Metallica

Devil's Dance

Breaking News: William Ayers, Angela Davis, and George Soros Among Visitors To Obama's White House

UPDATE AND BUMPED: Apparently, Allahpundit and Ace of Spades are both reporting that this story is not true.

It is not that it is not true. Instead, the fact is, Obama released 300 names out of 100,000 who have gone through the doors of the White House. Some transparency.

This is all a headfake by Barack Hussein Obama to make Conservatives look stupid. Great job, Barack, but I'm not buying your bullshit.

Let's look at what MSNBC has to say about the information release:

The White House on Friday released a small list of visitors to the White House since President Barack Obama took office in January, including lobbyists, business executives, activists and celebrities.

No previous administration has released such a list, though the information out so far is incomplete. Only about 110 names —and 481 visits —out of the hundreds of thousands who have visited the Obama White House were made public. Like the Bush administration before it, Obama is arguing that any release is voluntary, not required by law, despite two federal court rulings to the contrary.

The names released Friday include business leaders and lobbyists with a lot to gain or lose from Obama policies. They include Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates (whose foundation is pushing for changes in teacher pay), former AIG chairman Maurice Greenberg, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, Chevron CEO David O'Reilly, Citigroup's Vikram Pandit, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, JP Morgan's James Dimon, Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis, John Stumpf of Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley's John Mack, State Street bank's Ron Logue, BNY Mellon's Robert Kelly, labor leader Andrew Stern of the Service Employees International Union (22 visits), American Bankers Association CEO Ed Yingling, community bankers president Camden Fine, and lobbyists Heather and Anthony Podesta, whose brother John Podesta led Obama's transition team.

Besides Gates, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt are also on the list. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC. One of NBC's parents is GE.)

Advocates and nonprofit leaders include National Organization for Women President Kim Gandy, and Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which is interested in health policy.

Democratic donor and businessman George Soros visited with White House aides twice.

Political figures include former Sen. Thomas Daschle, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, former Gov. Howard Dean, Sen. Al Franken, former Vice President Al Gore, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, and Democratic strategist Steve Elmendorf.

Celebrities at the White House include Oprah Winfrey, actors Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Denzel Washington, and tennis star Serena Williams. Journalists include Paul Krugman, the New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize winner in economics.

Conservative religious leader Gary Bauer visited, as did liberal civil rights leaders Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

Msnbc.com has put the full list in a handy PDF file, and also in an Excel file for those who like to sort.

Not that Bill Ayers
The White House warns that many names that may appear familiar — and controversial — do not in fact refer to the most famous people to carry those names. Jeremiah Wright is on the list, but it's not the president's former pastor. This Michael Jordan is not the basketball player. This Michael Moore is not a filmmaker. The William Ayers who took a group tour of the White House isn't the former radical from Chicago who figured so prominently in the 2008 campaign. And the Angela Davis on the list has a different middle initial than the activist and former fugitive.

The White House could have avoided some of that sort of confusion by providing more information on the visitors, such as an employer name and the city they hail from. For example, is the Shawn Carter who attended a poetry reading the same one who goes by Jay-Z and had campaigned for Obama?

"This unprecedented level of transparency can sometimes be confusing rather than providing clear information," a White House special counsel, Norm Eisen, wrote on the White House blog.

Well, isn't that cute.

Fuck, Barack Hussein Obama. He is just a liar. So, the William Ayers they released is not that William Ayers.

THAT DOESN'T TELL US ANYTHING.

Barack Hussein Obama is just being a class smart-ass with this maneuver. It is such a transparent practical joke. It is childish behavior for a sitting President of the United States, supposedly the most powerful man in the world.

When, oh when, will the Democratic Party finally come to their senses and demand that this man resign from office?

From Rumcrook:

wake up america!!!! obama is a radical! white house guest list reveals just how radical he is!

“You are unlikely to find a sorrier rogues gallery than Obama’s guest list!

Did you ever wonder who were the folks who got all those special invites to the White House since the Obama’s turned it into party central? The White House released the list. Here are some highlights…

• Two visits by William Ayers, the Weatherman terrorist whose group bombed the Pentagon and who said he wished he had done more. Remember Obama told us all that Ayers was “just some guy in the neighborhood” back in Chicago. What a liar!
• Two visits by Angela Davis, former Communist Party candidate for Vice President and found innocent of kidnapping and murder of a judge.
• Four visits by failed Presidential hopeful John Edwards. No word on whether he shared grooming tips with Obama.
• Five visits by Steve Elmendorf, head of the Congressional Budget Office. Wonder if Obama was doing some arm twisting to get CBO to whitewash the Dem’s health care plans?
• 15 visits by Kim Gandy, head of the National Organization for Women. But no time on the schedule for General McChrystal, our commander in Afghanistan!
• Five visits by Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric. No doubt Jeff had to pick up those billions in stimulus funds himself.
• Five visits by Michael Jordan. Basketball is so much more important than governing a country.
• Eight visits by Nancy Keenan, head of the National Abortion Rights Action League. You suppose it’s just a coincidence that abortion funding keeps popping up in the health care bill?
• Seven visits by Philip Lamarche of 666 West End Avenue in NYC and bigtime Obama donor.
• Eight visits by Michael Moore. A socialist propaganda film maker is obviously more important than meeting with General McChrystal.
• Four visits by George Soros, the Hungarian born billionaire who funds the Democrat Party.
• TWENTY visits by Andrew Stern, head of the far left union SEIU whose thugs beat up Town Hall protesters this summer.

Even Good ole Rev. Jeremiah “God DAMN America” Wright got a visit. Even after disrespecting Obama during last year’s campaign.

If you ever wondered why Obama appointed so many raving radicals to important positions in the White House, this list makes it clear: That’s the only kind of people this man knows and cares to associate with.”

Here's the link to the WhiteHouse.gov site with the original list for your perusal.

More evidence of the complete shambles of this admin, II

We might think, well good riddance, but this is an iconic warning about the self interest of nations and allies. The question to ask is, WHO IS NEXT?
GERTZ:

Sea change in the Gulf: Saudis unsure of U.S. intent, turn to Moscow

WASHINGTON -- Over the last two years, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been signaling its anxiety at the prospect of an Iran with nuclear weapons eventually dominating the new Shi'ite government of Iraq as the U.S. withdraws its forces over the next two years.

Now the Saudis, in a move that has stunned the West, has decided to make Russia a strategic ally in an effort to counter Iran's dominance of the Gulf.

Saudi Arabia's approach to Russia marks a sea change for the Arab kingdom, which long regarded Moscow as the center of the evil communist empire. But today Riyad sees its real threat in neighboring Iran.

King Abdullah has approved the development of a strategic relationship with the Kremlin that would include cooperation in defense and energy. The pro-Russian policy marks a strategy drafted by Deputy Prime Minister Prince Nayef to outspend Iran in the race for weapons and allies.

The Center for New Politics and Policy asserted that Riyad has ordered hundreds of helicopters, main battle tanks, armored personnel carriers and other military platforms from the Kremlin. In a report, the center said the Saudi decision sought to pressure Moscow to stop major weapons and nuclear sales to Iran.

"As a major arms and nuclear materials supplier to Iran, Russian arms sales to Saudi Arabia afford Moscow powerful leverage in the Persian Gulf at a time when American and Western European influence is declining," the report, titled "Saudi Arabia's Foreign Policy Gamble and the Iranian Nuclear Problem," said.

Authored by senior fellow Webster Brooks, the report said Saudi Arabia agreed to a $4 billion weapons deal with the Kremlin in 2007. The deal was said to have included the Russian sale of 150 T-90 main battle tanks, 100 Mi-17 helicopters, hundreds of BMP-3 infantry combat vehicles and 20 BVIC air defense systems.

"Abdullah's shift to allow the Russians arms sales shocked the United States and Western Europe," the report said.

Brooks said Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin also offered Moscow's support for Saudi strategic programs. He cited Saudi plans to build nuclear reactors, satellites and expand space cooperation.

King Abdullah has approved the development of a strategic relationship with the Kremlin that would include cooperation in defense and energy Telegraph

"Speculation that the Saudi arms deal with Moscow included a proviso that Russia would oppose Iran's nuclear arms program has not materialized," the report said.

The report said Saudi Arabia would continue to procure U.S. military platforms. Riyad also plans to install an $8 billion border security system as well as procure maritime security vessels, unmanned aerial vehicles, surveillance aircraft and helicopters as part of a U.S.-sponsored Gulf Cooperation Council security regime.

"But the Moscow agreement was a serious warning that Riyad is no longer marching in lockstep with the U.S., especially when its national security interests are at state," the report said.

"Similarly, the debate within the House of Saud about President Obama's response to the Iranian nuclear threat has raised the issue of Riyad pursuing a nuclear path."

The report said Saudi Arabia has been threatened by Iran from several directions. Brooks cited the dominance of Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias along the Iraqi border with Saudi Arabia as well as the revolt by Iranian-backed Shi'ites in neighboring Yemen.

"Thus, Saudi Arabia's foreign policy continues to undergo profound change that will require more accommodations to Teheran, greater independence from the United States, closer ties to Russia and an unprecedented military buildup that could include a Saudi nuclear program," the report said.

In May 2007, U.S. officials said Abdullah had repeatedly told visiting Americans that he was dismayed over the Bush administration's support for pro-Shi'ite polices in Iraq. Abdullah was quoted as saying that U.S. assistance to the Shi'ite-dominated government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki could lead to Teheran's takeover of Iraq and the Gulf region.

"He [Abdullah] also told me that he had severe misgivings about the Maliki government and the reasons for that," then U.S. Central Command chief Adm. William Fallon said. "He felt, in his words, that there was a 'significant linkage to Iran.' He was concerned about Iranian influence on the Maliki government."

Officials said Abdullah's dismay over U.S. policy prompted a decision by President George Bush to send his vice president to Saudi Arabia to assure Abdullah of the U.S. commitment to Gulf security.

The following year, in July 2008, Vice President Dick Cheney paid another visit to Saudi Arabia to talk oil and reassure an uneasy king.

As the July 9, 2008 edition of Geostrategy-Direct reported at the time,

At issue is U.S. credibility in a region increasingly dominated by Iran which, like North Korea in East Asia, is continuing to develop WMD programs while spreading its influence in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and the Gulf with no decisive response by the West.

Abdullah and the royal family have been increasingly alarmed over the rise of Iran throughout the Gulf and have concluded that Teheran was fomenting Shi'ite populations in its own and the neighboring states of Bahrain and Kuwait.

Addressing the University of Jordan's Strategic Studies Center on April 4, Saudi National Security Advisor Prince Turki Al Faisal, a former intelligence chief as well as Saudi ambassador to Britain and the United States, blamed Washington for Iran's expansion.

Turki, who is also the brother of Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud, said Iran was preparing to take over Iraq. Turki said the United States was facilitating the Iranian takeover as part of an American military withdrawal from Iraq.

Moslems And Halloween

On a whim, I Google searched "Halloween + Islam" and got this, among many other hits:

Halloween is upon us, and scores of children dressed up as everything imaginable will soon hit the streets, going door-to-door for candy. This year my five-year-old daughter is old enough to go. Alas, I will not let her. This is not because I am afraid for her safety, or I do not want her to eat her body weight in candy (though these are legitimate concerns). My decision is based on Islamic principles.

Islam accepts the cultural traditions of a people as long as those traditions agree with Islamic values. Thus, blue jeans, baseball caps, hot dogs, and other quintessential American items are wholeheartedly accepted by Islam. I am perplexed when some American Muslims wear Arab dress and pass this off as "Islamic" attire. Nonsense. A pair of jeans and a T-shirt is as Islamic as it gets. A similar argument can be made about such holidays as Mother's or Father's Day. Honoring our parents is so strongly stressed in Islam; Muslims should have no problem commemorating such holidays.

And this is why I will not send my daughter trick or treating this year or any other year. Halloween honors Celtic and Roman gods. Islam is strictly monotheistic, and anything having to do with the worship of any other god besides the Most Holy One is out of the question.

Many will see this stance as "fanatic," but I take exception to that accusation. I will not parade the streets trying to prevent trick-or-treaters, Muslim or otherwise, from getting their candy. I will not put a sign on my door saying, "No candy here--Halloween is a pagan holiday and you will all burn in hell." My family and I simply will not participate in Halloween festivities.

While it's true that Halloween is not, as I once thought, based on devil worship, it nevertheless mixes Celtic, Roman, and Catholic influences....

Read the rest.

Some Christians I know also will have nothing to do with Halloween. Other Christians I know will allow their children to go trick-or-treating but not don any costume which implies a connection with the occult.

Here's what I've been wondering....Has anyone here heard of or read of any Moslems objecting to the celebration of Halloween per se, particularly in areas predominantly Moslem? Any objections at any of the public schools?

And what are your personal views about celebrating Halloween?

Final Score: Pelosi 1990, Madison 6, or 53 - 3

Health Bill Size: 1990 pages, and 53 new agencies


Constitution: 6 pages, 3 branches


Seriously, is it me or is there something REALLY WRONG and it's not just the democrats

When Ayn Rand writes it, it sounds ridiculous when read aloud

and then in black and white, there it is.

The 'San Sebastian Line' in all it's written technicolor.From Jake Tapper at ABC news, who appears to be increasingly aggravating some people

"In recent days, the Recovery Act board has been reviewing all the numbers, with many inaccurate ones having been posted. California's San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission received $5 million in stimulus funds to hire workers to build addition train track for the Union Pacific Railroad in an economically tarnished spot of the Golden State."

