Political Digest for June 21, 2011

The Coming Collapse of the American Republic

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-new-book-is-out-coming-collapse-of.html

Info about my book. All royalties go to a charity to help wounded veterans. Please forward and post where possible.

Another review received for The Coming Collapse of the American Republic

Robert A. Hall, in his book, The Coming Collapse of the American Republic, provides the reader a guide book containing a concise and detailed view of the problems which could cause the collapse of the republic, if unsolved. Hall provides detailed descriptions of the major issues such as government funding (the lack of) at all levels of government. The list of issues continues on with immigration policy, followed by naming our external enemies, China and Islamic extremists. After listing the major problems, Hall discusses how the Republic got into its present position. Next, Hall describes a political action campaign vis-a-vis saving the Republic. He does not minimize the effort to prevent the collapse. These are major issues which the Republic faces and needs to resolve. Thus in summation, Robert A. Hall has provided a guide to understanding issues which could cause our Republic to collapse. He also provides an itemized political action plan for saving the Republic. This is his guide book to saving our Republic and is worth a read for the clarity it provides. --Ronald E. Haglund, BS.EE, MS.EE, Ph.D.EE

Some good work from the Supremes ~Bob.

Supreme Court blocks huge sex bias lawsuit by women who work at Wal-Mart

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts-law/supreme-court-blocks-huge-sex-bias-lawsuit-by-women-who-work-at-wal-mart/2011/06/20/AGIbxpcH_story.html?wpisrc=al_national

Bad news for trial lawyers, good news for consumers, whose pockets the money would have come from. ~Bob. Excerpt: The Supreme Court has ruled for Wal-Mart in its fight to block a massive sex discrimination lawsuit on behalf of women who work there. The court ruled unanimously Monday that the lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. cannot proceed as a class action, reversing a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The lawsuit could have involved up to 1.6 million women, with Wal-Mart facing potentially billions of dollars in damages.

Supreme Court Rejects Acorn Appeal

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/supreme-court-rejects-acorn-appeal/

Excerpt: The Supreme Court won’t hear an appeal from ACORN, the activist group driven to ruin by scandal and financial woes, over being banned from getting federal funds. The high court on Monday refused to review a federal court‘s decision to uphold Congress’s ban on federal funds for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

Supreme Court Rejects Environmentalists' Suit Demanding Power Plant Emissions Cuts

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/06/20/supreme-court-rejects-environmentalists-suit-demanding-power-plant-emissions/#ixzz1PqTlJPmt

Excerpt: In the most significant global warming case to reach its front doors, the Supreme Court on Monday blocked a major lawsuit brought by states and environmental groups against five large power companies they accused of creating a public nuisance because of carbon dioxide emissions. The court ruled 8-0 that the authority to set standards for reducing emissions lies with the Environmental Protection Agency, under air pollution rules established by the Clean Air Act. The court said just because the EPA hasn't acted yet doesn't mean that its authority is no longer valid.

Death by Regulation

http://healthblog.ncpa.org/death-by-regulation/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HA#more-19792

Excerpt: “How many of you have not been able to get a drug you needed to properly deliver anesthesia to a patient?” I asked. Every hand in the room went up. “How did that affect your patients?” I asked. “Two of our patients died,” one woman answered. I was speaking to a group of nurse anesthetists, enrolled in a business management program at Marshall University in West Virginia. I wish I could say their experience is unusual. It isn’t. About 90 percent of all the anesthesiologists in the country report they are experiencing a shortage of at least one anesthetic. Drug shortages are also endangering cancer patients, heart attack victims, accident survivors and a host of other ill people. The vast majority involve injectable medications used mostly by medical centers, in emergency rooms, ICUs and cancer wards. Currently, there are about 246 drugs that are in short supply and, as the chart shows, the number has been growing for some time. … The Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been stepping up its quality enforcement efforts — levying fines and forcing manufacturers to retool their facilities both here and abroad. Not only has this more rigorous regulatory oversight slowed down production, the FDA’s “zero tolerance” regime is forcing manufacturers to abide by rules that are rigid, inflexible and unforgiving. For example, a drug manufacturer must get approval for how much of a drug it plans to produce, as well as the timeframe. If a shortage develops (because, say, the FDA shuts down a competitor’s plant), a drug manufacturer cannot increase its output of that drug without another round of approvals. Nor can it alter its timetable production (producing a shortage drug earlier than planned) without FDA approval.

