The Founding Father's Real Reason for the Second Amendment
And remember the words of Thomas Jefferson "The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." See Video of Suzanna Gratia-Hupp’s Congressional Testimony: What the Second Amendment is REALLY For, below (u-tube HERE).
The Leaders Are Here... Palin, Cruz, Lee, Paul, Chaffetz....
T'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
Can You Really Still Believe That None of These People Would Have Done a Better Job???
A federal judge in Florida has ruled that the president’s health care overhaul, “Obamacare,” is unconstitutional.
The judge based his ruling on the law’s mandate that citizens must purchase health care, a requirement he said violates the Constitution. The ruling affects the 26 states who had joined together to file a case against the law, yet still has implications for the entire country.
U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson ruled Congress overstepped its bounds by instituting the individual mandate, but also said the entire law was unconstitutional since the individual mandate is not “severable,” Fox News reports. Vinson did not go as far as to issue an injunction blocking the law from being implemented.
“I must reluctantly conclude that Congress exceeded the bounds of its authority in passing the Act with the individual mandate. That is not to say, of course, that Congress is without power to address the problems and inequities in our health care system. The health care market is more than one sixth of the national economy, and without doubt Congress has the power to reform and regulate this market. That has not been disputed in this case. The principal dispute has been about how Congress chose to exercise that power here,” Vinson wrote in the 78-page ruling.
“Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire act must be declared void,” he added.
“The individual mandate applies across the board. People have no choice and there is no way to avoid it. Those who fall under the individual mandate either comply with it, or they are penalized. It is not based on an activity that they make the choice to undertake. Rather, it is based solely on citizenship and on being alive,” he wrote.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) responded on Monday via a written statement.
“Today’s decision affirms the view, held by most of the states and a majority of the American people, that the federal government should not be in the business of forcing you to buy health insurance and punishing you if you don’t,” he said.
Last month, a federal judge in Virginia also ruled that the individual insurance mandate of the Obamacare was unconstitutional. That judge, however, did not go as far as to say the entire law was unconstitutional.
The ruling is just one more example of why the law is unpopular, and why it faces an uphill battle before being fully implemented in 2014. For example, just last week the House of Representatives repealed the law. Still, despite the ruling in Virginia and the House’s actions, the president doubled-down on his support of the bill last week, defiantly brushing aside those who question the overhaul.
“You may have heard once or twice this is a job-crushing, granny-threatening, budget-busting monstrosity,” Obama said. “That just doesn’t match up to the reality.”
“I can report that Granny is safe,” he quipped.
The Florida case is likely to go to the U.S. Supreme Court, especially considering this is the fourth federal ruling on the president’s health care overhaul. Besides the Virginia decision, two other federal judges have ruled in favor of the insurance mandate.
This is a breaking story. Updates will be added. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
If you would like to know what the White House really thinks of Obamacare, there’s an easy way. Look past its press releases. Ignore its promises. Forget its talking points. Instead, simply witness for yourself the outrageous way the White House protects its best friends from Obamacare.
Last year, we learned that the Department of Health and Human Services(HHS) had granted 111 waivers to protect a lucky few from the onerous regulations of the new national health care overhaul. That number quickly and quietly climbed to 222, and last week we learned that the number of Obamacare privileged escapes has skyrocketed to 733.
Among the fortunate is a who’s who list of unions, businesses and even several cities and four states (Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio and Tennessee) but none of the friends of Barack feature as prominently as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
How can you get your own free pass from Obamacare? Maybe you can just donate $27 million to President Obama‘s campaign efforts. That’s what Andy Stern did as president of SEIU in 2008. He has been the most frequent guest at Mr. Obama‘s White House.
Backroom deals have become par for the course for proponents of Obamacare. Senators were greased with special favors, like Nebraska Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson and his Cornhusker Kickback and Louisiana Democrat Sen. Mary L. Landrieu and her Louisiana Purchase. Even the American Medical Association was brought in line under threat of losing its exclusive and lucrative medical coding contracts with the government.
Not only are the payoffs an affront to our democracy and an outright assault on our taxpayers, the timing itself of the latest release makes a mockery of this administration’s transparency promises. More than 500 of the 733 waivers, we now know, were granted in December but kept conveniently under wraps until the day after the president’s State of the Union address. HHS is no stranger to covering up bad news; in fact, this is becoming a disturbing pattern. Last year, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius hid from Congress until after the Obamacare vote a damning report from the Medicare and Medicaid Office of the Actuary showing Obamacare would cost $311 billion more than promised and would displace 14 million Americans from their current insurance.
For this administration, transparency promises last only until the teleprompter is unplugged.
Backroom deals and cover-ups may be business as usual for Washington, but understanding why the Obama administration protects its friends from Obamacare offers special insight into what the purveyors of the mandate themselves think about their own law. This is key: The waivers aren’t meant to protect victims from unintended consequences of Obamacare; they are meant to exempt them from the very intentional increased costs of health insurance that the law causes. Under Section 2711 of the Public Health Service Act, Obamacare increases the annual cap of insurance benefits, which sounds great - as does everything else in big government - until the bill comes due, in this case, in the form of higher insurance premiums.
In short, the administration has decided that you will face increased health insurance premiums, but special friends in the unions will not. Look closely, and you’ll see not only the White House‘s duplicity but also what the Obama administration really thinks of its crown jewel, Obamacare. White House words say that the annual insurance benefit cap is a feature of the program, but its actions say that it’s a bug.
The question remains: If Obamacare is such a great law, why does the White House keep protecting its best friends from it?
Our democracy cannot allow a president to exercise the unholy power of picking and choosing winners and losers, of choosing who must follow his flawed laws and who gets a free pass. If any American deserves a waiver from Obamacare, then all Americans do.
It was Mr. Obama himself who infamously said, "We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends." This president speaks anything but softly, and Obamacare is his big stick.
It's time to give every American his own waiver: Repeal Obamacare.
Dr. Milton R. Wolf is a board-certified diagnostic radiologist, medical director and cousin of President Obama. He blogs daily at miltonwolf.com.
COMMITTEE PASSES PLAN FOR INTERNET ‘KILL SWITCH’ IN EGYPT — U.S.
Pending legislation that would grant the President of the United States the power to pull the plug on the country’s internet access in a declared “emergency” returned to the forefront this week on the same day Egyptians faced a nation-wide blackout designed to curtail widespread government protests. Egypt flipped it’s so-called “kill switch” — will the U.S.?
The bipartisan bill is sponsored by Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the ranking Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The bill — called “The Protecting Cyberspace As A National Asset Act of 2010” S.3480 — was approved by a Senate panel this week.
S. 3480 would create a new government agency called the National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications. The NCCC would have sweeping powers to control the Internet, including the ability to shut down the web for a 30-day period. Considering that at least 60% of Americans get their daily news fix from the Internet, this is a staggering proposal.
Blaze writer Mike Opelka also notes that groups such as the ACLU see this proposed legislation potentially giving the President a giant kill switch for the Internet. Before the bill moves to the Senate floor for a vote, the ACLU has formally noted their disapproval.
While Collins insists her bill would not grant the president the same powers as Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak has exercised this week, many are wondering what kinds of implications the measure would have on Americans’ freedom.
Many in the high-tech world join the ACLU in questioning the bill as well.
PC Magazine‘s Dan Costa warned Friday that the United States must learn from Egypt’s “state-sponsored denial of service attack” on its citizens. “The surprising thing isn’t that a corrupt, authoritarian regime would launch this kind of state-sponsored denial off service attack on its own citizens. Nor that it is willing to jeopardize its economy by cutting its businesses off from world markets. No, the thing that surprises me is that the U.S. government has plans for its own Internet Kill Switch,” Costa wrote.
The legislation was first introduced last summer by Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), and the former has promised to bring it to the floor again in 2011. It isn’t called anything as obvious as the Internet Kill Switch, of course. It is called the “Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act.” Who could be against that? Anyone who’s watching the news on TV today, that’s who.
The proposal calls for the Department of Homeland Security to establish and maintain a list of systems or assets that constitute critical cyber-infrastructure. The President would be able to be able to control those systems. He or she would have ability to turn them off. The kicker: none of this would be subject to judicial review. This is just a proposal, mind you, but it certainly warrants concern. Particularly given the heavy-handed example being provided by Egypt.
The bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Joe Liebermann, I-Conn., previously sailed through the Homeland Security Committee just before the 111th Congress ended, and will have to be reconsidered in the new 112th Congress.
Intended to protect the country against “significant” cyber threats, Sen. Collins says the bill “would provide a mechanism for the government to work with the private sector in the event of a true cyber emergency.”
“It would give our nation the best tools available to swiftly respond to a significant threat,” she added.
An aide to the Homeland Security committee described the bill as one that does not mandate the shuttering of the entire internet. Instead, it would authorize the president to demand turning off access to so-called “critical infrastructure” where necessary.
An example, the aide said, would require infrastructure connected to “the system that controls the floodgates to the Hoover dam” to cut its connection to the net if the government detected an imminent cyber attack.
What’s unclear, however, is how the government would have any idea when a cyber attack was imminent or why the operator wouldn’t shutter itself if it detected a looming attack.
About two dozen groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Library Association, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Center for Democracy & Technology, were skeptical enough to file an open letter opposing the idea. They are concerned that the measure, if it became law, might be used to censor the internet.
“It is imperative that cyber-security legislation not erode our rights,” (.pdf) the groups wrote last year to Congress.
On Friday, executives with London-based Vodofone came under scrutiny after admitting they had complied with the Egyptian government’s request to shut down internet and mobile phone access in Egypt. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Vodofone Group CEO Vittorio Cola expressed concern with the state-ordered blackout, but the company determined that the request was “legitimate under Egyptian law,” and therefore complied with the request.
In addition, Al Jazeera reported that protesters on Friday destroyed Vodafone stores in Cairo, among other locations tied to the ruling regime.
In the meantime, Costa insists that such a “kill switch” initiative could be devastating for the United States — not just because of the real impact on individual liberties, but also because of widespread economic ramifications:
The U.S. telecommunication industry is much more complex and far more decentralized [than Egypt's]. To do something similar in the U.S. would require a lot more than four phone calls. There are simply too many connections inside the nation already for them to be silenced. Also, since our economy is more dependent on the Internet obstructing the free flow of information would be disastrous. Still, the push for a U.S. Internet Kill Switch is here, but no one understands the consequences.
The fact is, no one in the U.S. should ever have the right or the ability to take the Internet offline. As an editor of a purely online publication (we made the switch from print a few years ago), it’s very clear to me that freedom of the press relies more than ever on the Internet. No one in the U.S.—or anywhere—should have the right to shut it down.
ALERT: The FCC has voted to take away your internet freedom without approval from Congress. The new law will give Obama and his cronies full control of the world wide web!
Tell Congress To Rescind The FCC Vote & Protect Your Internet Rights!
The FCC passed the internet regulating rules on Tuesday. Two days have passed and the American public has yet to receive any additional details about the rules. Even more shocking, FCC activist Chairman Julius Genachowski still hasn’t released an official copy of the rules! Something smells fishy. Many questions remain such as exactly how much will the government control and regulate the internet. Until Genachowski get releases the report those questions will remain unanswered. The internet regulation plan was created under the guise to protect us against foreign crime, espionage and cyber-attacks. In reality, the act will destroy all opinions of dissent and limit criticisms of the ever expanding tentacles of big government. You will now be under the microscope of Obama and big brother. The act was met with seething disapproval from Republican FCC Commissioner Rob McDowell. McDowell said, “Nothing is broken in the Internet access market that needs fixing; the FCC does not have the legal authority to issue these rules; [and] the proposed rules are likely to cause irreparable harm.” Enough is enough! Republicans must make Congress execute their Congressional authority and oversight of the FCC. They need to rescind the FCC vote because the FCC does not have the Congressional or Constitutional authority to expand governmental regulation.
China: A Model For New U.S. Internet Regulations
China enforces strict internet censorship through 60 laws and countless draconian administrative regulations. These laws gag critical opinions, corruption exposes and speech that protest their government. The communist country employs 50,000 people who act as internet police, scouring the internet for offenders to punish. Comments on blogs and internet forums that question Chinese propaganda are wiped out within minutes by the internet police. I can just imagine Obama appointing a new internet czar and thousands of new anti-free speech government workers to police the internet.
The new regulations will not only destroy free speech, but will also annihilate capitalism. Right now, the internet is the last true laissez-faire form of capitalism in our country. People can buy and sell what they want with little interference from the government. The internet also gives people the freedom to be innovative and set competitive pricing. Unlike our physical economy, the government has kept their sticky fingers from meddling with the internet until now. The new communist-style internet regulations will deter innovation, raise operating costs and ultimately raise consumer prices. Robert McDowell explained, "Congress has not given us the authority to do this. There really are no bounds to what the FCC could do, so long as it's done in the name of promoting the Internet in their view." He also said that potential ranges from price control to content control. We urgently need the help from patriots like you to put a stop to the liberal takeover of our internet. If we don’t stop them dead in their tracks, there will be no end to their freedom pillage. Time is running out.
THIS IS NOT A FIGHT WE CAN AFFORD TO LOSE
1. Select Below To Tell Congress To Stop The Communist-Style Internet Takeover!
2. Send this Alert to EVERYONE you know and every like-minded friend on your personal email list who wants to stop the FCC from destroying the last form of laissez-fair capitalism. We need to get HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of faxes delivered to EACH AND EVERY Senator and Congressman
3. Keep calling your Senators today, toll free numbers include 1-877-851-6437 and 1-866-220-0044, or call 1-202-225-3121 AND REGISTER YOUR OUTRAGE! Demand Congress oppose the FCC's new internet regulations that put a gag on our right to free speech!
4. CALL President Obama, 202-456-1111 and 202-456-1414 expressing your disdain and ABSOLUTE REJECTION of his FCC's takeover of our internet.
5.Print this copy and pass it around where normal working class Americans gather who care about the future of our country. Polling data reveals that Americans do not want the government controlling the internet!
DO NOT BE SILENCED - MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!
NOTE: We need TENS OF THOUSANDS of faxes and PHONE CALLS and EMAILS delivered to the HOME OFFICES OF ALL CONGRESSMAN RIGHT AWAY!
Your voice can be heard -- we need your urgent help at AmeriPAC.
Black & Blue: How Obama And The Democrats Are Beating Up The Constitution
The compelling story of how the Obama Administration and progressive Democrats are warping and contradicting the Constitution to make it fit with their radical agenda.
The book covers Barack Obama's Chicago and Saul Alinsky days were he learned to "game the system" to bypass the rule of law. The book details how the progressive Democrats use groups like Acorn to gain power to force their socialism on the American people.
Defend America, Alan M. Gottlieb Chairman, AmeriPAC
If you prefer to send a check, please mail to: American Political Action Committee (AmeriPAC) PO Box 1682 Dept Code 1245-p-cch Bellevue, WA 98009-1682
Paid for by AmeriPAC, a federally-authorized and qualified multicandidate political action committee. Contributions to AmeriPAC will be used in connection with federal elections. Maximum contribution per individual per calendar year is $5,000. Contributions from foreign nationals and corporations are prohibited. Contributions are not deductible for federal income tax purposes.
Franklin gives an excellent speech to all the young students calling for them to join him in using internet “Keywords” to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Franklin Graham Says Tucson Memorial Service 'Scoffed' at Jesus
President Obama garnered praise from across the political spectrum for his moving speech last week at the memorial service for the Tucson shooting victims, including from his usual critics on the right. But don't count the Rev. Franklin Graham as a fan of the event.
In a speech on Tuesday at John Brown University, a private Christian college in Siloam Springs, Ark., the son of the revered evangelist Billy Graham voiced "dismay" at the way the Tucson memorial service was conducted, arguing that it was not as explicitly religious -- mainly "Christian" -- as those following the Oklahoma City bombing and the 9/11 attacks.
Graham was particularly upset that the Tucson memorial featured a Native American who called upon "father sky and mother earth." "There was no call for the name of God to put his loving arms around the people who were hurting, the people that were suffering," Graham said. "Why? Why did they take God out of it? Why did they leave him out?
"Because the world scoffs at the name of Jesus Christ," Graham said, his voice rising in anger. "They scoff when you say he's the son of God."
Graham went on to say that the scoffing and persecution against Christians is only going to get worse.
Initial reports of Graham's speech indicated that he may have been including Obama in his critique, though a review of the video shows that Graham says he "felt sorry" for the president "because I knew he was uncomfortable in that situation."
Graham was referring to the pep rally atmosphere and the prayers by the Native American, an associate professor of medicine at the University, Carlos Gonzales, who is a Pascua Yaqui Indian and fifth generation Arizonan. (Graham called him a native of "the Yuppie tribe or something, I didn't quite get it.")
