Now We've Done It

In case you didn't know yesterday the FED is announced that it would start to buy billions of dollars of our own debt, it's called "quantitative easing."
This is from the Wall Street Journal: The Federal Reserve, in a dramatic effort to rev up a "disappointingly slow" economic recovery, said it will buy $600 billion of U.S. government bonds over the next eight months to drive down interest rates and encourage more borrowing and growth.

Many outside the Fed, and some inside, see the move as a 'Hail Mary' pass by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. He embraced highly unconventional policies during the financial crisis to ward off a financial-system collapse. But a year and a half later, he confronts an economy hobbled by high unemployment, a gridlocked political system and the threat of a Japan-like period of deflation, or a debilitating fall in consumer prices.

Full Article Here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703506904575592471354774194.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEADNewsCollection


Another good article about it is at The Blaze: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/the-feds-big-gamble-heres-what-could-go-wrong/


So what are the headlines today?
Oil hits six-month peaks on falling dollar, Fed move
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.8ae3f888847f9e99244653ecde440932.3f1&show_article=1


Stock futures up sharply after Fed meeting
Stock futures point to gains despite bigger than expected jump in jobless claims
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Stock-futures-up-sharply-apf-3673030832.html?x=0


U.S. dollar printing is huge risk -China c.bank adviser
Nov 4 (Reuters) - Unbridled printing of dollars is the biggest risk to the global economy, an adviser to the Chinese central bank said in comments published on Thursday, a day after the Federal Reserve unveiled a new round of monetary easing
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE6A301Q20101104


Germany Concerned About US Stimulus Moves
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39968918


'We're Greece' in a Few Years: Sen. Gregg
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39983968


Oh and by the way Gold is up $26 dollars today

END THE FED

Laugh Or Cry?

God Help us. Here we have the difference between the people that went to the Glenn Beck Rally and the morons that went to the Stewart/Colbert rally. Its on display everywhere people.


Stewart/Colbert Rally-Goers: Obama Is Not a Keynesian, He’s an American!

Marco Rubio A Moderate?

You might have already seen Marco Rubio, who is running for senate in Florida, flip-flop over the Arizona Immigration Law. At first he was against it then supposedly he was for it. But did you know that he also voted to bring a cap and trade bill to Florida while he was in the Florida congress?
To be completely honest I was for Rubio from the start as early blog post shows but my mind began to change once I saw him give a speech at a tea party event I attended. At first I say him underneath a canopy cutting up with friends or family, I don't really know but then he came on stage and his whole demeanor changed. He dodged questions with typical politician charm giving no straightforward answers just tea party feel good talk. Then as the months went by he began coming out on what I would call the wrong side of some very important issues then flip-flopping on them. I gave him the benefit of the doubt again, still planning on voting for him. But having found out that he supported and voted for a cap and trade scheme here in Florida was the last straw. I had finally seen Marco Rubio for what he was a moderate republican riding on the coattails of the tea party movement long enough to get elected senator. I urge everyone to look into Alexander Andrew Snitker the libertarian candidate for senator of Florida. Here is his website: http://snitker2010.com/

Also below is the article about Rubio's cap and trade votes with links provided. Either we are sick and tired of Politicians like Rubio or we are not and we get what we deserve. I am afraid this politician is a Crist wearing conservative clothing.


Florida Cap and Traders!
Submitted by letushope on Thu, 10/21/2010 - 11:48
in Current Events
http://dailypaul.com/node/147239


If you know someone who's on the fence with Rubio or Crist please share this with them.

Cap and Trade is coming to Florida (if we don’t stop it)! And you are likely to be sending one of the men who made that possible to our United State Senate seat. Yes I am talking about Marco Rubio and Charlie Crist.

If you’ve completely made up your mind on Rubio or Crist, there’s nothing I can say in this letter to change your mind. And that’s okay, but I hope you will read this anyway because there is still time to fight back the Florida Legislature that passed (nearly unanimously / both Republicans and Democrats) HB 7135.

If you’re still reading thank you. I’ve spent the last two weeks reading nearly a thousand pages of cumbersome Florida records and many Committee reports navigating my way to a deeper understanding of what we are facing.

The timeline begins in 2001 it’s a long and tiresome story, so I’m picking it up from 2006 when Florida Legislature passed (among other things) SB 888; which created the Florida Energy Commission. The Commission was authorized to shape Florida’s long term and near term energy issues. The following year (2007) the report identified 85 strategic goals that included a cap and trade system and a variety of grants, mandates and nudges towards a GREENER Florida.

That report can be read here:
http://www.floridapipeline.org/Documents/FECReport122007Final.pdf


Rubio’s vote FOR SB 888 can be seen here:
http://www.flsenate.gov/cgi-bin/view_page.pl?Tab=session&Submenu=1&FT=D&File=session/2006/Senate/bills/votes/html/hSB08880503061121.html

Interestingly enough… all but one person voted in favor of this Commission.

2008 brought about legislation that provides for nearly all of the Commission’s goals as outlined in the 2007 report. HB 7135 simply called Energy provided section 403.44 Florida Climate Protection Act and it’s just as sweet and rosy as what we’ve seen on the National stage. The full text of the Bill can be read here, the Climate Protection Act starts on page 142 (not 42):
http://www.flsenate.gov/data/session/2008/House/bills/billtext/pdf/h713503er.pdf


Rubio’s vote for HB 7135 can be seen here:
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/floorvote.aspx?VoteId=9068&BillId=39607&SessionId=57

Of course, Crist signed each of these Bills into Law, so they are both Cap and Traders!

This is cut and paste directly from the law and it’s just the first few sections…

403.44 Florida Climate Protection Act.--
(1) The Legislature finds it is in the best interest of
the state to document, to the greatest extent practicable, greenhouse gas emissions and to pursue a market-based emissions abatement program, such as cap and trade, to address greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
(2) As used in this section, the term:
(a) "Allowance" means a credit issued by the department through allotments or auction which represents an authorization to emit specific amounts of greenhouse gases, as further defined in department rule.
(b) "Cap and trade" or "emissions trading" means an administrative approach used to control pollution by providing a limit on total allowable emissions, providing for allowances to emit pollutants, and providing for the transfer of the allowances among pollutant sources as a means of compliance with emission limits.

This is a press release from The Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
On June 25, 2008, Governor Charlie Crist signed into law House Bill 7135, enacting several new energy and climate change policies. The policies include the Florida Climate Protection Act, which authorizes the Department of Environmental Protection to develop an electric-utility greenhouse gas (GHG) cap-and-trade program. Pending legislative approval of the final plan, the cap-and-trade program may begin operation as soon as January 1, 2010.
http://www.pewclimate.org/node/6020


This is another link that provides a detail of the impact of this legislation:
http://www.flsenate.gov/data/session/2008/House/bills/analysis/pdf/h7135.ENRC.pdf


I have not found where the 2010 Legislature has taken any further actions regarding Cap and Trade, I will continue to look. But I felt this information had to be shared. If I'm reading all of this right, the framework has been established, but not the actual law to madate this.

Oath Keepers Update: Baby Returned to Parents

Update:

Baby Cheyenne returned to parents after Rochester hearing: Parents can't comment, but dad happy after hearing protested by Oath Keepers

By Aaron Sanborn
Friday, October 15, 2010


DOVER — Exiting Rochester Family Court into the midst of roughly 100 protesters on Thursday, Johnathan Irish clearly had something to smile about.

The court had just held a hearing on the future of Cheyenne, the infant daughter of Irish and Stephanie Taylor, who was taken into the custody of the New Hampshire Division of Children, Youth and Families shortly after her birth on Thursday, Oct. 7.

Neither would comment about the hearing's outcome, citing state confidentiality laws.

"I would love to comment, but we can't," Taylor said.

However, Irish used a smile to indicate the hearing's outcome.

"A picture's worth a thousand words. What's a smile worth?" he asked.

Prior to Thursday's hearing, Irish denied DCYF claims that Cheyenne could be in danger.

The Epsom couple's case has made national headlines in the last few days because of the Oath Keepers connection that was referenced in affidavit.

About 100 people gathered in front of the Strafford County Superior Court on Thursday to protest a reference that was made to the Oath Keepers organization in an affidavit related to the local child custody case.

The Oath Keepers, are a group that pledges to defend the Constitution and to oppose government tyranny.

They group was referenced in a DCYF affidavit as a political affiliation of Irish.

Those who attended Thursday's protest were outraged that an affiliation with the Oath Keepers would be mentioned in an affidavit related to a child custody case.

The affidavit for the case is sealed and Oath Keepers only provided the excerpt of the affidavit that referenced them. That excerpt allegedly states, "The Division (DCYF) became aware and confirmed that Mr. Irish associated with a militia known as the, "Oath Keepers," and had purchased several different types of weapons, including a rifle, handgun and Taser."

"This is not just a child custody case, it's about the First Amendment," said Oath Keepers founder and President Stewart Rhodes.
Rhodes and the Oath Keepers issued a demand letter to DCYF on Thursday asking for the removal of Oath Keepers from the affidavit.

"We wouldn't be here and this wouldn't be a national issue if our name wasn't in there," he said.

Maggie Bishop, the director of DCYF, has gone on record saying that allegations that the state seized the newborn girl over her father's political affiliations don't reflect the division's policies.

Bishop has declined to discuss the specifics of the case because of confidentiality requirements.

The newborn, Cheyenne, was taken by DCYF officials hours after her birth last Thursday at Concord Hospital.

It has been reported that the DCYF affidavit stated there was a lengthy history of domestic violence between Irish and the baby's mother.

Rhodes said he wasn't concerning himself with the child custody case; his concern is strictly about his group being associated with the case. He fears that people will be hesitant to join the group after hearing about this case.

Rhodes said he would file a lawsuit if the organization's name isn't removed from the affidavit.

"This is a very important case," he said. "We can't have a precedent set that allows them to list people's affiliations whenever CPS (child protective services) comes to your doorstep."


http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101015/GJNEWS_01/710159937/-1/fosnews

State snatches baby when dad accused of being 'Oath Keeper'

**This Story Comes From WorldNetDaily Take it with a grain of salt until more is known about the situation. However Please, please read this all, it is very important information**


By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

A 16-hour-old newborn was snatched from her parents by authorities in Concord, N.H., after social services workers alleged the father is a member of Oath Keepers.

The organization collects affirmations from soldiers and peace officers that they would refuse orders that violate the U.S. Constitution, in light of what they perceive as the advance of socialism in the U.S.

The father, Johnathon Irish, told WND that the affidavit signed by Child Protective Service worker Dana Bicford seeking government custody of newborn Cheyenne said the agency "became aware and confirmed that Mr. Irish associated with a militia known as the 'Oath Keepers.'"

Irish, in an interview with WND, said officers and other social services workers ordered him to stand with his hands behind his back, frisked him and then took his daughter from him and his fiancé at Concord Hospital where the baby had been born.
He told WND that other issues cited by authorities included an allegation of child abuse, which he assumed pertained to an incident weeks earlier in which one of his fiance's older sons allegedly was struck by a babysitter.

He said both he and his fiancé had been cleared by authorities in that investigation.

Kathleen Demaris, a spokeswoman for the state agency, refused to comment.

Stewart Rhodes, the founder of Oath Keepers, expressed alarm when contacted by WND, describing the agency as a "chilling monster" that could "come get kids."

On his website, he confirmed the affidavit, along with other allegations, cites Irish's interest in Oath Keepers as a reason to separate the newborn from her parents.

"Yes, there are other, very serious allegations. Out of respect for the privacy of the parents, we will not publish the affidavit. … But please do remember that allegations do not equal facts – they are merely allegations," he said.

"But an even more fundamental point is that regardless of the other allegations, it is utterly unconstitutional for government agencies to list Mr. Irish's association with Oath Keepers in an affidavit in support of a child abuse order to remove his daughter from his custody," Rhodes said.

"Talk about chilling speech! If this is allowed to continue, it will chill the speech of not just Mr. Irish, but all Oath Keepers and it will serve as the camel [nose] under the tent for other associations being considered too risky for parents to dare," he continued. "'Don't you dare associate with such and such group, or you could be on 'the list' and then child protective services might come take your kids.'"

He noted that the state made no allegation that Oath Keepers is "criminal" or that Irish was committing a crime with his affiliation.

Oath Keepers posted a video by George Heminger, who identifies himself as an independent journalist, who was interviewing Irish by telephone:

Editor's Note: The recording is unedited and includes objectionable language.



We are not advocating or planning imminent violence, which is the established line where free speech ends and criminal behavior begins," Rhodes continued said. "Neither is Oath Keepers a militia, for that matter. However, EVEN IF WE WERE, that also would not be a valid reason to take someone's child away. Private militias just like other voluntary associations, are not illegal, and it is not a crime to associate with them.

"To the contrary, we have an absolute right, won by the blood of patriots, and protected by our First Amendment, to freely associate with each other as we d--- well please so long as we are not advocating or planning imminent violent or directly harming our children (and no, teaching them 'thought crimes' like 'All men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,' or that those who swear an oath should keep it, does not count – at least not yet)," he said.

"A parent associating with a militia is not engaged in child endangerment and is not evidence of child endangerment," he said.

A promise

Oath Keepers' members promise not to obey any order "to disarm the American people," conduct warrantless searches, "detain American citizens as 'unlawful enemy combatants,'" work to impose martial law, invade or subjugate any state, blockade American cities, put Americans in detention camps or "make war against our own people."

That such circumstances could develop has been suggested by the government itself, in an earlier DHS document that cautioned about the possibility of violence from a variety of "extremists," a label that apparently now is being applied to Irish.

WND reported when a Department of Homeland Security report warned against the possibility of violence by unnamed "right-wing extremists" and singled out returning war veterans as particular threats. The report characterized the extremists as people with concerns about illegal immigration, increasing federal power, restrictions on firearms, abortion and the loss of U.S. sovereignty.

The report, "Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment," dated April 7, 2009, stated "threats from white supremacist and violent anti-government groups during 2009 have been largely rhetorical and have not indicated plans to carry out violent acts."

However, the document, first reported by talk-radio host and WND columnist Roger Hedgecock, went on to suggest worsening economic woes, potential new legislative restrictions on firearms and "the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks."

The report from DHS' Office of Intelligence and Analysis defined right-wing extremism in the U.S. as "divided into those groups, movements and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups) and those that are mainly anti-government, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration."

Read Full Article: http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=213149

**Statement From Oath Keepers Founder Stewart Rhodes:**

UPDATE : 10/07/2010 10.53PM PST -- We have confirmed that the affidavit in support of the order to take the child from her parents states ,along with a long list of other assertions against both parents, that “The Division became aware and confirmed that Mr. Irish associated with a militia known as the Oath Keepers.” Yes, there are other, very serious allegations. Out of respect for the privacy of the parents, we will not publish the affidavit. We will leave that to Mr. Irish. But please do remember that allegations do not equal facts -- they are merely allegations (and in my experience as a criminal defense lawyer in small town Montana I saw many allegations that proved to be false).

But an even more fundamental point is that regardless of the other allegations, it is utterly unconstitutional for government agencies to list Mr. Irish’s association with Oath Keepers in an affidavit in support of a child abuse order to remove his daughter from his custody. Talk about chilling speech! If this is allowed to continue, it will chill the speech of not just Mr. Irish, but all Oath Keepers and it will serve as the camel under the tent for other associations being considered too risky for parents to dare. Thus, it serves to chill the speech of all of us, in any group we belong to that “officials” may not approve of. Don’t you dare associate with such and such group, or you could be on “the list” and then child protective services might come take your kids.
Note that there is no allegation that Oath Keepers is a criminal organization or that Mr. Irish, in the context of his association with Oath Keepers, is committing any crime.
Neither is Oath Keepers a militia, for that matter. However, EVEN IF WE WERE, that also would not be a valid reason to take someone’s child away. PRIVATE MILITIAS, JUST LIKE OTHER VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS, ARE NOT ILLEGAL, and it is not a crime to associate with them. To the contrary, we have an absolute right, won by the blood of patriots, and protected by our First Amendment, to freely associate with each other as we damn well please so long as we are not advocating or planning imminent violence or directly harming our children (and no, teaching them “thought crime” like “All men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,” or that those who swear an oath should keep it, does not count -- at least not yet).

Read all Here: http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2010/10/07/oath-keepers-statement-about-video-titled-government-agents-seize-oath-keepers-new-born-from-hospital/

Christie Top 12 From The Blaze (Copycats)

More Anti-Constitutional Politicians

Gold Hits New High

By Frank Tang

NEW YORK Tue Oct 5, 2010 3:25pm EDT

(Reuters) - Gold jumped nearly 2 percent on Tuesday, its biggest one-day rise since May, resuming its march to record highs as the dollar tumbled and currency market volatility ignited safe-haven buying.

Silver surged 3 percent to a 30-year high and platinum group metals also rallied with the entire commodities complex, after the Bank of Japan said it would pump more funds into the country's struggling economy and keep interest rates virtually at zero.

Moves by countries around the world toward easier money indicate "not only the amount of liquidity that has been put into the system will remain, but there is a high likelihood of significant level of liquidity being added into the system," said Frank McGhee, head precious metals trader at Integrated Brokerage Services.

McGhee said expected monetary easing in the United States will result in major devaluation on the dollar, which benefits gold.

Spot gold rose $25.30, or 1.9 percent, to $1,340.50 an ounce at 2:59 p.m. EDT, off an intra-day high of $1,341.20, its seventh record in the past eight sessions. U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled up $23.50 at $1,340.30 an ounce.

The dollar .DXY tumbled to a near nine-month low against a basket of six major currencies, pressured by broad-based demand for the euro.

The usual inverse relationship between gold and dollar has showed signs of strengthening of late. The 25-day correlation between the metal and the U.S. currency has increased to a negative 0.5, the strongest inverse link since May.

Brazil on Monday doubled a tax on foreign investors buying local bonds in an attempt to curb a currency rally that has turned into an issue in the South American country's presidential race.

On charts, gold's two-percent rally on Tuesday lifted prices above its upper resistance of a rising channel which started back in July.

But some traders said gold's upside could be limited. They noted slower physical demand, a third straight outflow of funds from the world's biggest gold ETF and improved demand for U.S. equities, which rallied 2 percent on Tuesday.

BNP Paribas analyst Anne-Laure Tremblay said the euro may see a correction later this year on deflation risks in the euro zone, and added that stronger risk appetite could favor equities and other assets besides gold.

PARABOLIC GOLD?

Integrated Brokerage Services' McGhee said gold's sharp rallies are starting to turn parabolic, and that could trigger a price correction.

"It's almost impossible to pick a level when it will run out of steam. When it does, it will turn around very quickly, because it has nothing to support from a technical standpoint," McGhee said.

Demand for physical gold retreated as prices rose again. Buying in main gold consumer India was muted as the weaker rupee pressured local buyers.
Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, New York's SPDR Gold Trust, declined for a third session, while those of the largest silver ETF, the iShares Silver Trust dipped from record highs.

Silver surged nearly 4 percent to $22.83 an ounce, near its 30-year high at $22.87. Silver continued to outperform gold, with the number of ounces of silver needed to buy an ounce of gold slipping to a one-year low at around 59. (Graphic: link.reuters.com/hun72k)

Platinum, buoyed by strength in gold, hit a 4-1/2 month high at $1,699 an ounce and was trading up 1.6 percent at $1,691.50, while palladium rose 3.2 percent to $575.50.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67F05920101005

Good Article

Super-rich investors buy gold by ton
By Laura MacInnis
GENEVA Mon Oct 4, 2010 1:13pm EDT


(Reuters) - The world's wealthiest people have responded to economic worries by buying gold by the bar -- and sometimes by the ton -- and by moving assets out of the financial system, bankers catering to the very rich said on Monday.

Fears of a double-dip downturn have boosted the appetite for physical bullion as well as for mining company shares and exchange-traded funds, UBS executive Josef Stadler told the Reuters Global Private Banking Summit.

"They don't only buy ETFs or futures; they buy physical gold," said Stadler, who runs the Swiss bank's services for clients with assets of at least $50 million to invest.

UBS is recommending top-tier clients hold 7-10 percent of their assets in precious metals like gold, which is on course for its tenth consecutive yearly gain and traded at around $1,314.50 an ounce on Monday, near the record level reached last week.

"We had a clear example of a couple buying over a ton of gold ... and carrying it to another place," Stadler said. At today's prices, that shipment would be worth about $42 million.

Julius Baer's chief investment officer for Asia is also recommending that wealthy investors park some of their assets in gold as a defensive stance following a string of lackluster U.S. data and amid concerns about currency weakness.

"I see gold as an insurance," Van Anantha-Nageswaran said. "I recommend 10 percent as minimum in portfolios and anything more than that to be used for trading purposes, to respond to short-term over-bought or over-sold signals."

ULTIMATE BUBBLE?

Billionaire financier George Soros, echoing comments from investment guru Warren Buffett, last month described gold as the "ultimate bubble" because it is costly to dig up and has no real value except its market price.

But a rising price for the precious metal has in itself generated more and more demand from investors looking for a way to hedge against a fresh recession. Gold bears no yield and is uncompetitive in an environment of rising interest rates.

The uneasy outlook for inflation, hard currencies and global growth has triggered a five-fold increase in a physical gold fund launched by Pictet one year ago, the Swiss private bank said.

UBS's Stadler said the precious metal has become a staple of investors' portfolios, despite questions about whether it makes for a smart long-term investment.

"If you talk to ultra-high net worth individuals, that level of uncertainty has never been higher in the last two, three, four years," he said. "If they ask me, 'Is inflation going up or are we entering a deflationary cycle?,' I don't know. But obviously nobody knows."

Anthony DeChellis, managing director of Credit Suisse's Americas private banking unit, said at the Reuters summit in New York that clients are more interested in capitalizing on the rise in gold prices than using the precious metal as a safe-harbor investment.

"They're asking, 'If it's a bubble, how far can I ride that bubble,'" he said. "I cannot say we've seen a spike in gold interest, but there's an interest in the phenomenon of it."

Full Article Here: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6932NR20101004?pageNumber=1

Taxed Enough Already

This is where the progressives running our government want to take America. Your last chance to stop it may well be in November. Please vote!



Subject: Current European Tax Rates
(our friends in Italy report that their's is around
65%...which includes ‘income tax’ and
‘Value Added Tax' = VAT )

Current European Tax Rates:

United Kingdom
Income Tax: 50%
VAT: 17.5% TOTAL: 67.5%

France
Income Tax: 40%
VAT: 19.6% TOTAL: 59.6%

Greece
Income Tax: 40%
VAT: 25% TOTAL: 65%

Spain
Income Tax: 45%
VAT: 16% TOTAL: 61%

Portugal
Income Tax: 42%
VAT: 20% TOTAL: 62%

Sweden
Income Tax: 55%
VAT: 25% TOTAL: 80%

Norway
Income Tax: 54.3%
VAT: 25% TOTAL: 79.3%

Netherlands
Income Tax: 52%
VAT: 19% TOTAL: 71%

Denmark
Income Tax: 58%
VAT: 25% TOTAL: 83%

Finland
Income Tax: 53%
VAT: 22% TOTAL: 75%

If you've started to wonder what the real costs of socialism are going to be,
once the full program in the United States is in place, take a look at the
table. As you digest these mind-boggling figures, keep in mind that, in spite
of these astronomical tax rates, these countries are still not financing their
social welfare programs exclusively from tax revenues! They are deeply mired in
public debt of gargantuan proportions. Greece has reached the point where its
debt is so huge it is in imminent danger of defaulting. That is the reason the
European economic community has intervened to bail them out. If you're
following the financial news, you know Spain and Portugal are right behind
Greece .

The United States is now heading down the same path. The VAT tax in the table
is the national sales tax that Europeans pay. Stay tuned because that is
exactly what you can expect to see this administration proposing after the fall
elections. Theinitial percentage in the United States isnt going to be anywhere
near the outrageous numbers you now see in Europe . The current outrageous
numbers in Europe didnt start out as outrageous either. They started out as
miniscule-right around the 1% or 2% --where they will start out in the United
States .


It is the notion here that with hard work and perseverance, anybody can get
ahead economically. Do you think that can ever happen with tax rates between
60% and 80%? With the government taking that percentage of your money, your
life will be exactly like life in Europe . You will never be able to buy a
home. You will never buy a car. You will never send your children to college.
Lets not shuffle the battle cry of the socialists under the rug either. Its
always the same cry. Equalize income. Spread the wealth to the poor (whoever
they are). Level the economic playing field. Accomplish that and everything
will be rosy.

Its time to take a really hard look at reality. Greece is a perfect example.
Despite the socialism system that has ruled that country for decades, with a 65%
tax rate, they are drowning in public debt, would have defaulted without
hundreds of billions in bailout money, and still. . .20% of their population
lives in poverty. What has all that socialism money bought, besides ultimate
power for the politicians running the show? Do you think these people are
"free"? They are slaves to their economic "system."

Hopefully, something will be done about this soon - - please vote in
November!!!!

Global Climate Change Nazis

‘No Pressure’: New Environmental Campaign Glorifies Eco-Fascism
by Meredith Jessup

The latest anti-global warming campaign aimed at getting people around the world to reduce their carbon footprint has backfired. Big time.

The people behind the “10:10″ campaign, a movement encouraging people to reduce their carbon consumption by 10 percent in 2010, have been forced to pull their controversial new advertisement from the internet after widespread public outcry. The gruesome 4-minute ad depicts global warming skeptics being literally blown to pieces after their tree-hugging friends insist they’re under “no pressure” to modify their carbon consumption.



While the video’s message may have backfired, many point out that it gives a scary glimpse into the mind of today’s global warming alarmists. With its “No Pressure” campaign, writes the UK’s Telegraph, “the environmental movement has revealed the snarling, wicked, homicidal misanthropy beneath its cloak of gentle, bunny-hugging righteousness.”

For more on the environmentalists’ use of disturbing public service announcements, check out Ed Driscoll’s blog where he looks at some other famous examples of “eco-insanity.” (h/t Zombie)


From: TheBlaze.com
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/no-pressure-new-environmental-campaign-glorifies-eco-fascism/

You Know What Day It Is

by Meredith Jessup

Last week, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took his plans for education reform to the Oprah show to unveil a new public/private venture in the Newark school district. This week, the governor is taking his case to the state level, introducing a number of tough-love reforms aimed at improving classroom achievement in the Garden State.

On Tuesday, Gov. Christie announced new plans to tie classroom achievement to pay increases and career advancement for teachers, redefining the standards for teacher performance and moving away from a seniority- or tenure-based system. In its place, Christie hopes to implement a more top-to-bottom overhaul of New Jersey classrooms.

“We cannot wait. Your children are sitting in these classrooms today. We cannot wait to make it better,” Christie told the local CBS affiliate’s Marcia Kramer.

Unqualified teachers will feel the lash. The governor is demanding that teachers in kindergarten through fifth grade actually pass tests in reading and math in order to be certified.

“It might lead to the firing of teachers and principals who hurt our children,” Christie said.

Christie’s planned reforms include prohibiting salary scales based on seniority and awarding tenure and pay raises based on classroom performance.

“We are paying a fortune for something that is not giving our children the hope and the feeling that their tomorrow can be better than their future,” Christie said.

While a number of educational experts applauded the governor’s actions, a spokesman for the NJ Education Association condemned the plan, claiming Christie was “trying to implement education reform without any input from educators.”

“He is with excellence in education for everyone by prioritizing teachers — their brilliance, their art and their skills. We will dramatically improve the quality of education of our kids in New Jersey, particularly those most in need,” said Derrell Bradford, director of Excellent Education for Everyone.






From The Blaze: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/gov-christies-we-cannot-wait-to-reform-education/

It's Monday

No Freedom of Speech in America

Do we have freedom of speech in America? Do we have a right to peaceably assemble? You be the judge.
What would you do in a situation like this? A word of advice: Think about it now!!!




So what would you do? Stand there and watch? Some did.
Make a joke of it? Some did that to.

Or would you do something like this when you witness an abuse of power?



The answer is yours.

We have to take into account that the above is only a 10 minute or so clip and without knowing the whole facts it is hard to make a sound judgement. But we also have to take into account that some people in a position of power abuse that power, to the extremes, and what are we to do under such circumstances? Power corrupts and absolute power . . .

There may come a time in this country when we are going to need our best police officers on the side of the american citizens, on the side of common sense, and on the side of the Constitution and not on the side of whatever bogus law can be conjured up. Let us remember that slavery was once "Legal" in this country. Did that make it right? Once in this country, by "law" if a slave escaped up north you had to return them if asked, where they would be beaten, or killed upon your compliance of the "law". Does that make it right?
Please go and check out the organization below and their TEN ORDERS WE WILL NOT OBEY. Number 10 states: We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

There would have been no American Revolution without fiery speakers and writers such as James Otis, Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, and Sam Adams “setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”

Tell your cop friends to go and check them out and have them sign that oath if they think it worthy.

http://oathkeepers.org/oath/


http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2009/03/03/declaration-of-orders-we-will-not-obey/

Also from their website: Tyrants know that the pen of a man such as Thomas Paine can cause them more damage than entire armies, and thus they always seek to suppress the natural rights of speech, association, and assembly. Without freedom of speech, the people will have no recourse but to arms. Without freedom of speech and conscience, there is no freedom.
Therefore, we will not obey or support any orders to suppress or violate the right of the people to speak, associate, worship, assemble, communicate, or petition government for the redress of grievances.

Obama and His Advisors, Socialist? You Be The Judge

Its Christie Day

Happy Anniversary

WE THE PEOPLE:
On this day, September 17, 1787 the Constitution of the United States was signed by thirty-nine brave patriots.

The U. S. Constitution is the oldest constitution still in active use in the world today and is the oldest Federal constitution in existence. Let us once again start to read it and study it so we have a better understanding of the Miracle that took place through that hot summer in Philadelphia 1787.

