Right Coast

George Soros- The United States Must Stop Resisting The Orderly Decline Of The Dollar and NWO

2012-01-30T21:40:00.001-08:00

Will Ron Paul win more delegates this week than Gingrich, Santorum?

2012-01-30T21:09:00.001-08:00

Ron Paul is likely to win more delegates to the 2012 GOP convention than either Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum this week. Wait. What? That's why he campaigned in Maine this weekend.

This week, Ron Paul is likely to win more delegates to the 2012 GOP convention than either Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum. In fact, he’s likely to win more delegates than Gingrich and Santorum combined.

Hold it”, you’re saying, “How can that be? Rep. Paul’s polling in single digits in Florida. He’s going to finish behind Gingrich and Santorum, as well as Mitt Romney, in Tuesday’s Florida primary. How can that translate into beating any of his rivals at all?”

We’ll tell you how – because he’s not winning those delegates in Florida. He’s winning, or will probably win, at least a few delegates in Maine.

Each Maine caucus is holding a presidential preference straw poll, the state-wide results of which will be announced February 11. This poll is non-binding. But each caucus is also starting the process of selecting delegates to the state and national GOP conventions. The Paul campaign is making a big push to get its people involved in politics at this level. It is highly likely that some Paul supporters won delegate slots over the weekend – news reports indicated that the Paul crowd was making a big pitch at some caucus sites.

Now Maine has only 24 delegates total, so it’s not like the Pine Tree State strategy is a springboard that will somersault Paul into the White House. Florida has 50 delegates, almost twice as many, despite the fact that it’s been penalized by the national GOP for advancing its primary.

But Florida is winner-take-all. That means, if Gingrich and Santorum finish behind Romney, as polls currently indicate they will, neither of them will win any delegates. Nada. Zip.

So Paul only had to score one more delegate in Maine this weekend to outperform them, convention-wise.Given that Maine Republicans tend to be more libertarian than socially conservative, and given that Paul actually campaigned there, we think that's a likely occurrence.

One commenter on the article said: "great story peter. I wish you would have mentioned the 564 delegates that Newt and Santorum can't win because they are not on the ballot in 5 states (which makes it almost impossible for them to win) but It was a good story none the less."

Georgia's Anna Watson Is College Football's Strongest Female Cheerleader

2012-01-30T20:30:00.000-08:00

It's one thing for professional athletes to have to make an ethical decision about using steroids, but college cheerleaders?

Anna Watson has to be America's strongest female cheerleader; the University of Georgia student loves spending time in the weight room, and it certainly shows. But she has more important things in her life: Watson passed up a big money fitness modeling contract because she refused to use a legal steroid.

"It’s an elite position to be a cheerleader at UGA," Watson told Red and Black, her school's award-winning student newspaper. "They have hundreds of girls try out, and to be selected out of all of those people to be on the team, it’s kind of a big deal. So those girls were very humble and gracious and patient to help me just learn the basic stuff."

Watson has been cheering since age 5. She can bench press 155 pounds, squat 255 pounds and dead lift 230 pounds. According to the school newspaper, she added an impressive four inches of muscles on her arms in just 10 months.

A deeply religious junior exercise and sports science major, Watson was on the brink of a $75,000 fitness-modeling contract that could have set her up for a lifetime career in modeling -- but she turned it down.

David Limbaugh has unapologetically endorsed Rick Santorum for President

2012-01-30T14:16:00.000-08:00

In the intense heat of the present, it is easy to forget even the relatively recent past, but it seems to me that this GOP primary season is more acrimonious than the past few, probably because the stakes are so high.

When I've noted that this is the most important presidential election of our lifetimes, a few excitability-resistant conservative friends have said, "They have been saying that about every election for more than a generation." My response to that is:

"Yes, and it's probably been true every time. As we march inexorably toward socialism by incremental steps, the need to elect political leaders to take steps to reverse it increases on a linear plane. But with President Obama, we're advancing not by incremental steps, but by giant leaps, hurtling toward statism with alarming alacrity. Every day that passes before we implement entitlement reform, for example, the geometric accumulation of vested benefits makes reform more imperative -- and more difficult. So yes, every national election of the past generation or so has probably been more important than the immediately preceding one, but 2012 is dramatically more urgent. Based on the cavalier manner with which Obama is lawlessly thwarting the Constitution and the people's will, it is hard to imagine what kind of tyrannical executive power grabs he'd try (and accomplish) if re-elected, even with an opposing Congress. We are already on autopilot to national bankruptcy, and if we don't
ram it into reverse soon, America as we have known it could be gone, at least for many years."

Conservatives are fighting among themselves about not just who the best candidate would be but also who is most electable. Sure, electability has always been an issue, but now some are saying that to support someone, it's essential not only that we show he is electable but also that he is the most electable. This amounts to replacing the "Buckley rule" -- that "we should support the most conservative candidate who is electable" -- with "we should support the most electable candidate, provided he is at least marginally conservative."

We saw a similar political calculus at work during the debt ceiling negotiations. Some argued that we couldn't buck Obama on his specious smoke-and-mirrors cuts, because to draw a line in the sand, even though correct in principle, could have been interpreted by the electorate as uncompromising and enhanced Obama's re-election efforts. Everything had to be focused on 2012.

Now many of the same people are telling us that we have to compromise on 2012, as well, that we can't support a candidate who is more conservative, even during the primary, because it would reduce our chances of defeating Obama.

I appreciate the concern, but the logical extension of this kind of thinking is that we all have to become mini political operatives, always engaging first in strategic political calculations and never voting our hearts. Such is the formula for sacrificing one's dreams and aspirations; such is the avenue toward fatalistic resignation, compromise and settling for less without even trying to push for your real goals; such is the formula for guaranteeing that we never elect another Ronald Reagan conservative.

I am the first to say that once the GOP nominee is chosen, we must unite around the candidate to defeat Barack Obama. Until then, I refuse to surrender to pressure to abandon my passion for true, reliable conservatism, especially from those whose idea of electability is highly debatable and from others whose assessment is hopelessly skewed by their own preferences.

In this volatile season, dark horses have skyrocketed to lead the field, and some might have remained there but for alleged scandals or other factors. I don't believe that the science of electability is as certain as those promoting it would have us believe. We can't even agree on whether the key is wooing the center or igniting the base. It is complex and fluid and largely unknowable. Even current polls hypothetically matching Obama against different candidates tell us very little, because the Democratic attack machine has yet to unleash its $1 billion assault on, say, Mitt Romney.

I reject the conventional wisdom that Rick Santorum could not win the general election, because I believe he represents the best contrast to Obama and is the least vulnerable to attack, among other reasons. I have varying concerns about the other candidates, but I respect their respective supporters and realize that some of them even believe their candidate is the most conservative of the group, though I disagree. I will support whoever emerges as the Republican nominee, but I do not apologize for supporting Rick Santorum.

Iran says it may halt oil sales to 'some countries'

2012-01-30T13:45:00.000-08:00

The dispute between Iran and the Western economies has escalated after Tehran warned it will stop oil sales to "some countries."

Rostam Qasemi, Iran's oil minister, said the curbs will be implemented soon but did not mention specific countries.

The warning comes just days after the European Union (EU) agreed to stop importing Iranian oil from 1 July.

The US and EU have been trying to target Iran's oil exports as part of sanctions against it.

"Soon we will cut exporting oil to some countries," Mr Qasemi was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA.

'Arm twisting'

The EU agreed to stop importing all oil from Iran on 23 January. However, the embargo is scheduled to come into place only on 1 July so that member states have enough time to find other sources of oil.

'Its own market'

Oil exports are one of the biggest sources of income for Iran. The US and EU have been trying to curb those in a bid to force Iran to agree to stop its nuclear programme.

The EU currently buys about 20% of Iran's oil exports. However, Iran's oil minister said that a cut in exports to the region will not hurt Tehran.

"Iranian oil has its own market, even if we cut our exports to Europe," Mr Qasemi said.

The biggest market for Iran's exports is Asia, with China, India, Japan and South Korea currently the biggest buyers of oil. The US has been trying to convince these nations to side with it, but so far Japan is the only country that has openly voiced its support.

Meanwhile, India has made it clear that it is not looking to reduce its supplies just yet.

Afghan Woman Allegedly Strangled to Death By Husband for…Giving Birth to a Girl

2012-01-30T13:02:00.001-08:00

This is absolutely horrible. Can someone please try to educate these stupid f*cks that it is the man's dna that determines the sex of a baby? Oh wait....they're too inbred and have too few brain cells to even comprehend science.

An Afghan woman has been strangled to death, apparently by her husband, who was upset that she gave birth to a second daughter rather than the son he wanted, police said Monday.

It was the latest in a series of grisly examples of subjugation of women that have made headlines in Afghanistan in the past few months – including a 15-year-old tortured and forced into prostitution by in-laws and a female rape victim who was imprisoned for adultery.

An Afghan woman wearing a burka walks in a street market in Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP / Rodrigo Abd)

The episodes have raised the question of what will happen to the push for women’s rights in Afghanistan as the international presence here shrinks along with the military drawdown. NATO forces are scheduled to pull out by the end of 2014.

In the 10 years since the ouster of the Taliban, great strides have been made for women in Afghanistan, with many attending school, working in offices and even sometimes marching in protests. But abuse and repression of women are still common, particularly in rural areas where women are still unlikely to set foot outside of the house without a burqa robe that covers them from head to toe.

The man in the latest case, Sher Mohammad, fled the Khanabad district in Kunduz province last week, about the time a neighbor found his 22-year-old wife dead in their house, said District Police Chief Sufi Habibullah. Medical examiners whom police brought to check the body said she had been strangled, Habibullah said.

Almost 400 arrested in Oakland Occupy protests

2012-01-30T08:58:00.000-08:00

Almost 400 people were arrested during a series of Occupy Oakland marches and protest actions Saturday that included a group breaking into and vandalizing City Hall, city officials said.

Mayor Jean Quan called the City Hall invasion "the crowning of the constant other vandalism we've had outside," guiding reporters on a tour of the damage.

In all, the demonstrators broke an interior window, upended and damaged historic architecture models believed to be more than 100 years old, destroyed glass casings, stole and burned two American flags and broke into the fire sprinkler and elevator control rooms, City Administrator Deanna Santana said.

Efforts to repair the damage were on track to have the building reopen for business as usual Monday morning, she added.

Saturday marked the single largest number of arrests in a day since Occupy Oakland began in October, a culmination of what both sides agreed is an increasingly tense standoff between protesters and police.

Police say the group's latest weekly marches have taken a much darker, more violent turn compared to earlier Occupy events. Protest organizers said police aggression is to blame, saying it prompts angrier responses from members of the community.

Demonstrators had spent the day Saturday trying to break into a convention center and temporarily occupying a YMCA, marching around lines of riot-clad police periodically shooting bean bag projectiles, among other

uses of nonlethal force.

Interim police Chief Howard Jordan said fewer than 200 officers had held off a group of more than 500 protesters trying to get into the vacant Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.

Saturday's clashes with police inspired solidarity marches Sunday by Occupy groups across the country, including those in New York, Philadelphia, Denver and Los Angeles, according to Occupy Oakland's website and Twitter comments and videos from protesters in those cities.

Occupy Oakland organizer Tim Simons said the most severe confrontation happened near the Museum of California, where he said police badly beat numerous protesters in "maybe the most serious clash I've personally seen in my life." Police arrested 19 marchers during that confrontation.

"After that, the gloves were off, from the police perspective," Simons said. As for the City Hall break-in, "if the police are going to militarize a situation, these are the results," he added.

Arresting Christians costs Dearborn Michigan $100,000

2012-01-30T08:26:00.000-08:00

A judge in Detroit has ruled that the decision by police in neighboring Dearborn to arrest a Christian pastor who wanted to hand out Christian tracts at the city’s Arab fest in 2009 will cost the city some $100,000.

That’s the decision following a request from the pastor’s attorneys that the losing side in the First Amendment argument over expressing religious perspectives on city streets be required to pay them for their work on behalf of Christian Pastor George Saieg.

“The award of attorney fees in this case,” he said, “is critical in the lawfare against civilization jihad and dhimmitization, or subjugation, of an entire municipality in Michigan. Dearborn has a long record of this kind of illegal, heavy-handed treatment of Christians as an attempt to placate Dearborn’s Shariah-faithful [Muslims]. The court’s ruling today demonstrates that this kind of behavior will come at great cost.” the attorney Robert J. Muise said.

The judge said in the order, “In this case, the plaintiff received the full relief he sought – an invalidation of the leafleting restriction and a permanent injunction barring its enforcement. … Because this result ‘cannot fairly be labeled as anything short of excellent, [plaintiff] is entitled to a fully compensatory fee.’”

The Saieg case was just one of several that have developed in recent years because of the city of Dearborn’s special protections for Islam at the festival, at the cost of those who would speak of, or hand out information about, other religions.

WND also has reported that at least two people claim a crowd was cheering “Allahu akbar!” while arrested Christians were led away in handcuffs for doing nothing more than engaging in peaceful dialogue and videotaping the event.

In Saieg’s specific case, WND reported, a federal appeals court granted an emergency motion allowing him to hand out information about his faith at the same festival the next year.

A three-judge panel from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, citing the precedent that even a minimal loss of a fundamental right is irreparable, granted the motion requested by the Thomas More Law Center on behalf of the Sudanese Christian.

Catholic Churches Distribute Letter Opposing Obama Healthcare Rule

2012-01-30T08:21:00.000-08:00

1st Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

Catholic parishioners around the country were read letters this morning written by church leadership railing against an Obama administration ruling that requires employers to provide health insurance plans that include contraceptive coverage.

Churches and other houses of worship are exempt from the guidelines but Catholic hospitals, colleges, and social services fall under the umbrella of institutions covered by the decision.

Originally introduced last summer, the decision was lauded by abortion rights supporters. But Catholicism considers some forms of contraception termination of life and religious leaders say adherence would fly in the face of the tenets of their faith. Critics also charge it would be a violation of the Constitutional right to freedom of religion.

The letters were penned by individual clergy, so variations exist in what was read at each Sunday Mass, but the overall theme is unified.

One letter from the Archdiocese of Washington says, “Catholic moral teachings will be placed in the untenable position of having to choose between violating the law and violating their conscience.”

In another from the Diocese of Phoenix, Arizona, a bishop calls on Catholics to stand united against the rule.

