Consent Of The Governed

They Are Coming For Your Internet! - Stop ACTA!!!

2012-01-27T05:00:00.002-05:00

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a dangerous international treaty... we need to fight this just as the Polish members of parliament did:

After Poland's January 19 announcement that it would sign the treaty on January 26, a number of Polish government websites, including that of the President and Polish Parliament, were shut down by denial of service attacks that started January 21. Websites included the Sejm, the lower Chamber of the Polish Parliament, the Chancellery of the PM, the President, and the Polish Ministry of Culture. Over thousand people protested in front of the European Parliament office in Warsaw on January 24. Several thousands protested in the streets of major Polish towns on January 25.

On January 26, Polish politicians expressed disapproval of the treaty by holding up Guy Fawkes masks during parliamentary proceedings.

and...

Kader Arif, European rapporteur for ACTA, resigned from his position on January 26, denouncing the treaty "in the strongest possible manner" for having "no inclusion of civil society organisations, a lack of transparency from the start of the negotiations, repeated postponing of the signature of the text without an explanation being ever given, [and] exclusion of the EU Parliament's demands that were expressed on several occasions in [the] assembly.

Ladies and Gents... something very evil is afoot... this business of controlling the Internet under the guise of piracy protection, as well as anti-pornography and any other "noble reason" is just an excuse to control information that you or I can see and pass to others.

Governments do not want the populace to share information or to use the Internet to organize.
They do not want you to photograph, or document, shed any light or make their policies transparent. We must therefore do those things to remain free.

ACTA MUST BE STOPPED!
Call Washington - Call your Senators and tell them to reject this Treaty.

Google ACTA and find out more.

Big Brother Seeks To Widen Surveillance On YOU!

2012-01-26T05:00:00.002-05:00

Wired recently had an article posted about Big Sis's plans to widen surveillance capabilities - It gives the term "Four-Square" a whole new meaning. It appears that "war technology" is coming to a street near you, designed to treat you like some sort of insurgent. If you live in Nogales, Arizona then you'd better be wary - they plan to begin testing of "uber-surveillance" systems there. Read on:

It’s not just for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars anymore. The Department of Homeland Security is interested in a camera package that can peek in on almost four square miles of (constitutionally protected) American territory for long, long stretches of time.

Homeland Security doesn’t have a particular system in mind. Right now, it’s just soliciting “industry feedback” on what a formal call for such a “Wide Area Surveillance System” might look like. But it’s the latest indication of how powerful military surveillance technology, developed to find foreign insurgents and terrorists, is migrating to the home front.

The Department of Homeland Security says it’s interested in a system that can see between five to 10 square kilometers — that’s between two and four square miles, roughly the size of Brooklyn, New York’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood — in its “persistent mode.” By “persistent,” it means the cameras should stare at the area in question for an unspecified number of hours to collect what the military likes to call “pattern of life” data — that is, what “normal” activity looks like for a given area. Persistence typically depends on how long the vehicle carrying the camera suite can stay aloft; DHS wants something that can fit into a manned P-3 Orion spy plane or a Predator drone — of which it has a couple. When not in “persistent mode,” the cameras ought to be able to see much, much further: “long linear areas, tens to hundreds of kilometers in extent, such as open, remote borders.”

If it’s starting to sound reminiscent of the spy tools the military has used in Iraq and Afghanistan, it should. Homeland Security wants the video collected by the system to beam down in “near real time” — 12 seconds or quicker — to a “control room (T) or to a control room and beyond line of sight (BLOS) ruggedized mobile receiver on the ground,” just as military spy gear does. The camera should shift to infrared mode for nighttime snooping, and contain “automated, real time, motion detection capability that cues a spotter imager for target identification.” Tests for the system will take place in Nogales, Arizona.

The range of this system isn’t as vast as the newest, latest cameras that the military either has or is developing. The Army’s super-powerful ARGUS camera, heading to Afghanistan, can look out at 36 square miles at a time; the Air Force’s Gorgon Stare looks out on an entire city at once. On deck are the military’s fleet of spy blimps, which will will generate 274 terabytes of information every hour. Compared to that, the Department of Homeland Security is positively myopic.

But. Those systems are used against insurgents, who are not protected by the Fourth Amendment’s prohibitions on unreasonable searches. Even if the wide-area surveillance DHS is after is just used at borders or airports, those are still places where Americans go about their business, under the presumption that they’re not living in a government panopticon.

It’s also ironic: the Department of Homeland Security actually isn’t so hot on its own drone fleet. When Danger Room asked an official at the department’s science directorate about using spy drones to spot bombs inside the U.S., she replied, “A case has to be made that they’re economically feasible, not intrusive and acceptable to the public.”

Still, what’s military technology one day is law-enforcement tech the next. As I reported for Playboy last month, more and more cop shops are buying spy drones, and increasingly, the Federal Aviation Administration is approving their use for domestic flights.

That also means that federal and local police can expect to replicate some of the military’s more frustrating aspects of persistent spying — namely, the constant, massive backlog of real-time video they’ll need to analyze. It’s gotten so bad that the Pentagon’s mad scientist shop, Darpa, is trying to automate cameras so human analysts aren’t constantly drinking from a fire hose of spy data.

Still, privacy advocates might soon have a whole new tech-driven battle with the Department of Homeland Security on their hands. It’s hardly clear from the pre-solicitation that the department only expects to operate the cameras after getting a court order — or if it thinks it needs one in the first place. And even if the department isn’t necessarily after the uber-powerful ARGUS or Gorgon Stare cameras, that might only be a matter of time. The wars will end; the spy tech won’t. And it might be keeping tabs on your neighborhood next.

Pretty sick stuff if you ask me.
With regard to these community spy cameras, they say "A case has to be made that they’re economically feasible, not intrusive and acceptable to the public."
I'd say a case has to be made as to why they are doing this in the first place... and how this is not a violation of our privacy rights, and why is it necessary for the government to know everyone's comings and goings?

What's next?

More than ever, this Department of Homeland Security needs to be defunded and disbanded. They are becoming very dangerous and a real threat to our liberty. They are truly becoming the US version of the Gestapo.

4th Amendment - GONE- Poof!

Chinese Cyber Attack

2012-01-25T05:00:00.002-05:00

I didn't watch the State of the Union.
I hear it was a waste of time.
Same old Washington rhetoric.

What caught my eye today was this report:
China-based Cyber Attack Targets DoD Access Cards

Basically, a computer hacking virus was discovered and traced back to its origination in China (based on Chinese characters found within the virus’ coding). How it works is that members of the military receive an official looking email that has a PDF file attached to it. The virus in the PDF file records keystrokes and collects the military person's identification number which is associated with a Common Access Card (called “CAC cards”) and is used when he logs into a government computer. This allows the hackers a way to gain access to government computers.

The virus is called "Sykipot" and government officials are reportedly investigating it. Alien Vault has tracked the virus for three months.

Apparently, the only way to protect against this Sykipot virus is for service members not to open the PDF attachment. The hackers often disguise their poisoned email attachments, such as this PDF file, to seem like they are some sort of official government correspondence.

The really sad thing is that people are claiming that much of a Department of Defense "secure" computer is actually manufactured in China, as well as other countries. If that's the case then we have some real problems to deal with. We ought to be making our own computer equipment and components. That would at least give us some assurance that there are no built-in back doors, "Trojan horses" or other clever software tactics to compromise our nation's data security.

