« November 2009 | Main | January 2010 »
December 31, 2009
Happy New Year 2010
Wishing you all happiness, blessings and good health for the next year.
Thank you for being a part a very important part of my life!
Thank you for all your input, links, information and friendship!!
Thank you for being a part of Team Theodore!
((((hug))))
Wiild Thing ( Chrissie )
.
.
.
.
Guy goes into a bar, there's a robot bartender.
The robot says, "What will you have?" The guy says, "Martini." The robot brings back the best martini ever and says to the man, "What's your IQ?" The guy says, "168". The robot then proceeds to talk about physics, space exploration and medical technology.
The guy leaves, but he is curious, so he goes back into the bar. The robot bartender says," What will you have?" The guy says, "Martini". Again, the robot makes a great martini, gives it to the man and says, "What's your IQ?" The guy says, "100." The robot then starts to talk about NASCAR, Budweiser and John Deere tractors.
The guy leaves, but finds it very interesting, so he thinks he will try it one more time. He goes back into the bar. The robot says, "What will you have?" The guy says, "Martini", and the robot brings him another great martini. The robot then says, "What's your IQ?" The guy says, "Uh, about 50." The robot leans in real close and says, "So, you people still happy you voted for Obama?"
.
A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”
The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, “You’re in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.
“She rolled her eyes and said, “You must be a Conservative.”
“I am,” replied the man. “How did you know?”
“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help to me.”
The man smiled and responded, “You must be a Liberal.”
“I am,” replied the balloonist. “How did you know?”
“Well,” said the man, “you don’t know where you are or where you are going. You’ve risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You’re in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it’s my fault.”
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:55 PM | Comments (9)
Rush Limbaugh Hospitalized With Chest Pains and Now Resting! ~ Prayers For ElRushbo!
Rush Limbaugh Hospitalized With Chest Pains!
Paramedics responded to the call at 2:41 p.m. at the Kahala Hotel and Resort.
Limbaugh suffered from chest pains, sources said. Paramedics treated him and took him to Queen's Medical Center in serious condition.
He was seen golfing at Waialae Country Club earlier this week. The country club is next to the Kahala Hotel and Resort.
The radio show host had been in the islands during the holidays. Coincidentally, his visit comes at a time when two of the nation's most powerful Democrats, President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, are also staying in Hawaii.
This is from Rush's website:
ALERT: Rush was admitted to a Honolulu hospital today and is resting comfortably after suffering chest pains. Rush appreciates your prayers and well wishes. He will keep you updated via RushLimbaugh.com and on Thursday's radio program.
.
Wild Thing's comment..........
This was soo scary,I came online after midnight and saw the news. Nichiolas and I were really worried and prayed right away Rush would be OK.
Glad you are doing better now ElRushbo. We cannot do without you. You’re a national treasure.
Prayers for Rush’s quick recovery.
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 AM | Comments (9)
Candidates Face Ultimatum: Kill Obamacare, Or Else ...
Candidates face ultimatum: Kill Obamacare, or else ...
'Americans have to pull this weed out by its roots'
Tea-party leaders are delivering a bold ultimatum to all congressional candidates in 2010: Pledge to repeal the health-care reform bill in its entirety if it passes – or you will be booted from office.
FreedomWorks Press Secretary Adam Brandon told WND the message couldn't be any clearer. Asked whether he believes the tea party movement will seek to oust politicians who refuse to repeal the legislation, he emphatically declared, "Absolutely."
Max Pappas, vice president of FreedomWorks, echoed Brandon's statements in an interview with Gary Sargent, Washington blogger for the Plum Line, this week.
"This has an unusual ability to be repealed, and the public is on that side." he said. "The Republicans are going to have to prove that they are worthy of their votes."
Both Brandon and Pappas emphasized that Congress must try to repeal the whole bill if it passes.
Brandon said most people are opposed to the bill's requirement that citizens pay a fine if they don't maintain insurance for themselves and their families. Under the current bills, the government will also collect taxes for 10 years, but only pay out benefits for the last six years. As WND reported, majority Democrats in the U.S. Senate have inserted in the fine print a provision that it would take a supermajority of 67 votes in the Senate for future legislative bodies to even consider amendments to its provisions for "death panels."
Other serious concerns about the current legislation include possible health-care rationing, denial of treatment, substantial cost increases and stifling of medical innovation.
Also, the Senate bill provides that Medicare fees for doctors would be cut by 20 percent beginning in 2011, but the Heritage Foundation notes, "Nobody believes these cuts will be allowed to happen." If the cuts don't take place, it would result in an added $196 billion to the deficit in the first 10 years and $765 billion in the following one, according to Congressional Budget Office calculations.
FreedomWorks is partnering with the American Liberty Alliance and several other groups to launch a massive Tax Day tea party at the White House Ellipse on April 15, 2010.
"We're delivering this one right to the White House," Brandon said. "It could spill out over into the Washington Monument, so it'll be a hell of a visual."
Brandon said FreedomWorks has been told "legislative entrepreneurs" are already planning a Senate bill calling for repeal of the health-care legislation, should it pass.
"That means there will be something we can start to rally around in 2010," he said. "We're going to remind them every step of the way that this bill was a real stinker."
He said Democrats plan to tell the electorate this year: "We said we were going to do this, and we did it."
"They passed a terrible bill. Not only was it a terrible bill, but it was a disgusting process to watch," Brandon said. "It was almost like they were playing mafia with taxpayer dollars."
Wild Thing's comment............
The ENTIRE bill has to be put in the shredder. If any part is passed, even one sentence is passed, it will be be built upon in the future into another GIGANTIC entitlement program.
We’ve reached the point where our elected representatives vote however they damn please, whether it’s to satisfy the corrupt unions that told their members how to vote, criminal organizations like ACORN that stole enough votes for them to win, wealthy anti-American manipulators like George Soros who want to undermine and subvert this country, or simply to line their own pockets (and freezers) with ill-gotten cash. Supporting wrong-headed anti-business socialistic legislation like Obamacare is just one symptom of a much more serious disease. It is imperative that we reject those who care more about what their Party bosses or special interests think than the people who they are supposed to represent.
They must, once again, work for US!
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:50 AM | Comments (3)
The Wicked Witch Pelosi's Very Private Hawaii Vacation
Pelosi's very private Hawaii vacation
by Thomas Lifson
In stark contrast to Sarah Palin, whose Hawaii vacation was photographed and touted in the press, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is enjoying a very private luxurious time at the Four Seasons Hualalai resort on the Big Island. Andrew Walden, editor of Hawaii Free Press, reports:
Guarded by U.S. Capitol Police bolstered by officers on loan from the Hawaii County PD, Pelosi is enjoying what Hollywood Reporter calls: "...a picture-perfect stretch of beach on the Big Island's chic Kona Coast....a private Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course and Pahu'ia, an award-winning oceanfront restaurant, $40 million worth of enhancements...20 new suites and ... its lauded Hualalai Spa."
According to the Hualalai Spa website, Pelosi may, "Enjoy complimentary pre-treatment rituals, relaxing by a quiet stream in the open-air Waiea, or Water of Life, garden. Or savour the lap pool, whirlpools, saunas, steam rooms and cold plunges, all set amidst lush greenery. (Pelosi's) choice of skin-care and massage treatments may be enjoyed outdoors in our exotic new hales, secluded for privacy.... With the guidance of (her) spa therapist, (Pelosi may) choose from more than 20 local natural ingredients - from Hawaiian sea salt to crushed macadamia nuts - which are custom-blended to create unique personalized treatments."
It is not clear how Pelosi arrived on the Big Isle. Her controversial military transport is not immediately visible amidst the forest of private jets which now crowd Kona's Keahole Airport South Tarmac. Hawaii County is hard hit by shrinking tax receipts caused by the Obama recession, but Hawaii County Police Department spokesperson Chris Loos states that the department was able to aid Pelosi's security detail without canceling other scheduled enforcement activities. Loos did not provide an estimate of the expense incurred by the County PD.
Of course, Pelosi is a "progressive" who cares about the little guy, so no media figures think her luxury break is worth mentioning.
Pelosi enjoys privacy at Hualalai after Palin is hounded off Maui
by Andrew Walden
While President Barack Obama enjoys a high profile vacation on Oahu, “progressive” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is being allowed to stay out of the limelight while luxuriating at the Four Seasons Hualalai resort on the Big Island.
Guarded by US Capitol Police bolstered by officers on loan from the Hawaii County PD, Pelosi is enjoying what Hollywood Reporter calls: “...a picture-perfect stretch of beach on the Big Island’s chic Kona Coast....a private Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course and Pahu’ia, an award-winning oceanfront restaurant, $40 million worth of enhancements...20 new suites and ... its lauded Hualalai Spa.”
According to the Hualalai Spa website, Pelosi may, “Enjoy complimentary pre-treatment rituals, relaxing by a quiet stream in the open-air Waiea, or Water of Life, garden. Or savour the lap pool, whirlpools, saunas, steam rooms and cold plunges, all set amidst lush greenery. (Pelosi’s) choice of skin-care and massage treatments may be enjoyed outdoors in our exotic new hales, secluded for privacy.... With the guidance of (her) spa therapist, (Pelosi may) choose from more than 20 local natural ingredients – from Hawaiian sea salt to crushed macadamia nuts – which are custom-blended to create unique personalized treatments.”
It is not clear how Pelosi arrived on the Big Isle. Her controversial military transport is not immediately visible amidst the forest of private jets which now crowd Kona’s Keahole Airport South Tarmac.
Hawaii County is hard hit by shrinking tax receipts caused by the Obama recession, but Hawaii County Police department spokesperson Chris Loos states that the department was able to aid Pelosi’s security detail without canceling other scheduled enforcement activities. Loos did not provide an estimate of the expense incurred by the County PD.
A FOIA request by political watchdog group Judicial Watch last march exposed Pelosi treating the US Air Force “like her personal airline”. FOX News March 10 pointed out:
In one email (Pelosi) aide Kay King complained to the military that they had not made available any aircraft the House speaker wanted for Memorial Day recess.
“It is my understanding there are NO G5s available for the House during the Memorial Day recess. This is totally unacceptable ... The Speaker will want to know where the planes are,” King wrote.
The one-way flight from San Francisco to the Big Isle is 2400 miles, within the range of both the C-20 (Gulfstream III) and the C-37A (Gulfstream V) but only the C-37A could safely make the 4500 mile one-way trip from Washington, DC nonstop.
Akamai readers will of course remember how Pelosi’s Congress last fall berated Detroit auto executives for flying corporate jets from Detroit to Washington to appear before Congress requesting Federal bailouts. The big three execs were forced to return to Washington a week later by car in order to get a hearing. Not Pelosi or her ultra-rich “in-group”.
Pelosi’s visit has not been noted in local or national media. This contrasts strikingly to the treatment meted out to another high profile Hawaii vacationer—Sarah Palin.
While attempting to relax at a resort on Maui December 16 and 17, Palin, husband Todd and their children found themselves hounded by paparazzi hungry for photo bounties offered by the pro-Obama Hollywood gossip website TMZ.com.
Finally they were forced to leave. Palin told Politico:
“Todd and I have since cut our vacation short because the incognito attempts didn’t work and fellow vacationers were bothered for the two days we spent in the sun.” Palin was obligated to issue an apology for wearing a visor with the McCain campaign logo covered. Said Palin: “So much for going incognito.”
The contrast between the reverential privacy granted Pelosi and the petty harassment aimed at both Palin and the Detroit auto execs is an element of the ongoing decades-long campaign of politically correct thought reform aimed at American elites.
.
Wild Thing's comment........
Pelosi Speaker of the House of Looters.
So Pelosi vacations on our dime and on our military plane.
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:47 AM | Comments (7)
Vice President Dick Cheney: Barack Obama 'trying to pretend'
Dick Cheney: Barack Obama 'trying to pretend'
Vice President Dick Cheney accused President Barack Obama on Tuesday of “trying to pretend we are not at war” with terrorists, pointing to the White House response to the attempted sky bombing as reflecting a pattern that includes banishing the term “war on terror” and attempting to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
" We are at war and when President Obama pretends we aren’t, it makes us less safe,” Cheney said in a statement to POLITICO. “Why doesn’t he want to admit we’re at war? It doesn’t fit with the view of the world he brought with him to the Oval Office. It doesn’t fit with what seems to be the goal of his presidency — social transformation — the restructuring of American society.”
Cheney was joining a chorus of Republicans who have criticized Obama following the Christmas Day attack, in which a Nigerian suspect is accused of trying to blow up a loaded airliner with a bomb stitched into his underwear
Rep. Peter King of New York, ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee and a member of the Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” show:
“I think that the administration has made a mistake by treating this terrorist as a common criminal, by putting him into the criminal-justice system. I wish they had put him into a military tribunal so we could get as much intelligence and information out of him as we could.”
Here is Cheney’s full statement:
"As I’ve watched the events of the last few days it is clear once again that President Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war. He seems to think if he has a low-key response to an attempt to blow up an airliner and kill hundreds of people, we won’t be at war. He seems to think if he gives terrorists the rights of Americans, lets them lawyer up and reads them their Miranda rights, we won’t be at war. He seems to think if we bring the mastermind of Sept. 11 to New York, give him a lawyer and trial in civilian court, we won’t be at war.
“He seems to think if he closes Guantanamo and releases the hard-core Al Qaeda-trained terrorists still there, we won’t be at war. He seems to think if he gets rid of the words, ‘war on terror,’ we won’t be at war. But we are at war and when President Obama pretends we aren’t, it makes us less safe. Why doesn’t he want to admit we’re at war? It doesn’t fit with the view of the world he brought with him to the Oval Office. It doesn’t fit with what seems to be the goal of his presidency — social transformation — the restructuring of American society. President Obama’s first object and his highest responsibility must be to defend us against an enemy that knows we are at war."
Wild Thing's comment...........
Cheney knew the truth about obamarama then and Cheney knows the truth about obamarama now.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:45 AM | Comments (6)
Top 10 Ridiculous Stimulus Programs
10. $427,824 Research Grant for Seniors citizens video games
9. Funding of a Dartmouth College study involving “sexual arousal in anesthetized female rats” ($9,870).
8. Funding of a $168,300 SBA loan to the Escape Massage parlor in Midlothian, VA.
7. Funding a $447,492 Univ. of North Carolina study on the development and use of “African American English” amongst 70 adolescents.
6. $10,346 for a heating and cooling company to provide “escort services” for other companies performing a laser scanning survey at a courthouse in Honolulu, Hawaii.
5. An academic study comparing outcomes of the concurrent and separate use of malt liquor and marijuana ($389,357).
4. A $225,000 study at Ohio State University on the relative and combined impacts of air pollution and a high fat diet on obesity development.
3. A $712,883 research grant to develop “machine-generated humor“. Project will design artificially intelligent “comedic performance agents”, and will “deploy them both on and off-line for the enjoyment and illumination of everyday citizens”.
2. A $54 million project to relocate one bridge for the Napa Valley Wine Train (!) in order to mitigate the possible impact of a “100 year storm event”.
1. $9.3 million to fund the design and development of a “coordinated colony of robotic bees“!
H/T Verum Serum
On the basis that they have created jobs, let me add that a grand total of 19.79 jobs were reported to have been created as a result of this spending. That’s 19.79 jobs for $65.7 million in federal spending, or roughly $3.3 million per job. This calculation comes from the job totals reported to Recovery.gov by the recipients, although it does not include any possible jobs created from the SBA loan to the massage parlor (apparently SBA loan recipients aren’t required to report this). It also includes 2 jobs which were reported as having been created for the “escort” boondoggle to Hawaii, which were apparently generated by a grant of only $10K.
.
Wild Thing's comment.........
White House projections in February claimed the $789 billion in spending would "create or save 3.5 million jobs over the next two years" and that over 90 percent of those jobs would be in the private sector. We knew that was BS back then and it still is.
Obama is just buying votes.
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:40 AM | Comments (4)
December 30, 2009
A Legend Among Legends In Special Forces Retired Army Colonel Robert L. Howard Most Highly Decorated Hero Passes Away
He served with 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam-Studies and Observation Group.
Col. Robert L. Howard, Retired US Army, 70, of Waco and formerly of San Antonio, and who at the time of his death was the most decorated American soldier, passed away Wednesday, December 23, 2009 in Waco.
.
Full military honors are pending and will be held at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., and will be announced by OakCrest Funeral Home of Waco. His flag draped casket will be in state from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, December 30 and Thursday, December 31 at the funeral home.
Col. Howard grew up in Opelika, Alabama and enlisted in the US Army in 1956 at the age of 17. He retired as a full Colonel in 1992 after 36 years of service.
During Vietnam, he served in the US Army Special Forces (Green Berets) and spent most of his five tours in the super-secret MACV-SOG.
Col. Howard was nominated three times for the Medal of Honor, his first nomination being downgraded to the DSC.
His second and third nominations were simultaneous for two separate actions and the Medal of Honor was awarded for the first of them and was presented to him by President Richard M. Nixon at the White House in 1971.
The other nomination was downgraded to the Silver Star.
Col. Howard was wounded 14 times in 54 months of combat duty in Vietnam and was awarded 8 Purple Hearts.
Col. Howard is survived by his children, Denicia Howard of Florida, Melissa Gentsch and husband, Asst. Chief of Police Frank Gentsch of Waco, Rosslyn Howard of California and Robert Howard, Jr. and wife, Tori of California; and his grandchildren, Victoria Batey and husband, Luke of Denton, Holley Gentsch of Waco, Trey Howard of California, Isabella Gentsch of Waco and George Harris of Florida.
Robert L. Howard, one of America's most decorated soldiers. He served five tours in Vietnam and is the only soldier in our nation's history to be nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor three times for three separate actions within a thirteen month period. Although it can only be awarded once to an individual, men who served with him said he deserved all three. He received a direct appointment from Master Sergeant to 1st Lieutenant in 1969, and was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Richard M. Nixon at the White House in 1971. His other awards for valor include the Distinguished Service Cross - our nation's second highest award, the Silver Star - the third highest award, and numerous lesser decorations including eight Purple Hearts. He received his decorations for valor for actions while serving as an NCO (Sergeant First Class).
Robert L. Howard grew up in Opelika, Alabama and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1956 at age seventeen. He retired as a full Colonel in 1992 after 36 years service. During Vietnam, he served in the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) and spent most of his five tours in the super-secret MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observations Group) also known as Special Operations Group, which ran classified cross-border operations into Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam. These men carried out some of the most daring and dangerous missions ever conducted by the U.S. military. The understrength sixty-man recon company at Kontum in which he served was the Vietnam War's most highly decorated unit of its size with five Medals of Honor. It was for his actions while serving on a mission to rescue a fellow soldier in Cambodia, that he was submitted for the Medal of Honor the third time for his extraordinary heroism.
Robert L. Howard is said to be our nation's most decorated soldier from the Vietnam War. He was the last Vietnam Special Forces Medal of Honor recipient still on active duty when he retired on Sept. 29, 1992. His story is told in John Plaster's excellent book, SOG The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam.
It is important for future generations that we remember our military heroes and the great sacrifices they have made for us in the name of Freedom.
.
Texas Governor Rick Perry issued a statement late Wednesday afternoon in which he said Howard “was the bravest soldier I ever met.”
“His unshakeable commitment to freedom, displayed in countless episodes of battlefield gallantry, lives on in the actions of our military men and women who continue to serve in hostile conditions overseas,” he said.
.
MACV SOG FOB2 CCC - Awards & Decorations formation Dec-Feb 1967-68 - LTC Roy Bahr is presenting LT Ward the CIB, SFC Bob Howard is on left side of photo - 1st man facing left in formation. (Photo courtesy Jim Ringland)
In Vietnam, he served in the U.S. Army Special Forces and spent most of his five tours in the secret Military Assistance Command, Vietnam-Studies and Observation Group, or MACV-SOG, which was an unconventional force whose members were assigned to deep-penetration reconnaissance and interdiction missions.
As a staff sergeant of the highly-classified Military Assistance Command, Vietnam - Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG), Howard was recommended for the Medal of Honor on three separate occasions for three individual actions during thirteen months spanning 1967-1968. The first two nominations were downgraded to the award of the Distinguished Service Cross due to the covert nature of the operations in which Howard participated. As a Sergeant First Class of the same organization, he risked his life during a rescue mission in Cambodia on December 30, 1968, while second in command of a platoon-sized Hornet force that was searching for missing American soldier Robert Scherdin, and was finally awarded the Medal of Honor.
While leading a covert SOG platoon-sized mission in southeastern Laos on November 16, 1967, Sergeant First Class Howard carried out actions that led to his being recommended for his nation’s highest honor. While the main body destroyed an enemy cache, Howard’s team came upon four North Vietnamese Army soldiers, whom he shot. The team was then pinned down by heavy machine gun fire. Howard first eliminated a sniper and then charged the machine gun position, killing its occupants. When a second machine gun opened up, he crawled forward to within point-blank range and threw a hand grenade, disabling that gun.
When more of the North Vietnamese took over the same gun, Howard stood in the open and fired a light anti-tank weapon, knocking it out once again. The team was then successfully extracted by helicopter. Although recommended for the Medal of Honor, Howard’s award was downgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross. This would be the first of three recommendations within 13 months for the Medal of Honor for Robert Howard.
In mid-November Howard accompanied an FOB-2 Hatchet Platoon into Laos. After four days in the area, on November 19, 1968, the force was ambushed by Vietnamese troops, including a Soviet-built PT-76 tank. Braving intense fire, Howard crept forward and knocked out the PT-76 with an anti-tank rocket. After a medivac helicopter was shot down, Howard, already wounded, charged forward 300 yards through North Vietnamese fire to lead the two pilots and a wounded door gunner to safety. He was again wounded, this time by 14 pieces of shrapnel, but all that this seemed to do was aggravate him.
He charged the Vietnamese, killed two and dragged back a third as a prisoner. North Vietnamese anti-aircraft fire halted the extraction of the platoon until the following morning, when Howard, already perforated multiple times, moved forward and silenced a 37 mm anti-aircraft gun, allowing the extraction to be completed. For the second time, Howard was recommended for the Medal of Honor, but his award was again downgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross.
This series of events illustrates the difficulties faced when special operations personnel exhibited extraordinary bravery in denied areas. Recommendations for decorations always stipulated the location and circumstances of the action, and since the award of such a high decoration became public knowledge, the citation would have to be changed to place the action within territorial South Vietnam. The U.S. Congress and President were loath to create any sense of falsehood about the actions of the nation’s most highly decorated military personnel, so, in many instances, awards were downgraded to keep the recipient out of the limelight.
On December 30, 1968 Howard was serving as a member of a 40-man Bright Light rescue mission into northeastern Cambodia. The unit was in search of MACSOG Private First Class Robert Scherdin, who had been separated from his recon team. Bypassing a North Vietnamese Army company, Howard was leading his men up a hill when he and Lieutenant Jim Jerson were wounded by a land mine. While administering first aid to Jerson, a bullet struck one of the wounded man’s ammunition pouches, detonating several magazines. His fingers in shreds, Howard was dragging Jerson off the hill when he was shot in the foot.
The remaining 20 men were organized by Howard, who administered first aid, directed their fire, and encouraged them to resist. After three and one-half hours under attack, Howard prepared for a fight to the death. The team was saved from that fate, however, when an emergency night extraction took them off without any further casualties. As badly wounded as he was, Howard was the last man to board a helicopter. After his third recommendation in 13 months, Robert Howard was finally awarded a well-deserved Medal of Honor.
Perhaps no man represented the quandary of the political and moral dilemma of the Vietnam War in the heart and mind of America better than Howard. He had become arguably the most highly decorated serviceman in American military history, yet few of his countrymen even knew who he was. Unlike Alvin York or Audie Murphy before him, Howard was not touted as a national hero by the media, he was given no ticker tape parade, and no Hollywood movie was made depicting his extraordinary exploits. Of course, none of this bothered the quiet, unassuming Howard. He remained in the Army and retired as a full Colonel, after 36 years of active service, in September 1992.
It is believed by some historians that Howard is the most highly-decorated living American soldier in history. His residence was in Texas and he spent much of his free time working with veterans at the time of his death. He also took periodic trips to Iraq to visit active duty troops.
.
SFC Robert Howard (at left) standing in front of a badly shot up huey - Dak To 1968
The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to
FIRST LIEUTENANT
ROBERT L. HOWARD
UNITED STATES ARMY
for service as set forth in the following CITATION:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. 1st Lt. Howard (then SFC), distinguished himself while serving as platoon sergeant of an American-Vietnamese platoon which was on a mission to rescue a missing American soldier in enemy controlled territory in the Republic of Vietnam.
The platoon had left its helicopter landing zone and was moving out on its mission when it was attacked by an estimated 2-company force. During the initial engagement, 1st Lt. Howard was wounded and his weapon destroyed by a grenade explosion. 1st Lt. Howard saw his platoon leader had been wounded seriously and was exposed to fire. Although unable to walk, and weaponless, 1st Lt. Howard unhesitatingly crawled through a hail of fire to retrieve his wounded leader. As 1st Lt. Howard was administering first aid and removing the officer's equipment, an enemy bullet struck 1 of the ammunition pouches on the lieutenant's belt, detonating several magazines of ammunition. 1st Lt. Howard momentarily sought cover and then realizing that he must rejoin the platoon, which had been disorganized by the enemy attack, he again began dragging the seriously wounded officer toward the platoon area.
Through his outstanding example of indomitable courage and bravery, 1st Lt. Howard was able to rally the platoon into an organized defense force. With complete disregard for his safety, 1st Lt. Howard crawled from position to position, administering first aid to the wounded, giving encouragement to the defenders and directing their fire on the encircling enemy. For 3 1/2 hours 1st Lt. Howard's small force and supporting aircraft successfully repulsed enemy attacks and finally were in sufficient control to permit the landing of rescue helicopters. 1st Lt. Howard personally supervised the loading of his men and did not leave the bullet-swept landing zone until all were aboard safely.
1st Lt. Howard's gallantry in action, his complete devotion to the welfare of his men at the risk of his life were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
.
SFC Robert Howard (front left) in Vietnam with some of the guys - MACVSOG (CCC). SGT Chuck Erickson (RT Colorado) is standing behind at far left. Erickson was later on the Son Tay Raid "Blueboy Element" chopper with Dick Meadows. (Photo courtesy John Plaster)
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918 (amended by act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Sergeant First Class Robert Lewis Howard (ASN: RA-14628152), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Command and Control (Central), 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces.
Sergeant First Class Howard distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 21 November 1967, as Special Forces Advisor to a joint American and Vietnamese reconnaissance patrol conducting a search mission near the Laotian border.
His patrol discovered a huge rice and ammunition cache surrounded by an enemy bunker complex. Sergeant Howard led a small team to provide security while the remainder of the unit began to destroy the stored supplies. His team encountered four North Vietnamese Army soldiers, and Sergeant Howard killed them with a fierce burst of rifle fire.
He and his men were immediately pinned down by a murderous curtain of fire which erupted from a nearby enemy machine gun position. With complete disregard for his safety, Sergeant Howard crawled toward the emplacement and killed a North Vietnamese sniper who was firing at him as he maneuvered. He then charged the bunker, eliminating its occupants with rifle fire. A second machine gun position unleashed a savage barrage.
Sergeant Howard moved his troops to a covered location and directed an air strike against the fortified bunker. While assessing the bomb damage, Sergeant Howard was fired upon by North Vietnamese soldiers in the bunker who had survived the blasts. Pinned down directly outside the strongpoint with a blazing machine gun barrel only six inches above his head, he threw a hand grenade into the aperture of the emplacement, killing the gunners and temporarily silencing the weapon. He then dashed to his team's location and secured a light anti-tank weapon. As the enemy machine gun resumed firing, Sergeant Howard stood up amid a withering hail of bullets, fired his weapon, and completely demolished the position.
His fearless and determined actions in close combat enabled the remainder of the patrol to destroy the enemy cache. Sergeant First Class Howard's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
Service: Army
Rank: Sergeant First Class
Headquarters, U.S. Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. 2018 (May 2, 1968)
.
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Sergeant First Class Robert Lewis Howard (ASN: RA-14628152), United States Army, for gallantry in action while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces.
Sergeant First Class Howard distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions from 12 to 20 November 1968, during an operation deep within enemy-held territory. As his platoon was being inserted into the area, it came under heavy fie from all directions.
Sergeant Howard leaped from his helicopter before it touched down and began to return fire, providing protection for his men while they dismounted and moved safely off the landing zone. Seeing two enemy soldiers in a wood line, he charged their position and killed them both. When the unit was attacked by a company-size force on the night of 16 November, he went to each platoon member, encouraging them and directing their fire while completely exposing himself to the communist barrage.
Two days later while Sergeant Howard was leading the point element, the platoon was ambushed by an estimated two North Vietnamese Army companies. He skillfully maneuvered his men so that the enemy was caught in a deadly crossfire and the ambush was broken.
The following day, Sergeant Howard had again taken the point element when he observed an estimated battalion-size ambush. Although wounded in the initial exchange of fire, he exposed himself to the aggressors to place effective fire on them and enable his platoon to take cover. Moving from position to position, he administered first aid to the wounded and set up a landing zone so that they could be evacuated.
As the first ambulance helicopter came in, it was struck by hostile machine gun fire and burst into flames. Sergeant Howard, although wounded a second time, ran one hundred and fifty meters to where the ship had crashed and rescued a trapped pilot from the blazing wreckage. Once the entire crew was free from the aircraft, he led them back to the platoon while providing covering fire.
Three hours later another helicopter succeeded in landing and the casualties were evacuated, but Sergeant Howard refused to leave. The next morning, he saw three North Vietnamese soldiers maneuvering towards his element and immediately opened fire, killing them.
Service: Army
Rank: Sergeant First Class
Headquarters, U.S. Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. 371 (February 3, 1969)
.
Awards and decorations
Medal of Honor
Distinguished Service Cross (with one oak leaf cluster)
Silver Star
Defense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit (with three oak leaf clusters)
Bronze Star (with three oak leaf clusters and "V" device)
Purple Heart (with a silver and two bronze oak leaf clusters)
Meritorious Service Medal (with two oak leaf clusters)
Air Medal (with "V" Device and numeral 3. One award for heroism and two for aerial achievement)
Joint Service Commendation
Army Commendation Medal (with "V" device and one each silver and bronze oak leaf clusters. 4 awards for valor and 3 for achievement)
Joint Service Achievement
Army Achievement
Good Conduct Medal, 4 Good Conduct Loops (4 awards)
National Defense Service Medal
Armed Forces Reserve Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
NCO Professional Development Ribbon with 2 device
Army Overseas Ribbon
Army Service Ribbon
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, w/3 Service stars (3 awards)
Army Presidential Unit Citation, 1st Oak Leaf Cluster
Presidential Unit Citation (United States) 2001, Studies and Observations Group
Navy Unit Commendation
Army Meritorious Unit Citation
Foreign decorations
Vietnam Campaign Medal with 60 device
Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Gold Star (Corps citation)
Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star (Division citation)
Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Bronze Star (Regiment or Brigade citation)
Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal 2nd Award
Vietnam Wound Medal
Vietnam Civil Actions Medal 2nd Award
Vietnam Cross of Gallantry Unit Citation with Palm, 1st Oak Leaf Cluster (Unit citation)
Republic of Korea Order of National Security Merit (Samil Medal)
Badges, qualifications and tabs
Ranger Tab
Special Forces Tab
Combat Infantryman Badge
Aircrew Badge
Master Parachutist Badge
Pathfinder Badge
Air Assault Badge
Expert Infantryman's Badge
Vietnamese Ranger Badge
Vietnamese Master Parachute Badge
Thai Master Parachute Wings
Korean Master Parachute Badge
Thai Balloonist Badge
French Parachutist Badge
.
"I spent 37 years in the military, Korea and Vietnam. I've been fighting a war all my life," he said. "I'm fortunate to have served with Americans like you. In your heart, you love why you wear that uniform."
He also had advice for some of today's Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines during a small meet and greet session held in the chapel Saturday.
"Do the job the best you can and don't ask for help if you don't plan to use the help," Colonel Howard said.
Medal of Honor recipient retired Army Col. Robert L. Howard visits with Soilders March 15, 2009 who are transiting through Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan.
Soldiers of the Army Special Forces Command, 5th Special Forces Group, pose for a photograph with Congressional Medal of Honor recipients at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar, April 7, 2009.
.
Wild Thing's comment...........
It has always been an honor for me to get to know our Veterans and today to be able to post about Col. Robert L. Howard is also truly such an honor. I never met him and had never heard of him until Tom sent me this. Our country has been so blessed to have such men in our midst.
Rest in peace Col. Robert L. Howard and thank you.
....Thank you Tom for sending this to me.
Tom
US Army Aviation
Vietnam 1966-68
US Army Special Forces
1970-72
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 AM | Comments (12)
Obama and His Administration Tip Off Al-Qaeda in Yemen
Officials: U.S., Yemen reviewing targets for possible strike
By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent
Washington
The U.S. and Yemen are now looking at fresh targets in Yemen for a potential retaliation strike, two senior U.S. officials told CNN Tuesday, in the aftermath of the botched Christmas Day attack on an airliner that al Qaeda in Yemen claims it organized.
The officials asked not to be not be identified because of the sensitive nature of the information. They both stressed the effort is aimed at being ready with options for the White House if President Obama orders a retaliatory strike. The effort is to see whether targets can be specifically linked to the airliner incident and its planning.
U.S. special operations forces and intelligence agencies, and their Yemeni counterparts, are working to identify potential al Qaeda targets in Yemen, one of the officials said. This is part of a new classified agreement with the Yemeni government that the two countries will work together and that the U.S. will remain publicly silent on its role in providing intelligence and weapons to conduct strikes.
Awlaki personally blessed Detroit attack
Anwar al-Awlaki, the same Muslim imam suspected of radicalizing the Fort Hood shooting suspect, blessed the Detroit undie bomber’s mission.
The Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner had his suicide mission personally blessed in Yemen by Anwar al-Awlaki, the same Muslim imam suspected of radicalizing the Fort Hood shooting suspect, a U.S. intelligence source has told The Washington Times.
The intelligence official, who is familiar with the FBI's interrogation of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, said the bombing suspect has boasted of his jihad training during interrogation by the FBI and has said it included final exhortations by Mr. al-Awlaki.
"It was Awlaki who indoctrinated him," the official said. "He was told, 'You are going to be the tip of the spear of the Muslim nation.'"
Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, has said an al-Awlaki/Abdulmutallab link "appears" to be the case.
"It appears that just like with Major Hasan, Awlaki played a role in this," he told ABC News. "All roads point back to Yemen; they point back to Awlaki. I think it is a pretty deadly combination."
According to the U.S. intelligence official, Mr. Abdulmutallab cited Maj. Hasan in his interrogations, but only to praise his religion's diversity, as "an example of how Islam accepts even American soldiers."
.
Wild Thing's comment........
"The U.S. and Yemen are now looking at fresh targets in Yemen for a potential retaliation strike, two senior U.S. officials told CNN Tuesday, in the aftermath of the botched Christmas Day attack on an airliner that al Qaeda in Yemen claims it organized."
Obama telegraphing his buddies. The Obama administration is giving a heads up to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula through CNN. Maybe Obama is going to bomb asprin factories? Heads up to his mujahideen brothers. “Psst, here we come guys!”
I LOVED this....."“When I take action, I’m not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It’s going to be decisive.”- President Bush
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:50 AM | Comments (9)
A Siagon,Vietnam Christmas
Hình mới chụp cảnh Saigon đón Noel
Saigon Center mail,au coin Pasteur et Le Loi
Nguyen Hue boulevard
Tax shopping mall
Tu Do bld.
TU DO bld.
Coin Le Loi et Tu Do bld.
Le fameux café GRIVRAL
Hotel de Ville
Coin Nguyen Hue et Le Loi
.
Wild Thing's comment.............
What a difference these photos are.
....Thank you Tom for sending this to me.
Tom
US Army Aviation
Vietnam 1966-68
US Army Special Forces
1970-72
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:49 AM | Comments (7)
Obama Orders Creation of Declassification Center
Obama orders creation of declassification center
Obama created by executive order Tuesday a National Declassification Center to oversee efforts to make once-secret government documents public.
The order comes as part of Obama's promise to push government to err on the side of disclosure as it tackles the need to keep certain information from the public.
In a post on the White House blog, William H. Leary, the senior director of records and access management at the National Security Council, writes that the effort is aimed at shifting the burden of defending secrecy to the government.
"While the Government must be able to prevent the public disclosure of information that would compromise the national security, a democratic government accountable to the people must be as transparent as possible and must not withhold information for self-serving reasons or simply to avoid embarrassment," Leary wrote.
As a candidate, Obama promised to run the most open and transparent administration ever. He has released White House visitor log data for the first time, though only months after the visits. But his decision not to release some information about detainee torture and his acceptance of closed-door negotations on the health care bill in Congress have brought criticism from good-government groups.
In the executive order, Obama instructs the government not to keep secrets forever, eliminates the ability of intelligence officials to veto declassification decisions, and requires agencies to conduct reviews of their classification procedures.
Wild Thing's comment........
This is absolutely treasonous. You never err on the side of disclosure. You always, always, always err on the side of caution. This is national security, not a Sunday pick-up game in the park.
I am truly left to believe that they want our enemies to intentionally exploit our vulnerabilities. This Center can serve no good purpose in time of War. Now you will have Polticial Witch Hunters demanding disclosure of once classified information that has kept this nation safe. We have come full circle this is just one more step to ensuring that the Cloward Piven Manufactured Crisis and the fall of Capitalism can be pulled off by these treasonous Socialists.
Still waiting for Barack Hussein Obama’s long form birth certificate to be declassified. There is some interesting language in section 1.7;
Sec. 1.7. Classification Prohibitions and Limitations.
(a) In no case shall information be classified, continue to be maintained as classified, or fail to be declassified in order to:
(1) conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error;
(2) prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency;
So when will his birth certificate be released now that it cannot be classified top secret or secret?
In the executive order, Obama instructs the government not to keep secrets forever, eliminates the ability of intelligence officials to veto declassification decisions, and requires agencies to conduct reviews of their classification procedures.
Just in time for KSM to use in his trial.
It only gets worse........Putin asks for US Missile Defense Data for entire article
December 29, 2009
MOSCOW - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia wants the U.S. to share detailed data about its planned missile shield under a new arms control treaty, signaling potential new difficulties in the ongoing negotiations between Moscow and Washington. "
Putin's televised remarks set a defiant tone as negotiators try to hammer out a successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that expired on Dec. 5. The two countries had hoped to reach a deal before the end of the year, but problems persist.
One more thing, he better know we don't give up and this BS he is doing can work BOTH ways FREAK Obama! Listen UP! We all look forward to seeing the following records or an explanation of why national security would be compromised by their release. But the truth is we have a better chance of seeing the declassification of aliens located at S4, Area 51.
Obamas’ hidden records: Why are these off limits?
1 Certified copy of original birth certificate
2 Columbia University transcripts
3 Columbia thesis paper
4 Campaign donor analysis requested by 7 major watchdog groups
5 Harvard University transcripts
6 Illinois State Senate records
7 Illinois State Senate schedule
8 Law practice client list and billing records/summary
9 Locations and names of all half-siblings and step-mother
10 Medical records (only the one page summary released so far)
11 Occidental College Transcripts
12 Parent’s marriage Certificate
13 Record of baptism
14 Selective Service registration records
15 Schedules for trips outside of the United States before 2007
16 Passport records for all passports
17 Scholarly articles
18 SAT and LSAT test scores
19 Access to his grandmother in Kenya
20 List of all campaign workers that are lobbyists
21 Punahou grade school records
22 Noelani Kindergarten records are oddly missing from the the State of Hawaii Department of Education.
23 Page 11 of Stanley Ann Dunham's divorce decree.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:48 AM | Comments (4)
"Why is this clown in charge of our security? "...by Clifton B.
Why is this clown in charge of our security?
Clifton B.
On April 14, 2009, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chief Janet Napolitano released what has to be taken as written proof of her complete incompetence. The Assesment, titled "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment", had nothing to do with her job (keeping us safe) and everything to do with political hackery! Basically the "assessment" tries to define mainstream conservatives as rightwing extremists.
Check out this statement:
(U) Historical Presidential Election
(U//LES)
Rightwing extremists are harnessing this historical election as a recruitment tool. Many rightwing extremists are antagonistic toward the new presidential administration and its perceived stance on a range of issues, including immigration and citizenship, the expansion of social programs to minorities, and restrictions on firearms ownership and use. Rightwing extremists are increasingly galvanized by these concerns and leverage them as drivers for recruitment. From the 2008 election time frame to the present, rightwing extremists have capitalized on related racial and political prejudices in expanded propaganda campaigns, thereby reaching out to wider audience of potential sympathizers.
So let me get this straight Janet: if one doesn't agree with the policies put forth by the Obama administration, and chooses to speak out with others who share such views, then one is labelled an extremist motivated by racism. Is that it Janet? Well then my dear, you are a first class clown!
The only reason for this joke of an assessment is politics. At the very least, the politics behind this assessment is to discredit conservatism in the eyes of the gullible and ill informed. At the very worst, it serves as a warning to
conservatives that flexing its grassroots muscle will cause scrutiny by the DHS!
The opening paragraph of the DHS's Strategic Plan, states:
This Department of Homeland Security’s overriding and urgent mission is to lead the unified national effort to secure the country and preserve our freedoms. While the Department was created to secure our country against those who seek to disrupt the American way of life, our charter also includes preparation for and response to all hazards and disasters. The citizens of the United States must have the utmost confidence that the Department can execute both of these missions.
Sorry, but with Janet at the helm, the last thing I have is confidence that she can execute any of these missions. Since being appointed, Ms. Napolitano has dropped the word "terrorism" and has replaced it with the utterly foolish phrase "Man-Caused Disaster"! You are not dealing with serious minds when you get a completely stupid term like this. Did anyone over at DHS bother to realize that the term "Man-Caused Disaster" could just as easily apply to something like the Exxon Valdez oil spill? Does Napolitano not realize that there is a huge difference between something like the Exxon Valdez and 9/11?
If shilling for progressives with bogus assessments and creating meaningless euphemisms for terrorism were all we had to worry about that would be bad enough. But Ms. Napolitano's record on security as Governor of Arizona should give us all pause. Here is what the Tucson Citizen had to say about her when Obama chose her for DHS:
President-elect Barack Obama's choice for homeland security chief blames budget problems and the difficulty coordinating agencies in Arizona, where she has been governor, for failing to complete key provisions of a detailed security plan for her own state.
Gov. Janet Napolitano put together the plan six years ago to improve Arizona's ability to respond to emergencies, detect and prevent terrorist attacks and secure Arizona's border with Mexico. But some key provisions remain incomplete. Firefighters, paramedics and other first responders at disaster scenes still can't always communicate by radio without calling in special equipment, and criminal records still aren't fully available electronically.
Perhaps if Napolitano could have gotten her act together on security in her state, Phoenix would have become the second kidnap capital of the world!
Yes folks, all that chilling violence you just saw happened under the watchful gaze of our new DHS head. Whatever, Ms. Napolitano's priorities were as Governor of Arizona, security wasn't one of them. Yet, she was nominated and even more shockingly, confirmed.
This is where Republicans need to take some blame. Republicans should have rejected her nomination and loudly voiced her short comings and poor qualifications. Democrats sink nominations all the time for far less reasons. Sadly, too many Republicans fear the wrath of negative media attention (which they will get anyway) and thus go along with very bad ideas for the sake of appearing bipartisan or supporting the president in his early days. This is why a Tax Cheat is now head of the IRS and a clown is now in charge of the Department of Homeland Security.
Wild Thing's comment.......
Excellent write up about Janet Napolitano.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:47 AM | Comments (4)
"Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians" for 2009
Judicial Watch Announces List of Washington's "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians" for 2009
1. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT): This marks two years in a row for Senator Dodd, who made the 2008 "Ten Most Corrupt" list for his corrupt relationship with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and for accepting preferential treatment and loan terms from Countrywide Financial, a scandal which still dogs him. In 2009, the scandals kept coming for the Connecticut Democrat. In 2009, Judicial Watch filed a Senate ethics complaint against Dodd for undervaluing a property he owns in Ireland on his Senate Financial Disclosure forms. Judicial Watch's complaint forced Dodd to amend the forms. However, press reports suggest the property to this day remains undervalued. Judicial Watch also alleges in the complaint that Dodd obtained a sweetheart deal for the property in exchange for his assistance in obtaining a presidential pardon (during the Clinton administration) and other favors for a long-time friend and business associate. The false financial disclosure forms were part of the cover-up. Dodd remains the head the Senate Banking Committee.
2. Senator John Ensign (R-NV): A number of scandals popped up in 2009 involving public officials who conducted illicit affairs, and then attempted to cover them up with hush payments and favors, an obvious abuse of power. The year's worst offender might just be Nevada Republican Senator John Ensign. Ensign admitted in June to an extramarital affair with the wife of one of his staff members, who then allegedly obtained special favors from the Nevada Republican in exchange for his silence. According to The New York Times: "The Justice Department and the Senate Ethics Committee are expected to conduct preliminary inquiries into whether Senator John Ensign violated federal law or ethics rules as part of an effort to conceal an affair with the wife of an aide..." The former staffer, Douglas Hampton, began to lobby Mr. Ensign's office immediately upon leaving his congressional job, despite the fact that he was subject to a one-year lobbying ban. Ensign seems to have ignored the law and allowed Hampton lobbying access to his office as a payment for his silence about the affair. (These are potentially criminal offenses.) It looks as if Ensign misused his public office (and taxpayer resources) to cover up his sexual shenanigans.
3. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA): Judicial Watch is investigating a $12 million TARP cash injection provided to the Boston-based OneUnited Bank at the urging of Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank. As reported in the January 22, 2009, edition of the Wall Street Journal, the Treasury Department indicated it would only provide funds to healthy banks to jump-start lending. Not only was OneUnited Bank in massive financial turmoil, but it was also "under attack from its regulators for allegations of poor lending practices and executive-pay abuses, including owning a Porsche for its executives' use." Rep. Frank admitted he spoke to a "federal regulator," and Treasury granted the funds. (The bank continues to flounder despite Frank's intervention for federal dollars.) Moreover, Judicial Watch uncovered documents in 2009 that showed that members of Congress for years were aware that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were playing fast and loose with accounting issues, risk assessment issues and executive compensation issues, even as liberals led by Rep. Frank continued to block attempts to rein in the two Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs). For example, during a hearing on September 10, 2003, before the House Committee on Financial Services considering a Bush administration proposal to further regulate Fannie and Freddie, Rep. Frank stated: "I want to begin by saying that I am glad to consider the legislation, but I do not think we are facing any kind of a crisis. That is, in my view, the two Government Sponsored Enterprises we are talking about here, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not in a crisis. We have recently had an accounting problem with Freddie Mac that has led to people being dismissed, as appears to be appropriate. I do not think at this point there is a problem with a threat to the Treasury." Frank received $42,350 in campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac between 1989 and 2008. Frank also engaged in a relationship with a Fannie Mae Executive while serving on the House Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
4. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner: In 2009, Obama Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner admitted that he failed to pay $34,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes from 2001-2004 on his lucrative salary at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organization with 185 member countries that oversees the global financial system. (Did we mention Geithner now runs the IRS?) It wasn't until President Obama tapped Geithner to head the Treasury Department that he paid back most of the money, although the IRS kindly waived the hefty penalties. In March 2009, Geithner also came under fire for his handling of the AIG bonus scandal, where the company used $165 million of its bailout funds to pay out executive bonuses, resulting in a massive public backlash. Of course as head of the New York Federal Reserve, Geithner helped craft the AIG deal in September 2008. However, when the AIG scandal broke, Geithner claimed he knew nothing of the bonuses until March 10, 2009. The timing is important. According to CNN: "Although Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told congressional leaders on Tuesday that he learned of AIG's impending $160 million bonus payments to members of its troubled financial-products unit on March 10, sources tell TIME that the New York Federal Reserve informed Treasury staff that the payments were imminent on Feb. 28. That is ten days before Treasury staffers say they first learned 'full details' of the bonus plan, and three days before the [Obama] Administration launched a new $30 billion infusion of cash for AIG." Throw in another embarrassing disclosure in 2009 that Geithner employed "household help" ineligible to work in the United States, and it becomes clear why the Treasury Secretary has earned a spot on the "Ten Most Corrupt Politicians in Washington" list.
5. Attorney General Eric Holder: Tim Geithner can be sure he won't be hounded about his tax-dodging by his colleague Eric Holder, US Attorney General. Judicial Watch strongly opposed Holder because of his terrible ethics record, which includes: obstructing an FBI investigation of the theft of nuclear secrets from Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory; rejecting multiple requests for an independent counsel to investigate alleged fundraising abuses by then-Vice President Al Gore in the Clinton White House; undermining the criminal investigation of President Clinton by Kenneth Starr in the midst of the Lewinsky investigation; and planning the violent raid to seize then-six-year-old Elian Gonzalez at gunpoint in order to return him to Castro's Cuba. Moreover, there is his soft record on terrorism. Holder bypassed Justice Department procedures to push through Bill Clinton's scandalous presidential pardons and commutations, including for 16 members of FALN, a violent Puerto Rican terrorist group that orchestrated approximately 120 bombings in the United States, killing at least six people and permanently maiming dozens of others, including law enforcement officers. His record in the current administration is no better. As he did during the Clinton administration, Holder continues to ignore serious incidents of corruption that could impact his political bosses at the White House. For example, Holder has refused to investigate charges that the Obama political machine traded VIP access to the White House in exchange for campaign contributions -- a scheme eerily similar to one hatched by Holder's former boss, Bill Clinton in the 1990s. The Holder Justice Department also came under fire for dropping a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party. On Election Day 2008, Black Panthers dressed in paramilitary garb threatened voters as they approached polling stations. Holder has also failed to initiate a comprehensive Justice investigation of the notorious organization ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), which is closely tied to President Obama. There were allegedly more than 400,000 fraudulent ACORN voter registrations in the 2008 campaign. And then there were the journalist videos catching ACORN Housing workers advising undercover reporters on how to evade tax, immigration, and child prostitution laws. Holder's controversial decisions on new rights for terrorists and his attacks on previous efforts to combat terrorism remind many of the fact that his former law firm has provided and continues to provide pro bono representation to terrorists at Guantanamo Bay. Holder's politicization of the Justice Department makes one long for the days of Alberto Gonzales.
6. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)/ Senator Roland Burris (D-IL): One of the most serious scandals of 2009 involved a scheme by former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to sell President Obama's then-vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder. Two men caught smack dab in the middle of the scandal: Senator Roland Burris, who ultimately got the job, and Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, emissaries for Jesse Jackson Jr., named "Senate Candidate A" in the Blagojevich indictment, reportedly offered $1.5 million to Blagojevich during a fundraiser if he named Jackson Jr. to Obama's seat. Three days later federal authorities arrested Blagojevich. Burris, for his part, apparently lied about his contacts with Blagojevich, who was arrested in December 2008 for trying to sell Obama's Senate seat. According to Reuters: "Roland Burris came under fresh scrutiny... after disclosing he tried to raise money for the disgraced former Illinois governor who named him to the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama... In the latest of those admissions, Burris said he looked into mounting a fundraiser for Rod Blagojevich -- later charged with trying to sell Obama's Senate seat -- at the same time he was expressing interest to the then-governor's aides about his desire to be appointed." Burris changed his story five times regarding his contacts with Blagojevich prior to the Illinois governor appointing him to the U.S. Senate. Three of those changing explanations came under oath.
7. President Barack Obama: During his presidential campaign, President Obama promised to run an ethical and transparent administration. However, in his first year in office, the President has delivered corruption and secrecy, bringing Chicago-style political corruption to the White House. Consider just a few Obama administration "lowlights" from year one: Even before President Obama was sworn into office, he was interviewed by the FBI for a criminal investigation of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's scheme to sell the President's former Senate seat to the highest bidder. (Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and slumlord Valerie Jarrett, both from Chicago, are also tangled up in the Blagojevich scandal.) Moreover, the Obama administration made the startling claim that the Privacy Act does not apply to the White House. The Obama White House believes it can violate the privacy rights of American citizens without any legal consequences or accountability. President Obama boldly proclaimed that "transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency," but his administration is addicted to secrecy, stonewalling far too many of Judicial Watch's Freedom of Information Act requests and is refusing to make public White House visitor logs as federal law requires. The Obama administration turned the National Endowment of the Arts (as well as the agency that runs the AmeriCorps program) into propaganda machines, using tax dollars to persuade "artists" to promote the Obama agenda. According to documents uncovered by Judicial Watch, the idea emerged as a direct result of the Obama campaign and enjoyed White House approval and participation. President Obama has installed a record number of "czars" in positions of power. Too many of these individuals are leftist radicals who answer to no one but the president. And too many of the czars are not subject to Senate confirmation (which raises serious constitutional questions). Under the President's bailout schemes, the federal government continues to appropriate or control -- through fiat and threats -- large sectors of the private economy, prompting conservative columnist George Will to write: "The administration's central activity -- the political allocation of wealth and opportunity -- is not merely susceptible to corruption, it is corruption." Government-run healthcare and car companies, White House coercion, uninvestigated ACORN corruption, debasing his office to help Chicago cronies, attacks on conservative media and the private sector, unprecedented and dangerous new rights for terrorists, perks for campaign donors -- this is Obama's "ethics" record -- and we haven't even gotten through the first year of his presidency.
8. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): At the heart of the corruption problem in Washington is a sense of entitlement. Politicians believe laws and rules (even the U.S. Constitution) apply to the rest of us but not to them. Case in point: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her excessive and boorish demands for military travel. Judicial Watch obtained documents from the Pentagon in 2008 that suggest Pelosi has been treating the Air Force like her own personal airline. These documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, include internal Pentagon email correspondence detailing attempts by Pentagon staff to accommodate Pelosi's numerous requests for military escorts and military aircraft as well as the speaker's 11th hour cancellations and changes. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also came under fire in April 2009, when she claimed she was never briefed about the CIA's use of the waterboarding technique during terrorism investigations. The CIA produced a report documenting a briefing with Pelosi on September 4, 2002, that suggests otherwise. Judicial Watch also obtained documents, including a CIA Inspector General report, which further confirmed that Congress was fully briefed on the enhanced interrogation techniques. Aside from her own personal transgressions, Nancy Pelosi has ignored serious incidents of corruption within her own party, including many of the individuals on this list. (See Rangel, Murtha, Jesse Jackson, Jr., etc.)
9. Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) and the rest of the PMA Seven: Rep. John Murtha made headlines in 2009 for all the wrong reasons. The Pennsylvania congressman is under federal investigation for his corrupt relationship with the now-defunct defense lobbyist PMA Group. PMA, founded by a former Murtha associate, has been the congressman's largest campaign contributor. Since 2002, Murtha has raised $1.7 million from PMA and its clients. And what did PMA and its clients receive from Murtha in return for their generosity? Earmarks -- tens of millions of dollars in earmarks. In fact, even with all of the attention surrounding his alleged influence peddling, Murtha kept at it. Following an FBI raid of PMA's offices earlier in 2009, Murtha continued to seek congressional earmarks for PMA clients, while also hitting them up for campaign contributions. According to The Hill, in April, "Murtha reported receiving contributions from three former PMA clients for whom he requested earmarks in the pending appropriations bills." When it comes to the PMA scandal, Murtha is not alone. As many as six other Members of Congress are currently under scrutiny according to The Washington Post. They include: Peter J. Visclosky (D-IN.), James P. Moran Jr. (D-VA), Norm Dicks (D-WA.), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), C.W. Bill Young (R-FL.) and Todd Tiahrt (R-KS.). Of course rather than investigate this serious scandal, according to Roll Call House Democrats circled the wagons, "cobbling together a defense to offer political cover to their rank and file." The Washington Post also reported in 2009 that Murtha's nephew received $4 million in Defense Department no-bid contracts: "Newly obtained documents...show Robert Murtha mentioning his influential family connection as leverage in his business dealings and holding unusual power with the military."
10. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY): Rangel, the man in charge of writing tax policy for the entire country, has yet to adequately explain how he could possibly "forget" to pay taxes on $75,000 in rental income he earned from his off-shore rental property. He also faces allegations that he improperly used his influence to maintain ownership of highly coveted rent-controlled apartments in Harlem, and misused his congressional office to fundraise for his private Rangel Center by preserving a tax loophole for an oil drilling company in exchange for funding. On top of all that, Rangel recently amended his financial disclosure reports, which doubled his reported wealth. (He somehow "forgot" about $1 million in assets.) And what did he do when the House Ethics Committee started looking into all of this? He apparently resorted to making "campaign contributions" to dig his way out of trouble. According to WCBS TV, a New York CBS affiliate: "The reigning member of Congress' top tax committee is apparently 'wrangling' other politicos to get him out of his own financial and tax troubles... Since ethics probes began last year the 79-year-old congressman has given campaign donations to 119 members of Congress, including three of the five Democrats on the House Ethics Committee who are charged with investigating him." Charlie Rangel should not be allowed to remain in Congress, let alone serve as Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, and he knows it. That's why he felt the need to disburse campaign contributions to Ethics Committee members and other congressional colleagues.
Wild Thing's comment..........
This is a short list. There are 535 in congress, 45 Czars and hundreds in the Obama/Chicago gang.
1 Republican, 9 Rats. And frankly, it was stretching it to put Ensign on the list. I can easily think of another 10 Dems who are more corrupt than he is. But they wanted to make an effort to be fair and balanced, no doubt. Ensign is a mere pissant of corruption compared to his Nevada Senate colleague Harry Reid, or another one Chuck Schumer.
.... Thank you Jim for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:45 AM | Comments (4)
Good For Senator Jim DeMint: "Unionizing TSA Hurts Security"
DeMint on Fox: Unionizing TSA Hurts Security, Dems Should Allow Senate Debate
The attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound flight has re-ignited debate in the Senate over President Obama's nominee for chief of the Transportation Security Administration, which has been without a permanent leader since Obama took office. It took the president eight months to nominate someone for the post, but that nomination has since been held up by objections from Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, who fears nominee Erroll Southers will unionize TSA screeners.
Now that the administration is launching a full review of airport security procedures, some lawmakers are putting pressure on DeMint to drop the issue. But the South Carolina senator is standing by his opposition, saying the attempted attack only underscores the importance of preventing screeners from clogging up the works with collective bargaining negotiations.
"The attempted terror attack in Detroit is a perfect example of why the Obama administration should not unionize the TSA and allow our airline security decisions to be dictated by union bosses," DeMint said in a written statement...
He said TSA has the "flexibility" to respond to threats with immediate security changes, as it did in response to Friday's incident, but that Southers "appears ready to give union bosses the power to veto or delay future security improvements at our airports."
Southers apparently has not been clear with DeMint over his position on collective bargaining at the TSA, which prompted a letter from him to Southers in October. DeMint's objection does not prevent Southers from being approved -- but it did trip up any effort to smoothly confirm him without a vote or debate. DeMint's office blamed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for the delay, saying it's up to Senate Democrats to schedule the vote.
DeMint is concerned that such rights could jeopardize TSA's ability to change procedure and move resources around on a daily basis to prevent attacks, and hinder the agency's ability to fire employees who are underperforming.
"The administration is intent on unionizing and submitting our airport security to union bosses," the South Carolina senator said on "Fox News Sunday." "We have to out-think the terrorists. And when we formed the airport security system, we realized we could not use collective bargaining and unionization because of that need to be flexible. ... We can't have politics as usual in Washington."
Obama's TSA Nominee Abused Power While in FBI
TSA nominee questioned over FBI censure
Erroll Southers had background check run on ex-wife's boyfriend
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are the folks in the airports who check your luggage, etc. Honestly they are much more than that, the TSA consists of 50,000 security officers, inspectors, directors, air marshals and managers who protect the nation's transportation systems so we can travel safely.
On first the President's Appointment of Erroll Southers to run the TSA made sense. He's a former FBI agent and the LA Airport Police's Director of Homeland Security and intelligence.
But on second glance there are many concerns for example his stance on Unions. If he is confirmed to run the TSA, Southers would decide whether the organization collectively bargains over security procedures. Collective bargaining--currently forbidden for the TSA--would put traveler's lives at risk by preventing the TSA from responding rapidly to new intelligence and by replacing merit promotions with seniority schedules. Southers has refused to state whether he would change TSA policy on collective bargaining, but union reaction to his appointment can provide hints:
Erroll Southers currently is the department's chief of homeland security and intelligence. His name had been floated for the federal job earlier this year and was warmly received by unions and airport screeners, who say Southers will embrace collective bargaining for screeners.
Now "the question of bargaining rights at TSA is not a matter of 'if' but 'when,' " said John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, in a statement applauding the choice. "We are confident that the appointment of Mr. Southers as administrator will help put that matter to bed."
Then there was the censure he received when he was an FBI Agent. Erroll Southers had a background check run on his ex-wife's new boyfriend. Can you imagine if Bush nominated someone with that kind of abuse of power in his background?:
.
Wild Thing's comment...........
THANKS, Senator DeMint!!!!
There are enough Unions and we sure don't need one with TSA people. Oh my gosh what a nightmare that could be.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:40 AM | Comments (7)
December 29, 2009
4 Days Later Obama Finally Speaks 5 Minutes And Obama Calls Flight 253 Attacker "Isolated Extremist"
Obama Remarks On Failed Northwest Flight 253 Attack - 12/28/09 ( FOUR DAYS LATER)
Transcript of Obama remarks on airline security and terror watch lists
I wanted to take just a few minutes to update the American people on the attempted terrorist attack that occurred on Christmas Day and the steps we're taking to ensure the safety and security of the country.
The investigation's ongoing. And I spoke again this morning with Attorney General Eric Holder, the secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, and my counterterrorism and homeland security adviser, John Brennan. I asked them to keep -- continue monitoring the situation to keep the American people and members of Congress informed.
Here's what we know so far: On Christmas Day, Northwest Airlines Flight 253 was en route from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Detroit. As the plane made its final approach to Detroit Metropolitan Airport, a passenger allegedly tried to ignite an explosive device on his body, setting off a fire.
Thanks to the quick and heroic actions of passengers and crew, the suspect was immediately subdued, the fire was put out, and the plane landed safely. The suspect is now in custody and has been charged with attempting to destroy an aircraft.
A full investigation has been launched into this attempted act of terrorism, and we will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable.
Now, this was a serious reminder of the dangers that we face and the nature of those who threaten our homeland. Had the suspect succeeded in bringing down that plane, it could have killed nearly 300 passengers and crew, innocent civilians preparing to celebrate the holidays with their families and friends.
The American people should be assured that we are doing everything in our power to keep you and your family safe and secure during this busy holiday season.
Since I was first notified of this incident, I've ordered the following actions to be taken to protect the American people and to secure air travel.
First, I directed that we take immediate steps to ensure the safety of the traveling public. We made sure that all flights still in the air were secure and could land safely. We immediately enhanced screening and security procedures for all flights, domestic and international. We added federal air marshals to flights entering and leaving the United States. And we're working closely in this country, federal, state and local law enforcement, with our international partners.
Second, I've ordered two important reviews, because it's absolutely critical that we learn from this incident and take the necessary measures to prevent future acts of terrorism.
The first review involves our watch list system, which our government has had in place for many years to identify known and suspected terrorists so that we can prevent their entry into the United States. Apparently the suspect in the Christmas incident was in this system, but not on a watch list, such as the so-called no-fly list. So I have ordered a thorough review, not only of how information related to the subject was handled, but of the overall watch list system and how it can be strengthened.
The second review will examine all screening policies, technologies and procedures related to air travel. We need to determine just how the suspect was able to bring dangerous explosives aboard an aircraft and what additional steps we can take to thwart future attacks.
Third, I've directed my national security team to keep up the pressure on those who would attack our country. We do not yet have all the answers about this latest attempt, but those who would slaughter innocent men, women and children must know that the United States will more -- do more than simply strengthen our defenses. We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, to dismantle and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us, whether they are from Afghanistan or Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia, or anywhere where they are plotting attacks against the U.S. homeland.
Finally, the American people should remain vigilant, but also be confident. Those plotting against us seek not only to undermine our security, but also the open society and the values that we cherish as Americans. This incident, like several that have preceded it, demonstrates that an alert and courageous citizenry are far more resilient than an isolated extremist.
As a nation, we will do everything in our power to protect our country. As Americans, we will never give in to fear or division. We will be guided by our hopes, our unity, and our deeply held values. That's who we are as Americans; that's what our brave men and women in uniform are standing up for as they spend the holidays in harm's way. And we will continue to do everything that we can to keep America safe in the new year and beyond.
Before I leave, let me also briefly address the events that have taken place over the last few days in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States joins with the international community in strongly condemning the violent and unjust suppression of innocent Iranian citizens, which has apparently resulted in detentions, injuries, and even death.
For months, the Iranian people have sought nothing more than to exercise their universal rights. Each time they have done so, they have been met with the iron fist of brutality, even on solemn occasions and holy days. And each time that has happened, the world has watched with deep admiration for the courage and the conviction of the Iranian people who are part of Iran's great and enduring civilization.
What's taking place within Iran is not about the United States or any other country. It's about the Iranian people and their aspirations for justice and a better life for themselves. And the decision of Iran's leaders to govern through fear and tyranny will not succeed in making those aspirations go away.
As I said in Oslo, it's telling when governments fear the aspirations of their own people more than the power of any other nation.
Along with all free nations, the United States stands with those who seek their universal rights. We call upon the Iranian government to abide by the international obligations that it has to respect the rights of its own people.
We call for the immediate release of all who have been unjustly detained within Iran. We will continue to bear witness to the extraordinary events that are taking place there. And I'm confident that history will be on the side of those who seek justice.
Thank you very much, everybody. And Happy New Year.
Spotting the absurd disconnect of Obama's response to the Northwest Airlines bomber........
Obama, speaking today: "We will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable."
TEEING OFF: A half-hour after President Obama vowed to catch the terrorists behind a plot to blow up a plane on Christmas, he arrived at 10:40 a.m. at the Luana Hills Country Club, where a golf course winds through a rain forest, the pool reports.
.
Wild Thing's comment........
"isolated extremist" .........To call this attempted terrorist attack an “isolated extremist” OMG This jerk is going to get a lot of innocent people killed. I doubt it will even register with his monumental ego.
Al Qaeda has already claimed credit for the attack and promises that there are others in Yemen waiting for their chance.
The way the Obamination sees it, 9/11 was an isolated event; Ft. Hood was an isolated event; the terrorist attack at the Little Rock Recruiting office, the USS Cole, the Marine barracks, the Shoe Bomber was an isolated event etc. , now this guy is an isolated event. I guess a total event would be the multiple bombings in America .... but then he'd say they were all isolated events .....unless they all happened simultaneously.
Between Muslim Obama's statement and Napolitano saying,”The system worked”......... PRAY for our country and our troops.
Obama's "I" and "me" Me' count:
I = 12
We/we’re = 22
terror/terrorism = 5
Muslim = a big fat ZERO
These counts include nobama’s excuses for the terrorist attack and his whining about the protestors in Iran.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:55 AM | Comments (18)
Photo of the Northwest Airlines Bomb ...the "Panty Bomber"
Photos of the Northwest Airlines Bomb
A singed pair of underwear with a packet of powder sewn into the crotch, seen in government photos obtained exclusively by ABC News, is all that remains of al Qaeda's attempt to down an American passenger plane over Detroit.
The underwear with the explosive worn by alleged Northwest 253 bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is shown in this undated photo. (ABC News)
As seen in these photos, the alleged bomb consisted of a packet of powder sewn into the briefs of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian. Al Qaeda took credit Monday for the attempted bombing, boasted of its ability to overcome U.S. intelligence and airport security, and promised new attacks.
The photo shows the slightly charred and singed underpants with the bomb packet still in place. The photo includes a ruler to provide scale.
The failed Nigerian Muslim Airline bomber had 80 grams of PETN sewed into his underwear. Here is a video showing 50 grams of PETN blowing a small tree in two:
.
Wild Thing's commnet..........
So what was he going to do with the 72 virgins when he got to Paradise without his ........
You know, if the parts that were covered by this ‘bomb’ were on fire, I’m betting the would be bomber now talks like a girl!
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:50 AM | Comments (9)
Clueless Napolitano Now Concedes System 'Failed Miserably'
Clueless Napolitano Now Concedes System 'Failed Miserably'
It took a tough question from Matt Lauer, but after having laughably claimed that "the system worked," DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano has now conceded the obvious: that the security system that permitted Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to board NWA 253 with explosives "failed miserably."
On Today and in other interviews this morning, Napolitano attempted to use her own ignorance as a shield. Each time she was hit with a hard question, her response was to the effect "yeah, we're wondering about that ourselves." She also continued to point the finger back at George Bush, repeatedly mentioning that the security procedures in place were formulated under the Bush administration. Whatever happened to "change you can believe in"?
But back to Today, where Lauer laudably asked Napolitano the necessary question: how could she possibly have claimed, as she did yesterday, that the "system worked"?
MATT LAUER: You made a comment over the weekend and I want to call attention to that because a lot of people are disagreeing with it this morning. You talked about this incident aboard this Northwest flight and you said "when it came right down to it, the system worked." A lot of people don't think the system worked at all, that the only thing that prevented outright disaster was luck. Can you respond to that?
JANET NAPOLITANO: Sure, I think the comment is being taken out of context. What I'm saying is that once the incident occurred, moving forward, we were immediately able to notify the 128 flights in the air of protective measures to take, immediately able to notify law enforcement on the ground, airports both domestically, internationally, all carriers, all of that happening within 60 to 90 minutes, so --
LAUER: So you're only talking about what happened after this man tried to ignite this explosive device on the plane.
NAPOLITANO: Indeed.
LAUER: You would then concede that the system prior to that, the system that's supposed to prevent something like this from happening, failed miserably?
NAPOLITANO: It did. And that's why we are asking a lot of the same questions I heard you asking before this interview. How did this individual get on the plane? Why wasn't the explosive material detected? What do we need to do to change perhaps the rules that have been in place since 2006 for moving somebody from the generic database to more elevated status. All of that under review right now.
LAUER: So many man-hours, so much money, Madam Secretary, has gone into securing fliers in this country and around the world, and so let's talk about it: how does a guy who's on this general terror list, who then buys a one-way, trans-Atlantic ticket with cash, checks no luggage, a man whose own father has written a letter to authorities both in his own country and U.S. embassy authorities, saying he's worried that his son has become more radicalized and might attempt some kind of a suicide mission. How is this guy not the perfect candidate for a strip search or a full-body scan?
NAPOLITANO: I've asked the same questions.
We've got another question: what is Janet Napolitano, head of a department that she now admits "failed miserably," still doing in office?
Note: As part of her "it's Bush's fault" defense, on Morning Joe Napolitano mentioned that young Umar had been issued his US visa "in June, 2008," i.e., during the Bush administration. OK, but that would have been before his father was frantically trying to alert the Obama admin that his son had apparently turned into a terrorist.
.
.
Wild Thing's comment........
I know they’re not being followed because Obama doesn’t want to be perceived as profiling his own. There is no reason this terrorist should have been on any flight heading this way.
She also continued to point the finger back at the Bush administration, repeatedly mentioning that the security procedures in place were formulated under the Bush administration.
Obama has been President for a year. If something needed to be "fixed", why didn't he fix it? Oh, I forgot, his idea of "fixing" the problems is shutting down Gitmo, prosecuting CIA agents, reaching out to terrorist nations, etc. etc.
Each time she was hit with a hard question, her response was to the effect "yeah, we're wondering about that ourselves."
Good Lord - and these are our LEADERS.
What an EMBARRASSMENT!
I say she needs to be waterboarded. heh heh
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:47 AM | Comments (9)
Al Qaeda Takes Credit for Plot Of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and Ft. Hood Terrorist Nidal Hasan
Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack on Northwest Flight 253, and U.S. officials said the claim appears valid -- the clearest indication yet that the attempted takedown wasn't just the work of a lone radical inspired by Islamist rhetoric, as some investigators initially believed.
A statement attributed to the group "al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula" claimed it was retaliating for what it says was the U.S.'s role in a recent Yemeni military offensive on al Qaeda, according to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute. The statement, accompanied by a photo of the suspect, said the "high-tech device". Abdulmutallab carried had had a "technical" problem.
"The claim at this point appears valid," said one U.S. counterterrorism official. However, the depth of the relationship between the terror group and Abdulmutallab is still unclear.
The explosive used by Abdulmutallab, a substance known as PETN, is believed to have been used in the attempted assassination in late August of Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the Saudi deputy interior minister and point man on the war on terror. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for that attack.
Abdulmutallab's method of concealing the device -- sewn into his underwear, where security personnel are unlikely to conduct a pat down -- is similar to the Saudi attack.
Al Qaeda Press Release Calls Nidal Hasan A “Moujahed Brother”, Calls For Soldiers to Follow His Act
This is the link:
http://alflojaweb.com/vb/showthread.php?t=97593
It is Al Qaeda official press release posted earlier on "al falojah" which is an Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist forum. The press release is in Arabic. It has be translated by a friend, jveritas, that knows the language very well. ~ Wild Thing
In the latest press release by Al Qaeda where they took responsibility for the terrorist attempt on the plane in Detroit they said the following:
“We call on every soldier working in the crusader armies and puppet governments to repent to allah and follow the example of the hero Moujahid brother Nidal Hasan, and kill with all available tools every crusader to bring victory to religion of allah and to keep his word in the land.”
From the context of the press release by “every soldier” they mean “every muslim soldier working in the US military and other Western militaries”.
So now it is official, terrorist "Nidal Hasan" the terrorist that attacked Fort Hood is an Al Qaeda.
Below is the full translation of the Al Qaeda press release taking responsibility for the terrorist attempt on the plane in Detroit. Also in this press release Al Qaeda terrorists call for attacks against US and Western embassies and they claim that they have developped an explosive that cannot be detected and this is the explosive used by terrorist "Omar Al Farouq" on the Detroit plane. Al Qaeda terrorists vowed that they are going to try again until they succeed.
Beginning of the Translation:
"The Operation by Brother Moujahed Omar Al Farouq Al Nigiree As A Retaliation Against the American Aggression Against Yemen
By the grace of allah the brother and Moujahed hero Omar Al Farouq performed a quality act on the board of an American plane, taking off from the city of the Dutch city of Amsterdam to American city of Detroit, during the celebrations of "Christmas" holidays on Friday, December 25, 2009. He overcame all their advanced technological devices and security barriers installed in world airport and he did it with courage, bravery, and no fear of death, relying on allah, destroying the great myth of U.S. and international intelligence, showing its fragility, forcing its nose in the dirt, making what they spent in the development of security techniques grief to them.
The unity of faith and Islamic brotherhood prompted this young rich man from Nigerian roots, brother Moujahedd Omar Al Farouq to retaliate directly against the oppressive American aggression against the Arabian Peninsula, and by the grace of allah through direct coordination with the moujahideen in the Arabian Peninsula after the brutal bombing using cluster bombs and cruise missiles launched from U.S. ships territories which occupy the Gulf of Aden against the proud Yemeni tribes in Abeen, Arhabm and finally in Shibuwa, and killing dozens of Muslim women and children and where entire families were killed, and these operations were a Yemeni-US-Saudi coordination as well as coordination with a number of neighboring countries.
The brothers Moujahideen in the manufacturing department were able to manufacture by the grace of allah an explosive device with advanced technology that has been tested and proven effective and has been able to overcome detectors. Borther Umar was able to reach his target by the grace of allah, but by allah will technical error prevented a full explosion but we will continue the way allah willing until we get what we want, and religion is all for allah.
We call on every Muslim who are zealots for their religion and dogma to remove the infidels from the Arabian Peninsula, by killing all the crusader working in the embassies and other places, and declare it a total war against each crusader on the island of Muhammad in the land, sea and air.
We call on every soldier working in the crusader armies and puppet governments to repent to allah and follow the example of the hero Moujahid brother Nidal Hasan, and kill with all available tools every crusader to bring victory to religion of allah and to keep his word in the land.
Therefore, we say to the American people that because you support your leaders and are standing behind them to kill our women and children then be ready for the worst we came to slaughter you and we prepared for you men love death as you love life, and allah willing we will bring what you have not seen before, just as you kill you will be killed but tomorrow is very near.
Oh allah strengthen brother Moujahed Omar Al Farouq to be on the side of the truth, and give him serenity and patience and persistence many folds of the suffering that fell upon him , Oh allah take his worry and agony, and give him an relief soon. Oh allah free him and the other muslim prisoners from East to West, Oh allah give victory to your moujahideen in every place and defeat the people of polytheism, and a prayer to thank allah the lord of the universe.
Al Qaeda in The Arabian Peninsula
Al Qaeda Takes Responsibility For The Terrorist Attempt On The Plane In Detroit
( same link as the one above from the Al Qaeda website )
Translation of Al Qaeda press release taking responsibility for the terrorist attempt on the Plane in Detroit
Beginning of the Translation:
"The Operation by Brother Moujahed Omar Al Farouq Al Nigiree As A Retaliation Against the American Aggression Against Yemen
By the grace of allah the brother and Moujahed hero Omar Al Farouq performed a quality act on the board of an American plane, taking off from the city of the Dutch city of Amsterdam to American city of Detroit, during the celebrations of "Christmas" holidays on Friday, December 25, 2009. He overcame all their advanced technological devices and security barriers installed in world airport and he did it with courage, bravery, and no fear of death, relying on allah, destroying the great myth of U.S. and international intelligence, showing its fragility, forcing its nose in the dirt, making what they spent in the development of security techniques grief to them.
The unity of faith and Islamic brotherhood prompted this young rich man from Nigerian roots, brother Moujahedd Omar Al Farouq to retaliate directly against the oppressive American aggression against the Arabian Peninsula, and by the grace of allah through direct coordination with the moujahideen in the Arabian Peninsula after the brutal bombing using cluster bombs and cruise missiles launched from U.S. ships territories which occupy the Gulf of Aden against the proud Yemeni tribes in Abeen, Arhabm and finally in Shibuwa, and killing dozens of Muslim women and children and where entire families were killed, and these operations were a Yemeni-US-Saudi coordination as well as coordination with a number of neighboring countries.
The brothers Moujahideen in the manufacturing department were able to manufacture by the grace of allah an explosive device with advanced technology that has been tested and proven effective and has been able to overcome detectors. Borther Umar was able to reach his target by the grace of allah, but by allah will technical error prevented a full explosion but we will continue the way allah willing until we get what we want, and religion is all for allah.
We call on every Muslim who are zealots for their religion and dogma to remove the infidels from the Arabian Peninsula, by killing all the crusader working in the embassies and other places, and declare it a total war against each crusader on the island of Muhammad in the land, sea and air.
We call on every soldier working in the crusader armies and puppet governments to repent to allah and follow the example of the hero Moujahid brother Nidal Hassan, and kill with all available tools every crusader to bring victory to religion of allah and to keep his word in the land.
Therefore, we say to the American people that because you support your leaders and are standing behind them to kill our women and children then be ready for the worst we came to slaughter you and we prepared for you men love death as you love life, and allah willing we will bring what you have not seen before, just as you kill you will be killed but tomorrow is very near.
Oh allah strengthen brother Moujahed Omar Al Farouq to be on the side of the truth, and give him serenity and patience and persistence many folds of the suffering that fell upon him , Oh allah take his worry and agony, and give him an relief soon. Oh allah free him and the other muslim prisoners from East to West, Oh allah give victory to your moujahideen in every place and defeat the people of polytheism, and a prayer to thank allah the lord of the universe.
Al Qaeda in The Arabian Peninsula
Reports there could be 25 other potential bombers training in Yemen
Wild Thing's comment............
Obama knows darn well that the Christmas Day terrorist was no “isolated incident”, and his friends are moving to attack us.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:45 AM | Comments (5)
Amazing Blackhawk Ridge Landing on Mountaintop in Zabul, Afghanistan
A compilation of three clips showing a UH60 Blackhawk landing on a mountaintop in Zabul, Afghanistan, to insert coalition ground forces on Nov. 6th.
SOF Special Operations Forces A tribute to all international Special Operations Forces and Police Forces in the war against oppression and terrorism.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:40 AM | Comments (4)
December 28, 2009
PRO Terrorist CAIR: "Don't racial profile after airline incidents"
.
CAIR: Don't racial profile after airline incidents
WASHINGTON
A Muslim advocacy group is urging passengers, crews and security personnel to avoid ethnic and religious "profiling" in the wake of the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight in Detroit on Christmas Day.
In a statement, Ibrahim Hooper of the Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations says,
"While everyone supports robust airline security measures, racial and religious profiling are in fact counterproductive and can lead to a climate of insecurity and fear."
CAIR issued the statement following two false alarms aboard U.S. airliners this weekend.
In one of them, the FBI says passengers on a U.S. Airways flight from Orlando to Phoenix last night reported that two men, described as Middle Eastern, had been acting in a suspicious manner. The men have been released, after being questioned by federal anti-terrorism authorities
Following Path of Least Resistance, Terrorists Turn Yemen Into Poor Man's Afghanistan
With a stepped up presence of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, intelligence and security officials are now looking at other would-be hosts to Al Qaeda and its offshoot terrorist elements. Near the top of that list is Yemen.
If terrorism follows the path of least resistance, then Yemen may be the poor man's Afghanistan.
COPS fear that 25 British-born Muslims are plotting to bomb Western airliners.
The fanatics, in five groups, are now training at secret terror camps in Yemen.
It was there London-educated Umar Abdulmutallab, 23, prepared for his Christmas Day bid to blow up a US jet.
A Scotland Yard source said: "The great fear is Abdulmutallab is the first of many ready to attack planes and kill tens of thousands.
"We know there are four or five radicalised British Muslim cells in the Yemen.
"They are due back within months when they will be under constant surveillance."
The 25 suspects, of Pakistani and Somali descent, were radicalised in UK mosques.
Some had been to university and studied engineering or computer sciences.
Others were former street gang members.
Special Branch monitored them as they flew to Yemen, in the Middle East, from British airports in the spring and summer.
In almost every case, their tickets were paid for in cash and bought less than a week before travel.
The source added: "Imams would have promised them rewards in heaven for becoming suicide bombers prepared to kill Westerners."
.
Wild Thing's comment..........
A CAIR statement to that effect, in the wake of Friday’s airline incident at Detroit Metro, is as predictable as night following day!
CAIR takes after their screwball prophet of Islam .
As soon as the Muslims stand up and eradicate the scumbag innocent killing Muslims we won’t profile them in the mean-time let’s start raiding ALL of the mosques in this country and find out who the radicals are sent them packing!
Has the world ever seen a bigger whining, insufferable group of people than the Muslims? And if anybody complains about profiling... they can blame the Muslim Terrorists, not us.Are you listening CAIR?
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:55 AM | Comments (22)
Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) Says It Like It Is...Obama Messing Up BIG Time On Security
The Hill article on FOX News Sunday:
Rep. Pete Hoekstra was on FOX News Sunday with Chris Wallace today and blamed Barack Obama again for the attempted bombing of the Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day.
Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) said Sunday that it is fair to blame the Obama administration for the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight bound for Detroit on Christmas Day.
Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Select Intelligence Committee said that the administration has not taken the threat of terrorist threats on the U.S. seriously.
Asked by Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace if it is fair to blame the Obama administration for the attacks, the Michigan Republican replied “”Yeah, I think it really is.”
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a frequent critic of the Obama administration, echoed Hoekstra's complaints about the White House's handling of national security issues.
DeMint called the unionization of airport security workers the "the top priority now of the administration" and said that closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba will not "appease" extremist groups.
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) also said that "This is a jolt for us. This is a wake up call."
He said that the U.S. needs to improve sharing of information between State Department and law enforcement who track terrorists.
"This war is going to go on for 50 years," he said. "We had better wake up."
Wild Thing's comment..........
I believe they are testing the system.
And Obama doesn`t care if Americans live or die. Americans are on his low-priority list.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:50 AM | Comments (11)
Obamacare’s Constitutional Problems Proliferating
Obamacare’s Constitutional Problems Proliferating
As we’ve detailed before, the very core of the Senate health plan includes an unprecedented expansion of the power of the federal government over the lives of every American. For the first time in history, every American would be forced to buy federally regulated and approved health insurance or face a $750 fine.
As the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) wrote in 1994: “A mandate requiring all individuals to purchase health insurance would be an unprecedented form of federal action. The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States.”
The individual mandate and other questionable measures in the bill raise serious questions as to whether Obamacare could survive a Constitutional test:
Enumerated Powers: Article I allocates to Congress “[a]ll legislative powers herein granted,” which means that some legislative powers were intended to remain beyond Congress’s reach. The Supreme Court recognized and affirmed this fundamental principle from the earliest days of the republic, as Chief Justice Marshall famously observed:
“The powers of the legislature are defined and limited; and that those limits may not be mistaken, or forgotten, the constitution is written.”
Nowhere in the Constitution is Congress given the power to mandate that an individual enter into a contract with a private party or purchase a good or service. Democrats have pointed to both the general welfare taxing power and the commerce clause as possible justifications for the mandate, but as a recent Heritage Legal Memorandum details, neither justification withstands scrutiny.
5th Amendment: The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution reads in part:
“No person shall … be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
Sen. Ensign: “The Democrats’ health reform bill would require an American citizen to devote a portion of income – his or her private property – to health insurance coverage. … But, Mr. President, if a Nevadan does not want to spend his or her hard-earned income on health insurance coverage and would prefer to spend it on something else, such as rent or a car payment, this new requirement could be a “taking” of private property under the Fifth Amendment.”
Racial Discrimination: On December 10th, the United States Commission on Civil Rights sent a letter to the Senate regarding racially discriminatory provisions in Obama’s health plan. The letter reads:
“No matter how well-intentioned, utilizing racial preferences with hope of alleviating health care disparities is inadvisable both as a matter of policy and as a matter of law. … Ensuring that all Americans, regardless of race, have access to quality health care requires both creativity and hard-nosed attention to data. It also requires staying within the requirements of the Constitution. The current race-based provisions of the Senate Health Care bill display none of these qualities.”
Unequal State Treatment: Speaking to Fox News, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) described Sen. Ben Nelson’s (D-NE) deal to support Obamacare in exchange for a bailout Nebraska’s Medicaid costs as “disappointing, sleazy, unconstitutional.”
Graham is not the only one examining Cornhusker Kickback. The Attorneys General of Alabama, Colorado, Michigan, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas and Washington state are jointly investigating the deal to see if special treatment for only one state in the nation at the expense of the other 49 violates the Constitution.
The leftist majority in the Senate is likely to vote down the DeMint/Ensign constitutional point of order, but the very objection itself will help build a record that courts will look at when determining whether or not Obamacare is unconstitutional. The Senate is not the final arbiter of whether or not the laws it passes are consistent with the United States Constitution.
That question was settled over 200 years ago in Marbury v. Madison. Although it is always difficult for the Supreme Court to thwart what is perceived to be the popular will, polling consistently shows that this legislation faces strong popular opposition. If that remains true after enactment, the majority of the Justices who are inclined to preserve the enumerated powers scheme and adhere to the original meaning of the text will have little inclination or incentive to stretch the Constitution to reach so decidedly unpopular and far-reaching a law as this one.
Wild Thing's comment........
This is a total disregard for the Constitution. It’s a discrace! And Congress and Obama are laughing at We the people. I sure hope this can be stopped somehow, maybe in the courts, but I don't have much confidence in that either.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:49 AM | Comments (4)
Newborn Calif. Giraffe Makes His Debut
The public has gotten its first look at the first giraffe born at Calfornia's Six Flags Discovery Kingdom .
The baby boy stands 6 feet tall and weighs about 150 pounds. Park officials say he's part of a giraffe breeding program. (Dec. 27)
Wild Thing's comment.........
So adorable, and to be able to see this little new born baby Giraffe is so neat. I love it. I thought you all might like to see it too.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:48 AM
LIES From Obama's Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano
There have been 32 terror-related incidents on US shores since 9/11, and 12 of those occurred in 2009.
Christmas Day 2009 a failed detonator saved the passengers on Northwest flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit.
Sunday morning Obama's Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on “This Week” stated that “everything went according to clockwork” in how passengers, crew and the government reacted to the attempted bombing of Flight 253.
Napolitano: "The system worked"
DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said that the thwarting of the attempt to blow up the Amsterdam-Detroit flight this week demonstrated that "the system worked."
Jake Tapper’s questioning of Napolitano-—
Jake keeps asking the right questions and Napolitano keeps handing him a crap sandwich.
'This Week' Transcript: Napolitano
Transcript of "This Week" interview with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
NAPOLITANO: Well, I think, first of all, we are investigating, as always, going backwards to see what happened and when, who knew what and when. But here -- I think it's important for the public to know, there are different types of databases.
And there were simply, throughout the law enforcement community, never information that would put this individual on a no-fly list or a selectee list. So that's number one.
Number two, I think the important thing to recognize here is that once this incident occurred, everything happened that should have. The passengers reacted correctly, the crew reacted correctly, within an hour to 90 minutes, all 128 flights in the air had been notified. And those flights already had taken mitigation measures on the off-chance that there was somebody else also flying with some sort of destructive intent.
So the system has worked really very, very smoothly over the course of the past several days.
TAPPER: Well, let me ask you a question about intelligence-sharing. When the suspect's father went to the U.S. embassy in Nigeria and said, I'm worried because my son is displaying extremist religious views, how was that information shared with other parts of the U.S. government, or did it just stay at that U.S. embassy?
NAPOLITANO: Well, again, we are going to go back and really do a minute-by-minute, day-by-day scrub of that sort of thing. But when he presented himself to fly, he was on a tide (ph) list. What a tide list simply says is, his name had come up somewhere somehow.
NAPOLITANO: The no-fly and selectee list require that there be specific, what we call, derogatory information. And that was not available throughout the law enforcement community. He went through screening in Amsterdam as he prepared to board a flight to the United States.
The authorities in Amsterdam are working with us to make sure that screening was properly done. We have no suggestion that it wasn't, but we're actually going through -- going backwards, tracing his route.
But I think important for the traveling public recognize that A, everybody reacted as they should. We trained for this. We planned for this. We exercised for this sort of event should it occur.
So don't think somebody at TSA is not on the job if they're not doing exactly at one airport what you saw at another. There will be different things done in different places.
TAPPER: But, Secretary Napolitano, you keep saying everybody acted the way they were supposed to. Clearly the passengers and the crew of that Northwest Airlines flight did. But I think there are questions about whether everybody in the U.S. government did.
And here's a question for you, how many of -- so many of us are subject to random security searches all the time, how come somebody who is not on a terrorist database isn't subject to more stringent security when they check in to a flight to the U.S.? Why does that automatically just happen?
NAPOLITANO: Well, if he had had specific information that would have put him on the selectee list or indeed on the no-fly list, he would not have actually gotten on a plane.
But those numbers pyramid down. And they need to, because again, there is lots of information that flies about this world on a lot of different people. And what we have to do in law enforcement is not only collect and share, but do it in the proper way.
Now once this incident occurred, everything went according to clockwork. Not only sharing throughout the air industry, but also sharing with state and local law enforcement, products were going out on Christmas Day, they went out yesterday, and also to the industry to make sure that the traveling public remains safe. .
And I would leave you with that message, the traveling public is safe. We have instituted some additional screening and security measures in light of this incident. But again, everybody reacted as they should, the system -- once the incident occurred, the system worked.
TAPPER: What can you tell us about the suspect? Has a definitive connection with Al Qaida been established yet?
NAPOLITANO: That is now the subject of investigation. And it would be inappropriate for me to say and inappropriate to speculate. So we'll let the FBI and the criminal justice system now do their work.
TAPPER: OK. One final question for you, Madam Secretary: An October report from the Government Accountability Office says that almost $800 million has been spent on new screening technologies by the Transportation Security Administration since 2002, but, quote, "since TSA's creation, 10 passenger screening technologies have been in various phases of research, development, test and evaluation, procurement and deployment, but TSA had not deployed any of these technologies to airports nationwide."
More than eight years after 9/11, an incident obviously involving airplanes, why have these technologies not been deployed to airports nationwide?
NAPOLITANO: Well, without going into the accuracy or inaccuracy of that particular report, new technology has been deployed, but there is a more important point to be made, which is that, A, technology is evolving all the time, it's not a static situation.
And B, even with the most sophisticated technology, everybody needs to play a part in their security. That's why I think the actions of the passengers and the crew on this flight deserve praise. That's why the men and women who have been working really overtime Christmas Day, yesterday, whatever, to make sure that all other flights remain safe, why that system is so important.
Asked by CNN's Candy Crowley on "State of the Union" how that could be possible when the young Nigerian who sought to set off the bomb was able to smuggle explosive liquid onto the flight, Napolitano responded: "We're asking the same questions."
Napolitano added that there was "no suggestion that [the bomber] was improperly screened."
Wild Thing's comment...........
First I am shocked that a CNN reporter actually dared to ask a Democrat a tough question.LOL Well hell has not frowzen over yet but this was a good question for sure.
So what is the system? Have we been installing a Dutch tourist on each flight? This stupid woman, Janet Napolitano !...it “worked” only because PASSENGERS defended themselves.
If she defines the system as one where terrorists are allowed to smuggle then detonate explosive devices aboard airplanes, then by all accounts she’s right. Amazing.
Napolitano: Incompetent or Evil or both = Dangerous!
Liberalism leads to pathological lying, that much is obvious.
I swear these people WANT something to happen!!
....Thank you Jack for sending this to me.
Army Combat Engineers
67-69
Jack's blog is Conservative Insurgent
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:45 AM | Comments (4)
Nephew Of Ali Mousavi KILLED During Deadly Protests Of Terrorist Ahmadinejad's Regime
The nephew of Iranian opposition leader Ali Mousavi, reportedly laying on the ground shot in the back on Azadi Street, or Freedom Street, during clashes in which security forces reportedly fired on demonstrators. There were protests all across Tehran today against the thug Ahmadinejad's regime.
TEHRAN, Iran
At least 5 killed in Iran protests
AP
Iranian security forces fired on stone-throwing protesters in the center of the capital Sunday in one of the bloodiest confrontations in months, opposition Web sites and witnesses said. At least five people were killed.
Some accounts of the violence in Tehran were vivid and detailed, but they could not be independently confirmed because of government restrictions on media coverage. Police, who denied using firearms, said dozens of officers were injured and more than 300 protesters were arrested.
The dead included a nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, according to Mousavi's Web site, Kaleme.ir. The clashes were sure to deepen antagonism between the government and a reform movement that has shown resilience in the face of repeated crackdowns.
The street chaos coincided with commemorations of Shiite Islam's most important observance, Ashoura, fueling protesters' defiance with its message of sacrifice and dignity in the face of coercion.
Still, many demonstrators had not anticipated such harsh tactics by the authorities, despite police warnings of tougher action against any protests on the sacred day.
Amateur video footage purportedly from the center of Tehran showed an enraged crowd carrying away one casualty, chanting, "I'll kill, I'll kill the one who killed my brother." In several locations, demonstrators confronted security forces, hurling stones and setting their motorcycles, cars and vans ablaze, according to video footage and pro-reform Web sites.
Protesters tried to cut off roads with burning barricades. One police officer was photographed with blood streaming down his face after he was set upon by the crowd.
The protests began with thousands of opposition supporters chanting "Death to the dictator," a reference to hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as they marched in defiance of official warnings of a harsh crackdown on any demonstrations coinciding with Ashoura. The observance commemorates the seventh-century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints.
Security forces tried but failed to disperse protesters on a central Tehran street with tear gas, baton charges and warning shots. They then opened fire on protesters, killing at least three people, said witnesses and the Rah-e-Sabz Web site. Another protester was shot dead on a nearby street, they said.
Witnesses said one victim was an elderly man who had a gunshot wound to the forehead. He was seen being carried away by opposition supporters with blood covering his face.
More than two dozen opposition supporters were injured, some of them seriously, with limbs broken from beatings, according to witnesses.
An Iranian police statement said five people were killed in the unrest. "Experts are seeking to identify the suspicious elements," the statement said.
Iran's deputy police chief, Ahmad Reza Radan, said one person died after falling from a bridge, two were killed in a car accident, and a fourth was fatally shot.
"Given the fact that police did not use firearms, this incident looks completely suspicious and the case is under investigation," Radan said.
He said dozens of injured police were treated in hospitals, and more than 300 "seditionists" were arrested.
The clashes marked the bloodiest confrontation since the height of unrest in the weeks after June's election. The opposition says Ahmadinejad won the election through massive vote fraud and that Mousavi was the true winner.
The BBC reported that, “This is the same type of protesting that toppled the Shah.”
In the closing hours of the day, the number of dead in Tehran rose from four to around 8-10. Full confirmation is not at hand, but given the reports of security forces firing on protesters, it does not seem surprising for the number to higher. The number of people arrested so far in Tehran and around Iran is probably over 300 people
.
Wild Thing's comment..............
"One way or the other, Iran will dominate 2010. Either there will be an Israeli attack or Iran will arrive at -- or cross -- the nuclear threshold. Unless revolution intervenes. Which is why to fail to do everything in our power to support this popular revolt is unforgivable."-- Charles Krauthammer
And just as Obama has made no comment about the failed terrorist attack on Christmas day he is again silent about this surge in protests and attacks in Iran. Even though most of Europe is outraged and supporting these students. It just KILLS OBAMA if he would have to speak out against ANY Muslim. Just like he did not even seem upset about Fort Hood, or the terrorist attack in Little Rock where he said nothing.
We have imo a terrorist in office, in our White House, he may not be loaded up with bombs on his ugly chest. BUT he has been bombing our country with his agenda since he was sworn in. Destroying our country day by day and he has no intention of halting.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:40 AM | Comments (7)
December 27, 2009
Sunday Second Incident Another Flight From Nigeria Bound For Detroit Same Flight Number Requested Emergency Landing
.
Police Surround Plane at Detroit Airport After Reports of Suspicious Activity
Disruptive NWA Flight 253 passenger in custody
A Nigerian man in his thirties aboard the same Delta/Northwest flight that was attacked on Christmas Day has been taken into custody, reports Fox News.
Law enforcement officials say no device has been found on or with the detained passenger and that he does not appear to be a threat, reports CNN.
Northwest Airlines Flight 253 requested emergency assistance upon landing after the crew reported suspicious behavior from a "verbally disruptive" passenger.
The crew observed a passenger who got up and down from his seat several times and then barricaded himself in the bathroom for about an hour.
Upon landing, the aircraft was immediately surrounded by emergency crews as passengers deplaned at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
The remaining 255 passengers have safely disembarked from the aircraft.
The TSA said the plane was being held at a remote location at Detroit airport for more screening.
This comes a day after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was charged for attempting to blow up a flight with the same airline, number and path, as it was also travelling from Amsterdam to Detroit.
The Christmas Day terror attempt has left security heightened and officials on edge.
Commercial airline passengers may not rise from their seats during the final hour of their flights or have any personal belongings on their laps during the hour before landing, according to new government rules announced by some airlines yesterday.
Two Sources told Fox News that the Nigerian man taken into custody today boarded a plane in Lagos, Nigeria with no baggage.
Fox News also reported that federal authorities know who the man is, but have declined to release any information about him or whether he is connected to Abdulmutallab.
Second Nigerian possible failed attack on a flight to Detroit from Amsterdam
Local news video reporting a second incident involving a Nigerian national being "detained" by police at the Detroit Metro Airport after he was reported for being "unruly" during the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. Reports indicate the man barricaded himself in the plane's bathroom for an hour, and had boarded the plane with no luggage.
.
Incredible Coincidence?
Police have arrested an airline passenger following a disruption on the same Detroit-bound flight that was attacked Christmas Day by a Nigerian man who allegedly attempted to blow up the aircraft while in flight.
A law enforcement official says the man removed from a Sunday flight to Detroit posed no security risk to the plane.
The official says the passenger was taken into custody after becoming verbally disruptive on landing. Subsequent interviews by investigators determined he was a businessman who became ill during the flight.
Two sources tell Fox News that the suspect boarded a plan in Lagos, Nigeria, with no baggage, and said the FBI has already sent an e-mail alert to other federal agencies notifying them of the incident.
A source told Fox News that the man taken into custody at the Detroit airport was a Nigerian national in his 30s. Federal officials know who the suspect is, but won't provide any more details.
Detroit's Metro Airport spokesman John Wintner said there was a report of suspicious activity on the Delta/Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam Sunday. That is the same flight that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian man, was suspected of attempting to blow up over Detroit on Christmas Day.
White House spokesman Bill Burton said President Obama was notified of the disturbance Sunday as federal officials began reviewing airline security measures.
"The President was notified shortly after 9:00 a.m. Hawaiian time of the incident regarding an unruly passenger on the flight arriving in Detroit by NSS chief of staff Denis McDonough," Burton said. "The President stressed the importance of maintaining heightened security measures for all air travel and gave instructions to set up another secure teleconference briefing as soon as possible."
All 257 passengers and 12 crew have deplaned safely, said Delta spokeswoman Susan Elliott. The flight landed in Detroit at 12:34 p.m. Sunday.
The plane has been moved to a remote location at the airport so authorities can conduct additional screening, Reuters reported.
Wild Thing's comment.......
Apparently, the Nigerian flying from Amsterdam to Detroit on same flight number but different day, caused a verbal disruption & locked himself in bathroom. Left Nigeria with no luggage.
And yet all the increased security is aimed at air travelers in general. How about just not letting Muslims get on a plane until they have gone through a complete body search.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:25 PM | Comments (7)
Senator Max Baucus Drunk / Intoxicated on Senate Floor ~ ROTFLMAO
Senator Max Baucus, Democrat from Montana Drunk on the US Senate Floor debating National health Care.
.
Wild Thing's comment.......
This jerk is so drunk, this is hilarious! I wish they would play it for all those that voted for him. heh heh
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:40 AM | Comments (15)
Interview of Hero Who Led The Way In Subduing Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab
This is Jasper Schuringa, the passenger who led the way in subduing Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab - the terrorist who attempted to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 as it prepared to land in Detroit on Christmas Day.
Schuringa suffered some burns as he subdued Abdulmutallab, who had attempted to set off an explosive device strapped to his body. Instead, the device caught him on fire.
Jasper Schuringa, a video director and producer from Amsterdam, told CNN how helped the cabin crew to subdue Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old who reportedly ignited a small explosive device on on board the plane Friday as it prepared to land in Detroit.
Schuringa said he heard a sound that reminded him of a firecracker and someone yelling, “Fire! Fire!”
"I pulled the object from him and tried to extinguish the fire with my hands and threw it away," Schuringa said.
He said he screamed for water and pulled Abdulmutallab out of his seat and dragged him to the front of the plane.
Schuringa told CNN that Abdulmutallab seemed out of it and "was staring into nothing."
To ensure Abdulmutalla did not have other explosives on his body, Schuringa stripped off his clothes. He then handcuffed the alleged attacker with the help of a crew member.
He says that he sustained minor injuries during the take down.
"My hands are pretty burned. I am fine," he said. "I am shaken up. I am happy to be here."
B. HUSSEIN Obama MIA From His LOVE for being in front of the camera's as Al Qaeda Connected Terrorist Attempts Attack on Christmas Day
Barack Obama has kept his face in front of the American people nearly every day for two years from the Democratic primary, general election and first year of his presidency. Every event of note in America brings a statement from Obama and an appearances on TVs everywhere. Except for the brazen al Qaeda Christmas Day attack on America yesterday.
It has been over thirty-six hours since the terrorist attack on Northwest flight 253, yet Obama has not appeared before the American people to voice his outrage, or to voice his praise of the passengers and crew who thwarted the attempt, or even to just let the world know he is on top of the situation.
Instead, he golfs.
The front page of the White House website has nothing about the terrorist attack. The latest update on the front page is Obama's weekly address posted December 24th.
The White House Briefing Room section contains no statements on the terror attack. Its last posting was also on December 24th.
There have been no on camera statements by any member of the Obama administration since the terror attack.
Wild Thing's comment...........
God bless this Dutch man! Courageous and fast thinking and moving!
Rep. Peter King was on CNN as this was being finalized. He is making the point that it is a failure of leadership for Obama to have not addressed the nation over this.
Obama is so in love with the sound of his own voice and his own image that he plasters himself 24/7 on TV, but for this attack he hides from the camera.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (4)
Father Of Terrorist Tells US Authorities of Concerns Six Months Ago
Father of terrorist Abdul Mutallab Says He Reported Terrorist Son to US Authorities Six Months Ago
The young man, who yesterday night attempted to ignite an explosive device aboard a Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan in the United States has been identified as Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old son of Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, former First Bank chairman. Mutallab, a former minister and prominent banker recently retired from the bank’s board.
The older Mutallab, as at the time of filing this report, had just left his Katsina hometown for Abuja to speak with security agencies, family sources say. According to the family members, Mutallab has been uncomfortable with the boy’s extreme religious views and had six months ago reported his activities to United States’ Embassy, Abuja and Nigerian security agencies.
The older Mutallab was said to be devastated on hearing the news of Abdul Farouk’s attempted bombing arrest. A source close to him said he was surprised that after his reports to the US authorities, the young man was allowed to travel to the United States.
The family home of the Mutallabs in Central London, is currently being searched by men of the Metropolitan Police. THISDAY checks reveal that the suspect, Abdulfarouk Umar Muttalab who is an engineering student at the University College, London had been noted for his extreme views on religion since his secondary school days at the British International School, Lome, Togo.
At the secondary school, he was known for preaching about Islam to his schoolmates and he was popularly called “Alfa”, a local coinage for Islamic scholar. After his secondary school, the young man, family sources said went to University College London to study engineering and later relocated to Egypt, and then Dubai. While in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, he declared to his family members that he did not want to have anything to do with any of them again.
His father, Muttalab is a regular visitor to the US where he visits for medical check up and holidays. He is expected to issue a statement later today.
Al Qaeda members and supporters in Yemen held a massive rally 4 days ago in a remote area of the poor Muslim country. The members declared war against the US just days before the attempted plane bombing on a flight from The Netherlands to Detroit. The plot to blow up an American passenger jet over Detroit was organized and launched by al Qaeda leaders in Yemen.
Men claiming to be leaders of al Qaeda have made a rare public appearance in Yemen, telling an anti-government rally the fight is against the US, not the country's army. The statement was made at an al Qaeda training camp in southern Yemen.
Airlines: New rules keep passengers in seats
Some airlines were telling passengers on Saturday that new government security regulations prohibit them from leaving their seats beginning an hour before landing
The regulations are a response to a suspected terrorism incident on Christmas Day.
Air Canada said in a statement that new rules imposed by the Transportation Security Administration limit on-board activities by passengers and crew in U.S. airspace. The airline said that during the final hour of flight passengers must remain seated. They won't be allowed access to carryon baggage or to have any items on their laps.
Flight attendants on some domestic flights are informing passengers of similar rules. Passengers on a flight from New York to Tampa Saturday morning were also told they must remain in their seats and couldn't have items in their laps, including laptops and pillows.
The TSA declined to confirm the new restrictions.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement Saturday that passengers flying to the U.S. from overseas may notice extra security, but she said the measures "are designed to be unpredictable, so passengers should not expect to see the same thing everywhere."
A transportation security official speaking on condition of anonymity because the official wasn't authorized to speak publicly said passengers traveling internationally could see increased security screening at gates and when they check their bags, as well as additional measures on flights such as stowing carryons and personal items before the plane lands.
.
Wild Thing's comment.............
"Father reported him to US Authorities six months ago"
"Mutallab has been uncomfortable with the boy's extreme religious views and had six months ago reported his activities to United States' Embassy"
Barack Hussein Obama the Muslim President who is responsible for renaming terror as manmade disasters was in charge on June 25, 2009.
A source close to him said he was surprised that after his reports to the US authorities, the young man was allowed to travel to the United States.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200912260001.html
Regardijng the new rules for flying, TSA morons did not check this guy out.
Why doesn’t the rest of the civilized word copy the safety procedures that the Isrealis use? OH that's right, our country is more worried about being PC, and the Israeli procedures are politically incorrect. I stand by what I said, I would prefer the procedures that the Isrealis use.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (6)
WWE Visit Troops For Christmas 2009
WWE Superstars Pay Respect To The Armed Forces Fighting In Iraq To Protect The United States, This Event Only Happens Once A Year. WWE Enjoyed There Time In Iraq And Are Glad To Come Back Next Year. We Wish The Troops A Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year.
.
.
.
Wild Thing's comment.........
I love how they do this every year for our troops. The troops love it so much and have such a great time.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:49 AM | Comments (2)
"Don't Cry For Me, America" ~ History Repeating Before Our Eyes
In 1916, a new president was elected. Hipólito Irigoyen had formed a party called The Radicals under the banner of "fundamental change" with an appeal to the middle class.
With an increasing flow of funds into these entitlement programs, the government's payouts soon became overly generous. Before long its outlays surpassed the value of the taxpayers' contributions. Put simply, it quickly became under-funded, much like the United States' Social Security and Medicare programs.
The death knell for the Argentine economy, however, came with the election of Juan Perón. Perón had a fascist and corporatist upbringing; he and his charismatic wife aimed their populist rhetoric at the nation's rich.
Under Perón, the size of government bureaucracies exploded through massive programs of social spending and by encouraging the growth of labor unions.
High taxes and economic mismanagement took their inevitable toll even after Perón had been driven from office. But his populist rhetoric and "contempt for economic realities" lived on. Argentina's federal government continued to spend far beyond its means.
Hyperinflation exploded in 1989, the final stage of a process characterized by "industrial protectionism, redistribution of income based on increased wages, and growing state intervention in the economy."
The Argentinean government's practice of printing money to pay off its public debts had crushed the economy. Inflation hit 3000%, reminiscent of the Weimar Republic. Food riots were rampant; stores were looted; the country descended into chaos.
And by 1994, Argentina's public pensions - the equivalent of Social Security - had imploded. The payroll tax had increased from 5% to 26%, but it wasn't enough. In addition, Argentina had implemented a value-added tax (VAT), new income taxes, a personal tax on wealth, and additional revenues based upon the sale of public enterprises. These crushed the private sector, further damaging the economy.
A government-controlled "privatization" effort to rescue seniors' pensions was attempted. But, by 2001, those funds had also been raided by the government, the monies replaced by Argentina's defaulted government bonds.
By 2002, ".government fiscal irresponsibility. induced a national economic crisis as severe as America's Great Depression."
In 1902 Argentina was one of the world's richest countries. Little more than a hundred years later, it is poverty-stricken, struggling to meet its debt obligations amidst a drought.
We've seen this movie before. The Democrats' populist plans can't possibly work, because government bankrupts everything it touches. History teaches us that ObamaCare and unfunded entitlement programs will be utter, complete disasters.
Today's Democrats are guilty of more than stupidity; they are enslaving future generations to poverty and misery. And they will be long gone when it all implodes They will be as cold and dead as Juan Perón when the piper must ultimately be paid.
.
Wild Thing's comment..........
I never was worried about our country. I did not like many of the Presidents in my lifetime, the ones that were Democrats and especially Carter and Clinton. But the feeling I have now I have never had before, not to this extent. Half of America voted for this traitor, Obama, the same half could have cared less about his associations and his agenda. He told all of us what he wanted to do, his hate for our Constitution was in an interview ijn 2001 as well as remarks he made during the campaign. So many things too numerous to mention gave a RED ALERT,a siren going off to all of us that are conservative.
And now our beloved America is facing changes that will destroy all our Founding Fathers wanted for this country and our awesome Veterans fought so brave for.
......Thank you RAC for sending this to me.
RAC has a website that is awesome. 336th Assault Helicopter Company
13th Combat Aviation Battalion - 1st Aviation Brigade - Soc Trang, Republic of Vietnam
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (5)
Obama's Jew Hating Anti-semitic Czar Hannah Rosenthal Targets Israel
Anti-Semitism czar's first target is Israel
Obama envoy hails group accused of working against Jewish state
By Aaron Klein
JERUSALEM
In her first major interview since becoming President Obama's newly appointed anti-Semitism czar last month, Hannah Rosenthal yesterday blasted the Israeli government for its criticism of a lobby group accused of anti-Israel activity.
Rosenthal characterized as "most unfortunate" a decision by Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the United States, to not attend the annual dinner in September of J Street, a lobby group that is mostly led by left-leaning Israelis and that receives funds from Arab and Muslim Americans.
In an interview yesterday from Jerusalem with Israel's Haaretz newspaper, Rosenthal said Oren "would have learned a lot" if he had participated in J Street's conference.
Rosenthal was in Israel as the Obama administration's envoy to the Foreign Ministry's Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism.
"I came away realizing what a generational divide there is and I don't know how it is in Israel. Young people want to be part of the discussion, they feel they have fresh ideas and they feel that we have to end the stalemate," she said, speaking of the J Street dinner.
Rosenthal stated it was important that new and different voices need be heard regarding Israel in the American Jewish community.
"It is not 1939," she said. "We have the state of Israel. We have laws in countries that are holding people accountable."
Regarding a recent U.N. report accusing Israel of war crimes during the Jewish state's defensive war in Gaza last year, Rosenthal told Haaretz, "it is not anti-Semitic to look at a certain policy of Israel and say – I disagree with it. Half of the population in Israel isn't anti-Semitic by not agreeing with policies."
That U.N. report has been blasted as one-sided and as relying largely on Hamas information and Palestinian witnesses.
Continued Rosenthal: "I do believe that some of the criticism against Israel is anti-Semitism but not all of it is. And I think that healthy democracies – and Israel is one – ha[ve] to do self reflection and the world looks at the light unto the nations and says I agree to this policy or I don't agree – that is not anti-Semitism."
Rosenthal serves on the board of J Street, which states on its website it seeks to "promote meaningful American leadership to end the Arab-Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatically."
J Street supports talks with Hamas, a terrorist group whose charter seeks the destruction of Israel. The group opposes sanctions against Iran and is harshly critical of Israeli offensive anti-terror military actions.
Reacting to Rosenthal's remarks yesterday, Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlantic commented, "the Obama administration official charged with monitoring worldwide anti-Semitism makes her first target... the Israeli ambassador to the United States? I'll be taking bets now on how long Hannah Rosenthal lasts in the job."
The Israeli government, meanwhile, has been distancing itself from J Street. When its ambassador, Oren, refused to attend the annual J Street dinner, Israeli embassy spokesman Yoni Peled told the Jerusalem Post his government has some "concern over certain [J Street] policies that could impair Israel's interests."
Rosenthal was anti-war activist
WND recently reported Rosenthal was a 1960s anti-war activist and community organizer whose husband worked with the founder of a socialist party, of which, according to documentary evidence, Obama was a member.
Hannah Rosenthal, a former Health Department regional director under the Clinton administration, started her position last month as the State Department's special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism. She previously headed the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, an umbrella U.S. Jewish organization.
Rosenthal was a community organizer who became involved in the anti-war and civil-rights movements in the 1960's.
.
Wild Thing's comment.......
There is a cancer within our government and it’s growing larger, everyday!
Wake Up America!
The appointment of Hannah Rosenthal is more proof of how our Obama is trying to push ahead an anti-Israel agenda.
Check this out as well.........
What is as intersting as this , is the US Consulate convoy of five diplomatic vehicles in Israel which tried to run down an Israeli check point guard after refusing to roll down their windows or identify themselves.
Apparently there was/were (a) Palestinian(s) being smuggled by the Americans under diplomatic immunity.
More Oba-Hussein Chicago style THUGGERY now in Israel, where our Marxist-Islamist misuses diplomatic immunity to move Palstinian terrorists while training their Special (”police”) Forces using an American General to fight and kill Israelis, whom as a Moslem, he detests and wishes ill.
US Consulate car tried to run over checkpoint guard
Israel: U.S. Consulate Car Tried to Run Over Checkpoint Guard
An American diplomatic vehicle allegedly tried to run over an Israeli security guard at a border checkpoint in Israel last month, setting off a diplomatic scuffle that is straining relations between the two nations, the Jerusalem Post reported.
In an episode that was reportedly caught on tape, a five-car U.S. convoy was stopped at the Gilboa border crossing in the northern West Bank on Nov. 13 but refused to identify themselves or open any windows or doors for inspection by Israeli security.
What followed, according to the Post, was recorded in an official report that has kicked up a diplomatic dust storm in Israel.
Drivers in the American convoy blocked the crossing, the report says, tried running over a Defense Ministry security guard and made indecent gestures at female guards, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The incident led to a testy meeting five days later, when U.S. and Israeli officials met in Jerusalem to discuss the case and at least one other involving a Palestinian woman who was found in a U.S. diplomatic car without appropriate documentation.
The U.S. response, the Post noted, further angered Israeli officials: the chief regional security officer reportedly told his Israeli counterparts that "simple guards" had no authority to inspect senior diplomats.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (4)
The Simple Truths of Service: Johnny the Bagger
.
Wild Thing's comment..........
An inspiring video about a grocery store bagger with Down syndrome who changed the company culture and created customer loyalty by providing service from the heart.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (9)
Dems Don't Want To Fund Illinois GITMO-2
Plan to Move Guantánamo Detainees Faces New Delay
Guantánamo Closure Delayed by One Full Year
WASHINGTON
Rebuffed this month by skeptical lawmakers when it sought finances to buy a prison in rural Illinois, the Obama administration is struggling to come up with the money to replace the Guantánamo Bay prison.
As a result, officials now believe that they are unlikely to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and transfer its population of terrorism suspects until 2011 at the earliest — a far slower timeline for achieving one of President Obama’s signature national security policies than they had previously hinted.
While Mr. Obama has acknowledged that he would miss the Jan. 22 deadline for closing the prison that he set shortly after taking office, the administration appeared to take a major step forward last week when he directed subordinates to move “as expeditiously as possible” to acquire the Thomson Correctional Center, a nearly vacant maximum-security Illinois prison, and to retrofit it to receive Guantánamo detainees.
But in interviews this week, officials estimated that it could take 8 to 10 months to install new fencing, towers, cameras and other security upgrades before any transfers take place. Such construction cannot begin until the federal government buys the prison from the State of Illinois.
The federal Bureau of Prisons does not have enough money to pay Illinois for the center, which would cost about $150 million. Several weeks ago, the White House approached the House Appropriations Committee and floated the idea of adding about $200 million for the project to the military spending bill for the 2010 fiscal year, according to administration and Congressional officials.
But Democratic leaders refused to include the politically charged measure in the legislation. When lawmakers approved the bill on Dec. 19, it contained no financing for Thomson.
The administration will probably not have another opportunity until Congress takes up a supplemental appropriations bill for the Afghanistan war. Lawmakers are not likely to finish that bill until late March or April.
Moreover, the administration now says that the current focus for Thomson financing is the appropriations legislation for the 2011 fiscal year. Congress will not take that measure up until late 2010.
Frustrated by the difficulties in obtaining financing from Congress, administration officials had discussed invoking a little-known statute that would allow the president to declare a national emergency and then use military funds allocated for other construction projects to buy and retrofit the Illinois prison.
That statute, however, has never been used for a project quite like this one. Fearing that lawmakers would be angered by such a move and could respond by erasing the statute, the administration decided not to invoke it.
Matthew Waxman, who was assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs in the Bush administration, said the Obama administration would need lawmakers’ support for its long-term post-Guantánamo plans. Invoking emergency powers to unilaterally buy Thomson, he said, would be “poking Congress in the eye in a way that would be very counterproductive.”
Wild Thing's comment..........
And still, the administration cannot explain WHY they want to close Gitmo and transfer these terrorists to US soil.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:40 AM | Comments (6)
December 26, 2009
A MUST See Video of Vietnam Vets Re-United and Christmas With Our Troops Deployed and At Home
.
.
Fox And Friends Christmas Special and in the audience are the ARMY, NAVY, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.
Awesome from FOX and Friends!!!
.
A Special Christmas Reunion, 42 Years in the Making .... A MUST SEE VIDEO!
Nick and I watched the entire show on Fox and Friends and it was truly special. It had us both with tears in our eyes, it was so touching. ~ Wild Thing
This video details the unusual reunion of two long-lost Vietnam buddies. The Fox News Channel first interviewed these two infantry squad mates back in October, 2009. However, on the Fox and Friends Christmas Special, something quite unexpected takes place. See what happens to Kenneth Thompson and good buddy Richard Perricone. It took 42 years.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (6)
Obama Told 3 Hours Later of Failed Terrorist Attack
A White House official said the incident was an attempted act of terrorism. The FBI is investigating and President Obama, celebrating Christmas in Hawaii, was told of the incident about three hours after the plane landed, officials said.
Obama has told White House officials that all appropriate measures be taken to increase security for air travel, a spokesman said. Nevertheless, officials said, they are not prepared to raise the terrorism alert level, currently at orange -- or the second-highest of five levels -- for domestic and international air travel.
The suspect is Abdul Farouk Abdul Mutallab, a federal official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. ABC News and NBC News reported that Abdul Mutallab, 23, attends University College London, where he studies engineering.
Although not on the TSA's "no-fly" list, Abdul Mutallab's name appears to be included in the government's records of terrorism suspects, according to a preliminary review, authorities said.
Abdul Mutallab has told federal investigators that he had ties to al-Qaeda and traveled to Yemen to collect the incendiary device and instructions on how to use it, according to a federal counterterrorism official briefed on the case. Authorities have yet to verify the claim, and they expect to conduct several more interviews before they determine whether he is credible, the official said.
Federal authorities have been told that Abdul Mutallab allegedly had taped some material to his leg, then used a syringe to mix chemicals with the powder while on the airplane, one official said.
But doing so "caused him to catch on fire," Richelle Keepman, who sat a few rows in front of Abdul Mutallab, told WDIV-TV.
Another passenger on Flight 253, Syed Jafry of Holland, Mich., told the Detroit Free Press that he noticed a glow three rows ahead in the Airbus 330, then smelled smoke. The next moment, Jafri recounted, "a young man behind me jumped on" Abdul mutallab.
Jafry said there was a lengthy commotion, after which the passenger was restrained in a first-class seat as the plane continued its landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.
Michigan native Melinda Dennis, who was sitting in across the aisle from Abdul mutallab, told the Free Press that he "was burned very severely on his leg" but remained "very calm and didn't show any reaction to pain."
Wild Thing's comment...........
Obama; who is in Hawaii celebrating whatever he celebrates on December 25, was NOT TOLD ABOUT TODAYS FAILED AL QUADA TERRORIST ATTACK FOR 3 HOURS.
I am absolutely outraged - 3 hours?
The left lost their minds over Bush collecting his thoughts for 6 minutes but Obama can't be bothered for 3 hours?!?!
It was on the news within minutes. How in the heck doesn’t the POS President not get the info for 3 hours? Somebody would have been fired if Bush wasn’t informed in a timely manner.
Obama can't be bothered for 3 hours, says security measures are just "peachy as is". And he won't increase our current threat level.
And of course not a word about the islamic terrorist that’s destroying our country from the inside? What’s his name...Obama.
Obama has not even made it to a full year yet and how many terrorist attacks have we had.
Little Rock...military recruiter that was killed and another soldier injured. Even after FOUR DAYS he had not acknowledged the terrorist attack on the recruiting office ...unlike the Dr. Tiller-abortionist murder,which he couldn’t condemn fast enough!
Fort Hood
Obama won't even say, War on Terror
I guess HUSSEIN Obama was checking his “friends” list to make sure the misunderstood man wasn’t on it.
Hussein Obama completely denied that the Ft. Hood massacre was a planned, calculated terrorist act, and is treating the murderer of American military innocents as a criminal or insane offense. He is vacationing in Hawaii and was not told for three hours of this NWA airborne incident of terror (Did he request he not be informed of this type of incident while he was out playing, or did his incompetent staff forget to tell him. Either way he is not protecting us or the country). The word is out around the world, Obama’s America is now open season for all of our terrorist attackers. God help and protect us from our own leaders.
This site says it arrived at the gate at 12:01
Which means the flight landed before that...
Plane LANDED at 12PM which was 7AM HI time - but the incident happened before 7AM. So if the incident happened at 6:30ish HI time, he was notified sometime AFTER 9AM. Around 3 hours, if not more.
The FBI met the flight. Passengers weren’t off the plane until 4:30 after being interviewed by the FBI.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (13)
Merry Christmas From the Animals of YouTube
A Note form the person that made this cute video:
"Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from me and the animals of YouTube. Big thanks to EVERYONE who submitted videos of their pets. I tried my best to use them all!
And this is his Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/klaatu42
.
Wild Thing's comment..........
LOL I love this.
What a cute idea and to bring others into doing it and sharing videos of their animals.
......Thank you RAC for sending this to me.
RAC has a website that is awesome. 336th Assault Helicopter Company
13th Combat Aviation Battalion - 1st Aviation Brigade - Soc Trang, Republic of Vietnam
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:49 AM | Comments (6)
A Soldier's Christmas - Call to Action
A father meets a phantom soldier on Christmas Eve. He's reminded of our military history, founding of our country. He's called to defend freedom at home. Six minute featurette based on Michael Marks' poem. Poem was made popular by LCDR Jeff Giles, CS, USN, stationed in Al Taqqadum Iraq.
Wild Thing's comment.......
This is so awesome!
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (4)
Primary-Care Doctors Who Refer Patients to Specialists Will Face Financial Penalties
Primary-Care Doctors Who Refer Patients to Specialists Will Face Financial Penalties Under Obamacare
A lot has been made about the "public option" in early versions of the healthcare plan. Many feared that all would eventually be driven into government control of healthcare if a public option existed. But for all practical purposes, total government control of healthcare will have arrived with the current healthcare bill.
Although the Obama team may have wanted it, the "public option" is not necessary for Obama to control the entire healthcare system. The healthcare bill is nothing but incentive after incentive to reduce many services and control the services that remain.
If the general public really understood what this bill was really about, they would be camped out in front of Congress, with pitchforks, just waiting to spot one of the "Representatives" of the people.
In today's WSJ, Dr. Scott Gottlieb points out some of the ways services will be cut and discouraged and the way the bill will attempt to freeze out the small medical practioner: Democrats are touting the American Medical Association's endorsement of President Obama's health plan. But there's an important reason why the American College of Surgeons and 18 other specialty groups are opposed.
The plan's most tangible efforts to restrain medical costs are through its controls on specialist physicians. Based on the government's premise that they often make wasteful treatment decisions, the health-care legislation in Congress will subject doctors to a mix of financial penalties and regulations to constrain their use of the most costly clinical options. The penalties and regulations are aimed first and foremost at surgeons and the medical devices that they use, largely because that's where the bulk of spending is.
It all starts with the sweeping power that the Senate bill gives to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The agency will be given the authority to unilaterally write new rules on when medical devices and drugs can be used, and how they should be priced. In particular, the Obama team wants to give the agency the power to decide when a cheaper medical option will suffice for a given problem and, in turn, when Medicare only has to pay for the least costly alternative....
...the Obama team will use murky provisions embedded in the Senate bill to subtly attain in law those powers they couldn't more artfully acquire in court. In fact, the bill lets Medicare seek almost any restrictive payment authority it wants from a Medicare Commission established for the purposes of cost control.
If Congress believes Medicare has overreached, it has to pass a separate law to explicitly block the agency's newly acquired powers. These provisions are deliberately designed to leverage Congress's inability to act in a timely fashion.
The Senate health-care bill also exempts Medicare's actions from judicial review, taking away the right of patients to sue the government. Unlike existing Medicare coverage laws, patients won't have the ability to appeal any of the decisions of this new Medicare Commission.
Ironically, private health insurers must comply with new patient appeals rights under the Senate bill. The government has exempted itself from the same sort of protections.
Thus Medicare will have the power to control which medical devices surgeons use. But clamping down on expensive procedures also means the agency will need to have authority over the specialists themselves. The organization of doctors into mostly small, disaggregated practices always made it hard for a central bureaucracy to control individual physicians. ObamaCare tries to fix this by putting doctors on the financial hook for their treatment decisions.
Primary-care doctors who refer patients to specialists will face financial penalties under the plan. Doctors will see 5% of their Medicare pay cut when their "aggregated" use of resources is "at or above the 90th percentile of national utilization," according to the chairman's mark of Section 3003 of the bill. Doctors will feel financial pressure to limit referrals to costly specialists like surgeons, since these penalties will put the referring physician on the hook for the cost of the referral and perhaps any resulting procedures.
Next, the plan creates financial incentives for doctors to consolidate their practices. The idea here is that Medicare can more easily apply its regulations to institutions that manage large groups of doctors than it can to individual physicians. So the Obama plan imposes new costs on doctors who remain solo, mostly by increasing their overhead requirements—such as requiring three years of medical records every time a doctor orders routine medical equipment like wheelchairs.
The plan also offers doctors financial carrots if they give up their small practices and consolidate into larger medical groups, or become salaried employees of large institutions such as hospitals or "staff model" medical plans like Kaiser Permanente. One provision, laid out in Section 3022, allows doctors to share with the government any savings to the government they achieve by delivering less care—but only if physicians are part of groups caring for more than 5,000 Medicare patients and "have in place a leadership and management structure, including with regard to clinical and administrative systems."
While these payment reforms are structured as pilot programs in the legislation, this distinction has little practical meaning. Medicare is being given broad authority, for the first time, to roll these demonstration programs out nationally without the need for a second authorization by Congress.
Regulation of medicine has always been a local endeavor, and it's mostly the province of medical journals and professional medical societies to set clinical standards. This is for good reason. Medical practice evolves more quickly than even the underlying technologies that doctors use. This is especially true in surgery, where advances flow from experimentation by good doctors to try different surgical approaches.
The regulation of medical devices and their pricing will also have consequences for patients by discouraging innovation. Most improvements in medical devices come incrementally, with each generation of a device having small but clinically relevant advance over prior versions. This owes to the underlying hardware, which turns on embedded software and microprocessors that themselves undergo constant upgrades.
But if Medicare starts pricing similar devices off one another—a form of the same "reference" pricing schemes used in Europe—manufacturers will start holding back the small changes. Instead, they will introduce new models every four or five years that are sufficiently unique to fall outside of Medicare's pricing scheme. Meanwhile, patients will have lost the benefit of regular improvements and annual upgrades that characterize medical devices today.
The impact of these provisions won't be confined to Medicare. Private insurance sold in the federally regulated "exchanges" will take cues from Medicare, since they're both managed from the same bureaucracy. Medicare will set the standard for medical care across the entire marketplace.
Mr. Obama promised that under his plan people wouldn't have to change their doctors. But it's clear that doctors will be forced to change how they make their medical decisions.
I repeat again, life expectancy in the US under this bill will begin to decline within two to three years. Unnecessary pain, agony and a lowered quality of life will be the order of the day for the chronically ill. This is very, very evil stuff.
Wild Thing's comment........
Someday, the idiots whose votes put Obama in the WH and made the Dems the majority in Congress are going to regret what they did.
The Democrats fantasy that they can campaign on this bill provisions demonstrates their fundamental insanity. Obama is not mentally fit to be in a position of authority.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (4)
What is it About “NO” that Democrat Politicians Don’t Understand? by Col. Pappas
What is it About “NO” that Democrat Politicians Don’t Understand?
by Colonel Bob Pappas, USMC, Retired
The passage of the Senate’s version of so called, “Health Care Reform” is a great political victory as political victories go, but it is a disaster for America. The core idea was not, is not and never has been to provide truly universal and high quality care for all Americans.
Its purpose was, is and ever will be, in Obama’s words, “to spread the wealth around,” considering the way it was passed, through dictatorial edict. If enacted it would expand government and bureaucratic authority over citizens, that is, except selected officials of the Federal Government, since they have exempted themselves. It was enlightening to listen to the media spin on the debate between Democrats, as though that was a debate. It was more realistically a staged show to suggest that among Democrats there were actually differences. At the end, all Democrats and no Republicans voted for the bill. Republican ideas were not invited and were not considered. It was done entirely behind closed doors; so much for transparency!
That Kabuki may have satiated the media’s appetite for political theatre but it is, as the name suggests, a sham. Democrats will crow that passage is a great day for America in the face of 60% citizen opposition to the two thousand plus page bill. If they actually believe that the bill will survive after they are routed from power, and there will be a rout, they are smoking the same marijuana that Bill Clinton didn’t inhale, or more accurately, they are snorting some of the same cocaine that Obama used, or is it, “uses?”
The bill is unconstitutional on its face. One provision would establish a government bureaucracy to dispense health care cannot be repealed. Such bureaucracies are as a matter of fact death panels because once the program is in place those panels would decide who gets what care based on what the panel(s) deem to be the relative merit of one person’s life over another’s.
It is highly likely that one thing that the panels would immediately do would be to shut down most if not all institutions that provide care for persons with severe disabilities, or at the least pull the plug on such people. After all, they contribute nothing except as objects for research and sources of income for providers, and are therefore a huge economic drain. Another group that will be allowed to expire are the elderly in assisted living facilities or anyone at a point in life where in the panel’s judgment the person is too much of a drain in relation to the cost of keeping “it” alive. Once “it” becomes ill, “it” will be allowed to die for the same or similar economic reasons as those with severe disabilities.
Another component is inherently unconstitutional is the mandatory requirement for all Americans to buy health care enforced through penalties imposed upon those who do not. In a recent television interview, one advocate for the bill asserted that it would be no different than mandating the purchase of automobile insurance. B.arbra S.treisand! Anyone with any sense can instantly make the distinction, but since liberals inherently don’t get it: first, not everyone drives or owns a car so the analogy does not hold; second, it would be a form of “life tax,” i.e. if you are alive one is required to buy insurance.
That fact opens the door for government to dictate who and how many children a family can produce, and runs directly into the issue of “reproductive rights.” It is the back door approach to China’s “one child” policy, enforced by mandatory abortion.
It’s time to send a message to your Senators and Representative and don’t let up. Enlist your friends in this fight for freedom from the tyranny of socialists/Marxists that Democrats embody.
Semper Fidelis
Wild Thing's comment.........
Obama and the dems hate to hear No and they hate to hear we the people speak up. Honestly they really are the lowest form of beings every one of them.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (3)
B. Hussein Obama and Family In Hawaii
.
Wild Thing's comment...........
Obama not only rented this house, but the 2 next door for familiy and friends. The house Obama where Obama is staying is a private residence on Kailua Beach valued at $8.9 million. The one residence is $4000 a day! Yep $4K per day. Nothing but the best for Baraq Sheik Obama, King of Amerika.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:40 AM | Comments (3)
December 25, 2009
Passenger Ignites Explosive on Delta Flight, Al Qaeda Connection Reported
Passenger Ignites Explosive on Delta Flight, Al Qaeda Connection Reported
A male passenger reportedly linked to terrorist organization al-Qaeda ignited a powdery substance prior to landing on a Delta Airlines flight to Detroit Friday. The suspect is believed to be Nigerian, Fox News reported.
Several people were hurt and one person was admitted to the University of Michigan Medical Center at Ann Arbor, hospital spokeswoman Tracy Justice said. An emergency was declared aboard the flight, operated as Northwest flight 253, according to a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson.
The suspect, who suffered second-degree burns, told federal investigators he was directed by al-Qaeda, though authorities are questioning the veracity of that statement, ABC reported. A federal situational awareness bulletin noted that the explosive was acquired in Yemen with instructions as to when it should be used, ABC said.
The FBI was on the scene, Detroit office spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold told NewsCore. Berchtold declined to comment on the reports of a terrorist connection.
All 278 passengers on the Airbus A330 wide-body jet, which landed at 11:53 a.m. local time, have since deplaned at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Delta spokesperson Susan Elliott said.
"Out of an abundance of caution, the plane was moved to a remote area where the plane and all baggage are currently being rescreened. A passenger is in custody and passengers are being interviewed," the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear if the suspect was subdued by crew or passengers.
Airport spokesman Mike Conway referred all questions to the FBI.
Possible terror attack on Northwest jet (Subdued by flight crew and passengers)
Nigerian man tries to light powdery substance on Detroit flight, officials say
A 23-year-old Nigerian man tried to light a powdery substance aboard a Northwest Airlines flight before landing in Detroit on Friday, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official told NBC News.
Two people noticed the attempt and a third person jumped on the man and subdued him, an airline official told NBC News.
The man is being treated at the burn unit of the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, officials said.
The man told investigators that he wanted to set off a bomb over the United States, and the incident is being handled as a possibile terrorism attack by both law enforcement and intelligence agencies, senior counterterrorism officials said.
Update:
The man said he was directed by al Qaeda to explode a small device in flight, over U.S. soil, ABC News has learned. Authorities have no corroboration of that information, and the credibility of the suspect’s statements are being questioned, officials said.
The man was apparently already on the government’s no-fly list of suspected terrorists, according to a senior intelligence official.
“The subject is claiming to have extremist affiliation and that the device was acquired in Yemen along with instructions as to when it should be used,” a federal situational awareness bulletin stated.
.
UPDATE:
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., identified the suspect as Abdul Mudallad. King said the flight began in Nigeria and went through Amsterdam en route to Detroit.
One of the U.S. intelligence officials said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the passenger tried to detonate it.
The passenger was being questioned Friday evening. “He appears to have had some kind of incendiary device he tried to ignite,” said one of the U.S. officials.
Authorities initially believed the passenger had set off firecrackers that caused some minor injuries.
An FBI spokeswoman in Detroit said the incident is being investigated. It came just as the flight, an Airbus 330 carrying 278 passengers, was arriving in Detroit from Amsterdam. “Next thing you know, there was a lot of panic,” he said.
.
Wild Thing's comment.........
I posted the two news stories because there are some differences as there are a lot of the time in information.
Most of the Hausa in Nigeria are Muslims.This failed bomber was a muslim who was on the US no-fly list. sheesh more of the stupid PC from security. And still see the bullies of the TSA searching the persons of little old white church ladies. it has nothing to do with security.
Sounds like an amateur effort to give us a Merry Muslim Christmas. Thank God the guy seems to have been an incompetent.
The man told investigators that he wanted to set off a bomb over the United States, and the incident is being handled as a possibile terrorism attack by both law enforcement and intelligence agencies, senior counterterrorism officials said.
Possible terrorism attack? He said he wanted to set off a bomb. Someone explain to me how that is NOT terrorism.
These politically correct "conterterrorism experts" are gonna get a whole bunch of us killed.
Good for Rep. Peter King in getting the name of the terrorist out there.
Oh and where is Obama, well he is in Hawaii and "they say" he is monitoring Delta flight situation (but still catching those waves)
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 PM | Comments (6)
Santa and Our Troops
Santa made the rounds back in Vietnam, here is the caption for the next picture:
"Nhon Cho, South Vietnam, December 21, 1968: Dispensing with the normal sleigh, Santa Claus taxis along the airstrip in an artistically-modified C7 Caribou cargo plane as he arrives to bring gifts to Detachment 35, B Company, 5th Special Forces Group. The Air Force's 483rd Tactical Aircraft Wing at Cam Ranh Bay decorated seven of the planes for use in Christmas visits to the troops in the field. James Linn ©Stars and Stripes
Our Troops today:
Santa Arrives in A-10 Thunderbolt
Santa Claus visits the Selfridge ANG base near New Baltimore, MI, home of the "Red Devils" , the 107th Fighter Squadron. Who needs Rudolf when you have a 30 mm GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling gun to light your way.
The first paratrooper to jump waits for the "green light" on board a C-130 Hercules Dec. 6, 2009, above Fort Bragg, N.C.. Crews from the National Guard's 145th Airlift Wing from Charlotte, N.C., and the Air Force Reserve's 910th Airlift Wing from Youngstown, Ohio, participated in the 12th Annual Randy Oler Operation Toy Drop event. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Peter Miller
POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C., Dec. 24, 2009 – You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen. But on Dec. 6, it was not a team of reindeer, but Air Force Maj. Jeff Dasher, a navigator in the 95th Airlift Squadron here, who guided the mission for the 440th Airlift Wing's C-130 Hercules that flew a group of “Soldier Santas” across the morning sky.
One might say he was born for this mission.
"It's the name," Dasher said with a chuckle. "I had to be on this flight."
His flight was part of the 12th annual Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop, a program sponsored by Fort Bragg, N.C., and Pope Air Force Base officials providing toys to needy children in the Fayetteville, N.C., area. The toys, donated by the participating servicemembers, are delivered to children in time for Christmas.
More than 1,200 Army paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division and 18th Airborne Corps suited up in their jump gear to be a part of the charity event, which brought participants from as far away as Germany.
Air Force Col. Merle Hart, 440th Airlift Wing commander, greeted the paratroopers as they checked their gear and marched toward the flightline to board Dasher's C-130.
"I'm proud that the 440th can be a part of this operation," Hart said. "This is a great outreach that our soldiers can provide and a token of our support to the children of other military members and the local community."
This year, the 440th Airlift Wing, in conjunction with the Air National Guard’s 145th Airlift Wing from Charlotte, N.C., and the Air Force Reserve’s 910th Airlift Wing from Youngstown, Ohio, provided airlift for the day's event.
Since its inception 12 years ago, the program has become so popular that Army paratroopers have to win a lottery to participate. To enter the lottery, each paratrooper must buy a toy for one of the needy area children. Though only 1,200 lucky winners actually jump, far more choose to participate and bring donated gifts to Fort Bragg.
For more than 1,000 children, these soldiers and airmen flew in a promise to them that they would have a very merry Christmas.
"They have a massive wrapping session," said Air Force Lt. Col. William Whittenberger, 440th Operations Group commander. "A lot of the wives and families help out. It becomes a big party."
Whittenberger was mission commander for this year's Toy Drop and also flew one of the C-130s.
"We've got 1,200 troops to drop in a fairly short time frame, so we're doing a parallel running course that's 17 miles long, and it is about 12 minutes from takeoff to drop," he said. "Our goal is five minutes between each air frame."
For Army Pfc. Caleb Wood, a 20-year-old soldier stationed at Fort Bragg, it would be only his sixth jump. Along with other members of his chalk, Wood waited in the passenger terminal shelter on the Pope flightline as other soldiers prepared their gear.
"It's my first year doing this," Wood said. "I bought a tricycle to support the event."
As Wood stood in line for his turn, Army 1st Lt. Judith Wood from 126th Transportation Company, 82nd Sustainment Brigade, waited for her turn to climb inside the fuselage of a C-130 to jump.
"I enjoy this because it's a rush, and it's great for the kids," she said. "I hope I'm here again next year. They tell you not to look down, but when you're there, you can't help it. We ask ourselves why we're doing this, but when we jump, it's all worth it."
Seated on the bleachers set out in the red sand against the stark winter-blue sky, family members waited alongside the Sicily Drop Zone on the far side of Fort Bragg for their loved ones. As the C-130 approached, they held up their hands to shield their eyes against the glare of the sun. The plane flew in smoothly, and one by one, the dark silhouettes of the soldiers dipped out of the plane and snapped straight, as one after another their parachutes ballooned into perfect mushrooms.
The line of parachutes stretched along the field as those soldiers who had already completed their flight marched in formation past the bleachers.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:55 AM | Comments (8)
Music For This Christmas Day
Carrie Underwood..."What Child Is This "
.
Celtic Woman - Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring
.
Celtic Woman...... performs ''O Holy Night,''
.
This one I have posted before. It is so beautiful and even though it is not a Christmas song, I wanted to share it with all of you again, and to thank you all so much for your love for our beloved America.The words touch my heart so deeply every time I hear this song. ~ Wild Thing
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:50 AM | Comments (4)
Obama's Interpol Immunity His Executive Order 12425
Obama's Interpol Immunity His Executive Order 12425
Why Does Interpol Need Immunity from American Law?
Andy McCarthy
You just can't make up how brazen this crowd is. One week ago, President Obama quietly signed an executive order that makes an international police force immune from the restraints of American law.
Interpol is the shorthand for the International Criminal Police Organization. It was established in 1923 and operates in about 188 countries. By executive order 12425, issued in 1983, President Reagan recognized Interpol as an international organization and gave it some of the privileges and immunities customarily extended to foreign diplomats. Interpol, however, is also an active law-enforcement agency, so critical privileges and immunities (set forth in Section 2(c) of the International Organizations Immunities Act) were withheld. Specifically, Interpol's property and assets remained subject to search and seizure, and its archived records remained subject to public scrutiny under provisions like the Freedom of Information Act. Being constrained by the Fourth Amendment, FOIA, and other limitations of the Constitution and federal law that protect the liberty and privacy of Americans is what prevents law-enforcement and its controlling government authority from becoming tyrannical.
On Wednesday, however, for no apparent reason, President Obama issued an executive order removing the Reagan limitations. That is, Interpol's property and assets are no longer subject to search and confiscation, and its archives are now considered inviolable. This international police force (whose U.S. headquarters is in the Justice Department in Washington) will be unrestrained by the U.S. Constitution and American law while it operates in the United States and affects both Americans and American interests outside the United States.
Interpol works closely with international tribunals (such as the International Criminal Court — which the United States has refused to join because of its sovereignty surrendering provisions, though top Obama officials want us in it). It also works closely with foreign courts and law-enforcement authorities (such as those in Europe that are investigating former Bush administration officials for purported war crimes — i.e., for actions taken in America's defense).
Why would we elevate an international police force above American law? Why would we immunize an international police force from the limitations that constrain the FBI and other American law-enforcement agencies? Why is it suddenly necessary to have, within the Justice Department, a repository for stashing government files which, therefore, will be beyond the ability of Congress, American law-enforcement, the media, and the American people to scrutinize?
Here's a link to executive order 12425.
Wild Thing's comment.........
This is important !!!!
A foreign criminal enforcement agency on American soil without US supervision is blatantly unConstitutional and a flagrant disregard of U.S. soveriegnty.
Obama just keeps on generating these “Molon Labe” moments; does he really want to challenge the largest armed force on Earth? WE THE PEOPLE!
Obama's every step is carefully calculated to diminish/destroy American might, sovereignty, its ability to defend itself and in turn replace it with a marxist dictatorship.
The buying of Obamacare senatorial votes highlights the attack on constitutional values... specifically representation by the people. The vast majority do not want it but yet the statute is being “bought” by Obama to complete his nefarious agenda. government control of the people, govt control of the economy, now he is edging in his new world order by bringing in a police force which has greater authority that the FBI, CIA and local police.
This bugger has to be voted out. The people need to be aware of the crap he is perpetrating on them!
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:49 AM | Comments (8)
10 Lumps Of Coal In The Health Care Bill by Betsy McCaughey
10 Lumps Of Coal In The Health Care Bill
By BETSY McCAUGHEY
12/23/2009
For most Americans, the health reform bill that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is pushing to pass will be worse than coal in their stockings. Herewith, the Top 10 List of Things You Don't Want From Health Care Reform This Christmas - But Will Get Anyway From Congress.
1. Higher premiums: If you pay for your own insurance, your premiums will cost 10% to 13% more than if the bill didn't pass, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Insurance won't be more affordable. Sixty percent of the newly insured are being enrolled in Medicaid, the public program for the poor.
2. A cost you can't afford and can't avoid: Though moderate-income families will get subsidies, buying insurance is mandatory. A family earning $54,000 will be expected to pay $9,000 (17% of pre-tax income) for the premium, co-pays and deductibles, according to the CBO. If you don't enroll, the IRS will find you and penalize you (Senate bill, p. 345).
3. A one-size-fits-all health plan: Your benefit package will be prescribed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Whether you choose basic, silver or gold, and whether you pay for it yourself or qualify for a subsidy, your benefits are the same.
Gold plans simply collect more up front and give you a lower co-pay or deductible. It's unclear how possible it will be to buy supplemental insurance. The goal is to discourage health consumption and differences based on ability to pay.
4. A sin tax on your generous plan at work: This is another equalizer to discourage some people from getting more than others. The Senate bill puts a 40% tax on Cadillac plans (p. 1,980). About one-fifth of employer-provided plans fall into that "luxury" category. The CBO predicts that employers will downgrade your coverage to avoid the tax or reduce your take home pay.
5. Government controls on your doctors' decisions: The Senate bill bars doctors from participating in the private insurance system unless they implement whatever regulations the secretary of health and human services chooses to impose to "improve health care quality" (p. 149). That broad phrase encompasses everything in medicine.
This would be the first time in history that the federal government is given power over how doctors treat privately insured patients
6.Hospitals closed to seniors: The House and Senate bills slash payments to hospitals and other institutions that care for seniors. The chief actuary for Medicare, Richard Foster, warns that cuts in the House bill are so severe that some institutions may face severe losses or end their participation in Medicare (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 11/13/09 report). Some seniors won't know where to go.
7.Bare-bones hospital care: Patients of all ages (and all incomes) will suffer when hospitals are in financial distress. Hospital budget cuts will mean shortages of nurses, equipment and cleaning staff. The president's chief health advisor, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, argues that hospitals in the U.S. offer more privacy and comfort than hospitals in Europe, and this "abundance of amenities" drives up costs (Journal of the American Medical Association, June 18, 2008).
8. Future Medicare cuts: Look out baby boomers, the Senate bill establishes an Independent Medicare Advisory Commission to make automatic spending reductions in future years while insulating Congress from the political fallout. You won't get as much care as people in Medicare currently get.
9. A new social agenda: Money is allocated for adult preparation activities, including lessons on positive self-esteem and relationship dynamics, friendships, dating (and) romantic involvement (Senate bill, p.612). There are also giveaways to immigrants. The Senate bill hands low-income legal immigrants government subsidies as soon as they get here, instead of waiting the five years Medicaid requires (Senate bill, p. 274).
10.A tell-all relationship with every doctor you see:What happens in your doctor's office must be recorded in an electronic data base that can send the information to insurers and other medical offices (Senate bill, p. 62-66). Every doctor you see will have access to your medical history. See a psychiatrist? Your foot doctor will know about it.
These congressional tidings bring no comfort or joy. We must save ourselves from Congress' power now that it has gone astray.
Wild Thing's comment.........
This bill is so horrible, and we don't even know all the things that are even in the two different bills.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:48 AM | Comments (3)
"The Good Lord and the Man" by John Rich
The song is about John Rich's grandfather , a World War II veteran who won six purple hearts, the details Rich injects into the opening lines provide the set-up for a heartfelt homage to his Grandfather Rich: “Well he was one of the millions/Who signed up to defend us, long ago in 1941/When they sucker punched us in Pearl Harbor, he fought under MacArthur/Seventeen with an Army Thompson gun.”
Lyrics to The Good Lord and the Man by John Rich
Well he was one of the millions
who signed up to defend us
long ago in 1941
when they sucker punched us in Pearl Harbor
he fought under Macarthur seventeen with an army Thompson gun
Well he stormed a lot of beaches slept in jungles with the leaches
he saw things young man should never see
and when they shot him in the shoulder
he got back up and he marched over
left a lot of brothers dead in kawagalie
If it wasn’t for the good lord and the man
there wouldn’t be a breath of freedom in this land
and I see people on my T.V. taking shots at uncle Sam
I hope they always remember why they can
cause we’d all be speakin’ German livin’ under the flag of Japan
if it wasn’t for the good lord and the man
if it wasn’t for the good lord and the man
Well I’m the grandson of a soldier and I’d fight the whole world over
if duty called and freedoms on the line
but thanks to the greatest generation and the ones still fighting for our nation
I’ve never had to kill for my way of life
If it wasn’t for the good lord and the man
there wouldn’t be a breath of freedom in this land
and I see people on my T.V. taking shots at uncle Sam
I hope they always remember why they can
cause we’d all be speakin’ German livin’ under flag of Japan
if it wasn’t for the good lord and the man
if it wasn’t for the good lord and the man
there wouldn’t be a breath of freedom in this land
and I see people on my T.V. taking shots at uncle Sam
I hope they always remember why they can
cause we’d all be speakin’ German livin’ under flag of Japan
if it wasn’t for the good lord and the man
if it wasn’t for the good lord and the man
Wild Thing's comment............
Great song! I have never heard this one before. I really like it.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:47 AM | Comments (3)
Anti-American's Pelosi and Reid To Hold Private Meetings To Decide Final Socialized Medicine Bill for DICTATOR Obama
Politico
Yesterday morning, at 7:16 a.m., the Senate passed on a 60-39 party line vote a sweeping health care bill that will tighten insurance regulations, provide insurance for 31 million more Americans and nearly $1 trillion the next decade.
Clearly exhausted, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid mistakenly voted no before changing his vote to yes, which got a laugh in the chamber, especially from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
After the vote, Reid joked, "I spent a very restless night last night trying to figure out how I could show some bipartisanship and I think I was able to accomplish that for a few minutes."
Republican leader Mitch McConnell responded: “This fight isn’t over. My colleagues and I will work to stop this bill from becoming law. That’s the clear will of the American people — and we’re going to continue to fight on their behalf.”
Video of Democrat Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid mistakenly voting "No" on his Senate Health Care Bill today before he and others in the chamber caught the mistake. He then changed his vote to "Yes."
.
For Their Next Trick . . .
The latest example of violating principles of transparency and accountability in the single-minded pursuit of legislative victory.
By JOHN FUND
Look for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to try to circumvent the traditional conference committee process by which the different versions of health care reform passed by each house will be reconciled. If so, it will be the latest example of violating principles of transparency and accountability in the single-minded pursuit of legislative victory.
Conferences involving members from both houses are messy things. They are usually conducted in public and often televised, and can produce a compromise version of the bill that leaves rank-and-file members tempted to vote against the final version. That could be perilous in the case of health care since it's likely to pass without a vote to spare in the Senate and the House's version passed by only five votes.
North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad, chair of the Budget Committee, has already warned that if the final bill "isn't close to the Senate bill, there will be no way to get the 60 votes here" to shut off debate and pass the final product. But many House members, led by Michigan Rep. John Conyers, are insisting on major changes in the Senate's version.
Mr. Reid and Ms. Pelosi would love to come up with a way to bash heads in private and skip any public discussion that further reveals just how incoherent and unworkable both the bills are. Luckily, there is a subterfuge readily available that wouldn't require the House to swallow the Senate's bill unchanged but also ducks the traditional give-and-take of the conference committee.
When Democrats took over Congress in 2007, they increasingly did not send bills through the regular conference process. "We have to defer to the bigger picture," explained Rep. Henry Waxman of California. So the children's health insurance bill passed by the House that year was largely dumped in favor of the Senate's version. House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel and other Democrats complained the House had been "cut off at the knees" but ultimately supported the bill. Legislation on lobbying reform and the 2007 energy bill were handled the same way -- without appointing an actual conference.
Rather than appoint members to a public conference committee, those measures were "ping-ponged" -- i.e. changes to reconcile the two versions were transmitted by messenger between the two houses as the final product was crafted behind closed doors solely by the leadership. Many Democrats grumbled at the secrecy. "We need to get back to the point where we use conference committees . . . and have serious dialogue," said Rep. Artur Davis of Alabama at the time.
But serious dialogue isn't what Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid are interested in right now. Look for the traditional conference committee to be replaced by a "ping-pong" game in which health care is finalized behind closed doors with little public scrutiny before the bill is rushed to the floor of each chamber for a final vote.
Wild Thing's comment.........
With every kick to the gut, the ache lingers longer and longer but gradually goes away. Not this time.
Not this time.
I will remember this day as the day the Democrats presided over the degradation of the American
Way of Life. They are wholly responsible for what will happen to the best health care system in the
world.
The day is coming you piece of crap when the American people will show all of you how much
we appreciated this.
WAR HAS BEEN DECLARED ON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:45 AM
Moron Sen. Feinstein Thinks Commerce Clause Gives Congress Unlimited Authority!
Sen. Feinstein 'Assumes' Commerce Clause Gives Congress Unlimited Authority to Mandate Health Insurance
By Fred Lucas
Senator Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) said that Congress has the authority to mandate that people buy health insurance and that there is no constitutional limit on Congress’ power to enact such mandates, adding that this unlimited authority stemmed from the Commerce clause of the Constitution.
The health care bills in both the House and Senate require that every American purchase a health insurance policy. At the Capitol on Tuesday, CNSNews.com asked Sen. Feinstein: “Where in the Constitution does Congress get the authority for an individual health insurance mandate?”
Feinstein said: “Well, I would assume it would be in the Commerce clause of the Constitution. That’s how Congress legislates all kinds of various programs."
CNSNews.com followed up by asking Sen. Feinstein whether this broad power had any limits: “If there’s a health insurance mandate, is there a limit to that authority? Is there something that can’t be mandated?”
Feinstein responded: “My own view is that there is not, within health insurance.”
The Commerce clause is found in Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. It states the numerous powers authorized to Congress, including the power “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among several States, and with the Indian tribes.”The Senate version of health reform imposes an historic mandate on all Americans, requiring them to have government-approved health insurance, either through an employer or individually. The mandate also can penalize people with a surtax ranging from $500 to nearly $1,500 per year if they do not have a health insurance policy. The bill, which is unpopular with the public, garnering the support of barely 40 percent of Americans, according to recent national polls. Those numbers led Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele to accuse Congress of “flipping the bird” to the American people.
“This is a bad bill, it is bad, certainly for individuals and enough is enough,” Steele said in a conference call on Monday. “I am tired of Congress thumbing its nose and flipping a bird to the American people. I’m tired of this Congress thinking it knows better than me and my family how to provide for our health care now and in the future. I’m tired of this Congress not listening to me and to the American people – to all of us.”In 1994, when the Clinton administration attempted to push a health care reform plan through a Democratic Congress that also mandated every American buy health insurance, the Congressional Budget Office determined that the government had never ordered Americans to buy anything.
“The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States,” the CBO analysis said. “An individual mandate would have two features that, in combination, would make it unique. First, it would impose a duty on individuals as members of society. Second, it would require people to purchase a specific service that would be heavily regulated by the federal government."
Wild Thing's comment.........
BS loud and clear! She proves that any moron can go on to be a U.S. Senator
She is a clear and present danger. Unacceptable.
We need to hold Congress in contempt....especially Pelosi. Defy ‘em! They want a dictatorship.
Our Constitution does NOT allow for complete control of citizens in regards to requiring them
to purchase government hellcare.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:40 AM | Comments (5)
December 24, 2009
Merry Christmas To All and Our Troops
To Our Brave Patriot Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen, Coasties, Veterans, Allies, Contractors & Families
May God bless and protect you, until you're safely home.
Service members are deployed worldwide if possible they are singing hymns, sharing good wishes, dreaming of home, and generally making the best of whatever situation they are in as they always have done this time of year.
Not that this has always been easy. In fact, there have been some very dark Christmases in our nation’s military history; from that bitter December at Valley Forge in 1777 to the massive wound-lickings following devastating December losses at Fredericksburg in 1862 and Pearl Harbor in 1941 to the terrible December siege of Bastogne in 1944, and others.
We all may have a favorite Christmas that holds a special place in our hearts and memories, maybe more then one. To those that are deployed at Christmas it takes on a whole new meaning.
I have never served in the military, but the gift to be able to go and see our troops overseas those 4 times will be as real to me today as they were then. Those visits live in my heart forever. As each of the Christmas shows finished there was always the song "Silent Night".
Wild Thing
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:55 AM | Comments (10)
Obama's HATE America Socialized Medicine Bill
Last evening Sarah Palin warned the big government democrat-socialists:( this was on Tweeter and sent to me)
Tomorrow’s Health care Takeover vote Will cause the sleeping giant to awaken and take action. “Average” Americans will take action as light shines on big government growth and corruption.
The democrats have bribed enough Senators and will vote this morning at 7:00 AM EST to take over health care.
Obama vents frustration at Senate delays
WASHINGTON
Barack Obama on Wednesday expressed frustration with the way the Senate does business, saying the use of delaying tactics there harms the nation's ability to "deal with big problems in a very competitive world."
"Other countries are going to start running circles around us," Obama said in a White House interview with PBS. "We're going to have to return to some sense that governance is more important than politics inside the Senate."
Obama's critique of his former Senate colleagues came just as his allies there were on the cusp of giving him what he wants: passage of a Senate health care bill.
The bare-minimum bloc of 60 senators—all 58 Democrats and two independents—voted to end a GOP filibuster and move toward final passage Thursday.
Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.) are questioning the constitutionality of the Democrats’ Senate version of the healthcare bill. On behalf of the Republican Steering Committee, the official caucus of conservative senators, the two raised on the Senate floor yesterday a Constitutional point of order that will compel a vote by the full Senate today on the bill’s constitutionality.
The point of order will either be waived -- by Democrats who don’t care about the constitutionality or are willing to ignore the issue -- or it will stand and the healthcare bill will be dead until the unconstitutional parts are excised.
Likely part of the planned series of votes today around 2:00 pm, the Senate chair will not rule on the bill’s constitutionality, so the matter will be placed before the full Senate to ask if the point is “well taken.” It takes a simple majority to agree that the bill is unconstitutional.
The Congressional Budget Office once stated “A mandate requiring all individuals to purchase health insurance would be an unprecedented form of federal action. The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States.”
The bill requires every American citizen to buy health insurance “whether or not they ever visit a doctor, get a prescription or have an operation.” If a citizen chooses not to buy health insurance coverage, they will face a fine that will quickly increase to $750 or 2% of their taxable income, whichever is greater.
The senators say the individual mandate likely also violates the “takings” clause of the 5th Amendment.
“I am incredibly concerned that the Democrats’ proposed individual mandate provision takes away too much freedom and choice from Americans across the country,” Ensign said. “As an American, I felt the obligation to stand up for the individual freedom of every citizen to make their own decision on this issue. I don’t believe Congress has the legal authority to force this mandate on its citizens.”
The Heritage Foundation legal study concluded: “An individual mandate to enter into a contract with or buy a particular product from a private party, with tax penalties to enforce it, is unprecedented -- not just in scope but in kind --and unconstitutional as a matter of first principles and under any reasonable reading of judicial precedents.”
“This is one way we can be true to what the American people want us to do,” DeMint continued in the exclusive interview. “They keep asking, ‘What about the Constitution?’ I see it everywhere I go. There’s nothing in the Constitution about the government running our health care system. It seems obvious from the content in several places in the Constitution that showing any kind of preferential treatment at the federal level for states or persons is not constitutional. When we see like what’s going on in Nebraska or Louisiana -- it’s a clear violation of the Constitution on that front.”
What does DeMint hope to accomplish with the vote?
“What I hope we can do by raising the point of order is to maybe turn our focus back to our oath of office and the whole foundation that we are supposed to be making laws from, which is completely un-tethered now,” DeMint said.
“There is no mention of constitutional framework now when we deal with legislation. As I said [Monday] on the floor, most of the people here in this Congress believe that there is not a pothole in America today that should not be filled with a federal earmark -- or a scratched knee or a hurt feeling. I mean there’s nothing that can be brought up on the floor of the Senate that people could say, ‘That’s not constitutional,’ and be taken seriously. In fact it’s gone the other way. If you have the audacity to suggest that the government shouldn’t do something -- you are accused of not wanting it to be done. We have to break that pattern. And part of it with this bill that’s now become very high profile, if we raise a Constitutional Point of Order, get people thinking about it, my hope is if the thing does go through, and I’m going to fight to the end to stop it, but if it does go through that there are constitutional challenges to this thing for years.”
.
Wild Thing's comment........
They say people get the government they deserve, but I don't think Americans deserve Obama. Well just the ones that voted for this America hating terrorist loving Marxist.l But surely not the rest of us, we love our country and this is breaking our hearts and has us outraged.
Obama just getting creepier every day.
I applaud Senators DeMint and Ensign for standing firm in their support of our Constitution in the face of the current madness.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:50 AM | Comments (10)
Jack Bauer Interrogates Santa
.
Wild Thing's comment........
LOL well done.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:49 AM | Comments (5)
Yes, Virginia there WAS a Santa Claus
Yes, Virginia there was a Santa Claus
Phil Boehmke
TIME: The not too distant future
PLACE: The North Pole (still plenty of ice)
Dear Virginia,
I am writing to apologize for the delay in fulfilling your Christmas gift request. We here at Santa Claus Limited have had numerous difficulties this season and I wanted to explain what has happened.
Early in the year while I was sleeping, the elves were confronted by a stern old elf named Andy who convinced them how they were being mistreated and underpaid. Andy had them sign some little cards and by the time I had awakened they were all members of the SEIU (Santa's Elves International Union). Several of our most senior elves have told me that they are being forced to pay something called "dues" and are now making much less than before. Since the elves were working fewer hours and are no longer allowed to perform duties outside of their job classification we had to hire additional toy makers.
Our labor costs here at SCL were driven up to unsustainable levels and we were forced to reduce our non-union staff. In a further attempt to contain our spiraling labor costs we asked the elves for some temporary concessions. They hit us with a slow down. We fell way behind in production so in the spirit of co-operation (and to avert a strike) we met with Andy and negotiated an agreement which gave the elves a 9% increase in pay. The slow down ended and production shot up by 5%. To make up for the loss of production during the slow down we were forced to hire additional toy makers.
Once we caught up with production we ran into a serious distribution problem. The EPA issued a cease and desist order prohibiting me from delivering our packages via my traditional reindeer powered sleigh. It seems that the gas produced by the reindeer is a dangerous green-house gas and is causing global warming.
We then unveiled our new enviro-friendly low emission sleigh. I felt especially proud that we had invested in this new technology, although originally we had developed the new sleigh to head off a protest by PETA. The EPA approved our new sleigh and we were back in business.
Sadly our new "green" sleigh could not be deployed this season. The Secretary of Health and Human Services informed me that flying in an open sleigh, making entrance and egress to domiciles via chimney and consuming whole milk and cookies constitute dangerous and unnecessary health risks and that I would be subject to fine and possible imprisonment under the provisions in the Affordable Health Care Reform Act.
Provisions were quickly made for timely and affordable delivery of our packages with FedEx. As the first trucks rolled up to the shipping dock we were hit with a strike in the packaging and shipping departments. It seems that the collective bargaining agreement which we entered into earlier in the year prohibited the use of non-union drivers.
We made union approved shipping arrangements with the USPS. The additional costs will mean some post-holiday reductions in non-union staffing. The recent blizzard and sub zero temperatures closed the airport, rails and highways, but the USPS has promised delivery of our packages at some point in the future.
As regards your gift Virginia. The Christian Hetero Ken and Barbie Happy Family set that you requested is in stock, however the Justice Department has filed an injunction prohibiting us from delivering this item under the terms of the Hate Crimes Amendment to the Military Financing and Spending Bill . Our lawyers are working to clear this matter up, in the meantime we are shipping a government approved Barack Obama Saves The Masses action figure which was manufactured by one of our new partners in China. Enjoy!
Santa Claus Limited will be suspending operations after the fulfillment of this seasons requests. Please direct any further correspondence or requests to The Bureau of Seasonal Toy Requests in Washington D.C.
Best wishes for a joyous Christmas,
Santa.
P.S.
In answer to the question in your post script. Yes, Virginia there was a Santa Claus.
.
Wild Thing's comment.........
Excellent!! Well done!
......Thank you RAC for sending this to me.
RAC has a website that is awesome. 336th Assault Helicopter Company
13th Combat Aviation Battalion - 1st Aviation Brigade - Soc Trang, Republic of Vietnam
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:48 AM | Comments (3)
"There'll be nowhere to run from the new world government" ....by Janet Daley
The committee to save the world: Barack Obama, Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel, Gordon Brown and other leaders at the Copenhagen climate talks Photo: AFP/GETTY
There'll be nowhere to run from the new world government
By Janet Daley
There is scope for debate – and innumerable newspaper quizzes – about who was the most influential public figure of the year, or which the most significant event. But there can be little doubt which word won the prize for most important adjective. 2009 was the year in which "global" swept the rest of the political lexicon into obscurity. There were "global crises" and "global challenges", the only possible resolution to which lay in "global solutions" necessitating "global agreements". Gordon Brown actually suggested something called a "global alliance" in response to climate change. (Would this be an alliance against the Axis of Extra-Terrestrials?)
Some of this was sheer hokum: when uttered by Gordon Brown, the word "global", as in "global economic crisis", meant: "It's not my fault". To the extent that the word had intelligible meaning, it also had political ramifications that were scarcely examined by those who bandied it about with such ponderous self-importance. The mere utterance of it was assumed to sweep away any consideration of what was once assumed to be the most basic principle of modern democracy: that elected national governments are responsible to their own people – that the right to govern derives from the consent of the electorate.
The dangerous idea that the democratic accountability of national governments should simply be dispensed with in favour of "global agreements" reached after closed negotiations between world leaders never, so far as I recall, entered into the arena of public discussion. Except in the United States, where it became a very contentious talking point, the US still holding firmly to the 18th-century idea that power should lie with the will of the people.
Nor was much consideration given to the logical conclusion of all this grandiose talk of global consensus as unquestionably desirable: if there was no popular choice about approving supranational "legally binding agreements", what would happen to dissenters who did not accept their premises (on climate change, for example) when there was no possibility of fleeing to another country in protest? Was this to be regarded as the emergence of world government? And would it have powers of policing and enforcement that would supersede the authority of elected national governments? In effect, this was the infamous "democratic deficit" of the European Union elevated on to a planetary scale. And if the EU model is anything to go by, then the agencies of global authority will involve vast tracts of power being handed to unelected officials. Forget the relatively petty irritations of Euro‑bureaucracy: welcome to the era of Earth-bureaucracy, when there will be literally nowhere to run.
But, you may say, however dire the political consequences, surely there is something in this obsession with global dilemmas. Economics is now based on a world market, and if the planet really is facing some sort of man-made climate crisis, then that too is a problem that transcends national boundaries. Surely, if our problems are universal the solutions must be as well.
Well, yes and no. Calling a problem "global" is meant to imply three different things: that it is the result of the actions of people in different countries; that those actions have impacted on the lives of everyone in the world; and that the remedy must involve pretty much identical responses or correctives to those actions. These are separate premises, any of which might be true without the rest of them necessarily being so. The banking crisis certainly had its roots in the international nature of finance, but the way it affected countries and peoples varied considerably according to the differences in their internal arrangements. Britain suffered particularly badly because of its addiction to public and private debt, whereas Australia escaped relatively unscathed.
That a problem is international in its roots does not necessarily imply that the solution must involve the hammering out of a uniform global prescription: in fact, given the differences in effects and consequences for individual countries, the attempt to do such hammering might be a huge waste of time and resources that could be put to better use devising national remedies. France and Germany seem to have pulled themselves out of recession over the past year (and the US may be about to do so) while Britain has not. These variations owe almost nothing to the pompous, overblown attempts to find global solutions: they are largely to do with individual countries, under the pressure of democratic accountability, doing what they decide is best for their own people.
This is not what Mr Brown calls "narrow self-interest", or "beggar my neighbour" ruthlessness. It is the proper business of elected national leaders to make judgments that are appropriate for the conditions of their own populations. It is also right that heads of nations refuse to sign up to "legally binding" global agreements which would disadvantage their own people. The resistance of the developing nations to a climate change pact that would deny them the kind of economic growth and mass prosperity to which advanced countries have become accustomed is not mindless selfishness: it is proper regard for the welfare of their own citizens.
The word "global" has taken on sacred connotations. Any action taken in its name must be inherently virtuous, whereas the decisions of individual countries are necessarily "narrow" and self-serving. (Never mind that a "global agreement" will almost certainly be disproportionately influenced by the most powerful nations.) Nor is our era so utterly unlike previous ones, for all its technological sophistication. We have always needed multilateral agreements, whether about trade, organised crime, border controls, or mutual defence.
If the impact of our behaviour on humanity at large is much greater or more rapid than ever before then we shall have to find ways of dealing with that which do not involve sacrificing the most enlightened form of government ever devised. There is a whiff of totalitarianism about this new theology, in which the risks are described in such cosmic terms that everything else must give way. "Globalism" is another form of the internationalism that has been a core belief of the Left: a commitment to class rather than country seemed an admirable antidote to the "blood and soil" nationalism that gave rise to fascism.
The nation-state has never quite recovered from the bad name it acquired in the last century as the progenitor of world war. But if it is to be relegated to the dustbin of history then we had better come up with new mechanisms for allowing people to have a say in how they are governed. Maybe that could be next year's global challenge.
Wild Thing's commnet............
"Except in the United States, where it became a very contentious talking point, the US still holding firmly to the 18th-century idea that power should lie with the will of the people."
Well it does not seem so lately, not since Obama got elected. Obama and the dems have all been doing things with no concern of what the people want.
If it comes to global world government vs the people, I’d vote for bringing back the guillotine. OFF with their HEADS!!
The Book of Revelation is quite clear there will be a world government. It may come in a few years or hundreds of years from now but it will come.
This has been building and building and growing for the last 50 years, at least, if not longer. So, it's had plenty of time to build and put things and mechanisms in place, plus all the people in place to make it happen. Judges, lawyers, politicians and brain washing in schools in all grades and ages.
The march towards socialism, lawless open borders, intentionally flooding the country with millions of illegals and American hating foreign nationals, slanted trade policies, and the distribution of American wealth...the breakdown of our economy and the dollar, is sponsored by both these corrupt party's in D.C.... and has been for many years now. None of this was an accident.
I hate having the enemy among us.
We all are fighting this as much as we can. I do not intend to roll over.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:47 AM | Comments (6)
Ammunition Control by the Obama Administration
Ammunition Control by the Obama Administration
by A.W.R. Hawkins
Without bullets, a gun is no more useful as a weapon than a rock or a hammer. Although an unloaded gun could be thrown at an intruder or a tyrant, the lack of ammunition ultimately reduces it to the status of a glorified paperweight.
And this is not lost on the nearly 100 million gun owners in America, a number of which are asking if the current shortage of bullets is the result of backdoor efforts at gun control (via ammunition control) by the Obama Administration?
The quick answer to that question is -- not exactly.
In other words, the reasons behind the current shortage, as the well as the price increases on what little ammunition is available, are both governmental and nongovernmental in nature.
As for the government’s role, a prime example arose in March 2009 when the Department of Defense (DOD) suddenly changed its policy about selling old brass from spent military rounds to Georgia Arms, an ammunition manufacturer located in Winston, Georgia.
According to Curtis Shipley, President of Georgia Arms, on March 12, 2009, the DOD, which had been a longstanding source of cheap brass for the ammo manufacturer, decided that brass could only be purchased from the military if it was “mutilated.” In other words, it would not longer be possible to buy empty brass casings that Georgia Arms could then clean, quickly reload, and sell to the public at a low price.
When I spoke to Shipley, who had been accustomed to buying spent brass in increments of fifteen tons from the DOD, he said, “This portended higher prices because it required us to either mutilate perfectly good brass when we picked it up from a military base or have a DOD employee travel with us (and the brass) to verify that we did indeed mutilate it at a another site.”
Once mutilated, Georgia Arms would have had to melt the brass down, re-alloy it (casings for each caliber require a specific alloy blend that can sustain the pressures for that caliber), and then re-shape it into the proper casing for whichever caliber they were manufacturing.
Said Shipley: “Such a process would add approximately $90 to the cost of one thousand rounds of 9mm ammunition right off the bat.”
Fortunately, the public outcry against this DOD maneuver was so great that the order to mutilate all brass was rescinded after just five days. However, those five days were enough to contribute to another problem the government had been causing since November 2008 – namely, fear of an all out Obama-led assault on guns and ammo.
Speaking to this fear, Larry Pratt, Executive Director of Gun Owners of America, said: “You can go to gun stores all over the country and many of them will have a picture of President Obama hanging on the wall. However, when you get up close to the picture and look at the caption on the bottom, instead of saying ‘President’ it says ‘Gun Salesman of the Year.’”
Pratt said gun owners are rightly leery of this administration. Obama supports the new California law that will require every semi-automatic pistol sold in that state to come equipped with a special firing mechanism that makes a distinctive mark – a “fingerprint” – on every bullet casing it fires. And currently, some Democrats in the House of Representatives want to take that law a step further and enact legislation that would force ammunition companies to place serial numbers on every shell casing they manufacture.
Let me just say that if you think ammunition is scarce and expensive now, wait till manufacturers have to put a serial number on every casing and maintain records containing the names, addresses, etc., of everyone who purchases such casings.
No wonder Pratt said: “None of this is about safety. Rather, it’s about finding ways to create an ammo and gun registry that will allow the government to finally figure out which son got daddy’s gun when daddy passed away.”
And while the government is doing its part to make ammunition harder to find, either directly, via episodes like the one between Georgia Arms and the DOD, or indirectly, by scaring citizens to death through anti-gun posturing that has caused a run on ammo sales, the market plays a role as well. With demand outpacing supply the market sustains higher prices for ammo under Obama than it was able to sustain for that same ammo during the presidency of a pro-gun politician like George W. Bush.
Add to this the fact that we’re now sending the majority of the lead from our recycled car batteries to China, instead of selling that lead to ammunition manufacturers who can cheaply reclaim it to make affordable bullets for their casings, and it’s no wonder consumers are scrambling to find ammunition and then paying a fortune for it when they do.
Did I fail to mention that millions upon millions of rounds of ammunition are currently being diverted to our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere right now as well? While this is understandable, it further highlights the fact that we gun owners are in a tight spot, as far as getting ammunition for our guns is concerned.
With all these variables affecting the availability of ammunition, this would be a great time to join a group like Gun Owners of America. By so doing we would assure the politicians in D.C. that if they use their offices to further deny us bullets for our guns, we will use the voting booth to deny them the very offices they now hold.
I LOVE IT!!! And this video is a big ol' poke in the eye to the anti-gun government.
.
Wild Thing's comment........
Our message, DON’T TREAD ON US!
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:44 AM | Comments (4)
Getting Ready For Christmas
Twas the month before Christmas*
*When all through our land,*
*Not a Christian was praying*
*Nor taking a stand.*
*See the PC Police had taken away,*
*The reason for Christmas - no one could say.*
*The children were told by their schools not to sing,*
*About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.*
*It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say*
* December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.*
*Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit*
*Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!*
*CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod*
*Something was changing, something quite odd! *
*Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa*
*In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.*
*As Targets were hanging their trees upside down*
* At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.*
*At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears*
*You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.*
*Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty*
*Are words that were used to intimidate me.*
*Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen*
*On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !*
*At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter*
*To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.*
*And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith*
* Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace*
*The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded*
*The reason for the season, stopped before it started.*
*So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'*
*Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.*
*Choose your words carefully, choose what you say*
*Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS , not Happy Holiday !
.
Wild Thing's comment.........
This year I have heard more Merry Christmas said then I have for several years. I have a feeling it is due to having a Muslim jerk in office as he destroys our country. Maybe people are finally waking up to seeing how PC and not speaking up has only given the go-ahead to the likes of Obama and his ilk.
......Thank you RAC for sending this to me.
RAC has a website that is awesome. 336th Assault Helicopter Company
13th Combat Aviation Battalion - 1st Aviation Brigade - Soc Trang, Republic of Vietnam
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:42 AM | Comments (4)
Charlie Brown Christmas~ Linus tells us "what Christmas is all about"
.
.
Wild Thing's comment...........
I love this and the way they presented it.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:40 AM | Comments (3)
December 23, 2009
Obama Has Transvestites, Mao And Obama Ornaments Decorate White House Christmas Tree
Michelle Obama says she was unaware of the type of ornaments. Like I am going to believe either Michelle or Barack.
" unaware of these particular ornaments"
She and Barack probably hand picked them.
.
.
Transvestites, Mao And Obama Ornaments Decorate White House Christmas
by Capitol Confidential
Why let a holiday season come between the White House and making some political statements? The White House pegged controversial designer Simon Doonan to oversee the Christmas decorations for the White House. Mr. Doonan, who is creative director of Barney’s New York has often caused a stir with his design choices. Like his naughty yuletide window display of Margaret Thatcher as a dowdy dominatrix and Dan Quayle as a ventriloquist’s dummy. For this year’s White House........................
These photos of ornaments on the White House Christmas tree in the Blue Room were taken just days ago. Of course, Mao has his place in the White House.
And, of course, it wouldn’t be Christmas without an ornament of legendary transvestite Hedda Lettuce
He/She even signed it
And, so soon after collecting the Nobel Peace Prize, why wouldn’t the White House have an ornament super-imposing President Obama onto Mt. Rushmore
.
Wild Thing's comment.............
What no baby Obama in the whitehouse nativity scene?
The White House will have to be fumigated when these two a’holes leave!! It may take decades to eradicate the stench of this mans “Presidency”.
A Narcissist who idolizes one of the worlds greatest mass murderers in the history of mankind, yeah that’s as American as Apple Pie...
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:55 AM | Comments (12)
Harry Reid Slips In A Bombshell for Obamacare Foes
Harry Reid slips in a bombshell for Obamacare foes!
U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) challenges ObamaCare Bill Is Violating the Constitution
U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) challenges the Parliamentarian of the U.S. Senate through the chair about changes to the Senate Rules hidden within the 2700 page Reid-Obama health care takeover bill.
by Rick Moran
What did we ever do to deserve Harry Reid?
When the "manager's amendment" was passed in the dead of night, I pointed out that the wonks had yet to give it a good going over to discern what other surprises might lurk in the convoluted language used to obscure so much in the bill.
I'm sure you'll be happy to know that the wonks have not disappointed us.
Buried in the amendment is a bombshell; there will be no way to amend parts of Obamacare. Apparently, Reid wants to make this bill something like a royal decree where no one can change what has already been wrought.
The Weekly Standard blog has the story:
Reid Bill Says Future Congresses Cannot Repeal Parts of Reid Bill
Harry Reid hid some language in the health care bill that make parts of the bill repeal proof.
Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) pointed out some rather astounding language in the Senate health care bill during floor remarks tonight. First, he noted that there are a number of changes to Senate rules in the bill–and it’s supposed to take a 2/3 vote to change the rules. And then he pointed out that the Reid bill declares on page 1020 that the Independent Medicare Advisory Board cannot be repealed by future Congresses:
There’s one provision that I found particularly troubling and it’s under section c, titled “limitations on changes to this subsection.”
and I quote — “it shall not be in order in the senate or the house of representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection.”
this is not legislation. it’s not law. this is a rule change. it’s a pretty big deal. we will be passing a new law and at the same time creating a senate rule that makes it out of order to amend or even repeal the law.
I'm not even sure that it’s constitutional, but if it is, it most certainly is a senate rule. i don’t see why the majority party wouldn’t put this in every bill. if you like your law, you most certainly would want it to have force for future senates.
Get that? No repeal, no amendments, no nothing. That part of Obamacare is as set in stone as the idea that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. It is unalterable - which, of course, means the entire bill is off limits.
The goal is to guard against the possibility that the GOP may win back the House and Senate some day and may wish to repeal or drastically alter Obamacare. In the dead of night, Harry Reid has turned the United States from a constitutional republic into a banana republic monarchy.
.
Wild Thing's comment................
And in the video, seems like the parlimentarian is confused. Good grief!
DeMint continues to press him. The Dems don't care about the Constitution.
Independent Medical Advisory Board = Death Panel
Hmmmm....calling for the REVOLUTION, eh, Reid?
And this quote from Mark as well:
"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined." --Patrick Henry, speech in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, 1778
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:50 AM | Comments (10)
Thank You Troops!
Our Troops are so awesome!
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:49 AM | Comments (3)
Rep. Parker Griffith Announces He's Switching Parties To GOP
Rep. Parker Griffith, a freshman Democrat from Alabama, will announce today that he's switching parties to become a Republican.
The switch represents a coup for the House Republican leadership, which had been courting Griffith since he publicly criticized the Democratic leadership in the wake of raucous town halls during the summer.
Griffith, who captured the seat in a close 2008 open seat contest, will become the first Republican to hold the historically Democratic, Huntsville-based district. A radiation oncologist who founded a cancer treatment center, Griffith plans to blast the Democratic health care bill as a prime reason for his decision to switch parties—and is expected to cite his medical background as his authority on the subject.
While the timing of his announcement was unexpected, Griffith’s party switch will not come as a surprise to those familiar with his voting record, which is one of the most conservative among Democrats.
He has bucked the Democratic leadership on nearly all of its major domestic initiatives, including the stimulus package, health care legislation, the cap-and trade energy bill and financial regulatory reform.
He was one of only 11 House Democrats to vote against the stimulus.
“Look at his voting record – he’s had substantial differences philosophically with the Democratic agenda here in Congress,” said an Alabama ally who is familiar with Griffith’s decision. “It’s something that’s been discussed for the last several months… talking to people in his family. And it genuinely is a reflection of where he feels. It’s his own personal conviction.”
The Obama administration’s decision to scrap plans to build a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe further frustrated Griffith, according to GOP sources, because his district contains the base for Boeing’s ground-based missile defense research.
Ironically, a National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman called Griffith a “woefully ineffective advocate for Tennessee Valley jobs” after the decision was announced in September.
Signs of Griffith’s dissatisfaction with his party began to surface publicly during the summer recess, when he received an earful of criticism from constituents.
In August — one month after Republicans picked up his former state legislative seat in a special election — Griffith told a local newspaper that he wouldn't vote for Nancy Pelosi to remain as House Speaker because she's too divisive. He joked that if she didn’t like it, he’d provide her with a gift certificate to a mental health center.
He added that if the Democratic leadership wouldn't commit to working in a more bipartisan manner, "perhaps we should look at altering that."
Wild Thing's comment..........
“He was one of only 11 House Democrats to vote against the stimulus.”
Well he sure did better than Rrepublican Senators Susan Collins, Olympia Snow and (then) Republican Senator Arlene Specter, who voted with the Democrats flor the PORKULUS bill.
He seems to vote with Republicans most of the time according to the article anyway.
.....Thank you Richard for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:48 AM | Comments (6)
Sebelius Praises Abortion Accounting Trick in Senate Bill
Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, an acknowledged tax cheat and Catholic, admitted that the federal government will require all participants in the new nationalized insurance exchanges – men and women of all age groups – to contribute a separate “abortion premium” to cover the cost of elective abortion services.No one will be exempt.
This video of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius explaining that the Senate Health Care Bill really does contain an "accounting measure" that takes funds from everyone to provide abortion coverage. Sebelius did everything she could not to use the word "abortion," but the interviewer was lost with Sebelius' convoluted explanation, so she finally used it at the end. Essentially, Sebelius was trying to assure pro-abortion activists that the bill actually covers abortions even though they tried to make it look like it does not.
Wild Thing's comment............
For those of us opposed to abortion this is a sickening prospect. And someone like Senator Nelson who has consistently positioned himself as a pro-life candidate in Nebraska should be ashamed of himself for brokering this compromise.
These people are sooooo despicable.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:47 AM | Comments (3)
German Speed Bump
Wild Thing's comment...........
LOL I had no idea what he was up to. I thought it might be something to flatten the tires.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:45 AM | Comments (3)
Day One: How ObamaCare Will Alienate Americans
DAY ONE: HOW OBAMACARE WILL ALIENATE AMERICANS
By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN
Obama's health care bill, the poisoned Kool-Aid making its way through the Senate, will not confer any of its supposed benefits on Americans until 2013. But they will find themselves chafing at its restrictions and paying its taxes immediately after the law takes effect. Then, they will see no gain, but plenty of pain, for the next three years.
This odd juxtaposition of "suffer now, benefit later" is the byproduct of the Administration's sleight of hand in specifying ten years worth of cuts and taxes in the legislation, but deferring its benefits for the first four years. By comparing six years of spending with ten years of taxing, it managed to appear deficit neutral under the rules of the Congressional Budget Office. In fact, the annual revenues fall far short of covering any single year's worth of spending, adding to the deficit for each of the last six years over the next ten, but, viewing the decade as a whole, it appears deficit neutral.
Yet the political price is hardly neutral. Democrats who misguidedly vote for this monstrosity will face immediate political repercussions.
The harshest of these backlashes will come from the elderly who will suddenly visit their doctors and be told "no" when they ask for therapies or treatments. The rationing of medical care will start immediately on enactment and, one hopes, the outraged phone calls will start to descend on those whose votes enabled it.
The first "no" will hit the ten million elderly who now rely on Medicare Advantage to pay for the care Medicare itself does not cover. In a payoff to AARP, Obama gutted this program in his bill, ending over $100 billion in federal premium subsidies. These ten million voters will get the grim news that their premiums are going up and their benefits dropping early in 2010. The goal, of course, is to force them to drop Medicare Advantage and sign up, instead, for Medigap insurance -- offered, not coincidentally, by the AARP -- which provides less coverage at higher cost.
Young people without health insurance can expect to start writing $750 annual checks to Washington to pay the fines written into the bill. (And, after the Conference Committee finishes its work, the fines may be higher).
All Americans will soon find their insurance premiums rising as a result of the bill. The young, uninsured will not buy policies. Why should they? Why not just pay the $750 fines each year? Why pay between 2% and 10% of their household income before subsidies kick in? It makes no financial sense for anyone making more than $30,000 to pay for coverage. (And most of those under that threshold will be covered by Medicaid, not by private insurance).
There is no reason for the young to buy private insurance. The legislation requires that health insurers take all comers and not raise rates based on pre-existing conditions. So the young can get coverage when they need it, having only paid $750 per year beforehand.
The difference in cost will, of course, be borne by families throughout America who will see their health insurance premiums increase. President Obama and his Democratic rubber stamps may appreciate that they are not raising taxes on the middle class, just raising mandatory health insurance premiums, but the distinction is likely to be lost on swing voters.
From now on, any increase in health insurance premiums will become the political responsibility of the Obama Administration. As General Colin Powell once said of Iraq "You break it. You own it." Since these premiums have been rising by an average of 10% per year for more than the past decade, this is a legacy most politicians would sensibly avoid if they could.
Wild Thing's comment..........
The left politicians more then anyone else in politics don't care, they sure have shown us that. They have their own health care and their own retirement system. When they retire they’ll get a monthly paycheck equal to their ending salary for the rest of their lives. They will never want. And for decades they have been setting their own salary, and not getting any flak for it.
GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:40 AM | Comments (5)
December 22, 2009
Obama The Cat Is Confronted ~ Hysterical Video
.
Wild Thing comment.........
ROTFLMAO!
The lines:
I AM a death panel!
SARAH PALIN SAID SO!
made me LOL.
OMG FUNNIEST YOUTUBE VIDEO EVER!!! “Ill show you what a single payer healthcare system looks like” LOL LOL that cat was HILARIOUS!
And “I wee-wee’d up....” LOL!
LOL whiloe watching this I had the sound up and my own cat Missy was soooiooo curious, like what the heck is going on. hahahaha
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:55 AM | Comments (4)
God and Country .....Something Foreign to Obama and His Ilk!
Remember when Hollywood big-wigs had character and class? Remember when they loved our country?
This is a wonderful video from the Dean Martin show John Wayne talks about God and country.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:50 AM | Comments (4)
America Hating SOCIALIST Senator Sheldon Whitehouse Stupid Remarks
Sen. Whitehouse: foes of health care bill are birthers, right-wing militias, aryan groups
After explaining why absent GOP members who did not vote for the Department of Defense spending bill was tantamount to a “no” vote, he went on to say that Republicans and their supporters just want to “break” the momentum of President Obama.:
“Voting ‘no’ and hiding from the vote are the same result. Those of us on the floor see it. It was clear the three of them who did not cast their yes votes until all 60 Senate votes had been tallied and it was clear that the result was a foregone conclusion. And why? Why all this discord and discourtesy, all this unprecedented destructive action? All to break the momentum of our new young president.
They are desperate to break this president. They have ardent supporters who are nearly hysterical at the very election of President Barack Obama. The birthers, the fanatics, the people running around in right-wing militia and Aryan support groups, it is unbearable to them that President Barack Obama should exist. That is one powerful reason. It is not the only one.”
Wild Thing's comment.........
So if all of us don't agree with him we are some kind of low life or criminals.
The advocates of Socialized medicine are lying Communist sympathizers or full blown communists like Maxine Waters etc.
Over 60% of this nation is against this bill and this fool wants to go around calling names.
We should bring back Dueling! Conservatives are better shots.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:49 AM | Comments (5)
Hollow Brain Harry ( Reid ) With NO Class Attempts To Play Class Card
Harry Reid Plays Class Card Following Partisan Obamacare Vote
Harry Reid played the class card following the Democrats historic vote to takeover one sixth of the nation’s economy.
Keep it up Communist Harry.
New ad that hammers Nevada Democrat Sen. Harry Reid as having "failed" the people of Nevada and America by labeling American soldiers in Iraq as having failed when he infamously declared that the war was "lost." The ad hits Reid for his leadership (or lack thereof) in the Senate, and says "our country deserves better," and proclaims, "We the voters are going hand you a pink slip and vote you out of office."
Reid is up for re-election to the Senate in Nevada in 2010.
Harry Reid : What legislation is all about is the art of compromise...We have wide ranges of different needs thoughout regions of this country...There's a 100 senators here and I don't know if there's a senator that doesn't have something in this bill that's important to them, and if they don't something in it important to them then it doesn't speak well to them, that's what this legislation is all about, it is the art of compromise.
.
Wild Thing's comment......
These democrats deserve to ROT IN HELL for destroying our Country.
Every last damn one of them.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:48 AM | Comments (10)
Sen.Dodd Received a $100 Million In ObamaCare Bill To Help Dodd With His Re-Election
Leftie repoorter Ceci Connolly admitted to Greta Van Susteren tonight that the Senator Dodd received a $100 million sweetheart deal from the White House in the Obamacare bill to help him with his re-election.
Health Bill Money for Hospital Sought by Dodd
ABC News
A $100 million item for construction of a university hospital was inserted in the Senate health care bill at the request of Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who faces a difficult re-election campaign, his office said Sunday night.
The legislation leaves it up to the Health and Human Services Department to decide where the money should be spent, although spokesman Bryan DeAngelis said Dodd hopes to claim it for the University of Connecticut.
The provision is included in a 383-page series of changes to the health care bill that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., outlined Saturday. Scattered throughout are numerous items sought by individual lawmakers, many of them directing money explicitly to programs or projects in their home states.
The one sought by Dodd provides $100 million for "a health care facility that provides research, inpatient tertiary care, or outpatient clinical services." It must be affiliated with an academic health center at a public research university in the United States "that contains a State's sole public academic medical and dental school."
The money can cover a maximum of 40 percent of the facility's construction costs.
Based on the criteria set out on the bill, it appeared that state-affiliated hospitals in about a dozen states could compete for the funds.
Dodd has played a key role in development of the health care bill in the Senate. He wielded the gavel earlier in the year when the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee spent weeks drafting its version of the measure. The late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., was chairman at the time, but unable to preside.
Dodd, who is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, is seeking a new term in 2010, but polls so far show him in a tight race.
.
The empty hospital - Yes Minister - BBC comedy
.
Wild Thing's comment...........
Dodd's trying to buy his way to reelection. In CT, that just might work. This is more of the payola in the evil bill.
What good will a new hospital be when there won’t be enough doctors to staff it?
We are witnessing the emergence of a new government dictatorship. History tell us that rampant corruption, fed by cronyism, is the nuts and bolts of dictatorships. Dictatorships are almost always governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability.
MOMENTS TO REMEMBER COURTESY OF DODD
* Dodd's sweet deals from Countrywide Morgtage;
* a castle in Ireland payoff for arranging a presidential pardon;
* Dodd in Iowa to raise million dollar contributions (bribes) from Wall Street suckups;
* lying about his role in the AIG bonuses;
* his wife making big bucks as board member for Pharma and Health Care Corporations;
* Dodd's (gag) leadership as Chairman of Senate Banking Committee as the economy did a Great Depression melt down.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:47 AM | Comments (1)
Rush Limbaugh Quotes About ObamaCare
These are some quotes from Rush Limbaugh's show on Monday regarding ObamaCare ~Wild Thing
Liars and Prostitutes Pass Fraud Health Care Bill Tribute to Obama
RUSH: Well, it's one thing we can say with absolute ontological certitude: prostitution has been legalized in Washington, DC. Mary Landrieu, Ben Nelson, Chris Dodd (he gets a hundred million) Vermont, Massachusetts, on and on it goes. Greetings. We all got a screwed and prostitution has now been legalized.
"Folks, this would be a disaster if just one Republican had voted with them, because then they could say it was bipartisan. The fact that the Republicans held out and are nowhere near this is the only decent thing about this, not only for their future but for ours."
You want to hear a liar lie? You want to hear a liar lie right to your face? We have two of them, two sound bites here. Barack Obama this morning in Washington at the White House, a press conference about health care and a number of other things.
OBAMA: The Congressional Budget Office now reports that this bill will reduce our deficit by $132 billion over the first decade and by as much as $1.3 trillion in the decade after that. So I just want to be clear. For all those who are continually carping about how this is somehow a big-spending government bill, this cuts our deficit by $132 billion the first ten years, and by over a trillion in the second. That argument that opponents are making against this bill does not hold water.
RUSH: That's just an out-and-out lie, folks. I mean there's no other way to characterize this. It's not a prevarication, he's not wrong, he's not looking at a set of figures that are incorrect, it's an out-and-out lie. Even Robert Samuelson today in the Washington Post, a column which says, "Passing Health Reform Could be a Nightmare for Obama." Well, by God we only hope so because it's a nightmare for all the rest of us. It damn well better be a nightmare for President Obama and his political future. Robert Samuelson agrees, this is all about Obama and his legacy and nothing else. It will not cover everyone. Even by 2019 there will be something like seven or eight million people uncovered without health insurance. It will not control costs. It will worsen the budget and the bulletin deficit. It is going to raise taxes out the wazoo on virtually everybody. It is going to disrupt the entire health care system. It is atrocious legislation, all of that, that's the summary of the Robert Samuelson piece. Here's the next Obama sound bite from this morning at the White House.
OBAMA: When my administration walked through the door, the country faced a growing economic downturn as well as a deepening fiscal hole. Washington had passed massive tax cuts for the wealthy and an expensive new entitlement program without paying for any of it. Health care costs continue to rise year after year and little effort was made to cut wasteful spending. As a result, over the previous eight years, the -- the national debt doubled, doubled. As I've said in the long run, we can't continue to spend as if deficits don't have consequences, as if waste doesn't matter, as if the hard-earned tax dollars of the American people can be treated like Monopoly money. That's what we've seen time and time again.
RUSH: So he has the audacity here to say that Republicans spend your money like Monopoly money, and again blaming the Bush administration. This guy is a coward. He does not have the gonads or the spine to even stand up and accept what he's doing. All of this is his doing. He cannot even proudly say, "You should like this, you may not like it but I'm telling you it's the best thing for you, it's the best thing for me." No, he knows it's a disaster. He has to slough this off on his predecessor, the previous administration. "When my administration walked through the door the country faced a growing economic downturn, a deepening fiscal hole." Massive tax cuts are the cause of all this? Those massive tax cuts created more revenue to the Treasury than they had anticipated. They always do. The capital gains tax cuts alone caused more money to pour into Washington than anybody figured. "Health care costs continue to rise, eight years national debt doubled." This man has spent more deficit money in one year than the Bush eight years in total, ladies and gentlemen.
The audacity of this is Alinsky-like, simply go out and lie to everybody's face.
"One thing we can say with absolute ontological certitude: Prostitution has been legalized in Washington, DC."
"The Founding Fathers created this country. They rose up against a tyranny that is nothing compared to the tyranny in this health care bill."
"Obama has spent more deficit money in one year than the Bush eight years in total."
"Once they pass health care reform all we're going to hear about is the deficit, and that is a code word for Democrats: we have to raise taxes. That's what's next."
"Harry Reid is claiming Americans are dying from lack of health insurance as he is speaking.Harry, send 'em an ambulance and shut up."
"Harry Reid said two Americans are dying every ten minutes. There are 525,600 minutes in one year. So the Democrats are killing 210,240 people by delaying the benefits for four years."
"This is about ruling you, not governing the country. This is not about we the people. It's about them the political class. They have sought this moment ever since FDR."
"If the Democrats are talking about this being such a wonderfully historic moment, why are they doing it under the cover of darkness, in the middle of night like rats, instead of the heroic statesmen they think they are?"
Wild Thing's comment.........
If any of you would like, you can get a FREE pocket Constitution. I have one from several years ago that Ollie North was giving away. It is great!
http://www.askheritage.org/Premium.aspx
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:45 AM | Comments (1)
What Is Public Option
A video to illustrate the public option! Show it to a brain dead lib!
.
Wild Thing's comment..........
So easy even a liberal can understand. (Maybe.)
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:40 AM | Comments (1)
December 21, 2009
Obama & Senate Christmas Present to We-the-People: Enslavement
McConnell on the Senate floor just before 12:45a.m.
McConnell: "My message tonight is this, the impact of this vote will long outlive this one frantic snowy weekend in Washington, mark my words, this legislation will reshape our nation, and Americans has already issued their verdict: they don't want it"
.
The Extraordinary Measures Needed to Kill the Bill — Updated with Vote Numbers
The corruption of using the public treasury as a check book to buy the votes of Senator Nelson and Senator Sanders — in the face not only overwhelming public opposition, but also in the face of a public that now wants Congress to do nothing on health care — means that extraordinary measures are needed to kill ObamaCare.
This plan, if executed properly, will kill the bill and it will give opponents two more bites at the apple, after it passes the Senate.
There are some atmospheric conditions that will help this plan work. For example, both sides of the net roots should cease fire on posts against each other. There must be a truce until the bill is dead. The target is the bill, not each other.
So, for those on the left who have decided to kill this bill, they are welcome to join in this the kill-the-bill fun.
Rationale: There are many reasons in agreement between the right and the left and the American public about why this bill must be killed:
1. It will increase health care costs;
2. The individual mandate is massive government intrusion on individual freedom, and is a gift to the private insurers, and disproportionately impacts lower-income families;
3. The fantasies of CBO’s assumptions notwithstanding, this bill will accelerate our march to financial insolvency; and,
4. Passage of the bill merely reinforces the practice of buying votes with debt issued by the U.S. Treasury;
5. Among many other reasons, in the words of Howard Dean, the bill does more harm than good.
The Plan: First, conservatives will object to the appointment of the conferees. This is not a motion, so it is non-debatable. An objection cannot be overcome unless the Senator making the objection caves. Let’s hope Senator McConnell agrees with this approach — but regardless, the objection shall be made.
This forces two votes in the U.S. House, one vote to amend the Senate bill on the House floor, since the Senate bill likely cannot pass the House unamended, and will force another vote on final passage of the amended House bill.
So, first, conservatives force two votes in the House, by preventing the appointment of the conferees, and therefore, preventing a House-Senate Conference.
Second, the left will focus on three separate issues to kill the bill in the House. The object of these issues is not to support these policies per say, but to add items to the House bill that will be so objectionable that when the bill goes back over to the Senate, that the Dems lose one or more of their 60 votes.
The Public Option: The progressive’s net roots should hold accountable the Democratic House members who said they would not vote for the bill if there was no public option. Progressives need to produce enough votes to force the public option back into the bill. Forcing the public option back into the bill is in the progressive’s interest since it will show they have the political power to do it, and will set a precedent for a new health care reform baseline in the House for Democrats. It is in conservative’s interest for this to happen because if it does, Senator Lieberman’s vote reverts to a NO.
The Nelson Buy-Off: Both the left and the right net roots will focus on pulling the Nebraska and Vermont free pass on increased Medicaid spending, on the basis that it is a corrupt back room deal that may be unconstitutional on the basis that it violates the equal protection clause (the 14th amendment to the Constitution.)
Unions: Unions must pull the Senate tax on Cadillac health plans, and replace it with the House tax on individuals. (I know, I can’t believe I just wrote that either!) This will force Senators, when the bill goes back to the Senate, to oppose the bill which could force the Dems lower than 60 votes.
Hold the No Votes: Conservatives need to hold and add one or two more no votes to the 39 House votes against the bill, among those Democrats who have concerns about their own re-election or who have announced their retirement — since the leverage from the Speaker has substantially decreased. If every No vote on the original House bill holds, there only needs to be two additional no votes.
Pro-Life and Pro-Abortion Forces: In short, have at it. Given the Stupak amendment majority in the House, the pro-lifers must stick Stupak back on the bill, so that when it is sent back to the Senate, the pro-abortion majority can pull Stupak back off. When the bill goes back to the Senate, the pro-abortion forces can remove Stupak, just as they did a couple of weeks ago. Once Stupak is pulled again from the Senate it must go back to the House to be amended, or die there.
We do not need any more than 42 votes on the House floor, and last time there were 39 No votes.
Assuming we have a hard base of 25 no Dem votes, then the net roots need to produce eight House votes on either the abortion or public option question.
The Stupak folks ought to be able produce ten additional no votes.
This is not difficult math. And MoveOn.org is already telling its members to oppose the Senate bill.
.
Wild Thing's comment.......
Interesting article and a lot of things to consider.
It is inot often you watch the politicians of a nation willingly throw said nation’s prosperity down the toilet. It is heartbreaking..........At 1AM on the longest, darkest night of the year, the demons do their dirtiest work.
Until this thing is in the Rose Garden with a gloating Obama holding a pen, we still have a war to fight.
And even after that, we have to fight. Our liberty and our republic. This is not something we can concede. Ever.
We’re going to lose battles like we did tonight but we cannot EVER surrender.
The difference between the GOP and the Dems. The Dems KNOW how to play political hardball. They will do whatever it takes to win.
On the other hand, the GOP wants to "play nice" and be friends to everyone.
As PATRIOTS, it is our DUTY to fight this tooth and nail.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:55 AM | Comments (22)
The Left, the Right and the American Public Couldn’t Stop 60 Votes
Well known singer Ray Stevens who brought us "Ahab the Arab" years ago now brings us - "We The People"
"You voted for Obamacare, we're gonna vote you outta there! "
.
The Left, the Right and the American Public Couldn’t Stop 60 Votes
by Dan Perrin
The question of whether we live in a country ruled by leaders who refuse to listen, but do what they believe is in their own interest, has been answered.
Conservatives hate this bill. Progressives and liberals hate it too. The public is solidly against it.
But it does not matter, apparently. The implications of a country in open revolt against this bill and the elite in the Democratic party giving the public the finger are profound.
The Daily Kos and FireDogLakes of the net could not produce a single Democratic Senator or Independent to vote no. Conservatives could not produce a single Democratic Senate vote against cloture. Neither could the general public. Perhaps the left can still get one of their own to kill this nightmare. Is there not a single Dem Senator who will stand with the public, or is this merely a quaint notion we used to have about our country — that the system responds to the public?
The Democrats must have 60 votes to amend this bill, then 60 votes to defeat the filibuster. They say they have them — we will see.
Senator Nelson, according to a senior Senate staffer, got a huge appropriation for Nebraska — and a state opt-out for abortion funding, as in states can opt-out. Another Democratic Senator bought off with money we are printing to pay our bills.
The world will understand America has changed. Our country is now run by elites who are printing money, debasing our currency to throw at massive new spending and deficit creating programs — and actually believe they are both moral and politically smart. Just 19% of the public believes this plan will not increase the deficit.
What comes next is very discomforting to think about. But we have now crossed that line from what our country was into something else, and that something else has nothing whatsoever with the country being a Republic. There will be a reckoning for this, and it will not be pleasant — not for anyone
Wild Thing's comment.........
Great article write up by Dan Perrin, the last paragraph speaks loud and clear.
And Ray Stevens song goes perfect with this as well.
......Thank you RAC for sending this to me.
RAC has a website that is awesome. 336th Assault Helicopter Company
13th Combat Aviation Battalion - 1st Aviation Brigade - Soc Trang, Republic of Vietnam
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:50 AM | Comments (4)
Noddy Obama - 187 Nods In 1 Speech
Watch Obama Get Noddy With No Teleprompter In Copenhagen. 10 Minute Speech Sped Up To 3 Minutes.
He nods 187 times during his speech.
Wild Thing's comment.......
He reminds me of one of those bobble heads. A Marxist bobble head!
.....Thank you Cuchieddie for sending this to me.
Cuchieddie
4/23rd 25th Infantry Division ( Stryker)
2nd Tour Huey door gunner with the Robin Hoods
Tomahawks
66-68
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:49 AM | Comments (7)
From service dog to SURFice dog
Surf dog Ricochet (Rip Curl Ricki's) inspirational journey from service dog training, to turning disappointment into a joyful new direction, to surfing with quadriplegic surfer, Patrick Ivison, to fundraising for charitable causes. She is currently leading a fundraiser for a six year old boy named Ian who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a horrific car accident that claimed the lives of his parents.
Wild Thing's comment......
To follow her on Facebook...
Thank you for watching.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:48 AM | Comments (4)
Worst U.lS. President O-bow-ma Finds Someone To Bow To In Copenhagen
Obama does it again
Obama reportedly was reluctant to attend the final day of the UN's Copenhagen climate-change summit unless it was front-end wired to be a major political success.
But he went anyway, was twice humiliated in public by the Chinese premier and then finally settled for what the White House hailed as a "meaningful agreement."
Really? A top aide admitted that the deal was basically just "an important first step" that was "not sufficient to combat the threat of climate change."
Then Obama himself dropped the other shoe: The agreement contains no specific commitments on carbon emissions, only pledges that "will not be legally binding."
So what the hell was the point?
One would think that Obama had taken a lesson from his last trip to Copenhagen -- when he thought his presence alone would win the 2016 Olympic games for Chicago.
That is, that he would have learned that it is a mistake to publicly commit presidential prestige to an outcome that isn't locked up in advance.
Obviously, not.
So much for two years of work and a supposedly broad international consensus that was to make the Copenhagen conference little more than a formality.
Clearly, yesterday was about squabbling over how much money we'll borrow from the Chinese so that we can give it right back to Beijing and other Third World countries in exchange for their promise to . . . well, that was never clear.
And twice yesterday, Obama was kept waiting in public by China's premier.
This is scary stuff.
Obviously, the rest of the world has taken measure of Barack Obama -- and decided he's a pushover.
On the merits, not unfairly.
Now, we're not going to feign heartbreak over the outcome itself.
The conference was a UN-sponsored effort to pick the West's pockets on behalf of its own bureaucrats, plus assorted Third World kleptocrats, and it deserved to die ignominiously.
As for Obama, it was clear from Day One that he was on a very steep learning curve.
But who imagined it was this steep?
O-bow-ma Finds Someone To Bow To In Copenhagen
After his brief, listless and cliché-ridden speech in Copenhagen ["time for action, not words," "we should live in the future, not the past"] that aired live on Morning Joe today, Pres. Obama makes the hand-shaking rounds on the podium.
He continues the glad-handing off the podium, until he spots someone and breaks into . . . a bow [screen cap after the jump]. With all the mulling around, it's hard to determine exactly what's going on. It looks like he might have been exchanging bows with a man in the scrum surrounding him. But PBO's bow seemed to go beyond the perfunctory head-nod that in the circumstances surely would have satisfied, say, Japanese etiquette.
What is it with our head of our state and Commander-in-Chief that sends him diving toward his shoes whenever a foreign dignitary hails into view? Will the MSM cover this latest installment in the adventures of Pres. O-bow-ma?
Wild Thing's comment...........
Obama’s foreign policy of apologizing and denigrating the US has created an image of weakness. And now with a blizzard hitting the northeast, Obama looks stupid for brokering a deal on Global Warming, even though the deal has no substance.
I am glad the “deal” is meaningless. That being said, I would have been happier if there was not even the illusion of a deal. No deal at all of any kind.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:47 AM | Comments (3)
US Navy Presidential Ceremonial Honor Guard Drill Team
.
Wild Thing's comment....................
I LOVE it!
......Thank you SSGT Steve
SSgt Steve
1st MarDiv, H Co., 2nd Bn, 5th Marine Regiment
2/5 Marines, Motto: "Retreat, Hell"
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:45 AM | Comments (4)
December 20, 2009
Coburn: "People ought to pray that a senator can't make the vote tonight"
Coburn is making the point that the legislation should be looked and read before being voted on, and the Democrats have zero problem with voting on a 2000 page bill that no one has read.
Coburn: "What the American people ought to pray is that somebody can’t make the vote tonight. That’s what they ought to pray."
Durbin: "I have been trying to reach Sen. Coburn. … This statement troubles me, and I’m trying to reach him come back to the floor and explain exactly what he meant about a senator being unable to make the vote tonight. … I’m reaching out to Sen. Coburn. I’ll be on the floor for the next 45 minutes, and I hope that he will join me there."
.
Wild Thing's comment.........
YES, In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Posted by Wild Thing at 11:55 PM | Comments (2)
LIVE on C-Span 2 Senate Health Care Debate 12/20/09 - 12/21/09
.
C-SPAN2 Live Stream
http://www.c-span.org/Watch/C-SPAN2.aspx
.
.
Posted by Wild Thing at 07:45 PM | Comments (3)
Republican Senators Asking Americans to stand up and help them "stop the Government Takeover of Health Care"
This is a video of Republican Senators asking Americans to stand up and help them "stop the Government Takeover of Health Care." A series of Senators from John McCain to Sam Brownback, from Kay Bailey Hutchison to Lindsey Graham appear on video telling Americans, "This could be our last chance" to stop the Democrats from imposing a "Government takeover of Health Care."
Democrats plan to invoke cloture in the middle of the night tonight so they can move to a Final Vote on the Senate
.
.
Wild Thing's commnet........
What's happening in Washington is shear Tyranny & Treason! Why won't you clowns acknowledge it...??? Who will be the first on the floor to say it?! We have been ignored since August...are you all deaf????
We have done all we can other then fire a shot. Tea Parties, the 912 groups, Townhalls, emails, phone calls, Fax's. showing up at offices of our elected officials.
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:30 PM | Comments (6)
While America Sleeps: 1:00 AM Monday Vote Set on Obamacare
The conservative commentator and founder and editor of The Weekly Standard blasted the Obamacare “suicide mission.”
While You Sleep: 1:00 AM Monday Vote Set on Obamacare
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has set the stage for a major vote Monday morning at 1:00 AM – one that would require the support of 60 Senators. That would, if all goes according to Senator Reid’s plan, set up a late-night Christmas Eve vote on final passage.
Senator Reid also used a rare procedure to block any further amendments from being offered, debated or voted upon.
When it comes time for Senators to cast their vote at 1:00AM Monday morning, shortly after Sunday Night Football ends and most Americans are in bed, they will have had less than 38 hours to understand a 383-page amendment that introduces several new concepts into the health care debate, including:
■A scheme that gives the Office of Personal Management immense power in administering what amounts to a multi-state public plan;
■How much a state “opt-out” of abortion coverage in the legislation erodes the long-standing Hyde-amendment;
■The budgetary impact of ELIMINATING the physician reimbursement fix; and,
■Multiple new taxes, federal regulations and sweet-heart deals aimed toward certain states like Nebraska.
It is important for Americans to understand the process being used by the Senate. Barring any procedural snags (of which there are many in the Senate’s complex rules and precedents), the debate is likely to play out as follows:
■Monday, 1:00 AM – Vote to invoke cloture (i.e. end debate) on the manager’s amendment. 60 votes are necessary.
■Tuesday, 7:00 AM – Vote to approve the manager’s amendment. A majority vote is necessary.
■Tuesday, 8:00 AM – Vote to invoke cloture on the original Reid substitute amendment (the 2,000-page bill). 60 votes are necessary.
■Wednesday, 2:00 PM – Vote to approve the Reid substitute amendment. A majority vote is necessary.
■Wednesday, 3:00 PM – Vote to invoke cloture on the underlying bill. 60 votes are necessary.
■Thursday, 9:00 PM – Vote to approve the underlying bill (i.e. the Senate’s version of Obamacare). A majority vote is necessary.
Last January, President Obama told his senior staff that “transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.” Now, an unconstitutional health care proposal that was drafted behind closed doors and poised to be approved while Americans are not looking will become the touchstone of his presidency. Surely this was not what the American people signed up for.
.
.
Graham accused the Obama administration of giving bribes to Democratic Senators in exchange for their votes, calling it seedy Chicago politics.
You know, change you can believe in, after this health care bill debacle is now becoming an empty slogan. And its really been replaced by seedy Chicago politics, when you think about it, backroom deals that amount to bribes, said Graham.
The senator from South Carolina went on to criticize the Democrats method of paying for health care reform. No Congress is going to allow Medicare to be cut $470 billion. we will forgive those cuts to doctors and hospitals. Thats how you pay for the bill. Its Enron-accounting. Its a sham, Graham told CNNs John King Sunday.
.
.
Wild Thing's comment........
This is nothing short of criminal! I hope all of the democRat criminals running for re-election next year can be defeated at the ballot box.
They have bribed and threatened and kicked and screamed. All the while the American Public says STOP.
This bill should haunt the Democrats for the next 20 years if we still have a Republic then and not a Communist state.
As they vote at 1;00 a.m., C Span will be home snuggled confortably in their beds by then ... with visions of more taxpayer money dancing in their heads.
I can see communist Russia ( Washington D.C.) from where I live. It’s about a 858 miles.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:55 PM | Comments (6)
Sheriff Joe Arpaio Gets To Play His Christmas Music In Jails
Court: Inmates must endure sheriff's Christmas music
Sheriff Joe Arpaio - the self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff" in America - likes Christmas music, especially "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and anything by Alvin and the Chipmunks, and apparently he thinks the 8,000 inmates inside his Phoenix jail should, too.
So it was with some glee that his Maricopa County office announced Thursday in a red-and-green press release that the "sixth and perhaps final lawsuit" brought by inmates to stop the sheriff from playing the holiday songs all day, every day, during the holidays had been dismissed in federal court.
"We keep winning these lawsuits. Inmates should stop acting like the Grinch who stole Christmas and give up wasting the court's time with such frivolous assertions," it read. "But chances are they'll keep suing and we'll keep winning."
The latest lawsuit was filed by inmate William Lamb, who said that being forced to listen to the Christmas songs 12 hours a day was a violation of his civil and religious rights. But U.S. District Judge Roz Silver disagreed, dismissing the case and denying Lamb's claim for $250,000 in damages.
Sheriff Arpaio catapulted to national attention when he cracked down on the thousands of illegal immigrants who swarm daily through his county; put inmates in pink jumpsuits and underwear; worked them in chain gangs; housed them in tents in the Arizona desert and fed them bologna sandwiches.
He said that his Christmas selections were multi-ethnic and culturally diverse, from all faiths and ethnicities. He told The Washington Times earlier this year that in addition to tunes by Alvin and the Chipmunks, the music included the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Bing Crosby and Doctor Demento.
At the time, he said "all people everywhere deserve a little Christmas cheer."
Lt. Brian Lee, the sheriff's spokesman, said the court issued a summary judgment upholding the decision to "inject the holiday spirit into the lives of those incarcerated over the holiday season in the third-largest jail system in the U.S."
He said inmates have sued six times claiming the music was in violation of their religious rights or cruel and unusual punishment, but the court disagreed - finding no evidence of fact, so Sheriff Arpaio was entitled to the judgment as a matter of law.
The sheriff is no stranger to controversy, although his philosophy of "zero tolerance towards the criminal element" has been embraced by his deputies and the community alike. He was first elected in 1996 and was re-elected by double-digit margins in 2000, 2004 and 2008. In 2007 a petition to recall him failed to gain enough voter signatures to get on the ballot.
Most recently he has come to the attention of the federal government. He was notified in March by the Justice Department that he may have unfairly targeted Hispanics and Spanish-speaking people for arrest. In October, the Department of Homeland Security revoked the authority of 160 of his federally trained deputies to make immigration arrests in the field.
The sheriff has denied any wrongdoing and has said he welcomed and would cooperate in any investigation of his office. He has continued to arrest illegal immigrants under recently passed state laws.
Tired of waiting for the federal government to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and concerned about the potential terrorism threat that the lack of border security posed, he assigned deputies in 2006 to monitor his 9,226-square-mile county for illegal immigrants. He targeted the illegals under an anti-smuggling law that state lawmakers passed to fight drug trafficking.
"My message is clear: If you come here and I catch you, you're going straight to jail," he said at the time. "We're going to arrest any illegal who violates this new law, and I'm not going to turn these people over to federal authorities so they can have a free ride back to Mexico. I'll give them a free ride to my jail."
Sheriff Arpaio, 77, captured headlines nationwide when he set up a jail system that included tents, spent less than 15 cents per meal per inmate, and banned smoking, coffee, movies, pornographic magazines and unrestricted television in all of his jails. He also assigned both men and women to chain gangs.
The sheriff also has created several rehabilitative programs, including "Hard Knocks High," the only accredited high school program administered by a sheriff's office in a U.S. jail.
More recently he has been mentioned as a possible candidate for governor, with polls showing that he has a commanding lead as a Republican candidate for the November 2010 race.
A November poll by Rasmussen Reports said that of 1,200 likely Arizona voters, he was the Republicans' "best shot at holding onto the Arizona governorship in 2010." The poll said Sheriff Arpaio led the expected Democratic challenger, Terry Goddard, Arizona's attorney general, by 12 points and that 64 percent of voters statewide said he was doing the right thing by working around federal law to continue his aggressive actions against illegal immigration.
Lt. Lee said his boss had received "multiple inquiries locally and nationally" about the latest Rasmussen poll, but had made no decision regarding the governor's race.
Wild Thing's comment................
Ya gotta love Sheriff Joe. This is hilarious. LMAO
Sheriff Joe is proof that one person can change things.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:55 AM | Comments (9)
"Give Ben ( Nelson) the Boot"
Nebraska Republicans set up the official “Give Ben the Boot” website
State Republican Party Wants To Give Ben The Boot
The chairman of Nebraska's Republican Party predicts that Sen. Ben Nelson's decision to back sweeping health care legislation will be his downfall.
"I think this is the end of his political career in the state of Nebraska,” says Mark Fahleson. On Saturday, the state party launched a Web site, givebentheboot.com, to collect funds to oust the Democrat in the 2010 election.
Nelson said earlier Saturday that he decided to support the measure after winning concessions to limit the availability of abortions in insurance sold in newly created exchanges, as well as tens of million in federal Medicaid funds for Nebraska.
Fahleson says Americans are outraged by the legislation and "they're going to punish politicians at the polls."
.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Reacts to Dem Takeover of Heath Care After Nelson Was Bought Off
McConnell said the bill will lead to higher taxes, and that it includes "permissive language" on government-funded abortions. He said the bill will cut back on Medicare, Medicaid, and Hospice funding.
McConnell pointed out that the bill now contains a special deal for Medicaid funding for Nebraska and Vermont, an obvious reference to the deals made with Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and Bernie Sanders of Vermont to make sure they vote for the bill.
McConnell said the Democrats are going to pass this bill "in the middle of night" because they don't want the American people to see it. He said this bill is "an absolute outrage being perpetrated on the American people."
.
Wild Thing's comment...........
The stench of corrupt democrats (trading votes for whatever they can get) is permeating our nation. Next will be Cap and Trade and then they’ll give away our sovereignty. If ever these traitors to our democracy needed a strong message from Americans to cease and desist - it is soon.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:50 AM | Comments (12)
Obama To Release 6 GITMO Detainees to al-Qaeda Hang Out Yemen
A sizable number of former Gitmo detainees who have returned to fighting jihad have been in Yemen, including the current leader of al-Qaeda's Yemeni branch (one of the most active in the world) Said Ali al-Shihri.
Six Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo Bay to be repatriated
The Obama administration is planning to repatriate six Yemenis held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a transfer that could be a prelude to the release of dozens more detainees to Yemen, according to sources with independent knowledge of the matter.
The release is a significant first step toward dealing with the largest group of detainees at the prison — there are currently 97 Yemenis there — and toward meeting President Obama’s goal of closing the facility.
But Yemen’s security problems and lack of resources have spawned fears about its ability to monitor and rehabilitate returnees. Critics of the administration charge that returning detainees to Yemen, a country where al-Qaeda is believed to be thriving, is tantamount to returning terrorists to the battlefield.
The transfer will be closely monitored and, if successful, could lead to the release of other Yemenis who have been cleared to go home by a Justice Department-led interagency review team, which examined the case of each detainee held at Guantanamo Bay. Obama set up the review process to accelerate the closure of the detention center.
Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.), a critic of the administration policy on Guantanamo, said Yemeni detainees pose a particular risk because of the instability of their home country.
"Stop. These men are dangerous," Wolf said when asked about the transfer. "I believe they will be involved in terrorism that will cost American lives."
The Obama administration attempted to forge a deal with Saudi Arabia that would allow Yemeni detainees to attend its highly regarded rehabilitation program. But Saudi officials said the program, which relies on strong family and tribal involvement, was ill-suited for Yemenis.
Officials in Yemen, the poorest Arab nation, insist that they need financial assistance from the United States to successfully reintegrate returning detainees.
Wild Thing's comment..........
The Yemenis have such a great track record of dealing with these guys. Want to bet they are back on the battlefield fighting us within a few months?
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:48 AM | Comments (4)
The Palin Wonder – by Jamie Glazov
The Palin Wonder – by Jamie Glazov
Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Victor Davis Hanson, a classicist and historian at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.
FP: Victor Hanson, welcome to Frontpage Interview.
Hanson: Glad to be here again.
FP: Sarah Palin is, clearly, carving out a national presence right now. It’s not just the appeal of her book, but also her outspokenness on the Copenhagen conference and other issues. What do you think she might be up to? And what is she tapping into? What are her possibilities?
Hanson: I think she taps into a current of populist unhappiness in the country with Washington insiders, Big Money, and condescending elites in the media and popular culture. The Wasilla mom of five, married to the snow-mobile champ, is simply the antithesis of all that. She senses the general disgust with an insider class that has nearly bankrupted the country through insane federal spending and equally insane financial speculation. She resonates in this regard mostly through an authentic middle-class upbringing, the real-world living of Alaska, natural intelligence, spunk and drive that sent one from the Wasilla city-council to the governorship of Alaska—and common sense answers like less government, lower taxes, more self-reliance, and national confidence.
Her can-do “let’s develop our own energy and spend no more than we earn” creed has a reassurance in these days. People root for her. The Ivy-Leaguers in government, whether the lawyer Obama or the economist Summers, haven’t exactly wowed the public with their studied brilliance so far.
Palin feels at ease with Middle America, and in a strange way is the antithesis to Barack Obama. Both are young, and charismatic, and appeal to populist constituencies. But whereas Obama came out of a Honolulu prep school and elite Ivy League hot-house, and had to acquire, quite artificially, his street credentials at the foot of Rev. Wright and in the Chicago scratch-back world of Valerie Jarrett and Mayor Daley, Palin was a true product of the working class and took on rather than swam into the status quo political structure.
That fact was sadly lost in 2008, but it is starting to ring true as her popularity rises and Obama’s declines. Remember, though, these are mostly perceptions still, and Palin will have to give long interviews, do debates, lecture, write, and show a public grasp of the issues in the way that earlier charismatic, non-career politicians like Eisenhower and Reagan could—in contrast to flash in the pans like a Wesley Clark. For 2008 and much of 2009 the left and the media successfully caricatured her as a creationist, white-supremacist, Christianist nut, but that demonization is wearing off. Quite simply, the more the public sees her, the more it likes her—and that’s not true of most politicians like a Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid—or Barack Obama.
FP: Can you expand a bit on what is it that the liberal-Left hates so much about Palin?
Hanson: Well, well, let us count the ways:
1) Feminists resent her stance on abortion, not just her pro-life views, but the fact she delivered a challenged child in her 40s and her teen-daughter delivered an out of wedlock boy; for many professional women on the up and up, those decisions are not just absurd but scary.
2) The elite Left was furious over her populist appeal, particularly her charm, good looks, accent, and appearance. In sum, their view was “don’t hoi polloi know, as we do, that this glitzy thing is a moose-hunting mom with an Idaho BA? To a Maureen Dowd or Sally Qunin, a Christian mom, who hunts, lives in Alaska, and is married to Todd is OK—but not OK if she thinks she can come east and run their US.
3) She’s an interloper outside the normal cursus honorum. Almost all our female columnists, many of our politicians, and several of our TV personalities either married into, or were born into, influence and can trace some of their careers to the wealth or influence of powerful husbands, fathers, and mentors. Not Palin—she had no family or marital connections, no money, no powerful fixer, she’s a genuine up-from-the-bootstraps sort of feminist that, oddly, feminists don’t define as feminist.
4) Conservative, attractive women, with traditional marriages and child-raising, for a variety of reasons, earn media scorn;
4) She scares the Left by her star power; few in America can fill stadia like she can—and that worries the powers that be. Populism is supposed to be a leftist phenomenon, but when a conservative resonates with the folks, that raises concern.
5) Finally, her accent, her demeanor, her poorly prepared interviews with Couric and Gibson all cemented for many intellectuals and cultural grandeess, both left and right, the idea that she was hickish. Many tsk-tsked her in snobbish disdain.
FP: What do you think of Palin?
Hanson: I both admire and worry about her. She has exuberance and natural intelligence, coupled with energy and toughness and a certain fearlessness, and doesn’t seem to be a trimmer, but consistently articulates a common-sense position on the issues. On the other hand, she has so many obstacles in a strictly political sense to overcome. She is based thousands of miles away from New York and Washington. She is the mother of 5 and has little money, or powerful friends. The East-Coast Right dislikes her as much as the liberal elite. With young children, the Levi Johnston mess, the resignation from the governorship, the constant traveling to earn an income for her large dependencies, she is burning the candle at both ends. So I admire her pluck, but again worry that her present frenzied pace is unsustainable.
FP: What advice would you give to Palin?
Hanson: After her book tour ends and she has earned some money, I wish she would hunker down somewhere to write, recharge and contemplate things. A month at Hillsdale College, for example, where, in friendly and supportive surroundings, she could debate, talk to faculty, read and write would be wonderful, or in fact a month almost anywhere she could review issues, have her views tested and debated, and do some in depth reading and discussion would be great.
If she wrote a weekly column or did a bi-weekly radio address, in the fashion of Reagan, that too would allow her to both support her family and at the same time master the intricacies of modern national politics. She has so many gunning for her, that she needs to be proactive. Joe Biden did not know that FDR was not President in 1929 or that TV was still experimental—but given his status, the media shucked “Oh, that’s just Joe!” Obama can be clueless about state geography, a 50-state union, or the basics of US history, but that’s because “he’s tired and has so much on his mind.” Wasilla moms has no such margin of error.
The good news is that she is so energetic, naturally talented, and charismatic, that, with a few weeks prep, she could redo the Couric interview and sparkle. What happened in 2008, was that she went from a supportive populace in Alaska to a hostile prime-time lion’s den, without proper appreciation that she was the antithesis of most of the values and lifestyles of those who would write and comment on her—and they were waiting for her in a way I think she did not anticipate. That said, I think we can already see that she is becoming media-savvy and picking her venues carefully.
FP: Victor Hanson, thank you for joining Frontpage Interview.
Wild Thing's comment........
Great comments by Victor Davis Hanson. Hanson has superior insight with historic perspective and the ability to express himself very clearly so it is a treat to read his take on Sarah. Not surprised he’s a fan.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:47 AM | Comments (6)
"Critical Take-Home Message For American Voters" ....By Dr. Alan Bates, M D.
Critical Take-Home Message For American Voters
By Dr. Alan Bates, M D.
Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) has saved the tyrannical Harry Reid Healthcare Overhaul bill so unwanted by most Americans including those in his own state. But alas! Ben thinks he has it figured out like so many others in Congress! He held out until he could fill the Nebraska pig trough with enough pork to guarantee reelection by the voters in his state. To secure his vote for the bill, Senator Reid granted the state of Nebraska an exemption forever for their share of state Medicaid funding!
That means American taxpayers pay Nebraska’s Medicaid tab. Nelson is just another one of the 60 self-anointed ones who are recklessly spending our nation deeper into the ravine with money we don’t have, supposedly to accomplish an objective which could be solved by the private sector at much less cost than the trillion plus taxpayer dollars which this bill will require over the next 10 years.
Yes, the voters in Nebraska may vote for Nelson during his next run since he will remind them of all the pork he has brought home to them from Washington---funded with money paid to IRS by taxpayers across the nation. By the way, where is tort reform? Or the freedom to purchase medications from Canada at half the prices charged in America? Did Congress forget?
There is a lesson which all Americans must learn before the 2010 elections and it is this: you cannot continue to have it both ways. Pork costs money, but we do not have any more money (fiat money printed by the presses of the US Treasury). Each of us must assume responsibility and hold our elected officials accountable to America---not just to our state.
You cannot keep voting the ‘bring the pork home’ guys and gals back into office unless you are willing to give your nation away to the likes of China which has the largest trade surplus of any nation while simultaneously owning huge amounts of our debt—meaning we owe China the shirts on our backs.
I cannot vote in Nebraska’s election for Senator Nelson or any other candidate running in another state besides my own. So while I am amongst the huge majority who want to replace most of Congress, the actual determinant of who is elected rests with a select population residing in the state of the incumbent. And if you poll most voters, their incumbents have a much higher approval rating than the Congress as a whole. Now do you get it?!
Lest I forget, Secretary of State Clinton just obligated you and yours to fund part of a new 100 billion dollar commitment she just made to control carbon emissions in the name of climate control (read redistribution of whatever wealth remains in America to those of other nations who are less fortunate). Cutting through the fluff, this was her attempt to bring something home from Copenhagen so Barry Soetoro would not look impotent after the conference effectively fell apart.
As we close 2009, Americans must remain vigilant, non-complacent and force our elected officials to abide by the Constitution, for these are critical times for our nation. Our nation is under assault from within by radical ideologies.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, to my Christian and Jewish readers respectively.
Wild Thing's comment........
Excellent article!!
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:45 AM | Comments (3)
December 19, 2009
Sen. Ben Nelson to Announce Support For Health-Care Bill
Sen. Ben Nelson to announce support for health-care bill
Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.), the final Democratic holdout on health care, was prepared to announce to his caucus Saturday morning that he would support the Senate reform bill, clearing the way for final passage by Christmas.
"We're there," said Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), as he headed into a special meeting to announce the deal.
Democratic leaders spent days trying to hammer out a deal with Nelson, and worked late Friday night with Nelson on abortion coverage language that had proved the major stumbling block. But Nelson also secured other favors for his home state.
Asked if he was prepared to support the bill, Nelson said, "Yeah."
With Nelson seemingly on board, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid unveiled the final version of a sweeping overhaul of the nation's health insurance system that would expand coverage to an additional 31 million Americans, coming closer to attaining the Democrats' longsought goal of universal medical coverage.
The package closely tracks the $848 billion measure Reid (D-Nev.) drafted this month, before he entered into negotiations aimed at winning the 60 votes he needs to avert a GOP filibuster, aides said. Since then, Reid has made numerous concessions to moderate Democrats, scrapping an effort to create a government-run insurance plan and beefing up prohibitions on spending federal funds for abortion coverage, a change demanded by the final holdout, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska.
Instead of a public option, the final product would allow private firms for the first time to offer national insurance policies to all Americans, outside the jurisdiction of state regulations. Those plans would be negotiated through the Office of Personnel Management, the same agency that handles health coverage for federal workers and members of Congress.
Starting immediately, insurers would be prohibited from denying children coverage for pre-existing conditions. A complete ban on the practice would take effect in 2014, when the legislation seeks to create a network of state-based insurance exchanges, or marketplaces, where people who lack access to affordable coverage through an insurer can purchase policies.
Insurers competing in the exchanges would be required to justify rate increases, and those who jacked up prices unduly could be barred from the exchange. Reid's package also would give patients the right to appeal to an independent board if an insurer denies a medical claim. And all insurance companies would be required to spend at least 80 cents of every dollary they collect in premiums on delivering care to their customers.
Every American would be required to obtain coverage under the proposal, and employers would be required to pay a fine if they failed to offer affordable coverage and their workers sought federal subsidies to purchase insurance in the exchanges. Reid's package would offer additional assistance to the smallest businesses, however, increasing tax credits to purchase coverage by $12 billion over previous versions.
The overall cost of the package was not immediately available, but aides said it would be more than covered by cutting future Medicare spending and raising taxes in the health sector, including a 40 percent excise on the most expensive insurance policies. The package would reduce budget deficits by $130 billion by 2019, aides said, and by as much as $650 billion in the decade thereafter.
Reid officially filed the package early Saturday with plans to hold a first critical vote after midnight Sunday. Barring unexpected delays, Democrats were still hoping to push the package to final passage by Christmas Eve.
Schumer: We've Reached Agreement With Nelson
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) just told reporters that he and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid shook hands last night at 10:30 p.m. with Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) on an agreement that he would vote for cloture on health care reform, on the basis of the abortion language in the manager's amendment.
They have 60 now.
text of the abortion amendment
''SEC. 1303. SPECIAL RULES.
(a) STATE OPT-OUT OF ABORTION COVERAGE.-- ''(1) IN GENERAL.--A State may elect to prohibit abortion coverage in qualified health plans offered through an Exchange in such State if such State enacts a law to provide for such prohibition. (2) TERMINATION OF OPT OUT.-- A State may repeal a law described in paragraph (1) and provide for the offering of such services through the Exchange.
(b) SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO COVERAGE OF ABORTION SERVICES.--(1) VOLUNTARY CHOICE OF COVERAGE OF ABORTION SERVICES.-- (A) IN GENERAL.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this title (or any amendment made by this title)-- (i) nothing in this title (or any amendment made by this title), shall be construed to require a qualified health plan to provide coverage of services described in subparagraph (B)(i) or (B)(ii) as part of its essential health benefits for any plan year; and ''(ii) subject to subsection (a), the issuer of a qualified health plan shall determine whether or not the plan provides coverage of services described in subparagraph (B)(i) or (B)(ii) as part of such benefits for the plan year.
'(B) ABORTION SERVICES.-- (i) ABORTIONS FOR WHICH PUBLIC FUNDING IS PROHIBITED.--The services described in this clause are abortions for which the expenditure of Federal funds appropriated for the Department of Health and Human Services is not permitted, based on the law as in effect as of the date that is 6 months before the beginning of the plan year involved.
(ii) ABORTIONS FOR WHICH PUBLIC FUNDING IS ALLOWED.--The services described in this clause are abortions for which the expenditure of Federal funds appropriated for the Department of Health and Human Services is permitted, based on the law as in effect as of the date that is 6 months before the beginning of the plan year involved.
(2) PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.-- ''(A) IN GENERAL.--If a qualified health plan provides coverage of services described in paragraph (1)(B)(i), the issuer of the plan shall not use any amount attributable to any of the following for purposes of paying for such services: (i) The credit under section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (and the amount (if any) of the advance payment of the credit under section 1412 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act). (ii) Any cost-sharing reduction under section 1402 of thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act (and the amount (if any) of the advance payment of the reduction under section 1412 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act).
(B) ESTABLISHMENT OF ALLOCATION ACCOUNTS.--In the case of a plan to which subparagraph (A) applies, the issuer of the plan shall-- (i) collect from each enrollee in the plan (without regard to the enrollee's age, sex, or family status) a separate payment for each of the following: (I) an amount equal to the portion of the premium to be paid directly by the enrollee for coverage under the plan of services other than services described in paragraph (1)(B)(i) (after reduction for credits and cost-sharing reductions described in subparagraph (A)); and (II) an amount equal to the actuarial value of the coverage of services described in paragraph (1)(B)(i), and (ii) shall deposit all such separate payments into separate allocation accounts as provided in subparagraph (C). In the case of an enrollee whose premium for coverage under the plan is paid through employee payroll deposit, the separate payments required under this subparagraph shall each be paid by a separate deposit.
(C) SEGREGATION OF FUNDS.-- (i) IN GENERAL.--The issuer of a plan to which subparagraph (A) applies shall establish allocation accounts described in clause (ii) for enrollees receiving amounts described in subparagraph (A). '(ii) ALLOCATION ACCOUNTS.--The issuer of a plan to which subparagraph (A) applies shall deposit-- (I) all payments described in subparagraph (B)(i)(I) into a separate account that consists solely of such payments and that is used exclusively to pay for services other than services described in paragraph (1)(B)(i); and (II) all payments described in subparagraph (B)(i)(II) into a separate account that consists solely of such payments and that is used exclusively to pay for services described in paragraph (1)(B)(i).
(D) ACTUARIALVALUE.-- (i) IN GENERAL.--The issuer of a qualified health plan shall estimate the basic per enrollee, per month cost, determined on an average actuarial basis, for including coverage under the qualified health plan of the services described in paragraph (1)(B)(i). (ii) CONSIDERATIONS.--In making such estimate, the issuer-- (I) may take into account the impact on overall costs of the inclusion of such coverage, but may not take into account any cost reduction estimated to result from such services, including prenatal care, delivery, or postnatal care; (II) shall estimate such costs as if such coverage were included for the entire population covered; and (III) may not estimate such a cost at less than $1 per enrollee, per month.
(E) ENSURING COMPLIANCE WITH SEGREGATION REQUIREMENTS.-- (i) IN GENERAL.--Subject to clause (ii), State health insurance commissioners shall ensure that health plans comply with the segregation requirements in this subsection through the segregation of plan funds in accordance with applicable provisions of generally accepted accounting requirements, circulars on funds management of the Office of Management and Budget, and guidance on accounting of the Government Accountability Office. (ii) CLARIFICATION.--Nothing in clause (i) shall prohibit the right of an individual or health plan to appeal such action in courts of competent jurisdiction.
'(3) RULES RELATING TO NOTICE.-- (A) NOTICE.--A qualified health plan that provides for coverage of the services described in paragraph (1)(B)(i) shall provide a notice to enrollees, only as part of the summary of benefits and coverage explanation, at the time of enrollment, of such coverage.
(B) RULES RELATING TO PAYMENTS.-- The notice described in subparagraph (A), any advertising used by the issuer with respect to the plan, any information provided by the Exchange, and any other information specified by the Secretary shall provide information only with respect to the total amount of the combined payments for services described in paragraph (1)(B)(i) and other services covered by the plan.
(4) NO DISCRIMINATION ON BASIS OF PROVISION OF ABORTION.--No qualified health plan offered through an Exchange may discriminate against any individual health care provider or health care facility because of its unwillingness to provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions
(c) APPLICATION OF STATE AND FEDERAL LAWS REGARDING ABORTION.-- (1) NO PREEMPTION OF STATE LAWS REGARDING ABORTION.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preempt or otherwise have any effect on State laws regarding the prohibition of (or requirement of) coverage, funding, or procedural requirements on abortions, including parental notification or consent for the performance of an abortion on a minor.
(2) NO EFFECT ON FEDERAL LAWS REGARDING ABORTION.--
(A) IN GENERAL.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to have any effect on Federal laws regarding-- '(i) conscience protection; '(ii) willingness or refusal to provide abortion; and '(iii) discrimination on the basis of the willingness or refusal to provide, pay for, cover, or refer for abortion or to provide or participate in training to provide abortion.
(3) NO EFFECT ON FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS LAW.--Nothing in this subsection shall alter the rights and obligations of employees and employers under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
.
Ben Nelson's Medicaid deal
Sen. Mary Landrieu got the "Louisiana Purchase." Sen. Ben Nelson got the federal government to pick up most his state's future Medicaid tab -- forever. As part of the deal to win Nelson's support, the federal government will fund Nebraska's new Medicaid recipients. It's a provision worth about $45 million over the first decade.
Also from John McCormack...
Nelson Agrees to Abortion Funding in at Least 13 States?
Harry Reid has released the manager's amendment that Ben Nelson has reportedly agreed to vote for, meaning that the Senate bill has 60 votes. The abortion language includes the phony segregation of funding language that was rejected in the House. It would allow individual states to opt out of the abortion-funding program--in other words, the default position is to pay for abortions; states would have to pass legislation to not fund abortions. But states where public abortion-funding is mandated by state court rulings would be required to pay for abortions:
‘‘(1) NO PREEMPTION OF STATE LAWS REGARDING ABORTION.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preempt or otherwise have any effect on State laws regarding the prohibition of (or requirement of) coverage, funding, or procedural requirements on abortions, including parental notification or consent for the performance of an abortion on a minor.
.
Wild Thing's comment.........
May God damn every Senator who votes for this. Every last one. They are ignoring the will of the people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And get this, they are going to VOTR ON THIS BILL AT 1;00 A.M. Monday morning. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.
“ Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action”…. General George Washington
....Thank you Lynn for sending this to me.
.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 10:33 AM | Comments (18)
Boom! Taste My Nightstick, Arnie!
Wild Thing's comment.........
LMAO, I love it !
....Thank you Jack for sending this to me.
Army Combat Engineers
67-69
Jack's blog is Conservative Insurgent
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:55 AM | Comments (7)
Soft Toilet Paper Is Now Target Of Envirowackos
Soft toilet paper becomes target of environmentalists
Greenpeace, the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups have pushed manufacturers such as Kimberly-Clark (Cottonelle) and Procter & Gamble (Charmin) to stop using wood from virgin forests to make tissue products.
"They'll take my Ultra Soft Charmin only when they pry it from my cold, dead, aloe-smelling hands."
Highly doubtful it will come to that. Please, sit.
We're talking about toilet paper. Charlton Heston's famous vow was of guns.
The issue over tissue in the bathroom — the really super-soft stuff — is more like the fight about the big SUVs loved by many Americans.
Anti-green, environmentalists say. Politically incorrect. Why should Americans use luxurious toilet paper made from old-growth trees when much of the world gets by with a far more basic and often recycled product?
Why should we flush redwoods, so to speak?
So Greenpeace, the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups have pushed manufacturers such as Kimberly-Clark (Cottonelle) and Procter & Gamble (Charmin) to stop using wood from virgin forests to make tissue products.
Mountains of paper are dumped every day into recycling bins in homes, offices, factories and schools. Use that to make toilet paper, the activists say.
Time to roll off the big number: If each American family would buy one recycled roll just one time, it would save 400,000 trees, allegedly.
The problem, though, is that each time paper is shredded during the recycling process, its fibers get shorter. The shorter the fiber, the less soft the tissue. And Americans, though saying in surveys that they embrace green initiatives, also say they don't want to sacrifice comfort.
"The truth is that other parts of the world are further along in using recycled content," said Kay Jackson, spokeswoman for Kimberly-Clark. "The American consumer still wants softness, and they are speaking with their pocketbooks."
Pulling back in a competitive market is asking a lot, manufacturers say. They also point out that only 5 percent of forest-industry production goes toward toilet paper.
Wild Thing's comment..........
Liberals don't use toilet paper.
This is not about the environment, it is about power. We have crippled our self by giving up on known energy sources (oil and coal).
We can drill for oil without destroying the world, and we can use these energy sources without polluting the air. It is not about the ecology, it is about power and control. Currently they are in charge and our nation is paying a steep price. It is not going to be pretty when this all comes to a crashing end.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (8)
Toby Keith Stands By War Before Nobel Performance
Here is the video from the party: the incident happens at 2.08 on the video.
Toby Keith stands by war before Nobel performance
OSLO
American country singer Toby Keith says he won't apologize for supporting U.S. war efforts just hours before performing at the annual Nobel Peace Prize Concert.
Keith says he supports American troops who "fight evil" abroad and that he stands by President Barack Obama's decision to send more troops to Afghanistan. Obama is this year's Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Norwegian parliamentarians and a former Norwegian Nobel Committee member have criticized the decision to invite an artist known for penning war anthems to perform at a concert promoting peace.
Keith spoke to journalists Friday alongside Nobel Concert hosts - rap artist Will Smith and his wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith. Other artists, including British pop singer Natasha Bedingfield, also spoke.
Asian Groups Slam Toby Keith's 'Racist' Gesture
Toby Keith may think his Nobel Peace Prize party eye gesture wasn't a big deal -- but TWO Asian organizations are furious about it, claiming the "racist" maneuver wasn't just offensive, it was an embarrassment to his country.
As TMZ first reported, Keith pulled back his eyes when Will Smith rapped the word "yellow" during an impromptu performance in Norway a few days ago -- Toby's rep blew it off, telling us, "nobody at the party thought Toby was out of line." But outside the party -- people are pissed.
A rep for the Asian American Justice Center tells TMZ, "Toby Keith embarrassed himself and his country, denigrated the Noble Peace Prize and offended Asians and Asian Americans by using a crude, racist hand gesture."
Another group -- the Media Action Network for Asians -- also took offense with Toby, telling us, "By doing this, he is telling his Asian fans 'you don't matter, you're not on my radar.'"
.
Wild Thing's comment........
Sheesh! Everybody wants in the Racial Grievance Industry.
Toby Keith first was asked this really rude question in the pre concert presser, that how could he “mr, boot up your behind” guy play in the nobel concert.
Will Smith was actually funny then. Stood up an ran towards the journalist implying he would put a boot up his....
Keith just said, “look stud, can’t here your question”. Then he said that he will support America against evil everywhere and never appologize.
Good for Toby Keith.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:49 AM | Comments (8)
Senator Kit Bond (R.- MO.) Gives His Rendition of "Twas the Night Before Christmas"
>br>
As Senate lawmakers gear up for what might be a rough holiday spent laboring over healthcare reform in the Capitol, Sen. Kit Bond (D-Mo.) is trying to inject that ongoing debate with some holiday satire.
"With the Senate having gone to the dogs, I thought it was appropriate that I share with my two doggy friends a little ode to Christmas," the Republican lawmaker announced before launching into a version of "Twas the Night Before Christmas," clearly re-written to reflect this year's healthcare debate.
An excerpt:
"Now Schumer, now Sanders, now Durbin and HarkinOn Landrieu, on Nelson, on Bayh and LincolnTo the well of the Senate, to the top of the wallVote away! Vote Away! Vote Away all!
As spending before the wild deficits flyRoll over all obstacles, mount to the skySo up to the house-top, the debt it flewWith a sleigh full of goodies, cap-and-trade too!"
Senator Bond sits down with his dog, Tiger, and Shana Marchio's (his Communications Director) dog, Pooley, and gives his rendition of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore.
While serving in the United States Senate, Bond has built a reputation as a statesman who advocates for a strong U.S. military, improved care for our nation's veterans and men and women in uniform, an expert in Southeast Asia, and a reformer of our nation's intelligence community.
Bond serves as the Vice Chairman on the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, where he is working to give the Intelligence Community the tools to detect and disrupt planned terrorist attacks on America.
Wild Thing's comment.......
LOL this is great.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (5)
Feds Take Charge Of Your Doctor, Deplete Your Hospital
"There has been too little attention to the most dangerous aspect of the Senate health bill. Please read this and share the information widely. We are battling to preserve medical excellence for you."- Betsy
Feds take charge of YOUR doctor, deplete your hospital
By BETSY MCCAUGHEY
December 18, 2009
Forget the public option, abortion and all the other divisive questions in the health-care debate: The most important issue for patients and their doctors is the transfer of decision-making power from bedside to the federal government.
The bill that Sen. Harry Reid aims to pass in the Senate would mandate that every American enroll in a "qualified" insurance plan. And page 149 states that "qualified" health plans can do business only with a doctor who "implements such mechanisms to improve health-care quality as the secretary [of Health and Human Services] may by regulation require."
But "mechanisms to improve health-care quality" covers everything in medicine.
Never before has the federal government intruded into medical decisions made by doctors for privately insured patients, except on such narrow issues as drug safety. Now, in the name of quality, the secretary of Health and Human Services would be empowered to regulate your MD's decisions on everything from cardiac and cancer care to childbirth.
The delegation of power is so broad, it's conceivable that Washington will be telling your cardiologist when it's appropriate to use stents or imaging tests -- and directing your gynecologist about the use of pelvic sonograms.
What makes this especially troubling is that government will be imposing its regulations with an eye on reducing the cost of your care, even if you're paying for it yourself: The explicit purpose of "reform" is to reduce what everyone consumes and to discourage some from getting more care than others.
That's one reason the Senate bill puts a 40 percent tax on "Cadillac" plans -- a category that will cover the top 20 percent of plans, according to the Congressional Budget Office. In its Nov. 30 report, the CBO predicts that many employers will downgrade what they provide their workforce to avoid the tax, while others will pass the cost along in the form of lower take-home pay. If you think this bill won't hurt you because your employer provides a generous health plan, think again.
Despite President Obama's promises, the Senate bill expressly reduces the care under Medicare. Baby boomers retiring soon will get less than seniors get now. Page 1189 gives the secretary of Health and Human Services "authority to modify or eliminate coverage of certain preventive services," based on what the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends. This is the same group that just called for cutting back on mammograms.
Whatever your age, and whether you're in a public program or the richest "Cadillac" plan, you'll also lose out if you need to be hospitalized -- you'll find fewer nurses on the floor, less diagnostic equipment, longer waits for tests and an overall environment of scarcity.
Why? Because the Reid bill forces hospitals into financial distress.
Hospitals now get their cash from insurance companies and from public programs such as Medicare and Medicaid -- the public programs are already freeloading. A hospital collects 93 cents for each dollar spent treating a Medicare patient and 86 cents for a Medicaid patient -- but manages to stay open by charging more for privately insured patients.
The Senate bill expands Medicaid enrollment (in fact, 60 percent of those newly insured by the bill are put in Medicaid) and slashes payment rates for Medicare patients.
Richard Foster, Chief Actuary for Medicare, documented the severe impact of these cuts on hospitals in a Nov. 13 report to Congress, predicting that hospitals will face losses. In the end, all patients will suffer when hospitals are dirtier, ill equipped and understaffed.
Wild Thing's comment.............
She is excelent and she has been working hard to get the truth out about the socialized medicine bill.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (5)
Connecticut Dem Says Time For Chris Dodd To Go
Connecticut Dem says time for Dodd to go
As Connecticut voters remain wary of Sen. Chris Dodd, one state Democrat is openly suggesting the five-term senator abandon his re-election bid "for the good of the party."
"Chris has had Obama in for him, Biden in for him, a lot of TV ads and they haven't moved the numbers," former Connecticut Democratic Party Chair Ed Marcus told local television station WFSB. "Rightfully or wrongfully the perception within the voting public in Connecticut is just negative toward Chris."
A recent Quinnipiac poll suggests Dodd faces an 11-point deficit against Rob Simmons, one of several Republicans vying for the party's nomination to face Dodd. The poll also suggests Dodd would loose to Republicans Linda McMahohn and Tom Foley, while he would tie Sam Caligiuri and Peter Schiff.
Despite high-profile visits from President Obama and Vice President Biden in recent months, Dodd's numbers have barely recovered in the year since the Connecticut Democrat first took heat over his involvement in the federal bailout of a string of Wall Street banks.
.
Wild Thing's comment............
GOOD! Dodd’s goose is cooked . He is a detriment to freedom, free enterprise, private property, individual responsibility ... and the American way in our CONSTITUTION.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (5)
GOP Firm On Stopping Senate Health Bill
McConnell: 'They want us to vote on a bill that no one outside the Majority Leader’s conference room has even seen'...'The final bill we’ll vote on isn’t even the one we’ve had on the floor'
GOP Firm On Stopping Senate Health Bill
WASHINGTON
Republicans threatened to delay Senate business with a health care read-a-thon this weekend as Democrats searched for 60 votes to advance President Barack Obama's signature issue. A forecast of heavy snow added to the list of complications.
At a news conference Friday in the Capitol, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., accused Democrats of trying to ram the health care bill through with dozens of changes as yet unseen, and promised to do all they could to prevent it.
"I think we've made it rather clear we're not going to expedite consideration of the health care bill," McConnell said. Added McCain: "I don't think it would be outrageous to ask for a bill that we haven't seen to be read."
Democrats, after a week of bitter intraparty disagreements over the compromises Senate leaders made to keep the bill moving, were still trying to come up with the 60 votes needed to overcome unanimous Republican opposition. Leaders kept negotiating with the only known Democratic holdout, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, on tough abortion restrictions that he would accept.
After a meeting with Reid that lasted more than an hour Friday, Nelson indicated he still was not aboard but would keep talking. "Hopefully, we're making progress," Nelson said. He added that there was a lot of room between his views and Reid's and they were "trying to close the gap."
Reid scrambles as deadline looms
By: Carrie Budoff Brown and Meredith Shiner
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid led a marathon negotiating session Friday with Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) in a hectic bid to persuade the last holdout to sign onto the health care reform bill ahead of a key deadline Saturday morning.
Nelson was huddling into the evening with Reid, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and a circle of top White House officials that included deputy chief of staff Jim Messina and senior adviser Pete Rouse. Nelson was seeking stronger language to prohibit federal financing of abortions and additional relief for his state from future Medicaid funding obligations.
At 8 p.m., Nelson left a meeting in Reid’s office, telling reporters, “There’s no deal.”
Three hours earlier Nelson had hinted at progress “if for no other reason than you understand each other’s position a little better.”
Despite the ticking clock for the Democratic leadership, Nelson said he wasn’t operating on a deadline.
“Harry has some time frames he is thinking about,” Nelson said. “But I don’t have a deadline. To me, you have to get it right.”
Wild Thing's comment.........
Fight to the end, PLEASE!!!
"Republicans threatened to delay Senate business with a health care read-a-thon this weekend as Democrats searched for 60 votes to advance President Barack Obama's signature issue."
This is good. Very good. Shows that our folks aren't backing down, and are fighting this thing. The Republicans have been fighting in the House and Senate...the fringe media hides it from us so many do not realize how hard Republicans have been fighting.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:40 AM | Comments (2)
December 18, 2009
"Code Red" Rally at the Capitol ~ Speaking Out Against Obama's Socialized Medicine
"Code Red" Rally at the Capitol
The rally in Upper Senate Park across from the Capitol kicked of the day’s activities as featured speakers including FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey, conservative talk show host Laura Ingram, and Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Jim DeMint (R-SC) addressed the crowd of literally thousands of concerned Americans who had once again made the trip to Capitol Hill to voice their concerns regarding the current Senate health care bill.
After the rally, FreedomWorks helped to organize lobbying teams by state to descend upon Senate offices, where activists are committing to politely, but resolutely, “sit in” until they are permitted to speak to their Senators face-to-face and relay their grave concerns over health care legislation that continues to inch closer to passage.
Code Red Rally "Kill the Health Care Bill
Michelle Bachmann said the bill actually contains a MARRIAGE PENALTY, among other despicable clauses!
Clad in red and armed with Grinch dolls, grim reaper scarecrows, posters and their loud voices, several thousand
tea party protesters rallied near the Capitol Tuesday to send a single message: "Kill the Bill."
The crowd's message and energy was only intensified by the encouragement of some of the nation’s best known conservatives, including Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) and radio personality Laura Ingraham.
"I've never seen so many attractive domestic terrorists in all my life!" Armey yelled at the adoring crowd. "It's so nice to be here again together, isn't it?...You mean you actually came to town on your own terms? To say what you wanted to say? And to be heard? Sounds pretty much like terrorists to me."
The crowd was most excited, however, by an unscheduled appearance by Bachmann, who organized the most recent major tea party protest, a "House Call" on Washington Nov. 6.
"You came before, you came again, I guess they must be deaf. They can't hear you!" Bachmann screamed over the cheers. "We're not leaving until you understand that no means no. What part of no don't you people understand?"
The congresswoman, who has emerged as a conservative icon, led the crowd in chants of "Kill the Bill," before suggesting President Barack Obama, Senate Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on their lack of knowledge of the U.S. Constitution.
"Maybe they need a course in remedial reading to find out what's in our Constitution," Bachmann said, suggesting the tea party movement could teach them.
As the rally broke, the protesters were encouraged to visit their senators’ offices, even though Senate Democrats were caucusing with the president at the White House. And, in short order, there were lines to get into several Senate office buildings.
.
Wild Thing's comment...........
It was estimated around 2,000, possible 2,500 counting those milling around the edges. Buses from northern Maryland and North Carolina accounted for about 900 alone. Apparently a bus came up from Texas.
But there is this that I got in my email from a friend that lives in Maryland.
"I was over on the corner of the Russell bldg and talked with many groups that came by there as I greeted them. Yes, a number from Texas, but there were 23 buses from NJ, I’m not sure how many buses from PA but a number. I spoke with groups here from OH, WVA, GA, KY, VA ,PA and NC. I stayed over at the Russell during the Rally. During the Rally they were still arriving. Many of the Code Red were skipping the Rally to get into the Senate offices. Remember the crowds at WR on 9/11 of 800 and 11/7 at the Steve King press rally of 2-2.5 K. This crowd I have seen estimated greater than 6,000. My estimate is 10-12 K."
....Thank you Mark.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (6)
Obama Is Stalling On Giving Congress Intelligence About Fort Hood Terrorist
Obama Administration is Stalling on Giving Congress Intelligence About Fort Hood Shooter, Says Hoekstra CNS By Chris Neefus
Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, says the Obama administration is stalling in providing information to the leaders of the House and Senate and the congressional intelligence committees on the multiple murders allegedly committed by a radical Muslim Army officer at Fort Hood more than a month ago.
So far, the committee chairman and congressional leaders have received no detailed, substantive briefing on the event and what is known about its perpetrator.
“You know, they’re playing out the string,” Hoekstra said Thursday. “We’re going home next week, (and) they will have effectively made it through three months with giving no substantive briefings on Fort Hood.”
CNSNews.com asked Hoekstra whether it was “a constitutional affront not to have the Gang of 8 briefed on this?”
“Oh yeah, sure, absolutely,” said Hoekstra.
The Gang of 8 is a group of leaders from the House and Senate who by law are supposed to be briefed on U.S. intelligence activities when the matter is too sensitive to share with the full intelligence committees. The group includes the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees and the majority and minority leaders of each chamber.
Additionally, the law holds that the administration must “ensure that the congressional intelligence committees are kept fully and currently informed of the intelligence activities of the United States.”
When a reporter said he thought the Gang of 8 had been briefed on the intelligence report regarding the attack, Hoekstra said the committees had been given a preliminary briefing a few weeks ago that lacked substantive information.
~snipet~
Hoekstra, who has been asking for more information on Hasan and the murders at Fort Hood since he wrote a November 9 letter to Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair and the heads of each intelligence agency, said the Obama administration was not being transparent.
“It’s now three and a half, four weeks later,” said Hoekstra. “I would assume that in the last four weeks we’ve gathered lots of info that should be shared with the intelligence committees.” There is a “lack of transparency here,” Hoekstra said, and “it is unbelievable the material and the information that they’re withholding from us, from the American people.”
Hoekstra said that a report on the Fort Hood incident had been delivered to President Obama two weeks ago.
“I know that the (Fort Hood) report was delivered to the President on November 30, so I talked to Director Blair last week and said, ‘Hey, I’d just like an update,’ you know? There are a lot—potentially lots—of areas that have ties to foreign intelligence and foreign threats-- international threats. Give us an update,” said Hoekstra.
“I’d like to know who Hasan was in contact with, what happened to his money and these types of things. Who else he might have been talking to in the United States? All of this kind of information. Supposedly we got access to his computers, supposedly we got access to his email, his phone records, financial records, all of these kinds of things,” said Hoekstra.
Hoekstra said Blair has been putting off a meeting. “So I asked for a briefing last week,” said Hoekstra. “Mr. Blair thought he’d be able to give me one. He was told, ‘No,’ and then he said, ‘I’m not going to make a commitment, but I think that we’ll be able to give you one next week,’ which would be this week. Well, he’s out of the country until late tomorrow (Friday).”
“I talked to his (Blair’s) office yesterday (Wednesday), and you know the answer is now, ‘No briefing this week.’ It’s unbelievable,” said Hoekstra.
When Hoekstra was asked if he wanted to be briefed on the President’s report or on the Fort Hood incident in general, he said: “On anything--on any intelligence that they’ve gathered! They are not willing to share it with the intelligence committee. Wouldn’t it be nice to know what his—shouldn’t the intelligence committee know what his relationship was to Aulaqi, what other foreign people he would be talking to? No briefing.”
Hoekstra said the Obama administration was stalling on giving out the information. “You know, they’re playing out the string,” said Hoekstra. “We’re going home next week, (and) they will have effectively made it through three months with giving no substantive briefings on Fort Hood.”
Hoekstra said Democrats had their priorities out of order by focusing on salacious news instead of the incident. “And at the same time, we are subpoenaing the people who crashed the India state dinner,” he said, referring to Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the couple who attended President Obama’s first state dinner without an invitation. “I mean, it is like, there’s something wrong here.
Wild Thing's comment.............
Once again the kenyan protects his brother muslims, his muslim homie.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (4)
Live! From DC! It’s Saturday Night! er ah Thursday With Idiot Al Franken
Franken Reels After Thune Question on Senate Floor
(Franken starts speaking at 2:50 on the video)
Liberal blogs are buzzing about Al Franken's performance on the U.S. Senate floor, claiming that he "destroyed" Republican Sen. John Thune's contention that the Senate health bill triggers taxes before significant benefits.
But the video shows a different story.
During Franken's Senate floor speech, the Minnesota Democrat appears to be rambling, confused and shocked when Thune interrupts him to "yield for a question."
Franken agrees to Thune's request and seems befuddled about Thune's point: The Democratic plan kicks in significant taxes almost immediately, with MOST of the Democratic healthcare plan "benefits" starting after 2013.
Franken's performance was so dismal that the acting president of the Senate had to interrupt his rambling to remind him that he actually held the Senate floor.
Other Democratic senators clearly wanted to assist the blustering Franken, with Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown leading the charge. Brown deflected Thune's critical point to discuss Medicare.
The Franken performance suggests that "Saturday Night Live" finally has found its way on to the U.S. Senate floor.
Al Franken took the unusual step Thursday of shutting down Sen. Joe Lieberman on the Senate floor.
Al Franken objecting to letting Lieberman speak for an additional minute to finish his thoughts.
Lieberman was giving a ten-minute speech on health care reform. Franken, who was presiding over the Senate, cut him off when his ten minutes were up. When Lieberman requested unanimous consent for an extra few minutes to finish his speech, Franken a senator from Minnesota, objected.
After a brief moment of tension, Lieberman laughed and said he didn't take it personally, and requested that the rest of his speech be put in the record. Then McCain took the floor....
John Mccain backed up Lieberman and said "I've been around here for 20 some years, first time I've ever seen a member denied an extra minute or two to finish their remarks, and I must say that I don't know what's happening here in this body but I think it's wrong...I've never seen a member denied an extra minute or so, as the chair just did."
.
Wild Thing's comment........
Franken...just like ALL the Rabid Rats, are the MOST OBNOXIOUS, RUDE, DISGUSTING people in the country.
Franken does not know his head from his glutes and he presided over the senate?
I am living a twilight zone.
Someone wake me up.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:49 AM | Comments (6)
What Makes Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson Nervous? A new poll!
Check out these numbers from a new poll in Nebraska, via Leavenworth Blog:
“If Senator Ben Nelson votes in favor of this plan, would that make you more likely or less likely to support Senator Nelson when he runs for re-election?”
More likely: 26%
Less Likely: 61%
Then there's this:
"In general, do you favor or oppose President Obama’s plan to expand health care coverage to most Americans even if this plan increases the role of the federal government in health care and increases the cost of the deficit?"
Favor: 26%
Oppose: 67%
Wild Thing's comment.........
Nelson is no fool. He saw Lieberman play hardball with Dingy and Reid caved. And I think the 20 Senators starting an investigation into the threat to put Offut on the BRAC list has given him the courage to hold his guns. I hope.
We CAN win this fight! We CAN beat back ObamaCare! God bless everyone who has kept the pressure on this congress. So far the more the Dems water this down to woo Lieberman, Nelson, Sanders etc, the more pissed off the House moonbats are getting.
Can you imagine the catfights when this bill goes into reconsiliation commitees ?
They will rip their eyes out to pass “something”.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (5)
Democrats' Blues Grow Deeper in New Poll ~ Obama FAILING Big Time!
Democrats' Blues Grow Deeper in New Poll
Less than a year after Inauguration Day, support for the Democratic Party continues to slump, amid a difficult economy and a wave of public discontent, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.
The findings underscored how dramatically the political landscape has changed during the Obama administration's first year. In January, despite the recession and financial crisis, voters expressed optimism about the future, the new president enjoyed soaring approval ratings, and congressional leaders promised to swiftly pass his ambitious agenda.
In December's survey, for the first time, less than half of Americans approved of the job President Barack Obama was doing, marking a steeper first-year fall for this president than his recent predecessors.
Also for the first time this year, the electorate was split when asked which party it wanted to see in charge after the 2010 elections. For months, a clear plurality favored Democratic control.
The survey suggests that public discontent with Mr. Obama and his party is being driven by an unusually grim view of the country's status and future prospects.
A majority of Americans believe the U.S. is in decline. And a plurality now say the U.S. will be surpassed by China in 20 years as the top power.
Democrats' problems seem in part linked to their ambitious health-care plan, billed as the signature achievement of Mr. Obama's first year. Now, for the first time, more people said they would prefer Congress did nothing on health care than who wanted to see the overhaul enacted.
"For Democrats, the red flags are flying at full mast," said Democratic pollster Peter Hart, who conducted the survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff. "What we don't know for certain is: Have we reached a bottoming-out point?"
The biggest worry for Democrats is that the findings could set the stage for gains by Republican candidates in next year's elections. Support from independents for the president and his party continues to dwindle. In addition, voters intending to back Republicans expressed far more interest in the 2010 races than those planning to vote for Democrats, illustrating how disappointment on the left over attempts by party leaders to compromise on health care and other issues is damping enthusiasm among core party voters.
Democratic leaders, while bracing for losses next year, have argued that unlike the 1994 elections, in which Republicans gained 54 seats and took the House majority, Democrats would survive 2010 in part because they are taking steps to avoid that possibility. Republicans must gain 41 seats to take control.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that Democrats "fully intend to be in the majority" after November 2010, and she was now shifting to "campaign mode" to help candidates. Party officials are leaning on a number of longtime colleagues to fight for their seats rather than retire.
The Journal/NBC survey found Ms. Pelosi's presence on the campaign trail could do more harm than good. Fifty-two percent said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who agreed with the speaker almost all the time, compared with 42% who felt that way about candidates siding with Republican leaders.
For Mr. Obama, who has relied on his personal popularity to retain the clout he needs to enact his legislative agenda, the survey pointed to troubling signs.
A majority for the first time disapproved of his handling of the economy. And the public's personal affection for the president, a consistent strong suit, has begun to fray. Fifty percent now feel positive about him, six points lower than in October and an 18-point drop since his early weeks in office.
Democrats' troubles can be attributed in part to changing feelings among some core supporters. A third of voters 34 and under, a group that turned out heavily for Democrats last year, feel negative toward the Democratic Party. And just 38% of Hispanics feel positive, down sharply from 60% in February.
Wild Thing's comment.........
These democRATS will be out of business in 2010 if they pass this ObamaCare albatros!
Good article, the only thing they quoted wrong was the actual poll. Obama has been under 50% with Rasmussen and Gallop for over a month. But other then that, it is awesome news to read about how unhappy people are as they should be, with vile horrible Obama and his administration and Congress.
......Thank you Richard for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (6)
God Bless Our Republic and our Warriors Our Troops and Veterans
.
WORDS AND MUSIC BY
S. Householder
I’ve got the reach and the teeth of a killin’ machine, ith a need to bleed you when the light goes green, best believe, I’m in a zone to be, from my Yin to my Yang to my Yang Tze.
Put a grin on my chin when you come to me, ‘cuz I’ll win,
I’m a one-of-a-kind and I’ll bring death to the place you’re about to be: another river of blood runnin’ under my feet.
Forged in a fire lit long ago, stand next to me, you’ll never stand alone. I’m last to leave, but the first to go, Lord, make me dead before you make me old.
I feed on the fear of the devil inside of the enemy faces in my sights: aim with the hand, shoot with the mind, kill with a heart like arctic ice
I am a soldier and I’m marching on, I am a warrior and this is my song I bask in the glow of the rising war, lay waste to the ground of an enemy shore, wade through the blood spilled on the floor, and if another one stands I’ll kill some more.
Bullet in the breach and a fire in me, like a cigarette thrown to gasoline, if death don’t bring you fear, I swear, you’ll fear these marchin’ feet.
Come to the nightmare, come to me, deep down in the dark where the devil be, in the maw with the jaws and the razor teeth, where the brimstone burns and the angel weeps.
Call to the gods if I cross your path and my silhouette hangs like a body bag; hope is a moment now long past, the shadow of death is the one I cast.
I am a soldier and I’m marching on, I am a warrior and this is my song
My eyes are steel and my gaze is long, I am a warrior and this is my song
Now I live lean and I mean to inflict the grief, and the least of me's still out of your reach. The killing machine’s gonna do the deed, until the river runs dry and my last breath leaves.
Chin in the air with a head held high, I’ll stand in the path of the enemy line.Feel no fear, know my pride: for God and Country I’ll end your life.
I am a soldier and I’m marching on, I am a warrior and this is my song
My eyes are steel and my gaze is long, I am a warrior and this is my song
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:46 AM | Comments (4)
Two Strong Conservatives Running In Florida ~ Alan West and Marco Rubio
In 2003, Allen West was facing a possible court martial hearing that could have put him in prison.
Responsible for over six hundred men as a Lieutenant-Colonel in Iraq, West conducted a harsh interrogation in which he fired gun shots near the head of an Iraqi police officer he suspected of withholding information about a plot to kill him and some of the soldiers under his command. At a hearing over the incident, West defiantly declared that "if it's about the life of my men, I'd go through hell with a gasoline can." And though he said he may not have used the right methods, "if he had to err," he declared, "I would err on the side of not losing my soldiers."
Taking into account mitigating factors, the Army opted not to pursue a full court martial, though it did fine West and relieve him of his command, effectively ending his highly decorated 20-plus year Army career.
Six years later the only person the retired Army warrior threatens is Democratic Congressman Ron Klein of Florida's 22nd Congressional District.
The second term congressman won his seat in the picturesque South Florida district by unseating 13-term Republican representative Clay Shaw in 2006, a disastrous year for Republican incumbents. West, who worked as a high-school history teacher and then a civilian adviser to the U.S. military in Afghanistan after his retirement from the Army, first decided to take a shot at Klein's congressional seat in 2008.
Despite the lack of support by the national party, a near 8 to 1 fundraising disadvantage, and a year in which a popular Democratic presidential nominee was on the ballot, West was able mount a strong showing against Klein, garnering 45% of the vote. Spurred by this better than expected performance, West, 48, is back for a rematch in 2010.
"No matter what you achieve in 22 years in the military, coming into politics is a brand new game," West told me during a recent interview at a Starbucks in Plantation, Florida. "So the party at the state and the national level wasn't too happy with me because I didn't come with millions of dollars in my pocket. But I did come with what I think a lot of people are looking for which is honor, integrity, and character."
Over the course of the hour-long interview, it became abundantly clear that while West may be running for political office, he wasn't an ordinary politician.
"There are three words I hate to hear used. I hate big-tent. I hate inclusiveness. And I hate outreach. I think you stand on the principles that make you great, which transcend everybody in America, and people will come to it," West said, outlining the uncompromising way he approaches politics.
Growing up lower-middle class and black in Atlanta's inner city, West views America as a place where you can achieve anything if you work hard and stand on principle. His father raised him to believe education is important and West heeded the lesson en route to obtaining two master's degrees in addition to his undergraduate degree.
Having spent 22 years as an officer in the military, West has strong opinions on foreign policy. He said that American leaders need a better understanding of the "Islamic terrorist enemy that we are up against."
"If we continue to show this enemy that we do not have the resolve and the resilience to stand and fight them, they are going to continue to press the attack," West said.
His response regarding the Democratic proposal on health care.
"It does not take 2,000 pages and it does not take the creation of almost 110 more government agencies to reform our health care system," West said. "It comes back to controlling you and your decision" which is "anathema" to "what this country is about."
What's West solution?
"We have to recommit to the foundational values that made this country great and it starts with the Constitution and understanding our Founding Fathers."
It doesn't take long to discover that West is not a huge fan of President Obama and his agenda. "I think that [President Obama] believes that the government is the end all and be all that can solve all issues and problems," West said. "And we know that in 233 years the public sector didn't build America, the private sector did. Individual Americans did."
Rubio has become the focal point of the greater struggle in the GOP of the establishment versus the grassroots, moderate versus conservative, top-down versus bottom-up camps in the party. The early endorsement of Crist by the NRSC and other Republican Washington establishment types angered many within the base of the party. Rubio had been seen as the future of the GOP in Florida.
Marco is full of the conservative energy that grassroots Republicans have been clamoring for in the Sunshine State and throughout the country.
Rubio would be a real shot heard round the Republican world and serve as an unmistakable wake-up call to the GOP leadership that they ignore their base at their own peril..
Wild Thing's comment......
I am thrilled about West and Marco and prsy they do well all the way to a WIN for our country and for Conservatives.
.....Thank you BobF, for sending this to me.
BobF
SMSgt, USAF
1973 - 1999
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (4)
Boehner Releases List of 222 Economists That Say Obama's Federal Spending Has Got To STOP!
Check out the latest web video from the Republican Study Committee and its Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) on President Obama’s job killing agenda. It asks a question Republicans have been asking all year long amidst the Democrats’ massive spending binge: Where are the jobs?
.
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) released a list of 222 economists who believe that getting federal spending under control is the only way to create jobs and return America to economic prosperity. Contrary to President Obama and his supporters, these economists believe that additional stimulus spending can only further America's economic woes.
The statement supported by 222 economists from across the country reads:
list of 222 here at gopleader.gov
The country’s economic future depends on Congress’ ability to rein in the growth of federal spending. Failing to restrict spending growth will further balloon the national debt, impede economic growth, and threaten the long-term economic health of our Nation. Controlling spending growth to reverse our dangerous debt accumulation can be done without endangering the near-term economic recovery, and will prove beneficial over the longer horizon.
The 2009 near-term “stimulus” has proven to be an inefficient spur to job creation and does not merit repeating. Any further policy efforts should be focused on opening borders to free trade, cutting burdensome regulations, and providing necessary tax relief to employers and employees.
Wild Thing's comment.......
Good for Boehner.
They need to keep hitting Obama as hard as possible. The more people that see how wrong Obama is and how he is doing all this destruction on purpose them maybe more of them will wake up. I sure hope so.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:40 AM | Comments (2)
December 17, 2009
Mysterious MUSLIM Group Buys Building Next to Ground Zero For Mosque
Worshipers exit the old Burlington Coat Factory near ground zero, which now houses a prayer space.
.
Parts of a landing gear from one of the planes that hit the World Trade Center on 9/11 broke through the roof and two floors. The Burlington Coat Factory had not yet opened, and employees were having breakfast in the basement.
Mosque At the World Trade Center: Muslim Renewal Or Insult Near Ground Zero
An identified group with unknown sponsors has purchased building steps away from where the WorldTrade Center once stood — to turn it into potentially one of the largest New York City mosques.
At the moment the building, the old Burlington Coat Factory, already serves as a mini-mosque: an iron grill lifts every Friday afternoon for a little known Imam leading prayers a few yards away from where Osama Bin Laden’s airborne Islamist bombers killed nearly 3000 people back in 2001.
The Imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, told the New York Times — which put the story on its front page Wednesday — that he has assembled several million dollars to turn it into ‘’an Islamic center near the city’s most hallowed piece of land that would stand as one of ground zero’s more unexpected and striking neighbors.’’
The 61-year-old Imam said he paid $4.85 million for it — in cash, records show. With 50,000 square feet of air rights and enough financing, he plans an ambitious project of $150 million, he said, akin to the Chautauqua Institution, the 92 Street Y or the Jewish Community Center.
The origins of such monies are unexplained; neither are the countries or entity advancing such huge do