H/T Citizens 4 Freedom

Holder was informed of Brian Terry’s murder on day Fast & Furious weapons killed border agent

2012-01-29T16:20:00.000-08:00

Attorney General Eric Holder’s Department of Justice dumped documents related to Operation Fast and Furious on congressional officials late Friday night. Central to this document dump is a series of emails showing Holder was informed of slain Border Patrol agent Brian Terry’s murder on the day it happened – December 15, 2010.

An email from one official, whose name has been redacted from the document, to now-former Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke reads: “On December 14, 2010, a BORTAC agent working in the Nogales, AZ AOR was shot. The agent was conducting Border Patrol operations 18 miles north of the international boundary when he encountered [redacted word] unidentified subjects. Shots were exchanged resulting in the agent being shot. At this time, the agent is being transported to an area where he can be air lifted to an emergency medical center.”

That email was sent at 2:31 a.m. on the day Terry was shot. One hour later, a follow-up email read: “Our agent has passed away.”

Burke forwarded those two emails to Holder’s then-deputy chief of staff Monty Wilkinson later that morning, adding that the incident was “not good” because it happened “18 miles w/in” the border.

Wilkinson responded to Burke shortly thereafter and said the incident was “tragic.” “I’ve alerted the AG [Holder], the Acting DAG, Lisa, etc.”

Then, later that day, Burke followed up with Wilkinson after Burke discovered from officials whose names are redacted that the guns used to kill Terry were from Fast and Furious. “The guns found in the desert near the murder BP officer connect back to the investigation we were going to talk about – they were AK-47s purchased at a Phoenix gun store,” Burke wrote to Wilkinson.

House Will Likely Attach Keystone Approval to New Jobs Bill

2012-01-29T15:59:00.000-08:00

Speaker John Boehner says that the House will try again to tie approval for the Keystone pipeline project to a new jobs bill being introduced next week.

“All options are on the table. If it’s not enacted before we take up the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, it’ll be part of it,” Boehner said of the Keystone project, which would extend an oil pipeline from Canada through the United States.

Boehner led an unsuccessful effort to attach approval of the Keystone project to the extension of the payroll tax cut in December, but had to back down after not securing Senate support.

The Obama administration declined approval for the pipeline extension after saying they did not have enough time to study the environmental impact, drawing criticism from conservatives who say the project would create needed jobs.

“Now that the president has decided for political reasons that we’re not going to move ahead just yet, not until after the election… we’re going to have to find another way to lean on the Senate, to take this issue up, because the Keystone pipeline will create … over 100,000 indirect jobs,” Boehner told me on “This Week.”

“This is the epitome of a shovel-ready job project that the president ought to be approving,” Boehner added. ”And if he won’t, then let’s let the Congress approve it.”

While Republicans will likely tie the Keystone project to the new jobs bill, Boehner said that “there will be no earmarks in this bill.”

“One of our great successes of last year is that we passed all these bills, done good work, working with the Senate, with no earmarks,” Boehner said.

Obama Administration: Health Insurers Must Cover Birth Control With No Copays

2012-01-29T12:19:00.000-08:00

Health insurance plans must cover birth control as preventive care for women, with no copays, the Obama administration said Monday in a decision with far-reaching implications for health care as well as social mores.

The requirement is part of a broad expansion of coverage for women's preventive care under President Barack Obama's health care law. Also to be covered without copays are breast pumps for nursing mothers, an annual "well-woman" physical, screening for the virus that causes cervical cancer and for diabetes during pregnancy, counseling on domestic violence, and other services.

"These historic guidelines are based on science and existing (medical) literature and will help ensure women get the preventive health benefits they need," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

The new requirements will take effect Jan. 1, 2013, in most cases. Tens of millions of women are expected to gain coverage initially, and that number is likely to grow with time. At first, some plans may be exempt due to a complex provision of the health care law known as the "grandfather" clause. But those even plans could face pressure from their members to include the new benefit.

Sebelius acted after a near-unanimous recommendation last month from a panel of experts convened by the prestigious Institute of Medicine, which advises the government. Panel chairwoman Linda Rosenstock, dean of public health at the University of California, Los Angeles, said that prevention of unintended pregnancies is essential for the psychological, emotional and physical health of women.

As recently as the 1990s, many health insurance plans didn't even cover birth control. Protests, court cases, and new state laws led to dramatic changes. Today, almost all plans cover prescription contraceptives - with varying copays. Medicaid, the health care program for low-income people, also covers contraceptives.

Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum 2012

2012-01-29T12:09:00.000-08:00

It's What's for Breakfast

2012-01-29T11:35:00.001-08:00

Rep. Allen West - "Obama, Reid, Pelosi, get the hell out of the USA"

2012-01-29T11:32:00.000-08:00

I love Allen West!

Hey Whitey, You're Racist!

2012-01-29T10:46:00.000-08:00

Attention World, I am a racist! I know because Mayor Don Ness of Duluth, Minnesota says so, because naturally, I'm white, therefore I'm RACCCCCISTTTTT. I had no idea before I saw this“awareness” campaign, but it must be true.

Now that I think about it, I must be an extreme racist because I am so pale, I'm translucent.

Thanks goodness Don Ness let us know that all white people are racist.

This evil crap is evidently paid for by Duluth taxpayers, over 90% of whom are Caucasian.

Obama Calls It Fairness. The GOP Calls It Class Warfare. Scripture Calls It Envy

2012-01-29T10:36:00.000-08:00

Obama, in his State of the Union address and during his initial five-state, multi-million dollar taxpayer funded re-election jaunt has stated repeatedly that his platform and policies are not about class warfare, which means, of course, that his ticket is all about class warfare—or “fairness,” as he likes to call it … or as the Scripture labels it, envy.

You don’t hear much about envy anymore, do you? We hear a lot about greed being bad, but in Obamaland envy is no longer a rank vice but a right and a virtue. However, historically speaking, envy has always been seen as a high-ranking sin. Envy, matter of fact, is second on the Seven Deadly Sins list as it lags behind pride a wee bit in being the nastiest and most common vice.

Ancient in its poison, envy forms a big chunk of the foul compost heap that stimulates the growth of human stupidity. Envy is an extremely toxic sin that doesn’t get the verbal hailstorm that other sins receive in our current entitlement culture with its totemic view of vice. Someone who has been saddled by the envy monkey will probably not make the evening news like a politician who has been caught in bed with a live man or a dead woman or who keeps his freezer stuffed with cash.

No, envy is not that sexy and doesn’t have the buzz that zings around a greedy Goldman Sachs exec. Because this sin doesn’t get MSNBC’s attention like the more juicy transgressions, we tend to see it as less naughty. But be not deceived, my brethren: This sin is disastrous once it sticks its talons into a person, party, religion, or nation.

Another distinguishing feature of the funk of envy is that it is no fun. All vices sport a momentary spice. All of them, that is, except for envy. Envy is the one sin the sinner will never like or admit. You’ll never see someone who is envious chilling out, laughing his butt off, or relaxing with his friends while this demon rules the roost. The more envy grows, the more it drives its impenitent coddler nuts.

So, what is envy? Well … let’s start with what it is not. It’s not admiring what someone else has and wanting some good stuff also. This desire will make you get off your butt in the morning and get busy. It is good to crave; a man’s appetite will make him work. Where envy differs from admiration/emulation is that envy is “sorrow at another’s good” (said Thomas Aquinas). Someone who is centered can watch another person, party, or nation prosper and not grow hateful because of it.

Chart of the Week: Top 1 Percent Paid 38 Percent of Taxes

2012-01-29T10:08:00.000-08:00

President Obama used his State of the Union address Tuesday to outline his idea of fairness. To put it simply, that means redistributing wealth by raising taxes on the most successful Americans.

“If you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes,” Obama declared. He added: “Now, you can call this class warfare all you want. But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense.”

Heritage’s Curtis Dubay challenged Obama’s characterization of the so-called “Buffett Rule.” Dubay said it was a fallacy.

“The President can claim success on this one even before he ends his speech tonight because the Buffett Rule is already soundly in place,” Dubay wrote in response to Obama’s speech. “According to the CBO, the top 1% of income earners pay 30 percent of their income in all federal taxes.”

This week’s chart reveals the top 10 percent of income earners paid 70 percent of all federal income taxes in 2008, while the bottom 50 percent paid only 3 percent. Remarkably, 49 percent of U.S. households paid no federal income tax at all.

Source

Santorum takes break from campaign trail as daughter is hospitalized

2012-01-29T09:55:00.000-08:00

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum canceled his Sunday morning campaign events and planned to spend time with his hospitalized daughter.

"Rick and his wife Karen are admitting their daughter Bella to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia this evening," spokesman Hogan Gidley said in a statement Saturday night, adding "Rick intends to return to Florida and resume the campaign schedule as soon as is possible."

Santorum had been scheduled to appear on NBC's "Meet the Press" and attend church in Miami. Officials did not cancel Sunday's afternoon events in Sarasota and Punta Gorda.

Isabella Santorum has Trisomy 18, a genetic condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 18th chromosome. When asked about her, Santorum says his daughter was not expected to survive until her first birthday and often has to catch himself to stop from tears.

"I have a little girl who's 3-and-a-half years old," he told Christian conservatives in Iowa before winning that lead-off contest.

"I don't know whether her life is going to be measured -- it's always been measured -- in days and weeks. Yet here I am. ... because I feel like I wouldn't be a good dad if I wasn't out here fighting for a country that would see the dignity in her and every other child."

When voters ask him about her, he calls the decision to campaign "gut-wrenching" but says he goes forward for all special needs families.

"You think she's fine, and then one cold and she's this close to dying," he told The Washington Post last year in an interview.

President Obama Joins House Democrats At 3-Day Retreat In Cambridge

2012-01-28T09:36:00.000-08:00

The commander-in-chief makes his way to Maryland’s Eastern Shore. President Barack Obama visits Cambridge to meet with top Democratic lawmakers.

Weijia Jiang was there as the president arrived in town.

Locals say they had been waiting for that one moment all week long and say it was such an honor to have the lawmakers in town. And when the president finally arrived the crowd that had been waiting for hours gave him a huge welcome.

In historic Cambridge on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, dozens waited for a chance to add history to their own history books for a rare opportunity to see the commander-in-chief.

“I think it’s great. I think it’s absolutely wonderful,” said one Cambridge resident.

Stacey Miller brought her 5-year-old.
“This is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’ve never done it myself. We’re sharing it together for the first time,” Miller said.

“Just before 1:30 Friday, President Obama arrived at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay, where House Democrats wrapped up a three-day retreat. The president’s remarks were closed to the public.
To members of Congress, he urged getting work done despite what he calls a debate with Republicans.
Read More...

OMG! Chocolate Covered Bacon

2012-01-27T17:11:00.000-08:00

The rumors are true! We've married two of life's most tastiest foods... Bacon & Chocolate. We start with hickory smoked bacon and it's cooked in the oven until golden & crispy then we smother it in our special blend of chocolate, to give you a taste sensation like nothing else you've ever had before.
For another outrageous bacon sensation, Try our Vegan's Nightmare Ice Cream. Delectable chunks of our crispy chocolate covered bacon in maple syrup ice cream, it's crazy good! Available only at Marini's Downtown at 1308 Pacific Avenue (831) 423-3299.

Las Vegas Mayor Living on Food Stamps

2012-01-27T15:59:00.000-08:00

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Carolyn Goodman may be the only mayor in the United States on food stamps, but it’s only temporary. Goodman is taking part in a local food bank’s challenge to live on $4.06 per day– the amount a single person who qualifies for food stamps receives.

“I didn’t get to put any fruit on my meal plan this week. And, there’s not much variety in my vegetables. It’s a good thing that I love tomato soup!” Goodman blogged on the SNAP Experience Blog.

More on Paul....

2012-01-27T09:09:00.000-08:00

Soros-funded efforts push Fox News left, say columnists

2012-01-27T09:04:00.000-08:00

By Lockerz

Fox News’s recent firing of Glenn Beck is drawing scrutiny, some of which is stirring uncomfortable thoughts for conservatives: perhaps the Rupert Murdoch-owned conservative staple ain’t so conservative after all, at least not any more.

James Simpson writes for American Thinker, “Beck’s firing was the work of George Soros.” Soros, the billionaire leftist who in so influential throughout the liberal media, is allegedly using funds and influence to have his way with the conservative media too. Simpson writes,

Fox now appears to be working with Soros. The network recently hired the radical-left, openly lesbian Sally Kohn, formerly of the Soros-funded Center for Community Change. The Center for Community Change received $5.8 million from Soros’ Open Society Institute between 2004 and 2010. Its former Board Chair is Cecilia Munoz, now President Obama’s White House director for intergovernmental affairs. Munoz is also a former National Council of La Raza vice president and former board member of the illegal immigrant advocacy group CASA de Maryland. She has been pushing housing grants to illegals in her White House position.

Cliff Kincaid, a Soros watchdog, reports “How George Soros Sacked Glenn Beck” in much greater detail. He begins, “A recent interview of Fox News chief Roger Ailes by Howard Kurtz suggested that the channel is becoming less conservative by design.”

Read More....

Obama Bypasses the Constitution: Again

2012-01-27T08:18:00.000-08:00

Well our usurper in chief is at it again, bypassing the Constitution and Senate on a Treaty this time declaring it an "executive agreement" instead of having it ratified.

White House bypasses Senate to ink agreement that could allow Chinese companies to demand ISPs remove web content in US with no legal oversight.

Months before the debate about Internet censorship raged as SOPA and PIPA dominated the concerns of web users, President Obama signed an international treaty that would allow companies in China or any other country in the world to demand ISPs remove web content in the US with no legal oversight whatsoever.

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement was signed by Obama on October 1 2011, yet is currently the subject of a White House petition demanding Senators be forced to ratify the treaty. The White House has circumvented the necessity to have the treaty confirmed by lawmakers by presenting it an as “executive agreement,” although legal scholars have highlighted the dubious nature of this characterization.

The hacktivist group Anonymous attacked and took offline the Federal Trade Commission’s website yesterday in protest against the treaty, which was also the subject of demonstrations across major cities in Poland, a country set to sign the agreement today.

Under the provisions of ACTA, copyright holders will be granted sweeping direct powers to demand ISPs remove material from the Internet on a whim. Whereas ISPs normally are only forced to remove content after a court order, all legal oversight will be abolished, a precedent that will apply globally, rendering the treaty worse in its potential scope for abuse than SOPA or PIPA.

OBAMA ELIGIBILITY COURT CASE…BLOW BY BLOW

2012-01-26T21:39:00.000-08:00

This article is from my friend in New York's blog.

