In the meantime, the police are giving gun owners a piece of their mind. Albert Morales, the San Jose Police spokesman, said, "We don't recommend (drawing a gun or firing). We would have preferred that they just go ahead and comply with the request or demands of the robbers. Again they were after material items that could be replaced and again our biggest fear is that somebody would have gotten hurt, injured and possibly even died." You know who else would have preferred that the jewelry store owner had just complied? The thieves. Who would’ve thought that cops and robbers would ever be able to agree on something? Despite this, the police have not pressed charges against the gun owner – probably because all she did was exercise a perfectly legal Constitutional right. The police agree that it's OK to open fire, but they're just expressing how much they dislike it. That isn't a big deal, right? The problem is that when a statement like that comes from police, the subtle implication is that there’s something inherently immoral or illegal about using a gun in self-defense. It could give people the wrong impression about firearms -- whether that’s intentional or accidental is an entirely different debate.
Friday, November 30, 2012
San Jose Police and thieves agree: Robbery victims should meekly comply...
Is the San Jose Police getting a cut from criminals? I am beginning to think most towns would be well served to disband their police forces and arm their citizens...
Hours after UN voted to recognize Palestine as a non-member state. Israel approved the construction of 3,000 new homes in Jerusalem and the West Bank
(Bloomberg News) — Israel approved the construction of 3,000 new homes in Jerusalem and the West Bank, less than 24 hours after the United Nations General Assembly voted to recognize Palestine as a non-member state. Israel also intends to move forward on procedures necessary to plan further construction in a West Bank area between the Jewish settlement of Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem, two government officials said, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the matter. The Palestinian Authority, the UN and the U.S. consider all Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal. The 193-member General Assembly yesterday voted 138-9, with 41 abstentions, for a resolution granting Palestinians a form of statehood on a par in the world body with the Vatican. The most significant ramification is that the new state may be able to join organizations such as the International Criminal Court.
Gallop: 53% of democrats have a favorable view of Socialism...
Democrats also have a very high opinion of the federal government...
PRINCETON, NJ -- Exemplifying a major partisan divide in modern politics, Democrats react significantly more positively to the term "federal government" than they do to the term "capitalism," while the opposite is true for Republicans. But both Democrats and Republicans are highly positive about the terms "small business," "free enterprise," and "entrepreneurs."
Krauthammer Video: Obama’s Fiscal Cliff Deal “Insulting,” Thinks GOP Should "Walk Away"…
Let Obama drive us off the cliff...
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Obama's laughable "fiscal cliff" offer...
$1.6 trillion in new revenues, new stimulus spending, home mortgage refinancing and a permanent end to the debt ceiling. In return Obama offered $400 billion in non guaranteed cuts to be worked out next year when pigs fly.
House Republicans said on Thursday that Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner presented the House speaker, John A. Boehner, a detailed proposal to avert the year-end fiscal crisis with $1.6 trillion in tax increases over 10 years, an immediate new round of stimulus spending, home mortgage refinancing and a permanent end to Congressional control over statutory borrowing limits.
The proposal, loaded with Democratic priorities and short on detailed spending cuts, was likely to meet strong Republican resistance. In exchange for locking in the $1.6 trillion in added revenues, President Obama embraced $400 billion in savings from Medicare and other entitlements, to be worked out next year, with no guarantees.
He did propose some upfront cuts in programs like farm price supports, but did not specify an amount or any details. And senior Republican aides familiar with the offer said those initial spending cuts might well be outnumbered by upfront spending increases, including at least $50 billion in infrastructure spending, mortgage relief, an extension of unemployment insurance and a deferral of automatic cuts to physician reimbursements under Medicare…
[T]he details show how far the president is ready to push House Republicans. The upfront tax increases in the proposal go beyond what Senate Democrats were able to pass earlier this year. Tax rates would go up for higher-income earners, as in the Senate bill, but Mr. Obama wants their dividends to be taxed as ordinary income, something the Senate did not approve. He also wants the estate tax to be levied at 45 percent on inheritances over $3.5 million, a step several Democratic senators balked at. The Senate bill made no changes to the estate tax, which currently taxes inheritances over $5 million at 35 percent.Sen. Mitch McConnell reportedly burst out laughing...
Harry Reid doesn't understand Boehner's brain or something...
Via TheDC:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid launched a personal insult at John Boehner on Thursday when asked about the House Speaker’s earlier comments on the fiscal cliff.
“I don’t understand his brain, so you should ask him,” Reid said Thursday during the news conference at the Capitol.
Reid made the remarks when asked to explain why Boehner is blaming Democrats for not being “serious” enough to reach a compromise. He drew laughter from the press in attendance.
Earlier Thursday, Boehner held a press conference and lamented that the two parties have not made significant progress on reaching a deal.
Keep on reading…
Innuendo: Obama serves Mitt Romney white turkey chili...
Obama is such a smart a$$...
This just in: WH says Pres Obama and Mitt Romney dine on white turkey chili and Southwestern grilled chicken salad.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) November 29, 2012
Amusing: 2010 Moscow suicide bomber prematurely detonated by spam text...
Today's feel good story...
An Islamic terrorist bomb plot to cause carnage on Moscow's Red Square was thwarted by a spam text message, a court heard today.
Ilyas Saidov was jailed for 15 years for organising the attack in which two women suicide bombers were supposed to wear explosive belts to be detonated by a mobile phone call.
