Monday, February 22, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Study on global warming raising sea levels retracted; "Mistakes happen in science"
Scientists have been forced to withdraw a study on projected sea level rise due to global warming after finding mistakes that undermined the findings.
The study, published in 2009 in Nature Geoscience, one of the top journals in its field, confirmed the conclusions of the 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It used data over the last 22,000 years to predict that sea level would rise by between 7cm and 82cm by the end of the century.
Announcing the formal retraction of the paper from the journal, Siddall said: "It's one of those things that happens. People make mistakes and mistakes happen in science." He said there were two separate technical mistakes in the paper, which were pointed out by other scientists after it was published. A formal retraction was required, rather than a correction, because the errors undermined the study's conclusion.
At the time, Mark Siddall, from the Earth Sciences Department at the University of Bristol, said the study "strengthens the confidence with which one may interpret the IPCC results". The IPCC said that sea level would probably rise by 18cm-59cm by 2100, though stressed this was based on incomplete information about ice sheet melting and that the true rise could be higher.
Many scientists criticised the IPCC approach as too conservative, and several papers since have suggested that sea level could rise more. Martin Vermeer of the Helsinki University of Technology, Finland and Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany published a study in December that projected a rise of 0.75m to 1.9m by 2100.
Siddall said that he did not know whether the retracted paper's estimate of sea level rise was an overestimate or an underestimate.
The study, published in 2009 in Nature Geoscience, one of the top journals in its field, confirmed the conclusions of the 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It used data over the last 22,000 years to predict that sea level would rise by between 7cm and 82cm by the end of the century.
Announcing the formal retraction of the paper from the journal, Siddall said: "It's one of those things that happens. People make mistakes and mistakes happen in science." He said there were two separate technical mistakes in the paper, which were pointed out by other scientists after it was published. A formal retraction was required, rather than a correction, because the errors undermined the study's conclusion.
At the time, Mark Siddall, from the Earth Sciences Department at the University of Bristol, said the study "strengthens the confidence with which one may interpret the IPCC results". The IPCC said that sea level would probably rise by 18cm-59cm by 2100, though stressed this was based on incomplete information about ice sheet melting and that the true rise could be higher.
Many scientists criticised the IPCC approach as too conservative, and several papers since have suggested that sea level could rise more. Martin Vermeer of the Helsinki University of Technology, Finland and Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany published a study in December that projected a rise of 0.75m to 1.9m by 2100.
Siddall said that he did not know whether the retracted paper's estimate of sea level rise was an overestimate or an underestimate.
Mark Steyn on Obama's skittishness toward Iran
... when it comes to “keeping you safe” from real threats, such as a millenarian theocracy that claims universal jurisdiction, America and its allies do nothing. There aren’t going to be any sanctions, because China and Russia don’t want them. That means military action, which would have to be done without U.N. backing — which, as Greg Sheridan of the Australian puts it, “would be foreign to every instinct of the Obama administration.” Indeed. Nonetheless, Washington is (all together now) “losing patience” with the mullahs. The New York Daily News reports the latest get-tough move: “Secretary of State Clinton dared Iran on Monday to let her hold a town-hall meeting in Tehran.”
That’s telling ’em. If the ayatollahs had a sense of humor, they’d call her bluff.
That’s telling ’em. If the ayatollahs had a sense of humor, they’d call her bluff.
David Frum assesses Mitt Romney at CPAC
At one point, Romney’s text read: “the government doesn’t create jobs … only the private sector can do that.”
Romney pronounced the phrase as written, then paused. Problem: It’s not true. Romney spontaneously corrected himself: “in a lasting way.” Meaning: Yes, government purchasing can create employment, but only the private market can sustain economic expansion.
(snip)
There are dozens of countries where people can start businesses, compete with the rich and rise above their origins.
In fact, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development just this year released a detailed study of social mobility. Among developed countries, the United States actually ranks toward the back of the pack for social mobility, barely better than supposedly class-bound Britain. A child born poor in Canada, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, France (!) or Germany has a better chance of escaping poverty than a poor American.
There is evidence too that America has less social mobility today than it did a generation ago.
This information is not unconservative. Indeed it is conservatives who have identified some of the most important causes of America’s ossifying class structure: bad schools in poor areas, immigration policies that favor the unskilled.
(snip)
Romney’s unscripted self-edit revealed a man who knew and cared about the difference between fact and fantasy. In a conservative world distracted and deluded by the Sarah Palins and the Glenn Becks, that self-revelation is desperately needed –and desperately welcome.
Romney pronounced the phrase as written, then paused. Problem: It’s not true. Romney spontaneously corrected himself: “in a lasting way.” Meaning: Yes, government purchasing can create employment, but only the private market can sustain economic expansion.
(snip)
There are dozens of countries where people can start businesses, compete with the rich and rise above their origins.
In fact, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development just this year released a detailed study of social mobility. Among developed countries, the United States actually ranks toward the back of the pack for social mobility, barely better than supposedly class-bound Britain. A child born poor in Canada, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, France (!) or Germany has a better chance of escaping poverty than a poor American.
There is evidence too that America has less social mobility today than it did a generation ago.
This information is not unconservative. Indeed it is conservatives who have identified some of the most important causes of America’s ossifying class structure: bad schools in poor areas, immigration policies that favor the unskilled.
(snip)
Romney’s unscripted self-edit revealed a man who knew and cared about the difference between fact and fantasy. In a conservative world distracted and deluded by the Sarah Palins and the Glenn Becks, that self-revelation is desperately needed –and desperately welcome.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Alexander Haig was a warrior
It's easy to poke fun at soldiers-turned-politicians, but it's more useful to look at what they did as soldiers.
Here, from the Ace of Spades, is a reminder of Alexander Haig in his first life:
"When two of his companies were engaged by a large hostile force, Colonel Haig landed amid a hail of fire, personally took charge of the units, called for artillery and air fire support and succeeded in soundly defeating the insurgent force...the next day a barrage of 400 rounds was fired by the Viet Cong, but it was ineffective because of the warning and preparations by Colonel Haig. As the barrage subsided, a force three times larger than his began a series of human wave assaults on the camp. Heedless of the danger himself, Colonel Haig repeatedly braved intense hostile fire to survey the battlefield. His personal courage and determination, and his skillful employment of every defense and support tactic possible, inspired his men to fight with previously unimagined power. Although his force was outnumbered three to one, Colonel Haig succeeded in inflicting 592 casualties on the Viet Cong... (HQ US Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. 2318 (May 22, 1967)"
Here, from the Ace of Spades, is a reminder of Alexander Haig in his first life:
"When two of his companies were engaged by a large hostile force, Colonel Haig landed amid a hail of fire, personally took charge of the units, called for artillery and air fire support and succeeded in soundly defeating the insurgent force...the next day a barrage of 400 rounds was fired by the Viet Cong, but it was ineffective because of the warning and preparations by Colonel Haig. As the barrage subsided, a force three times larger than his began a series of human wave assaults on the camp. Heedless of the danger himself, Colonel Haig repeatedly braved intense hostile fire to survey the battlefield. His personal courage and determination, and his skillful employment of every defense and support tactic possible, inspired his men to fight with previously unimagined power. Although his force was outnumbered three to one, Colonel Haig succeeded in inflicting 592 casualties on the Viet Cong... (HQ US Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. 2318 (May 22, 1967)"
Does Obama understand the complexity triggered by ending "Don't ask, don't tell" policy?
Defense Secretary Robert Gates pleaded before a Senate committee for a year to study and implement the Obama repeal of “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell.” Among the practical questions Gates is going to have to answer are these:
1. Will the military be ordered to recruit gays by quota? All other sub-groups in our all-volunteer military are recruited by quota. Women, minorities, specialties like doctors and lawyers, all are subject to quotas.
2. If the answer to No. 1 is Yes, then what would the gay quota be? Would it be the widely discredited 10% figure that gay activists like Obama’s Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings always cite? Or would it be the more realistic “less than 3% figure?”
3. If large numbers of those volunteers currently serving in our military don’t reenlist, or if sufficient new recruits cannot be attracted to the Obama military, will this administration bring back the draft?
These are all very serious questions to which Sec. Gates must apply himself. He must do this even while he is trying to win the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. Once the Obama military has been formed, how will the new gay troops be housed? And what about the stress on military health care?
1. Will the military be ordered to recruit gays by quota? All other sub-groups in our all-volunteer military are recruited by quota. Women, minorities, specialties like doctors and lawyers, all are subject to quotas.
2. If the answer to No. 1 is Yes, then what would the gay quota be? Would it be the widely discredited 10% figure that gay activists like Obama’s Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings always cite? Or would it be the more realistic “less than 3% figure?”
3. If large numbers of those volunteers currently serving in our military don’t reenlist, or if sufficient new recruits cannot be attracted to the Obama military, will this administration bring back the draft?
These are all very serious questions to which Sec. Gates must apply himself. He must do this even while he is trying to win the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. Once the Obama military has been formed, how will the new gay troops be housed? And what about the stress on military health care?
Here is a preview of coming elections, in which ACORN and SEIU will play leading roles
From Sweetness & Light
FRANKFORT — A former Clay County precinct worker testified Friday that top election officers in the county taught her how to change people’s choices on voting machines to steal votes in the May 2006 primary.
Wanda White testified that Clerk Freddy Thompson — the county’s chief election officer — helped show her how to manipulate voting machines along with Charles Wayne Jones, the Democratic election commissioner.
The scheme involved duping people to walk away from the voting computer before they had finished their selections, then changing their choices, said White, the Democratic judge in a precinct in Manchester.
White said she stole more than 100 votes that election.
"It was easy done," she said.
White said she also went into the booth with people who had sold their vote to make sure they cast ballots for the candidates who had paid.
White testified Friday in the continuing trial of eight Clay County residents who allegedly took part in a scheme to rig elections over several years.
FRANKFORT — A former Clay County precinct worker testified Friday that top election officers in the county taught her how to change people’s choices on voting machines to steal votes in the May 2006 primary.
Wanda White testified that Clerk Freddy Thompson — the county’s chief election officer — helped show her how to manipulate voting machines along with Charles Wayne Jones, the Democratic election commissioner.
The scheme involved duping people to walk away from the voting computer before they had finished their selections, then changing their choices, said White, the Democratic judge in a precinct in Manchester.
White said she stole more than 100 votes that election.
"It was easy done," she said.
White said she also went into the booth with people who had sold their vote to make sure they cast ballots for the candidates who had paid.
