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.
From NewsBusters:President Barack Obama and MSNBC's Ed Schultz have been named to GQ magazine's annual list of "The 25 Least Influential People Alive."The December issue of GQ will hit the newsstands soon, so let's see if the rating makes it to the final hard copy.
[...]
...Obama came in 25th....
The restless political middle — emboldened by the recent inability of a special congressional committee to agree on a debt-reduction deal — is staking out a controversial plan to insert itself into the 2012 election.
A bipartisan group of political strategists and donors known as Americans Elect has raised $22 million and is likely to place a third presidential candidate on the ballot in every state next year.
The goal is to provide an alternative to President Obama and the GOP nominee and break the tradition of a Democrat-vs.-Republican lineup.THIS IS A STEALTH EFFORT TO RE-ELECT OBAMA BY TAKING VOTES AWAY FROM THE GOP IN KEY STATES.
The effort could represent a promising new chapter for political moderates, who see a wide-open middle in the political landscape as congressional gridlock and bitter partisan fights have driven down favorability ratings for both parties.
“Voters are saddened by the inability of people in Washington to deal with the issues that are important to them,” said the group’s chief executive, Kahlil Byrd, a Republican strategist who once worked for Massachusetts Gov. Deval L. Patrick (D).
Americans Elect has ballot slots in Florida, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio and five other states, with certification pending in several others.
The group is relying on an ambitious plan to hold a political convention on the Internet that would treat registered voters like fans of “American Idol,” giving everyone a shot at picking a favorite candidate.
In the past two decades, the Mexican population in New York City has grown more than fivefold, with immigrants settling across the five boroughs. Many adults have demonstrated remarkable success at finding work, filling restaurant kitchens and construction sites, and opening hundreds of businesses.THIS IS IMMIGRATION WITHOUT ASSIMILATION AND IT IS DESTROYING THE FABRIC OF OUR SOCIETY AND DUMBING DOWN OUR CULTURE.
But their children, in one crucial respect, have fared far differently.
About 41 percent of all Mexicans between ages 16 and 19 in the city have dropped out of school, according to census data.
The displacement of the “individual” as a primary category of social and political thought — a distinctly observable trend in the contemporary West — is an infallible sign of civilizational despair.RTWT.
The nexus of causes and factors accounting for this undeniable phenomenon has been analyzed in many different ways and from many different perspectives: the draining of confidence in the “Western enterprise” after two world wars and the devastation of the generations; the natural tendency of a successful civilization to grow tired and lazy in the course of aeonian time, as Oswald Spengler and Arnold Toynbee argued in their major works; the loss of religious conviction and its attendant moral armature, leading to rootless insecurity and lack of transcendent purpose; the attenuation of historical memory — what I have elsewhere called the chronosectomy — owing to a dumbed-down education paradigm and the consequent onset of a present-oriented hedonism.
Perhaps all of these factors are coterminous and work together against the sense of individual responsibility for self, family, and nation. But whatever may explain our predicament, there can be little doubt that, despite all our technical advances, we are experiencing something like the advent of a new Dark Age.
Erich Fromm has furnished the definitive study of the process of self-abdication in his Escape from Freedom, which convincingly accounts for the dynamic of moral and individual surrender to the collective mind. According to Fromm, the identification with authoritarianism is a “mechanism of escape” from a feeling of personal insecurity and weakness. The “severed” personality attempts to overcome so crippling a condition by choosing to “give up his freedom” as a way of “eliminating the gap” between his individual self and the world he cannot come to terms with or enter as a productive participant.
The lamentable result is “the more or less complete surrender of individuality and the integrity of the self.” And the choice is paid for “by a kind of life that often consists only of automatic or compulsive activities,” another way of describing the totalitarian nightmare.