But just hours before they were to strike on New Year's Eve 2010, one belt exploded after the detonator was activated by a spam text, killing one of the women and prompting the arrest of the other. She was sentenced to 10 years in jail in May.
Spam is a daily nuisance for many Russians buying new SIM cards but this time the message saved thousands from being in harm's way. Red Square is a popular gathering point for Muscovites to see in the new year.
Good News: Demo Sen. Dianne Feinstein has commissioned a federal report on moving terrorists to your town...
Via Fox News:
The Democratic chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence committee has commissioned a federal report to identify prison facilities in the U.S. that are suitable for housing Guantanamo detainees, a document exclusively reviewed by Fox News shows.
In the internal document, the Government Accountability Office refers to “Source of Work: Ms. Dianne Feinstein, Chair, Select Committee on Intelligence, U.S. Senate” and lists the “Gist of Work” as an investigation into whether domestic facilities could house the approximately 170 detainees remaining at the controversial facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Two hours after Fox News’ inquiry about the report, Feinstein’s office posted the report online and released a statement confirming that the California senator thinks the Obama administration’s controversial plan to relocate detainees to the United States is a viable option.
“This report demonstrates that if the political will exists, we could finally close Guantanamo without imperiling our national security,” Feinstein said. “The GAO report makes clear that numerous prisons exist inside the United States — operated by both the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice—capable of holding the 166 detainees who remain at Guantanamo in an environment that meets the security requirements.”
Keep reading…
Obama and Democrats seem to be losing the healthcare debate...
Via Gallup:
For the first time in Gallup trends since 2000, a majority of Americans say it is not the federal government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans have healthcare coverage. Prior to 2009, a majority always felt the government should ensure healthcare coverage for all, though Americans’ views have become more divided in recent years.
The shift away from the view that the government should ensure healthcare coverage for all began shortly after President Barack Obama’s election and has continued the past several years during the discussions and ultimate passage of the Affordable Care Act in March 2010. Americans are divided on that legislation today — 48% approve and 45% disapprove — as they have been over the last several years.
Republicans, including Republican-leaning independents, are mostly responsible for the drop since 2007 in Americans’ support for government ensuring universal health coverage. In 2007, 38% of Republicans thought the government should do so; now, 12% do. Among Democrats and Democratic leaners there has been a much smaller drop, from 81% saying the government should make sure all Americans are covered in 2007 to 71% now. [...]
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Must see video for GOP lawmakers considering tax increases...
Bush Sr. reneged on his promise to not raise taxes. Not only did he lose his next election, Bill Clinton used it in a political ad against him. It won't be any different this time around.
WH gingerbread house includes edible dog?
Don't get me started...
First look at 2012 White House Gingerbread House #Joytoall twitter.com/ObamaFoodorama…
— ObamaFoodorama (@ObamaFoodorama) November 28, 2012
Change: During the election, Romney was an evil plutocrat. Now, WH calls him a successful businessman...
The White House is populated by political whores...
Insanity: College in North Carolina won't let students use the word Christmas” to promote a Christmas tree sale...
Via Fox News Radio:
A North Carolina community college has been accused of violating the First Amendment rights of students after they told a club they could not use the word “Christmas” to promote a Christmas tree sale.
“It’s ridiculous that anyone would have to think twice about using the word ‘Christmas’ as part of a Christmas tree sale,” said Matt Sharp, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom.
The student club, called the BEST Society, was planning to sell the Christmas trees to raise money for Angel Tree, an organization that provides Christmas presents to children.
Club members followed college protocol and submitted forms to promote the sale. The proposed text read, “The BEST Society will be selling Christmas Trees…”
But when the announcement appeared on the college’s website and in other venues – it had been altered. Ever reference to “Christmas Trees” had been replaced with “holiday trees.”
Keep on reading…
Good News: Iran is planning to build a 50 kiloton nuclear bomb
Via INN:
Iran is planning to build a nuclear bomb with at least triple the force of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in World War II, diagrams obtained by the Associated Press indicates.According to AP, the diagrams were first discovered by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) scientists after an inspection of an Iranian nuclear facility. The document was published by the AP Tuesday after, the news agency said, it was leaked by officials critical of the way the West has been handling the Iran issue.
The diagrams discovered by the IAEA show Iranian scientists calculating the desired “nuclear explosive yield” in a device they were apparently working on. IAEA inspectors described the diagrams in a report, and a senior official who is working with the Geneva-based UN organization confirmed that the diagrams obtained by AP were the same ones mentioned in the report.
The diagrams showed a scientific calculation of the expected yield of a nuclear device, with a maximum force of 50 kilotons, experts who saw the AP diagrams said. There was no possibility that the diagrams referred to a process other than construction of a nuclear weapon, the experts said.
If Iran is indeed designing a nuclear weapon with a 50 kiloton yield, it will be significantly stronger than the bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan during World War II, which were only 15 kilotons powerful. Nuclear weapons held by the U.S., Russia, and other countries are significantly stronger than a bomb with a 50 kiloton yield.
Totally cancer free Hugo Chavez headed back to Cuba for more cancer treatments...
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Monday declared himself fully recovered from cancer and ready to return to the streets for his re-election campaign ahead of an October vote. "Free, free, totally free," an ebullient Chavez told reporters when asked if he was free of the disease that struck a year ago.Now that the election is over, the cancer seems to have returned. Let's hope it kills him soon.
