The Council Has Spoken!! This Week’s Watcher’s Council Results

JoshuaPundit on Nov 30 2012

Alea acta est…the Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week’s Watcher’s Council match up.

The Obama Administration’s empowerment of the Muslim Brotherhood has had some interesting ramifications, among them the changes in the status of long standing U.S. clients and allies in the region.

This week’s winner, Joshuapundit’s The Next Islamist Domino – Jordan takes a look at a very under the wire U.S. client that could very well be the next state to fall to Islamist..perhaps even with the Obama Administration’s encouragement. Here’s a slice:

Jordan and King Abdullah appear to be next on the Islamist hit list. And the Obama administration seems to be sending signals that it tacitly approves.

Jordan has been at a tipping point for quite some time, partly because it’s a U.S client state (which doesn’t sit well with a significant part of its population whom consider King Abdullah an American tool) and partly because of its peculiar history and tribal aspect.

There have been protests with Muslim Brotherhood participation for two years now, but the most recent outbursts were large riots across the Kingdom that spread across the Kingdom and called openly for King Abdullah’s ouster. In spite of brutal suppression by the King’s security police and numerous arrests, the unrest, referred to as the “The November Intifada” is only growing.

Adding to the turmoil were remarks on November 19th by Deputy State Department Spokesman Mark Toner, who stated at a press conference that there was “thirst for change” in Jordan and that the Jordanian people had “economic, political concerns,” as well as “aspirations.” Needless to say, this sent a clear signal to King Abdullah’s foes and to America’s remaining allies in the region that just like Egypt’s Mubarak, the Obama Administration is willing to cut Abdullah loose in favor of an Islamist regime.

The unrest was ostensibly over an end to government subsidies that have led to increases in fuel prices and other staples,but it’s been festering for quite some time. Here are the two main factors involved.

Jordan, like the other Arab nations of Egypt, Tunisia and Syria without oil wealth had been keeping things quiet by subsidizing the price of food staples and cooking oil. The skyrocketing prices of these items on the world market combined with the rising economies of countries like India and China have made this an impossible solution to continue. Where it used to be Indians and Chinese who suffered when food prices rose dramatically, now it’s the Arabs without oil wealth who are at the bottom of the chain because of their dysfunctional economies, and it’s no coincidence that with the exception of Bahrain and Libya where there were tribal issues involved, all of the Arab Spring revolts have been in countries without oil wealth. It’s also worth noting that in the only the two countries with oil resources that experienced Arab Spring unrest, the Bahrain revolt failed miserably, and that the one in Libya only succeeded because of extensive U.S. assistance.

To cut it down to one a short paragraph, no matter what you’re hearing from the usual suspects, the Arab Spring isn’t about a hankering for democracy. It’s about the price of goods and food.And the Islamists are capitalizing on this (with the help of an Islamist-friendly American administration) by telling the Arab Street that all it’s going to take to fix things is a return to hard line Islamism and sharia.

The second factor is similar to the one operating in Syria, longtime rule by a privileged minority caste. In Syria, it’s the Shia Alawites ruling over a predominantly Sunni population. In Jordan, it’s Bedouins ruling over Palestinians, or Qurayshi Arabs, to give them their proper name.

In our non-Council category, the winner was Sultan Knish with War Is The Answer submitted by The Noisy Room.

OK, here are this week’s full results:

Council Winners

• *First place with 3 2/3 votes! Joshuapundit – The Next Islamist Domino – Jordan
• Second place with 3 votes – Simply Jews – The Pillar of Defense fiasco
• Third place with 2 votes – The Right Planet - Wrapped Around the Axle
• Fourth place with 1 1/3 votes – Bookworm Room - Second Amendment day: shooting the Glock
• Fifth place *t* with 1 vote – The Noisy Room - The Islamic Pharaoh Rises
• Fifth place *t* with 1 vote – VA Right! - Why The ‘Clinton Tax Rates’ Didn’t Create Prosperity in the 1990′s
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Glittering Eye -“Balance Sheet” Or Not?
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Independent Sentinel – A Moral Dilemma
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Razor – Party Like It’s 1999? Why I’m All For it
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Political Commentator – J ames Clapper – Why does this man still have a job in the Obama administration?
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Mellow Jihadi – I Am Guilty Of Stolen Valor

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 votes! – Sultan Knish - War Is The Answer submitted by The Noisy Room
• Second place with 1 2/3 votes – Mark Steyn – Jill Kelley For Secretary of State submitted by Joshuapundit
• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – Barry Rubin – Lessons for the World From a New Gaza War submitted by Simply Jews
• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Holman W. Jenkins/WSJ - None Dare Call It Default submitted by The Watcher
• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes Kausfiles - Krugman’s Twinkie Defense submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote - Yid With Lid – Hamas: Killing Jews is worship of Allah submitted by VA Right!
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote - Pat Condell – Peace In The Middle Eastsubmitted by The Right Planet
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote - Quadrant Online – Doomed Planet submitted by Bookworm Room
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote - Maggie’s Farm – Giving Tuesday submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote - Right On The Left Coast – Must Be An Election Year submitted by Rhymes With Right
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote - CNS News – One Third of Schools Receiving Stimulus-Funded ‘Student Improvement Grants’ Showed Declines submitted by The Independent Sentinel
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Taki’s Magazine – The Petrayal of Petraeus submitted by The Political Commentator
• Fifth place *t* with /3 vote - Danger Room – Leon Panetta Has a Few More Drone Wars Ready to Go submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -First Street Journal – Economics 101: A failure to understand submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey

Honorable Mentions

• Right Truth – The Obama Doctrine: Terrorists are R “U.S.”
• Maggie’s Notebook – Shout Racism And Stop The Debate!
• The Pirate’s Cove – Bummer: Gaia’s Fever Down For A Second Straight Year
• Ask Marion – Why America Will Not Survive Unless Americans Change –>

See you next week! Don’t forget to tune in on Monday AM for this week’s Watcher’s Forum, as the Council and their invited guests take apart one of the provocative issues of the day and weigh in…don’t you dare miss it. And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that!

Technorati Tags: Watcher’s Council,bloggers,blogosphere,educate yourself,politics,alternative media,collection of articles,news,news nuggets,line in the sand

Red Kettles & Bell Ringers

The holiday season is fast approaching.... So, Just a reminder... 

Red Kettles & Bell Ringers

As you open your pocketbooks for the next natural disaster, or the Christmas season, please keep these facts in mind:

The American Red Cross President and CEO Marsha J. Evans' salary for the 2011 was $951,957 plus expenses.

The United Way President Brian Gallagher receives a $675,000 base salary along with numerous expense benefits .

UNICEF CEO Caryl M. Stern receives $1,900,000 per year (158K) per month, plus all expenses including a ROLLS ROYCE.

