Megyn Kelly wiped the floor in this debate with Progressive Pundit Kirsten Powers! Ouch! They were debating Congressman Brad Sherman's poor performance at a town hall meeting.
Black Panthers intimidating voters.
Congressman Brad Sherman(D) unaware of incident.
Megan Kelly pounces on Kirsten Powers.
It appears dear reader, that racism is back as a hot issue topic again. The election of President Obama was supposed to have closed that chapter in our history but it is starting to further divide us. The NAACP is now choosing to continue to follow it's Progressive leanings and use the time honored weak defense of calling the Tea Party movement a racist organization. Nice try, but I really don't place much credence in what a Socialist organization really has to say.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Spain Wins World Cup
Andres Iniesta seals the deal in overtime play. In a very hard fought over game, Spain comes out victorious over the Netherlands.
Watch Highlights===> http://espn.go.com/
Blame Bush
That's what the MSM has the people of this country believing when asked why we have the economical meltdown. Here are a couple of videos that might be contrary to what they have been saying and shed the light on who really is responsible...
Let's get our country back from these thieves...vote this November.
Let's get our country back from these thieves...vote this November.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Dim Light - Rick Sanchez
CNN teleprompter reader, Rick Sanchez negatively comments about talk radio hosts who do not have college degrees. He is envious that they make so much money and that he will never be able to make a fraction of it.
Hey Rick, you bonehead. I cannot understand how our people who fled communist Cuba are continuing to spawn bottom feeders like you? You pathetic Progressive pimple should know that playing the class envy card is one of the tools used in taking away our homeland. You and your kind lost Cuba and now you are helping in losing America.
Hey Rick, you bonehead. I cannot understand how our people who fled communist Cuba are continuing to spawn bottom feeders like you? You pathetic Progressive pimple should know that playing the class envy card is one of the tools used in taking away our homeland. You and your kind lost Cuba and now you are helping in losing America.
The life of a cop
I stopped telling police stories a long time ago when people kept telling me that I was making that stuff up. I would reflect on that. How could I come up with the the things that I had been seeing? How do you explain to someone how it feels to face agony and death is so many forms? I will never be able to see a movie that frightens me more then what I have seen. The following story touches lightly on the edge of what we face and it is in honor to a fallen comrade, Thor Soderberg. Rest in peace brother, this city and this nation has one less hero.
Our hero: The life of a cop
July 9, 2010
BY MICHAEL SNEED Sun-Times Columnist
Our hero: The life of a cop
July 9, 2010
BY MICHAEL SNEED Sun-Times Columnist
What price do we pay when one is sacrificed?
We don't pay. We get fleeced, robbed of a human being who decided to make his life's work protecting each one of us.
The fact that Officer Thor Soderberg, who was killed with his own weapon Wednesday during an apparent robbery outside a South Side police facility, died a hero is little consolation to his family and friends.
A police officer might become a hero when the oath to serve and protect is taken, but there is also another measure of their heroism.
It's the evil, degradation and horror that they often witness.
And it has occurred to me that police officers begin to die the day they take the job.
No human being should have to see what a cop sees when he walks in on scenes choreographed in hell.
"What they see and smell and touch and taste, no human being should have to endure," a Chicago Police chaplain told me.
• To watch someone shoot and kill a 3-day-old baby.
• To see an infant microwaved in an oven by a crackhead.
• To walk into a house where a 92-year-old woman has been confined to bed for seven years in feces and toenails seven inches long.
• To witness the physical and emotional damage done to children used for sex by drug addicts.
• To stand over the body of a 5-year-old girl accidentally shot by a gang-banger while riding her big wheel down an alley.
Then, there's the internal stuff: struggling for a fair and just system of testing and promoting.
And the feeling that the city is basically anti-police.
"I've watched my husband's heart turn to stone over the past 30 years," a cop's wife once said.
"The heroic moment is when they take the oath of office, and the star is pinned on their chest," said the police chaplain.
"Everything after that is just the line of duty. Officer Soderberg wasn't just killed in the line of duty. He was murdered in the line of duty. It is nobody's duty to be murdered."
Police officers are good at compartmentalizing. Keeping all the corruption and depravity and hideousness in a watertight compartment.
One can't be exposed eight hours a day without having an effect. I've often wondered how they keep their sanity.
"Cops live in a world of intense ambiguity eight hours a day," a police source said.
"Nothing is real, and nothing is sacred. It's like making a decision based on what one sees in a distorted funhouse mirror.
"It's like going to work in a minefield every day.
"Many feel half the mines are planted by the enemy, while the other half are planted at work."
It's a tough time to be a cop. Some believe we are losing the streets and losing the city, that we are becoming Detroit.
On June 6, 1981, I lost a friend, first Deputy Police Supt. James Riordan, to an unruly customer he was escorting out of a Marina City tavern while off-duty. The guy had a hidden gun and used it.
I will never forget the grief I felt graveside and the comfort I got from a police chaplain.
Every time a police officer is killed in Chicago, I am reminded of that day.
The life of Officer Thor Soderberg, who became a hero when he joined the force, was snuffed out by a man with a gun.
"The devil walks this earth like a natural man," a female victim of a crime once told a friend of mine.
Imagine living in that minefield every day.
Chicago Sun Times http://is.gd/dnulT
Friday, July 9, 2010
A Star Rises
My condolences go out to the family and friends of Patrolman Thor Soderberg. God Bless you and your family. I pray that the Lord keeps a watchful eye on your servants who protect the peace.
An article by John Kass. Chicago Tribune
A star rises, a fallen officer is remembered
All stars shine; some get more attention than others
John Kass
July 9, 2010
As Chicago waited almost desperately Thursday for a star to become the city's basketball savior, another star rose on the South Side, at 61st Street and Racine Avenue.
It was a simple star of gold on a field of purple and black, the flag of mourning for Chicago police officers.
That gold star belongs, at least for a time, to police Officer Thor Soderberg, 43, shot to death the day before, not 100 yards from where that flag was raised.
Soderberg had finished his shift and was in the parking lot outside the police facility when a 24-year-old man from the Englewood neighborhood allegedly grabbed the officer's gun in a fight.
Then that other man allegedly pulled the trigger and the bullet entered Soderberg's head and everything he knew or was or wanted was taken from him.
It was raining when I got to the corner at the flagpole on Thursday morning, just outside the building where Soderberg had been stationed.
It was a flag raising, but there was no gold braid and bagpipes. And no flowery speeches from politicians about public service.
There were only two people at that flagpole, and they weren't the speechmaking type.
One was a city engineer, a middle-age white guy in work clothes, carrying a stepladder. He said his name was Bernie. The other was a police officer, a blue shirt standing next to him, a young black woman with 12 years on the job and a face of pure stone.
"It's best that she be the one to pull it up anyway," said Bernie. "She's the police. It's only right they do it for their own."
Bernie held two flags, the gold star flag and the American flag, both in the same hand. He cradled them like babies against his elbow in the rain.
He used his other hand to clip the flags and rig the pulleys through, and when it was ready, he nodded and she began to pull. There was no wind, so both flags lay flat against the pole.
Similar flags of mourning were put up at police facilities across the city. Her duty done, the police officer walked silently back inside. Bernie carried the stepladder.
"It's just sad," he said. "I just did this a few weeks ago. It's just sad."
A few weeks ago, the gold star belonged to Thomas Wortham IV, shot to death May 19 outside his home.
And Sgt. Alan J. Haymaker, who died in an auto accident Feb. 22. And bullets took Alejandro "Alex" Valadez on June 1, 2009.
The year before there were four, all by gunfire: Detective Joseph M. Airhart Jr., who died years after he'd been shot; as well as Nathaniel Taylor; Michael Robbins, who'd been shot in 1994; and Richard Francis.
The flag of mourning comes from Gold Star Families, a group of family members of Chicago police officers killed or injured in the line of duty. They provide emotional and financial help to other such families.
The group was founded in 1983 by the Rev. Thomas Nangle, the Chicago police chaplain, and currently has about 300 active families.
Donna Marquez, sister of Officer Donald Marquez, who was shot to death in 2002 while serving a warrant, is president of Gold Star Families.
"We'll be there for Officer Soderberg's family," she said. "For the next year, it will be very emotional for them, very painful. With every memorial, it all comes back. It never truly goes away. These families never get closure.
"Every time another officer is killed," she said, "it reopens the wound and you go through it all over again. It's terrible."
You could fill whole pages with the names of the dead police and the barbarians who killed them, year after year after year in Chicago.
They weren't entertainment stars. They weren't professional athletic saviors. They were the police.
LeBron James has nothing to do with any of this. He's a great athlete, one of the best in the world, a fantastically talented entertainer. And there's nothing wrong with putting smiles on people's faces, and giving them a bit of wonder. I'm not begrudging his excellence.
I'm just questioning our civic perspective, or perhaps just my own. That's why I drove out there Thursday morning to see that other star rising, the gold one against the black and purple field, hanging flat against that pole in the rain.
•••
Another star fell this week. He played a little basketball in his day, too.
His name was Fred "Fritz" Ploegman, 86. He made the free throw in 1941 that gave Morton High School the Illinois state basketball title. But World War II didn't give him long to celebrate. Soon, this White Sox fan was in Anzio, and southern France and then crossing the Rhine River. He received two Purple Hearts.
But Mr. Ploegman, who died this week, was also a hero for his nearly 40 years of work running excellent park systems in Berwyn and La Grange. He dedicated his career to making sure generations of children had great, safe places to run and play.
How many stars is that worth?
jskass@tribune.com
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune
An article by John Kass. Chicago Tribune
A star rises, a fallen officer is remembered
All stars shine; some get more attention than others
John Kass
July 9, 2010
As Chicago waited almost desperately Thursday for a star to become the city's basketball savior, another star rose on the South Side, at 61st Street and Racine Avenue.
It was a simple star of gold on a field of purple and black, the flag of mourning for Chicago police officers.
That gold star belongs, at least for a time, to police Officer Thor Soderberg, 43, shot to death the day before, not 100 yards from where that flag was raised.
Soderberg had finished his shift and was in the parking lot outside the police facility when a 24-year-old man from the Englewood neighborhood allegedly grabbed the officer's gun in a fight.
Then that other man allegedly pulled the trigger and the bullet entered Soderberg's head and everything he knew or was or wanted was taken from him.
It was raining when I got to the corner at the flagpole on Thursday morning, just outside the building where Soderberg had been stationed.
It was a flag raising, but there was no gold braid and bagpipes. And no flowery speeches from politicians about public service.
There were only two people at that flagpole, and they weren't the speechmaking type.
One was a city engineer, a middle-age white guy in work clothes, carrying a stepladder. He said his name was Bernie. The other was a police officer, a blue shirt standing next to him, a young black woman with 12 years on the job and a face of pure stone.
"It's best that she be the one to pull it up anyway," said Bernie. "She's the police. It's only right they do it for their own."
Bernie held two flags, the gold star flag and the American flag, both in the same hand. He cradled them like babies against his elbow in the rain.
He used his other hand to clip the flags and rig the pulleys through, and when it was ready, he nodded and she began to pull. There was no wind, so both flags lay flat against the pole.
Similar flags of mourning were put up at police facilities across the city. Her duty done, the police officer walked silently back inside. Bernie carried the stepladder.
"It's just sad," he said. "I just did this a few weeks ago. It's just sad."
A few weeks ago, the gold star belonged to Thomas Wortham IV, shot to death May 19 outside his home.
And Sgt. Alan J. Haymaker, who died in an auto accident Feb. 22. And bullets took Alejandro "Alex" Valadez on June 1, 2009.
The year before there were four, all by gunfire: Detective Joseph M. Airhart Jr., who died years after he'd been shot; as well as Nathaniel Taylor; Michael Robbins, who'd been shot in 1994; and Richard Francis.
The flag of mourning comes from Gold Star Families, a group of family members of Chicago police officers killed or injured in the line of duty. They provide emotional and financial help to other such families.
The group was founded in 1983 by the Rev. Thomas Nangle, the Chicago police chaplain, and currently has about 300 active families.
Donna Marquez, sister of Officer Donald Marquez, who was shot to death in 2002 while serving a warrant, is president of Gold Star Families.
"We'll be there for Officer Soderberg's family," she said. "For the next year, it will be very emotional for them, very painful. With every memorial, it all comes back. It never truly goes away. These families never get closure.
"Every time another officer is killed," she said, "it reopens the wound and you go through it all over again. It's terrible."
You could fill whole pages with the names of the dead police and the barbarians who killed them, year after year after year in Chicago.
They weren't entertainment stars. They weren't professional athletic saviors. They were the police.
LeBron James has nothing to do with any of this. He's a great athlete, one of the best in the world, a fantastically talented entertainer. And there's nothing wrong with putting smiles on people's faces, and giving them a bit of wonder. I'm not begrudging his excellence.
I'm just questioning our civic perspective, or perhaps just my own. That's why I drove out there Thursday morning to see that other star rising, the gold one against the black and purple field, hanging flat against that pole in the rain.
•••
Another star fell this week. He played a little basketball in his day, too.
His name was Fred "Fritz" Ploegman, 86. He made the free throw in 1941 that gave Morton High School the Illinois state basketball title. But World War II didn't give him long to celebrate. Soon, this White Sox fan was in Anzio, and southern France and then crossing the Rhine River. He received two Purple Hearts.
But Mr. Ploegman, who died this week, was also a hero for his nearly 40 years of work running excellent park systems in Berwyn and La Grange. He dedicated his career to making sure generations of children had great, safe places to run and play.
How many stars is that worth?
jskass@tribune.com
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune
Thursday, July 8, 2010
GOOOOAAAALLL!!!!
Spain beats Germany to advance to the finals against the Netherlands.
Congratulations to the people of Spain on a hard won victory!
Congratulations to the people of Spain on a hard won victory!
Reuters
Joy in Spain, German misery after defeat
10:14am EDT
By Barry Moody
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Spaniards exploded in joy on Thursday after their team reached the World Cup final for the first time while Germany plunged into tearful misery following a semi-final defeat that ended their World Cup dream.
Spain will meet the Netherlands on Sunday in Johannesburg's Soccer City when a new champion will be crowned from two sides seen for decades as the nearly-men of international soccer.
Spanish pride over their team's superb performance in beating a strong Germany side 1-0 on Wednesday was seen by many as a welcome antidote to economic woes which include Europe's highest unemployment and high debt.
Thousands of fans rushed into the streets after the victory exploding fireworks, blaring their car horns or playing mock matador with flags in the traffic.
The joy of Spain contrasted with gloom in Germany where men and women wept at public viewing sites in Berlin, where 350,000 people watched, and Munich where a crowd of 50,000 shed tears at the defeat of a team from whom so much was expected.
It was the second successive time the Germans had been heartbreakingly defeated in the semi-final.
There was a sense of bewilderment and shock among the population and in the newspapers after the youngest German team for three quarters of a century had looked magnificent in earlier games, scoring four goals on three occasions.
But there was also widespread admiration for the Spanish team whose experience, tactical cunning and unique skill in possession and close-passing nullified Germany's strengths.
ANGRY FANS
But there was outrage in South Africa after hundreds of fans missed the semi in Durban because of chaos at a new airport, blamed on VIP aircraft jamming the runways and bad weather.
Radio programmes were filled with irate comments about the failure of the airports authority to move the small planes so airliners carrying fans could arrive. Up to 700 ticket-holders were said to have missed the match.
The chaos was a rare blemish on a so-far successful hosting of Africa's first World Cup, which has confounded pessimistic predictions of disaster.
Soccer's world governing body FIFA said the tournament would have the third highest attendance ever after passing the three million mark, behind only the United States in 1994 and Germany in 2006.
The Netherlands beat Uruguay 3-2 on Tuesday to reach their first final since 1978. It will be Spain's first final.
Shaggy haired Spanish defender Carles Puyol, whose flying header late in the game won the match, was variously dubbed shark or wild boar by his ecstatic team mates.
INCREDIBLY PROUD
Puyol is a Catalan and Spaniards saw the team as an example of the unity lacking amidst the bitter political infighting that has marked the country's attempts to impose austerity measures to prevent a Greek-style debt crisis.
"We need something to show we can do things together instead of bickering all the time," said economist Pedro Schwartz from Madrid's San Pablo university.
"We're incredibly proud. This is a welcome distraction from the crisis and from the awful government we have. It lifts people's spirits," said civil servant Loria Alejandrez, 63.
The mood could not be more different in Germany where some fans blamed Paul, a supposedly psychic octopus who correctly predicted the results of all Germany's matches including Wednesday's defeat. Some want him publicly barbequed.
Huge television audiences watched the semi-final in both countries -- a record 31.1 million or 83 percent of market share in Germany and 14 million or 80 percent in Spain.
Spain will have to get past the Dutch to lift their first world title but even their normally calm coach Vicente del Bosque could not restrain his praise for the team, calling them magnificent after their best performance of the tournament.
He was not the only one. El Mundo newspaper compared Puyol to superman. "Spain didn't just win, they put on an exhibition, they played with evening suits on," it said.
The result on Wednesday means a European team will win the World Cup for the first time outside that continent.
(Additional reporting by Alice Tozer and Mark Elkington in Madrid and Erik Kirschbaum in Berlin; Editing by Ken Ferris) http://is.gd/dk9ad
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Perfect Citizen
I find it odd how this secret program designed to surveille attacks on our critical infrastructure such as our power grids and nuclear power plant, have such an Orwellian name that would actually infer that it would actually be looking at us. I recall all the hoopla when President Bush wanted the cell phone calls of terrorists monitored. The Progressives and their lackeys at the MSM were besides themselves about the government listening in or reading their text messages. Yet, with this program....'crickets in the fields' is all you hear from them. Hmmmm?
Read on dear reader....
Wall Street Journal
U.S. Plans Cyber Shield for Utilities, Companies
By SIOBHAN GORMAN
The federal government is launching an expansive program dubbed "Perfect Citizen" to detect cyber assaults on private companies and government agencies running such critical infrastructure as the electricity grid and nuclear-power plants, according to people familiar with the program.
The surveillance by the National Security Agency, the government's chief eavesdropping agency, would rely on a set of sensors deployed in computer networks for critical infrastructure that would be triggered by unusual activity suggesting an impending cyber attack, though it wouldn't persistently monitor the whole system, these people said.
Defense contractor Raytheon Corp. recently won a classified contract for the initial phase of the surveillance effort valued at up to $100 million, said a person familiar with the project.
An NSA spokeswoman said the agency had no information to provide on the program. A Raytheon spokesman declined to comment.
Some industry and government officials familiar with the program see Perfect Citizen as an intrusion by the NSA into domestic affairs, while others say it is an important program to combat an emerging security threat that only the NSA is equipped to provide.
"The overall purpose of the [program] is our Government...feel[s] that they need to insure the Public Sector is doing all they can to secure Infrastructure critical to our National Security," said one internal Raytheon email, the text of which was seen by The Wall Street Journal. "Perfect Citizen is Big Brother."
Raytheon declined to comment on this email.
A U.S. military official called the program long overdue and said any intrusion into privacy is no greater than what the public already endures from traffic cameras. It's a logical extension of the work federal agencies have done in the past to protect physical attacks on critical infrastructure that could sabotage the government or key parts of the country, the official said.
U.S. intelligence officials have grown increasingly alarmed about what they believe to be Chinese and Russian surveillance of computer systems that control the electric grid and other U.S. infrastructure. Officials are unable to describe the full scope of the problem, however, because they have had limited ability to pull together all the private data.
Perfect Citizen will look at large, typically older computer control systems that were often designed without Internet connectivity or security in mind. Many of those systems—which run everything from subway systems to air-traffic control networks—have since been linked to the Internet, making them more efficient but also exposing them to cyber attack.
The goal is to close the "big, glaring holes" in the U.S.'s understanding of the nature of the cyber threat against its infrastructure, said one industry specialist familiar with the program. "We don't have a dedicated way to understand the problem."
The information gathered by Perfect Citizen could also have applications beyond the critical infrastructure sector, officials said, serving as a data bank that would also help companies and agencies who call upon NSA for help with investigations of cyber attacks, as Google did when it sustained a major attack late last year.
The U.S. government has for more than a decade claimed a national-security interest in privately owned critical infrastructure that, if attacked, could cause significant damage to the government or the economy. Initially, it established relationships with utility companies so it could, for instance, request that a power company seal a manhole that provides access to a key power line for a government agency.
With the growth in concern about cyber attacks, these relationships began to extend into the electronic arena, and the only U.S. agency equipped to manage electronic assessments of critical-infrastructure vulnerabilities is the NSA, government and industry officials said.
The NSA years ago began a small-scale effort to address this problem code-named April Strawberry, the military official said. The program researched vulnerabilities in computer networks running critical infrastructure and sought ways to close security holes.
That led to initial work on Perfect Citizen, which was a piecemeal effort to forge relationships with some companies, particularly energy companies, whose infrastructure is widely used across the country.
The classified program is now being expanded with funding from the multibillion-dollar Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative, which started at the end of the Bush administration and has been continued by the Obama administration, officials said. With that infusion of money, the NSA is now seeking to map out intrusions into critical infrastructure across the country.
Because the program is still in the early stages, much remains to be worked out, such as which computer control systems will be monitored and how the data will be collected. NSA would likely start with the systems that have the most important security implications if attacked, such as electric, nuclear, and air-traffic-control systems, they said.
Intelligence officials have met with utilities' CEOs and those discussions convinced them of the gravity of the threat against U.S. infrastructure, an industry specialist said, but the CEOs concluded they needed better threat information and guidance on what to do in the event of a major cyber attack.
Some companies may agree to have the NSA put its own sensors on and others may ask for direction on what sensors to buy and come to an agreement about what data they will then share with the government, industry and government officials said.
While the government can't force companies to work with it, it can provide incentives to urge them to cooperate, particularly if the government already buys services from that company, officials said.
Raytheon, which has built up a large cyber-security practice through acquisitions in recent years, is expected to subcontract out some of the work to smaller specialty companies, according to a person familiar with the project. WSJ.com http://is.gd/djr2f
Read on dear reader....
Wall Street Journal
U.S. Plans Cyber Shield for Utilities, Companies
By SIOBHAN GORMAN
The federal government is launching an expansive program dubbed "Perfect Citizen" to detect cyber assaults on private companies and government agencies running such critical infrastructure as the electricity grid and nuclear-power plants, according to people familiar with the program.
The surveillance by the National Security Agency, the government's chief eavesdropping agency, would rely on a set of sensors deployed in computer networks for critical infrastructure that would be triggered by unusual activity suggesting an impending cyber attack, though it wouldn't persistently monitor the whole system, these people said.
Defense contractor Raytheon Corp. recently won a classified contract for the initial phase of the surveillance effort valued at up to $100 million, said a person familiar with the project.
An NSA spokeswoman said the agency had no information to provide on the program. A Raytheon spokesman declined to comment.
Some industry and government officials familiar with the program see Perfect Citizen as an intrusion by the NSA into domestic affairs, while others say it is an important program to combat an emerging security threat that only the NSA is equipped to provide.
"The overall purpose of the [program] is our Government...feel[s] that they need to insure the Public Sector is doing all they can to secure Infrastructure critical to our National Security," said one internal Raytheon email, the text of which was seen by The Wall Street Journal. "Perfect Citizen is Big Brother."
Raytheon declined to comment on this email.
A U.S. military official called the program long overdue and said any intrusion into privacy is no greater than what the public already endures from traffic cameras. It's a logical extension of the work federal agencies have done in the past to protect physical attacks on critical infrastructure that could sabotage the government or key parts of the country, the official said.
U.S. intelligence officials have grown increasingly alarmed about what they believe to be Chinese and Russian surveillance of computer systems that control the electric grid and other U.S. infrastructure. Officials are unable to describe the full scope of the problem, however, because they have had limited ability to pull together all the private data.
Perfect Citizen will look at large, typically older computer control systems that were often designed without Internet connectivity or security in mind. Many of those systems—which run everything from subway systems to air-traffic control networks—have since been linked to the Internet, making them more efficient but also exposing them to cyber attack.
The goal is to close the "big, glaring holes" in the U.S.'s understanding of the nature of the cyber threat against its infrastructure, said one industry specialist familiar with the program. "We don't have a dedicated way to understand the problem."
The information gathered by Perfect Citizen could also have applications beyond the critical infrastructure sector, officials said, serving as a data bank that would also help companies and agencies who call upon NSA for help with investigations of cyber attacks, as Google did when it sustained a major attack late last year.
The U.S. government has for more than a decade claimed a national-security interest in privately owned critical infrastructure that, if attacked, could cause significant damage to the government or the economy. Initially, it established relationships with utility companies so it could, for instance, request that a power company seal a manhole that provides access to a key power line for a government agency.
With the growth in concern about cyber attacks, these relationships began to extend into the electronic arena, and the only U.S. agency equipped to manage electronic assessments of critical-infrastructure vulnerabilities is the NSA, government and industry officials said.
The NSA years ago began a small-scale effort to address this problem code-named April Strawberry, the military official said. The program researched vulnerabilities in computer networks running critical infrastructure and sought ways to close security holes.
That led to initial work on Perfect Citizen, which was a piecemeal effort to forge relationships with some companies, particularly energy companies, whose infrastructure is widely used across the country.
The classified program is now being expanded with funding from the multibillion-dollar Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative, which started at the end of the Bush administration and has been continued by the Obama administration, officials said. With that infusion of money, the NSA is now seeking to map out intrusions into critical infrastructure across the country.
Because the program is still in the early stages, much remains to be worked out, such as which computer control systems will be monitored and how the data will be collected. NSA would likely start with the systems that have the most important security implications if attacked, such as electric, nuclear, and air-traffic-control systems, they said.
Intelligence officials have met with utilities' CEOs and those discussions convinced them of the gravity of the threat against U.S. infrastructure, an industry specialist said, but the CEOs concluded they needed better threat information and guidance on what to do in the event of a major cyber attack.
Some companies may agree to have the NSA put its own sensors on and others may ask for direction on what sensors to buy and come to an agreement about what data they will then share with the government, industry and government officials said.
While the government can't force companies to work with it, it can provide incentives to urge them to cooperate, particularly if the government already buys services from that company, officials said.
Raytheon, which has built up a large cyber-security practice through acquisitions in recent years, is expected to subcontract out some of the work to smaller specialty companies, according to a person familiar with the project. WSJ.com http://is.gd/djr2f
Chicago Police Officer shot and killed
Update: As of 9:00PM July 7, 2010, there is no news yet of the officers name.
Chicago Sun-Times
Sources: Chicago Police officer killed with own weapon
July 7, 2010
BY FRANK MAIN Staff Reporter
A Chicago Police officer — an academy instructor who volunteered his time by serving as a guide to a blind triathlete — was shot and killed with his own weapon this afternoon during an apparent robbery outside a South Side police facility, sources said.
The 43-year-old officer was killed at 3:48 p.m. at 61st and Racine, outside the old Englewood District police station that is now used by the department’s targeted response and gang enforcement units. At least one other officer shot the suspected robber in the chest, but he was not killed.
Sources said the suspected robber took the officers gun. Apparently, the officer, a veteran of almost 11 years, was killed with his own weapon.
Police have not released the slain officer’s name, pending notification of next of kin.
“I’m still shaking, shaking,” said DePaul University Professor Mazen Istanbouli, a blind triathlete who was guided by the slain officer. “It’s disturbing news. He was a great man. He exemplified the best police officer I have ever seen.”
Out of friendship for the officer, Istanbouli had participated in this year’s “Run to Remember” honoring fallen Chicago Police officers.
This afternoon he was mourning that officer, who was temporarily assigned for a week to work the street as part of police Supt. Jody Weis’ summer anti-crime initiative.
Istanbouli, who teaches political science, said the officer had volunteered to guide him through triathlons in Chicago and New York about two years ago.
“He always said, ‘This medal is not for me. I want you to get a medal,’ ” Istanbouli said. “He always thought of others before himself. We were friends.”
D.L. Buckner, 23, of the 6100 block of South Elizabeth — a block away from the shooting — said he was sitting on his porch when he heard five shots.
“Then it stopped,” Buckner said. “And then we heard five more shots. And then it stopped again. And that’s when we heard a whole bunch of police cars flying over there. First we thought it was firecrackers. It’s tripped out.
“It’s crazy. It’s sad to see anybody get killed, especially somebody who works around here.”
Alejandro “Alex” Valadez was the last Chicago Police officer killed in the line of duty. He was fatally shot on June 1, 2009 — also in the Englewood District.
An off-duty officer — Thomas Wortham IV — was killed in May outside his parents’ South Side home, allegedly by thieves trying to steal his motorcycle.
http://is.gd/djq4x
Update: 10:00PM July, 7, 2010 ABCNEWS has announced the name of the victim. His name is Officer Thor Soderberg, 43 years old. God Bless him and his family.
One Year Anniversary!!!
Today marks the one year anniversary of the All American Conservative Blogsite. I could see back then what I had feared occurring in our country, our public servants had become our masters. Our country had begun to change as many Progressives hoped and our Constitution has been ignored. We have won one of the two wars that we are fighting and those that opposed it now claim the fruits of it's victory. We continue to fight but only with very little support for it or our troops. The Progressives know that Americans have been under an apathetic spell brought upon it's overspending and self indulgence in it's material gains. The country has been taken over by these Liberals not with a yell, a whimper but an uncarrying shrug from the people as we try to see what's on the other channel on our big screen tv.
Government now controls our biggest industries, our biggest banks and our health system. We are no longer a partial welfare state, with Medicare and Social Security, but on the road to a complete nanny-state. They will soon dictate to us what we need to do in everything of our lives. 1984 has come late but it has arrived.
The Tea Party has grown out of those among us who oppose what has happened and we are trying to do what we can, to take our country back. The Constitution must be defended and applied once again or tyranny will take complete control. There are many who are afraid of what is happening and believe that it is too late. It isn't. Elections do have consequences and we have to ensure that we begin to take our government back. We have brought democracy to Iraq and Afghanistan. We need to bring it back to the United States, again.
I want to thank you, dear reader, for your support. I hope that I have been able to amuse, make you aware, sometimes cry and perhaps enlighten you. We must once again become one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please continue to patronize this blog.
God Bless.
This is the first post to this blog.===> http://is.gd/dj1Rg
Government now controls our biggest industries, our biggest banks and our health system. We are no longer a partial welfare state, with Medicare and Social Security, but on the road to a complete nanny-state. They will soon dictate to us what we need to do in everything of our lives. 1984 has come late but it has arrived.
The Tea Party has grown out of those among us who oppose what has happened and we are trying to do what we can, to take our country back. The Constitution must be defended and applied once again or tyranny will take complete control. There are many who are afraid of what is happening and believe that it is too late. It isn't. Elections do have consequences and we have to ensure that we begin to take our government back. We have brought democracy to Iraq and Afghanistan. We need to bring it back to the United States, again.
I want to thank you, dear reader, for your support. I hope that I have been able to amuse, make you aware, sometimes cry and perhaps enlighten you. We must once again become one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please continue to patronize this blog.
God Bless.
This is the first post to this blog.===> http://is.gd/dj1Rg
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
The Future Looks Bleak
8 Problems That Could Trigger a Double-Dip Recession
Ben Baden and Rob Silverblatt, On Thursday July 1, 2010, 3:21 pm EDT
Ben Baden and Rob Silverblatt, On Thursday July 1, 2010, 3:21 pm EDT
With stock prices spiraling downward and treasury yields tanking, the market has been sending a clear message this week: The fragile economic recovery is in trouble. But just how bad is the outlook? In the aftermath of a bleak second quarter, experts are still divided about the likelihood of a double-dip recession. What's becoming clearer with each new report, though, is that the economy--even if it doesn't double dip--is steadily losing ground.
The economic souring is, of course, being spearheaded by a familiar cast of characters: An anemic labor market, a skeptical consumer base, a weak housing market, and a global debt crisis that threatens to overwhelm national governments, just to name a few. Further deterioration in even one of these arenas could be enough to trigger a double-dip, which is loosely defined as a period during which a recovery is interrupted by economic contraction, usually in the form of negative GDP growth.
For some experts, the prospect of a double-dip still seems distant. "I still think it's very unlikely that the economy will fall into a double-dip," says John Ryding, a cofounder of RDQ Economics. "Double-dip fears are quite prevalent right now and have been ... but I find the situation very similar to the last two so-called jobless recoveries where feelings of double-dip constantly bubbled up to the surface but never materialized."
Peter Morici, a professor at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, is less optimistic. Morici says the likelihood of a double-dip is at least 50 percent. "What's going to happen here is either the economy is not going to collapse, or it's going to avalanche. Because once you start cycling down, then it develops a momentum of itself. And if it goes down a second time, then it becomes very difficult to resuscitate [it]," he says.
For investors, a double-dip, if it materializes, would be a throwback to 2008, with a floundering economy punishing stock returns. Jeff Tjornehoj, Lipper's research manager for the United States and Canada, says the Dow Jones industrial average could touch 9,000 by the close of 2010. "Is it reasonable to expect it? I think it's reasonable to put some odds on it," he says.
With that in mind, U.S. News has examined eight phenomena which, given the right conditions, could send the economy--and the financial markets--reeling.
Unemployment. In the aftermath of a recession that wiped out 8 million jobs, the lackluster labor market has perhaps been the biggest thorn in the side of a sustainable economic recovery. June's job report, which is due out Friday, will likely dampen the mood even further. Notably, the consensus prediction is that the report will indicate the economy shed jobs for the first time since last year. In 2008 and 2009, payrolls contracted in 23 out of the 24 months, but year-to-date through May, each month had seen positive jobs growth. Still, the losses expected in Friday's report will largely stem from a drawdown in the number of census workers employed by the federal government. Since these jobs were always expected to be temporary, their disappearance from the payrolls isn't much of a negative indicator. The bigger problem, economists say, is that even in months in which there was net job creation, the rate of growth has been too slow. Without robust job creation in the coming months, the weak labor market could help thrust the economy into a double-dip recession. "By the end of 2011, we can get into the low teens if things really come apart," Morici says of the unemployment rate.
Housing. In early 2009, President Obama introduced a first-time home buyer tax credit of $8,000 that was later extended to any qualified buyers who signed a sales contract by April 30 of this year. That tax credit, like other stimulus programs, has expired, and it's left many experts wondering whether or not the upsurge in home buying will continue. So far, the numbers don't look promising. Sales of new homes in May fell to an all-time low since numbers were first recorded in 1963. The concern is that now that the tax credit has expired, where will the demand come from? "We have a bit of an unknown ahead," says Keith Gumbinger of HSH.com. "To the extent that that falloff in demand diminishes economic growth, we pull ourselves a little bit closer to what could be the double-dip scenario." Chances are, prospective home buyers rushed to sign contracts before the tax credit deadline, so Gumbinger is concerned that demand could slow over the next few months.
Expiration of stimulus. One of Obama's first acts as president was to authorize a massive stimulus package that cost $787 billion. It included a number of provisions that were intended to help jumpstart the economy. Some economists are concerned that the stimulus plan is the only thing driving GDP growth in the United States. "Absent fiscal and monetary stimulus, there's been no recovery; it's been at best an ['L-shaped'] recovery, not a ['V-shaped'] recovery, except for the sugar rush of stimulus. " says Rob Arnott, chairman of Research Affiliates. "When you give a kid with ADHD a big bowl of M&Ms, they get a sugar rush, and if you take away the bowl of M&Ms, they get a sugar crash. So what we have is an economy on a sugar rush." With many stimulus programs wearing off, there are concerns that the private sector is not ready to support itself yet.
Spending cuts. At last week's G-20 summit, countries from around the world pledged to cut their deficits over time. Everyone agrees that it's a noble goal, but experts are torn over when it's appropriate to begin cutting spending. Many countries in Europe, most notably Greece and Spain, have already begun instituting austerity programs (through a combination of spending cuts and tax hikes) because of their enormous budget deficits. Here in the United States, deficit hawks voted down a bill last week that would have extended unemployment benefits and offered some aid to state and local governments. Politicians in developed nations are caught choosing between cutting spending now to begin to chip away at their massive deficits and risk stunting growth, or authorizing further stimulus to pump life back into the fragile global recovery. "The question is how long is it appropriate for the authorities to hold off before engaging," says Brian Gendreau, market strategist for Financial Network. "It's a danger of getting what you wish for." It's estimated that over the next year, spending cuts throughout the developed world will chop a full percentage point off of GDP growth, according to Gendreau. That's a big number given that many European countries are projected to grow at a very slow rate.
Tax hikes. Most experts say it's not a question of whether taxes will go up in the United States, it's more a question of when. The Bush tax cuts will expire at the end of the year. If they lapse, taxes will go up. Research has shown that there is a 3 to 1 ratio that can be applied to how tax hikes affect GDP growth, according to Arnott. For instance, if taxes go up by 1 percent of GDP, then GDP will fall by 3 percent. When the tax cuts expire, Arnott says, that will be equivalent to a 2 percent jump in taxes as a percentage of GDP. That means GDP growth next year should be 6 percent lower than it would be without the tax hike. "So that is really the big issue that we think creates a catalyst which can make a second dip pretty high odds and reasonably imminent," he says.
Consumer confidence. A recent report by the Conference Board shows that consumer confidence is plummeting. In June, the group's Consumer Confidence Index dropped by nearly 10 points, its second-biggest one-month decrease in a year. The report also shows that consumers' assessments of their current situations and their future job prospects are turning increasingly negative. This has touched off concerns that a skeptical consumer base could stand in the way of a recovery. Still, Lynn Franco, director of the Consumer Research Center at the Conference Board, says she hasn't seen evidence that sentiment is bad enough to spark a double-dip recession. "It doesn't look like it's an indication of a double-dip. It's really just the fact that until consumers see more proof--and that being more growth in the labor market--we're likely to continue at these levels," she says. Also, consumer confidence is by no means easy to measure. Just a few days before the Conference Board released its numbers, a Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey indicated that consumers are actually quite content. In stark contrast to the Conference Board's results, this survey showed consumer sentiment at its best levels since January 2008.
Consumer spending. Poor consumer sentiment generally translates into stagnant spending levels. Recent data from the Commerce Department suggests that Americans are dialing back their spending and tucking more money away in savings accounts. Notably, spending levels increased by a meager 0.2 percent in May, and chances are good that more substantial growth is a ways off. "The fact that confidence is so low, the fact that consumers are concerned about the labor market outlook--and combine that with the fact that regarding their incomes, the pessimists still outnumber the optimists--it doesn't suggest that there's going to be any significant pickup in spending in the near term," says Franco. To complicate matters, the stock market's recent plunge may put a further strain on spending. "It might affect people's psychological views, particularly for people in a position of influence in business as to whether they want to expand--or whether consumers spend," says Tjornehoj.
European debt crisis. For the time being, the European Union faces the most imminent sovereign debt threat. Spain, Portugal, and Greece have all seen their debt downgraded in recent months. Greek debt is now valued at "junk" status. To calm fears throughout the world that Greece could potentially default on its debt, members of the European Union have set up a $1 trillion bailout fund. Still, this fund doesn't guarantee that countries like Greece will be able to fix their budget woes, and that has implications for the state of the U.S. economy. "It weighs a lot on the financial system because what we're really talking about is the health of European banks, and our banks are going to have a lot of exposure to them," Tjornehoj says.
The economic souring is, of course, being spearheaded by a familiar cast of characters: An anemic labor market, a skeptical consumer base, a weak housing market, and a global debt crisis that threatens to overwhelm national governments, just to name a few. Further deterioration in even one of these arenas could be enough to trigger a double-dip, which is loosely defined as a period during which a recovery is interrupted by economic contraction, usually in the form of negative GDP growth.
For some experts, the prospect of a double-dip still seems distant. "I still think it's very unlikely that the economy will fall into a double-dip," says John Ryding, a cofounder of RDQ Economics. "Double-dip fears are quite prevalent right now and have been ... but I find the situation very similar to the last two so-called jobless recoveries where feelings of double-dip constantly bubbled up to the surface but never materialized."
Peter Morici, a professor at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, is less optimistic. Morici says the likelihood of a double-dip is at least 50 percent. "What's going to happen here is either the economy is not going to collapse, or it's going to avalanche. Because once you start cycling down, then it develops a momentum of itself. And if it goes down a second time, then it becomes very difficult to resuscitate [it]," he says.
For investors, a double-dip, if it materializes, would be a throwback to 2008, with a floundering economy punishing stock returns. Jeff Tjornehoj, Lipper's research manager for the United States and Canada, says the Dow Jones industrial average could touch 9,000 by the close of 2010. "Is it reasonable to expect it? I think it's reasonable to put some odds on it," he says.
With that in mind, U.S. News has examined eight phenomena which, given the right conditions, could send the economy--and the financial markets--reeling.
Unemployment. In the aftermath of a recession that wiped out 8 million jobs, the lackluster labor market has perhaps been the biggest thorn in the side of a sustainable economic recovery. June's job report, which is due out Friday, will likely dampen the mood even further. Notably, the consensus prediction is that the report will indicate the economy shed jobs for the first time since last year. In 2008 and 2009, payrolls contracted in 23 out of the 24 months, but year-to-date through May, each month had seen positive jobs growth. Still, the losses expected in Friday's report will largely stem from a drawdown in the number of census workers employed by the federal government. Since these jobs were always expected to be temporary, their disappearance from the payrolls isn't much of a negative indicator. The bigger problem, economists say, is that even in months in which there was net job creation, the rate of growth has been too slow. Without robust job creation in the coming months, the weak labor market could help thrust the economy into a double-dip recession. "By the end of 2011, we can get into the low teens if things really come apart," Morici says of the unemployment rate.
Housing. In early 2009, President Obama introduced a first-time home buyer tax credit of $8,000 that was later extended to any qualified buyers who signed a sales contract by April 30 of this year. That tax credit, like other stimulus programs, has expired, and it's left many experts wondering whether or not the upsurge in home buying will continue. So far, the numbers don't look promising. Sales of new homes in May fell to an all-time low since numbers were first recorded in 1963. The concern is that now that the tax credit has expired, where will the demand come from? "We have a bit of an unknown ahead," says Keith Gumbinger of HSH.com. "To the extent that that falloff in demand diminishes economic growth, we pull ourselves a little bit closer to what could be the double-dip scenario." Chances are, prospective home buyers rushed to sign contracts before the tax credit deadline, so Gumbinger is concerned that demand could slow over the next few months.
Expiration of stimulus. One of Obama's first acts as president was to authorize a massive stimulus package that cost $787 billion. It included a number of provisions that were intended to help jumpstart the economy. Some economists are concerned that the stimulus plan is the only thing driving GDP growth in the United States. "Absent fiscal and monetary stimulus, there's been no recovery; it's been at best an ['L-shaped'] recovery, not a ['V-shaped'] recovery, except for the sugar rush of stimulus. " says Rob Arnott, chairman of Research Affiliates. "When you give a kid with ADHD a big bowl of M&Ms, they get a sugar rush, and if you take away the bowl of M&Ms, they get a sugar crash. So what we have is an economy on a sugar rush." With many stimulus programs wearing off, there are concerns that the private sector is not ready to support itself yet.
Spending cuts. At last week's G-20 summit, countries from around the world pledged to cut their deficits over time. Everyone agrees that it's a noble goal, but experts are torn over when it's appropriate to begin cutting spending. Many countries in Europe, most notably Greece and Spain, have already begun instituting austerity programs (through a combination of spending cuts and tax hikes) because of their enormous budget deficits. Here in the United States, deficit hawks voted down a bill last week that would have extended unemployment benefits and offered some aid to state and local governments. Politicians in developed nations are caught choosing between cutting spending now to begin to chip away at their massive deficits and risk stunting growth, or authorizing further stimulus to pump life back into the fragile global recovery. "The question is how long is it appropriate for the authorities to hold off before engaging," says Brian Gendreau, market strategist for Financial Network. "It's a danger of getting what you wish for." It's estimated that over the next year, spending cuts throughout the developed world will chop a full percentage point off of GDP growth, according to Gendreau. That's a big number given that many European countries are projected to grow at a very slow rate.
Tax hikes. Most experts say it's not a question of whether taxes will go up in the United States, it's more a question of when. The Bush tax cuts will expire at the end of the year. If they lapse, taxes will go up. Research has shown that there is a 3 to 1 ratio that can be applied to how tax hikes affect GDP growth, according to Arnott. For instance, if taxes go up by 1 percent of GDP, then GDP will fall by 3 percent. When the tax cuts expire, Arnott says, that will be equivalent to a 2 percent jump in taxes as a percentage of GDP. That means GDP growth next year should be 6 percent lower than it would be without the tax hike. "So that is really the big issue that we think creates a catalyst which can make a second dip pretty high odds and reasonably imminent," he says.
Consumer confidence. A recent report by the Conference Board shows that consumer confidence is plummeting. In June, the group's Consumer Confidence Index dropped by nearly 10 points, its second-biggest one-month decrease in a year. The report also shows that consumers' assessments of their current situations and their future job prospects are turning increasingly negative. This has touched off concerns that a skeptical consumer base could stand in the way of a recovery. Still, Lynn Franco, director of the Consumer Research Center at the Conference Board, says she hasn't seen evidence that sentiment is bad enough to spark a double-dip recession. "It doesn't look like it's an indication of a double-dip. It's really just the fact that until consumers see more proof--and that being more growth in the labor market--we're likely to continue at these levels," she says. Also, consumer confidence is by no means easy to measure. Just a few days before the Conference Board released its numbers, a Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey indicated that consumers are actually quite content. In stark contrast to the Conference Board's results, this survey showed consumer sentiment at its best levels since January 2008.
Consumer spending. Poor consumer sentiment generally translates into stagnant spending levels. Recent data from the Commerce Department suggests that Americans are dialing back their spending and tucking more money away in savings accounts. Notably, spending levels increased by a meager 0.2 percent in May, and chances are good that more substantial growth is a ways off. "The fact that confidence is so low, the fact that consumers are concerned about the labor market outlook--and combine that with the fact that regarding their incomes, the pessimists still outnumber the optimists--it doesn't suggest that there's going to be any significant pickup in spending in the near term," says Franco. To complicate matters, the stock market's recent plunge may put a further strain on spending. "It might affect people's psychological views, particularly for people in a position of influence in business as to whether they want to expand--or whether consumers spend," says Tjornehoj.
European debt crisis. For the time being, the European Union faces the most imminent sovereign debt threat. Spain, Portugal, and Greece have all seen their debt downgraded in recent months. Greek debt is now valued at "junk" status. To calm fears throughout the world that Greece could potentially default on its debt, members of the European Union have set up a $1 trillion bailout fund. Still, this fund doesn't guarantee that countries like Greece will be able to fix their budget woes, and that has implications for the state of the U.S. economy. "It weighs a lot on the financial system because what we're really talking about is the health of European banks, and our banks are going to have a lot of exposure to them," Tjornehoj says.
Monday, July 5, 2010
The Declaration of Independence
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
— John Hancock
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Saul Alinsky and DNC Corruption
Saul Alinsky and DNC Corruption
Diane Alden
Jan. 7, 2003
Saul Alinsky died in 1972. He was a Marxist grassroots organizer who spent much of his life organizing rent strikes and protesting conditions of the poor in Chicago in the 1930s. However, unlike Christian socialist and activist for the poor Dorothy Day, Alinsky's real claim to fame was as strategist for anti-establishment '60s radicals and revolutionaries.
Indeed, Alinsky wrote the rule book for '60s radicals like Bill and Hillary Clinton, George Miller and Nancy Pelosi. He considered Hillary Rodham to be one of his better students and asked her to join him in his efforts as an organizer of radical leftist causes. But Hillary had other fish to fry on her climb to national prominence.
Alinsky had a true genius for formulating tactical battle plans for the radical left. He wrote two books outlining his organizational principles and strategies: "Reveille for Radicals" (1946) and "Rules for Radicals" (1971).
"Rules for Radicals" begins with an unusual tribute: "From all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins – or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom – Lucifer."
The devil challenged authority and got his own kingdom, and that goes to the heart of what left is really about. That of course is to get power any way you can, including lying, cheating and stealing. The ultimate rule is that the ends justify the means.
Alinsky asserted that he was more concerned with the acquisition of power than anything else: "My aim here is to suggest how to organize for power: how to get it and how to use it." This is not to be done with assistance to the poor, nor even by organizing the poor to demand assistance: "[E]ven if all the low-income parts of our population were organized ... it would not be powerful enough to get significant, basic, needed changes."
Alinsky advises his followers that the poor have no power and that the real target is the middle class: "Organization for action will now and in the decade ahead center upon America's white middle class. That is where the power is. ... Our rebels have contemptuously rejected the values and the way of life of the middle class. They have stigmatized it as materialistic, decadent, bourgeois, degenerate, imperialistic, war-mongering, brutalized and corrupt. They are right; but we must begin from where we are if we are to build power for change, and the power and the people are in the middle class majority."
But that didn't stop Alinsky and his followers from using the middle class for their own purposes. They counted on the guilt and shame of the white middle class to get what they wanted. In order to take over institutions and get power, the middle class had to be convinced that they were somehow lucky winners in "life's lottery."
Alinsky's radicals found a perfect vehicle for their destruction of the American system and more particularly for taking and maintaining power. That instrument was the Democratic Party.
Transition and Transaction
The transition of the old Democratic Party to what exists today should not surprise or confound conservatives. Nor should Alinsky's tactics seem foreign. After all, for nearly 40 years, Republicans and the conservative agenda have been getting hammered by the left through the successful use of Alinsky tactics.
In that cause, radicals and the liberal-left gravitated toward the print and electronic media, toward the university professorate and the law. The left, consciously or unconsciously, adopted Alinsky's rules. The impact changed the nature of the Democratic Party and the direction of the United States. Increasingly, the left is succeeding in changing the nature of the Republican Party as well.
Suffice to say the greatest change has taken place in the relationship between the state and the individual. America is rapidly descending from a representative Constitutional Republic to a collectivist empire controlled by elites of one sort or another.
Alinsky's influence on the modern Democratic Party indicates that the ends do indeed justify the means. As Alinsky states in "Rules for Radicals" it was foolish to believe that means are just as important as the ends. He states that "to believe in the immaculate conception of ends and principles ... the practical revolutionary will understand ... [that] in action, one does not always enjoy the luxury of a decision that is consistent both with one's individual conscience and the good of mankind."
Sadly, not enough Republicans and conservatives learned Alinsky's rules until late in the game. A sign of hope is the fact that the new media, including talk radio and the Internet, are changing all that. One can hope it is not too late.
In any event, Alinsky's rules include:
"Wherever possible go outside the experience of the enemy. Here you want to cause confusion, fear and retreat."
"Make the enemy live up to his/her own book of rules. You can kill them with this. They can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity."
"Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also, it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage."
"The threat is generally more terrifying than the thing itself."
"In a fight almost anything goes. It almost reaches the point where you stop to apologize if a chance blow lands above the belt."
"Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and polarize it." (Think Gingrich, Lott and the success of name-calling used by the likes of Bill Clinton, Paul Begala, James Carville, Maxine Waters and others against conservatives and Republicans. Think of how Clinton "enemies" like Paula Jones or Linda Tripp were treated.)
"One of the criteria for picking the target is the target's vulnerability ... the other important point in the choosing of a target is that it must be a personification, not something general and abstract." (Trent Lott comes to mind. Meanwhile, a former Klansman by the name of Sen. Robert Byrd got away with saying "nigger" on Fox News at least three times, and he still maintains his Senate seat and power.)
"The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength." For instance, Democrats imply conservatives are racists or that Republicans want to kill senior citizens by limiting the growth of the Medicare system, they imply Republicans want to deny kids lunch money without offering real proof. These red-herring tactics work.
Of course, Republicans reaction to all this is to immediately go on the defensive. Seldom do they unleash their pit bull orators or strategists. Rather than use the immense amount of data available to prove the conservative case, Republicans tug their forelocks, say "yes sir," and hope the accusations and name calling will go away.
Why is it that Republicans consistently fail to point out the monumental failures of the new Democrats? Failures such as the massive disaster that is the "war on poverty." On that topic alone Republicans should be drilling the public in every media venue and at every opportunity. Then and only then should Republicans offer alternatives to the failed policies of the Democratic left.
Republicans should pound relentlessly on the fact that the Democratic Party was hijacked by leftist reactionaries way back in the early '70s. The reactionary left is the obstructionist left. They do nothing but defend and cling to the failures of the past. That fact makes them reactionaries rather than radicals or progressives.
Unfortunately, Republicans still pretend that nothing has changed regarding the basic philosophy of the political parties. They refuse to understand the horrendous notion that Democrats tell us the U.S. Constitution is flexible. That means the rule of law is flexible. If that is the case the law and the Constitution mean nothing. It means that the law and Constitution are twisted by the whims and fancies of the moment.
In fact, in the 2000 election Al Gore maintained the Constitution could and should be manipulated because it was "flexible." Whatever happened to the amendment process?
Bill Clinton used executive orders to circumvent Congress and the Constitution. He used the agencies of the federal government against his enemies. Clinton set an extremely dangerous precedent. Alinsky would have loved it. It is a perfect example of the use of the Rules for Radicals – ends justify the means.
Hillary and Bill Clinton and other powerful former '60s radicals learned from Saul Alinsky. It is about time that a few more Republicans and/or conservatives did as well.
Alinsky in South Dakota
Remember that Alinsky's advice was that the ends justify the means. Think of Florida in 2000 and the manipulation of military ballots. Think of Milwaukee and unattended polling places, which allowed leftist college students to take handfuls of ballots to check off. Think of a million immigrants in the 1996 election granted instant voting rights by the Clinton administration.
More importantly, think of South Dakota in November of 2002, or Nevada in 1998 or 2002.
In a brilliant bit of investigative reporting, National Review's Byron York gave us a grand overview of the corrupt and unpleasant outline of how Alinsky's rules work during election season. Republicans, once again asleep at the switch, live in the land of euphoria. They still believe that their Democratic counterparts are among the angels on God's right.
Considering that Alinsky expresses admiration for Lucifer, they are looking in the wrong place to find many modern Democrats. Republicans still assume that the modern Democratic Party, its media sycophants, its operatives during national or state elections, will play fair. It is hard to say which is worse, Republican naïveté' or Democratic cheating and law breaking.
When Democrats cheat, especially under Bill Clinton's and Terry McAuliffe's watch, they whine when they discover they didn't cheat enough to win. When they are caught in the big lies, they expect Republicans to ignore it and give them a pass. The last election in South Dakota is a case in point.
In the primaries and election of 2002, lawyers from Washington started showing up at polling places in the hinterlands of South Dakota. The Republican leadership and the establishment should have seen it coming but they didn't.
As Byron York relates in "Badlands, Bad Votes": "On Election Day, Noma Sazama knew something unusual was going on the moment she arrived at her polling place, the St. Thomas Parish Hall in Mission, South Dakota. Sazama, a member of the local election board, noticed several strangers in the room – an unusual sight in Mission, population 904, where most people know one another. It turned out the strangers were all lawyers, Democrats who had come to town to serve as poll watchers for the race between incumbent Democratic senator Tim Johnson and Republican John Thune. One was from Washington, D.C., another was from New York City, and a third was from California. 'There were no locals, and I've never seen that happen before,' says Sazama, who has lived in the area for 73 years."
Furthermore, York maintains, "The Democratic team of lawyers confiscated the Parish Hall kitchen only a few feet from the balloting tables."
Witnesses swore in affidavits that party hacks had rented dozens of vans and hired drivers to bring voters to the polls. Lawyers from elsewhere made the Parish Hall their headquarters. Seventy-three-year-old Ms. Sazama stated, "They had the names and time-of-pickup and whether someone voted on them, and from those he would contact the drivers."
Finally she understood that the influx of outside Democrats were going to use the polling place as their headquarters, an action which is against the laws of South Dakota.
The lawyers tied up the phones, which meant that the poll watchers and election officials could not make needed phone calls. York quotes the election supervisor: "They were on the phone using it to call I don't know where, and I needed to call because we had some new districting. They were always talking on it."
When Wanless, the election supervisor, protested, she got a chilly reaction from the out-of-towners. "I felt like they were trying to intimidate me," she recalls.
In fact, all this is against South Dakota law, which states: "No person may, in any polling place or within or on any building in which a polling place is located or within one hundred feet from any entrance leading into a polling place, maintain an office or communications center. ..."
There were no Republican lawyers or authorities around to inform election officials that it was against the law for the Democrats to be running their campaign from a polling place. That was bad enough, but ever since November Republicans have failed dismally to make it a BIG national issue.
There was also complete failure to understand Alinsky's second basic rule: "Wherever possible go outside the experience of the enemy. Here you want to cause confusion, fear and retreat." The DNC counted on the locals being intimidated by a gang of high-priced lawyers – and of course they were.
Another Alinsky rule used in the November elections in South Dakota: "In a fight almost anything goes. It almost reaches the point where you stop to apologize if a chance blow lands above the belt." In other words, what you do is count on the failure of will by your opponent to call a foul. The opponent usually believes it is easier to do nothing, it is always easier to do nothing, and so Republicans "move on."
That is the kind of apathy Hitler's forces counted on in the Weimar Republic. The end-justifies-the-means cabal figures that even good people find it easier to do nothing.
In South Dakota, lawyers from diverse places were part of a brigade that the DNC uses to "ensure voters' rights are protected." But as York relates, "According to the testimony of dozens of South Dakotans who worked at the polls, the out-of-state attorneys engaged in illegal electioneering, pressured poll workers to accept questionable ballots, and forced polling places in a heavily Democratic area to stay open for an hour past their previously-announced closing time. In addition, the testimony contains evidence of people being allowed to vote with little or no identification, of incorrectly marked ballots being counted as Democratic votes, of absentee ballots being counted without proper signatures, and, most serious of all, of voters who were paid to cast their ballots for Sen. Johnson."
According to some witnesses, Democrats were also running car pools out of polling places on the Indian reservations, where investigators are discovering that the dead Indian vote had a major impact on the slim, last- minute, 524-vote Tim Johnson victory over John Thune.
Affidavits from South Dakotans also indicate that money probably changed hands in crucial areas in the boonies. It was not gas money for van drivers either, but paying per head per vote – shades of Tammany Hall and the elections in Boston wards. Nonetheless, Republicans have decided to "move on."
To get the entire story, including affidavits sworn to by South Dakota residents, read York's November article in National Review Online.
Alinsky Does Nevada
When I worked at Nevada Policy Institute in Nevada several years ago, the Post-election analysis of the 1998 election uncovered the fact that family pets received absentee ballots in crucial districts. Dead people were counted as well.
Democratic Senator Harry Reid's slim, 428-vote win against Republican John Ensign raised eyebrows and the juices of some who understand how the modern DNC and its phalanx of wheelers and dealers, lawyers and opportunists really work.
A part of the tactic includes breaking the law when you can and where you can get away with it. Remember, in the minds of the hijacked Democratic Party the ends do indeed justify the Luciferian means.
In Nevada on Dec. 24, 2002, the FBI seized ballots cast in primary and general elections. Said Daron Borst, FBI special agent in Las Vegas, "There is an ongoing investigation into election fraud, but I can't go into any details due to the nature of the investigation."
Ballots were taken after a complaint was lodged that 85 voters in tiny Eureka county did not live in that county or were long dead. The Eureka County probe marked the second time this year the FBI has become involved in a county election in Nevada.
As in South Dakota, it is much easier to get away with election fraud where people don't know the law or will not enforce the law or they are intimidated by the chutzpah and law breaking of crooks in Armani suits holding credentials from the Democratic National Committee.
Unfortunately, when Republicans don't pay attention to the corruption and allow themselves to get screwed time and again, they are also in league with the devil. By this failure of will, the sins of omission are as evil as sins of commission.
Voting fraud was rampant in 2000 and again in 2002 and it will be more so in 2004. Why aren't Republican lawmakers and the RNC making sure this does not happen again? In 2002, Terry McAuliffe told the world that Democratic lawyers would be out in the states keeping an eye on things. They did more than that and it was against the law.
The failure of Republicans to impose the rule of law on the cheaters, liars and manipulators allows those who use Alinsky's corrupt system to win. That fact tells us that the voting process means as little to our elites as does the Constitution.
Because of that fact, Republicans will lose future elections. More importantly, the people of the United States will lose.
The RNC and the GOP leadership just don't get it. Otherwise they would care enough to do something about it. http://is.gd/ddDM3
Diane Alden
Jan. 7, 2003
Saul Alinsky died in 1972. He was a Marxist grassroots organizer who spent much of his life organizing rent strikes and protesting conditions of the poor in Chicago in the 1930s. However, unlike Christian socialist and activist for the poor Dorothy Day, Alinsky's real claim to fame was as strategist for anti-establishment '60s radicals and revolutionaries.
Indeed, Alinsky wrote the rule book for '60s radicals like Bill and Hillary Clinton, George Miller and Nancy Pelosi. He considered Hillary Rodham to be one of his better students and asked her to join him in his efforts as an organizer of radical leftist causes. But Hillary had other fish to fry on her climb to national prominence.
Alinsky had a true genius for formulating tactical battle plans for the radical left. He wrote two books outlining his organizational principles and strategies: "Reveille for Radicals" (1946) and "Rules for Radicals" (1971).
"Rules for Radicals" begins with an unusual tribute: "From all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins – or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom – Lucifer."
The devil challenged authority and got his own kingdom, and that goes to the heart of what left is really about. That of course is to get power any way you can, including lying, cheating and stealing. The ultimate rule is that the ends justify the means.
Alinsky asserted that he was more concerned with the acquisition of power than anything else: "My aim here is to suggest how to organize for power: how to get it and how to use it." This is not to be done with assistance to the poor, nor even by organizing the poor to demand assistance: "[E]ven if all the low-income parts of our population were organized ... it would not be powerful enough to get significant, basic, needed changes."
Alinsky advises his followers that the poor have no power and that the real target is the middle class: "Organization for action will now and in the decade ahead center upon America's white middle class. That is where the power is. ... Our rebels have contemptuously rejected the values and the way of life of the middle class. They have stigmatized it as materialistic, decadent, bourgeois, degenerate, imperialistic, war-mongering, brutalized and corrupt. They are right; but we must begin from where we are if we are to build power for change, and the power and the people are in the middle class majority."
But that didn't stop Alinsky and his followers from using the middle class for their own purposes. They counted on the guilt and shame of the white middle class to get what they wanted. In order to take over institutions and get power, the middle class had to be convinced that they were somehow lucky winners in "life's lottery."
Alinsky's radicals found a perfect vehicle for their destruction of the American system and more particularly for taking and maintaining power. That instrument was the Democratic Party.
Transition and Transaction
The transition of the old Democratic Party to what exists today should not surprise or confound conservatives. Nor should Alinsky's tactics seem foreign. After all, for nearly 40 years, Republicans and the conservative agenda have been getting hammered by the left through the successful use of Alinsky tactics.
In that cause, radicals and the liberal-left gravitated toward the print and electronic media, toward the university professorate and the law. The left, consciously or unconsciously, adopted Alinsky's rules. The impact changed the nature of the Democratic Party and the direction of the United States. Increasingly, the left is succeeding in changing the nature of the Republican Party as well.
Suffice to say the greatest change has taken place in the relationship between the state and the individual. America is rapidly descending from a representative Constitutional Republic to a collectivist empire controlled by elites of one sort or another.
Alinsky's influence on the modern Democratic Party indicates that the ends do indeed justify the means. As Alinsky states in "Rules for Radicals" it was foolish to believe that means are just as important as the ends. He states that "to believe in the immaculate conception of ends and principles ... the practical revolutionary will understand ... [that] in action, one does not always enjoy the luxury of a decision that is consistent both with one's individual conscience and the good of mankind."
Sadly, not enough Republicans and conservatives learned Alinsky's rules until late in the game. A sign of hope is the fact that the new media, including talk radio and the Internet, are changing all that. One can hope it is not too late.
In any event, Alinsky's rules include:
"Wherever possible go outside the experience of the enemy. Here you want to cause confusion, fear and retreat."
"Make the enemy live up to his/her own book of rules. You can kill them with this. They can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity."
"Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also, it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage."
"The threat is generally more terrifying than the thing itself."
"In a fight almost anything goes. It almost reaches the point where you stop to apologize if a chance blow lands above the belt."
"Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and polarize it." (Think Gingrich, Lott and the success of name-calling used by the likes of Bill Clinton, Paul Begala, James Carville, Maxine Waters and others against conservatives and Republicans. Think of how Clinton "enemies" like Paula Jones or Linda Tripp were treated.)
"One of the criteria for picking the target is the target's vulnerability ... the other important point in the choosing of a target is that it must be a personification, not something general and abstract." (Trent Lott comes to mind. Meanwhile, a former Klansman by the name of Sen. Robert Byrd got away with saying "nigger" on Fox News at least three times, and he still maintains his Senate seat and power.)
"The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength." For instance, Democrats imply conservatives are racists or that Republicans want to kill senior citizens by limiting the growth of the Medicare system, they imply Republicans want to deny kids lunch money without offering real proof. These red-herring tactics work.
Of course, Republicans reaction to all this is to immediately go on the defensive. Seldom do they unleash their pit bull orators or strategists. Rather than use the immense amount of data available to prove the conservative case, Republicans tug their forelocks, say "yes sir," and hope the accusations and name calling will go away.
Why is it that Republicans consistently fail to point out the monumental failures of the new Democrats? Failures such as the massive disaster that is the "war on poverty." On that topic alone Republicans should be drilling the public in every media venue and at every opportunity. Then and only then should Republicans offer alternatives to the failed policies of the Democratic left.
Republicans should pound relentlessly on the fact that the Democratic Party was hijacked by leftist reactionaries way back in the early '70s. The reactionary left is the obstructionist left. They do nothing but defend and cling to the failures of the past. That fact makes them reactionaries rather than radicals or progressives.
Unfortunately, Republicans still pretend that nothing has changed regarding the basic philosophy of the political parties. They refuse to understand the horrendous notion that Democrats tell us the U.S. Constitution is flexible. That means the rule of law is flexible. If that is the case the law and the Constitution mean nothing. It means that the law and Constitution are twisted by the whims and fancies of the moment.
In fact, in the 2000 election Al Gore maintained the Constitution could and should be manipulated because it was "flexible." Whatever happened to the amendment process?
Bill Clinton used executive orders to circumvent Congress and the Constitution. He used the agencies of the federal government against his enemies. Clinton set an extremely dangerous precedent. Alinsky would have loved it. It is a perfect example of the use of the Rules for Radicals – ends justify the means.
Hillary and Bill Clinton and other powerful former '60s radicals learned from Saul Alinsky. It is about time that a few more Republicans and/or conservatives did as well.
Alinsky in South Dakota
Remember that Alinsky's advice was that the ends justify the means. Think of Florida in 2000 and the manipulation of military ballots. Think of Milwaukee and unattended polling places, which allowed leftist college students to take handfuls of ballots to check off. Think of a million immigrants in the 1996 election granted instant voting rights by the Clinton administration.
More importantly, think of South Dakota in November of 2002, or Nevada in 1998 or 2002.
In a brilliant bit of investigative reporting, National Review's Byron York gave us a grand overview of the corrupt and unpleasant outline of how Alinsky's rules work during election season. Republicans, once again asleep at the switch, live in the land of euphoria. They still believe that their Democratic counterparts are among the angels on God's right.
Considering that Alinsky expresses admiration for Lucifer, they are looking in the wrong place to find many modern Democrats. Republicans still assume that the modern Democratic Party, its media sycophants, its operatives during national or state elections, will play fair. It is hard to say which is worse, Republican naïveté' or Democratic cheating and law breaking.
When Democrats cheat, especially under Bill Clinton's and Terry McAuliffe's watch, they whine when they discover they didn't cheat enough to win. When they are caught in the big lies, they expect Republicans to ignore it and give them a pass. The last election in South Dakota is a case in point.
In the primaries and election of 2002, lawyers from Washington started showing up at polling places in the hinterlands of South Dakota. The Republican leadership and the establishment should have seen it coming but they didn't.
As Byron York relates in "Badlands, Bad Votes": "On Election Day, Noma Sazama knew something unusual was going on the moment she arrived at her polling place, the St. Thomas Parish Hall in Mission, South Dakota. Sazama, a member of the local election board, noticed several strangers in the room – an unusual sight in Mission, population 904, where most people know one another. It turned out the strangers were all lawyers, Democrats who had come to town to serve as poll watchers for the race between incumbent Democratic senator Tim Johnson and Republican John Thune. One was from Washington, D.C., another was from New York City, and a third was from California. 'There were no locals, and I've never seen that happen before,' says Sazama, who has lived in the area for 73 years."
Furthermore, York maintains, "The Democratic team of lawyers confiscated the Parish Hall kitchen only a few feet from the balloting tables."
Witnesses swore in affidavits that party hacks had rented dozens of vans and hired drivers to bring voters to the polls. Lawyers from elsewhere made the Parish Hall their headquarters. Seventy-three-year-old Ms. Sazama stated, "They had the names and time-of-pickup and whether someone voted on them, and from those he would contact the drivers."
Finally she understood that the influx of outside Democrats were going to use the polling place as their headquarters, an action which is against the laws of South Dakota.
The lawyers tied up the phones, which meant that the poll watchers and election officials could not make needed phone calls. York quotes the election supervisor: "They were on the phone using it to call I don't know where, and I needed to call because we had some new districting. They were always talking on it."
When Wanless, the election supervisor, protested, she got a chilly reaction from the out-of-towners. "I felt like they were trying to intimidate me," she recalls.
In fact, all this is against South Dakota law, which states: "No person may, in any polling place or within or on any building in which a polling place is located or within one hundred feet from any entrance leading into a polling place, maintain an office or communications center. ..."
There were no Republican lawyers or authorities around to inform election officials that it was against the law for the Democrats to be running their campaign from a polling place. That was bad enough, but ever since November Republicans have failed dismally to make it a BIG national issue.
There was also complete failure to understand Alinsky's second basic rule: "Wherever possible go outside the experience of the enemy. Here you want to cause confusion, fear and retreat." The DNC counted on the locals being intimidated by a gang of high-priced lawyers – and of course they were.
Another Alinsky rule used in the November elections in South Dakota: "In a fight almost anything goes. It almost reaches the point where you stop to apologize if a chance blow lands above the belt." In other words, what you do is count on the failure of will by your opponent to call a foul. The opponent usually believes it is easier to do nothing, it is always easier to do nothing, and so Republicans "move on."
That is the kind of apathy Hitler's forces counted on in the Weimar Republic. The end-justifies-the-means cabal figures that even good people find it easier to do nothing.
In South Dakota, lawyers from diverse places were part of a brigade that the DNC uses to "ensure voters' rights are protected." But as York relates, "According to the testimony of dozens of South Dakotans who worked at the polls, the out-of-state attorneys engaged in illegal electioneering, pressured poll workers to accept questionable ballots, and forced polling places in a heavily Democratic area to stay open for an hour past their previously-announced closing time. In addition, the testimony contains evidence of people being allowed to vote with little or no identification, of incorrectly marked ballots being counted as Democratic votes, of absentee ballots being counted without proper signatures, and, most serious of all, of voters who were paid to cast their ballots for Sen. Johnson."
According to some witnesses, Democrats were also running car pools out of polling places on the Indian reservations, where investigators are discovering that the dead Indian vote had a major impact on the slim, last- minute, 524-vote Tim Johnson victory over John Thune.
Affidavits from South Dakotans also indicate that money probably changed hands in crucial areas in the boonies. It was not gas money for van drivers either, but paying per head per vote – shades of Tammany Hall and the elections in Boston wards. Nonetheless, Republicans have decided to "move on."
To get the entire story, including affidavits sworn to by South Dakota residents, read York's November article in National Review Online.
Alinsky Does Nevada
When I worked at Nevada Policy Institute in Nevada several years ago, the Post-election analysis of the 1998 election uncovered the fact that family pets received absentee ballots in crucial districts. Dead people were counted as well.
Democratic Senator Harry Reid's slim, 428-vote win against Republican John Ensign raised eyebrows and the juices of some who understand how the modern DNC and its phalanx of wheelers and dealers, lawyers and opportunists really work.
A part of the tactic includes breaking the law when you can and where you can get away with it. Remember, in the minds of the hijacked Democratic Party the ends do indeed justify the Luciferian means.
In Nevada on Dec. 24, 2002, the FBI seized ballots cast in primary and general elections. Said Daron Borst, FBI special agent in Las Vegas, "There is an ongoing investigation into election fraud, but I can't go into any details due to the nature of the investigation."
Ballots were taken after a complaint was lodged that 85 voters in tiny Eureka county did not live in that county or were long dead. The Eureka County probe marked the second time this year the FBI has become involved in a county election in Nevada.
As in South Dakota, it is much easier to get away with election fraud where people don't know the law or will not enforce the law or they are intimidated by the chutzpah and law breaking of crooks in Armani suits holding credentials from the Democratic National Committee.
Unfortunately, when Republicans don't pay attention to the corruption and allow themselves to get screwed time and again, they are also in league with the devil. By this failure of will, the sins of omission are as evil as sins of commission.
Voting fraud was rampant in 2000 and again in 2002 and it will be more so in 2004. Why aren't Republican lawmakers and the RNC making sure this does not happen again? In 2002, Terry McAuliffe told the world that Democratic lawyers would be out in the states keeping an eye on things. They did more than that and it was against the law.
The failure of Republicans to impose the rule of law on the cheaters, liars and manipulators allows those who use Alinsky's corrupt system to win. That fact tells us that the voting process means as little to our elites as does the Constitution.
Because of that fact, Republicans will lose future elections. More importantly, the people of the United States will lose.
The RNC and the GOP leadership just don't get it. Otherwise they would care enough to do something about it. http://is.gd/ddDM3
Friday, July 2, 2010
British soldier shot in face
As British soldiers were engaging the Talibans in a firefight, the action was being filmed by one of their soldiers with a head cam. The patrol from 1st Battalion, Mercian Regiment comes into contact with the enemy.
Lance Corporal Adam Smith is laying down fire with his squad automatic weapon and gets hit in the face. The rest of the squad reacts and are able to repel the Taliban's ambush. L/Cpl Smith survives his wounds and continues the fight within 48 hours.
To read the article from The Sun : http://is.gd/dcRR0
Lance Corporal Adam Smith is laying down fire with his squad automatic weapon and gets hit in the face. The rest of the squad reacts and are able to repel the Taliban's ambush. L/Cpl Smith survives his wounds and continues the fight within 48 hours.
To read the article from The Sun : http://is.gd/dcRR0
Dim Light - Nancy Pelosi
Unemployment creates jobs.
HUH??? Is this Progressive nuts...how does unemployment creat jobs??? All unemployment does is extend the period in which people will not have jobs...
Obama Hood
OK, get ready America! Here comes the 'hope and change' that the drones are giving us. These Libturd do-gooders wanted to help out all those that they believed were poor or in poverty, but with one caveat. They wanted to do this with other peoples money. You could hear them saying that those rich people should pay for it. They are going to find out that in the ladder of life, on which rung that you are on, there will be many higher then you but don't look below. They will see that their are many more there and are looking at them with possible envy.
Obama is going to make everyone pay. The rich will lose some of their capital but most should survive. The poor have nothing so they stand to continue in their nanny-state lives. The middle-class will suffer the most, depending on which end of that spectrum one stands. This will cause some to drop into poverty and some hang on to some of their wealth. America will become like all the Socialist countries of the world with their two tiers of the elites and the dependents. Which will you be?
Read about your taxes going higher :
Six Months to Go Until
The Largest Tax Hikes in History
From Ryan Ellis on Thursday, July 1, 2010 4:15 PM
In just six months, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect. They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves on January 1, 2011:
First Wave: Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief
In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families. These will all expire on January 1, 2011:
Personal income tax rates will rise. The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed). The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent. All the rates in between will also rise. Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates. The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:
- The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%
- The 25% bracket rises to 28%
- The 28% bracket rises to 31%
- The 33% bracket rises to 36%
- The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%
Higher taxes on marriage and family. The “marriage penalty” (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of income. The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child. The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level. The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut.
The return of the Death Tax. This year, there is no death tax. For those dying on or after January 1 2011, there is a 55 percent top death tax rate on estates over $1 million. A person leaving behind two homes and a retirement account could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones.
Higher tax rates on savers and investors. The capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 20 percent in 2011. The dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 39.6 percent in 2011. These rates will rise another 3.8 percent in 2013.
Second Wave: Obamacare
There are over twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare. Several will first go into effect on January 1, 2011. They include:
The “Medicine Cabinet Tax” Thanks to Obamacare, Americans will no longer be able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin).
The “Special Needs Kids Tax” This provision of Obamacare imposes a cap on flexible spending accounts (FSAs) of $2500 (Currently, there is no federal government limit). There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children. There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States, and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education. Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington, D.C. (National Child Research Center) can easily exceed $14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can be used to pay for this type of special needs education.
The HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike. This provision of Obamacare increases the additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.
Third Wave: The Alternative Minimum Tax and Employer Tax Hikes
When Americans prepare to file their tax returns in January of 2011, they’ll be in for a nasty surprise—the AMT won’t be held harmless, and many tax relief provisions will have expired. The major items include:
The AMT will ensnare over 28 million families, up from 4 million last year. According to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center, Congress’ failure to index the AMT will lead to an explosion of AMT taxpaying families—rising from 4 million last year to 28.5 million. These families will have to calculate their tax burdens twice, and pay taxes at the higher level. The AMT was created in 1969 to ensnare a handful of taxpayers.
Small business expensing will be slashed and 50% expensing will disappear. Small businesses can normally expense (rather than slowly-deduct, or “depreciate”) equipment purchases up to $250,000. This will be cut all the way down to $25,000. Larger businesses can expense half of their purchases of equipment. In January of 2011, all of it will have to be “depreciated.”
Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses. There are literally scores of tax hikes on business that will take place. The biggest is the loss of the “research and experimentation tax credit,” but there are many, many others. Combining high marginal tax rates with the loss of this tax relief will cost jobs.
Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced. The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available. Tax credits for education will be limited. Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses. Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut. Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed. The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed for hundreds of thousands of families.
Charitable Contributions from IRAs no longer allowed. Under current law, a retired person with an IRA can contribute up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA. This contribution also counts toward an annual “required minimum distribution.” This ability will no longer be there.
Read more: http://www.atr.org/six-months-untilbr-largest-tax-hikes-a5171##ixzz0sVqTAWUs
Obama is going to make everyone pay. The rich will lose some of their capital but most should survive. The poor have nothing so they stand to continue in their nanny-state lives. The middle-class will suffer the most, depending on which end of that spectrum one stands. This will cause some to drop into poverty and some hang on to some of their wealth. America will become like all the Socialist countries of the world with their two tiers of the elites and the dependents. Which will you be?
Read about your taxes going higher :
Six Months to Go Until
The Largest Tax Hikes in History
From Ryan Ellis on Thursday, July 1, 2010 4:15 PM
In just six months, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect. They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves on January 1, 2011:
First Wave: Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief
In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families. These will all expire on January 1, 2011:
Personal income tax rates will rise. The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed). The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent. All the rates in between will also rise. Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates. The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:
- The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%
- The 25% bracket rises to 28%
- The 28% bracket rises to 31%
- The 33% bracket rises to 36%
- The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%
Higher taxes on marriage and family. The “marriage penalty” (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of income. The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child. The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level. The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut.
The return of the Death Tax. This year, there is no death tax. For those dying on or after January 1 2011, there is a 55 percent top death tax rate on estates over $1 million. A person leaving behind two homes and a retirement account could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones.
Higher tax rates on savers and investors. The capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 20 percent in 2011. The dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 39.6 percent in 2011. These rates will rise another 3.8 percent in 2013.
Second Wave: Obamacare
There are over twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare. Several will first go into effect on January 1, 2011. They include:
The “Medicine Cabinet Tax” Thanks to Obamacare, Americans will no longer be able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin).
The “Special Needs Kids Tax” This provision of Obamacare imposes a cap on flexible spending accounts (FSAs) of $2500 (Currently, there is no federal government limit). There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children. There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States, and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education. Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington, D.C. (National Child Research Center) can easily exceed $14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can be used to pay for this type of special needs education.
The HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike. This provision of Obamacare increases the additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.
Third Wave: The Alternative Minimum Tax and Employer Tax Hikes
When Americans prepare to file their tax returns in January of 2011, they’ll be in for a nasty surprise—the AMT won’t be held harmless, and many tax relief provisions will have expired. The major items include:
The AMT will ensnare over 28 million families, up from 4 million last year. According to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center, Congress’ failure to index the AMT will lead to an explosion of AMT taxpaying families—rising from 4 million last year to 28.5 million. These families will have to calculate their tax burdens twice, and pay taxes at the higher level. The AMT was created in 1969 to ensnare a handful of taxpayers.
Small business expensing will be slashed and 50% expensing will disappear. Small businesses can normally expense (rather than slowly-deduct, or “depreciate”) equipment purchases up to $250,000. This will be cut all the way down to $25,000. Larger businesses can expense half of their purchases of equipment. In January of 2011, all of it will have to be “depreciated.”
Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses. There are literally scores of tax hikes on business that will take place. The biggest is the loss of the “research and experimentation tax credit,” but there are many, many others. Combining high marginal tax rates with the loss of this tax relief will cost jobs.
Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced. The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available. Tax credits for education will be limited. Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses. Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut. Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed. The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed for hundreds of thousands of families.
Charitable Contributions from IRAs no longer allowed. Under current law, a retired person with an IRA can contribute up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA. This contribution also counts toward an annual “required minimum distribution.” This ability will no longer be there.
Read more: http://www.atr.org/six-months-untilbr-largest-tax-hikes-a5171##ixzz0sVqTAWUs
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