Friday, May 14, 2010
Greeks march against austerity, set new strike
Subject: txt intl mny crpt - sclm -
Athens - About 2,000 Greeks marched to parliament on Wednesday to protest against spending cuts and tax hikes, as the debt-choked country received a first instalment of 5.5 billion euros as part of an EU-IMF "pain-for-gain" deal. Marching workers carried banners reading ''Cancel the IMF-EU deal now!'' and ''If we don't react we will starve.'' Public and private sector unions said they would stage a 24-hour nationwide strike on May 20 to step up pressure on the government.
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Guess What, America, You're Bailing Out Banks All Over the World!
Subject: txt intl mny sclm bdd -
To say that Americans weren't thrilled by the original government bailout of American financial institutions is an understatement. But if they were upset with that plan, imagine how furious they’re going to be when they start to understand that the Obama administration has begun bailing out banks from Japan, Canada and Europe. There are two ways that the U.S. is bailing out these countries' banks. First, the Federal Reserve is providing banks around the world with loans at below market interest rates.
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Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., introduces bill to prevent taxpayer bailout of the Euro
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''The American people are fed up with taxpayer-funded bailouts and deserve to know we are bailing out Greece and possibly other European countries. If the Obama Administration has its way, the U.S. will contribute to a nearly trillion dollar bailout of European countries with economic crises that are a direct result of wasteful government spending.''
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Professor chooses professor
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Obama graduated from Harvard Law School in 1991; Kagan in 1986. Kagan joined the faculty at the University of Chicago Law School in 1991 and became a full professor there in 1995. Obama taught constitutional law there from 1992 to 2004.
They have other things in common. Unusually for top law students who go on to teach law, they have published little: Kagan has written just five law review articles; Obama none. Nor, from all the accounts, has either of them expressed, even in conversation, opinions on many burning legal issues.
Reporters have unearthed some of their writings in college that sound sophomorically left-wing -- but, hey, they were sophomores then, and you won't find many such utterances later in their careers. Obama's autobiographies carefully avoid statements that might have proved politically toxic later.
This stealth strategy has certainly paid off: Obama is president, and Kagan is solicitor general and looks like a cinch to be confirmed for the Supreme Court.
But behind their careful avoidance of incendiary issue positions one can find evidence that both the appointer and the appointee share the standpoint of the professor. They bring to public service attitudes that are commonplace in the faculty lounge but not nearly so common in the rest of America...
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Kagan ‘Decided Not to Follow the Law’ When She Barred JAG Recruiters
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A former Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer, who prosecuted terrorists in front of military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, says Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan displayed poor judgment as dean of Harvard Law School. “
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Kagan for ‘Redistribution of Speech’ (Diversity Czar Lloyd Must be Thrilled)
Subject: txt lgl lbrty - SCOTUS Nominee
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan wrote in a 1996 article entitled "Private Speech, Public Purpose: The Role of Governmental Motive in First Amendment Doctrine" that "redistribution of speech" is not "itself an illegitimate end" for government.
As first reported by Matt Cover at the Media Research Center's news wing CNSNews.com, Kagan offers up this gem:
"If there is an ‘overabundance' of an idea in the absence of direct governmental action -- which there well might be when compared with some ideal state of public debate -- then action disfavoring that idea might ‘un-skew,' rather than skew, public discourse."
So if talk radio suffers from an "overabundance" of conservative voices, government action to "un-skew" this particular public discourse is just fine by her.
Hello so-called "Fairness" Doctrine. Not to mention Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Diversity Czar Mark Lloyd's liberally "skewed" interpretations of FCC "media diversity" and "localism" rules.
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White House slashes NY anti-terrorism funds
amid buzz Obama will meet with NYPD Times Square heroes
WASHINGTON - Eleven days after the botched plot to bomb Times Square, the Obama administration on Wednesday slashed some $53 million from the city's terror-fighting budget.
"For the administration to announce these cuts two weeks after the attempted Times Square bombing shows they just don't get it and are not doing right by New York City,"fumed Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
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Obama to Abbas: I am committed to creation of Palestinian state
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Obama on Tuesday pledged commitment to the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state and vowed to hold Israel accountable for actions that ''undermine trust'' during U.S.-mediated talks launched this week. Obama expressed during the conversation his appreciation for Abbas' recent gesture by appearing on Israeli television...
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Annals of a 91-Year-Old 'Peace Process'
Subject: txt israel - hstry -
The Palestinian lack of interest in the latest version of the “peace process” is palpable. A year ago, Israel announced that it wanted immediate negotiations without preconditions; formally affirmed a two-state solution as the goal of the negotiations; and took an unprecedented step to help them start. The Palestinians refused to commence negotiations intended to give them a state, still refuse to attend them in person, and are willing only to let the Obama administration negotiate for them. They have discovered that saying “no we can’t” produces not criticism of them but pressure on Israel to make more concessions, followed by congratulations to the Palestinians.
The slight to Israel is obvious, but there is an additional reason for the ostentatious treatment of Abbas. The dirty little secret of the “peace process” is that the U.S. wants a Palestinian state more than the Palestinians do, for reasons discussed in Walter Russell Mead’s perceptive post, “The Middle East Peace Industry” — worth reading in its entirety (but only with Nadine’s important comment on it). Mead notes that the “Middle East peace process is the longest running piece of diplomatic theater on the world stage,” dating from 1919 (with a two-state solution proposed by the Jews and rejected by the Arabs), with repeated failures caused by the continuing Arab goal of one state rather than two.
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Jewish Donors Outraged by 'Sociopath' Obama
Subject: txt israel - J, Says Columnist
If senior journalist David Goldman is right, the correct word for describing the way a growing number of US Jews feel about President Barack Obama is not 'anger' but 'rage' – white-hot rage, at that, and a conviction that they have been swindled. Goldman, Senior Editor of First Things magazine and 'Spengler' columnist for Asia Times Online, spoke last week at a convention on intellectuals and terror at Ariel University in Samaria. In his lecture, he quoted a top Jewish campaign donor who used the word 'sociopath' to describe Obama.
[Duped is more accurate - all the signs they needed were available, but liberals and delusions - well, you know.]
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Cowards: After Muslim attack, Swedish university will no longer host Mohammed cartoonist
Subject: txt islm -
A few days ago, Lars Vilks, the Swedish cartoonist who drew Mohammed as a dog, was attacked by someone shouting Allahu Akbar! while giving a lecture on free speech at a Swedish university.
Well, now university officials have responded by announcing they probably won’t invite Vilks back: For Mr. Vilks, who has booby-trapped his own house and says he sleeps with an ax beside his bed, the right to unfettered speech – regardless of whether it offends Muslims – is a point of principle. '
'This must be carried through. You cannot allow it to be stopped''
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FLASHBACK >
UN sanctions 'not worth a cent' says Iran's president
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Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dismissed the threat of new international sanctions, saying any UN resolution punishing Iran for its refusal to stop uranium enrichment ''won't be worth a cent''. The United States says it and its allies plan to put forward a Security Council resolution in the next few weeks imposing a fourth round of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme. Iran has been pushing council members to try to water down support.
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Panel approves Liu nomination
Subject: txt lgl bdd action libs -
Goodwin Liu, one of President Barack Obama's most controversial lower court nominees, cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on a partisan 12-7 vote Thursday, signaling a fierce floor fight over one of the more liberal judicial picks of the Obama presidency. Republicans used the hearing to attack both Liu and Obama Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, as ranking Republican Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) criticized both Liu’s lack of previous judicial experience as well as Kagan’s.
[One after another.]
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FLASHBACK >
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Creepy Pennsylvania Tax Agency Ad Goes Big Brother
Subject: txt lbrty bbro - bdd -
A threatening TV commercial appearing in Pennsylvania has residents of the state spooked by its ''Orwellian'' overtones, and critics are calling it a government attempt to scare delinquent citizens into paying back taxes. In the 30-second ad, ominous mechanical sounds whir in the background as a satellite camera zooms in through the clouds and locks onto an average Pennsylvania home. (Snip) The satellite snares its target — Tom's house — and the screen flashes another menacing line as the ad peters out: FIND US BEFORE WE FIND YOU...
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Economists: The stimulus didn't help
"The recovery is picking up steam as employers boost payrolls, but economists think the government's stimulus package and jobs bill had little to do with the rebound, according to a survey released Monday."
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A RECOVERY ONLY WASHINGTON COULD LOVE
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The more the Obama agenda is implemented, the slower our economic recovery will be, says Conn Carroll, the assistant director for the Heritage Foundation's Strategic Communications...
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EXTEND THE BUSH TAX CUTS
Subject: txt tax - oldmny -
Deficits are a real problem but the recovery is still too fragile to choke off growth with higher taxes, says Martin Feldstein, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Ronald Reagan and a professor at Harvard University...
A tax increase next year could easily derail the current fragile expansion. The economic upturn since last summer has been nurtured by Federal Reserve credit like the mortgage purchase program and by the fiscal incentives such as the tax credits for car buyers and first-time home buyers that are now coming to an end, says Feldstein:
- Eighty percent of the latest quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) increase consisted of a rise in consumer spending that was the result of an unrepeatable sharp drop in the saving rate.
- Without that decline in the saving rate, the first-quarter annual GDP growth rate would have been less than 1 percent.
- A 2011 tax increase that reduces economic incentives and household spending would raise the risk of a new economic downturn.
Raising their tax rates would be a substantial blow to overall spending and therefore to GDP growth. Small business investment and hiring would also be adversely affected because half of all profits, including most of small business income, is taxed at personal rates rather than at the corporate rate, says Feldstein.
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One in seven schoolchildren don't speak English as a first language
Subject: txt edu child bdd vals -
Nearly one in seven school children do not speak English as their first language, official figures released today show. Including state primary, secondary and special schools in England, 14 per cent of pupils speak another language at home, according to the Department for Education. The data reveals a picture of a changing Britain and shows the challenge faced by many schools where they have to integrate children who lack a command of English.
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87% Say English Should Be U.S. Official Language
Subject: txt gdd vals othr poll -
Americans continue to overwhelmingly believe that English should be the official language of the United States and reject by sizable margins the idea that such a move is racist or a violation of free speech.
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Sen. Boxer calls Arizona immigration law 'hurtful'
Subject: txt cali immig 2010 - 
The Los Angeles City Council became the largest city to date to boycott Arizona over the state’s newly passed immigration law known as SB 1070. The City Council voted 13 -1 to ban the city of Los Angeles from doing business with Arizona unless the legislation is repealed. The boycott means almost $8 million in contracts will be terminated. “I definitely support the City Council taking a stand on this one way or the other, and I think its hurtful to a lot of people…this law,” said Senator Barbara Boxer, California Democrat. "A lot of my cities are doing it,
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ARIZONA LAW IS HATED BECAUSE IT COULD BE EFFECTIVE
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There are 6,000 federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tasked with restoring the rule of law in a country that already contains between 12 and 20 million immigration law-breakers, says Heather Mac Donald, a contributing editor at City Journal and a co-author of "The Immigration Solution"...
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Poll: Americans back Arizona's illegal immigrants law
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A strong majority of Americans support Arizona's controversial new immigration law and would back similar laws in their own states, a new McClatchy-Ipsos poll found. Sixty-one percent of Americans — and 64 percent of registered voters — said they favored the law in a survey of 1,016 adults conducted May 6-9. Strikingly, nearly half of Democrats like the law, under which local law enforcement officers are tasked with verifying people's immigration status if they suspect them of being in the country illegally...
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Newspapers Ignore or Downplay Pew Poll Showing Americans Largely Approve of Arizona Law
Subject: txt gdd immig msm - 
Yesterday the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press released a poll finding "Broad Approval For New Arizona Immigration Law." While Republicans were the most supportive, a full 45 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of independents polled supported the law. When broken down to the particulars of the bill, there was even broader support. For example, 65 percent of Democrats and and 73 percent of independents favored
"requiring people to produce documents verifying legal status," the portion of the bill that has been derided as allowing the police to demand, "your papers please!"
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Kerry's Powerless America Act
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Regulations: Call it cap-and-trade or bait-and-switch, but John Kerry and Joe Lieberman continue to tilt at windmills with a bill to restrain energy growth in the name of saving the planet. The bill introduced Wednesday and sponsored by the two senators is called the American Power Act, an Orwellian phrase if ever there was one. Like President Obama's offshore drilling program, for every "incentive" there is a restriction...
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The US Government is Pushing Climate Change like a Drug
Subject: txt grn bbro - bdd -
We all know that heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamines are addictive drugs that do a great deal of harm to those addicted to them, but the U.S. government has been pushing global warming, now called climate change, to addict Americans to the belief that the Earth is threatened when it is not. Climate change is what has been going on for the 4.5 billion of years of Earth’s existence.
It has nothing to do with human behavior, energy use, or carbon dioxide, the bogyman of greenhouse gases...
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The Federal Fat Police: Bill Would Require Government to Track Body Mass of American Children
A bill introduced this month in Congress would put the federal and state governments in the business of tracking how fat, or skinny, American children are. The will would require states that receive federal dollars for health programs [just the 100% forced to do so under Obamacare] to track the Body Mass Index of children ages 2 through 18 annually through records collected by their health care providers.
The legislation also requires the states to pass that data on to the Department of Health and Human Services for' analysis'...
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MOST TRUST PRIVATE SECTOR INITIATIVES MORE HELPFUL THAN GOVERNMENT
While politicians struggle against an anti-incumbent mood sweeping the country, a plurality of Americans are looking beyond the government to find solutions for the nation’s problems.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 44% believe volunteer activities and organizations are more likely than new government programs to bring about the change needed in the United States - 7 points more than feel the opposite.
Data released yesterday showed that voters overwhelmingly believe that, in terms of being a good citizen, volunteering for churches and community groups is more important than getting involved in politics and government.“Americans are looking for hope and change today just as much as they did during Election 2008,” said Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports. “Many, however, have come to believe that if we have to rely upon politicians for the change, there is no hope.”
Other recent polling has shown that just 21% of voters believe the government today has the consent of the governed.
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