Graham also stressed his empathy for the president in an op-ed in The Washington Times on Tuesday, saying he was "proud of Mr. Obama" in Tucson in contrast with how he viewed the rest of the event.
"The president read from the Scriptures, and a couple of others," Graham noted in his speech at John Brown University. But also said that no one mentioned God at the Tuscon event, and he said that is the way things seem to be going in America.
"And I believe the memorial service that we saw in Tucson is the template for what you are going to see in a secularized world." The White House declined to comment on Graham's remarks about the service.
As USA Today's "Faith & Reason" blogger, Cathy Grossman, noted, Graham's critique seems "odd" given that Obama's speech -- which many agreed sounded more like a sermon -- cited the consolations of Psalm 46 plus the laments of Job.
Moreover, Department of Homeland Security head (and former Arizona governor) Janet Napolitano preceded Obama and read from Isaiah 40 and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder read from the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
A strong majority of Americans also liked Obama's response to the Tucson shootings, with an ABC News-Washington Post poll this week showing 78 percent approval overall, and 71 percent approval from Republicans and conservatives.
The Tucson speech was actually fairly typical of Obama's Scripture-based rhetoric, and The Los Angeles Times explored how the president consulted his Christian spiritual advisers in composing it. "Yet," as Grossman writes, "Graham believes the victims of the Tucson shooting, those who knew and loved them and all who wanted to show solidarity with them -- Catholic, Jewish, Protestant and beliefs unknown -- were scoffing at God as they wept and cheered the speakers."
Franklin Graham, who has become something of a shepherd to Sarah Palin (she accompanied him to Haiti last month), is becoming known for rhetoric that is far edgier than anything his father ever said, even in Billy Graham's haler days.
He has regularly disparaged Islam, calling it an "evil" religion, a blast that got him booted from official National Day of Prayer celebrations last year. And he once made fun of Hinduism's deities, saying that "No elephant with 100 arms can do anything for me. None of their 9,000 gods is going to lead me to salvation."
Franklin Graham took up some of those themes again on Tuesday at John Brown. "Even in our government today, you can't pray to Jesus in many public meetings. You can pray to God or a god. You can mention Buddha or the name of Muhammad, but you can't pray to Jesus Christ," Graham told the students. "We know that we are going to be persecuted for standing up for the name of Christ."
As Mike Huckabee said on this show last week (as well as several other experts on the Middle East and Islam), Americans need to be paying attention to what is going on in Egypt. Those that are behind this uprising are not the average guys in the street and once they take over and attack Israel, it will not be over… but rather the beginning!! Islam considers Israel the Little Satan. They consider America the Big Satan. If we do no stop singing Cumbaya and ignoring the Muslim infiltration in this country immediately, by the time we wake up, it will be too late!!
Filibuster deform is dead. The Democrats, campaigning on the mantel, yet again, of “reform,” have failed to get the votes to kill the filibuster. Ironically, it was the Democrats themselves who killed it. The big question is why.
Frankly, looking at the map for 2012, it isn’t too hard to figure out why. The Democrats are nervous about losing the Senate. A number of states are up for grabs. North Dakota looks like it will definitely switch to the GOP. Virginia is a strong possibility. Already, the GOP is in fine shape to hold its own.
With Republicans making advances and most likely going to pick up House seats due to redistricting, the Democrats’ willingness to scrap filibuster deform is a good early indicator that they are worried about 2012.
— Erick Erickson
Reid’s Rules Scheme Defeated in the Senate
01/28/2011
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-N.V.) relinquished his plans to drastically change the rules of the Senate in order to pass his liberal agenda with a smaller majority.
Reid’s effort to kill the filibuster, which is the minority’s right to effect legislation, went down in flames in the final rules changes on Thursday. “In the short term, this is a victory for conservatives. As part of the current minority party in the Senate, their rights will be preserved," said Marty Gold, a former Senate leadership aide who is now an attorney at Covington and Burling.
"In addition, extreme mechanisms that had been proposed to advance new rules and limit filibusters came to nothing in the end,” said Gold.
The rules voted on the floor were less important than the gentleman’s agreements made between Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Both agreed to never try again to use the nuclear option, which is to change the rules of the Senate with only 51 votes, instead of the established 67 vote margin. McConnell and Reid also agreed to use the filibuster and amendment tree procedural maneuvers less often in the future.
“What we need most in the Senate is a change in behavior in addition to this change in rules. We need to preserve the Senate as a forum for minority rights. We need to preserve the 60-vote requirement for major votes. That will force consensus. That will cause us to work together,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) on Thursday.
Alexander negotiated the bipartisan deal with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y) at the behest of McConnell and Reid.
For the past month, Reid has been trying to change the rules of the Senate so that he could pass Democrat-supported bills with 51 votes instead of 60. The Democrat majority in the Senate went from 59-53 after the Republican wave in the midterm elections.
McConnell waged war against the Democrats’ attempted rules changes, to the point that Reid was forced to shut down the Senate for weeks to figure out how to proceed. By mid-January, Reid folded and agreed to bipartisan negotiations on any new rules.
Many believe that Reid conceded defeat because he realized the likelihood of the Republicans taking over the Senate in 2012. If Reid’s rules to trample the rights of the minority had gone into effect, the Democrats could be the ones who suffer the most in the long term.
“The rules compromise reached today will look like a half-measure to the liberal blogosphere,” said Gold. “But if Democrats go into the minority in two years, liberals will be happy for this day.”
The final rules changes which passed the Senate were crafted by bipartisan agreement and only moderately change the institution to end secret holds and waive the reading of amendments.
“Holds” give the power of one state, via one Senator, to stop a vote. The “secret hold” allowed for flexible negotiations behind closed doors to fix the Senator’s concerns without interest groups or other forces intervening. The resolution to end secret holds, which passed 92-4, states that a Senator must publicly disclose a notice of intent to object to any measure or matter.
The rule to waive the reading of amendments, sponsored by Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), ends the ability for a Senator to delay a vote by requiring an amendment be read aloud. The resolution, which passed 81-15, says that an amendment cannot be forced read aloud if the text of it is made available 72 hours in advance of the vote.
More importantly than what happened on the floor, McConnell and Reid made the gentleman's agreement about how the Senate would operate going forward.
“McConnell and Reid both forswore using the nuclear option,” said a source close to the negotiations. “McConnell said that if he’s the Leader in the next Congress, he will not use the same extraordinary means to ram new rules down the throats of the Democrats in retribution.”
Also, the two leaders agreed to not use two important procedural methods as often in order to preserve the great rights of the Senate: to amend and to debate.
McConnell agreed that the Republicans would use the filibuster less often in this Congress. To filibuster means to debate a bill without a time limit to prevent a vote on a bill. Cloture is the process of ending the filibuster, and under current rules adopted in 1975, takes 60 votes to pass. The minority uses the filibuster as a stalling tactic to have more power over debate and vote.
Reid wanted to change the rules so that bills would get voted on with only 51 votes, which would be a lot easier for him to get with 53 Democrats, than the 60 needed now.
In return, Reid agreed to be less active in filling up the amendment tree to block out all Republican amendments. The amendment tree refers to the process of putting amendments on a bill as it goes through the legislation process.
The Majority Leader has the power to add the maximum amount of amendments to the tree, which locks out any amendments by the minority party. Over the past two years, Reid has used his power to fill up the amendment tree drastically more often than had been done in the past.
“The Majority Leader used that power to cut off all amendments and debate 44 times. That’s more than the last 6 majority leaders combined,” said Sen. Alexander on the floor.
Reid agreed to not use up all the amendments, so that the Republicans can offer their alternatives to legislation.
Finally, McConnell and Reid agreed to lessen by one-third the number of presidential appointments which require Senate confirmation. Intending to lessen the backlog of high-level appointees, the final deal is expected to exempt approximately 400 political appointees from confirmation.
The appointee part of the agreement seems to be a victory for Reid because Democratic President Obama has more power to appoint without Senate approval. But Alexander sees it as a win for common sense.
“We confirm too many people. It is not necessary for us to confirm the PR officer for a minor department. There is no need for that,” said Alexander. “We need to be able to work on more important issues.”
Overall, the Republicans came out of this high-stakes political fight ahead because the minority party could have easily been trampled in the Senate.
I’d say the final victor is the American people, who keep the right to be heard, whether their Senator is in the majority or minority.
“What they have done...is create a window in which we have had a good, open discussion about the kind of place we want to work, the kind of Senate we hope would serve the American people the best,” said Alexander.
“And we have come to a consensus about a change in behavior, which I believe, in the end, will be more important than the change in the rules,” he said.
By: Miss Emily Miller is a senior editor of HUMAN EVENTS. Previously, she served as the Deputy Press Secretary at the U.S. Department of State and the Communications Director for the House Majority Whip. Miller also served as an Associate Producer at ABC News and started her career at NBC News. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
Waivers for Favors Michelle Malkin President Obama's storytellers recently launched a White House blog series... Read More
My Response to the Drudge Photo of China's Flag Centered Between Two American Flags to the Left and Right of It
January 20, 2010 Steve QuayleYesterday when I viewed the Chinese flag centered between two angled American Flags on the Drudge Report, immediately the scripture came bursting before my eyes "A house divided against itself shall not stand". This is Jesus speaking in Matthew 12:25.
Flags are symbols and symbols have meaning. This once great Republic has been brought to its knees, morally, financially and physically by the willful disregard and contempt for all the principles and foundations that made it great. Remember the long forgotten Pledge of Allegiance where it was stated "one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all? It has long been abandoned and 'equal justice under the Law' is but a distant memory--only to get worse.
When America honored the God of heaven we prospered and were set high above all the nations of the earth. We were respected and the US dollar stood for something. Everyone all over the globe held US dollars as the ultimate expression of value.
When the current occupant in the White House made the statement that "America is the greatest Nation in the world and we intend to change that", it should have been plain that our Nation's execution sentence was being announced right before our eyes.
The Titanic is sinking, the deck chairs are being fought over for the best view and the band plays on as they mesmerize its listeners, as hope fades and freedom sinks beneath the "sea of apathy and indifference". The entertainment mantra of our day has become to avoid reality at all costs, or better yet "abandon critical thinking and responsibility all ye who live here"!
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Is It Hopeless? NO!! Here Are Some Solutions:
This program was originally scheduled to air on Friday at 5:00, but was postponed because of the breaking news coverage of the protests in Egypt. However, Fox News decided to air the show early Saturday morning. This show is all about the American Experiment. Glenn welcomes a studio audience for tonight's show and asks the question- can man rule himself? And if so, how? Joining Glenn and the studio audience for this show is Marvin Olasky, author of 'Corporate Public Relations: A New Historical Perspective'. Note: LIVE television coverage of the Egypt protests can be seen here.
I would also like to suggest here that anyone reading this should continue to watch and read Glenn Beck’s messages. Even if you don’t like the messenger, it is the message that counts. And if you don’t like the message, you don’t shoot the messenger. Please watch:
How can it be that George Washington could lead America to victory over the British, preside over the writing of the Constitution, serve as the first president of the United States -- and then put his ego aside to surrender that office, lest he become royalty? How was Samuel Adams able to educate and motivate enough people to thirst for independence and put their lives on the line for it, then help etch the principles of our new nation into our history forever? How can it be that Martin Luther King, Jr., galvanized the spirit of millions of African Americans and inspired them to march for freedom?
The answer: Each of these men embodied the principles of Courage, Faith, Truth, Compassion, Family, Friendship, and Common Sense. According to Glenn Beck and his longtime friend psychiatrist Dr. Keith Ablow, these principles are the "Seven Wonders" that can turn ordinary men into extraordinary ones, suffering into joy -- and that helped Beck himself replace nearly unbearable pain (from his mother's suicide and his own alcoholism, depression and divorce) with genuine happiness and wonderful success. Now, in The 7: Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life, Beck and Ablow explain these principles and show you how to apply them in your life.
1. Bill Gates Makes the Depopulation "Usefulness" of Vaccines Explicit
Gates: Vaccines Vital in Developing World
By Erica Teichert
The vaccine industry publication, Fierce Vaccines, reported in its January 26, 2011 issue that Bill Gates explicitly laid out the importance of vaccination programs in reducing population. Read this article, especially the part which we have highlighted in red, and then ask yourself, again, why pregnant women and children, rationally the LAST groups who should receive any vaccines, let alone experimental ones, are the first targets of the increasingly urgent and irrational MUST HAVE vaccine programs.
And then ask yourself why you, or anyone you have responsibility for, would allow vaccination for any purposed. Autism is only one of the consequences of poisoning the immune system. Vaccinations make us life-long customers of the pharmaceutical illness propagation system. Why would we allow them into our bodies when they do not work, have never been shown to be safe or effective and are based on a vast lie: that injected pathogenic material induces disease protection. Nothing, in fact, could be farther from the truth. Click here, http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/?p=3198, to read how the best way to predict pandemics is to track vaccination programs. And click here, http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/?page_id=189, to donate to make it possible for the Natural Solutions Foundation to take our Stop the Shot Case against influenza vaccines, all of which are dangerous, none of which protect us against flu and all of which are associated with long term serious problems like asthma, allergies, all-cause deaths and Alzheimer's disease. We have won on narrow grounds in our first two Federal Court rounds. This time we want to win big by getting a judgement to prohibit ALL influenza vaccines.
Here is the article which Fierce Vaccines published.
"In a move to continue supporting vaccination efforts abroad, Bill Gates donated $50 million to fund a myriad of vaccinations in the Middle East. And this time, he had matched support from Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi. According to Gates, preventing disease through vaccinations is one of the most important actions a country can take towards ensuring stability.
"If governments look at the numbers--the impact of this--it compares favorably to almost anything else you can do to help a country," Gates said in an interview in Abu Dhabi, according to the Wall Street Journal. "If you don't, if you let the population growth stay high--like it is in countries with very poor health--whether it's stability or education, all of it is kind of out of reach."[Emphasis added - REL]
Of the total funds, two-thirds will be given to the GAVI Alliance for the purchase and delivery of the pentavalent vaccine and the introduction of the new pneumococcal vaccine in Afghanistan. These vaccines help protect the biggest killers of children younger than 5, including pneumonia, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B, which causes meningitis.
The remaining $34 million will be directed to the World Health Organization and UNICEF to deliver polio vaccines in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Polio is still in issue in the Middle East, as well as India and Nigeria. But thanks to the WHO, Unicef and other beneficiaries, polio cases have diminished by 99 percent in the past 20 years. Gates hopes that the efforts will push polio to join smallpox as the only diseases vanquished by vaccines.
2. Gardasil "Winner" in Fetal Death Sweepstakes, Beats Out H1N1 Vaccine!
H1N1 vaccine is implicated in a large number of fetal deaths (which is part of the reason that the Natural Solutions Foundation is suing the FDA to prevent the use of any flu vaccine in the United States) but it comes in second in fetal deaths: First Place Winner is Gardasil. Although only 1-4% of all vaccine-related adverse events are reported through the US government's VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System), the number of fetal deaths caused by Gardasil is even higher than those caused by the H1N1 vaccines. "The H1N1 Flu vaccine appears in many of the abortion/stillbirth cases, but not the most. The “winner,” appearing in 297 of the VAERS records associated with miscarriage, is Gardasil (vaccine code HPV4)! Once again, this vaccine is a newcomer, having only existed for 4 years.
One More -- What? Infertile Woman? Dead Baby? Young Woman Ill for Life? Oh, Yes, One More Boy, Too! Stop the Madness. Say NO to Gardasil along with all other vaccines.
2. Andrew Wakefield Fights Back, Exposes British Medical Journal Fraud, Vaccine Funding!
Despite the fact that the link between colon inflammation and MMR vaccination had been published 14 years before Dr. Wakefield's BMJ study, Dr. Wakefield's paper, connecting the GI problems of autistic children and MMR vaccination caused a firestorm. First Dr. Wakefield's excellent paper was retracted by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and then Dr. Wakefield was deprived of his license to practice medicine in the UK.
Dr. Wakefield touched the nerve of the the vaccine industry, which is clearly willing to defly logic and defile anyone's career and reputation to bury the fact that the link between toxic materials in the bloodstreams and brains of children and their neurological collapse is a powerful and vitally important one.
To protect the vaccine industry (which is, in essence, protecting the entire pharmaceutical industry since once damaged, the immune and other systems require continuing medication for life) the powers that be are willing to lie, defame, and destroy truth tellers like Dr. Wakefield.
But Dr. Wakefield is fighting back. As Natural News reports, "The BMJ, in essence, has been caught pulling off what may be the largest scientific fraud ever perpetrated by any medical journal in the history of the world. It grossly misrepresented the facts in falsely accusing Dr Wakefield of fabricating the clinical trial data that led to his landmark study being published in The Lancet in 1998. The innocence of Dr Wakefield has now been established by these newly-released documents."
My take as a child and adult psychiatrist and physician? Those who, like Dr. Wakefield, draw a connection between vaccination and autism, leukemia, neurological dysfunction, diabetes and a host of other problems are totally correct. My advice? NEVER vaccinate a pregnant woman. NEVER vaccinate a baby. NEVER vaccinate a child. NEVER vacciante an adolescent. NEVER vaccinate an adult. NEVER vaccinate an older person. ALWAYS vaccinate public health officials and politicians who advocate vaccination.
"Ministers of parliament and senior advisers in the UK government ruled against the flu vaccine for children under 5. This decision comes even though a flu epidemic is currently striking the UK. ... Possibly they took a look at what Dr. Hugh Fudenberg, one of the world's leading immunologists, has had to say on the flu vaccine. Fudenburg found that anyone who had more than two flu vaccines between 1970 and 1980 has a far higher chance of having Alzheimer's in old age. ... Physicians in America have been insisting that every child age 6 months to 18 years get an annual flu shot for several years now, but health officials have now ramped up those recommendations, telling EVERY person over the age of 6 months get a flu shot EVERY year, healthy or not, low risk or high. What will receiving a flu shot every year every year of your life do to your immune system?
During January 2003 and Feb 2003, Saudi Intelligence officers would boast that the American military was overreacting about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. Their bravery changed as we approached the invasion of Iraq in Mar 2003. The high-ranking Saudi officers were scrambling to obtain gas masks and other protective equipment. They knew their equipment was substandard and they wanted U.S.-made protective equipment. We gave them some of ours. The Saudi Intelligence officers were visibly frightened about a potential chemical, biological, or nuclear attack and expressed their fears.
While in Iraq we determined the following:
1. Russian activity in Iraq had been rampant several months prior to the war and up until the day before the invasion.
2. Iranians were infiltrating southern Iraq by the thousands and were preparing to assist insurgents in removing U.S. forces from Iraq.
3. We found numerous pieces of evidence indicating WMD were in Iraq before the war began and some were still in Iraq.
4. I and other agents were informed by Iraqis that a civil war would erupt and violence against U.S. forces would increase due to the Iranian and Russian influence.
All of this information was provided through intelligence channels, but was ignored. Today we are seeing the results of our intelligence being ignored in 2003. snip
I began conducting research and talking with experts from various fields and determined three significant facts that I corroborated by further research:
1. The terrorists groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and Al-Qaeda each had different leaders and to some degree operated in different ways, but they each had the same two goals (destroy Israel and destroy America and any country that supported either).
2. Our nuclear research centers were very vulnerable to an attack and the potential for a suicide bomber using a dirty radiological bomb from these facilities was and is a high probability. Note: Vic Walter and Brian Ross of ABC News did an excellent report on the lack of security at these facilities. I received an enormous amount of information from individuals associated with Russian nuclear programs that there is nuclear material being sold on the black market and nuclear material is in the hands of Islamic Extremists.
3. Terrorist sleeper cells are located primarily in Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Michigan, Florida, California, and Canada. The "sleepers" are prepared to conduct terrorist attacks within the U.S., and nuclear material is available to them. "Prepared" in this instance indicates they have the necessary tools to carry out their attacks and are prepared to die.
4. Non profit organizations such as CAIR, ISNA, MANA, MSA, and several other Islamic based groups are in actuality simply fronts for Al Qaeda and Hamas. The leadership within these groups receives funds and training from the Saudi government. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows these groups to operate freely throughout the U.S. and at American’s taxpayer’s expense. Essentially the IRS grants the groups immunity and the authority to train, organize, and prepare for attacks against our country. Why? Because CAIR and other such groups have a confidential informant network much better than even our FBI. CAIR uses contractors such as Corey Saylor (Simple Resolve Company) to place interns into our elected official’s offices, and into organizations such as the IRS.
Terrorist operations are active in the U.S. and are being operated/financed by Al Qaeda throughout the U.S.
U.S. citizens need to understand there are people trained and prepared to carry our suicide missions in the U.S. and nothing are off limits. Churches, malls, and even the schools our children attend are not off limits to suicide bombers. It is only a relatively short time before the U.S. will begin seeing suicide terrorist missions. Full Article:
There is every reason to suspect that we will endure suicide missions by Islamist sleeper cells. They are already in place. They are waiting for the right time. I know this from experience.
I have worked over 15 years as a U.S. Federal Agent, a U.S. State Department Arabic linguist, and the first civilian Federal Agent deployed into Iraq at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Since returning from Iraq I have been involved in terrorism analysis, specifically the mindset of terrorists. During my extensive research on sleeper cells I have talked with hundreds of people from the Middle East from all walks of life, and have talked with Iraqi Government officials, Iraqi military and Iraqi police officers. In addition I have interviewed numerous counter-terrorism specialists in the U.S. and abroad. In 2006 I trained over 4000 U.S. Law Enforcement officers in Basic Investigative Arabic and counter-terrorism. The conclusions of my research lead to the title of this article.
Before I departed for the Middle East in 2003 I had been assigned to Kirtland AFB, NM. Kirtland has some of the best scientists in the world working on U.S. Government projects. I had been working closely with these scientists who specialized in nuclear energy, directed energy, laser technology, bio-weapons and more. I fully understand the impact if suicide bombers begin progressing from conventional explosives to unconventional methods.
The Middle East
In Jan 2003, I was assigned to Arar Air Base Saudi Arabia. Arar is located near the border of Iraq. My mission was to interact with Saudi military officials in order to determine the support we could expect from the Saudi government, to determine if Iraqis were monitoring the activities of the U.S. forces at Arar, and to infiltrate the encampments of the Bedouin community (Saudis and Iraqis living in the desert of Arar). This involved leaving the relatively safe confines of Arar Air Base and driving to the Bedouin camps.
It was most important the Saudis did not know we were leaving the compound because they had forbidden us to do so. Four U.S. special Agents would use our ATV's and/or four wheel drive vehicles to conduct these missions. The Saudi Government had active spies collecting information pertaining to our troop strength, our weapons, and any other intelligence they could obtain. The Saudis were providing the intelligence to the Saudi Government, and we were very confident it was also being passed to Iraqi intelligence.
During January 2003 and Feb 2003, Saudi Intelligence officers would boast that the American military was overreacting about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. Their bravery changed as we approached the invasion of Iraq in Mar 2003. The high-ranking Saudi officers were scrambling to obtain gas masks and other protective equipment. They knew their equipment was substandard and they wanted U.S.-made protective equipment. We gave them some of ours. The Saudi Intelligence officers were visibly frightened about a potential chemical, biological, or nuclear attack and expressed their fears.
While in Iraq we determined the following:
1. Russian activity in Iraq had been rampant several months prior to the war and up until the day before the invasion.
2. Iranians were infiltrating southern Iraq by the thousands and were preparing to assist insurgents in removing U.S. forces from Iraq.
3. We found numerous pieces of evidence indicating WMD were in Iraq before the war began and some were still in Iraq.
4. I and other agents were informed by Iraqis that a civil war would erupt and violence against U.S. forces would increase due to the Iranian and Russian influence.
All of this information was provided through intelligence channels, but was ignored. Today we are seeing the results of our intelligence being ignored in 2003.
Vulnerability at home Upon returning from Iraq I left Federal Service to pursue a career educating U.S. law enforcement in the U.S. I wrote a book titled "Arabic for law enforcement and military". During my lectures to local, county, and state law enforcement officers it was revealed the true first line defenders in the U.S. are not trained nor prepared to combat terrorism in the U.S. (through no fault of their own). The local law enforcement agencies were not receiving adequate funds or assistance from the Federal Government to fight terrorism. The majority advised they were supposed to be the first line defenders, but in actuality they did not even know what Al-Qaeda meant, and/or could not point out Iraq or Iran on a map. They had no Arabiclanguage training.
I began conducting research and talking with experts from various fields and determined three significant facts that I corroborated by further research:
1. The terrorists groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and Al-Qaeda each had different leaders and to some degree operated in different ways, but they each had the same two goals (destroy Israel and destroy America and any country that supported either).
2. Our nuclear research centers were very vulnerable to an attack and the potential for a suicide bomber using a dirty radiological bomb from these facilities was and is a high probability. Note: Vic Walter and Brian Ross of ABC News did an excellent report on the lack of security at these facilities. I received an enormous amount of information from individuals associated with Russian nuclear programs that there is nuclear material being sold on the black market and nuclear material is in the hands of Islamic Extremists.
3. Terrorist sleeper cells are located primarily in Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Michigan, Florida, California, and Canada. The "sleepers" are prepared to conduct terrorist attacks within the U.S., and nuclear material is available to them. "Prepared" in this instance indicates they have the necessary tools to carry out their attacks and are prepared to die.
4. Non profit organizations such as CAIR, ISNA, MANA, MSA, and several other Islamic based groups are in actuality simply fronts for Al Qaeda and Hamas. The leadership within these groups receives funds and training from the Saudi government. TheInternal Revenue Service (IRS) allows these groups to operate freely throughout the U.S. and at American’s taxpayer’s expense. Essentially the IRS grants the groups immunity and the authority to train, organize, and prepare for attacks against our country. Why? Because CAIR and other such groups have a confidential informant network much better than even our FBI. CAIR uses contractors such as Corey Saylor (Simple Resolve Company) to place interns into our elected official’s offices, and into organizations such as the IRS.
Terrorist operations are active in the U.S. and are being operated/financed by Al Qaeda throughout the U.S.
U.S. citizens need to understand there are people trained and prepared to carry our suicide missions in the U.S. and nothing are off limits. Churches, malls, and even the schools our children attend are not off limits to suicide bombers. It is only a relatively short time before the U.S. will begin seeing suicide terrorist missions.
I will continue to research terrorism related issues in the U.S. and Canada and will bring forward the results. Nuclear reactors are located on a large number of major university campuses in the U.S. There locations are not classified and are described on the internet.
Children are the ones who suffer in wartime and I want to prevent any child from ever having to experience a terrorist attack.
In Feb, 2007, I wrote the above article for ‘American Thinker’. I have updated the information for readers.
Mixing cookies and fish sticks on the same pan just creates one big unappetizing mess!! That is what happened Tuesday night when Obama tried to mix the best of Reagan with socialism… as he talked about cutting our debt and spending and “investing” in education and a long list of other things in the same breath!!
EXCELLENT SHOW SOTU speech State of the Union and a whole lot more!
Keywords covered include: Hawaii Obama Reagan 'not a move to the middle' 'most radical speech Obama has given' 'government is the answer' 'must invest billions' follow China's lead on education' 'she's just a mom' 'China slave and child labor' infrastructure 'Amtrak loses billion dollars year' 'choo-choo train logic' 'how trains work' 'GAO can't estimate cost high speed rail' freight trains 'speech was stimulus double down' green jobs solar panels 'two guys and shingle company' 'can man rule himself?' 'politicians want to rule over man' 'rings on a tree' tree rings 'tree smarter than congress' airplane turbulence Washington 'New York average worker's day' 'Glenn Beck's average day' prioritize 'family first country second' God bigger better faster newer new 'middle seat don't sit here' 'fix the country' biomedical research information technology clean energy technology 'internet kill switch no judicial review' 'vilify oil companies' 'USA .6% wind energy .1% solar 2% wood' oil coal 'google partner with NSA' 'Reagan the government not solution to our problems government is the problem' and
My pal, a frequent Spectator contributor and a super smart guy, Aram Bakshian, summed it up perfectly after Barack Obama's State of the Union address.
"Obama does not seem like a leader anymore," he said.
It is sadly true. This was painfully apparent in tonight's speech. It was as if the Bodysnatchers had gotten hold of Mr. Obama and put a sixth grader's brain in him. There were only a few glimpses of Obama the "intellectual" socialist on display tonight. Mostly, his speech sounded as if it could have been given by any 1958 Republican elementary school student. The problem is that this is not 1958 America.
This is a much changed America, and one that has put itself into a terribly confining box.
When Mr. Obama talks about reducing the deficit, it's almost comical. The changes he proposes are so minuscule in terms of their effect on the budget that it's as if he is saying he can throw a rock to the moon. This country's deficit is spectacularly beyond his control. Only really painful surgery -- drastic, draconian cuts in Social Security and in Medicare, and wildly higher taxes on upper income people -- will come even close to fixing the problem.
The GOP has succeeded in making the tax part of these off limits, which makes certain the problem will get even worse. Mr. Obama did not come within a mile of telling the truth about it. He has been completely boxed in by the GOP, to an extent he would find deeply upsetting if he ever admitted it to himself.
When Mr. Obama says he's going to reform American education by setting higher standards, he is just baying at the moon. Most of the nation's public school pupils are not achieving at even close to the rates of the students in other advanced nations. The problem is intensely concentrated among the nonwhite students of this nation. If wecannot find a way to get these kids working, and working hard, to reach basic educational standards, we will face educational and job force catastrophe. For their sake and for the nation's sake, they have to be helped to help themselves. Unless they can be brought up to standards of other industrial nations, we will become a third world country. This remediation can be done and must be done.
There was not one word about this in Mr. Obama's speech. He kept talking about the Sputnik moment in 1957 when the USA made a major effort to improve its science education. I can remember those days very well. The crisis is that we do not have even remotely the same kind of student population we did in 1957. Not a word about that, either.
The crisis in non-white America will kill us if we don't get it fixed, and slogans and test score measures will not do it.
Truth to tell, I don't know what will fix the problem, but I know it can be done and we had better do it.
His bragging about Afghanistan rang a bit hollow, too. If progress is indeed being made in that sad country, the soldiers I talk to do not see it. Time for them to leave. There is just no reason for us to be there any longer.
His ridiculous words about the sanctions on Iran stopping them or slowing them down were almost sad. Israeli spycraft with software is doing something, but Iran is still a super catastrophe in the making.
There were two glimpses of the old Obama -- when he slammed "subsidies" for oil companies, which of course do not get any subsidies, but have business deductions the way every other business does, he sounded every bit like the envious skinny Harvard man he once was. When he railed against tax breaks that he considered identical to government spending, that was outright socialism. That concept implies that all the income in the nation belongs to the state, and that if we let working people keep any of it, that is the same as a government expenditure. The opposite is true. The income belongs to the people, and they allow government to have some of it. But, of course, the servant has become the master now.
One final note: in its lack of eloquence, its complete absence of high points, its elementary school pedagogy, its complete absence of any interesting or memorable phrases, it was possibly the lamest SOTU speech I have ever heard.
Once again, Aram Bakshian, a far smarter man than I am, said it well. Mr. Obama just does not seem like a leader anymore, and, I will add, certainly not like an orator. This was a disappointing evening.
Google is in the Bag With NSA
And Yes… Google is in the bag with the NSA, Twitter turns all their history over to the Smithsonian and facebook retains any information ever posted to it, even if you close your account, and also shares its information. And as in the EU below, if you think that Internet Providers in U.S. don’t act like the secret police for our government and that the WH doesn’t monitor and scrub info from the Internet regularly… I
Internet Providers Are the New Secret Police, Says Report
Who needs a new agency? Just pass a law with severe penalties if the ISPs don’t become an arm of gov’t. Many of us work online regularly know this is already happening everywhere!!
More and more European Union member states are delegating online policing to private companies and Internet service providers, according to a report released Wednesday.
Where law enforcement agencies would traditionally have tackled the problem of illegal online content, more powers are being given to ISPs in the name of industry self-regulation, according to a study by the organization European Digital Rights (EDRI). That trend is likely to become stronger with increasing "extra-judicial sanctions" against consumers, EDRI said.
Proposed legislation and "non-binding guidelines" have left intermediaries in a precarious position, unsure whether they are liable for the actions of consumers over their networks. So-called "three strikes" laws, under which alleged copyright infringers receive three warnings before their Internet connection is cut off, put the onus on Internet service providers to police customers. Such laws currently appear in some form in French, Irish and U.K. legislation, where they have met with anger from ISPs. In France, the law can impose a fine and a one-year Internet connection suspension. The U.K.'s Digital Economy Act, adopted last year, provoked concern from the country's two largest ISPs, BT and TalkTalk.
International trade agreements such as the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), and bilateral trade agreements the E.U. has signed with India and South Korea, all leave the door open for intermediary liability.
"The European Commission appears far from perturbed by the dangers for fundamental rights of this approach and appears keen to export the approach. This process is gradually strangling the openness that is at the core of the Internet. This openness has enhanced democracy, has shaken dictatorships and has boosted economies worldwide. This openness is what we will lose through privatized policing of the Internet by private companies," said Joe McNamee, Advocacy Coordinator at European Digital Rights.
Was President Obama channeling Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers movies in his State of the Union address last night? Glenn had fun with Obama’s calls for more spending (or is it investing?) in his State of the Union speech last night.
“The speech last night was a campaign speech and we are starting to see the beginning of changity change change again,” Glenn said about the President’s speech.
Remember when the Obama administration was calling for high speed bullet trains? Much like a lot of the content in the President’s speech last night, the message and the facts don’t line up.
“Ooh, bullet trains? That sounds, well, violent, but it sounds great. A bullet train? Please don’t let anybody explain to me why bullet trains won’t work here in America. You know, the fact that we only have a single rail system. So in other words, our freight trains run on the same tracks that our new bullet trains would run on. And the bullet train might go a little faster than a freight train and go bumpity bump bump, boom, but don’t explain that because it just sounds better if we just say, we should get a bullet train.”
Glenn almost had an aneurysm when the President said America’s infrastructure was just rated and got a “D”, and we need to invest more into strengthening our infrastructure.
“I immediately thought to myself, isn’t this kind of the same speech he gave two years ago and he said, ‘And that’s why I need a trillion dollars’,” Glenn said.
“The last time I heard somebody use a trillion dollars, wouldn’t say it with a straight face, I need one trillion ‑‑ when I say $1 trillion, you think of a guy in a gray suit with his pinky up to his lip. He’s bald. It was an Austin Powers movie, $1 trillion. Remember? Remember when a trillion dollars used to mean something?” Glenn said, referencing Dr. Evil from Austin Powers.
Movie expert Stu chimed in, “I think he said a million and then everyone made fun of him and then he said a hundred billion.”
Source: PC World ^ | January 26, 2011 | Jennifer Baker
Obama’s strongly worded letters to Iran aren’t really doing the trick. They still want to wipe America off the map. Hopefully the President will watch our latest original documentary, “Rumors of War” (TONIGHT at 8pm on Insider Extreme: http://www.glennbeck.com/extreme) so he can get informed on arguably the most dangerous regime in the world. Watch it TONIGHT!
Tonight, Glenn’s latest documentary Rumors of War debuts on Insider Extreme. Glenn interviewed Joel Rosenberg, author of The Twelfth Imam, who contributed to the special.
“ There are a few people that I have met in my — in my career in the last ten years, and there are just a handful that I think really truly believe what they say, really truly are trying to find the answer and let the chips fall where they may, and are willing to say the insane or dangerous thing because they’ve tried to explain it away and they — no matter what they try to do, it won’t go away. The facts are the facts. Joel Rosenberg is one of those guys,” Glenn said in his introduction.
“Joel, do you want to explain why I named this the documentary Rumors of War? ,” Glenn asked.
Rosenberg said that the title comes from the Bible in a passage where Jesus was asked when he would return. In his response, he said among the signs of his return would be false prophets and rumors of war, and Rosenberg believes that the Twelfth Imam is one of those false prophets.
When asked about Iran, once called Persia’s, relationship with Nazi Germany, Rosenberg said. “In the trailer, you know, you make the point that if Ahmadinejad and Khomeini, the current leaders of Iran, are able to get a nuclear warhead and attach it to a high-speed ballistic missile — they haven’t done it yet but they’re getting closer — they could do in six minutes what Adolf Hitler took about six years to do and that is to kill six million Jews. And that isn’t their ultimate objective, as horrifying as it is. Israel is the little Satan in their end times theology. We, the United States, are the Great Satan, and yet it isn’t meriting the serious attention of The President.”
“Well, because nobody wants to think these things are true. We are living in a world of illusion, of advertising tricks, PR, propaganda, and people don’t ever want to think that those things are true, that people actually would do those things,” Glenn said.
Rosenberg said, “[Iranian leaders] believe it so deeply. It’s why I wrote the novel last fall The Twelfth Imam which I was, I have to say I was surprised. With everything else political going on and the country focused on economic issues which are very serious, it still was a New York Times best seller. I think people really do have a sense that he things that the Iranian leadership are saying, that those guys actually believe it and that there are implications for us, for Israel, for our allies that our government and others aren’t taking as seriously as need be, given the genocide that the Iranian leadership is talking about.”
Glenn also discussed the ending of the documentery, which draws comparisons between the actions of the Iranian government and the Book of Revelations. He asked Joel Rosenberg if he thought the Twelfth Imam could be compared to the biblical Anti-Christ.
“I think that it’s, in broad strokes it is very true. There are a lot of similarities. You know, one of the questions I got asked in the Twelfth Imam book tour was do you believe biblically from an evangelical Christian perspective that the Twelfth Imam should this person come. We don’t know that he is but Jesus warned a false Messiah, would this be the Antichrist. And I would just say — and I’m not sure we have the time to get into it in detail but I don’t think this is the Antichrist, capital A,” Rosenberg commented.
Rosenberg also told an interesting story from news that emerges over this past summer.
“Last summer, I’m not sure if you’re aware, last summer in July the Ayatollah Khomeini, the supreme leader of Iran said publicly that he had met with the twelfth imam. Now, what was odd about that is that nobody knows what he’s talking about. Is this a person? Is this a vision that he had? A dream? Some sort of spirit? But three weeks later in July of last year he said publicly that he is the official representative of the twelfth imam on Earth and therefore must be obeyed. It was significant in two parts. One, because he now believes this isn’t just a theory that he believes but a reality that’s about to emerge. Stepping out in front of Ahmadinejad and saying, yes, Ahmadinejad’s been taking about this but I am now the spokesman. And that was a significant change.”
GLENN: There are a few people that I have met in my — in my career in the last ten years, and there are just a handful that I think really truly believe what they say, really truly are trying to find the answer and let the chips fall where they may, and are willing to say the insane or dangerous thing because they’ve tried to explain it away and they — no matter what they try to do, it won’t go away. The facts are the facts. Joel Rosenberg is one of those guys. Joel was working for the Israeli government for a while, was an advisor for prime minister, I think it was Benjamin Netanyahu, I can’t remember, and he is a newfound Christian and converted and was really looking into, you know, scriptures. And he was on a plane and he and the prime minister were talking about something and he realized, oh, dear heavens, that’s a sign. And dedicated his life to this because he really truly believes we are living in dangerous times. And I don’t want to put words in his mouth, but the end times? Quite possibly. How long that time lasts is, you know, beyond us. He is also a guy that when I started looking into the twelfth imam and I started to have that conversation with my own research team and I started saying, well, wait a minute, wait a minute, I think this is the exact opposite. This is the bad guy to the Christians. But to the Twelvers in Iran, he’s the good guy. And the story lines match up almost identically to the book of Revelation except it’s the polar opposite. Joel believes some of these things, many of these things, and so do I. And he has dedicated his life to get the word out. Joel Rosenberg is on with us now. Hello, Joel, how are you?
ROSENBERG: Good to be with you again, Glenn. How are you? I’m good.
GLENN: Very good. You’re the author of The Twelfth Imam and you also have helped us on the Part One of Rumors of War. I’m getting e-mail this morning: Why did you name it Rumors of War, Glenn? Joel, do you want to explain why I named this the documentary Rumors of War?
ROSENBERG: I’m just spit-balling here, but I’m thinking it was from Matthew Chapter 24 where when Jesus was asked by his disciples on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, hey, when are you coming back? Give us one sign of the end of the age. Jesus didn’t just give him just one sign. He could have given him a very Washington political answer: No comment, next question. But he actually gave a whole list of signs.
GLENN: Jesus in press conferences.
ROSENBERG: And one of them was you’ll see wars and rumors of wars and unfortunately those were only some of the –
GLENN: Yes.
ROSENBERG: You know, those were only two of the signs. One of them that was — that false Messiahs would come in the last days of which I think the twelfth imam is one. So I appreciate what you’ve done. I can’t think of other national commentators that focus this type of attention not just on end times prophecy alone. That’s important, I think. But the fact that the only regime in modern history that I’m aware of that is being driven right now by an end times theology, a quite dangerous one, would be the government of Iran. Didn’t seem to merit more than a sentence in the State of the Union last night, but this is important and I appreciate you bringing attention to it.
GLENN: Joel, I tell you even the Nazis didn’t run their whole regime on end times theology. However, they were fascinated by the occult and fascinated. I mean, Nazi Germany and Iran, Iran is a — was Persia. It was the relationship with the Nazis that made them turn their name to Iran, which is not Arabic.
PAT: You mean Aryan?
GLENN: It means Aryan.
ROSENBERG: It’s actually three days to the Nazis. But officially in 1935, but it is an Aryan country ethnically and obviously there is a deep connection there.
GLENN: No, it was — but it was suggested by the Nazi advisors or something, if I’m not mistaken. It’s been like a year and a half since I’ve done the research on it.
ROSENBERG: Well, the time frame is right, 1935, March. Hitler was certainly rising and the Persian leaders definitely felt a kinship there to Nazi Germany. And there’s no question that President Ahmadinejad now is trying to accomplish what Hitler did then. And if he — you know, we talk about in your new documentary, which I haven’t seen the whole thing. I’ve only seen clips.
GLENN: Oh, it’s amazing.
ROSENBERG: But even in the trailer, you know, you make the point that if Ahmadinejad and Khomeini, the current leaders of Iran, are able to get a nuclear warhead and attach it to a high-speed ballistic missile — they haven’t done it yet but they’re getting closer — they could do in six minutes what Adolf Hitler took about six years to do and that is to kill six million Jews. And that isn’t their ultimate objective, as horrifying as it is. Israel is the little Satan in their end times theology. We, the United States, are the Great Satan, and yet it isn’t meriting the attention –
GLENN: Yes.
ROSENBERG: The serious attention of the president.
GLENN: Well, because nobody wants to think these things are true. We are living in a world of illusion, of advertising tricks, PR, propaganda, and people don’t ever want to think that those things are true, that people actually would do those things. Nobody wanted to believe Jeffrey Dahmer, if you’re living next to him, was keeping heads in the refrigerator. Even if you had a sense, you would have denied it because that’s the way people do it. They were like, no, that’s crazy. No, he’s not doing that. But that’s what crazy people or evil people really count on is people just to be sheep and say, “No, that’s not what they’re doing.”
ROSENBERG: That’s true. The difference, though — and obviously you and I have talked about it before is that, you know, a Jeffrey Dahmer isn’t broadcasting his intention.
GLENN: Yes.
ROSENBERG: The leaders of Iran are.
GLENN: Are.
ROSENBERG: Because they believe it so deeply. It’s why I wrote the novel last fall The Twelfth Imam which I was, I have to say I was surprised. With everything else political going on and the country focused on economic issues which are very serious, it still was a New York Times best seller. I think people really do have a sense that –
GLENN: No.
ROSENBERG: — the leaders in Iran — now, this was a fictional version.
GLENN: Yes.
ROSENBERG: But still they do have a sense that the things that the Iranian leadership are saying, that those guys actually believe it and that there are implications for us, for Israel, for our allies that our government and others aren’t taking as seriously as need be, given the genocide that the Iranian leadership is talking about.
GLENN: All right. Well, tonight at 8:00 Eastern time on Insider Extreme, I have been working — I shouldn’t say. I suggested this to my team about a year ago and we worked on it, you know, for — I did for about three weeks at the beginning and then at the end I come in and they have been working on this for a year, and it is a two-part series. The first part is just, here’s what they’re saying. Here’s what they’re doing. Here’s what their own people are saying and doing. Here’s how they’re beating them down in the streets. Here’s the history that you need to understand. Here’s what we’re saying and here’s what they’re actually saying to our face and then behind our back. Not even behind your back. In a different language on their own television networks. Here’s what they’re telling their own people. Here’s what’s happened in the year that we started this documentary, this is how much progress they have made. And the last ten minutes go into what Part 2 is really all about: Why? Why would they do this? It could be just because they want power, just because they want this or that but, umm, no. It’s so much deeper than that. And the comparisons. And we begin to lay these out. Between the book of Revelation and the Antichrist and the earmarks of the Antichrist and what the government would be like and what this government over there is doing and who the twelfth imam is. We don’t know. He hasn’t arrived yet. But they — Ahmadinejad closes all of his speeches, “Oh, a la, give me the strength to hasten the return of the promised one.” And if you do an A/B comparison between the promised one and the Antichrist, they look very, very — Joel, am I saying something that’s not true?
ROSENBERG: I think that it’s, in broad strokes it is very true. There are a lot of similarities. You know, one of the questions I got asked in the Twelfth Imam book tour was do you believe biblically from an evangelical Christian perspective that the Twelfth Imam should this person come. We don’t know that he is but Jesus warned a false Messiah, would this be the Antichrist. And I would just say — and I’m not sure we have the time to get into it in detail but I don’t think this is the Antichrist, capital A. It certainly would be A.
ROSENBERG: An antichrist little A. There are some specific reasons for that.
GLENN: I will tell you that the idea of a Caliphate, a global Islamic regime that makes people submit or die that is based in ancient Babylon is enough for me to say, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Maybe, let’s hang on here.”
ROSENBERG: Certainly.
GLENN: Let’s look what they’re doing.
ROSENBERG: You and I haven’t talked about this in quite some time. There’s obviously a lot of politics going on last year. But last summer, I’m not sure if you’re aware, last summer in July the Ayatollah Khomeini, the supreme leader of Iran said publicly that he had met with the twelfth imam. Now, what was odd about that is that nobody knows what he’s talking about. Is this a person? Is this a vision that he had? A dream? Some sort of spirit? But three weeks later in July of last year he said publicly that he is the official representative of the twelfth imam on Earth and therefore must be obeyed. It was significant in two parts. One, because he now believes this isn’t just a theory that he believes but a reality that’s about to emerge.
GLENN: And you don’t have Khomeini –
ROSENBERG: Stepping out in front of Ahmadinejad and saying, yes, Ahmadinejad’s been taking about this but I am now the spokesman. And that was a significant change.
GLENN: Okay. Tonight 8:00 p.m. Eastern on Insider Extreme. A new documentary Rumors of War. This one you need to understand. And it’s Part 1. Understand all of the, all of the stuff that is actually going on from the people who are there or working on our side behind the scenes to stop Iran. What is happening? And then Part 2, the Twelfth Imam. That’s tonight at 8:00 p.m. Thanks a lot, Joel, best of luck.
thecommunists, I remained silent; I was not a communist.
Then they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat.
Then they came for the trade unionists, I did not protest; I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics, I did not protest; I was a Protestant.
Then they came for the Jews, I did not speak out; I was not a Jew.
When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.
Election 2014 - What Is Really At Stake
Help Stop Voter Fraud!! Stand for the Constitution and God
Time to remember that: "We Surround Them", not the other way!
Stand Up Against Voter Fraud... Demand Re-Counts and Verification Until It is Right!! A Little Ink Goes a Long Way Toward Honesty... 1 Person 1 Vote... No More Mickey Mouse or Dead People Voting
"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about IT! --Albert Einstein
Call Congress Today and Tell Them To Vote Against Cap and Trade
The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality -- Dante Alighieri / Often Quoted by Mark Twain
Thanks for calling the Congressional switchboard. Keep up the pressure: "NO on Cap and Trade"!!! "NO Vote on Obamacare", NO on another Stimulus Bill, NO to the never ending parade of "Power Grab Bills", and ABSOLUTELY NO on the Climate Change Treaty in Copenhagen!!
"No" on Cap and Trade and "No" on Government Controlled Healthcare!!! And Keep up the good fight! Keep up the Pressure on both the House and Senate! These are 2-fights the American People cannot afford to lose!!!
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We apologize in advance for any Videos or links that are not functioning in these or other older posts. Internet information... like 'true' history in our student's textbooks are under constant attack by the Progressive Movement and even more so under the present administration. Try to save what you can to your own computer.
"...there comes a time, ladies and gentlemen, when ideology can cause death. I am so tired, so tired, of zealots, primarily on the left, putting their insane personal agendas above the safety of fellow Americans. Do you think the brave soldiers and Marines operating in dangerous areas right now want [unreleased photos of alleged abuse of prisoners] all over al-Jazeera and the terror websites? So let's look out for the military, OK? Nancy Pelosi has an obligation to get the loons in her party under control. If the Speaker can't do that, she doesn't deserve her position." ... Bill O'Reilly
Updated:If you'd like to contact Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, here's the contact information that you'll need.
The internet regulation plan was created under the guise to protect us against foreign crime, espionage and cyber-attacks. In reality, the act will destroy all opinions of dissent and limit criticisms of the ever expanding tentacles of big government. You will now be under the microscope of Obama and big brother. 
"There was no call for the name of God to put his loving arms around the people who were hurting, the people that were suffering," Graham said. "Why? Why did they take God out of it? Why did they leave him out?
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-N.V.) relinquished his plans to drastically change the rules of the Senate in order to pass his liberal agenda with a smaller majority.
Yesterday when I viewed the Chinese flag centered between two angled American Flags on the Drudge Report, immediately the scripture came bursting before my eyes "A house divided against itself shall not stand". This is Jesus speaking in Matthew 12:25. 
- Keep them talking Sarah!!
