Faultline USA

The Most Dangerous Town In The World

noreply@blogger.com (Findalis) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:12:00 +0000

by Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Sderot (pronounced sderr-ROHT) is the only town and the Western Negev is the only region in the entire world in which missiles are fired towards civilian population in the 21st Century.

Yet in spite of the lie by Hamas that they will not fire rockets into Israel again, a promise to the world in fact, missiles have been fired and one exploded inside the city of Sderot.

The Israel Air Force carried out an air strike against terrorist operations in Gaza overnight in retaliation for a Kassam rocket fired at the western Negev on Saturday. The rocket exploded in the city of Sderot, according to the IDF Spokesman's Office, but caused no injuries or damage.

In response, IAF fighter jets targeted and identified hitting two weapons factories in the northern and central regions of Gaza early Sunday. They also struck one smuggling tunnel located in the area of Rafiah, along Gaza's southern border with Egypt.

The air strikes were carried out despite an announcement Saturday by Hamas "Interior Minister" Fathi Hamad that the terror organizations had cut a deal with allied groups to temporarily halt the rocket attacks. Hamad told reporters at a news conference in Gaza the decision had been made in order to give people time to "rebuild" following the IDF's counterrorist Operation Cast Lead.
"The IDF will not tolerate any attacks by terror organizations against Israel and its citizens," said the IDF in a statement.
Nearly 270 rockets and mortar shells have been fired at Israel since the end of last winter's counterterrorist operation on January 18. This is in comparison to more than 3,300 rockets and mortars fired in the year before the IDF carried out the operation, the IDF spokesman pointed out.

In the past month, Hamas terrorists have again slowly begun increasing the number of rocket attacks on Israel, with approximately 15 rockets and mortar shells fired to date.

While 15 is not a large number, they do help to create the atmosphere of terror to Sderot. Sderot is the only town in the world in which between 74% and 94% of children aged 4-18 exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress, says Natal, the Israel Center for Victims of Terror and War. Those numbers are not present in Gaza where according to the Lame Stream ~~Media~~ Anti-Semites, the children of Gaza have experienced the most vicious and inhumane attacks in the history of the world. Where is the PTSD and other psychiatric disorders in these children?

Sderot children want missile fire to stop!

View the video here.

Just imagine this is your home:

Just imagine this is your kitchen on Thanksgiving:

Just imagine this is your bathroom:

Not a pretty picture is it.

There is much you can do. Write your Congressman and Senator, write the President. Tell them that Hamas' constant attacks on civilians (they very seldom target military personal) is unacceptable under The Geneva Conventions of War and other International Agreements.

Contact your local newspaper, especially after they write a story condemning Israel for attacking Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks on Sderot.

Become informed. The people of Sderot have been on the forefront of the War on Terror for the last 8 years. They have put their families at risk, sacrificing good physical and mental health in this war. It is time their stories, their struggle comes out. The Sderot Media Center is a good place to start. Their on-line resource page is full of facts (not propaganda) for you to use, especially if you are a blogger. You can find it here.

I ask all who read this to keep the people of Sderot in their prayers. Pray that G-d will send a miracle to them. That they can live in peace and quiet.

And if you are able to, please send a little donation their way. The funds are used to help the people of Sderot. Each penny you send will bring comfort to citizen of that beleaguered town. Just click here and follow the directions. For those who wish to sponsor one of their projects, just click here. You will discover the projects that the Sderot Media Center is working on.

Just one thing, don't just do nothing.

On the precipice - healthcare disaster looming

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Simpson) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:34:00 +0000

By James Simpson

This Congress is beneath contempt. What they are poised to pass today – yes I know this is just a procedural vote, but everything turns on it – is an abomination. Since Lincoln and Landrieu have been bought off it is now sure to pass. Landrieu cost the taxpayer $100 million. I wonder what we paid Lincoln to betray us. This bill will not merely ruin our healthcare system; it will impose economy crushing taxes, pushing our already tottering economy ever closer to the abyss.

Read on...

The Warning Signs Were Out There.

noreply@blogger.com (Findalis) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:22:00 +0000

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

As far back as 2007 officials at Walter Reed knew that there were problems with Nidal Hasan, yet they did nothing. They chose to ignore the signs for whatever reason they had.

Two years ago, a top psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was so concerned about what he saw as Nidal Hasan's incompetence and reckless behavior that he put those concerns in writing. NPR has obtained a copy of the memo, the first evaluation that has surfaced from Hasan's file.

Officials at Walter Reed sent that memo to Fort Hood this year when Hasan was transferred there.

Nevertheless, commanders still assigned Hasan — accused of killing 13 people in a mass shooting at Fort Hood on Nov. 5 — to work with some of the Army's most troubled and vulnerable soldiers.

Read the full story here.

I wonder if Hasan was a Christian or Jewish would he have gotten the same easy pass that he did.

Just read the memo and wonder what the US Army considers to be good psychiatric care?

The Memo:

National Capital Consortium
Psychiatry Residency Program
Borden Pavilion, Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Bldg.6, Rm. 2059, 6900 Georgia Ave, NW
Washington DC, 20307-5001
XXXXXXX

Consortium Participating Instructions: Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, National Naval Medical Center, Malcolm Grow USAF Medical Center

May 17, 2007

Memorandum for: Credentials Committee

Subject: CPT Nidal Hasan

1. I am the program director for NCC Psychiatry Residency Training Program. I took over as PD in MAR 2007 and was Assistant PD from July 2006. I have been a faculty member of the residency since July 2004.

2. This memo is based on my personal knowledge of and the documented incidences in CPT Hasan’s Resident Training File.

3. The Faculty has serious concerns about CPT Hasan’s professionalism and work ethic. Clinically he is competent to deliver safe patient care. But he demonstrates a pattern of poor judgment and a lack of professionalism. In his PGY-2 year, he was counseled for inappropriately discussing religious topics with his assigned patients. He also required a period of in-program remediation when he was discovered to have not documented appropriately an ER encounter with a homicidal patient who subsequently eloped from the ER. He did successfully remediate this problem. At the end of his PGY-2 year, he was placed on administrative probation by the NCC GMEC for failure to take and pass USMLE Step 3 and to obtain an unrestricted state medical license by the end of his PGY-2 year; as a result he was not promoted to PGY-3 on time. He did eventually complete step 3 and get a license and was promoted to PGY-3. He was counseled for having a poor record of attendance at didactics and lower than expected PRITE scores. One year he failed to show for his PRITE examination at all. During his PGY-3 year, he was counseled for being consistently late to NNMC morning report. During his PGY-4 year, he was discovered to have only seen 30 outpatients in 38 week of outpatient continuity clinic. He was required to make this missed clinic time up using his elective. He failed his HGT/WGT screening and was found to be out of standards with body fat % and was counseled on that.
Lastly, he missed a night of call for MGMC ER and then did not respond to numerous pages by my office the next day.

4. Take together; these issues demonstrate a lack of professionalism and work ethics. He is able to self-correct with supervision. However, at this point he should not need so much supervision. In spite of all of this, I am not able to say he is not competent to graduate nor do I think a period of academic probation now at the end of his training will be beneficial. He would be able to contain his behavior enough to complete any period of probation successfully. My purpose in writing this letter is to give the credentials committee the benefit of full disclosure and the opportunity to modify CPT Hasan’s plan of supervision following initial privileging.

5. I did discuss this memo with CPT Hasan and informed him I would be adding it to his initial credentialing paperwork.

6. POC is the undersigned and may be reached at 202-XXX-XXXX or email at XXX/

Sincerely,

Scott Moran, MAJ, MC
Program Director
NCC Psychiatry Residency Training

A memo like that by a civilian hospital would destroy anyone's career, regardless of race or religion. But not in the military. What the US Army only wants is diversity for the sake of diversity. Not competency. Thus Hasan's passing grade and promotion.

In the old US Army, Hasan not only would have been investigate for his anti-American, treasonous (it is treason to side with the enemy during war-time) views, but would have failed in his quest to become a psychiatrist, been given a discharge (or asked to resign) and forced to pay the taxpayers back for his medical school.

No one would have died at Ft. Hood, and Hasan could have emigrated to one of the 57 Islamic countries that could have used his talents.

Oh for the good old days!

Civilian Trials Provide Soapboxes for Terrorists.

noreply@blogger.com (Longstreet) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:16:00 +0000

America Seen as Weak in Treatment of Terrorists

Civilian Trials Provide Soapboxes for Terrorists.
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
***************************************
So now we are going to try the terrorists in civilian federal trials in New York City, just blocks away from the site of the former World Trade Center Twin Towers, where 3,000 innocents were murdered. Can you possible see how this move by the Obama Regime makes the US appear weak, indecisive, and just plain DUMB to our enemies?

The terrorists had already been charged in military courts. Now the government is snatching them out of the hands of the one judicial system in America where justice for their heinous acts was certain. Instead they will be provided with a soapbox upon which to preach their hatred of America to their acolytes around the world.

As I listen to all the whining from the Left, and from the Right, about the terrible, terrible, way we are treating those poor terrorists who want to kill us, and our kids, it curdles my stomach!

What about the families of the 3,000 they murdered? What about the 5,000 more who have given their lives in combat against their like in the Iraq and Afghanistan where the battles rage on.

Now think about this for a moment: Has anyone considered the imminent danger to every member of the jury/juries in these terrorist trials? It is certainly within the realm of possibility that some Islamic religious authority, somewhere, will issue a “Fatwa” calling for the death of every member of those juries. (A fatwa is issued by a recognized religious authority in Islam. SOURCE). That Fatwa would stand, I suspect, for the lifetimes of those jurors. I have to wonder if the government has made arrangements to place every juror in the Federal Witness Program, along with their immediate families, for the remainder of their lives? (Fatwas involving violence are more likely to be well known than other fatwas, especially to non-Muslims. One possible reason is that non-Muslims regard most fatwas as not affecting them, but fatwas involving violence can potentially affect them. Fatwas do not only affect Non-muslims. From: Wikipedia)

Isn’t this question being considered? Think about it. Who the heck is going to want to serve on those juries? Surely they will be surrounded by armed guards 24 hours a day for months and possibly even years as these trials grind on. As we know, terrorist trials have a way of lasting not weeks, not months, but years.

I am now more convinced than ever that the longhaired clowns from the sixties who chanted: “peace, love, and pot,” are running the US government now. (I have long been convinced they are running the universities, colleges, and public schools in this country.)

I cannot, for the life of me, understand how they can be so stupid! So, utterly, hopelessly, stupid! I guess all that “funny weed” screwed-up their brains! That has to be the answer. Stupidity of that magnitude is not natural. It has to be self-induced.

When we finally get a group of those rabid killers caged up, the “limp-wristed,” and “jelly-spined,” among us begin to worry that we might treat them badly and they would, in turn, think badly of us -- like they loved us before we captured their sorry behinds and tossed them in the can!

I swear… if the Mainstream Media, and the Political Left, of today, had been around during the Second World War, all of us on the east coast would be speaking German and the folks on the west coast would be speaking Japanese.

We have given birth to a generation of wimps!

Look, when some group of “religious nuts” publicly vows to kill you and makes a rather emphatic attempt at it, and in the process manages to kill, oh, say, 3000 of our citizens, I have to believe they are serious… and we are duty bound, as Americans, to hunt them down… and liquidate them by any, and all, means necessary. Eradicate as many as it takes to remove the threat to my family and yours.

If some manage to be taken alive, cage them for the rest of their natural lives. Give them food and water, and little else, until their respective deity calls them home!

I am not interested in treating them with kindness. Not in the least. The fact that they still have a pulse is straining my “compassion limits” as it is.

The MSM, the Political Left, and even some on the Political Right, have managed to make the US the laughing stock of the Middle East! They think we’re a bunch of pansies… and who can blame them. We sure as heck act like it!

All the moaning, and whining, about those poor fruitcakes in Gitmo, is sickening. Some of those guys are living better IN PRISON than they ever did before we grabbed their sorry behinds and tossed them in those cages.

So, if you feel really, really, bad about our treatment of the terrorists, just keep it to yourself. I don’t want to hear it. Your cowering posture and your groveling is making us all look bad. And, in my opinion, it is bordering on giving aid and comfort to the enemy!

We have 3000 dead, from the attack in New York, and another 5,000, or so, dead in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the socialists running the US government these days want to play “patty-cake” with those bloodthirsty killers???

I know the scriptures say:” Vengeance is mine, sayth the Lord.” That’s fine by me… as long as He hurries it up -- and lets me watch!

J. D. Longstreet

********************

Conservative

No Political Purge Coming

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Simpson) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:38:00 +0000

There has been a story flying around the internet in recent days that the Obama administration intends to purge Republicans from the bureaucracy by using a new federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) rule requiring that all applicants for career civil service jobs who held political jobs "within the past five years" be approved by OPM. The assertion is that “past five years” can only refer to Bush appointees, and that OPM’s memo authorizes the agency to ferret out Republican civil service hires and find some bureaucratic pretext to kick them out.

A close reading of the OPM memo and statements by Elaine Kaplan, OPM General Counsel, provide reassurance that, however the Obama administration plans to handle Republicans working in the bureaucracy, this OPM rule is not intended to affect them.

Bolton Discusses Global Arms Treaty on NRA

noreply@blogger.com (Faultline USA) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:57:00 +0000

Bolton says that we have entered a very critical period. Bolton speaks on the Obama administration’s attempt to internationalize gun control and threaten our 2^nd amendment rights.

Go to NRA and enter “global arms treaty” on search function (top right of main page) to see the video.

Former U.S. ambassador discusses the U.N.’s anti-gun agenda. Ginny Simone speaks with John Bolton about the Obama administration’s position on the International Arms Trade Treaty and the consequences of such an agreement for American gun owners. Bolton says that there is no doubt that the “real agenda here is domestic firearms control,” and he explains that controlling civilian ownership is a priority for anti-gun countries such as Britain, Australia and Japan, among others.

The U.N. fears that If the Obama administration turns out to be just one term they must move rapidly on this treaty. The U.N. wants to move rapidly during this narrow window of opportunity.

Bolton warns that this is a very dangers time we are entering into:

There’s a lot the administration can do via executive agreement that won’t require Congressional approval at all. . . .

Obama is our first post American president . . .he doesn’t believe in American exceptionalism, . . .

Our adversaries around the world see this administration as weak, indecisive . . .we are in a very vulnerable period . . . They have been waiting a long time for this opportunity . . .they are going to drive to push through everything they can . . .

Bolton says that Obama wants to avoid a 2^nd amendment fight by using his executive agreement powers.

What about Civilian ownership?

A very slippery slope especially with this administration. . .

Technorati Tags: Hillary Clinton,President,Obama,Gun control,global arms treaty,NRA,U.N.,United Nations,globalism,individual freedoms

noreply@blogger.com (Longstreet) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Where did the “Silent Majority” go???

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

*************************

During the decade of the seventies the “Silent Majority” was often spoken of in the press. Prominent politicians, including the President, openly sought their support.Well, where did they go?

Oh, they’re still here… and just as powerful as before. You see them everyday. They’re all around you. They are the folks you see at parties who stand around the edges of a group discussing politics. They rarely have any input into the discussion… they just absorb it. They’re the folks who do not sit in on the coffee klatch discussion on politics and world affairs.

They’re the people who go to church, nearly every Sunday, and raise their children to be respectful of others and live useful, productive lives. They send their kids to church supported universities and colleges for a good education, rather than an indoctrination in the ways of the political left.

The Silent Majority is the folk who never miss an opportunity to vote. They believe men died to give them that opportunity, and they will not abuse the memory of those heroic men by not going to the polls to vote. They are also the people who will not tell those taking the Exit Polls who they voted for. They voted in secret, it’s their secret, and they will keep it, often never even divulging it to their families. They are, for the most part, conservative in politics as well as religion.

These are the people who shop at Wal-Mart, and K-mart, and drive 2, 3 or 4 year old cars. Most own their own homes. They have savings accounts and they have a family budget, which they will not abuse. Their lives are built around their families and their church. Many are veterans of America’s armed forces. They believe this country is worth fighting for and they will put their own lives on the line to protect her. They view politics as a necessary evil. They believe they should always vote for the man who best represents their belief. They will not support a candidate just because he, or she, wears the label of the party to which they, themselves, are registered.

They wield enormous power. These people can make, or break, a presidential election. When they step into the voting booth, they speak, loud and clear. It is there that the Silent Majority rejects their silence and shouts their politics to the world.

Today the Silent Majority has joined forces with the outspoken Conservative Movement in America in a desperate attempt to save America from the clutches of socialism.

President Obama and our socialist Congress should be mindful of these powerful Americans. They see it all, and they hear it all, and they silently form their conclusion about who should get their support. Politicians, beware! You neglect the Silent Majority at your peril.-- especially now that they have found their audible voice through the outspoken Conservative Movement (Example: The Tea Party movement).

Then -- there is the Mainstream Media. The voice of the American left. They make fun of one of the mightiest forces in American politics. The Silent Majority never fails to notice the press’s stifled giggles; and their backhanded insults of the conservative politics of these very real, very patriotic, Americans. They see it all and… they remember… and they take those memories into the voting booth with them.

So, here’s to the Silent Majority! May God bless them!

J.D. Longstreet

Continental Congress '09 Live Feed Now

noreply@blogger.com (Faultline USA) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:17:00 +0000

Continental Congress '09 in session at present in St. Charles, ILL, and you can watch the live stream feed at www.cc2009.us or at www.freedom.tv.

Technorati Tags: Continental Congress,delegates,live stream,video,Constitution,United States

Obama Bowing and Scraping His Way Around the Globe.

noreply@blogger.com (Longstreet) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:15:00 +0000

Obama Bowing and Scraping His Way Around the Globe.
Totally Unbecoming an American President Embarrassing and Humiliating to the American People!!!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

***********************************

Will someone in Obama’s Regime please take him aside and explain to him that the American President does not, repeat: does not ever, under any circumstances, BOW to another world leader -- at anytime or for any reason!

Good Heavens, folks, this is past embarrassing. This gives the impression that Obama is representing an America in a state of “submission” to the country to which he, Obama, is bowing!

I have lived thru embarrassing presidential administrations before, a number of them: Johnson, Carter, Clinton, and now OBAMA. But, I have to tell you, the Obama regime is the worst for dragging America down and placing her in submission to other countries and organizations, such as the corrupt UN, and other “entities” we know nothing about… yet.

Where are the shrinks when we need one? I want to hear a certified shrink tell me why Obama feels he must submit to any world leader on the globe let alone ALL OF THEM!!!

If there was ever a pathetic sight in the history of the world it was/is of the President of the United States of America bowing, period. It matters not to whom he is bowing.

Yes, I have known all along, since day one of the Presidential campaign, that Obama suffers from a massive inferiority complex. He wants, no, he NEEDS, to be loved and loved BY EVERYONE! He craves that love and adoration so much that he is willing to crawl to the tattered and tarnished thrones of “has been” foreign powers and prostrate himself in a sign of total submission just to receive a moment’s notice from them. Obama gives the impression he is begging scraps from their tables. His conduct in the presence of other world leaders is AWFUL, just AWFUL!

Obama’s minions are trying to sell the American public that Obama was just observing protocol. Protocol my Aunt Fanny! There is NO SUCH PROTOCOL. None. Nowhere in the protocol handbook for the American President does it say an American President must bow to a foreign leader!

This is past embarrassing. This is into the “Realm of Unreality.”

Ok, the bottom line: If the President wants to fly around the world and play a game of “Kiss A**” then I want it clear, to all the leaders around the globe, that he is NOT BOWING FOR ME and for the majority of Americans who find his antics embarrassing and humiliating -- and not a little insane!

J. D. Longstreet

For more on this go HERE.
****************************

Conservative+Obama+Bowing+Submission

Congressional malfeasance in the pursuit of health care reform

jsobservations@yahoo.com (James Shott) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:46:00 +0000

Commentary by James H. Shott

After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, private meetings in the back rooms of the Capitol, murky obfuscation, misleading statements and outright mistruths, and other varieties of objectionable behavior, the Speaker of the House of Representatives finally maneuvered the enormously expensive and power-grabbing health care reform bill through to passage by a thin 220-215 vote.

True, the exuberance displayed when the 218th vote was cast, marking passage, was untoward, but the majority party seemed not to care. And surely they were joking when they claimed a lone Republican “aye” vote made the effort “bi-partisan.”

Nancy Pelosi’s health bill (H.R. 3962) is 1,990 pages – four reams of paper long, stands about a foot high and weighs more than 20 pounds. It is so long and complex that no one understands it and hardly any of the lawmakers had read it. None of which stopped them from passing it, of course. This sort of irresponsible behavior would get a lot of people fired, but not our elected representatives.

However, in defense of the gargantuan size of the bill, a measure with fewer pages would be insufficient to contain the entire collection of nightmarish features of this unconstitutional power grab.

The Wall Street Journal published an article earlier this month, “What the Pelosi Health-Care Bill Really Says,” that tells the public what the House leadership would not tell us. It was written by Betsy McCaughey, chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths, and a former Lt. Governor of New York State.

From the article: Sec. 224 (p. 118) provides that 18 months after the bill becomes law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services will decide what a "qualified plan" covers and how much you'll be legally required to pay for it. That's like a banker telling you to sign the loan agreement now, then filling in the interest rate and repayment terms 18 months later. Payments for most individuals will range somewhere between 17 and 20 percent of their pre-tax income, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Sec. 303 (pp. 167-168) makes it clear that, although the "qualified plan" is not yet designed, it will be of the "one size fits all" variety. The bill claims to offer choice—basic, enhanced and premium levels—but the benefits are the same. Only the co-pays and deductibles differ. You will have to enroll in the same plan, whether the government is paying for it or you and your employer are footing the bill.

Sec. 1302 (pp. 672-692) moves Medicare from a fee-for-service payment system, in which patients choose which doctors to see and doctors are paid for each service they provide, toward what's called a "medical home," which the Congressional Budget Office said were likely to resemble the unpopular gatekeepers of 20 years ago, if cost control is a priority, and it will be.

It gets worse.

A letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) to Michigan Republican Dave Camp, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee, confirmed that failure to buy health insurance makes you a criminal: “Depending on the level of the noncompliance, the following penalties could apply to an individual:

“Section 7201 – felony willful evasion is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years.

“Section 7203 – misdemeanor willful failure to pay is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.”

It is difficult to imagine people who call themselves Americans putting criminal penalties in a health care bill, or voting for such a bill. And it’s difficult to understand people who call themselves Americans supporting such outrageous and anti-American notions, even if they favor health care reform.

Whether or not these command-and-control measures are part of whatever bill Congress ultimately passes, if it passes one, it should anger every true American – Democrat, Republican and politically non-aligned alike – that such treachery would even be considered.

It has yet to be shown where in the United States Constitution the Congress, the President or anyone else has the power to take over the country’s health care system, or to mandate that citizens buy anything. And what’s worse, Congress seems totally unconcerned about constitutionality.

Forcing people to buy an expensive insurance policy they can’t read until long after they’ve been forced to buy it, then making criminals out of them if they don’t comply is reminiscent of the sort of heavy-handed oppression foisted on the Colonies by King George III.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, speaking to The Heritage Foundation's President's Club last week, said that the government structure designed by the Founding Fathers is the most unique and powerful feature of our Constitution, the element that sets it above other governing documents.

The Constitution's limits on government power, he emphasized, ensure that the protections of the Bill of Rights are honored. Even the Soviet Union had a robust bill of rights, he said, but since the rest of the USSR's constitution placed no limits on government powers, the bill of rights was essentially meaningless. Our Constitution is different, Justice Scalia said.

But our elected representatives no longer recognize or honor its authority.

Cross-posted from Observations

Hasan Participated in Presidential Transition Task force on Homeland Security

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Simpson) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:36:00 +0000

Nidal Hasan, the Muslim U.S. Army Major accused of the mass killings at Fort Hood, is listed as participant in the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute's (HSPI) Presidential Transition Task Force Report. While this is not entirely surprising, given Hasan's former position in the Army, it raises significant questions about White House reluctance to release relevant records allegedly in its possession.

The HSPI is not a governmental organization, and was not directly tied to the Obama administration's transition team. Rather, in its own words, it is a "nonpartisan 'think and do' tank whose mission is to build bridges between theory and practice to advance homeland security through an interdisciplinary approach..." HSPI has already issued a statement on Hasan's participation in the task force as follows:

Obama Dithers. US Troops Die.

noreply@blogger.com (Longstreet) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:35:00 +0000

Obama Dithers. US Troops Die.
“Broken Arrow” for US Troops in Afghanistan?
A Commentary by J.D. Longstreet

**********************************

Pay close attention over the next few months for you are about to see how Democrats lose a war.

History will be made as the world’s only super power, led by a socialist President and a socialist controlled Congress, feed our soldiers into a meat-grinder in order to turn public opinion against the war. As soon as a sufficient percentage of Americans declare their distaste for the war in Afghanistan, Obama will declare the war cannot be won – thus -- creating an excuse to bring US troops home from Afghanistan in defeat and disgrace.

So far, Obama has rejected every single option placed before him by the military.

Think about this for a moment: Obama knows absolutely nothing about the military. He knows absolutely nothing about military tactics. If it were not for a dictionary Obama would not know what the word “counterinsurgency” means! And yet, he is the Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful military the world has even seen. How much sense does THAT make to YOU?

I have advocated, for many years, that Americans desperately need to amend the US Constitution to provide a mandatory requirement that anyone presenting himself or herself as a candidate for President must be a military veteran. The American President is the Commander-in-Chief of all US Armed Forces. He/she ought to be a veteran. They ought to have served their country in the military they will be commanding. The Military, itself, would have far greater respect for a Commander-in-Chief who actually has military experience.

Looking at Afghanistan today it is fairly easy to see what is about to happen there, barring some unforeseen event. The “Vietnam Syndrome” has already set in among the troops in theatre. Look, Obama may fool some of the people, (actually he is fooling a LOT of the people) but he is NOT, I repeat, NOT fooling the Military!
“American Warriors”, know beyond any doubt, whatsoever, that when they find themselves in a tight spot -- a call for reinforcements will be answered, immediately, with those reinforcements, Usually more reinforcements are sent than were requested.

The current Commander-in-Chief received a call for 40,000 troops to reinforce the brave American warriors in Afghanistan as far back as August of 2009. It is mid November. Those reinforcements have NOT BEEN SENT as of this writing! There is no excuse, none, sufficient to excuse this lack of action on the part of the Commander-in-Chief and his Administration. We are seeing frequent reports now of low moral among American troops in Afghanistan —and why not? They are being used as “cannon fodder” while the President appears to be searching for some political goal he can announce as an acceptable “Victory in Afghanistan.” My guess is – it will have nothing to do with actually defeating the Taliban.

In other words, dear reader, Obama is playing politics with the lives of our military men and women in Afghanistan. I know of no other way to state the obvious.

Look, every military veteran will tell you that when combat troops, on the ground call for reinforcements -- you send them. To not send those reinforcements risks a “Broken Arrow” incident in which US troops are over-run by enemy forces. When a “Broken Arrow” call goes out, from a US commander on the ground, all US combat aircraft go immediately to those coordinates and begin bombing the hell out of the enemy. All US artillery within range begins lobbing salvo after salvo of artillery shells onto the enemy, which, until moments ago, was set to overrun and wipe out the US forces on the ground.

Looking at Afghanistan today, we see a resurgence of the Taliban. They are re-supplied and reinvigorated by their backers, quite likely another Middle Eastern country at odds with the US, and, most likely, old, more traditional enemies of the US -- Iran and Russia. There is no doubt that US troops are fatigued and as we said above, there are reports they are demoralized. The military brass admits they expect more suicides among US soldiers in the coming year. Sound familiar? Veterans of the Vietnam Era have seen and heard all this before.

Liberal/socialists, such as Obama, do not understand the military. They do not under stand military power and they surely do not understand the application of that power. They tend to look at the military as a pawn to be used in an international game of political chess.

Most of the liberals I come in contact with detest the military. You can see it, most vividly in our liberal politicians in Washington. The military is prepared to get its hands dirty in the defense of freedom. Liberal politicians are not. They will remain in their sanitized congressional offices and refer to the political debates, they so love, as “fighting” -- as in: “ Senator “so-and-so” is “fighting” for you. You’ve heard it. You know exactly what I mean.

Afghanistan is now Obama’s War. He has claimed it -- or it has claimed him. For better, or worse, it is now Obama’s War. Blaming George Bush is no longer an option. Obama must accept the blame for the deaths of our military men and women in Afghanistan since he took office.

Commanding troops in a “shooting war” takes guts and skill. So far, the American people, more importantly our American warriors, have not seen an obvious display of either.

J. D. Longstreet

******************

Liberal+Obama+Afghanistan+War+American-Warriors+Moral+Obama’s-War

Gay Pro-Hillary Blog Outs Bush's Trip to Ft. Hood

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Simpson) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:13:00 +0000

Bet you didn't know George W. and Laura Bush paid a secret visit to the wounded and aggrieved families at Fort Hood, did you? They did. The day after it happened. And stayed for hours. Fox News reported this briefly. AP covered it with this cursory report:

The Bushes made their private visit to Fort Hood's Darnall Army Medical Center on Friday night. Bush spokesman David Sherzer said in an e-mail that the couple thanked Fort Hood's military leaders and hospital staff for the "amazing care
they are providing."

No one else did... almost no one. Hillbuzz, a Chicago-based gay political site set up last year to support the presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton, wrote a "Thank You" to former President George W. Bush and his wife for their visit to the troops. It is inspiring - the kind of thing we should see much more often, frankly. I recommend you read it. Unlike the contempt and dismissive hatred from the leftist sages of the hypocritical Fourth Estate.

It was all the more amazing considering the legacy of this group....

Read more...

America’s Enemy Within the Gates

noreply@blogger.com (Longstreet) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:18:00 +0000

America’s Enemy Within the Gates
By J. D. Longstreet
*******************************

As I watched the aftermath of the shootings at Ft. Hood recently I, like so many other Americans, was aghast at the carnage wrought by America’s greatest enemy… “Political Correctness.” Say what you will but when the facts all come out, I am convinced the culprit will be none other than political correctness in our government, and in our military, in our religious community, in our educational community, in our religious communities, and yes, even in the communities, large or small, where the average American lives.

Political correctness is a loathsome enemy. It places a blindfold over the eyes of the societies it holds hostage and tells them what they would see if the blindfold were not there. The problem is, political correctness lies. It distorts truth. It twists realism until it rarely resembles anything real -- at all.

Political correctness has so infiltrated this country and inculcated our populace until it has practically brought us to our knees. We cannot see straight, think straight, hear straight, nor act straight, ALL because this country has bought into moral relativism -- political correctness.

Look at our military. We don’t win wars anymore. As a friend of mine pointed out just the other day, we don’t even know HOW to fight an offensive war anymore. We used to win wars through attrition. We would kill the enemy as quickly and efficiently, as possible, until there were not enough of the enemy left to wage war, or they had not the means to wage war, or -- they lost the will to wage war.

Now we have lawyers on the battlefield and in the command and control centers. They direct when and where the bombs will fall, and who and how many will be killed, which enemy strongholds we can fire upon, etc. We must be politically correct so the rest of the world will love us!

I’ve got news for you! A vast portion of the world hates us, and that is not about to change as long as the USA exists -- so DEAL WITH IT!

Political Correctness is Marxism by another name. But, since the US government went socialist, Marxism is not frowned upon as it was in my day as a young man. See, THAT is what political correctness has wrought. I am convinced the current President of the United States holds the office owing to political correctness!

In my opinion it was political correctness that led to the massacre at Ft. Hood. It is the root cause of the self-imposed blindness of the US military, indeed, the entire US Government to the obvious. America has enemies within her gates. Within our very communities reside those enemies who have sworn the destruction of America. Yet we choose to ignore, to turn a blind eye, to deny that gnawing feeling at the back of our minds trying desperately to ring the warning bell. We have adopted the exact same position as a man standing on the railroad tracks facing a swiftly moving train and telling himself, repeatedly, if he only keeps his eyes closed, if he only disregards the train’s warning whistles, all will be well. The train will not strike him. Of course, the train WILL strike him and render him mincemeat.

Not profiling where profiling is clearly called for is self-delusion. But one must be willing to delude one’s self for political correctness to thrive as it does in America.

So we will continue to proudly wear the politically correct blinders until that on rushing trains hits us and then we will wonder what happened and why. No investigation is necessary. We already know the answer. We just don’t like to hear the truth. For when we do, we have to deal with it -- and that is unpleasant. After all, truth is not politically correct! Now, is it?

J. D. Longstreet

*********************

Conservative+PoliticaL-Correctness+Moral-Relativism+America+Marxism

Lou Dobbs Calls it Quits

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Simpson) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:05:00 +0000

Jim Simpson

CNN newsman Lou Dobbs, an increasingly strident voice against the epidemic of illegal immigration had his last show on CNN last night. Although this has apparently been in the works for a while, he tendered his resignation suddenly, only telling his staff that afternoon. Watch his excellent resignation announcement here.

MSNBC, quoted Jonathan Klein, the president of CNN/U.S. as saying “Lou has now decided to carry the banner of advocacy journalism elsewhere.” That's funny. CNN never heard of "advocacy journalism" before? What is it that they do?

Dobbs added that he wanted:

to contribute positively to the understanding of the great issues of our day ... in the most honest and direct language possible.

Good!

Go here to read more.

Lou Dobbs Photo: AP File

Veterans Day 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Longstreet) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:46:00 +0000

VETERANS DAY 2009

Honoring all who served and are now serving!

***********************************************

THE THINGS THAT MAKE A SOLDIER GREAT
Edgar Guest

*********************
The things that make a soldier great and send him out to die, To face the flaming cannon's mouth nor ever question why, Are lilacs by a little porch, the row of tulips red, The peonies and pansies, too, the old petunia bed,The grass plot where his children play, the roses on the wall: 'Tis these that make a soldier great. He's fighting for them all.

'Tis not the pomp and pride of kings that make a soldier brave;

'Tis not allegiance to the flag that over him may wave;

For soldiers never fight so well on land or on the foam

As when behind the cause they see the little place called home.

Endanger but that humble street whereon his children run,

You make a soldier of the man who never bore a gun.

What is it through the battle smoke the valiant soldier sees?

The little garden far away, the budding apple trees,

The little patch of ground back there, the children at their play,

Perhaps a tiny mound behind the simple church of gray.

The golden thread of courage isn't linked to castle dome

But to the spot, where'er it be — the humblest spot called home.

And now the lilacs bud again and all is lovely there

And homesick soldiers far away know spring is in the air;

The tulips come to bloom again, the grass once more is green,

And every man can see the spot where all his joys have been.
He sees his children smile at him, he hears the bugle call,

And only death can stop him now — he's fighting for them all.
********************************

The Poppy

During the Napoleonic wars, it was observed that the fields were bright with colorful red poppies before a battle. Strangely enough, it was discovered that the bombardment of these fields helped the poppy to grow! John McCrae's poem (IN FLANDER'S FIELD) became popular in 1915 and by 1918, Moina Michael began to weave poppies in remembrance of those who had died in WWI while working at the YMCA canteen. Madame Guerin learned of this in 1920 when she visited in New York from France. On her return home, she began making poppies to earn money for the children of veterans and the worn torn Europe. The USA tends to wear poppies on Memorial Day while other countries (e.g., Canada, etc.) wear them in November.
In Flanders Field
by Captain John D. McCrae

**********************************
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe!
To you from failing hands, we throw
The torch-Be yours to hold it high!
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep,
though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
*************************************
HONORING ALL WHO SERVED and ARE NOW SERVING!
J. D. Longstreet
***********************
Conservative+Veterans-Day
Labels: Veterans Day

Positive GDP number is misleading

jsobservations@yahoo.com (James Shott) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:15:00 +0000

Commentary by James H. Shott

Last month’s Gross Domestic Product advance report showing positive productivity of 3.5 percent was certainly one piece of good news in this time of financial strife, the first positive GDP figure in over a year. Those that believe that the recession has ended are emboldened by this figure, since one measure of the end of a recession is two consecutive quarters of positive growth.

Another positive sign is the performance of the stock market, which has gained back about 45 percent of its losses since the financial crisis began. A recovery in the stock market, economists tell us, precedes the general economic recovery by six months to a year.

One not-so-good number, however, is the unemployment figure, which has risen again, and now sits above 10 percent for the first time in 26 years.

In selling his economic stimulus package to the nation President Barack Obama said that it would keep the unemployment rate at about 7 percent, whereas without the stimulus, unemployment would hit 8.8 percent by the last fiscal quarter of 2010.

Obviously, the stimulus failed to stop job loss. And, when you look beneath the surface of the GDP figure, the stimulus has produced little if any significant improvement in productivity.

Economic writer Mike Shedlock wrote about “how bad this all looks once you break down the numbers. The government sloshed trillions around and yet disposable income is down, jobs are horrendously weak, and the only reason GDP rose is wasteful government spending, cash-for-clunkers and extremely unaffordable housing tax credits whose effect is soon going to start diminishing even though the program was just extended.”

Almost half of the 3.5 percent positive GDP number (1.66 percent) came from the Cash-for-Clunkers program, which used stimulus money to incentivize car buying decisions and moved purchases that normally would occur over several months forward to an earlier time period. Consequently, since that initial surge, auto sales have dropped off.

Without the auto sales effect, GDP was still positive, although a more modest 1.9 percent, and some of that was due to the increase in government spending of 7.9 percent. So, the positive figure is far less impressive than it seems. And, the GDP advance report will be revised: a second report will follow at the end of November and the final report at the end of December. It may go up, but it might go down.

Looking ahead, the economic activity that was shifted forward by the stimulus program has prompted some economists to predict a return to negative GDP in the fourth quarter, which would reset the calculation for when the recession is over.

Something to think about is the similarity of what is going on today to what happened after the 1929 stock market crash. It is commonly thought and sometimes reported that the cause of the Great Depression of the 1930s was the market crash in October of 1929. Walter Williams, columnist and Professor of Economics at George Mason University, asks: “How could that be? By April 1930, the stock market had recovered to its pre-crash level. What is not taught in history books is the Great Depression was caused by a massive government failure,” he states.

Dr. Williams goes on to blame actions by the Federal Reserve Bank that led to the contraction of the money supply by 25 percent, the passage of the Smoot-Hawley Act in June 1930 in the name of saving jobs, which increased U.S. tariffs by more than 50 percent, causing a collapse of world trade when other nations retaliated against the U.S. action.

He cites other missteps that include the imposition of the largest tax increase in U.S. history (at the time) that raised the top tax rate on income from 25 percent to 63 percent, and then the New Deal legislation that heavily regulated the economy and extended the Great Depression to after World War II.

“Have today's politicians and their economic advisers learned anything from yesteryear's policy that turned what would have been a short, sharp downturn in the economy into a 16-year affair?” Dr. Williams asks. His answer: they have learned very little.

Dr. Williams echoes Johns Hopkins University economics professor and Cato Institute Fellow Steve Hanke’s belief that the chief enabler of both the Great Depression and our latest economic downturn is the Federal Reserve Bank. Dr. Hanke believes the Fed views itself as America's “systemic risk regulator,” but he sees this as exactly backward: The Federal Reserve is the systemic risk.

Today we see obscene levels of government spending, with the stimulus bill and other spending measures increasing the deficit by one trillion dollars. We watch helplessly as the Democrat-controlled Congress works overtime to jam through highly controversial and largely unpopular measures like health care reform and cap and trade. That means even more government spending; raising taxes on businesses that will stymie job creation; and skyrocketing energy costs, which will raise the cost of goods and services for everyone. And the Fed goes merrily along unchecked.

It’s déjà vu all over again, folks. Can we make the same mistakes as our predecessors and expect a different result?

Cross-posted from Observations

The Health Care Bill Americans Don’t Want

noreply@blogger.com (Longstreet) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:46:00 +0000

The Health Care Bill Americans Don’t Want
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet.
*****************************

The US House of Representatives passed a Health Care Bill over the weekend that will never see the light of day. Yes, it will go to the US Senate -- and that is as far as the House bill will go. The Senate Health Care bill will be a different animal, entirely.

Public Option must go. Public Option will not be a part of a Senate Health Care bill. That is a good thing. An even better thing would be for there to be no Health Care Bill at all!

Now, I am just an ole country boy, with limited book learning, but even I know that Americans don’t want the monstrosity the US House was congratulating itself on passing last Saturday.

I could not help but think to myself, as I watched them preen and parade their pride before America that many of the Democrats had just committed political suicide. Their façade of smiles and backslapping will crumble soon, especially when they get home for the holidays and their spurned, and burned, constituents begin to “button-hole” them and explain to them why they can expect this to be their last term in the Congress. And that, too, will be a good thing.

NEXT November the American voters will have their say officially and it is going to be a democrat massacre at the polls.

Why is it so difficult for the democrats to understand that Americans would have settled for insurance coverage for those unable to afford it? THAT we could do. It would be a strain but we could manage to pay for it. What Americans do not want is Universal Healthcare with a trillion and a half dollar price tag, which we cannot pay for!

Americans also do not want the so-called public option. Americans do not want anybody, or anything, or any entity, between them and their doctor! Period! When the government announces IT will be the gatekeeper between all Americans and their sacred relationship with their personal physician, the national ire began rising.

Allow me to give you an example of what Americans fear. Today I was experiencing a problem with my eyes. I picked up the phone and dialed my doctor’s office and explained the symptoms. I asked when I could see the doctor. The receptionist asked how long it would take me to drive to the office. I replied: “5 or 6 minutes.” The receptionist then directed me to “come on.” I was seen and treated in short order and was back home in no time. Do you really, REALLY, think Socialized Medicine will provide that sort of medical service? This relationship with one’s doctor will be destroyed by Socialized Medicine… and THAT is what Americans fear!

Today, Americans are finally paying attention to the run-away, rogue, Congress in Washington. Not just conservative Americans, either. Our congress is out of control and is in desperate need of being reined in. The way we rein in a congress is by tossing out as many offending Congresspersons and Senators as we possible can. Unfortunately, in America, we have no apparatus for a vote of “no confidence” with which we could dissolve the Congress and hold new elections. As a result we must wait until November of 2010 to clean the House AND the Senate!

Many months ago this scribe told you the problem with the democrats is -- every time they come to power they overreach. EVERY TIME. They have not disappointed. This past weekend the democrats stayed true to their history and they overreached again… BIG TIME. And it will cost them BIG TIME!

J. D. Longstreet

************************

Conservative+ObamaCare+Congress+Democrats+Election

Cartoon video from 50 years ago predicts today's political environment

maggiesnotebook@cox.net (Maggie M. Thornton) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:48:00 +0000

by Maggie at Maggie's Notebook

Fifty years ago, the issues of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were the same as today. The only difference between then and now - the snake oil salesman is female. See video below.

Snake Oil Salesmen

This is a priceless 50 year-old cartoon, demonstrating how big and small business thrives alongside labor. Then as today, one cannot survive without the other - capital and labor working together.

insert here photo of Nancy Pelosi with rose in teeth

Liberals contend that America is different today, our needs are different, the U.S. Constitution is no longer relevant, but this humorous and desperately serious cartoon shows how the struggle for liberty never ends...until we let "them" end it.

Fifty year old political cartoon predicts future (video)

Copenhagen Treaty to Create a One-World Government?

noreply@blogger.com (Longstreet) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:38:00 +0000

Copenhagen Treaty to Create a One-World Government?

Will US Cede its Sovereignty to a Global Government?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
************************************

Lord Christopher Monckton, the former science adviser to Margaret Thatcher, warned Americans "in the next few weeks, unless you stop it, your president will sign your freedom, your democracy and your prosperity away forever."Lord Monckton was speaking about the Copenhagen Treaty on Climate Change.While speaking at the Minnesota Freemarket Institute Conference recently, Lord Monckton said the following:

“At [the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in] Copenhagen, this December, weeks away, a treaty will be signed. Your president will sign it. Most of the third world countries will sign it, because they think they’re going to get money out of it. Most of the left-wing regime from the European Union will rubber stamp it. Virtually nobody won’t sign it.

I read that treaty. And what it says is this, that a world government is going to be created. The word “government” actually appears as the first of three purposes of the new entity. The second purpose is the transfer of wealth from the countries of the West to third world countries, in satisfaction of what is called, coyly, “climate debt” – because we’ve been burning CO2 and they haven’t. We’ve been screwing up the climate and they haven’t. And the third purpose of this new entity, this government, is enforcement.

How many of you think that the word “election” or “democracy” or “vote” or “ballot” occurs anywhere in the 200 pages of that treaty? Quite right, it doesn’t appear once. So, at last, the communists who piled out of the Berlin Wall and into the environmental movement, who took over Greenpeace so that my friends who funded it left within a year, because [the communists] captured it – Now the apotheosis as at hand. They are about to impose a communist world government on the world. You have a president who has very strong sympathies with that point of view. He’s going to sign it. He’ll sign anything. He’s a Nobel Peace Prize [winner]; of course he’ll sign it.” You may read the entire article here: SOURCE.
Watch Lord Monckton’s Speech on Video

We live in exceedingly dangerous times for freedom and democracy. As our socialist President prepares to fly off to Copenhagen and sign the Copenhagen Treaty, we freedom loving Americans need to be lobbying the US Senate insisting they not ratify the Copenhagen Treaty. Remember, if they do, it will supercede US law. The 2nd clause of Article VI of the US Constitution reads thusly:

"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."

In Reid v. Covert the Supreme Court in 1957 said: “There is nothing new or unique about what we say here. This Court has regularly and uniformly recognized the supremacy of the Constitution over a treaty.” But THAT was in 1957! Do you REALLY want to risk the US Constitution before the current Supreme Court?? Do you, as a freedom loving American, want to be ruled by a non-elected Global Government?

This is serious stuff.

There is no doubt Obama will sign that treaty.

Now, here is what is so frightening about all this: Obama could choose to approach the treaty as an executive agreement type of treaty in which case ratification by the Senate would not be required. The instant Obama places his signature on the document it is a done deal. On the other hand, he could ask for the advice and consent of the Senate. He will be asking the Senate to ratify it by a two-thirds vote. Somehow, I do not see Obama asking for advice and consent from the US Senate on a treaty he surely knows has little chance of obtaining the two-thirds approval of that body. If Obama DOES ask for ratification by the Senate we have a chance to save our country. If he doesn’t – The United States of America could become the serf of some nameless, faceless, non-elected Global Government. It is as simple – and -- as deadly as THAT!

J. D. Longstreet
*****************

Obama+Copenhagen-Treaty+GlobaGovernment+Socialist+Communist

PelosiCare penalties for not buying what she's selling

maggiesnotebook@cox.net (Maggie M. Thornton) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:47:00 +0000

by Maggie at Maggie's Notebook

If PelosiCare passes, the bill has some very stiff penalties for those refusing to participate. Rep. David Camp (R-MI) requested official word from the Joint Committee on Taxes. If you do not buy what PelosiCare is selling fines of up to $250,000 and up to 5 years imprisonment, including both civil and criminal trials, may be in your future.

David Camp

The following information is taken from a letter to Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), the ranking member of the Committee on Ways and Means Republicans. Camp asked for clarification of penalties to be imposed if a taxpayer chooses not to purchase at least a $15,000 policy - which Camp says is the "lowest cost family non-group plan under the Speaker's bill" in 2016.

The date stamp is November 5, 2009 and is on the letterhead of Congress of the United States, Joint Committee on Taxation and is signed by Thomas A. Barthold. Read the entire pdf letter here, as well as Rep. Camp's comments. The following are signifigant snippets:

“H.R. 3962 provides that an individual (or a husband and wife in the case of a joint return) who does not, at any time during the taxable year, maintain acceptable health insurance coverage for himself or herself and each of his or her qualifying children is subject to an additional tax.” [page 1]

Among possible Civil penalties for not obeying Nancy Pelosi:
* An "accuracy" penalty of 20% of the underpayment attributable to the health care tax, based on negligence...

* A fraud penalty of 75% of the underpayment...

* A $5,000 penalty for taking a frivolous position on a tax return...

* A delinquency penalty of .5% of the unperpayment, each month, up to a max of 25% of the underpayment...

Among possible Criminal penalties for evading PelosiCare:
* A misdemeanor willful failure to pay - fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.

*A felony willful evasion - fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 5 years.

Obama’s Contempt for America!

noreply@blogger.com (Longstreet) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:29:00 +0000

Obama’s Contempt for America!
The Obama Regime’s “Stalinist” Approach to Governing
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

***********************************

I still get chills up my spine when I hear stories of the way Obama’s henchmen are going about governing this nation. Why? It frightens me because I have seen it before. Actually I have seen it thrice before. I saw it in Germany and Italy, in the 1930’s and 1940’s, and in Russia from the Bolshevik Revolution in the early 1900’s until the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Just the other day Thomas Sowell, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, asked this question: “Just one year ago, would you have believed that an unelected government official, not even a Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate but simply one of the many "czars" appointed by the president, could arbitrarily cut the pay of executives in private businesses by 50 percent or 90 percent?

Did you think that another "czar" would be talking about restricting talk radio? That there would be plans afloat to subsidize newspapers — that is, to create a situation where some newspapers' survival would depend on the government liking what they publish?

Did you imagine that anyone would even be talking about having a panel of so-called "experts" deciding who could and could not get life-saving medical treatments?

Scary as that is from a medical standpoint, it is also chilling from the standpoint of freedom. If you have a mother who needs a heart operation or a child with some dire medical condition, how free would you feel to speak out against an administration that has the power to make life and death decisions about your loved ones?

Does any of this sound like America?” Read the entire article HERE.

THAT’S where we are in Obama’s America today. It resembles more and more, every day, Stalin’s Russia -- and I don’t like it at all.

I know it does no good to repeat the mantra “we told you so”, over and over again, but, we DID tell you this would happen and we were called racists and red necks, and idiots, and morans, and just about every negative epthet one can think of. And yet -- time has proven us correct.

In the Thomas Sowell article, at Deseret News, Mr. Sowell goes on. He says: “President Barack Obama has already floated the idea of a national police force, something we have done without for more than two centuries.

We already have local police forces all across the country and military forces for national defense, as well as the FBI for federal crimes and the National Guard for local emergencies. What would be the role of a national police force created by Obama, with all its leaders appointed by him?”

That is an extremely importan question. Ever hear of the Gestapo?

“The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany.

The Gestapo had the authority to investigate treason, espionage and sabotage cases and cases of criminal attacks on the Nazi Party and Germany. The basic Gestapo law passed by the government in 1936 gave the Gestapo carte blanche to operate without judicial oversight. The Gestapo was specifically exempted from responsibility to administrative courts, where citizens normally could sue the state to conform to laws. The Gestapo also had the responsibility for setting up and administering concentration camps.” (Read the entire article HERE. )

It is a sad commentary on the Presidency to have to admit that Obama, the President of the United States, harbors great contempt for this country. “We have to understand that Obama looks at this country as an obstacle, … and as a country that was immoral and unjust before he was elected.” (SOURCE).

In an article, by AWR Hawkins, at Pajamas Media, we find this: “This belief in the “terrible things” America has done led to Obama’s international apology tour and his quasi-sycophantic Muslim outreach earlier this year. Both these things were direct outgrowths of Obama’s contempt for this country… …” SOURCE.

You see – we are getting a picture here of a man who, apparently, believes that, somehow, America has done some really bad things, committed some heinous evils on the peoples of the earth, uh, before HE became President, of course, and he is bound to see that America is never able to commit those evils again.

Does this explain why Obama seems to cozy up to tyrants? Is it true that Obama actually LIKES tyrants and dislikes America? (Hugo Chavez, Manuel Zelaya, and yes, Castro, all come to mind.) Is that evidence enough that the common man, and America, come in second to these tinhorn dictators in Obama’s mind?

Look, when American business becomes more concerned with pleasing the government than pleasing their customers, and consumers, and stockholders, then we, as a capitalist country, are in deep, deep, trouble. And THAT, dear reader is where we find ourselves today!

The path America will take over the next few months and years is as predictable as tomorrow’s sunrise. How can I say that? Because, dear reader, this ain’t my first rodeo! I have been around the block a few times and I have seen it all too many times before. To those of us for whom history did not begin the day we were born, this is all too familiar.

We Americans need, from time to time, to go back and read our founding documents. For instance, the famous preamble to the Declaration of Independence includes the ideas and ideals that were principles of the Declaration. It is also an assertion of what is known as the "right of revolution” that is, people have certain rights, and when a government violates these rights, the people have the right to "alter or abolish" that government. Read the words below from the Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

We Americans have a right, and we have a duty, to rein in an out of control government. We must never allow a federal government to become so powerful that the people are compelled to serve it rather than it, the government, serving the people who created it. Americans seem to have forgotten the federal government was created by the states as an agent of the states, not the other way around. As a result, America is in deep trouble today.

America is STILL worth saving and we, as Americans, must make every effort to rescue her and set her aright. We owe it to the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure our freedom and we owe it to the generations not yet born to preserve this wonderful nation for them and their posterity.

J. D. Longstreet

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Obama+Socialism+Marxism+Stalinist

Jihadis Attack Fort Hood!

noreply@blogger.com (Findalis) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:58:00 +0000

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

For some years now there has been a lax attitude in background checks for members of the military. This is especially true of Muslim members of the military. This attitude is the result of CAIR forcing the military to adopt such position towards Muslims.

Today this has hit the US Army right in the stomach with the rampage at Fort Hood by Major Malik Nadal Hasan:

Eleven people plus a gunman were dead and 31 wounded after the gunman opened fire Thursday on a soldier-processing center at Fort Hood, Texas, officials said.

The gunman was a soldier, and two other soldiers have been detained as suspects, Army Lt. Gen. Bob Cone said.

The slain gunman was identified as Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan, according to a law enforcement source. The source believes he is 39 or 40 years old.

Ten of the other dead also were soldiers, while the remaining one was a civilian police officer who was working as a contractor on the base, Cone said.

Two of the injured were in "very serious" condition, Fort Hood spokesman Christopher Hogue said.

The primary shooter had two weapons, both handguns, he said.

"The local police response forces were there relatively quickly and killed the confirmed shooter," Cone said.

President Obama called the shootings "tragic" and "a horrific outburst of violence." He expressed his condolences for the shooting victims.

"These are men and women who have made the selfless and courageous decision to risk, and at times give, their lives to protect the rest of us on a daily basis," Obama said. "It's difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas. It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil."

Officials at Fort Hood, which is the Army's largest U.S. post, were asking people there to stay away from windows, CNN affiliate KXXV said. The incident took place at the sports dome, now known as the soldier readiness area, the station reported.

A congressional aide said he was on the post to attend a graduation service when he saw a soldier with blood on his uniform near the building where the service was being held, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Read the full story here.

My prayers go out to the families of the dead and wounded. I ask each of my readers to include the dead and wounded in their prayers.

It is time that full background checks are done for each person in the military. Especially those of the Muslim faith. When the facts come to light, we shall find that Major Hasan was a member of CAIR (the US political arm of Hamas in the United States), the Muslim American Society (MAS), or even Hizbollah or al Qaeda.

In April Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned that returning veterans would become involved in terrorism and anti-government activities. These veterans she inferred would be angry white men.

Secretary Napolitano should stop looking at white, male veterans and start looking at the Muslim community pronto!

I ask our leaders to stop appeasing those who wish to destroy us. I ask that we go very hard against those who wish to destroy us.

These attacks will only continue and get worse until we either destroy the enemy or cave into all of their demands. Given the attitude of our President, he will surrender as soon as he can!

Is This Recession a Huge Marxist Trick?

noreply@blogger.com (Longstreet) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:30:00 +0000

Is This Recession a Huge Marxist Trick?
Forcing Political Change Through Orchestrated Crisis
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

********************************

Remember that “Shadow Government” in Washington we warned about months ago? Well, ten months have now elapsed in the Obama Regime’s subjugation of America and yours truly is even more convinced now, than ever, that such a Shadow Government does, in fact, exist and is all but running the United States.

I have had the nagging feeling that this recession has been manufactured and guided, or shepherded, right from the outset. I have also come to believe that the Cloward and Piven Strategy has been employed as the vehicle to intentionally crash the US economy in order to demoralize the American people in such a way, and so deeply, that the citizens will accept the declaration which has yet to come -- but is expected, by this scribe, at some point shortly after the first of the year, stating that our current economic system, capitalism, has failed and our democratic capitalist republic form of government has, likewise, failed and it is now time for the American people to create a new political system in America. That proposed political system will be socialism/communism and the American economy will then be based on the tenants of Marxism and it will lean heavily on a redistribution of the nation’s wealth.

Now, if we are right, all this planning was made long before Obama arrived on the scene -- and since day one in the White House the Shadow Government, with Obama as their mouth piece reading the scripts that have been prepared for him, has been setting the agenda for the implementation of a Socialist/Marxist government to take the place of our democratic republic as soon next year as they are able to convince the American people that without the change over to socialism/communism America, and capitalism, is doomed.

All last summer, before the election, we warned this could happen and probably would. Now all indications are that it is ready for implementation.

I am convinced that Obama’s Shadow Government is a group of socialists and Marxists bent on bringing America to her knees and making her crawl to them begging for a new, workable form of government, They are ready! They have the long drawn-up plans in their briefcases ready to be put into action.

We have been set-up. You and I, all Americans have been given the “Mushroom Treatment. Like Mushrooms, we have been kept in the dark and fed a steady diet of horse manure.

I can’t speak for you, but like Howard Beal, of the famous movie “Network,” I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” And neither should you!

So what is the Cloward Piven Strategy? Simply put it is the strategy of forcing political change through orchestrated crisis. The "Cloward-Piven Strategy" seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse.

In an article at The American Thinker, James Simpson says the following: “Barack Obama, the Cloward-Piven candidate, no matter how he describes himself, has been a radical activist for most of his political career. That activism has been in support of organizations and initiatives that at their heart seek to tear the pillars of this nation asunder in order to replace them with their demented socialist vision.” Read the entire article HERE.

The Shadow Government, comprised of all those leftist radicals with whom Obama has been associated most of his adult life, in my opinion, orchestrated the current economic crisis. They did it for one reason. That one reason was, again – in my opinion -- to cause the collapse of the democratic capitalist republic of the United States and replace it with the new Socialist States of America!

It is nearly overwhelming just to think that one’s fellow Americans would do such a thing!

With Obama in the White House, during this critical time in our history, we truly have the fox guarding the henhouse! Obama can brush aside all the inquiries concerning his association with leftist radicals if he wishes, but when one steps back, and gets a look at the big picture of Obama’s life, one begins to understand that the major influences on his life came from a long list of the crème de la crème of leftist radicals in America with whom he associated. When you make that critical observation you cannot help but be convinced that Obama, himself, is a willing participant in the campaign to bring about the collapse of America’s democratic, capitalist, republic and replace it with a socialist/marxist regime. As Obama has spent nearly his entire adult life totally immersed in the socialist, leftists, ideology, what else could one expect.

Look around you. Look at America today. Look at the financial mess our economic system is in today. Then consider the truckloads of money siphoned from the US treasury and spent on so-called bailouts that have done no good, and will do no good, and then consider the Cloward Piven Strategy again: “The strategy of forcing political change through orchestrated crisis. The “Cloward-Piven Strategy” seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse.” Could it be any clearer? The very politicians who swear they are trying to get us out of this mess are the very same politicians who got us into the mess in the first place!

I am now convinced that Obama and his henchmen intend to continue tossing one crisis after another at our financial and governmental systems until they cause a collapse of both systems. Then they intend to replace our democratic republic with a socialist/marxist regime.

It has been reported they intend to first use the power of persuasion – and -- if that doesn’t work they intend to use “the persuasion of power.” Did you get that? You had better understand what that means.

They have just begun their massive transfer of power FROM the people of the United States TO the Shadow Government. After Christmas, after the first of the year, expect the financial crisis to worsen. That will be your tip-off that the socialist troops are on the move. It will be time to man the barricades. Forewarned is forearmed.

Yes. I know how this must sound to my readers. Paranoia. OK. Let me say this: If everybody IS out to get you – then paranoia is just damn good thinking!

Look. I love this country and I do not want to see her hijacked by a socialist movement that will rot the soul of the people of America. We need to begin a SAVE AMERICA MOVEMENT right now. This once great country can be great again, but first she needs rescuing. We cannot rescue her by standing on the sidelines. We will soon learn whether we are the Home of the Brave – or not!

J. D. Longstreet

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Conservative+Shadow-Government+Obama+Socialism+Marxism

What’s behind the manic rush to pass dangerous, intrusive legislation?

jsobservations@yahoo.com (James Shott) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:57:00 +0000

Commentary by James H. Shott

Belief in manmade climate change has dropped off in recent years and support for cap and trade measures also is losing steam. This latter trend is picking up speed as it becomes more obvious that climate scientists are sharply divided on whether humans play any role in global warming/global cooling/climate change. However, the U.S. Congress races blindly on with plans to enact sweeping, intrusive legislation, undaunted by either the lack of convincing evidence that human activity affects the environment, or the public’s increasing disaffection with this legislation.

While a recent CNN poll found that 60 percent support cap and trade measures, it neglected to mention to participants that these measures will raise energy and other costs, instead talking only about companies paying penalties for their greenhouse-gas emissions.

But when consumers realize their pocketbooks will take a hit, they have a different view, as shown by a poll commissioned by NBC and The Wall Street Journal. The survey asked half the respondents: “Would you approve or disapprove of a proposal that would require companies to reduce greenhouse gases that cause global warming, even if it would mean higher utility bills for consumers to pay for the changes?” This question garnered only 48 percent approval when respondents realized their costs would rise, while 43 percent disapproved, a significant change from April, when 53 percent approved and 40 percent disapproved.

The other half was asked questions about the importance of greenhouse-gas pollution. Only 29 percent regard it as a serious problem requiring immediate action (down from 34 percent in 2007), and 29 percent also believe we don’t know enough and need more research (up from 25 percent in 2007). These changes in public perception of this issue occurred despite the one-sided coverage of the scientific debate on manmade climate change.

Each house of Congress has its own version of this legislative misadventure, crafted in Capital backrooms in meetings to which the minority party was not invited, the 946-page Waxman-Markey bill in the House and the 821-page Kerry-Boxer bill in the Senate.

During climate change hearings Montana Democrat Sen. Max Baucus, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, commented that “we cannot afford the unmitigated impacts of climate change but we also cannot afford the unmitigated effects of legislation.” Like so many in Congress Sen. Baucus is unaware that human-caused climate change is a tenuous claim, at best, so his comment is only half right; we cannot afford the unmitigated effects of this legislation.

Putting that concern into practical terms, Steve Roberts, president of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, which represents businesses providing jobs to a majority of West Virginia workers, said that while the administration and Congress have put several anti-business measures into effect, the greatest threat to his state lies in the cap and trade bills. Speaking to the Rotary Club of Bluefield, W.Va., he said that in addition to raising the cost of electricity, the Waxman-Markey Bill contains 1,000 costly new mandates and 420 expensive resolutions that employers will have to implement, if the bill becomes law.

Mr. Roberts believes it is possible to craft legislation to address carbon pollution that would actually do something about it, but Waxman-Markey will have no measurable impact on the environment. It will, however, have a substantial negative impact on the economy of West Virginia, as well as neighboring southwestern Virginia, and other states whose economy depends upon energy.

Another leader whose organization represents businesses providing jobs to Americans – nine million jobs, to be precise – is Jack Gerard, President of the American Petroleum Institute. “Like the House climate change bill,” he said, “the Senate’s Kerry-Boxer bill would hurt our economy by killing American jobs, increasing energy costs and undermining our nation’s energy security.” He said that multiple studies show that more than two million jobs, net of any so-called “green” jobs created, will be lost, and rising direct and indirect energy costs will hit everyone in the pocketbook.

“The Kerry-Boxer bill would undermine America’s energy security,” he continued. “Under the bill, many refining and related jobs would likely move offshore to countries that have lower costs because they do not have similar climate change laws. Americans would be more dependent on foreign sources of gasoline and other refined products. … We should not be sending any of these jobs overseas.”

The Energy Information Administration analysis of the House bill predicts gasoline prices may exceed $5 a gallon and diesel prices may exceed $5.60. With our economy struggling to recover from a historical recession, now is not the time to enact job-killing legislation, or measures that will raise the cost of living for the American people.

Job creation will suffer if businesses spend more of their money on higher taxes and higher operational costs, and everyday Americans can’t buy more products to spur the economy if they don’t have a job, or they have less to spend on wants and needs because the costs of energy and everything associated with it have been driven higher by thoughtless legislation.

Surely our servants in Washington are capable of understanding this simple economic equation. But perhaps they are more concerned with increasing control over their constituents than with protecting their interests.

Cross-posted from Observations