CRUEL KEV'S SCUTTELBUTT

Burning Man Obama

2009-11-11T09:30:00.003-06:00

A sculpture by Chinese artist Liu Bolin titled "Burning Man Obama" is tested at a workshop in Beijing November 11, 2009. The sculpture represents U.S. President Barack Obama's impact on the world.

Unlock Your Door With A Secret Knock

2009-11-09T00:03:00.000-06:00

Iran Will Not Ship Uranium Out Of The Country

2009-11-08T00:03:00.000-06:00

A senior Iranian politician said Saturday the country would not ship low-enriched uranium out of the country, which is a major part of a pending nuclear deal between Iran and international powers, according to semiofficial state media. Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chief of Iran's Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said the proposed deal to send uranium out of the country is "called off," Iran's semiofficial news agency ISNA reported. This issue is part of a deal being negotiated by a U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. The draft agreement has been supported by the United States, France and Russia.It calls for Iran to ship low-enriched uranium outside the country, possibly to Russia, to be converted into fuel rods. The material then would be shipped back to the Tehran research reactor that produces isotopes for use in medical treatments. The U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency said under the deal, Iran would get the converted fuel back by the end of 2010. But Boroujerdi, an influential member of the parliament, said he does not see the uranium shipment happening. "Iran is not to give any of its 1,200 kilograms fuel to the other party to receive 20 percent (enriched) fuel and whether gradually or at once, this will not be done and is called off," he told ISNA.

Family Mourns St. Paul Soldier Killed At Fort Hood

2009-11-07T07:57:00.002-06:00

A young St. Paul man who loved fishing in the St. Croix River with his brother was one of the 13 people shot and killed Thursday in the attacks at Fort Hood. Specialist Kham Xiong, 23, had been at Fort Hood for five months preparing for a New-Year's deployment, according to his family. His relatives said he was in line waiting for a physical. His wife Shoua texted him a message saying, "Come home for lunch and go back later." But he wrote back, "No, I'll stay. It's almost my turn." Moments later he was shot.Xiong's father Chor Xiong is upset none of the soldiers were armed. Only police are allowed to carry weapons on base. Chor Xiong said, "The sad part is he had been taught and trained to protect and fight, yet it's a tragedy he didn't have the chance to protect himself at the base." The Xiongs have a history of serving the U.S. in war. Kham Xiong's 18-year-old brother Nelson is a marine in Afghanistan. Chor Xiong is from Laos and fought the Vietnamese alongside the CIA in 1972. Kham is survived by his wife, three children and ten siblings.

Military Jihadists Fill 'Every Branch'

2009-11-06T11:46:00.004-06:00

"Muslims should stand up and fight the aggressor." That's what Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan said about America before he and possibly other Muslim soldiers at Fort Hood shot 43 fellow soldiers, killing 12, who were returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. "He said Muslims had a right to attack" the U.S., said Col. Terry Lee, who worked with Hasan at the Texas post, where the devout Sunni Muslim refused deployment. "He said Muslims shouldn't be fighting Muslims," he added. "He was very clear on that." Shockingly, a growing number of other Muslim American soldiers as well as civilian contractors have put their religion before their duty. Some like Hasan have killed, or tried to kill, their fellow soldiers. Others have infiltrated the military in order to undermine it and aid and comfort the enemy. According to an explosive new book, "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America," Hasan is just the tip of a jihadist Fifth Column operating within the ranks of the U.S. military – which is too blinded by political correctness to see the threat. Quoting from a classified military briefing, "Muslim Mafia" reveals that this Fifth Column has penetrated "every branch of the U.S. military." The Islamist enemy has even infiltrated the al-Qaida detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Security officials at Gitmo have been investigating a possible new spy ring involving several "dirty" Arabic linguists who are accused among other things of:

Omitting valuable intelligence from their translations of detainee interrogations;

Slipping notes to detainees inside copies of the Quran;

Coaching detainees to make allegations of abuse against interrogators; and meeting with suspects on the terrorist watchlist while traveling back in the United States.

More than 75 former Gitmo detainees have returned to the battlefield or anti-American jihad. Some met with the suspect Muslim translators. Others were privately counseled by chaplains also under investigation for security breaches. Gitmo security officials recently met with FBI agents in Philadelphia to aid their investigation into one of the Muslim linguists under contract at Gitmo, according to sources quoted in the book who are familiar with the investigation. They also this summer briefed members of Congress about the prison camp's internal security breaches, according to "Muslim Mafia," which is co-authored by former federal agent P. David Gaubatz and investigative journalist Paul Sperry, author of "Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington," which is being used by law enforcement and the military. "Three years of investigations have revealed the presence of pro-jihad/anti-Western activities among the civilian contractor and military linguist population serving Joint Task Force Guantanamo," states a copy of the classified Gitmo briefing, which was prepared in May 2009 for the FBI and CIA, as well as the congressional intelligence committees. The report explains that dirty Arabic linguists have gathered classified data involving detainees, interrogations and security operations in an effort to "disrupt" Gitmo operations and U.S. "intelligence-collection capabilities." It goes on to specifically finger the Muslim Brotherhood, which it calls a terrorist group, in the conspiracy. The Muslim Brotherhood and its U.S. operations and front groups are the subject of "Muslim Mafia." "These actions are deliberate, carefully planned, global, and to the benefit of the detainees and multiple terrorist organizations, to include al-Qaida and Muslim Brotherhood," the briefing states, according to the bestselling book. The enemy infiltration is not limited to Guantanamo. The report strongly suggests that Islamist spies have penetrated nearly every sensitive U.S. security agency involved in the war on terror, potentially compromising intelligence government-wide. "Persons participating in this activity move regularly between multiple contracting companies, various intelligence agencies in the U.S. government [FBI, CIA, DIA, NSA, etc.], and every branch of the U.S. military." The investigation comes on the heels of a major Muslim espionage ring that the FBI broke up at Gitmo in 2004.A former Army Muslim chaplain was charged with espionage, mishandling classified documents, and lying to investigators, and served hard time in the stockade. Two of his Muslim brothers at Gitmo, both Arabic interpreters, were convicted of stealing or mishandling classified documents. Hasan, the alleged Fort Hood terrorist, is a U.S. citizen whose Palestinian parents emigrated from the West Bank. Col. Lee said Hasan complained about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He had hoped President Obama would quickly end them, but when they "didn't come to a quick end, he got more agitated." This summer, Lee says he overheard Hasan praise the Muslim who shot two soldiers at a military recruiting station in Little Rock, Ark. "He was happy" about it, Lee said in an interview with Fox News. "He said 'Maybe we should have more of these people. Maybe people should strap [on] bombs and go into town squares.'" There are some 40 Muslims at Fort Hood, and an estimated 15,000 Muslims serving throughout the U.S. armed forces. The Council on American-Islamic Relations cautioned against a rush to judgment about the shooter's motives. "The motive of the attacker is not yet known," insisted CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. (The FBI recently cut off ties to the Washington-based group after identifying it as a front group for Hamas terrorists in the largest terror finance case in U.S. history. CAIR and its founding chairman were named unindicted terrorist co-conspirators in the case.) But other current and former Muslims, who oppose CAIR and dispute its claims to representing American Muslims, say the shooter's motive is clear: violent jihad in the name of radical Islam. "America needs to awaken from its sleep and its unwillingness to face the issue of fundamentalist Islam in our midst which undoubtedly is the cause of the tragedy in Fort Hood," said Walid Shoebat, a former Islamist terrorist. "Some very serious decisions need to [be] made when it comes to having Muslims protecting our country, as it is impossible to know whether they may be honorable or foxes in the hen house."

Bill Clinton Was Punked In North Korea By A Kim Jong-il look-A-Like

2009-11-02T00:03:00.000-06:00

A number of analysts here are convinced that not all the photos being released of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, are really photos of Kim Jong-il. Instead, they say, a look-alike has been standing in for him on some of the 122 trips he's reportedly made this year to the countryside, factories, cultural events, military units, and all sorts of other venues.Some observers say the North Korean leader is too ill to make all these appearances. One Japanese analyst claims President Clinton didn't meet with Kim Jong-il in August – he met with a Mr. Kim double. The evidence of Kim stand-ins is far from verified, but several North Korean refugees here say that Kim has not one but several look-alikes playing his role.

Pair Of Bigots Attack Rush

2009-11-01T00:03:00.000-05:00

Republican Scozzafava Drops Out Of New York Congressional Race

2009-11-01T00:02:00.000-05:00

Republican state Assemblywoman Dierdre Scozzafava has suspended her campaign for upstate New York's 23rd Congressional District seat, giving a possible boost to Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman against Democrat Bill Owens, Reporters have confirmed. The move comes on the heels of a new poll that showed Scozzafava had fallen behind her two competitors in a close race. The special election is Tuesday, and political analysts believe upstate New York could be a preview of congressional races nationwide in 2010 and 2012 as Republican leaders struggle to rebuild, redefine and regain control of Washington. The Siena College poll has Owens picking up 36 percent of the vote, while Hoffman has 35 percent. Scozzafava has 20 percent, with nine percent of voters undecided. It's a turnaround from the first Siena poll on the race in September, which had Scozzafava leading, followed by Owens and Hoffman. Scozzafava's team pulled the plug on the campaign after viewing the Siena poll, sources told Fox News, adding that there was no pressure from the National Republican Congressional Committee or the Republican National Committee. Ken Spain, a spokesman for the NRCC, said Scozzafava will now release her supporters to vote for Hoffman. That endorsement will set in motion phone banks, voter e-mails and other NRCC ground operations for Hoffman, GOP sources told Fox News, adding that the NRCC may also provide money for TV and radio ads if any slots are available and the campaign needs them. House Minority Leader John Boehner, Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia and NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions announced their endorsement for Hoffman shortly after Scozzafava dropped out of the race. "He is the only active candidate in the race who supports lower taxes, fiscal responsibility and opposes Nancy Pelosi's agenda of government-run healthcare, more government and less jobs," they said. "We look forward to welcoming Doug Hoffman into the House Republican Conference as we work together for the good of our nation," they added. Scozzafava, in a letter to supporters published by the Watertown Daily Times, attributed her decision to her poor standing in the polls and a lack of money. "In recent days, polls have indicated that my chances of winning this election are not as strong as we would like them to be," she wrote. "The reality that I've come to accept is that in today's political arena, you must be able to back up your message with money -- and as I've been outspent on both sides, I've been unable to effectively address many of the charges that have been made about my record," she said.Scozzafava didn't endorse either of the remaining candidates, opting instead to allow her supporters make their own choice. "It is my hope that with my actions today, my party will emerge stronger and our district and our nation can take an important step towards restoring the enduring strength and economic prosperity that has defined us for generations," she said. RNC Chairman Michael Steele said in a written statement that he "respects" Scozzafava's decision that will allow the RNC to endorse and support Hoffman. "This selfless act of releasing her supporters provides voters with the opportunity to unite around a candidate who shares Republican principles and will serve the interests of his constituents in Congress by standing in opposition to the liberal policies of President Obama and Speaker Pelosi," he said. In a written statement, Owens praised Scozzafava for her record and commitment to her principles before taking aim at Hoffman. "Voters have a clear choice on Tuesday: they can elect to go back to the George Bush economic agenda, or they can vote to move forward," he said. "While Doug Hoffman is solely committed to continuing tax cuts for the wealthy which will add $500 billion to the deficit, protecting tax breaks for companies who ship jobs overseas, and privatizing Social Security, I will fight to turn the page on that agenda." The district has been a Republican stronghold since the Civil War. Republican John McHugh held the seat for years until President Obama chose him in June to serve as Army secretary. Scozzafava was the pick of local party leaders and prominent GOP conservative Newt Gingrich to replace McHugh. But her support of abortion rights and gay rights had put her on the defensive. Meanwhile Hoffman, a wealthy accountant, has been gaining support from big Republican backers, including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and actor and former Sen. Fred Thompson. "He's not a career politician," Thompson said in an ad for Hoffman. "Doug's like us. A concerned neighbor who's just had enough." "I feel that the Republican nominee doesn't reflect the Republican ideals and values," Hoffman said. "As a lifelong conservative -- Ronald Reagan Republican -- I've always been taught that less government and less taxes and less spending and protecting our personal freedoms and helping free enterprise survive and flourish -- that's what the Republican Party stood for." But some Republicans had accused Hoffman of being a spoiler who could steal enough votes from Scozzafava to allow the first Democrat in generations to win the region.

Morons On Capitol Hill

2009-10-28T00:03:00.000-05:00

Pawlenty Backs Third-Party Candidate For NY Race

2009-10-27T00:03:00.000-05:00

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is backing the third-party candidate over the Republican nominee in a special election for a New York congressional seat. Pawlenty said Monday he will support Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in the race to fill a vacant seat northern New York even though local Republicans nominated state Assemblywoman Dierdre Scozzafava (skoh-zuh-FAH'-vuh).Pawlenty joins other possible 2012 presidential candidates and GOP leaders in breaking ranks. In doing so, Pawlenty said he agreed more with Hoffman's positions on government spending, taxes and union organizing legislation now before Congress. Pawlenty has been traveling the country to talk about rebuilding the Republican Party after recent election defeats. Democrat Bill Owens will also appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Dallas Police Gave Tickets For Not Speaking English

2009-10-26T00:03:00.000-05:00

Dallas police wrongly ticketed at least 39 drivers for not speaking English over the last three years, Police Chief David Kunkle announced Friday while promising to investigate all officers involved in the cases for dereliction of duty. Pending cases will be dismissed, and those who paid the $204 fine for the charge, which does not exist in the city, will be reimbursed, Kunkle said. "I was surprised and stunned that that would happen, particularly in the city of Dallas," Kunkle said. "In my world, you would never tell someone not to speak Spanish." The citations were issued in several different patrol divisions by at least six different officers. One of those officers was responsible for five of the citations, Kunkle said. The case that led to the discovery of all the others occurred Oct. 2, when Ernestina Mondragon was stopped for making an illegal U-turn in the White Rock area. Rookie Officer Gary Bromley cited Mondragon for three violations: disregarding a traffic control device, failure to present a driver's license and "non-English speaking driver." In that case and perhaps the others, officials said, the officer was confused by a pull-down menu on his in-car computer that listed the charge as an option. But the law the computer referred to is a federal statute regarding commercial drivers that Kunkle said his department does not enforce. Bromley, 33, is a trainee officer in the northeast patrol division, meaning he still works with a training officer during every shift. His training officer on that day was Senior Cpl. Daniel Larkin, 53. According to department policy, a sergeant must also sign off on all citations. The supervisor who signed off on the Mondragon ticket was Sgt. David Burroughs, 50. "In this case, the field training officer was aware of ultimately what the recruit officer had done," Kunkle said. "The field training officer is going to bear more responsibility than the recruit officer." Mondragon, a native Spanish speaker, challenged the charge in court and it was dropped, her daughter said. Dallas police said they will drop all charges against Mondragon, who speaks limited English and does have a Texas driver's license. Police officials did not release the names of the officers and supervisors involved in the other cases. Kunkle said he expected the investigation to last at least a few weeks and could reach back several years."An officer has to know the elements of an offense or what's necessary to constitute a crime," Kunkle said. "In this case it appears that officers did not understand." It is unclear whether the erroneous tickets were reported by the courts. Administrative Judge C. Victor Lander said Friday afternoon that he would be surprised if such charges got past a judge. He said he would conduct a review. "If there are any outstanding warrants as a result of these kinds of cases that have been inadvertently written, I'm going to direct that they be immediately held," Lander said. "If there are any cases in the prosecutorial pipeline, I'm going to request the city attorney to hold the case." The citations amount to a small percentage of the roughly 400,000 tickets issued by Dallas police each year. But the total is large enough to have possible legal ramifications, said George A. Martinez, a professor at the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. "It sounds like a policy," Martinez said. "Discrimination on the basis of language ability, and that's targeting Latinos, and so that sounds pretty serious to me." Attorney Domingo Garcia said he has been hired to represent the Mondragon family. "The issue has nothing to do with whether people should learn English or not. I believe they should," Garcia said. "It's about not following the law and issuing citations against a law that doesn't exist, against a fairly voiceless and helpless population." Beyond potential legal problems, some said the tickets send a troubling message to Hispanics. "It's the principle of the matter that there are police officers out there representing our city who actually think that it's a crime not to speak English," said Brenda Reyes, a political consultant and member of the League of United Latin American Citizens. Kunkle, who apologized repeatedly, said he recognized the incidents probably would damage the department's relationship with the Hispanic community. "When we deal with crime victims ... our interest is not their immigration status," Kunkle said. "It's not something that we concern ourselves about. We want to serve all people."

2009-10-25T21:01:00.002-05:00

Ahmed & Salim In Icy Tower

2009-10-24T17:58:00.000-05:00

31 Minnesotans Arrested In Largest Mexican Cartel Bust

2009-10-23T21:48:00.002-05:00

Federal officials say 31 people in Minnesota have been arrested as part of the largest single strike at Mexican drug operations in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Will Taylor in Chicago says the arrests were made Wednesday. He says several search warrants were also executed in the state.Taylor says he can't give more details because the indictments against the members of the La Familia cartel in the state remain sealed in federal court. Attorney General Eric Holder calls La Familia the newest and most violent of Mexico's five drug cartels. More than 3,000 federal agents and police officers made the arrests in more than a dozen states. The raids are part of a long-running anti-drug operation that has led to nearly 1,200 arrests over almost four years.

South Korea To Revamp DMZ Towers

2009-10-22T00:03:00.003-05:00

You might call it a case of keeping up with the Joneses, or in this case the Kims. Work is under way on the South Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone to renovate three guard posts and two checkpoint buildings into bigger, more modern structures. The construction comes a year after North Korea finished work on the replacement of four guard posts on its side of the DMZ, and a decade after the two sides engaged in a tit-for-tat battle to see who could build the more impressive reception centers in the Joint Security Area -- a period remembered as "the skyscraper wars." Welcome to the DMZ, where size matters. Lt. Col. John Rhodes, commander of the United Nations Command Security Battalion -- Joint Security Area, said the renovated buildings on the south side of the Military Demarcation Line will have new safety and convenience features like blast-resistant glass, thicker walls and running water. "Renovating those guard posts was long overdue," he said, adding that the last time work was done on them was 1983. "You can only live in house so long until you have to do something significant." Rhodes said the work was not necessarily being done in response to the more impressive guard towers that went up last year on the North's side of the JSA, and dismissed the suggestion that the two sides were once again engaged in a game of "Can You Top This?" reminiscent of the late 1990s.It was in 1998 that the Freedom House -- an unimpressive structure originally built in 1965 on the South's side of the JSA -- was rebuilt. The new, futuristic Freedom House just happened to be taller than the two-story Panmungak, North Korea's main building that sits directly across the JSA. The following year, the North Koreans added a third story to the Panmungak, making it taller than the Freedom House. JSA security escorts routinely make light of the construction battle in the speech they give to tourists who visit the JSA. "There's usually something behind everything they do," Rhodes said, referring to the North Koreans. However, he said he does not believe the guard posts on the North's side of the JSA were replaced for any nefarious reasons or tactical advantages. The old North Korean guard posts were also in disrepair, he said. Rhodes said he doubts the construction under way on the South's side of the JSA will prompt any more construction on the North's. "The [Republic of Korea] government took great care to build those structures not to be provocative in any way to the [Korean People's Army] on the North Korean side," he said.

Sexual Debauchery Is Funny?

2009-10-21T00:03:00.000-05:00

Dolphins Play Football With Jellyfish

2009-10-19T00:03:00.000-05:00

A team of marine biologists claimed they witnessed dolphins swim under a jellyfish and, with a quick flick of its tail, shoot it out of the water. The bottlenose dolphins, which were off the Welsh coastline at the time, were caught on video for the first time playing jellyfish football. And one dolphin is seen flipping the jellyfish 6ft in the air. Scientists suggested their game could go some way to explaining why dolphins in captivity are so skilful with balls in sealife parks around the world. Jonathan Easter, 23, who saw the dolphins at play, said: "One thing is for sure, they were having fun. "There were floating blobs of jelly and the dolphins were flipping them about. "They swim under the jellyfish, then at the right moment flick their tail up to give it a good 'kick'."They were not always accurate but when they had a direct hit the jellyfish were literally kicked out of the water. "We have been studying individual dolphins in Welsh waters for some time but we got more than we expected from this trip. "These incredible images provide a privileged insight into the lives and behaviour of bottlenose dolphins. "But this behaviour has never been seen before and it presents more questions than answers!" Some of the Barrel jellyfish reportedly died from being flipped. Marine biologists from the Countryside Council for Wales, Sea Watch Foundation and Marine Awareness North Wales were studying bottlenose dolphins in Cardigan Bay, off the welsh coast. The area has Britain's largest coastal population of bottlenose dolphins. Every summer, between 150 and 250 dolphins inhabit the waters, which form significant breeding and feeding grounds.

Humpty Dumpty Had A Great Fall... But Don't Worry, He'll Be Fine

2009-10-19T00:02:00.000-05:00

For generations, the cautionary tales of the grown-up world wrapped up in nursery rhymes have been a normal part of childhood. Children have somehow managed to cope with a world where mice are blind, blackbirds are baked in pies and old women live in shoes. But the BBC has triggered amazement by changing the words of Humpty Dumpty on one of its children's programmes to give the accident-prone character a happy ending. A programme on the broadcaster's children's channel CBeebies featured a singalong feature in which, instead of being unable to "put Humpty together again", all the King's Horses "made Humpty happy again". The new version of Humpty Dumpty was broadcast on Friday in the CBeebies programme Something Special, presented by Justin Fletcher. Something Special is aimed at children with special needs, although it is popular with all under-fives. The BBC insisted the nursery rhyme was not modified because of its target audience. A BBC spokesman insisted yesterday that the original nursery rhyme had been changed for "creative" purposes. Humpty Dumpty featured in a number of "sketches", she added. The original nursery rhyme could be seen in full on the CBeebies website.But the Labour MP and former minister Tom Harris, who watched the programme on Friday with his two sons, aged five and three, said it was "pathetic" that CBeebies felt the need to rewrite one of the most famous nursery rhymes in an apparent attempt not to upset children. The MP for Glasgow South said yesterday: "For goodness sake. Obviously children will find it far too violent, distressing and horrific that Humpty should not be put together again." Mr Harris claimed there was a trend of CBeebies giving its young viewers a more sanitised version of the world. In a recent episode of the CBeebies cookery show Big Cook Little Cook, the tale of Little Miss Muffet ended with the girl befriending the spider, rather than running away in fright. Mr Harris added: "This is what happens when adults try to make these kinds of judgements." A BBC spokesman said yesterday: "We play nursery rhymes with their original lyrics all the time and the small change to Humpty Dumpty was done for no other reason than being creative and entertaining." Earlier this month a survey by the reading charity Booktrust found that a fifth of parents do not read nursery rhymes at all to their children.

Lawmaker Reposts Anti-Obama `RedNeck Rap'

2009-10-18T09:29:00.003-05:00

A Kansas legislator is promising to get his "RedNeck Rap" video criticizing President Barack Obama back on YouTube. The video drew criticism because it shows Republican state Rep. Bill Otto wearing a hat describing opossum as "the other dark meat." A Democratic legislator calls the video "disturbing" and evidence of bigotry, which Otto disputes.Otto posted the video last month, but it was taken down Thursday evening. He said Friday that his two adult daughters removed it because they didn't like him being labeled a racist. He says he'll include a new beginning to the video, to explain that the hat is a reference to his own "Ozark-American" heritage, not Obama.

Thousands Protest During Obama Visit

2009-10-16T08:47:00.003-05:00

Hundreds of supporters donating millions of dollars came to hear President Barack Obama speak in San Francisco on Thursday night, but not everyone came to cheer. A huge crowd of protesters also turned out to deliver messages of their own. By 11 p.m. many of the protesters cleared out, but many of them acknowledge the President probably never saw them. Some protesters said they still feel good that they go their opinion out there, hoping someone in the crowd heard or saw their message. People started lining up a few hours before President Obama was scheduled to arrive at the Westin St. Frances Hotel. Protestors had a lot to say about health care and the war in Afghanistan. They argued with each other and held signs with strong messages for the president. "People in this country had a lot of trust to vote for him to make a change and they really didn't know what kind of change," said Pleasanton resident Karla Bruen. The majority of the protestors didn't vote for Obama, but some of them did. They said when it comes to health care reform, Obama isn't leaning as far left as they would like. "I feel that he could be doing a lot more. I feel that Obama needs to come forward and support single payer health care," said Petaluma resident Stan Gold.But the president missed the messages; his motorcade slipped him into a hotel side entrance, away from the masses waiting on Powell Street. Inside, he acknowledged the debates raging around the issues. "I believe in a two party system where ideas are tested and assumptions are challenged because that's how we move this country forward, but what I reject is when some folks decide to sit on the sidelines and root for failure," said President Obama. He told the crowd to get ready for some intense arguing around health care. "We are closer than we have ever been to passing health insurance reform. Health insurance reform that will finally make quality care affordable for people who don't have it, and bring stability and security to people who do, and slow the skyrocketing health care costs that are crushing our families and businesses and our state and our federal government," said Obama. Those inside said they liked what they heard. "I think that he said everything I would like him to say and I believe in him and think he's going to do everything we can hope for our country," said Berkeley resident Marika Shaub. Supporters paid a lot to hear the president tonight. It was a $500 minimum to get into the VIP reception. Some paid around $30,000 to go to the dinner. The Democratic Party estimates it raised $3 million Thursday night.

GOP Lawmakers Accuse Muslim Advocacy Group CAIR Of Planting Spies On Capitol Hill

2009-10-15T00:04:00.000-05:00

Four House Republicans on Wednesday accused the nation's largest Muslim advocacy group of trying to "infiltrate" Capitol Hill by placing interns in the offices of lawmakers who handle national security issues. The four lawmakers, members of the anti-terror caucus, asked for an investigation into the Council on American Islamic Relations after discovering an internal memo noting the group's strategy. They also highlighted a new book by Paul Sperry titled "Muslim Mafia," scheduled for release on Thursday, which claims the group has been actively infiltrating Congress. Reps. Sue Myrick of North Carolina, Trent Franks of Arizona, Paul Broun of Georgia and John Shadegg of Arizona asked the Internal Revenue Service to determine whether CAIR deserves its nonprofit status. They also are asking their colleagues to review a summary of findings that led the Justice Department to name CAIR as a co-conspirator in a terrorism case. The internal memo, provided to FOXNews.com, stated that CAIR would "focus on influencing congressmen responsible for policy that directly impacts the American Muslim community." The memo cited three House committees -- Homeland Security, Intelligence and the Judiciary -- as panels on which lawmakers preside over policy affecting American Muslims. "We will develop national initiatives such as a lobby day and placing Muslim interns in Congressional offices," the memo read. Earlier this year the FBI severed its once-close ties with CAIR as evidence mounted of the group's links to a support network for Hamas, which the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization."It's frightening to think that an organization with clear-cut ties to terrorism could have a hand in influencing policy -- especially national security policy -- within our government," Myrick said. "The investigations that we're asking for are simple, and I'm hopeful that they will bring to light any and all information regarding the goals of CAIR." Franks called on CAIR to renounce its ties to terrorist groups and state publicly that it does not support Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood. "I take the charges levied against CAIR and laid out in this book very seriously because they affect our national security," Franks said in a statement. "This Congress must be deliberate in taking a strong stance against those groups and organizations that align themselves with terrorists." "We live in a post-9/11 world where the coincidence of nuclear proliferation and Islamic terrorism pose a very dangerous combination and real threat to America's national security," he said. "That is why it is critical, in light of the well supported documents and information, that the U.S. Congress take this issue seriously." CAIR decried the call as a "racist" and "insidious" attack on Muslims and mocked the allegations. "If it wasn't so insidious, it would be laughable," CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper told reporters. "What are their charges? CAIR seeks political participation of Muslims. I'm shocked." Hooper said the evidence proves only that the group is trying, like every other minority group, to engage Muslims in the political process. "Why is it evil when Muslims seek political participation?" he asked. In the book "Muslim Mafia," a six-month sting appears to link CAIR to an organized crime network made up of more than 100 other Muslim front groups that make up the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. The book claims the group is bent on destroying Western civilization. Hooper said Sperry's efforts only proved the group's good intentions. "The guy spied on us for months, stole documents -- and the most they came up with is CAIR seeks to work with policymakers on Capitol Hill?" Hooper said. "I see it as a stamp of approval."

Kids Are Dying And Obama Does Leno

2009-10-15T00:03:00.000-05:00

Phelim McAleer Has Microphone Cut Off After Asking About 'Errors' In Al Gore Propaganda Film

2009-10-13T00:03:00.000-05:00

Foreign Newspapers On Obama’s Nobel Prize

2009-10-11T00:03:00.000-05:00

The left-wing NRC Handelsblad (Netherlands): ”What got into the committee to award this prize to a man who has yet to live up to the high expectations? Were they drunk?”

Center-left to center Volkskrant (Netherlands): ”It’s clear that Obama has increasingly more difficulty meeting expectations. His inspiring words about peace and deproliferation have yet to be supported by any concrete results. What is meant to be a reward [for great achievements], could very well end up being tremendous burden for Obama.”

The right-of-center Telegraaf (Netherlands): “This isn’t the first mistake of the Committee, but it is the biggest. The value of the Nobel Peace Prize has been diminished.”

Benedict Brogan, writing for the British newspaper the Telegraph: “To reward him for a blank results sheet, to inflate him when he has no achievements to his name, makes a mockery of what, let’s face it, is an already fairly discredited process (remember Rigoberta Menchu in 1992? Ha!). That’s not the point. What this does is accelerate the elevation of President Obama to a comedy confection, which he does not deserve, and gives his critics yet another bat to whack him with. Shame on the Swedes Norwegians*. He should turn it down, even if he does look great in white tie and tails.”

The Times of London: “Rarely has an award had such an obvious political and partisan intent. It was clearly seen by the Norwegian Nobel committee as a way of expressing European gratitude for an end to the Bush Administration, approval for the election of America’s first black president and hope that Washington will honour its promise to re-engage with the world. “Instead, the prize risks looking preposterous in its claims, patronising in its intentions and demeaning in its attempt to build up a man who has barely begun his period in office, let alone achieved any tangible outcome for peace.”Left-wing rag the Guardian: “Indeed, the reasoning behind the awarding of the prize to previous American presidents has been easier to discern. Teddy Roosevelt opened the court of arbitration in the Hague and helped mediate a peace treaty between Russia and Japan; Woodrow Wilson was the founder of the League of Nations. Jimmy Carter won his prize for his “untiring efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts”. “Which is what makes the awarding of this year’s prize to a president who has been in office for a mere nine months an odd departure. It is as if the prize committee had been persuaded to give the award on the future delivery of promises.”

The Sydney Morning Herald: “YES, surprisingly, he could. Barack Obama, is the shock choice for the Nobel Peace Prize, less than a year after his election as U.S. President.”

Il Giornale (Italy): “Let me be clear: the discourse on Islam in Cairo was beautiful, tall, and it opens up new horizons, but did not lead to anything. And on the other matter, as pointed out repeatedly in this blog, Obama has been evasive or inconclusive, starting with Iran and Afghanistan. Nor can he boast the merits of rapprochement with North Korea, which was brought about by Bill Clinton. He kept only one real promise: the gradual withdrawal from Iraq. Enough to deserve the Nobel Prize?”

Center-left the Spiegel (Germany): “The Nobel Peace Prize has come too early for Barack Obama. The US president cannot point to any real diplomatic successes to date and there are few prospects of any to come.”

National Post (Canada): “Obama is being given his award for mere words — for striking fashionable poses in favour of multilateralism, for making a nice speech in Cairo, for offering “hope.” Months after Americans learned to dismiss Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign slogans as the meaningless bromides they were, Scandinavians are still drinking his Kool-aid.”

Holdren Sought Making U.S. Government Subject To U.N.-Run Apparatus

2009-10-10T10:13:00.003-05:00

White House science czar John Holdren has called for the United States to surrender sovereignty to a "Planetary Regime" armed with sufficient military power to enforce population limits on nations as a means of preventing a wide range of perceived dangers from global eco-disasters involving Earth's natural resources, climate, atmosphere and oceans. Reporters have obtained and reviewed a copy of the 1970s college textbook "Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment " that Holdren co-authored with Malthusian population alarmist Paul R. Ehrlich and Ehrlich's wife, Anne. The authors argued that involuntary birth-control measures, including forced sterilization, may be necessary and morally acceptable under extreme conditions, such as widespread famine brought about by "climate change." On page 943, the authors recommended the creation of a "Planetary Regime" created to act as an "international superagency for population, resources, and environment." The authors argued, "Such a Planetary Regime could control the development, administration, conservation, and distribution of all natural resources, renewable or nonrenewable, at least insofar as international implications exist." (Emphasis in original text.) In the next sentence, the authors specified the following conclusion: "Thus, the Regime could have the power to control pollution not only in the atmosphere and the oceans, but also in such freshwater bodies as rivers and lakes that cross international boundaries or that discharge into the oceans." Arguing in their 1970s textbook for passage of the United Nations Law of the Sea Treaty and for a proposed complimentary United Nations Law of the Atmosphere Treaty, Holdren believed the Planetary Regime could be developed out of the U.N. administrative apparatus established to administer the treaties as well as the United Nations Environment Program and various unspecified U.N. population agencies.Holdren acknowledged the U.S. would have to surrender sovereignty to the Planetary Regime and that the Planetary Regime would need military arms for the envisioned super-government to succeed. Writing on page 917, the authors expanded the concept to envision "an armed international organization" that would function as "a global analogue of a police force" to enforce global nuclear disarmament. "The first step necessarily involves partial surrender of sovereignty to an international organization," the authors contended, qualifying their conclusion by noting "as long as most people fail to comprehend the magnitude of the danger, that step will be impossible." Holdren clearly specified the Planetary Regime would be charged with global population control. On page 943, Holdren continued: "The Planetary Regime might be given responsibility for determining the optimum population for the world and for each region and for arbitrating various countries' shares within their regional limits. Control of population size might remain the responsibility of each government, but the Regime should have some power to enforce the agreed limits." The St. Petersburg Times' fact-check website, Politifact.com, argued that in his Senate confirmation hearings, Holdren disavowed "optimal population" targets, a central thesis of the 1970s textbook, as a proper role of government. While Holdren may have abandoned "optimal population" targets as a principle of public policy, an address he gave as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, subsequently published in Science Magazine in January 2008, shows he has adopted instead the standard of "sustainable well-being" as a guiding principle that could be utilized to set targets for acceptable population growth. In that article, Holdren listed "continuing population growth" as a shortfall making the goal of realizing "sustainable well-being," a point he supported by footnoting Paul Ehrlich's 1968 book "The Population Bomb," thereby linking his current thinking with his 1970s-era thinking. In that footnote, Holdren wrote that the "elementary but discomforting truth" of Ehrlich's 1968 book "may account for the vast amount of ink, paper, and angry energy that has been expended in vain to refute it." Holdren's "sustainable well-being" appears a nearly identical concept to what is known as the United Nation's "Agenda 21" articulating the concept of "sustainable development" that is currently institutionalized in the Division for Sustainable Development of the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs.