Saturday, February 27, 2010

Massive Earthquake Strikes Chile

A massive earthquake measuring 8.8 on the richter scale struck the center of Chile today, with a force 1000 times more powerful than the Haiti tragedy. This has rocked the whole world. People all over the world are being called to give aid to the many earthquake victims. Sadly, there are over 200 innocent lives that have lost their lives due to this massive earthquake.

This is a picture of where the earthquake struck in Chile.







Paul Caruso of USGS who is a Geophysicist describes science behind earthquake in Chile




There are Chile earthquake photos here.

Anti-Obama Political Videos








Sick "Humor" is Apparent as Family Guy Targets Sarah Palin's Beautiful Baby

 

A H/T goes to MAINFO


 There are some cast members of Family Guy that disagree with Seth MacFarlane's humor attacks on Palin and her son Trig.  Patrick Warburton, who is a cast member of the show, told the Washington Post:
“I know it’s satire but, personally, that [joke] bothered me, too…I know that you have to be an ‘equal-opportunity offender,’ but there are some things that I just don’t think are funny.”

Data Mining: Is Credit Card Fraud More Serious Than Terrorism?


This is clearly appeasement politics gone bad. People are okay with data mining when it is used to fight against consumer fraud with relation to credit cards but are not alright with data mining when it comes to our safety from terrorists. This country has become A$$ backwards. This is ludicrous!! Our government has given up a very important capability to sift out who are and who are not terrorists. It is clear that the civil libertarians overreacted to this necessary and effective tool that could have been used to protect us from terror while maintaining our privacy at the same time. Civil libertarians consistently defend Individual rights to the enth degree even when it is to the detriment to our national security. This is on more instance where political appeasement took precedent over Americans' safety.

Here is an interesting article I found that was written by John Yoo about data mining as it relates to terrorism and how valuable information is being lost in the fight to stop terror because our government isn't willing to allow its use against terrorists.


The U.S. is fighting terror with one hand behind its back by refusing to exploit data-mining tools.


With the arrests last week of 24 alleged terrorists in Britain, the government's legal tools for fighting Al Qaeda are up for debate once again. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff suggests that Congress emulate Britain's law allowing extended pretrial detention of suspects. Others have observed that British law enforcement can more easily initiate investigations and obtain search warrants than their American counterparts.

But increasing detention time or making warrants easier to come by merely extends an old-fashioned approach to catching terrorists. These tools require individualized suspicion and "probable cause"; police must have evidence of criminal activity in hand. Such methods did not prevent 9/11, and stopping terrorists, who may have no criminal record, requires something more.

Instead of enlarging the scope of standard law enforcement methods, we should be doing what Americans do best--innovating and applying new technology to the problem. Despite what civil libertarians might have you think, that means data mining.

Data mining uses supercomputers to analyze vast amounts of information for suspicious patterns of behavior. It appears to have been an important tool in breaking up the plot in Britain. According to news reports, British authorities searched telephone, e-mail and banking records and uncovered connections between the bombers in Britain and their supporters in Pakistan.

American efforts to develop sophisticated data-mining abilities died early in 2003, when criticism killed the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness program. The idea was to develop mining techniques to compare information in government and commercial databases. Civil libertarians engaged in a scare campaign representing the TIA as an unchecked Big Brother. Congress cut off all funding for the program. It was a political defeat early in the war on terrorism, and the president retreated as fast as he could.

But that was a dangerous overreaction. Corporations already use data mining to detect consumer fraud and to market products such as credit cards and magazine subscriptions. Financial companies analyze patterns that might indicate a stolen credit card or bank account number. Why should the government be barred from using similar tools on similar databases to protect the country from attack? Data mining is nothing but an ordinary, ubiquitous feature of technology today.

In fact, the government also already uses modest forms of data mining. In response to drug cartels and organized crime, federal authorities are allowed to search banking records for signs of money laundering. Such analysis has already paid off in the war against terror by identifying groups that funnel funds to extremist organizations.

What about privacy concerns? The Supreme Court has found that the information in business records does not merit 4th Amendment protection because the consumer has already voluntarily turned over the information to a third party.

Still, civil libertarians object to data mining because most of the records and communications that would be searched are innocent, and there is no suspicion of criminal activity attached to any individual whose records may be mined. When the National Security Agency was discovered in May to be looking at telephone billing information on millions of calls within the United States, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) railed at a hearing: "Are you telling me tens of millions of Americans are involved with Al Qaeda?"

But it's important to remember that data mining is not the same thing as gathering the information in the first place. The NSA's program of looking at billing information, for example, doesn't raise the same constitutional issues as its other recently revealed program: warrantless wiretaps. There, the content of communications was captured. A federal trial judge in Detroit enjoined such surveillance Thursday, in a decision already on appeal.

Data mining could be controlled and developed so that it protects us from terror and maintains our privacy. Analysis could be limited to data already turned over to third parties. Searches could be performed initially by computer; only after a certain level of suspicious activity had been registered would an intelligence or law enforcement officer be allowed to see the results. A warrant could still be required to investigate the content of communications or the purpose of purchases.

Right now, we're fighting terror with one hand behind our back by refusing to exploit data-mining tools. London's success should serve notice that we must use our technological sophistication and reject the sky-is-falling claims of the extreme civil libertarians.

H/T goes to American Enterprise Institute For Public Policy Research

Friday, February 26, 2010

Historian David Barton -- Is America a Christian Nation?

This is a most informative speech by David Barton, founder of Wallbuilders, who explains about the Christian Foundation of America.  The videos are in total about 45 minutes long and well worth listening to.  Barton is a historian who is extremely knowledgable about the Founding of America.


Out of the 56 that signed the Declaration of Independence, 29 had seminary degrees.


The first public school law in America in 1647 – The Old Deluder Satan Act – They believed that people should be able to read the Bible (which Satan didn’t want), so they wanted to teach children to read and write. For the next 320 years, the Bible was part of public education.
















H/T goes to Right Scoop

John Yoo Interview With Jon Stewart

I have been trying to post the videos of Jon Stewart interviewing John Yoo, who was a Bush lawyer that wrote interrogation memos, but my computer or blogger is not cooperating, so I posted the links below so that you would be able to view this most fascinating and interesting interview. Enjoy!!



http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-january-7-2010/daily-show--exclusive---john-yoo-extended-interview-pt--1

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-january-7-2010/exclusive---john-yoo-extended-interview-pt--2

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-january-7-2010/exclusive---john-yoo-extended-interview-pt--3

James Traficant on Israel -- He Said, "They're Controlling Our Foreign Policy"



Is James Traficant an Anti-Semite?  Is Israel controlling U.S. Foreign Policy?  This was an heated exchange between Hannity and Traficant.  Well, Israel is an ally as opposed to Hamas and Hezbollah being terrorist organizations working against us.  So, yeah, duh!  We support Israel. Well, sortof since Obama has been in office.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Bush Lawyers Vindicated by Justice Department



Thank goodness that this particular witch hunt by the Obama administration is over. In a report by Reuters, the Bush administration lawyers have been cleared of any wrongdoing. YEA!!! The Justice Department concluded that the lawyers used bad judgement, but did nothing criminal. I would hardly call authorizing these necessary techniques for use on terrorists as bad judgement. After 9/11, the lawyers authorized these techniques, which were necessary to keep this country safe for 7 1/2 years during the Bush years. John Yoo and Jay Bybee are my heroes for thinking about the safety of the United States and its citizens first and putting partisan politics second. Our safety is by far more important than the terrorists so-called rights. I am proud to be an alive American today, and thankful to these fine men, John Yoo and Jay Bybee, for their efforts to keep us safe from terrorists.




Half Time Reflections on the Health Care Summit


I have been watching the bipartisan health care summit on and off, and I have made a few observations. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated, "Health Care reform is an entitlement reform." Well, that has become self-evident in this health care "debate", that Democrats think that health care is an entitlement. Well, who has paid for the Democrats' other entitlement programs over the years? Hard-working tax payers. The tax payers in America have had enough, and are not willing to dole out their hard-earned money for another entitlement program which will only massively increase in size in future years. There actually hasn't been much transparency during the Obama presidency, as Obama promised during the campaign. In fact, I feel like he and Democrats threw their cars into reverse and hit the accelator, had more corrupt backdoor deals than has ever been done in American history, ignored the American people, and has been bull headed in trying to shove this bill down our throats. Sen. Harry Reid tried to pin his facts versus Sen. Lamar Alexander's facts like he has the moral high ground, when he doesn't. Reid was clearly playing the compassion card instead of of facts and reality. Its lovely (sarcasm) how he likes to extend compassion to others with other tax payers' money. Rep. Steney Hoyer looked like he was bored and wanted to slap the f**k out of Reid when he was shooting his mouth off.


It is clear that Republicans have their A-Team at the summit. They sent physicians that really know their stuff. Obama and the Democrats are trying to distort reality by making it appear that the Republicans are in agreement on most issues with the Democrats, when that couldn't be further from the truth. There are major fundamental philosophical differences between Democrats and Republicans on how to solve the affordability and accessibility issues within health care today. The Democrats believe that government should control our lives, make our health care decisions, and the government makes better health care decisons, or decisons period, than the individual person. On the other hand, the Republicans believe in the intelligence of the individual, keeping and promoting individual freedoms that are in line with our Constitution, and that the individual makes much better decisions with his own money than our government has or ever will.

President Obama said that the CBO stated that the Democratic health reform bills will reduce costs. Sen. Lamar Alexander replied that the CBO stated that the bill will increase costs to consumers or patients. Who was right? Sen. Lamar Alexander was correct. Fox News political correspondent Jim Angle did research and found out that the CBO did in fact state that health insurance premiums would increase by 10 to 13 percent, and that was with having the same type of coverage that you have now. Well, we'll see what happens in the third and fourth quarters.

Obama Readies a Fallback Proposal

Today is the much anticipated bipartisan health care summit. Will this be kabuki theater where President Obama and Democrats coopt this summit or will this summit allow for meaningful exchange between the two parties. If all else fails, go to plan B, or plan C ?  At Memeorandum there is an article outlining Obama's fallback plan for health care. But, Bart Stupak has made it clear to Pelosi and Obama that the abortion language in Obama's version of health care reform is unacceptable.

Liberal Democrats would be highly disappointed with a scaled-back version, "conservative" Democrats would be more confortable with a scaled-back version, but only if Obama's bill is similar to the language of the Pelosi bill passed last year. But, that doesn't seem to be the case. Republicans have been acting for a step by step plan right from the beginning of this health care debate.
But, the problem is - What goodies or special deals have been snuck into the President's health care reform bill? Has Bill Nelson's corn husker deal been applied to all the states now? Has the special deal for Unions been kept in the bill? YES. These special deals must STOP! Is the 'nuclear option' still on the table? YES. Until, the Democrats leave these special deals out of the bill and take reconciliation off of the table it seems like Democrats have the Republicans in a clinch hold instead of actually being open to the Republicans ideas for reforming both affordability and accessibility in health care. We will soon see how this bi partisan summit will be today.  I encourage all to watch this show.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Dr. Earl Bradley is Charged With Sexually Abusing 103 Children in Delaware



 
 
On Monday afternoon, the Sussex County Grand Jury returned an indictment against Bradley containing 471 counts of first degree rape, sexual exploitation of a child, unlawful sexual contact first degree, continued sexual abuse of a child, second degree assault and first degree reckless endangerment. He had been initially charged with 29 felony counts when first arrested in December 2009.



As for the number of victims, Sussex County prosecutor Paula Ryan said, "There are 103 separate children identified. They have not been specifically identified as to their name." Officials say there was one male victim among them.


The horrific details of the case against the Lewes pediatrician continue to unfold. The Attorney General said investigators had to review more than 13 hours of videos taped by the doctor, the earliest dating back to 1998. Police had seized the tapes while executing a search warrant at Bradley's office and home back in December.


But there is still a long road ahead, according to investigators. Biden said, "I will expect we will add to this indictment with new charges over the coming months," adding that prosecutors expect to identify more victims as well.


The community has been traumatized by the allegations. In response, what once looked like a wonderland of toys has become a barren building, swept clear of any reminder that children used to go there. The Attorney General's office removed the objects last week.


Now, the state is already looking to others to help them heal through such a painful and never-before-experienced time. Biden said, "We have consulted with and assembled a team of national experts on child sexual abuse to assist each one of us standing here before you."


The Attorney General displayed visible pain, often hesitating and wiping away a tear. "The charges in this indictment are unique in the history of the state of Delaware, as far as I can tell. These are crimes committed against the most vulnerable among us," he said, pausing in emotion. "Those without voices." Biden added that after his research, he knows of no other case with so many young victims as the case against Bradley.

 
This is outrageous!!!! This is highly disturbing and sickening!!! This doctor violated his hippocratic oath, "to abstain from doing harm." Dr. Earl Bradley is accused of violating 103 children and the counting still may not be over. He did major harm to all these children. Has the world gone mad? It sure seems like it. In my opinion, we need to bring back morality, values, and God back into our society. The scars from the molestations will last with these children for the rest of their lives. The scars can heal, but they will always be there. As a victim of sexual assault, I understand the massive repercussions and major effects that sexual crimes can cause. This had me crying, tears rolling down my face, remembering so vividly details of how events went down in my case when I was sexually assaulted at 17 years old. My heart goes out to every one of those kids and their familiies. Maybe, partially because these atrocities took place so close to where my case took place. These horrible crimes took place about 40 miles away from where I grew up. But, with an outpouring of love and therapy these kids can be okay. This pisses me off to no end!! This doctor preyed on little kids. In my case, the man was a horse farm owner where many kids attended horse lessons and this doctor had an enormous amount of children under his care as well. This makes me want to scream to the mountain tops for all these poor children- all these victims of molestation. This monster needs to pay for all of his crimes!! Is life in prison enough of a punishment? These were such heinoous and purposefully acted upon crimes that I would say, NO. The guy needs to fry for his crimes. He deserves the death penalty. This makes me want to go volunteer for a sexual abuse agency. Who knows, maybe this is one more sign that God is calling me to help out victims of sexual crimes? I will be keeping all of these children and their families' in my thoughts and prayers.

Countbrown With Keith Olbermann



H/T goes to The Right Scoop

Meet John Kasich: A New Day For Ohio

Will Republicans Post Health Care Reform? -- Yes & GOP Health Care Alternatives are Posted Right Here

The Republicans Common Sense Health Reforms Will Do This:


• Lowering health care premiums. The GOP plan will lower health care premiums for American families and small businesses, addressing Americans’ number-one priority for health care reform.

• Establishing Universal Access Programs to guarantee access to affordable health care for those with pre-existing conditions. The GOP plan creates Universal Access Programs that expand and reform high-risk pools and reinsurance programs to guarantee that all Americans, regardless of pre-existing conditions or past illnesses, have access to affordable care – while lowering costs for all Americans.

• Ending junk lawsuits. The GOP plan would help end costly junk lawsuits and curb defensive medicine by enacting medical liability reforms modeled after the successful state laws of California and Texas.

• Prevents insurers from unjustly cancelling a policy. The GOP plan prohibits an insurer from cancelling a policy unless a person commits fraud or conceals material facts about a health condition.

• Encouraging Small Business Health Plans. The GOP plan gives small businesses the power to pool together and offer health care at lower prices, just as corporations and labor unions do.

• Encouraging innovative state programs. The GOP plan rewards innovation by providing incentive payment to states that reduce premiums and the number of uninsured.

• Allowing Americans to buy insurance across state lines. The GOP plan allows Americans to shop for coverage from coast to coast by allowing Americans living in one state to purchase insurance in another.

• Promoting healthier lifestyles. The GOP plan promotes prevention & wellness by giving employers greater flexibility to financially reward employees who adopt healthier lifestyles.

• Enhancing Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). The GOP plan creates new incentives to save for current and future health care needs by allowing qualified participants to use HSA funds to pay premiums for high deductible health insurance.

• Allowing dependents to remain on their parents’ policies. The GOP plan encourages coverage of young adults on their parents’ insurance through age 25.


Ten Reasons to Support The Republicans Health Care Alternative:


Taking the First Step. Republicans listened to the American people and have produced a common sense, fiscally responsible health reform proposal—not Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 2,000+ page government takeover of 1/6th of our nation’s economy. Republicans have a better plan, one that lowers premiums for working families and small businesses, fights fraud, and will lead to expanded access to affordable health care coverage for all Americans without raising taxes, cutting benefits to seniors or spending money we don’t have.

Lowers Health Care Premiums.

According to CBO, the Republican Alternative would reduce health insurance premiums by up to:

10% for employees who get coverage through a small business (50 or fewer employees)

8% for those who do not have access to employer-provided coverage

3% for employees who get coverage through a large business

All told, under the GOP plan, premiums for millions of families would be nearly $5,000 lower than Speaker Pelosi’s cheapest insurance plan, according to CBO estimates.

Guarantees Affordable Coverage for Patients with Preexisting Conditions.

The Republican Alternative makes it illegal for an insurance company to deny coverage to someone with prior coverage on the basis of a pre-existing condition. So if you lose your health insurance because you lose your job, move, get divorced, or just want to change plans, you are protected. Through a new Universal Access Program, all patients with preexisting conditions will have access to affordable health care coverage--without waiting lists. The Republican Alternative also prohibits an insurer from cancelling a policy unless an individually knowingly commits fraud on an application form. It also prohibits insurance plans from instituting annual or lifetime spending limits.

Protects Seniors Medicare Benefits.

Unlike the Pelosi bill, seniors’ benefits are not cut and nothing in the Republican Alternative will increase seniors’ Medicare premiums.

No Tax Increases. Period.

Encourages Small Businesses to Offer Health Care Coverage,


Without Taxing Job Creation.

Unlike the Pelosi bill, which punishes small businesses with onerous mandates and exorbitant taxes that CBO says will be passed on the employees in the form of lower wages, the Republican Alternative plan gives small businesses the power to pool together and offer health care at lower prices, just as corporations and labor unions do.

Enacts Real Medical Liability Reform.

The Republican Alternative saves $54 billion by helping to end costly junk lawsuits and curbing defensive medicine by enacting medical liability reforms modeled after the successful state laws of California and Texas.

Empowers the Doctor- Patient Relationship.

The Republican Alternative eliminates taxpayer funding of a program that could lead to government intrusion in the doctor-patient relationship and the rationing of care on the basis of cost. Unlike the Pelosi bill that increases taxes and expands price controls on medical devices and prescription drugs, the Republican Alternative promotes innovation and places greater emphasis on prevention and wellness.

Prohibits Abortion Funding.

The Republican Alternative explicitly prohibits all federal funds from being used to pay for abortion.

No Entitlement Expansions Forcing Americans onto a Government Run Plan.

The Republican Alternative avoids a dramatic expansion in entitlement spending and reverses pressure to enact enormous additional tax increases in the future, including on the middle class.

Reduces the Deficit.

According to CBO, the Republican Alternative reduces the deficit by $68 billion over the next ten years and continues to reduce the deficit in the second budget window.


Republican Alternative is here.

More information on GOP solutions is here at GOP.gov.

Scott Brown Joins Dems and Crosses the Aisle- Conservatives Surprised? Really???


Conservatives took a gamble- we gambled on Scott Brown- out of desperation for any way to stop Obamacare, and because of his stance of being against Obamacare. But, deep down in our hearts, in our guts, we all knew that Scott Brown was a RINO. Yesterday, Scott Brown proved us right by voting "Yes" to send the Jobs Bill to the floor for a vote. We really shouldn't be surprised, but, yet we are.  How could he turn on conservatives so fast? HELLO!!!! Conservatives, wake up!! Scott Brown was NEVER, and I repeat was never a conservative. He is a RINO and from Massachusetts, so we shouldn't be surprised that he is a compromiser, a politician who crosses the aisle, and is a progressive by today's standards. All we can do now is hope that Scott Brown will keep his word on Obamacare and foreign policy issues.

Fr. Jonathan Morris Explains Observance of Lent and Importance of Suffering

Monday, February 22, 2010

Grayson, Progressives & Obama Will Use "Trick" to Pass Health Care

"Here's the "trick" that Obama, Pelosi and Reid are planning to use to ram ObamaCare through: it's called "reconciliation". As the Wall Street Journal explains, "House Democrats would pass a series of 'fixes' to the Senate bill. The Senate would then pass the House reconciliation bill, sending amendments to President Obama to a bill that -- strictly speaking -- didn't exist, because it hadn't yet emerged from the House. The House would then retroactively pass the Senate bill as is."

The President's "bi-partisan" health care summit has never been about compromise. This is only being done to give that perception. The Democrats are still planning on ignoring the American peoples' wishes. The Democrats are still planning to shove this bill down our throat using any means possible. So, now, Obama and the Democrats are going to use the dirty trick called reconciliation when this procedure is not meant to be used for new programs, but in fact used to make changes to existing programs. If they wanted to extend medicare/medicaid benefits to the 15% of citizens who are unhappy about their health care accessibility than that would be okay. But, they are using dirty, rotten alinsky tactics to sneak this bill through so that that can have both power and control over an additional 1/6th of the economy and our lives. These liberals are the most intrusive people and are intent on taking away our freedom and liberty via the health care bill. This is corruption of the worst kind. These dirty, rotten scoundrels must be stopped!! These politicians who want to shred our constitution and "remake" our country into some type of commie land must be stopped!! We must stop the progressives and save our country from tyranny. As you will see in this video, Alan Grayson and progressives are pushing for both the public option and to push the bill through by way of reconciliation.



H/T goes to GOPUSA

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Rapper Jason Hamza Perez's Journey - Former Drug Dealer Converted to Islam



Jason Hamza Perez, a former drug dealer who converted to Islam, says Muslims in the US have suffered more harassment since Obama took office than during the Bush era.

Morgan Freeman on Black History Month



Morgan Freeman has got it right.  He has a fabulous idea on how to end racism.  Stop dwelling on a person's race. Stop increasing the divide by focusing on a person's race. We are all Americans.

H/T goes to TOTUS

Beat The Elites


I would much rather have an every(wo) man like Sarah Palin than an arrogant elitist like Barack Obama running this country.


The elitist mentality breeds both selfish and closed-minded people. This notion has spread rampantly through four year colleges and universities, and even to community colleges across this country. Elitism does not allow for free thought. It calls for a communistic fall in lockstep behind one another mentality that does a huge disservice to the students trying to gain a good, well-rounded college education. This has become prevalent within Catholic colleges today. I attended Franciscan University in Steubenville, OH and even though overall it is better than most Catholic liberal-arts colleges the philosophy of elitism, and specifically liberal elitism has infiltrated it from within to some degree.

Some professors there, as an enormous amount of other colleges call for “social justice” and call for compromise. But, in the elitist version of compromise it is crystal clear that they sacrifice their ideals, principles, and values for the sake of appearing neutral, nice, persuasive, or compromising with others.

This elitist mentality has branched out to jobs all over the world. A bunch of selfish owners, managers, and leaders have been bred all over this country. While in some professions it is self-evident that certain types of training are necessary, there are many jobs or professions where many people, like myself, are more than willing to learn a different computer program or a different line of work but because of office politics or elitist selfishness people are unwilling to help a person learn a new computer program or a different line of work. These owners or managers want a ready-made perfect individual instead of helping to give a person a step up.

Yet, These same selfish owners and managers would rather the government take care of individuals instead of helping them in a much more productive manner that could benefit the company, employee, and this country.

We need to return to being more community-oriented like in the early 20th Century. We must bring our societyback to promoting a sense of values, morality, and Godly principles instead of accepting the elitist mentality of selfishness, arrogance, and moral compromise.



Palin Populism by Michael Knox Beran:
Sarah Palin takes on the pathology of the elites.


BILL O’REILLY: Do you believe that you are smart enough, incisive enough, intellectual enough to handle the most powerful job in the world?


SARAH PALIN: I believe that I am because I have common sense, and I have, I believe, the values that are reflective of so many other American values. And I believe that what Americans are seeking is not the elitism, the kind of spinelessness, that perhaps is made up for with some kind of elite Ivy League education . . .


— The O’Reilly Factor, Nov. 21, 2009


No sooner had I lighted on this exchange than the familiar words of Faust — familiar, at any rate, to us Ivy Leaguers, for whom he is something of a patron saint — were on my tongue:


Habe nun, ach! Philosophie,

Juristerei und Medizin . . .


I have, alas, studied philosophy,

Jurisprudence and medicine, too,

And worst of all theology

With keen endeavor, through and through —

And here I am, for all my lore,

The wretched fool I was before.


I was, as I say, trilling Goethe when it occurred to me that Governor Palin had a point. Perhaps the Ivy League business has been a little overrated.



Everyone knows that many stupid people possess degrees from fancy schools. Many smart people don’t have them. But in a big country, it isn’t easy to distinguish the wheat from the chaff. We are obliged to rely on things like academic degrees — and on the relative prestige of the institutions that grant them — to a much greater degree than was the case in the past.


This was evident in the comparisons that were drawn between President Obama and Governor Palin in the summer of 2008. His intelligence was never questioned. Hers was, repeatedly. Undoubtedly his two Ivy League degrees (from Columbia and Harvard) helped him. Her want of prestigious education hurt her: It made it easier for those who didn’t like her to say she was stupid. This presumption of stupidity was in the air before the interviews with Charles Gibson and Katie Couric. Those interviews resembled ambushes, orchestrated by people who were already convinced that she was a moron. Had Obama — who cherishes his teleprompter — been ambushed in this way, his intelligence would have been questioned too.


Degree fetish might be a necessary evil in a big country where there are lots of candidates for jobs and no easy way to rank them. But if in the future the only means of obtaining intellectual credibility in America should be through an accumulation of degrees, the country will almost certainly become stupider.


Degree fetish fosters a standardization of the intellect: Everyone is obliged to jump over the same hurdles to get their intellectual passports. If standardization has its virtues, particularly in the hard sciences, its promise in the humanities is much less obvious; Edmund Wilson was probably right when he said that literae humaniores have suffered from the Ph.D. fetish.

But the greatest evil of degree fetish is the arrogance it nourishes, an intellectual snobbishness that stifles nonconformity and homespun intelligence. Whitman suffered this condescension. So did Lincoln, and so did Reagan. Emerson, the Harvard man, said that Lincoln was a “clown.” Clark Clifford, speaking ex cathedra for the Washington establishment, called Reagan an “amiable dunce.”  CONTINUED

H/T goes to NRO

Tea Party Responds to Olbermann's Obsession With Race



H/T goes to NRO

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Dick Cheney, National Security Wizard, Wins The War of Words With Biden


     


Biden is full of hot air. Joe Biden's mouth has been spewing the rhetoric of opportunism, truth bending, and flat out lies. This administration loves to use revisionist history in taking credit in both economic and foreign affairs. As you will see below, the video shows both Joe Biden and Barack Obama stating that they were adamantly against the surge. The other video shows Dick Cheney defendiing Bush policies on ABC's This Week. I am so sick of this me, me, me mentality where Biden, Obama, and the rest of their administration takes credit for policies that they clearly had nothing to do with, and in fact repudiated. Obama and Biden should both be praising and ashowing that they're proud of our brave soldiers overseas but instead they are looking to fulfill their self indulgences, personal gratification campaign, and furthering their political agendas. How utterly despicable! Biden should be displaying gratitude for the sacrifice that our troops made during the successful surge in Iraq. Yes, that is what turned around the war in Iraq. But, no, they can't give Bush one iota of credit of success for anything. MSM political pundits and the White House officials have misapplied Iraq success to the Obama administration when both the soldiers and Bush deserve the crdit for the successful surge in Iraq.
The Obama administration continues to play the Bush blame game. The Obama administration has issues with it needing a false sense of self gratifiation. They also continue to display a childish naivety in refusing to accept responsibility for both actions and inactions with relation to problems that have been both created and exacerbated by this administration. Cheney did an excellent job at pointing out the differences in the cases of the shoe bomber and the underwear bomber. The shoe bomber incident took place only a couple months after 9/11, when military tribunals were not already in place and Eric Holder's law firm continually represented the terrorists and challenged the legitimacy of military tribunals all the way up to the Supreme Court. But, nine years later the military tribunals are in place so it is only proper to try our enemy in front of a military commission. Dick Cheney explains how this administration has chosen in a nonsensical manner to limit the tools that they can use to keep us safe from another terrorist attack. Cheney tells us what he believes is necessary to keep this country safe instead of this adminstration's weak policies of accommodating and appeasing our enemies. In my opinion, Dick Cheney wins the war of words, and the national security debate hands down.






Breitbart Reacts to Maddow's Naked Postmodern Garbage





H/T goes to NRO

Friday, February 19, 2010

Hypocrisy Alert! -- White Liberals Surround Keith Olbermann, Black Faces???



H/T goes to The Right Scoop

Marco Rubio Speech at CPAC

This is a brilliant speech!  Marco Rubio lifts up America instead of apologizing for America. He talks about America's exceptionalism.  He is a true conservative. We must help him win the GOP nomination against Charlie Christ to become the next senator from Florida.  Then, we must help him the general election so that he can become the next senator from Florida. 




H/T goes to The Right Scoop

Beckel versus Beckel



This is a great showdown between the two Beckel brothers.  Graham Beckel speaks eloquently on conservatism.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

An Ever Increasing Threat of a Nuclear Iran & The Continued Failed Policy of Appeasement


    Many people are misguided in thinking that Muslims want nothing to do with the West, and in particular with the United States. On one hand Muslim Jihadists want to destroy the West, and on the other hand the peaceful Muslims want the West to rescue them from Tyranny. The protesters in Iran wanted Obama to stand up and support their cause and instead he reacted to their plight standoffishly.
    Obama in his utopian peacenik philosophy envisions the United States to be nuclear free. This is a highly unrealistic and childish dream when Iran’s leader - Ahmadinejad- has openly expressed that he wants to wipe Israel off the map, that he is going to ignore and violate U.N. sanctions, and will further his cause to enrich uranium and possess nuclear weapons. The threat of Iran has loomed over us for many years but unfortunately no President from Jimmy Carter through the Obama administration has taken the initiative to deal with the threat head on. Carter’s appeasement approach in pleading for restraint to the Shah to preempt the use of “excessive force” led to the rise of The Islamic Republic of Iran.

Joseph Puder of Pajamas Media stated:

“Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carter’s national security advisor, advised the president not to deal harshly with Ayatollah Khomeini and his cohorts lest a split occur within the Islamic opposition to the Russian presence in Afghanistan. At the time, both Democrats and Republicans considered the Islamists as a weapon against Soviet Communism and its local clients.
Few among today’s Capitol Hill legislators, and even fewer in the Obama administration, recognize the fact that U.S. credibility and deterrence are being compromised by the current U.S. policy towards Iran. The Arab Gulf states and Lebanon are hedging their bets on Iran emerging as the winner, and Saudi Arabia is also slowly moving towards Tehran, frustrated by America’s demonstrated weakness toward the Iranian mullahs.”

Iran has rejected key parts of a deal that the U.N. offered to them. This deal would have required Iran to ship 70% of its stock low-enriched uranium abroad in return for fuel for a medical research reactor. This regime has defied the Non-Proliferation Treaty without suffering any consequences. Iran has defied the United States deadline
Both Russia and China are heavily invested into Iranian oil and gas industries and would never approve of tougher sanctions against the Iranian regime. What the heck good is the U.N. if countries who are supposed to be keeping the world safe can be bought off or heavily influenced to vote against the tougher sanctions of Iran? In my opinion, the United States needs to kick the U.N. out of New York City and tell them to find a new home since they clearly have shown that they have an anti-American agenda that is equally clearly a threat to the safety of the United States.

Unfortunately, both the Clinton and Bush administrations continued policies of appeasement, to try and bribe Iran from continuing their uranium enrichment program. The Clinton administration sought a mega-deal with Iran by lifting sanctions, apologizing to Iranian mullahs, and the Bush administration sought to reach a deal with Iran in 2008 where the West would lift sanctions in exchange for Iran halting their uranium enrichment program. This bargaining and bribery with Iran must stop! The U.S. and other nations must take a hard-line stance and authoritatively tell Ahmadinejad that he is going to discontinue his uranium enrichment program or there will be serious consequences. This treating Iran with kid gloves must stop!!

During the Bush administration, an abrupt reality set in when Ahmadinejad spoke of the 12th Imam- The Shiite messiah- and the ensuing domination of the world in front of the General Assembly. Ahmadinejad made no remarks agreeing to stop uranium enrichment.

Obama continued these policies of appeasement, and in a big way. Obama not only apologized to Iran but to the whole Muslim world and continued the apology tour later on in Europe. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continued Obama’s policy of appeasement when on July 22, 2009 she stated that “we will still hold the door open for talks with Iran.” Since 1979 American presidents have persisted on attempting to appease hostile mullahs in order to reach an agreement.

“Iran knows all too well that once it is in possession of a nuclear weapon, it would deter any future U.S. military action and leave the mullahs free to stir up even greater troubles for Washington in Iraq and Afghanistan, for Israel in Gaza and from Lebanon, and for the Arab Gulf states.”

“It is not that the U.S. lacks options. The military option is certainly available. The U.S. has the forces to eliminate both the nuclear weapons and the current repressive regime. Washington could also arm and train the Iranian minorities against the regime. It has chosen neither. The Obama administration failed to support the Iranian opposition following the rigged August elections. It shudders at the thought of forcing a regime change in Iran because of political correctness, a signature value of this administration.
Iranian minorities who comprise more than half of the population are in a state of rebellion against the regime, ready to spill their blood to end the rule of the repressive regime and Ahmadinejad, a despised and unlawful president. The people are taking up arms against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, killing and getting killed in the process. The Arabs of Ahwaz attempted and nearly succeeded in assassinating Ahmadinejad a few years ago.
And yet the Obama administration, like previous administrations, continues with policies of dishonor, sacrificing American deterrence and credibility. To the Iranians and Middle Eastern Arabs, America appears weak and unwilling to fight the Iranian mullahs. The situation is reminiscent of Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler and the Nazis.”

Here is an interesting video showing foreign relations experts from Israel, Russia, and the United States discussing Russia’s dilemma with Iran. Russia decided to delay delivery of S-300 air defense missiles to Iran. Is the United States and Russia playing good cop and bad cop? I hope that Russia decides to stop this sale of defense missiles to Iran. I am a little puzzled by Russia’s so-called dilemma and what exactly that is. Russia just needs to take a hard line stance against Iran. 





Now The IAEA says Iran enriches nuclear fuel.

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog said it has information suggesting Iran may be working to build a nuclear warhead, an assessment that could escalate the U.S. and other Western governments' confrontation with Iran over its nuclear activities.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, a Vienna-based U.N. body, said in a confidential report Thursday that Iran has impeded agency efforts to establish the true purpose of Tehran's nuclear program.

Now, countries all over the world must be on high alert and be willing to take the appropriate actions to halt Iran from enriching uranium to make a nuclear weapon. CONTINUED

H/T goes to Pajamas Media

H/T goes to Wall Street Journal

Generation Zero Movie Trailer


Generation Zero - 60 Second Movie Trailer from Citizens United on Vimeo.

Generation Zero is a documentary about the current economic crisis seen from a cultural perspective. Citizens United created the movie, they are the same folks that created “Hillary The Movie” and whose lawsuit brought about the recent Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance.

Here is a brief synopsis from GenerationZeroMovie:

The current economic crisis is not a failure of capitalism, but a failure of culture. Generation Zero explores the cultural roots of the global financial meltdown - beginning with the narcissism of the 1960's, spreading like a virus through the self-indulgent 90's, and exploding across the world in the present economic cataclysm.


Generation Zero goes beneath the shallow media headlines and talking head sound bites to get to the source of today's economic nightmare. With a cutting edge style and haunting imagery, this must see documentary will change everything you thought you knew about Wall Street and Washington.

Featuring experts, authors, and pundits from across the political spectrum, Generation Zero exposes the little told story of how the mindset of the baby boomers sowed the seeds of economic disaster that will be reaped by coming generations.


H/T goes to Another Black Conservative

The Democratic Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Are Plotting a Smear Campaign Against Tea Party Movement


There was a Haiti conference call with Bill Clinton, Terry McAuliffe, James Carville, and other Democrat colleagues last week.  But Big Government has learned that there was at least one more phone call where the Democrats main focus was to plan to mount attacks on the Tea Party movement, and especially the Leaders within the movement.  These Dirty Rotten Scoundrels are planning to go on a bribery, blackmail, and/or a smear campaign because the Tea Party movement is having an effect- a big effect and challenging the Democrats and hurting their agenda in a big way.  Please all Tea Party members to be aware of this infiltration by the Democrats that is about to take place.  We must somehow mount a campaign to counter these false attacks by liberals.  We must revive the era of Kent Starr and bring to light, or remind people again of the corruption of these scumbags and  reveal all the skeletons in the closets of these Democrats: Bill Clinton, James Carville, Terry McAuliffe and of other dirty rotten scoundrels.  We need to reveal the truth about these dirty rotten crooks.  We need to help our Tea Party leaders counter these false Democratic attacks.  We must counter their Alinsky-style techniques.  We must counter their false attacks with truth. And believe me, the truth will hurt Democrats. Please spread the word to all Tea Party members.


When tea party, 9/12 and townhall protests and rallies first erupted on the national scene, they were derided by national politicos as astroturf or a small fringe movement. Lefty journalists at MSNBC, CNN and elsewhere laughed away the movement with derogatory, pornographic references.



Then, Scott Brown won election to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts. No one is laughing anymore. In fact, Democrats are facing political annihilation this November. Not only do Democrats face the possibility of losing their congressional majorities, massive losses in state house races could jeopardize redistricting next year and set back the progressive agenda for at least a decade.


So, the Clinton Empire is planning to strike back.


Big Government has learned that Clintonistas are plotting a “push/pull” strategy. They plan to identify 7-8 national figures active in the tea party movement and engage in deep opposition research on them. If possible, they will identify one or two they can perhaps ‘turn’, either with money or threats, to create a mole in the movement. The others will be subjected to a full-on smear campaign. (Has MSNBC already been notified?)


Big Government has also learned that James Carville will head up the effort.


Obviously, there is no love lost between Obama and the Clinton machine. It may at first seem odd that Clinton would rush to Obama’s defense, but the tea party movement poses a threat far beyond the immediate goals of the Obama Administration.


The tea party movement could evolve into a new political realignment, one founded on a belief in limited government and less government interference in the economy. The Progressive agenda, which has been painstakingly built up over the last three decades, could be left in tatters.


As the Clinton’s know, “politics ain’t beanbag.” Expect the counterattack soon. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.


H/T goes to BigGovernment

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Huge White House Cover Up? Samigate


Robert Spencer of FRONTPAGEMAG writes a very revealing article on the White House Rashad Hussein Al-Arianigate.

Someone is covering up for Rashad Hussain. But who?


And what did Barack Obama know, and when did he know it?

Rashad Hussain is the Obama administration’s newly appointed special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the thuggish international organization that is engaged in a full-scale campaign to intimidate Western governments into adopting hate speech codes that will effectively quash criticism of Islam – including jihad violence perpetrated in its name. Rashad Hussain is an apposite choice for this position, since several years ago he defended a notorious U.S.-based leader of a jihad terrorist group.

But someone doesn’t want you to know that, and made a clumsy attempt to cover it up.

In 2004, Rashad Hussain, then a Yale law student, declared that the investigation and prosecution of University of South Florida professor Sami al-Arian, who ultimately pled guilty to charges involving his activities as a leader of the terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, was a “politically motivated persecution” designed “to squash dissent.”

Journalist Patrick Goodenough of Cybercast News Service reports that Hussain’s remarks in support of Al-Arian were published in the jihad-enabling Washington Report on Middle East Affairs in November 2004. But now all that has gone down the memory hole. The Washington Report’s archived version of this November 2004 article lacks two paragraphs that were included in the original version: the ones quoting Rashad Hussain. Otherwise the article is unchanged.

The Washington Report editors, caught red-handed, decided to brazen it out, and blame their accusers – a tried-and-true tactic that is also frequently employed by jihadists in the West. They insist that there was no cover-up, and anyone who thinks otherwise is a venomous Islamophobe: according to Goodenough, “WRMEA news editor and executive director Delinda Hanley denied there was a ‘cover-up,’ and implied that anti-Muslim discrimination was behind the fact this was now being raised.”

Sure. It’s just “anti-Muslim discrimination” to be concerned about Rashad Hussain’s support for Al-Arian, a vicious suicide-bombing supporter who chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” and clearly meant it. When two Islamic Jihad suicide bombers killed eighteen people in Israel in 1995, Al-Arian called them “two mujahidin martyred for the sake of God.”

But there was no cover-up! It was all a mistake, you see: according to the Washington Report now, Sami Al-Arian’s daughter, Laila Al-Arian, actually said the words that were attributed to Rashad Hussain.

But this explanation doesn’t make sense, since the article was altered just to remove the quotes, not to change the name of the person quoted. Also, the author of the original story, Shereen Kandil, contradicts the Washington Report’s explanation, telling Goodenough:

“When I worked as a reporter at WRMEA, I understood how important it was to quote the right person, and accurately. I have never mixed my sources and wouldn’t have quoted Rashad Hussain if it came from Laila al-Arian. If the editors from WRMEA felt they wanted to remove Rashad Hussain from the article, my assumption is that they did it for reasons other than what you’re saying. They never once contacted me about an ‘error’ they claim I made.’”

Was the Washington Report covering for Rashad Hussain at its own discretion, or at the behest of someone else? Did Barack Obama himself know about this cover-up? Did someone in the White House or the State Department find out about Hussain’s defense of Al-Arian, and act to cover for the bright young special envoy before this defense was discovered and he became known as a terror apologist?

Or is the Obama Administration wholly uninvolved – and unaware of the fact that the President has chosen as an envoy to the world’s leading organization of Islamic states a man who has openly declared his support for an admitted leader of a jihad terror group? Alternatively, is Hussain’s disdain for the war on terror and support for Al-Arian precisely what Obama thought might make him appealing to the OIC? In 2007 Hussain declared that federal law should prohibit “the targeting of non-citizens solely on the basis of their racial, religious, or ethnic backgrounds.” In other words, airport security officials should keep on pretending that eighty-year-old Iowa grandmothers present just as much of a terror risk as do young Muslim males. It’s an outrage to common sense and a waste of resources, but it pleases Barack Obama, Rashad Hussain, and the Islamic countries to which the Administration is so desperately and fruitlessly reaching out.

Whoever is covering up for Rashad Hussain should come clean. And in the process, Obama should reevaluate the wisdom of sending a man like Hussain, with the views that he holds, to an organization such as the OIC – as should question whether he should really be sending an envoy to the OIC in the first place.

But Obama is in far too deep for that.

H/T goes to FRONTPAGEMAG

Here is a video on this cover up:






 

The Art of Lying: Rush Compares Obama to Hitler

Note to Lefties:  Rush is not comparing Obama to Hitler in the mass murder sense.  Rush is comparing Obama to Hitler in the BIGGEST LIE EVER TOLD sense. 



H/T goes to The Right Scoop

The Mount Vernon Statement: Please Sign in Support of Conservative Principles, Beliefs & Values

Conservative Leaders around the country have just posted this contemporary restatement of the American commitment to our constitutional republic, the rule of law, and individual liberty. This declaration is called the Mount Vernon Statement and espouses conservative beliefs, values, and principles.


The Mount Vernon Statement


Constitutional Conservatism: A Statement for the 21st Century

We recommit ourselves to the ideas of the American Founding. Through the Constitution, the Founders created an enduring framework of limited government based on the rule of law. They sought to secure national independence, provide for economic opportunity, establish true religious liberty and maintain a flourishing society of republican self-government.

These principles define us as a country and inspire us as a people. They are responsible for a prosperous, just nation unlike any other in the world. They are our highest achievements, serving not only as powerful beacons to all who strive for freedom and seek self-government, but as warnings to tyrants and despots everywhere.

Each one of these founding ideas is presently under sustained attack. In recent decades, America’s principles have been undermined and redefined in our culture, our universities and our politics. The selfevident truths of 1776 have been supplanted by the notion that no such truths exist. The federal government today ignores the limits of the Constitution, which is increasingly dismissed as obsolete and irrelevant.

Some insist that America must change, cast off the old and put on the new. But where would this lead — forward or backward, up or down? Isn’t this idea of change an empty promise or even a dangerous deception?

The change we urgently need, a change consistent with the American ideal, is not movement away from but toward our founding principles. At this important time, we need a restatement of Constitutional conservatism grounded in the priceless principle of ordered liberty articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

The conservatism of the Declaration asserts self-evident truths based on the laws of nature and nature’s God. It defends life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It traces authority to the consent of the governed. It recognizes man’s self-interest but also his capacity for virtue.

The conservatism of the Constitution limits government’s powers but ensures that government performs its proper job effectively. It refines popular will through the filter of representation. It provides checks and balances through the several branches of government and a federal republic.

A Constitutional conservatism unites all conservatives through the natural fusion provided by American principles. It reminds economic conservatives that morality is essential to limited government, social conservatives that unlimited government is a threat to moral self-government, and national security conservatives that energetic but responsible government is the key to America’s safety and leadership role in the world.

A Constitutional conservatism based on first principles provides the framework for a consistent and meaningful policy agenda.

» It applies the principle of limited government based on the
rule of law to every proposal.

» It honors the central place of individual liberty in American
politics and life.

» It encourages free enterprise, the individual entrepreneur, and
economic reforms grounded in market solutions.

» It supports America’s national interest in advancing freedom
and opposing tyranny in the world and prudently considers what we can and should do to that
end.

» It informs conservatism’s firm defense of family, neighborhood,
community, and faith.

If we are to succeed in the critical political and policy battles ahead, we must be certain of our purpose.

We must begin by retaking and resolutely defending the high ground of America’s founding principles.

February 17, 2010

Please sign the petition here