<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:blogger='http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755</id><updated>2024-09-15T15:40:50.651-07:00</updated><category term="Army"/><category term="Arizona"/><category term="Democrat"/><category term="Fallen Vets"/><category term="Fallen soldiers"/><category term="Freedom"/><category term="Honor"/><category term="Honor Guard"/><category term="obama"/><category term="us navy seals"/><category term="Air Force"/><category term="Congress"/><category term="DAV"/><category term="Liberty"/><category term="Pat Tillman"/><category term="Support our troops"/><category term="US NAVY"/><category term="ViSalus"/><category term="bin laden"/><category term="charities"/><category term="charity"/><category term="communism"/><category term="democrats"/><category term="gun control"/><category term="gun rights"/><category term="guns"/><category term="hero"/><category term="holiday weight loss"/><category term="transformation"/><category term="usa"/><category term="90 day Challenge"/><category term="AZ Cardinals"/><category term="America"/><category term="Boy Scouts"/><category term="Christmas donation"/><category term="Fill the boot"/><category term="Fitness"/><category term="Gabrielle Giffords"/><category term="MDA"/><category term="Marines"/><category term="Military"/><category term="Money at home"/><category term="Navy"/><category term="Navy Seals"/><category term="Pat&#39;s Run"/><category term="Rep. Giffords"/><category term="Support of troops"/><category term="USDA"/><category term="Vets"/><category term="Vietnam vets"/><category term="WW II Vets"/><category term="biden"/><category term="china"/><category term="communist party"/><category term="death star"/><category term="dignity"/><category term="drudge report"/><category term="feed the children"/><category term="firefighters"/><category term="humor"/><category term="marathon"/><category term="movie"/><category term="respect"/><category term="right to bear arms"/><category term="run"/><category term="rural america"/><category term="school shooting"/><category term="seal team 6"/><category term="sony"/><category term="usa empire"/><category term="war"/><category term="wealth"/><category term="wellness"/><title type='text'>Home of the Free</title><subtitle type='html'>Dedicated to the freedom of speech, first amendment, firefighters, freedom of press, colt, patriotism, patriot, american flag. All Charities listed are legit. Please post any events that help out our American hero&#39;s!</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default?redirect=false'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25&amp;redirect=false'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>31</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-2043827794627997020</id><published>2013-01-26T07:31:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2013-01-26T07:31:32.998-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="communist party"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="obama"/><title type='text'>Communist party favors Obama gun contrail</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;It should come as no surprise that the Communist Party USA is on board with President Obama&amp;#8217;s plan to attack Americans&amp;#8217; right to keep and bear arms as a means to &amp;#8220;end gun violence.&amp;#8221; A cardinal feature of communist regimes, like all dictatorships, is the prohibition of private ownership of arms, creating a monopoly of force in the hands of the State.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;In a January 18 article,&amp;#160;People&amp;#8217;s World, an official publication of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA), declared that &amp;#8220;the ability to live free from the fear or threat of gun violence is a fundamental democratic right &amp;#8212; one that far supercedes any so-called personal gun rights allegedly contained in the Second Amendment.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;The article, entitled,&amp;#160;&amp;#8220;Fight to end gun violence is key to defending democracy,&amp;#8221;&amp;#160;written by&amp;#160;People&amp;#8217;s World labor and politics reporter Rick Nagin, claims that &amp;#8220;the right-wing extremists opposing all efforts to curb gun violence are the same forces that rallied behind Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, hoping to undermine every other democratic right as well as the living standards of workers and ordinary Americans.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;&amp;#8220;It is for that reason,&amp;#8221; declares Nagin, &amp;#8220;as well as the need to protect public safety, that the same coalition of labor and its allies that worked so hard and effectively to re-elect President Barack Obama must now go all-out to back his common sense proposals for gun law reform.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;The Communist Party&amp;#8217;s &amp;#8220;journalist&amp;#8221; continued:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;As Obama has charged, the extremists recklessly &amp;#8220;gin up fear&amp;#8221; that the government is coming to take away hunting rifles and personal weapons owned for legitimate self-defense. Led by the hate-mongering leadership of the National Rifle Association, they use a totally fraudulent and only very recent interpretation of the Second Amendment which they falsely claim as necessary for protecting every other freedom contained in the Bill of Rights.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;However, gun rights advocates don&amp;#8217;t need to &amp;#8220;gin up fear&amp;#8221; that President Obama&amp;#8217;s &amp;#8220;common sense&amp;#8221; proposals will lead to even more onerous infringements than the current calls to ban or restrict so-called &amp;#8220;assault weapons&amp;#8221;; the gun control zealots have been quite emphatic about intending to severely restrict (and many have called for a total ban on) all privately owned firearms. A December 21 article for the Daily Kos is one of the candid admissions against interest by the Left that the real end goal is a total monopoly of gun ownership by the government. Entitled,&amp;#160;&amp;#8220;How to Ban Guns: A step by step, long term process,&amp;#8221; the regular&amp;#160;Daily Kos writer &amp;#8220;Sporks&amp;#8221; says:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;The only way we can truly be safe and prevent further gun violence is to ban civilian ownership of all guns. That means everything. No pistols, no revolvers, no semiautomatic or automatic rifles. No bolt action. No breaking actions or falling blocks. Nothing. This is the only thing that we can possibly do to keep our children safe from both mass murder and common street violence.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;The writer then outlines the piecemeal plan by which the federal government can begin with registration and end up with confiscation. The Daily Kos article also cites the need to delegitimize hunting as well. &amp;#8220;We should also segway [sic] into an anti-hunting campaign, like those in the UK,&amp;#8221; it says. &amp;#8220;By making hunting expensive and unpopular, we can make the transition to a gun free society much less of a headache for us.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Nagin surely must know that it is not merely groundless paranoia exploited by &amp;#8220;extremists&amp;#8221; inspiring fear that President Obama&amp;#8217;s multi-part gun control plan is but the opening wedge in a new drive for ever-expanding federal restrictions and infringements of the Second Amendment. And Nagin surely is aware that his comrades ruling China, Cuba, North Korea, Russia, and other communist countries have never stopped at partial restrictions on private ownership of weapons.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;As&amp;#160;The New American reported recently, Communist China&amp;#8217;s ruling mandarins, sounding very much like our own media commentators, have blasted the United States&amp;#160;for our &amp;#8220;rampant gun ownership.&amp;#8221; A Chinese government report last year detailing alleged human rights violations in the United States declares:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;The United States prioritizes the right to keep and bear arms over the protection of citizens&amp;#8217; lives and personal security and exercises lax firearm possession control, causing rampant gun ownership.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;More recently, on December 14, 2012, the Beijing regime&amp;#8217;s Xinhua news agency&amp;#160;editorialized:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Twenty-eight innocent people, including 20 primary students, have been slaughtered in a mass shooting at an elementary school in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Their blood and tears demand no delay for the U.S. gun control.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;&amp;#8220;Action speaks louder than words,&amp;#8221; concluded the Xinhua editorial. &amp;#8220;If Obama wants to take practical measures to control guns, he has to make preparation for a protracted war and considerable political cost.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Communist China, of course, is no paragon of virtue when it comes to liberty, safety, and human rights. Its total ban on private ownership of guns under Mao Tse-tung (Zedong) guaranteed that the Communist Party would have unchallenged power. And, as Professor R. J. Rummel has pointed out in his several published studies on democide (mass murder by governments):&amp;#160;Power kills and absolute power kills absolutely. In the case of Communist China, the mass murder by the communist government under Mao was somewhere in the neighborhood of&amp;#160;38 million souls!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;And China remains a rigidly controlled police state to this day, notwithstanding the limited market reforms that the Party has allowed for pragmatic purposes to obtain the capital and technology it needs to modernize. Only Party officials and the police and military (who must be members of, and be vetted by, the Communist Party) are allowed to possess weapons.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Mao&amp;#8217;s comrades in Russia, Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin, likewise disarmed the civilian population before initiating mass murder. As did Adolf Hitler and every other &amp;#8220;successful&amp;#8221; mass-murdering tyrant throughout history.&amp;#160;Vladimir Gladkov, a radio propagandist on Vladimir Putin&amp;#8217;s &amp;#8220;Voice of Russia&amp;#8221; program,&amp;#160;expressed disappointment on December 20 that the Sandy Hook mass shooting probably would not generate the support President Obama needs to implement his desired gun controls. &amp;#8220;Unfortunately, there are grounds for very serious doubt that even after this terrible massacre, a ban on selling weapons will be introduced in the US,&amp;#8221; said Gladkov.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Again, considering that rigid, absolute, centralized power is the essence of all totalitarian regimes, those regimes must, therefore, automatically strike down all checks and balances that would limit their central authority. It is not surprising that spokesmen for these totalitarian governments would endorse policies that give the government a monopoly on deadly force.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;The American Founding Fathers, on the other hand, recognized that the armed private citizen is the ultimate check and balance against the centralized monopoly of force which invariably turns tyrannical and deadly. Nagin and People&amp;#8217;s World, not surprisingly, side with communist tyrants and deride American commitment to our natural rights enshrined in our Constitution.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;&amp;#8220;The Second Amendment is obsolete and now has been twisted to threaten the basic safety and security of all Americans,&amp;#8221; says Nagin. Nagin, according to the&amp;#160;profile provided on Keywiki by Trevor Loudon, has been a member of the CPUSA for several decades and a writer for the&amp;#160;People&amp;#8217;s World and other communist publications since 1970. He is a member of the Newspaper Guild and the Communications Workers of America as well as a political coordinator for the AFL-CIO in Ohio. In 2012 he was the Democratic Leader in Cleveland Ward 14 and served on the County Democratic Party Executive Committee.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;We recognize the totalitarian ideology and objectives of Nagin and other communist propagandists when they advocate disarming of civilians and a total monopoly of force in government. Many of the other people advocating the same gun control policies may not have those totalitarian objectives in mind &amp;#8212; but by their support of these policies they would lead us down the same deadly path nonetheless.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/2043827794627997020/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2013/01/communist-party-favors-obama-gun.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/2043827794627997020'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/2043827794627997020'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2013/01/communist-party-favors-obama-gun.html' title='Communist party favors Obama gun contrail'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-2765806635689795182</id><published>2013-01-14T15:34:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2013-01-14T15:36:44.823-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Army"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="bin laden"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="communism"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Congress"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Democrat"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="democrats"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Fallen soldiers"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Fallen Vets"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="gun control"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="gun rights"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="guns"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Honor"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Honor Guard"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="us navy seals"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="usa"/><title type='text'>Original Intent and Purpose of the Second Amendment</title><content type='html'>The Second Amendment:

   &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;i&gt; A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people
to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
The original intent and purpose of the Second Amendment was
to preserve and guarantee, &lt;b&gt;not&lt;/b&gt; grant, the pre-existing right
of individuals to keep and bear arms.  Although the amendment emphasizes the
need for a militia,  membership in any militia, let alone a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guncite.com/gc2ndmea.html#wr&quot;&gt;well-regulated&lt;/a&gt; one, was not intended to serve as a prerequisite for exercising the right to
keep arms.
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Second Amendment preserves and guarantees an individual right for a 
collective purpose. That does not transform the right into a &quot;collective
 right.&quot; The militia clause was a declaration of purpose, and preserving
 the people&#39;s right to keep and bear arms was the method the framers 
chose to, in-part, ensure the continuation of a well-regulated militia. 
&lt;br /&gt;
There is  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guncite.com/gc2ndcont.html&quot;&gt;no contrary evidence&lt;/a&gt; from the writings of the Founding Fathers,
early American legal commentators, or pre-twentieth century Supreme Court decisions,
indicating that the Second Amendment was intended to apply solely to active militia members. 
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;img height=&quot;3&quot; src=&quot;http://www.guncite.com/2clorbar.gif&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot; /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Evidence of an Individual Right&lt;/b&gt; 
&lt;br /&gt;
In his popular edition of  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.constitution.org/tb/tb-0000.htm&quot;&gt;Blackstone&#39;s Commentaries on the Laws of
England (1803)&lt;/a&gt;, 
&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.history.org/Almanack/people/bios/biotuck.cfm&quot;&gt;St. George Tucker&lt;/a&gt; (see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.history.org/Almanack/people/bios/biotuck.cfm&quot;&gt;also&lt;/a&gt;), 
 a lawyer, Revolutionary War militia officer, legal scholar, and
later a U.S. District Court judge (appointed by James Madison in 1813), wrote of
the Second Amendment: &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;i&gt;
 The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,
 and this
without any qualification as to their condition or degree,
 as is the case in the British government.&lt;/i&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
In the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.constitution.org/tb/t1d12000.htm&quot;&gt;appendix&lt;/a&gt; to the Commentaries, Tucker elaborates further:

  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;i&gt; This may be considered as the true palladium of 
liberty...
   The right of self-defense is the first law of nature;
    in most governments it has
been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest
limits possible.  Whenever standing armies are kept up, and the right
of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext
whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the 
brink
of destruction. In England, the people have been disarmed, generally, 
under the specious pretext of preserving the game: a never failing lure 
to bring over the landed aristocracy to support any measure, under that 
mask, though calculated for very different purposes. True it is, their 
bill of rights seems at first view to counteract this policy: but the 
right of bearing arms is confined to protestants, and the words suitable
 to their condition and degree, have been interpreted to authorise the 
prohibition of keeping a gun or other engine for the destruction of 
game, to any farmer, or inferior tradesman, or other person not 
qualified to kill game. So that not one man in five hundred can keep a 
gun in his house without being subject to a penalty.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
Not only are Tucker&#39;s remarks solid evidence that the militia
clause was not intended to restrict the right to keep arms to active 
militia members, but he speaks of a broad right – Tucker specifically 
mentions self-defense. 

&quot;Because &#39;[g]reat weight has always been attached, and very rightly 
attached, to contemporaneous exposition,&#39; the Supreme Court has cited 
Tucker in over forty cases. One can find Tucker in the major cases of 
virtually every Supreme Court era.&quot; (Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.davekopel.com/2A/LawRev/19thcentury.htm&quot;&gt;The Second Amendment in the Nineteenth Century&lt;/a&gt;)
&lt;br /&gt;
(William Blackstone was an English jurist who published
 Commentaries on the Laws of England, in four volumes between 1765 and 1769.
Blackstone is credited with laying the foundation of modern English
 law and certainly influenced the thinking of the American Founders.) 
&lt;br /&gt;
Another jurist contemporaneous to the Founders, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.archives.upenn.edu/people/1700s/rawle_wm.html&quot;&gt;William Rawle&lt;/a&gt;, authored
&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.constitution.org/wr/rawle-00.htm&quot;&gt;&quot;A View of the Constitution of the United States of America&quot;&lt;/a&gt; (1829). His work was adopted  as a 
constitutional law textbook at West Point and other institutions.
In &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.constitution.org/wr/rawle_10.htm&quot;&gt;Chapter 10&lt;/a&gt; he describes the scope of the Second Amendment&#39;s right to keep and bear arms:
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;i&gt;
The prohibition is general. No clause in the constitution
could by any rule of construction be conceived to give congress a power to disarm
the people.  Such a flagitious attempt could only be made under some general
pretence by a state legislature.  But if in any blind pursuit of inordinate
power, either should attempt it, this amendment may be appealed to as a
restraint on both.&lt;/i&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
This is another quote where it is obvious that &quot;the people&quot;
refers to individuals since
Rawle writes neither the states nor the national government
has legitimate authority to disarm its citizens. This passage also makes
 it clear (&quot;the prohibition is general&quot;) that the militia clause was not
 intended to restrict the scope of the right.

(In 1791 William Rawle was appointed United States Attorney for Pennsylvania by President George Washington, a post he held for
more than eight years.)  
&lt;br /&gt;
Yet another jurist, 
&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/amistad/AMI_BSTO.HTM&quot;&gt;Justice Story&lt;/a&gt; (appointed to the Supreme Court as an Associate Justice by James Madison in 1811), wrote a constitutional commentary in 1833 (&quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.constitution.org/js/js_000.htm&quot;&gt;Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States&quot;)&lt;/a&gt;. Regarding the Second Amendment, he wrote (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.constitution.org/js/js_344.htm&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;): 

&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;i&gt;
The next amendment is: &quot;A well regulated militia being necessary to the 
security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms 
shall not be infringed.&quot;
&lt;/i&gt;&lt;i&gt;
The importance of this article will scarcely be doubted by any persons, 
who have duly reflected upon the subject. The militia is the natural 
defence of a free country against sudden foreign invasions, domestic 
insurrections, and domestic usurpations of power by rulers. It is 
against sound policy for a free people to keep up large military 
establishments and standing armies in time of peace, both from the 
enormous expenses, with which they are attended, and the facile means, 
which they afford to ambitious and unprincipled rulers, to subvert the 
government, or trample upon the rights of the people. The right of the 
citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the 
palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral
 check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will 
generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable 
the people to resist and triumph over them.&lt;/i&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
As the Tennessee Supreme Court in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guncite.com/court/state/50tn165.html&quot;&gt;Andrews v. State&lt;/a&gt;
 (1871) explains, this &quot;passage from Story, shows clearly that this 
right was intended, as we have maintained in this opinion, and was 
guaranteed to, and to be exercised and enjoyed by the citizen as such, 
and not by him as a soldier, or in defense solely of his political 
rights.&quot;

Story adds:
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;i&gt;
And yet, though this truth would seem so clear, and the importance of a 
well regulated militia would seem so undeniable, it cannot be disguised,
 that among the American people there is a growing indifference to any 
system of militia discipline, and a strong disposition, from a sense of 
its burthens, to be rid of all regulations. How it is practicable to 
keep the people duly armed without some organization, it is difficult to
 see. There is certainly no small danger, that indifference may lead to 
disgust, and disgust to contempt; and thus gradually undermine all the 
protection intended by this clause of our national bill of rights.&lt;/i&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
Story laments the people&#39;s lack of enthusiasm for maintaining a 
well-regulated militia.  However, some anti-gun rights advocates 
misinterpret this entire passage as being &quot;consistent with the theory 
that the Second Amendment guarantees a right of the people to be armed 
only when in service of an organized militia.&quot;
 (See &lt;a href=&quot;http://web.archive.org/web/20080212130913/http://www.gunlawsuits.org/defend/second/articles/anarchy.php&quot;&gt;Arms, Anarchy and the Second Amendment&lt;/a&gt; for an example of reaching that conclusion by committing a non-sequitur.)

The need  for a well-regulated militia and an armed citizenry are not 
mutually exclusive, nor was the right to have arms considered dependent 
on membership in an active militia (more on that later). Rather, as 
illustrated by Tucker, Rawle, and Story, the militia clause and the 
right to arms were intended to be &lt;b&gt;complementary&lt;/b&gt;.   
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;More Evidence Supporting an Individual Right&lt;/b&gt; 
&lt;br /&gt;
After James Madison&#39;s Bill of Rights was submitted to Congress,
&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tench_Coxe&quot;&gt;Tench Coxe&lt;/a&gt; (see also: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.davekopel.com/2A/lawrev/hk-coxe.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;i&gt;Tench Coxe and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, 1787-1823&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/a&gt;)
published his &quot;Remarks on the First Part of the Amendments to
the Federal Constitution,&quot; in the Federal Gazette, June 18, 1789 

 He asserts
that it&#39;s the people (as individuals) with arms, who serve as the ultimate check
on government:   
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;i&gt;As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people duly
 before them, may attempt to
 tyrannize, and as the military forces which must be
 occasionally raised to defend our country, might pervert their power
 to the injury of their fellow-citizens, the people are confirmed
 by the next article in their right to keep and bear their &lt;b&gt;private&lt;/b&gt; arms. &lt;/i&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&quot;A search of the literature of the time reveals that no writer disputed or
contradicted Coxe&#39;s analysis that what became the Second Amendment
protected the right of the people to keep and bear &#39;their private
arms.&#39; The only dispute was over whether a bill of rights
was even necessary to protect such fundamental rights.&quot; 
(Halbrook, Stephen P. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guncite.com/journals/val-hal.html&quot;&gt;&quot;The Right of the People or the Power of the State Bearing Arms, Arming Militias, and the Second Amendment&quot;&lt;/a&gt;. Originally published as
&lt;i&gt;26 Val. U. L.Rev. 131-207, 1991&lt;/i&gt;). 

Earlier, in The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788, while the states were
considering ratification of the Constitution, Tench Coxe wrote:
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;i&gt;
Who are the militia? are they not ourselves. Is it feared, then, that we
shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom.  Congress have no power
to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement
of the soldier, are &lt;b&gt;the birth-right of an American&lt;/b&gt;...The
unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the
&lt;b&gt;federal or state governments&lt;/b&gt; but, where I trust in God it
will ever remain, &lt;b&gt;in the hands of the people&lt;/b&gt;.

&lt;/i&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;b&gt;The Federalist Papers&lt;/b&gt; 
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton&quot;&gt;Alexander Hamilton&lt;/a&gt; in  &lt;a href=&quot;http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed29.asp&quot;&gt;Federalist, No. 29&lt;/a&gt;,   did not view the right to keep arms as being confined to active militia members:   
 &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;i&gt; What plan for the regulation of the militia may be pursued by the national government
  is impossible to be foreseen...The project of disciplining all the militia of the United
  States is as futile as it would be injurious if it were capable of being carried into
  execution... &lt;b&gt;Little more can reasonably be aimed at with the respect to the
  people at large than to have them properly armed and equipped
  &lt;/b&gt;; and in order to see that this be not neglected, it will be necessary to
  assemble them once or twice in the course of a year.&lt;/i&gt;
   
 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jm4.html&quot;&gt;James Madison&lt;/a&gt;  in &lt;a href=&quot;http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed46.asp&quot;&gt;Federalist No. 46&lt;/a&gt; wrote:
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;i&gt;Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess 
over the
people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate 
governments,to which the
people are attached, forms a barrier against the enterprises of 
ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any 
form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments in the 
several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public 
resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with
 arms. And it is not certain, that with this aid alone they would not be
 able to shake off their yokes. But were the people to possess the 
additional advantages of local governments chosen by themselves, who 
could collect the national will and direct the national force, and of 
officers appointed out of the militia, by these governments, and 
attached both to them and to the
militia, it may be affirmed with the greatest assurance, that the throne
 of every tyranny in Europe
would be speedily overturned in spite of the legions which surround it. &lt;/i&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
Here, like Story, Madison is expressing the idea that additional 
advantages accrue to the people when the citizens&#39; right to arms is 
enhanced by having an organized and properly directed militia.
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;The Federalist Papers Continued – &quot;The Original Right of Self-Defense&quot;
&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Founders realized insurrections may occur from time to time and it 
is the militia&#39;s duty to suppress them. They also realized that however 
remote the possibility of usurpation was, the people with their arms, 
had the right to restore their republican form of government by force, 
if necessary, as an extreme last resort. 
&lt;br /&gt;
&quot;The original right of self-defense&quot; is not a modern-day concoction. We now 
examine Hamilton&#39;s &lt;a href=&quot;http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed28.asp&quot;&gt;Federalist No. 28&lt;/a&gt;. Hamilton begins:
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;i&gt;
That there may happen cases in which the national government may be 
necessitated to resort to force cannot be denied. Our own experience has
 corroborated the lessons taught by the examples of other nations; that 
emergencies of this sort will sometimes exist in all societies, however 
constituted; that seditions and insurrections are, unhappily, maladies 
as inseparable from the body politic as tumors and eruptions from the 
natural body; that the idea of governing at all times by the simple 
force of law (which we have been told is the only admissible principle 
of republican government) has no place but in the reveries of these 
political doctors whose sagacity disdains the admonitions of 
experimental instruction.&lt;/i&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
Hamilton explains that the national government may occasionally need to 
quell insurrections and it is certainly justified in doing so.
 
 Hamilton continues:
 &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;i&gt;If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then &lt;b&gt;no
 recourse left but in the exertion of that original right of 
self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government,&lt;/b&gt;
 and which against the usurpations of the national rulers may be exerted
 with infinitely better prospect of success than against those of the 
rulers of an individual State. In a single State, if the persons 
intrusted with supreme power become usurpers, the different parcels, 
subdivisions, or districts of which it consists, having no distinct 
government in each, can take no regular measures for defense.  &lt;b&gt;The citizens must rush tumultuously to arms&lt;/b&gt;, without concert, without system, without resource; except in their courage and despair. &lt;/i&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
Hamilton clearly states there exists a right of self-defense against a 
tyrannical government, and it includes the people with their own arms 
and adds:
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;i&gt;[T]he people, without exaggeration, may be said to be entirely the 
masters of their own fate. Power being almost always the rival of power,
 the general government will at all times stand ready to check the 
usurpations of the state governments, and these will have the same 
disposition towards the general government. &lt;b&gt;The people by throwing 
themselves into either scale, will infallibly make it preponderate. If 
their rights are invaded by either, they can make use of the other as 
the instrument of redress.&lt;/b&gt; How wise will it be in them by cherishing
 the union to preserve to themselves an advantage which can never be too
 highly prized!&lt;/i&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
Thus the militia is the ultimate check against a state or the national 
government. That is why the founders guaranteed the right to the people 
as opposed to only active militia members or a state&#39;s militia. But of 
course, via the militia clause, the Second Amendment acknowledges, as 
well, the right of a state to maintain a militia. (For more on militia 
see: &lt;a href=&quot;http://guncite.com/gc2ndmea.html#MI&quot;&gt;http://guncite.com/gc2ndmea.html&lt;/a&gt;.)
&lt;br /&gt;
Hamilton concludes, telling us the above scenario is extremely unlikely to occur:
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
When will the time arrive that the federal government can raise and 
maintain an army capable of erecting a despotism over the great body of 
the people of an immense empire, who are in a situation, through the 
medium of their State governments, to take measures for their own 
defense, with all the celerity, regularity, and system of independent 
nations? The apprehension may be considered as a disease, for which 
there can be found no cure in the resources of argument and reasoning. 
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
Again, it is the recurring theme of the people&#39;s right to keep and bear 
arms as individuals, enhanced by a  militia system, that (in part) 
provides for the &quot;security of a free state.&quot;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Connecting the Dots...&lt;/b&gt;

&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: verdana, geneva, helvetica; font-size: xx-small;&quot;&gt;
&lt;b&gt;
&quot;The opinion of the Federalist has always been
considered as of great authority. It is a complete
commentary on our Constitution, and is appealed to by
all parties in the questions to which that
instrument has given birth. . . .
&quot;
&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
---   The U.S. Supreme Court in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0019_0264_ZO.html&quot;&gt;&lt;i&gt;Cohens v. Virginia&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (1821) 
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
Although the Federalist Papers were written prior to the drafting of the
 Bill of Rights (but after the Constitution was sent to the states for 
ratification), the passages quoted, above, help explain the 
relationships that were understood between a well-regulated militia, the
 people, their governments, and the right to keep and bear arms. The 
Second Amendment did not declare or establish any new rights or novel 
principles.
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;The Purpose of the Militia Clause&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&quot;Collective rights theorists argue that addition of the
subordinate clause qualifies the rest of the amendment
by placing a limitation on the people&#39;s right to bear
arms. However, if the amendment truly meant what
collective rights advocates propose, then the text
would read &quot;[a] well regulated Militia, being
necessary to the security of a free State, the right
of the States to keep and bear Arms, shall not be
infringed.&quot; However, that is not what the framers of
the amendment drafted. &lt;b&gt;The plain language of the
amendment, without attenuate inferences therefrom,
shows that the function of the subordinate clause was
not to qualify the right, but instead to show why it
must be protected.&lt;/b&gt; The right exists independent of the
existence of the militia. If this right were not
protected, the existence of the militia, and
consequently the security of the state, would be
jeopardized.&quot; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guncite.com/court/fed/46fsupp2d598.html&quot;&gt;U.S. v. Emerson&lt;/a&gt;, 46 F.Supp.2d 598 (N.D.Tex. 1999))
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
For more information about justification clauses see: Volokh, Eugene, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.law.ucla.edu/volokh/common.htm&quot;&gt;The Commonplace Second Amendment&lt;/a&gt;, (73 NYU L. Rev. 793 (1998)). (See also, Kopel, David, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationalreview.com/kopel/kopel051601.shtml&quot;&gt;&lt;i&gt;Words of Freedom&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, National Review Online, May 16, 2001.)
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Parting Shots&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There are 3 ways the Second Amendment is usually interpreted to deny it 
was intended to protect an individual right to keep and bear arms:
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;It protects a state&#39;s right to keep and bear arms.
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;The right is individual, but limited to active militia members because the militia clause narrows the right&#39;s scope.
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;The term &quot;people&quot; refers to the people collectively, rather than the people as individuals.
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
Yet, three jurists, who were contemporaries of the Founders, &lt;b&gt;and&lt;/b&gt; 
wrote constitutional commentaries, read the Second Amendment as 
protecting a private, individual right to keep arms. There is no 
contrary evidence from that period (see Guncite&#39;s &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guncite.com/gc2ndcont.html&quot;&gt;Is there contrary evidence?&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guncite.com/gc2ndcha.html&quot;&gt;Second Amendment challenge&lt;/a&gt;). 
&lt;br /&gt;
Instead of the &quot;right of the people,&quot; the Amendment&#39;s drafters could 
have referred to the  militia or active militia members, as they did in 
the &lt;a href=&quot;http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment05/&quot;&gt;Fifth Amendment&lt;/a&gt;, had they meant to restrict the right. (Additionally, see GunCite&#39;s page &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guncite.com/gc2ndmea.html#pe&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; showing evidence that the term, &quot;people,&quot; as used in the Bill of Rights, referred to people as individuals.)
&lt;br /&gt;
It strains credulity to believe the aforementioned three jurists misconstrued the meaning of the Second Amendment. 
&lt;br /&gt;
The only model that comports with &lt;b&gt;all&lt;/b&gt; of the evidence from the 
Founding period is the one interpreting the Second Amendment as 
protecting an individual right for a collective purpose. The militia 
clause and the right to keep and bear arms were intended to be 
complementary. 
&lt;br /&gt;
Perversely, gun rights defenders are accused of creating a Second 
Amendment myth, when it is some present-day jurists and historians who 
have failed to give a full account of the historical record.
&lt;br /&gt;
(The assertion that the Second Amendment was intended to protect an 
individual right should not be confused with the claim that all gun 
control is un-constitutional. However, to read why many gun rights 
advocates oppose most gun controls, today, please see GunCite&#39;s, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_misrep.html&quot;&gt;Misrepresenting the Gun Control Debate&lt;/a&gt;.)
</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/2765806635689795182/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2013/01/original-intent-and-purpose-of-second.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/2765806635689795182'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/2765806635689795182'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2013/01/original-intent-and-purpose-of-second.html' title='Original Intent and Purpose of the Second Amendment'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-6241242644965297907</id><published>2012-12-29T06:43:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2012-12-29T06:43:43.570-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="biden"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Congress"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="obama"/><title type='text'>Obama Orders Pay Raise for Biden, Members of Congress, Federal Workers</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;President Barack Obama issued an executive order to end the pay freeze on federal employees, in effect giving some federal workers a raise. One federal worker now to receive a pay increase is Vice President Joe Biden.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;According to disclosure forms, Biden made a cool $225,521 last year. After the pay increase, he&#39;ll now make $231,900 per year.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Members of Congress, from the House and Senate, also will receive a little bump, as their annual salary will go from $174,000 to 174,900. Leadership in Congress, including the speaker of the House, will likewise get an increase.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Here&#39;s the list of new wages, as attached to President Obama&#39;s executive order:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;&quot;A&amp;#160;new executive order&amp;#160;has been issued providing for a new pay schedule beginning &#39;on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning after March 27, 2013,&#39;&quot; reports FedSmith.com. &quot;The pay raise will generally be about 1/2 of 1%.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Jeryl Bier points to an example of the pay increase for average government executives:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;&quot;Not much of an increase, but an increase all the same,&quot; Bier notes.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;And the timing isn&#39;t great either: Just as President Obama and Congress try to avert going over the &quot;fiscal cliff,&quot; he doles out pay increases to federal workers.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;UPDATE: According to&amp;#160;a senior Republican congressional aide who has reviewed the executive order and consulted with the Congressional Budget Office, Obama&#39;s pay raise will cost $11 billion. &quot;The CBO told us that the President&amp;#8217;s pay raise for federal workers will cost $11 billion over ten years,&quot; says the aide.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;The aide explains, &quot;On the cost-estimate, CBO says the (discretionary) cost of the .5% pay-hike the President is calling for in the Exec Order &amp;#8211; relative to a freeze &amp;#8211; is about $500m in FY 2013 and $11 billion over the ten years from FY 13 - FY 22.&amp;#160; The reason why the FY &amp;#8217;13 savings is only $500 million is because the pay hike as proposed by the President&amp;#8217;s Exec Order would not go into effect until April 1st, 2013 - when the current CR expires. So it only covers half the fiscal year. The annualized cost of the pay hike is about $1 billion/year.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/6241242644965297907/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/obama-orders-pay-raise-for-biden.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/6241242644965297907'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/6241242644965297907'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/obama-orders-pay-raise-for-biden.html' title='Obama Orders Pay Raise for Biden, Members of Congress, Federal Workers'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-2040093708425757208</id><published>2012-12-21T08:19:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2012-12-21T08:19:38.120-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="china"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="right to bear arms"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="war"/><title type='text'>Hmmmm china wants us to disarm</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;This news link http://tiny.iavian.net/ixf was sent from a friend. Download Free Drudge Report from Android Market&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/2040093708425757208/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/hmmmm-china-wants-us-to-disarm.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/2040093708425757208'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/2040093708425757208'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/hmmmm-china-wants-us-to-disarm.html' title='Hmmmm china wants us to disarm'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-4309229907053792655</id><published>2012-12-18T08:31:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2012-12-18T08:31:34.990-07:00</updated><title type='text'>The Cliff is getting Closer</title><content type='html'>&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h1 property=&quot;dc.title&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
Obama, Boehner move closer to ‘cliff’ deal&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
&lt;h3 property=&quot;dc.creator&quot;&gt;
By&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.washingtonpost.com/lori-montgomery/2011/03/04/ABffwuN_page.html&quot; rel=&quot;author&quot;&gt;Lori Montgomery&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.washingtonpost.com/paul-kane/2011/02/22/ABezuTI_page.html&quot; rel=&quot;author&quot;&gt;Paul Kane&lt;/a&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp updated processed&quot; contenttype=&quot;article&quot; datetitle=&quot;published&quot; epochtime=&quot;1355764740000&quot; pagetype=&quot;leaf&quot;&gt;Published: December&amp;nbsp;17&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner moved close to agreement Monday on a plan to avert the year-end “&lt;a data-xslt=&quot;_http&quot; href=&quot;http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-fiscal-cliff-showdown/9deb554e-2515-11e2-9313-3c7f59038d93_topic.html&quot;&gt;fiscal cliff&lt;/a&gt;,” but they had yet to clear several critical hurdles, including winning the support of wary House Republicans.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Obama and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a data-xslt=&quot;_http&quot; href=&quot;http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/john-a-boehner-r-ohio/gIQAzRvL9O_topic.html&quot;&gt;Boehner&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;(R-Ohio) huddled at the White House for 45 minutes Monday morning for their third conversation in the past five days. Later, Boehner met for an hour at the Capitol with his leadership team in advance of a briefing Tuesday morning for the entire House GOP that could be a crucial test of Boehner’s ability to sell the deal.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Behind the scenes, administration officials and senior Republican aides continued to make progress. Obama laid out a counteroffer that included significant concessions on taxes, reducing the amount of new revenue he is seeking to $1.2&amp;nbsp;trillion over the next decade and limiting the hike in tax rates to households earning more than $400,000 a year. Obama had previously sought $1.4&amp;nbsp;trillion in new revenue, with tax increases on income over $250,000.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Obama also gave ground on a key Republican demand — applying a less-generous measure of inflation across the federal government. That change would save about $225&amp;nbsp;billion over the next decade, with more than half the savings coming from smaller cost-of-living increases for Social Security beneficiaries.&lt;br /&gt;
In addition, Obama increased his overall offer on spending cuts and dropped his demand for extending the payroll tax holiday, which has benefited virtually every worker for the past two years. But he is still seeking $80&amp;nbsp;billion in new spending on infrastructure and unemployment benefits and an increase in the federal government’s borrowing limit large enough to avert any new fight over the issue for two years.&lt;br /&gt;
Boehner has offered a one-year debt-limit increase, and the fresh stimulus spending remains a sticking point, according to senior Republican aides, who also complained that the overall deal remains too tilted toward new taxes.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
“Any movement away from the unrealistic offers the President has made previously is a step in the right direction, but a proposal that includes $1.3&amp;nbsp;trillion in revenue for only $930&amp;nbsp;billion in spending cuts cannot be considered balanced,” Boehner spokesman Michael A. Steel said in a written statement.&lt;br /&gt;
“We hope to continue discussions with the President so we can reach an agreement that is truly balanced and begins to solve our spending problem,” he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Talks over the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a data-xslt=&quot;_http&quot; href=&quot;http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/tag/fiscal-cliff/&quot;&gt;fiscal cliff&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;have accelerated since Boehner made an offer Friday to raise tax rates on income over $1&amp;nbsp;million and to delay a fight over the government’s borrowing limit in exchange for significant cuts to health and retirement programs.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On Monday, it became clear that the two sides are extremely close on the broad outlines of the deal that has eluded them for much of the past two years. Boehner’s latest offer calls for $2&amp;nbsp;trillion in savings over the next decade, half from higher taxes and half from cuts to the fast-growing health and retirement programs that are the federal government’s largest expense. All told, Obama’s latest offer calls for about $2.15&amp;nbsp;trillion in savings.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
People in both parties said the next few days could prove critical: Either Obama and Boehner will reach a consensus and sell it to their respective parties, or talks will again collapse, leaving congressional leaders scrambling for a fallback plan to mitigate the economic damage from more than $500&amp;nbsp;billion in automatic tax increases and spending cuts scheduled to begin immediately after Dec.&amp;nbsp;31.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Both sides cautioned that rank-and-file lawmakers had yet to see — much less digest — legislation that would require them to breach fundamental party orthodoxies. For Democrats, Social Security benefits have been sacred. Republicans, meanwhile, would have to not only raise taxes but also agree to raise rates on successful individuals they have dubbed “job creators.”&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The talks have made “substantial progress,” but “they have a long way to go,” said&amp;nbsp;&lt;a data-xslt=&quot;_http&quot; href=&quot;http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/V000128&quot;&gt;Rep. Chris Van Hollen&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;(Md.), the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, who is acting as a liaison between the White House and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a data-xslt=&quot;_http&quot; href=&quot;http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/P000197&quot;&gt;House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;(D-Calif.).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Of particular concern to negotiators is the conservative wing of&amp;nbsp;Boehner’s caucus, which has been boisterous in its opposition to tax increases of any kind.&amp;nbsp;&lt;a data-xslt=&quot;_http&quot; href=&quot;http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/C001076&quot;&gt;Rep. Jason Chaffetz&amp;nbsp;&lt;/a&gt;(R-Utah) said he found initial reports of Boehner’s tax offer upsetting.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
“I don’t like it,” Chaffetz said. But echoing a number of his conservative colleagues, he said he is willing to “give the speaker the benefit of the doubt and hear him out before I pass judgment.”&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Liberal Democrats, too, were on edge about Obama’s offer on the inflation measure, known as the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a data-xslt=&quot;_http&quot; href=&quot;http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/wp/2012/12/17/what-is-chained-cpi/&quot;&gt;chained consumer price index, or chained CPI&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;a data-xslt=&quot;_http&quot; href=&quot;http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/V000128&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Obama tentatively embraced the change in budget negotiations with Boehner in&amp;nbsp;the summer of&amp;nbsp;2011. Since then,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a data-xslt=&quot;_http&quot; href=&quot;http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/R000146&quot;&gt;Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;(D-Nev.) and other Democrats have rejected the proposal, insisting that the solvency of Social Security should be addressed separately from the year-end negotiations.&lt;br /&gt;
Obama is seeking adjustments to blunt the impact on the very old and the infirm. His offer proposes to exclude disability payments, known as Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, and to provide a bump-up in benefits for retirees who reach age 85, Democrats said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a data-xslt=&quot;_http&quot; href=&quot;http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/V000128&quot;&gt;Rep. Donna Edwards&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;(D-Md.), who organized 57 House Democrats to sign a letter last week urging Obama and congressional leaders to protect Social Security, nonetheless argued that adopting&amp;nbsp;&lt;a data-xslt=&quot;_http&quot; href=&quot;http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/wp/2012/12/17/what-is-chained-cpi/&quot;&gt;chained CPI&amp;nbsp;&lt;/a&gt;would result in “serious benefit cuts for recipients, particularly for our seniors and the disabled.”&lt;br /&gt;
“You can’t tell me it’s balanced when the principal payees are seniors and the disabled,” Edwards said.&lt;br /&gt;
Meanwhile, the possibility remains that the deal could get even more distasteful for Democrats, particularly if Republicans counter Obama’s request for $1.2 trillion in new taxes with a demand for an additional concession on health care, such raising as the eligibility age for Medicare beneficiaries from 65 to 67.&lt;br /&gt;
While Obama tentatively agreed to raise the Medicare eligibility age during talks with Boehner in 2011, it has emerged in the current negotiations as a line the White House is unwilling to cross.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Still, Democrats in particular seemed buoyed by the status of negotiations after a weekend of horse-trading by Boehner’s senior policy adviser and Obama’s chief liaison to Congress. Those negotiations played out in the shadow of&amp;nbsp;&lt;a data-xslt=&quot;_http&quot; href=&quot;http://www.washingtonpost.com/848e68d0-4620-11e2-9648-a2c323a991d6_topic.html&quot;&gt;the massacre of 20 elementary school students in Connecticut&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;on Friday and the death Monday of&amp;nbsp;&lt;a data-xslt=&quot;_http&quot; href=&quot;http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/daniel-k-inouye-us-senator-dies-at-88/2012/12/17/61030936-b259-11e0-9a80-c46b9cb1255f_story.html&quot;&gt;Sen. Daniel K. Inouye&amp;nbsp;&lt;/a&gt;(D-Hawaii), who had served 50 years in the Senate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If a deal is reached, people in both parties say, it would include postponement of roughly $100&amp;nbsp;billion in automatic spending cuts to the budgets of the Pentagon and other agencies next year. But $1&amp;nbsp;trillion in future cuts to agency budgets adopted during the 2011 budget battle would remain in place. Counting around $800&amp;nbsp;billion in savings from ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the overall package would come close to reducing deficits by a total of $4&amp;nbsp;trillion over the next decade — a target that economists say would stabilize the soaring federal debt.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As talks continued, Reid made tentative plans to advance fiscal-cliff legislation in the Senate, warning lawmakers that they probably do not have time to finish before Christmas. Instead, Reid said the Senate would probably have to return to Washington next week to take a final vote.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Rosalind S. Helderman contributed to this report.&lt;/div&gt;
</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/4309229907053792655/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-cliff-is-getting-closer.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/4309229907053792655'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/4309229907053792655'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-cliff-is-getting-closer.html' title='The Cliff is getting Closer'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-1840223027804127835</id><published>2012-12-17T17:23:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2012-12-17T17:23:47.843-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="democrats"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="gun control"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="gun rights"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="guns"/><title type='text'>2 dems want to ban guns, what do you think</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;The two Senators &amp;#8211; both Democrats but with &quot;A&quot; ratings and previous endorsements from the powerful National Rifle Association gun lobby group &amp;#8211; both spoke out to argue publicly that the death of 20 Year 2 children was a &quot;game-changing&quot; moment for America&#39;s divisive gun debate.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;&quot;Never before have we seen our babies slaughtered. It&#39;s never happened in America that I can recall, seeing this carnage,&quot; said Senator Joe Manchin, who in 2010 released a political advert touting his NRA endorsement and showing him with a hunting rifle &#39;taking aim&#39; at a piece of climate change legislation.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;&quot;Anybody that&#39;s a proud gun owner, a proud member of the NRA, they&#39;re also proud parents, they&#39;re proud grandparents. They understand this has changed where we go from here,&quot; the West Virginia senator said on MSNBC.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Those thoughts were later echoed by Mark Warner, a senator for the rural, gun-loving state of Virginia, who has said gun control could no longer be a subject for partisan feuding between Republicans and Democrats.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;&quot;I believe every American has Second Amendment rights, the ability to hunt is part of our culture. I&#39;ve had a NRA (National Rifle Association) rating of an &quot;A&quot; but, you know, enough is enough,&quot; Mr Warner said on CBS News&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;&quot;It is time for this kind of senseless violence to end. There won&#39;t be one perfect law to stop a crazy person from doing evil things. But when we have close to 30,000 killings a year from all types of gun violence, even if we save a few lives, we make progress.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;The remarks could put pressure on both the NRA and Republican pro-gun legislators to accept the need for tighter gun controls, particularly on assault rifles.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;But in a sign of the political difficulties that lie ahead, since the Sandy Hook shootings last Friday both the NRA and all pro-gun Republican senators and congressman have remained silent.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;The NBS&#39;s influential &quot;Meet the Press&quot; program said it had contacted 31 pro-gun senators last weekend, but all had declined to appear.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;But as the popular outrage continues to build, advocates of tighter gun control continued yesterday moved to seize the initiative on what is being viewed as the best opportunity for more than a decade to force through tougher gun laws.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;That pressure continued to build on Mr Obama who promised the bereaved parents of Newtown he would use &quot;whatever power this office holds&quot; to prevent a repeat of more tragedies like Sandy Hook, although without directly specifying new legislation on gun control.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Jay Carney, the White House spokesman refused to be drawn on specific measures at a briefing yesterday, but said that Mr Obama would be &quot;moving forward&quot; to address what he described as a &quot;complex problem that will require a complex solution&quot; of which gun controls formed only one part.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York and fierce advocate of gun control, continued urge Mr Obama to take concrete action, staging an event in New York with gun-crime victims whose moving testimonies, he said, would be sent to every member of the new Congress that opens in January.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;&quot;If this moment passes from memory without action from Washington, it will be a stain up on our nations&#39; commitment to protect the innocent, including our children,&quot; he said, calling for an immediate assault weapon ban and the enforcement of existing background checking laws.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;He accused Congress of putting &quot;partisan politics&quot; above saving lives, point out the &quot;outrage&quot; that the only significant piece of gun legislation passed by Congress in almost 20 years was a bill to indemnify gun manufacturers from being sued by the victims of gun crime.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Public anger over the killings was also expressed on the White House website where a petition demanding the Obama administration act against the gun lobby had attracted more than 140,000 signatures.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;&quot;Powerful lobbying groups allow the ownership of guns to reach beyond the Constitution&#39;s intended purpose of the right to bear arms,&quot; the petition argued, &quot;Therefore, Congress must act on what is stated law, and face the reality that access to firearms reaches beyond what the Second Amendment intends to achieve.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;A new Washington Post-ABC News poll which was conducted after the Newtown killings also suggested public support for legislation was slowly growing, with some 54 per cent of Americans in &quot;favour stricter gun control laws&quot; compared with 43 per cent who do not.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;The number in favour of new controls represented a 3 per cent increase from the last time the survey was taken in May this year, but it still falls well short of the consistent 63-67pc support for tougher controls that persisted through the late 1990s and early 2000s.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/1840223027804127835/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/2-dems-want-to-ban-guns-what-do-you.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/1840223027804127835'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/1840223027804127835'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/2-dems-want-to-ban-guns-what-do-you.html' title='2 dems want to ban guns, what do you think'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-8761744705694505514</id><published>2012-12-16T11:25:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2012-12-16T11:25:48.809-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="death star"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="humor"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="usa"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="usa empire"/><title type='text'>USA proposes a Death Star</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;AWAITING OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE COMMENT ON PROPOSED UNITED STATES &amp;#8216;DEATH STAR&amp;#8217;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;We may be trillions in debt, but one thing you can say about the United States is that we still have a healthy sense of humor. When the Obama administration unveiled its &amp;#8220;We The People&amp;#8221; government petition website and promised to look into any issue that garnered more than 25,000 signatures, it was only a matter of time until We The People took it upon ourselves to make a mockery of it.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Case and point, this petition to &amp;#8220;secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star.&amp;#8221;&amp;nbsp; There are now more than 27,000 Americans who have signed on their support for building such a fully armed and operational battle station &amp;#8211; well more than the 25,000 threshold for an official comment from the White House.&amp;nbsp; What say you, Mr. President?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;We know President Obama isn&amp;#8217;t a fan of nuclear weapons &amp;#8212; I wonder how he feels about moon-sized space stations equipped with planet-destroying super lasers&amp;#8230;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt; &lt;br&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/8761744705694505514/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/usa-proposes-death-star.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/8761744705694505514'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/8761744705694505514'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/usa-proposes-death-star.html' title='USA proposes a Death Star'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-1808585056858429044</id><published>2012-12-14T10:55:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2012-12-14T10:55:48.072-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="school shooting"/><title type='text'>Prays for Newtown, CT. </title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;At Least 20 Shot, Multiple Dead, At Sandy Hook School Shooting In Newtown&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Ambulances respond To Newtown, Conn. school shooting Friday morning.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;NEWTOWN&amp;#8212;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Multiple people, including children, have been killed in a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;The number of dead is unclear, but there are at least 20 shooting victims. Many of the shootings took place in a kindergarten classroom, sources said.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;A person believed to be a shooter is dead. Earlier reports of a second shooter are unconfirmed.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;ABC News reported through federal, local officials that more than a dozen people, including children, were shot and killed.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Police were still searching the school at 11 a.m., and police dogs had been brought in. Around noon, the triage area was broken down, stretchers were taken away and the SWAT team left the building.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Shortly after 9:40 a.m., police reported that a shooter was in the main office of the school. A person in one room had &amp;#8220;numerous gunshot wounds,&amp;#8221; police said.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Groups of students &amp;#8212; some crying, some holding hands &amp;#8212; were being escorted away from the school by their teachers. Some students were still in the school at 10:30 a.m., parents said.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;School and local emergency officials are accounting for the children, who will be released to their parents to get them home. A staging area has been set up at the Sandy Hook fire department, directly in front of the school.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Frustrated parents are trying to get information from officials, who are still actively searching the school.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Eight-year-old Alexis Wasik, a third-grader at the school, said police were checking everybody inside the school before they were escorted to the firehouse.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;&quot;We had to walk with a partner,&quot; she said.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;One child leaving the school said that there was shattered glass everywhere. A police officer ran into the classroom and told them to run outside and keep going until the reach the firehouse.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Dozens of state troopers are on the scene assisting local police. Heavily armed police gathered in front of the school around 10:45 a.m., and a number of stretchers were set up.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Area hospitals have been alerted.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Andrew Doba, a spokesman for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, said the governor is monitoring the situation and is in &amp;#8220;constant contact&amp;#8221; with state police, who are coordinating with federal and local officials. Malloy will travel to Newtown later today, he said.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p dir=ltr&gt;Afternoon buses and kindergarten has been cancelled.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/1808585056858429044/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/prays-for-newtown-ct.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/1808585056858429044'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/1808585056858429044'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/prays-for-newtown-ct.html' title='Prays for Newtown, CT. '/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-701691866758214733</id><published>2012-12-14T00:48:00.003-07:00</published><updated>2012-12-14T00:49:23.563-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Air Force"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Arizona"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Army"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Democrat"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Freedom"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Liberty"/><title type='text'>And Over the Cliff we go!</title><content type='html'>&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;-webkit-font-feature-settings: &#39;liga&#39; 1, &#39;dlig&#39; 1, &#39;kern&#39; 1, &#39;opbd&#39; 1; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;&quot;&gt;
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Obama and Boehner meet again to avert fiscal cliff&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span class=&quot;last-updated&quot; style=&quot;-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-weight: 700; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;&quot;&gt;1:18AM EST December 14. 2012 -&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;WASHINGTON — President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner met privately Thursday after another day of back-and-forth over tax hikes, spending cuts and efforts to avoid the year-end &quot;fiscal cliff.&quot;&lt;/div&gt;
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Hours earlier, Boehner said that unless Obama makes further concessions on spending cuts, Washington will head over the cliff and into a series of tax hikes and massive budget reductions.&lt;/div&gt;
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&quot;The president wants to pretend spending isn&#39;t the problem. That&#39;s why we don&#39;t have an agreement,&quot; said Boehner, R-Ohio. &quot;Unfortunately, the White House is so unserious about cutting spending that it appears willing to slow-walk our economy right up to -- and over -- the fiscal cliff.&quot;&lt;/div&gt;
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Meanwhile, a group of Democrats sent Obama a letter warning him against accepting Republican proposals to reduce entitlement programs, including an increase in the Medicare eligibility age.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;-webkit-font-feature-settings: &#39;liga&#39; 1, &#39;dlig&#39; 1, &#39;kern&#39; 1, &#39;opbd&#39; 1; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;&quot;&gt;
After their 50-minute meeting at the White House, aides to Obama and Boehner sent out similar statements saying they would not detail the discussions, but the &quot;lines of communication remain open.&quot;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;-webkit-font-feature-settings: &#39;liga&#39; 1, &#39;dlig&#39; 1, &#39;kern&#39; 1, &#39;opbd&#39; 1; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;&quot;&gt;
Just 18 days remain for Washington to take action before the George W. Bush-era tax cuts expire, and $1.2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years are triggered. Several other laws are expiring that also affect millions of Americans, including a temporary payroll tax holiday and long-term unemployment benefits.&lt;/div&gt;
</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/701691866758214733/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/and-over-cliff-we-go.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/701691866758214733'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/701691866758214733'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/and-over-cliff-we-go.html' title='And Over the Cliff we go!'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-5827681062870084293</id><published>2012-12-11T13:22:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2012-12-11T13:22:09.653-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Michigan Right to Work!</title><content type='html'>&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h1 property=&quot;dc.title&quot; style=&quot;background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 2.5em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-title&quot;&gt;Michigan Legislature gives final approval to right-to-work limiting unions, sends to governor&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;
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By&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class=&quot;author vcard&quot; style=&quot;color: #666666;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;fn&quot;&gt;Associated Press&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/job-creation-debate-illustrates-volley-of-claims-over-right-to-work-as-michigan-decision-nears/2012/12/10/9f780f72-4330-11e2-8c8f-fbebf7ccab4e_story.html?hpid=z2?wpisrc=al_comboEP_p#license-9f780f72-4330-11e2-8c8f-fbebf7ccab4e&quot; id=&quot;license-9f780f72-4330-11e2-8c8f-fbebf7ccab4e&quot; rel=&quot;item-license&quot; style=&quot;color: black; text-decoration: initial;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp updated processed&quot; comparetime=&quot;1355253391000&quot; contenttype=&quot;article&quot; datetitle=&quot;published&quot; epochtime=&quot;1355188696000&quot; pagetype=&quot;leaf&quot; style=&quot;color: #6e6e6e;&quot;&gt;Published: December&amp;nbsp;10 |&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp updated processed&quot; comparetime=&quot;1355188696000&quot; contenttype=&quot;article&quot; datetitle=&quot;updated&quot; epochtime=&quot;1355253391000&quot; pagetype=&quot;leaf&quot; style=&quot;color: #6e6e6e;&quot;&gt;Updated: Tuesday, December&amp;nbsp;11,&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class=&quot;time special&quot; style=&quot;color: #cc131e;&quot;&gt;12:16&amp;nbsp;PM&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
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&lt;div class=&quot;relative&quot; id=&quot;article&quot; style=&quot;background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 10px; line-height: 10px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;&quot;&gt;
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&lt;span class=&quot;dateline&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Legislature gave final approval Tuesday to a bitterly contested right-to-work plan limiting the power of unions, a devastating and once unthinkable defeat for organized labor in a state considered a cradle of the movement.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;&quot;&gt;
Unswayed by Democrats’ pleas and thousands of protesters inside and outside the state Capitol, the House approved two final bills, sending them on to Republican Gov. Rick Snyder. One dealt with private sector workers, the other with government employees. Both measures cleared the Senate last week.&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/job-creation-debate-illustrates-volley-of-claims-over-right-to-work-as-michigan-decision-nears/2012/12/10/9f780f72-4330-11e2-8c8f-fbebf7ccab4e_story.html?hpid=z2?wpisrc=al_comboEP_p&quot;&gt;Read MORE ...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/5827681062870084293/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/michigan-right-to-work.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/5827681062870084293'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/5827681062870084293'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/michigan-right-to-work.html' title='Michigan Right to Work!'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-1239015066837534076</id><published>2012-12-08T14:32:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2012-12-08T14:32:48.230-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="America"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="communism"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="DAV"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="drudge report"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Fallen soldiers"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Freedom"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Liberty"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="obama"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="rural america"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="USDA"/><title type='text'>Rural America Less Relevant </title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 class=&quot;body&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
&lt;u&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;headline entry-title&quot;&gt;USDA chief: Rural America becoming less relevant&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;body&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;headline entry-title&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;WASHINGTON     
(AP) -- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has some harsh words for rural
 America: It&#39;s &quot;becoming less and less relevant,&quot; he says.&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;h2 class=&quot;body&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;ap-story-p&quot;&gt;
A
 month after an election that Democrats won even as rural parts of the 
country voted overwhelmingly Republican, the former Democratic governor 
of Iowa told farm belt leaders this past week that he&#39;s frustrated with 
their internecine squabbles and says they need to be more strategic in 
picking their political fights.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h2 class=&quot;body&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;ap-story-p&quot;&gt;
&quot;It&#39;s time for
 us to have an adult conversation with folks in rural America,&quot; Vilsack 
said in a speech at a forum sponsored by the Farm Journal. &quot;It&#39;s time 
for a different thought process here, in my view.&quot;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h2 class=&quot;body&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;ap-story-p&quot;&gt;
He
 said rural America&#39;s biggest assets - the food supply, recreational 
areas and energy, for example - can be overlooked by people elsewhere as
 the U.S. population shifts more to cities, their suburbs and exurbs.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h2 class=&quot;body&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;ap-story-p&quot;&gt;
&quot;Why
 is it that we don&#39;t have a farm bill?&quot; said Vilsack. &quot;It isn&#39;t just the
 differences of policy. It&#39;s the fact that rural America with a 
shrinking population is becoming less and less relevant to the politics 
of this country, and we had better recognize that and we better begin to
 reverse it.&quot;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h2 class=&quot;body&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;ap-story-p&quot;&gt;
For the first time in recent 
memory, farm-state lawmakers were not able to push a farm bill through 
Congress in an election year, evidence of lost clout in farm states.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h2 class=&quot;body&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;ap-story-p&quot;&gt;
The
 Agriculture Department says about 50 percent of rural counties have 
lost population in the past four years and poverty rates are higher 
there than in metropolitan areas, despite the booming agricultural 
economy.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h2 class=&quot;body&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;ap-story-p&quot;&gt;
Exit polls conducted for The 
Associated Press and television networks found that rural voters 
accounted for just 14 percent of the turnout in last month&#39;s election, 
with 61 percent of them supporting Republican Mitt Romney and 37 percent
 backing President Barack Obama. Two-thirds of those rural voters said 
the government is doing too many things better left to businesses and 
individuals.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h2 class=&quot;body&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;ap-story-p&quot;&gt;
Vilsack criticized farmers who 
have embraced wedge issues such as regulation, citing the uproar over 
the idea that the Environmental Protection Agency was going to start 
regulating farm dust after the Obama administration said repeatedly it 
had no so such intention.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h2 class=&quot;body&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;ap-story-p&quot;&gt;
In his Washington 
speech, he also cited criticism of a proposed Labor Department 
regulation, later dropped, that was intended to keep younger children 
away from the most dangerous farm jobs, and criticism of egg producers 
for dealing with the Humane Society on increasing the space that hens 
have in their coops. Livestock producers fearing they will be the next 
target of animal rights advocates have tried to undo that agreement.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h2 class=&quot;body&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;ap-story-p&quot;&gt;
&quot;We
 need a proactive message, not a reactive message,&quot; Vilsack said. &quot;How 
are you going to encourage young people to want to be involved in rural 
America or farming if you don&#39;t have a proactive message? Because you 
are competing against the world now.&quot;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h2 class=&quot;body&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;ap-story-p&quot;&gt;
John 
Weber, a pork producer in Dysart, Iowa, said Friday that farmers have to
 defend their industries against policies they see as unfair. He said 
there is great concern among pork producers that animal welfare groups 
are using unfair tactics and may hurt their business.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h2 class=&quot;body&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;ap-story-p&quot;&gt;
&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;&quot;Our role is to defend our producers and our industry in what we feel are issues important to us,&quot; he said.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h2 class=&quot;body&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;ap-story-p&quot;&gt;
Weber
 agreed, though, that rural America is declining in influence. He said 
he is concerned that there are not enough lawmakers from rural areas and
 complained that Congress doesn&#39;t understand farm issues. He added that 
the farm industry needs to communicate better with consumers.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;ap-story-p&quot;&gt;
&quot;There&#39;s a huge communication gap&quot; between farmers and the food-eating public, he said.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;ap-story-p&quot;&gt;
Vilsack,
 who has made the revitalization of rural America a priority, encouraged
 farmers to embrace new kinds of markets, work to promote global exports
 and replace a &quot;preservation mindset with a growth mindset.&quot; He said 
they also need to embrace diversity because it is an issue important to 
young people who are leaving rural areas.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h2 class=&quot;body&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;entry-content&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;ap-story-p&quot;&gt;
&quot;We&#39;ve
 got something to market here,&quot; he said. &quot;We&#39;ve got something to be 
proactive about. Let&#39;s spend our time and our resources and our energy 
doing that and I think if we do we&#39;re going to have a lot of young 
people who want to be part of that future.&quot;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h2 class=&quot;body&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
&lt;/h2&gt;
</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/1239015066837534076/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/rural-america-less-relevant.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/1239015066837534076'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/1239015066837534076'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/rural-america-less-relevant.html' title='Rural America Less Relevant '/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-7343582481378601479</id><published>2012-12-06T16:28:00.004-07:00</published><updated>2012-12-06T16:31:23.398-07:00</updated><title type='text'>US Approved Arms to Libya</title><content type='html'>&lt;div itemprop=&quot;articleBody&quot;&gt;
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&lt;h1 class=&quot;articleHeadline&quot; itemprop=&quot;headline&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
U.S.-Approved Arms for Libya Rebels Fell Into Jihadis’ Hands&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;div itemprop=&quot;articleBody&quot;&gt;
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration secretly gave its blessing to arms shipments to Libyan rebels from &lt;a class=&quot;meta-loc&quot; href=&quot;http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/qatar/index.html?inline=nyt-geo&quot; title=&quot;More news and information about Qatar.&quot;&gt;Qatar&lt;/a&gt;
 last year, but American officials later grew alarmed as evidence grew 
that Qatar was turning some of the weapons over to Islamic militants, 
according to United States officials and foreign diplomats.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/world/africa/weapons-sent-to-libyan-rebels-with-us-approval-fell-into-islamist-hands.html?hp&amp;amp;_r=0&quot;&gt;Read More--------&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/7343582481378601479/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/us-approved-arms-to-libya.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/7343582481378601479'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/7343582481378601479'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/us-approved-arms-to-libya.html' title='US Approved Arms to Libya'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-7913073403210173478</id><published>2012-12-06T12:08:00.002-07:00</published><updated>2012-12-06T12:17:38.398-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Heads Up, Its Coming!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
&lt;iframe allowfullscreen=&#39;allowfullscreen&#39; webkitallowfullscreen=&#39;webkitallowfullscreen&#39; mozallowfullscreen=&#39;mozallowfullscreen&#39; width=&#39;320&#39; height=&#39;266&#39; src=&#39;https://www.youtube.com/embed/SfFSS1vLcXA?feature=player_embedded&#39; frameborder=&#39;0&#39;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h2 style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
Get more Info Here! &lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;h2 style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;h4 style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://bball04.myvi.net/&quot;&gt;and hey start your own online or network business here! &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h4&gt;
</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/7913073403210173478/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/heads-up-its-coming.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/7913073403210173478'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/7913073403210173478'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/heads-up-its-coming.html' title='Heads Up, Its Coming!'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-4337092134960921498</id><published>2012-12-05T07:23:00.002-07:00</published><updated>2012-12-05T07:25:26.139-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="90 day Challenge"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="charity"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Christmas donation"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="feed the children"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="holiday weight loss"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="transformation"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="ViSalus"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="wellness"/><title type='text'>Help Feed The Children!</title><content type='html'>&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h1 data-mce-style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot; style=&quot;color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, &#39;Bitstream Charter&#39;, Times, serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
Hunger exists in every community—&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;h1 data-mce-style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot; style=&quot;color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, &#39;Bitstream Charter&#39;, Times, serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
even your own. One in four children go&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;h1 data-mce-style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot; style=&quot;color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, &#39;Bitstream Charter&#39;, Times, serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;to bed hungry every night. We think&amp;nbsp;&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;h1 data-mce-style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot; style=&quot;color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, &#39;Bitstream Charter&#39;, Times, serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
that’s one too many.&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;h3 data-mce-style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot; style=&quot;color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, &#39;Bitstream Charter&#39;, Times, serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
&lt;span data-mce-style=&quot;color: #ff0000;&quot; style=&quot;color: red;&quot;&gt;Join the Vi-Community Challenge, and give hope to a child in your community. Each $24 donation buys 30 ViSalus Vi-Shape® Nutritional Shake Mix meals for a child in need. ViSalus matches your donation meal for meal, doubling your contribution to a full pouch of 60 shake meals—equivalent to a month of healthy breakfast, lunch or snack options. Make a difference. Feed a child. Donate NOW!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, &#39;Bitstream Charter&#39;, Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;&quot;&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;h1 data-mce-style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot; style=&quot;color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, &#39;Bitstream Charter&#39;, Times, serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
&lt;a data-mce-href=&quot;http://bball04.visalusgiving.com/&quot; href=&quot;http://bball04.visalusgiving.com/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;ViSalus Giving Donation&quot;&gt;PLEASE DONATE NOW!!! IT WILL&amp;nbsp;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;h1 data-mce-style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot; style=&quot;color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, &#39;Bitstream Charter&#39;, Times, serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
FEED A HUNGRY CHILD!&lt;/h1&gt;
</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/4337092134960921498/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/help-feed-children.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/4337092134960921498'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/4337092134960921498'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/12/help-feed-children.html' title='Help Feed The Children!'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-7119336329873655785</id><published>2012-11-30T15:28:00.002-07:00</published><updated>2012-11-30T15:28:40.117-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Arizona"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="charities"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Fitness"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="holiday weight loss"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Money at home"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Pat Tillman"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Support our troops"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="transformation"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="US NAVY"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="us navy seals"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="ViSalus"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="wealth"/><title type='text'>American Fitness Challenge!</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
Come See about the&amp;nbsp;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;h2 style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
American Largest Fitness Challenge!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/h2&gt;
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&lt;h3 style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
Don&#39;t Miss out of the Best Deals NOW!&lt;/h3&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;http://bball04.myvi.net/&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;271&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_QBnCi0gtrI_osOwlTiDQITv0qJ9lUUp6yJ0yN9w6TNe94qOy0VECoBosONJblZ5pAJFzTaI93cXgkCYLNpcFjAxRwDCYhyphenhyphenxJD0Schnt7X7k4LsnTIb0qvKSWtCDa08FRxHI8r0Ovfek/s400/Shannon+Sharpe.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;http://bball04.myvi.net/freebmw&quot;&gt;Click here for Challenge&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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These TWO DEALS Together will Change your LIFE!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;/h3&gt;
</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/7119336329873655785/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/11/american-fitness-challenge.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/7119336329873655785'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/7119336329873655785'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/11/american-fitness-challenge.html' title='American Fitness Challenge!'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_QBnCi0gtrI_osOwlTiDQITv0qJ9lUUp6yJ0yN9w6TNe94qOy0VECoBosONJblZ5pAJFzTaI93cXgkCYLNpcFjAxRwDCYhyphenhyphenxJD0Schnt7X7k4LsnTIb0qvKSWtCDa08FRxHI8r0Ovfek/s72-c/Shannon+Sharpe.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-4077166162460029995</id><published>2012-11-30T15:11:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2012-11-30T15:11:55.112-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Obama Warns Congress: &quot;I&#39;ve Been Keeping My Own Naughty And Nice List&quot;</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/11/30/obama_warns_congress_ive_been_keeping_my_own_naughty_and_nice_list_for_washington.html#.ULkvIqAed0Y.blogger&quot;&gt;Obama Warns Congress: &quot;I&#39;ve Been Keeping My Own Naughty And Nice List&quot;&lt;/a&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/4077166162460029995/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/11/obama-warns-congress-ive-been-keeping.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/4077166162460029995'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/4077166162460029995'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2012/11/obama-warns-congress-ive-been-keeping.html' title='Obama Warns Congress: &quot;I&#39;ve Been Keeping My Own Naughty And Nice List&quot;'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-6728400487538288992</id><published>2011-08-10T20:30:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-10T20:30:27.951-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="bin laden"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="movie"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="sony"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="us navy seals"/><title type='text'>Bin Laden Killing movie</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans;&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div id=&quot;articleInfo&quot; style=&quot;margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;byline&quot; style=&quot;color: #666666; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.6; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;By&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&amp;amp;n=david.alexander&amp;amp;&quot; style=&quot;color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;David Alexander&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;color: #666666; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;location&quot; style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;WASHINGTON&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot; style=&quot;color: #666666; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;Wed Aug 10, 2011 7:26pm EDT&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;midArticle_0&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;focusParagraph&quot;&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;(Reuters) - Moviemakers producing a film about the U.S. special forces raid that killed Osama bin Laden are getting help from the Pentagon, but the Obama administration dismissed concerns on Wednesday that classified information has been divulged.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;midArticle_1&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;The film, focusing on one of President Barack Obama&#39;s key successes in office, is due to be released in October 2012, less than a month before the election in which the Democrat is seeking a second term.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;midArticle_2&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;Republican Peter King, chairman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, called on Tuesday for an investigation into contacts between the administration and the filmmakers. King questioned whether special operations methods had been compromised.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;midArticle_3&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;&quot;The claims are ridiculous,&quot; White House spokesman Jay Carney told a White House briefing.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;midArticle_4&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;&quot;We do not discuss classified information. And I would hope that as we face the continued threat from terrorism, the House Committee on Homeland Security would have more important topics to discuss than a movie,&quot; Carney added.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;midArticle_5&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Dave Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Defense Department is cooperating with filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal as they work on a motion picture about the raid that killed bin Laden.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;midArticle_6&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;The two, who collaborated on the Oscar-winning Iraq war movie &quot;The Hurt Locker,&quot; had been developing the bin Laden film even before the al Qaeda leader was killed in May in a raid on a compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;midArticle_7&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;In a statement, the pair said their movie covered a period of three different U.S. administrations that searched for bin Laden, including those of Presidents Clinton and Bush.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;midArticle_8&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;&quot;This was an American triumph, both heroic and non-partisan, and there is no basis to suggest that our film will represent this enormous victory otherwise,&quot; Bigelow and Boal said in their joint statement.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;midArticle_9&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;The Pentagon has a two-person entertainment media office that assists makers of films, television shows, computer games and other entertainment media targeting mass audiences.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;midArticle_10&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;&quot;Mostly when we&#39;re contacted by filmmakers they&#39;re looking for access to our equipment, our personnel and our installations. Technical advice is kind of a byproduct of that relationship,&quot; said Phil Strub, who heads the office.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;midArticle_11&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;Reacting to a New York Times column saying the film was timed to give Obama a &quot;home-stretch boost&quot; in his re-election bid, King called for an investigation into the assertion that Bigelow had been given &quot;top-level access to the most classified mission in history.&quot;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/6728400487538288992/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2011/08/bin-laden-killing-movie.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/6728400487538288992'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/6728400487538288992'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2011/08/bin-laden-killing-movie.html' title='Bin Laden Killing movie'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-8469125254345079152</id><published>2011-08-01T21:16:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-01T21:16:38.927-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Army"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="AZ Cardinals"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="charity"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="hero"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="marathon"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Pat Tillman"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Pat&#39;s Run"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="run"/><title type='text'>Real AMERICAN HERO!!! PAT TILLMAN</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;color: #555555; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25px;&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;h3 style=&quot;clear: both; color: #cc0000; font-family: proxima-nova-1, proxima-nova-2, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0.05em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;&quot;&gt;THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE 7TH ANNUAL PAT’S RUN.&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;h4 style=&quot;color: #114c88; font-family: proxima-nova-1, proxima-nova-2, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0.05em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;&quot;&gt;RACE RESULTS&lt;/h4&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;Search for your&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventLinkageID=17975&amp;amp;year=2011&quot; style=&quot;color: #cc0000; text-decoration: underline;&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;2011 Pat&#39;s Run Race Results&quot;&gt;race results&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;h4 style=&quot;color: #114c88; font-family: proxima-nova-1, proxima-nova-2, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0.05em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;&quot;&gt;PAT’S RUN RACE SHIRTS&lt;/h4&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;A limited number of 2011 Pat’s Run Race Shirts and 2011 Kids Run T-shirts are now available. Please download, complete and return the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pattillmanfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/2011-Pats-Run-T-Shirt-Order-Form-XL-Sold-Out.pdf&quot; style=&quot;color: #cc0000; text-decoration: underline;&quot; title=&quot;2011 Pat&#39;s Run Race Shirt Order Form M-XL&quot;&gt;2011 Pat’s Run Race Shirt Order Form&lt;/a&gt;. Please note, men’s XL race shirts are no longer available.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;h4 style=&quot;color: #114c88; font-family: proxima-nova-1, proxima-nova-2, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0.05em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;&quot;&gt;PHOTOS AND MORE&lt;/h4&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;Photos and a recap have been posted to the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pattillmanfoundation.org/who-we-are/blog/&quot; style=&quot;color: #cc0000; text-decoration: underline;&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;PTF Blog&quot;&gt;Pat Tillman Foundation blog&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pat-Tillman-Foundation-Official/50359342416&quot; style=&quot;color: #cc0000; text-decoration: underline;&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;PTF Facebook&quot;&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;View the 7th Annual Pat’s Run&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pattillmanfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/2011-Pats-Run-Race-Program-Final-LR.pdf&quot; style=&quot;color: #cc0000; text-decoration: underline;&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;7th Annual Pat&#39;s Run Race Program&quot;&gt;Race Program and Pat Tillman Foundation Year in Review&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;h4 style=&quot;color: #114c88; font-family: proxima-nova-1, proxima-nova-2, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0.05em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;&quot;&gt;BE INSPIRED | GIVE BACK | RUN WALK HONOR&lt;/h4&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;Pat’s Run is the signature fundraising event for the Pat Tillman Foundation. Held annually in April at Arizona State University’s Sun Devil Stadium, the event attracts over 30,000 participants, volunteers and spectators from across the country. Together, they Run, Walk and Honor Pat’s legacy while raising important funds to support the programs created to pay tribute to his commitment to leadership and service.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;The&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pattillmanfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/2011-Pats-Run-Course-Map.pdf&quot; style=&quot;color: #cc0000; text-decoration: underline;&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;2011 Pat&#39;s Run Course Map&quot;&gt;4.2 mile course&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;winds through the streets of Tempe and is staged so that all participants finish on the 42-yard line on Frank Kush Field inside Sun Devil Stadium, symbolic of the #42 jersey that Pat wore while he was a Sun Devil.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;Proceeds from Pat’s Run directly support the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pattillmanfoundation.org/tillman-military-scholars/&quot; style=&quot;color: #cc0000; text-decoration: underline;&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;Tillman Military Scholars&quot;&gt;Tillman Military Scholars&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;program.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;h3 style=&quot;clear: both; color: #cc0000; font-family: proxima-nova-1, proxima-nova-2, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0.05em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;&quot;&gt;ONLINE REGISTRATION FOR THE 8TH ANNUAL PAT’S RUN WILL OPEN ON VETERANS DAY, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2011.&lt;/h3&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/8469125254345079152/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2011/08/real-american-hero-pat-tillman.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/8469125254345079152'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/8469125254345079152'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2011/08/real-american-hero-pat-tillman.html' title='Real AMERICAN HERO!!! PAT TILLMAN'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-1011250366843644850</id><published>2011-08-01T21:08:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-01T21:08:13.314-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Fill the boot"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="firefighters"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="MDA"/><title type='text'>MDA Fill the Boot events</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 15px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: black;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Two million volunteers&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;are the driving force that enables MDA to accelerate its worldwide research program and provide diagnostic and follow-up care through some 200 clinics nationwide. Volunteers are the backbone of the Association&#39;s programs, helping with summer camp, support groups, seminars, Telethon, special events and many other programs.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 15px;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;MDA special events&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp;are a fun way to raise vital funds for the battle against neuromuscular diseases. If you&#39;d like more information about participating in the fun events described below, please call your local MDA representative. To learn more about national sponsorship opportunities, please contact Jerry Weinberg, MDA&#39;s President &amp;amp; CEO, at (520) 529-2000 or via email at&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;mailto:jerryweinberg@mdausa.org&quot; style=&quot;color: #006699; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;jerryweinberg@mdausa.org&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;h3 style=&quot;font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;&quot;&gt;MDA Special Events&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;ul style=&quot;font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mdausa.org/help/natevents.html#bowling&quot; style=&quot;color: #006699; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Bowling Against Dystrophy&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mdausa.org/help/natevents.html#golf&quot; style=&quot;color: #006699; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Golf&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mdausa.org/help/natevents.html#walk&quot; style=&quot;color: #006699; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Muscle Walk&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mdausa.org/help/natevents.html#hop&quot; style=&quot;color: #006699; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Hop-a-Thon®&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mdausa.org/help/natevents.html#lockup&quot; style=&quot;color: #006699; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Lock-Up&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mdausa.org/help/natevents.html#shamrox&quot; style=&quot;color: #006699; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Shamrocks&amp;nbsp;Against&amp;nbsp;Dystrophy®&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mdausa.org/help/natevents.html#youthev&quot; style=&quot;color: #006699; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Youth Programs&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mdausa.org/help/natevents.html#specevents&quot; style=&quot;color: #006699; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Other Special Events&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;h3 style=&quot;font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;&quot;&gt;Other Volunteer Opportunities&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;ul style=&quot;font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mdausa.org/help/natevents.html#camps&quot; style=&quot;color: #006699; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;MDA Summer Camps&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mdausa.org/help/natevents.html#telethon&quot; style=&quot;color: #006699; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;MDA Labor Day Telethon&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 15px;&quot;&gt;To&amp;nbsp;&lt;b&gt;volunteer&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp;or learn more about event happenings in your local area, please&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mdausa.org/locate/&quot; style=&quot;color: #006699; text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;contact your local MDA representative.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/1011250366843644850/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2011/08/mda-fill-boot-events.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/1011250366843644850'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/1011250366843644850'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2011/08/mda-fill-boot-events.html' title='MDA Fill the Boot events'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-5905644933653566943</id><published>2011-08-01T20:59:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-01T20:59:36.003-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Arizona"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Democrat"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Gabrielle Giffords"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Rep. Giffords"/><title type='text'>Rep. Gabrielle Giffords returned to the House</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;By Donna Cassata&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;Associated Press&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;WASHINGTON (AP)&amp;nbsp;- Rep. Gabrielle Giffords returned to the House for the first time since she was shot last January, making a dramatic entrance Monday night during a crucial debt vote and drawing loud applause and cheers from surprised colleagues.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;As lawmakers stood on the floor, staring up at the vote board, Giffords slowly made her way through an entrance on the Democratic side of the chamber. Applause built and rolled like a wave through the House as lawmakers realized that their colleague had returned.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;On Jan. 8, Giffords, D-Ariz., was shot in the head in the parking lot of a Tucson grocery store while meeting with constituents. Six people were killed and 13 others, including Giffords, were wounded. The man charged in the shooting, Jared Lee Loughner, has pleaded not guilty to 49 charges&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;On the House floor, Giffords hugged and kissed fellow lawmakers. As time ticked off on the vote, Democrats and Republicans made their way toward her.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;She cast her first vote _ for the debt-limit bill _ and left the Capitol.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;``It means so much to our country ... to witness the return of our colleague who is the personification of courage, of sincerity, of admiration throughout the country,&#39;&#39; Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California told the House.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;Giffords has been undergoing outpatient therapy in Houston since her release from the hospital in June.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;Loughner was sent to a federal prison facility in Springfield, Mo., after a federal judge concluded he was mentally incompetent to stand trial.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-family: Georgia, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;&quot;&gt;(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/5905644933653566943/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2011/08/rep-gabrielle-giffords-returned-to.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/5905644933653566943'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/5905644933653566943'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2011/08/rep-gabrielle-giffords-returned-to.html' title='Rep. Gabrielle Giffords returned to the House'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-1371336321038063706</id><published>2011-08-01T20:50:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-01T20:50:58.989-07:00</updated><title type='text'>WBBM Criminalizes 4-Year Old</title><content type='html'>&lt;iframe width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot; src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/embed/mu_LK_iEFE8?fs=1&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/1371336321038063706/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2011/08/wbbm-criminalizes-4-year-old.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/1371336321038063706'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/1371336321038063706'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2011/08/wbbm-criminalizes-4-year-old.html' title='WBBM Criminalizes 4-Year Old'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/mu_LK_iEFE8/default.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-5210275536338860419</id><published>2011-08-01T20:44:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-01T20:44:14.028-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Mike Broomhead</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kfyi.com/pages/broomhead.html?article=8909530#.Tjdydw2ZL_4.blogger&quot;&gt;Mike Broomhead&lt;/a&gt;: &quot;Mike Broomhead&#39;s blog postings.&quot;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/5210275536338860419/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2011/08/mike-broomhead.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/5210275536338860419'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/5210275536338860419'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2011/08/mike-broomhead.html' title='Mike Broomhead'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-4679379493054885835</id><published>2011-07-31T18:12:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-07-31T18:14:09.392-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="charities"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="DAV"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Fallen Vets"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="hero"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Honor Guard"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Vietnam vets"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="WW II Vets"/><title type='text'>Disabled American Veterans</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;&quot;&gt;The 1.2 million-member Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is a non-profit 501(c)(4) charity dedicated to building better lives for America’s disabled veterans and their families.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The DAV was founded in 1920 by disabled veterans returning from World War I to represent their unique interests. In 1932, the DAV was congressionally chartered as the official voice of the nation’s wartime disabled veterans.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
With our brave Americans leaving the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, the DAV’s&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dav.org/veterans/Default.aspx&quot; id=&quot;ctl00_ctl00_mainContentPlaceHolder_bodyContentPlaceHolder_HyperLink7&quot; style=&quot;border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;services&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and advocacy are as relevant and critical today as in any time in our nation’s history.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Annually, the DAV represents more than 200,000 veterans and their dependents with claims for benefits from the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dav.org/veterans/VeteransAffairs.aspx&quot; id=&quot;ctl00_ctl00_mainContentPlaceHolder_bodyContentPlaceHolder_HyperLink8&quot; style=&quot;border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;Department of Veterans Affairs&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dav.org/veterans/MilitaryAffairs.aspx&quot; id=&quot;ctl00_ctl00_mainContentPlaceHolder_bodyContentPlaceHolder_HyperLink9&quot; style=&quot;border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;Department of Defense&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The DAV’s&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dav.org/volunteers/Default.aspx&quot; id=&quot;ctl00_ctl00_mainContentPlaceHolder_bodyContentPlaceHolder_HyperLink10&quot; style=&quot;border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;Voluntary Services&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;Program operates a comprehensive network of volunteers who provide veterans free rides to and from VA medical facilities and improve care and morale for sick and disabled veterans.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The DAV’s&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dav.org/membership/Default.aspx&quot; id=&quot;ctl00_ctl00_mainContentPlaceHolder_bodyContentPlaceHolder_HyperLink2&quot; style=&quot;border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;1.2 million members&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;provide grassroots advocacy and services in communities nationwide. From educating lawmakers and the public about important issues to supporting services and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dav.org/voters/Default.aspx&quot; id=&quot;ctl00_ctl00_mainContentPlaceHolder_bodyContentPlaceHolder_HyperLink11&quot; style=&quot;border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;legislation&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;to help disabled veterans — the DAV is there to promote its message of hope to all who have served and sacrificed.&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/4679379493054885835/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2011/07/disabled-american-veterans.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/4679379493054885835'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/4679379493054885835'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2011/07/disabled-american-veterans.html' title='Disabled American Veterans'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-6193694078065767153</id><published>2011-07-31T04:50:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2011-07-31T04:50:54.895-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Fallen soldiers"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Honor"/><title type='text'>The Fallen</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-family: &#39;lucida grande&#39;, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;&quot;&gt;Msgt. Benjamin A. Stevenson, 36; Sgt. Omar A. Jones, 28; Ssgt. James M. Christian, 29; Sgt. Jacob Molina, 27; Cpl. Raphael R. Arruda, 21; Ssgt. Kenneth R .Vangiesen, 30; Sgt. Edward W. Koehler, 47; and Ssgt. Brian R. Mowery...Are troops that gave their lives this week. There is no media for them... not even a mention of their names. Honor THEM by posting this. I did, will you? RIP Warriors&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/6193694078065767153/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2011/07/fallen.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/6193694078065767153'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/6193694078065767153'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2011/07/fallen.html' title='The Fallen'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246960591028881755.post-8755398402923845920</id><published>2011-07-30T14:55:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-07-30T14:55:14.357-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Military"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Navy Seals"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="seal team 6"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="US NAVY"/><title type='text'>SEAL FIT</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://vimeo.com/18282057&quot;&gt;http://vimeo.com/18282057&lt;/a&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/feeds/8755398402923845920/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2011/07/seal-fit.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/8755398402923845920'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2246960591028881755/posts/default/8755398402923845920'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://tppblogger.blogspot.com/2011/07/seal-fit.html' title='SEAL FIT'/><author><name>Anonymous</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09707831546741227284</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>