UPDATE: Constitutional expert says arguments over Barack Sr. strong

Given the testimony from today’s court case in Georgia, Obama has a lot of explaining to do. His attorney, Jablonski, was a NO SHOW as of course, was Obama.

The following is a nutshell account of the proceedings.

Promptly at 9am EST, all attorneys involved in the Obama Georgia eligibility case were called to the Judge’s chambers. This was indeed a very interesting beginning to this long awaited and important case.

The case revolved around the Natural Born clause of the Constitution and whether or not Obama qualifies under it to serve. More to the point, if found ineligible, Obama’s name would not appear on the 2012 ballot in Georgia.

With the small courtroom crowded, several in attendance could be seen fanning themselves with pamphlets as they waited for the return of the attorneys and the appearance of the judge.

Obama himself, who had been subpoenaed to appear, of course was nowhere near Georgia. Instead, Obama was on a campaign swing appearing in Las Vegas and in Colorado ignoring the court in Georgia.

Over the last several weeks, Obama’s attorney, Michael Jablonski, had attempted several tactics to keep this case from moving forward. He first tried to have it dismissed, then argued that it was irrelevant to Obama. After that, Jablonski argued that a state could not, under the law, determine who would or would not be on a ballot and later, that Obama was simply too busy with the duties of office to appear.

After all these arguments were dispatched by the Georgia Court, Jablonski, in desperation, wrote to the Georgia Secretary of State attempting to place Obama above the law and declared that the case was not to he heard and neither he nor his client would participate.

Governor Mitt Romney paid his $7,000,000 + due the IRS. BUT . . . 36 Obama Aides Owe $833,000 in Back Taxes!

2012-01-26T10:12:00.000-08:00

How embarrassing this must be for President Obama, whose major speech theme so far this campaign season has been that every single American, no matter how rich, should pay their "fair share" of taxes.
Because how unfair -- indeed, un-American -- it is for an office worker like, say, Warren Buffet's secretary to dutifully pay her taxes, while some well-to-do people with better educations and higher incomes end up paying a much smaller tax rate.

Or, worse, skipping their taxes altogether.

A new report just out from the Internal Revenue Service reveals that 36 of President Obama's executive office staff owe the country $833,970 in back taxes. These people working for Mr. Fair Share apparently haven't paid any share, let alone their fair share.

Previous reports have shown how well-paid Obama's White House staff is, with 457 aides pulling down more than $37 million last year. That's up seven workers and nearly $4 million from the Bush administration's last year.

Nearly one-third of Obama's aides make more

Read more....

Liberals are Stupid

2012-01-26T09:27:00.000-08:00

There's a liberal blog on the Western Shore called Orange Juice or Maryland Prunes or something who is fit to be tied today because GASP, the mayor of Ocean City had a prayer breakfast, as it has been done for years. Why, the outrage? Because the guest speaker tells the truth regarding Sharia and gay marriage.

The lunacy of the fake outrage is ridiculously idiotic.

First of all, dear open minded liberals, Islam/Sharia law is against everything you are supposably for. They KILL gay people, and they kill people for their religious freedoms, which is what we are talking about here. Religious Freedom, not Separation of Church and State. THERE IS NO SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE in these United States. There is however Religious Freedom, which is what these people were participating in, BECAUSE IT'STHEIR RIGHT, under the constitution, which by the way doesn't mention the separation of Church and state ONE SINGLE TIME.

I love how these fools scream Separation of Church and State without the foggiest idea of what they are talking about.

Here is the article and the mindset of the people decrying God.

Ocean City Controversy Mushrooms // Extremist Religious Event Sponsored With Tax Dollars?
This morning, Ocean City's Mayor held his annual "Prayer Breakfast," over the objections of hundreds of concerned vacationers. The Mayor's special guest, former General Jerry Boykin, is a well-documented extremist and homophobe. Though we hear the controversial speaker declined to repeat some of his more incendiary views at this morning's event -- a new problem is emerging. Even with General Boykin's muted remarks, this event still appears to be violating principles of Church & State separation.

An attendee forwarded Maryland Juice the following two photos of signs that were taped to the doors of the "Prayer Breakfast." The notices highlight the sponsors of the event, but they alarmingly list a number of governments and taxpayer-funded agencies. A few troubling sponsors of the Prayer Breakfast are:Maryland State Police

Worcester County Board of Education

Town of Berlin

Berlin Police Department

Ocean City Fire Department

Worcester County Jail

Worcester County State's Attorney

These people need to stay off our beaches if they are so full of hate and intolereance. Stay over in the Marxistland of Annapolis and get your noses out of our business.

Here's a little constitutional lesson for the empty headed God hating liberals:

First, let’s look at the First Amendment. It says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

The First Amendment is just a pro-religion as it is anti-religion. After all, it specifically says that Congress cannot make any law preventing the free exercise of religion.

So congress must let people – all people – freely exercise their religion. It does not say that the rule only applies to those in self or private employment, nor does the rule exclude those who work for the government. The various trades and occupations of the citizenry is never considered at all in the First Amendment. This Amendment provides unlimited freedom for all people to exercise their religion.
It is also noteworthy that the First Amendment is written specifically to Congress. Not to various state legislatures, not to municipalities, not to county or local governments. It is a rule exclusively for the Congress of the United States of America. This is important because the argument is whether or not the First Amendment includes a separation of church and state. In fact, the Constitution leaves to the states all that which is not specifically enumerated. This is found in the 10th Amendment, which says:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

So Congress left this up to the States. Congress may not establish a religion or prevent any person from worship in any way. Beyond that, the Constitution is silent on the practice of religion, therefore, it is up to the states to decide. States are free to make an official religion if they choose to! In 1787 when the Constitution was ratified, a third of the States had official religions.

Not only is the First Amendment pro-religion as much as anti-religion, and not only do we have some 50 years of United States history including state religions, but we also have the founders own words. How about this from the pen of John Jay, who was an author of the Federalist Papers and President of the Continental Congress in 1777-78:

Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers. National prosperity can neither be obtained nor preserved without the favor of Providence.

John Jay wrote that passage in 1816, 29 years after the Constitution was ratified.
Let’s finish with a strong one/two knock out punch… Here are two quotes from the Father of Our Country himself, George Washington. In a letter to State Governors in 1783, Washington said:

I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have you and the State over which you preside, in his holy protection, that he would incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to Government–to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow Citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their Brethren who have served in the Field, and finally, that he would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all, to do Justice, to love Mercy, and to demean ourselves with that Charity, Humility, and Pacific temper of mind which were the Characteristicks [sic] of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a Happy Nation.

And in the very first inaugural address, George Washington said:

…It would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official Act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the Universe, who presides in the Councils of Nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the People of the United States, a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes: and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success, the functions allotted to his charge.

The liberals gasp when we challenge the notion that there is a separation of church and state written (or even implied) in the Constitution and suggest we should – they are completely wrong. All the Constitution says is that Congress can’t pass a law establishing it, or prevent anyone from practicing it. It is the leftist domination of the educational institutions that produced the student reaction. My hope is that they study hard and find the truth for themselves.

Hello Wicomico County Council - This sounds like YOU!

2012-01-25T21:33:00.000-08:00

Who is Dr. Laurie Roth and Why is She Suing Obama?

2012-01-25T21:09:00.000-08:00

(Dr. Laurie Roth, PhD) - Who is the real Laurie Roth? Not just a Presidential Candidate. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine an outsider like me would dare to run for the office of the President, but I am. Nor did I ever imagine a real patriot, Mom and non millionaire would have a chance at winning, but I do.

Our Constitution, Judeo/Christian values and freedom is precious jewels to treasure and protect. We currently have a President who is systematically destroying these everywhere you look. If you aren’t in a rage over this, you must be dead. Gee, if you are dead maybe you can vote in the next election in several states. Bad…..I know.

The Dr. Laurie Roth candidacy, flies in the face of reason, practical thinking and history’s boxes of ‘shoulds and oughts.’ The notion that a real person like myself, just with God’s calling (which I have) vision, guts and great ideas (which I have) for my country sounds insane to many. “You don’t get elected on ideas and callings…..you get elected with money and media.” “What about the global elitists and money people in control that rig the elections?” “Belief in God is nice Laurie but He will not change the difficult and expensive landscape of a Presidential election, especially with Obama who has close to a billion dollars already.” Really…..does God serve Obama?

I have heard all the doubts and lectures in the world since I declared in November. I’m bored already. Here is what I know and have to say to all who doubt the possibility of a real patriot like myself getting elected: Stop doubting God. He will do whatever He wants and plans to do and He does respond to the prayers of His people.

Continued...

Thou Shalt Not Write Bad Things About Obama

2012-01-25T20:40:00.000-08:00

Such arrogance!

Governor Brewer of Arizona said on her Facebook page:
I greeted President Obama today in Arizona with the intention of talking to him about jobs and the economy.

However, after I greeted him, the President immediately turned the conversation to my book, Scorpions for Breakfast (www.scorpionsforbreakfast.com), criticized it and then walked away. He let me know that he didn't like the way I recounted our meeting in the Oval Office after I signed SB 1070 in 2010.

The bottom line is our border is not secure and I again invited him to visit the Arizona border.

I believe America wants a secure border before addressing "comprehensive immigration reform" and granting amnesty to illegal aliens. On this issue, we'll have to continue to disagree on what's best for America.

I'll keep fighting for Arizona and the rest of America who want a secure border.

Drudge has a story about Obama getting off of Air Force One in Arizona, greeting Republican governor Jan Brewer, and immediately giving her a piece of his mind. Evidently our president did not appreciate something Brewer wrote about him. According to the pool report, they had a testy exchange from which the president walked away as Brewer was still speaking.

Sound familiar? Bobby Jindal got the same treatment when Obama came to visit Louisiana and the governor met him on the tarmac. Jindal would later recount in his book:

I feel like a 99er% in Wicomico County

2012-01-25T20:05:00.000-08:00

This has all made me so sick I have hardly wanted to talk about it, let alone post about it.
I've talked to the majority of the council and I'm just disgusted. The flip flopping and the lack of fore site regarding our fiscal health in this state and this county, that demands the tax payer cough up more makes me want to puke and just forget about politics in general.

For what? NEW GOVERMENT BUILDINGS... In this case a new middle school in Wicomico county. Half this freakin county is government owned almost. It's an absolute absurdisty that we have to fork out another 100 MILLION dollars because the WCBOE says so. Who runs this county anyway? Oh yea, Martin O'Malley and his drones.

Do these people even realize the economic calamity that the working middle class are about to face in this county. In this state? In this country? I personally have helped beat back spending bill after spending bill....BECAUSE WE ARE BROKE, but I seriously give up at this point.

Maryland is screwed folks. $100 Million dollars that we don't have for a new building. I can only come away thinking some elites have no clue and are completely out of touch with what is actually going on, down on the ground, with the economy. That, or some people were obviously pressured to vote yes for a project that can not currently be funded.

I swear, I am not taking any more of my precious moments on earth to try to reasonably speak to any elected offical.

Let them destroy the last bit of hope we have for economic freedom and make us all slaves to the government.

Screw IT!

The Wicomico County Council voted 4-3 Tuesday afternoon to pen a letter expressing financial support for the construction of a new Bennett Middle to the state Board of Public Works.
The vote came as the result of a special legislative session held one week after the council voted 4-3, not to write the letter. Stevie Prettyman was the one and only council member to change their vote after hearing an alternative way to fund the project without the use of money already bonded for the completion of athletic fields on the grounds of James Bennett High School.

Representatives of the Wicomico County Board of Education will take the letter along with one written by County Executive Rick Pollitt to their appeal with the state Board of Public Works tomorrow morning.

While the Board of Public Works had recommended appropriating $4.5 million for the construction of a new middle school during the upcoming fiscal year, the Board of Education plans to ask for and additional $5.5 million.

Here is how the votes went down:

Joe Holloway-NO
Gail Bartkovich-NO
John Hall-YES
Matt Holloway-YES
Sheree Sample Hughes-YES
Bob Culver-NO
Stevie Prettyman- YES

Honour Killings in Canada: An Undeniable Reality!

2012-01-25T19:37:00.000-08:00

FACT: Since 2002, 12 murders of women in Canada were deemed to be honour killings.

You may have heard about numerous cases of honour killings being perpetrated in various foreign countries. After all, for those of us living in the West (and political North), these types of stories are quite sensational. They highlight how superior our collective and to some degree, composite Western culture is in comparison to the primitive tribal cultures of foreign lands. However, wherever there is a bubble of ignorance, I am there to burst it. Canada, a lovely country known for its open-hearted acceptance of immigrants from a vast array of foreign were lands, is quickly becoming a cesspool in which cultures are clashing. These clashes are usually swept under the rug by the host country (Canada) and those who are integrating (at varying degrees) in to the host country.

Luckily, we still have brave and intellectually honest journalists and social activists who make it their mission to shed light on matters such as honour killings. My tasks in this short article are to inform the readers that honour killings do indeed occur in Canada and that we must do more to prevent such atrocious behaviour from occurring here.

For the sake of brevity, I will list a few high profile cases of honour killings in Canada from the last decade or so:

Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu, 24, was a B.C. native who was murdered in Punjab, India in 2000. It is alleged that her mother, Malkit Kaur Sidhu, and uncle, Surjit Singh Badesha of Maple Ridge, B.C. conspired to have Jaswinder killed as she married Sukhwinder Singh Sidhu, a rickshaw driver in India. This marriage was not approved of. India seeks the extradition of Malkit Kaur Sidhu and Surjit Singh Badesha.
Amandeep Singh Atwal, 17, was stabbed to death by her father in 2003 for dating a non-Sikh boy.
Amandeep Kaur Dhillon was killed in 2009 by her father-in-law in a Toronto-area grocery store where she worked. She had threatened to leave her husband.

These three cases are just the tip of the iceberg. We know about these cases because they were high profile. Heaven only knows how many other cases of honour killings are left undocumented. I do not wish to delve too deeply into an analysis of the problem of honour killings as I would not be able to do it justice. However, I recommend readers to gain valuable insights on the matter by downloading and reading Aruna Papp’s pioneering study for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy:

Papp, A., “Culturally Driven Violence Against Women: A Growing Problem in Canada’s Immigrant Communities.”, FCPP Policy Series No. 92, July 2010.

While on the subject of Papp’s work, I would like to highlight a key finding from her study on the topic of honour killings. Her study explains that women were killed due to reasons of honour and family shame. More explicitly, the victims were threatened over issues such as refusing to cover their heads, wearing makeup, wearing Western clothes, dating, going to parties, choosing friends the family disapproved of, refusing to marry a man chosen by the family, seeking a divorce from a violent husband and marrying against the families’ wishes. What is the root cause of this problem? Does this not seem symptomatic of families who simply do not understand the concept of social/cultural integration in to new host countries?