Greenhouse Gas Cuts Proving Illusory

http://www.heartland.org/environmentandclimate-news.org/article/30150/Greenhouse_Gas_Cuts_Proving_Illusory.html

The leftist “Cap and Trade” dream exports jobs without cutting carbon. ~Bob. Excerpt: As analysts and some politicians recognized when debating the Kyoto protocol, rapid economic growth in developing nations has offset the emissions cuts in industrialized economies. Much of that growth has occurred in China and India as a result of lower wages for workers and less stringent pollution controls and environmental standards. Ironically, industries that have recently moved overseas merely export the same goods back to developed nations, such that global greenhouse gas emissions are unaffected or actually increase. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examines the extent of “outsourced” carbon emissions. Conducted by the Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo, Norway, the study finds emissions from increased production of internationally traded products have more than offset the emissions reductions achieved under the Kyoto Protocol. While developed nations reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by 2 percent from 1990 to 2008, when imports are factored in, those emissions actually increased 7 percent during that time. If Russia and Ukraine are excluded because of their economic collapse in the ’90s, the increase in emissions jumps up to 12 percent.

Biofuel Subsidies Cause Agricultural Price Shocks

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=20787&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD

Another Green Chimera hits your wallet—and screws poor people. Duh. ~Bob. Excerpt: A new study, requested by G-20 leaders last November, fingers biofuel subsidies as among the leading causes of agricultural price shocks. According to the report, "between 2000 and 2009, global output of bioethanol quadrupled and production of biodiesel increased tenfold," a spike which "has been largely driven by government support policies." The report cites forecasts suggesting that the price of coarse grains could increase as much as 13 percent, oilseeds by 7 percent and vegetable oil 35 percent on average each year between 2013 and 2017, says the Wall Street Journal. As farmers respond to artificially high prices for biofuels, farmland is diverted from crops like wheat that people consume to the feedstocks for inefficient energy production. Biofuel production now absorbs 20 percent of the world's sugar cane, 9 percent of oilseeds and coarse grains, and 4 percent of sugar beets -- and more than 40 percent of U.S. corn production. As food prices rise, both the quantity and the quality of food available to consumers in the developing world have decreased, says the study. The report's recommendation is clear: G-20 governments should "remove provisions of current national policies that subsidize (or mandate) biofuels production or consumption."

Black slaves, freedmen risked their lives to work as Union spies down South during Civil War

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/black-slaves-freedmen-risked-their-lives-to-work-as-union-spies-down-south-during-civil-war/2011/06/20/AG7n0WcH_story.html

Excerpt: In the Confederate circles he navigated, John Scobell was considered just another Mississippi slave: singing, shuffling, illiterate and completely ignorant of the Civil War going on around him. Confederate officers thought nothing of leaving important documents where Scobell could see them, or discussing troop movements in front of him. Whom would he tell? Scobell was only the butler, or the deckhand on a rebel sympathizer’s steamboat, or the field hand belting out Negro spirituals in a powerful baritone. In reality, Scobell was not a slave at all.

Worth Reading: Libya and the Potemkin Alliance

http://patriotpost.us/opinion/george-will/2011/06/19/libya-and-the-potemkin-alliance/

Excerpt: America's intervention in Libya's civil war, the most protracted and least surreptitious assassination attempt in history, was supposed to last "days, not weeks," but is in its fourth month and has revealed NATO to be an increasingly fictitious military organization. Although this war has no discernible connection with U.S. national security, it serves the national interest, in three ways. It is awakening some legislators to their responsibilities. It is refuting the pretense that the U.N. sets meaningful parameters to wars it authorizes -- or endorses, which is quite different. And it is igniting a reassessment of NATO, a Potemkin alliance whose primary use these days is perverse: It provides a patina of multilateralism to U.S. military interventions on which Europe is essentially a free rider. Recently, one-third of the House of Representatives -- 87 Republicans and 61 Democrats -- unavailingly but honorably voted to end American involvement in Libya in 15 days. Were Barack Obama not taking a Nixonian approach to the law -- the War Powers Resolution -- his intervention would have ended last month. The WPR requires interventions to end after 60 days, absent congressional approval. … Already, U.S. officers in Afghanistan sometimes refer to the NATO command there -- officially, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) -- as "I Saw Americans Fighting."

NBC Apologizes for Omitting 'Under God' From Pledge During U.S. Open Broadcast

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/06/19/nbc-apologizes-for-omitting-under-god-from-pledge-during-us-open-broadcast/#ixzz1PpdtZiuB

If it was edited out, some putz did it on purpose. ~Bob. Excerpt: NBC issued an on-air apology Sunday for omitting the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance during its coverage of golf's U.S. Open. The words were edited out of a clip of children reciting the oath -- a move immediately noted by viewers, who took to Twitter and various blogs to voice their anger, the Huffington Post reported. In a statement during the broadcast, NBC commentator Dan Hicks said, "We began our coverage of this final round just about three hours ago and when we did it was our intent to begin the coverage of this U.S. Open Championship with a feature that captured the patriotism of our national championship being held in our nation's capital for the third time.”Regrettably, a portion of the Pledge of Allegiance that was in that feature was edited out. It was not done to upset anyone and we'd like to apologize to those of you who were offended by it."

Texas Tells Feds: Shove Your Light Bulb Ban

http://nation.foxnews.com/culture/2011/06/20/texas-tells-feds-shove-your-light-bulb-ban#ixzz1PoxBMmDC

Excerpt: State lawmakers have passed a bill that allows Texans to skirt federal efforts to promote more efficient light bulbs, which ultimately pushes the swirled, compact fluorescent bulbs over the 100-watt incandescent bulbs many grew up with. The measure, sent to Gov. Rick Perry for consideration, lets any incandescent light bulb manufactured in Texas - and sold in that state - avoid the authority of the federal government or the repeal of the 2007 energy independence act that starts phasing out some incandescent light bulbs next year.

The Shady Bunch

http://www.patriotactionnetwork.com/video/video/show?id=2600775%3AVideo%3A4351853&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_video

Humor.

Superman Knocks Liberal Myth Into The Stratosphere

http://www.patriotactionnetwork.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2600775%3ABlogPost%3A4350031&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_post

Excerpt: The movie exposes how America's public education system is about keeping the teachers unions fat and happy at the expense of our kids. The devastating affect on the lives of “real people”, students and their parents is infuriating. Despite what libs would have you believe, we spend a ton of money, per child, on education. And yet, public school test scores continue to plummet. Your money is not going to teachers, it is going to bureaucrats and union dues. The democrat party receives 90% of teachers unions political contributions.

Everything You Think You Know About the Collapse of the Soviet Union Is Wrong

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/20/everything_you_think_you_know_about_the_collapse_of_the_soviet_union_is_wrong

No one expected it. Almost no one now expects the US to collapse either. ~Bob. Excerpt: Every revolution is a surprise. Still, the latest Russian Revolution must be counted among the greatest of surprises. In the years leading up to 1991, virtually no Western expert, scholar, official, or politician foresaw the impending collapse of the Soviet Union, and with it one-party dictatorship, the state-owned economy, and the Kremlin's control over its domestic and Eastern European empires. Neither, with one exception, did Soviet dissidents nor, judging by their memoirs, future revolutionaries themselves. When Mikhail Gorbachev became general secretary of the Communist Party in March 1985, none of his contemporaries anticipated a revolutionary crisis. Although there were disagreements over the size and depth of the Soviet system's problems, no one thought them to be life-threatening, at least not anytime soon.

CAIR Taps Hizballah Apologist for Tampa Office

http://www.investigativeproject.org/2986/cair-taps-hizballah-apologist-for-tampa-office

Excerpt: For a group which claims to stand against terrorism, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) made an odd choice for the new chief of its Tampa chapter. Hassan Shibly has a track record of defending terrorist groups and acting as an apologist for radical Islam. Following the 2006 Israel-Lebanon War, Shibly granted legitimacy to Hizballah by characterizing it as a "resistance movement" that provides valued social services to the Lebanese people. "They're absolutely not a terrorist organization," Shibly said, and "any war against them is illegitimate." As a testament to his support for Hizballah's cause, Shibly even expressed a desire to travel to Lebanon to aid the group's war effort.

A Drug-War Plan Goes Awry

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303823104576391794276380486.html?mod=djemITP_h

Excerpt: One of the frightening things about the U.S. government's war on drugs is that it is being waged by federal bureaucracies. The legend of Elliot Ness notwithstanding, this implies that it is not only fraught with ineptitude but that before it is all over, there are going to be a lot of avoidable deaths. Witness "Operation Fast and Furious," a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms plan that allegedly facilitated the flow of high-powered weapons into Mexico in the hope that it might lead to the take-down of a major cartel. It did not. But it may have fueled a spike in the murder rate and led to the death of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

Companies Leaving California in Record Numbers

http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2011/06/companies-leaving-california-in-record.html

Excerpt: "Today, California is experiencing the fastest rate of disinvestment events based on public domain information, closure notices to the state, and information from affected employees in the three years since a specialized tracking system was put into place. Out-of-state economic development officials are traveling through the state to alert frustrated business owners and corporate executives to their friendlier business climate versus California's hostility toward commercial enterprises.

Members of Texas delegation push Perry to run for president

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/167323-texas-delegation-pushes-perry-to-run-for-president

Excerpt: Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) is being encouraged to enter the presidential race by the members of the Texas delegation he’s consulted about a White House bid. Perry has spoken to Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), the chairman of House Republicans' campaign efforts, and Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas), a senior member of the Ways & Means Committee, as part of his decision-making process, the members said.

President Obama no-show miffs Hispanics

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/57313.html

Rubio for Vice President. ~Bob. Excerpt: Leaders of a national Hispanic organization are criticizing President Barack Obama for skipping their annual conference for the third consecutive year after he promised as a candidate in 2008 that he would return as president. Some members of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials also are questioning Obama’s commitment to immigration reform, noting that deportations have increased under his watch — even as the administration intensifies its outreach for Hispanic votes. NALEO, which includes more than 6,000 Latino leaders who represent major blocs of voters in key electoral states, opens its annual conference Thursday in San Antonio.

U.K. (Marine) Killed in Afghanistan Leaves Friends $160G for Las Vegas Party

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/06/20/uk-soldier-killed-in-afghanistan-leaves-friends-160g-for-las-vegas-party/

Good Marine. ~Bob. Excerpt: A British soldier killed by a Taliban bomb in Afghanistan left $161,500 in his will -- so his friends could go on vacation to Las Vegas, The Sun reported Monday. Royal Marine David Hart, who had taken out a $403,800 life insurance policy before he was deployed to Afghanistan, stipulated in a letter that in the event of his death, his friends and their partners should travel to Sin City for a massive party in his memory.

Who says Muslims don’t like having fun

http://boudicabpi.wordpress.com/2011/06/19/who-says-muslims-dont-like-having-fun/

Back from the dead: Astonishing pictures show how Japan is recovering just three months after tsunami

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2001984/Japan-tsunami-earthquake-Pictures-recovery-3-months-later.html

Imagine, they did all this without FEMA to help! ~Bob. Excerpt: Just three months ago Japan was plunged into chaos after a cataclysmic earthquake sent a merciless tsunami crashing through towns and cities up and down the east coast. The unforgiving tide of water obliterated tens of thousands of buildings, devouring almost anything in its path. Thousands of people died and hundreds of bodies have never been recovered. The heart-breaking images of families desperately searching for loved ones amid the rubble of their homes sent shockwaves around the world. Now, three months on, these images show the Japanese people remain undaunted by the havoc nature has wreaked on their homeland as step by step they rebuild their nation.

Run, Rick, Run!
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/269851/run-rick-run-deroy-murdock

Excerpt: Four summers ago, 73 percent of Republicans were satisfied with the candidates seeking the 2008 GOP presidential nomination. Now, an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll revealed on Wednesday, only 45 percent of Republicans are happy with today’s 2012 contenders. Despite pro-market ideas and an impressive, limited-government record, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty seems too genteel to leapfrog the apparent frontrunner, Willard Mitt Romney. For his part, Massachusetts’s telegenic former governor is a philosophical contortionist. He has inhabited at least two sides of nearly every major issue and even defends an individual mandate for health insurance, provided that state governments inflict it, à la Romneycare. Romney, thus, would let the states becomes laboratories of tyranny.

Obama's DoD nominee linked to Cold War supporters of Soviets

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=311485

Obama's nominee to serve as secretary of defense, has come under newfound scrutiny for his ties to a pro-Marxist think tank accused of anti-CIA activity. The Institute for Policy Studies, or IPS, has long faced criticism for positions some say attempt to undermine U.S. national security and for its cozy relationship with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. A review of the voting record for Panetta, a member of Congress from 1977 to 1993, during the period in question shows an apparent affinity for IPS's agenda.

Meet Master Sergeant Soup Sandwich

http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=24149

Guy is too pathetic. ~Bob. Excerpt: Someone at the RTB sent me these pictures with a story about how this guy showed up for his Step Dads graduation from basic training at Fort Benning dressed like this. According to our source, the MPs escorted his monkey ass off post….

Target Berlin

http://frontpagemag.com/2011/06/20/germanys-911-near-miss/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=c8808f97cd-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN

Excerpt: What a Dutch communist accomplished in 1933 with a few bundles of inflammable material and matches, an Austrian convert to Islam was planning to do in 2011 with an airliner full of innocent people: destroy the German Reichstag in Berlin. The Austrian newspaper Neue Kronen Zeitung reported last week that a 25-year-old Austrian Islamist was arrested on Wednesday, June 15, at his apartment in Vienna for plotting a terrorist attack on the Reichstag, Germany’s parliament. Identified according to Austrian privacy laws by only his first name and initial, the newspaper said Thomas M. had planned the attack for months and intended to shock the world like 9/11. “The devilish idea was said to have been worked out to the last detail,” the paper stated. Thomas M. was also reported to be a member of the German Taliban Mujahideen (DTM), whose members are known to have travelled to terrorist training camps in Pakistan.

Greek Socialism Crumbles

http://frontpagemag.com/2011/06/20/greek-socialism-crumbles/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=c8808f97cd-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN

Excerpt: Greece’s second rescue package is now proceeding apace. After a meeting in Berlin, the leaders of Europe’s two most viable economies, Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s Nicolas Sarkozy, have resolved one of the principal disputes surrounding the new bailout: private bondholders will not be forced to participate, but may do so on a voluntary basis. This action follows Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou’s cabinet shake-up last Friday, which resulted in the replacement of his finance minister with a Socialist Party colleague capable of delivering the votes necessary to pass the latest austerity package, even as rank-and-file Greeks despise the latest combination of higher taxes, budget cuts and the sale of government-owned assets.

Pelosi: Wal-Mart ruling sets back gender equality

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/167387-pelosi-wal-mart-ruling-sets-back-gender-equality

Speaking up for the down-trodden trial Lawyers who give so selflessly to the Democrat-Lawyer Party. ~Bob. Excerpt: The Supreme Court's decision to block a class action lawsuit on gender discrimination against Wal-Mart sets back the fight for gender equality, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said. “Today’s Supreme Court decision sets back the cause of equality for women and for all Americans in the workplace and in our society. And it will make it more difficult for workers to come together to fight claims of gender discrimination," Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement on Monday.