"On every question of construction, let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed." Thomas Jefferson

"The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon." George Washington

"Governments, in general, have been the result of force, of fraud, and accident. After a period of six thousand years has elapsed since the creation, the United States exhibit to the world the first instance, as far as we can learn, of a nation, unattacked by external force, unconvulsed by domestic insurrections, assembling voluntarily, deliberating fully, and deciding calmly concerning that system of government under which they would wish that they and their posterity should live." James Wilson

"I have so much faith in the general government of the world by Providence that I can hardly conceive a transaction of such momentous importance as the framing of the Constitution. . . should be suffered to pass without being in some degree influenced, guided, and governed by that omnipotent, omnipresent, and beneficent Ruler in whom all inferior spirits live and move and have their being." Benjamin Franklin

Anti-Tax Protesters Put On List Of Terror Threats

Lawsuit planned after protesters put on terror list
By Andrew Conte, Mike Wereschagin and Brad Bumsted
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, September 15, 2010

An activist who believes he was improperly included on a state terror threat list said this morning he is preparing a federal lawsuit.

"When people's civil rights are trampled it's a federal issue," said Gene Stilp of Harrisburg, who holds a Virginia law license but does not practice as an attorney.

Gov. Ed Rendell, speaking Downtown this morning, said he does not believe activists' Constitutional rights were violated.

The statement was a reversal from what he said yesterday. Asked in Harrisburg on Tuesday whether monitoring activists was "tantamount to trampling" on their Constitutional rights, he said: "I would say so."

Rendell said he is "deeply embarrassed" by the disclosure that state Homeland Security officials included information about protesters on what was supposed to be a list of possible terrorist threats.

"Being embarrassed doesn't cut it," Stilp said.

The list, which included information on public hearings that opponents of Marcellus gas drilling might attend, was sent to drilling companies.

Stilp said he believes he was among those monitored, based on Rendell's comment that a 25-foot inflatable "pink pig" Stilp takes to rallies was included in the monitoring.

"The pig! They were after the pig," Rendell said Tuesday. "That pig is what makes Harrisburg a very special place."

Stilp owns the pig and frequently displays it at the Capitol at protests over what he sees as government excesses.

Stilp said an outside investigation is warranted, by the attorney general or federal authorities.

The state paid a Philadelphia-based nonprofit $125,000 to compile the list as part of the state Homeland Security's federally mandated mission to protect public infrastructure.

The list included a Washington County meeting that Rendell attended to discuss Marcellus shale gas drilling, a screening of a documentary on the industry, a rally supporting Rendell's education budget and anti-tax protesters who took an inflatable pig to Harrisburg.

Homeland Security officials distributed the list in a security bulletin to government and law enforcement officials — including Pittsburgh City Council members — as well as universities and gas drilling companies.

City Councilman Doug Shields said he was "flabbergasted" about the bulletin he received by e-mail last week.

"The governor was outraged. I'm outraged. I'm glad this was put an end to, but we will be seeking answers. ... There will be requests of information from the state government for an explanation of who these people are, who made the decision to essentially engage in espionage and who is behind it."

Shields said he wants to see the financial statements of York-based Institute Of Terrorism Research And Response, a registered nonprofit, according to state records.

"Am I on a list somwehere? Am I on someone's dossier?" Shields said.

"If there's a list I hope we're all on it," said Councilwoman Theresa Smith.

Rendell said he "should have been notified" about the contract, but that it didn't warrant firing Homeland Security director James Powers. It was a "cumulative responsibility" and it would do no good to "make him a scapegoat," Rendell said.

The state will not renew its one-year contract with the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response when it expires in October, Rendell said.

The nonprofit, which has offices in Washington and Jerusalem, provides "actionable intelligence briefings" and "threat and hazard monitoring," among other services, according to its website.

"We maintain confidentiality with our clients, and we respect that confidentiality," said Mike Perelman, co-director of the institute.

The gas industry has to know of physical threats to its workers and equipment, but it supports people's right to discuss the issues, said Kathryn Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry trade group in Cecil.

"Where we have to be vigilant, I believe, is ... if infrastructure is being targeted and the safety of employees and the communities we operate in are at risk," Klaber said.

Drilling industry opponents said they pose no danger. Barbara Pribila, 45, a founder of the anti-drilling Lincoln Place Action Group, said she never considered herself a rebel — and certainly not a threat to homeland security.

"I thought this was a free country and I was allowed to have my own opinion," Pribila said. "Now what, you're going to watch me and every move I make? That's not right."

Just In Case You Were Wondering

I have often heard people quoting the Declaration of Independence and both inalienable and unalienable have been used. So just in case you were wondering, as I was, which one is the correct one, here is your answer.


The question is often asked, "Is the word in the Declaration of Independence unalienable or is it inalienable?"

The final version of the Declaration uses the word "unalienable." Some earlier drafts used the word "inalienable," which is the term our modern dictionaries prefer. The two words mean precisely the same thing.

According to The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style from Houghton Mifflin Company:

The unalienable rights that are mentioned in the Declaration of Independence could just as well have been inalienable, which means the same thing. Inalienable or unalienable refers to that which cannot be given away or taken away.


Here is a listing of known versions of the Declaration, showing which word is used:

The Declaration on parchment, now in the Department of State: unalienable
The Declaration as written out in the corrected Journal: unalienable
The Declaration as printed by Dunlap under the order of Congress: unalienable
The draft of the Declaration in the handwriting of Jefferson now in The American Philosophical Society, in Philadelphia: inalienable
The Declaration in the handwriting of Jefferson now in the New York Public Library: inalienable
The draft of the Declaration in the handwriting of Jefferson now in the Massachusetts Historical Society, in Boston: inalienable
The copy in the handwriting of John Adams of the "Rough draught" of the Declaration, now at the Massachusetts Historical Society: unalienable

In a footnote in "The Declaration of Independence: A Study in the History of Political Ideas" by Carl Lotus Becker, published 1922, we learn:

The Rough Draft reads "[inherent &] inalienable." There is no indication that Congress changed "inalienable" to "unalienable"; but the latter form appears in the text in the rough Journal, in the corrected Journal, and in the parchment copy. John Adams, in making his copy of the Rough Draft, wrote " unalienable." Adams was one of the committee which supervised the printing of the text adopted by Congress, and it may have been at his suggestion that the change was made in printing. "Unalienable" may have been the more customary form in the eighteenth century.


http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/unalienable.htm

I believe It, Do You?

So not only are we going to have U.S. trained Mexican drug dealers fighting our border agents with U.S. weapons that we have supplied to Mexico but now we are going to sell arms to Saudi Arabia? Someone tell me I forget: How many 9/11 hijackers were Saudis? And this deal comes right after 9/11? Doesn't make sense to me. I am no nut job conspiracy theorist but this stinks!!!
All in the name of saving jobs. This president is unreal. Call you Congressmen and tell them to vote this down today!!!!

U.S. preparing massive arms deal for Saudi Arabia, defense official says
By Barbara Starr,
CNN Pentagon Correspondent

Washington ((CNN) -- The Obama administration is preparing to notify Congress of plans to sell $60 billion of military equipment to Saudi Arabia, according to a U.S. defense official.

The official, who would not be identified because the proposal has not yet been sent to Congress, described the deal as "enormous."

"We believe this is the largest of its kind in history," the official said.

Congress would have to approve the deal.

The proposed package includes 84 newly manufactured F-15/SA fighter aircraft; 70 upgraded aircraft, 70 Apache helicopters, 72 Black Hawk helicopters, and 36 AH-6 Little Bird helicopters. A number of bombs and missiles also are in the deal, including the Joint Direct Attack Munition, a satellite-guided bomb, as well as a laser-guided Hellfire missile variant and some advanced targeting technology.

The Saudi arms effort is in large part directed at providing a modernized capability against Iran.

"This gives them a whole host of defensive and deterrent capabilities," the official explained.

The official emphasized that nothing in the sale would change the qualitative edge that Israel seeks to maintain. A point reiterated by State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley.

"Suffice it to say that at the core of our policy is making sure that, you know, there is stability in the region and part of that stability is making sure that Israel has what it needs ... to be able to provide for its own security," Crowley said Monday. "So the United States would do nothing that would upset that -- the current ... balance in the region."

The Obama administration hopes to send the proposed package to Capitol Hill no later than next week. The official emphasized it's not clear yet whether the Saudis would follow through to buy all of the weapons and aircraft in the package because they are continuing to evaluate their own financial concerns.

Boeing Corp. has told the administration that if the entire package is sold, 77,000 company jobs would be "involved," but there was no calculation on how many new jobs might be created over the five- to 10-year period of potential delivery, according to the official.

The official also indicated the United States is discussing with the Saudi government additional sales of a ballistic missile defense system and more modern warships.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/09/13/us.saudi.arms.deal/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Christie Mondays

Can We Still Remember?

Finally Someone Besides Me Said It

Facebook users 'are insecure, narcissistic and have low self-esteem'

Using Facebook is the online equivalent of staring at yourself in the mirror, according to a study.
Those who spent more time updating their profile on the social networking site were more likely to be narcissists, said researchers.
Facebook provides an ideal setting for narcissists to monitor their appearance and how many ‘friends’ they have, the study said, as it allows them to thrive on ‘shallow’relationships while avoiding genuine warmth and empathy.

The findings, published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behaviour And Social Networking, also suggested that those with low self-esteem also checked their Facebook pages more regularly than normal.
This may not be altogether surprising as it is widely thought, however contradictory it may appear, that narcissism is linked to a deep-rooted lack of self-esteem.


Read More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1310230/Facebook-users-narcissistic-insecure-low-self-esteem.html

Chris Christie Monday

Restoring Honor Rally VS Obama Inauguration

8/28



Obama Inauguration

Beck VS. Sharpton

I think it is a knockout in the first round.

Who is disgracing The Dream?

Restoring Honor Rally on 8/28

Here are a few pictures I took of our trip up to Washington D.C. for the Glenn Beck Restoring Honor Rally. Enjoy

Our first stop was Mount Vernon

President Washington's Backyard













And his view

The General Himself

His Monument

President Jefferson and His Memorial

The march down D.C.'s Via Appia

The Crowd

The Aftermath

The End

Chris Christie Monday

Chris Christie Monday

Good Wake Up Call

Israel Has Days To Strike

WASHINGTON – Israel has only mere days to launch an attack on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactor if Russia makes good on its plan to deliver fuel there this weekend, former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton warned Tuesday.

He said that once Russia has loaded the fuel into the reactor -- slated for Saturday – Israel would no longer be willing to strike for fear of triggering widespread radiation in an attack.


“This is a very, very big victory for Iran,” Bolton told The Jerusalem Post. “This is a huge threshold.”

Bolton, who also once oversaw US non-proliferation policy, said that when Russia announced the plans to load the fuel last Friday, “the element of surprise was essentially taken away” from Israeli calculations.

Bolton noted that he doesn’t “have a clue” as to whether Israel would actually attack, but he said, “If Israel was right to destroy the Osiraq reactor, is it right to allow this one to continue? You can’t have it both ways.”

Israel took out Iraq’s Osiraq reactor during a stealth mission in 1981. It is also believed to have conducted a similar strike on an alleged Syria nuclear site in 2007.

Russia signed a contract with Iran to construct the Bushehr reactor in 1995, but has several times delayed completion. In announcing the long-overdue fuel installation, which should make Bushehr operational in September, Russia did not indicate why it was going ahead with the final stages now.

In addition to Bushehr -- for which Russia says it has guarantees it will receive back the spent fuel, the material needed to make a nuclear bomb -- Iran has its own uranium enrichment facilities.

Iran expert Ilan Berman of the American Foreign Policy Council said that the uranium enrichment plants are the real backbone of Iranian efforts and expenditures to get a nuclear weapons capability, and he suspected that they, rather than Bushehr, would be Israel’s primary targets in any attack.

He suggested that Bolton was setting up a “straw man” by focusing on the fuel delivery to the Bushehr reactor.

“It’s not at all clear that Bushehr would be a high value target because it’s only tangentially related to any conceivable Iranian nuclear weapons program,” he said. “My suspicion is this isn’t a game changer. This isn’t going to give Iran enough fissile material for a bomb overnight.”

Berman added that since Bushehr is the most public Iranian nuclear facility, and therefore well monitored by international inspectors, it was also a less likely candidate for use by Iran to construct a bomb, though he nevertheless said if it became operational it would be “an enormous PR coup for the Iranians.”


Read Full Article: http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=185060

Hamas nod for Ground Zero mosque

Terror group's leader: 'Have to build it'
By S.A. MILLER in Washington and TOM TOPOUSIS in New York


A leader of the Hamas terror group yesterday jumped into the emotional debate on the plan to construct a mosque near Ground Zero -- insisting Muslims "have to build" it there.
"We have to build everywhere," said Mahmoud al-Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas and the organization's chief on the Gaza Strip.
"In every area we have, [as] Muslim[s], we have to pray, and this mosque is the only site of prayer," he said on "Aaron Klein Investigative Radio" on WABC.

OBAMA CATCHES HOLY HELL

"We have to build the mosque, as you are allowed to build the church and Israelis are building their holy places."
Hamas, he added, "is representing the vast majority of the Arabic and Islamic world -- especially the Islamic side."
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who so far has not taken a position on the mosque, dismissed the endorsement.
"Hamas is a terrorist organization, and their views don't deserve any weight on anything," his spokesman said.
Zahar said Muslims around the world, including those who live in this country, are united in a common cause.

"First of all, we have to address that we are different as people, as a nation, totally different," he said. "We already are living under the tradition of Islam. "Islam is controlling every source of our life as regard to marriage, divorce, our commercial relationships," Zahar said. "Even the Islamic people or the Muslims in your country, they are living now in the tradition of Islam. They are fasting; they are praying." Politicians who previously had lots to say on the matter were not nearly as eager to discuss the latest development.

Despite his outspoken opposition to the building of a mosque so close to Ground Zero, Rep. Peter King (R-LI) said only, "I don't respond to Hamas."

Mayor Bloomberg, a strong supporter of the plan, declined comment through a spokesman.

Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam behind the proposed mosque, and two other leaders of the plan who previously had commented extensively, were silent yesterday.

They did not respond to The Post's phone calls or e-mails about the Hamas endorsement.

Hamas first came up in the mosque debate earlier this summer when Abdul Rauf refused to describe the group as a terrorist organization -- despite the State Department listing that identifies it as such.



Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/hamas_nod_for_gz_mosque_cSohH9eha8sNZMTDz0VVPI#ixzz0wp6sZ9Mv

Chris Christie Monday

Ground Zero Mosque

The White House on Saturday struggled to tamp down the controversy over President Barack Obama’s statements about a mosque near Ground Zero — insisting Obama wasn’t backing off remarks Friday night where he offered support for a project that has infuriated some families whose loved ones died in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Obama’s comments placed him in the middle of the controversy over a Muslim group’s plans for a mosque near the site of the 2001 attack — and in turn, transformed an emotion-laden local dispute in New York into a nationwide debate overnight.

Republicans pounced, amid early signs that the issue would seep into some state and congressional contests. “It is divisive and disrespectful to build a mosque next to the site where 3,000 innocent people were murdered at the hands of Islamic extremism,” said Florida GOP Senate candidate Marco Rubio. His opponent, Charlie Crist, a Republican turned independent, came out in support of Obama’s comments.


And Democrats — at least some who were willing to comment — could barely contain their frustration over Obama’s remarks, saying he had potentially placed every one of their candidates into the middle of the debate by giving GOP candidates a chance to ask them point-blank: Do you agree with Obama on the mosque, or not?

That could be particularly damaging to moderate Democrats in conservative-leaning districts, already 2010’s most vulnerable contenders.

“I would prefer the president be a little more of a politician and a little less of a college professor,” former Rep. Martin Frost (D-Texas), who once ran the House Democratic campaign arm, wrote in POLITICO’s Arena. “While a defensible position, it will not play well in the parts of the country where Democrats need the most help.”

Adding to the political problem for Democrats were the mixed messages out of the White House.

Obama’s comments Friday night — at an Iftar dinner at the White House marking the start of Ramadan — were widely reported as offering support for the specific mosque project in question near Ground Zero.



Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41069.html#ixzz0wdudfXaR

Australian Terrorist Living On Welfare For 18 Years

Any of this sound familiar to any of you Americans?

Restoring Honor

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE

ICE Agents Vote 'No Confidence' in Leaders, Say Amnesty Coming
Monday, 09 Aug 2010 09:36 PM Article Font Size

The union that represents rank-and-file field agents at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has unanimously passed a "vote of no confidence" for the agency's leadership, saying ICE has "abandoned" its core mission of protecting the public to support a political agenda favoring amnesty.

The National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 7,000 ICE agents and employees, voted 259-0 for a resolution saying there was "growing dissatisfaction and concern" over the leadership of Assistant Secretary John Morton, who heads ICE, and Phyllis Coven, assistant director for the agency's office of detention policy and planning.

The resolution said ICE leadership had "abandoned the agency's core mission of enforcing U.S. immigration laws and providing for public safety," instead directing its attention "to campaigning for programs and policies related to amnesty and the creation of a special detention system for foreign nationals that exceeds the care and services provided to most U.S. citizens similarly incarcerated.

"It is the desire of our union … to publicly separate ourselves from the actions of Director Morton and Assistant Director Coven and publicly state that ICE officers and employees do not support Morton or Coven or their misguided and reckless initiatives, which could ultimately put many in America at risk," the union said.

In a strongly worded statement, the union and its affiliated local councils said the integrity of the agency "as well as the public safety" would be "better provided for in the absence of Director Morton and Assistant Director Coven."

The statement also noted that:

• The majority of ICE's enforcement and removal officers are prohibited from making street arrests or enforcing U.S. immigration laws outside of the jail setting.

• Hundreds of ICE officers nationwide perform no law enforcement duties whatsoever because of resource mismanagement within the agency.

• ICE detention reforms have transformed into a detention system aimed at providing resortlike living conditions to criminal aliens based on recommendations not from ICE officers and field managers, but from "special-interest groups."

• The lack of technical expertise and field experience has resulted in a priority of providing bingo nights, dance lessons and hanging plants to criminals, instead of addressing safe and responsible detention reforms for noncriminal individuals and families.

• Unlike any other agency in the nation, ICE officers will be prevented from searching detainees housed in ICE facilities, allowing weapons, drugs and other contraband into detention centers — putting detainees, ICE officers and contract guards at risk.

• Senior leadership ignores reports that ICE internal investigations by the office of professional responsibility conceal agency and supervisor misconduct and are used to retaliate against employees who make whistleblower-type disclosures or question inappropriate policies and procedures.

ICE spokesman Brian Hale said the agency meets regularly with representatives of the union to discuss its goal of ensuring public safety by focusing on finding criminal aliens and removing them from the country.

"We have fundamentally reformed immigration enforcement, and we are removing record numbers of criminal aliens because of it," Mr. Hale said. "Half of the people we have removed so far this year have been convicted criminal aliens — up from 35 percent a year ago.

"We understand the union's reason for engaging in creative collective-bargaining tactics and, regardless, we remain committed to working with them to address substantive issues in the interests of making our communities safer," he said.

ICE documents show that during the first nine months of fiscal 2010, a total of 279,035 noncitizens were removed from the U.S. as a result of ICE enforcement — a 10 percent increase over the total in fiscal 2008, the last fiscal year of the Bush administration.

But according to the union, illegal immigrants now being held in state and local jails seek out ICE agents for deportation to avoid prosecution, conviction and prison terms. It said criminal aliens "openly brag" that they are taking advantage of a broken immigration system and will be back in the United States within days to commit crimes — while U.S. citizens arrested for the same offenses serve prison sentences.

"ICE senior leadership is aware that the system is broken, yet refuses to alert Congress to the severity of the situation and request additional resources to provide better enforcement and support of local agencies," the statement said.

The no-confidence vote, taken in June and made public last week in a letter by the union, said the agency's senior leadership dedicated "more time to campaigning for immigration reforms aimed at large-scale amnesty legislation than advising the American public and federal lawmakers on the severity of the illegal-immigration problems."

The vote, first reported by the Washington Examiner, said Mr. Morton and Ms. Coven also ignored the need for more manpower and resources within the agency.

Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee and a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, told The Washington Times that the Obama administration is "simply not serious about enforcing all of our immigration laws."

Mr. Smith said ICE doesn't have the resources because it didn't ask for them, adding that "the Obama administration did not request a single new detention bed in their most recent budget request."

"So the limits on detention capacity that they now claim hold them back from further enforcement are of their own making," he said. "What's more, ICE is running under its average daily detention capacity — the Obama administration is not even using all the resources it has."

Michael W. Cutler, a retired 31-year U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) senior criminal investigator and intelligence specialist, said the no-confidence vote "makes it clear that the leadership at ICE has politicized a major component of national security at the behest of the administration."

"It is clear that the marching orders coming from the administration have nothing to do with securing our nation's borders or enforcing the immigration laws," Mr. Cutler said.

"It is an absolute absurdity to believe that our nation can successfully wage a war against terrorists who are determined to enter our nation and then embed themselves in our nation with virtually no fear of being identified, arrested or removed from our country," he said.

Janice Kephart, director of national security policy at the Center for Immigration Studies, described the no-confidence vote in a statement last week as an example of how ICE's mission was being "skewed towards supporting an unflinching goal of amnesty by refusing to allow agents to do their job."

Ms. Kephart, former counsel to the Sept. 11 commission and a nationally recognized border-security authority, suggested that ICE leadership — particularly Mr. Morton — needed to pay attention to the no-confidence vote and the concerns expressed by the rank-and-file agents.

"May I suggest that a significant problem with dismissing a no-confidence vote from your entire employee population is, when you run an agency of 7,000 officers and agents, you can't do your job unless they do theirs?" she said. "Oh wait, that is the whole point, is it not?"

Mr. Morton recently announced new guidelines telling ICE agents to focus on apprehending terrorists and criminals, causing many of agency's rank-and-file agents to wonder who, then, is responsible for tracking down and detaining the millions of other illegal border-crossers and fugitive aliens now in the country.

The new guidelines noted that ICE "only has resources to remove approximately 400,000 aliens per year, less than 4 percent of the estimated illegal-alien population in the United States," and that as a result, it needed to focus wisely on the limited resources Congress had provided the agency.

He said the agency would "prioritize the apprehension and removal of aliens who only pose a threat to national security and/or public safety, such as criminals and terrorists." Lesser priorities were given to foreign nationals caught crossing the border illegally or using phony immigration documents to gain entry, and those identified as fugitives after failing to show up for immigration or deportation hearings.



© Copyright 2010 The Washington Times, LLC

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/ice-no-confidence-vote-amnesty-immigration-illegal-union-obama/2010/08/09/id/367046?s=al&promo_code=A768-1

Ground Zero Imam

Ground Zero Imam Travels on Uncle Sam’s Nickel
Tuesday, 10 Aug 2010 10:29 AM Article Font Size
By: John Rossomando

The State Department will be footing the bill for Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam behind the controversial ground zero mosque, as he embarks on a tour of the Middle East.

Plans for the $100 million mosque have drawn strong criticism from 9/11 families, as well as prominent figures such as Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich.

Rauf personally has become controversial because he refuses to acknowledge Hamas is a terrorist group and for his stated belief U.S. foreign policy partly was responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

The trip’s announcement Monday raises concerns Rauf will be taking advantage of taxpayer dollars to raise money for the divisive project. But the State Department says the publicly funded trip intends to foster “greater understanding” about Muslim communities in the United States.

“He is a distinguished Muslim cleric,” The New York Post quoted State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley as having said about the imam’s trip, which reportedly will include stops in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, and Qatar. “I think we are in the process of arranging for him to travel as part of this program, and it is to foster a greater understanding around the world among Muslim-majority communities.”

Crowley denied Rauf would be using the trip for fundraising purposes despite reports in a London-based Arabic-language newspaper the imam plans to collect money from Muslim and Arab nations around the world. The trip likely would put Rauf into contact with many of the people he needs to raise money for the mosque.

“Does the State Department have any idea they are sending a guy to the Middle East who is going to be fundraising with the very same people he will be meeting with?” Debra Burlingame, a 9/11 family member, asked, according to the Post. “We know he has a fundraising association with Saudi Arabia.”

Rauf maintains close ties with the Saudis who have contributed money to underwrite programs run by the imam’s American Society for Muslim Advancement, the Post reports.

At the same time, however, the Post reports state regulators have said the sale of an adjacent Con Ed building needed to be complete the mosque might be subject to review despite assurances to the contrary.


© Newsmax. All rights reserved.

http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/Ground-Zero--Imam--taxpayer--expense/2010/08/10/id/367097?s=al&promo_code=A768-1

Good Morning Sunshine

I am going to start something new today. It is a bit of an experiment so let me know what you think. Starting today I am going to have Chris Christie Monday's. I will have a video, an article, both, or something else of Chris Christie talk. Everybody hates Monday's so I thought this might make us all feel a little better. Please tell me what you think. Enjoy

What Can We Do Really?

We as Americans have been so apathetic for years and I think we can all see where that is getting us. That has given us just recently:
Seat belt laws (that bad cops enforce)
Red light cameras
Whole cities that have cameras everywhere spying on American citizens
Health care
A new Economic policy that allows the government to shut down any business it wants
And the list goes on and on, and on

Now we have this:
Portland lemonade stand runs into health inspectors, needs $120 license to operate

It's hardly unusual to hear small-business owners gripe about licensing requirements or complain that heavy-handed regulations are driving them into the red.

So when Multnomah County shut down an enterprise last week for operating without a license, you might just sigh and say, there they go again.

Except this entrepreneur was a 7-year-old named Julie Murphy. Her business was a lemonade stand at the Last Thursday monthly art fair in Northeast Portland. The government regulation she violated? Failing to get a $120 temporary restaurant license.

Turns out that kids' lemonade stands -- those constants of summertime -- are supposed to get a permit in Oregon, particularly at big events that happen to be patrolled regularly by county health inspectors.

"I understand the reason behind what they're doing and it's a neighborhood event, and they're trying to generate revenue," said Jon Kawaguchi, environmental health supervisor for the Multnomah County Health Department. "But we still need to put the public's health first."

Julie had become enamored of the idea of having a stand after watching an episode of cartoon pig Olivia running one, said her mother, Maria Fife. The two live in Oregon City, but Fife knew her daughter would get few customers if she set up her stand at home.

Plus, Fife had just attended Last Thursday along Portland's Northeast Alberta Street for the first time and loved the friendly feel and the diversity of the grass-roots event. She put the two things together and promised to take her daughter in July.

The girl worked on a sign, coloring in the letters and decorating it with a drawing of a person saying "Yummy." She made a list of supplies.

Then, with gallons of bottled water and packets of Kool-Aid, they drove up last Thursday with a friend and her daughter. They loaded a wheelbarrow that Julie steered to the corner of Northeast 26th and Alberta and settled into a space between a painter and a couple who sold handmade bags and kids' clothing.

Even before her daughter had finished making the first batch of lemonade, a man walked up to buy a 50-cent cup.

"They wanted to support a little 7-year-old to earn a little extra summer loot," she said. "People know what's going on."

Even so, Julie was careful about making the lemonade, cleaning her hands with hand sanitizer, using a scoop for the bagged ice and keeping everything covered when it wasn't in use, Fife said.

After 20 minutes, a "lady with a clipboard" came over and asked for their license. When Fife explained they didn't have one, the woman told them they would need to leave or possibly face a $500 fine.

Surprised, Fife started to pack up. The people staffing the booths next to them encouraged the two to stay, telling them the inspectors had no right to kick them out of the neighborhood gathering. They also suggested that they give away the lemonade and accept donations instead and one of them made an announcement to the crowd to support the lemonade stand.

That's when business really picked up -- and two inspectors came back, Fife said. Julie started crying, while her mother packed up and others confronted the inspectors. "It was a very big scene," Fife said.

Technically, any lemonade stand -- even one on your front lawn -- must be licensed under state law, said Eric Pippert, the food-borne illness prevention program manager for the state's public health division. But county inspectors are unlikely to go after kids selling lemonade on their front lawn unless, he conceded, their front lawn happens to be on Alberta Street during Last Thursday.

"When you go to a public event and set up shop, you're suddenly engaging in commerce," he said. "The fact that you're small-scale I don't think is relevant."

Kawaguchi, who oversees the two county inspectors involved, said they must be fair and consistent in their monitoring, no matter the age of the person. "Our role is to protect the public," he said.

The county's shutdown of the lemonade stand was publicized by Michael Franklin, the man at the booth next to Fife and her daughter. Franklin contributes to the Bottom Up Radio Network, an online anarchist site, and interviewed Fife for his show.

Franklin is also organizing a "Lemonade Revolt" for Last Thursday in August. He's calling on anarchists, neighbors and others to come early for the event and grab space for lemonade stands on Alberta between Northeast 25th and Northeast 26th.

As for Julie, the 7-year-old still tells her mother "it was a bad day." When she complains about the health inspector, Fife reminds her that the woman was just doing her job. She also promised to help her try again -- at an upcoming neighborhood garage sale.

While Fife said she does see the need for some food safety regulation, she thinks the county went too far in trying to control events as unstructured as Last Thursday.

"As far as Last Thursday is concerned, people know when they are coming there that it's more or less a free-for-all," she said. "It's gotten to the point where they need to be in all of our decisions. They don't trust us to make good choices on our own."
-- Helen Jung

Now lets see: Crush entrepreneurs (check), tax and license people to death (check), don't engage in commerce unless the government tells you that you can (check), and allow them to get away with it time and time again (. . .?)

We have already lost freedom here in this country and if you are my age you may never see it again (and I'm not that old). However we have to keep up the fight so that maybe one day our children or grandchildren will live in a country that believes in individual rights and responsibilities, where we can be left alone to prosper or fail on our own accord, and where we can truly be free once more.