GOP prepares bill to replace Obama's Supreme Court-bound healthcare law

2012-01-25T19:35:00.000-08:00

House Republicans will be ready with a plan to replace President Obama’s healthcare law once the Supreme Court determines the law’s fate this summer, Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) told reporters Wednesday.

Republicans have made good on their promise to try to repeal Obama’s healthcare law, but the “replace” part of their “repeal and replace” strategy has proved more difficult. Pitts said Republicans will be ready for the opening a Supreme Court ruling will provide — no matter what the justices decide.

If the court strikes down the law’s individual mandate, or the entire law, the GOP can present its plan as an alternative. If the court upholds the mandate, renewed attention to the issue could still give Republicans an election-season opening to argue that they have a concrete agenda on healthcare.

“We’ll have a window of opportunity with everyone looking to explain that the Affordable Care Act is not fully implemented yet. … We’ll use that opportunity and that window to discuss the full ramifications of the Affordable Care Act,” Pitts said.

Pitts, who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health subcommittee, said he does not expect the court to strike down the entire law — just the mandate.

The Republican plan will not preserve one of Obama’s most politically popular reforms: the requirement that insurers cover people who have pre-existing conditions. Some Republicans have said in the past that it would be difficult to walk away from that provision. But Pitts said the GOP will instead propose state-based pools in which the government would take over the cost of the sickest, most expensive patients, rather than requiring private insurers to cover them.

The rest of the plan Pitts outlined draws from long-standing GOP priorities. It will include limits on medical malpractice suits and allow the sale of insurance across state lines, Pitts said, while also expanding the use of health savings accounts.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on Obama’s healthcare law in June. Until then, Pitts said, the Energy and Commerce Committee will keep trying to chip away at the law. The House will vote next week to repeal the CLASS program, an attempt to provide insurance for long-term care that the Obama administration has abandoned.

Read more

Soros Warns of ‘Riots,‘ ’Brutal’ Clampdowns & Possible Total Economic Collapse

2012-01-25T19:06:00.000-08:00

Folks, this is coming, I know for a fact that law enforcement has been training for this to possibly happen before elections this year.

George Soros is no stranger to Blaze readers. The billionaire currency speculator and philanthropist has long been in the news, especially since the fateful day in 1992 when he helped crash England’s economy. In fact, since that day, he has been commonly referred to as “the man who broke the bank of England.”

Soros is shrewd, he has a keen eye for investments, and he knows how to play the markets. Therefore, when he makes a prediction, it might be safe to say it’s worth a listen. After all, his predictions (among other things) have made him the multi-billionaire he is today.

So you might want to pay attention to a recent story from The Daily Beast that claims George Soros is nervous about the future of the global economy and that he warns of dark things to come.

“At times like these, survival is the most important thing,” Soros said.

As he sees it, the world faces one of the most dangerous periods of modern history—a period of “evil,” writes the Beasts’ John Arlidge. “Europe is confronting a descent into chaos and conflict. In America [Soros] predicts riots in the streets that will lead to a brutal clampdown that will dramatically curtail civil liberties [emphases added]. The global economic system could even collapse altogether.”

And to add a little color, Aldridge notes Soros says it all while “peering through his owlish glasses and brushing wisps of gray hair off his forehead.”

“I am not here to cheer you up. The situation is about as serious and difficult as I’ve experienced in my career,” Soros told Newsweek. “We are facing an extremely difficult time, comparable in many ways to the 1930s, the Great Depression. We are facing now a general retrenchment in the developed world, which threatens to put us in a decade of more stagnation, or worse. The best-case scenario is a deflationary environment. The worst-case scenario is a collapse of the financial system.”

Warren Buffett's Secretary Likely Makes Between $200,000 And $500,000/Year

2012-01-25T16:45:00.000-08:00

Warren Buffet’s secretary, Debbie Bosanek, served as a stage prop for President Obama’s State of the Union speech. She was the President’s chief display of the alleged unfairness of our tax system – a little person paying a higher tax rate than her billionaire boss.

Bosanek’s prominent role in Obama’s “fairness” campaign piqued my curiosity, and I imagine the curiosity of others. How much does her boss pay this downtrodden woman? So far, no one has volunteered this information.

We can get an approximate answer by consulting IRS data on tax rates by adjusted gross income, which would approximate her salary, assuming she does not have significant dividend, interest or capital-gains income (like her boss). I assume Buffet keeps her too busy for her to hold a second job. I also do not know if she is married and filing jointly. If so, it is deceptive for Obama to use her as an example. The higher rate may be due to her husband’s income. So I assume the tax rate Obama refers to is from her own earnings.

Insofar as Buffet (like Mitt Romney) earns income primarily from capital gains, which are taxed at 15 percent (and according to Obama need to be raised for reasons of fairness), we need to determine how much income a taxpayer like Bosanek must earn in order to pay an average tax rate above fifteen percent. This is easy to do.

The IRS publishes detailed tax tables by income level. The latest results are for 2009. They show that taxpayers earning an adjusted gross income between $100,000 and $200,000 pay an average rate of twelve percent. This is below Buffet’s rate; so she must earn more than that. Taxpayers earning adjusted gross incomes of $200,000 to $500,000, pay an average tax rate of nineteen percent. Therefore Buffet must pay Debbie Bosanke a salary above two hundred thousand.

We must wait for further details to learn how much more than $200,000 she earns. The tax tables tell us about average ranges. For all we know she earns closer to a half million each year, but that is pure speculation.

I have nothing against Debbie Bosanke earning a half million or even more. Buffet is a major player in the world economy. His secretary deserves good compensation. At her income, however, she is scarcely the symbol of injustice that Obama wishes her to project.

I imagine that there are any number of secretaries who would want her job and her place in the Congress gallery for the President’s State of the Union address.

By: Thomas Hennessey

Scientists confirm that Ohio earthquake caused by "fracking"

2012-01-25T13:05:00.000-08:00

Scientists have released an article stating that they were able to track down the cause of a 4.0 earthquake that shook the Youngstown, Ohio, region on New Years Eve and it has to do with "fracking."

Fracking uses chemicals that are pumped below ground to try and release hidden pockets of natural gas hidden beneath. For many the increased popularity of fracking to find gas has led to jobs and many see it has a possible savior for the depressed area of Ohio. However, for many, the chemicals and the possible chemical waste and other unknown effects make fracking potentially dangerous.

The article appeared in the Scientific American. The Youngstown area experienced 11 small earthquakes throughout 2011. There had been another 2.7-level earthquake in the region around Christmas. Scientists were able to triangulate the epicenter of the two earthquakes and discovered that it was within 100 meters of each other.

The well that scientists believe caused the accident on New Years Eve is technically not a well for fracking. The well in question is one where the waste chemicals used in the process are deposited once they have been used. Scientists and environmental experts are theorizing that pumping the waste chemicals into the ground are destabilizing the ground and causing the earthquakes.

Nine earthquakes had hit the area between March and November. All of them had occurred within an eight-kilometer radius of a waste chemical injection well operated by Northstar Disposal Services.

Pelosi: Gingrich Will Not Get The Nomination, There Is Something I Know

2012-01-25T12:05:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: Gingrich says Pelosi is living in a fantasy world

John King, CNN: “You make your case there passionately for President Obama. But also understand that this is a tough reelection climate for any president, Democrat or Republican in this economy. Because of your history with Speaker Gingrich, what goes through your mind when you think of the possibility, which is more real today than it was a week or a month ago, that he would be the Republican nominee and that you could come back here next January or next February with a President Gingrich?”

Rep. Nancy Pelosi: “Let me just say this. That will never happen.”

King: “Why?”

Pelosi: “He’s not going to be President of the United States. That’s not going to happen. Let me just make my prediction and stand by it, it isn’t going to happen.”

King: “Why are you so sure?”

Pelosi: “There is something I know. The Republicans, if they choose to nominate him that’s their prerogative. I don’t even think that’s going to happen.”

Priceless

2012-01-25T11:41:00.000-08:00

Blue Cocktail Dress, $2,400.
Wearing it to a Class Warfare speech next to Billionaire Warren Buffet's $70,000/year secretary, priceless.

Gov. Mitch Daniels Issues Response To Obama's SOTU

2012-01-25T11:38:00.001-08:00

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels delivers the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address.

You can read the text of Gov. Daniels' response here.

O'Malley seeks religious support for same-sex marriage bill

2012-01-25T08:43:00.000-08:00

It is highly unlikely that there will be a gay wedding at Mt. Ennon Baptist Church in Prince George's County, which defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. But its pastor, the Rev. Delman Coates, went to Annapolis on Tuesday to support Gov. Martin O'Malley's same-sex marriage bill.

Coates said he feels comfortable that the legislation would not force his church to do something against its beliefs, and he thinks that gay marriages can co-exist with traditional ones. "I think everyone is protected here," he said. "You don't have to agree with same-sex marriage as a matter of personal religious choice."

The minister's reaction is exactly what O'Malley and advocates for legalizing same-sex marriage are looking for as they begin their push in the Maryland General Assembly. The governor's top aides re-wrote a bill that failed last year so it would have a greater focus on religious protections. They are hoping the new language will blunt opposition to the bill from some religious groups and bring wavering delegates to their side.

But many critics — including representatives of the Roman Catholic Church — said they remain staunchly opposed. Mary Ellen Russell, executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference, said she cannot support the measure because of "the impact such a drastic change would have on all society." She added: "No changes to the bill can change that fundamental fact."

Another opponent, Republican Del. Don Dwyer of Anne Arundel County, said he's going to work "every hour of every day" to defeat the same-sex marriage bill. "It is my only legislative agenda. Period," he said.

Sen. Paul Delivers State of the Union Response

2012-01-24T21:43:00.000-08:00

Canadian Talk Show Host Destroys Obama Over Keystone Decision

2012-01-24T14:17:00.000-08:00

Canadian talk show host Ezra Levant destroys Obama's decision of scrapping the pipeline from Canada.

Most Want Keystone Pipeline Built

President Obama is on the losing side of the fight over building the Canada-to-Texas Keystone oil pipeline, with most Americans in two new polls favoring construction even if it is an environmental threat.

Two new Rasmussen polls confirm GOP charges that Obama's move last week was aimed at wooing liberal environmentalists irked at his first three years in office.

In one poll published Monday, Rasmussen found that 56 percent of likely voters at least somewhat favor the pipeline, with 36 percent strongly favoring it. Just 27 percent are opposed.

And in a new poll just out, Rasmussen found that even more, 59 percent, believe creating jobs is more important than protecting the environment, a sure sign of the economic plight in the nation. Just 29 percent say that the environment trumps jobs.

The polling is likely to bolster GOP efforts to force Obama's hand again on the issue as Republicans move to show that they, and not the president, are more focused on job creation.

Pollster John Zogby tells Whispers that the president's decision was a good one because it is unlikely that he will win the states the pipeline is traveling through.

"While Republicans will scream that he has just killed the chance of 20,000 jobs in a very tough economy, Obama got to send a strong, decisive signal to environmental activists, who he has disappointed before, in a half-dozen states that will vote Republican anyway, about what most agree will be only 100 or so permanent jobs. Base politics, but that is what the president needs right now," said Zogby.

Rasmussen's results seem to back that up, with 79 percent of Republicans favoring jobs over the environment, while Democrats are evenly split.

Read more

India to Pay Gold, Not Dollars for Iranian Oil, Markets Stunned

2012-01-24T13:35:00.001-08:00

Looks like we're shooting ourselves in the foot with this oil embargo....that is the same as declaring war on Iran.

India is the first buyer of Iranian oil to agree to pay for its purchases in gold instead of the US dollar, debkafile's intelligence and Iranian sources report exclusively. Those sources expect China to follow suit. India and China take about one million barrels per day, or 40 percent of Iran's total exports of 2.5 million bpd. Both are superpowers in terms of gold assets.

By trading in gold, New Delhi and Beijing enable Tehran to bypass the upcoming freeze on its central bank's assets and the oil embargo which the European Union's foreign ministers agreed to impose Monday, Jan. 23. The EU currently buys around 20 percent of Iran's oil exports.

The vast sums involved in these transactions are expected, furthermore, to boost the price of gold and depress the value of the dollar on world markets.

Iran's second largest customer after China, India purchases around $12 billion a year's worth of Iranian crude, or about 12 percent of its consumption. Delhi is to execute its transactions, according to our sources, through two state-owned banks: the Calcutta-based UCO Bank, whose board of directors is made up of Indian government and Reserve Bank of India representatives; and Halk Bankasi (Peoples Bank), Turkey's seventh largest bank which is owned by the government.

An Indian delegation visited Tehran last week to discuss payment options in view of the new sanctions. The two sides were reported to have agreed that payment for the oil purchased would be partly in yen and partly in rupees. The switch to gold was kept dark.

India thus joins China in opting out of the US-led European sanctions against Iran's international oil and financial business. Turkey announced publicly last week that it would not adhere to any sanctions against Iran's nuclear program unless they were imposed by the United Nations Security Council.

The EU decision of Monday banned the signing of new oil contracts with Iran at once, while phasing out existing transactions by July 1, 2012, when the European embargo, like the measure enforced by the United States, becomes total. The European foreign ministers also approved a freeze on the assets of the Central Bank of Iran which handles all the country's oil transactions.

However, the damage those sanctions cause the Iranian economy will be substantially cushioned by the oil deals to be channeled through Turkish and Indian state banks. China for its part has declared its opposition to sanctions against Iran.

debkafile's intelligence sources disclose that Tehran has set up alternative financial mechanisms with China and Russia for getting paid for its oil in currencies other than US dollars. Both Beijing and Moscow are keeping the workings of those mechanisms top secret.

Read more

Supreme Court rules police need warrant for GPS tracking

2012-01-24T08:44:00.000-08:00

Well the SCOTUS gets one right.....

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that police cannot put a GPS device on a suspect's car to track his movements without a warrant, a test case that upholds basic privacy rights in the face of new surveillance technology.

The high court ruling was a defeat for the Obama administration, which had argued that a warrant was not required to use global positioning system devices to monitor a vehicle on public streets.

The justices unanimously upheld a precedent-setting ruling by a U.S. appeals court that the police must first obtain a warrant to use a GPS device for an extended period of time to covertly follow a suspect.

