It has been brought to my attention that the videos I post do not come through to my subscribers. So from now on I will let you know if I am posting a video so you can go straight to the blog and check it out. This is one of them.
How American money is wasted on foreign aid:
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words
Socialist, Communist, and Unions oh my!!!
First some classic Socialist and Communist propaganda posters.
Now a couple famous communist/socialist.
This one is from La Raza meaning The Race, you know the organization that Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor is a member of.
And Finally some Union Posters.
This next on is a "Stand with Wisconsin Solidarity March in Washington D.C. with Van Jones (notice him in the picture). Oh and the organization that pulled the permit for that rally was the International Socialist Organization, their logo is below also.
First some classic Socialist and Communist propaganda posters.
Now a couple famous communist/socialist.
This one is from La Raza meaning The Race, you know the organization that Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor is a member of.
And Finally some Union Posters.
This next on is a "Stand with Wisconsin Solidarity March in Washington D.C. with Van Jones (notice him in the picture). Oh and the organization that pulled the permit for that rally was the International Socialist Organization, their logo is below also.
Herman Cain on Muslim Religion and Presidential Bid
Potential Republican presidential contender Herman Cain is known for his straight-talking style and willingness to discuss issues other politicians dare not touch. In his latest interview with Christianity Today, the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO opened up about his faith, his calling in life and his aspirations for political office.
In blunt terms, Cain, a Christian, made no bones about his thoughts on the role of Muslims in modern American society and called on moderate Muslims to take up peaceful leadership roles:
The role of Muslims in American society is for them to be allowed to practice their religion freely, which is part of our First Amendment. The role of Muslims in America is not to convert the rest of us to the Muslim religion. That I resent. Because we are a Judeo-Christian nation, from the fact that 85 percent of us are self-described Christians, or evangelicals, or practicing the Jewish faith. Eighty-five percent. One percent of the practicing religious believers in this country are Muslim.
And so I push back and reject them trying to convert the rest of us. And based upon the little knowledge that I have of the Muslim religion, you know, they have an objective to convert all infidels or kill them. Now, I know that there are some peaceful Muslims who don’t go around preaching or practicing that. Well, unfortunately, we can‘t sit back and tolerate the radical ones simply because we know that there are some of them who don’t believe in that aspect of the Muslim religion. So their role is to be allowed to practice their religion freely, just like we should be allowed to practice our religion freely, and not try to convert the rest of us.
Also, linking faith to civil society, Cain decried what he calls a “moral crisis” facing America today. “The moral crisis is going to have to be solved in our families, our communities and in our various religious institutions,” he said. “Christians, evangelicals, Jews, believers of all types when it comes to biblically-based religions, are going to have to step up more, and push back more, and not allow our Christian beliefs to be intimidated. If we do, we are going to go the way of some other countries [that] lost their Judeo-Christian identity. I do not want us, as a nation, to lose our Judeo-Christian identity, even though we will tolerate any legitimate religion to basically exist in this country. That is how the founders intended it, and that’s how I believe that we ought to keep it.”
The former businessman is expected to decide within the next six weeks whether the next stage of his life will involve a bid for the White House. God will be the deciding factor in that decision, Cain, a licensed reverend, admitted.
“God didn’t keep me here to go play golf, and relax, and take life easy,” he said, referring to his against-the-odds battle back against stage-4 cancer. “I believe that my life was spared because God had something really big that he wanted me to do. And that’s unfolding.”
Cain also admitted that the though of running for president is something he’s only considered recently. “It was only about nine or ten months ago that, as I watched the first year of the Obama administration, as I watched failing policies, as I watched broken promises, as I watched and read about 15 million people staying unemployed, I couldn’t sit back when I had collected some common sense ideas.”
In the end, it might be Cain’s drive and determination to better America that pushes him into the political arena.
“I cannot sit still and watch the direction of this country towards radical socialism and not do what I can do,” he said. “Is there somebody else who might be better at being President of the United States than Herman Cain? There might be. But the people are going to determine that. But I couldn’t sit back and hope that a great leader emerges, or hope that someone becomes President that would tackle the issues the way I would tackle them.”
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/herman-cain-many-muslims-want-to-kill-or-convert-all-infidels/
In blunt terms, Cain, a Christian, made no bones about his thoughts on the role of Muslims in modern American society and called on moderate Muslims to take up peaceful leadership roles:
The role of Muslims in American society is for them to be allowed to practice their religion freely, which is part of our First Amendment. The role of Muslims in America is not to convert the rest of us to the Muslim religion. That I resent. Because we are a Judeo-Christian nation, from the fact that 85 percent of us are self-described Christians, or evangelicals, or practicing the Jewish faith. Eighty-five percent. One percent of the practicing religious believers in this country are Muslim.
And so I push back and reject them trying to convert the rest of us. And based upon the little knowledge that I have of the Muslim religion, you know, they have an objective to convert all infidels or kill them. Now, I know that there are some peaceful Muslims who don’t go around preaching or practicing that. Well, unfortunately, we can‘t sit back and tolerate the radical ones simply because we know that there are some of them who don’t believe in that aspect of the Muslim religion. So their role is to be allowed to practice their religion freely, just like we should be allowed to practice our religion freely, and not try to convert the rest of us.
Also, linking faith to civil society, Cain decried what he calls a “moral crisis” facing America today. “The moral crisis is going to have to be solved in our families, our communities and in our various religious institutions,” he said. “Christians, evangelicals, Jews, believers of all types when it comes to biblically-based religions, are going to have to step up more, and push back more, and not allow our Christian beliefs to be intimidated. If we do, we are going to go the way of some other countries [that] lost their Judeo-Christian identity. I do not want us, as a nation, to lose our Judeo-Christian identity, even though we will tolerate any legitimate religion to basically exist in this country. That is how the founders intended it, and that’s how I believe that we ought to keep it.”
The former businessman is expected to decide within the next six weeks whether the next stage of his life will involve a bid for the White House. God will be the deciding factor in that decision, Cain, a licensed reverend, admitted.
“God didn’t keep me here to go play golf, and relax, and take life easy,” he said, referring to his against-the-odds battle back against stage-4 cancer. “I believe that my life was spared because God had something really big that he wanted me to do. And that’s unfolding.”
Cain also admitted that the though of running for president is something he’s only considered recently. “It was only about nine or ten months ago that, as I watched the first year of the Obama administration, as I watched failing policies, as I watched broken promises, as I watched and read about 15 million people staying unemployed, I couldn’t sit back when I had collected some common sense ideas.”
In the end, it might be Cain’s drive and determination to better America that pushes him into the political arena.
“I cannot sit still and watch the direction of this country towards radical socialism and not do what I can do,” he said. “Is there somebody else who might be better at being President of the United States than Herman Cain? There might be. But the people are going to determine that. But I couldn’t sit back and hope that a great leader emerges, or hope that someone becomes President that would tackle the issues the way I would tackle them.”
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/herman-cain-many-muslims-want-to-kill-or-convert-all-infidels/
Revealed — The Left’s Economic Terrorism Playbook
The Chase Campaign by a Coalition of Unions, Community Groups, Lawmakers and Students to Take Down US Capitalism and Redistribute Wealth & Power
Read The Article at: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/revealed-the-lefts-economic-terrorism-playbook-the-chase-campaign-for-a-coalition-of-unions-community-groups-lawmakers-and-students-to-take-down-us-capitalism-and-redistribute-wealth-power/
Read The Article at: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/revealed-the-lefts-economic-terrorism-playbook-the-chase-campaign-for-a-coalition-of-unions-community-groups-lawmakers-and-students-to-take-down-us-capitalism-and-redistribute-wealth-power/
Legislator - NC Needs To Coin Its Own Money
BY MICHAEL BIESECKER - Staff Writer
RALEIGH -- Cautioning that the federal dollars in your wallet could soon be little more than green paper backed by broken promises, state Rep. Glen Bradley wants North Carolina to issue its own legal tender backed by silver and gold.
The Republican from Youngsville has introduced a bill that would establish a legislative commission to study his plan for a state currency. He is also drafting a second bill that would require state government to accept gold and silver coins as payment for taxes and fees.
If the state treasurer starts accepting precious metals as payment, Bradley said that could prod the private sector to follow suit - potentially allowing residents to trade gold for groceries.
"I think we're in the process of inflating a dollar bubble that could be very devastating," said Bradley, a freshman legislator elected in November's GOP tide. "The idea is once the study commission finishes its work, then we could build on top of the hard-money currency with an actual State Tender Act that will basically [issue currency] in correspondence to precious metals stored in the state treasury."
Bradley's bill has yet to attract any co-sponsors among his fellow Republicans.
Mike Walden, an economics professor at N.C. State University, said the notion of North Carolina reverting to having its own currency is outlandish.
"We dealt with this issue about 100 years ago when the Federal Reserve was established," Walden said. "If North Carolina were to have its own currency, that would put us at an extreme competitive disadvantage vis-a-vis other parts of the country and other parts of the world."
State Treasurer Janet Cowell joked that Bradley's precious metals proposal could increase efficiency in state government by providing a good use for her department's old basement vault, which is currently used for storage.
"I look forward to engaging in an important public policy debate about whose face should be on the gold coin," quipped Cowell, a Democrat.
But Bradley predicts that world events could soon prove him prescient.
"I don't necessarily believe [the Federal Reserve] is about to collapse right now," said Bradley, 37. "There are still a few things they can do with qualitative easing to sort of extend their survival. It's just a question of how long. Right know we have a lot of sovereign debt going to China and Japan. When that debt stops being purchased by foreign countries, that currency is going to flood back onto American shores, potentially creating hyperinflation and bursting the currency bubble we have coming in Federal Reserve notes today."
The Austrian School
Bradley, a self-employed computer technician and former Marine, attended Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest until he could no longer afford tuition, he said. While he has not taken any in-depth classes in economics, Bradley described himself as a devotee of the Austrian School, a branch of economic thought that originated in Vienna and was influential before World War I.
Back then the value of most of the world's currencies were tied to the amount of the gold amassed in their national treasuries. The United States abandoned the gold standard in 1933, after it was blamed for worsening the Great Depression.
Though the ideas of the Austrian School have been rejected by mainstream economists for much of the last century, they are in vogue with Libertarians and some supporters of the tea party movement.
The language of Bradley's House Bill 301 predicts a dire future for the U.S. economy.
"Many widely recognized experts predict the inevitable destruction of the Federal Reserve System's currency through hyperinflation in the foreseeable future," the bill declares. "In the event of hyperinflation, depression, or other economic calamity related to the breakdown of the Federal Reserve System, for which the State is not prepared, the State's governmental finances and private economy will be thrown into chaos. ..."
Asked who are the "widely recognized experts" to which his bill refers, Bradley cited U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and Peter Schiff, a precious-metals dealer and investor who regularly appears as a commentator on Fox News.
Walden, the economics professor, said the views espoused by adherents of the Austrian School are well outside the mainstream of modern economic thought.
Bradley's ideas for taking the state back to the Gilded Age don't end at economics.
About Commerce Clause
A strict Constitutionalist, he has also introduced bills to exempt North Carolina agricultural products and firearms manufactured in the state from federal regulation as long as they are not sold or exported across state lines, measures that fly in the face of more than a century of U.S. Supreme Court rulings interpreting the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
"They're wrong," Bradley said confidently of generations of justices. "The 10th Amendment is quite clear that those powers not reserved in the Constitution for the federal government are reserved to the states. It's doesn't take a high-priced lawyer to interpret the Constitution."
Rep. Becky Carney, a Charlotte Democrat, said she found Bradley's currency bill "perplexing."
"There has absolutely been no indication of the collapse of the Federal Reserve system," said Carney, who serves on the House banking committee. "It sounds like the Chicken Little story about 'the sky is falling.'"
The office of House Speaker Thom Tillis declined to say whether the GOP leadership supports Bradley's proposal to create a state currency. His bill has been referred to the House rules committee, where legislation is sometimes sent to die.
"There are a lot of diverse opinions and diverse views in our caucus," said Jordan Shaw, Tillis' spokesman. "I don't think we're going to forecast what will happen."
michael.biesecker@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4698
Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/03/17/1059132/legislator-says-the-state-needs.html#ixzz1HIesjcHe
RALEIGH -- Cautioning that the federal dollars in your wallet could soon be little more than green paper backed by broken promises, state Rep. Glen Bradley wants North Carolina to issue its own legal tender backed by silver and gold.
The Republican from Youngsville has introduced a bill that would establish a legislative commission to study his plan for a state currency. He is also drafting a second bill that would require state government to accept gold and silver coins as payment for taxes and fees.
If the state treasurer starts accepting precious metals as payment, Bradley said that could prod the private sector to follow suit - potentially allowing residents to trade gold for groceries.
"I think we're in the process of inflating a dollar bubble that could be very devastating," said Bradley, a freshman legislator elected in November's GOP tide. "The idea is once the study commission finishes its work, then we could build on top of the hard-money currency with an actual State Tender Act that will basically [issue currency] in correspondence to precious metals stored in the state treasury."
Bradley's bill has yet to attract any co-sponsors among his fellow Republicans.
Mike Walden, an economics professor at N.C. State University, said the notion of North Carolina reverting to having its own currency is outlandish.
"We dealt with this issue about 100 years ago when the Federal Reserve was established," Walden said. "If North Carolina were to have its own currency, that would put us at an extreme competitive disadvantage vis-a-vis other parts of the country and other parts of the world."
State Treasurer Janet Cowell joked that Bradley's precious metals proposal could increase efficiency in state government by providing a good use for her department's old basement vault, which is currently used for storage.
"I look forward to engaging in an important public policy debate about whose face should be on the gold coin," quipped Cowell, a Democrat.
But Bradley predicts that world events could soon prove him prescient.
"I don't necessarily believe [the Federal Reserve] is about to collapse right now," said Bradley, 37. "There are still a few things they can do with qualitative easing to sort of extend their survival. It's just a question of how long. Right know we have a lot of sovereign debt going to China and Japan. When that debt stops being purchased by foreign countries, that currency is going to flood back onto American shores, potentially creating hyperinflation and bursting the currency bubble we have coming in Federal Reserve notes today."
The Austrian School
Bradley, a self-employed computer technician and former Marine, attended Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest until he could no longer afford tuition, he said. While he has not taken any in-depth classes in economics, Bradley described himself as a devotee of the Austrian School, a branch of economic thought that originated in Vienna and was influential before World War I.
Back then the value of most of the world's currencies were tied to the amount of the gold amassed in their national treasuries. The United States abandoned the gold standard in 1933, after it was blamed for worsening the Great Depression.
Though the ideas of the Austrian School have been rejected by mainstream economists for much of the last century, they are in vogue with Libertarians and some supporters of the tea party movement.
The language of Bradley's House Bill 301 predicts a dire future for the U.S. economy.
"Many widely recognized experts predict the inevitable destruction of the Federal Reserve System's currency through hyperinflation in the foreseeable future," the bill declares. "In the event of hyperinflation, depression, or other economic calamity related to the breakdown of the Federal Reserve System, for which the State is not prepared, the State's governmental finances and private economy will be thrown into chaos. ..."
Asked who are the "widely recognized experts" to which his bill refers, Bradley cited U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and Peter Schiff, a precious-metals dealer and investor who regularly appears as a commentator on Fox News.
Walden, the economics professor, said the views espoused by adherents of the Austrian School are well outside the mainstream of modern economic thought.
Bradley's ideas for taking the state back to the Gilded Age don't end at economics.
About Commerce Clause
A strict Constitutionalist, he has also introduced bills to exempt North Carolina agricultural products and firearms manufactured in the state from federal regulation as long as they are not sold or exported across state lines, measures that fly in the face of more than a century of U.S. Supreme Court rulings interpreting the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
"They're wrong," Bradley said confidently of generations of justices. "The 10th Amendment is quite clear that those powers not reserved in the Constitution for the federal government are reserved to the states. It's doesn't take a high-priced lawyer to interpret the Constitution."
Rep. Becky Carney, a Charlotte Democrat, said she found Bradley's currency bill "perplexing."
"There has absolutely been no indication of the collapse of the Federal Reserve system," said Carney, who serves on the House banking committee. "It sounds like the Chicken Little story about 'the sky is falling.'"
The office of House Speaker Thom Tillis declined to say whether the GOP leadership supports Bradley's proposal to create a state currency. His bill has been referred to the House rules committee, where legislation is sometimes sent to die.
"There are a lot of diverse opinions and diverse views in our caucus," said Jordan Shaw, Tillis' spokesman. "I don't think we're going to forecast what will happen."
michael.biesecker@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4698
Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/03/17/1059132/legislator-says-the-state-needs.html#ixzz1HIesjcHe
Monday, March 21, 2011
Shariah Law In Florida? Yep
A judge in Tampa, Florida is creating a buzz with a ruling some say shows that shariah law is creeping into the U.S. One look at the alleged ruling shows it is suspicious. But is it really an example of shariah “comin’ to America?”
According to a document on the website Jihad Watch, Circuit Court Judge Richard A. Nielsen ordered earlier this month that a civil dispute between current and former leaders of a local mosque over who controls funds awarded during a 2008 eminent domain proceeding be decided under “Ecclesiastical Islamic Law.” Below is a copy of the relevant section:
Tom Tillison over at Red State explains the case via a post from Brigitte Gabriel:
The current mosque leaders want the case decided according to secular, Florida civil law, and their attorney has been vigorously arguing the case accordingly.
The former trustees of the mosque want the case decided according to sharia law.
Here’s the kicker.
The judge recently ruled “This case will proceed under Ecclesiastical Islamic law,” (sharia law), “pursuant to the Qur’an.” [Emphasis hers]
Now it’s not unusual for a dispute to arise within a religious institution and for a court to order a mediation or arbitration, in order to resolve this without the court having to render its own judgment.
But what makes this case unusual, and highly troubling, is that a group of Muslim leaders—the CURRENT mosque leaders—who do NOT want to be subject to sharia law, are being compelled to do so by an American judge!
“In effect, due process in an American court is being denied and Sharia law is being imposed on an unwilling participant,” Tillison writes. “Right here in Florida.”
According to a document on the website Jihad Watch, Circuit Court Judge Richard A. Nielsen ordered earlier this month that a civil dispute between current and former leaders of a local mosque over who controls funds awarded during a 2008 eminent domain proceeding be decided under “Ecclesiastical Islamic Law.” Below is a copy of the relevant section:
Tom Tillison over at Red State explains the case via a post from Brigitte Gabriel:
The current mosque leaders want the case decided according to secular, Florida civil law, and their attorney has been vigorously arguing the case accordingly.
The former trustees of the mosque want the case decided according to sharia law.
Here’s the kicker.
The judge recently ruled “This case will proceed under Ecclesiastical Islamic law,” (sharia law), “pursuant to the Qur’an.” [Emphasis hers]
Now it’s not unusual for a dispute to arise within a religious institution and for a court to order a mediation or arbitration, in order to resolve this without the court having to render its own judgment.
But what makes this case unusual, and highly troubling, is that a group of Muslim leaders—the CURRENT mosque leaders—who do NOT want to be subject to sharia law, are being compelled to do so by an American judge!
“In effect, due process in an American court is being denied and Sharia law is being imposed on an unwilling participant,” Tillison writes. “Right here in Florida.”
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Headlines Of The Day
Big Brother? Feds Order Schools to Monitor Kids Facebook Posts & Lunchtime Chatter
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/govt-tells-educators-to-monitor-kids-internet-use-while-not-at-school/
Feds deploy more radiation monitors in western US
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110316/ap_on_re_us/us_west_coast_radiation_monitors
Leaders dither as Gaddafi hails final showdown
http://www.france24.com/en/20110316-Libya-benghazi-gaddafi-forces-prepare-final-showdown-diplomacy-no-fly-zone-drags
US Food Prices Skyrocket: Highest Since 1974
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/food-prices-skyrocket-highest-since-1974/
Oh and the most important item of the day:
But wait he at least plugged USAID.Gov
This is shameful
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/govt-tells-educators-to-monitor-kids-internet-use-while-not-at-school/
Feds deploy more radiation monitors in western US
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110316/ap_on_re_us/us_west_coast_radiation_monitors
Leaders dither as Gaddafi hails final showdown
http://www.france24.com/en/20110316-Libya-benghazi-gaddafi-forces-prepare-final-showdown-diplomacy-no-fly-zone-drags
US Food Prices Skyrocket: Highest Since 1974
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/food-prices-skyrocket-highest-since-1974/
Oh and the most important item of the day:
But wait he at least plugged USAID.Gov
This is shameful
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Jefferson 's Solution to Today's Runaway Government by The NCCS
Jefferson 's Solution to Today's Runaway Government:
Educate the People and Restore Original Principles
Many students of American History stand in awe at the careful wording of the Declaration of Independence which incorporates eight magnificent principles necessary for freedom to exist in America . What some do not fully understand is that Jefferson spent the rest of his life, exactly fifty years to the day, trying to defend those principles and holding the line against an increasingly powerful federal government which seemed to want to break out from the cherished confines and principles of the Declaration.
During the difficult years of the nation's second president, John Adams, the federal authorities assumed powers that alarmed many of the Founders who thought they had gone well beyond Constitutional limits, especially with the passage of the Alien and Sedition Act. This led Jefferson to help draft the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798 which were formal protests against such federal acts and declared the states' rights to not obey such unjust laws
"...we have nothing scarcely to propose."
When Thomas Jefferson became the third President of the United States in 1801, he was so determined that the federal government, by strictly following the Constitution, would work quietly in carrying out its few and defined powers that he eventually said:
"The path we have to pursue is so quiet that we have nothing scarcely to propose [to Congress]. A noiseless course, not meddling with the affairs of others, unattractive of notice, is a mark that society is going on in happiness."
Imagine Congress convening in Washington and the President telling them that he doesn't know of a single new law needed to make the system run more smoothly!
But it wasn't long before succeeding administrations and Congressmen yielded to the urge to let the federal government assume more and more power than the Constitution gave them.
Jefferson's Final Declaration and Protest
After watching federal power accumulate over a period of nearly two more decades, Thomas Jefferson had to speak again. It was as though he was giving his final warning to the people. It was in 1825, less than one year before he died. He drafted a document entitled, The solemn Declaration and Protest of the Commonwealth of Virginia on the principles of the constitution of the United States and on the violations of them .
In this Declaration, Jefferson once again reiterated the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. These included:
1.The people and the states have agreed to form a single federal government with respect to relations with each other and with foreign countries.
2.The people and the states retain the rights to independent government in relation to domestic affairs.
3.Each government has a distinct and separate set of functionaries to carry out its duties.
4.The commonwealth of Virginia religiously adheres to this distribution of powers and opposes with firmness the usurpation of either set over the other.
5.The greatest calamity to befall the people and the states is submission to a federal government of unlimited, usurped powers, the dissolution of the Union , and living under a government of unlimited powers.
6."We know and value too highly the blessings of our Union ," he said, so we will stay with our union, be patient and suffer much with the hope that time will bring consequences to the usurpers.
"We owe...the world at large to pursue with temper and perseverance..."
The great Jefferson then spelled out a formula that should be followed when and if the federal government degenerates from its original brilliance. He said that when things really deteriorate, rather than admit that this great experiment has failed, we must show the world that we can endure and recover. Said he:
"We owe every other sacrifice to ourselves, to our federal brethren, and to the world at large to pursue with temper and perseverance the great experiment which shall prove that man is capable of living in [a] society governing itself by laws self-imposed, and securing to its members the enjoyment of life, liberty, property, and peace;..."
Jefferson continues his counsel by telling us what our frame of mind must be as we see the union crumbling around us:
"and further, to show that even when the government of its choice shall manifest a tendency to degeneracy, we are not at once to despair , but that the will and the watchfulness of its sounder parts will reform its aberrations, recall it to original and legitimate principles, and restrain it within the rightful limits of self-government."
His four-step solution is:
1.Do not have the negative spirit of despair
2.Join with the nation's sounder parts
3.Recall original and legitimate principles
4.Restrain the runaway government within its proper limits
The Nation's Sounder Parts are Awakening
Millions of citizens across this country are alarmed at the progress of the destructive forces and are awaking to a realization of our awful situation. They do not have a spirit of despair but one of hope and faith in the eventual victory of good and right. They know that things are terribly wrong and that there must be some better answers. They see hypocrisy and deception and they are determined that there are better solutions. They are realizing the only real answer to this deteriorating dilemma is found in the words of Thomas Jefferson when he said:
"I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power."
These sounder parts are those who have the spirit of freedom and liberty. They are members of churches, political parties, tea parties, and citizens who don't belong to any organization. They are Americans concerned for their country. They are turning to The National Center for Constitutional Studies (NCCS) for help in understanding the original and legitimate principles of the Founders, for in them they hope they will finally find answers that will work.
http://www.nccs.net/
Educate the People and Restore Original Principles
Many students of American History stand in awe at the careful wording of the Declaration of Independence which incorporates eight magnificent principles necessary for freedom to exist in America . What some do not fully understand is that Jefferson spent the rest of his life, exactly fifty years to the day, trying to defend those principles and holding the line against an increasingly powerful federal government which seemed to want to break out from the cherished confines and principles of the Declaration.
During the difficult years of the nation's second president, John Adams, the federal authorities assumed powers that alarmed many of the Founders who thought they had gone well beyond Constitutional limits, especially with the passage of the Alien and Sedition Act. This led Jefferson to help draft the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798 which were formal protests against such federal acts and declared the states' rights to not obey such unjust laws
"...we have nothing scarcely to propose."
When Thomas Jefferson became the third President of the United States in 1801, he was so determined that the federal government, by strictly following the Constitution, would work quietly in carrying out its few and defined powers that he eventually said:
"The path we have to pursue is so quiet that we have nothing scarcely to propose [to Congress]. A noiseless course, not meddling with the affairs of others, unattractive of notice, is a mark that society is going on in happiness."
Imagine Congress convening in Washington and the President telling them that he doesn't know of a single new law needed to make the system run more smoothly!
But it wasn't long before succeeding administrations and Congressmen yielded to the urge to let the federal government assume more and more power than the Constitution gave them.
Jefferson's Final Declaration and Protest
After watching federal power accumulate over a period of nearly two more decades, Thomas Jefferson had to speak again. It was as though he was giving his final warning to the people. It was in 1825, less than one year before he died. He drafted a document entitled, The solemn Declaration and Protest of the Commonwealth of Virginia on the principles of the constitution of the United States and on the violations of them .
In this Declaration, Jefferson once again reiterated the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. These included:
1.The people and the states have agreed to form a single federal government with respect to relations with each other and with foreign countries.
2.The people and the states retain the rights to independent government in relation to domestic affairs.
3.Each government has a distinct and separate set of functionaries to carry out its duties.
4.The commonwealth of Virginia religiously adheres to this distribution of powers and opposes with firmness the usurpation of either set over the other.
5.The greatest calamity to befall the people and the states is submission to a federal government of unlimited, usurped powers, the dissolution of the Union , and living under a government of unlimited powers.
6."We know and value too highly the blessings of our Union ," he said, so we will stay with our union, be patient and suffer much with the hope that time will bring consequences to the usurpers.
"We owe...the world at large to pursue with temper and perseverance..."
The great Jefferson then spelled out a formula that should be followed when and if the federal government degenerates from its original brilliance. He said that when things really deteriorate, rather than admit that this great experiment has failed, we must show the world that we can endure and recover. Said he:
"We owe every other sacrifice to ourselves, to our federal brethren, and to the world at large to pursue with temper and perseverance the great experiment which shall prove that man is capable of living in [a] society governing itself by laws self-imposed, and securing to its members the enjoyment of life, liberty, property, and peace;..."
Jefferson continues his counsel by telling us what our frame of mind must be as we see the union crumbling around us:
"and further, to show that even when the government of its choice shall manifest a tendency to degeneracy, we are not at once to despair , but that the will and the watchfulness of its sounder parts will reform its aberrations, recall it to original and legitimate principles, and restrain it within the rightful limits of self-government."
His four-step solution is:
1.Do not have the negative spirit of despair
2.Join with the nation's sounder parts
3.Recall original and legitimate principles
4.Restrain the runaway government within its proper limits
The Nation's Sounder Parts are Awakening
Millions of citizens across this country are alarmed at the progress of the destructive forces and are awaking to a realization of our awful situation. They do not have a spirit of despair but one of hope and faith in the eventual victory of good and right. They know that things are terribly wrong and that there must be some better answers. They see hypocrisy and deception and they are determined that there are better solutions. They are realizing the only real answer to this deteriorating dilemma is found in the words of Thomas Jefferson when he said:
"I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power."
These sounder parts are those who have the spirit of freedom and liberty. They are members of churches, political parties, tea parties, and citizens who don't belong to any organization. They are Americans concerned for their country. They are turning to The National Center for Constitutional Studies (NCCS) for help in understanding the original and legitimate principles of the Founders, for in them they hope they will finally find answers that will work.
http://www.nccs.net/
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Wish comes true
Wish comes true for cancer-stricken 10-year-old inducted into Army
By Zachary Roth
Most kids might hope to get an Xbox or an iPod Touch for their 10th birthday. Brennan Daigle got a reception from a formation of soldiers, a ride in a camouflaged National Guard Humvee--and induction as an honorary member of the Army.
Since October 2009, Brennan, from Sulphur, Louisiana, has been battling embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma--a rare form of cancer in which muscular tumors attach themselves to bones, writer Rachel Reischling reports in the Fort Polk Guardian. Last month, doctors told his family there was nothing more they could do, and gave Brennan just weeks to live.
Brennan has always loved the Army. His mother had created a Facebook page--Brennan's Brigade--to keep family and friends informed of his condition. People from around the world, including soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, have left comments of encouragement and support. One group of soldiers in Afghanistan posted a picture of themselves holding an American flag, and told Brennan: "We're flying this flag in honor of you; we're here to back you. Stay Army strong."
Becky Prejean, who runs a charity for sick kids called Dreams Come True of Louisiana, heard about Brennan's illness, and got in touch with his mother, Kristy Daigle. Brennan's greatest wish, Daigle told Prejean, was to meet some soldiers in person, before his illness worsened. So the two women contacted the Fort Polk Community Relations Office, which put out a call for a few soldiers to attend Brennan's tenth birthday on Feb. 26.
Forty showed up.
Brennan had been told he was going fishing with his father. But when he got out of his dad's truck, he was greeted by a formation of 1st MEB soldiers, standing at attention in front of a National Guard Humvee. After a moment, they all shouted "Happy Birthday, Brennan!," and broke into applause.
Brennan was speechless, according to his mother. "All he could do was giggle," she said.
Brennan and his best friend Kaleb were invited to check out the Humvee, and Brennan sat behind the wheel. Then soldiers took the two boys out for a spin. Afterward, Brennan and Kaleb put their heads out the hatch on the vehicle's roof, while the crowd snapped pictures.
But it wasn't over. Brennan got out of the Humvee and was led to the front of the formation, where he shook hands with each soldier. He was inducted into the Army as an honorary member, then given a coin symbolizing merit and excellence, as well as a military jacket with his name on the pocket, and other Army-themed gifts.
"Brennan, you exemplify what personal courage means," Pfc. Kamesha Starkey, 1st MEB, told him.
Finally, the mayor of Sulphur, La., gave Brennan a key to the city, and the title of Honorary Mayor of the Day.
"Words can never express what I felt seeing all those soldiers there, knowing some of them had just come back from Iraq and still took time out for just one little boy," Kristy Daigle said. "Just to know that they care enough to give their all, to give their love and support to a little boy is phenomenal. It says so much about our men and women who serve our country in the armed forces."
Some of the soldiers said the event helped put things in perspective for them. "It was good to be able to give back," Pfc. Kyle Frederick said. "It opened my eyes to a lot of things: How I take my kids for granted, how lucky we are, how we complain on a day-to-day basis and we really have it good compared to others."
As for Brennan, it took a while for his new honor to sink in. The next day, he asked his mother, "Am I really in the Army?"
"You most certainly are," she answered. "They don't swear in just anyone."
"That's awesome," said Brennan.
By Zachary Roth
Most kids might hope to get an Xbox or an iPod Touch for their 10th birthday. Brennan Daigle got a reception from a formation of soldiers, a ride in a camouflaged National Guard Humvee--and induction as an honorary member of the Army.
Since October 2009, Brennan, from Sulphur, Louisiana, has been battling embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma--a rare form of cancer in which muscular tumors attach themselves to bones, writer Rachel Reischling reports in the Fort Polk Guardian. Last month, doctors told his family there was nothing more they could do, and gave Brennan just weeks to live.
Brennan has always loved the Army. His mother had created a Facebook page--Brennan's Brigade--to keep family and friends informed of his condition. People from around the world, including soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, have left comments of encouragement and support. One group of soldiers in Afghanistan posted a picture of themselves holding an American flag, and told Brennan: "We're flying this flag in honor of you; we're here to back you. Stay Army strong."
Becky Prejean, who runs a charity for sick kids called Dreams Come True of Louisiana, heard about Brennan's illness, and got in touch with his mother, Kristy Daigle. Brennan's greatest wish, Daigle told Prejean, was to meet some soldiers in person, before his illness worsened. So the two women contacted the Fort Polk Community Relations Office, which put out a call for a few soldiers to attend Brennan's tenth birthday on Feb. 26.
Forty showed up.
Brennan had been told he was going fishing with his father. But when he got out of his dad's truck, he was greeted by a formation of 1st MEB soldiers, standing at attention in front of a National Guard Humvee. After a moment, they all shouted "Happy Birthday, Brennan!," and broke into applause.
Brennan was speechless, according to his mother. "All he could do was giggle," she said.
Brennan and his best friend Kaleb were invited to check out the Humvee, and Brennan sat behind the wheel. Then soldiers took the two boys out for a spin. Afterward, Brennan and Kaleb put their heads out the hatch on the vehicle's roof, while the crowd snapped pictures.
But it wasn't over. Brennan got out of the Humvee and was led to the front of the formation, where he shook hands with each soldier. He was inducted into the Army as an honorary member, then given a coin symbolizing merit and excellence, as well as a military jacket with his name on the pocket, and other Army-themed gifts.
"Brennan, you exemplify what personal courage means," Pfc. Kamesha Starkey, 1st MEB, told him.
Finally, the mayor of Sulphur, La., gave Brennan a key to the city, and the title of Honorary Mayor of the Day.
"Words can never express what I felt seeing all those soldiers there, knowing some of them had just come back from Iraq and still took time out for just one little boy," Kristy Daigle said. "Just to know that they care enough to give their all, to give their love and support to a little boy is phenomenal. It says so much about our men and women who serve our country in the armed forces."
Some of the soldiers said the event helped put things in perspective for them. "It was good to be able to give back," Pfc. Kyle Frederick said. "It opened my eyes to a lot of things: How I take my kids for granted, how lucky we are, how we complain on a day-to-day basis and we really have it good compared to others."
As for Brennan, it took a while for his new honor to sink in. The next day, he asked his mother, "Am I really in the Army?"
"You most certainly are," she answered. "They don't swear in just anyone."
"That's awesome," said Brennan.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110308/ts_yblog_thelookout/wish-comes-true-for-cancer-stricken-10-year-old-inducted-into-army
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Motorists illegally detained at Florida tolls
Motorists illegally detained at Florida tolls - for using large bills!
Tampa, Florida -- Meet Joel Chandler, who just paid his $1.00 toll on the Polk Parkway with a $100 bill, he is not allowed to leave unless he provides personal info to the toll taker. The toll taker tells Chandler this is what happens when they get large bills. She says this is what they have to do.
Chandler says to the toll taker, "So I'm being detained?" She says yes sir.
It is a policy the Florida Turnpike authority instituted for people who paid with $20, $50 or $100 bills. After it happened once, Chandler kept testing the system and taped his encounters as he went through the toll booths.
One time a toll taker told him, she wouldn't give him his change unless he gave her the information. Chandler replied, "So I'm being detained." He asked why he was being detained but never got an answer.
Chandler says this is a serious criminal offense, to detain someone without proper legal authority. He says that is exactly what the department is doing.
When Chandler called and e-mailed the Florida Department of Transportation to complain about the policy, he was told there is no policy to detain people who give large bills. He says that made him more concerned, because that meant there were individual rogue toll takers detaining people.
The practice continued at toll booth after toll booth and, if someone refused to provide the information, they were threatened with arrest. One toll taker told Chandler's brother Robert, "I could call FHP. Would you like me to do that, sir?" Robert Chandler asked why she would call the Florida Highway Patrol when he was being illegally detained and the toll taker said he could come up with another form of tender.
Chandler continued to complain and on July 21st at 7:19 p.m., he received an email from the assistant General Counsel of FDOT saying essentially the department didn't know what he was talking about and they don't have sufficient information to investigate. However, earlier that same day, there were a flurry of e-mails going back and forth in the department saying shut the program down, temporarily suspend it and who should call Chandler and what should they say.
According to Chandler, not only was the D.O.T. not being truthful about the policy existing, but he also says they made a concerted effort to cover it up.
One reason the department might not have wanted the public to know about the program is because of whom was being detained.
Chandler says he thinks it clear from their own documents there was a lot of racial profiling going on.
And when you look at the documents from the Florida Department of Transportation you see there was a policy change about detaining people who gave a 20 dollar bill. The Department decided to leave it up to the discretion of the toll takers to decide who was suspicious.
The courts have ruled that is unconstitutional, because it allows the preferences and prejudices of an individual to make the decision.
Chandler says 87 percent of the times toll takers took the time to fill out the form as to why they stopped someone. It was a racial description like, young black male, young black male, young Hispanic male.
Although FDOT refused to comment because the Department expects to be sued, internal e-mail justify the program because of counterfeit bills. However, in a 2 and a half year period the DOT got $16,000 in counterfeit bills, while at the same time it collected close to $2 billion in tolls ($1,523,825,404).
The Department also spent $32,000 on forms used to catch the $16,000 in funny money. The department also says in e-mails, the program will help law enforcement catch counterfeiters.
However, as Chandler discovered, in the 885 times the D.O.T. claims it received counterfeit money, not one time was it referred to any law enforcement agency of any description.
Meantime, Chandler estimates the illegal detainment has happened at least 5 million times. He says it has been crime upon crime upon crime, lie upon lie upon lie. He says it's disturbing because the Department got its hands caught in the cookie jar.
That's why Chandler wants a to file a class action suit against the state. He says what it comes down to is the Department of Transportation will be found by the courts to be involved in the largest criminal conspiracy in the state.
And if the court were to award everyone who was detained even a small amount to compensate them, it could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
http://www.wtsp.com/news/mostpop/story.aspx?storyid=178322&provider=top
Tampa, Florida -- Meet Joel Chandler, who just paid his $1.00 toll on the Polk Parkway with a $100 bill, he is not allowed to leave unless he provides personal info to the toll taker. The toll taker tells Chandler this is what happens when they get large bills. She says this is what they have to do.
Chandler says to the toll taker, "So I'm being detained?" She says yes sir.
It is a policy the Florida Turnpike authority instituted for people who paid with $20, $50 or $100 bills. After it happened once, Chandler kept testing the system and taped his encounters as he went through the toll booths.
One time a toll taker told him, she wouldn't give him his change unless he gave her the information. Chandler replied, "So I'm being detained." He asked why he was being detained but never got an answer.
Chandler says this is a serious criminal offense, to detain someone without proper legal authority. He says that is exactly what the department is doing.
When Chandler called and e-mailed the Florida Department of Transportation to complain about the policy, he was told there is no policy to detain people who give large bills. He says that made him more concerned, because that meant there were individual rogue toll takers detaining people.
The practice continued at toll booth after toll booth and, if someone refused to provide the information, they were threatened with arrest. One toll taker told Chandler's brother Robert, "I could call FHP. Would you like me to do that, sir?" Robert Chandler asked why she would call the Florida Highway Patrol when he was being illegally detained and the toll taker said he could come up with another form of tender.
Chandler continued to complain and on July 21st at 7:19 p.m., he received an email from the assistant General Counsel of FDOT saying essentially the department didn't know what he was talking about and they don't have sufficient information to investigate. However, earlier that same day, there were a flurry of e-mails going back and forth in the department saying shut the program down, temporarily suspend it and who should call Chandler and what should they say.
According to Chandler, not only was the D.O.T. not being truthful about the policy existing, but he also says they made a concerted effort to cover it up.
One reason the department might not have wanted the public to know about the program is because of whom was being detained.
Chandler says he thinks it clear from their own documents there was a lot of racial profiling going on.
And when you look at the documents from the Florida Department of Transportation you see there was a policy change about detaining people who gave a 20 dollar bill. The Department decided to leave it up to the discretion of the toll takers to decide who was suspicious.
The courts have ruled that is unconstitutional, because it allows the preferences and prejudices of an individual to make the decision.
Chandler says 87 percent of the times toll takers took the time to fill out the form as to why they stopped someone. It was a racial description like, young black male, young black male, young Hispanic male.
Although FDOT refused to comment because the Department expects to be sued, internal e-mail justify the program because of counterfeit bills. However, in a 2 and a half year period the DOT got $16,000 in counterfeit bills, while at the same time it collected close to $2 billion in tolls ($1,523,825,404).
The Department also spent $32,000 on forms used to catch the $16,000 in funny money. The department also says in e-mails, the program will help law enforcement catch counterfeiters.
However, as Chandler discovered, in the 885 times the D.O.T. claims it received counterfeit money, not one time was it referred to any law enforcement agency of any description.
Meantime, Chandler estimates the illegal detainment has happened at least 5 million times. He says it has been crime upon crime upon crime, lie upon lie upon lie. He says it's disturbing because the Department got its hands caught in the cookie jar.
That's why Chandler wants a to file a class action suit against the state. He says what it comes down to is the Department of Transportation will be found by the courts to be involved in the largest criminal conspiracy in the state.
And if the court were to award everyone who was detained even a small amount to compensate them, it could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
http://www.wtsp.com/news/mostpop/story.aspx?storyid=178322&provider=top
Way To Go Texas
Texas Bill to go after Body Scanners and TSA
A freshman Representative filed a bill to penalize airport body scanner operators: Including TSA agents.
Can they do that to a federal agent? Bill author Rep. David Simpson (R-Longview) thinks so. And he's not alone, with 18 co-sponsors from both parties (see list below) and a few organizations.
The bill, HB 1938, makes it a civil penalty for anyone working in a locally owned airport to install or operate whole-body imaging equipment -- "including a device that uses backscatter x-rays or millimeter waves, that creates a visual image of a person's unclothed body and is intended to detect concealed objects," the bill read.
The penalty is capped at $1,000 per day per violation.
The bill is supported by the Travis County Republican Party, the Travis County Libertarian Party, ACLU-Texas, and Austin-based Texans for Accountable Government which pushed for a city of Austin resolution against the scanners.
Simpson may also have the backing of U.S. Congressman John Carter of Texas, a member of the U.S. House Appropriations and Homeland Security committees.
"On Thursday I met with U.S. Congressman John Carter ... to discuss strategies for stopping the federal Transportation Safety Administration’s implementation of unconstitutional and unreasonable searches of U.S. citizens as a condition of travel," Simpson wrote in his weekly blog post.
If it becomes law, Texas will be one of at least two states opposing the measures, including New Jersey and New Hampshire.
A press conference on the bill originally scheduled for Monday has been postponed.
Co-authors so far include: Reps. Jose Aliseda (R-Beeville), Leo Berman (R-Tyler), Joe Deshotel (D-Beaumont), Allen Fletcher (R-Tomball), Dan Flynn (R-Vann), John V. Garza (R-San Antonio), Larry Gonzales (R-Round Rock), Ryan Guillen (D-Rio Grande City), Charlie Howard (R-Sugar Land), Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola), Jason Isaac (R-Dripping Springs), Jim Landtroop (R-Big Spring), Jodie Laubenberg (R-Rockwall), Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), Debbie Riddle (R-Houston), Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston), and James White (R-Hillister).
http://www.lonestarreport.org/Blog/tabid/65/EntryId/1022/Simpson-files-anti-body-scanner-bill.aspx
A freshman Representative filed a bill to penalize airport body scanner operators: Including TSA agents.
Can they do that to a federal agent? Bill author Rep. David Simpson (R-Longview) thinks so. And he's not alone, with 18 co-sponsors from both parties (see list below) and a few organizations.
The bill, HB 1938, makes it a civil penalty for anyone working in a locally owned airport to install or operate whole-body imaging equipment -- "including a device that uses backscatter x-rays or millimeter waves, that creates a visual image of a person's unclothed body and is intended to detect concealed objects," the bill read.
The penalty is capped at $1,000 per day per violation.
The bill is supported by the Travis County Republican Party, the Travis County Libertarian Party, ACLU-Texas, and Austin-based Texans for Accountable Government which pushed for a city of Austin resolution against the scanners.
Simpson may also have the backing of U.S. Congressman John Carter of Texas, a member of the U.S. House Appropriations and Homeland Security committees.
"On Thursday I met with U.S. Congressman John Carter ... to discuss strategies for stopping the federal Transportation Safety Administration’s implementation of unconstitutional and unreasonable searches of U.S. citizens as a condition of travel," Simpson wrote in his weekly blog post.
If it becomes law, Texas will be one of at least two states opposing the measures, including New Jersey and New Hampshire.
A press conference on the bill originally scheduled for Monday has been postponed.
Co-authors so far include: Reps. Jose Aliseda (R-Beeville), Leo Berman (R-Tyler), Joe Deshotel (D-Beaumont), Allen Fletcher (R-Tomball), Dan Flynn (R-Vann), John V. Garza (R-San Antonio), Larry Gonzales (R-Round Rock), Ryan Guillen (D-Rio Grande City), Charlie Howard (R-Sugar Land), Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola), Jason Isaac (R-Dripping Springs), Jim Landtroop (R-Big Spring), Jodie Laubenberg (R-Rockwall), Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), Debbie Riddle (R-Houston), Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston), and James White (R-Hillister).
http://www.lonestarreport.org/Blog/tabid/65/EntryId/1022/Simpson-files-anti-body-scanner-bill.aspx
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Some Of Today's Headlines
Libya set for ‘day of anger’
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/221bc38c-3a0b-11e0-a441-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1EBKAS9ew
Police kill 2 in clashes with Yemen protesters
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110216/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_yemen
Riot police storm Bahrain camp; 2 reported dead
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_bahrain_protests
Biggest Solar Flare In Years Headed For Earth
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/02/16/biggest-solar-flare-in-years-headed-for-earth/
Israel says Iran warships to transit Suez for Syria
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/16/us-israel-iran-warships-idUSTRE71F4NW20110216
Possible Mexican Military Incursion On U.S. Soil
http://www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Possible-Mexican-Military-Incursion-On-U-S-Soil/x_-oXhrE3Um61ytja1xnKg.cspx
'Kill Switch' Internet bill alarms privacy experts
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2011-02-15-kill-switch_N.htm
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/221bc38c-3a0b-11e0-a441-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1EBKAS9ew
Police kill 2 in clashes with Yemen protesters
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110216/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_yemen
Riot police storm Bahrain camp; 2 reported dead
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_bahrain_protests
Biggest Solar Flare In Years Headed For Earth
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/02/16/biggest-solar-flare-in-years-headed-for-earth/
Israel says Iran warships to transit Suez for Syria
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/16/us-israel-iran-warships-idUSTRE71F4NW20110216
Possible Mexican Military Incursion On U.S. Soil
http://www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Possible-Mexican-Military-Incursion-On-U-S-Soil/x_-oXhrE3Um61ytja1xnKg.cspx
'Kill Switch' Internet bill alarms privacy experts
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2011-02-15-kill-switch_N.htm
In sharp reversal, U.S. agrees to rebuke Israel in Security Council - By Colum Lynch | Turtle Bay
In sharp reversal, U.S. agrees to rebuke Israel in Security Council - By Colum Lynch Turtle Bay
The U.S. informed Arab governments Tuesday that it will support a U.N. Security Council statement reaffirming that the 15-nation body "does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity," a move aimed at avoiding the prospect of having to veto a stronger Palestinian resolution calling the settlements illegal.
But the Palestinian's rejected the American offer following a meeting late Wednesdy of Arab representativs and said it is planning to press for a vote on its resolution Friday, according officials familar with the issue. The decision to reject the American offer raised the prospects that the Obama adminstration may cast its first ever veto in the U.N. Security Council.
Still, the U.S. offer signaled a renewed willingness to seek a way out of the current impasse, even if it requires breaking with its key ally and joining others in the council in sending a strong message to Israel to stop its construction of new settlements. The Palestinian delegation, along with the council's Arab member Lebanon, have asked the council's president this evening to schedule a meeting on Friday. But it remained unclear whether the Palestinian move today is simply a negotiating tactic aimed at extracting a better deal from the United States.
Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, outlined the new U.S. offer in a closed door meeting on Tuesday with the Arab Group, a bloc of Arab countries from North Africa and the Middle East. In exchange for scuttling the Palestinian resolution, the United States would support the council statement, consider supporting a U.N. Security Council visit to the Middle East, the first since 1979, and commit to supporting strong language criticizing Israel's settlement policies in a future statement by the Middle East Quartet.
U.S. officials were not available for comment, but two Security Council diplomats confirmed the proposal. The Arab Group was scheduled to meet this afternoon to formulate a formal response to the American offer. Council diplomats said that the discussions were fluid and that there was still the possibility that the U.S. draft would be subject to further negotiations. They said it was also not yet certain that the U.S. offer would satisfy the Arab Group, and that the U.S. may be forced to veto the Palestinian resolution.
U.S. officials argue that the only way to resolve the Middle East conflict is through direct negotiations involving Israel and the Palestinians. For weeks, the Obama administration has refused to negotiate with the Palestinians on a resolution condemning the settlements as illegal, signaling that they would likely veto it if it were put to a vote. The Palestinians were planning to put the resolution to a vote later this week. But Security Council statements of the sort currently under consideration are voted on the bases of consensus in the 15-nation council.
The United States has , however, been isolated in the 15-nation council. Virtually all 14 other member states are prepared to support the Palestinian resolution, according to council diplomats. A U.N. Security Council resolution generally carries greater political, and legal force, than a statement from the council's president.
The U.S. concession comes as the Middle East is facing a massive wave of popular demonstrations that have brought down the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt and are posing a challenge to governments in Algeria, Bahrain, and Iran.
The U.S. informed Arab governments Tuesday that it will support a U.N. Security Council statement reaffirming that the 15-nation body "does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity," a move aimed at avoiding the prospect of having to veto a stronger Palestinian resolution calling the settlements illegal.
But the Palestinian's rejected the American offer following a meeting late Wednesdy of Arab representativs and said it is planning to press for a vote on its resolution Friday, according officials familar with the issue. The decision to reject the American offer raised the prospects that the Obama adminstration may cast its first ever veto in the U.N. Security Council.
Still, the U.S. offer signaled a renewed willingness to seek a way out of the current impasse, even if it requires breaking with its key ally and joining others in the council in sending a strong message to Israel to stop its construction of new settlements. The Palestinian delegation, along with the council's Arab member Lebanon, have asked the council's president this evening to schedule a meeting on Friday. But it remained unclear whether the Palestinian move today is simply a negotiating tactic aimed at extracting a better deal from the United States.
Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, outlined the new U.S. offer in a closed door meeting on Tuesday with the Arab Group, a bloc of Arab countries from North Africa and the Middle East. In exchange for scuttling the Palestinian resolution, the United States would support the council statement, consider supporting a U.N. Security Council visit to the Middle East, the first since 1979, and commit to supporting strong language criticizing Israel's settlement policies in a future statement by the Middle East Quartet.
U.S. officials were not available for comment, but two Security Council diplomats confirmed the proposal. The Arab Group was scheduled to meet this afternoon to formulate a formal response to the American offer. Council diplomats said that the discussions were fluid and that there was still the possibility that the U.S. draft would be subject to further negotiations. They said it was also not yet certain that the U.S. offer would satisfy the Arab Group, and that the U.S. may be forced to veto the Palestinian resolution.
U.S. officials argue that the only way to resolve the Middle East conflict is through direct negotiations involving Israel and the Palestinians. For weeks, the Obama administration has refused to negotiate with the Palestinians on a resolution condemning the settlements as illegal, signaling that they would likely veto it if it were put to a vote. The Palestinians were planning to put the resolution to a vote later this week. But Security Council statements of the sort currently under consideration are voted on the bases of consensus in the 15-nation council.
The United States has , however, been isolated in the 15-nation council. Virtually all 14 other member states are prepared to support the Palestinian resolution, according to council diplomats. A U.N. Security Council resolution generally carries greater political, and legal force, than a statement from the council's president.
The U.S. concession comes as the Middle East is facing a massive wave of popular demonstrations that have brought down the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt and are posing a challenge to governments in Algeria, Bahrain, and Iran.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
John Stossel Atlas Shrugged Part One
Here is a great video of the John Stossel show talking about Atlas Shrugged. You can watch the other videos below under the videos tab.
Monday, February 14, 2011
A Little Strange
Former Egyptian leader at his residence in Sharm el-SheikhMubarak falls into coma after final speech: report
Egypt's deposed president, Hosni Mubarak, went into a full coma on Saturday night at his residence in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, an Egyptian newspaper reported on Monday, quoting well-informed sources.
Mubarak and his family moved to Sharm al-Sheikh on Thursday night following his final speech, in which he handed over executive authority to former Vice-President Omar Suleiman, Egypt's al-Masry al-Youm reported.
The same sources said that Mubarak was currently receiving medical treatment but that no decision had yet been made on whether to transfer the 82-year-old former head-of-state to a hospital.
Rumors had circulated earlier that Mubarak had fainted twice while recording his final speech, which was broadcast on state television on Thursday evening.
Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq confirmed Sunday that Mubarak was in Sharm el-Sheikh and has not leave the country.
Mubarak underwent a successful surgery in March 2010 at a German clinic for an inflamed gall bladder. Since then, doubts increased over the former president's health.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/02/14/137565.html
Egypt's deposed president, Hosni Mubarak, went into a full coma on Saturday night at his residence in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, an Egyptian newspaper reported on Monday, quoting well-informed sources.
Mubarak and his family moved to Sharm al-Sheikh on Thursday night following his final speech, in which he handed over executive authority to former Vice-President Omar Suleiman, Egypt's al-Masry al-Youm reported.
The same sources said that Mubarak was currently receiving medical treatment but that no decision had yet been made on whether to transfer the 82-year-old former head-of-state to a hospital.
Rumors had circulated earlier that Mubarak had fainted twice while recording his final speech, which was broadcast on state television on Thursday evening.
Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq confirmed Sunday that Mubarak was in Sharm el-Sheikh and has not leave the country.
Mubarak underwent a successful surgery in March 2010 at a German clinic for an inflamed gall bladder. Since then, doubts increased over the former president's health.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/02/14/137565.html
Friday, February 11, 2011
IMF calls for dollar alternative
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The International Monetary Fund issued a report Thursday on a possible replacement for the dollar as the world's reserve currency.
The IMF said Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, could help stabilize the global financial system.
SDRs represent potential claims on the currencies of IMF members. They were created by the IMF in 1969 and can be converted into whatever currency a borrower requires at exchange rates based on a weighted basket of international currencies. The IMF typically lends countries funds denominated in SDRs
While they are not a tangible currency, some economists argue that SDRs could be used as a less volatile alternative to the U.S. dollar.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the IMF, acknowledged there are some "technical hurdles" involved with SDRs, but he believes they could help correct global imbalances and shore up the global financial system.
"Over time, there may also be a role for the SDR to contribute to a more stable international monetary system," he said.
The goal is to have a reserve asset for central banks that better reflects the global economy since the dollar is vulnerable to swings in the domestic economy and changes in U.S. policy.
In addition to serving as a reserve currency, the IMF also proposed creating SDR-denominated bonds, which could reduce central banks' dependence on U.S. Treasuries. The Fund also suggested that certain assets, such as oil and gold, which are traded in U.S. dollars, could be priced using SDRs.
Oil prices usually go up when the dollar depreciates. Supporters say using SDRs to price oil on the global market could help prevent spikes in energy prices that often occur when the dollar weakens significantly.
The dollar alternatives
Fred Bergsten, director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said at a conference in Washington that IMF member nations should agree to create $2 trillion worth of SDRs over the next few years.
SDRs, he said, "will further diversify the system."
Dollar firms after starting 2011 weak
The dollar has been drifting lower so far this year as the global economy improves and investors regain their appetite for more risky assets such as stocks and commodities.
After rising above 81 in early January, the dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of other international currencies, eased below 77 earlier this week.
However, the dollar was higher Thursday against the euro, pound and yen as disappointing corporate results weighed on stock prices following several days of gains on Wall Street. The rally in the commodities market also cooled, with the price of oil and metals backing off recent highs.
In addition, renewed concerns about the debt problems facing troubled European economies put pressure on the euro and supported the dollar. The yield on Portugal's benchmark bond rose to a record high Wednesday, and borrowing costs for Ireland, Spain and Greece remain elevated.
"The market is shedding risk, with equities and commodities weakening and the U.S. dollar broadly stronger" said Camilla Sutton, currency strategist at Scotia Capital.
Traders were also digesting comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who told Congress Wednesday that despite a strengthening economic recovery, the unemployment rate remains high while inflation is "still quite low."
Those remarks reaffirmed the view that "the Fed would be very slow to tighten policy given its dual mandate of price stability and employment," analysts at Sucden Financial wrote in a research report.
Bernanke also urged lawmakers to come up with a "credible plan" to bring down "unsustainable" federal budget deficits.
"We expect that the outlook for the U.S. fiscal position will weigh heavily on the U.S. dollar in the quarters ahead," said Sutton. In the near-term, however, she said "a strengthening growth profile" could help provide "a temporary period of dollar strength."
http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/10/markets/dollar/index.htm
The IMF said Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, could help stabilize the global financial system.
SDRs represent potential claims on the currencies of IMF members. They were created by the IMF in 1969 and can be converted into whatever currency a borrower requires at exchange rates based on a weighted basket of international currencies. The IMF typically lends countries funds denominated in SDRs
While they are not a tangible currency, some economists argue that SDRs could be used as a less volatile alternative to the U.S. dollar.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the IMF, acknowledged there are some "technical hurdles" involved with SDRs, but he believes they could help correct global imbalances and shore up the global financial system.
"Over time, there may also be a role for the SDR to contribute to a more stable international monetary system," he said.
The goal is to have a reserve asset for central banks that better reflects the global economy since the dollar is vulnerable to swings in the domestic economy and changes in U.S. policy.
In addition to serving as a reserve currency, the IMF also proposed creating SDR-denominated bonds, which could reduce central banks' dependence on U.S. Treasuries. The Fund also suggested that certain assets, such as oil and gold, which are traded in U.S. dollars, could be priced using SDRs.
Oil prices usually go up when the dollar depreciates. Supporters say using SDRs to price oil on the global market could help prevent spikes in energy prices that often occur when the dollar weakens significantly.
The dollar alternatives
Fred Bergsten, director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said at a conference in Washington that IMF member nations should agree to create $2 trillion worth of SDRs over the next few years.
SDRs, he said, "will further diversify the system."
Dollar firms after starting 2011 weak
The dollar has been drifting lower so far this year as the global economy improves and investors regain their appetite for more risky assets such as stocks and commodities.
After rising above 81 in early January, the dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of other international currencies, eased below 77 earlier this week.
However, the dollar was higher Thursday against the euro, pound and yen as disappointing corporate results weighed on stock prices following several days of gains on Wall Street. The rally in the commodities market also cooled, with the price of oil and metals backing off recent highs.
In addition, renewed concerns about the debt problems facing troubled European economies put pressure on the euro and supported the dollar. The yield on Portugal's benchmark bond rose to a record high Wednesday, and borrowing costs for Ireland, Spain and Greece remain elevated.
"The market is shedding risk, with equities and commodities weakening and the U.S. dollar broadly stronger" said Camilla Sutton, currency strategist at Scotia Capital.
Traders were also digesting comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who told Congress Wednesday that despite a strengthening economic recovery, the unemployment rate remains high while inflation is "still quite low."
Those remarks reaffirmed the view that "the Fed would be very slow to tighten policy given its dual mandate of price stability and employment," analysts at Sucden Financial wrote in a research report.
Bernanke also urged lawmakers to come up with a "credible plan" to bring down "unsustainable" federal budget deficits.
"We expect that the outlook for the U.S. fiscal position will weigh heavily on the U.S. dollar in the quarters ahead," said Sutton. In the near-term, however, she said "a strengthening growth profile" could help provide "a temporary period of dollar strength."
http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/10/markets/dollar/index.htm
MULTICULTURALISM HAS FAILED
Is Europe waking up at the same time the U.S. is falling asleep?
PARIS (AFP) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared Thursday that multiculturalism had failed, joining a growing number of world leaders or ex-leaders who have condemned it.
"My answer is clearly yes, it is a failure," he said in a television interview when asked about the policy which advocates that host societies welcome and foster distinct cultural and religious immigrant groups.
"Of course we must all respect differences, but we do not want... a society where communities coexist side by side.
"If you come to France, you accept to melt into a single community, which is the national community, and if you do not want to accept that, you cannot be welcome in France," the right-wing (was that really neccessary?) president said.
"The French national community cannot accept a change in its lifestyle, equality between men and women... freedom for little girls to go to school," he said.
"We have been too concerned about the identity of the person who was arriving and not enough about the identity of the country that was receiving him," Sarkozy said in the TFI channel show.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Australia's ex-prime minister John Howard and Spanish ex-premier Jose Maria Aznar have also recently said multicultural policies have not successfully integrated immigrants.
Merkel in October said efforts towards multiculturalism in Germany had "failed, totally."
The comment followed weeks of anguished debate sparked by the huge popularity of a book by a central banker saying that immigrants, in particular Muslims, were making Germany "more stupid."
Britain's Cameron last week pronounced his country's long-standing policy of multiculturalism a failure, calling for better integration of young Muslims to combat home-grown extremism.
He urged a "more active, muscular liberalism" where equal rights, the rule of law, freedom of speech and democracy are actively promoted to create a stronger national identity.
The prime minister, who took power in May 2010, argued that "under the doctrine of state multiculturalism, we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and the mainstream".
He said this had resulted in a lack of national identity in Britain which had made some young Muslims turn to extremist ideology.
Sarkozy said in his television interview Thursday that "our Muslim compatriots must be able to practise their religion, as any citizen can," but he noted "we in France do not want people to pray in an ostentatious way in the street."
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen late last year came under fire for comparing Muslims praying in the streets outside overcrowded mosques in France to the Nazi occupation.
Marine Le Pen said there were "ten to fifteen" places in France where Muslims worshipped in the streets outside mosques when these were full.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110210/wl_afp/francepoliticsimmigrationsociety_20110210231042
PARIS (AFP) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared Thursday that multiculturalism had failed, joining a growing number of world leaders or ex-leaders who have condemned it.
"My answer is clearly yes, it is a failure," he said in a television interview when asked about the policy which advocates that host societies welcome and foster distinct cultural and religious immigrant groups.
"Of course we must all respect differences, but we do not want... a society where communities coexist side by side.
"If you come to France, you accept to melt into a single community, which is the national community, and if you do not want to accept that, you cannot be welcome in France," the right-wing (was that really neccessary?) president said.
"The French national community cannot accept a change in its lifestyle, equality between men and women... freedom for little girls to go to school," he said.
"We have been too concerned about the identity of the person who was arriving and not enough about the identity of the country that was receiving him," Sarkozy said in the TFI channel show.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Australia's ex-prime minister John Howard and Spanish ex-premier Jose Maria Aznar have also recently said multicultural policies have not successfully integrated immigrants.
Merkel in October said efforts towards multiculturalism in Germany had "failed, totally."
The comment followed weeks of anguished debate sparked by the huge popularity of a book by a central banker saying that immigrants, in particular Muslims, were making Germany "more stupid."
Britain's Cameron last week pronounced his country's long-standing policy of multiculturalism a failure, calling for better integration of young Muslims to combat home-grown extremism.
He urged a "more active, muscular liberalism" where equal rights, the rule of law, freedom of speech and democracy are actively promoted to create a stronger national identity.
The prime minister, who took power in May 2010, argued that "under the doctrine of state multiculturalism, we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and the mainstream".
He said this had resulted in a lack of national identity in Britain which had made some young Muslims turn to extremist ideology.
Sarkozy said in his television interview Thursday that "our Muslim compatriots must be able to practise their religion, as any citizen can," but he noted "we in France do not want people to pray in an ostentatious way in the street."
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen late last year came under fire for comparing Muslims praying in the streets outside overcrowded mosques in France to the Nazi occupation.
Marine Le Pen said there were "ten to fifteen" places in France where Muslims worshipped in the streets outside mosques when these were full.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110210/wl_afp/francepoliticsimmigrationsociety_20110210231042
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
It's A Start
New drilling method opens vast oil fields in US
By JONATHAN FAHEY, AP Energy Writer Jonathan Fahey, Ap Energy Writer
A new drilling technique is opening up vast fields of previously out-of-reach oil in the western United States, helping reverse a two-decade decline in domestic production of crude.
Companies are investing billions of dollars to get at oil deposits scattered across North Dakota, Colorado, Texas and California. By 2015, oil executives and analysts say, the new fields could yield as much as 2 million barrels of oil a day — more than the entire Gulf of Mexico produces now.
This new drilling is expected to raise U.S. production by at least 20 percent over the next five years. And within 10 years, it could help reduce oil imports by more than half, advancing a goal that has long eluded policymakers.
"That's a significant contribution to energy security," says Ed Morse, head of commodities research at Credit Suisse.
Oil engineers are applying what critics say is an environmentally questionable method developed in recent years to tap natural gas trapped in underground shale. They drill down and horizontally into the rock, then pump water, sand and chemicals into the hole to crack the shale and allow gas to flow up.
Because oil molecules are sticky and larger than gas molecules, engineers thought the process wouldn't work to squeeze oil out fast enough to make it economical. But drillers learned how to increase the number of cracks in the rock and use different chemicals to free up oil at low cost.
"We've completely transformed the natural gas industry, and I wouldn't be surprised if we transform the oil business in the next few years too," says Aubrey McClendon, chief executive of Chesapeake Energy, which is using the technique.
Petroleum engineers first used the method in 2007 to unlock oil from a 25,000-square-mile formation under North Dakota and Montana known as the Bakken. Production there rose 50 percent in just the past year, to 458,000 barrels a day, according to Bentek Energy, an energy analysis firm.
It was first thought that the Bakken was unique. Then drillers tapped oil in a shale formation under South Texas called the Eagle Ford. Drilling permits in the region grew 11-fold last year.
Now newer fields are showing promise, including the Niobrara, which stretches under Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas; the Leonard, in New Mexico and Texas; and the Monterey, in California.
"It's only been fleshed out over the last 12 months just how consequential this can be," says Mark Papa, chief executive of EOG Resources, the company that first used horizontal drilling to tap shale oil. "And there will be several additional plays that will come about in the next 12 to 18 months. We're not done yet."
Environmentalists fear that fluids or wastewater from the process, called hydraulic fracturing, could pollute drinking water supplies. The Environmental Protection Agency is now studying its safety in shale drilling. The agency studied use of the process in shallower drilling operations in 2004 and found that it was safe.
In the Bakken formation, production is rising so fast there is no space in pipelines to bring the oil to market. Instead, it is being transported to refineries by rail and truck. Drilling companies have had to erect camps to house workers.
Unemployment in North Dakota has fallen to the lowest level in the nation, 3.8 percent — less than half the national rate of 9 percent. The influx of mostly male workers to the region has left local men lamenting a lack of women. Convenience stores are struggling to keep shelves stocked with food.
The Bakken and the Eagle Ford are each expected to ultimately produce 4 billion barrels of oil. That would make them the fifth- and sixth-biggest oil fields ever discovered in the United States. The top four are Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, Spraberry Trend in West Texas, the East Texas Oilfield and the Kuparuk Field in Alaska.
The fields are attracting billions of dollars of investment from foreign oil giants like Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Norway's Statoil, and also from the smaller U.S. drillers who developed the new techniques like Chesapeake, EOG Resources and Occidental Petroleum.
Last month China's state-owned oil company CNOOC agreed to pay Chesapeake $570 million for a one-third stake in a drilling project in the Niobrara. This followed a $1 billion deal in October between the two companies on a project in the Eagle Ford.
With oil prices high and natural-gas prices low, profit margins from producing oil from shale are much higher than for gas. Also, drilling for shale oil is not dependent on high oil prices. Papa says this oil is cheaper to tap than the oil in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico or in Canada's oil sands.
The country's shale oil resources aren't nearly as big as the country's shale gas resources. Drillers have unlocked decades' worth of natural gas, an abundance of supply that may keep prices low for years. U.S. shale oil on the other hand will only supply one to two percent of world consumption by 2015, not nearly enough to affect prices.
Still, a surge in production last year from the Bakken helped U.S. oil production grow for the second year in a row, after 23 years of decline. This during a year when drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, the nation's biggest oil-producing region, was halted after the BP oil spill.
U.S. oil production climbed steadily through most of the last century and reached a peak of 9.6 million barrels per day in 1970. The decline since was slowed by new production in Alaska in the 1980s and in the Gulf of Mexico more recently. But by 2008, production had fallen to 5 million barrels per day.
Within five years, analysts and executives predict, the newly unlocked fields are expected to produce 1 million to 2 million barrels of oil per day, enough to boost U.S. production 20 percent to 40 percent. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates production will grow a more modest 500,000 barrels per day.
By 2020, oil imports could be slashed by as much as 60 percent, according to Credit Suisse's Morse, who is counting on Gulf oil production to rise and on U.S. gasoline demand to fall.
At today's oil prices of roughly $90 per barrel, slashing imports that much would save the U.S. $175 billion a year. Last year, when oil averaged $78 per barrel, the U.S. sent $260 billion overseas for crude, accounting for nearly half the country's $500 billion trade deficit.
"We have redefined how to look for oil and gas," says Rehan Rashid, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets. "The implications are major for the nation."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110209/ap_on_re_us/us_shale_oil_3
By JONATHAN FAHEY, AP Energy Writer Jonathan Fahey, Ap Energy Writer
A new drilling technique is opening up vast fields of previously out-of-reach oil in the western United States, helping reverse a two-decade decline in domestic production of crude.
Companies are investing billions of dollars to get at oil deposits scattered across North Dakota, Colorado, Texas and California. By 2015, oil executives and analysts say, the new fields could yield as much as 2 million barrels of oil a day — more than the entire Gulf of Mexico produces now.
This new drilling is expected to raise U.S. production by at least 20 percent over the next five years. And within 10 years, it could help reduce oil imports by more than half, advancing a goal that has long eluded policymakers.
"That's a significant contribution to energy security," says Ed Morse, head of commodities research at Credit Suisse.
Oil engineers are applying what critics say is an environmentally questionable method developed in recent years to tap natural gas trapped in underground shale. They drill down and horizontally into the rock, then pump water, sand and chemicals into the hole to crack the shale and allow gas to flow up.
Because oil molecules are sticky and larger than gas molecules, engineers thought the process wouldn't work to squeeze oil out fast enough to make it economical. But drillers learned how to increase the number of cracks in the rock and use different chemicals to free up oil at low cost.
"We've completely transformed the natural gas industry, and I wouldn't be surprised if we transform the oil business in the next few years too," says Aubrey McClendon, chief executive of Chesapeake Energy, which is using the technique.
Petroleum engineers first used the method in 2007 to unlock oil from a 25,000-square-mile formation under North Dakota and Montana known as the Bakken. Production there rose 50 percent in just the past year, to 458,000 barrels a day, according to Bentek Energy, an energy analysis firm.
It was first thought that the Bakken was unique. Then drillers tapped oil in a shale formation under South Texas called the Eagle Ford. Drilling permits in the region grew 11-fold last year.
Now newer fields are showing promise, including the Niobrara, which stretches under Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas; the Leonard, in New Mexico and Texas; and the Monterey, in California.
"It's only been fleshed out over the last 12 months just how consequential this can be," says Mark Papa, chief executive of EOG Resources, the company that first used horizontal drilling to tap shale oil. "And there will be several additional plays that will come about in the next 12 to 18 months. We're not done yet."
Environmentalists fear that fluids or wastewater from the process, called hydraulic fracturing, could pollute drinking water supplies. The Environmental Protection Agency is now studying its safety in shale drilling. The agency studied use of the process in shallower drilling operations in 2004 and found that it was safe.
In the Bakken formation, production is rising so fast there is no space in pipelines to bring the oil to market. Instead, it is being transported to refineries by rail and truck. Drilling companies have had to erect camps to house workers.
Unemployment in North Dakota has fallen to the lowest level in the nation, 3.8 percent — less than half the national rate of 9 percent. The influx of mostly male workers to the region has left local men lamenting a lack of women. Convenience stores are struggling to keep shelves stocked with food.
The Bakken and the Eagle Ford are each expected to ultimately produce 4 billion barrels of oil. That would make them the fifth- and sixth-biggest oil fields ever discovered in the United States. The top four are Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, Spraberry Trend in West Texas, the East Texas Oilfield and the Kuparuk Field in Alaska.
The fields are attracting billions of dollars of investment from foreign oil giants like Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Norway's Statoil, and also from the smaller U.S. drillers who developed the new techniques like Chesapeake, EOG Resources and Occidental Petroleum.
Last month China's state-owned oil company CNOOC agreed to pay Chesapeake $570 million for a one-third stake in a drilling project in the Niobrara. This followed a $1 billion deal in October between the two companies on a project in the Eagle Ford.
With oil prices high and natural-gas prices low, profit margins from producing oil from shale are much higher than for gas. Also, drilling for shale oil is not dependent on high oil prices. Papa says this oil is cheaper to tap than the oil in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico or in Canada's oil sands.
The country's shale oil resources aren't nearly as big as the country's shale gas resources. Drillers have unlocked decades' worth of natural gas, an abundance of supply that may keep prices low for years. U.S. shale oil on the other hand will only supply one to two percent of world consumption by 2015, not nearly enough to affect prices.
Still, a surge in production last year from the Bakken helped U.S. oil production grow for the second year in a row, after 23 years of decline. This during a year when drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, the nation's biggest oil-producing region, was halted after the BP oil spill.
U.S. oil production climbed steadily through most of the last century and reached a peak of 9.6 million barrels per day in 1970. The decline since was slowed by new production in Alaska in the 1980s and in the Gulf of Mexico more recently. But by 2008, production had fallen to 5 million barrels per day.
Within five years, analysts and executives predict, the newly unlocked fields are expected to produce 1 million to 2 million barrels of oil per day, enough to boost U.S. production 20 percent to 40 percent. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates production will grow a more modest 500,000 barrels per day.
By 2020, oil imports could be slashed by as much as 60 percent, according to Credit Suisse's Morse, who is counting on Gulf oil production to rise and on U.S. gasoline demand to fall.
At today's oil prices of roughly $90 per barrel, slashing imports that much would save the U.S. $175 billion a year. Last year, when oil averaged $78 per barrel, the U.S. sent $260 billion overseas for crude, accounting for nearly half the country's $500 billion trade deficit.
"We have redefined how to look for oil and gas," says Rehan Rashid, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets. "The implications are major for the nation."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110209/ap_on_re_us/us_shale_oil_3
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Somebody To Keep An Eye On?
Marco Rubio Dismisses Tea Party Caucus
When grassroots tea party support propelled a number of conservative Republicans into office in last November’s midterm elections, many expected the newly formed congressional Tea Party caucuses to gain steam and prominence on Capitol Hill. Indeed, the House Tea Party Caucus — founded by Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. — now boasts 52 members (all Republicans) and the Senate caucus has recruited four prominent figures, including Sens. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and Rand Paul, R-Ky. But some notable tea party favorites have repeatedly stated they will not join.
Though he’s an outspoken tea party ally, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, has refused to join the House caucus, saying that its “structure and formality are the exact opposite” of what the tea party movement stands for. “[I]f there is an attempt to put structure and formality around it, or to co-opt it by Washington, D.C., it’s going to take away from the free-flowing nature of the true tea party movement.”
“I’m 100 percent pro-tea party, but this is not the right thing to do,” Chaffetz said.
Most recently, the idea of an organized caucus has been dismissed by another tea party favorite, Sen. Marco Rubio. While the Florida Republican has unapologetically advocated conservative policies and principles, he has long questioned the need for a formal caucus in Washington. In a local radio interview last Friday, Rubio made the criticism even clearer, saying such a “little club” run by politicians in Washington could cause the real movement “to lose its energy.”
When grassroots tea party support propelled a number of conservative Republicans into office in last November’s midterm elections, many expected the newly formed congressional Tea Party caucuses to gain steam and prominence on Capitol Hill. Indeed, the House Tea Party Caucus — founded by Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. — now boasts 52 members (all Republicans) and the Senate caucus has recruited four prominent figures, including Sens. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and Rand Paul, R-Ky. But some notable tea party favorites have repeatedly stated they will not join.
Though he’s an outspoken tea party ally, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, has refused to join the House caucus, saying that its “structure and formality are the exact opposite” of what the tea party movement stands for. “[I]f there is an attempt to put structure and formality around it, or to co-opt it by Washington, D.C., it’s going to take away from the free-flowing nature of the true tea party movement.”
“I’m 100 percent pro-tea party, but this is not the right thing to do,” Chaffetz said.
Most recently, the idea of an organized caucus has been dismissed by another tea party favorite, Sen. Marco Rubio. While the Florida Republican has unapologetically advocated conservative policies and principles, he has long questioned the need for a formal caucus in Washington. In a local radio interview last Friday, Rubio made the criticism even clearer, saying such a “little club” run by politicians in Washington could cause the real movement “to lose its energy.”
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Happy 100th Birthday President Reagan
Americans recall Reagan legacy on his 100th birthday
Washington, Feb 5 : Ronald Reagan was the political face of the 1980s, but the Republican leader, who served two terms as US president during that decade, was both an idol of conservatives and a foe of liberals.
This Sunday millions of Americans will tune in to watch the Super Bowl - an annual highlight in the sporting world to decide the championship team in professional American football. But, before the game starts, they will remember Reagan, who would have been 100 years old this day.
His life will be featured in a video homage, a tribute that seems to indicate that in the current turbulent times, Reagan is more beloved than ever, and thus, deserving of the highest appreciation that the sports-crazed country can dream up.
Thirty years after taking office and more than six years after his death, Ronald Reagan has recaptured the public imagination. Bookstores place his biography in their display windows, universities offer lecture series about his politics and Reagan followers throughout the country are planning parties to mark his birthday.
One in three US citizens call him a historically outstanding president. Given how he lived his life, it is not surprising that Reagan has been able to add to his popularity even after death.
He was born in 1911 in Tampico, Illinois, a town about 180 km west of Chicago with a current population of about 800. The son of an unsuccessful shoe salesman and a devout Christian mother, Reagan sought and always found a path to the top.
As a college student, he was elected student body president. After becoming an actor, he was elected president of Hollywood's Screen Actors Guild, and as a politician he served two terms as governor of California before being elected US president.
He had to work for his successes, paying for college by washing dishes, for example. After graduating, he gained prominence in the Midwestern US as a sports radio broadcaster, which ultimately led to his career as a film actor and national fame.
In his 50s, he decided to enter politics and finally won the presidency at the age of 69 in 1980 after two unsuccessful attempts to win his party's nomination.
In the 1980 presidential election, many voters made an issue of his age. But now that hardly figures in his legacy. What people remember is Reagan's populism and that he brought new optimism to the country after many years of demoralising crises, including the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal and the Iran hostage crisis.
They also remember his contribution to the collapse of the Soviet empire.
James Baker III, Reagan's chief of staff and secretary of the treasury, recalls that Reagan restored America's pride.
"You had a restoration of the country's pride and confidence in itself. You had peace. What more could you ask for," he said.
Reagan also remains an enemy of the Democratic Party because they see him as having been a gravedigger of the social state.
Republicans, on the other hand, hold his memory more reverently than ever.
Some experts say Reagan would have no chance with the Republican Party of today.
"I doubt that Reagan could be elected today," said political strategist Mark McKinnon.
Regan, who preferred to spend evenings at the White House in front of the television in his pajamas with his wife Nancy, has found his place in history as a man who stood for a healthy economy and family values.
Reagan died at the age of 93, June 5, 2004 at his home in California after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease, having spent his final years almost completely out of the public eye.
When he died, thousands waited for hours to pay tribute to him at the US Capitol and at his presidential library in California.
Many also remembered his eloquent 1994 letter to the American people in which he explained that he had been diagnosed with the debilitating disease. In it, he said, he had begun "the journey that will lead me to the sunset of my life".
http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-140631.html
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