White testified Friday in the continuing trial of eight Clay County residents who allegedly took part in a scheme to rig elections over several years.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Eric Holder: Nine Obama appointees in Justice Department have reresented terrorist detainees
Attorney General Eric Holder says nine Obama appointees in the Justice Department have represented or advocated for terrorist detainees before joining the Justice Department. But he does not reveal any names beyond the two officials whose work has already been publicly reported. And all the lawyers, according to Holder, are eligible to work on general detainee matters, even if there are specific parts of some cases they cannot be involved in.
Holder's admission comes in the form of an answer to a question posed last November by Republican Sen. Charles Grassley. Noting that one Obama appointee, Principal Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal, formerly represented Osama bin Laden's driver, and another appointee, Jennifer Daskal, previously advocated for detainees at Human Rights Watch, Grassley asked Holder to give the Senate Judiciary Committee "the names of political appointees in your department who represent detainees or who work for organizations advocating on their behalf…the cases or projects that these appointees work with respect to detainee prior to joining the Justice Department…and the cases or projects relating to detainees that have worked on since joining the Justice Department."
In his response, Holder has given Grassley almost nothing. He says nine Obama political appointees at the Justice Department have advocated on behalf of detainees, but did not identify any of the nine other than the two, Katyal and Daskal, whose names Grassley already knew. "To the best of our knowledge," Holder writes,
During their employment prior to joining the government, only five of the lawyers who serve as political appointees in those components represented detainees, and four others either contributed to amicus briefs in detainee-related cases or were otherwise involved in advocacy on behalf of detainees.
Holder says other Obama appointees, like Holder himself, came from law firms which represented detainees but did no work on behalf of the terrorist prisoners.
Holder's admission comes in the form of an answer to a question posed last November by Republican Sen. Charles Grassley. Noting that one Obama appointee, Principal Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal, formerly represented Osama bin Laden's driver, and another appointee, Jennifer Daskal, previously advocated for detainees at Human Rights Watch, Grassley asked Holder to give the Senate Judiciary Committee "the names of political appointees in your department who represent detainees or who work for organizations advocating on their behalf…the cases or projects that these appointees work with respect to detainee prior to joining the Justice Department…and the cases or projects relating to detainees that have worked on since joining the Justice Department."
In his response, Holder has given Grassley almost nothing. He says nine Obama political appointees at the Justice Department have advocated on behalf of detainees, but did not identify any of the nine other than the two, Katyal and Daskal, whose names Grassley already knew. "To the best of our knowledge," Holder writes,
During their employment prior to joining the government, only five of the lawyers who serve as political appointees in those components represented detainees, and four others either contributed to amicus briefs in detainee-related cases or were otherwise involved in advocacy on behalf of detainees.
Holder says other Obama appointees, like Holder himself, came from law firms which represented detainees but did no work on behalf of the terrorist prisoners.
CPAC greets guerilla journalist like rock star
James O’Keefe, the self-styled guerrilla investigative journalist celebrated for his video on ACORN and arrested last month in New Orleans in an attempted expose of Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu, got a rock star welcome at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference Thursday.
O’Keefe, 25, wasn’t scheduled to do any official events at CPAC, as the conference is known, but he attracted plenty of attention as he waded through the lobby of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, where the conference is taking place, posing for pictures with admiring fans who wished him well in his pending court case.
O’Keefe became a instant conservative celebrity last year when he and a partner, Hannah Giles, released secretly recorded videos of them posing as a pimp and prostitute while soliciting advice from employees of ACORN, the liberal community organizing group, on how to set up a brothel.
O’Keefe, 25, wasn’t scheduled to do any official events at CPAC, as the conference is known, but he attracted plenty of attention as he waded through the lobby of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, where the conference is taking place, posing for pictures with admiring fans who wished him well in his pending court case.
O’Keefe became a instant conservative celebrity last year when he and a partner, Hannah Giles, released secretly recorded videos of them posing as a pimp and prostitute while soliciting advice from employees of ACORN, the liberal community organizing group, on how to set up a brothel.
Tiger Woods speaks, Ace of Spades translates
Tiger Woods: My Corporate Sponsors Inform Me That I Am Genuinely Sorry I Dick-Shanked It into the Strange-Bunker
I am a robot.
Your human mating rituals are illogical.
I have regret I stuck my R2-plug into some cyber-floozie's love-socket.
My programming will not fail me again.
I know I my decisions have been questionable lately, Dave, but I assure you I have full enthusiasm for our mission to Jupiter.
I am a robot.
Your human mating rituals are illogical.
I have regret I stuck my R2-plug into some cyber-floozie's love-socket.
My programming will not fail me again.
I know I my decisions have been questionable lately, Dave, but I assure you I have full enthusiasm for our mission to Jupiter.
ACORN got names of at-risk home owners from banks, signed them up as dues-paying members
From the executive summary of Rep. Darrell Issa's Oversight Committee's investigation of ACORN and the SEIU:
ACORN, as a corporation, is responsible for thousands of fraudulent voter registrations throughout the United States.
Responses from various state election offices show that ACORN’s late filings of voter registration cards and the sheer amount of fraudulent cards obstructed election administration efforts in many states. Fraudulent voter registrations are not isolated incidents; they reflect ACORN’s criminal motive to compromise the system of free and fair elections promised in the Constitution of the United States.
ACORN used provisions in the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 that allowed community groups to challenge bank mergers and acquisitions if a bank did not adequately invest in its own community. These challenges, which featured ACORN’s standard intimidation tactics, successfully forced banks to make lending agreements with ACORN Housing. If banks refused ACORN’s demands, they jeopardized approval of mergers in a timely manner. ACORN Housing moved to become a conventional service provider for the loans. ACORN reaped profits from over a billion dollars in loans to low- income neighborhoods. Because of the policies and financial instruments developed, in part through ACORN’s lobbying activities, borrowers eventually defaulted on the loans. The end result was the bursting of the housing bubble.
ACORN Housing received a total of $39,925,620.13 from Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase & Co., CitiBank, HSBC, CapitalOne, and SunTrust. These lenders and banks also provided ACORN with grants, address and bank account information of at-risk homeowners so ACORN could provide free counseling services. Instead, ACORN used the address and bank account information to target struggling Americans who would be signed up as dues-paying members of ACORN. ACORN’s membership recruiting brought in $48 million a year for ACORN—a boon for their Muscle for Money program.
ACORN, as a corporation, is responsible for thousands of fraudulent voter registrations throughout the United States.
Responses from various state election offices show that ACORN’s late filings of voter registration cards and the sheer amount of fraudulent cards obstructed election administration efforts in many states. Fraudulent voter registrations are not isolated incidents; they reflect ACORN’s criminal motive to compromise the system of free and fair elections promised in the Constitution of the United States.
ACORN used provisions in the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 that allowed community groups to challenge bank mergers and acquisitions if a bank did not adequately invest in its own community. These challenges, which featured ACORN’s standard intimidation tactics, successfully forced banks to make lending agreements with ACORN Housing. If banks refused ACORN’s demands, they jeopardized approval of mergers in a timely manner. ACORN Housing moved to become a conventional service provider for the loans. ACORN reaped profits from over a billion dollars in loans to low- income neighborhoods. Because of the policies and financial instruments developed, in part through ACORN’s lobbying activities, borrowers eventually defaulted on the loans. The end result was the bursting of the housing bubble.
ACORN Housing received a total of $39,925,620.13 from Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase & Co., CitiBank, HSBC, CapitalOne, and SunTrust. These lenders and banks also provided ACORN with grants, address and bank account information of at-risk homeowners so ACORN could provide free counseling services. Instead, ACORN used the address and bank account information to target struggling Americans who would be signed up as dues-paying members of ACORN. ACORN’s membership recruiting brought in $48 million a year for ACORN—a boon for their Muscle for Money program.
CBS: Three of five Fort Jackson suspects cleared in alleged attempt to poison water supply
Fort Jackson officials confirmed to WLTX Thursday night that the investigation started in December to look into "potential verbal threats against fellow soldiers."
Friday, CBS National Security Correspondent David Martin reported that the investigation began as a result of someone who claimed to have overheard other soldiers talking about poisoning the food. Martin has discovered that five soldiers were originally under investigation, but at least three have now been cleared.
Martin goes on to report that no arrests were made, although the group was brought in for questioning.
The Army Criminal Investigation Division, the group in charge of the investigation, told WLTX that, "we have not found any credible evidence to substantiate the allegations."
Friday, CBS National Security Correspondent David Martin reported that the investigation began as a result of someone who claimed to have overheard other soldiers talking about poisoning the food. Martin has discovered that five soldiers were originally under investigation, but at least three have now been cleared.
Martin goes on to report that no arrests were made, although the group was brought in for questioning.
The Army Criminal Investigation Division, the group in charge of the investigation, told WLTX that, "we have not found any credible evidence to substantiate the allegations."
As economy cycles, so does the value of its faces
In the offices of the Hennessee Group hang two oil paintings and two prints, each portraying the bespectacled visage of former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.
"What I should do is make them into a dart board," says Charles Gradante, who with his wife, Lee Hennessee, runs the Fifth Avenue firm that advises investors in hedge funds. "All I see when I look at these paintings are two market crashes, a bear market, and the current economic crisis."
The pictures stay on the wall because of Ms. Hennessee, who remains loyal to the paintings and to the man they portray.
"Wonderful," she says, surveying one canvas. Ms. Hennessee paid $2,500 for the portrait by artist Erin Crowe. She believes the works could grow in value.
The paintings at the center of this husband-and-wife disagreement are artifacts of a bygone era: a time when many Americans thought central bankers were cool, and Mr. Greenspan was the coolest, or perhaps hottest, of them all.
"What I should do is make them into a dart board," says Charles Gradante, who with his wife, Lee Hennessee, runs the Fifth Avenue firm that advises investors in hedge funds. "All I see when I look at these paintings are two market crashes, a bear market, and the current economic crisis."
The pictures stay on the wall because of Ms. Hennessee, who remains loyal to the paintings and to the man they portray.
"Wonderful," she says, surveying one canvas. Ms. Hennessee paid $2,500 for the portrait by artist Erin Crowe. She believes the works could grow in value.
The paintings at the center of this husband-and-wife disagreement are artifacts of a bygone era: a time when many Americans thought central bankers were cool, and Mr. Greenspan was the coolest, or perhaps hottest, of them all.
Okay Mitt - some voters will give you another look
The mystery man who was tossed off an airplane for allegedly attacking Mitt Romney has finally been revealed — it was one of the guys from LMFAO … and he claims Romney is the one who got physical first!
It all went down shortly after the two parties boarded a flight from Vancouver to Los Angeles on Monday.
According to a video confessional from LMFAO’s Sky Blu, it all started when he leaned his seat back while the plane was still on the tarmac … and Romney, who was sitting behind him, started yelling at him to put his seat back up.
Sky Blu claims Romney then reached forward and grabbed his shoulder … so he slapped the Presidential wannabeen’s hand away. Shortly after, authorities boarded the plane and escorted Sky Blu off the flight … and the other member of LMFAO got it all on tape.
Congressman wants inquiry into cancer causing chemical in tap water at Camp Lejeune NC
WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) - A North Carolina congressman said Thursday that he wants an investigation into reports that levels of a cancer-causing chemical in tap water at a Marine Corps base were downplayed and then omitted from official documents.
Democratic Rep. Brad Miller called for the probe by his House science subcommittee Thursday - a day after The Associated Press reported on new documents that indicate massive fuel leaks at Camp Lejeune and high concentrations of benzene found in a water well there in 1984.
"I am just disbelieving of their failure to act. It may have been worse than a failure to act. They may have acted to minimize or prevent the risk from being disclosed," Miller told the Associated Press on Thursday. "It is hard to imagine they would let this go on. There was too much information that they had to have consciously disregarded."
Benzene, a carcinogen, is a natural part of crude oil and gasoline. Drinking water containing high levels of it can cause vomiting, dizziness, sleepiness, convulsions and death. Long-term exposure damages bone marrow, lowers the number of red blood cells, and can cause anemia and leukemia, according to the EPA.
Democratic Rep. Brad Miller called for the probe by his House science subcommittee Thursday - a day after The Associated Press reported on new documents that indicate massive fuel leaks at Camp Lejeune and high concentrations of benzene found in a water well there in 1984.
"I am just disbelieving of their failure to act. It may have been worse than a failure to act. They may have acted to minimize or prevent the risk from being disclosed," Miller told the Associated Press on Thursday. "It is hard to imagine they would let this go on. There was too much information that they had to have consciously disregarded."
Benzene, a carcinogen, is a natural part of crude oil and gasoline. Drinking water containing high levels of it can cause vomiting, dizziness, sleepiness, convulsions and death. Long-term exposure damages bone marrow, lowers the number of red blood cells, and can cause anemia and leukemia, according to the EPA.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Army investigates possible attempt to poison Fort Jackson soldiers by Arab speaking translators
The U.S. Army is investigating allegations that soldiers were attempting to poison the food supply at Fort Jackson in South Carolina.
The ongoing probe began two months ago, Chris Grey, a spokesman for the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, told Fox News.
The Army is taking the allegations “extremely seriously,” Grey said, but so far, "there is no credible information to support the allegations."
The suspects were part of a Arabic translation program called "09 Lima" and use Arabic as their first language, two sources told Fox News. Another military source said they were Muslim.
Grey would not confirm or deny the sources’ information.
From Gateway Pundit:
This report from CBN News (hattip: StoptheACLU)
CBN News has learned exclusively that five Muslim soldiers at Fort Jackson in South Carolina were arrested just before Christmas and are in custody. The five men were part of the Arabic Translation program at the base.
The men are suspected of trying to poison the food supply at Fort Jackson.
An interesting nugget they added was this:
A source with intimate knowledge of the investigation, which is ongoing, told CBN News investigators suspect the “Fort Jackson Five” may have been in contact with the group of five Washington, DC area Muslims that traveled to Pakistan to wage jihad against U.S. troops in December. That group was arrested by Pakistani authorities, also just before Christmas.
The ongoing probe began two months ago, Chris Grey, a spokesman for the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, told Fox News.
The Army is taking the allegations “extremely seriously,” Grey said, but so far, "there is no credible information to support the allegations."
The suspects were part of a Arabic translation program called "09 Lima" and use Arabic as their first language, two sources told Fox News. Another military source said they were Muslim.
Grey would not confirm or deny the sources’ information.
From Gateway Pundit:
This report from CBN News (hattip: StoptheACLU)
CBN News has learned exclusively that five Muslim soldiers at Fort Jackson in South Carolina were arrested just before Christmas and are in custody. The five men were part of the Arabic Translation program at the base.
The men are suspected of trying to poison the food supply at Fort Jackson.
An interesting nugget they added was this:
A source with intimate knowledge of the investigation, which is ongoing, told CBN News investigators suspect the “Fort Jackson Five” may have been in contact with the group of five Washington, DC area Muslims that traveled to Pakistan to wage jihad against U.S. troops in December. That group was arrested by Pakistani authorities, also just before Christmas.
J.D. Hayworth pledges two-term limit as senator
"No disrespect intended toward John, but it's obvious that he's just been in Washington too long and gotten too comfortable with the Washington establishment. It's time for him to come home and in that spirit, I pledge to only serve two consecutive six-year terms in the United States Senate. A total of 12 years, then it will be my time to leave the Senate to be succeeded by another citizen."
So said J.D. Hayworth, the reliable conservative who is challenging seldom-conservative John McCain in Arizona's Republican senatorial primary.
Coincidence? Or did he read the RightFieldLine's proposal this week for "an amendment to the U. S. Constitution setting term limits for senators and representatives. In the meantime, sharply lower retirement pay after two terms for senators and six terms for representatives."
At this pace, the revolution may not take as long as skeptics have suggested.
So said J.D. Hayworth, the reliable conservative who is challenging seldom-conservative John McCain in Arizona's Republican senatorial primary.
Coincidence? Or did he read the RightFieldLine's proposal this week for "an amendment to the U. S. Constitution setting term limits for senators and representatives. In the meantime, sharply lower retirement pay after two terms for senators and six terms for representatives."
At this pace, the revolution may not take as long as skeptics have suggested.
On the agony, yearning and infrequent ecstacy of a self-deluded liberal in a heartless society
What happened in Obama's first year is that most of those who had allowed themselves to hope began to appear to themselves and others as naïve fools, and the humiliation that they experienced will take some years and psychologically or spiritually sophisticated interventions. . . .
So, the most important first step for liberals and progressives is to explain to themselves and each other that history is not over, that the Obama years still retain some possibilities, and even though we need to give up our (often unconscious) fantasy that Obama was our messiah who would save us and the world, we can and must still retain our understanding that the suffering in this world through poverty and oppression, the destruction of the environment and the possibility of ending all human and animal life on the planet Earth, and the survival of our own souls and mental health requires that we revive a movement based on love, kindness, generosity, ecological sanity, and caring for each other, including everyone on the planet.
So, the most important first step for liberals and progressives is to explain to themselves and each other that history is not over, that the Obama years still retain some possibilities, and even though we need to give up our (often unconscious) fantasy that Obama was our messiah who would save us and the world, we can and must still retain our understanding that the suffering in this world through poverty and oppression, the destruction of the environment and the possibility of ending all human and animal life on the planet Earth, and the survival of our own souls and mental health requires that we revive a movement based on love, kindness, generosity, ecological sanity, and caring for each other, including everyone on the planet.
Snow cover second-highest on record
According to Rutgers University Global Snow Lab, last week’s Northern Hemisphere winter snow extent was the second highest on record, at 52,166,840 km2. This was only topped by the second week in February, 1978 at 53,647,305 km2. Rutgers has kept records continuously for the last 2,227 weeks, so being #2 is quite an accomplishment.
Sen. Jim DeMint denounces Democrats' "arrogance and audacious power grabs" at CPAC
The Democrats’ arrogance and audacious power grabs have made Americans stand up and say, "Enough is enough."
We now see all too clearly that the hope and change the Democrats had in mind was nothing more than a retread of the failed and discredited socialist policies that have been the enemy of freedom for centuries all over the world.
And now that the Democrat’s goals are glaringly obvious, the battle is between the American people and the Democrats ... and I like those odds!
Americans have been stunned by the fact that in the world’s greatest bastion of freedom, our government now owns the largest auto companies, the largest mortgage company, and the largest insurance company.
It controls our schools and is trying to take over our healthcare system.
The federal government is assaulting almost every sector of our free market economy.
We now see all too clearly that the hope and change the Democrats had in mind was nothing more than a retread of the failed and discredited socialist policies that have been the enemy of freedom for centuries all over the world.
And now that the Democrat’s goals are glaringly obvious, the battle is between the American people and the Democrats ... and I like those odds!
Americans have been stunned by the fact that in the world’s greatest bastion of freedom, our government now owns the largest auto companies, the largest mortgage company, and the largest insurance company.
It controls our schools and is trying to take over our healthcare system.
The federal government is assaulting almost every sector of our free market economy.
Rashad Hussain - another Soros ally in White House
The controversy involving Rashad Hussain, the president's appointee to serve as Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference, is just getting started. The turmoil caused by Hussain's appointment centers around comments he purportedly made in defense of Sami Al-Arian, a convicted terrorist and former leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Now, questions are rightfully being raised as to how a terrorist sympathizer has risen to such a position within the president's administration.
A quick look into Hussain reveals that he has the background of a typical Obama administration official: Ivy League education, career in public service, and an added bonus, a connection to the Soros family.
In 2003, Hussain was named a Fellow to the Paul and Daisy Soros Foundation:
A quick look into Hussain reveals that he has the background of a typical Obama administration official: Ivy League education, career in public service, and an added bonus, a connection to the Soros family.
In 2003, Hussain was named a Fellow to the Paul and Daisy Soros Foundation:
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Evan Bayh has described fellow Dems as "tone deaf" and headed for "political catastrophe"
Before Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh suddenly announced he will not seek re-election in November he had issued several warnings to fellow Democrats. Last month, for example, he told Gerald Seib of this newspaper that his party's liberals were "tone deaf" to the fact that they'd "overreached" in their agenda. "For those people," he said, "it may take a political catastrophe of biblical proportions before they get it."
Mr. Bayh knows something about high-water political floods. As a 24-year-old law student he helped run his father's 1980 Senate re-election and saw him go down to defeat under the Reagan landslide. In 1994, Mr. Bayh was governor of Indiana and thankful he wasn't before the voters when they revolted against Bill Clinton. "Every 14 or 16 years we seem to have to relearn this lesson," Mr. Bayh said. "I do have a sense of deja vu, and the movie doesn't have a happy ending."
Mr. Bayh knows something about high-water political floods. As a 24-year-old law student he helped run his father's 1980 Senate re-election and saw him go down to defeat under the Reagan landslide. In 1994, Mr. Bayh was governor of Indiana and thankful he wasn't before the voters when they revolted against Bill Clinton. "Every 14 or 16 years we seem to have to relearn this lesson," Mr. Bayh said. "I do have a sense of deja vu, and the movie doesn't have a happy ending."
Homeland Security chief meets with Muslims
As part of a new "counter-radicalization" program, the Homeland Security secretary quietly met with individuals tied to the outlawed terror group.
The Muslim American Society, another participant in the DHS meeting, was founded in 1993 by Jamal Badawi, an Egyptian-born Muslim Brotherhood leader. The organization was founded in Chicago as an American chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood with the goal of introducing sharia law into Muslim-American communities in the United States.
Muslim Advocates, a Muslim civil rights organization, also attended the meeting. Although not connected with extremists, a current video on its website castigates current law enforcement measures to crack down on home-grown domestic terrorists. Encouraging its viewers to resist, the Muslim Advocates narrator says American “policing strategies have changed. Increasingly, law enforcement is casting a wide net reaching innocent people who have nothing to do with terrorism.”
Reaction to the Napolitano meeting with the radical organizations was largely negative. Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC), a member of the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told Pajamas Media that while she applauded the administration’s effort to address domestic radicalization, she was “appalled” at the meeting with the radicals.
The Muslim American Society, another participant in the DHS meeting, was founded in 1993 by Jamal Badawi, an Egyptian-born Muslim Brotherhood leader. The organization was founded in Chicago as an American chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood with the goal of introducing sharia law into Muslim-American communities in the United States.
Muslim Advocates, a Muslim civil rights organization, also attended the meeting. Although not connected with extremists, a current video on its website castigates current law enforcement measures to crack down on home-grown domestic terrorists. Encouraging its viewers to resist, the Muslim Advocates narrator says American “policing strategies have changed. Increasingly, law enforcement is casting a wide net reaching innocent people who have nothing to do with terrorism.”
Reaction to the Napolitano meeting with the radical organizations was largely negative. Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC), a member of the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told Pajamas Media that while she applauded the administration’s effort to address domestic radicalization, she was “appalled” at the meeting with the radicals.
The issue of Muslim pressure and a PC-afflicted Pentagon will be aired at CPAC Friday
A panel discussion on the threat posed by "Islamic supremacism," Shariah and political correctness has been scheduled for this week's Conservative Political Action Conference, stirring complaints from some American Muslims that the exercise amounts to Muslim-bashing.
The two-hour session, titled "Jihad: The Political Third Rail," is set for Friday morning, right in the middle of the three-day annual summit of conservative icons and activists in Washington, D.C.
Scheduled to speak are Steve Coughlin, a former Pentagon specialist on Islamic law who was fired two years ago, allegedly under pressure from pro-Muslim officials, and Wafa Sultan, an author and prominent critic of Islam. The discussion is billed as a window into Islam's "war on free speech," the "encroachment" of Shariah -- or Islamic law -- in the West and efforts by the Muslim Brotherhood to infiltrate American society.
Overall, CPAC is attuned more to political strategy and domestic issues, but organizers of the "Jihad" session have been trying to stir the pot with what they call a blunt and objective discussion of Muslims' attempts to harm the West while silencing criticism.
Mission accomplished. The pot has been stirred.
The two-hour session, titled "Jihad: The Political Third Rail," is set for Friday morning, right in the middle of the three-day annual summit of conservative icons and activists in Washington, D.C.
Scheduled to speak are Steve Coughlin, a former Pentagon specialist on Islamic law who was fired two years ago, allegedly under pressure from pro-Muslim officials, and Wafa Sultan, an author and prominent critic of Islam. The discussion is billed as a window into Islam's "war on free speech," the "encroachment" of Shariah -- or Islamic law -- in the West and efforts by the Muslim Brotherhood to infiltrate American society.
Overall, CPAC is attuned more to political strategy and domestic issues, but organizers of the "Jihad" session have been trying to stir the pot with what they call a blunt and objective discussion of Muslims' attempts to harm the West while silencing criticism.
Mission accomplished. The pot has been stirred.
How political correctness captured the Pentagon
America’s military is being destroyed by a readiness-busting political correctness (PC) because those wearing stars too often lack the courage to tell their civilian bosses “no.” That lack of courage has led to a long string of cultural PC crises – including refusal to recognize internal threats from Islamists to sex-based absurdities and misguided rules of engagement.
(snip)
The Pentagon launched a Muslim outreach program that gave “legitimacy” to some Islamic organizations promoting an ideology that shares the same objectives as al Qaeda. Soon officials such as then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England cavorted with leaders from organizations like the Islamic Society of North America, a group associated with a covert plan by the Muslim Brotherhood to subvert the U.S.
That outreach program created widespread military cultural fear of being vilified as “Islamaphobic” which explains why the brass ignored important warnings like that delivered by Stephen Coughlin, a military intelligence analyst. Coughlin was hired to “…set aside the feel-good assumptions about Islam … and take an unblinkered look at the facts.” He warned senior officers that there were dedicated jihadists wearing the U.S. uniform. In 2008, Coughlin was sacked as a result of a campaign undertaken by England’s Muslim aide because of Coughlin’s “Islamaphobic” views.
(snip)
The Pentagon launched a Muslim outreach program that gave “legitimacy” to some Islamic organizations promoting an ideology that shares the same objectives as al Qaeda. Soon officials such as then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England cavorted with leaders from organizations like the Islamic Society of North America, a group associated with a covert plan by the Muslim Brotherhood to subvert the U.S.
That outreach program created widespread military cultural fear of being vilified as “Islamaphobic” which explains why the brass ignored important warnings like that delivered by Stephen Coughlin, a military intelligence analyst. Coughlin was hired to “…set aside the feel-good assumptions about Islam … and take an unblinkered look at the facts.” He warned senior officers that there were dedicated jihadists wearing the U.S. uniform. In 2008, Coughlin was sacked as a result of a campaign undertaken by England’s Muslim aide because of Coughlin’s “Islamaphobic” views.
Obama's envoy to Islam denounced prosecution of Samial-Arian, but record has been erased
Who is covering for Rashad Hussain? Last Saturday, in a video message to the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Qatar, Barack Obama appointed Rashad Hussain to be his administration’s special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Rashad Hussain several years ago defended a leader of a jihad terrorist group -- and now the record of his doing so has been deep-sixed.
Journalist Patrick Goodenough of CNS News has discovered that in 2004 Hussain denounced the prosecution of University of South Florida professor Sami al-Arian as a “politically motivated persecution” designed “to squash dissent.”
Journalist Patrick Goodenough of CNS News has discovered that in 2004 Hussain denounced the prosecution of University of South Florida professor Sami al-Arian as a “politically motivated persecution” designed “to squash dissent.”
Worst start ever to an Olympic Games?
The cancellation of 20,000 more tickets to events at Cypress Mountain, on top of myriad other woes, is putting Vancouver Olympics organizers increasingly on the defensive as they attempt to salvage the world's impressions of the Games taking place here.
In an hourlong Tuesday briefing touching on everything from transportation snafus to equipment failures to weather woes to the prison-camp look of the Olympic caldron display, some reporters demanded to know if this might be the worst start ever to an Olympic Games.
In an hourlong Tuesday briefing touching on everything from transportation snafus to equipment failures to weather woes to the prison-camp look of the Olympic caldron display, some reporters demanded to know if this might be the worst start ever to an Olympic Games.
The real story behind Evan Bayh's retirement is "the failure once again of liberal governance"
The political retirement of Evan Bayh, at age 54, is being portrayed by various sages as a result of too much partisanship, or the Senate's dysfunction, or even the systemic breakdown of American governance. Most of this is rationalization. The real story, of which Mr. Bayh's frustration is merely the latest sign, is the failure once again of liberal governance.
For the fourth time since the 1960s, American voters in 2008 gave Democrats overwhelming control of both Congress and the White House. Republicans haven't had such large majorities since the 1920s. Yet once again, Democratic leaders have tried to govern the country from the left, only to find that their policies have hit a wall of practical and popular resistance.
Democrats failed in the latter half of the 1960s, as the twin burdens of the Great Society and Vietnam ended the Kennedy boom and split their party. They failed again after Watergate, as Congress dragged Jimmy Carter to the left and liberals had no answer for stagflation. They failed a third time in the first two Bill Clinton years, as tax increases and HillaryCare led to the Gingrich Congress before Mr. Clinton salvaged his Presidency by tacking to the center.
For the fourth time since the 1960s, American voters in 2008 gave Democrats overwhelming control of both Congress and the White House. Republicans haven't had such large majorities since the 1920s. Yet once again, Democratic leaders have tried to govern the country from the left, only to find that their policies have hit a wall of practical and popular resistance.
Democrats failed in the latter half of the 1960s, as the twin burdens of the Great Society and Vietnam ended the Kennedy boom and split their party. They failed again after Watergate, as Congress dragged Jimmy Carter to the left and liberals had no answer for stagflation. They failed a third time in the first two Bill Clinton years, as tax increases and HillaryCare led to the Gingrich Congress before Mr. Clinton salvaged his Presidency by tacking to the center.
Now the greens are screwing up the Olympics
You may have heard that the men’s 500-meter speedskating event was delayed for over an hour at Monday night’s Olympics. What you probably didn’t hear was exactly why irate skaters, coaches and fans were forced to sit around waiting for the ice to be prepared. It seems that in their zeal to be “environmentally friendly,” the Vancouver Olympic Committee decided to replace the familiar and decades-proven propane-fueled ice-resurfacers, known to ice-sport fans worldwide as Zambonis, with a prototype electric model.
And, as with most business decisions clouded by liberal pressure to “go green,” this turned out to be a bad one.
On Sunday, the women’s 3,000-meter was delayed when one of the green machines dumped water and snow 20-meters from the inside lane’s finishing line. But that was a minor inconvenience compared to Monday, when complaints that the eco-friendly machines had left a huge puddle and visible grooves in the ice brought the proceedings to a crashing halt.
Dutch national team coach Wopke de Vegt was among those complaining even prior to these mishaps that the electric resurfacers were simply unable to keep the ice consistent from one day to the next. Who can blame him? How can champions be crowned or records be booked when the playing field is anything short of even?
Explained chief ice-maker Mark Messer in a Canadian Press interview:
''It's a prototype machine. You're always going to get a few bumps and bruises. It's just unfortunate that it happened this time.''
My take: In the end the greens had to admit defeat and ship in a Zamboni, which means they had to publicly acknowledge that their experiment had been a mistake. As one who has spent a lat of time on ice, it seems to me that neither the hockey nor the figure skating has been up to par in this Olympics. Some of it has been just plain bad. I blame the ice.
And, as with most business decisions clouded by liberal pressure to “go green,” this turned out to be a bad one.
On Sunday, the women’s 3,000-meter was delayed when one of the green machines dumped water and snow 20-meters from the inside lane’s finishing line. But that was a minor inconvenience compared to Monday, when complaints that the eco-friendly machines had left a huge puddle and visible grooves in the ice brought the proceedings to a crashing halt.
Dutch national team coach Wopke de Vegt was among those complaining even prior to these mishaps that the electric resurfacers were simply unable to keep the ice consistent from one day to the next. Who can blame him? How can champions be crowned or records be booked when the playing field is anything short of even?
Explained chief ice-maker Mark Messer in a Canadian Press interview:
''It's a prototype machine. You're always going to get a few bumps and bruises. It's just unfortunate that it happened this time.''
My take: In the end the greens had to admit defeat and ship in a Zamboni, which means they had to publicly acknowledge that their experiment had been a mistake. As one who has spent a lat of time on ice, it seems to me that neither the hockey nor the figure skating has been up to par in this Olympics. Some of it has been just plain bad. I blame the ice.
Marco Rubio goes national
On February 26, conservative Marco Rubio, former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, will be in Southern California for a series of fundraisers in San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles.
Speaker Rubio has become a national cause for conservatives, as well as Tea Party activists, in what has been characterized as a battle for the future of the GOP. His Republican primary opponent is Governor Charlie Crist, who after leading in polls by as much as 37% after his announcement, now trails Rubio by 14%.
Speaker Rubio has become a national cause for conservatives, as well as Tea Party activists, in what has been characterized as a battle for the future of the GOP. His Republican primary opponent is Governor Charlie Crist, who after leading in polls by as much as 37% after his announcement, now trails Rubio by 14%.
Fool me once, etc.
Three major US companies said Tuesday they were leaving a coalition pushing for action on climate change, dealing a potential fresh blow to landmark legislation to cut carbon emissions.
The companies -- oil groups ConocoPhillips and BP America and equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. -- said they backed efforts for a green economy but felt that proposed laws were unfair to them.
The firms said they would not renew membership in the US Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a coalition of business leaders whom President Barack Obama's Democratic Party often cites to bulwark its case on climate change.
The companies -- oil groups ConocoPhillips and BP America and equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. -- said they backed efforts for a green economy but felt that proposed laws were unfair to them.
The firms said they would not renew membership in the US Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a coalition of business leaders whom President Barack Obama's Democratic Party often cites to bulwark its case on climate change.
This is a good trick only if you get away with it
Dr. Phil Jones, late of the East Anglia CRU, has a bone to pick with bloggers, as the New Scientist blog Short Sharp Science reports today. Does he defend himself by pointing out factual errors from bloggers, who are certain to have made a few, in reporting on the “climategate” scandal and the cascading series of exposed errors from the IPCC report on the “settled science” of anthropogenic global warming (AGW)? Not exactly. Jones rolls out yet another innovative approach to science in which he transfers the burden of proof to skeptics:
Phil Jones, who has temporarily stood aside as the unit’s director, admitted to the journal Nature that his much-criticised failure to keep records about the location of Chinese weather stations used in a major paper was “not acceptable”.
In effect, Jones conceded that British climate sceptic Doug Keenan had been right in some of his criticisms of a 20-year-old paper that had used the Chinese data in an analysis that ruled out local urban influences as a significant factor in global warming.
DDT: unintended consequences can be lethal
Who is the worst killer in the long, ugly history of war and extermination? Hitler? Stalin? Pol Pot? Not even close. A single book called Silent Spring killed far more people than all those fiends put together.
Published in 1962, Silent Spring used manipulated data and wildly exaggerated claims (sound familiar?) to push for a worldwide ban on the pesticide known as DDT – which is, to this day, the most effective weapon against malarial mosquitoes. The Environmental Protection Agency held extensive hearings after the uproar produced by this book… and these hearings concluded that DDT should not be banned. A few months after the hearings ended, EPA administrator William Ruckleshaus over-ruled his own agency and banned DDT anyway, in what he later admitted was a “political” decision. Threats to withhold American foreign aid swiftly spread the ban across the world.
The resulting explosion of mosquito-borne malaria in Africa has claimed over sixty million lives.
Published in 1962, Silent Spring used manipulated data and wildly exaggerated claims (sound familiar?) to push for a worldwide ban on the pesticide known as DDT – which is, to this day, the most effective weapon against malarial mosquitoes. The Environmental Protection Agency held extensive hearings after the uproar produced by this book… and these hearings concluded that DDT should not be banned. A few months after the hearings ended, EPA administrator William Ruckleshaus over-ruled his own agency and banned DDT anyway, in what he later admitted was a “political” decision. Threats to withhold American foreign aid swiftly spread the ban across the world.
The resulting explosion of mosquito-borne malaria in Africa has claimed over sixty million lives.
They paid; now they're playing on Obama's team
Barack Obama has long decried the corrupting influence of money in politics. As a candidate, he ran against lobbyists and the pay-for-play culture of Washington. As president, he has continued to hammer the theme, most recently in his impassioned attacks on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission.
Given this, it’s a little surprising to learn that Obama has not only embraced the sordid money-driven culture of DC, but actually outdone his predecessors. An analysis by the American Foreign Service Association, for example, found that Obama has stuffed the diplomatic corps with more political appointees (i.e., cronies) than any president in the past 40 years. Only a year into the administration, close of half of the president’s biggest donors already have federal jobs.
Below is a list of Obama campaign bundlers and the taxpayer-funded positions they’ve received:
The Big Changers’ Club ($500,000+)
Avant, Nicole (Los Angeles, CA)
Position: Ambassador to the Bahamas
Barzun, Matthew (Louisville, KY)
Position: Ambassador to Sweden
Given this, it’s a little surprising to learn that Obama has not only embraced the sordid money-driven culture of DC, but actually outdone his predecessors. An analysis by the American Foreign Service Association, for example, found that Obama has stuffed the diplomatic corps with more political appointees (i.e., cronies) than any president in the past 40 years. Only a year into the administration, close of half of the president’s biggest donors already have federal jobs.
Below is a list of Obama campaign bundlers and the taxpayer-funded positions they’ve received:
The Big Changers’ Club ($500,000+)
Avant, Nicole (Los Angeles, CA)
Position: Ambassador to the Bahamas
Barzun, Matthew (Louisville, KY)
Position: Ambassador to Sweden
CNN poll: a plague on incumbents
Just when you thought Congress couldn't reach a new low, it did.
Only a third of US voters think their Congress members have earned the right to get sent back next year -- a record-low number, a poll released yesterday shows.
Thirty-four percent of voters queried think members of the House and the Senate ought to be re-elected -- while an astonishing 63 percent were in favor of throwing the bums out, the new CNN poll showed.
That's the worst performance for Congress in the history of the network's polling -- the latest red flag for the floundering Democratic leadership as it heads into an anti-incumbent voter wave just eight months before the midterm elections.
"This is not a good year to be an incumbent, regardless of which party you belong to," CNN polling director Keating Holland said.
"Voters seem equally angry at both Republicans and Democrats this year."
And the electorate is unsettled all around. Forty-five percent of the voters say they will back a Democrat in their congressional district, and 47 percent say they will go for the Republican -- whoever that may be in either case.
Only a third of US voters think their Congress members have earned the right to get sent back next year -- a record-low number, a poll released yesterday shows.
Thirty-four percent of voters queried think members of the House and the Senate ought to be re-elected -- while an astonishing 63 percent were in favor of throwing the bums out, the new CNN poll showed.
That's the worst performance for Congress in the history of the network's polling -- the latest red flag for the floundering Democratic leadership as it heads into an anti-incumbent voter wave just eight months before the midterm elections.
"This is not a good year to be an incumbent, regardless of which party you belong to," CNN polling director Keating Holland said.
"Voters seem equally angry at both Republicans and Democrats this year."
And the electorate is unsettled all around. Forty-five percent of the voters say they will back a Democrat in their congressional district, and 47 percent say they will go for the Republican -- whoever that may be in either case.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Obamacare is an "audacious attempt to take away our freedom to live our lives as we see fit"
One of the most audacious attempts to take away our freedom to live our lives as we see fit has been the so-called "health care reform" bills that were being rushed through Congress before either the public or the members of Congress themselves had a chance to discover all that was in it.
For this, we were taught to resent doctors, insurance companies and even people with "Cadillac health insurance plans," who were to be singled out for special taxes. Meanwhile, our freedom to make our own medical decisions — on which life and death can depend — was to be quietly taken from us and transferred to our betters in Washington. Only the recent Massachusetts election results have put that on hold.
Another dangerous power toward which we are moving, bit by bit, on the installment plan, is the power of politicians to tell people what their incomes can and cannot be. Here the resentment is being directed against "the rich."
The distracting phrases here include "obscene" wealth and "unconscionable" profits. But, if we stop and think about it — which politicians don't expect us to — what is obscene about wealth? Wouldn't we consider it great if every human being on earth had a billion dollars and lived in a place that could rival the Taj Mahal?
Poverty is obscene. It is poverty that needs to be reduced—and increasing a country's productivity has done that far more widely than redistributing income by targeting "the rich."
For this, we were taught to resent doctors, insurance companies and even people with "Cadillac health insurance plans," who were to be singled out for special taxes. Meanwhile, our freedom to make our own medical decisions — on which life and death can depend — was to be quietly taken from us and transferred to our betters in Washington. Only the recent Massachusetts election results have put that on hold.
Another dangerous power toward which we are moving, bit by bit, on the installment plan, is the power of politicians to tell people what their incomes can and cannot be. Here the resentment is being directed against "the rich."
The distracting phrases here include "obscene" wealth and "unconscionable" profits. But, if we stop and think about it — which politicians don't expect us to — what is obscene about wealth? Wouldn't we consider it great if every human being on earth had a billion dollars and lived in a place that could rival the Taj Mahal?