Less than 5 cents (4.4 cents) per donated dollar goes to the cause.

Meanwhile...

The Salvation Army's Commissioner Todd Bassett receives a salary of only$13,000 per year (plus housing) for managing this $2 billion dollar organization. 96 percent of donated dollars go to the cause.

The American Legion National Commander receives a $0..00 zero salary. Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth!

The Veterans of Foreign Wars National Commander receives a $0..00 zero salary.
Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth! 
 
The Disabled American Veterans National Commander receives a$0..00 zero salary.
Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth! 
 
The Military Order of Purple Hearts National Commander receives a$0..00 zero salary.
Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth!

The Vietnam Veterans Association National Commander receives a$0..00 zero salary.
Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth!

No further comment is necessary.

Please share this with everyone you can. 

There are more people in need this year than ever before since the Great Depression and the so-called safety is pretty thin and contains lots of holes for people to fall through.  Please dig a little deeper and perhaps skip some of the excessive activities and gifts this year and donate the savings instead.  Sometimes we get side tracked in the commercialism and forget the true meaning of Christmas… of the season?!? Become part of the army of patriots and good neighbors which will be the real answer to saving America.

Beginning December 1st (tomorrow), AskMarion will start their own version of ‘the War on… The War on Christmas’, Hanukah and American traditions and religion series.  Joins them or us here, at Knowledge Creates Power where it will be reposted, daily throughout the month of December.

God Bless America, Happy Hanukah and Merry Christmas!

Technorati Tags: Christmas,Spirit of Christmas,people helping people,charities,UNICEF,Salavation Army,United Way,Vietnam Veterans Association,Military Order of Purple Hearts,Veterans of Foreign Wars,American Red Cross,giving,American Tradition,safety net,Happy Hanukah,Merry Christmas,The War on… The War on Christmas,the war on religion,God Bless America,Patriot Army,kindness

Today… A Car That Takes Your Pulse, Tomorrow A Card or Implant That Controls Your Life

WSJ – Cross-Posted at AskMarion and at True Health Is True Wealth: What the car of the near future will sense about your biology. Auto makers are researching technology that could feed your heart rate, blood pressure and other biometric responses into the car's computers, the better to determine when you're drowsy or overwhelmed with distracting media. MIT researcher Bryan Reimer and WSJ's Joe White has details on Lunch Break. See Video

A Car That Takes Your Pulse

Designing Vehicles To Monitor Brain Waves, Sleepiness

Could a car that knows when you are stressed or ill save you from having an accident? Auto makers are stepping up efforts to find out.

A number of big car manufacturers are accelerating research into equipping vehicles with so-called biometric sensors that would keep tabs on a driver's vital health signs, including pulse, breathing and "skin conductance," aka sweaty palms. When that information is fed into the computers that manage a car's safety systems, it could enable a vehicle to better react to whatever challenges the road and traffic dish out.

The move comes amid major advances in mobile medical-monitoring technology, as well as growing concerns about meeting the needs of an aging and increasingly distracted population of motorists.

It also reflects another step in the industry's broader move toward self-driving cars, a brave new world in which computers could all but eliminate the potential for driver error—whether it's due to a distracting phone call or a sudden drop in blood sugar.

Already, some Lexus models use in-cabin cameras and some Mercedes-Benz vehicles have steering sensors to detect drowsy-driving behavior. The cars sound a warning beep or flash a coffee-cup icon to suggest that it's time for a break. Luxury brands are promoting these accident-avoidance technologies as examples of what sets their expensive vehicles apart from cheaper, mainstream models. The Mercedes system, called Attention Assist, comes as standard equipment in a wide range of its vehicles, from the smaller C-class sedans to the more opulent, and high-tech, S-class models.

View Interactive

Separately, car makers and federal safety regulators are working on in-vehicle systems that could reliably detect when someone is too drunk to drive.

The new body monitors could, if a driving hazard appeared imminent, trigger the car's safety systems to tap the brakes, turn off a radio, block a cellphone from ringing or take other actions. Some of these advances may be in cars in three to five years. Others depend upon whether researchers can crack the challenge of designing health-related sensors that can work flawlessly in a vehicle for up to a decade.

Sports car maker Ferrari SpA, for one, has filed a patent application that indicates the company is evaluating technology that would embed wireless electrodes in a car seat's headrest to monitor drivers' brain waves for stress as they pilot machines capable of roaring up to 200 miles per hour. Depending on what the sensors detect, the car might try to mitigate the driver's risk by cutting power to the motor or automatically stabilizing the vehicle. As Ferrari researchers put it in the patent filing: "drivers tend to miscalculate—in particular, overestimate—their driving skill and, more important, their psychophysical condition."

At Ford Motor Co., F +1.26%researchers are looking at connecting information from medical monitors, like seat-belt-based respiration sensors and steering-wheel heart-rate trackers, to its cars' in-dash multimedia systems.

Ford's prototype system aims to lessen distraction by taking readouts from biometric sensors and combining the data with information from the car, including speed, steering-wheel angle, and data from radar sensors or cameras used in blind-spot obstacle detection or cruise control. All the data are run through software that can gauge the driver's overall stress level. If it is high, the system could automatically engage a "Do Not Disturb" function for the driver's phone.

Jeff Greenberg, a senior technical leader involved with the Ford research, says the broad goal is to minimize driver distraction and stress. This may involve keeping people engaged and alert on a boring drive to work or helping them stay focused in more difficult driving moments. If a truck looms out of the blind spot during a high-speed freeway merge, for example, a driver would be better off if his phone's ringer was disabled at that moment, he says.

Mr. Greenberg says phone-disabling technology could come to showrooms "relatively quickly." Adding the biometric sensors, he says, "is further out." Ford classifies those technologies as research projects that typically are at least three to five years from being offered to consumers.

One reason: The technology is evolving faster than issues such as medical privacy and regulatory oversight can be resolved. Ford, like other auto makers, is loath to add the Food and Drug Administration to an already heavy regulatory load.

Car makers hope that vehicles with medical monitors will appeal to an aging population that wants to keep driving.

"If we want to keep people in their vehicles, it's key we integrate systems to support them," says Bryan Reimer, a researcher with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab, which focuses on innovations for an aging population. AgeLab has worked with Toyota Motor Corp., 7203.TO -1.56%Ford and other companies to test how biometric sensors could be used both to guide the design of vehicles to make them easier to operate and as onboard systems to help people drive more safely.

Getty Images/Onoky

A number of big car manufacturers are accelerating research into equipping vehicles with so-called biometric sensors that would keep tabs on a driver's vital health signs.

Dick Myrick, a 63-year-old retired electrical engineer from Arlington, Mass., participated in AgeLab experiments in biometrically monitored driving. His says he would be interested in a car that kept tabs on his condition as part of its safety technology, but only if he was in control of the system. "I need to know that the function is on, and have it not on when I want," he says.

Others see the new technology as yet another thing to keep track of behind the wheel. It's "a further distraction" for drivers, says Gabrielle Lucci, 60, a Farmington Hills, Mich., retiree.

Devices that collect data about an individual's physical condition are getting cheaper and smaller. Many are designed to connect to smartphones using the same Bluetooth technology that connects smartphones to cars. This provides a gateway for wirelessly connecting devices like glucose or heart monitors into a car's multimedia displays.

"The same sensor you are wearing for your weekend warrior stuff…is the sensor you could slap on your mother" to monitor her heart, says Leslie Saxon, a cardiologist who leads the University of Southern California's Center for Body Computing. Dr. Saxon's project recently formed a research alliance with German luxury car maker BMW BMW.XE +0.72% AG.

Daniel Grein, a BMW designer, says the USC research could help determine how to connect a Bluetooth-equipped blood-sugar monitor to future BMW models. In Munich, he says, BMW engineers are also investigating how to design a car that could automatically stop if the driver suffered a heart attack.

Dr. Saxon says he sees a time when biometric monitors in a car could feed data, not just to onboard safety systems, but also to doctors and patients looking to better manage health care. "My car calls me when it needs something," Dr. Saxon says, referring to vehicle-service alerts generated by the car. "I want patients' cars to call them when they need blood-pressure medicine."

Sound interesting? Might increase safety? But as Founding Father Benjamin Franklin said, “He who trades security (or safety) for freedom" usually gets (nor deserves) either!!” Wake-up America, Europe, Christians, Patriots, lovers of freedom… this is Big Brother 1984 style all the way! Today it is a smart car… tomorrow it will be a smart card. Be sure to watch the video below and then you be the judge!

Video: Smart card (made 2005)

Related:

Now Big Brother is REALLY watching you

Smart Dust Computers… Vaccination Nanotechnology… NWO Here We Come

RFID Chip for all Americans in 2013 as Part of ObamaCare… See Biden Telling Fed Judge He Will Have to Rule on Implanted Microchips

Christian Family Refuses Mandatory RFID Chip at Texas School

MARK OF THE BEAST IS COMING SOON ! – WIFE STANDS UP FOR JESUS AND AGINST THE RFID IMPLANT AT HOSPITAL — GOD BLESS HER FOR HER STRENGTH OF CONVICTION

Buying and Selling in an RFID Chip for the First Time – VeriChip Changes Its Name

FBI begins installation of $1 billion face recognition system across America

Technorati Tags: Smart Card,Smart Car,Big Brother,watch the other hand,RFID,Implants,Big Brother is watching you,1984,RFID chip part of healthcare bill,NWO,safety,smoke and mirrors,BMW,smartphones,wake- up,wake-up America,biometric monitors,Benjamin Franklin,safety vs freedom

Watcher’s Council Nominations – Line In The Sand Edition

JoshuaPundit on Nov 28 2012 at 2:25 am | Nominations

Welcome to the Watcher’s Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the ‘sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday.

Council News:

This week, Right Truth, The Pirate’s Cove, Maggie’s Notebook and Ask Marion took advantage of my generous offer of linkage and earned honorable mention status with some excellent articles they sent our way.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

Simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address (which won’t be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category. Then just return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week when it comes out on Wednesday morning.

It’s a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members. while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

So, let’s see what we have this week….

Council Submissions

• The Independent Sentinel – A Moral Dilemma
• Simply Jews – The Pillar of Defense fiasco
• The Political Commentator – James Clapper – Why does this man still have a job in the Obama administration?
• The Noisy Room – The Islamic Pharaoh Rises
• The Colossus of Rhodey – Keep Perspective
• Joshuapundit - The Next Islamist Domino – Jordan
• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – The New Middle East
• The Right Planet – Wrapped Around the Axle
• VA Right! - Why The ‘Clinton Tax Rates’ Didn’t Create Prosperity in the 1990′s
• The Glittering Eye -“Balance Sheet” Or Not?
• Gay Patriot – Of slow blogging and the creative process
• Bookworm Room – Second Amendment day: shooting the Glock
• The Mellow Jihadi – I Am Guilty Of Stolen Valor
• Rhymes With Right – Democrats Seek To Ensure Candidate Of Right Color Wins Election In Chicago
• The Razor – Party Like It’s 1999? Why I’m All For it

Honorable Mentions

• Right Truth – The Obama Doctrine: Terrorists are R “U.S.”
• Maggie’s Notebook – Shout Racism And Stop The Debate!
• The Pirate’s Cove – Bummer: Gaia’s Fever Down For A Second Straight Year
• Ask Marion – Why America Will Not Survive Unless Americans Change –>

Non-Council Submissions

• CNS News – One Third of Schools Receiving Stimulus-Funded ‘Student Improvement Grants’ Showed Declines submitted by The Independent Sentinel
• Barry Rubin – Lessons for the World From a New Gaza War submitted by Simply Jews
• Taki’s Magazine -The Petrayal of Petraeus submitted by The Political Commentator
• Sultan Knish – War Is The Answer submitted by The Noisy Room
• The First Street Journal – Economics 101: A failure to understand submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
• Mark Steyn – Jill Kelley For Secretary of State submitted by Joshuapundit
• Danger Room – Leon Panetta Has a Few More Drone Wars Ready to Go submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Yid With Lid – Hamas: Killing Jews is worship of Allah submitted by VA Right!
• Kausfiles – Krugman’s Twinkie Defense submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Pat Condell – Peace In The Middle East submitted by The Right Planet
• Belmont Club -The Last Man Standing submitted by Gay Patriot
• Quadrant Online-Doomed Planet submitted by Bookworm Room
• Maggie’s Farm – Giving Tuesday submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
• Right On The Left Coast – Must Be An Election Year submitted by Rhymes with Right
• The FREEMAN – Debunking the “Shop Small Saturday” Rationale submitted by The Razor
• Holman W. Jenkins/WSJ – None Dare Call It Default submitted by The Watcher
• The Commentator – Britain heads for Israel sell-out at the UN submitted by The Watcher

Enjoy! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that!

Technorati Tags: Watcher's Council,bloggers,blogosphere,educate yourself,politics,alternative media,collection of articles,news,news nuggets,line in the sand

The Islamic Pharaoh Rises

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton  -  The NoisyRoom

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood leader, Morsi, last week played the propagandized diplomat abroad for the masses. He claimed he was the one who created the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas with Hillary Clinton whimpering at his feet. All the while gaining political power and gravitas, which he did not waste upon returning to Egypt. Morsi basically declared himself Pharaoh last week:

But the ink had barely dried on the international paeans before Egypt’s first democratically elected Islamist president made a domestic move replete with ideology.

In a presidential decree announced on state television Thursday afternoon, Morsi stipulated that any challenges to his decrees, laws and decisions were banned.

“The president can issue any decision or measure to protect the revolution,” said the decree, which further stipulated that, “The constitutional declarations, decisions and laws issued by the president are final and not subject to appeal.”

The decree also stated that no court could dissolve the country’s Constituent Assembly, which is drawing up a new Egyptian constitution.

The rewriting of the new constitution has been a controversial issue, with most non-Islamist members quitting the Constituent Assembly – including representatives of the Coptic Christian Church and the April 6 Youth Movement, which played an influential role in the 2011 ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak.

Reacting to the announcement, prominent Egyptian opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei accused Morsi of usurping authority and becoming a “new pharaoh”.

Morsi declares himself “Pharaoh” – because, hey, the Arab Spring was all about democracy… or something. Democracy has pharaohs, right? And make no mistake, Barack Obama and his minions are in lock step with the Islamic Pharaoh.

Morsi says he is only claiming his new found powers until their new constitution is ratified. Right. Obama, on the other hand, here in the US will be able to now ‘stack’ the Supreme Court which will give him full power over the judicial branch. He already controls the executive and legislative branches. Say it with me – DICTATOR.

While Morsi pretends to call for peace, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is calling for Israel’s extermination. Morsi is using diplomatic speak while planning the death of the Little Satan and the rise of the caliphate. The Brotherhood this morning started calling for protests in support of Morsi’s power grab, while judges in the country are calling for strikes against Morsi’s massive power decree. Thousands are protesting in the streets on both sides of the ideological chasm. The Brotherhood wants the death of anyone standing against Morsi. While Obama, Clinton and a host of others continue to snuggle under the sheets with the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi has become a true despot and is silencing Egyptians in the name of national security. Something to which Obama also subscribes.

While all these power struggles play out in dramatic color in the news, off camera Iran is busily rearming Hamas. The Sunday Times cites an Israeli official who claims Tehran is shipping Fajr-5 rockets through Sudan to the Gaza Strip. There is no real ceasefire. There is a lull for regrouping and then escalated violence and everyone knows it. There is speculation that Iran could be moving longer-range ballistic missiles into Sudan, which could be aimed at Israel from the African country. All of this is in preparation to attack Israel before or after they attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. Islamic terrorists also destroyed part of an Egyptian security building at Rafiah Saturday night, sticking their thumb in the eye of Morsi as a challenge to Egypt’s control in the Sinai. The Jihadists don’t like the ceasefire – they want to get their Jewish genocide going and fast. And when I say Jihadists, I’m including Morsi and the Brotherhood. Russia doesn’t buy the truce either and they have sent ships to Gaza just in case. They are the true puppet masters in all this. Egging on Iran and Hamas, while surreptitiously waiting in the shadows to clean up the spoils of war and claim world power. Who needs Pinky and the Brain?

Pinky: “Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?”
The Brain: “The same thing we do every night, Pinky—try to take over the world!”

Iran was very quick to congratulate Hamas on their victory over Israel – sort of like telling themselves, ‘well done.’ Iran is also whining to the UN (which is controlled by Islamic despots) that the US Navy is guilty of illegal and provocative violations of their airspace etc. All for show.

Morsi’s ascension to dictatorial status caused their stock market to plunge 10%. With a false front stock market here in the US, what do you think will happen as Obama makes his power grabs? The market is built on a sink hole and will vanish in a flash. It will make a depression look like a walk in the park.

The US is now entwined with Egypt. You simply can’t be ‘with’ Egypt and ‘for’ Israel. These are incompatible stances. While America played and slept, the Progressives and the Muslim Brotherhood seized control of our government. Most Americans just don’t seem to realize this yet, but that’s where we are. And just as Morsi is telling his people that his power decree is for their own good, Obama is telling America his executive orders and decrees are for our own good. It’s to keep us safe, don’t ya know.

The whole dust up between Israel and Hamas and then a ceasefire has the feel of a setup. Something cooked up between Morsi, Obama and others. As Sultan Knish so aptly puts it:

Good luck finding out if Morsi and Obama traded tyranny in Egypt for a ceasefire in Gaza. We’ll get the answer to that right after we get the situation room report from Benghazigate.

So, while our president is now the ‘BFF’ of the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi, the implementation of the worldwide caliphate continues right on schedule. Next on the docket, the eradication of Israel. Look at the events of the last few months including Benghazigate. All of it ends in the same result – Islam and global power and control. In an Islamic turn of the worm, the whole Gaza conundrum buys Obama time to let Benghazi die out as a topic.

As the fall of America continues its obvious track under Obama and the Marxists, the Islamic Pharaoh rises. Will a complacent America allow her ‘democratically elected’ tyrant to disarm us and force our submission to the caliphate? Ask yourself, what side will America stand on in the coming world war? We have turned our back on Israel and God. Now we stand in the dark with a nuclear bomb for a night light.

Related:

Is Egypt's president fulfilling biblical prophecy?

Egypt's Morsi: New Pharaoh or Egyptian Cincinnatus? 

Egypt's Morsi grants himself far-reaching powers 

Egypt's top judges condemn Mohamed Morsi power grab | World …

Egypt's political foes dig in their heels

Will Muslim Extremists Destroy the Sphinx?

This Week in Pravda “Obama's Soviet Mistake”: Bye, bye Miss American Pie. The Communists have won in America with Obama but failed miserably in Russia with Zyuganov who only received 17% of the vote.

An Urgent Message For America from Trevor Loudon

Technorati Tags: Morsi,Egypt,Middle East,Muslim Brotherhood,Mohamed Morsi,Communists,Islamic Pharaoh,Islam,global caliphate,Progressives,Muslims in the White House,wake-up America,politics,Biblical

Atheists intimidate Santa Monica into eliminating Nativity… And So the War on Christmas and Freedom of Religion Continues

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Damon Vix didn't have to go to court to push Christmas out of the city of Santa Monica. He just joined the festivities.

The atheist's anti-God message alongside a life-sized nativity display in a park overlooking the beach ignited a debate that burned brighter than any Christmas candle.

Santa Monica officials snuffed the city's holiday tradition this year rather than referee the religious rumble, prompting churches that have set up a 14-scene Christian diorama for decades to sue over freedom of speech violations. Their attorney will ask a federal judge Monday to resurrect the depiction of Jesus' birth, while the city aims to eject the case.

"It's a sad, sad commentary on the attitudes of the day that a nearly 60-year-old Christmas tradition is now having to hunt for a home, something like our savior had to hunt for a place to be born because the world was not interested," said Hunter Jameson, head of the nonprofit Santa Monica Nativity Scene Committee that is suing.

Missing from the courtroom drama will be Vix and his fellow atheists, who are not parties to the case. Their role outside court highlights a tactical shift as atheists evolve into a vocal minority eager to get their non-beliefs into the public square as never before.

National atheist groups earlier this year took out full-page newspaper ads and hundreds of TV spots in response to the Catholic bishops' activism around women's health care issues and are gearing up to battle for their own space alongside public Christmas displays in small towns across America this season.

"In recent years, the tactic of many in the atheist community has been, if you can't beat them, join them," said Charles Haynes, a senior scholar at the First Amendment Center and director of the Newseum's Religious Freedom Education Project in Washington. "If these church groups insist that these public spaces are going to be dominated by a Christian message, we'll just get in the game - and that changes everything."

In the past, atheists primarily fought to uphold the separation of church and state through the courts. The change underscores the conviction held by many nonbelievers that their views are gaining a foothold, especially among young adults.

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released a study last month that found 20 percent of Americans say they have no religious affiliation, an increase from 15 percent in the last five years. Atheists took heart from the report, although Pew researchers stressed that the category also encompassed majorities of people who said they believed in God but had no ties with organized religion and people who consider themselves "spiritual" but not "religious."

"We're at the bottom of the totem pole socially, but we have muscle and we're flexing it," said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation. "Ignore our numbers at your peril."

The trouble in Santa Monica began three years ago, when Vix applied for and was granted a booth in Palisades Park alongside the story of Jesus Christ's birth, from Mary's visit from the Angel Gabriel to the traditional crèche.

Vix hung a simple sign that quoted Thomas Jefferson: "Religions are all alike -- founded on fables and mythologies." The other side read "Happy Solstice." He repeated the display the following year but then upped the stakes significantly.

In 2011, Vix recruited 10 others to inundate the city with applications for tongue-in-cheek displays such as a homage to the "Pastafarian religion," which would include an artistic representation of the great Flying Spaghetti Monster.

The secular coalition won 18 of 21 spaces. The two others went to the traditional Christmas displays and one to a Hanukkah display.

The atheists used half their spaces, displaying signs such as one that showed pictures of Poseidon, Jesus, Santa Claus and the devil and said: "37 million Americans know myths when they see them. What myths do you see?"

Most of the signs were vandalized and in the ensuing uproar, the city effectively ended a tradition that began in 1953 and earned Santa Monica one of its nicknames, the City of the Christmas Story.

The Santa Monica Nativity Scenes Committee argues in its lawsuit that atheists have the right to protest, but that freedom doesn't trump the Christians' right to free speech.

"If they want to hold an opposing viewpoint about the celebration of Christmas, they're free to do that - but they can't interfere with our right to engage in religious speech in a traditional public forum," said William Becker, attorney for the committee. "Our goal is to preserve the tradition in Santa Monica and to keep Christmas alive."

The city doesn't prohibit churches from caroling in the park, handing out literature or even staging a play about the birth of Jesus and churches can always set up a nativity on private land, Deputy City Attorney Jeanette Schachtner said in an email.

The decision to ban the displays also saves the city, which had administered the cumbersome lottery process used to award booths, both time and money while preserving the park's aesthetics, she said.

For his part, Vix is surprised - and slightly amused - at the legal battle spawned by his solitary act but doesn't plan anything further.

"That was such a unique and blatant example of the violation of the First Amendment that I felt I had to act," said the 44-year-old set builder. "If I had another goal, it would be to remove the `under God' phrase from the Pledge of Allegiance - but that's a little too big for me to take on for right now."

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and religion, but also states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." That has been interpreted by courts as providing for separation of church and state, barring government bodies from promoting, endorsing or funding religion or religious institutions.

Related:

Court sides with Christian publishing house

Did You Know… the Founding Fathers and God

Ben Stein on Christmas

God Rest Ye Merry Merchants

Losing Our Religion

For Fourth Straight Year, Obama’s Thanksgiving Message Doesn’t Thank God

A National Crisis in Character… So Let Us Recapture The Culture!

Technorati Tags: War on Christmas,War on Religion,Progressivism,Freedom of Religion,holidays,individual freedoms,Constitution,First Amendment,California,Santa Monica. Christmas,War on Christianity,stand-up America,Stand-up Christians,Stand-up Constitutionalists,Christianity under attack,liberalism,the tail wagging the dog,Atheists,Thomas Jefferson,Nativity Scene,God,Bill of Rights

What Movies in History Best Captures the Spirit of Thanksgiving?

It's a Wonderful Life - The annual ritual of watching Frank Capra’s 1946 holiday movie classic on Thanksgiving, kicking off the Christmas season, didn’t gain currency until the 1980s

Yahoo: “In the last 40 years, if you said a character named Captain Christopher Jones would be a figurehead in a movie about the first Thanksgiving, those born within that time frame would think it was the name of the protagonist in a romantic comedy taking place on Thanksgiving. Such is the shift of themes in Hollywood over the decades in movies that represent the meaning of Thanksgiving or the days surrounding late November. However, finding one Thanksgiving movie that captures the true spirit of the holiday is ultimately based on your personal cinematic perceptions.”

One thing we can say: There never has been a movie set on Thanksgiving that doesn't have some kind of discord or other tribulation for the sake of watchable plot. This doesn't necessarily mean that those plots didn't eventually include some type of comedy before arguably becoming sentimental at the end to remind you it's the holidays. Yet what about those early movies I referenced above that depicted the meaning of Thanksgiving?

Earliest Hollywood didn't make movies taking place on Thanksgiving, perhaps because there was a contentious political battle over when the holiday took place. For those seeing "Lincoln" this weekend, (Team of Rivals – Lincoln Film Tie-In Edition.  Also Killing Lincoln is a must read) consider the irony in Honest Abe once setting a long precedent for Thanksgiving being recognized during the final Thursday of November. In 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt unofficially moved Thanksgiving to the previous Thursday. At the eve of World War II, FDR's more commercial stance led to a (surprise!) bitter battle between Republicans and Democrats over when Thanksgiving should officially be celebrated.

Yes, that Congressional story could be a Thanksgiving movie on its own in the future. But after that initial political event was federally settled in 1942, Hollywood only briefly took Thanksgiving commercial with "Miracle on 34th Street" five years later. By 1952, Hollywood went sacred with "Plymouth Adventure [Remaster] {VHS}", starring Spencer Tracy as Captain Christopher Jones of the Mayflower. As you'd expect, it was partially fiction, though set a reverent cinematic tone for Thanksgiving that didn't change until the 1980s.

What was it that changed in the 1980s that led to a few films finally being set on Thanksgiving? Perhaps it was the greed mentality of the era and the beginnings of Black Friday as we know it today. Doing so romanticized this time of year to the point where many romantic comedies started being set on Thanksgiving or around the holidays. Just take a look at how it influenced Woody Allen with 1986's "Hannah and Her Sisters."

Hollywood even toyed with an odd horror movie genre where something slightly morose takes place on Thanksgiving weekend. That genre has recurred periodically since the 1980s with such films as “Home Sweet Home" and more recent "Boogeyman." However, these didn't provide one particular magic formula for audiences: Comedy.

Those wanting a more cheerful diversion should go for this Steve Martin and John Candy comedy. When finding one movie that represents Thanksgiving better than any other in the modern era, it has to be 1987's "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." In fact, it set a comedy pattern that's been copied right up through the 2010s with much less success. Martin stars as Neal Page, a highly strung advertising man who's forced to go on an adventure with Candy's Del Griffith, an easygoing talkative curtain ring salesman due them trying to get Neal home to Chicago from New York in time for Thanksgiving.

If you call it holiday black comedy, it still represents travel during the Thanksgiving in a way that forever brings guffaw communion. And it has a relationship story, plus a sentimental ending. Hence, it officiates this film as capturing the full spirit of a modern Thanksgiving.

Then again, that love triangle among Captain Jones, William Bradford, and Dorothy Bradford in "Plymouth Adventure [Remaster] {VHS}" comes close to unintended holiday romanticism.

1995 brought us the modern Thanksgiving reality themed movies The War at Home and Home for the Holidays.  The War at Home is a real family affair, with Emilio Estevez and his legendary father Martin Sheen. Estevez directed the film, served as co-producer as well as co-starring with his dad. Estevez plays Jeremy Collier, a Vietnam War hero who struggles to return to civilian life in a small town after his experiences in a war zone. Home for the Holidays stars Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr., Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, Dylan McDermott, Geraldine Chaplin, Steve Guttenberg, Cynthia Stevenson with Claire Danes, 'Home For The Holidays follows Claudia Larson, a single-mom who's just lost her job and flies home to meet her family; crazy antics, lessons learned and newfound relationships make this a turkey-filled classic.

Then there is The Ice Storm (1997) set during Thanksgiving 1973, Ang Lee's 1997 movie, based on the novel by Rick Moody. Starring Kevin Cline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci and Elijah Wood, the movie follows two interlinked Connecticut families breaking apart as the children discover adulthood and the adults regress to childhood. This angst ridden classic may not be one to cheer you up if the turkey's gone awry but it's thrilling delving into suburban disintegration, sexual experimentation and the titular weather disaster make it a dark holiday classic. The film also featured Katie Holmes screen debut.

Pieces of April (2003) starring a pre-TomKat Katie Holmes,  follows April Burns, a young woman from a dysfunctional family who invites her estranged folks over for Thanksgiving. There follows a variety of misadventures, but all learn that whatever happens, at this time of year it's family that matters.

Sometimes watching an old movie with relatives or your kids is a great place to start a conversation about society, changes in our culture, history, tradition or even faith that can lead to future conversations, the reading and reviewing of books and expanded conversations.

Related:

Merry Christmas From Hollywood – Holiday Movie Classics

God Rest Ye Merry Merchants

Ben Stein on Christmas

How to avoid grinches at Christmas

For Fourth Straight Year, Obama’s Thanksgiving Message Doesn’t Thank God

A National Crisis in Character… So Let Us Recapture The Culture!

Technorati Tags: movies,holidays,Thanksgiving,conversation,positive interaction,knowledge is power

More Americans Will Use Food Stamps For Thanksgiving This Year Than Ever Before and TANSTAAFL Is About To Become A Common Term

More Americans Will Use Food Stamps For Thanksgiving This Year Than Ever Before

By Elizabeth Flock - November 20, 2012 RSS Feed Print

More Americans will use food stamps to buy their Thanksgiving dinner this year than ever before, according to a new report from the nonprofit government watchdog group The Sunlight Foundation.

[PHOTOS: Presidents Pardoning Turkeys, Meeting Dinner]

The Food Stamp Challenge, which challenges higher-income families to live as if they are on food stamps, estimates that a person on food stamps has a budget of about $1.25 per meal. In other words, a family on food stamps must buy an entire meal per person for less than the cost of an average cup of coffee.

Usage of food stamps among low and no-income families has spiked since the collapse of the U.S. financial system four years ago. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, average participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamp program, has increased 70 percent since 2007. And economists have warned that usage of food stamps won't go down until unemployment improves.

[SANTORUM: Only Buy USA-Made Christmas Gifts]

This Thanksgiving, 42.2 million Americans will be on food stamps, according to the Economic Policy Institute. This is roughly the size of the populations of California and Connecticut combined.

Not surprisingly, feeding millions of Americans isn't cheap. The cost of the SNAP program last year reached $72 billion, the highest to date, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

[ENJOY: The U.S. News Collection of Obama Cartoons]

Those costs are a source of major contention in Congress, which stalled on a bundle of legislation known as the farm bill this summer because it could not agree how much money should be spent on food stamps. The farm bill, which directs the nation's food policy, devotes about 80 percent of its budget to the food stamp program.

More News:

• Wall-Mart Black Friday Protests Won't Work

TANSTAAFL Is About To Become A Common Term

The disintegration of an economy and a society can take two courses. One course is like rust. It is slow and barely perceptible. The other is a sudden collapse. The first course, if left untended, eventually  turns into the second.

The US economy is now rusting away. Arguably it has been for decades. For anyone interested in looking, the signs are there. They will soon become unavoidable for even the most disinterested of our citizens.

Dan Amos correctly described what is happening as a result of Washington’s overbearing involvement in the economy:

All government-directed economic activity grows at the expense of the private sector. And the election suggests that government coercion will drive even more U.S. economic activity in the future. This is a shame, because freely adjusting prices, competition, and innovation elevate living standards. Mandates, price controls, and subsidies — coercive actions — depress living standards. Quality falls. Shortages develop and persist.

Mr. Amos is correct but does not forcefully convey the reality of a dying economy. These effects are beginning to appear.

Many businessmen hung on, hoping for a change in the madness that passes for economic leadership and policy. These hopes were dashed with the re-election of the ideologue driving the madness. Obama won the electoral college, but not the confidence of business. They are just beginning to cast their votes and it does not bode well for the future. Here is a partial list of the business reactions to the outcome of the election:

LAYOFFS ANNOUNCED SINCE ELECTION:

1. Abbott Labs 700
2. Activision 30
3. Adventist Health 48
4. Airlines SAS 6000
5. AMD 400
6. American Cotton Growers 110
7. ArcelorMittal 20
8. American Independence Museum 4
9. Ameridose 790
10. American Airlines 4400 + 800 leaving voluntarily
11. American Coal 54
12. Atlantic Lottery Corporation 16
13. Assc Milk Producers 130
14. Aveo Oncology 45
15. ATI 172
16. Bankia 5000
17. Bechtel Power Corp 277
18. Bigpoint Games 47
19. Boston Scientific 1200
20. Brake Parts LLC 75
21. Brattleboro Retreat 31
22. Bristol Myers 500
23. Career Education 900 + Closing 23 Campuses
24. Cigna 1300
25. Citigroup 100
26. Commerzbank 6000
27. Consol Energy in W.V. 145
28. Covidien 595
29. Crouse Hospital Syracuse NY 70
30. Cummins 150
31. CVPH 27
32. DEP in Tallahassee FL 15
33. DuPont, Co. 64
34. Eagle-Tribune, Andover 21
35. Emanuel Medical Cente 24
36. Energizer Holdings 1500
37. Ericsson 1550
38. Exide Tech, Laureldale 150
39. City of Findlay, OH 39
40. First Energy 400
41. Gameforge Berlin 20
42. Gamesa Energy 92
43. GenOn Energy Inc 33
44. Glen Falls Hospital 29
45. Groupon 80
46. GT Advanced Tech 165
47. Harris’ Broadcast 17
48. Hawker Beechcraft 400 + Facilities closing
49. Hill Rom 200
50. Hills Holdings 300
51. HMX Group 567
52. Hostess 627
53. Iberia Airlines 4500
54. ICM of Colwich 25
55. ING 2350
56. Judson University 21
57. Juniper Networks 500
58. Kaiser Permanente 84
59. Kinetic Concepts 427
60. Kratos Defense Security 125
61. Lackawanna County PA 11
62. Lightyear Network Solutions 12+
63. Lonza 500
64. Majestic Star Casino/hotel 80
65. Major Wind Company 3000
66. Martha Stewart Living 70
67. Medtronic 1000
68. Mills Manufacturing NC 68
69. Momentive, Inc. 150
70. Monitor Group 235
71. Montco Behavioral Health/Dev 58
72. NBC 500
73. Nebraska Medical Center 38
74. Neovia Logistics Services 52
75. New Energy 40
76. Ormet 200
77. Panasonic 10000
78. PayPal 320
79. Penn Refrigeration 40
80. Penske Logistics 50
81. Pepsi 4000
82. Philips Electronics 218
83. Pierce Mfg 325
84. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne 100
85. Research in Motion 200
86. Rheem Manufacturing 50
87. Sentry Foods 70
88. Shaw’s Supermarket 700
89. Shawano foundry WI 90
90. Smith & Nephew 770
91. Smithfield Packing Co. 125
92. Solel Solar Systems 140
93. Southeastern Container 15
94. SpaceX 100
95. SRA Intl Inc 222
96. St. Jude Medical 300
97. Stryker 1170
98. Sulake 60
99. Sun Media 500
100. TE Connectivity 620
101. TECO Coal Corporation 90
102. Texas Instruments 1700
103. The Providence Journal Co 23
104. TMX Group Ltd. 100
105. Turbocare 220
106. Turkey Point Nuclear Plant 277
107. Oce North America, Inc. 135
108. Turbocare OCE 220
109. UBS 10000
110. US Cellular 980
111. UtahAmerican Energy Inc 102
112. Volvo Trucks Pulaski County 300
113. Wake Forest Baptist Medical 950
114. Welch Allyn 275
115. West Ridge Mine 102
116. Westinghouse 50
117. World Media Enterprises Inc 105
118. WPS Health Insurance 600
119. Wright Patterson AFB 115
120. Wyodak Coal Mine 11
121. Xerox 2500
122. Yakima Reg Med Ctr Washington 10+

ANNOUNCED BUSINESS CLOSURES SINCE ELECTION:

1. Bakers Footwear closing 150 stores nationwide, including 21 in California
2. The SCA plant in Barton – Plans Staff Reductions
3. Handy Hardware to close its 2-year-old Meridian, Miss. warehouse
4. Caterpillar Inc. will close its plant in Owatonna Minn.
5. Waltz Pharmacy in Waldoboro Maine
6. Zac’s Place in Hinsdale IL
7. Lone Star Steakhouse at 70th and O streets and Ruby Tuesday at 56th Street in
8. Lincoln NE
9. Career Education Corp – Closing 23 Campuses – 900 Jobs Lost
10. Handy Hardware to close its 2-year-old Meridian, Miss. warehouse
11. Shamrock Bar at Payne City’s Rose Avenue. in GA
12. Monitor Company Group LP
13. ThinkEquity LLC
14. Homer City Funding LLC
15. Caterpillar Inc. will close its plant in Owatonna Minn.
16. Mount Pleasant’s Albrecht Sentry Foods
17. The Target store at Manassas Mall Va.
18. Millennium Academy in Wake Forest NC
19. Target Closing Kissimmee FL Location
20. Calgary’s iconic Rideau Music store ( International )
21. The Andover Gift Shop in Andover MA
22. Grand Union Family Markets Closing Storrs Location CT
23. Movie Scene Milford Location NH
24. Update: TE Connectivity Closing Greensboro Plant – 620 Layoffs Expected
25. Gomer’s Fried Chicken in South Kansas City
26. Kmart in Homer Glen
27. Fresh Market on Pine Street in Burlington
28. AGC Glass North America to permanently close its Blue Ridge Plant in Kingsport Tenn.
29. The Target store at Platte and Academy in Colorado Springs
30. Island Colors – A Carolina Beach Clothing Store
31. The Roses store on Reynold Road in Winston-Salem NC
32. Meanders Kitchen losing its West Seattle location at 6032 California Ave
33. Bost Harley-Davidson at 46th Avenue North and Delaware Ave. in West Nashville TN
34. Townsend Booksellers in Oakland
35. The Kmart store in Parkway Plaza off University Drive in Durham NC – 79 Jobs Lost
36. Guarantee Shoe Store in Beaumont Texas
37. Associated Milk Producers Inc. Closing manufacturing facility in Dawson Minn. – 130
38. Jobs Lost
39. FacadeTek Inc Closes Whitestown Facility – 72 Jobs Lost
40. Comet Market in Punxsutawney Pa.
41. JC Penney store in Miracle City Mall Titusville FL
42. TurboCare Inc Closing Manchester CT Facility – 88
43. The United Colors of Benetton store on Armitage Avenue IL
44. Update: Bicycle shop Ten 27 Cycles 1027 Davis St. in Evanston IL
45. Two Sears Product Rebuild Centers in The Woodlands Texas
46. FesslerUSA Clothing Maker Closing in PA
47. Ralph Lauren’s plans to close its 14 stand-alone Rugby locations
48. Nashville Sash & Door Co. Inc Tenn.
49. First Portuguese church in North America in Bedford Mass Closing?
50. International Fashions in Carbondale’s University Mall IL
51. Harper’s Old Army Surplus Store in West Monroe La
52. Nova Financial Holdings
53. The Party Warehouse in West Springfield Mass.
54. TLC Wine and Liquor at 1205 W. Main St in Kent Ohio?
55. The HAPPY Place 1042 N Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA
56. Air Carrier Accessory Services – Chapter 7
57. SOW Inc. shelter on South Broad Street GA?
58. Systemax Inc., Closing Miami County Ohio Computer Plant – 120 Jobs Lost
59. Textbook publisher McGraw-Hill Cos. Closing 2 Distribution Centers – 166 Layoffs
60. First Place Financial Corp
61. Nash Finch Closing Cedar Rapids Iowa Food Distribution Center
62. Johnnie’s Foodmaster MA Closing all 10 Locations
63. Rainbow Foods will be closing its Forest Lake location MN – 59 Layoffs
64. Berry’s Camera Shop Inc. in Downtown Lafayette
65. Schreiber Foods to close their food packaging plant in Ravenna – 70 Jobs Lost
66. Kmart store at 5300 Salem Ave. Trotwood Ohio
67. Mr.Christie plant in Toronto ( International ) 2013 – 550 Jobs Lost
68. Coffee with T cafe in Stevenson Village business MD
69. Minas Basin Pulp and Power are closing a mill in Hantsport ( International ) – 135

ACTUAL LAYOFFS:

1. The Colonial Country Shoppe on Park Street in Adams MA
2. Vestas Wind Systems Closing R&D; Office in Louisville – 60 Jobs Lost
3. Dollar Castle in downtown Ferndale MI
4. Bistro One West in St Charles IL
5. Sun Dog Diner in Neptune Beach FL
6. Jim’s Builders Hardware in Wichita, Kansas
7. Madeleines Bakehouse in Fort Wayne Indiana
8. Barnes & Noble plans to close its doors in Union Station Dec. 31
9. The Semiahmoo Hotel in Blaine Washington
10. Highland Curves CA
11. The Salem Sport Shop in Salem Ohio
12. Navistar International Corp. to Close truck assembly plant in Garland, Texas – 900
13. Jobs Lost
14. Divine Mercy Catholic Books & Gifts Denton Texas
15. Singer Mental Health Center in Rockford IL
16. Garelick Farms Ends Production at Bangor Maine Facility
17. Fashion Tech Window Coverings in Portland?
18. Custom House Tavern Chicago IL.
19. Jim’s Builders Hardware in Delano
20. Lone Star Steakhouse at 1801 22nd St. in West Des Moines
21. Sears to Close Woodlands Product Rebuild Center – 117 Jobs Lost
22. Whitehead Inc Rockford Real Estate Company
23. Robert’s Mens Shop in Downtown New Philadelphia Ohio
24. Fort Tecumseh Olde Fashun Store in Ohio
25. Lakewood Beginnings Child Development Center in Lakewood Ohio
26. Green Fields Seed & Feed in Grand Junction Colo.
27. The Army and Navy Store in Melrose Mass.
28. Vitalistic Therapeutic charter school PA
29. Diamond Foods Inc Closing a plant in Fishers Indiana
30. Old Town Alehouse 5233 Ballard Ave in Seattle
31. Space Aliens restaurants in Minot and Grand Forks ND
32. DeWaay Financial Network LLC
33. Sears at Quail Springs Mall Oklahoma City OK.
34. Fashion Bug in O’Fallon MO is closing in January
35. Kmart Store in Oak Hill W. Va
36. Update: Jett & Hall men’s clothing store in Richmond KY
37. D.C. school List of Possible Schools Closing to Be released Later today
38. Dunkin’ Donuts in Holly Hill FL
39. Hostess Brands Inc Permanently Closing 3 Bakeries Following a Nationwide Strike
40. Philips Electronics subsidiary Lightolier will close its local fluorescent light
41. fixture manufacturing plant in Willington
42. Smithfield Packing Co. will close in 2013, laying off a total of 400 employees
43. SuperFresh outlets in Marlton and Westmont NJ
44. The Bagel Shoppe in Katonah NY
45. Ben Franklin and Homestead House Gifts in the Kimball Ridge Center in Waterloo IA
46. Several West Virginia Suzuki dealerships Being Forced to Close
47. Kowalski Cos Closing All 4 of its Metro Detroit Delis but to Continue Food
48. Production
49. Three Memphis charter schools and one in Nashville Tenn. Could Close Due to Poor
50. Test Scores
51. The Custer School District SD – Closing 2 Rural Schools
52. The Dressing Room, on North Lincoln Avenue IL
53. The Utica office of IBOPE NY

BANKRUPTCIES:

1. AMF Bowling Worldwide Inc
2. Aletheia Research & Management Inc
3. Omtron USA
4. Helmkampf Construction in Olivette
5. Clear Light Publishers
6. Monitor Company Group LP
7. ThinkEquity LLC
8. Homer City Funding LLC
9. US Suzuki Distributor – Chapter 11
10. Revolt Technology

This list should frighten every thinking American. It is a huge warning regarding what lies ahead. These changes are coming to an economy that is already unable to provide jobs or sustain living standards.

Decline is a slow process, until it becomes fast. It is not easy to see at first. It should be obvious to most that our economy is approaching a critical stage. When you have destroyed the trust and confidence of business, there will be no job creation.

Some parting words are in order for those responsible for the decisions reflected above. Shutting down and giving up is anathema to the spirit that built this country and is now only found among our entrepreneurial class. It goes against the very fiber that drives success. It is a last resort for entrepreneurs.

The decision to quit is lonely, involves guilt, self-doubt and remorse. It is the last act for someone that has tried everything to avoid it. Giving up and withdrawing is not an act of retribution. People do not willingly choose to go to Galt’s figurative gulch. They are forced there.

While the masses exult in the continuation of their  food stamps, cell phones and other booty, the real story of this election is yet to be told. The nation is about to find out that policies and elections have consequences more important than free stuff.

The war against private enterprise can no longer be denied. President Obama’s re-election ensures that it will continue and likely accelerate. The makers are beginning to give up. The takers don’t have a clue. Soon the country is going to get a real-life lesson in economics. TANSTAAFL (There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch) is about to be learned.

View article...

Stephanie S. Jasky, Founder, Director - FedUpUSA.org -  h/t to Tony Caputo

"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe

FedUpUSA.org -  Freedom isn't free!
Please help FedUpUSA stay online.

(click logo below)

Related:

Small Business Owners Explain Why ObamaCare Causes Cuts in Hours and Layoffs

Most Americans Clueless As ObamaCare Rolls Out

HOW TO SURVIVE THANKSGIVING AT YOUR LIBERAL RELATIVES

First They Came For The Cupcakes, And I Did Not Speak Out

Full List of Obamacare Tax Hikes

Denny’s to charge 5% ‘Obamacare surcharge’ and cut employee hours to deal with cost of legislation

How Many Businesses Have Announced Closings or Lay-Offs Since Obama Won A Second Term?

Technorati Tags: food stamps,holidays,Thanksgivings,joblessness,TANSTAAFL,economy,layoffs,ObamaCare,taxes,jobs