Hmmm... you didn't hear anything about that in the State of the Union Address.

Sen. Rand Paul Responds To Obama's State Of The Union Address

2012-01-25T00:01:00.002-05:00

That was the REAL Tea Party response!

No Child's Data Left Behind

2012-01-24T05:00:00.004-05:00

If your child is - or ever was - in a government school, then their data (i.e.permanent record) is being controlled by the state that collects them and being shared too!

Personal information, including test scores, economic status, grades, and even disciplinary problems and student pregnancies, are tracked and stored in a kind of virtual “permanent record” for each student.

But parents and students have very little access to that data, according to a report released Wednesday by the Data Quality Campaign, an organization that advocates for expanded data use.

All 50 states and Washington, D.C. collect long term, individualized data on students performance, but just eight states allow parents to access their child’s permanent record. Forty allow principals to access the data and 28 provide student-level info to teachers. ...

Privacy experts say the problem is that states collect far more information than parents expect, and it can be shared with more than just a student’s teacher or principal.“When you have a system that’s secret [from parents] and you can put whatever you want into it, you can have things going in that’ll be very damaging,” says Lillie Coney, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. “When you put something into digital form, you can’t control where that’ll end up.”

According to a 2009 report by the Fordham University Center on Law and Information Policy, some states store student’s social security numbers, family financial information, and student pregnancy data. Nearly half of states track students’ mental health issues, illnesses, and jail sentences.Without access to their child’s data, parents have no way of knowing what teachers and others are learning about them.

The federal government is taking steps to make the data more secure, however. In December, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act was revised to give parents more control over their children’s records. According to a parent information sheet released by the government, the revisions give parents “certain rights with regard to their children’s education records, such as the right to inspect and review [their] child’s education records.” But it also allows student information to be shared without parental consent.

“Your child’s information may be disclosed to another school in which your child is enrolling, or to local emergency responders in connection with a health or safety emergency,” it says.

Regardless of privacy concerns, education data is not going away. “The best thing we can do is continue to fund states that are taking this on in a holistic way,” Ed Secretary Duncan says.

Beware the information you give to your local school - who knows where it may end up.

NHELD wrote a wonderful article about giving information to the schools ... it is definitely worth a read. Here is an excerpt:

What will the government do with the information collected?

Before you voluntarily provide the information to the government official, is he willing to fully inform you about what exactly the government will do with the information it is seeking? If not, why not? If he has informed you, do you agree to allow your child’s information to be used in such a manner? It might be nice to have answers to those questions before you decide to provide the information.
...
You may voluntarily provide information to one government official, perhaps to your local superintendent of schools, thinking that’s where it will remain. But, especially today, you have absolutely no guarantee that your information will remain in your local community. In fact, it is far more likely that your information will be sent not only to your State Education agency, but ultimately to the federal Education Department, and perhaps even to an international agency in some foreign country. Your information may wind up in the hands of the United Nations. You may think that’s farfetched. Unfortunately, it is becoming more of a reality every day. If you have some time on your hands, it might be worth your while to look up the statutes in your state, and then the statutes adopted by Congress at the federal level. You may be surprised to learn that there are an ever-increasing number of statutes that talk about implementing “compacts” or “agreements” with other states, and other countries, for all sorts of wonderful sounding reasons. Some compacts are made so that states and countries can “assist” each other in times of emergencies. Other compacts are made for the sake of the children, to make it easier to obtain child support. Still other compacts are made in the name of educating children about the international global community. If compacts are made, the chances are good that information is being exchanged in order to further the goals of the compact. Information today is exchanged fairly easily electronically. Today also, the government is seeking to establish even more central databases to make it even easier to exchange information. Do you know what databases the information about your child will go into eventually? Again, once you “voluntarily” provide information to the government, the government likely will be free to use that information in whatever manner it deems appropriate. Is that really what you want to happen to information concerning your child?

Beware.
Be aware.

Gong Hei Fat Choi - Happy Chinese New Year !

2012-01-23T05:00:00.003-05:00

Chinese New Year begins today.

It is the Year of the Dragon - specifically the water dragon. Water is considered to be one of nature’s strongest forces. The Dragon breathes out fire and the same way those born under this sign are known to have a sharp and biting tongue that can hurt others easily.

Those that were born in 1904, 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, and 2012 are the lucky people that are born in the year of the dragon. The dragon is equivalent to a Leo. They can be considered arrogant but have so much charisma that they get away with it. The dragon always brings good fortune wherever he goes. So if you have any dragon friends, for the year of 2012, keep them close!

16 February 1904 – 3 February 1905: Wood Dragon
3 February 1916 – 22 January 1917: Fire Dragon
23 January 1928 – 9 February 1929: Earth Dragon
8 February 1940 – 26 January 1941: Metal Dragon
27 January 1952 – 13 February 1953: Water Dragon
13 February 1964 – 1 February 1965: Wood Dragon
31 January 1976 – 17 February 1977: Fire Dragon
17 February 1988 – 5 February 1989: Earth Dragon
1 January 2000 – 23 January 2001: Metal Dragon
23 January 2012 – 9 February 2013: Water Dragon
10 February 2024 – 28 January 2025: Wood Dragon

Crystalinks offers this:

The Dragon person is self confident and impulsive and consequently does not always listen to the advice of others. He is also a perfectionist and he sets high standards for himself. Although strong and decisive the Dragon is not manipulative or sly. He refuses to deceive or compromise and fails to spot subversive intent. He enjoys being in command and like an emperor holding court he eliminates obstacles until success is his.

Occupying the 5th position in the Chinese Zodiac, the Dragon is the mightiest of the signs. Dragons symbolize such character traits as dominance and ambition. Dragons prefer to live by their own rules and if left on their own, are usually successful. They¹re driven, unafraid of challenges, and willing to take risks. They are passionate in all they do and they do things in grand fashion. Unfortunately, this passion and enthusiasm can leave Dragons feeling exhausted and interestingly, unfulfilled.

While Dragons frequently help others, rarely will they ask for help. Others are attracted to Dragons, especially their colorful personalities, but deep down, Dragons prefer to be alone. Perhaps that is because they're most successful when working alone. Their preference to be alone can come across as arrogance or conceitedness, but these qualities aren't applicable. Dragons have tempers that can flare fast.

Health

Considering their hard-working nature, Dragons are healthy overall. They do get stressed and suffer from periodic tension/headaches, likely because they take so many risks. Dragons could benefit from incorporating mild activity into their lives. Yoga or walking would be good as these activities can work both their minds and their bodies.

Career

Dragons prefer leading to being led. Jobs that allow them to express their creativity are good choices. Some good careers include: inventor, manager, computer analyst, lawyer, engineer, architect, broker, and sales person.

Relationships

Dragons will give into love, but won't give up their independence. Because they have quick, sometimes vengeful tempers, their partners need to be tough-skinned. Dragons enjoy others who are intriguing, and when they find the right partners, they'll usually commit to that person for life.

Many people in China wait to conceive children in the year of the dragon. It's supposed to be a very good zodiac sign to be born under.

The animals in the 12 year cycle are (not in order): Pig, Rat, Monkey, Ox, Snake, Dragon, Horse, Goat, Rabbit, Dog, Tiger and Rooster.

This blogger was born in the year of the Monkey. For the Monkey, 2012 will be very productive, and monkeys will gladly flow into a high pace of work, and will feel at ease in the most intense affairs of 2012.
Sounds good to me :)

Find out how you will do in 2012 here based on your Chinese Zodiac sign.