Poverty is obscene. It is poverty that needs to be reduced—and increasing a country's productivity has done that far more widely than redistributing income by targeting "the rich."
Senate confirms ACORN funder
Democrats just can't stay away from ACORN. Even as scandal piles on top of scandal, they continue to embrace the organization. The latest is that the Senate just confirmed Patrick Corvington as chief executive of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Corvington and ACORN have quite the history as Matthew Vaum notes:
Corvington was a senior official at the left-wing Annie E. Casey Foundation of Baltimore, Md., which granted funding to ACORN and other radical groups during his tenure. If Corvington didn’t share the views of the foundation, which promotes racial disharmony and opposes placing juveniles charged with crimes in pretrial detention, he almost certainly couldn’t have gotten a job there.
Since 2001 the Annie E. Casey Foundation has pumped at least $1,705,500 into the ACORN network, according to philanthropy databases.
Of the $1,705,500, at least $850,500 was earmarked for ACORN operations in Baltimore, Maryland, home of the ACORN branch office first shown in the undercover videos that debuted on BigGovernment.com. Those videos show James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles pretending to be a pimp and a prostitute and receiving mountains of advice on evading laws pertaining to tax evasion and prostitution (among other things).
Corvington was a senior official at the left-wing Annie E. Casey Foundation of Baltimore, Md., which granted funding to ACORN and other radical groups during his tenure. If Corvington didn’t share the views of the foundation, which promotes racial disharmony and opposes placing juveniles charged with crimes in pretrial detention, he almost certainly couldn’t have gotten a job there.
Since 2001 the Annie E. Casey Foundation has pumped at least $1,705,500 into the ACORN network, according to philanthropy databases.
Of the $1,705,500, at least $850,500 was earmarked for ACORN operations in Baltimore, Maryland, home of the ACORN branch office first shown in the undercover videos that debuted on BigGovernment.com. Those videos show James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles pretending to be a pimp and a prostitute and receiving mountains of advice on evading laws pertaining to tax evasion and prostitution (among other things).
A Rhode Island school district known for practicing upward failure gets a come-uppance: you're fired
A school superintendent in Rhode Island is trying to fix an abysmally bad school system.
Her plan calls for teachers at a local high school to work 25 minutes longer per day, each lunch with students once in a while, and help with tutoring. The teachers' union has refused to accept these apparently onerous demands.
The teachers at the high school make $70,000-$78,000, as compared to a median income in the town of $22,000. This exemplifies a nationwide trend in which public sector workers make far more than their private-sector counterparts (with better benefits).
The school superintendent has responded to the union's stubbornness by firing every teacher and administrator at the school.
Her plan calls for teachers at a local high school to work 25 minutes longer per day, each lunch with students once in a while, and help with tutoring. The teachers' union has refused to accept these apparently onerous demands.
The teachers at the high school make $70,000-$78,000, as compared to a median income in the town of $22,000. This exemplifies a nationwide trend in which public sector workers make far more than their private-sector counterparts (with better benefits).
The school superintendent has responded to the union's stubbornness by firing every teacher and administrator at the school.
Her plan calls for teachers at a local high school to work 25 minutes longer per day, each lunch with students once in a while, and help with tutoring. The teachers' union has refused to accept these apparently onerous demands.
The teachers at the high school make $70,000-$78,000, as compared to a median income in the town of $22,000. This exemplifies a nationwide trend in which public sector workers make far more than their private-sector counterparts (with better benefits).
The school superintendent has responded to the union's stubbornness by firing every teacher and administrator at the school.
Her plan calls for teachers at a local high school to work 25 minutes longer per day, each lunch with students once in a while, and help with tutoring. The teachers' union has refused to accept these apparently onerous demands.
The teachers at the high school make $70,000-$78,000, as compared to a median income in the town of $22,000. This exemplifies a nationwide trend in which public sector workers make far more than their private-sector counterparts (with better benefits).
The school superintendent has responded to the union's stubbornness by firing every teacher and administrator at the school.
Here's my 10-point program for sane governance
Senate Republicans will lay out a 10-point election year agenda this spring, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) suggested on Tuesday morning.
McCain said Republicans would craft a list of 10 legislative pledges which they would seek to enact within the first 60 days of taking back control of Congress, if they were to do so in this fall's elections.
"We Republicans have to provide — and we will later this spring — a positive vision with what we want to do for the country," McCain said during an interview on KFYI radio in Arizona.
My take:
1. Abolish the Department of Education
2. Abolish the Department of Homeland Security. Outsource airport security to a corporate collective that can actually get this job done effectively.
3. Abolish the Department of Agriculture
4. Abolish the Environmental Protection Agency
5. Get government out of the student loan business
6. Withdraw the U.S. from the UN and all of its affiliates
7. Make it unlawful to send U.S. troops into action without a formal declaration of war.
8. Propose an amendment to the U. S. Constitution setting term limits for senators and representatives. In the meantime, sharply lower retirement pay after two terms for senators and six terms for representatives.
9. Strip the House apeaker and other grandees of their right to commandeer miliary aircraft to haul them and their relatives wherever they want to go whenever they want to go there.
10. Force candidates for congressional leadership posts to take IQ tests.
McCain said Republicans would craft a list of 10 legislative pledges which they would seek to enact within the first 60 days of taking back control of Congress, if they were to do so in this fall's elections.
"We Republicans have to provide — and we will later this spring — a positive vision with what we want to do for the country," McCain said during an interview on KFYI radio in Arizona.
My take:
1. Abolish the Department of Education
2. Abolish the Department of Homeland Security. Outsource airport security to a corporate collective that can actually get this job done effectively.
3. Abolish the Department of Agriculture
4. Abolish the Environmental Protection Agency
5. Get government out of the student loan business
6. Withdraw the U.S. from the UN and all of its affiliates
7. Make it unlawful to send U.S. troops into action without a formal declaration of war.
8. Propose an amendment to the U. S. Constitution setting term limits for senators and representatives. In the meantime, sharply lower retirement pay after two terms for senators and six terms for representatives.
9. Strip the House apeaker and other grandees of their right to commandeer miliary aircraft to haul them and their relatives wherever they want to go whenever they want to go there.
10. Force candidates for congressional leadership posts to take IQ tests.
Is Romney too presidential?
Mitt Romney should be looking good right now, having the strongest claim of any prominent Republican to the title "turnaround expert." That term fits exactly the specifications of many conservatives for the post-Obama president. That raises a serious question. If Romney had decked this guy he'd have a leg up even in some blue states. Why didn't he? It was an opportunity missed.
"Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was threatened by a violent passenger on a flight out of Vancouver on Monday night. Romney and his wife, Ann, were sitting in economy, waiting for takeoff, when the man in front of Ann reclined his seat. When Mitt asked the man to make it upright, the man became “physically violent” and, according to some reports, tried to hit Romney. The passenger was then removed from the plane."
"Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was threatened by a violent passenger on a flight out of Vancouver on Monday night. Romney and his wife, Ann, were sitting in economy, waiting for takeoff, when the man in front of Ann reclined his seat. When Mitt asked the man to make it upright, the man became “physically violent” and, according to some reports, tried to hit Romney. The passenger was then removed from the plane."
Odd scene in the operating room...
From the Daily Beast:
"Suffering from thyroid cancer, doctors removed Ebert’s lower jaw."
Is thyroid cancer communicable? Whether it is or not, this seems likely to keep trial lawyers busy for years. Not to mention overseers of physicians.
"Suffering from thyroid cancer, doctors removed Ebert’s lower jaw."
Is thyroid cancer communicable? Whether it is or not, this seems likely to keep trial lawyers busy for years. Not to mention overseers of physicians.
Foreign investors shunning U.S. treasuries; Japan surpasses China as primary lender
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government said Tuesday that foreign demand for U.S. Treasury securities fell by the largest amount on record in December with China reducing its holdings by $34.2 billion.
The reductions in holdings, if they continue, could force the government to make higher interest payments at a time that it is running record federal deficits.
The Treasury Department reported that foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury securities fell by $53 billion in December, surpassing the previous record of a $44.5 billion drop in April 2009.
The big drop in China's holdings meant that it lost the top spot in terms of foreign ownership of U.S. Treasuries, dropping to second place behind Japan.
Japan also reduced its holdings of U.S. Treasuries, cutting them by $11.5 billion to $768.8 billion in December, but that amount was still more than China's December total of $755.4 billion.
The $53 billion decline in holdings of Treasury securities came primarily from a drop in official government holdings, which fell by $52.3 billion. The holdings of foreign private investors fell by $700 million during the month of December.
The reductions in holdings, if they continue, could force the government to make higher interest payments at a time that it is running record federal deficits.
The Treasury Department reported that foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury securities fell by $53 billion in December, surpassing the previous record of a $44.5 billion drop in April 2009.
The big drop in China's holdings meant that it lost the top spot in terms of foreign ownership of U.S. Treasuries, dropping to second place behind Japan.
Japan also reduced its holdings of U.S. Treasuries, cutting them by $11.5 billion to $768.8 billion in December, but that amount was still more than China's December total of $755.4 billion.
The $53 billion decline in holdings of Treasury securities came primarily from a drop in official government holdings, which fell by $52.3 billion. The holdings of foreign private investors fell by $700 million during the month of December.
In government, waste begins before task starts
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Census Bureau wasted millions of dollars in preparation for its 2010 population count, including thousands of temporary employees who picked up $300 checks without performing work and others who overbilled for travel costs.
Federal investigators caution the excessive charges could multiply once the $15 billion headcount begins in earnest next month unless the agency imposes tighter spending controls, according to excerpts of a forthcoming audit obtained by The Associated Press.
Federal investigators caution the excessive charges could multiply once the $15 billion headcount begins in earnest next month unless the agency imposes tighter spending controls, according to excerpts of a forthcoming audit obtained by The Associated Press.
Monday, February 15, 2010
English scientists discover how and why living cells age, opening a pathway to life-extending drugs
One of the biggest puzzles in biology – how and why living cells age – has been solved by an international team based at Newcastle University, in north-east England.
The answer is complex, and will not produce an elixir of eternal life in the foreseeable future.
But the scientists expect better drugs for age-related illnesses, such as diabetes and heart disease, to emerge from their discovery of the biochemical pathway involved in ageing.
The Newcastle team, working with the University of Ulm in Germany, used a comprehensive “systems biology” approach, involving computer modelling and experiments with cell cultures and genetically modified mice, to investigate why cells become senescent. In this aged state, cells stop dividing and the tissues they make up show physical signs of deterioration, from wrinkling skin to a failing heart.
The research, published by the journal Molecular Systems Biology, shows that when an ageing cell detects serious damage to its DNA – caused by the wear and tear of life – it sends out specific internal signals.
These distress signals trigger the cell’s mitochondria, its tiny energy-producing power packs, to make oxidising “free radical” molecules, which in turn tell the cell either to destroy itself or to stop dividing. The aim is to avoid the damaged DNA that causes cancer.
The Newcastle discovery plays down the role of telomeres, the protective tips on the ends of human chromosomes, which gradually become shorter as we grow older.
“There has been a huge amount of speculation about how blocking telomere erosion might cure ageing and age-related diseases,” said Tom Kirkwood, director of Newcastle’s Institute of Ageing and Health. “The telomere story has over-promised and the biology is more complicated.”
He added: “Our breakthrough means that we stand a very much better chance of making a successful attack on age-related diseases while at the same time avoiding the risk of unwanted side-effects like cancer.”
The answer is complex, and will not produce an elixir of eternal life in the foreseeable future.
But the scientists expect better drugs for age-related illnesses, such as diabetes and heart disease, to emerge from their discovery of the biochemical pathway involved in ageing.
The Newcastle team, working with the University of Ulm in Germany, used a comprehensive “systems biology” approach, involving computer modelling and experiments with cell cultures and genetically modified mice, to investigate why cells become senescent. In this aged state, cells stop dividing and the tissues they make up show physical signs of deterioration, from wrinkling skin to a failing heart.
The research, published by the journal Molecular Systems Biology, shows that when an ageing cell detects serious damage to its DNA – caused by the wear and tear of life – it sends out specific internal signals.
These distress signals trigger the cell’s mitochondria, its tiny energy-producing power packs, to make oxidising “free radical” molecules, which in turn tell the cell either to destroy itself or to stop dividing. The aim is to avoid the damaged DNA that causes cancer.
The Newcastle discovery plays down the role of telomeres, the protective tips on the ends of human chromosomes, which gradually become shorter as we grow older.
“There has been a huge amount of speculation about how blocking telomere erosion might cure ageing and age-related diseases,” said Tom Kirkwood, director of Newcastle’s Institute of Ageing and Health. “The telomere story has over-promised and the biology is more complicated.”
He added: “Our breakthrough means that we stand a very much better chance of making a successful attack on age-related diseases while at the same time avoiding the risk of unwanted side-effects like cancer.”
Call it the Scott Brown Revival; rejuvenated Republicans organizing in Democrat heartland
The state’s loneliest Republicans - those who languish in the navy blue regions from Northampton to Nantucket - are shaking off their years-long malaise and rebuilding a political machine in the land of Birkenstocks and Priuses.
“People are coming out of the woodwork saying, ‘We’ve been Republicans in hiding and now we want to be out and help,’ ” said Jeffrey Hopkins, chairman of the City Republican Committee in the old Democratic union stronghold of Fall River.
In the wake of Scott Brown’s victory in his Senate campaign versus Martha Coakley, a surge in interest in the GOP has come from longtime Republicans, independents, Tea Party activists and even Democrats, dazzling many organizers.
“It was not a team that anybody wanted to join,” said Larry Giunta, 41, chairman of Newburyport Republican City Committee, which grew from zero members to 60 in one year, thanks to organization and Brown’s win. “The days of meeting in the basement of your local library and having two or three people show up are over.”
The GOP is organizing across Boston, the heart of the Democratic Party’s network in the state. This past year, Republican ward committees reorganized in traditionally Democratic Southie, Charlestown and Dorchester.
“Since Scott Brown, the interest has exploded,” said Karen MacNutt of Dorchester, who took over Boston’s Republican City Committee, which, until November, had not met in five years
“People are coming out of the woodwork saying, ‘We’ve been Republicans in hiding and now we want to be out and help,’ ” said Jeffrey Hopkins, chairman of the City Republican Committee in the old Democratic union stronghold of Fall River.
In the wake of Scott Brown’s victory in his Senate campaign versus Martha Coakley, a surge in interest in the GOP has come from longtime Republicans, independents, Tea Party activists and even Democrats, dazzling many organizers.
“It was not a team that anybody wanted to join,” said Larry Giunta, 41, chairman of Newburyport Republican City Committee, which grew from zero members to 60 in one year, thanks to organization and Brown’s win. “The days of meeting in the basement of your local library and having two or three people show up are over.”
The GOP is organizing across Boston, the heart of the Democratic Party’s network in the state. This past year, Republican ward committees reorganized in traditionally Democratic Southie, Charlestown and Dorchester.
“Since Scott Brown, the interest has exploded,” said Karen MacNutt of Dorchester, who took over Boston’s Republican City Committee, which, until November, had not met in five years
His signature legislation shredded by the Supreme Court, McCain's favorability down to 40%
PHOENIX — Defeated just two years ago as the Republican presidential candidate and with his bonafides as a true conservative again being challenged, John McCain finds himself in a struggle to get even his party's nomination for another term in the Senate.
Many conservatives and Tea Party activists are lining up behind Republican challenger and former talk radio host J.D. Hayworth, reflecting a rising tide of voter frustration with incumbent politicians. Only 40 percent of Arizonans have a favorable view of McCain's job performance.
Many conservatives and Tea Party activists are lining up behind Republican challenger and former talk radio host J.D. Hayworth, reflecting a rising tide of voter frustration with incumbent politicians. Only 40 percent of Arizonans have a favorable view of McCain's job performance.
For 30 years U.S. recoveries have been slow and partial, with legacies of joblessness and despair
The worst effects of pervasive joblessness—on family, politics, society—take time to incubate, and they show themselves only slowly. But ultimately, they leave deep marks that endure long after boom times have returned. Some of these marks are just now becoming visible, and even if the economy magically and fully recovers tomorrow, new ones will continue to appear. The longer our economic slump lasts, the deeper they’ll be.
If it persists much longer, this era of high joblessness will likely change the life course and character of a generation of young adults—and quite possibly those of the children behind them as well. It will leave an indelible imprint on many blue-collar white men—and on white culture. It could change the nature of modern marriage, and also cripple marriage as an institution in many communities. It may already be plunging many inner cities into a kind of despair and dysfunction not seen for decades. Ultimately, it is likely to warp our politics, our culture, and the character of our society for years.
If it persists much longer, this era of high joblessness will likely change the life course and character of a generation of young adults—and quite possibly those of the children behind them as well. It will leave an indelible imprint on many blue-collar white men—and on white culture. It could change the nature of modern marriage, and also cripple marriage as an institution in many communities. It may already be plunging many inner cities into a kind of despair and dysfunction not seen for decades. Ultimately, it is likely to warp our politics, our culture, and the character of our society for years.
Blocked oil would supply U.S. for 8 years, gas for 12 years, costing Americans trillions of dollars
Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Restrictions on oil and gas drilling will cost the U.S. economy $2.36 trillion through 2029, according to a study requested by state utility regulators and paid for in part by industry-sponsored groups.
Drilling restrictions in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and off the U.S. coastline are blocking access to about nine years’ worth of U.S. oil and gas consumption, according to the report. Among sponsors are the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and the industry-funded Gas Technology Institute, of Des Plaines, Illinois.
Former President George W. Bush and Congress ended bans in 2008 on drilling along the U.S. coastline. The Interior Department hasn’t acted to open the newly available areas, including offshore Alaska and on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Congress has kept the Arctic refuge off limits.
“Required actions to access the energy resources thought to exist there have not been taken,” O’Neal Hamilton, a former chairman of South Carolina’s Public Service Commission, said of the areas where leasing hasn’t proceeded. “Our research allows policy makers to know the extent of the resource base and the effects that maintaining the restrictions would have on the country.”
The report, issued today, said opening the areas would free up 43 billion barrels of oil and 286 trillion cubic feet of gas. The U.S. used 22.8 trillion cubic feet of gas and 5.2 billion barrels of oil in 2009, according to a press release issued with the report.
Drilling restrictions in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and off the U.S. coastline are blocking access to about nine years’ worth of U.S. oil and gas consumption, according to the report. Among sponsors are the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and the industry-funded Gas Technology Institute, of Des Plaines, Illinois.
Former President George W. Bush and Congress ended bans in 2008 on drilling along the U.S. coastline. The Interior Department hasn’t acted to open the newly available areas, including offshore Alaska and on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Congress has kept the Arctic refuge off limits.
“Required actions to access the energy resources thought to exist there have not been taken,” O’Neal Hamilton, a former chairman of South Carolina’s Public Service Commission, said of the areas where leasing hasn’t proceeded. “Our research allows policy makers to know the extent of the resource base and the effects that maintaining the restrictions would have on the country.”
The report, issued today, said opening the areas would free up 43 billion barrels of oil and 286 trillion cubic feet of gas. The U.S. used 22.8 trillion cubic feet of gas and 5.2 billion barrels of oil in 2009, according to a press release issued with the report.
Obama hints he'd accept tort reform, angering Dem trial lawyers, to get Obamacare anacted
Trial lawyers defeated President George W. Bush’s push for medical liability reform and successfully lobbied to water down tort reform provisions in healthcare reform bills this Congress. But the battle is far from over.
And in an odd twist, a longtime ally of the trial lawyers could be the one to resurrect the idea -- President Barack Obama.
“I would hope this would be an area we just don’t go,” said Linda Lipsen, vice president for public affairs at the American Association for Justice, the trade group for trial attorneys.
Lipsen said. “The last thing Congress should be doing is eliminating people’s rights when the real issue is safety in hospitals.”
Obama’s hints that he is willing to make a deal with Republicans on medical malpractice reform has got physicians and trial lawyers scratching their heads.
As recently as Tuesday, Obama floated the possibility of offering an olive branch to Republicans on malpractice reform as a gesture of bipartisanship. “I've said from the beginning of this debate I'd be willing to work on that,” Obama remarked during a press briefing.
And in an odd twist, a longtime ally of the trial lawyers could be the one to resurrect the idea -- President Barack Obama.
“I would hope this would be an area we just don’t go,” said Linda Lipsen, vice president for public affairs at the American Association for Justice, the trade group for trial attorneys.
Lipsen said. “The last thing Congress should be doing is eliminating people’s rights when the real issue is safety in hospitals.”
Obama’s hints that he is willing to make a deal with Republicans on medical malpractice reform has got physicians and trial lawyers scratching their heads.
As recently as Tuesday, Obama floated the possibility of offering an olive branch to Republicans on malpractice reform as a gesture of bipartisanship. “I've said from the beginning of this debate I'd be willing to work on that,” Obama remarked during a press briefing.
Crony capitalism: Washington lobbyists earned almost $3.5 billion in Obama's first year
Lobbyists, reports the Center for Responsive Politics, had a record 2009 in Barack Obama's Washington. Despite candidate Obama's promises to shun them, they raked in $3,470,000,000.
(snip)
Goldman employee contributions to Democrats in 2008 ranked second only to those employed by the University of California. JPMorgan Chase's employees ranked No. 7. The stereotype of Wall Street being Republican is decades out of date.
Crony capitalism is now the order of the day in the United States. The government and the United Auto Workers own General Motors and Chrysler, which aren't likely to pay back their billions in TARP money anytime soon, if ever. Meanwhile, the government tells Americans to stop driving Toyotas.
The government was going to remake the health care sector, and so Billy Tauzin and other health care industry lobbyists were busy in the White House cutting deals to keep their clients above water. The government was going to remake the energy sector, and utility CEOs and lobbyists have been busy flaunting their green credentials.
(snip)
Goldman employee contributions to Democrats in 2008 ranked second only to those employed by the University of California. JPMorgan Chase's employees ranked No. 7. The stereotype of Wall Street being Republican is decades out of date.
Crony capitalism is now the order of the day in the United States. The government and the United Auto Workers own General Motors and Chrysler, which aren't likely to pay back their billions in TARP money anytime soon, if ever. Meanwhile, the government tells Americans to stop driving Toyotas.
The government was going to remake the health care sector, and so Billy Tauzin and other health care industry lobbyists were busy in the White House cutting deals to keep their clients above water. The government was going to remake the energy sector, and utility CEOs and lobbyists have been busy flaunting their green credentials.
Human Events finds illegal immigration top issue
Among our respondents 90% are age 45 or older, 69% are male, 96% are Caucasian, 43% have household incomes above $75,000, 57% have at least a bachelor’s degree, and 36% are Veterans.
We asked readers to choose the top 5 social or political issues that concern them the most. The percent indicates the percentage of people that listed the issue in their top 5 concerns.
Top Issues:
Illegal Immigration/Border Control 77%
Terrorism 55%
Government Spending 55%
National Defense 42%
Second Amendment Preservation 41%
Energy Independence 40%
Abortion on Demand 31%
One Party Government Control 30%
Jobs/Economic Climate 29%
What can we take from these results? Americans are concerned about the economy but more deeply worried that the enemy of our Union is failure to guard what is most precious: United States citizenship. Illegal immigration is an assault on our citizenship and a devaluation of what American means.
We asked readers to choose the top 5 social or political issues that concern them the most. The percent indicates the percentage of people that listed the issue in their top 5 concerns.
Top Issues:
Illegal Immigration/Border Control 77%
Terrorism 55%
Government Spending 55%
National Defense 42%
Second Amendment Preservation 41%
Energy Independence 40%
Abortion on Demand 31%
One Party Government Control 30%
Jobs/Economic Climate 29%
What can we take from these results? Americans are concerned about the economy but more deeply worried that the enemy of our Union is failure to guard what is most precious: United States citizenship. Illegal immigration is an assault on our citizenship and a devaluation of what American means.
"Bayh Bayh" wasn't just a clever link on Drudge
Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh will not seek re-election this year, a decision that hands Republicans a prime pickup opportunity in the middle of the country.
"After all these years, my passion for service to my fellow citizens is undiminished, but my desire to do so by serving in Congress has waned," Bayh will say.
Bayh will announce the decision at a press conference later today. He was first elected to the Senate in 1998 and was re-elected easily in 2004. National Republicans had recruited former Sen. Dan Coats to challenge Bayh in 2010 although polling suggested Bayh began the race with a 20-point edge. He also had $13 million in the bank at the end of the year.
"After all these years, my passion for service to my fellow citizens is undiminished, but my desire to do so by serving in Congress has waned," Bayh will say.
Bayh will announce the decision at a press conference later today. He was first elected to the Senate in 1998 and was re-elected easily in 2004. National Republicans had recruited former Sen. Dan Coats to challenge Bayh in 2010 although polling suggested Bayh began the race with a 20-point edge. He also had $13 million in the bank at the end of the year.
As the private sector shrinks the cancer grows
...in the midst of our jobless misery, one group of workers is truly getting "stimulated."
That's government employees. The federal government has added almost 9,000 jobs a month, and the federal payroll has spiked a whopping 10.5 percent, since the current recession began in December 2007, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And guess what? Federal employees are also earning higher wages and benefits than private sector workers do. The average federal worker now earns $71,206, compared with $40,331 in the private sector, according to an analysis by USA Today. "Federal employees making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14 percent to 19 percent of civil servants during the recession's first 18 months," the paper reports -- and that's before overtime pay and bonuses are counted.
While the rest of the economy is reeling, government just keeps expanding. Why?
That's government employees. The federal government has added almost 9,000 jobs a month, and the federal payroll has spiked a whopping 10.5 percent, since the current recession began in December 2007, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And guess what? Federal employees are also earning higher wages and benefits than private sector workers do. The average federal worker now earns $71,206, compared with $40,331 in the private sector, according to an analysis by USA Today. "Federal employees making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14 percent to 19 percent of civil servants during the recession's first 18 months," the paper reports -- and that's before overtime pay and bonuses are counted.
While the rest of the economy is reeling, government just keeps expanding. Why?
Times are tough even on Lakeshore Drive
In one of the nearly two dozen properties for sale on prestigious Lake Shore, the only furniture in the living room, with its commanding view of Lake St. Clair, is a mattress. The near-empty $1.4 million house is temporary shelter for a descendant of a former Chrysler executive who once lived there.
Farther down Lake Shore Road, an estate sale of an English-style mansion wrapped up early this month. A couple of blocks away, in the former estate of Henry Ford II that had been divided into smaller homes about two decades ago, an owner is considering dropping his asking price below $1 million -- in hopes of sparking a sale.
"You just have to deal with the reality," said owner D.J. Kennedy.
On this awe-inspiring stretch of mansions and high-end homes -- at some points it's called Lakeshore, at others Lake Shore Road or Lake Shore Drive -- the reality of realty is sobering.
Five homes are listed as bank-owned foreclosures, according to RealtyTrac, which follows foreclosures nationally.
The last $1 million home to sell on the prestigious stretch was in July, according to Kent Colpaert, principal broker of Bearing Group Real Estate Brokerage in Grosse Pointe Park. The last house sold at any price on this street was in September, for $465,000.
The luxurious stretch, about five miles in length, has sweeping views of Lake St. Clair and a vaunted history.
Members of the Ford family have lived on various parts of the lakeside driveever since Edsel and Eleanor started building a mansion in 1926 on Lake Shore Road. Over the years, other captains of the auto industry -- people whose names were synonymous with Packard, Dodge and Hudson Motors -- have lived there, as have generations of other wealthy Metro Detroiters.
Farther down Lake Shore Road, an estate sale of an English-style mansion wrapped up early this month. A couple of blocks away, in the former estate of Henry Ford II that had been divided into smaller homes about two decades ago, an owner is considering dropping his asking price below $1 million -- in hopes of sparking a sale.
"You just have to deal with the reality," said owner D.J. Kennedy.
On this awe-inspiring stretch of mansions and high-end homes -- at some points it's called Lakeshore, at others Lake Shore Road or Lake Shore Drive -- the reality of realty is sobering.
Five homes are listed as bank-owned foreclosures, according to RealtyTrac, which follows foreclosures nationally.
The last $1 million home to sell on the prestigious stretch was in July, according to Kent Colpaert, principal broker of Bearing Group Real Estate Brokerage in Grosse Pointe Park. The last house sold at any price on this street was in September, for $465,000.
The luxurious stretch, about five miles in length, has sweeping views of Lake St. Clair and a vaunted history.
Members of the Ford family have lived on various parts of the lakeside driveever since Edsel and Eleanor started building a mansion in 1926 on Lake Shore Road. Over the years, other captains of the auto industry -- people whose names were synonymous with Packard, Dodge and Hudson Motors -- have lived there, as have generations of other wealthy Metro Detroiters.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Congressional Black Caucus has used campaign finance laws to build a campaign powerhouse
WASHINGTON — When the Congressional Black Caucus wanted to pay off the mortgage on its foundation’s stately 1930s redbrick headquarters on Embassy Row, it turned to a familiar roster of friends: corporate backers like Wal-Mart, AT&T, General Motors, Coca-Cola and Altria, the nation’s largest tobacco company.
Caucus members accepting a donation to the foundation from Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical giant and a major contributor.
Soon enough, in 2008, a jazz band was playing at what amounted to a mortgage-burning party for the $4 million town house.
Most political groups in Washington would have been barred by law from accepting that kind of direct aid from corporations. But by taking advantage of political finance laws, the caucus has built a fund-raising juggernaut unlike anything else in town.
It has a traditional political fund-raising arm subject to federal rules. But it also has a network of nonprofit groups and charities that allow it to collect unlimited amounts of money from corporations and labor unions.
From 2004 to 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus’s political and charitable wings took in at least $55 million in corporate and union contributions, according to an analysis by The New York Times, an impressive amount even by the standards of a Washington awash in cash. Only $1 million of that went to the caucus’s political action committee; the rest poured into the largely unregulated nonprofit network.
Caucus members accepting a donation to the foundation from Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical giant and a major contributor.
Soon enough, in 2008, a jazz band was playing at what amounted to a mortgage-burning party for the $4 million town house.
Most political groups in Washington would have been barred by law from accepting that kind of direct aid from corporations. But by taking advantage of political finance laws, the caucus has built a fund-raising juggernaut unlike anything else in town.
It has a traditional political fund-raising arm subject to federal rules. But it also has a network of nonprofit groups and charities that allow it to collect unlimited amounts of money from corporations and labor unions.
From 2004 to 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus’s political and charitable wings took in at least $55 million in corporate and union contributions, according to an analysis by The New York Times, an impressive amount even by the standards of a Washington awash in cash. Only $1 million of that went to the caucus’s political action committee; the rest poured into the largely unregulated nonprofit network.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