Fromm focuses on the psychology of Nazism to better clarify the structure of the totalitarian personality. It is typified by a deep intuition of lack, of insignificance and deficiency. Two of the factors that tend to predominate are a slavish admiration of power and the accusation of the Jews as a “race” that desires mastery over others. The contradiction is rarely noticed: power is to be sought as a good on the one hand, condemned as an evil on the other.
CAIRO (AP) — A prominent Egyptian-born U.S. columnist says she was sexually assaulted, beaten and blindfolded during a 12-hour detention by police.Which is virtually guaranteed never to take place. Even under Mubarak, it's unlikely any justice would ever have been found in a horrific case like this.
Mona Eltahawy posted on Twitter Thursday that she was arrested near Egypt's Interior Ministry around Tahrir Square, where clashes between protesters and police have raged since Saturday. After her release, she posted pictures of both her arms in casts.
She says she was sexually assaulted by regular police, surrounded by half a dozen who "groped, prodded my breasts, grabbed my genital area," while others tried to get their hands in her pants.
She says she was later handed over to military police, who kept her blindfolded for two hours. She was released with an apology and a promise of an investigation.
The outcome of a strike on Iran's nuclear sites, no matter how destructive, can never be as bad for Israel as an Iran armed with nuclear weapons, former Mossad chief Danny Yatom said on Wednesday at a security conference at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University.
Yatom took up a position that is diametrically opposed to that of former Mossad head Meir Dagan, who sparked significant controversy by stating earlier this year that an attack on Iran would be a foolish move that would lead to a war with an unknown outcome.
Paul stated that if Israel wanted to attack Iran “that’s their business, but they should suffer the consequences.” He added that Israel has hundreds of nuclear missiles and thus, “can take care of themselves.”So does that mean that he'd impose sanctions and other horrid stuff like that upon Israel that he wouldn't use on Iran? And what nuclear missiles does Israel actually have? Not sure I follow him there.
An indictment for murder was filed Sunday against members of a terrorist gang who threw a large stone into the windshield of 25 year old Asher Palmer's car as they drove past him on the road in the opposite direction.The police owe an apology for attempting to cover up a heinous crime. As for the terrorists themselves, they should be locked away in solitary and not allowed to see the outside world ever again for their savagery.
The stone smashed through the windshield and struck Palmer in the face, causing him to lose control of his vehicle and roll off the road. Both Palmer and his infant son, Yonatan, were killed.
According to the indictment, those facing charges are members of a band of terrorists who have carried out a long list of such attacks in the region. The remand for the accused was extended until the end of their trial.
More charges are pending for the terrorist cell for similar attacks on other Israeli vehicles, whose results were - blessedly - less severe. At least 18 Israeli drivers reported similar attacks in the month following Palmer's death alone.
Also indicted was a member of the terror gang who looted Palmer's body and stole his weapon following the attack.
The indictment is seen as something of a victory by residents in Judea and Samaria, as immediately after the attack that killed Palmer and his son, police told local residents and reporters that the deaths were the result of 'driver error'. They said they were treating the incident as a 'traffic accident.'
The HSBC flash manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI), the earliest indicator of China's industrial activity, slumped in November to 48, a low not seen since March 2009.
THE RISK of another financial crisis is the highest it has been since the summer of 2008, according to a Bank of England survey released yesterday.
The survey of 68 City market participants found that over half (54 per cent) rate the chance of a “high-impact event” as either high or very high.
Only three per cent said the chance was low or very low.
Sovereign debt crises were the most cited risk along with worries over an impending economic downturn, with 76 per cent of respondents citing these factors.
STAY TUNED...
Disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's top fundraiser has been sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in jail for corruption.
Antoin Rezko, a former Chicago real estate developer, used his influence to secure government deals and kickbacks.
The 56-year-old also was a political fundraiser for Barack Obama during his campaigns to be senator for Illinois.
OBAMA GOT HIS START IN CHICAGO THROUGH HIS ALLIANCE WITH CROOKS, AND COMMIES AND THE MACHINE - AND THAT FACT HAS BEEN THE CHIEF DEFINING CHARACTERISTIC FOR HIS PRESIDENCY.
THE VOTERS WHO THOUGHT THEY WERE GETTING A MORAL, HONEST, INTELLIGENT POST-PARTISAN CHANGE-AGENT WERE DUPED.
“Over 2.5 billion people live on less than $2 a day.”And FOIA 2011 is right on, if we are going to screw up the world economy with oppressive climate rules that will create energy shortages that lead to food shortages, it should be based on real scientific evidence. Not selective reports which in aggregate sell a theory based on half-truths..
“Every day nearly 16.000 children die from hunger and related causes.”
“One dollar can save a life” — the opposite must also be true.
“Poverty is a death sentence.”
“Nations must invest $37 trillion in energy technologies by 2030 to stabilize
greenhouse gas emissions at sustainable levels.”
Today’s decisions should be based on all the information we can get, not on
hiding the decline.
The Air Force has notified Hawker Beechcraft Corp. that its Beechcraft AT-6 has been excluded from competition to build a light attack aircraft, a contract worth nearly $1 billion, the company said.So that’s another 1,400 American jobs lost. And it gets worse. By knocking Hawker Beechcraft out, the Pentagon has limited the “competition” to one company, a company that is not only not an American manufacturer, it’s a government-owned entity with ties to our enemies. The company is Embraer, which is controlled by the government of Brazil and has close ties to the government of Iran.
The company had hoped to its AT-6, an armed version of its T-6 trainer, would be chosen for the Light Air Support Counter Insurgency aircraft for the Afghanistan National Army Corps. The chosen aircraft also would be used as a light attack armed reconnaissance aircraft for the U.S. Air Force.
The piston planes are designed for counterinsurgency, close air support, armed overwatch and homeland security, The Wichita Eagle reported (http://bit.ly/ud7FDM).
Hawker Beechcraft officials said in a news release that they were “confounded and troubled” by the Air Force’s decision. The company said it is asking the Air Force for an explanation and will explore all options.
Hawker Beechcraft said it had been working with the Air Force for two years and had invested more than $100 million to meet the Air Force’s requirements for the plane. It noted that the Beechcraft AT-6 had been found capable of meeting the requirements in a demonstration program led by the Air National Guard.
“We have followed the Air Force’s guidance close, and based on what we have seen, we continue to believe that we submitted the most capable, affordable and sustainable light attack aircraft,” the company said.
The company has said that winning the contract would have kept its T-6 production line running after 2015. About 1,400 employees in 20 states – including 800 at Hawker Beechcraft in Wichita – work on the AT-6 and T-6 programs for Beechcraft and its U.S. suppliers and partners.
The United States economy grew at a slightly slower pace than previously estimated in the third quarter, but weak inventory accumulation amid sturdy consumer spending strengthened analysts’ views that output would pick up in the current quarter.You notice how the entire article is just bad news, lovingly described as good news.
Gross domestic product grew at a 2 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said in its second estimate on Tuesday, down from the previously estimated 2.5 percent.
The revision was below economists’ expectations for a 2.5 percent growth pace. But the details of the G.D.P. report, especially data showing still-firm consumer spending and the first drop in businesses inventories since the fourth quarter of 2009, appeared to set the stage for a stronger economic performance this quarter.
Data so far suggest the fourth-quarter growth pace could exceed 3 percent, which would be the fastest in 18 months.
Despite the downward revision, last quarter’s growth is still a step up from the April-June period’s 1.3 percent pace. Part of the pick-up in output during the last quarter reflected a reversal of factors that held back growth earlier in the year.
Corporations have "weak inventory accumulation" which means "output would pick up in the current quarter."Oh really? Couldn't it also mean that businesses have wisely assessed the situation and realized there is no reason to increase inventory, as they don't see sizable economic growth on the horizon?
Despite the downward revision, last quarter’s growth is still a step up from the April-June period’s 1.3 percent pace.In other words, 2% might be bad, but you should be happy, because it's not as bad as 1.3%.
CHANGE: China Property Dip Sparks Bank Fears. “The number of property transactions in China’s largest cities has fallen to dangerously low levels, according to regulatory documents obtained by the Financial Times.”
UPDATE: Property Prices Collapse in China. Is This a Crash? “Residential property prices are in freefall in China as developers race to meet revenue targets for the year in a quickly deteriorating market. The country’s largest builders began discounting homes in Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen in recent weeks, and the trend has now spread to second- and third-tier cities such as Hangzhou, Hefei, and Chongqing.”
Posted at 11:51 pm by Glenn Reynolds 
(CNN) -- New York Police Department counterterrorism officials say they were first alerted to the activities of Jose Pimentel, accused of plotting to detonate pipe bombs in the city, about two-and-a-half years ago.More info about that horrific man here and here. But most disturbing is the news that the FBI refused to help investigate Pimentel (also via Jihad Watch):
One official told CNN they were notified about Pimentel's activities by law enforcement sources in upstate New York in May 2009. By then, the official says, he was already "radicalized."
The NYPD used an informant to make contact with Pimentel, to befriend him and monitor his activities.
They wanted to get a sense of his intentions, to "wash him out," as the official put it.
Pimentel - a native of the Dominican Republic and a convert to Islam - was arraigned in New York Sunday. He faces five charges, including criminal possession of a weapon in the first degree as a crime of terrorism, and soliciting or providing support for an act of terrorism.
According to a senior counterterrorism source, Pimentel had expressed a desire to go to Yemen at some point in 2010, and sent an email to the al Qaeda cleric and propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a drone strike in September of this year. He did not receive a reply, the source said.
The official told CNN that Pimentel was prolific online - maintaining a website called True Islam.
A website called trueislam1.com which is mentioned in the criminal complaint against Pimintel includes tributes to well-known al Qaeda figures and other jihadist leaders.
Its introduction ends: "May Allah bless all the Muslims, may he give us victory over the disbelieving people, and may he guide all those non Muslims, who visit this site to Islam."
A YouTube channel (mujahidfisabillilah1's channel) that links to the website describes its owner as "a Sunni Muslim BROTHER [sic] from the Dominican Republic currently living in Harlem, New York. Allah has guided me out of darkness and into the light."
Pimentel was in touch and interacting with other Islamist radicals online and was aware of Revolution Muslim, a New York-based group sympathetic to the aims of al Qaeda, but was "not directly connected" to them, the official said.
Many apparantly like-minded individuals posted messages on his YouTube site in the last several months. A message posted on the site one day ago stated: "May Allah Reward you for all your efforts and hard work. Ameen."
Counterterrorism officials became alarmed about Pimentel's activities in September, when they "received indications that the suspect was going operational."
That was before al-Awlaki was killed.
In October, officials say, Pimentel's activities began to accelerate, when he began to acquire simple bomb-making materials. They say he began building his bomb in the apartment of the informant, rather than at his home, where he lived with his mother and grandmother.
The FBI did not pursue a case against an alleged al-Qaida sympathiser accused of plotting to blow up police and military personnel because it believed he was mentally unstable and incapable of pulling it off, officials said on Monday.This is most extremely troubling, because what if Pimentel had succeeded in his plot? The FBI has a lot of explaining to do about why they neglected their duty to keep an eye on such a vicious character.
Investigators from the New York Police Department, which announced the arrest of Dominican-born US citizen Jose Pimentel, 27, at a press conference late on Sunday night, sought to involve the FBI at least twice.
But both times the FBI concluded he wasn't a serious threat, according to officials who spoke to the Associated Press.
Pimentel "didn't have the predisposition or the ability to do anything on his own," said one of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity....
On a YouTube channel linked to him, Pimentel – who also goes by the name Muhammad Yusaf – he describes himself as a "Sunni Muslim brother" from the Dominican Republic living in Harlem, whose interests include "watching videos of YouTube, working out, reading and learning all aspects of the only true religion of all the prophets: Islam."
Ron Paul draws particular venom from people like me because what he says is exactly what the leftists say. They do the same thing. The exact same thing. When there's a controversial use of force -- and the use of force is almost always controversial, as it should be -- they begin the discussion from the point of view that any and all uses of American might are illegitimate, and that there are -- always, no exceptions -- peaceful options that could have achieved the same results.Well said. Ron Paul is no different from many leftists on foreign policy, and as noted earlier, any support or bland tolerance of the destruction OWS has caused is another reason to be concerned about him. And if he decides to run as a third-partier, he'll really be doing all he can to damage the right he was never truly a part of.
President Obama should abandon his run for a second term and turn over the reins of the Democratic Party to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, two one-time Democratic pollsters wrote in Monday's Wall Street Journal, which appeared online Sunday.
Patrick H. Caddell and Douglas E. Schoen argued that just as Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson decided not to pursue additional runs though they could have, Obama should do the same.
FOR HIS PARTY AND NATION, TRUMAN DECIDED NOT TO RUN FOR A SECOND FULL TERM.
I PRAY OBAMA DOES THE SAME - AND ANNOUNCES IT SOON - AT LATEST BEFORE THANKSGIVING.
IT MIGHT BE THE ONLY THING THAT CAN SAVE THE CHRISTMAS RETAIL SEASON, AND THE US ECONOMY...
I HOPE THIS NATION SURVIVES UNTIL 2012 SO WE CAN GET RID OF THIS BUM!
THE BEST WAY TO ENSURE WE DO MAKE IT TO THE NEXT ELECTION IS FOR OBAMA TO RESIGN OR ANNOUNCE HE WON'T SEEK A SECOND TERM.
My fellow Americans:
The problems we face now here at home and across the globe are in a critical stage. Partisan politics have no place in times like this. And neither do personal agendas.
As it has in the past, the entire world is looking to the United States of America to lead humanity back from the brink of global war and darkness and into the fields of light, peace, and prosperity.
American presidents have always borne this responsibility with humility and courage. And by drawing inspiration from those who have served before me, I have tried to meet these challenges with the same determination and optimism.
But these are different times.
Heightened partisanship and a non-stop 24 hour news cycle dominated by "gotcha" yellow journalism has made statesmanship more difficult than ever - despite the world needing it more than ever.
Partisan posturing has become especially pernicious recently, as we have entered an election cycle. Now, the bipartisan compromises and non-partisan strategies we most need are all but impossible.
I see only one way to erase the partisan divide which is preventing the effective actions our nation - and the world - are crying out for.
And that is why tonight I am announcing that I will not seek a second term.
By removing myself from the partisan political equation I hope to elevate the debate, remove the biggest stumbling block to national unity, and bring the full force of this great and united nation back together again so that together we can meet the challenges we now face.
I could do no less. Personal ambition is meaningless compared to advancing the cause of liberty and prosperity and to protecting the American Dream.
It has been my honor to lead the Democrat party the last three years. I pass that responsibility to others. From this day forward, I have only one job. It is not personal or political. It transcends politics. It is purely humanitarian.
I am sure with this new non-political and non-personal approach members of Congress and I will rise to the occasion - in unified action, as the Congress and past presidents have always done since our nation's founding.
Now, we have one job to do - together: Bind the nation's wounds and roll up our sleeves.
I look forward to it with all my heart, with what wisdom God has given me, and with the courage I get from your support and prayers.
Thank You.
And God Bless America.
THE FAILURE OF THE SUPER-COMMITTEE GIVES HIM THE PERFECT EXCUSE TO GIVE THIS SPEECH.
Russian warships are due to arrive at Syrian territorial waters, a Syrian news agency said on Thursday, indicating that the move represented a clear message to the West that Moscow would resist any foreign intervention in the country's civil unrest.