The War Over Internet Censorship Has Officially Begun

2012-01-20T05:00:00.003-05:00

The war over Internet censorship/freedom has already begun... the US government fired the first shot yesterday on Magaupload and Anonymous shot back with huge retaliation shutting down government and entertainment industry websites.. and this was a day after the SOPA and PIPA blackout on the Internet as those pieces of legislation loom in Congress....

Megauload, one of the world's most popular file-sharing sites, was shut down on Thursday, and its founder and several of the Megaupload company officials were accused of facilitating millions of illegal downloads of films, music and other content.

The Guardian reported:

The US government has closed down one of the world's largest filesharing websites, accusing its founders of racketeering, money laundering and presiding over "massive" online piracy.

According to prosecutors, Megaupload illegally cheated copyright holders out of $500m in revenue as part of a criminal enterprise spanning five years.

A lawyer for Megaupload told the Guardian it would "vigorously" defend itself against the charges, dismissing the criminal action as "a civil case in disguise".

News of the indictment – being framed as one of the biggest copyright cases in US history – came a day after major internet firms held a 24-hour protest over proposed anti-piracy laws.

Gizmodo reported:

Let's also think about the timing of this bust. It's a pretty spectacular coincidence that the Department of Justice Task Force on Intellectual Property was able to destroy a copyright villain without any help from SOPA or PIPA the day after the internet's giant SOPA protest. Do you hear that, lawmakers? The law, as it stands right now was able to kill Megaupload.com, no draconian censorship powers required. The power you have now—with due process—is achieving the things you say you want to do. Your IP is protected. Online piracy was stopped, except for the dozens of Megaupload rivals like HulkShare and MediaFire. And I wouldn't be surprised if they're next. [AP]

Whether laws were broken or not - this move is dangerous in that the government unilaterally moved to take down a website without going to court first to prove its case. They simply ceased Megaupload's operations.

Interestingly enough - Megaupload is based in Hong Kong, however, some of the alleged pirated content was hosted on leased servers in Ashburn, Va., and the indictment said that was enough to give federal authorities jurisdiction for its actions.

In retaliation, the hacker group named Anonymous went on a hacking spree and shut down several government and entertainment industry websites including DoJ, FBI, US Copyright office, RIAA, MPAA, and Universal Music.

The Internet fur is certainly flying.
Looks like they have it in for Chris Dodd as well.

The problem though is this: Censorship is being disguised as piracy protection.

Thus the Cyber Wars have begun.

(dubbed World War Web on Twitter)

Related: Really interesting article about how Chris Dodd and Hollywood have lost this battle, and it has all to do with the unbelievable ignorance they have of the tools of the information age.

Rhode Island Legislator Acts Against NDAA

2012-01-19T05:00:00.002-05:00

""Given the fact that the constitutions of Rhode Island and that of the United States are replete with guarantees of individual liberties, right to habeas corpus, and right to freedom of speech, the offending sections of that law are repugnant to the sensibilities of anyone [who] has a basic understanding of the foundation of this country….

When I took the oath of office, I swore that I would support the constitutions of Rhode Island and the United States. And before one constituent of mine is snatched up in the dead of night, without due process under our laws, they’ll have to pry those documents from my cold dead hands." - Rep. Daniel Gordon, Rep-RI

Bravo!!!
Rep. Daniel P. Gordon (Rep-RI) has jumped into action to lead his state away from the dangers of the NDAA.

The Examiner article states:

Gordon's resolution is now being circulated through the Rhode Island legislature.

Gordon is no stranger to counterintelligence. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1987 through 1991; trained in Terrorism Counteractions; conducted operations against guerrilla units; served in military operations on urban terrain; is skilled in jungle environment survival, flight and hanger deck firefighting; and aviation electrical systems.

Gordon has also served as AMVETS Public Relations Officer, a Young Marines Training officer, member of the Marine Corps League and American Legion. He says he is also a student of American History and the U.S. Constitution.

He says he does not know of any other representative in any other state making the same effort and warned, "That incremental creeping of tyranny from the federal government has been going on for the past decade.

This video should be sent to your state representatives, your state senators and your governor!

The States MUST act to halt the erosion of our rights from the federal government.

SOPA STRIKE!!!!

2012-01-17T20:02:00.004-05:00

On Jan 24th, Congress will vote to pass internet censorship in the Senate, even though the vast majority of Americans are opposed. We need to kill the bill - PIPA in the Senate and SOPA in the House - to protect our rights to free speech, privacy, and prosperity. We need internet companies to follow Reddit's lead and stand up for the web, as we internet users are doing every day.

January 18th, 2012 is the largest online protest in history, to stop the internet censorship bills, SOPA & PIPA. Join in by blacking out your site and urging everyone you can reach to contact Congress now.

Consent of the Governed will be joining in the Strike!!

Peter Schiff On European Downgrades

2012-01-17T05:00:00.001-05:00

Debt to GDP - we are almost like Greece and Italy

“Gold is the money of kings; silver is the money of gentlemen; barter is the money of peasants; but debt is the money of slaves.” - Money and Wealth in the New Millennium by Norm Franz.

Here's another version:
* Gold is the money of kings
* Silver is the money of gentlemen
* Copper is the money of the common man
* Paper is the money of thieves

An interesting read here: Taxpayer Money For Mortgages; More Foreclosures in 2012

I need to unload two huge sources of irritation today based on reports that I guarantee you will not be presented on Fox News, Fox Business, CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN etc.

I sourced these from an excellent source for housing market news, http://www.housingwire.com/. I mentioned the other day that FRE had implemented a program to enable those without a job to go for up to 12 months without making a mortgage payment. While the thought of this is nice, make no mistake, the expense of this will be funded by you, the Taxpayer. Now Fannie Mae has implemented the same program. And, all you need for the first six months is a phone call to your mortgage servicer. Here's the LINK

So now, if you lose your job, you can get jobless benefits for up to 2 1/2 years and if you have a Fannie or Freddie funded mortgage you can live in your home for free for 12 months. Maybe in Tim Tebow's spiritually ideal world of charity for anyone in need this is a great way to run society. But the expense of both the jobless claims and the housing welfare is something that our country and taxpayer base just can not afford. But just like the $278 million per hour that the Obama Government borrows every day, why not spend now to get votes and worry about paying for it later. This mortgage "forbearance" program is nothing more than another layer being added to the Government's welfare State. Given that this is a program being implemented without much in the way of a public announcement, you need to ask yourself if you would have voted for Obama knowing that this was coming...

The second item of agitation is the report that FICO, the most widely known assessor of credit scores, is out with a warning that it expects student loan and mortgage defaults to rise in 2012: LINK Given that we know that the evaluators of credit ratings are always way behind the curve when it comes to warning about debt payment problems and impending bankruptcy, I would suggest that student loan and mortgage defaults are already a lot higher in the "shadow" credit system. I define "shadow" credit system as the situation where banks and other lenders are giving borrowers several months beyond what the established accounting rules call for in declaring a borrow to be "in default." I know for a fact the banks are playing this game with mortgages and I have no reason to assume that student loan servicers are not doing the same thing:

Evidence is mounting that student loans could be the next trouble spot for lenders, said Dr. Andrew Jennings, chief analytics officer at FICO.
A significant rise in defaults on student loans would impact lenders as well as taxpayers, who could be facing big losses due to these defaults.

Quietly, the amount of student loans outstanding and guaranteed by the Taxpayers is now larger than the amount of credit card debt outstanding. The article linked puts the number at $750 billion, but I believe that the actual amount now per the latest consumer credit report is even larger - and its growing at an accelerating rate because many people are taking out student loans and going back to school when they drop out of the labor force because they can't find a job. Even worse, a large majority of students now graduate with a massive debt load and no way in hell of ever hoping to pay it off. A friend of mine who is a professor at Denver University Law School said that 90% of the class graduating last year did not have jobs.

So the public debt load continues to grow at an increasing rate on a daily basis and the ability to pay off this debt declines - at an increasing rate. Which brings up another point. The reported amount of Federal debt outstanding - and the amount used for purposes of calculating the debt limit test - is $15.2 trillion. However, this number is incorrect. There is $7 trillion in Fannie/Freddie debt guaranteed by the Government, plus roughly $2.5 trillion of "special" Treasury bonds in the Social Security trust plus, and most people are unaware of this, a few $100 billion in guaranteed GM and Chrysler loans (I don't know the exact number). So the next time you see a debt to GDP number of 100% for the U.S., know that the golden truth is that the real number is at least 160%.

There's a light at the end of the tunnel... unfortunately it is an oncoming train.

King Obama's Kill Orders

2012-01-13T05:00:00.001-05:00

"American citizens can - at the government's discretion - be assassinated."

Apparently due process is dead in America.

"When the President can kill whoever he wants, then he is not a President anymore, he is a King" - Judge Napolitano

DHS And Department Of Education Partnership

2012-01-12T05:00:00.001-05:00

This document (Strategic Implementation Plan - SIP) was just released in December 2011

Apparently the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Education (along with other government departments) have a common goal now to work through official activities... that includes in and after school, to train people on how to identify potential domestic terrorist behaviors! It is called Countering Violent Extremism (CVE).

In this document you can read about the plan to have DHS work with local police departments and local school districts to provide educational opportunities to train youth and communities on how to identify potentially-terrorist behaviors and activities. Do a search on EDU (Education Department) within the PDF and you will find some interesting plans to train citizens.

That's right - they plan to turn every parent and child into some sort of informant using community "partnerships" to train everyone about who and who is not a potential terrorist, and how you can report these suspects to the authorities.

Couple this with the recent passage of the NDAA, which trashes due process and this should be a big red flag!

It's disturbing.

STRATEGIC IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR EMPOWERING LOCAL PARTNERS TO PREVENT VIOLENT EXTREMISM IN THE UNITED STATES

Excerpt:

As the activities described in the SIP are executed, there will be major and long-lasting impacts:

••There will be platforms throughout the country for including communities that may be targeted by violent extremists for recruitment and radicalization into ongoing Federal, State, and local engagement efforts;

••The Federal Government will support that engagement through a task force of senior officials from across the government;

••Community-led efforts to build resilience to violent extremism will be supported;

••Analysis will increase in depth and relevance, and will be shared with those assessed to need it, including Governor-appointed Homeland Security Advisors, Major Cities Chiefs, Mayors’ Offices, and local partners;

••Training for Federal, State, tribal, and local government and law enforcement officials on community resilience, CVE, and cultural competence will improve, and that training will meet rigorous professional standards; and

••Local partners, including government officials and community leaders, will better understand the threat of violent extremism and how they can work together to prevent it.

Who or what are extremists or domestic terrorists?
Are they the people who are against abortion?
or who have more than 7 days of food stored in their home?
or who protest being groped at the airports?
or who support Ron Paul?
or are they people who support 2nd amendment rights?
or who carry Gadsden flags?
or who protest burdensome taxation?

Remember the MIAC report?

We are treading into very dangerous waters my friends.

Raising The Roof Again

2012-01-11T05:00:00.002-05:00

Wash - Rinse - Repeat.
Yes, they have "maxxed out" the credit card again.

Zerohedge reports that King Barry will likely be asking to raise the debt ceiling - yet again.

...the US has preapproval for $1.2 trillion in debt issuance, as per the August 2011 agreement. So far so good. The problem is that since then the US has issued $900 billion in debt in five short months! In other words, somehow the remaining buffer of just $300 billion, or a final debt ceiling of $15.5 trillion, is supposed to last the US until after the presidential election, because this topic flaring up just before Obama is due to hit the debate circuit will be reelection suicide. So our question is: how will the US, which has a gross debt issuance rate of over $100 billion per month on average, last for a year with just $300 billion in dry powder? And even if the $1.2 trillion count begins from the new request, it still means the new debt ceiling will be breached some time in August/September, as we expected last year when we did the calculation assuming a $180 billion gross issuance per month ($900 billion in 5 months).

And it was reported in The Hill.

The White House will be asking Congress to raise the U.S. borrowing limit by $1.2 trillion. The move would mark the third and final increase from the debt-ceiling deal reached last year by Congress.

The United States reached the $15.194 trillion debt limit on Jan. 4, according to Treasury statements.

Since that time, Treasury has employed the "extraordinary measure" of tapping into its Exchange Stabilization Fund in order to avoid exceeding the limit.

The Obama administration has also raided the government workers' pensions... and the administration continues to spend and tax, tax and spend.

This type of fiscal mismanagement is going to be devastating... and we will see likely inflation the likes of Weimar.

This is what Congressman Ron Paul has been warning us about.
Is anyone listening?

And if Congress approves this... they will be complicit in the increased speed towards the total destruction of the US dollar.

Good luck at the grocery store.

and for the record - here are the predictions Ron Paul made back in 2002:

Yet More Reasons To Homeschool Your Child

2012-01-10T05:00:00.003-05:00

You have to wonder what administrative bonehead came up with this curriculum.. and what other administrative bonehead decided to implement it!:

Georgia School Math Assignment References Slavery, Beatings

NORCROSS, Ga. (CBS Atlanta) – Figuring out how many oranges were picked by slaves and how many beatings per day Frederick Douglass received was allowed to help teach elementary students their multiplication and division tables at one school.

Administrators at Gwinnett County School District are sorting through the fallout from parents of children who brought home math homework last week that referenced slavery and beatings.

On Wednesday, nine third-grade math teachers at Beaver Ridge Elementary School were attempting to do a cross-curricular activity with a book the children had read about abolitionist Frederick Douglass in their social studies class. District spokeswoman Sloan Roach told CBS Atlanta that the math problems in the assignment involved some of what the students learned about Douglass. Four of the nine classes wound up sending the assignment home with the students. But when some parents were going over the students’ homework, they became appalled at the nature and language of two questions in particular.

The first asked, “Each tree had 56 oranges. If eight slaves pick them equally, then how much would each slave pick?” The other said, “If Frederick got two beatings per day, how many beatings did he get in one week?”

Upon learning of the assignment, the school’s principal collected the assignment sheets that were still at school.

“We’ve been working with human resources to determine what staff development is needed for the teachers and what actions may be warranted,” Roach said. “The principal is addressing parent concerns as he’s meeting with them.”

Roach added that the school district has no reason to believe that there was any intent to the racially-infused, cross-curricular questions. The district is working with the school to develop other cross-curricular activities and assignments but will be determining what kind of staff development is necessary to move forward on that initiative. The investigation remains ongoing.

“Frankly, they were just bad questions,” Roach said.

"Just bad questions"?
Egads... that must be the understatement of the year!

... Meanwhile in CT, one elementary school has "scream rooms". Here is an excerpt of a letter written to that school administration... please take time to go to the link and read the entire post, but in the meantime check this out:

In October, word got out about two rooms that were created for our "behavior students" who can't control their anger. Parents and students refer to them as "Scream Rooms". We were told they are alternative learning environments by administration. They are small rooms with concrete walls. When a child can't be controlled they are brought to this room. Staff members stand outside the door until the child cools down, then they are let out. Three parents called me after they witnessed two staff members holding a door shut from one of these rooms with a child on the other side as they kicked and screamed uncontrollably. There is something unsettling, knowing that a child is hitting their head against walls and urinating everywhere, then only to be let out and put back in classrooms with our children.

Wow.

I know, from a family member of mine that was a teacher in CT, that they had padded rooms for "bad students" too.

Really... if your child is still in a government school, you better take some time out to really check into what goes on in their school building.

Perhaps it's best to homeschool your child(ren).

The Judge On The Iowa Caucuses And More

2012-01-09T05:00:00.002-05:00

Our country is truly in trouble.

What If?

Interesting.
The Left/Right paradigm.

Left - Right paradigm.... it keeps the country divided. It keeps us distracted from the real issues. It keeps us from making any real substantive changes.

Normalizing Perversion

2012-01-06T05:00:00.002-05:00

So now the sick academics want to reclassify pedophilia and call it "inter-generational sexual intimacy".
Euphemistic horse manure is what it is!
Honestly, their quest to make child rape and theft of childhood along with perversion and sick sexual behavior is pretty incredible... and they are doing this through our education system.

it was only a decade ago that a parallel movement had begun on some college campuses to redefine pedophilia as the more innocuous “intergenerational sexual intimacy.”

The publication of Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex promised readers a “radical, refreshing, and long overdue reassessment of how we think and act about children’s and teens’ sexuality.” The book was published by University of Minnesota Press in 2003 (with a foreword by Joycelyn Elders, who had been the U.S. Surgeon General in the Clinton administration), after which the author, Judith Levine, posted an interview on the university’s website decrying the fact that “there are people pushing a conservative religious agenda that would deny minors access to sexual expression,” and adding that “we do have to protect children from real dangers … but that doesn’t mean protecting some fantasy of their sexual innocence.”

This redefinition of childhood innocence as “fantasy” is key to the defining down of the deviance of pedophilia that permeated college campuses and beyond. Drawing upon the language of postmodern theory, those working to redefine pedophilia are first redefining childhood by claiming that “childhood” is not a biological given. Rather, it is socially constructed—an historically produced social object. Such deconstruction has resulted from the efforts of a powerful advocacy community supported by university-affiliated scholars and a large number of writers, researchers, and publishers who were willing to question what most of us view as taboo behavior.

Furthermore the article reveals some pretty appalling notions:

Ken Plummer, one of the contributors, writes that “we can no longer assume that childhood is a time of innocence simply because of the chronological age of the child.” In fact, “a child of seven may have built an elaborate set of sexual understandings and codes which would baffle many adults.”

Claiming to draw upon the theoretical work of the social historians, the socialist-feminists, the Foucauldians, and the constructionist sociologists, Plummer promised to build a “new and fruitful approach to sexuality and children.” Within this perspective there is no assumption of linear sexual development and no real childhood, only an externally imposed definition.

Decrying “essentialist views of sexuality,” these writers attempt to remove the essentialist barriers of childhood. This opens the door for the postmodern pedophile to see such behavior as part of the politics of transgression. No longer deviants, they are simply postmodern “border crossers.”

Now if that's not a load of sick garbage, dressed up to seem palatable I don't know what is.

This my friends is what the sick liberal academia is now placing before us.

And while I am not a religious person, nor would I force my views on anyone else, I know it is wrong to exploit children, or to harm them, or to take away their innocence.

To even attempt to justify pedophilia or make it seem socially acceptable is absolutely sick and morally corrupt.

Is this what the Social Sciences have come to?
How incredibly sad and tragic for society at large.

...and if you read this you will see how well this worked for the progressive Germans in the 1960's

Beware "sex education" in your government schools.
Look where it could be headed now, steered by these sicko liberal academics.
Kind of puts a new spin on "No Child Left Behind" - maybe it will be reclassified as "No Child's Behind Left Behind"

Just Appalling!

2012 Improvement - 30 Things To Stop Doing To Yourself

2012-01-05T05:00:00.001-05:00

I found this article and just had to share it!
(I have posted excerpts - please take the time to read the original article with all of the comments) :

Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you.
Stop running from your problems. – Face them head on. No, it won’t be easy.
Stop lying to yourself. – You can lie to anyone else in the world, but you can’t lie to yourself.
Stop putting your own needs on the back burner. – The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too.
Stop trying to be someone you’re not. – One of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you like everyone else.
Stop trying to hold onto the past. – You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.
Stop being scared to make a mistake. – Doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing.
Stop berating yourself for old mistakes. – We may love the wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no matter how things go wrong, one thing is for sure, mistakes help us find the person and things that are right for us.
Stop trying to buy happiness. – Many of the things we desire are expensive. But the truth is, the things that really satisfy us are totally free – love, laughter and working on our passions.
Stop exclusively looking to others for happiness. – If you’re not happy with who you are on the inside, you won’t be happy in a long-term relationship with anyone else either.
Stop being idle. – Don’t think too much or you’ll create a problem that wasn’t even there in the first place. Evaluate situations and take decisive action. You cannot change what you refuse to confront. Making progress involves risk. Period!
Stop thinking you’re not ready. – Nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first.
Stop getting involved in relationships for the wrong reasons. – Relationships must be chosen wisely. It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company.
Stop rejecting new relationships just because old ones didn’t work. – In life you’ll realize that there is a purpose for everyone you meet. Some will test you, some will use you and some will teach you. But most importantly, some will bring out the best in you.
Stop trying to compete against everyone else. – Don’t worry about what others doing better than you. Concentrate on beating your own records every day. Success is a battle between YOU and YOURSELF only.
Stop being jealous of others. – Jealousy is the art of counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own. Ask yourself this: “What’s something I have that everyone wants?”
Stop complaining and feeling sorry for yourself. – Life’s curveballs are thrown for a reason – to shift your path in a direction that is meant for you.
Stop holding grudges. – Don’t live your life with hate in your heart. You will end up hurting yourself more than the people you hate. Forgiveness is not saying, “What you did to me is okay.” It is saying, “I’m not going to let what you did to me ruin my happiness forever.”
Stop letting others bring you down to their level. – Refuse to lower your standards to accommodate those who refuse to raise theirs.
Stop wasting time explaining yourself to others. – Your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe it anyway. Just do what you know in your heart is right.
Stop doing the same things over and over without taking a break. – The time to take a deep breath is when you don’t have time for it. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting. Sometimes you need to distance yourself to see things clearly.
Stop overlooking the beauty of small moments. – Enjoy the little things, because one day you may look back and discover they were the big things. The best portion of your life will be the small, nameless moments you spend smiling with someone who matters to you.
Stop trying to make things perfect. – The real world doesn’t reward perfectionists, it rewards people who get things done.
Stop following the path of least resistance. – Life is not easy, especially when you plan on achieving something worthwhile. Don’t take the easy way out. Do something extraordinary.
Stop acting like everything is fine if it isn’t. – It’s okay to fall apart for a little while. You don’t always have to pretend to be strong, and there is no need to constantly prove that everything is going well.
Stop blaming others for your troubles. – The extent to which you can achieve your dreams depends on the extent to which you take responsibility for your life. When you blame others for what you’re going through, you deny responsibility – you give others power over that part of your life.
Stop trying to be everything to everyone. – Doing so is impossible, and trying will only burn you out.
Stop worrying so much. – Worry will not strip tomorrow of its burdens, it will strip today of its joy. One way to check if something is worth mulling over is to ask yourself this question: “Will this matter in one year’s time? Three years? Five years?” If not, then it’s not worth worrying about.
Stop focusing on what you don’t want to happen. – Focus on what you do want to happen. Positive thinking is at the forefront of every great success story. If you awake every morning with the thought that something wonderful will happen in your life today, and you pay close attention, you’ll often find that you’re right.
Stop being ungrateful. – No matter how good or bad you have it, wake up each day thankful for your life. Someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for theirs. Instead of thinking about what you’re missing, try thinking about what you have that everyone else is missing.