The high court ruled that placement of a device on a vehicle and using it to monitor the vehicle's movements was covered by U.S. constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures of evidence.

There are no precise statistics on how often police in the United States use GPS tracking in criminal investigations. But the Obama administration told the court last year it was used sparingly by federal law enforcement officials.

SUSPECTED DRUG TRAFFICKER

The case began in 2005 when police officers went to a public parking lot in Maryland and secretly installed a GPS device on a Jeep Grand Cherokee used by a Washington, D.C. nightclub owner, Antoine Jones.

In summarizing the court's majority opinion from the bench, Justice Antonin Scalia said attachment of the device by the police was a trespass and an improper intrusion of the kind that would have been considered a search when the Constitution was adopted some 220 years ago.

The administration argued that even if it were a search, it was lawful and reasonable under the Constitution. Scalia said his opinion did not decide that issue and some more difficult problems that may emerge in a future case, such as a six-month monitoring of a suspected terrorist.

Joining Scalia's opinion were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor.

Ron Paul Highlights - NBC Florida Debate 1/23/12

2012-01-24T08:20:00.000-08:00

Council to discuss Bennett Middle again

2012-01-24T04:57:00.000-08:00

If I were to read the tea leaves here, it looks like "receiving new information" means reconsideration of the previous decision, inlight of some heavy handed pressure. Troubling. How in the world can Wicomico absorb $45 Million in school building spending, close the 5 to 7 Million school budget deficit and starting kicking in to the funding for the state BOE pensions? Yes, they can raise property taxes but, aside from being a very foolish and poor idea, they are still limited by the revenue cap

SALISBURY -- Following a request for another meeting on the future of a new Bennett Middle School, the Wicomico County Council is scheduled to hold a special legislative session today at 11 a.m.

The meeting will be held just one week after the council voted 4-3 not to write a letter to the state Board of Public Works expressing continued financial support for the project.

That decision resulted in the Interagency Committee on School Construction preparing to reappropriate $3.85 million of the $4.5 million the state had planned to spend on construction of a new middle school within the county.

"We want to get all the options on the table, and if there is anything we missed I want to know about it," said Bob Culver, who voted against moving forward last week. "I wish we had the state's budget already decided on and we knew what's going to happen with passing down the teachers' pensions and that sort of thing, but it hasn't passed yet. We've got a lot to consider tomorrow."

The construction of a new Bennett Middle School and subsequent demolition of the old school is also tied to the completion of athletic fields for James M. Bennett High School, for which the county has bonded $7.3 million.

Because of the county's charter, if the old school remains, those millions cannot be moved to another project.

The State Board of Public Works meeting where representatives of the Wicomico County Board of Education were expected to try to keep the project's place for state funding is set for Wednesday.

Stevie Prettyman, who also voted against penning a letter, said because the council has received additional information, they should hold another meeting.

Read More.....

Palin Says Christie 'Got His Panties in a Wad'

2012-01-24T04:39:00.000-08:00

Sarah Palin: Poor Chris? This was a rookie mistake. He played right into the media's hand. Sometimes, if your candidate loses, in just one step along this path as was the case when Romney lost to Newt the other night and of course Romney is Chris Christie's guy, well you kinda get your panties in a wad and you may say things that you regret later. And I think that's what Chris Christie did.

DOJ Kowtows to Muslim Brotherhood

2012-01-23T19:33:00.000-08:00

In what promises to be an enormous document dump, I have received the first in a series of DOJ bundles in response to my FOIA request filed close to a year ago. Specifically, I asked for "records relating to the meeting of the 'Monthly Outreach Meeting' with Muslim and Arab groups at the Civil Rights Division. Specifically, include lists of attendees at each monthly meeting, the agenda of each meeting and any minutes or summary prepared subsequent to each meeting. Please also specifically note the meetings at which the Attorney General of the United States attended."

The principal impact of reading through the material is the sheer bulk of it. Hundreds and hundreds of pages of emails, documenting nearly daily friendly contact, consultation, cooperation and collaboration between the DOJ and Hamas-linked Muslim Brotherhood groups. One thing is clear, the Muslim Brotherhood has fully infiltrated command and control at the Department of Justice civil rights division.

Continued....

2012-01-23T19:18:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON -- Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas has declined to attend the White House ceremony with President Barack Obama honoring the team for its 2011 Stanley Cup Championship.

A team spokesman said in an email statement that Thomas opted not to attend the event. Thomas later posted a statement on his Facebook page saying,

"I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People. This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government. Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL. This is the only public statement I will be making on this topic. TT"

The veteran goaltender helped lead the Bruins to their sixth Stanley Cup and was named the MVP of last year's playoffs. Thomas was among the players that Obama singled out for praise during a ceremony honoring the club in the East Room of the White House.

Thomas is a Michigan native who played college hockey at the University of Vermont.

Obama Orders Catholics to Act Against Their Faith; Bishops Call it 'Unconscionable'

2012-01-23T17:36:00.000-08:00

The Obama administration on Friday finalized a regulation that orders all Americans—unless they work directly at a church--to purchase government-approved health insurance plans that cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives including those that cause abortions.

The regulation further requires that health-insurance plans must provide sterilizations, contraceptives and abortifacients without any fees or co-pay.

The regulation, issued as part of the initial implementation of Obamacare, requires Catholics to act against their faith--which teaches that sterilization, artificial contraception and abortion violate the natural law and that Catholics cannot be involved in them.

In a statement, the nation's Roman Catholic bishops immediately condemned the administration's decision to move forward with the regulation as "literally unconscionable."

The regulation will go into effect on Aug. 1.

CNS News

Wicker: On Keystone, Obama shows 'true colors'

2012-01-23T15:07:00.000-08:00

According to a Republican senator, President Barack Obama's excuse for not approving the Keystone XL pipeline may be just that -- an excuse..

Language calling for a decision on the pipeline was included in the two-month extension of the payroll tax cut signed in December. But on Wednesday, the White House blamed congressional Republicans, saying the February 21 deadline did not give enough time for review of the pipeline.

"Extending a tax cut to 160 million Americans wasn't victory enough," explained White House press secretary Jay Carney. "The Republicans put in jeopardy a process that should be immune from politics."

But those may very well be empty words, considering the deadline was in the same two-month extension that Obama and his press secretary called on House Republicans to approve last month, even noting that Republicans in the Senate had approved the measure.

Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) says it was because of language calling for a decision on Keystone that he and other Republicans gave the measure a thumbs-up.

"And I will say this -- the president never promised to give us a finding. But it is sort of surprising that he has gone ahead, after 1,200 days of environmental studies, and said that it is not in the national interest to go ahead with using this to help the United States of America," the senator notes.

So Wicker believes the president has "shown his true colors in siding with the radical environmental leftists," even when it means not creating jobs for unionized workers who would build the pipeline.

One News Now

'Good News Club' stifled in Arizona

2012-01-23T15:05:00.001-08:00

The Alliance Defense Fund has taken an Arizona school to court for prohibiting a Christian group from distributing a flyer [PDF] at school while allowing other groups to do so.

The Dysart Unified School District in Surprise, a suburb of Phoenix, prohibited a Good News Club flyer inviting students to after-school meetings, resulting in the lawsuit filed on Thursday. The club had submitted an approval request form and sample flyer in October inviting kindergartners through sixth-graders to the first meeting on November 9. But the flyer, according to the district, was "against district policy" because the program being promoted was "religious in nature" -- and therefore was rejected.

ADF attorney Jeremy Tedesco says courts around the country have ruled such policies to be unconstitutional.

"[Courts have ruled] that when the school district opens up a forum for outside groups to promote their events and activities to students and their parents, they have to grant equal access to religious organizations so they can promote their religious events and activities on equal terms," the attorney explains.

He argues that while the school has allowed a wide variety of nonprofit groups from the outside to promote their meetings and events -- groups like the Boy Scouts, Cesar Chavez Foundation, and Interfaith Community Care -- the district has discriminated against the Good News Club.

One News now

College in Arizona charging for free speech

2012-01-23T15:02:00.000-08:00

Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is asking a federal court to halt a policy enforced by Maricopa County Community Colleges in Arizona that charges fees for the right to free speech on campus.

Jonathan Scruggs of ADF filed a lawsuit on behalf of Ryan Arneson, a Mesa resident who had shared his faith and handed out literature at South Mountain Community College for two years. However, school officials told him last year that he would have to meet certain requirements in order to continue doing that.

"He'd have to pay money, obtain insurance, wait 14 days after applying, and do all these burdensome requirements, simply to go and carry on a conversation with someone," Scruggs reports.

But as the attorney points out, the school apparently discriminates against people of faith, as officials make exceptions to their policy for others.

"The university will allow political speakers to come on campus without having to [jump through] these hoops and go over these burdens. But for our client's religious speech, he has to get insurance, pay money, [and] do all these difficult things," Scruggs explains.

But he goes on to add that the courts have routinely ruled in the past that policies like the one at South Mountain Community College are unconstitutional.

One News Now

TSA detains Sen. Rand Paul in Nashville

2012-01-23T07:57:00.000-08:00

UPDATED: Since this post, Paul has been rebooked on another flight and was rescreened without incident.

This ridiculous, Senator Paul is on his way back to the Senate for a vote this evening.

Article 1 Section 6 of the US Constitution reads:

The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

Rand Paul was traveling from his home in Louisville to attend a session in the Senate today.

The possibility of Article 1 Section 6 being violated is the reason that TSA officials have since put out the talking point in the media that Rand Paul was never officially detained, despite the fact that the Senator himself confirmed that he was told to sit in a cubicle and wait without any indication of when he would be allowed to leave.
In 2010 Rand Paul introduced into the House the “American Traveler Dignity Act,” which would remove TSA agents’ immunity from prosecution for implementing invasive pat-down procedures. Paul re-introduced the legislation in the summer.

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s press secretary Moira Bagley tweeted on Monday that Transportation Security Administration officials were detaining her boss in Nashville, Tenn.

“Just got a call from @senrandpaul,” Bagley tweeted at about 10 a.m. on Monday. “He’s currently being detained by TSA in Nashville.”

Bagley hasn’t immediately responded to The Daily Caller’s request for comment for more details.

Texas Congressman and current Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul – Sen. Rand Paul’s father – placed a post on Facebook about the news as well. “My son Rand is currently being detained by the TSA at the Nashville Airport,” Ron Paul posted. “I’ll share more details as the situation unfolds.”

Ron Paul adds, via Twitter, that the TSA detained his son “for refusing full body pat-down after anomaly in body scanner.”

“He offered to go through again,” Stafford said in an email. “The TSA said he could only have a full body pat down. He would not consent to it. He offered to go through the scanner again. The situation is ongoing.

Sen. Rand Paul’s Facebook page has a post about the incident too. “Senator Paul is being detained at the Nashville Airport by the TSA,” Sen. Rand Paul’s Facebook post reads. “We will update you as the situation develops.”

Daily Caller

Paul also said that the incident highlights how the TSA should not be “spending so much time with people who wouldn’t attack us.”

The Senator expressed confusion over why his knee would set off an alarm on the body scanner, adding that he rolled up his trouser leg, showing his knee to the security agents. Paul also confirmed that he does not have any metal plates or screws in his knee joint.

“There is no problem. It was just a problem with their machine. But this is getting more frequent, and because everybody has to have a pat down it’s a problem,” Paul said.

The Senator also told reporters that when he was in Denver earlier this week, a similar alarm went off, however, TSA agents had allowed Paul to walk back through the screener a second time, negating the need for a pat down.

Paul added that he did not expect to be treated any different to everyday Americans by the TSA just because he is a Senator. ”I think we need to treat everybody with dignity.” Paul said.

Paul’s office elaborated on the incident, explaining that a TSA official told the senator to wait in the security area without giving an indication of when he would be allowed to leave. Security then escorted him out of the area but let him remain in the airport.

Reports suggest that TSA officials and law enforcement officials have told the media that Paul was not officially detained.

An anonymous TSA official told the AP that Paul “refused to complete the screening process in order to resolve the issue.”

“Passengers, as in this case, who refuse to comply with security procedures are denied access to the secure gate area. He was escorted out of the screening area by local law enforcement.” the official added.

SC Poll: Gingrich 32, Romney 26, Paul 11, Santorum 9

2012-01-21T09:22:00.000-08:00

Not looking good. This poll is backwards to what it should be.

South Carolina: Gingrich 32, Romney 26, Paul 11, Santorum 9

The methodology’s odd but this is right in line with yesterday’s polls. Result: Newt’s now at 70 percent on InTrade as a favorite to win tomorrow. In fact, follow that last link and play around with InTrade’s chart showing Newt’s numbers over time. As recently as two days ago, he was below 10 percent. Then the polls started moving after Monday night’s debate and InTrade’s clientele started moving with them. And now here we are. Amazing.

That’s the finding of the third Clemson University 2012 Palmetto Poll, a sample of 429 South Carolina GOP voters who indicated they plan to vote Saturday. The telephone poll was initiated Jan. 13 and recalibrated Jan. 18-19 to measure changing dynamics. Twenty percent of the likely voters remain undecided.

NewsBusted 1/17/12

2012-01-21T09:20:00.003-08:00

Supreme Court: Hosanna-Tabor ruling a win for religious freedom

2012-01-20T13:52:00.000-08:00

At a time when the elected branches of government seem divided and dysfunctional, and when candidates in primary elections struggle to magnify every disagreement, it was nice of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, to remind us today that clear, efficient, consensus, and correct decisions about things that really matter are still possible.

The justices came together in a closely watched religious-freedom case called Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC to affirm, unanimously, a foundational principle: In a constitutional ~~democracy~~ Republic like ours, secular governments lack the power to resolve religious disputes, to answer religious questions, or to select religious ministers.

The facts of the case were described in USA TODAY last spring: A former teacher at a church-run Lutheran grade school sued the church for disability-based discrimination after the church rescinded her "call" as a "commissioned minister" and fired her as a third- and fourth-grade teacher. Although the federal trial court dismissed the case, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit decided that, notwithstanding her "call," the teacher's "primary duties" were secular, rather than religious, and that the case could go forward.

Writing for a unanimous court, Chief Justice Roberts insisted, clearly and directly, that the "authority to select and control who will minister to the faithful is the church's alone." If an antidiscrimination lawsuit attempts to interfere with such matters, the First Amendment does not permit it to proceed.

Lawyers for the federal government sided with the teacher, and advanced the bizarre position — one that no courts and very few scholars or experts endorse — that, notwithstanding the First Amendment's protections for religious freedom, secular courts should be able to second-guess most decisions made by religious communities and institutions about their ministers, and to treat them as garden variety employment-discrimination cases. This view was characterized by the chief justice as "remarkable," "extreme," and "untenable," and it received no support, from any of the justices.

Job Killer: Obama Admin Hands Big Air Force Contract to Brazil

2012-01-20T13:33:00.000-08:00

The from my friend's blog in New York........

Here’s a little something that caught my eye today. It seems after investing around $100 million in this project, Hawker-Beechcraft has been excluded from a contract, worth almost $1 billion, to build a new light air support plane.

What intrigues me is the Brazilian company Embraer, the likely contract winner, is currently under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Justice Department, for possible violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

According to Financial Times, Embraer is “venturing into the defense industry” and “is one of a select few Brazilian companies that has managed to break out of the Latin American market and compete on a global scale”

Here’s what the Wichita Eagle is reporting:

Hawker Beechcraft Corp. says the Air Force has informed the company that it lost out on a military contract worth nearly $1 billion.

The company had hoped to win the Light Air Support contract with its AT-6, an armed version of its T-6 trainer. But on Friday, the company said it received a letter from the Air Force saying the AT-6 had been excluded from the competition. The company wants an explanation.

According to the company’s news release: “The letter provides no basis for the exclusion. We are both confounded and troubled by this decision, as we have been working closely with the Air Force for two years and, with our partners Lockheed Martin, CMC Esterline, Pratt & Whitney Canada, L-3 WESCAM and CAE, have invested more than $100 million preparing to meet the Air Force’s specific requirements.”

The piston planes are designed for counterinsurgency, close air support, armed overwatch and homeland security.

Read more

Do you believe that you have a right to bear arms?

2012-01-20T11:41:00.000-08:00

Do you believe that you have a right to bear arms?

If you answered yes, I would ask you - do you really believe that?

Do you really believe that you have a right to bear arms if the only place you can carry a gun is in your home?

Do you really believe that you have a right to bear arms when over 99% of concealed carry permits are denied in Maryland?

Do you really believe that you have a right to bear arms when politicians can obtain a concealed carry permit and you can't?

Do you really believe you have a right to bear arms if Maryland law prohibits you from carrying a gun for self defense?

Like the millions of law abiding gun owners in America, I am a peace loving person. I own firearms so that I can defend myself and my family should that need arise.

While I hope that I am never in the position of having to fire a gun in self defense, I rest easier at night knowing that I could defend myself and my family against an armed robber if the need arose.

I also rest easier knowing that my family could stop criminals rather than becoming a victim of even worse crimes.

It is a simple fact that gun control laws don't stop criminals from obtaining guns, and instead only disarm law abiding citizens, making us easy targets.

It is never justifiable to deprive law abiding citizens of their constitutional right to keep and bear arms for self defense because criminals misuse guns.

Gun control is the faulty idea that criminals who ignore the laws against murder, rape, or robbery will somehow obey a law that prohibits them from having a gun.

Studies have repeatedly shown that states that pass shall-issue laws experience a significant reduction in violent crimes.

Democrats Abandon Obama For Ron Paul

2012-01-20T11:14:00.001-08:00

Who won the debate? Some say Santorum

2012-01-20T11:13:00.000-08:00

One of Rick Santorum's stronger moments in last night's debate came as he chided Newt Gingrich for failing to follow through on his big ideas, and pointed out that Gingrich had failed to take on corruption in the congressional bank when Santorum did just that as a junior lawmaker.

Actually, the backstory is more interesting than that, as Gingrich himself had a check-kiting problem at the time of the House banking scandal. Here's Santorum, in the debate transcript:

I understand your taking credit for the 1994 election, and you did have a lot of plans. As you know, I worked with you on those, and we had meetings early in the morning on many -- many a week. And so we worked together on that.
But you also have to admit that this freshman congressman who wasn't supposed to win a race came and did something you never did, which is blew the lid off the biggest scandal to hit the Congress in 50 years. You knew about it for 10 or 15 years because you told me you knew about it. And you did nothing because you didn't have the courage to stand up to your own leadership, the Democratic speaker of the House, take to the floor of the Senate, demand the releasing of the checks that were being kited by members of Congress, risk your political career, risk your promotion within the ranks and do what was right for America. And that had more or as much to do with the 1994 win as any plan that you put together.

What Santorum didn't mention is that Gingrich wasn't clean of responsibility in the House banking affair, though he came out looking a good deal better than members who overdrew their accounts hundreds of times. The New York Times reported in an August '92 Gingrich profile:

His most strenuous campaign has been on the House bank, coaching and encouraging a group of seven Republican freshmen who made a national scandal out of a peculiar, terribly run, financial institution in which some members' deposits covered their colleagues' sometimes spectacular overdrafts. No taxpayers' money was involved, though Gingrich said the practices reflected "systemic, institutional corruption." ...
His hairsbreadth victory in a July 22 Georgia Republican primary is both the best evidence of his claim to be a revolutionary, ready to take great risks, and of the potency of the enmity he has unleashed. His own 22 overdrafts, including a $9,463 check to the Internal Revenue Service, were the heaviest weapons against him in an anti-incumbent campaign waged by an underfinanced former state senator. After lavishing $1.1 million on the race, Gingrich survived, by 980 votes, and the district is so Republican that he seems a shoo-in in November. If anti-incumbency campaigns like the one waged against him defeat enough Democrats, he may someday achieve his ambition of becoming Speaker of the House. It is a goal he has nourished since his teens, when his stepfather, a combat infantryman, was transferred from Germany to Fort Benning and a bookish Newt entered politics by running a successful high-school student council campaign.

If the Gingrich-Santorum sparring sounds at times like ancient political history, that's because it is. But the two genuinely do go back a long way, and when Santorum criticizes Gingrich's leadership abilities, he's doing it from the position of someone who can say, as Santorum did last night: "I served with him. I was there."

Read More.....

Supreme Court Throws Out Judge-Drawn TX Electoral Maps Favoring Blacks, Hispanics

2012-01-20T08:59:00.000-08:00

We have the potential for this in Maryland, with O'Malley's redistricting map.

WASHINGTON (The Blaze/AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday threw out electoral maps drawn by federal judges in Texas that favored minorities. The unsigned opinion left the fate of Texas’ April primaries unclear.

The justices ordered the three-judge court in San Antonio to come up with new plans, but did not compel the use of maps created by Texas’ Republican-dominated state Legislature. Only Justice Clarence Thomas said he would have gone that far.

Controversy over the maps arose from redrawing political boundaries based on results of the 2010 census that found that Texas had added more than 4 million new residents, mostly Latinos and African-Americans, since 2000. The minority groups complained they were denied sufficient voting power by Republican lawmakers who sought to maximize GOP electoral gains in violation of the landmark Voting Rights Act.

A media report from MyFoxDWF.com earlier this month further explains the drama that unfolded surrounding the state’s redistricting:

Dems propose 'Reasonable Profits Board' to regulate oil company profits

2012-01-19T20:53:00.000-08:00

Why don't they just Nationalize the Oil Companies like the Communist countries do, if their going to regulate the profits....this is crazy.

Six House Democrats, led by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), want to set up a "Reasonable Profits Board" to control gas profits.

The Democrats, worried about higher gas prices, want to set up a board that would apply a "windfall profit tax" as high as 100 percent on the sale of oil and gas, according to their legislation. The bill provides no specific guidance for how the board would determine what constitutes a reasonable profit.

The Gas Price Spike Act, H.R. 3784, would apply a windfall tax on the sale of oil and gas that ranges from 50 percent to 100 percent on all surplus earnings exceeding "a reasonable profit." (I guess Congress figures what a "reasonable profit is?) It would set up a Reasonable Profits Board made up of three presidential nominees that will serve three-year terms. Unlike other bills setting up advisory boards, the Reasonable Profits Board would not be made up of any nominees from Congress. (more power to the President, as if he needs more)

The bill would also seem to exclude industry representatives from the board, as it says members "shall have no financial interests in any of the businesses for which reasonable profits are determined by the Board."

According to the bill, a windfall tax of 50 percent would be applied when the sale of oil or gas leads to a profit of between 100 percent and 102 percent of a reasonable profit. The windfall tax would jump to 75 percent when the profit is between 102 and 105 percent of a reasonable profit, and above that, the windfall tax would be 100 percent. The bill also specifies that the oil-and-gas companies, as the seller, would have to pay this tax.

Kucinich said these tax revenues would be used to fund alternative transportation programs when oil-and-gas prices spike.

"Gas prices continue to rise, creating a hardship for the American people," he said. "At the same time, oil companies are making record profits gouging their customers. This bill would tax only the excess profits and create forward-thinking transportation alternatives."

One reader commented:

This is great- now we need a "Reasonable Spending Board" to monitor our Congress. We need a "Reasonable Ethics Board" to punish members of Congress who use their office to enrich themselves. A "Reasonable Taxation Board" to prevent the government from taking too much of our money.

We can have a "Reasonable Earnings Board" to take money from actors and musicians who make too much money on their movies and records. A "Reasonable Athlete Salary Board" to make sure athletes don't make too much money. A "Reasonable Executive Compensation Board" to make sure people like Franklin Raines don't make hundreds of millions while bankrupting taxpayer funded companies.

We have truly entered the twilight zone and Orwell must be spinning in his grave. The day the government gets to decide what a "reasonable profit" is for private companies we have allowed our politicians and federal government to become far too powerful.

Going after oil and gas companies is all about politics. They are not the preferred industries so their profits can be attacked. Why not go after Apple's profits or Microsoft? Their profit margins are higher.

The American people cannot allow our government to engage in this type of abject tyranny. It's the most un-American thing I can imagine. What's next- the government forcing all citizens to buy products and services from private companies?

The America of our founders and forefathers is disappearing before our eyes.

Republican Candidates: How do They Grade on the Second Amendment?

2012-01-19T15:59:00.001-08:00

Obviously, any of them would rate higher than Obama, but looking to the largest and most influential gun-rights organizations, the NRA and Gun Owners of America, we find the following.

For whatever reason, the NRA has not yet chosen to grade any of the candidates. I have my opinions about this which I may share at a later date, but suffice it to say that as an NRA Life Member I am none too happy about their support of a national right-to-carry license or certain board members feelings on magazine capacities.

As for Gun Owners of America, which I am currently learning more about, for what it's worth here are their grades:

Ron Paul...	A+
Rick Santorum...	B-
Newt Gingrich...	C
Mitt Romney...	D-

Lunchtime Leftovers

Gov. signs bill allowing homeowners to legally kill intruders

2012-01-19T13:10:00.000-08:00

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Gov. Scott Walker has signed a bill that allows homeowners to legally kill intruders.

The bill, nicknamed the "Castle Doctrine," creates a presumption of legal immunity for someone who kills or injures a person breaking into his or her home, vehicle or workplace. The measurerequires a judge to presume that the use of deadly force was necessary.

The immunity presumption would not apply to a shooter who attacked someone he or she should have known was a public safety officer.

The Republican-controlled Legislature passed the bill early last month. Walker signed it into law Wednesday afternoon.

Read More.....

Massive opposition file on Romney hits Internet

2012-01-19T12:19:00.000-08:00

If you think you’ve already heard everything there is to know about Mitt Romney, think again. A 200-page document that appears to be Sen. John McCain’s entire 2008 election-year opposition research file on the former Massachusetts governor hit the Internet with a vengeance Tuesday evening. And it’s an eye-opener.

The file explores everything from the assessed value of Romney’s house (“$3.162 million”) to his views on the Boy Scouts’ ban of homosexuals (“publicly opposed … in 1994 and 2002 campaigns”). It was made public Tuesday on the social media website Buzzfeed, although it appears to have been accessible online for two months.

The document, given the name “The Romney Book,” was viewed less than 100 times on the page where it was originally uploaded by its anonymous leaker on November 11.

The NDAA and You-Coast to Coast AM

2012-01-19T11:33:00.000-08:00

Coast to Coast AM

Newt Gingrich Praises President Obama on the Stimulus & Healthcare

2012-01-19T07:39:00.000-08:00

Gov. Rick Perry dropping out of presidential race

2012-01-19T07:37:00.001-08:00

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who parachuted into the 2012 Republican presidential contest on a surge of upbeat expectations, is expected to exit the contest on Thursday, two days before a South Carolina primary in which he was trailing far behind the leaders.

Perry will hold a press conference in North Charleston at 11 a.m., when he'll suspend his candidacy, according to multiple news accounts.

Perry almost quit the race after a weak fifth-place finish in Iowa's leadoff caucuses. But urged on by his wife and supporters, he decided to press ahead, skipping the New Hampshire primary and putting all of his emphasis on South Carolina.

In theory, the first southern primary offered Perry the best opportunity to capitalize on his southern roots and background as a military veteran. However, the self-inflicted damage he suffered as a result of his stumbling performance in early debates proved too much to overcome.

Read more

Obama: More jobs in jobless benefits than Keystone Pipeline

2012-01-19T07:28:00.000-08:00

President Obama said that he will delay his vacation and keep Congress in session until the passage of his desired payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits extension -- two proposals that Obama said would create more jobs than the Keystone XL pipeline that his administration recently delayed.

"I would not ask anyone to do something I'm not willing to do myself," Obama said when asked if he would go on vacation while keeping Congress in Washington D.C. "We are going to stay here as long as it takes [to get unemployment extended and pass the payroll tax cut]."

As Obama called for passage of those bills, he also responded to a recent Republican push to require him to approve the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada. "However many jobs might be generated by a Keystone pipeline," he said, "they're going to be a lot fewer than the jobs that are created by extending the payroll tax cut and extending unemployment insurance."

Obama argues against appearing at eligibility hearing

2012-01-19T07:26:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama has outlined a defense strategy for a multitude of state-level challenges to his candidacy on the 2012 presidential ballot in a Georgia case that is scheduled to come before a judge later this month – simply explain that states have nothing to do with the eligibility of presidential candidates.

“Presidential electors and Congress, not the state of Georgia, hold the constitutional responsibility for determining the qualifications of presidential candidates,” Obama’s lawyer argues in a motion to quash a subpoena for him to appear at the hearings Jan. 26.

“The election of President Obama by the presidential electors, confirmed by Congress, makes the documents and testimony sought by plaintiff irrelevant,” the lawyer said.

Hearing have been scheduled for that date for three separate issues to be handled. They all are raised by Georgia residents who are challenging Obama’s name on the 2012 ballot for various reasons, which they are allowed to do under state law.

It is states, usually through the office of secretary of state, that run elections, not the federal government. The national election is simply a compilation of the results of the individual elections within states.