CARACAS, Venezuela – The newly re-elected Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez will head back for another round of treatment to combat pelvic cancer that has plagued the world leaders for almost two years. Chávez has asked his country's legislature Tuesday for permission to travel to Cuba for more medical treatment after spending much of the past 18 months fighting cancer. The Tuesday request says Chávez has needed "various sessions of hyperbaric oxygenation" and physical therapy to continue "consolidating the process of strengthening health." The request doesn't provide more details about the treatment.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
China’s Communist Party newspaper gets duped by The Onion...
BEIJING (AP) – The online version of China’s Communist Party newspaper has hailed a report by The Onion naming North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as the “Sexiest Man Alive” — not realizing it is satire.
The People’s Daily on Tuesday ran a 55-page photo spread on its website in a tribute to the round-faced leader, under the headline “North Korea’s top leader named The Onion’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2012.”
Quoting the Onion’s spoof report, the Chinese newspaper wrote: “”With his devastatingly handsome, round face, his boyish charm, and his strong, sturdy frame, this Pyongyang-bred heartthrob is every woman’s dream come true.”
“Blessed with an air of power that masks an unmistakable cute, cuddly side, Kim made this newspaper’s editorial board swoon with his impeccable fashion sense, chic short hairstyle, and, of course, that famous smile,” the People’s Daily cited the Onion as saying.
The photos the People’s Daily selected include Kim on horseback squinting into the light and Kim waving towards a military parade. In other photos, Kim is wearing sunglasses and smiling, or touring a facility with his wife.
7 naked Aids activists storm Boehner's office
Rep. Barney Frank most aroused...
at least 7 naked #AIDS activists inside Boehner's office protesting budget cuts, >50 right outside office in hallway twitter.com/VOCALNewYork/s…
— VOCAL-NY (@VOCALNewYork) November 27, 2012
Guess what group least likes "Merry Christmas" greeting...
Via Washington Secrets:
Take your “Happy Holidays” and shove it. Finally, there’s proof that Americans prefer “Merry Christmas.”
By a wide margin, 68 percent to 23 percent, Americans prefer stores with signs that say “Merry Christmas” during the Christmas holidays than the more generic and secular “Happy Holidays,” according to a new Rasmussen Reports survey.
A few examples:
– Among men, it’s 69 percent for “Merry Christmas,” compared to 22 percent for “Happy Holiday.”
– Women: 67 percent to 23 percent.
– Whites: 69 percent to 20 percent.
– Blacks: 56 percent to 40 percent.
– Republicans: 86 percent to 8 percent.
– Democrats: 51 percent to 41 percent.
The Hill uses fake Republicans to claim Top Republicans admit voter suppression motive...
This must be one of those fake , but accurate, headlines...
Report: Top Florida Republicans say election law was intentionally designed to suppress the vote
Two former top Florida Republicans say a new law that shortened the early voting period in the state was designed by the GOP to suppress the Democratic vote, not to curb voter fraud, according to a report Monday from the Palm Beach Post.
Calling Charlie Crist a "Top Republican" is like calling John Kerry a Vietnam war supporter...
WH spins Morsi power grab as part of transition to democracy in Egypt
Via NRO:
Asked whether the White House was forewarned about President Morsi’s power grab, Jay Carney said today that the administration has “expressed and raised concerns” about it. He also said that the power grab is part of Egypt’s “transition to democracy”:
“Our interest in the development and transition to democracy in Egypt is one that reflects what the Egyptian people demanded through their revolution, and continue to demand, which is a government that reflects the will of the people. And we will continue to work towards that goal, because it reflects what the Egyptian people want. ”
Keep on reading…
UN plan to seize the Internet advances...
Via WSJ:
Who runs the Internet? For now, the answer remains no one, or at least no government, which explains the Web’s success as a new technology. But as of next week, unless the U.S. gets serious, the answer could be the United Nations.Keep on reading…
Many of the U.N.’s 193 member states oppose the open, uncontrolled nature of the Internet. Its interconnected global networks ignore national boundaries, making it hard for governments to censor or tax. And so, to send the freewheeling digital world back to the state control of the analog era, China, Russia, Iran and Arab countries are trying to hijack a U.N. agency that has nothing to do with the Internet.
For more than a year, these countries have lobbied an agency called the International Telecommunications Union to take over the rules and workings of the Internet. Created in 1865 as the International Telegraph Union, the ITU last drafted a treaty on communications in 1988, before the commercial Internet, when telecommunications meant voice telephone calls via national telephone monopolies.
Next week the ITU holds a negotiating conference in Dubai, and past months have brought many leaks of proposals for a new treaty. U.S. congressional resolutions and much of the commentary, including in this column, have focused on proposals by authoritarian governments to censor the Internet. Just as objectionable are proposals that ignore how the Internet works, threatening its smooth and open operations.
Having the Internet rewired by bureaucrats would be like handing a Stradivarius to a gorilla. The Internet is made up of 40,000 networks that interconnect among 425,000 global routes, cheaply and efficiently delivering messages and other digital content among more than two billion people around the world, with some 500,000 new users a day. [...]
Monday, November 26, 2012
“Red Dawn” producer Tripp Vinson: "No one would distribute the film if the enemy was China"
Do you need anymore proof the Chinese own us?
What makes this attack particularly surprising is that the nation behind it is North Korea, whose geographical location and general starvation-related discombobulation put it very far down on the ladder of potential threats to the American homeland. And what makes this surprise particularly awkward is that the nation staging the assault on the Starbucks-spangled landscape of the Pacific Northwest wasn’t supposed to be North Korea at all — in the remake’s original script, the invading forces were Chinese.
According to “Red Dawn” producer Tripp Vinson, the reasons for the switch were practical. “We had to make the change because the studio that originally financed the movie, MGM, went into bankruptcy, and came out of it without a distribution arm,” he says. “And to make a long story short, no one would distribute the film if the enemy was China. This was the reality we encountered. So we made changes to the opening sequence, did some slight editing and visual effects work, and changed the invading army from Chinese to North Koreans.”
Liberal Democrats are ready to go cliff diving...
...as in "Fiscal Cliff" diving...
Via Politico:
Via Politico:
A growing bloc of emboldened liberals say they’re not afraid to watch defense spending get gouged and taxes go up on every American if a budget deal doesn’t satisfy their priorities.
Here’s what these progressives fear: an agreement that keeps lower tax rates for the wealthy, hits the social safety net with unpalatable cuts and leaves Pentagon spending unscathed. In other words, they’d rather walk the country off the cliff than watch President Barack Obama cave on long-held liberal priorities.
“If the Republicans can’t see their way to significant additional revenues targeted toward the people who are best off and targeted toward passive income and other things like that, then we’re better off going over the cliff and readdressing this with a better Congress in January,” Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said. “And we would have plenty of time to fix it.”
Bolstering the Democrats’ strategy is the belief that the “fiscal cliff” is actually shaped more like a “slope” where the economic effects will be felt gradually, not immediately. That theory gives Congress some time at the beginning of 2013 to set tax rates and configure budget cuts in a different political environment and with a new class of lawmakers.
But underlying the tough talk is also a sense of liberal angst — the left feels like it was burned by the last extension of the Bush tax rates and didn’t get much of what it wanted in the 2011 debt-limit deal.
Keep on reading…
Unbelievable: Sandra Fluke Nominated For Time’s Person Of The Year Award…
The daughter of a conservative Christian pastor, Sandra Fluke, 31, became a women’s-rights activist in college and continued her advocacy as a law student at Georgetown. After she complained about being denied a chance to testify at a Republican-run House hearing on insurance coverage for birth control, Rush Limbaugh called Fluke a “slut.” Democrats and many Republicans reacted with outrage, and the left made Limbaugh’s slur Exhibit A in what they called a GOP “war on women.” Fluke, meanwhile, weathered the attention with poise and maturity and emerged as a political celebrity. Democrats gave her a national-convention speaking slot as part of their push to make reproductive rights a central issue in the 2012 presidential campaign — one that helped Barack Obama trounce Mitt Romney among single women on Election Day.
Demographics: Sale of adult diapers exceeds baby diapers in Japan...
Is this the future of the USA too?
Two lost decades and massive property- and stock-bubble explosions later, Japan is a one-word cautionary tale. Caught in economic and demographic atrophy—and stewarded by countless false-start prime ministers—the country has become a hub for zombie banks, a generation of disenchanted youth, and fading brands such as Sony (SNE), Sharp (6753:JP), and Panasonic (PC).
Last year, for the first time, sales of adult diapers in Japan exceeded those for babies. Factor in how the strong yen has been making the country’s critical exports more expensive, and you can see why the world’s No. 3 economy (recently pushed into third place by China) has been quicksand for investors; when international markets hit bottom in early 2009, Japan’s Nikkei slumped to levels it hadn’t seen since 1983. A Merrill Lynch survey of global fund managers discovered that their net exposure to Japan is at its lowest in a decade (subscription necessary).
Update: Arizona gun store owner who banned Obama voters says business is booming...
Via CNS:
Last week, the owner of an Arizona gun shop made national headlines after it was reported that he had posted a sign and taken out a full page ad in a local newspaper that banned Obama supporters from entering his store. One week later, Cope Reynolds is cashing in on the attention.
Mr. Reynolds, owner of Southwest Shooting Authority says “business is booming” after his sign and newspaper ad caught the attention of various media outlets. The sign read: “If you voted for Barack Obama, your business is not welcome at Southwest Shooting Authority. You have proven you’re not responsible enough to own a firearm.”
Reynolds says he has been inundated with hundreds of calls and emails from media types and supporters. When asked about business, he replied, “I’ve been busier than a cat covering up poop on a marble floor.”
The Arizona Republic spoke with Mr. Reynolds about his sign and the effect it’s had on his business:
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Senate GOP whip John Cornyn on Harry Reid's planned filibuster nerfing: “It will shut down the Senate,”
I should hope so...
Via Politico:
Via Politico:
A partisan war is brewing that could bring the government to a screeching halt as early as January — and no, it’s not over the fiscal cliff.
It’s all about the filibuster.
Democrats are threatening to change filibuster rules, in what will surely prompt a furious GOP revolt that could make those rare moments of bipartisan consensus even harder to come by during the next Congress.
Here’s what Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering: banning filibusters used to prevent debate from even starting and House-Senate conference committees from ever meeting. He also may make filibusters become actual filibusters — to force senators to carry out the nonstop, talkathon sessions.
Republicans are threatening even greater retaliation if Reid uses a move rarely used by Senate majorities: changing the chamber’s precedent by 51 votes, rather than the usual 67 votes it takes to overhaul the rules.
“I think the backlash will be severe,” Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), the conservative firebrand, said sternly. “If you take away minority rights, which is what you’re doing because you’re an ineffective leader, you’ll destroy the place. And if you destroy the place, we’ll do what we have to do to fight back.”
“It will shut down the Senate,” the incoming Senate GOP whip, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, told POLITICO. “It’s such an abuse of power.”
Keep on reading…
Texas School: Boston Tea Party Was a Terrorist Act...
HOUSTON (CBS Houston) – The most historical instance of protesting against taxation without representation is now being taught in Texas schools as a terrorist act.
As recently as January of this year, the Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative included a lesson plan that depicted the Boston Tea Party, an event that helped ignite the American Revolution, as an act of terrorism. TheBlaze reports that in a lesson promoted on the TESCCC site as recently as January, a world history/social studies class plan depicted the Boston Tea Party as being anything but patriotic, causing many people to become upset with the lack of transparency and review for lessons.
“A local militia, believed to be a terrorist organization, attacked the property of private citizens today at our nation’s busiest port,” wrote the teachers in charge of organizing the curriculum about the Boston Tea Party....
Al Sharpton: Black unemployment is high because of Republicans or something...
Via Radio Equalizer:
“One of the reason that I think people do not understand why unemployment has gone down and in some cases black unemployment and Latino’s has remained stagnant is over the last thirty two months Dr. Hutchinson, they’ve increased jobs and found jobs unemployment has gone down in the private sector. What has not gone down is in the public sector and blacks in particular are disproportionately in the public sector.
One of the reasons those jobs have gone down, or have remained down is one the Republicans are cutting a lot of the agencies, where we are the employees are government jobs, government employed and a lot of those jobs go through governors and mayors who are also have had cutbacks. So what we’ve got to do and we addressed that to the President is take on these governors and mayors as well as the private sector on why the private sector is getting all these contract and bailouts and not hiring and correcting the disproportionate amount of their employment does not touch our community and have the President and them support us in that.”
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Obama is too busy Christmas shopping to worry about "fiscal cliff"
This man is completely out of touch with reality...
"We're doing Christmas shopping," POTUS said to a question from the pool about the fiscal cliff. "Happy Thanksgiving, folks."
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) November 24, 2012
Fail: Storm Ravaged LIPA Victims Get Full Estimated Bills...
Via NY Post:
LIPA customers who spent weeks without power got zapped with their normal electric bills — as if the outages never happened.
The clueless utility charged Sandy-soaked Long Island residents an estimated rate that covered the entire billing cycle, and the statements made no mention of potential refunds to account for the prolonged blackouts.
Jonathan Saporta was slapped with a double whammy by the Long Island Power Authority — a $649 bill for the Long Beach home he left in October and a $281 bill for his new Great Neck pad.
He also is expecting a $1,700 bill for his storm-ravaged restaurant, Jake’s Wayback Burger, which is in hard-hit Long Beach and remains without power.
Unlikely: Ahmadinejad claims Israel had no choice but to “bow” to Palestinian rights
(Reuters) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the head of the Hamas government in Gaza on Saturday that eight days of cross-border fighting showed that Israel had no choice but to “bow” to Palestinian rights, according to Iran’s IRNA news agency.
The Iranian-backed Hamas has basked in what it called a victory against Israel after an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire on Thursday ended the conflict in which 163 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed.
IRNA said Ahmadinejad, in the rare telephone call with Ismail Haniyeh, praised the Palestinian “resistance and perseverance”.
“Zionists have reached the dead point and have no other alternative but officially recognizing and bowing to the absolute right of the Palestinian nation,” IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying, referring to Israel.
Obamanomics: One third of Americans figure they'll need to work until age 80
Rix said there's a host of reasons behind the increases. For one, individuals can continue to work because they're staying healthier longer.
"I suspect most people are there because they're doing something they really want to do. They enjoy their work. They're making a contribution."
There are also financial considerations. With the drop in home prices, the fluctuating stock market, and the decline in pensions, some older workers simply have to work.
For Cooper, that's definitely part of the equation.
"When you get my age, you have a lot of doctor bills and different ailments. You have to pay the doctors and hospitals, so I am here," he said.
A recent survey by Wells Fargo found that nearly a third of Americans figure they'll need to work until age 80, in order to retire comfortably. The federal government estimates that by 2020, 10 percent of those aged 75 and older will be in the labor force. Rix believes the number is likely to be even higher.
Shameful: Democrats harvest the votes of the severely mentally disabled...
This story is going to make you angry..
But even knowing this, I was not prepared for a conversation I had at Thanksgiving dinner with my brother-in-law, Henry, who has lived most of his life in a home for the mentally disabled and although now in his 40s, has the intelligence level of a 6-year-old.
“Obama saved me,” he said to me out of the blue.
“What do you mean?”
“I voted for him for president and now he’s saving me.”
I was taken aback by these words, since Henry had no idea who Obama was, or what a president might be, and would be unable to fill out a registration form let alone get to the polling place by himself.
So I asked him how he knew that and how he had registered and cast his vote. In halting, impeded speech he told me that the people who take care of him at the home filled out “the papers” to register him to vote, told him how Obama cared for him, even taught him the Obama chants, and then took him to the polling place to vote. They did the same for all of the mentally disabled patients in their care, approximately 60 in all.How anyone can identify with a political party that resorts to this kind of despicable behavior is beyond me.
Unsatisfied with just killing Christians, Taliban are killing Shia Muslims too...
(PressTV) — Thousands of Pakistani Shia Muslims are now receiving death threat text messages on their cellphones as pro-Taliban militants step up deadly campaign against the community members across the violence-ravaged country.
“Kill, Kill, Shias,” say the text warnings to members of the community.
The smear campaign comes a day after nearly 40 Shia Muslims were killed in three bomb attacks on religious gatherings in the southern port city of Karachi and the garrison city of Rawalpindi on Wednesday evening.
Heavily armed militants have targeted several religious ceremonies commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (peace be upon him) in different regions of Pakistan over the past week.
Human rights groups say hundreds of Shia Muslims have been killed in the violence-hit country so far this year.
Several citizens have expressed their deep concerns over the ongoing massacre and religious persecution of Shias across Pakistan.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Union Fail: Less Than 50 Walmart Employees Walked Out On Black Friday...
Via Reuters:
At a Walmart on Chicago's South side, just one employee from the store's nearly 500 staff took part in the demonstration, according to Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer.
Outside the store, four busloads of protesters chanted in a demonstration that started almost an hour later than planned. The demonstration was peaceful, according to police and store security.
OUR Walmart said it counted 1,000 protests in 46 U.S. states, including strikes in 100 cities - figures that Walmart said were "grossly exaggerated."
Many of the demonstrators were not Walmart workers, but were supporters such as Candice Justice, a retired teacher who stood with dozens of others in Chicago on Friday morning.
"We estimate that less than 50 associates participated in the protest nationwide. In fact, this year, roughly the same number of associates missed their scheduled shift as last year," Walmart U.S. Chief Executive Bill Simon said in a statement.
Change: Obama considering allowing corporate donors to help fund his 2013 inauguration
Via The Hill:
President Obama is considering allowing corporate donors to help fund his inauguration in 2013, a possible reversal of his 2009 ban on such donations, which was then meant as a symbolic gesture, the Wall Street Journal reports.
In 2009, the president raised over $50 million from donors, sans any contributions from corporate donors, to fund his inauguration.
But he did not pursue corporate donors, “a gesture meant to show that well-heeled interests wouldn’t have undue influence in his administration,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
The White House wouldn’t make public the cost of the upcoming ceremony, and wouldn’t indicate what Obama’s fundraising target is this time. The President’s fundraising pays for many of the events and celebrations surrounding the inauguration.
Muslim Brotherhood Offices Torched in Egypt...
Protesters set fire on Friday to the offices of the Muslim Brotherhood, the party of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, a day after he assumed broad new powers not subject to appeal. Pro- and anti-Morsi rallies erupted in cities across Egypt.
Protesters torched Muslim Brotherhood offices on Friday, state media said, as supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi staged rival rallies across Egypt a day after he assumed sweeping powers.
The offices of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, were set ablaze in the canal cities of Ismailiya and Port Said, state television said.
Video: Morons fight like animals over Walmart Black Friday phone deal...
Most of these idiots are young. I guess they didn't qualify for a free Obama phone...
Ironic: TSA security measures are actually killing more people than terrorists could ever hope...
Compare the dangers of air travel to those of driving. To make flying as dangerous as using a car, a four-plane disaster on the scale of 9/11 would have to occur every month, according to analysis published in the American Scientist. Researchers at Cornell University suggest that people switching from air to road transportation in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks led to an increase of 242 driving fatalities per month—which means that a lot more people died on the roads as an indirect result of 9/11 than died from being on the planes that terrible day. They also suggest that enhanced domestic baggage screening alone reduced passenger volume by about 5 percent in the five years after 9/11, and the substitution of driving for flying by those seeking to avoid security hassles over that period resulted in more than 100 road fatalities.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Obama saves the poor hoot owls again, but how about the poor unemployed loggers?
Oregon Live reported:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated 9.6 million acres of critical habitat for the northern spotted owl this morning, nearly double the last designation in 2008.
The acreage in Oregon, Washington and California won’t be off limits to logging. But the service’s decision requires heightened federal review of logging projects on lands owned by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, the bulk of the designated land.
The northern spotted owl has been at the center of the Northwest’s timber wars since it was listed as threatened in 1990 under the Endangered Species Act.
The listing better protected old-growth stands — the owl’s favored habitat — but drove down logging on federal lands. Harvests in Oregon’s federal forests totaled a half-billion board feet last year, down from 2.5 billion to 5 billion board feet in the 1980s.
Timber industry groups warned the expanded critical habitat could dampen efforts to increase logging on BLM lands in southwest Oregon, where rural counties are banking on revenues from increased timber sales.
The expanded area is also likely to increase lawsuits from environmental groups on individual timber sales across the spotted owl’s range, said Jim Geisinger, executive vice president of Associated Oregon Loggers.
Chart of the Day: Top 20 Tax Expenditures...
There is a lot of talk of closing tax loopholes and simplifying the tax code as a method to increase revenue and resolve the "fiscal cliff" showdown. Here are the tax loopholes that can be reduced or eliminated.The difficulty of what we face is obvious.
Feel Good Story: Moron who flipped off Tomb of Unknown Soldier fired...
While many of us take time out today to be thankful for all of our blessings, there’s at least one household with a bit less to be thankful for. It’s being reported that on the day before Thanksgiving, Lindsey Stone and one of her colleagues were fired from their jobs. In case you somehow missed the story, Lindsey is the woman who managed to exercise her right to free speech in a manner so incredibly offensive that people across the nation took to social media demanding she be fired from her job. If your love of civil liberties has you feeling sorry for her, you might want to hold back on defending her here.
Lindsey Stone, the Plymouth, Massachusetts woman who posted a photo of herself giving the middle finger in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, creating a firestorm of Internet backlash and outrage, was fired from her job Wednesday…
The photo, which has been taken down, was first posted last month on Stone’s personal Facebook page, and showed Stone giving the middle finger while pretending to yell next to a sign that read “Silence and Respect” at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arlington National Cemetery.
Hamas Leader to Egypt and Iran: Thanks for helping make “Israel scream with pain”
Via Times of Israel:
After emerging unscathed from eight days of fighting with Israel, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh thanked Egypt and Iran on Thursday for their support in helping make “Israel scream with pain,” he said.
Haniyeh, who heads Hamas in Gaza, hailed the previous night’s ceasefire as a victory, despite what Israel called heavy losses for the terror group during Operation Pillar of Defense. …
It was “the resistance and strength of the Palestinian people that stopped Israel from sending troops into Gaza,” Haniyeh said at a celebration in Gaza Thursday, which was declared a holiday for Palestinians. “The idea of attacking Gaza is gone and, with the help of God, will never return,” Haniyeh said.
The Real Story Behind Thanksgiving
The real story of Thanksgiving was of the triumph of capitalism over communism.
The Real Story Behind Thanksgiving
Did you know that the first [Plymouth Colony Pilgrim's] Thanksgiving was a celebration of the triumph of private property and individual initiative?
William Bradford was the governor of the original Pilgrim colony, founded at Plymouth in 1621. The colony was first organized on a communal basis, as their financiers required. Land was owned in common. The Pilgrims farmed communally, too, following the "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs" precept.
The results were disastrous. Communism didn't work any better 400 years ago than it does today. By 1623, the colony had suffered serious losses. Starvation was imminent.
Bradford realized that the communal system encouraged and rewarded waste and laziness and inefficiency, and destroyed individual initiative. Desperate, he abolished it. He distributed private plots of land among the surviving Pilgrims, encouraging them to plant early and farm as individuals, not collectively.
The results Communism didn't work any better 400 years ago than it does today. By 1623, the colony had suffered serious losses. Starvation was imminent....Read more here.
Karma: Top 5 states to be hit by "fiscal cliff" tax increases are blue states...
Via CNS News:
All five states with the top tax increases are “blue states,” which President Obama won in the 2012 presidential election. But so are four out of the bottom five states with the exception of Kansas.
Top Five Tax Increases Tax Increases as % of Income
#1 – New Jersey $6,933 6.82%
#2 – Maryland $7,194 6.74%
#3 – Connecticut $6,653 6.62%
#4 – Massachusetts $6,632 6.53%
#5 – New Hampshire $5,660 5.81%
Forty states would see tax increases between $3,000 and $3,999. Six states would see an increase between $4,000 and $4,999 and three would see increases between $6,000 and $6,999.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
An editor of Vogue magazine launches a racist attack on Rep. Allen West...
And his grammar and spelling fail too...
Allen West, you the dumbest man walking around America today. You ugly inside,your soul is tarnished. You are an embarassment to Blacks.
— Andre Leon Talley (@OfficialALT) November 21, 2012
Coon MinstrelyTheatre!If your mother is with you, she must be ashamed of you.You barks were / aresadAllen West!
— Andre Leon Talley (@OfficialALT) November 21, 2012
Unlikely: House Speaker John Boehner declares Obamacare cuts must be on “fiscal cliff” negotiation table...
Via The Hill:
President Obama’s signature healthcare law has to be on the table for cuts as Congress tried to negotiate a deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) wrote in an op-ed.
“We can’t afford it, and we can’t afford to leave it intact,” Boehner wrote in the Cincinnati Enquirer. “That’s why I’ve been clear that the law has to stay on the table as both parties discuss ways to solve our nation’s massive debt challenge.”
Republicans have already made clear that they hope to go after the law’s insurance subsidies in upcoming debt talks. The subsidies represent billions of dollars that will, in 2014, help the uninsured pay for private insurance coverage. But Republicans want to cut into the subsidies to help pay for a fiscal-cliff agreement.
Boehner went on to argue that the push to repeal the Affordable Care Act will be aided by strict congressional oversight. He also praised Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) for refusing to implement a state-based insurance exchange, but neglected to mention that the choice invites the federal government to operate Ohio’s exchange.
Bipartisan bill in the House would allow religious exemption to Obamacare mandate
(CNSNews.com) – A bipartisan bill in the House would expand the religious exemption to the insurance mandate in Obamacare, allowing those with a religious objection to absolve themselves of the mandate’s health insurance requirement with an affidavit.
Introduced by Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.), the bill has drawn co-sponsors from both sides of the political aisle, including Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Todd Akin (R-Mo.) Ron Paul (R-Texas), and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).
The bill would allow anyone to be exempt from the individual mandate so long as they filed an affidavit along with their tax returns that “sincerely held religious beliefs” would cause them “to object to the medical health care that would be covered under such coverage.”
The issue of religious exemptions gained prominence late last year when the U.S. Catholic Church raised objections to a federal regulation that all insurance companies provide contraception without co-pay.
Obama admin plans to spend $6 billion on sustainable energy...in Asia
Hey, it's not like we have a national debt of $16 trillion or anything...
(CNSNews.com) – The White House announced the federal government will spend $6 billion over four years for a “sustainable energy future” plan with Asian countries that involves loaning tax dollars to other countries to increase their purchasing power for U.S. technology, services and equipment.
“Recognizing that energy and the environment are among the most pressing issues confronting our region, President Obama, in partnership with Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei and President of the Republic of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, today proposed the U.S.-Asia Pacific Comprehensive Partnership for a Sustainable Energy Future,” the White House announced Tuesday as Obama visits Asian Pacific countries.
The initiative comes after the Obama administration has been criticized for spending billions to subsidize U.S.-based green energy companies that went on to declare bankruptcy, including Solyndra, Ener1, A123, Beacon Power and other failed renewable energy ventures.
Keep on reading…
Clueless Leftist Juan Williams: Israel is using overkill on Hamas
How can you use overkill on terrorists?
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
The CIA has closed their Center on Climate Change and National Security
Via Greenwire:
With the U.S. intelligence budget shrinking, the CIA has quietly shut down its Center on Climate Change and National Security — a project that was launched with the support of Leon Panetta when he led the agency, but that drew sharp criticism from some Republicans in Congress.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the center said it closed its doors earlier this year, with its staff and analysis continuing under other auspices.
CIA spokesman Todd Ebitz confirmed the change.
“The CIA for several years has studied the national security implications of climate change,” Ebitz said in a statement to Greenwire. “This work is now performed by a dedicated team in an office that looks at a variety of economic and energy security issues affecting the United States.”
The CIA launched the climate change center in September 2009 after a spate of reports linking climate change and national security that drew interest from some members of Congress seeking political action on climate change.
Judge orders Nativity scene removed from Santa Monica park
LOS ANGELES (AP) – There’s no room for the baby Jesus, the manger or the wise men this Christmas in a Santa Monica park following a judge’s ruling Monday against churches that tried to keep a 60-year Nativity tradition alive after atheists stole the show with anti-God messages.
U.S. District Judge Audrey B. Collins rejected a motion from the Santa Monica Nativity Scenes Committee to allow the religious display this season while their lawsuit plays out against the city.
Collins said the city was within its constitutional right to eliminate the exemption that had allowed the Nativity at the oceanfront Palisades Park because the change affected all comers – from Christians to Jews to atheists – and provided other avenues for public religious speech.
The coalition of churches that had put on the life-sized, 14-booth Nativity display for decades argued the city banned it rather than referee a religious dispute that began three years ago when atheists first set up their anti-God message alongside the Christmas diorama.
Top Hamas Official Tells Israel To Bring It On...
I am beginning to think Palestinians are mentally deficient...
GAZA CITY — The top leader of Hamas dared Israel on Monday to launch a ground invasion of Gaza and dismissed diplomatic efforts to broker a cease-fire in the six-day-old conflict, as the Israeli military conducted a new wave of deadly airstrikes on the besieged Palestinian enclave, including a second hit on a 15-story building that houses media outlets. A volley of rockets fired from Gaza into southern Israel included one that hit a vacant school.
Speaking at a news conference in Cairo, where the diplomatic efforts were under way, the Hamas leader, Khaled Meshal, suggested that the Israeli infantry mobilization on the border with Gaza was a bluff on the part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.“If you wanted to launch it, you would have done it,” Mr. Meshal told reporters. He accused Israel of using the invasion threat as an attempt to “dictate its own terms and force us into silence.”
Monday, November 19, 2012
Amusing: Hillary Clinton naps during Obama's Burma speech...
Running around all over the globe to avoid testifying before Congress about the Benghazi attack is really exhausting...
Unlikely: Unions who put Hostess out of business hope to be rehired by buyer...
Via Jacksonville Business Journal:
Former employees of Hostess Brands Inc. are now hoping that a buyer will save pieces of the liquidating company and put them back to work.
Hostess set a 5 p.m. Nov. 15 deadline for workers involved in a union-organized strike to return to work. The company warned that if the ongoing labor strike continued it would force the company into liquidation, and it wasn’t bluffing — having announced plans to liquidate and lay off 18,000 employees.
But now those that are out of work, including nearly 200 in Jacksonville, are hoping that someone will buy the popular Hostess products and reproduce them, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Frank Hurt, president of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers union, told the WSJ he was comforted by the rush of consumers to purchase Twinkies and other products for fear the popular brands will go away.
“People are going crazy because they think they’re not going to be able to get any Twinkies or Ho Hos or Wonder Bread,” he told the WSJ. “They’ll be produced somewhere, some time and by our members.”
Van Jones claims "Badge of Honor" for being attacked by racist Republicans...
Race-baiting on steroids...
Honored 2b included on list of heroes. When all the best love u & all worst hate u, that's true #BadgeOfHonor. twitpic.com/beohfj
— Van Jones (@VanJones68) November 19, 2012
Report: Israel delivers 36 hour ultimatum to Hamas...
Via Israel National News:
Israel has delivered an ultimatum to Hamas through Egypt, according to which the IDF will widen its offensive in Gaza in 36 hours unless Hamas ceases firing rockets and smuggling arms into Gaza, IDF Radio reported Monday morning.
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz told the station that the time left before Israel steps up its attack can be measured in "hours, not days."
"We are at a junction," he said. "Either we go toward a calm or toward a meaningful widening of the operation… including a possible move to achieve complete military decision."
There are ongoing contacts between Israel and Hamas through intermediaries, IDF Radio said, but the gaps between the sides are still very large...
Good News: San Francisco may ban the naked men...
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- San Francisco may be getting ready to shed its image as a city where anything goes, including clothing.City lawmakers are scheduled to vote Tuesday on an ordinance that would prohibit nudity in most public places, a blanket ban that represents an escalation of a two-year tiff between a devoted group of men who strut their stuff through the city's famously gay Castro District and the supervisor who represents the area.