It's all great advice.

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T15:46:00.002-05:00

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. ~Benjamin Franklin

Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past. ~Henry Ward Beecher

People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas. ~Author Unknown

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

I wish you all the best! May this New Year bring you peace, good health, happiness, and prosperity.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T09:22:00.004-05:00

May this Christmas bring you and your family
the love and warmth of the season.

Peace to you, one and all.

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." ~ Charles Dickens (A Christmas Carol)

Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts. ~ Janice Maeditere

What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace. ~ Agnes M. Pharo

Happy Festivus!

2011-12-23T17:22:00.001-05:00

LOL!

The Muslimification Of The US Military and Sharia In The JROTC

2011-12-23T05:00:00.001-05:00

What is the definition of a uniform?
It is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity.
There is a reason that uniforms are worn in the military.
It is part of military discipline.

When the government starts making exceptions to military discipline - especially requirements in clothing worn, you begin down the slippery slope into military chaos. To quote on e commenter on this article "Military disipline--proven over hundreds of years--is the corner stone of success. When you start allowing people to inject their own personal religious beliefs or culture into the system it falls apart. If they want to wear the costumes of their religion, then go back to the Middle East. What if Jews what to wear beards and costumes of their religion?? What if Chinese want to wear the costumes of their various beliefs? What if cowboys want to wear cowboy hats and chaps?"

Apparently the Jr ROTC is now allowing hijabs and turbans to be worn (perhaps in camo color too)!

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has announced that the Department of Defense will now allow Muslim and Sikh students participating in Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) to wear headscarves and turbans while in uniform.

The decision, announced Thursday, followed an October incident in which Muslim teen Demin Zawity quit JROTC when her commanding officer at a Brentwood, Tenn. high school would not allow her to wear her hijab in the homecoming parade.

CAIR later wrote to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta requesting “constitutionally-protected religious accommodations for the girl and for future Muslim JROTC participants.”

In a letter to the Muslim organization sent on Panetta’s behalf, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army Larry Stubblefield explained that based on the incident that led Zawity to quit JROTC, the Army will now be making more accommodations for religious headwear in the training program.

“Based on your concerns, the Army has reviewed its JROTC uniform policy and will develop appropriate procedures to provide Cadets the opportunity to request the wear of religious head dress, such as the turban and hijab,” Stubblefield wrote in the letter, made public by CAIR. “This change will allow Miss Zawity and other students the chance to fully participate in the JROTC program.”

Army spokesman George Wright confirmed Stubblefield’s letter to CAIR and explained to The Daily Caller that while JROTC is affiliated with the Army, it is not actually a part of the Army. The new procedures will provide JROTC with a exemption method more similar to current Army procedure mandated through the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.

That law allows soldiers on active duty to apply for religious accommodation if they want to alter their uniforms in accordance with their religious beliefs. The exemptions are applied on a case-by-case basis. Soldiers who are transferred must reapply.

Makes me wonder why such practicing religious people are in the military to begin with.
Shouldn't they be against war and destruction and military activity in general?
and aren't these women following Sharia supposed to be forbidden from mixing the sexes and being away from home, and engaging in this type of activity?

Meanwhile - American service women in Afghanistan are encouraged to wear headscarves while out in public...

and another article about the Few - the Proud - the Hijabed.

What's next? allowing military personnel to wear sandals and beards? or maybe burkas in camo color!

16 Reasons Why Mitt Romney Would Be A Terrible President

2011-12-22T05:00:00.001-05:00

Well, there are certainly many reasons not to support, Mitt, the bankers best friend.
This article, that I came across, pretty much sums up why Romney would be a terrible choice for POTUS:

He looks like a president and he speaks very well. But when you look at what he really stands for that is where things become very troubling. The truth is that Mitt Romney is either very wrong or very "soft" on every single major issue. It would be a huge understatement to refer to Mitt Romney as a RINO ("Republican in name only"). When you closely examine their positions, there is very, very little difference between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. Sure, Romney and Obama will say the "right things" to the voters during election season, but the reality is that a Romney administration would be so similar to an Obama administration that you would hardly know that a change has taken place.
...

Mitt Romney is a "politician" in the worst sense of the word. As his past has demonstrated, he will do and say just about anything in order to get elected. The positions he has taken during this campaign season have been carefully calculated to help him win both the Republican nomination and the general election.
...

The following are 16 reasons why Mitt Romney would be a really, really bad president....

#1 Obamacare was one of the worst pieces of legislation ever passed by the U.S. Congress. Mitt Romney says that he would repeal Obamacare, but the reality is that Romneycare was what Obamacare was based on. In fact, a recent MSNBC article brought to light some new information about the relationship between Romneycare and Obamacare....

Newly obtained White House records provide fresh details on how senior Obama administration officials used Mitt Romney’s landmark health-care law in Massachusetts as a model for the new federal law, including recruiting some of Romney’s own health care advisers and experts to help craft the act now derided by Republicans as “Obamacare.”
...

#2 During his time as governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney significantly raised taxes. ... Romney and lawmakers also approved hundreds of millions in higher fees and fines during his four years in office.
...
#3 Government spending in Massachusetts increased significantly under Mitt Romney. An advocate of smaller government he most definitely is not.

This was especially true for the last two budgets passed under Romney. In fiscal year 2006, government spending in Massachusetts increased by 7.6 percent. In fiscal year 2007, government spending in Massachusetts increased by a whopping 10.2 percent.

#4 It turns out that Mitt Romney is a believer in the theory of man-made global warming. In fact, Al Gore recently praised on Mitt Romney on his blog. In a post entitled "Good for Mitt Romney -- though we've long passed the point where weak lip-service is enough on the Climate Crisis", Al Gore lavished the following praise on the former Massachusetts governor....

"While other Republicans are running from the truth, he is sticking to his guns in the face of the anti-science wing of the Republican Party"
...

#5 If Mitt Romney becomes president, we may actually have "cap and trade" shoved down our throats. While campaigning for president in 2007, Mitt Romney said that he would support a "cap and trade" carbon tax scheme for the entire world....

“I support Cap-and-Trade on a global basis but not the USA going alone. I want to do it with other nations involved and on a global scale.”

#6 Mitt Romney had a horrible record of creating jobs while governor of Massachusetts. According to Boston Herald business reporter Bret Arends, only one state in the entire country was worse at creating jobs while Romney was in office....

“During the four years Mitt Romney was governor of Massachusetts, it had the second worst jobs record of any state in America…it wasn’t a regional issue. The rest of New England created nearly 200,000 jobs.”

#7 Mitt Romney was a very enthusiastic supporter of the Wall Street bailouts. When the time comes for more Wall Street bailouts it seems almost certain that Mitt Romney will bail them out again.

#8 If Romney becomes president, get ready for a flood of liberal judges. While he was governor of Massachusetts, there were actually significantly more Democrats among his judicial appointments than there were Republicans.

#9 Mitt Romney is incredibly soft on illegal immigration. Back in 2007, Mitt Romney made the following statement....

“But my view is that those 12 million who've come here illegally should be given the opportunity to sign up to stay here”

#10 While he was governor, Mitt Romney received advice on global warming and carbon emissions from the man who is now the top science adviser to Barack Obama. His name is John P. Holdren, and he has some very, very disturbing ideas. For example, he once wrote the following....

"A program of sterilizing women after their second or third child, despite the relatively greater difficulty of the operation than vasectomy, might be easier to implement than trying to sterilize men.
...

#11 Mitt Romney has been a huge supporter of gun control laws. When he was running for governor in Massachusetts, he made the following statement....

"We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts- I support them...I believe they help protect us, and provide for our safety."
...

#12 Mitt Romney once claimed that he was more "pro-choice" than Ted Kennedy, but now he claims that he is pro-life. In a recent article for WorldNetDaily, Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt explained why so many voters are still skeptical....

This year he's the only major Republican presidential candidate who has yet to sign the Susan B. Anthony List pledge to defend life and defund Planned Parenthood nationwide. Candidates Bachmann, Perry, Gingrich, Paul, Pawlenty and Santorum all signed the pledge, although it should be noted Herman Cain supports everything in the pledge except the Fetal Pain Act. (Cain is not fully pro-life, either.) And who can forget Mitt's famous 2002 campaign debate bragging repeatedly that he's more pro-choice than Ted Kennedy?

#13 During this campaign season, Mitt Romney has stated that he only supports partnership agreements for gay couples and not gay marriage, but what Romney actually did while governor of Massachusetts suggests otherwise. In the WorldNetDaily article referenced above, Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt detailed how Mitt Romney aggressively implemented gay marriage in the state of Massachusetts....

When the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decided in 2003 to recognize homosexual "marriage," ignoring the voters and the Constitution, the court admitted it did not have power to issue licenses or force participation by justices of the peace to solemnize the weddings. But as governor, Romney didn't wait for the legislature to act, he just ordered the marriage licenses and weddings to go forward, all by himself. Earlier this month, Romney said in New Hampshire, "What I would support [nationwide] is letting people who are of the same gender form – if you will – partnership agreements."

#14 As late as 2007, Mitt Romney was a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership. The following is what romneyexposed.com says about this organization....

They often work in conjunction with the pro-abortion group, Republicans for Choice, and the Republican homosexual group, the Log Cabin Club. They also opposed the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and set up a 527 campaign committee that received funding from far left funder George Soros.

#15 According to the Huffington Post, Mitt Romney has raised more money from lobbyists than all of the other Republican candidates combined.

So if Mitt Romney becomes president, who do you think he is going to listen to - the American people or the lobbyists?

#16 Mitt Romney is a big time Wall Street insider. It is estimated that Romney has a personal fortune of approximately a quarter of a billion dollars, and Wall Street money is being absolutely showered on his campaign.

In a recent article entitled "The Big Wall Street Banks Are Already Trying To Buy The 2012 Election", I detailed how numbers compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics show that Mitt Romney is getting far more money from the "too big to fail" Wall Street banks than all of the other Republican candidates combined. The following is an excerpt from that article that shows how much money employees of those banks (and their wives) have been giving to Romney so far this year....

*****

Goldman Sachs

Mitt Romney: $352,200
Barack Obama: $49,124
Tim Pawlenty: $25,000
Jon Huntsman: $6,750
Rick Perry: $5,500
Ron Paul: $2,500

Morgan Stanley

Mitt Romney: $184,800
Tim Pawlenty: $41,715
Barack Obama: $28,225
Rick Perry: $20,750
Jon Huntsman: $9,750
Newt Gingrich: $1,000
Ron Paul: $1,000
Herman Cain: $500

Bank of America

Mitt Romney: $112,500
Barack Obama: $46,699
Tim Pawlenty: $12,750
Jon Huntsman: $4,250
Ron Paul: $3,451
Rick Perry: $2,600
Thad McCotter: $2,000
Herman Cain: $750
Michele Bachmann: $500
Newt Gingrich: $250

JPMorgan Chase

Mitt Romney: $107,250
Barack Obama: $38,039
Rick Perry: $27,050
Tim Pawlenty: $16,750
Jon Huntsman: $7,500
Ron Paul: $5,451

Citigroup

Mitt Romney: $56,550
Barack Obama: $36,887
Tim Pawlenty: $5,300
Rick Perry: $3,000
Herman Cain: $1,465
Michele Bachmann: $1,000
Ron Paul: $702

As you can see, no other Republican candidate even comes close to Romney at any of these big Wall Street banks.

In fact, of the candidates that are left in the Republican race, Mitt Romney has raised 13 times as much Wall Street money as anyone else has.

The following are the overall donation numbers from employees of the big Wall Street banks and their wives....

Mitt Romney: $813,300
Barack Obama: $198,874
Tim Pawlenty: $101,515
Rick Perry: $58,900
Jon Huntsman: $28,250
Ron Paul: $13,104
Herman Cain: $2,715
Michelle Bachmann: $1,500
Newt Gingrich: $1,250

These numbers paint a very disturbing picture. Even though Romney's poll numbers are in the mid to low 20s most of the time, employees of the big Wall Street banks gave him $813,300 during the first 9 months of this year and they only gave $105,719 to the rest of the Republican candidates combined.

*****

It is quite obvious that the "establishment" is in love with Mitt Romney.

But if the American people elect Mitt Romney, they will get someone who believes in big spending, big government, bank bailouts, health care mandates, climate change legislation, liberal judges, gun control laws, amnesty for illegal aliens and making things as comfortable for the fatcats on Wall Street as possible.

UNICEF's War On Christmas

2011-12-21T05:00:00.002-05:00

It's just unbelievable... the latest tasteless commercial UNICEF has put out... they portray a Santa Claus "that doesn't DO poor countries"

This certainly doesn't make ME want to donate anything to UNICEF!
Not that I would anyway - seeing as they are just another Leftist organization.

It's a horrible ad.
But not surprising coming from a globalist United Nations (and Agenda 21 promoting) entity.

But, let's take a look at UNICEF

Currently active in 191 countries, the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was created in 1946 by the United Nations, "to work with others to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease, and discrimination place in a child's path." UNICEF is a member of the OneWorld Network, an umbrella organization of more than 1,500 leftwing groups that seek "to promote sustainable development, social justice, and human rights."

One notable recipient of UNICEF funding is the Palestinian Youth Association for Leadership and Rights Activation (PYALARA), a student-run Palestinian NGO that consistently condemns Israel and supports Palestinian militants. UNICEF has chosen PYALARA as a “major strategic partner in Palestine.”
....
According to National Review Online:

"UNICEF has been a major financier of Palestinian “summer camps” which encourage children to become suicide bombers. One such camp is named for Wafa Idris, a female suicide bomber.

"During the late 1990s, UNICEF served as a propaganda organ of the Saddam Hussein regime. Relying solely on Iraqi government statistics, UNICEF and the Saddam government co-authored a report asserting that over a million children in Iraq died because of U.N. sanctions. A map on the first page of the report depicted Kuwait as a province of Iraq."

The same article from National Review states:

According to UNICEF, the major cause of child poverty in the world is the free market—even though countries with free markets have vastly lower levels of child poverty than do the kleptocratic, statist economies extolled by UNICEF....

UNICEF’s executive board includes China (whose forced abortion policy is neither pro-life, nor pro-choice, nor pro-child) and Bhutan (where children are among the many victims of the regime’s human rights abuses). UNICEF has doled out unaccountable money to the North Korean regime.

I'd choose Santa Claus over these Leftist UN globalist monsters anytime.

Happy Hannukah!

2011-12-20T05:00:00.001-05:00

The Jewish Festival of Hannukah begins at sundown tonight. Happy Hannukah to those of you who celebrate, and may this season bring you and your loved ones health, happiness, peace and prosperity.

Hannukah is a celebration of the Jewish victory over the Assyrian Greeks. The Greeks persecuted the Jews, the Jews resisted, and we are still here today to talk about it.

The Maccabees

Before his death, Mattityahu called his sons together and urged them to continue to fight in defense of G-d’s Torah. He asked them to follow the counsel of their brother Shimon the Wise. In waging warfare, he said, their leader should be Judah the Strong. Judah was called "Maccabee," a word composed of the initial letters of the four Hebrew words Mi Kamocha Ba’eilim Hashem, "Who is like You, O G-d."

Antiochus sent his General Apolonius to wipe out Yehuda and his followers, the Maccabees. Though greater in number and equipment than their adversaries, the Syrians were defeated by the Maccabees. Antiochus sent out another expedition which also was defeated. He realized that only by sending a powerful army could he hope to defeat Judah and his brave fighting men.

An army consisting of more than 40,000 men swept the land under the leadership of two commanders, Nicanor and Gorgiash. When Judah and his brothers heard of that, they exclaimed: "Let us fight unto death in defense of our souls and our Temple!" The people assembled in Mitzpah, where Samuel, the prophet of old, had offered prayers to G-d. After a series of battles the war was won.

And there is also the story of Miracle of the Hannukah... and why it is the Festival of Lights.

Hannukah Miracle (139 BCE)

On the 25th of Kislev in the year 3622 from creation, the Maccabees liberated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, after defeating the vastly more numerous and powerful armies of the Syrian-Greek king Antiochus IV, who had tried to forcefully uproot the beliefs and practices of Judaism from the people of Israel. The victorious Jews repaired, cleansed and rededicated the Temple to the service of G-d. But all the Temple's oil had been defiled by the pagan invaders; when the Jews sought to light the Temple's menorah (candelabra), they found only one small cruse of ritually pure olive oil. Miraculously, the one-day supply burned for eight days, until new, pure oil could be obtained. In commemoration, the Sages instituted the 8-day festival of Chanukah, on which lights are kindled nightly to recall and publicize the miracle.

The eight-day festival of Hannukah begins tonight. In commemoration of the miracle of the oil we light the Hannukah lights -- oil lamps or candles -- each evening for eight days, increasing the number of lights each evening.

Tonight, the first night of Hannukah, we kindle one light.

So.. have some latkes (potato pancakes fried in oil) with sour cream or apple sauce, play a game of dreidel, and enjoy!

חנוכה שמח

Washington GOP May Have Plans For Ron Paul

2011-12-19T05:00:00.003-05:00

This article by Tim Carney just about sums it up ... the GOP will not allow a Ron Paul nomination... and so the anti-Paul propaganda is already in gear.

The Republican presidential primary has become a bit feisty, but it will get downright ugly if Ron Paul wins the Iowa caucuses.

The principled, antiwar, Constitution-obeying, Fed-hating, libertarian Republican congressman from Texas stands firmly outside the bounds of permissible dissent as drawn by either the Republican establishment or the mainstream media. (Disclosure: Paul wrote the foreword to my 2009 book.)

But in a crowded GOP field currently led by a collapsing Newt Gingrich and an uninspiring Mitt Romney, Paul could carry the Iowa caucuses, where supporter enthusiasm has so much value.

If Paul wins, how will the media and the GOP react? Much of the media will ignore him (expect headlines like "Romney Beats out Gingrich for Second Place in Iowa"). Some in the Republican establishment and the conservative media will panic. Others will calmly move to crush him, with the full cooperation of the liberal mainstream media.

I am already seeing the re-runs of articles and other stories that claim Dr. Paul is a racist and here is even an old clip with Wolf Blitzer talking about some old newsletter:

You can expect to see more attacks on Ron Paul as his campaign gains more and more steam. The globalists and elites on the Left and the Right cannot tolerate having someone who would dismantle the FED and pare down government and end wars that are profitable to them.

Interestingly enough - Zerohedge writes, "Newspaper Chaired By Private Equity Head Shockingly Endorses Mitt Romney For President" - Mitt Romney was endorsed by the Des Moines Register:

A few hours ago the Des Moines Register threw its support behind the Bain Capital founder, and the man now known to have actively destroyed any trace of his public "service" before his 2007 Massachusettes office handover (with a pending response to a Reuters FOIA, which will disclose just what it was that Romney was so tenuously shredding). Because according to the Iowan newspaper, Mitt Romney "is the best to lead" America, although into what, is not quite clear - perhaps the biggest Fed funded LBO (with a Bain Capital $1 mezz piece) of all time, that of America? We don't know. And neither does the Register's editorial board. What they do know are hollow adjectives, such as "sobriety", "wisdom" and "judgment" which somehow are applicable to Romney, if not so much "betting" and "shredding." Those looking for a late night laugh can read the OpEd below (link to tomorrow's front page here). And ironically, while likely set to provide a very short-term boost to Romney's chances, it is the baseless ongoing accusations against Ron Paul that will likely solidify the groundswell behind the Texan, with such desperate platitudes as "Ron Paul's libertarian ideology would lead to economic chaos and isolationism, neither of which this nation can afford." Because what America certainly needs is more of that old ideology of doing everything just the same and hoping for the best, because if there is anything Romney's would be predecessors have taught us is that hope apparently is a credible strategy. But perhaps most relevant is the reminder that the Des Moines Register is a Gannett company whose Chairman just happens to be one Marjorie Magner, whose bio reads:"

Ms. Magner, 61, is Managing Partner of Brysam Global Partners, a private equity firm investing in financial services firms with a focus on consumer opportunities in emerging markets founded in January 2007. She was Chairman and CEO of Citigroup's Global Consumer Group from 2003 to 2005. She served in various roles at Citigroup, and a predecessor company, CitiFinancial (previously Commercial Credit), since 1987. Ms. Magner currently serves as a director of Accenture Ltd. and Ally Financial Inc. and served as a director of The Charles Schwab Corporation from February 2006 to May 2008. Ms. Magner has broad business experience and financial expertise from the various senior management roles she held with Citigroup."

Pretty interesting.
The banksters must be worried about Ron Paul's popularity.
The anti-Ron Paul propagandists no doubt will be working overtime.
Their mission will be to discredit - and take down - the only candidate that is consistent in his support for Liberty, Freedom and the Constitution.

...in the meantime watch this if you like Ron Paul but don't agree with his foreign policy: