Thursday, February 28, 2013

Venezuelan VP: Chavez is Clinging to Life


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Democrats Propose Department of Peacebuilding; Pink Unicorn to Reportedly Lead It


With nothing else going on right now (oh yeah, that whole sequestration issue, but who's really paying attention to that?) House Democrats have decided to tackle the important topic of creating a new and improved Department of Peacebuilding...

I kid you not. California Democrat Barbara Lee has proposed the creation of a new cabinet level position, the Department of Peacebuilding: to fight violence and discrimination at home, share findings and assist our friends in the international community with peace endeavors, celebrate "peace days" and create, I'm really not kidding, a Peace Academy.

Reportedly, the Pink Unicorn is to lead the Department of Peacebuilding
The legislation, which was proposed Monday with eight co-sponsors (all Democrats, unsurprisingly), was done so to continue the long push of former Democrat Congressman Dennis Kucinich to create a so called Department of Peace for some reason, even though we already have one - the Department of Defense...

Say what you want about our military apparatus, and our industrial complex, but not one part of the federal government is more effective at its job, defending America's interests, or maintaining peace and stability in not just the United States, but across the developed and developing world. Not one agency can claim such record as freeing over fifty plus nations the past century from oppression and violence as the U.S. Military.

So.. Sure, lets have a peace academy where cadets will undoubtedly learn Nevile Chamberlain was actually right to appease Hitler, but I guarantee when the next Hitler arises - the Army's fine Cadets, and the Navy's accomplished Midshipmen will be more effective in protecting America then Peace Cadets trained in yoga..

What say you?

Government of the idiots,
by the Idiots, for the idiots.

Dick Cheney got it wrong, well, he was half right; these idiots
in dc are not good enough to be second rate. If life was at all
fair, the best of them would be in Chicago on skid row, the
worst of them would be in prison, the the in-betweens would
be saying, "you want fries with that?"

Too bad the Pinocchio thing is not true for Commandant Zero
and the rest of the worthless bunch in all three branches of
our so called government of the people.  Were it true, their
noses would reach around the globe enough times to form a
major highway.

Sequester??  Just how dumb do these idiots ruining our country
think we are??

republicans, democrats, conservatives, liberals -- and I use all
four terms as loosely and with as much disrespect as I can
muster --  all of these non-useful idiots are from the same
slovenly, greedy, power hungry, criminally minded, cheap,
lying, no good, four flushing, lowlife, snake licking, dirty, inbred,
overstuffed, ignorant, blood sucking, brainless, balless, hopeless,
heartless, fatass, stiff-necked, bug eyed, stiff-legged, spineless,
monkey headed, sack of monkey fecal surprise -- and we are paying
them for the rest of their lives.

The laws they keep adding to their books are simply to keep us in
line, hands out, begging for help when they have no help.  All they
have is an inbred, evil desire to dictate our every thought, word and
deed.

They have lied and stolen America into trillions of dollars of debt,
lied and stolen us into an immoral, degenerate, baby murdering
society, and that is still not enough to satisfy their greed.

They call right, wrong, and punish right; they call wrong, right,
and reward wrong.  They have done it for so long, they no longer
know the difference.

They give jail time for killing a cat, shooting a hawk or poaching
a deer, while they are stealing tax money to make sure that the
government program for murdering babies is in full effect around
the world.

The one thing they have not been able to do for hundreds of years,
is:  get the guns.  And for all their impious gas-bagging, with that
Idiot of Idiots, Joe Biden droning idiotically on and on, it doesn't
look as though they will ever be able to get them.

And because of that, we as a country might just survive, much to
the dismay of Commandant Zero and his fourth rate minions.

The certain law of nature, and of nature's God, is that every
heavy handed evil doer gets his comeuppance, no matter what
space they occupy, what office they hold, or how powerful they
think they are. 

So these idiots, having availed themselves of every stupid move,
every lie, every false pretense and every evil motive, cannot, and
will not continue forever. 

James Russell Lowell said it best:

                 Truth, forever on the scaffold,
                 wrong, forever on the throne;
                 but that scaffold sways the future --
                 and behind the dim unknown,
                 standeth God -- keeping watch above His own.

Thursday Morning's Top Articles

Here are the top articles from the conservative internet this Thursday morning:

Liberal Claws Come Out To Rip Bob Woodward from American Glob

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wi): If Boehner Caves on Taxes 'He Will Lose His Speakership' from Reaganite Republican

NY Governor Andrew Cuomo To Exempt Hollywood From His Gun Laws from the Lonely Conservative

Barry good skeet shooter from Innominatus

In Closed-Door Meeting, Cantor Warned of ‘Civil War’ from National Review

Benedict XVI begins quiet, final day as pope from Fox News

Young voters support conservative fiscal policy, liberal social policy, study confirms from Red Alert Politics

UK: Unemployment Benefits to Finance Jihad from the Gatestone Institute

BBC Spreading Islam to Children from Atlas Shrugs

Bless her heart: Donna Brazile blames ‘price gauging,’ not Obamacare, for rising premiums from Twitchy

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Kerry: Obama Remains Willing to Hold Bilateral Talks With Iran’s ‘Elected’ Government

Thank goodness he's willing to negotiate with democracies like Iran, but ignore Israel when they need help. From CNS:
Describing Iran as a country with an “elected” government and a “remarkable history,” Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday reiterated President Obama’s willingness to hold bilateral talks with the regime.

“It’s a matter of public record that he personally communicated to the supreme leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] that he was prepared to engage and to discuss these issues,” Kerry told a news conference with his French counterpart in Paris.

Responding to a reporter’s question about negotiating with a “terrorist” regime, Kerry pointed out that “Iran is a country with a government that was elected and that sits in the United Nations.”

“And it is important for us to deal with nation-states in a way that acts in the best interests of all of us in the world,” he added, drawing a parallel with President Reagan’s willingness to sit down with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and President Nixon’s decision to engage with China.
John Kerry
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Hugo Chavez is Dead: CNN Report

This is from CNN: Chile. This is a rough translation:
Guillermo Cochez, a Panamanian politician, says the president of Venezuela is deceased.

Talking with CNN Chile, the former ambassador said that on December 30 President Chavez had been declared brain dead in Cuba, returning to Venezuela eventually in that state. Therefore Chavez could not have been visited by the various leaders who reportedly met him...

The information obtained by the former diplomat says are "sources within the Venezuelan government" and that is information that has been circulating for weeks...

Guillermo also said Chavez died four days ago and asked her daughters to disconnect the ventilator which was connected to survive.
Here is the video that CNN aired. Note: it is in Spanish:

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White House Official to Woodward: 'You Will Regret Telling the Truth'

President Obama's thugs are at it again, but this time they have one of the most respected journalists alive in their cross-hairs. From the Business Insider:
Bob Woodward said this evening on CNN that a "very senior person" at the White House warned him in an email that he would "regret doing this," the same day he has continued to slam President Barack Obama over the looming forced cuts known as the sequester.

CNN host Wolf Blitzer said that the network invited a White House official to debate Woodward on-air, but the White House declined.

"I think they're confused," Woodward said of the White House's pushback on his reporting.

Earlier today on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Woodward ripped into Obama in what has become an ongoing feud between the veteran Washington Post journalist and the White House. Woodward said Obama was showing a "kind of madness I haven't seen in a long time" for a decision not to deploy an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf because of budget concerns.
Woodward
Update: Now with video:
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Obama's Ed Chief Caught Lying About Teachers Losing Jobs

Another lie. Big surprise. From the Washington Post:
The descriptions of the post-sequester landscape that have been coming out of the Obama Administration have been alarming, specific--and, in at least some cases, hyped.

“There are literally teachers now who are getting pink slips, who are getting notices that they can’t come back this fall,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

When he was pressed in a White House briefing Wednesday to come up with an example, Duncan named a single county in West Virginia and acknowledged, “whether it’s all sequester-related, I don’t know.”

And, as it turns out, it isn’t.

Officials in Kanawha County, West Virginia say that the “transfer notices” sent to at least 104 educators had more to do with a separate matter that involves a change in the way West Virginia allocates federal dollars designated for poor children.
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Obama Admin: 'Sequester will Result in HIV, Illegal Immigration, Hepatitis B for Children, and Terrorism'

The Obama Administration is doing everything it possibly can to inflict the most damage on the United States of America if sequestration, the very sequestration that they came up with, is not repealed in some way. To make the American people suffer, President Obama is promising that these cuts will result in a myriad of terrifying consequences.

The average person might think that sequestration could result in higher unemployment. Not quite, the Obama Administration is now saying. If sequestration goes into effect, President Obama promises that Americans will see an increase in illegal immigration, whooping cough, Hepatitis B for children, and even terrorism.

It's amazing to sit down and think that President Bush was accused of fear-mongering in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, and having cronies of the President, like Janet Napolitano, saying things like this: terrorist attacks are "always a threat. We do what we can to minimize the risk, but the sequester makes it awfully, awfully tough."
President Obama
As for illegal immigration, even the New York Times is calling Mr. Obama's actions "highly unusual:"
Federal immigration officials have released hundreds of detainees from detention centers around the country in recent days in a highly unusual effort to save money as automatic budget cuts loom in Washington, officials said Tuesday.
Unsurprisingly, MSNBC is receiving its marching orders from the Administration. They, citing "stern warnings" from the White House, explain that children will be almost dying in the streets should sequestration stick around:
There would also be a decrease in grants to fight and treat substance abuse, and a decrease in the number of HIV tests (49,300 in California). There’d also be cuts to vaccines, including measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough, tetanus and Hepatitis B for children. Again, the hardest hit state would be California ($1.1 million in spending cuts, which results in 15,810 less vaccines), followed by Texas, Florida and New York. In battleground Ohio, 5,040 fewer children would receive vaccines.
Apparently, the world will soon be coming to an end should sequestration be put into effect. Oddly enough, the man who created it and is now supposedly against it, seems eager to get this hardship underway.

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Illegal Immigrants Released; Officials Blame Sequester

From the LA Times:
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have released “several hundred” immigrants from deportation centers across the country, saying the move is an effort to cut costs ahead of budget cuts due to hit later this week.

Announcing the news Tuesday, ICE officials said that the immigrants were released under supervision and continue to face deportation. After reviewing hundreds of cases, those released were considered low-risk and “noncriminal,” officials said.

The releases took place over the last week and were an effort “to ensure detention levels stay within ICE's current budget,” said ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christiansen, citing uncertainty caused by a budget standoff in Washington.

“All of these individuals remain in removal proceedings. Priority for detention remains on serious criminal offenders and other individuals who pose a significant threat to public safety,” she said.
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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Michelle Obama Falsely Tells ABC Assault Weapons took life of Hadiya Pendleton; ABC 'Mysteriously' Edits Quote out of Broadcast

I'm sure it was all just some sort of mix-up. From the Washington Examiner:
ABC is defending its decision to edit out an apparently erroneous claim by Michelle Obama in its broadcast of the first lady’s interview on Good Morning America today, saying it made the changes “solely” for the sake of time.

As The Washington Examiner reported this morning, the first lady claimed during an interview with Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts that 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, who was killed in Chicago shortly after performing during the President’s Inauguration, was shot because “some kids had some automatic weapons they didn’t need.”

In fact, Chicago Police reported Pendleton was shot by a man who “opened fire with a handgun before fleeing in a waiting car,” according to the Associated Press.
All hail the Obama cult of personality

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Senate Votes 71-27 to Invoke Hagel Cloture


The United States Senate, after a successful Republican filibuster two weeks ago and the week-long holiday, voted to end debate and invoke cloture on Chuck Hagel's nomination for Defense Secretary. All that if left is for the Senate to hold a simple up or down vote on his nomination, and he will be confirmed.

With the first vote to invoke cloture failing by just one vote, I expected the second to be approved by at least  one or two extra votes, but I didn't expect it to receive the support of over one-third of Senate Republicans after their initial stand.

As I've written on before, I think the internal fight between tradition and conviction got to a lot of old guard GOP Senators, and with the trade-winds shifting towards confirmation, they erred on the side of tradition... Too bad the result will be one the least qualified and unprepared Defense Secretary's in the past 4 decades.

What say you?

Video: Obama Traveling To Anywhere But There



Excellent video on President Obama's many trips to whine about the lack of Republican effort to avoid sequestration, and how the road for him to make a difference is actually such a short distance, just 1.7 miles away.

Sequestration to Harm New York Air and Army National Guard Units


HT: CBS 6 Albany

The damaging effects of sequestration are going to felt hard for the National Air and Army Guards in New York's capital district, as over 500 civilian employees - who are vital to running and assisting new recruits, basic training graduates and day to day operations of both military elements - are facing a work furlough of one day per week, or twenty percent of their paycheck and effectiveness.

And while the loss of civilians will impact planning and completion of both pre-basic and post-basic training, we will also see the repair of military vehicles, such as the ones used by the 109th airlift during Sandy, take a day or two longer, which if a disaster occurs could be the difference between life or death, or delivering life saving materials to an impacted area.

But sadly for us, Washington seems to be oblivious to the hardships sequestration will cause for both active and national guard branches across the United States, and will allow them to sail through without significant protest or action, as we all know the theatre of politics is far more important than the success of our armed forces to petty politicians.

What say you?

Video: Gee, No one Really Knows what to do about the Sequester, Huh?



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Video of Egypt Hotair Balloon Crash Coverage



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Dem NY State Senator Under Fire for Photo of Him in Black Face

How in God's name could he possibly think this was a good idea? From CNN:
A New York state lawmaker said Monday he's sorry if he offended anyone by dressing in blackface for a Purim party, but a colleague says his apology doesn't go far enough.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind wore an Afro wig, an orange jersey and had his face painted brown by a professional makeup artist for a weekend party celebrating the Jewish holiday at his home. He told The New York Times that he was supposed to be "a black basketball player."

The Brooklyn Democrat initially tried to dismiss complaints about his costume as "political correctness to the absurd," but reversed himself by Monday afternoon in the face of mounting criticism.

"Anyone who was offended, I am sorry that they were offended," Hikind told reporters at a news conference. "That was not the intention, and that is really all I can say. I just have to reiterate it was Purim. Purim is when people get dressed up."
Hikind (D) pictured here in the center

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Chadian Forces Kill 93 Islamist Rebels at Ifoghas Mountains


HT: Reuters

The French led intervention into Mali did not conclude with the liberation of Timbuktu and the triumphant arrival of President Hollande, but rather with the arrival of two thousand Chadian soldiers, the conflict has seen some of its fiercest ground battles over the past weekend. 

With the Al-Qaeda allied rebels removed from urban centers and forced across the Sahara, French and Chadian forces have focused on capturing caches of ammunition's and targeting the rebels in an area the equivalent of France, while resisting rebel attacks on their former strongholds, such as Gao. 

The fighting has shifted from urban centers and deep into the Sahara 

Over the weekend Chadian forces assaulted a rebel base of "significant importance," so said one senior commander, at the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains near the Algerian border with great success, as nearly a hundred rebels were confirmed killed in the battle, although at the cost of twenty-three soldiers and thirty more wounded. 

This was the fiercest ground encounter between French-African coalition forces and the al-Qaeda aligned rebels since the initial intervention, and it informs us that African forces are contributing greatly to the aid of the besieged and weakened Malian forces while at the same time telling us this conflict isn't over quite yet.

What say you?

Monday, February 25, 2013

One Direction Singer Hit With Water Bottle

Not news, but interesting:

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Facing the Financial Market

Let's face it: the world economy is still in its doldrums and it appears that it will not be leaving anytime soon. With all of the issues going on in the political and financial realms, you want to make sure that you know as much as you can on how to best navigate the storm and take care of yourself and your family. This is the case when looking at recent events and trying to gauge the bigger picture and how it could affect you. For example, how could the split Italian election affect the wider Eurozone debate and the direction of the global economy. What about the continuing fallout of the United Kingdom's LIBOR scandal and its wider implications for the future of the country's struggle to exit the Great Recession? This is where the experts that have studied finance and policy can put their work into knowledge. All of their hard work and expertise can be a great way to get the bigger picture of what is going on and how it can affect all the way down to you and your hometown and family. Experts like John Studzinski have years of experience that can come in handy when trying to navigate the larger market and find out the ins and outs of global business. Someone like John Studzinski can be that link between you and the wider financial planning that you and your business may be looking for. Consider all of these factors when you are doing your research and make sure to get the best for your time and money. Such types of decisions are never easy and require a lot of thought and seeking out what is best. John Studzinski has been well trusted and can be an example for what you may be headed to next.

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Italy Election Results 2/25/2013

In short, it seems like no won has won a clear plurality yet.
Battle lines were already being drawn late Monday. The Democratic Party declared slim victories in both houses, saying it will keep Italy's interests in mind during this "very delicate situation for the country." But a top official in Mr. Berlusconi's center-right coalition said he is asking the country's interior minister to call the vote a draw. 
The apparent stalemate reflects the groundswell of support for former comedian Beppe Grillo's Five-Star Movement. His throw-the-rascals-out platform drew enough voters to give it nearly as many votes as Italy's mainstream coalitions—25.6% in the lower house at the latest count, making it the single largest party in that house. 
Surprising, too, was the comeback of Mr. Berlusconi, whose party was in the doldrums as late as November. The 76-year-old billionaire politician's late surge is attributed largely to the media blitz in recent weeks.

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Gov. Susana Martinez Fighting in New Mexico to Repeal Law Granting Driver’s Licenses to Illegals

From the New York Times:
If there is one trait of Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, that irks lawmakers on the opposite side of the aisle, it is her reluctance to negotiate. Ms. Martinez handles the Legislature in much the same way that she made a name for herself as a county prosecutor — a tough-as-nails approach that helped carry her all the way to the state’s highest government post.

On one of the defining issues of her tenure, the fight to repeal the state’s law allowing illegal immigrants to get a driver’s license, her persistence — or intransigence, depending on whom you ask — may have paid off. She immediately embraced a bipartisan bill introduced on Feb. 13 that would do just that; though to hear her tell it, she also gave in by supporting an alternate driver’s license for young immigrants benefiting from deferred deportation.

Ms. Martinez’s spokesman called it a “very reasonable compromise.” It comes at a perfect time for the governor, who is about to travel the country as an envoy of the Republican Party, recruiting Latinos to run for office or, at the very least, to give the party a second chance. (Gov. Brian Sandoval of Nevada has also been drafted for the same role.)

Ms. Martinez, 53, is by many measures the ideal ambassador: accomplished, charming and not afraid to speak her mind. She took office in 2011 as the nation’s first Latina governor, a distinction that alone qualifies her as a role model. In New Mexico, though, she has faced steady and increasingly vociferous criticism over the disconnect between the tone of her pronouncements and the substance of her policies.
Martinez

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Michael Ramirez Obama Snake Charmer Cartoon 2/25/2013


From the always amazing Michael Ramirez of Investors Business Daily:


Obama Using Fake Twitter Bots to Spam GOP Lawmakers

I'm sure it's all above board. From the Hill:
A Texas Republican on Monday said President Obama's gun control campaign is a fraud based on fake messages over Twitter.

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) accused Obama of trying to make support for his position look stronger than it really is by flooding Twitter with messages from people who don't exist.

"Obama's anti-gun campaign is a fraud," Stockman said. "Obama's supporters are panicking and willing to do anything to create the appearance of popular support, even if it means trying to defraud Congress," he added. "I call upon the president to denounce this phony spam campaign."

Stockman said that in response to Obama's call for people to tweet their congressman in support of gun control legislation, he received just 16 tweets. But he said all of these messages were identical, and that a closer look at them revealed that only six were from real people.

"The other 10 are fake, computer-generated spambots," his office said in a press release.

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Daniel Day-Lewis Reaches Oscars Apex With Third Best Actor Award


Daniel Day-Lewis, with his brilliant portrayal of Abraham Lincoln, became the first man in Oscars history to win the award for best actor a third time, and during his acceptance speech he made jokes, thanked people in his life who made such an honour possible, with special mention for the three men who sit atop the apex of his human pyramid responsible for his success.

And you might even say he has reached the apex of his career, sitting atop the movie industry with three Oscars for best actor and coming off of a timeless masterpiece concerning the sixteenth President's fight to end slavery, but I imagine there is still much room for success for this phenomenal actor.

His acceptance speech in full:
I really don't know how any of this happened. I do know that I've received so much more than my fair share of good fortune in my life and I'm so grateful to the Academy for this beautiful honor. 
It's a strange thing because three years ago before we decided to do a straight swap, I had actually been committed to play Margaret Thatcher. [Laughs] And Meryl was Steven's first choice for Lincoln. And I'd like to see that version. And Steven didn't have to persuade me to play Lincoln but I had to persuade him that perhaps if I was going to do it that Lincoln shouldn't be a musical. 
My fellow nominees, my equals, my betters, I'm so proud to have been included as one amongst you. When we got married 16 years ago, or since we got married 16 years ago, my wife Rebecca has lived with some very strange men. I mean they were strange as individuals and probably even stranger if taken as a group. But luckily she's the versatile one in the family and she's been the perfect companion to all of them. 
I'd like to thank Kathy Kennedy, our producer, and through you, Kathy, and through you our mighty team of co-conspirators. At the apex of that human pyramid there are three men to whom I owe this and a great deal more: Tony Kushner, our beloved skipper Steven Spielberg and the mysteriously beautiful mind, body and spirit of Abraham Lincoln. For my mother, thank you so much.

Wardak Torture Allegations Reveal Afghan-American Complications

The ongoing struggle for Western, mostly American, forces in war torn Afghanistan was complicated over the weekend as the Afghan government demanded U.S. special forces be withdrawn from Wardak due to allegations of torture, killing and illegal detention in the important Eastern Province.

Thus far, according to a high ranking German General within NATO who is working with the Karzai regime to resolve the matter, there has been no evidence whatsoever to support this claim and if history is any guide on this subject, there likely wont be either.

And if you go even further, according to a pact signed between and Afghan and American governments, no special force missions can occur without the approval of the Afghan government or their commandos on the ground, meaning if something did occur as part of an operation - the had to have previously approved it.

This clusterfark of a situation has just further complicated and strained relations between us and the Afghan government over vague accusations that are likely to blow over. If we are serious about ending this conflict on our terms, we need to reach out more, and I can't believe I'm saying this, to local tribal forces and away from the national government.

As we cannot reign in terror effectively with an immature babysitter watching over us, obsessed with public satisfaction and fear of overthrow, and having full veto over our special forces.

What say you?

Israel’s Strike on Syria Last Month Killed Top Iranian General

From the Times of Israel:
Hassan Shateri, the Iranian general whose killing was reported last week, was actually slain last month in an alleged IAF airstrike that was said to have targeted a weapons convoy heading from Syria to the Lebanese group Hezbollah, Britain’s Sunday Times reported.

Iran was quick last week to blame “mercenaries and supporters” of Israel for Shateri’s death, although it made no indication that he had been killed in the January airstrike. Tehran “will take revenge on Israel for the killing of a Quds Force general in Syria,” said Ali Shirazi, liaison for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds Force.

Shateri was a high-ranking member of the Quds Force, which is tasked with international operations, and was instrumental in Iran-Hezbollah relations, overseeing the reconstruction of Hezbollah’s armaments in the wake of the 2006 Second Lebanon War, Sunday’s report said.

For Israel, he was long a “prime target,” according to an Israeli security figure quoted by The Times.
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Video: Juan Williams: Liberal Media will ‘Shut You Down, Stab You, Kill You, Fire You’ if You Disagree



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85th Oscar Results, February 25, 2013

The list provided by SF Gate:
1. Best Picture: "Argo."
2. Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln."
3. Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook."
4. Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained."
5. Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables."
6. Directing: Ang Lee, "Life of Pi."
7. Foreign Language Film: "Amour."
8. Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio, "Argo."
9. Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, "Django Unchained."
10. Animated Feature Film: "Brave."
11. Production Design: "Lincoln."
12. Cinematography: "Life of Pi."
13. Sound Mixing: "Les Miserables."
14. Sound Editing (tie): "Skyfall," ''Zero Dark Thirty."
15. Original Score: "Life of Pi," Mychael Danna.
16. Original Song: "Skyfall" from "Skyfall," Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth.
17. Costume: "Anna Karenina."
18. Documentary Feature: "Searching for Sugar Man."
19. Documentary (short subject): "Inocente."
20. Film Editing: "Argo."
21. Makeup and Hairstyling: "Les Miserables."
22. Animated Short Film: "Paperman."
23. Live Action Short Film: "Curfew."
24. Visual Effects: "Life of Pi."

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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Video: Three Killed in Santa Cruz, CA shooting, 2/26/2013



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LIFE IN THE ASYLUM

 

LIFE IN THE ASYLUM



FOLLOW-UP ON PREDICTIONS (11/5/12):

MO Atty, having gone out on out on a limb with his Election Day predictions, decided to take a recovery period before following up on that column. Remember, however, that the column began with a caveat: “The following presupposes that the other party (once known, believe it or not, as the party of JFK) will content themselves with shuttling around a few hundred busloads of illegal aliens to vote in selected key precincts, and forego their new GOTV technique that would allow thousands of the ever reliable dead people to vote not just once, but multiple times each.”

Unfortunately, we are told, Obama won. In the “battleground” regions, despite huge crowds braving frigid weather at Romney rallies while pathetic numbers showed up for Obama; in the coal regions, despite the United Mine Workers declining to endorse Obama and masses of individual miners openly calling BHO a liar; at the very last minute, like magic, the exactly right numbers of votes popped up in the exactly right places to give him every “battleground” area and, thus, the election.

There was, of course, no voter fraud. Nothing to see here, folks . . . move along. Our Republican elites, after careful investigation, concluded that the Dems simply had more sophisticated campaign software. This software was so amazing that it could materialize actual, flesh and blood voters out of thin air, precisely when and where needed. Lessons for us for future elections? Get better software. Start trying to be more like the Dems. “Rebrand” ourselves. Start compromising. Get rid of the Tea Party, or anyone actually quoting words from the Constitution.

Pay no attention to Philadelphia, for instance, where The Philadelphia Inquirer reported unofficial vote tallies in 59 voter divisions showing Obama outpolling Romney by a combined total of 19,605 to 0. Professor Larry Sabato, not known for his right wing politics, said of that result that the number of zero precincts in Philadelphia deserves examination. "Not a single vote for Romney or even an error? That's worth looking into."

Pay no attention to Melowese Richardson, who vowed to fight “for Mr. Obama's right to sit as president of the United States!" by voting for him multiple times in Cincinnati. [It is easy to pay no attention to Melowese if you live in St. Louis. A digital search of its only newspaper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, revealed no mention of her name].

In fact, please do pay attention to Melowese. Click on this video and view every frame. Does she not sound very well versed in the ease and importance of multiple voting? Is it possible to believe that she is the only such person out there? Is it possible to believe that there are not thousands of such as her in every “battleground” district in every state?

                                                                       
Barack Obama, repulsively leftwing, dishonest, and arrogant, got his political education in the one-party thugocracy of Chicago. Is there any doubt that he knew, right from the start, the importance of having lots of the likes of Melowese organized to “fight” for him? He nominated Eric Holder as his Attorney General [19 Republicans voted Yes, including Lindsey Graham and John McCain]. Is there any doubt that he knew, right from the start, how willingly Holder would sic the Justice Department on any state or local government that tried to insure honest registration or voting procedures?

Victor Davis Hanson, speaking of immigration, says “comprehensive immigration reform” has become “a silly construct,” observing that:
        It does not exist any more. The truth is that we will allow “a pathway to citizenship” for those who broke the immigration law but who have been here a few years, who are working, and who have not been arrested. And, likewise, for those who broke immigration law but are not working, have just arrived, are on public assistance, and have been arrested, we will mandate neither citizenship nor deportation - but just allow a perpetual limbo of residence. When proponents of amnesty declare pathways of citizenship predicated on a fine, or on learning English, or on returning to the back of the line, we know both that they will never audit such requirements and that it would not matter much whether they did. There is now just a sort of nothingness.
      So what does it matter whether one is legal, illegal, holds a green card, holds no green card, is in line for citizenship, or is in line for deportation? There is no deportation; there is no real border anymore; there is no federal immigration law. All these are but states of mind, talking points of politicians without meaning.
 These observations describe not only our border “security,” but overlap with and equally describe the “security” of our electoral process.

For decades our elite rulers in Washington have been clearing Obama’s path to the current absurdity of what now passes for “elections.” First we had to lower the voting age to eighteen. As a nation, we proclaimed that, although eighteen year-olds  are  not  mature  enough  to drink a beer or smoke a cigarette, they are fully prepared to study the issues and elect our “leaders.” In 1993 we discovered the pressing need for the commonly called “Motor Voter Act,” more realistically the Saul Alinsky-Cloward-Piven voter registration chaos act [for which six reliable Republican Senators voted “Yes”]. We followed in 2002 with the “Help America Vote Act,” which passed the Senate by a carefully thought-out 92-2. While the ever-helpful John McCain voted “Yes”, believe it or not the two No’s were Democrats.

So here we are. As “election day” approaches, we know that many congressional districts throughout the country have been legally gerrymandered to guarantee a minority winner (known as “majority-minority districts”). Thus, while Alan West gets no guarantee (not minority enough?), Jessie Jackson, Jr. does, despite not campaigning and being on his way to a Federal Penitentiary. We now have “early voting”: in North Carolina, e.g., you can mail your absentee ballot starting September 6th, with no showing required that you will be absent. In South Dakota you can Early Vote in person on September 21st, before any of the official presidential debates has taken place.

We can “register” when we show up at the polling place, and if we cannot make the slightest showing that we should be allowed to vote, we get a form of “late voting”: we must be allowed to cast a “provisional vote” that will have to be pondered over after the polls close.  No amount of chaos is too great, but thank God we have dedicated public servants like Melowese Richardson to keep everything in order.

For actual, in person voting, we now use electronic data machines. Even if you ask for a “paper” ballot, it gets scanned into a digital collector and stored on a hard drive. For scores of years prior to 2002 we very successfully used the IBM keypunch card, where we used a metal pin to punch through a hole representing our selection. The physical cards were kept until any controversy over the vote count was resolved. Then we finally discovered how hopelessly confusing and complicated those cards were. Who could be expected to figure out how to punch a metal pin through a hole?

Congress, including every Republican Senator, demanded that the trusty punch card be done away with throughout the country and replaced with computerized voting machines. Aside from the massive cost, and the usual corruption of officials signing voting machine contracts with their brothers-in-law, and untested machines riddled with errors, and no storage of any physical cards, everything worked fine. All vote tallies are now kept in computer databases. And don’t worry – they’re secure!!

Except that we now know, see e.g., Infoworld, that virtually any such database can be hacked with relative ease. And we are now told that the Dems, heavily supported by Google, Facebook, and other major digital sophisticates, have dramatically better campaign software than anything we can come up with. It would seem that a major digital sophisticate, feeling the need for a slight change in the vote tally in a “battleground” district, might be able to make that happen. Thank God we can rest assured that the Dems would never even contemplate any such dishonesty as they pursue their fundamental changes.

None of this is meant to suggest that our Republican leaders could not have chosen better candidates. If 2012 was the best we had, we are truly in trouble. And maybe Republican shortcomings were enough to allow Obama to squeak through despite the enormous damage he has been doing to this country. Or maybe not. We know Melowese was out there, we know she has lots of company, and we know no investigations or consequences will follow. 

So the most we should be willing to say for now is “Obama might have won.” And very soon we need to get a lot of Republican lifers out of Congress, and replace them with people who remember the word “No” when a Democrat bill comes before them. If we don’t start giving the American people an actual choice, we may never win another election no matter what kind of software we have.


MO Atty






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CNN's Chile Affiliate: "Hugo Chavez Esta Muerto"

This is from CNN: Chile. This is a rough translation:
Guillermo Cochez, a Panamanian politician, says the president of Venezuela is deceased.

Talking with CNN Chile, the former ambassador said that on December 30 President Chavez had been declared brain dead in Cuba, returning to Venezuela eventually in that state. Therefore Chavez could not have been visited by the various leaders who reportedly met him...

The information obtained by the former diplomat says are "sources within the Venezuelan government" and that is information that has been circulating for weeks...

Guillermo also said Chavez died four days ago and asked her daughters to disconnect the ventilator which was connected to survive.
Here is the video that CNN aired. Note: it is in Spanish:

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Hugo Chavez Death Picture?

Update: Confirmed- Chavez is dead.

This is from CNN: Chile. This is a rough translation:
Guillermo Cochez, a Panamanian politician, says the president of Venezuela is deceased.

Talking with CNN Chile, the former ambassador said that on December 30 President Chavez had been declared brain dead in Cuba, returning to Venezuela eventually in that state. Therefore Chavez could not have been visited by the various leaders who reportedly met him...

The information obtained by the former diplomat says are "sources within the Venezuelan government" and that is information that has been circulating for weeks...

Guillermo also said Chavez died four days ago and asked her daughters to disconnect the ventilator which was connected to survive.
Here is the video that CNN aired. Note: it is in Spanish:

This is a picture that is circulating, purporting to be Chavez dead. We cannot independently verify it, however:

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Video: Hugo Chavez is Dead, According to CNN Report

This is from CNN: Chile. This is a rough translation:
Guillermo Cochez, a Panamanian politician, says the president of Venezuela is deceased.