The schedule for the hearings was set by Judge Michael M. Malihi of the Georgia state Office of State Administrative Hearings. In Georgia, a state law requires “every candidate for federal” office who is certified by the state executive committees of a political party or who files a notice of candidacy “shall meet the constitutional and statutory qualifications for holding the office being sought.”

State law also grants the secretary of state and any “elector who is eligible to vote for a candidate” in the state the authority to raise a challenge to a candidate’s qualifications, the judge determined.

WND

Pair Busted For Flaming Tampon Attack On Car

2012-01-18T22:05:00.000-08:00

You just couldn't make this stuff up......

Armed with flaming tampons--yes, flaming tampons--two young Pennsylvanians attempted to blow up a vehicle after severely vandalizing it, according to police.

The bizarre January 7 incident outside a bar in Metal Township resulted in the arrest of Patricia Deshong, 25, and Quentin Deshong, 22, on a variety of charges, including attempted arson, public drunkenness, and criminal mischief.

According to State Police troopers, the Deshongs seriously damaged a 2006 Ford Fusion, which had its windshield and windows either cracked or broken, was covered with dents, and had blood on the front passenger seat. The car’s hood was also open and various hoses had been disconnected.

The Deshongs are pictured in the mug shots.

As for the flaming tampons, a probable cause affidavit notes that investigators “discovered that the gas cap was removed and tampons were used to possibly ignite the gas tank." Additionally, “Tampon was used in the engine compartment where the oil fill cap is located.” Since “ashes were at the gas cap area and the oil fill cap area,” troopers concluded that the tampons had been set ablaze at each spot.

The affidavit does not indicate why the Deshongs allegedly vandalized the vehicle, which is owned by Falon Clark, a 25-year-old woman whose Facebook page still includes Patricia Deshong among her friends. Hours after her car was trashed, a message on Clark’s Facebook page noted that she was “lookin for some revenge…”

BREAKING NEWS: House votes to 'disapprove' President Obama's request to raise the debt ceiling

2012-01-18T17:49:00.000-08:00

The measure now goes to the Senate, where passage is considered unlikely. In addition, President Barack Obama would veto the disapproval measure if it reached his desk, requiring a subsequent two-thirds majority in both chambers to override him.

The House of Representatives voted this afternoon to pass a resolution of disapproval on President Obama’s request to increase the statutory debt limit by $1.2 trillion.

The resolution passed by a count of 239-176, with two GOP members voting present.

The resolution is not binding, and states that “the Congress disapproves of the president’s exercise of authority to increase the debt limit.” Even if the Senate were to approve the resolution of disapproval, the president could veto the resolution and get his debt limit increase anyways.

Just one Republican, Rep. David Dreier of California, voted with Democrats opposing the resolution of disapproval. Six Democrats voted with the Republicans.

Last week, Obama sent Congress a request to increase the debt ceiling by $1.2 trillion, which would raise the government’s credit limit to $16.394 trillion. As part of the Budget Control Act passed by Congress last August, both chambers of Congress may vote on resolutions of disapproval within 15 days following the president’s request.

“This debt ceiling increase is a symptom of overspending that has consumed Washington for far too long,” Freshman Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said during debate on the House floor this afternoon. “President Obama’s request for a $1.2 trillion increase in the debt limit points to the serious fiscal challenges we have found ourselves in due to years of irresponsible and reckless spending.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said that today’s vote “is just another exercise in that juvenile behavior” by House Republicans.

ABC News

TSA admits wrongdoing in cases of two elderly woman who claim they were strip-searched

2012-01-18T17:36:00.001-08:00

In an about-face, the feds have admitted wrongdoing in the cases of two elderly women who say they were strip-searched at Kennedy Airport by overzealous screeners.

Federal officials had initially insisted that all “screening procedures were followed” after Ruth Sherman, 89, and Lenore Zimmerman, 85, went public with separate accounts of humiliating strip searches.

But in a letter obtained by the Daily News, the Homeland Security Department acknowledges that screeners violated standard practice in their treatment of the ailing octogenarians last November.

Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Betsy Markey concedes to state Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) that Sherman was forced to show security agents her colostomy bag — a violation of policy.

“It is not standard operating procedure for colostomy devices to be visually inspected, and [the Transportation Security Administration\] apologizes for this employee’s action,” Markey wrote.

The letter says that Sherman, who uses a wheelchair, was escorted into a private area after she voluntarily lowered her pants to show screeners the device.

In the private room, she was patted down and told to show agents the colostomy bag, the letter says

Zimmerman had told The News two female agents removed her clothes — instead of just patting her down — after she revealed that she was wearing a defibrillator.

“They’re lying,” said Zimmerman. “I don’t have a problem with [screeners checking\] the back brace. I have a problem with being strip-searched.”

Gianaris, who wrote to the TSA requesting a full investigation, said the feds’ account is still full of holes.

“It’s obvious that something went wrong, so its nice to see the TSA admit that their procedures were violated,” Gianaris said, “but they’re still falling short of admitting that these women’s dignity was violated by asking them to remove their clothes.”

Salisbury man among 50 arrested for Puerto Rico-based identity trafficking

2012-01-18T11:17:00.000-08:00

A Salisbury man was arrested Wednesday as part of a nationwide, coordinated seizure of 50 individuals prosecutors say are involved in a Puerto Rico-based identity-trafficking ring, according to the federal immigration agency.

Darcia Ramirez-Segura, 43, has been charged with conspiracy to commit identification fraud, according to a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, relating to the alleged trafficking of the identities of Puerto Rican U.S. citizens and their identity documents. The single-count federal indictment covering all 50 defendants was returned by a grand jury on Dec. 29 and made public Thursday.

"The indictment … alleges that from April 2009 to December 2011, the defendants operated an extensive black-market identity fraud ring," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "The alleged conspiracy stretched across the United States and Puerto Rico, using suppliers, identity brokers, and mail and money runners to fill and deliver orders for the personal identifying information and government-issued identity documents of Puerto Rican U.S. citizens."

According to the indictment, Ramirez-Segura operated as an "identity broker," a person who solicited customers locally, quoted a price — usually between $700 and $2,500 for a set of unlawful documents — then collected payment and placed orders for identity documents. The orders were placed through coded telephone conversations with an outfit in Puerto Rico.

The Secret Behind SOPA

2012-01-18T08:44:00.000-08:00

The secret behind SOPA, the so-called anti-piracy bill which is today the target of an unprecedented backlash with Wikileaks and other major websites ‘going dark’ to protest the legislation, has nothing to do with piracy or copyright theft – it’s about the formal effort to mimic Communist China’s system of Internet censorship.

But don’t take my word for it, listen to what Joe Lieberman, co-sponsor of PIPA, SOPA’s sister version in the Senate, said about the purpose of behind the US government’s efforts to control the Internet under the guise of cybersecurity.

Lieberman characterized fears that the US government would use such powers to censor political content as “total misinformation,” yet goes on to admit that the purpose behind the bill is to mimic China’s ability to “disconnect parts of its Internet in case of war,” adding, “we need that here too”.

Of course, Communist China’s “war” is not against foreign terrorists or hackers, it’s targeted against people who dare to use the Internet to express dissent against government atrocities or corruption. China’s system of Internet policing is about crushing freedom of speech and has nothing to do with legitimate security concerns as Lieberman well knows.

In Maryland, a prescription for better health care

2012-01-18T08:17:00.000-08:00

Maryland is near the top of the national rankings in median household income, but the state’s great wealth does not equal good health for everyone.

Instead, the state has troubling clusters of chronic disease, low-birth-weight babies and limited access to health care for those who lack the means to pay. Areas with large minority populations, including Prince George’s County, are especially hard-hit.

A proposal unveiled Tuesday by Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D) aims to narrow the gap between Maryland and other states that, for a variety of reasons, have healthier communities and easier access to good medical care, especially primary care.

The proposal, which was devised by a group led by University of Maryland medical school Dean E. Albert Reece, urges lawmakers to create health-care zones, which would mimic economic-enterprise zones that have been in use, with varying degrees of success, for several decades. The idea is to have local and state governments use their taxing authority to offer incentives to lure doctors, physicians’ assistants, nurses and other medical professionals to set up practice in underserved areas.

The proposal also establishes a cash prize — the amount is to be determined — for communities or nonprofits that find innovative ways to improve the overall health of a community. And it proposes incentives for hospitals to measure success rates by race and ethnicity, in addition to traditional methods, such as lower re-admissions.

“There is, I think, both a moral imperative and, quite frankly, an economic imperative and a case to be made that health disparities need to be eliminated,” Brown said in an interview in advance of the announcement.

BANK OF AMERICA WACHOVIA & WELLS FARGO CAUGHT FUNDING MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS

2012-01-17T18:14:00.001-08:00

NYPD, Feds Testing Gun-Scanning Technology

2012-01-17T18:03:00.000-08:00

Looks like to me this would violate a person's 4th amendment rights.....looks like a electronic search to me....New York and Chicago are the worst 2nd amendment violators.

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – The NYPD is stepping up their war against illegal guns, with a new tool that could detect weapons on someone as they walk down the street.

But is it violating your right to privacy?

Police, along with the U.S. Department of Defense, are researching new technology in a scanner placed on police vehicles that can detect concealed weapons.

“You could use it at a specific event. You could use it at a shooting-prone location,” NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly told CBS 2′s Hazel Sanchez on Tuesday.

It’s called Terahertz Imaging Detection. It measures the energy radiating from a body up to 16 feet away, and can detect anything blocking it, like a gun.

CBS Local

FOREIGN COMPANY BUYS U.S. ELECTION RESULTS REPORTING FIRM

2012-01-17T17:56:00.000-08:00

This can't be good.........

FOREIGN COMPANY BUYS U.S. ELECTION RESULTS REPORTING FIRM By Bev Harris http://www.blackboxvoting.org In a major step towards global centralization of election processes, the world's dominant Internet voting company has purchased the USA's dominant election results reporting company. When you view your local or state election results on the Internet, on portals which often appear to be owned by the county elections division, in over 525 US jurisdictions you are actually redirected to a private corporate site controlled by SOE software, which operates under the name ClarityElections.com. The good news is that this firm promptly reports precinct-level detail in downloadable spreadsheet format. As reported by BlackBoxVoting.org in 2008, the bad news is that this centralizes one middleman access point for over 525 jurisdictions in AL, AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, KY, MI, KS, IL, IN, NC, NM, MN, NY, SC, TX, UT, WA. And growing. As local election results funnel through SOE's servers (typically before they reach the public elsewhere), those who run the computer servers for SOE essentially get "first look" at results and the ability to immediately and privately examine vote details throughout the USA. In 2004, many Americans were justifiably concerned when, days before the presidential election, Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell redirected Ohio election night results through the Tennessee-based server for several national Republican Party operations. This is worse: This redirects results reporting to a centralized privately held server which is not just for Ohio, but national; not just USA-based, but global. A mitigation against fraud by SOE insiders has been the separation of voting machine systems from the SOE results reports. Because most US jurisdictions require posting evidence of results from each voting machine at the precinct, public citizens can organize to examine these results to compare with SOE results. Black Box Voting spearheaded a national citizen action to videotape / photograph these poll tapes in 2008. With the merger of SOE and SCYTL, that won't work (if SCYTL's voting system is used). When there are two truly independent sources of information, the public can perform its own "audit" by matching one number against the other. These two independent sources, however, will now be merged into one single source: an Internet voting system controlled by SCYTL, with a results reporting system also controlled by SCYTL. With SCYTL internet voting, there will be no ballots. No physical evidence. No chain of custody. No way for the public to authenticate who actually cast the votes, chain of custody, or the count. SCYTL is moving into or already running elections in: the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Norway, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, India and Australia. SCYTL is based in Barcelona; its funding comes from international venture capital funds including Nauta Capital, Balderton Capital and Spinnaker. Here is the link to the press release regarding SYCTL's acquisition of SOE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/scytl-acquires-soe-software-becoming-the-leadin g-election-software-provider-2012-01-11 Drudge Report

The Web Goes on Strike Against SOPA

2012-01-17T13:35:00.000-08:00

Forgive me, I just had to do this one more article about Protesting SOPA.......

Send a message to your Senator here:

Find out where your legislator stands on SOPA here:

On January 18th, 2012 the internet is going on strike to stop the web censorship bills in Congress! Now is our moment— we need you to do everything you can, whether you have a website or not.

January 18th is going to be amazing. Sites are striking in all different ways, but they are united by this: do the biggest thing you possibly can, and drive contacts to Congress. Put this on your site or automate it by putting this JS into your header, which will start the blackout at 8AM EST and end at 8PM EST.

Websites: How to Strike Everyone: Prepare to Strike

On Jan 24th, Congress will vote to pass internet censorship in the Senate, even though the vast majority of Americans are opposed. We need to kill the bill - PIPA in the Senate and SOPA in the House - to protect our rights to free speech, privacy, and prosperity. We need internet companies to follow Reddit's lead and stand up for the web, as we internet users are doing every day.

Confirmed Participants:

If you can also tweet at us at @FightForTheFTR from your official Twitter account, it will be easier for us to verify your participation. A blog post about why you are striking is great too!

Senator pushes for GMO labeling in Washington State

2012-01-17T12:03:00.000-08:00

Regardless of whether the Republicans or Democrats occupy the White House, federal regulatory officials continue to disregard concerns about genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), and stonewall all efforts to mandate proper GMO labeling. As a result, individual states are having to craft their own GMO labeling legislation, including a new bill recently introduced in Washington State that would mandate GMO labeling beginning in 2014.

The Epoch Times reports that Washington State Senator Maralyn Chase has sponsored a new bill that would require both raw GMOs and processed foods containing GMOs to be properly labeled beginning July 2014. Any food product containing GMOs will have to bear a list outlining which ingredients are natural and which ingredients are GMO. Several other GMO labeling bills have also been introduced in the state legislature.

"People have the right to know what they're eating," said Sen. Chase about her bill. She has reportedly been working for years to address the GMO labeling issue, noting that it is a "question of transparency and accountability."

PCC Natural Markets reports that legislators from both sides of the aisle in Washington State are in support of several farmer-authored GMO labeling bills. After all, farmers trying to sell non-GMO crops, especially overseas, bear the brunt of not having GMOs labeled because their foreign market potential becomes greatly limited.

Back in early 2011, more than 1,200 Eastern Washington farmers signed a petition brought before the state legislature to require GMO labeling. This "Committee to Safe Farm Markets" has tried for years to get the attention of legislators about GMO labeling, but to no avail.

