The Coming Collapse of the American Republic
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Collapse reviews on Amazon
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Great satire, worth watching: The one-state solution
Like all good satire, based on a lot of truth. ~Bob.
John Kerry’s choice for Vice President indicted
Part of the “Culture of Corruption” Nancy Pelosi warned us about. ~Bob. Excerpt: A federal grand jury has indicted two-time presidential candidate John Edwards over massive sums of money spent to keep his mistress in hiding during the peak of his 2008 campaign for the White House. The case of USA
House Republicans lacking bumper sticker message for Medicare reform
Republicans know they must improve their Medicare message, but are split on how to do it. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has called for a simple, bumper-sticker message, but Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) believes the remedy is more nuanced.
My Bumper Sticker Suggestion: Save Medicare from Obamacare.
Bernanke faces a crucial decision as economy teeters
Excerpt: The Federal Reserve is at a crossroads. With its controversial second round of quantitative easing wrapping up at the end of June but the economic recovery losing momentum, many are wondering what the next move is for the central bank — or if it even has one to make at all. When Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced the buying spree of $600 billion in Treasury bonds last year — dubbed QE2 — it was because the bank had already lowered interest rates as far as it could and was looking for another way to pump life into the economy. But the end of the effort is now in sight, and new economic data paint a disheartening picture of the economy.
Moody’s: If debt deal fails, U.S.
Excerpt: Moody’s Investors Service warned Thursday that it may soon downgrade the U.S. credit rating because of mounting concerns that the government will default, adding new urgency to negotiations between President Obama and congressional Republicans over the nation’s debt. Moody’s, one of the premier credit-rating agencies, said that political gamesmanship over raising the government’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling has been worse than expected. If progress toward increasing the limit isn’t made by mid-July, Moody’s said it would take another step toward reducing the country’s top-of-the-line AAA rating by putting the United States
Our Salutary Debt-Ceiling Scare
Excerpt: As the sun rises in the east, the debt ceiling will be raised. Getting there, however, will be harrowing. Which is a good thing. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner warns that failure to raise the limit would be disastrous. In that he is correct. But he is disingenuous when he suggests that we must do so by Aug. 2 or the sky falls. There is no drop-dead date. There is no overnight default. Debt service amounts to about 6 percent of the federal budget and only about 10 percent of federal revenues. This means that for every $1 of interest payments, there are roughly $9 of revenue the government spends elsewhere. Move money around -- and you've covered the debt service. Cover the debt service -- and there is no default. What scares Geithner is not that we won't be able to pay our creditors but that his Treasury won't be able to continue spending the obscene amounts of money (about $120 billion a month) it doesn't have and will (temporarily) be unable to borrow.
Unemployment Goes Up, Obama Declares Victory
Excerpt: Unemployment in the United States Toledo , Ohio , trumpeting the only jobs he can manage to create—those bought and paid for directly by the U.S. U.S. U.S.
Congress Mulls Cuts to Food Stamps Program Amid Record Number of Recipients
Excerpt: Congress is under pressure to cut the rapidly rising costs of the federal government’s food stamps program at a time when a record number of Americans are relying on it. The House Appropriations Committee today will review the fiscal year 2012 appropriations bill for the Department of Agriculture that includes $71 billion for the agency’s “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.” That’s $2 billion less than what President Obama requested but a 9 percent increase from 2011, which, critics say, is too large given the sizeable budget deficit. A record number of Americans -- about 14 percent -- now rely on the federal government’s food stamps program and its rapid expansion in recent years has become a politically explosive topic. More than 44.5 million Americans received SNAP benefits in March, an 11 percent increase from one year ago and nearly 61 percent higher than the same time four years ago.
The Hidden Cost of the U.S.
Excerpt: Americans are paying a tremendous hidden cost for racking up so much debt so quickly. To uncover the amount of that hidden cost, consider how the people lending money to the U.S. government are coping with the risk of the U.S. U.S. United States US
Excerpt: American Tradition Institute’s Environmental Law Center has learned that George Mason University , in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from USA Today, promptly released an academic’s correspondence and related records of the same class as those sought by ATI from the University of Virginia Virginia ’s FOIA to the records we seek from UVA,” said Christopher Horner, director of litigation for ATI’s Environmental Law Center
Flotilla Organizers Vow to Defy International Pressure
Excerpt: Turkish organizers of a flotilla aimed at breaking Israel 's embargo on Gaza Israel 's maritime blockade of Gaza France and Canada
Bashing Israel on Campus, from California to New York
Excerpt: Pop the champagne! It's party time at the City University of New York (CUNY) for Israel-loathing professors. For years, they've gazed enviously at California California New York
A Campaign For Every Viewpoint, Romney 2012
A hit job, but I think deserved and well done. ~Bob.
Barnhardt-RomneyGoHome 1.flv
Problem with Ann Barnhardt is it’s so hard to know where she stands. ~Bob.
FACT CHECK: Romney makes selective use of Obama’s economic record in GOP presidential debut
Excerpt: In rhetorical excesses marking his entry in the presidential campaign, Mitt Romney said the economy worsened under President Barack Obama, when it actually improved, and criticized the president for issuing apologies to the world that were never made. A look at some of the statements by Romney on Thursday in announcing his bid for the Republican nomination and how they compare with the facts:
Burning your millions
In the big national picture, wasting $2M a month isn't that big a deal. Hardly covers dining out for the George Soros and John Kerry set. The problem is that this type of thing is going on all over the country, at all levels of government, and the money is gone. Disaster is coming. ~Bob. Excerpt: Good thing taxpayers don't mind wasting — wasting — $2 million a month, starting right now, on a Cook County public hospital that … Cook County
How I Used a Spy Camera to Snap Burglar Using My Stolen Laptop -- and Hand Him to Police
Excerpt: He had just moved to a new apartment in Oakland, California, when a burglar broke in, taking the laptop, a bag, an electronic book reader, and a bottle of gin on March 21. Mr Kaufman activated theft-tracking software he had installed, which began sending photos taken by the computer's built-in camera of the unauthorized user three days later. 'I wasn't sure if it would work because I never tested it before,' he said. Most of the images 'were honestly really boring photos - people staring into the screen. But some were definitely more humorous.' Among them was a screenshot of the man logging on to his Gmail account, which showed an email that appeared to include the name of a business, Mr Kaufman said. A quick Internet search revealed it was a cab company in nearby Berkeley, California, which Mr Kaufman assumed was the man's workplace.
Boy Sells Kidney to Buy iPad
Excerpt: Not feeling well now. Regrets taking 20,000 yuan ($3,000) for the organ, according to Chinese press. This is one on those stories that speaks for itself.
West accuses China of cyber attacks against U.S. personnel in Afghanistan
Excerpt: Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) said on Thursday that Chinese hackers launched cyber attacks on U.S. personnel in Afghanistan while he was serving in the country as an advisor to the Afghan army. West, who retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel in 2004 after serving for more than 20 years, made the comments in reference to recent reports from Google that a China-based phishing scheme had attacked hundreds of Gmail users, including senior government officials. “We have known for quite some time that we have been undergoing cyber attacks from China, as well within the two and a half years that I spent over in Afghanistan, we were experiencing the exact same type of cyber attacks against our communication systems and our information technology systems from China there,” said West in an interview with Fox News.
Government Cracking Down on For-Profit Schools With ‘Gainful Employment’ Regulation
Excerpt: Students at for-profit institutions such as technical programs and culinary schools represent just 12 percent of all higher education students but 46 percent of all student loan dollars in default. The average student earning an associate degree at a for-profit school carries $14,000 in federal loan debt versus the $0 debt burden of most community college students. Government scrutiny of the industry grew as the Great Recession exacerbated students' debt burdens. The DOE last fall created rules to rein in deceptive advertising and barred schools from paying enrollment counselors based on how many students they signed up, among other measures. The agency drew up the "gainful employment" rule in 2010, but delayed putting it into effect as it faced heavy lobbying from schools and politicians. Under final terms of the law, announced Thursday, schools will only be able to receive federal-paid tuition if at least 35 percent of its former students are repaying their loans. Or, the estimated annual loan payment of a typical graduate must not be bigger than 30 percent of his or her discretionary income, or 12 percent of his or her total earnings. (This could make sense, but it ought to be a “law” passed by Congress and signed by the President rather than being “an approved regulation” by being published in the Federal Register. Further, employment by any governmental body during the first 8 years after graduation shouldn’t count as “gainful employment.” It ought to also apply to not-for-profit (publicly supported) schools. It might cut down on those seeking degrees in Flyfishing or Basketweaving. Even at the listed rates, it would close most of the “social science” programs whose graduates earn close to minimum wage. Ron P. Just another attack on free enterprise by the teachers' unions and liberal college faculty. ~Bob.)
Campaigning on the Auto Bailout: Is It a Good Idea? Should Democrats also tout the bank bailout, and how might Republicans respond?
Excerpt: First, it's kind of puzzling that Democrats are campaigning on the success of the auto bailout -- and not the bank bailout. In fact, taxpayers fared far better through their "investment" in the banking industry than they did in the auto industry. As of the Treasury's March bailout program update (.pdf), the auto bailout is expected to cost taxpayers $15 billion. Meanwhile, the non-housing-related financial industry bailout is expected to provide the government with a net gain of $157 billion. Obviously, the taxpayers were far better off rescuing the banks than they were rescuing out the auto companies. But what about the jobs saved? Unfortunately, these numbers are impossible to tabulate accurately. Although the Obama administration claims that the bailout of GM and Chrysler saved a million jobs, a similar estimate for the bank bailout is difficult to make. Looking at the size of the respective industries, however, could provide some idea of what might have been lost. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the auto industry had 780,000 employees when it was bailed out in December 2008. The banking and insurance industries (excluding real estate), however, had 5.92 million workers at that time. Even by this measure, it seems that saving the financial sector was more worthwhile.
Iranian Woman Calls for ‘Slut Women’ to be Stoned…on the Pages of Calif. Paper
Excerpt: Infidelity seems rampant in our culture and during these times. Just recently, Arnold Schwarzenegger is alleged to have had a love child with his housekeeper. So what’s the solution to this problem? Shamci Rafani of Visalia, CA has a proposal: stone the “sluts” responsible. In a letter to the editor that appeared in yesterday’s Visalia Times-Delta, Rafani — herself the victim of infidelity — angrily calls for the death of woman who knowingly engage in an affair. And she didn’t hold back:
Nuclear vs climate change: the clash of the alarmists
Excellent article, well worth reading—RGP. Excerpt: …[T]he massive growth of fearmongering campaigns and crusades over the past quarter of a century has been unprecedented. Fear-fuelled grandstanding becomes most extravagant in relation to the very big catastrophic hazards that apparently threaten the survival of the planet itself. The list of potential planetary disasters is growing all the time. International terrorism, climate change, influenza-type pandemic, the AIDS epidemic, overpopulation, obesity, disastrous technological accidents – these are only some of the many mega-hazards that are said to confront humanity today. Scaremongering also has a powerful impact in the arena of individual health. Health scares targeting women and children in particular have become a flourishing enterprise in recent years. Health scares are often linked to anxieties about food or the alleged side effects of drugs, pollution and new technologies. Personal security is another important area for fearmongering. Anxieties about crime, immigration and anti-social behaviour are regularly promoted by law-and-order groups. The environment, of course, is now treated as a potentially huge problem in it own right. Anything that has an impact on nature is said to store up big disasters for the future. With so much to fear, it’s not surprising that there is now an intense level of competition to grab the attention of the public. Scaremongering has become a highly competitive enterprise; contemporary public debate often takes the form of countering one hysterical plea with another.
An Epidemic of False Claims
Excerpt: The problem begins with the public’s rising expectations of science. Being human, scientists are tempted to show that they know more than they do. The number of investigators—and the number of experiments, observations and analyses they produce—has also increased exponentially in many fields, but adequate safeguards against bias are lacking. Research is fragmented, competition is fierce and emphasis is often given to single studies instead of the big picture. Much research is conducted for reasons other than the pursuit of truth. Conflicts of interest abound, and they influence outcomes. In health care, research is often performed at the behest of companies that have a large financial stake in the results. Even for academics, success often hinges on publishing positive findings.
Syria’s Nuclear Impunity
Excerpt: Under Mohamed ElBaradei’s management, the IAEA refused to move on Syria. Rather than rebuke Damascus for its clandestine program, ElBaradei focused his ire on Israel. The strike on the reactor, he said, violated “the rules of international law.” The Syrians exploited ElBaradei’s anti-Israel rhetoric, and argued that samples of uranium found at Al Kibar were from the munitions Israeli planes dropped on the site. Things are different these days at the IAEA, now run by Japanese diplomat Yukiya Amano, but the agency still doesn’t know how far the Syrian nuclear program progressed before the Israeli attack or how much of it still exists. Washington needs to support the IAEA’s efforts fully.
A Texas Roundhouse for the Trial Lawyers: By making litigants pay for filing frivolous lawsuits, the Lone Star State will protect jobs and spur growth.
Excerpt: Two women get into a fight in the ladies' restroom at a restaurant. Afterward, they sue the restaurant owner, claiming someone should have been in there to break up the fight. It costs the small-business owner $2,000 to pay each plaintiff to drop the complaint, which was cheaper than fighting the lawsuit would have been. This completely ridiculous story is true, and the restaurant owner was one of us, Mr. Norris. Fortunately, the lawsuit didn't cripple the family restaurant, Woody's Wharf in Newport Beach, Calif. But nationwide, groundless lawsuits strain businesses' bottom lines and threaten their very survival. This week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed a law that will help free Lone Star State businesses from the threat of frivolous lawsuits by enacting "loser-pays" tort reform. Prior to the legislation, litigants faced a no-lose situation, while defendants stood to lose everything—even for the most outrageous, bizarre and wrongful accusations. Even when defendants won, the legal fees associated with protecting themselves could add up to tens of thousands of dollars. As a result, many pre-emptively settled out of court, as the settlement payment would be less than the legal fees.
Targeted by the EPA
Excerpt: A three-inch lizard scuttled into the spotlight in December after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed moving it onto the Endangered Species List. The dunes sagebrush lizard’s habitat covers just eight counties on the Texas-New Mexico border, right in the heart of the Permian Basin, a major oil-producing region. Particularly in Texas, industry leaders and local businesses see the action as hostile—another Obama administration environmental policy targeting their successful, energy-sparked economy. (…) Even if Texas, with New Mexico’s help, is able to avoid endangered species classification for the dunes sagebrush lizard, a proposed listing for another species in the Permian Basin, the lesser prairie chicken, lurks in the future.
First IAEA report on Fukushima
Excerpt: The handling of the Fukushima nuclear crisis was "exemplary," said a preliminary report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, and could eventually show "what can be achieved in responding to such extreme nuclear events." After a week's fact-finding mission that involved touring nuclear sites and talking to officials, managers and engineers, head UK safety regulator Mike Weightman has delivered a preliminary summary of his group's findings. The full report will be presented to a ministerial meeting held at the IAEA's Vienna headquarters later this month. (…) The overall response in Japan was also praised. He said the government's protection of the public (mainly by means of early evacuation and use of potassium-iodide pills) was "impressive and extremely well organised." Future monitoring of the health of the public as well as workers "would be beneficial" although "to date, no health effects have been reported in any person as a result of radiation exposure."
Did a pork-coated bullet kill Bin Laden? Yes, says firm who claim its pig fat gun oil is bought by U.S. military personnel
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1393679/Did-pork-coated-bullet-kill-Bin-Laden-Yes-says-firm-claim-pig-fat-gun-oil-bought-U-S-military-personnel.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1393679/Did-pork-coated-bullet-kill-Bin-Laden-Yes-says-firm-claim-pig-fat-gun-oil-bought-U-S-military-personnel.html
Probably not true, but we’ll probably apologize for it anyway. ~Bob. Excerpt: Was Osama bin Laden shot with a bullet soaked in pork fat, denying him a place in paradise? Yes, if one rather shady website, that peddles gun oil containing liquefied pig fat, is to be believed. The makers of Silver Bullet Gun Oil claim it contains 13 per cent USDA liquefied pig fat thus making the product 'a highly effective counter-Islamic terrorist force multiplier.'
Obama Solicitor General: People Can Avoid the Individual Mandate by Choosing to Earn Less Money
So that’s why Obama’s making us poor. Kind of him. ~Bob. Excerpt: Don’t like the individual mandate in Obamacare and can’t get a waiver? No problem — just be poor.
Adam Kokesh: An anti-war smear merchant in “Republican” clothing
Excerpt: One of the groups that GOE dogged was Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) — whose members have included bomb-threat bullies and death-threat nutballs who threatened to assassinate me, fake Army vet Jesse MacBeth, and another prominent member who smeared the Young America’s Foundation by faking an anti-Muslim hate flyer and smeared David Horowitz with similar race-card playing flyers, then weaseled out of the attacks by claiming they were “satire.” The last two incidents involved an IVAW member named Adam Kokesh. He marched in uniform in mock patrols for the anti-war movement, paraded around holding an upside-down American flag (see Jonn Lilyea for more), was arrested for defacing signs, and traveled to Germany to urge soldiers to abandon their posts and seek aid and comfort with his anti-war minions. Kokesh, believe it or not, is now running as a Republican candidate for Congress in New Mexico.
Yemen's chaos is boost to al-Qaida, U.S. officials warn
Excerpt: The escalating violence in Yemen is hampering critical U.S. counterterrorism operations and has given al-Qaida's most active affiliate increased opportunities for recruitment and plotting, current and former U.S. officials warn. Yemeni forces trained by the U.S. to help hunt Islamic militants have been diverted to protect the beleaguered regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, making it more difficult to support American spying and special military operations. At the same time, the U.S. has been forced to evacuate nonessential personnel from its embassy in the capital, Sana. "The trends are strongly negative," Edmund Hull, U.S. ambassador to Yemen from 2001 to 2004, said Thursday. "The government is in chaos and al-Qaida's operating space has expanded."
Allen West/21st Century Battlefield
'Fatah has never recognized Israel and will never do so'
And some leftist idiots think they want peace. Remember, Fatah is the moderate party! ~Bob. Excerpt: Fatah has never recognized Israel’s right to exist and will never do so, according to Azzam al-Ahmed, a member of the Fatah Central Committee who is closely associated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Ahmed, who is also head of the Fatah negotiating team with Hamas, said PA security forces in the West Bank were arresting Hamas supporters to protect them from being targeted by the IDF.
Pro Bin-Laden Rally In Gaza Strip
Pro Bin-Laden Rally In Gaza Strip
Excerpt: Speakers at Pro-Bin Laden Rally in Gaza Strip: 'That is the Man Who Shattered the Crosses…That is the Man Who Brought the Americans to Their Knees'.
Public ‘at risk’ as 70 terrorists released
Excerpt: UP to 70 convicted terrorists due to be released this year will not be properly monitored, a probation chief warned yesterday. The "high risk" extremists, some of them bomb makers, could be walking the streets after being freed on licence. But Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers, said cuts to services meant adequate checks could not be kept on them.
House Chides Obama Over Libya
Excerpt: The U.S. House formally rebuked President Obama Friday for his handling of the war in Libya, though it was expected to stop short of calling for a withdrawal of U.S. forces. In a 268-145 vote, the House approved a resolution calling on the White House to provide more information on the mission within two weeks and stating for the record that Obama has not gotten permission from Congress.
Best of Jaywalking
http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/23328563/2086817528/name/Leno_Jaywalking.wmv
http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/23328563/2086817528/name/Leno_Jaywalking.wmv
Tell me we aren’t doomed. Their teachers must be so proud. If they aren’t busy picking the state capital for their “rights.” ~Bob
Only One Party Can Solve Debt Problem, and It Too Is Running out of Time
Excerpt: Do you think it's conceivable that yet another round of dismal economic news might cause President Obama to finally dig deeply enough in his id to find some hidden humility and consider reversing course? Let's be serious. Why should he do that when it's much easier -- and more profitable politically -- to just demonize Republicans? But will there ever be a time when the inescapable reality of our impending financial panic will compel him and other Democrats to act like grown-ups and help solve this problem before it "solves" itself and destroys countless people and institutions in its wake? How long can they remain in public denial? Maybe the gravity of the crisis works against those who are attempting, in good faith, to solve it. Things surely couldn't be as bad as the prophets are warning. After all, we've been subjected to endless doom-filled conspiracy theories and Armageddon has yet to occur.
Documents show FCC coordinated 'Net Neutrality' effort with outside group
Excerpt: Documents made public yesterday by Judicial Watch describe extensive collusion by Federal Communications Commission officials with a left-wing advocacy group in a campaign to expand government regulation of the Internet. The documents, obtained by Judicial Watch in a December 2010 Freedom of Information Act request, were created after Democrat appointees solidified their 3-2 control of the agency in March 2009.
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