Talking with CNN Chile, the former ambassador said that on December 30 President Chavez had been declared brain dead in Cuba, returning to Venezuela eventually in that state. Therefore Chavez could not have been visited by the various leaders who reportedly met him...

The information obtained by the former diplomat says are "sources within the Venezuelan government" and that is information that has been circulating for weeks...

Guillermo also said Chavez died four days ago and asked her daughters to disconnect the ventilator which was connected to survive.
Here is the video that CNN aired. Note: it is in Spanish:

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State Department to Spend $250,000 on Afghan YouTube Channel

Thank goodness we're not broke or anything like that. From Front Page Mag:
Remember the State Department had no money for Benghazi security because of the mean GOP. But it can always seem to find huge chunks of cash for really stupid things like this.

This “Hope” nonsense smacks of an extension of Obama’s permanent campaign and it’s largely meant to fool Americans into thinking that matters in Afghanistan have improved so much that the departure is not a defeat. That makes this expensive propaganda boondoggle of dubious legality and obvious uselessness.
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul plans to spend up to $250,000 in taxpayer money on the creation of a website that will allow people to show how “the Afghanistan of today has provided opportunities that didn’t exist before.”

The stand-alone website — or dedicated YouTube channel — must give people in Afghanistan and around the world the ability to upload short, personally recorded videos “describing why and how the individual is contributing to the betterment of Afghanistan and/or the ways in which the Afghanistan of today has provided opportunities that didn’t exist before, and offering messages of hope for the country’s future.”
Can I just put in my own bid here?
Hmmmmmmm
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Obama Campaign Busing Protesters in to Albany, NY to Demonstrate in Favor of NY Gun Law

From BarackObama.com:
Governor Cuomo and our legislature passed the "NY SAFE ACT." It will reduce gun violence in our state. Predictably, it is under attack by the National Rifle Association and allied groups. :::We are joining with the SEIU 1199 to lobby in Albany. This free bus trip will last from 8:00 to 4:30 with breakfast and lunch included. Meet up at 250 S Clinton St. Park in the M Lot at the corner of W Fayette and S Clinton Sts. (Parking in that lot may be validated. No sure yet.) Show your determination to keep our excellent new law!:::You must call this number to get a seat on the free bus. 315-424-1743 Ext 110 Ask for Nekeia:::Also sign up here.
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Saturday, February 23, 2013

Italian Election Results February 25, 2013

In short, it seems like no won has won a clear plurality yet.
Battle lines were already being drawn late Monday. The Democratic Party declared slim victories in both houses, saying it will keep Italy's interests in mind during this "very delicate situation for the country." But a top official in Mr. Berlusconi's center-right coalition said he is asking the country's interior minister to call the vote a draw. 
The apparent stalemate reflects the groundswell of support for former comedian Beppe Grillo's Five-Star Movement. His throw-the-rascals-out platform drew enough voters to give it nearly as many votes as Italy's mainstream coalitions—25.6% in the lower house at the latest count, making it the single largest party in that house. 
Surprising, too, was the comeback of Mr. Berlusconi, whose party was in the doldrums as late as November. The 76-year-old billionaire politician's late surge is attributed largely to the media blitz in recent weeks.

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Video of Daytona 500 Crash


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Economics 102


People avoid silence because they’re afraid of what they might hear.   Although we value our freedom of speech, polite conversation in America is subject to one crushing rule, “Don’t talk about religion or politics!”  Most of us were raised with this stifling warning in our ears.  The purpose was to avoid arguments at the dinner table but the result is a population unconcerned in the two subjects affecting life the most.  I can only talk about the weather for so long which displays the wisdom of memorizing sports stats and watching American Idol.  With the two biggest topics off the table we’re faced with either trivial pursuit or silence.  Bored with the weather and having neglected my memorization and viewing options I propose a topic to stimulate vigorous conversation without causing any bickering: economics.

Barry, Harry, and Nancy knew they had to take us through-the-looking-glass in four short years.  With no effective break on their power for the first two years, Congress moved so fast their yesterday became our tomorrow.  That tomorrow is now today.  The ruling party rammed their agenda through without one opposition vote.  Every revolution needs an emergency to justify radical surgery and the economy is the emergency available. Consequently, these descendants of FDR and LBJ shoved a raw deal down the throat of a great society. 

Almost everyone is in agreement that the first stimulus failed.  According to MSNBC, “In January, Obama’s economic team predicted unemployment would rise no higher than 8 percent with the help of $787 billion in new government spending.”  However, according to the LA Times the unemployment rate in May reached a 25-year high of 9.4 percent.  The President may see glimmers of hope but Say-it Ain’t-So Joe said he couldn’t rule out a second stimulus telling us the administration which ran on the slogan, “The worst economy since the Great Depression” misread how bad the economy was.  How bad is it?  What’s worse than the Great Depression?  What’s their answer to this baddest of bad economies?  What’s their Plan B?  Try Plan A again, and again, and again?  I think what our leaders need as they drive the largest economy the world has ever known over the cliff is Economics 102, Macroeconomics or how an economy works.

Most people, including the best-government-money-can-buy, look at the economy as if it were controlled by magic having no idea where the rabbit goes or where the doves come from, and since I doubt I’ll convince any of our all-knowing leaders to enroll in freshman macroeconomics I want to offer a crash course in Economic Reality.

1.    Government regulations distort markets and inflate bubbles.

2.    Every generation experiences at least one bubble and at least one bust.

3.    Every bubble bursts.

4.    Every burst bubble is followed by a panic.

5.    Panics inspire economic regulations.

6.    Economic regulations reflect political ideologies not economic realities.

7.    Economic regulations always regulate the excesses of the last bubble.

8.     Economic regulations are always blind to the excesses of the next bubble.

9.    Since consumption is the purpose for production any economic regulation that ignores this fact always leads to the misapplication of resources and the misdirection of effort.

10. Depressions are recessions with government help.

11. It is impossible to spend yourself into prosperity.

12. It is impossible to tax yourself into prosperity.

13. Higher taxes lead to smaller revenue and black-markets.

The New Economy leads straight to the Second World, from freedom to conformity from capitalism to Obamanomics.  Instead of a fair race with the rapidly transforming economies of Asia, America runs hobbled like a child in a three - legged race strapped to the stiff-legged ideas of collectivism.

Why would our leaders want us economically hobbled?  What would they gain if we fall into the swamp of poverty engulfing most of the world?  Wouldn’t they be right there with us?  Go to any Second or Third World country and you’ll see the rich and powerful behind walls in gated-communities where they live in the First World while everyone else sits in the dust eating leaves.  In America, we avoided this fate with the growth of a massive middleclass.  Under assault with stagnant wages, rising prices, and disappearing jobs the middleclass is being outsourced.  How is this being accomplished? 

Remember the mantra of the Clintons?  It’s the economy stupid!” That’s still the Liberal’s strategy, riding like a flea on a rat cradle-to-grave social engineering in the guise of economic policy.  The Progressives drive the economy into the ditch all the while saying it is someone else’s fault and shrieking that we need more of what is causing the problem: bloated government and runaway spending.  A lack of basic economic understanding is destroying the greatest economy ever forged.  A zero sum game causes divisions and arguments about who gets what when we used to all strive for the same thing: success.

America is splintering as the melting pot becomes a smelting pot.  What is its cause?  The divisiveness of class-warfare encouraged by the only people who win through America’s split between red and blue, rich and poor, us and them.  Who are they?  If it isn’t us I guess it’s them.

Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion.  He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2013 Robert R. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com  Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens

Friday, February 22, 2013

Bob Woodward: 'Obama is a Liar'

Pointed words from a respected, and unexpected, source. From the Washington Post (emphasis mine):
Misunderstanding, misstatements and all the classic contortions of partisan message management surround the sequester, the term for the $85 billion in ugly and largely irrational federal spending cuts set by law to begin Friday.

What is the non-budget wonk to make of this? Who is responsible? What really happened?

The finger-pointing began during the third presidential debate last fall, on Oct. 22, when President Obama blamed Congress. “The sequester is not something that I’ve proposed,” Obama said. “It is something that Congress has proposed.”

The White House chief of staff at the time, Jack Lew, who had been budget director during the negotiations that set up the sequester in 2011, backed up the president two days later...

The president and Lew had this wrong. My extensive reporting for my book “The Price of Politics” shows that the automatic spending cuts were initiated by the White House and were the brainchild of Lew and White House congressional relations chief Rob Nabors — probably the foremost experts on budget issues in the senior ranks of the federal government.

Obama personally approved of the plan for Lew and Nabors to propose the sequester to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). They did so at 2:30 p.m. July 27, 2011, according to interviews with two senior White House aides who were directly involved...

So when the president asks that a substitute for the sequester include not just spending cuts but also new revenue, he is moving the goal posts.
Barack Obama: Liar

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Video: Discussion on the Sequestration




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Papal Resignation Linked to Inquiry Into 'Vatican Gay Officials'

An explosive revelation could be brewing under the surface of the Vatican. From the Guardian:
A potentially explosive report has linked the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI to the discovery of a network of gay prelates in the Vatican, some of whom – the report said – were being blackmailed by outsiders.

The pope's spokesman declined to confirm or deny the report, which was carried by the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica.

The paper said the pope had taken the decision on 17 December that he was going to resign – the day he received a dossier compiled by three cardinals delegated to look into the so-called "Vatileaks" affair.

Last May Pope Benedict's butler, Paolo Gabriele, was arrested and charged with having stolen and leaked papal correspondence that depicted the Vatican as a seething hotbed of intrigue and infighting.

According to La Repubblica, the dossier comprising "two volumes of almost 300 pages – bound in red" had been consigned to a safe in the papal apartments and would be delivered to the pope's successor upon his election.
Pope Benedict

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Jodi Arias Trial: Live Video

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Volunteer vs Conscript Commitment Key to Draft Debate


Mel Laird, Defense Secretary under President Nixon who helped develop today's all-volunteer force forty years ago, weighed in on the renewed debate involving re-instituting the military draft and he wasn't kind to supporters of bringing back the draft.

Detailing our military successes in Afghanistan and Iraq at maintaining all-volunteer forces that are trained, intelligent and effective, not to mention driven to re-enlist in the military after their first term of service, and advance up the ranks to officer - almost twenty-five thousand per year - Laird argues the method we got right now works and on that basis alone would be a mistake to alter it

Another point is the greater commitment to the military volunteers have over conscripts, who feel rightly forced into service and usually are discharged after their initial term for lack of willingness to continue in something they voluntarily did not choose to do in the first place.

And as someone who spent a long week and a half at reception in Fort Benning, I can tell you even young men who have made the decision to give their all and serve in the military (and I was in an all 11-b infantry reception company) still emotionally break just waiting for training... And they wanted to do this. I cannot even begin to imagine the mental mindset of someone forced to serve.

Mr. Laird's case involves other points as well, but just the commitment of volunteers versus conscripts and how that will effect our military's effectiveness should be enough to close the debate on bringing back the draft, once and for all. After all... Mr. Laird was one of the men who ended it in the first place four decades go, he would know a little bit about this subject.

What say you?

Read Mr. Laird's entire Op-Ed at the Washington Post