DEDICATED TO EXPOSING DISINFORMATION AND PROPAGANDA AND TO PROMOTING UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS - WITH SHARP ANALYSIS AND BLUNT COMMENTARY. NO ADS. NO TIP-JAR. JUST THE TRUTH.
It's not Just Obama, the entire left would like nothing more than to see Iraq devolve into choas...."Why are the Americans throwing away our common victory?" asks Iraq journalist Maad Fayad. "It is absurd for [the Obama administration] to base its policy on Iraq on a weird desire to prove that Bush was wrong.
Police in Birmingham have arrested 33 people during protests by anti-fascists and a group demonstrating against Islamic fundamentalism.
European nations have strongly criticised the latest trials in Iran over the unrest that followed the disputed presidential poll.
Iranian workers at the French and British embassies and a French national were among dozens of detainees to appear in court in Tehran.
The EU presidency said action against any EU national or embassy would be seen as an act against the whole bloc.
The UK and France also spoke out against the trial.
This is the second group trial of those accused of taking part in the mass protests that erupted after the 12 June
Mr. Zakaria also asked Mrs. Clinton about “show trials” for political protesters and journalists in Iran.
“It is a sign of weakness,” Mrs. Clinton said of the trials. “It demonstrates, I think, better than any of us could ever say, that this Iranian leadership is afraid of their own people, and afraid of the truth and the facts coming out.”
Mr. Zakaria interviewed Mrs. Clinton on Tuesday in Kenya. Their discussion will be broadcast Sunday on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS.”
THAT'S IT. OBAMA IS SILENT.
WHEN THE EU IS MORE HAWKISH THAN THE USA THEN SOMETHING IS VERY VERY WRONG.
AND THAT THING THAT IS VERY VERY WRONG OCCUPIES THE WHITE HOUSE!
FOR THE TIME BEING....
Caught between a pivotal industry ally and the protests of Congressional Democrats, the Obama administration on Friday backed away from what drug industry lobbyists had said this week was a firm White House promise to exclude from a proposed health care overhaul the possibility of allowing the government to negotiate lower drug prices under Medicare.
When 10 members of Congress wanted to study climate change, they did more than just dip their toes into the subject: They went diving and snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef. They also rode a cable car through the Australian rain forest, visited a penguin rookery and flew to the South Pole.The 11-day trip -- with six spouses traveling along as well -- took place over New Year's 2008. Details are only now coming to light as part of a Wall Street Journal analysis piecing together the specifics of the excursion.
... The 10 members of Congress gathered at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on the morning of Dec. 29, 2007, along with several of their staff. Those who brought spouses were four Democrats (Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas, Rep. Russ Carnahan of Missouri, Rep. Charlie Melancon of Louisiana and Rep. John Tanner of Tennessee) and two Republicans (Rep. Randy Neugebauer of Texas and Mr. Lucas of Oklahoma). Spouses must pay for their own meals, but they don't have to pay for lodging and travel. ...
... The South Pole trip, led by Rep. Brian Baird (D., Wash.), ranks among the priciest. The lawmakers reported a cost to taxpayers of $103,000.
That figure, however, doesn't include the actual flying, because the trip used the Air Force planes, not commercial carriers. Flight costs would lift the total tab to more than $500,000, based on Defense Department figures for aircraft per-hour operating costs.
... For Mr. Baird, the trip was one of two such excursions in six months. Last summer, he went to the Galapagos Islands with several lawmakers, also to gain expertise in climate change.
THEY GET JUNKETS AND A GREAT HEALTHCARE INSURANCE PACKAGE WHICH ALLOWS THEM TO SELECT FROM A GROUP OF PRIVATE INSURANCE COMPANIES!
WE GET CRAPOLA!
IT'S TIME THIS CRAP STOPPED.
IT'S TIME WE MADE THEM REALIZE THEY WORK FOR US. NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!
A Taliban spokesman and a deputy to Baitullah Mehsud claimed Saturday that the Pakistani Taliban chief was not killed by a CIA missile strike, contradicting another aide who confirmed Mehsud's death a day earlier.
The claims, made in calls to Pakistani and international media organizations, could undermine the growing confidence among U.S. and Pakistani officials that Mehsud died. They also could be tactical maneuvers to prevent defections as the Taliban leadership searches for a successor to Mehsud or even to delay a decision on naming an heir.
Pakistani intelligence officials acknowledged Saturday that the missile strike said to have killed the Taliban chief was carried out with Islamabad's help, indicating growing coordination between the two countries despite Pakistan's official disapproval of the strikes.
Mehsud deputy, Hakimullah, and Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar each called two separate Associated Press reporters Saturday to say that Mehsud was alive. They pledged evidence of his continued existence would be brought forth in the coming days.
More CO2 please -- 20% crop yield growth We are constantly bombarded by alarmist stories about how "global warming" (even though the planet is cooling) will cause crop failures and famine. Now the truth -- CO2 is plant food, the biosphere craves it, the more the better:
"Research carried out by the Department of Primary Industries in Victoria has shown that wheat crop yields could jump by up to 20 per cent under global warming.
3 - THERE MAY BE TOO LITTLE ATMOSPHERIC CO2:Warmth, water and more abundant carbon dioxide have been the main causes of the 20th century Green Revolution which has enabled farmers to feed the growing millions on earth.
All these beneficial developments are threatened by two things – the distinct possibility of a return to natural global cooling, and silly government policies all over the western world that will slash food production.
Award-winning Princeton University Physicist Dr. Will Happer declared man-made global warming fears “mistaken” and noted that the Earth was currently in a “CO2 famine now.” Happer, who has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers, made his remarks during today’s Environment and Public Works Full Committee Hearing entitled “Update on the Latest Global Warming Science.”“Many people don’t realize that over geological time, we’re really in a CO2 famine now. Almost never has CO2 levels been as low as it has been in the Holocene (geologic epoch) – 280 (parts per million - ppm) – that’s unheard of. Most of the time [CO2 levels] have been at least 1000 (ppm) and it’s been quite higher than that,” Happer told the Senate Committee.
4 - THERE'S BEEN NO GLOBAL TEMPERATURE INCREASE SINCE AL GORE WON HIS OSCAR:
In the 42 months since An Inconvenient Truth was released, globally averaged temperatures have been over what they were in January, 2006 in only five of those 42 months (including this month), but tellingly, the same temperatures have been below the globally averaged temperature in January, 2006 a total of 37 of those 42 months!5 - ACCORDING TO NOAA DATA, MOST OF THE USA HAS BEEN MUCH COOLER THAN AVERAGE THIS YEAR:
The Obama administration is attempting to use the fact that the program was popular with consumers as evidence that it was a “success,” but that only serves as evidence of government incompetence. ... when we see those same people screw up a freakin’ car sale, the mask comes off and we don’t want them messing with our health too.HA: The ObamaCare-CRA-TARP-Clunker lesson
PJM: ObamaCare as a Moral ClunkerSomewhere in here, there’s a lesson to be learned about government distortion of private markets. When government artificially inflate the value of a commodity in attempting social engineering, it usually either spends more money than they initially realize, leave the private sector holding the bag, and make themselves look foolish … at best:
The government suspended the explosively popular cash-for-clunkers program, fearing it would go broke before it could pay what it still owes dealers for a huge backlog of sales, according to congressional offices and a dealer group.
Suspension of the program was confirmed by Bailey Wood, legislative director for the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), which had been called Thursday night by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which administers the program. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., confirmed as well, saying she had been told by congressional leaders.
Why was it “explosively popular”? It made worthless cars valuable again. The vehicles got $4500 for a brief window rather than their previous real value, in many cases a fraction of the government payout. That inflated value prompted people to rush to their local dealers to use their government subsidy to buy new vehicles.
The moral arguments against Obama's health plan are overwhelming and need to take center stage.
Slowly but surely, the nation is waking up to the likelihood that the unwieldy state-run health care concoction known as ObamaCare will not achieve the cost savings the president and his supporters have promised.
... Health care should first and foremost be about whether those who need treatment get treatment. And guess what? In this country, those who need treatment not only almost always get treated, but they also almost always get treated timely. It is against the law for hospitals to turn away patients requiring emergency medical treatment regardless of whether they can afford to pay.
Yes, there are many who are not insured and who cannot afford medical care. And yes, they often delay doing something about very real medical problems until they become more serious. That is a real problem. But the answer, while elusive, most certainly should not involve jeopardizing the viability of everyone else’s medical coverage and access to care, as ObamaCare indisputably does.
... First, virtually without exception worldwide, state-run health care has led to rationing of care and long waits for even critical services. This has led to many needless deaths and disabilities, along with greatly diminished quality of life for many who eventually do receive care. Obama and the Congressional majority have presented no evidence indicating that serious rationing will not occur under its plan. In fact, under its progenitor known as CommonwealthCare (a.k.a. RomneyCare) in Massachusetts, serious rationing under the guise of fixed per-patient budgets is already on the horizon. How can any compassionate person claiming to have his or her moral bearings even consider supporting this almost certain result?
Second, virtually without exception worldwide, state-run health care has led to denial of care on age-based and so-called quality-of-life criteria. The Obama administration and Congress already opened the door for this abomination in the stimulus bill passed in February when it included funding for “comparative effectiveness research.” Michael Barone has accurately portrayed this attempt at final solutions that override doctor-patient decisions as “worse than junk science — it’s inherently deceptive.” How can someone claiming to have his or her moral bearings even consider supporting this?
Finally, the Obama administration is stacked with czars, cabinet officials, and others who are enthusiastic supporters of the first two items and who have frighteningly ghoulish outlooks on life and humanity. Take John Holdren (please).
Maestro Daniel Barenboim brought his troupe of young Arab and Israeli classical musicians to Geneva on Friday for a concert dedicated to the late Palestinian-American academic Edward Said and the contentious choice of Jerusalem as this year's ''Arab Cultural Capital.''UNREAL:
In a news conference that featured the iconoclastic Israeli conductor's usual combination of humor and gravitas, art and politics, Barenboim said his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra offered another way of examining ideals of justice, humaneness and understanding that are often lacking in the Middle East conflict.
The 10-year-old orchestra founded by Barenboim and Said includes Israeli and Palestinian musicians, as well as performers from Arab countries such as Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, and non-Arab states Turkey and Iran.
Barenboim said it was fitting that such a diverse group celebrate the Arab League's naming of Jerusalem as a cultural capital, even if the choice has angered Israeli authorities who say the entire city is the Jewish state's undivided and eternal capital.
... In 2006, the Arab League quietly designated Jerusalem its 2009 ''Arab Cultural Capital,'' an honor that rotates among Arab countries. Winners typically use the occasion to showcase their attachment to Arab culture, sponsoring poetry, music, dance performances, lectures, school activities and sporting events.
NINE PARAGRAPHS - NOT 1000 PAGES OF CRONY-CODDLING SOCIALISM AND BUREAUCRATIC BOONDOGGLESE.(1) Tort reform: As I wrote recently, our crazy system of casino malpractice suits results in massive and random settlements that raise everyone's insurance premiums and creates an epidemic of defensive medicine that does no medical good, yet costs a fortune.
An authoritative Massachusetts Medical Society study found that five out of six doctors admitted they order tests, procedures and referrals -- amounting to about 25 percent of the total -- solely as protection from lawsuits.
Defensive medicine, estimates the libertarian/conservative Pacific Research Institute, wastes more than $200 billion a year. Just half that sum could provide a $5,000 health insurance grant -- $20,000 for a family of four -- to the uninsured poor (U.S. citizens ineligible for other government health assistance).
... Abolish the entire medical-malpractice system. Create a new social pool from which people injured in medical errors or accidents can draw. The adjudication would be done by medical experts, not lay juries giving away lottery prizes at the behest of the liquid-tongued John Edwardses who pocket a third of the proceeds.The pool would be funded by a relatively small tax on all health-insurance premiums. Socialize the risk; cut out the trial lawyers. Would that immunize doctors from carelessness or negligence? No. The penalty would be losing your medical license. There is no more serious deterrent than forfeiting a decade of intensive medical training and the livelihood that comes with it.
... (2) Real health-insurance reform: Tax employer-provided health-care benefits and return the money to the employee with a government check to buy his own medical insurance, just as he buys his own car or home insurance.
There is no logical reason to get health insurance through your employer. This entire system is an accident of World War II wage and price controls. It's economically senseless. It makes people stay in jobs they hate, decreasing labor mobility and therefore overall productivity. And it needlessly increases the anxiety of losing your job by raising the additional specter of going bankrupt through illness.
The health-care benefit exemption is the largest tax break in the entire U.S. budget, costing the government a quarter-trillion dollars annually. It hinders health-insurance security and portability as well as personal independence. If we additionally eliminated the prohibition on buying personal health insurance across state lines, that would inject new and powerful competition that would lower costs for everyone.
Of course given that [Pelosi] was talking about Democrat town halls, her confusion is even more understandable given the overlap between Nazi programs and Democrats’ pet issues anyway, as we all know.
The Nazis being: against big banks and capitalism in general, against big department stores, against pollution, for two years mandatory voluntary service to the country, for make-work projects (such as the autobahn), against vivisection and cruelty and to animals, against smoking and all tobacco products, for abortion and euthanasia of the infirm and undesirable – and, of course, for cradle-to-grave nationalized healthcare.
In fact, if you look really hard, you can sometimes even find a hint of anti-Semitism in the Democrat Party.
Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, which WC and I cohost. The show broadcasts live every Friday beginning at noon, Pacific Time.Fatah adopts resolution blaming Israel for Arafat's death
The sixth General Assembly of Fatah unanimously adopted on Thursday a proposal calling for the establishment of a committee which would investigate the death of former Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat while abiding by the following guidelines: that Israel bears full responsibility for his death, that the issue continues to remain open, and that the investigation enlists international support.
WHERE HAVE ALL OUR TAXES GONE
Where have all OUR TAXES gone?
Long time passing
Where have all OUR TAXES gone?
Long time ago
Where have all OUR TAXES gone?
To pork and earmarks, every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?
Where'd the pork and earmarks go?
Long time passing
Where'd the pork and earmarks go?
Long time ago
Where'd the pork and earmarks go?
To crooks and cronies every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?
Where has all our freedom gone?
Long time passing
Where has all our freedom gone?
Long time ago
Where has all our freedom gone?
Taken by politicians every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?
Where should all the politicians go?
It's long passed due
Where should all the politicians go?
Long overdue
Where should all the politicians go?
Get tossed out by voters EVERY ONE!
If we just ever learn
If we'd just ever learn.
(WITH NO APOLOGIES TO PETE SEEGER!)
