporting to show the effects of the chemical attack:

From Al-Jazeera:
Seven people have died in Homs after they inhaled a "poisonous gas" used by government forces in a rebel-held neighbourhood, activists said.

Activists also told Al Jazeera on Sunday night that scores of others were affected in al-Bayyada neighbourhood. Side effects reported include nausea, relaxed muscles, blurred vision, and breathing difficulties.

Residents said they did not know the nature of the gas used.

"The situation is very difficult. We do not have enough facemasks. We don't know what this gas is but medics are saying it's something similar to Sarin gas," Raji Rahmet Rabbou, an activist in Homs, told Al Jazeera.
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Webster, NY Shooting: "Several" Shot, Including Two Firefighters

Update: Unfortunately, two firefighters who were shot have passed away.

Update 2: CNN reports that the gunman is dead as well.

Original article below:

From ABC 13:
13WHAM News has learned that at least two firefighters have been shot at the scene of a fire on Lake Road in Webster.

The fire is at 191 Lake Rd. near Bay Rd. Webster Fire tells 13WHAM News that an unknown gunman opened fire on fire crews as they arrived on scene.

Strong Hospital confirms two firefighters are being treated there. No fatalities have been confirmed.

The fire has now spread to three houses. Firefighters are waiting for police to finish evacuating people from the area before they move in.
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Sunday, December 23, 2012

Ex-Major Leaguer Ryan Freel Found Dead

From Yahoo:
For someone who amounted to part-timer, Ryan Freel gave a lot of joy to baseball fans. He exhibited a colorful, sometimes bizarre personality and demonstrated an acrobatic, sometimes reckless style of play that took a toll on his career. He was fun to watch and write about. But he also was troubled. And now we are left to wonder why he took his own life.

Freel was found dead at his home in Jacksonville, Fla. on Saturday afternoon, victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police confirmed via the Florida Times-Union. Freel was 36 years old, leaving a wife, Christie, along with three daughters, notes C. Trent Rosecrans of CBS Eye on Baseball.

First Coast News of Jacksonville reported his death first.

Freel played in parts of eight major league seasons, seeing action in 594 games — 544 with the Cincinnati Reds — and four other teams, from 2001-2009. He batted .268/.354/.369 with 143 stolen bases and 22 home runs. He logged most of his innings in the outfield, particularly center, but was known for having enough versatility to play third base and second.
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Muslim Brotherhood Claims Victory in Constitution Vote Amid Fraud

I'm shocked. Shocked, I tell you! From RT:
Egypt's new Sharia-based constitution has been approved in a second round of voting, the ruling Muslim Brotherhood party said. The country's opposition leveled accusations of fraud, saying it will appeal the referendum results.

The new charter was approved by 64 percent of Egyptian voters in a “resounding victory,” state news agency al-Ahram reported on Sunday. The preliminary tallies were calculated from reports by polling station officials. Egypt's election committee will confirm the final results on Monday.

Egypt's main opposition party the National Salvation Front (NSF) announced Sunday it will appeal the results of the referendum. NSF members alleged there were multiple instances of “fraud and violations” during the voting process.

“The referendum is not the end of the road. It is only one battle,” the NSF’s Abdel Ghaffer Shokr said, pledging to continue “the fight for the Egyptian people.”
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Saturday, December 22, 2012

Video: Attack on Syrian Tanks Near Damascus



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Completing those Home Repairs

When you are finishing up home repairs or preparing to move into your first house, you need to make sure that you get the best in what you are looking for. When you are repairing your bathroom or your kitchen, you can get the best in modern vanities for your project and make sure that your house looks great and ready to go. Consider this as you are getting your work done and ready to show off and be proud of.

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Are Democrats Smarter Than Republicans

The Headlines say it all “Boehner offers debt-ceiling increase in cliff compromise” or “Boehner Reported to Offer Millionaire Tax Rate Increase.”  Yet behind the headlines the meat of the stories shows House Speaker Boehner once again folding like a house of cards before President Obama and the Progressive juggernaut.  

Concerning the debt ceiling, while Mr. Obama wants a blank check Mr. Boehner offers to push any debate over the federal debt limit off until 2014.  This is a concession effectively depriving Republicans of any leverage in the current budget battle over the looming fiscal cliff.  However it is said to be breathing new life into stalled talks with the triumphant Obama Outfit that has taken control of America.  Nothing like surrendering your best cards before the game is over unless it’s accepting the opponent’s major demand before serious negotiations really begin as in the case of the tax rate increase. 

According to news reports Speaker Boehner has offered to let tax rates rise on higher incomes.  However, the trusty Republican negotiator isn’t offering that without demanding something in return.  He is demanding unspecified changes in the entitlement spending that is sinking the government in red ink.  Increasing tax rates now for promises of spending cuts later; how could that ever go wrong?  Except for every time it has ever been tried, besides being exactly what the Obama Organization offered, this same bait-and-switch scam tripped up President Reagan in 1982 and Bush the Elder in 1990.

Like Charley Brown trying to kick the football over and over again only to have Lucy pull it away; each time the Democrats keep running the same play and the Republicans keep falling for it.  This brings us to the question of the day, “Are Democrats smarter than Republicans?”

I was a fourth generation Republican who cut my teeth in Barry Goldwater’s failed Presidential bid and then in Nixon’s first presidential campaign back in 1960.  I worked for Goldwater, Reagan, and all the following Conservative flag wavers who tried to rally the country to a return to limited government, personal liberty, and economic freedom.  That is I did until Trent Lott’s Republican Senate Majority gave us the impeachment debacle and the explosion of government growth and spending under Hastert, Lott, and Bush.  When the Republican Senate refused to impeach President Clinton for crimes he later admitted and when they and their House brethren became Democrat Lite as the party of power, I mailed my membership card to the party that was no longer the Grand Old Party of my great grandfather and became an Independent.

For most of my life I was a party man: accepting some things I didn’t agree with for the greater good of electing a party with a platform I could agree with.  However, once it became apparent that as far as the budget went we had elected the foxes to watch the hen house, that the conservative social agenda received a tip-of-the-hat during elections followed by no action, and that the only victims of the impeachment were those brave enough to bring the charges the scales fell from my eyes.  Once I saw that the Republicans had lost their moorings and were swilling at the public trough, I realized the platform we conservatives battle so hard for and hold so dear is merely a mirage held in front of social and fiscal conservatives to keep them loyal to a Party captured by the Progressives.

Back in the Dream Time, when my mind was still locked in the glow of Ronald Reagan and all his example and message meant to America, even then I wondered, “What’s wrong with these leaders of ours?  Why do the Democrats always seem to outsmart them at every turn?”

Even Reagan, the best of the best, was hoodwinked by Tip O’Neal in the amnesty bargain: we would grant amnesty and then seal the border.  The problem is the illegal immigrants got the amnesty; however, America’s border was never sealed.  He also signed several tax deals with the Democratic majority.  We the People lost many deductions in exchange for lower rates.  The deductions never came back even though the rates started rising again as soon as the Gipper said good night and George the First forgot to read his own lips.

George Bush the Elder was out maneuvered by the Progressives so many times that 20% of his base ran to Perot opening the door for Clinton and the first attempt to ram national health care down America’s throat.  That time they overplayed their hand and the last great strategist among the Republicans, Newt Gingrich, was able to sell a Contract with America and bring the first Republican majority in Congress in 40 years. 

Newt kept the promises and brought some fiscal sanity back to Washington.  Within a few short years the Republican led Congress ended welfare as we had known it for generations and balanced the budget.  Unfortunately the Party of Lincoln then nominated someone who campaigned as if he had voted for Lincoln.  The 1996 Republican campaign would have had to improve several thousand percent to make it to dull.  Suddenly, with an assist from the Corporations Once Known as the Mainstream Media it was Clinton, who had been dragged kicking and screaming to the benefit and spending cutting table, who was the author of everything positive Congress had accomplished.  The Republicans had been outmaneuvered and outsmarted again.

According to every one of the serial re-counts Bush the younger won Florida and legitimately the presidential race of 2000.  Yet, to this day people talk of him being selected not elected.  After the dastardly deeds of 9-11 the rhetorically-challenged George captured the hearts of America and the admiration of the Western world by taking a bullhorn and talking to a crowd at ground zero.  Yet by fighting and winning America’s first preemptive war and then losing the peace through the lack of planning he soon lost the PR campaign which led to the Pelosi-Reid Congress in 2006 and eventually to the absolute triumph of Progressivism in 2008.

Once their secular messiah was enthroned at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue the Progressives with their filibuster proof majority took the reins of single-party rule and imposed their radical agenda to transform America into a Nanny-state based upon the re-distribution of wealth.  This wanton destruction of the traditional American society based on limited government and free enterprise sparked a vast rebellion of the silent majority resulting in the teanami of 2010 which brought a Republican majority back to the People’s House and an expanded minority to the Senate.

And what is the first thing these political savants do?  They reaffirm the same tired leadership and strike a deal that anyone who was paying attention could see was tailor made to save the discredited Obama presidency and set the stage for him to follow in Mr. Clinton’s footsteps taking credit for anything good the historic election might have made possible.  What were these so-called leaders thinking?  They turned the victory of the grassroots into capitulation.  Not only did they sign a deal that extended uncertainty and raised estate taxes, they gave the Administration cover for a stealth stimulus filled with pork designed to help re-elect the President. 

Along comes 2012 and the Republican establishment and their friends in the Progressive Media engineer the nomination of the one man who couldn’t beat the worst president in American History with the worst economy since 1932.  They surrender the issue of a massively unpopular Obamacare by nominating the author of its prototype.  Mr. Romney spends the last debate agreeing with the President’s handling of foreign policy and ignoring the raging controversy over the debacle in Benghazi.  If he didn’t throw the election he tossed it away.

So, “Are Democrats smarter than Republicans?”  The answer is they aren’t.  It isn’t a matter of intelligence it’s a matter of people with dedication to something larger than themselves, as opposed to people with dedication to seeing themselves as something larger than they are. 

The leadership of the Democrats is committed radical Progressives.  They have a long term agenda to transform America into a socialist welfare state with an unlimited government, and they never lose sight of that goal.  They’re willing to commit political suicide, or more accurately they’re willing to encourage their follow travelers who do not occupy safe seats to commit political suicide.  They never take their eyes off the ball.  They’re constantly pushing to move closer to the goal line even if it’s one inch at a time.

By comparison, the leadership of the Republicans is composed of professional politicians. They’re pragmatists who do whatever they have to do and say whatever they have to say to retain their seats, their power, and their perks.  They believe the inside the beltway press who tell them how visionary they are to compromise, losing sight of those back home in fly-over country who instead believed the campaign promises and expect their representatives to stand up for principles.

The Party of Lincoln over-and-over chooses to be on the receiving end of Pickett’s Charge instead of behind the spit-rail fence firing point blank as their enemy wastes itself in a senseless charge against an immovable barrier.  The Republicans still control the House.  They could be that immovable barrier holding back the advancing forces of bankruptcy and collapse.  Instead the Progressives of the right have once again embraced the Progressives of left in a bi-partisan campaign to continue the spending, increase the debt, and fool the public.

Paraphrasing the first Republican President, Historian Will Durant once wisely observed, “It may be true that you can't fool all the people all the time, but you can fool enough of them to rule a large country.”

Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion for Southside Virginia Community College.  He is the author of the History of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com View the trailer for Dr. Owens’ latest book @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ypkoS0gGn8 © 2010 Robert R. Owens dr.owens@comcast.net  Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are Democrats Smarter Than Republicans

The Headlines say it all “Boehner offers debt-ceiling increase in cliff compromise” or “Boehner Reported to Offer Millionaire Tax Rate Increase.”  Yet behind the headlines the meat of the stories shows House Speaker Boehner once again folding like a house of cards before President Obama and the Progressive juggernaut.  

Concerning the debt ceiling, while Mr. Obama wants a blank check Mr. Boehner offers to push any debate over the federal debt limit off until 2014.  This is a concession effectively depriving Republicans of any leverage in the current budget battle over the looming fiscal cliff.  However it is said to be breathing new life into stalled talks with the triumphant Obama Outfit that has taken control of America.  Nothing like surrendering your best cards before the game is over unless it’s accepting the opponent’s major demand before serious negotiations really begin as in the case of the tax rate increase. 

According to news reports Speaker Boehner has offered to let tax rates rise on higher incomes.  However, the trusty Republican negotiator isn’t offering that without demanding something in return.  He is demanding unspecified changes in the entitlement spending that is sinking the government in red ink.  Increasing tax rates now for promises of spending cuts later; how could that ever go wrong?  Except for every time it has ever been tried, besides being exactly what the Obama Organization offered, this same bait-and-switch scam tripped up President Reagan in 1982 and Bush the Elder in 1990.

Like Charley Brown trying to kick the football over and over again only to have Lucy pull it away; each time the Democrats keep running the same play and the Republicans keep falling for it.  This brings us to the question of the day, “Are Democrats smarter than Republicans?”

I was a fourth generation Republican who cut my teeth in Barry Goldwater’s failed Presidential bid and then in Nixon’s first presidential campaign back in 1960.  I worked for Goldwater, Reagan, and all the following Conservative flag wavers who tried to rally the country to a return to limited government, personal liberty, and economic freedom.  That is I did until Trent Lott’s Republican Senate Majority gave us the impeachment debacle and the explosion of government growth and spending under Hastert, Lott, and Bush.  When the Republican Senate refused to impeach President Clinton for crimes he later admitted and when they and their House brethren became Democrat Lite as the party of power, I mailed my membership card to the party that was no longer the Grand Old Party of my great grandfather and became an Independent.

For most of my life I was a party man: accepting some things I didn’t agree with for the greater good of electing a party with a platform I could agree with.  However, once it became apparent that as far as the budget went we had elected the foxes to watch the hen house, that the conservative social agenda received a tip-of-the-hat during elections followed by no action, and that the only victims of the impeachment were those brave enough to bring the charges the scales fell from my eyes.  Once I saw that the Republicans had lost their moorings and were swilling at the public trough, I realized the platform we conservatives battle so hard for and hold so dear is merely a mirage held in front of social and fiscal conservatives to keep them loyal to a Party captured by the Progressives.

Back in the Dream Time, when my mind was still locked in the glow of Ronald Reagan and all his example and message meant to America, even then I wondered, “What’s wrong with these leaders of ours?  Why do the Democrats always seem to outsmart them at every turn?”

Even Reagan, the best of the best, was hoodwinked by Tip O’Neal in the amnesty bargain: we would grant amnesty and then seal the border.  The problem is the illegal immigrants got the amnesty; however, America’s border was never sealed.  He also signed several tax deals with the Democratic majority.  We the People lost many deductions in exchange for lower rates.  The deductions never came back even though the rates started rising again as soon as the Gipper said good night and George the First forgot to read his own lips.

George Bush the Elder was out maneuvered by the Progressives so many times that 20% of his base ran to Perot opening the door for Clinton and the first attempt to ram national health care down America’s throat.  That time they overplayed their hand and the last great strategist among the Republicans, Newt Gingrich, was able to sell a Contract with America and bring the first Republican majority in Congress in 40 years. 

Newt kept the promises and brought some fiscal sanity back to Washington.  Within a few short years the Republican led Congress ended welfare as we had known it for generations and balanced the budget.  Unfortunately the Party of Lincoln then nominated someone who campaigned as if he had voted for Lincoln.  The 1996 Republican campaign would have had to improve several thousand percent to make it to dull.  Suddenly, with an assist from the Corporations Once Known as the Mainstream Media it was Clinton, who had been dragged kicking and screaming to the benefit and spending cutting table, who was the author of everything positive Congress had accomplished.  The Republicans had been outmaneuvered and outsmarted again.

According to every one of the serial re-counts Bush the younger won Florida and legitimately the presidential race of 2000.  Yet, to this day people talk of him being selected not elected.  After the dastardly deeds of 9-11 the rhetorically-challenged George captured the hearts of America and the admiration of the Western world by taking a bullhorn and talking to a crowd at ground zero.  Yet by fighting and winning America’s first preemptive war and then losing the peace through the lack of planning he soon lost the PR campaign which led to the Pelosi-Reid Congress in 2006 and eventually to the absolute triumph of Progressivism in 2008.

Once their secular messiah was enthroned at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue the Progressives with their filibuster proof majority took the reins of single-party rule and imposed their radical agenda to transform America into a Nanny-state based upon the re-distribution of wealth.  This wanton destruction of the traditional American society based on limited government and free enterprise sparked a vast rebellion of the silent majority resulting in the teanami of 2010 which brought a Republican majority back to the People’s House and an expanded minority to the Senate.

And what is the first thing these political savants do?  They reaffirm the same tired leadership and strike a deal that anyone who was paying attention could see was tailor made to save the discredited Obama presidency and set the stage for him to follow in Mr. Clinton’s footsteps taking credit for anything good the historic election might have made possible.  What were these so-called leaders thinking?  They turned the victory of the grassroots into capitulation.  Not only did they sign a deal that extended uncertainty and raised estate taxes, they gave the Administration cover for a stealth stimulus filled with pork designed to help re-elect the President. 

Along comes 2012 and the Republican establishment and their friends in the Progressive Media engineer the nomination of the one man who couldn’t beat the worst president in American History with the worst economy since 1932.  They surrender the issue of a massively unpopular Obamacare by nominating the author of its prototype.  Mr. Romney spends the last debate agreeing with the President’s handling of foreign policy and ignoring the raging controversy over the debacle in Benghazi.  If he didn’t throw the election he tossed it away.

So, “Are Democrats smarter than Republicans?”  The answer is they aren’t.  It isn’t a matter of intelligence it’s a matter of people with dedication to something larger than themselves, as opposed to people with dedication to seeing themselves as something larger than they are. 

The leadership of the Democrats is committed radical Progressives.  They have a long term agenda to transform America into a socialist welfare state with an unlimited government, and they never lose sight of that goal.  They’re willing to commit political suicide, or more accurately they’re willing to encourage their follow travelers who do not occupy safe seats to commit political suicide.  They never take their eyes off the ball.  They’re constantly pushing to move closer to the goal line even if it’s one inch at a time.

By comparison, the leadership of the Republicans is composed of professional politicians. They’re pragmatists who do whatever they have to do and say whatever they have to say to retain their seats, their power, and their perks.  They believe the inside the beltway press who tell them how visionary they are to compromise, losing sight of those back home in fly-over country who instead believed the campaign promises and expect their representatives to stand up for principles.

The Party of Lincoln over-and-over chooses to be on the receiving end of Pickett’s Charge instead of behind the spit-rail fence firing point blank as their enemy wastes itself in a senseless charge against an immovable barrier.  The Republicans still control the House.  They could be that immovable barrier holding back the advancing forces of bankruptcy and collapse.  Instead the Progressives of the right have once again embraced the Progressives of left in a bi-partisan campaign to continue the spending, increase the debt, and fool the public.

Paraphrasing the first Republican President, Historian Will Durant once wisely observed, “It may be true that you can't fool all the people all the time, but you can fool enough of them to rule a large country.”

Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion for Southside Virginia Community College.  He is the author of the History of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com View the trailer for Dr. Owens’ latest book @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ypkoS0gGn8 © 2010 Robert R. Owens dr.owens@comcast.net  Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook.