¤ Obama’s New Liberal Realism
¤ Once Upon a Time in America
Our freedom and liberty is precious — let's not throw it away.
¤ President Pantywaist latest: Iran unclenches its fist - to slap Barack Obama's face
This is a lose/lose situation for Obama. He is as flaky on Iran as on everything else. In 2004 he favoured "surgical" missile strikes against Iran. In 2007 he did not rule out force, but preferred "aggressive diplomacy combined with tough sanctions" - but that was for the ears of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Since he moved address from Chicago to Washington, his stance has become more nuanced (ie he hasn't a clue what to do).
¤ PETA Wishes Obama Hadn't Swatted That Fly
¤ Stimulus: EPIC FAIL
¤ A financial calamity, illustrated
¤ Weak TEA Boehner Statement on Passage of GOP Proposal to Prohibit Miranda Rights for Terrorists
WASHINGTON, DC – House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today applauded passage of a House GOP proposal during consideration of the Fiscal Year 2010 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Act (H.R. 2847). The proposal, offered as a motion to recommit by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), would prohibit any funds under the act being used to provide the rights Americans enjoy under Miranda v. Arizona by the Department of Justice, to terrorist detainees in the custody of U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan:
“Terrorists who want to kill Americans and destroy our way of life should not be granted the same rights as American citizens. I am pleased House Democrats joined Republicans to send a clear message to the Obama Administration that terrorists should not be given Miranda rights and an opportunity to take advantage of the U.S. legal system. As this legislation is finalized, House Democrats who supported this proposal must ensure it remains a part of the bill ultimately sent to the President’s desk. Let’s be clear: terrorism is not a law enforcement issue. That is a pre-9/11 mentality that helped pave the way for deadliest terrorist strike in American history, and granting terrorists Miranda rights would be a significant blow to our efforts to defeat the terrorist threat.”
It's letter writing time. Click HERE to send a message to Madam Boxer.
If you don't know what to say, feel free to use my letter:
Dear Ma'am.
Oh, I'm sorry, I should refer to you using the title for which you have worked so hard:
Dear Ignorant, Arrogant Bitch,
Your disdain for our military has always been obvious, we've learned to expect that from liberal politicians. That doesn't mean we should have tolerated it.
I will not tolerate it any longer.
General Walsh worked harder in his first day of boot camp than you have in your entire life. Dont lecture him on respect earned - You have none of that.
I dont call for an apology nor expect one, because apology or not you will not get forgiveness from me for disrespecting a man who has devoted - and risked- his life for the defense and protection of my country.
Not your country, mine.
Ross McDowell
Middlesex, North Carolina
Or here's the letter sent by someone else:
How dare you talk to a Brigadier General with such a pompous attitude. Who do you politicians think you are? While you were busy killing the economy in your state, this brave American has been winning a war!!!
The nerve of you, Madame. The elections will put you and all your pompous elitist cronies in your place and that place will be on the unempolyment line!
Treat our military with the utmost respect, they provide you the safety and freedom of speech to make an a-- out of yourself on a regular basis.
Shame on you!
Leave the General and the military alone, they are the only part of this government that is working and successful. You need to clean up your failing State, Ma'am!
Or you can try to call this number: (202) 224-3553. Your call will probably not be answered.
¤ Jane Fonda espousing socialism (early 70's?).
¤ The Language of Confusion
If you listen to and believe the liars of the Obamedia, you are now convinced that the entire medical industry, via the AMA, are all in favor of Bammy's plans for nationalizing the health care industry.
And you are wrong.
¤ Tehran's Answer to Obama
Ahmadinejad's reelection is a sign of confidence that the regime of the Mullahs has nothing to fear from the United States, because there is no regime too odious for Obama to crawl before, and no enemy leader too ugly to play the diplomatic game with.
Penn and Teller make fools of holistic medicine practicioners and their stoopid clients. Language Warning! Hay, it's Penn and Teller, what do you expect?
¤ Terror Averted
¤ Article
¤ Obama has launched the green trade war
¤ Police Arrest Six Marxists In Attack Plot Against G8 When a people begin to see themselves marginalized in their own country, and see that their culture and traditions are being viciously assaulted in favour of immigrant desires and socialist needs, then of course, even the dimmest of creatures will begin to awaken to the need for a change.
No, not the hopeless Obama-style change. He's talking about the other kind of change.
And the hornets are swarming. I am asking you to send an email to the following addresses to insist that CBS fire Letterman.
Les Moonves President CBS, 212-975-4545 Nina Tassler President CBS Entertainment, 323-575-2747 Mike Nelson VP Communications, 818-655-2156
Imus got canned for 'nappy hoes', and Letterman gets a pass?
One, I despise David Letterman for the liberal, casually-American fool that he is.
Two, I genuinely admire and respect Sarah Palin. I voted for her in November (McCain just happened to be on the same ticket), because she was the only conservative on either ticket.
Three, Letterman has dogged Palin with a vengeance since August - for the very reasons that I admire her.
Four, his vile jokes are laughed at by his moonbat brethren that would burn crosses in the yards of any conservative that dared say the exact same thing about one of the Obama girls.
Five, Letterman is catching hell for this one. Which means that Palin is NOT a has-been, but very much a force to be dealt with and feared by the lefties. The outrage being vented against Letterman is more evidence that we, the people, the real Americans are tired - sick and tired - of tolerating the preening leftist Obama worshippers.
Letterman is just one loud-mouth liberal coward. But let no fool go unchallenged. Bust em all.
Picked up by Mike at ColdFury.com and compounded to the Nth degree.
¤ The Muslim Brotherhood in America
The only people who can get away with openly lying, causing harm to our troops/ country, and turn our country from a democracy/free market into a Socialist nation under many Sharia compliant aspects are elected politicians. Islamic scholars realize even under Obama, they can’t (to date) verbalize treason and sedition against America. They do realize it is still accepted to call for sedition/treason, and murder of innocent people in written and video formats. These formats of communicating hatred toward America are somehow believed to be covered under our U.S. Constitutions First Amendment. Islamic leaders are taking advantage of our naiveness and regardless of what our law enforcement and politicians believe, America is under attack and inside the U.S. we are losing our country inch by inch.
I am aware that the Castle Doctrine Bill - SB-928- has been referred to committees, one being the House Judiciary, chaired by Deborah Ross. I am also aware that Ross is an anti-gun bigot and has no intention of allowing this bill to be heard.
Before you delete this email over the use of the word 'bigot', know that I dont just throw that word out there for effect like liberals use the word 'racist'. I have good reason for my choice of this word. The 2nd Amendment protects my right to keep and bear arms. The constitution also protects my right to private property and my right to life and liberty. All these rights are further enhanced by my ability to exercise them. The Castle Doctrine is a recognition and affirmation of my rights - my civil rights as enumerated above. Those, like Ross, that seek to deny my ability to defend my home and family demonstrate intolerance and disregard for my civil rights - is that not bigotry? If you dont think so, then you should look up the definition of the word.
I support the Castle Doctrine Bill and insist that it be heard and passed.
Ross McDowell
Middlesex, NC
Granted, California moonbats are the stoopidest of moonbats. In this video Penn and Teller push these moonbats to find their breaking point, the point at which they would object to government oppression.
¤ Truthfully
¤ Kneecapping FedEx
Yet another - YET ANOTHER - example of the this administration's (with support of the parasitic congress) willingness to cripple or destroy any successfull capitalist business that works outside of their control.
This is not the first evidence of UPS bed-mating with corrupt Unions and dhimmicrats.
And San Fransicko is slam full of moonbats.
¤ Voters steer Europe to the right
It's good news but we have to remember that the far "right" in Europistan is still barely visible on our leftmost horizon.
¤ The Big Black Lie is Finished.
I didn’t see my father for many years after he and my mother separated and ultimately divorced. I would learn that he was a womanizer, an incestuous rapist, an alcoholic, a drug addict, a gangster, a pimp-wannabe, a thief, a convict, a child molester, and a murderer.
I was fortunate not to learn most of what my father did until much later in life. However, when I did learn of my father’s past, I couldn’t help but question what part of him might lurk within me. With all this baggage and plethora of built-in excuses, I am amazed that I did not become a Democrat.
June 6, 2009. Temperatures in low 60's. I was tempted to call Al Gore and let him know our global warming was broke down here in North Carolina. That was before I heard that Dickinson North Dakota got 3 inches of snow. They'll be needing the Goracle more than me. I'll just dig a sweater out of storage.
¤ Osama bin Laden attacks Barack Obama for “antagonizing Muslims”
Middle East analysts say that the two tapes indicate growing concern in al-Qaeda’s leadership about Mr Obama’s arrival on the world stage when their influence over the increasingly splintered terror network is waning.
I guess Osama is concerned that Obama might usurp his leadership role of al-Q.
¤ An Evil Too Big to Stop
But the fault is not in us, the fault is in Islam. Stating that openly and unambiguously will infuriate some Muslims, but it will also make them think. And it will stop the endless cycle of cringing apologies to Muslims for classing them all with the terrorists.
¤ Can There Be ‘Peace Through Weakness’?
Every leftist world leader worth their salt in political discourse knows that the use of “reconciliation” is Obama-speak for “the U.S. is finally willing to take her share of the blame for the crimes of other countries.”
Precisely. The Palis, caring not a whit about a state of their own, are interested only in getting control of lands in which they can use to launch attacks on Israel
¤ The Settlements Myth
In the 16 years since the Oslo accords turned the West Bank and Gaza over to the Palestinians, their leaders built no roads, no courthouses, no hospitals, none of the fundamental state institutions that would relieve their people's suffering. Instead they poured everything into an infrastructure of war and terror, all the while depositing billions (from gullible Western donors) into their Swiss bank accounts.
¤ Department of Justice’s Outreach and Enforcement Efforts to Protect American Muslims
From what do American muslims need protection? What is it that has harmed, maimed, killed so many American muslims that the Attorney General thinks it's necessary to issue such a statement?
Since muslims killed 3,000 Americans in one morning eight years ago, how many American muslims have been harmed? Can you think of even one?
Me neither. SO WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ERIC?
¤ War? What War?
War On Terror: The phrase is actually now a misnomer. Iraq and Afghanistan have been rebranded the "Overseas Contingency Operation," and lawyers are being deployed to fight the real battles.
With each passing month, the administration seems to backslide deeper into a dangerous pre-9/11 mentality that puts the nation at increasing risk of attack.
¤ Seattle Gives Socialized Health Care An Unscheduled Check Up
Approximately 1500-2000 people marched for “Health Care For All in 2009: Mothers Leading the Way” to Westlake Park in downtown Seattle, where they were stunned and shocked to discover a significant number of counter-protestors in support of freedom, choice, and competition, lined up five deep down the length of the block, waiting to meet them across street.
¤ 2012 Comes Early?
Arrogant, delusional tyrants can not be stopped by earnest words and furrowed brows. Action, strong bold action coming from a position of strength and determination, is the only effective deterrent.
Britain’s Guardian newspaper noted that Mr. Obama has been more critical of his own country, while on foreign soil, than any other president in American history.
¤ Carter Administration's dilemma: Iran's theocracy
Without the Carter Administration's misguided foreign policy initiatives, Iran, similar to Japan, Denmark, Spain or England, could today be a close U.S. ally with a hereditary monarch and a democratically elected President of Prime Minister
¤ Gitmo, liberals, politics and deceit
the only true reason for the anti-war/anti-Bush contingent to continue to insist on the closing of Guantanamo Bay's detention facilities rests in the political. To continue to beat the "Gitmo drum" is to keep the anti-war/anti-Bush propaganda in the public eye. And keeping the Gitmo/anti-Bush hysteria in the public eye can only serve the disingenuous political Left heading into the mid-term elections.
¤ The Islamist
Husain ends his account with a warning for Americans: the Islamist threat isn’t contained to Islam’s traditional region of influence and Europe. Many of the same trends that Husain observed growing up in London are now making their presence felt in cities all across America. The next Islamist terrorist attack to target America could see its participants all home grown rather than from abroad. The arrest on May 20 of four men – three born Americans and one Haitian immigrant, most converted to Islam in jail – of plotting to blow up synagogues in the Bronx and shoot an airplane out of the sky may be a harbinger of things to come.
¤ Stupefying America
Today's (and for several generations yesterday's) schools are factories of boredom. They don't exist to educate, but to produce students who will obey rules, dutifully move from class to class when the bell rings, and accept nonsense like "fuzzy math" and "global warming." The No Child Left Behind Act of 2009 includes $500 million for the teaching of 'Environmental Literacy' when real literacy rates—the ability to read—have been dropping like a stone in water for decades. They are a national disgrace.
ABC reports that the National Archives has offered a $50,000 cash reward for that missing Clinton hard drive. If they offered several million for it back - oh, enough to pay off old campaign debts - I suspect Hillary would consider returning it.
And surprise, surprise! It's a muslim.
¤ Recruiting Center Shooting Suspect Under FBI Investigation
Of course this is from Fox news, otherwise there would be no mention of the fact that this SOP is a muslim - a recent convert, and recently educated in the fine arts of jihad.
¤ Dealergate: Zero Hedge understated 'The Clinton Effect'
¤ More Q&A On Greece And The Options At Hand
For those Greeks out there, a majority I am sure, who will not lay down to either evil, and are willing to fight for a free and proud Greece, then we have our work cut out for us. We have numbers, but there is still a question of will. As the muslims continue to ransack the country along with their Marxist friends, we merely need to answer the question of whether or not we are willing to allow this to happen. Upon deciding that we are indeed not willing to allow this to continue any further, then the courage shall be forthcoming. We owe it to the country, our ancestors, and our children to stop this evil and regain control of all of our countries once and for all.
¤ A Few Thoughts On Luton
So once again I will have to praise those men and women of Luton. You have now alerted the enemy that there is indeed a new page for England. You have alerted the socialists that their policies now carry grave consequences and that their suicidal grab for electoral domination will not go on without a fight. Now is the time to up the ante, to apply even greater pressure. The nation cannot continue to be given over to Marxists and barbarians any longer. We owe too much to our ancestors, as well as future generations, to give up now; especially when the scent of victory is in the air. We must fight on.
¤ Hemp Houses
¤ For One Night, Baghdad Gets a Pink Zone
¤ Frost Watch: How to protect your plants
On May 31, Utica N.Y. is having to take measures to protect crops from sub-freezing temps. Thank the Goracle! If it weren't for Global Warming they would be underneath a glacier by now.
¤ Vet's Patriotic Stickers Under Fire
¤ Article
Excerpts:
Many Bay Area liberals have a hard time embracing an educational philosophy that proudly proclaims that it "does not preach or subscribe to the demagoguery of tolerance."
But the schools command attention for one very simple reason: By standard measures, they are among the very best in California.
¤ GOP takes aim at Barack and Michelle Obama's NYC trip
My question: How many times did George W. shut down half the transportation system of New York and spend untold thousands of dollars of MY frikkin money to take his wife on a date?
You can (and should) make your voice heard, even if your senator isn’t listed above.
It's 2:30 pm Sunday and my brother-in-law and I are watching Inside 9/11 on National Geographic. This is the fourth time I've seen this program but I noticed something that I had missed before.
The airline employee that processed Mohamed Atta at the ticket counter stated that he saw on Atta's face an expression of raw hatred. So much so that he remembered the name later. What occured to me was the fact that this man recognized that there was an awful intent in that face and was suspicious. Yet he buried his suspicions and blamed himself for having politically incorrect thoughts.
Political Correctness kills.
This is too true to be a laughing matter... The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR / OUR tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of it's releases.
A.. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it. While this thought is still fresh in our brain... Imagine, now $700 billion bailing out banks in the US . That's enough to fund complete medical care for every man, woman and child currently alive in the US for 11 years!! 50 billion to bail out the auto industry??? Washington , D.C.????? Are we getting your attention yet?
Your Tax Dollars in alphabetic order through out the United States
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax upon Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Income Tax
And Now an "Everything Tax " in proposal for Federal and many States
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago... and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt... We had the largest middle class in the world.. and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What happened? Can you spell 'politicians!' And we as legal American citizens still have to press '1' for English. What the heck happened to America??? Now if all American citizens can get a look at this What do YOU think will happen? “NOTHING” as long as long as The Democratic Socialist Party ( The DSP) stay in office
But here lately they're really starting to piss me off.
From ZombieTime report on the most recent protest against Prop 8
The old saying "No fool like an old fool" needs to be amended to say "No fool, like old, dhimmi, queer fool."
But that would be politically incorrect.
Christian Sharia??? What does that mean? Stupid is a horrible, horrible disease.
¤ Gitmo speech exposes Obama's shallow rhetoric
Nov 14, 2007 - Obama: “Last point, Guantanamo. That’s easy. Close down Guantanamo.”
May 21, 2009 - Obama: “Let me be blunt: There are no neat or easy answers here.”
And none too soon, sez I. The big companies under siege by the socialists and greenies need to start fighting back, the majority of Americans will back them up.
¤ Leaking Intel for Fun and Political Advantage
¤ Islam's Homemade Concentration Camp
"in the two and a half weeks since 27 people went on trial [in Paris] for the brutal 2006 kidnapping, torture and killing of a young Jewish man, little has filtered out about the proceedings." Worse still, the little that has emerged indicates that French government and law enforcement have done everything in their power to obscure the Islamic Jew-hatred that led these Muslims to commit this crime.
¤ Obama, Cheney and the bright shiny thing
In this video from CSPAN, our representatives in Washington are making fun of us.
After passing the $trillion+ stimuless bull without having read it, they pretended to ignore the outrage expressed in hundreds of tea
parties across the nation. During hearings of the Scalp and Tax bull, they acknowledge our demands to at least read and know what's in
the legislation they vote on. That acknowledgement came in the form of the mockery depicted in this video.
Waxman and Barton think this is funny. This is their answer to our demands that they read the trash they're passing into law.
Tar, Feathers, Congress. Some assembly required. It's time to feed the hogs.
The hundreds of Chrysler dealerships that were closed has raised some serious accusations.
Gatewaypundit and Doug Ross Journal (blogs) are tracking down and documenting the evidence. So far, it appears the the high majority of the closed dealerships were owned by Republicans that contributed to Republican candidates. Furthermore, it also appears that some of those franchises were wrestled away from Republicans and GIVEN to Democrats.
Note that I use the word 'appears', because all the facts are not in. But the stats compiled so far do not bode well for a capitalist Republic, except to those that would prefer socialism.
¤ Liberal Hypocrisy: Obama Lectures Us to Support the Troops
Tell it to Democrat Harry “The war is lost” Reid.
Tell it to Democrat Jack “Marines murdered civilians in cold blood” Murtha.
Tell it to Democrat John “Our troops terrorize women and children in the dark of night” Kerry.
Tell it to Democrat Dick “Our troops are like Nazis and Soviets in their gulags” Durbin.
Tell it to liberal/Democrat dominated colleges that prohibit an ROTC program on their campi.
Tell it to liberal/Democrat dominated Hollywood which cranks out film after film bashing our troops.
Tell it to liberal/Democrat dominated mainstream media outlets, especially the New York Times, which has given aid and comfort to our military’s enemies by (1) painting them in a bad light, (2) demoralizing them by negatively spinning their mission, (3) downplaying victories and exaggerating setbacks (two words: Abu Ghraib), and (4) publicizing sensitive classified information on their front pages which obviously makes it harder for our troops to defeat the enemy and puts them more in harm’s way.
Oh, and tell it yourself, too. With the multiple generations of debt you're putting our country in with your “stimulus” bill, you decide to cut defense funding. Not to mention your scheme to make veterans pay for service-related injuries with their own private insurance.
Your “I support the troops too” act may dupe your loyal tongue-wagging followers, but they don’t fool me.
¤ More Shameless Projection From Obama
There's been a whole lot of disrespect shown toward our military over the years, and it's all coming from the left.
Englandistan?
¤ Nine arrested after masked mob's march against Muslim extremists turns violent
Nine people have been arrested after hundreds of anti-Islamist protesters clashed with police yesterday
"We decided enough was enough after the soldiers got heckled as they marched through the town centre by the Muslim extremists."
It appears that the British spine has not been completely removed by the Politically Correct.
The people currently stocking up on food, water, guns and ammo in record numbers, causing shortages in all the above at the retail level, are clearly awake and anticipating something, but what? Meet the “extremists...”
The people still trying to get a court somewhere in America to hear the arguments concerning the most secretive corrupt president in US history, have been awake for a long time. Meet the “birthers...” But they continue to have trouble waking anyone else up, including in the so-called halls of justice.
Is it a bankrupt dollar and a new international currency that will get their attention? - A North American Union? - An ACORN Army on their doorstep? What will be the final straw that breaks the proverbial camel’s back?
I don’t have the answer… Frankly, I expected the people to revolt long before now. Clearly, I had underestimated the depth of apathy and tolerance for anti-American nonsense in the average modern American. But then, so did our nation’s founders, whom I’m certain are rolling over in their graves in disgust by now.
¤ ICPGV's panties still in a bunch
currently in Illinois, one could, technically, be arrested for having a gun at a firearm aficionado friend's house, when invited over to compare guns
¤ Obama: The Great Disappointer
¤ The Wussification of America: Part Deux
Ya see, the thing that ... all you on the left ... seem to miss here is that the info we got from pouring some water down the gullets of 3 (that’s right fellas, only 3) worthless piles of human debris saved our fair city of Los Angeles from a terrorist attack that could have possibly killed your whiny flower-pickin asses! Oh, and how about if not your lives, what about everyone else’s? Do those not in your enlightened sphere of influence matter? When someone wants to kill you and has stated so, made arrangements to do so and is heading your way with a little “COEXIST” sticker on the bumper of their “chock full o explosives” laden love mobile; you don’t help them gas up their car, clean the windshield, and air up their tires. Ya, shoot em!
The President has just harshly castigated hedge fund managers for being unwilling to take his administration’s bid for their Chrysler bonds. He called them “speculators” who were “refusing to sacrifice like everyone else” and who wanted “to hold out for the prospect of an unjustified taxpayer-funded bailout.”
The responses of hedge fund managers have been, appropriately, outrage, but generally have been anonymous for fear of going on the record against a powerful President (an exception, though still in the form of a “group letter”, was the superb note from “The Committee of Chrysler Non-TARP Lenders” some of the points of which I echo here, and a relatively few firms, like Oppenheimer, that have publicly defended themselves). Furthermore, one by one the managers and banks are said to be caving to the President’s wishes out of justifiable fear.
I run an approximately twenty billion dollar money management firm that offers hedge funds as well as public mutual funds and unhedged traditional investments. My company is not involved in the Chrysler situation, but I am still aghast at the President's comments (of course these are my own views not those of my company). Furthermore, for some reason I was not born with the common sense to keep it to myself, though my title should more accurately be called "Not Afraid Enough" as I am indeed fearful writing this... It’s really a bad idea to speak out. Angering the President is a mistake and, my views will annoy half my clients. I hope my clients will understand that I’m entitled to my voice and to speak it loudly, just as they are in this great country. I hope they will also like that I do not think I have the right to intentionally “sacrifice” their money without their permission.
Here's a shock. When hedge funds, pension funds, mutual funds, and individuals, including very sweet grandmothers, lend their money they expect to get it back. However, they know, or should know, they take the risk of not being paid back. But if such a bad event happens it usually does not result in a complete loss. A firm in bankruptcy still has assets. It’s not always a pretty process. Bankruptcy court is about figuring out how to most fairly divvy up the remaining assets based on who is owed what and whose contracts come first. The process already has built-in partial protections for employees and pensions, and can set lenders' contracts aside in order to help the company survive, all of which are the rules of the game lenders know before they lend. But, without this recovery process nobody would lend to risky borrowers. Essentially, lenders accept less than shareholders (means bonds return less than stocks) in good times only because they get more than shareholders in bad times.
The above is how it works in America, or how it’s supposed to work. The President and his team sought to avoid having Chrysler go through this process, proposing their own plan for re-organizing the company and partially paying off Chrysler’s creditors. Some bond holders thought this plan unfair. Specifically, they thought it unfairly favored the United Auto Workers, and unfairly paid bondholders less than they would get in bankruptcy court. So, they said no to the plan and decided, as is their right, to take their chances in the bankruptcy process. But, as his quotes above show, the President thought they were being unpatriotic or worse.
Let’s be clear, it is the job and obligation of all investment managers, including hedge fund managers, to get their clients the most return they can. They are allowed to be charitable with their own money, and many are spectacularly so, but if they give away their clients’ money to share in the “sacrifice”, they are stealing. Clients of hedge funds include, among others, pension funds of all kinds of workers, unionized and not. The managers have a fiduciary obligation to look after their clients’ money as best they can, not to support the President, nor to oppose him, nor otherwise advance their personal political views. That’s how the system works. If you hired an investment professional and he could preserve more of your money in a financial disaster, but instead he decided to spend it on the UAW so you could “share in the sacrifice”, you would not be happy.
Let’s quickly review a few side issues.
The President's attempted diktat takes money from bondholders and gives it to a labor union that delivers money and votes for him. Why is he not calling on his party to "sacrifice" some campaign contributions, and votes, for the greater good? Shaking down lenders for the benefit of political donors is recycled corruption and abuse of power.
Let’s also mention only in passing the irony of this same President begging hedge funds to borrow more to purchase other troubled securities. That he expects them to do so when he has already shown what happens if they ask for their money to be repaid fairly would be amusing if not so dangerous. That hedge funds might not participate in these programs because of fear of getting sucked into some toxic demagoguery that ends in arbitrary punishment for trying to work with the Treasury is distressing. Some useful programs, like those designed to help finance consumer loans, won't work because of this irresponsible hectoring.
Last but not least, the President screaming that the hedge funds are looking for an unjustified taxpayer-funded bailout is the big lie writ large. Find me a hedge fund that has been bailed out. Find me a hedge fund, even a failed one, that has asked for one. In fact, it was only because hedge funds have not taken government funds that they could stand up to this bullying. The TARP recipients had no choice but to go along. The hedge funds were singled out only because they are unpopular, not because they behaved any differently from any other ethical manager of other people's money. The President’s comments here are backwards and libelous. Yet, somehow I don’t think the hedge funds will be following ACORN’s lead and trucking in a bunch of paid professional protestors soon. Hedge funds really need a community organizer.
This is America. We have a free enterprise system that has worked spectacularly for us for two hundred plus years. When it fails it fixes itself. Most importantly, it is not an owned lackey of the oval office to be scolded for disobedience by the President.
I am ready for my “personalized” tax rate now.
¤ PETE STARK
¤ Obama To Apologize For "American" War Crimes at D-Day Ceremonies
I must make ammends for my gruesome behavior in the past. I will immediately begin the search for the men who, as young boys, were only trying to help me through puberty by beating me to a pulp dang near every day.
I referred to them as bullies back then, but now I realize that the fault was mine, that it was actually me who was evil in placing my nose in front of their speeding fists.
I hereby pledge to find them. Apologize to them and finally, after 53 years, claim my manhood.
Thank you, Barack! for showing me the error of my youth
Perhaps those of us that have been branded as extremists and worthy of being watched as potential domestic terrorists
should take a lesson from the leftist examples?
When a group of people engage in actual criminal activities like rioting, vandalism of public and private property
and demanding the execution of political adversaries they are branded as 'peace protesters' or 'disinfranchised youth' or the religion of peace.
Tea Partiers Take Note! As long as you assemble to demand adherance to the Constitution, and express support for your military and wave that American flag - you are terrorists.
Stop that! Start riots, and become respected peace advocates!
For guidance in patriotic peacefull activity, seek out your local mosque, CodePink chapter or Communist Party headquarters.
¤ http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/05/21/wiehl_terror_plot/
¤ FCC: Warrantless Searches
¤ McCarthy introduces 'no rights' list
¤ Environmentalist Economic Strangulation
This green agenda is more than absurd, it is sinister. The real goal of greens is not “clean energy” but less energy. Energy is essential to economic progress, and many greens want to halt and reverse economic progress. Some radical greens have praised Fidel Castro for de-developing Cuba. Al Gore wrote in his book Earth in the Balance that U.S. policy should aim for slower economic growth. President Obama’s chief science advisor John Holdren’s top two environmental goals are to shrink the human population and to slow economic growth.
¤ And Then There Was Only Guantánamo
I doubt we get any more movies about ongoing renditions, redactions, any more Checkpoint-like novels, any more waterboarding skits and reenactments, any more late-night comedians doing their Bush tapped, intercepted, tortured, renditioned, tribunaled poor suspect X routines.
It short, all the fury, the vicious slander, the self-righteous outbursts, the impassioned speeches from the floor, the "I accuse" op-eds by the usual moralistic pundits — all that turned out to be solely about politics, nothing more
¤ Who Needs a Palestinian State?
The Cult of Death in Palestine and the war against Israel is only a preview for the West of things to come. Palestine is not a place, it is hate and homicide boiled down into myth. Palestine is not only in Israel. It is in Paris and London. It is in Madrid and Detroit. It is in Sydney and Moscow. It is everywhere that the toxic brew of Muslim fanaticism and Arab nationalism flows. Its flag is the flag of death. Its constitution is a death warrant for every free nation. Its legislature is a smug coven of obese terrorist chieftains sending their followers off to death with the promise of virgin demons fornicating with them in Paradise.
¤ Analysis of Campaign Contributions by Chrysler Dealerships who are Scheduled to Close
¤ Letter from a Dodge dealer
Today it's Mr. Joseph, your turn is coming.
¤ Panel votes for probe of 'extremist' report
The measure also calls for the department to turn over all written material to reflect when the research and writing began on the report, a written description of clearance procedures and written opinions or guidance from several internal agencies, including the DHS' Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.
¤ Emission Control
Regulation: The administration announced Tuesday that it wants to increase car mileage standards. That will cause an inevitable increase in carnage on our highways, and could kill a car company or two.
¤ Obama the Destroyer
If somebody were deliberately trying to undermine the very fabric of these United States, he would first vow not just to change its policies but to completely "change America," and then would do just about everything Barack Obama already has begun to do as president.
Mexican federal police commander Gen. Rodolfo Cruz Lopez described a weapon seized last month from one of the nation’s deadly “drug cartels” as a .50 caliber anti-aircraft gun that fires 6-inch armor-piercing bullets at the rate of 800 rounds per minute.
The mainstream media coverage on both sides of the border trumpeted the capture of this Rambo-style machine gun as evidence of the increasing danger the drug-trafficking organizations pose to civil society.
A report on the seized “anti-aircraft” weapon by the Associated Press noted that “assailants have fired on government aircraft performing anti-drug missions in Mexico in the past, but apparently never with the caliber of weapon found Monday [April 13 in northern Mexico].”
But there is just one problem with this narrative. According to U.S. law enforcers, specifically the ATF, the captured weapon is not what it appears to be, or at least what it was purported to be by the Mexican police commander
In fact, according to Bill Newell, special agent in charge of ATF in Arizona and New Mexico, the so-called 800 rpm “anti-aircraft gun” isn’t a machine gun at all, but rather a WWII-era semi-automatic replica of a Browning machine gun made by a U.S. company.
Newell says the weapon was produced by a manufacturer in Oregon, TNW Firearms Inc. — though he stresses that TNW did nothing wrong in this case. Newell adds that the fake Browning has been traced back to a firearms dealer in Arizona that ultimately sold it to someone who brought the weapon into Mexico.
A spokesman for TNW, who asked that his name not be used, stresses that his company re-manufactures WWII-era machine guns, converting them into semi-automatic (one-bullet-per-trigger-pull) weapons, which it then sells to wealthy collectors, WWII re-enactors, movie companies and museums. He says the guns are remanufactured, with ATF oversight, and are re-engineered so that they can “never be made into machine guns again.”
The TNW spokesman says anyone purchasing one of the company’s weapons has to go through an FBI background check and adds that there is an extensive paper trail on every weapon sold.
“We have a record of everyone we sold to, so it’s a very tight customer chain,” the TNW spokesman says. “And we have very limited production, so in the last 10 years, we’ve only sold a small quantity of the .50 caliber [Browning replica], in the 100s.
“You’d have to be really stupid to be a straw buyer for a weapon like this, because it will trace right back to you. … It’s like 100 percent you would get caught.”
The TNW spokesman adds that, in his mind, it would make no sense for a drug trafficking organization to purchase a TNW replica Browning, which sell for in excess of $10,000 a pop, when they could get the real thing much cheaper and without the same risk through the black market — even from corrupt elements within Mexico’s own military. In addition, the TNW spokesman says the replica weapons, since they are converted machine guns, are not very practical for real-life battle situations, since once converted to a semi-automatic weapon, “they are not accurate.”
Mexican police supposedly discovered the powerful weapon (identified by press reports as a Browning .50 caliber machine gun) at a house in northern Sonora state while on routine patrol. It was attached to a make-shit gun turret mounted in the bed of a Ford pick-up truck.
Gen. Cruz, presumably a person quite familiar with firearms, announced the capture of the Browning .50 caliber machine gun at press conference held in Mexico City on April 14.
At the media event, Mexican authorities displayed the seized weapon, along with a cache of other arms allegedly found inside the house in northern Sonora state. Also, on display at the press conference was a 20-year-old woman, Anahi Beltran Cabrera, who was found guarding the weapons stash, according to Mexican authorities.
Gen. Cruz claims that intelligence gathered by Mexican law enforcers indicates that the weapons belonged to a cell of the Beltran Leyva drug organization. The 20-year-old woman arrested at the house, according to Cruz, allegedly has no family ties to the drug-organization’s leadership.
Reports in the Mexican and U.S. press differ on precisely what other weapons were seized from the house in Santa Ana in Mexico’s northern Sonora state — some 50 or so miles south of Nogales, Arizona. But Mexican TV footage of the press conference clearly shows, in addition to the “anti-aircraft gun,” what appears to be at least one .50 caliber sniper rifle, a .30 caliber Browning machine gun, five rifles, several hundred ammo magazines and thousands of rounds of ammunition — including .50 caliber rounds — as well as 750 grams (.75 kilos) of cocaine.
The ATF’s Newell told Narco News that in addition to the .50 caliber Browning replica, seven other weapons from the Sonora seizure have since been traced “back to U.S. sources.” He adds, though, that he can’t “tell the whole story.”
“All I can say is that those [eight] guns traced back to the U.S. [though not all of them were made by TNW],” Newell says. “They originated in the U.S.”
Newell also indicated that the .30 caliber weapon displayed at the press conference in Mexico City was a TNW-made, semi-automatic Browning replica.
The TNW spokesman did confirm, after viewing the Mexican TV footage, that the gun platform propping up the .30 caliber weapon does appear to be a TNW product. However, he says he can’t explain how that platform ended up in Mexico.
However, the spokesman says the .30 caliber weapon doesn’t appear to be a TNW product — though he could not determine from the TV footage whether the .50 caliber Browning replica was made by his company.
The TNW spokesman adds that the entire arms cache displayed at the Mexican press conference seems odd, as though nothing fits together, like it is a collection of “props.”
For example, the TNW spokesman says, there are several hundred ammo magazines, but only five rifles — leaving one to question what happened to all the other guns. In addition, he says the gun platform, if it is indeed a TNW product, is made of aluminum, a soft metal that would quickly bend and contort if used in real battlefield conditions.
In addition, the TNW spokesman says the claim by Mexican Gen. Cruz that the so-called “anti-aircraft” weapon is capable of firing 800 rounds per minute is just flat wrong. The spokesman says, at best, the real thing — a Browning .50 caliber machine gun — could only sustain a fire rate of 400 to 450 rpm and that at 800 rpm the barrel of the gun would melt down.
So what’s going on here?
One former ATF agent, who also asked that his name not be used, suggests one possibility: “This is all a dog and pony show.”
The former agent says it is not out of the realm of possibility that the Mexican government staged the gun bust, or at least hyped the press conference, using previously seized weapons in order to bolster its chances of securing additional aid from the U.S. government to help continue its escalation of the drug war. The former agent adds that he is suspicious of all the coincidences surrounding the weapons seizure — including the fact that the guns were found by accident during a routine patrol, at least one of the guns was a replica, and one of the gun platforms was nothing more than an aluminum prop.
“It’s happened before,” the former agent says. “You bring in some dope or guns from the [police] warehouse as props. It’s a big game.”
In addition, the timing of the bust and subsequent press conference seems too convenient, according to the former agent. The Mexican press conference announcing the weapons seizure was held on April 14, one day before the Obama administration named its new “border czar,” Alan Bersin, a former federal prosecutor; and two days prior to President Barach Obama’s arrival in Mexico to meet with President Felipe Calderon to discuss the drug war.
In addition, Narco News Correspondent Kristin Bricker, who reports from Mexico, looked into the status of Beltran (the 20-year-old woman arrested as part of the weapons seizure), and discovered that she still has not been officially charged with a crime by Mexican authorities — now nearly a month after allegedly being caught red-handed with the stash of weapons. However, Mexican law does allow a suspect to be held in jail for an extended period of time prior to charges being brought against the individual.
But what benefit would staging a weapons seizure (or at least embellishing what was actually seized) have in this case?
“There’s millions of dollars at stake [for Mexico],” the former U.S. agent says. “So they would do it to hype the fear [and cast Mexican law enforcement in a good light for making the seizure], to better the odds of getting more money. … I just don’t believe in coincidences.”
Could it be that the Browning replica that Mexican federal police commander Cruz described as a deadly “anti-aircraft” gun is nothing more than a prop borrowed from a Mexican movie set or a wealthy gun collector with ties to the Mexican government?
Alternatively, is it possible the ATF is putting out disinformation designed to discredit the Mexican police commander for some reason?
Or is it possible that some narco-trafficker went through the trouble of buying a $10,000 Browning replica, parking it at a house in northern Mexico guarded by a 20-year-old woman, just so he could lay claim to being the Rambo of Sonora?
Whatever went down here, it’s likely to remain another mystery of the drug war — where the truth, it seems, is always for sale if the price is right.
¤ McChrystal Clear
War On Terror: From Gettysburg to Fallujah, no-nonsense leadership has proved the key to victory in war. President Obama has chosen a new top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. This is Obama's war. This is his general.
¤ Second Amendment March seeks redress of grievances
There are an estimated 80 million gun owners in this country, and we need to stand together and be heard. No more gun bans, no more draconian concealed carry restrictions, no more harassment by police for legally carrying a firearm, no more victim disarmament, no more infringements period. Together, we can send a clear message and begin to roll back 100+ years of gun control.
It's May 12 and 41 degrees outside. I believe that if not for the horrors of Global Warming, I would be up to my butt in snow. Glaciers would be pushing over sky-scrapers in Ohio.
¤ Mountains of Money
"It's past time to vote these criminals out of office. It's time we peasants got a wild-eyed mob together. We gather our pitchforks and our torches, we go to Washington, and we track these people down with hunting dogs."
And then spank them with rubber chickens and ship them back to their home states wearing nothing but tar and feathers.
¤ IT IS GETTING VERY SERIOUS NOW
Let me ask a reasonable question: how long does anyone think it would be, after being profiled by DHS and denied the lawful purchase of firearms, that those same people would be subjected to gun confiscation? And how long do you think it would be before DHS began profiling more and more groups of people, thus subjecting them to gun confiscation?
"I am amazed at the fact that in the last couple of weeks a couple of my co-workers have come to me, looked back over their shoulders to see who else was around, and began talking about what’s happening in the country."
I’ve gotten a lot of gun questions lately, as in “if I was going to buy a gun…”
I’ve gotten a lot of “do you think it’s all coming apart?”
I even got a “I read about this in pre-war Germany”.
¤ Montana gun law shows it is not about political parties
Montana politicians actually standing tall against federal power is a great story. It is about a state, and its citizens, tired of being stomped on by the federal government which only exists due to the agreement among the states.
¤ The Big Business of Big Labor
If you take the PACs of Exxon, Halliburton, Peabody Coal, and Lockheed Martin, combine their 2008-cycle political spending, and multiply it by four, you get just over $13.1 million. The UAW’s expenditures on the 2008 presidential contest alone exceed the total House, Senate, and White House expenditures of those four companies.
¤ Back to the "good old days"
- It is astonishing how casually activists, bureaucrats, politicians and even some corporate executives advocate arbitrary CO2 reduction targets and timetables – as though they were possible, desirable or necessary
- The Nature Conservancy predicts that, by 2030, "eco-friendly" wind, solar and biofuel projects will require extra land equivalent to Minnesota, to produce the energy we now get from oil, gas and coal. Interior Secretary Salazar's proposal to have offshore wind turbines replace gas, coal and nuclear electricity generators would mean 336,000 3.25MW behemoths off our coasts – if they operate 24/7/365. Far more if they don't.
Where exactly will we site those turbines – and get the billions of tons of concrete, steel, copper and fiberglass it will take to build and install the expensive, unreliable, subsidized monsters?
For the Record:
Israel was shaped by the West just like Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and ,at the time, Trans-jordan was. Palestine was a REGION not a country. Just like Appalachia or the Rocky Mountain region. The “palestinians” speak Jordanian, with the exception of the former Yassir Arafat who was Egyptian. The “palestinians” were not forced to go anywhere. They left on their own accord because they were promised by their islamis brethren that soon Israel would be sdestroyed and they could return to have even more than what they had before leaving. Instead, the little newly founded Zionist nation humiliated the Arab/islamic armies.
Since the first war, the Arab/islamists have continuously attempted to rid the region of Israel and have failed miserably. The “palestinians” who fled into Jordan attempted to overthrow the monarchy and were slaughtered and chased out. Many went to Lebanon and destroyed that country.
By the way, why don’t any Arab/islamists get upset about Jordan taking over theenire Trans-Jordan area? If the hatred against Israel isn’t Koranic endorsed anti-Semitism, then it is pure murderous stupidity.
If the “palestinians” truly wanted their own country they could have had one many times. All they want is Israel erased and then they can commence being like their Arab/islamic brthren and commence killing each other in the name of allah.
~~ Borrowed from a comment at Freedoms Cost ~~
¤ H.R. 2324--Aiming At Registering Gun Owners And Putting Gun Shows Out Of Business
¤ Futile gestures solve no violence
¤ Obama hit-man slam dunks Israel
Emanuel has apparently made it clear to one of our staunches allies that U.S. action on the world-wide threat of Iranian nuclear weapons is totally dependent on Israel's capitulation to Palestinian demands. This is nothing less than holding Israel hostage, and it is unconscionable.
¤ Guess who's riding to rescue of those failing newspapers
Included in Time Magazine's list of "25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis", the King and queen of toxic mortgages' underwrite 'independent' investigative reporting – with a tilt
¤ Administration Threatened to Destroy Investment Firm's Reputation
¤ Democrats drop funds to close Gitmo
House Democrats are refusing to pay for President Barack Obama's plan to relocate prisoners from the Guantanamo detention facility where enemy combatants are being held.
Obama has signed an executive order to close the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by early next year. But the Pentagon has yet to come up with a plan on where to put the 240 or so prisoners. Between 50-100 are likely to be sent to the United States.
No lawmaker wants the accused terrorists in their backyard.
House Democrats unveiled a $94.4 billion war funding bill Monday and it had no money for the relocation plan.
The step is not likely to be the last word, however. If needed, money could be transferred later—without a politically difficult vote.
I'm convinced that we have to have federal legislation to build on. We're going to have to take one step at a time, and the first step is necessarily — given the political realities — going to be very modest. Of course, it's true that politicians will then go home and say, "This is a great law. The problem is solved." And it's also true that such statements will tend to defuse the gun-control issue for a time. So then we'll have to strengthen that law, and then again to strengthen that law, and maybe again and again. Right now, though, we'd be satisfied not with half a loaf but with a slice. Our ultimate goal — total control of handguns in the United States — is going to take time. My estimate is from seven to ten years. The problem is to slow down the increasing number of handguns sold in this country. The second problem is to get them all registered. And the final problem is to make the possession of all handguns and all handgun ammunition — except for the military, policemen, licensed security guards, licensed sporting clubs, and licensed gun collectors — totally illegal.
¤ No More "Explaining Process"
Chrysler is filing bankruptcy even after an infusion of multi-billions of our money. Obama will give them more.
Can someone answer the obvious question : Where did the money go? Chrysler? Obama? Anyone?