As we reported previously, similar GMO labeling efforts are currently underway in California. Backed by a coalition that includes Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap, Nature's Path, Eden Foods, Lundberg, Organic Valley, and United Natural Foods, a GMO labeling initiative in California is moving forward with roughly 80 percent support among polled Californians.

A Tale of Two 'Crimes'

2012-01-17T11:37:00.000-08:00

To get a sense of just how twisted and oppressive the U.S. Department of (In)Justice has become, the arrest and prosecution of marine biologist Nancy Black, who faces 20 years in prison for observing feeding whales, should give everyone a good picture of tyranny. This is the story that should make the blood of every decent person boil uncontrollably.

At the same time, two TSA agents who STOLE $40,000 from passengers receive a mild slap on the wrist (six months in jail and five years' probation) that hardly reflects the seriousness of their crimes. So, we see the Obama administration trying to put an innocent person away for two decades and then coddles federal employees who are thieves. I guess that when those children in California a few years ago were singing "Obama's gonna save us," they must have meant he would help criminals and oppress the innocent.

LRC

FOX Reporter Fight Back Against Another Reporter About Negative Ron Paul Coverage

2012-01-17T11:35:00.000-08:00

SOPA protest: 7,000 sites to go dark tomorrow

2012-01-17T10:39:00.000-08:00

An estimated 7,000 websites are planning to go dark Wednesday as part of a mass protest against a pair of controversial anti-piracy bills — and opponents of the measures say the number is likely to increase.

A mix of watchdog groups, content creators and grass-roots activists on Tuesday touted the planned mass Internet blackout as the largest online “revolution” in the U.S. to date.The online protest is aimed squarely at lawmakers pushing the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and the PROTECT IP Act in the Senate and comes with a message: back off the bills or face the wrath of the same Internet community you’re trying to regulate.

“Tomorrow will be a big day of action,” said Tiffiniy Cheng, director of fightforthefuture.org, which is organizing the blackout. “The fight will continue until we get the final say from members of Congress that these bills will be dropped, and we’ll start from the beginning on how to balance protection of copyright with expression online.”

Mitt Romney not a natural-born citizen?

2012-01-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

Amid ongoing challenges to Barack Obama’s presidential eligibility, some have raised questions about the constitutional status of the leading candidate for the Republican nomination, Gov. Mitt Romney, contending he was born in Mexico or that his father was not an American citizen at the time of his birth.

However, the available evidence shows that even under the strictest interpretation of Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution, Romney is a natural-born citizen, according to Article 2, Section 1. (if Mitt's father wasn't a citizen at his birth, then this is not true)

The questions have been raised because Romney’s grandparents went to Mexico in the 1800s, where Mitt Romney’s father, George W. Romney, was born, July 8, 1907.

According to a Romney family genealogy prepared by the London, England, LDS Temple, Romney’s grandparents – Gaskell Romney and Anna Amelia Pratt Romney – were polygamous Mormons who fled the United States when the Mormon church disavowed polygamy. As the genealogy points out, polygamy was a federal crime in the U.S., but it was allowed in Mexico.

The grandparents were even married in Mexico, although each of them was born to a U.S. citizen father in U.S. sovereign territory.

Gaskell Romney was born Sept. 22, 1871, in St. George, Washington County, in the Utah Territory;
Anna Amelia Pratt Romney was born May 6, 1876, in Salt Lake City, in the Utah Territory.

After the Mexican Revolution broke out in 1910, the Mormon colonies began to be endangered, starting in 1911-1912 by raids from marauders. In response, Romney’s grandparents fled Mexico, taking their 5-year-old son, George W. Romney, with them. They settled first in Oakley, Idaho, and finally in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The only direct Supreme Court discussion on point as to the meaning of “natural-born citizen” in Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution remains Chief Justice Waite’s discussion in Minor v. Happersett, 88 U.S. 162 (1874):

The Constitution does not, in words, say who shall be natural-born citizens. Resort must be had elsewhere to ascertain that. At common-law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also.

(There’s a quote for you. It really exists. And it tells you exactly who are natural-born citizens; those born in the country of both parents who are citizens of.)

As WND has reported, according to the standard that both parents must be U.S. citizens at the time of birth, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana would not qualify. Both have been discussed as future presidential candidates.

WND

U.S. Bridges, Roads Being Built by Chinese Firms

2012-01-17T07:51:00.000-08:00

Obama says help us put Americans back to work, then hires the Chinese to do much of it.........

Romney admits he would have signed the National Defense Authorization Act if he were president

2012-01-17T07:43:00.000-08:00

I think Romney is very misleading in his comments about the NDAA ...it's just not for people that join Al Qaeda ...just like the Patriot Act ended up not just for "terrorists" either like we were told, but it used against American citizens as well daily.

CBS Looking To Add Tebow To Broadcast Team

2012-01-16T20:11:00.000-08:00

Just when you thought Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow was down; like a phoenix, he rises from the ashes.

Tebow and the Broncos were last seen Saturday night walking off the field after getting shellacked by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

The former Florida Gators quarterback couldn’t muster any offense in the game and was outclassed on the field by Brady.

But, Tebow has been a ratings draw for CBS and now, the network wants to get Tebow in the studio this Sunday for the AFC Championship game.

According to USAToday.com, CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said CBS has had conversations with Tebow’s people and are waiting to hear back from the popular quarterback.

CBS

Burger King tries home delivery

2012-01-16T20:06:00.000-08:00

Burger King, the No. 2 burger chain, has quietly begun testing home delivery of its burgers, fries and other sandwiches since fall at four of its restaurants in the greater Washington, D.C., area, with an eye on expanding beyond that.

Should home delivery catch on for the burger giants — as it has for the pizza kingpins — it could be an industry changer. But it runs counter to long-held consumer perception that fast-food burgers and fries travel poorly — and don't warm up well in the microwave. It also would require millions of hungry folks to change their at-home eating habits. "There are some real food-quality issues here," says Ron Paul, president of research firm Technomic. "But there's no question that consumer expectation for having things delivered has risen."

In some markets, Amazon can deliver books the same day they're ordered. Groceries are increasingly being delivered. And retail giants, including Sears and Target, even offered home delivery of fresh-cut Christmas trees.

In an electronic age of instant everything — when millions of consumers expect to get what they want at the click of a button — the logic may seem sound. But what about those soggy fries and limp burgers that folks fear go hand-in-hand with home delivery?

USA Today

Obama to Congress: I’ll decide what’s constitutional

2012-01-16T15:22:00.000-08:00

Election season is here, and you might think President Obama would be going out of his way to show voters that he can be trusted with the powers of the presidency. But you would be wrong. Just a few days before Christmas, Obama served notice to all Americans that he will continue to abuse executive privilege by seeking new ways to vilify gun owners and further his anti-gun agenda.

Congress placed a provision in the $1 trillion omnibus spending bill for 2012 designed to bar the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from using any of its $30.7 billion taxpayer funds to “advocate or promote gun control.” However, upon signing the bill into law, President Obama issued a caveat of his own:

I have advised Congress that I will not construe these provisions as preventing me from fulfilling my constitutional responsibility to recommend to the Congress’s consideration such measures as I shall judge necessary and expedient.

In other words: “Congress may pass laws, but I decide which of its laws are constitutional and which I can simply choose to ignore.”

Of course, the Constitution doesn’t actually give the president this power, but Obama won’t allow a little thing like the U.S. Constitution get in his way. And in the present case, Congress is right to try to prevent him from using a federal health agency, not to mention our tax dollars, as a weapon in his ongoing war against the Second Amendment.

Even more importantly, Congress knows that there is no scheme too radical, or dangerous, for the Obama administration when it comes to using federal agencies to push its anti-gun agenda.

Last month, email exchanges surfaced between employees at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) that show the administration helped illegally transfer guns to violent Mexican drug cartels in order to manufacture a case for gun registration. Now gun dealers in four Southwest border states must abide by a new gun registration requirement, courtesy of BATFE, that forces them to register the sales of any law-abiding American who purchases more than one semi-automatic rifle within five business days.

Congress never passed any law like this. Rather, Obama’s BATFE orchestrated the deadly “Fast and Furious” gun-walking scandal to give cause for its unconstitutional gun-control edict. Given this, how hard is it to envision the Obama administration issuing a phony “health” study that maligns gun owners?

Obama may not have a majority in Congress, or the will of the people, behind his anti-gun agenda. But that isn’t stopping his administration from finding deceitful ways to evade Congress and build public support for gun bans, gun registration and other regulations designed to weaken and destroy our Second Amendment rights.

Daily Caller

Martin Luther King Jr. Was a Republican

2012-01-16T11:43:00.000-08:00

Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. tells how her uncle and family were and still are republicans....

Romney gives cash to struggling supporter at rally

2012-01-16T08:01:00.000-08:00

(CNN) – Mitt Romney gave a handful of cash Saturday to a woman who had told him she was struggling financially after an event in Sumter, South Carolina.

An aide said the GOP candidate gave the supporter "what he had on him" - about $50 or $60.

The woman, Ruth Williams, met Romney earlier in the week and told him she was having trouble making ends meet. On Saturday, Romney recognized Williams while he was shaking hands with supporters after a rally, an aide said.

Romney spoke to the woman and handed her several bills.

"He was kind to me," Williams said. "He held onto me and he made Gov. [Nikki] Haley and them come see about me."

Williams told reporters that on Wednesday she had seen Romney's campaign bus on the highway and followed it to an airport. Aides then invited her to come meet the former governor at an event in Columbia.

"I was on the highway praying and said, 'God, tell me how to get [my] lights on, and I pulled up to a stop sign and his bus was there,'" Williams said.

SOPA Bill is Shelved in the House: For Now

2012-01-16T07:56:00.000-08:00

In a surprise move today, Representative Eric Cantor(R-VA) announced that he will stop all action on SOPA, effectively killing the bill. This move was most likely due to several things. One of those things is that SOPA and PIPA met huge online protest against the bills. Another reason would be that the White House threatened to veto the bill if it had passed. However, it isn't quite time yet to celebrate, as PIPA(the Senate's version of SOPA) is still up for consideration.

The online protests about the bill were surprising and large. They ranged anywhere from callng Representatives, companies, and senators to get them to change their mind, to actively moving domain's away from and targeting the business model of the companies that supported/lobbied for the bill. GoDaddy lost well over 100,000 domains in the space of about 10 days due to their involvement with these bills, along with other various targets. Reddit in particular has been influential in turning the tide against SOPA and PIPA, and is a good demonstration of how the Internet enables Democracy.

PIPA is less well known than SOPA, but the provisions are basicly the same. It still includes the same DNS blocking and censoring system that the original SOPA did, just without the SOPA name. There are around 40 co-sponsors of the bill in the Senate so far, with no word on how many senators support the bill in addition to that. There will most likely need to be 60 votes in the Senate in order to invoke cloture and end an almost guaranteed filibuster.

Examiner

MLK

2012-01-16T07:04:00.001-08:00

CBS News: 11 More Solyndras In Obama Energy Program

2012-01-15T20:07:00.001-08:00

CBS News takes a look at 11 more Solyndras that were part of Obama's Energy Program (January 13, 2012)

Heart Break: Huntsman Says He’s Quitting G.O.P. Race

2012-01-15T19:15:00.000-08:00

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Jon M. Huntsman Jr. informed his advisers on Sunday that he intends to drop out of the Republican presidential race, ending his candidacy a week before he had hoped to revive his campaign in the South Carolina primary.

Mr. Huntsman, who had struggled to live up to the soaring expectations of his candidacy, made plans to make an announcement as early as Monday. He had been set to participate in an evening debate in Myrtle Beach.

A third-place finish in the New Hampshire primary last week failed to jump start his flagging candidacy, aides said, and his campaign limped into South Carolina with little money. Mr. Huntsman has spent days pondering his future in the race, but aides said that he concluded he was unlikely to topple Mitt Romney or match the momentum of his Republican rivals in the conservative Southern primary.

Mr. Huntsman will endorse Mr. Romney’s bid for the Republican nomination this week, according to several people who spoke on condition of anonymity.

This Is Newsweek's Cover and I'm Not Even Making It Up.

2012-01-15T18:49:00.000-08:00

Are Maryland Counties Going to be Responsible for Teacher Pensions?

2012-01-15T17:40:00.000-08:00

Look for OweMalley to push teacher's pensions down to the already broke county level. This has been going on for a long time and should really be a surprise to any Maryland county.

Martin O'Malley's only answer to everything is more spending and more taxes. Even though new tax legislation has passed and tolls have increased, Maryland democrats want more. More flush taxes, more sales taxes, more gas taxes. More more. more.

Now they are going to force the hand of local counties figure out how to pay teachers retirement fees? This is outrageous.

This article posted in the Washington Post details O"Malley's plan to stick it to the tax payer.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is on the verge of asking lawmakers to reverse an 85-year-old practice of using state tax dollars to pay the bulk of teacher pension costs, a move that could open a bruising battle with local governments in a year crowded with showdowns over same-sex marriage and raising taxes.

O’Malley (D) on Friday inched closer to saying county governments must for the first time help cover the state’s rapidly expanding teacher retirement costs, telling The Washington Post that there has to be a “balance in the shared responsibility” of funding public education.

A shift, which aides confirmed O’Malley is likely to propose, could add tens of millions of dollars in new costs to counties’ beleaguered budgets in coming years and potentially lead the General Assembly to give counties a way to raise revenue to cover the bill. O’Malley said the pension issue would have to be settled in tandem with a growing dispute between Annapolis and counties over the minimum amounts they must contribute to classrooms. Both will “need to be addressed” during the 90-day legislative session, he said.

The coming pension debate in Maryland differs from recent high-profile battles in other states, such as Wisconsin, where Democrats have spearheaded an effort to recall the state’s Republican governor, whom critics say went too far in rolling back public employee benefits and bargaining rights. Maryland had a far quieter debate last year over more modest changes O’Malley pushed through to increase how much teachers and state employees contribute and to trim what benefits they receive. The nub of this year’s fight will be who pays the tab for retired teachers — the state or the counties.

O’Malley’s comments to The Post, combined with conversations he and top aides have had in recent weeks with lawmakers, staffers and lobbyists, have led a growing number to conclude that after years of standing in solidarity with local leaders opposed to a pension shift, the former Baltimore mayor is poised to change course.

They said they expect that the annual budget O’Malley is scheduled to release Wednesday will include a seismic shift in the way the state’s annual $900 million share of retirement and pension costs is paid for 105,000 Maryland educators.

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