Tuesday, June 23, 2009
U.S. Navy Hangs Back in Persian Gulf as Questions Mount About Defecting Iranian Revolutionary Guard
The U.S. Department of Defense is ''on edge'' over the turmoil in Iran, and has directed U.S. naval assets in the Persian Gulf to be, in layman's terms, in ''non-incident mode,'' military officials told FOX News Monday.
Meanwhile, the former crown prince of Iran contended that members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard are showing ''discontent'' and some are ''contemplating the contingency'' of defying the regime...
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Iran Neda speech raises domestic political stakes for Obama
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Here's a new video involving the violent events in Iran and the politics they are now forcing within the United States.
The video is from C-SPAN of Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, who over the weekend said he'd like to see the president speak out stronger. Then, on the Senate floor today speaking in stronger terms than Democrat President Barack Obama about the Tehran government's violent reaction to protests of the recent election that allegedly reinstated the existing regime.
McCain's outspoken criticism of Iran's government for its violence mirrors his strong denunciations last summer when Russia invaded the democratic country of Georgia.
Obama, who was vacationing in Hawaii at the time, was more measured initially, calling on both sides to stop fighting. He later changed tone more in favor of the invaded democracy... [snip]
The new president is trying to walk a thin line between satisfying homegrown outcries to support democratic outbursts around the world and his promise in a recent Cairo speech not to interfere in other countries and to attempt talking with such regimes.
In recent interviews Obama has pointed to some success with that line, as Iran has instead accused Britain of interference; the UK began evacuating its embassy personnel's families from Iran today...
[That's his sign of 'success'?? Hiding behind another country? The "leader of the free world"]
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Don’t leave us alone
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Contrary to the claims of many MSM 'pundents', at least some of Iran's anti-government protesters are anxious for Barack Obama to lend American support to their cause. An Iranian student interviewed on CNN’s American Morning on Monday pleaded for the world, and President Obama by name, to become more active in assisting the protests against the Islamic regime in Tehran:“International community....especially, I ask President Barack Obama directly...this government is a huge threat to global peace....We need your help international community. Don’t leave us alone.”
Without any sort of prompting, Mohammed first addressed some of the major controversies involving the Iranian regime:“For about three decades, our nation has been humiliated and insulted by this regime....We are peaceful nation. We don’t hate anybody. We want to be an active member of international community. We don’t want to be isolated....We don’t deny Holocaust. We...do accept Israel’s rights. And actually...we want severe reform on this structure. This structure is not going to be tolerated by the majority of Iranians. We need severe reform, as much as possible.”
[Audio from the segment available here.]
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CBS Displays Obamacized Neda Poster
[Meanwhile, on TV...]
Obama and Neda: same struggle!
Who says Pres. Obama isn't backing the Iranian uprising strongly enough? Why, supporters of the struggle have chosen to immortalize Neda, the young student reportedly slain by the current regime, by creating a poster of her in the style of the iconic Obama poster made famous during his presidential campaign.
Of all the possible posters of the fallen girl who has become the symbol of the Iranian uprising, the Early Show chose the one displayed here in the unmistakeable style Shepard Fairey used to create his Obama poster.
Might that have been CBS's subliminal message this morning?
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NYT Will Name CIA Interrogators But Not Captured Journalists
In their watchdog role of keeping the public informed, the New York Times has over the years disclosed government secrets regarding anti-terrorism tactics, overseas prisons, interrogation tactics, and military tactics, that critics contend have harmed the effectiveness of the programs and put America and our military at greater risk.
In fact, in 2008, the Times even published the name of an interrogator who got Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to talk, against the wishes of the interrogator’s lawyer and the CIA. The interrogator and his family fear for their lives, but that’s okay, because the public has a right to know.
So when Times journalist David Rohde was captured by the Taliban and held for seven months, the Times was going to report that, right? After all, doesn’t the public have a right to know about the threats they may face while traveling in Afghanistan?
As it turns out, the New York Times doesn’t think we do...
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FLASHBACK > NY Times Can Keep A Secret After All
The Times withheld this information along with at least 40 other news outlets.
No, the media never conspires together in the dark...
Islamic burka 'not welcome' in France
The Islamic burka is "not welcome" in France because it "is not a symbol of religion but a sign of subservience for women", President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday.
[Liberty's champion is now France. Better the islamic world be mad at them than us, right? Marvelous.]
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Iran's Web Spying Aided By Western Technology
The Iranian regime has developed, with the assistance of European telecommunications companies, one of the world's most sophisticated mechanisms for controlling and censoring the Internet, allowing it to examine the content of individual online communications on a massive scale. Interviews with technology experts in Iran and outside the country say Iranian efforts at monitoring Internet information go well beyond blocking access to Web sites or severing Internet connections.
[Just as American companies {you know all their names} have done for China's government.
Business doesn't excuse morality, it heightens the responsibility for it.]
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Inspector General Fired by Obama Wants Congressional Hearing on His Case
The ousted inspector general who reported that his office found misuse of AmeriCorps funds granted to a charity run by a political ally of President Barack Obama sees an assault on the institution of government watchdogs, noting that besides himself, the inspectors general in both the Treasury Department and the International Trade Commission (ITC) have faced reported hurdles in doing their jobs.
He says he wants Congress to hold a hearing on his firing...
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FLASHBACKs >
A witness to Walpin-gateThe fact remains that an inspector general does not serve at the president's pleasure and can be removed only for a specified just cause.
Walloping WalpinBut Obama then fired Walpin immediately saying only that he no longer enjoyed his 'full confidence', despite a law that he cosponsored requiring that Congress be given a 30-day notice of his intent and a detailed justification for the removal...
Key Obama Ally Says President Obama Did Not Follow the Law in IG FiringSen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said the president did not abide by the same law that he co-sponsored – and she wrote – about firing Inspectors General...
Gangster government's grip on the AmeriCorpsThe key issue now is whether Congress will permit this latest illustration of what The Examiner’s Michael Barone calls Obama’s “gangster government”...
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OBAMA'S PLAN FOR A DEBT-RIDDEN FUTURE
American families over the last year have lost eight percent of their net worth, and if the president has his way, they will soon be hit with more than a 100 percent increase in public debt.
- In theory, the U.S. government can always pay its debts by increasing taxes, but the problem with taxes is that increases harm the economy disproportionately and quickly reduce the economy's taxpaying capacity.
- Paying off Obama's 10-year string of deficits that add up to $9.3 trillion with income tax increases of $9.3 trillion over 10 years would cost the private sector $23 trillion to $37 trillion.
- In effect, American families would over time lose an amount greater than an entire year of gross domestic product (GDP) -- a blow far more severe than the damage being done to them by the current recession.
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GET READY FOR INFLATION AND HIGHER INTEREST RATES
As bad as the fiscal picture is, panic-driven monetary policies portend to have even more dire consequences.
The Fed controls the monetary base 100 percent and does so by purchasing and selling assets in the open market. About eight months ago, the Fed [Bernanke] signaled a 180-degree shift in its focus from an anti-inflation position to an anti-deflation position:
- The percentage increase in the monetary base is the largest increase in the past 50 years by a factor of 10; it is so far outside the realm of our prior experiential base that historical comparisons are rendered difficult if not meaningless.
- The currency-in-circulation component of the monetary base -- which prior to the expansion had comprised 95 percent of the monetary base -- has risen by a little less than 10 percent, while bank reserves have increased almost 20-fold.
- Now the currency-in-circulation component of the monetary base is a smidgen less than 50 percent of the monetary base.
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Voters Now Trust Republicans More than Democrats on Economic Issues
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 45% now trust the GOP more to handle economic issues, while 39% trust Democrats more. 
Voters not affiliated with either party now trust the GOP more to handle economic issues by a two-to-one margin.
Republicans also now hold a six-point lead on the issue of government ethics and corruption, the second most important issue to all voters and the top issue among unaffiliated voters. That shows a large shift from May, when Democrats held an 11-point lead on the issue.
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EMISSIONS CONTROL, MYTHS AND REALITIES
The United States is having better luck at controlling its emissions than most other countries, without the multi-billion-dollar mandates of the Kyoto anti-global warming treaty, says Drew Thornley, author of a new report, "Energy & the Environment: Myths & Facts," published by the Manhattan Institute.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA):
- Carbon-dioxide emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels increased 0.7 percent in the United States from 2000 to 2006, far below the worldwide increase of 21.6 percent.
- During the same period, emissions grew 4.9 percent in Europe, 37.6 percent in the Middle East, and 52.3 percent in Asia.
- Major developing nations saw big increases; for instance, India, Malaysia and China's emissions increased 27.7 percent, 45.8 percent and 103 percent, respectively.
- The EIA projects that China's energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide will exceed American emissions by almost 15 percent in 2010 and by 75 percent in 2030.
- In 1990, China and India together accounted for 13 percent of the world's emissions; in 2005, their contribution was 23 percent; and in 2030, they are expected to account for 34 percent of the world's emissions.
- America's Climate Security Act, also known as the Lieberman-Warner bill, called for emission reductions of 63 percent below the 2005 level by 2050 (President Obama's much more ambitious plan is to cut emissions 83 percent below 2005 levels by 2050.).
- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) projected that Lieberman-Warner could, by 2050, lower gross domestic product (GDP) by up to 6.9 percent, increase average gasoline prices by $1.40 per gallon, and raise electricity prices by 26 percent; many private economic estimates were considerably higher. [gas & electricity - used to make and then transport everything we use - so it ALL goes up...]
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A SHOCK AT THE PUMP
Washington is working on a bill that would raise gas costs further, says policy analyst Ben Lieberman...
The proposed American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (the Waxman-Markey proposal) essentially would limit how much gasoline and other fossil fuels Americans can use. The aim is to cut emissions of carbon dioxide from energy use; yet, prices would have to rise high enough so the public would be forced to drive less and meet the ever-tightening energy rationing targets.
How high? Estimates are that gasoline costs will rise $118 annually for a typical four-person household once the bill's provisions take effect in 2012, Electricity is also hit hard; in fact, the main target of the bill is coal, which affordably provides 50 percent of America's electricity.
Overall, this is a regressive tax that would harm the working poor the most. At the same time, it would leave a million or more people without a paycheck to deal with the higher costs...
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ALL GOVERNMENT PLANS LEAD TO SOCIALIZED HEALTH CARE
If President Obama signs into law a "public option" government-run health 'insurance' program, American could be on its way to becoming a European-style welfare state. To prevent this from happening, there are five realities all Americans must never forget:
- A public option is unnecessary; advocates say a government-run insurance program is needed to provide competition for private health insurance, but 1,300 companies already sell health insurance plans and that's competition enough.
- A public option will undercut private insurers and pass the tab to taxpayers and health providers just as it does in existing government-run programs; for example, Medicare pays hospitals 71 percent and doctors 81 percent of what private insurers pay.
- Government-run health insurance would crater the private insurance market, forcing most Americans onto the government plan.*
- The public option is far too expensive; the cost of Medicare -- the purest form of a government-run "public choice" for seniors -- will start exceeding its payroll-tax "trust fund" in 2017.
- The public option puts government firmly in the middle of the relationship between patients and their doctors.
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Union Members Exempt from New Health Benefits Tax
Union members and their families who receive healthcare benefits paid for by their employers would be exempted from a new tax on healthcare under an option being proposed by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mt). [snip]
As shown on page 3 of the Baucus outline published by Fox News, healthcare benefits provided under collective bargaining agreements dated on or before January 1, 2013 would be exempt from the tax.
Union agreements dated before January 2013 could be extended indefinitely even if other benefits and terms change. All that’s apparently necessary to perpetuate the pre-2013 date would be to have both parties agree to modifications rather than a new agreement.
This proposal is entirely consistent with the Obama administration’s handling of the GM and Chrysler bailouts which inure to the benefit of the United Autoworkers Union and not to the companies’ shareholders.
It would penalize every non-union recipient of employer-provided healthcare benefits. ..
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NYT/CBS Stock Pro-Obamacare Poll With Obama Voters
[Tricks of the trade]
Realizing that Barack Obama's healthcare initiative has hit some roadblocks in Congress, the good folks at CBS News and the New York Times figured they'd help it along by creating a new poll on the subject that WAY oversampled people who voted for Obama.
Although the then junior senator from Illinois received 53 percent of the votes last November, NYT/CBS surveyed almost twice as many Obama voters as McCain voters:
[A]ccording to the actual poll data, of the 73% of respondents who said they voted in 2008 only 34% voted for McCain and 66% for Obama.
And you wonder why the survey found so much support for Obamacare?
Honestly, stuff like this should be illegal and any news organization found doing it should be significantly fined. In any industry you could name, such deception of the public would meet with very serious consequences.
Why are so-called news outlets allowed to get away with such obvious deceit with total impunity?
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Supreme Court ends Plame's suit against Cheney
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up Valerie Plame Wilson's lawsuit against I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, effectively killing the civil suit that accused key Bush administration figures of outing Wilson as a CIA operative.
Plame and her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson, had sued Libby, the longtime chief of staff to former Vice President Dick Cheney, for his role in leaking Plame's name...
[Yet another frivolous lawsuit bites the dust - brace yourselves for 24/7 coverage in the MSM...]
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[Speaking of frivolous lawsuits...]
Palin's legal defense fund
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Gov. Sarah Palin reportedly now has more than $600,000 in legal bills as a result of a string of frivolous ethics complaints - 14 of which have been dismissed so far with no finding she violated the state ethics act. [but they continue to be filed, one after another despite their demonstrated lack of legitimate standing - it's litigation as financial weapon]
Other complaints have not been settled, and Kristan Cole, the trustee for the legal defense fund, said the bills continue to climb and "my sense is they are over $600,000." Palin in March had pegged the debt at that time as more than $500,000.
Palin's friends and supporters created the legal defense fund, called the Alaska Fund Trust, in April and is raise roughly $100,000 so far."Our trust is one of the most, if not the most, restrictive and transparent legal expense funds in history,"
asserted Cole, a longtime friend of Palin's. Cole says there is no legal limit on how much people can donate to the fund, but it has a self-imposed maximum contribution of $150."You just cannot believe how many people really believe in this governor like I do and others do and are sending in checks for 5 and 10 dollars, saying this is all I have at this time but I'll send you another 5 dollars in two months,"
Cole said."It's really incredible."
[Let's get incredibler - please join me {standard credit card stuff, if you've a PayPal accn. you're good to go}...]
and as always, the goal is to get viral: please, pass it on... [select little white envelope lower-left to forward this 'brief']
tx.
Why I dumped Obama's party
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is portrayed as grown too big to fail, and he's convinced everyone who's anyone in my home city of Las Vegas to join him on the Obama freight train to socialism.
Next stop: Rationed health care, union card check and $10-a-gallon gasoline. All aboard!
Democrats own Washington, D.C., as well as the Nevada Legislature.
Meanwhile, Nevada's Republican "Luv Guv," Jim Gibbons, couldn't be on a more prolonged hard-luck streak. He's in the divorce from hell with the first lady, who for a time holed herself up in the Governor's Mansion; his staff regularly jumps ship; and rumor has it that the governor's dog has obtained a restraining order.
And, lest we forget, Nevada's most popular Republican, Sen. John Ensign, shook the party faithful by admitting to a nine-month roll in the hay with the wife of his good friend.
Nope, I don't think I could have picked a worse time to go Republican. However, because KXNT-AM radio's Alan Stock revealed my party switch last week, I feel the need to explain.
First, I'm not trying to time anything. Enough was enough. Could stand no more. So, when it came time to renew my driver's license on June 9, I also gave the Democratic Party the pink slip.
I pushed the DMV clerk the paperwork. She shoved it back and said I didn't have to fill out that form if my address remained the same.
"No, I want to change party affiliation."
"Oh," she said. "Had enough of the president, have we?"
"Up to here. I quit."
[as long as we tolerate the 'party' system] Republicans offer our only hope in slowing the Obama "change" juggernaut before the America of unbridled optimism and opportunity goes the way of the buffalo. I don't want my great-grandchildren growing up in cradle-to-grave government care, where only the privileged few may afford a car, or own a home, or get non-rationed health care.
The only institution positioned to stop the progression of the Obama welfare state is the Republican Party, coupled with independent-minded Americans like me.
Second, the popular myth that the Democratic Party is the party of tolerance and big-tent ideas is spectacularly false.
A fiscal conservative such as myself is treated by Obamaniacs like a ringing cell phone in church. "Shhhh!" they say. The only debate among Democrats is how fast and how deeply to run up the national debt. Any Democrat who questions deficit spending or a limit to federal power is simply not invited to the party.
For that reason and many more, I switched. Democrats are probably happy as hell to see me go. And for all I know, Republicans may be equally unhappy to see me coming.
But at least as a Republican, I'm respectfully part of the discussion.
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