Is there a commercial need? Who knows, the area is 'economically tarnished', and that's all the justification needed?

LA Times: They get it?

I don't know if LA Times is MSM or just another "in that dark corner" type of newspaper but I like the following report. It seems as if they actually get it.

LA TIMES:

Inconsistent messages on Obama's stimulus package:

Confused about President Obama's stimulus package? The administration may not be the place to find clarity. The White House leadership has made statements about the stimulus that often are inconsistent -- and at odds with facts put out by the administration.

Effect of the stimulus

* Vice President Joe Biden on Friday: The stimulus "is responsible for over 1 million jobs so far."

* White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett on Oct. 18: The stimulus "really staved off a disaster and we saved millions of jobs around the country."

* White House release June 2: "Just over 100 days in, over 150,000 jobs have been created or saved."

* White House senior advisor David Axelrod on June 7: "The stimulus itself has produced hundreds of thousands of jobs."

Purpose of stimulus

* Vice President Biden on June 2: The stimulus is "an initial big jolt to give the economy a real head start."

* Biden on July 26: The stimulus "was intended to provide steady support for our economy over an extended period -- not a jolt that would last only a few months."

Life span of stimulus

* Obama on Jan. 28, two weeks before passage: "Most of the money we're investing as part of this plan will get out the door immediately and go directly to job creation."

* Obama on July 11: "But as I made clear at the time it was passed, the [stimulus] was not designed to work in four moths -- it was designed to work over two years."

Jobs saved or created by the stimulus

* Christina Romer, Council of Economic Advisers chairwoman, on July 13 when asked if she knew the number of jobs that had been saved or created: "It's very hard to say exactly, because you don't know what the baseline is, because you don't know what the economy would have done without it."

* Romer and vice presidential advisor Jared Bernstein released a report Jan. 10 that included a graph titled, "Unemployment Rate with and without the Recovery Plan." The graph showed that with the stimulus, unemployment would not exceed 8%, and without it, unemployment would reach about 9%. Unemployment is now 9.8%.

* Bernstein on June 8 said of the report: "Looking back, it was clearly too optimistic."

If Only This Man Would Listen To His Own Lyrics

Cat Stevens used to be a great singer-songwriter. His music was beautiful and his vocal style was unparalleled.

Then, he became a Muslim and changed his name to Yusuf Islam. He has since called for the death of Salman Rushdie for having the "audacity" to write the book "The Satanic Verses."

Cat Stevens should be shunned. You should never, ever, buy his music, no matter how much you may like it.

And, T-Mobile ought to be shunned for featuring Cat Stevens music in their new ad campaign. Fuck T-Mobile.

But, beyond the world of commerce and politics, Cat Stevens music is still beautiful. And, it deserves to be remembered, especially by Mr. Yusuf Islam himself.

Oh, very young one, if only you would listen to the lyrics you wrote as a young man.





Oh very young
what will you leave us this time
you're only dancing on this earty
for a short while
and though your dreams may toss
and turn you now
they will vanish away
like your daddy's best jeans
denim blue fading up to the sky
and though you want him to last
forever you know he never will
(you know he never will)
and the patches
make the goodbye harder still

oh very young
what will you leave us this time
there'll never be a better chance
to change your mind
and if you want this world
to see a better day
will you carry
the words of love with you
will you ride
the great white bird into heaven

Michelle Bachman on Pelosi Health Care Bill: “This Is the Crown Jewel of Socialism”

I love Michelle Bachman. She could be President someday.

From Gateway:

Rep. Michelle Bachman is calling all Americans to join her on the steps of the Capital Building in Washington DC on Thursday November 5th to stop “the Crown Jewel of Socialism” – the democrat’s bill to take over the US health care industry.

Bachman joined Hannity tonight to discuss this massive power grab.

Bachman also announced that if this bill passes the Obama Administration will have taken over 48% of the private economy this year.

Unbelievable!

Maybe If I Drive Away Real Slow, No One Will Notice ...

Shouldn't she, at least, have left a note?

From Discarded Lies:

Neil Young

Powderfinger

Obama Saves Face - Forces Honduran Congress To Go Through The Motions Of Restating Their Position On Zelaya

From Yahoo News:

Honduras' ousted president, interim government sign pact

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Deposed President Manuel Zelaya and his opponents have agreed to a U.S.-brokered deal that he said will return him to power four months after a coup shook faith in Latin America's young democracies.

The power-sharing agreement reached late Thursday calls for Congress to decide whether to reinstate the leftist Zelaya. While the legislature backed his June 28 ouster, congressional leaders have since said they won't stand in the way of an agreement that ends Honduras' diplomatic isolation and legitimizes presidential elections planned for November.

"We are willing to be cooperative in Congress with the agreement of the negotiators," Porfirio Lobo, a National Party lawmaker who is favored to win the Nov. 29 presidential elections, said Friday. "The best decision for Honduras will be taken."

While officials did not explicitly say the deal would return Zelaya to power to serve out the remaining three months of his term, the ousted president was clearly confident that it will.

"This signifies my return to power in the coming days, and peace for Honduras," Zelaya told opposition Radio Globo.

Zelaya told The Associated Press that he expects Congress will take "a week or so" to make its decision. In the meantime, he said he will remain at the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, where he took refuge after slipping back into the country from his forced exile.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said Friday surrounded by jubilant supporters.

Soldiers still surrounded the embassy and floodlights still interrupted sleep but it has been several days since troops have crowed and meowed in the wee hours to keep those inside awake.

That's right, Zelaya. You're not going anywhere. The Honduran Congress will merely vote, once again, to oust you for violating the Honduran Constitution. The Honduran Constitution explicitly limits Presidents to one term, and states that the President shall, at no time, ever, call for himself to be re-elected.

Zelaya violated the Constitution, and the Congress and Supreme Court asked the Military to remove him from the country.

So, now to get the egg off his face, after months of calling this a coup, Obama is forcing the Honduran Congress to restate it's position.

They will vote and the outcome of the vote will be the exact same thing. Zelaya will not be allowed back into the country.

End of story.

Peggy Noonan Identifies the thinking and feelings in the REAL heart and soul of America

This is what Americans are thinking around the dinner table.
They cannot fool MOST of the PEOPLE ANY of the TIME.

We simply have lost faith in leaders.

We're Governed by Callous Children

Americans feel increasingly disheartened, and our leaders don't even notice.

The new economic statistics put growth at a healthy 3.5% for the third quarter. We should be dancing in the streets. No one is, because no one has any faith in these numbers. Waves of money are sloshing through the system, creating a false rising tide that lifts all boats for the moment. The tide will recede. The boats aren't rising, they're bobbing, and will settle. No one believes the bad time is over. No one thinks we're entering a new age of abundance. No one thinks it will ever be the same as before 2008. Economists, statisticians, forecasters and market specialists will argue about what the new numbers mean, but no one believes them, either. Among the things swept away in 2008 was public confidence in the experts. The experts missed the crash. They'll miss the meaning of this moment, too.

The biggest threat to America right now is not government spending, huge deficits, foreign ownership of our debt, world terrorism, two wars, potential epidemics or nuts with nukes. The biggest long-term threat is that people are becoming and have become disheartened, that this condition is reaching critical mass, and that it afflicts most broadly and deeply those members of the American leadership class who are not in Washington, most especially those in business.

It is a story in two parts. The first: "They do not think they can make it better."

I talked this week with a guy from Big Pharma, which we used to call "the drug companies" until we decided that didn't sound menacing enough. He is middle-aged, works in a significant position, and our conversation turned to the last great recession, in the late mid- to late 1970s and early '80s. We talked about how, in terms of numbers, that recession was in some ways worse than the one we're experiencing now. Interest rates were over 20%, and inflation and unemployment hit double digits. America was in what might be called a functional depression, yet there was still a prevalent feeling of hope. Here's why. Everyone thought they could figure a way through. We knew we could find a path through the mess. In 1982 there were people saying, "If only we get rid of this guy Reagan, we can make it better!" Others said, "If we follow Reagan, he'll squeeze out inflation and lower taxes and we'll be America again, we'll be acting like Americans again." Everyone had a path through.

Now they don't. The most sophisticated Americans, experienced in how the country works on the ground, can't figure a way out. Have you heard, "If only we follow Obama and the Democrats, it will all get better"? Or, "If only we follow the Republicans, they'll make it all work again"? I bet you haven't, or not much.

This is historic. This is something new in modern political history, and I'm not sure we're fully noticing it. Americans are starting to think the problems we are facing cannot be solved.

Part of the reason is that the problems--debt, spending, war--seem too big. But a larger part is that our federal government, from the White House through Congress, and so many state and local governments, seems to be demonstrating every day that they cannot make things better. They are not offering a new path, they are only offering old paths--spend more, regulate more, tax more in an attempt to make us more healthy locally and nationally. And in the long term everyone--well, not those in government, but most everyone else--seems to know that won't work. It's not a way out. It's not a path through.

And so the disheartenedness of the leadership class, of those in business, of those who have something. This week the New York Post carried a report that 1.5 million people had left high-tax New York state between 2000 and 2008, more than a million of them from even higher-tax New York City. They took their tax dollars with them--in 2006 alone more than $4 billion.

You know what New York, both state and city, will do to make up for the lost money. They'll raise taxes.

I talked with an executive this week with what we still call "the insurance companies" and will no doubt soon be calling Big Insura. (Take it away, Democratic National Committee.) He was thoughtful, reflective about the big picture. He talked about all the new proposed regulations on the industry. Rep. Barney Frank had just said on some cable show that the Democrats of the White House and Congress "are trying on every front to increase the role of government in the regulatory area." The executive said of Washington: "They don't understand that people can just stop, get out. I have friends and colleagues who've said to me 'I'm done.' " He spoke of his own increasing tax burden and said, "They don't understand that if they start to tax me so that I'm paying 60%, 55%, I'll stop."

He felt government doesn't understand that business in America is run by people, by human beings. Mr. Frank must believe America is populated by high-achieving robots who will obey whatever command he and his friends issue. But of course they're human, and they can become disheartened. They can pack it in, go elsewhere, quit what used to be called the rat race and might as well be called that again since the government seems to think they're all rats. (That would be you, Chamber of Commerce.)

***

And here is the second part of the story. While Americans feel increasingly disheartened, their leaders evince a mindless . . . one almost calls it optimism, but it is not that.

It is a curious thing that those who feel most mistily affectionate toward America, and most protective toward it, are the most aware of its vulnerabilities, the most aware that it can be harmed. They don't see it as all-powerful, impregnable, unharmable. The loving have a sense of its limits.

When I see those in government, both locally and in Washington, spend and tax and come up each day with new ways to spend and tax--health care, cap and trade, etc.--I think: Why aren't they worried about the impact of what they're doing? Why do they think America is so strong it can take endless abuse?

I think I know part of the answer. It is that they've never seen things go dark. They came of age during the great abundance, circa 1980-2008 (or 1950-2008, take your pick), and they don't have the habit of worry. They talk about their "concerns"--they're big on that word. But they're not really concerned. They think America is the goose that lays the golden egg. Why not? She laid it in their laps. She laid it in grandpa's lap.

They don't feel anxious, because they never had anything to be anxious about. They grew up in an America surrounded by phrases--"strongest nation in the world," "indispensable nation," "unipolar power," "highest standard of living"--and are not bright enough, or serious enough, to imagine that they can damage that, hurt it, even fatally.

We are governed at all levels by America's luckiest children, sons and daughters of the abundance, and they call themselves optimists but they're not optimists--they're unimaginative. They don't have faith, they've just never been foreclosed on. They are stupid and they are callous, and they don't mind it when people become disheartened. They don't even notice.

There is a nation now gone. They lost the confidence of the their people despite thier ideal that all the bounty in the nation was due all the people as a shared trust.

On the gravestone of this nation can be chiseled this iconic phrase:

"WE PRETEND TO WORK AND THEY PRETEND TO PAY US"

Our nation is now on this path.

They pretend to be confident, and we pretend to listen.
They pretend to believe, and we pretend they mean it
They pretend to have a plan, and we pretend .....

Without this nation and it's productivity (i.e. a transformed America) you can depend on a few things .. a darker, poorer, colder, world in which confidence in the future will be the result of corruption, bribery, nepotism and cronyism.

The leaders are in over their heads.

We all know it.

Obama is right about one thing.

We are the ones we've been waiting for.

We have to climb out one free enterprise success, one entrepreneur, one property driven capitalist at a time.

Capitalism and free enterprise and competition may suck, and be cruel sometimes, but every other thing is not just worse, but FAR WORSE, in the end.

Afghan Women

A rap video by our newest Los Angeles Laker, Ron Artest.

He doesn't actually tell us what the problem is, but the images he shows are so raw they leave little room for doubt.



You have to admire Ron Artest for his bravery in dealing with this issue. The NBA is filled with Muslim men who, I am guessing, will not take to kindly to his message.

However, there's not much they can say, because the way he portrayed the message is out of compassion. No criticism.

Maybe I ought to take a lesson from Ron Artest?

Nahhh!

"Devout" Muslim Wife Attacks Westernized Husband with Knife

And now for something completely different in the "honor killing" department, a "devout" Muslim wife from Staten Island attempted to kill her Westernized husband. Fortunately he is a light sleeper. From The Staten Island Advance via FOX News.


Wife Tries to Kill Husband Over Muslim Principles, Cops Say
Thursday October 29
FOX News

A New York woman allegedly tried to slit her husband's throat because she said he wasn't the devout Muslim she thought she married five months ago...

Rabia Sarwar told authorities in a four-page written confession that she tried her "best to cut his throat", but that her husband, Sheikh Naseem, woke up and took the knife from her.

[For some reason the cut-and-paste isn't working right, so go read the rest at FOX. Don't miss the extended story at the SIA site and especially the comments section. More people may be waking up than we think.]

OBAMA SIGNS DEFENSE CUTS PARING MANY WEAPONS SYSTEMS

From Reliapundit, the Astute Blogger:

OBAMA MAKES US ALL LESS SAFE:

Victory for Obama Over Military Lobby

By CHRISTOPHER DREW

With the signing of a military bill, President Obama pared more weapons systems than any president in years.

NYTIMES: Victory for Obama Over Military Lobby

When the Obama administration proposed canceling a host of expensive weapons systems last spring, some of the military industry’s allies in Congress assumed, as they had in the past, that they would have the final say.

But as the president signed a $680 billion military policy bill on Wednesday, it was clear that he had succeeded in paring back nearly all of the programs and setting a tone of greater restraint than the Pentagon had seen in many years.

WE'RE FIGHTING TWO WARS AND OBAMA CUTS THE DEFENSE BUDGET.

GREAT.

BOA - Valenti

Our nightly BOA, constricting the veins in my Brain Drain. (Not that it matters to anyone, but this chick is one of the three or four best dancers I have ever seen. She is, likely, destined to become the first truly International Pop Star in history. She is from Korea. There is almost nothing American about her, except for the sound of her music. Her moves are a combination of Michael Jackson, Asian dance, and Middle Eastern dance. She is a new synthesis. The more I watch her, the more I am convinced ... we are witnessing history.)

In Praise Of Dreams

Jan Garbarek - Saxophone
Kim Kashkashian - Viola
Manu Katche - Drums

A Marriage Made In Islamic Heaven

Look at the photo of the happy couple. JUST LOOK AT IT, FOR QUITE A WHILE.

Yep, that's love, if I ever saw it.

That's the same look Mrs. Pastorius had on her face when she and I got married. Yesirree.

From the BBC:

Somali man, '112', weds girl, 17

The couple posed for photos at the wedding celebrations

Hundreds of people have attended a wedding in central Somalia between a man who says he is 112 years old, and his teenage wife.

Ahmed Muhamed Dore - who already has 13 children by five wives - said he would like to have more with his new wife, Safia Abdulleh, who is 17 years old.

"Today God helped me realise my dream," Mr Dore said, after the wedding in the region of Galguduud.

The bride's family said she was "happy with her new husband".

Mr Dore said he and his bride - who is young enough to be his great-great-grand-daughter - were from the same village in Somalia and that he had waited for her to grow up to propose.

"I didn't force her, but used my experience to convince her of my love; and then we agreed to marry," the groom said.

Traveling Wilburys

Handle With Care

Disappearing The Past - FBI Targets Internet Archive With Secret ‘National Security Letter’

HOW THE US GOVERNMENT IS ELIMINATING FREE SPEECH FROM THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

UPDATE II: Michael Travis notes:

The CNN Interactive Community Boards are not the same as the CNN News pages that you linked to (Sept.12, 2002).

The name of the ADL-Atlanta chief is/was Jay Kaiman... preferred butt-boy of Dishonest Abe Foxman.

I was not alone in trying to get the ADL, FBI and CNN to take notice. The Israeli Government Coutner-terrorism authorities visited Washington 5 or 6 time a year to give material to Sandy Berger, and then Condi Rice. To no avail.

However, years later, the material was used in the prosecution of the Holyland Foundation members.....those who had not left the country during Bush's 4-6 month warning period.

More info from Michael at the bottom of the post.

UPDATED: I made an error on this post. I posted that there were no archives for September 11, 2001. I was wrong. I accidentally looked at September 11, 2002. I don't know how I made that mistake. Sorry. The September 11, 2001 Internet Archive for CNN is exactly what you would expect it to be.

Back in May of 2008, this article appeared in Wired Magazine. The actual title of the article was "FBI Targets Internet Archives With Secret 'National Security Letter', Loses".

Sadly, it does not seem to have worked out that way.

First, let's read the 5-2008 Wired article.

From Wired:

The Internet Archive, a project to create a digital library of the web for posterity, successfully fought a secret government Patriot Act order for records about one of its patrons and won the right to make the order public, civil liberties groups announced Wednesday morning.

On November 26, 2007, the FBI served a controversial National Security Letter (.pdf) on the Internet Archive’s founder Brewster Kahle, asking for records about one of the library’s registered users, asking for the user’s name, address and activity on the site.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Internet Archive’s lawyers, fought the NSL, challenging its constitutionality in a December 14 complaint (.pdf) to a federal court in San Francisco. The FBI agreed on April 21 to withdraw the letter and unseal the court case, making some of the documents available to the public.

The Patriot Act greatly expanded the reach of NSLs, which are subpoenas for documents such as billing records and telephone records that the FBI can issue in terrorism investigations without a judge’s approval. Nearly all NSLs come with gag orders forbidding the recipient from ever speaking of the subpoena, except to a lawyer.

Brewster Kahle called the gag order "horrendous," saying he couldn’t talk about the case with his board members, wife or staff ...

Hard to believe, huh? The FBI can tell you to shut up, and you can't even tell anyone you've been told to shut up, or what you've been told to shut up about.

When my friend Michael called me tonight and started droning on about it, I thought I was listening to another Conspiracy Theory. Michael was telling me that back in days of old, before blogging was invented, the "biggest thing on the internet" was CNN Message Boards.

He said, it was on the CNN Message Boards that he became aware of the brewing Intifada, and of the impending Islamic attacks on America (which were to happen on September 11, 2001). Michael said the Jihadis were out in full force on the CNN Message Boards, threatening everyone and anyone of what was to come.

Michael said he reported these threats to the ADL, who in turn, believe it or not, reported HIM to the FBI. Yes, that's right, Michael, who is a Jew and an Israeli citizen, claims he was reported to the FBI by the ADL for the crime of alerting the ADL to Islamic Jihadism and anti-Semitism.

Do you feel as if you have gone through Alice's Mirror, or what? Up is down. Black is white. Your don't know your ass from, well, let's let that one go.

And then, Michael started going on about how CNN eliminated these Message Boards, ERASED THEM.

I had a hard time believing this.

But this I could check, and I did.

Here it is. You go to the Wayback Machine. You type in www.cnn.com, and it takes you to a page that shows you the Internet Archive of CNN's history.

Click on April 10, 2001, just for the fun of it. Here's what you get. (Note, some of these load times are a long wait. Sorry about that. This is an archive, after all. Picture the Librarian getting out one of those old Periodicals of Periodicals and trying to work through the Dewey Decimal System for the precise old Periodical you are looking for).

Here's what happens when you click the Message Boards.

Now, click on the "Middle East" discussion boards. Here's what you get.

NOT IN ARCHIVE.

Did they also disappear the "Seattle Quake" discussion board from that day? Sort of, but sort of not. Something actually comes up. Here it is.

Ok, what about the "Mideast Peace" Message Board? Nope. It's disappeared.

Looks like Michael was right. They actually disappeared the Middle East Message Boards at the CNN Website.

(Ok, here's where my post goes wrong. I'll italicize and indent this whole section to note that it is a mistake -

Ok, so then I backed up and went to look at the September 11, 2001 Internet Archive. Well, what do you know, there is no page from that day.

There is, however, a September 12, 2001 Internet Archive Page. Here's what it looks like.

Does that reflect the news as you remember it on September 12, 2001?

And, do you notice the little blue and white World Trade Center advertisement down towards the bottom of the page? Does that look like something that would have been on CNN's front page on September 12, 2001?)

By the way, let's back up to the main CNN Internet Archive Page, and take note that there are no archives, at all, for 2009. Neither are there 2009 archives for CBS.com. I guess the Wayback Machine Internet Archive has given up business entirely. That is a damned shame, frankly.

Did the government put them out of business with a National Security Letter, after all?

What the hell is going on here?

UPDATE II: More info from Michael Travis:

CNN.com Community Message Boards Break Record on Page Views August 15, 2000 The CNN.com community message boards experienced record use yesterday, Tuesday, Aug. 15. The message boards served more than 255, 000 page impressions. CNN.com's message boards average 150,000 page impressions daily with dramatic number increases during breaking news and event coverage. Tuesday's record-breaking numbers can be attributed to the Democratic National Convention, the attempted rescue of the Russian submarine, ELECTION 2000 and the India/Pakistan message boards.CNN Interactive is responsible for the award-winning news site CNN.com, as well as 11 other Web sites and the distribution of CNN news content via other platforms such as iMagic's PowerPhones. In February 1999, CNN Interactive launched CNN Mobile, the most comprehensive and advanced 24-hour global and pan-regional news and information service for GSM mobile phones. The CNN Web sites, which include CNN.com, allpolitics.com, CNNfn.com and CNNSI.com, are among the world's leading news and information Web sites. The CNN Web sites have served more than 650 million page impressions a month in 2000 and served more than 6.7 billion page impressions in 1999.

http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,667796,00.html

Cash for Clunkers? Edmunds says each one cost YOU $24k

Clunkers: Taxpayers paid $24,000 per car

Auto sales analysts at Edmunds.com say the pricey program resulted in relatively few additional car sales.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A total of 690,000 new vehicles were sold under the Cash for Clunkers program last summer, but only 125,000 of those were vehicles that would not have been sold anyway, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the automotive Web site Edmunds.com.

Still, auto sales contributed heavily to the economy's expansion in the third quarter, adding 1.7 percentage points to the nation's gross domestic product growth.

The average rebate was $4,000. But the overwhelming majority of sales would have taken place anyway at some time in the last half of 2009, according to Edmunds.com. That means the government ended up spending about $24,000 each for those 125,000 additional vehicle sales.

"It is unfortunate that Edmunds.com has had nothing but negative things to say about a wildly successful program that sold nearly 250,000 cars in its first four days alone," said Bill Adams, spokesman for the Department of Transportation.

RICO - The Beginning of the End of Radical Islam In America - The Feds Are Claiming A "Criminal Conspiracy"

Yesterday, Imam Abdullah was shot dead by Federal Authorities, after he opened fire on those who were attempting to arrest him.

Normally, that would be enough cause for celebration.

But, in this case, we have even more cause for celebration. I have been scanning the horizon of Internet news, for over a year now, waiting to find the Magic Words; "Criminal Conspiracy".

Why?

Because I am, and have been convinced, that we already have laws on the books which can bring Radical Islam to it's knees here in America.

The most important of these laws are the Smith Act (Sedition), and the RICO Statutes (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act). For today, we will just concentrate on RICO, because that is what we have before us in the, apparent, Federal Prosecution which is brewing against the ten people who were sought yesterday in the raid which ended with Abdullah dead.

First, let's look at some of the text from the original New York Times article:

"Federal authorities say a leader of what they describe as a nationwide radical Sunni Islam group ... at a Dearborn warehouse on charges that included conspiracy to sell stolen goods and illegal possession and sale of firearms. Authorities also conducted raids elsewhere to try to round up 10 followers named in a federal complaint."

Now, let's look at what is covered by the RICO Act:

Under RICO, a person who is a member of an enterprise that has committed any two of 35 crimes—27 federal crimes and 8 state crimes—within a 10-year period can be charged with racketeering. Those found guilty of racketeering can be fined up to $250,000 and/or sentenced to 20 years in prison per racketeering count. In addition, the racketeer must forfeit all ill-gotten gains and interest in any business gained through a pattern of "racketeering activity." RICO also permits a private individual harmed by the actions of such an enterprise to file a civil suit; if successful, the individual can collect treble damages.

Under the law, racketeering activity means:

• Any violation of state statutes against gambling, murder, kidnapping, extortion, arson, robbery, bribery, dealing in obscene matter, or dealing in a controlled substance or listed chemical (as defined in the Controlled Substances Act);
• Any act of bribery, counterfeiting, theft, embezzlement, fraud, dealing in obscene matter, obstruction of justice, slavery, racketeering, gambling, money laundering, commission of murder-for-hire, and several other offenses covered under the Federal criminal code (Title 18);
• Embezzlement of union funds;
• Bankruptcy fraud or securities fraud;
• Drug trafficking;
• Money laundering and related offenses;
• Bringing in, aiding or assisting aliens in illegally entering the country (if the action was for financial gain);
• Acts of terrorism.

And now, let's look at how RICO has been used in past years:

While its intended use was to prosecute the Mafia as well as others who were actively engaged in organized crime, its application has been more widespread.

Famous cases

Hells Angels Motorcycle Club

In 1979, the United States federal government went after Sonny Barger and several members and associates of the Oakland chapter of the Hells Angels using RICO. In United States v. Barger, the prosecution team attempted to demonstrate a pattern of behavior to convict Barger and other members of the club of RICO offenses related to guns and illegal drugs.

Major League Baseball

In 2002, the former minority owners of the Montreal Expos baseball team filed charges under the RICO Act against Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig and former Expos owner Jeffrey Loria, claiming that Selig and Loria deliberately conspired to devalue the team for personal benefit in preparation for a move.^[11] If found liable, Major League Baseball could have been found liable for up to $300 million in punitive damages. The case lasted for two years, successfully stalling the Expos' move to Washington or contraction during that time. It was eventually sent to arbitration where the arbiters ruled in favor of Major League Baseball,^[12] permitting the move to Washington to take place.

Key West PD

In June 1984, the Key West Police Department in Monroe County, Florida was declared a criminal enterprise under the Federal RICO statutes after a lengthy United States Department of Justice investigation. Several high-ranking officers of the department, including Deputy Police Chief Raymond Cassamayor, were arrested on federal charges of running a protection racket for illegal cocaine smugglers. ^[8] At trial, a witness testified he routinely delivered bags of cocaine to the Deputy Chief's office at City Hall. ^[9]

So, we see there is a history of RICO being used to go after larger corporations, police departments, and gangs, not ordinarily thought of as Organized Criminal Organizations. RICO has also been used to prosecute the Gambino Crime Family, the Chicago Outfit, and Mohawk Industries. Most interestingly, RICO Statutes were cited in the Civil Suit NOW v. Scheidler, which sought damages and an injunction against pro-life activists who physically block access to abortion clinics.

This demonstrates that RICO can be used against organizations of all types, and may be used to prosecute anyone who participates knowingly in a Criminal Conspiracy which involves, as has already been pointed out, just two of a list of thirty-five total crimes.

Now, here is a case of a bust, from earlier this year, which demonstrates how closely many Mosques may be tied to large Criminal Conspiracies:

May 15, 2009 · From Fairfax Gov and Silent Majority. Fairfax County Police led a massive bust near the popular and growing radical Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, VA Fairfax County, home to Falls Church, one of the major frontlines of Islamist aggression. We have:

• The Dar al-Hijrah Wahabbi corridor which is a massive Islamist enclave built up around the mosque
• Tax payer subsidized K-B.A. in Jihad via the Islamic Saudi Academy and George Mason (ISA is not taxed and Mason is public)that has already produced one convicted terrorist
• Gitmo trials and Gitmo prisoners coming And our first pro-jihad candidate

On Wednesday, May 6, over 135 law enforcement personnel participated in concluding a year-long undercover investigation. Operation Build America
was launched in May 2008 to better understand the criminal activity
taking place in and around the Build America Shopping Center. The
shopping center is nestled in the Skyline community in the 3800 block
of South George Mason Drive. Community concerns of illegal activities
in the shopping center coupled with indicators that crime was in the
upswing sprung the operation into motion.

The investigation successfully infiltrated several criminal
organizations and businesses operating around the center. Undercover
police officers identified nearly 40 people suspected of criminal
activity that ranges from property crimes to crimes of violence. The
undercover operation successfully recovered stolen firearms and illegal
narcotics including cocaine and marijuana.

Collectively, 143 criminal arrest warrants and 15 search warrants were issued in this undercover operation.

If it could be proven that money from those criminal enterprises was donated at Zakat (Islamic Charity) to the local Mosque or Islamic Saudi Academy, and that the authorities within those Mosques knowingly accepted that money gained from criminal activity, then RICO could be used to bring down the entire structure of what is here called the Dar al-Hijrah Wahabbi corridor.Think about it, with all these criminal businesses, run by Muslim men, operating right in the neighborhood surrouding the Mosque and the ISA, do you really believe the Imams and the directors of ISA are completely ignorant of what is going on right under their noses. (Have the Feds even thought to look into the Imams and the Zakat payments?)
Futhermore, if my sources are correct, nearly 80% of the Mosques in the United States are funded, at least in part, by Saudi Arabia. (Here's some information on the Saudi-funding of Wahabbist education and Mosques in the United States.)

So, what's the point? Why do I bring up the Saudi-funding of Mosques? What does this have to do with using RICO to prosecute Radical Islamists?

Simply this, I believe it is possible that one could show Criminal Conspiracy involving whole groups of Saudi-funded Mosques. Once again, this depends on whether one can prove that Imams and Directors of Mosques knowingly accept money gained from Organized Criminal Activity as Zakat. It would also help if one could prove that some of that Zakat was then used to promote terrorist organizations (such as the Holy Land Foundation), or for aiding or assisting aliens in illegally entering the country.

Does that sound far-fetched? Perhaps. Imams knowingly involved in Criminal Activity?

What do you think?

Have we not seen examples already, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here?

And, most of all, what about THIS?


UPDATE: There is precedence for Western governments going after religions as, essentially, Racketeering Organizations. Check out this article on how France is handling Scientology:

The German domestic intelligence service keeps the Church of Scientology under surveillance as a potential threat to democracy. Belgian prosecutors have been building a blackmail case against it for 11 years.

Now the French have taken a more forceful step.

In a decision that could reverberate across Europe, a court in Paris Tuesday convicted the French branch of the church of “organized fraud” and said it had systematically tricked recruits out of their savings.

The two flagship Scientology outposts in Paris, a bookstore and an information centre, were ordered to pay €600,000 in fines. The head of the church in France was given a two-year suspended sentence for fraud and fined €30,000.

However, the court allowed the church to keep operating in France. In May, when the trial began, prosecutors asked that it be shut down as a criminal enterprise, only to discover that the law that might have allowed its banishment had just been deleted as part of an overhaul of the penal code.

The judges said they did not order the church offices closed because they did not want to drive Scientologists underground, where they could not be monitored.

They also said a paid notice of the church's conviction would be published in Time magazine and the International Herald Tribune so that news of the church's conviction would spread beyond France.

“The court told the Scientologists, in essence, to be very, very careful, because if you continue to use the same methods of harassment, you won't escape next time,” said Olivier Morice, the lawyer for the civil plaintiffs in the case.

A Lesson In History: The Battle of Tours

Many a times we forget that war is a necessary evil. Many a times we forget that our society was formed and protected through and because of a series of wars. Many a times we forget that our ancestors paid the price we are now unwilling to pay to protect our values and our freedom.

I will be posting different videos or articles on different wars or battles that took place and changed the course of history--protecting not only the people of Europe but the Western Civilization itself. And I will also post videos or articles about battles or wars that took place where the West (or other non Muslim countries/tribes made a mistake and paid a high price).

Let's look at the Battle of Tours in this short video.

Stuart Varney (yeah I know...Fox BizNewz is not a legitimate org) Oxymoron alert

JOBLESS RECOVERY

Unemployment continues to grow as the recovery is touted as being under way,
Have a tarp and watch the World Series

It's so nice when they provide PROOF of how intensely they hate america .. no not the mullahs or wahabbis

POLITICO (Gee not Fox):

One of the 20 finalists in health care video contest run by Barack
Obama's campaign arm features a mural of an America flag splattered
with health care graffiti until it's covered completely by black paint.

In the video
- which is accompanied by the sound of a heart monitor pumping and then
flat-lining - words such as "pre-existing conditions," "homeless" and
"death panel" ultimately obliterate the flag, which reappears on screen
seconds later with the words "Health Will Bring Our Country Back to
Life" on the blue field where the 50 stars usually are.

According to the Organizing for American Web site, the 20 finalists
in the "Health Reform Video Challenge" were chosen by a panel of
"qualified" Democratic National Committee "employee judges."

A contestant whose video didn't make the final-20 cut complains that a
video "defacing the flag" won't do much to help President Barack Obama
or the Democrats sell health care reform.

"They should never pick that," said the contestant, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity. "It makes the Democrats look really, really
bad."

A spokesman for Organizing for America said the group was not prepared
to provide immediate comment on the video, which, according to the OFA
Web site, was produced by Daniel Lahoda and Saber.

According to the OFA Web site, the 20 finalists will be judged by
the public and a panel of experts that includes DNC Chairman Tim Kaine,
Obama campaign chief David Plouffe, Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), singer
will.i.am and Hollywood stars Rosario Dawson and Dule Hill.

Daniel Libit contributed to this story.

I've got news for you hotshots at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs .. the recession is over when my clients are not too petrified to buy

Recession unofficially ends as economy grows 3.5 percent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy grew in the third quarter for the first time in a year, beating market expectations, as consumer spending and new home-building rebounded, signaling the end of the worst recession in 70 years.

The Commerce Department, in its first estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product on Thursday, said the economy grew at a 3.5 percent annual rate, the fastest pace since the third quarter of 2007, after contracting 0.7 percent in the April-June period.

The growth pace in GDP, which measures total goods and services output within U.S. borders, was above market expectations for a 3.3 percent rate. The economy last grew in the second quarter of 2008.

"Better than expected GDP is confirming that the Great Recession has ended," said Kevin Flanagan, fixed-income strategist for Global Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley in Purchase, New York.

"The question going forward is, is this more of a statistical recovery or are we going to get some meaningful momentum on a sustained basis."

U.S. stock index futures prices rose after the economic data. The dollar rose against the yen, and U.S. government debt prices extended their decline on the better-than-expected reports.

Recessions in the United States are dated by the National Bureau of Economic Research and the private-sector group often takes months to make determinations. The economy slipped into recession at the end of 2007 and has been in the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

I don't know about the rest of you, but this kind of news merely enforces the idea that these people have concocted measurements of imaginary benefit.

I see NO SIGN out here that this is over, or even significantly recovered. The only difference I see compared to one year ago is that there are SOME clients who can actually get approved 60 month leases of business or research capital equipment, but there has been this year ONLY ONE who is not too afraid of the future to do so.

How about the rest of you?

To me this recovery is the square root of minus one

Obama's Anti-Semitism: A Front Page Magazine Interview With Pamela Geller

From Front Page:

FP: Pamela Geller, welcome back to Frontpage Interview.

You have been observing Obama’s official website. What exactly is going on there?

Geller: During the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama’s website, Organizing for America, hosted a series of vile anti-American, Jew-hating posts and pieces.

The onslaught was overwhelming, and it included numerous, heinous calls for Jewish genocide and incitement to hatred. And it is happening again, right now, on the official website of the man who supposedly is the leader of the free world, and who has editorial control over the website.

The site was and is policed closely. The site moderators remove material they consider to be “disrespectful to our other users” and to “detract from a welcoming community where all people can engage in positive discourse.” Yet the most disgusting anti-Semitic ravings remained on the site.

FP: Give us some examples.

Geller: In April 2008 a post appeared claiming that “Jews owe Africa and Africans everything they have today because if Africa did not shelter them when they were homeless and starving, they would not be here today.” On Oct. 5, 2009, a post went up on Obama’s website entitled “Nazi Israel . . . Indeed.” It quoted a Princeton professor, Richard Falk, referring to Israel’s “war crimes,” “genocidal tendencies,” “holocaust implications,” and “holocaust-in-the-making.” It spoke about Israel’s “Nazi-like crimes and human rights violation.”

It claimed: “Comparing the present-day Israel with Nazi Germany one discovers that the majority of the Israeli policies are the exact copies of the Nazi policies. Nazi Germany had invaded its European neighbors extending from England to Russia. Israel had also invaded all its neighboring countries; Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. It is also heavily involved in the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. Its tentacles had also reached African countries as far as South Africa, Somalia, Sudan, Angola, and Sierra Leone.”

Continuing the lies and blood libels, the post claims: “Worse than the Nazis Israeli forces used to invade peaceful Palestinian towns, execute men, women and children in cold blood everywhere and anywhere they encounter them, dynamite their homes on top of their residents, and finally demolish the whole town making room for new Israeli colonies.” It charges that Israel pursued “a pre-meditated genocidal plan” against the Palestinian Arabs.

(Pastorius cutting in: The Israeli Defense Force, nor any Israeli para-military troops, have ever done any such thing. And, I challenge anyone to provide any evidence that they have. Even the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and the European Union have never made such claims. Here's the thing, if the Jews wanted to "execute (Palestinian) men, women, and children everywhere they found them, they could simply bomb them out of existence in one day. But, they don't. So, to say they do so, or that they want to do so, is patently absurd, and it is a vicious lie. It is anti-Semitism in motion. The train wheels grinding towards Auschwitz right there on Obama's website.)

Suffice it to say that this entry passed muster with Obama’s moderators and is clearly acceptable to Obama for America. There appears to be a campaign of sorts to normalize this hatred, as if it’s not so bad. Otherwise, why would this poison be up and stay up at Obama’s website under his name for months?

Other posts do nothing less than deify Obama. A man who says that his “proudest role in the Obama campaign is that of a liason [sic] representative between Senator Obama and the African Union” posted about Obama in messianic terms: “President Obama is the son of Kings and Queens who ruled over the greatest civilizations in human history. The world waited a long time for the arrival of Obama. We did not always know what his name would be or what he would look like but we knew a son of Africa would return to restore light to the world.”

This genius is an adviser to Obama. He is a supporter of the Nation of Islam, and believes Obama is a king descended from Kings and Queens. He is your standard-issue hater of the usual suspects: America, whites, etc.)

The inmates really are running the asylum. This website is Jew-hating, America-hating, white-hating, and you name it. Obama has been hosting it for 18 months, and it is more than disturbing. It’s sick. There are no accidents, Jamie.

FP: Ok, if this isn’t an accident, then why is this anti-Semitism on Obama’s website? What does this say about Obama and his administration?

Geller: Why indeed? It’s not as if they are unaware. When Bill Levinson posted quotes of Obama from his own books, his post was taken down within a couple of hours.

Go read the whole thing.