Wednesday, December 31, 2008
My friend Thomas emailed this to me. Could this really ever happen?
Read on, my friend. This is a source I don't know and being deeply dedicated to the Slack am hoping and a prayin' that it's a Con Con con and really could never happen here in the USA.
Date: Monday, December 29, 2008, 12:06 PM
> This was news to me, folks. It's a big heads up.
>
> By Nancy Levant December 24, 2008 NewsWithViews.com
>
> The strategically planned and forthcoming Constitutional Convention,
> which will address "a balanced budget," is quite a cover story.
> Therefore, let us consider the truth behind this elaborate usurpation
> scheme.
>
> As the country is failing in every direction - from the former
> individual in America to each and every individual state in the
> country, the total economic crash of EVERYTHING
> - and all converging at the very same time and as we speak - is, let
> us say, extraordinarily convenient.
>
> Add this convenience to the fact that on March 27, 1969, President
> Richard Nixon divided the country into 10 regions via the Government
> Reorganization Act. Then with Nixon's Executive Order 11647, the
> nation was divided up into 10 administrative regions on February 14,
> 1972 (Federal Register February 12, 1972, Vol. 37, No. 30), which also
> established the Federal Regional Council for the newly
> designed 10 regions. Now, why did former President Richard
> Nixon redefine the United States? He did so because the
> United Nations passed a resolution that the United States
> must reorganize into 10 regions.
>
> Can you name your regional directors? Who are these
> councils, and where are their office buildings? Actually,
> you don't know because they were not
> "elected," nor are they mentioned on your
> tell-a-visions. Your regional councilmen are
> "appointees." Can you tell me who appointed them
> to regional power? Bet you can't. And the reorganizing
> of our former nation, achieved more than 25 years ago, and
> of which you know nothing, certainly suggests that "government" as we
> knew it changed a long time ago. With all this information now in
> hands, ask yourselves what would happen in the event of a really big,
> national "crisis?" What powers do your states hold, or for
> that matter, your counties or local governments hold -
> especially since they are all bankrupt AND have regional
> managers.
>
> Add this to your plate: now that you know your nation has been redrawn
> and redistributed, what if I told you that a new constitution was
> written at the same time the country was divided into 10 regions? Ever
> heard of the Proposed Constitution for the Newstates of America?
>
> In 1964, the Ford Foundation funded an outfit called the Center for
> the Study of Democratic Institutions to write a new constitution for
> our nation. After 40 drafts, a staff of
>
> 100+ people, and at a cost of 2.5 million dollars a year, a
> decade later (1974) the Proposed Constitution for the Newstates of
> America was finished. Mind you - a ten year, $25,000,000.00
> project.let us therefore assume that the funding foundation(s) were
> very serious about this investment. And two years later in 1976, Mr.
> Nelson Rockefeller, who at that time was the president of the
> Senate, introduced HCR 28, which called for an unlimited
> Constitutional Convention - the perfect tool whereby to
> dissolve our current constitution and implant the handily
> written new constitution - and all without congressional
> oversight or public knowledge.
>
> Didn't go well for Nelson in 1976, but guess what? A
> new Constitutional Convention is right around our corners again - with
> 32 states requesting the Con-Con, and with only
>
> 34 required for it's convening - and with most American states now
> totally, conveniently, bankrupt. Look at it this
> way: the Feds can not possibly bail out 50 states because they've
> already given all our money away - right? And we can't pay taxes
> anyway because we have no jobs. Gosh.what can the Feds possibly do to
> rectify this horrible situation?
>
> Dialectically speaking, they've had their answer of
> choice in the wings for decades. It's called dissolving state, county,
> and local powers for centralized power. Gosh.it's the United Nations
> mandate for one world government and regionalization of the United
> States - as commanded in the 1960's. Do tell, folks.do tell.
>
> The current economic "crisis" is the tool, the
> highly planned and patient tool, to set up the global governing
> bureaucracy for real and for certain with the second convening of the
> Constitutional Convention in the wings. The big wigs tried it before
> in 1976, and they are trying again, but this time having manufactured
> national bankruptcy as public fear-based appeasement.
>
> I suggest you read your forthcoming constitution, which is also your
> forthcoming nightmare. Here is just a taste of your global privileges
> from your Constitution for the New States of America:
>
> Article 1-A Sec.1 - "Freedom of expression shall not
> be abridged except in declared emergency."
>
> Article 1A Sec.8 - "The practice of religion shall be privileged."
>
> Article 1B Sec. 8 - "Bearing of arms shall be confined
> to the police, members of the armed forces, and those licensed under
> law."
>
> Research: GovernAmerica.com SweetLiberty.org Etext.org/Constitution
>
> C 2008 Nancy Levant - All Rights Reserve
Read on, my friend. This is a source I don't know and being deeply dedicated to the Slack am hoping and a prayin' that it's a Con Con con and really could never happen here in the USA.
Date: Monday, December 29, 2008, 12:06 PM
> This was news to me, folks. It's a big heads up.
>
> By Nancy Levant December 24, 2008 NewsWithViews.com
>
> The strategically planned and forthcoming Constitutional Convention,
> which will address "a balanced budget," is quite a cover story.
> Therefore, let us consider the truth behind this elaborate usurpation
> scheme.
>
> As the country is failing in every direction - from the former
> individual in America to each and every individual state in the
> country, the total economic crash of EVERYTHING
> - and all converging at the very same time and as we speak - is, let
> us say, extraordinarily convenient.
>
> Add this convenience to the fact that on March 27, 1969, President
> Richard Nixon divided the country into 10 regions via the Government
> Reorganization Act. Then with Nixon's Executive Order 11647, the
> nation was divided up into 10 administrative regions on February 14,
> 1972 (Federal Register February 12, 1972, Vol. 37, No. 30), which also
> established the Federal Regional Council for the newly
> designed 10 regions. Now, why did former President Richard
> Nixon redefine the United States? He did so because the
> United Nations passed a resolution that the United States
> must reorganize into 10 regions.
>
> Can you name your regional directors? Who are these
> councils, and where are their office buildings? Actually,
> you don't know because they were not
> "elected," nor are they mentioned on your
> tell-a-visions. Your regional councilmen are
> "appointees." Can you tell me who appointed them
> to regional power? Bet you can't. And the reorganizing
> of our former nation, achieved more than 25 years ago, and
> of which you know nothing, certainly suggests that "government" as we
> knew it changed a long time ago. With all this information now in
> hands, ask yourselves what would happen in the event of a really big,
> national "crisis?" What powers do your states hold, or for
> that matter, your counties or local governments hold -
> especially since they are all bankrupt AND have regional
> managers.
>
> Add this to your plate: now that you know your nation has been redrawn
> and redistributed, what if I told you that a new constitution was
> written at the same time the country was divided into 10 regions? Ever
> heard of the Proposed Constitution for the Newstates of America?
>
> In 1964, the Ford Foundation funded an outfit called the Center for
> the Study of Democratic Institutions to write a new constitution for
> our nation. After 40 drafts, a staff of
>
> 100+ people, and at a cost of 2.5 million dollars a year, a
> decade later (1974) the Proposed Constitution for the Newstates of
> America was finished. Mind you - a ten year, $25,000,000.00
> project.let us therefore assume that the funding foundation(s) were
> very serious about this investment. And two years later in 1976, Mr.
> Nelson Rockefeller, who at that time was the president of the
> Senate, introduced HCR 28, which called for an unlimited
> Constitutional Convention - the perfect tool whereby to
> dissolve our current constitution and implant the handily
> written new constitution - and all without congressional
> oversight or public knowledge.
>
> Didn't go well for Nelson in 1976, but guess what? A
> new Constitutional Convention is right around our corners again - with
> 32 states requesting the Con-Con, and with only
>
> 34 required for it's convening - and with most American states now
> totally, conveniently, bankrupt. Look at it this
> way: the Feds can not possibly bail out 50 states because they've
> already given all our money away - right? And we can't pay taxes
> anyway because we have no jobs. Gosh.what can the Feds possibly do to
> rectify this horrible situation?
>
> Dialectically speaking, they've had their answer of
> choice in the wings for decades. It's called dissolving state, county,
> and local powers for centralized power. Gosh.it's the United Nations
> mandate for one world government and regionalization of the United
> States - as commanded in the 1960's. Do tell, folks.do tell.
>
> The current economic "crisis" is the tool, the
> highly planned and patient tool, to set up the global governing
> bureaucracy for real and for certain with the second convening of the
> Constitutional Convention in the wings. The big wigs tried it before
> in 1976, and they are trying again, but this time having manufactured
> national bankruptcy as public fear-based appeasement.
>
> I suggest you read your forthcoming constitution, which is also your
> forthcoming nightmare. Here is just a taste of your global privileges
> from your Constitution for the New States of America:
>
> Article 1-A Sec.1 - "Freedom of expression shall not
> be abridged except in declared emergency."
>
> Article 1A Sec.8 - "The practice of religion shall be privileged."
>
> Article 1B Sec. 8 - "Bearing of arms shall be confined
> to the police, members of the armed forces, and those licensed under
> law."
>
> Research: GovernAmerica.com SweetLiberty.org Etext.org/Constitution
>
> C 2008 Nancy Levant - All Rights Reserve
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
"When I saw this story in the Washington Post--"Little Blue Pills [Viagra] Among the Way US Wins Friends in Afghanistan"--I thought of this story' in the New York Times--"The Bride Price (photo above)." Then I felt sick.
Why? Viagra, the Post reports, has become a currency of choice between the CIA and old Afghan chieftains "with younger wives," as the Post puts it, delicately and matter of fact at the same time. The CIA gets information; the Afghans get Viagra. And the "younger wives"--often little girls such as the one above?" READ IT ALL.
The Death of the Grown-Up | Diana West > Home - USA: Accessory to Child Rape?
Why? Viagra, the Post reports, has become a currency of choice between the CIA and old Afghan chieftains "with younger wives," as the Post puts it, delicately and matter of fact at the same time. The CIA gets information; the Afghans get Viagra. And the "younger wives"--often little girls such as the one above?" READ IT ALL.
The Death of the Grown-Up | Diana West > Home - USA: Accessory to Child Rape?
Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
OC
Blogger: One Cosmos - Post a Comment: "will said...
>> . . . to be unaware of the extraordinary spiritual sacrifices others have made in order to make your insignificant life possible is to live as a barbarian<<
In this holy season, a shoutout to all those spiritual warriors, known and not known, historical and contemporary, whose sacrifices literally maintain life on earth - they anchor the Light that we all might transcend.
That's one thing I always try to remind myself of during this season, and consequently all seasons. The simplest gestures, a smile on an elevator, a simple word of encouragement, the turning away of anger or petulance - these are acts that save the world and prepare the way for the Parousia.
Merry Christmas, all."
Blogger: One Cosmos - Post a Comment: "will said...
>> . . . to be unaware of the extraordinary spiritual sacrifices others have made in order to make your insignificant life possible is to live as a barbarian<<
In this holy season, a shoutout to all those spiritual warriors, known and not known, historical and contemporary, whose sacrifices literally maintain life on earth - they anchor the Light that we all might transcend.
That's one thing I always try to remind myself of during this season, and consequently all seasons. The simplest gestures, a smile on an elevator, a simple word of encouragement, the turning away of anger or petulance - these are acts that save the world and prepare the way for the Parousia.
Merry Christmas, all."
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Caroline and the Grey Lady | Jewcy.com
Caroline and the Grey Lady | Jewcy.com:
"The more aristocracy appeared, the more it was despised; there was a visible imbecility and want of intellects in the majority, a sort of je ne sais quoi, that while it affected to be more than citizen, was less than man. It lost ground from contempt more than from hatred; and was rather jeered at as an ass, than dreaded as a lion. This is the general character of aristocracy, or what are called Nobles or Nobility, or rather No-ability, in all countries.
Thomas Paine didn't have Google, where terms like "American Royalty" and "Camelot" spring right up whenever the query is the name of one of the most mediocre and over-indulged families to ever sully these fine shores. How is it that, in an age where a mixed-race man from a broken home, the product of international upbringing and no inherited fortune, can be elected president, we are still talking about the fucking Kennedys?" READ IT ALL.
"The more aristocracy appeared, the more it was despised; there was a visible imbecility and want of intellects in the majority, a sort of je ne sais quoi, that while it affected to be more than citizen, was less than man. It lost ground from contempt more than from hatred; and was rather jeered at as an ass, than dreaded as a lion. This is the general character of aristocracy, or what are called Nobles or Nobility, or rather No-ability, in all countries.
Thomas Paine didn't have Google, where terms like "American Royalty" and "Camelot" spring right up whenever the query is the name of one of the most mediocre and over-indulged families to ever sully these fine shores. How is it that, in an age where a mixed-race man from a broken home, the product of international upbringing and no inherited fortune, can be elected president, we are still talking about the fucking Kennedys?" READ IT ALL.
The Pelosi GTxi SS/RT @ AMERICAN DIGEST
If you're needing a laugh right about now the always reliable Iowahawk has a video that will get you right in the mood for the new regime.
The Pelosi GTxi SS/RT @ AMERICAN DIGEST
The Pelosi GTxi SS/RT @ AMERICAN DIGEST
"In 2005, a Boston investment adviser and derivatives expert, Harry Markopolos submitted a nineteen-page report, anonymously, to the SEC saying it was “highly likely” that Madoff Securities was “the world's largest Ponzi Scheme.” Markopolos reminded the SEC that he had first brought the Madoff matter to the attention of their Boston field office in 1999, during the Clinton Administration, but no action was taken. In his report he recommended discretion, suggesting that he knew his research could ruin people's careers. He asked the SEC to be discreet about circulating the report, saying, “I am worried about the personal safety of myself and my family. Under no circumstances is this report or its contents to be shared with any other regulatory body without my express permission.”
Family Security Matters Publications Off With Their Heads
Family Security Matters Publications Off With Their Heads
Monday, December 22, 2008
The Advent Reunion: Chapter Four: Nightmare
More of Klavan's scary story:
The Advent Reunion: Chapter Four: Nightmare
The Advent Reunion: Chapter Four: Nightmare
Over at Gagdad Bob's, where daily transformation occurs, the artistic,articulate Julie gifts us in the comment section with the link to this essay which is a must read for those interested in how it is that the America we once knew, and those we knew fought for, has allowed a bunch of crooks so much power.
Apathy Becomes Us | The Return Of Scipio
Apathy Becomes Us | The Return Of Scipio
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Christmas Recipe:
> 1 cup of water
> 1 tsp baking soda
> 1 cup of sugar
> 1 tsp salt
> 1 cup or brown sugar
> 4 large eggs
> 1 cup nuts
> 2 cups of dried fruit
> 1 bottle Tequila
>
> Sample the tequila to check quality. Take a large bowl,
> check the tequila again, to be sure it is of the highest
> quality,
> pour one level cup and drink.
>
> Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter
> in a large fluffy bowl.
>
> Add one peastoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point
> it's best to make sure the Cuervo is still ok, try
> another
> cup just in case.
>
> Turn off the mixerer thingy.
>
> Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup
> of dried fruit.
> Pick the frigging fruit off the floor.
>
> Mix on the turner.
>
> If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaters just pry
> it loose with a drewscriver.
>
> Sample the tequila to check for tonsisticity.
>
> Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who geeves
> a sheet. Check the tequila. Now shift the lemon juice
> and strain your nuts.
> Add one table.
>
> Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can
> find.
>
> Greash the oven.
>
> Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall
> over.
>
> Don't forget to beat off the turner.
>
> Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the
> tequila and make sure to put the stove in the
> wishdasher.
>
> 1 cup of water
> 1 tsp baking soda
> 1 cup of sugar
> 1 tsp salt
> 1 cup or brown sugar
> 4 large eggs
> 1 cup nuts
> 2 cups of dried fruit
> 1 bottle Tequila
>
> Sample the tequila to check quality. Take a large bowl,
> check the tequila again, to be sure it is of the highest
> quality,
> pour one level cup and drink.
>
> Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter
> in a large fluffy bowl.
>
> Add one peastoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point
> it's best to make sure the Cuervo is still ok, try
> another
> cup just in case.
>
> Turn off the mixerer thingy.
>
> Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup
> of dried fruit.
> Pick the frigging fruit off the floor.
>
> Mix on the turner.
>
> If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaters just pry
> it loose with a drewscriver.
>
> Sample the tequila to check for tonsisticity.
>
> Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who geeves
> a sheet. Check the tequila. Now shift the lemon juice
> and strain your nuts.
> Add one table.
>
> Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can
> find.
>
> Greash the oven.
>
> Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall
> over.
>
> Don't forget to beat off the turner.
>
> Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the
> tequila and make sure to put the stove in the
> wishdasher.
>
Friday, December 19, 2008
Mass. investor saw inside Madoff scam - Yahoo! News
Markopolos warned of Madoff's fraud as early as 1999.
Mass. investor saw inside Madoff scam - Yahoo! News
Mass. investor saw inside Madoff scam - Yahoo! News
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
The Mumbai Atrocities: Where is the Outrage?
Cinnamon Stillwell digging deeper to try and understand the total lack of outrage over the Islamic terrorist attack on Mumbai.
The Mumbai Atrocities: Where is the Outrage?
The Mumbai Atrocities: Where is the Outrage?
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
As one who was born in Honolulu two months before being attacked by the Japanese Navy bombers in Pearl Harbor, I am grateful for this Christmas reminder.
A DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS POEM
A DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS POEM
Monday, December 15, 2008
--A Christmas Invitation:
From: Andrew Klavan Newsletter <andrew@andrewklavan.com>
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2008 07:59:49 -0800
geckofeeder@gmail.com
Subject: Invitation to a Christmas Ghost Story
From: Andrew Klavan Newsletter <andrew@andrewklavan.com>
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2008 07:59:49 -0800
geckofeeder@gmail.com
Subject: Invitation to a Christmas Ghost Story
Andrew Klavan's delightful holiday tale of violence, betrayal and the
relentless vengeance of the undead is premiering on the web this Advent
season. In conjunction with his friend, ace movie blogger John Nolte,
Andrew will be appearing on video to tell "The Advent Reunion," a
classic-style Christmas ghost story in five chapters. "The Advent Reunion,"
will be launched at John's blog Dirty Harry's Place
http://dirtyharrysplace.com/ and will also be posted at
http://klavanadventreunion.blogspot.com/. The first chapter, "Ghost Hunter"
will appear Monday, December 15th. The second chapter, "She Haunts Us" will
appear on Thursday, December 18th and all five chapters will be posted
before Christmas Eve. Please join Andrew and Dirty Harry for some jolly
seasonal terror in "The Advent Reunion."
------ End of Forwarded Message
Sunday, December 14, 2008
"...Sages and mystics, Eliot and Clarke, and a host of others have all had their turns with the story of The Star. In the end it remains what it was when it began, a story. The story of a road trip by three astrologers, kings, wise men. A journey by men who saw something special in the heavens and determined to follow it wherever it led, no matter what the cost.
To see something special. To see something beyond yourself and your imaginings. To follow it wherever it leads. To always remain prepared for miracle. That is the inner music of the story of The Star. Like all stories that survive, it is the music of the heart and not of the head, and like the heart, it will endure.
TS Eliot said:
"Were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt."
Read it all for Vanderleun is channeling pure Spirit with his words.
The Star @ AMERICAN DIGEST
To see something special. To see something beyond yourself and your imaginings. To follow it wherever it leads. To always remain prepared for miracle. That is the inner music of the story of The Star. Like all stories that survive, it is the music of the heart and not of the head, and like the heart, it will endure.
TS Eliot said:
"Were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt."
Read it all for Vanderleun is channeling pure Spirit with his words.
The Star @ AMERICAN DIGEST
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Visit our News page <http://www.actforamerica.org/index.php/learn/recent-news>
There are at least three problems with AIG’s response.
Please forward this email to everyone you know so they will become aware of this issue – and encourage them to sign up for our email alerts! This is how we get the word out!
AIG Responds
Dear Gecko,
As you know, we have encouraged our members to contact AIG to express our disapproval with AIG’s decision to market a shariah-compliant insurance product.
One of our members received an email response from AIG, which we have copied below. Beneath the AIG response is our response.
“We received your email expressing your concern over our announcement that we would begin marketing Takaful insurance products in the United States.The AIG response is a fairly typical one companies provide when asked about shariah-compliant products. They usually compare shariah-compliant products to special products offered to other religious groups, and they almost always characterize the shariah-compliant product as “socially responsible.” Note AIG’s comparison to “Methodist churches and synagogues” and the phrase “socially responsible mechanism.”
AIG operates around the world and endeavors to provide products that meet the diverse needs of its 74 million customers living in 130 countries and jurisdictions.
Marketing to specific ethnic constituencies is not new or unique to AIG. For instance, AIG businesses have tailored programs for a range of religious organizations, including Methodist churches and synagogues. The concept of Takaful is similar the concept of reciprocal exchange, or mutual insurance. What makes the structure somewhat different is that premiums are held in non-interest-bearing accounts, and any excess profit is distributed back to the policyholders or given to charity. While the Takaful structure is desirable to those whose religious convictions preclude them from engaging in traditional interest-bearing structures, Takaful is also increasingly popular among non-Muslims who feel that the excess charitable aspect is a socially responsible mechanism for the purchase of insurance. In the United States, AIG plans to direct excess profits to U.S. based charitable organizations. These policies are standard homeowners’ policies and are guided by U.S. law. The funds for these policies are held in Shariah-compliant, non-interest bearing accounts at HSBC.
We hope this addresses your concerns.”
There are at least three problems with AIG’s response.
- The comparison to “Methodist churches and synagogues” is faulty. Methodist churches and synagogues do not require financial products that advance religious law that oppresses women and has at its core the call to jihad, as shariah-compliant products do. “Shariah-compliant” is just that – in compliance with Shariah law. The tenets of Shariah Islamic law include permission for forced child marriages, the beating of disobedient women, death sentences for Muslims who chose to convert away from Shariah Islam, and the obligation to wage offensive military Jihad against non-Muslims. By offering shariah-compliant products AIG, whether knowingly or unwittingly, is legitimizing and, by extension, endorsing shariah law.
- Think of it this way. Would AIG offer a product that was “apartheid compliant”? Of course not, because AIG would know that doing so would legitimize apartheid. To argue that a company can offer a product that is “compliant” with shariah law, but is not legitimizing shariah law, is disingenuous. So we repeat, AIG is either knowingly or unwittingly legitimizing a religious law system that oppresses women and is animated by jihad.
- The advisory board for AIG’s Shariah-compliant insurance includes Muhammed Imran Usmani, the son and disciple of Muhammed Taki Usmani. The elder Usmani is a “who’s who” in the Islamist world and an outspoken proponent of aggressive jihad. For example, he has issued numerous fatwas (religious rulings) that provide material support for terrorism. What “socially responsible mechanism” does AIG provide to “Methodist churches and synagogues” that has an advisory board which includes the disciple of an internationally-known advocate for terrorism?
- Let’s use the apartheid example again. Would AIG offer a product that had an advisory board which included the son and disciple of an internationally-known advocate for apartheid? Of course not.
- Note this statement in AIG’s response: “In the United States, AIG plans to direct excess profits to U.S. based charitable organizations.” Shariah-compliant finance requires such charitable giving to go to Muslim charities. Who directs where the money goes? The Shariah-compliant advisory board, which in this case includes the son and disciple of an internationally-renowned advocate of terrorism.
- But that’s only one problem. Currently over two dozen Muslim charities have been identified by the U.S. government as having links to terrorist organizations. How many other Muslim charities have links to terrorist organizations and have not yet been identified? The recent convictions in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism-financing trial illustrate the complex web that some Muslim charities have created to funnel charitable contributions to terrorist organizations.
- What AIG is thus doing is offering a financial instrument that may very well wind up as a conduit for funds to terrorist organizations. Even if that never occurred, why would a company want to put itself in such a position? Why would a company want to entangle itself with the son and disciple of an advocate for terrorism? Why would a company even take the chance that a financial product it offers could end up serving as a conduit for funds to terrorist organizations? How is this “socially responsible”? What’s more, doesn’t AIG recognize that, if funds from its shariah-compliant product did end up going to terrorist organizations, it could be facing, at best, a public relations nightmare, and at worst, lawsuits alleging negligence, and even criminal investigations?
- This is no mere hypothesis. David Yerushalmi, a legal expert on the issue of shariah law, has written a lengthy legal article spelling out the potential civil and criminal liabilities for companies that engage in shariah-compliant finance. (To read the article click here <http://www.saneworks.us/uploads/application/29.pdf> ).
Please forward this email to everyone you know so they will become aware of this issue – and encourage them to sign up for our email alerts! This is how we get the word out!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACT for America
P.O. Box 6884
Virginia Beach, VA 23456
www.actforamerica.org <http://www.actforamerica.org>
ACT for America is an issues advocacy organization dedicated to effectively organizing and mobilizing the most powerful grassroots citizen action network in America, a grassroots network committed to informed and coordinated civic action that will lead to public policies that promote America’s national security and the defense of American democratic values against the assault of radical Islam. We are only as strong as our supporters, and your volunteer and financial support is essential to our success. Thank you for helping us make America safer and more secure. <http://www.actforamerica.org/index.php/donate>
Do not respond to this e-mail for any reason. To discontinue your membership automatically please, follow the link below. You are registered to receive email as Helene Bidwell at the following e-mail address: hbidwell@cox.net. You must use the correct e-mail address to discontinue your membership.
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------ End of Forwarded Message
Monday, December 08, 2008
Friday, December 05, 2008
Parallel Lives by Victor Davis Hanson on National Review Online
"I think all our grandfathers at one time in this country might have thought it morally wrong for a congressional banking overseer to take money from banks — and in particular when they were in the process of being looted and run into the ground. If the Senate Banking Committee Chairman is improperly receiving mortgage preferences and outright cash from banking concerns, then who will police the police?"
Bothered and bewildered am I that these crooks are getting away with this. You should be too. Read it all for it is good.
Parallel Lives by Victor Davis Hanson on National Review Online
Bothered and bewildered am I that these crooks are getting away with this. You should be too. Read it all for it is good.
Parallel Lives by Victor Davis Hanson on National Review Online
Monday, December 01, 2008
Deepak Blames America - WSJ.com
After all, what has America done for Deeprick?
"How the ebullient Dr. Chopra had come to be chosen as an authority on terror remains something of a mystery, though the answer may have something to do with his emergence in the recent presidential campaign as a thinker of advanced political views. Also commending him, perhaps, is his well known capacity to cut through all sorts of complexities to make matters simple. No one can fail to grasp the wisdom of a man who has informed us that "If you have happy thoughts, then you make happy molecules."
Deepak Blames America - WSJ.com
"How the ebullient Dr. Chopra had come to be chosen as an authority on terror remains something of a mystery, though the answer may have something to do with his emergence in the recent presidential campaign as a thinker of advanced political views. Also commending him, perhaps, is his well known capacity to cut through all sorts of complexities to make matters simple. No one can fail to grasp the wisdom of a man who has informed us that "If you have happy thoughts, then you make happy molecules."
Deepak Blames America - WSJ.com
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
MEET LILY
...And may all your turkeys come laden with bountiful pumpkin-wagons!
Sent to you by Gecko via Google Reader:
via A Charmed Wife by Lily on 11/27/08
...And may all your turkeys come laden with bountiful pumpkin-wagons!
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Wednesday, November 26, 2008
If you have time, or know someone who isn't on dial up watch Victor Davis Hanson. I'd vote for him for President of the United States.
11 Lunch Keynote: Victor Davis Hanson
11 Lunch Keynote: Victor Davis Hanson
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Thanks to the Spirit of Fergus the Cat in commenting at One Cosmos racoonmended this centering meditation.
Serenity - Purring Performance
Serenity - Purring Performance
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
“You didn’t fly and serve your country because your were women but, because you had to overcome some attitudes and restrictions at the time, you managed to served your country in spite of being women,” Malachowski said. “You had a dream; you followed that dream, and your legacy inspired my dream.”
DefenseLink News Article: 'Fly Girls' Exhibit Honors First Military Women Aviators
DefenseLink News Article: 'Fly Girls' Exhibit Honors First Military Women Aviators
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Tea Tree Fact Sheet 11/15/08 @ 7:00AM
Name: Tea Incident
Start Date/Time: 11/13/08 @ 5:45 p.m.
Location: Santa Barbara County
Incident Command Organization: Unified
Acreage and Containment
This fire has burned 1,800 acres and is 40 percent contained.
Evacuations and Road Closures
Evacuations and road closures remain in effect for the west portion of Montecito and portions of Santa Barbara. Incident Command Team 10 and Law Enforcement are working on a plan to allow residents affected by the fire back into their respective property.
Fire Progression
Fire progression is projected to move to the west towards Mission Canyon Road in the Santa Barbara area; and an eastward spread towards Hot Springs Road in the Montecito area that has been affected by the fire. The south end of the fire is holding but crews will remain in the area. The north end of the fire, which extends into the Los Padres National Forrest, has open line and will be a focus for the next operational period.
Structures Destroyed and Property Damaged
The fire has destroyed 111 homes, and damaged 9 residential structures. 1500 residents remain threatened.
Personnel and Apparatus
2,235 firefighters and overhead personnel are assigned to this incident under unified command. Two civilians have been injured. There are no confirmed reports of injuries to any firefighting personnel. There are 9 helicopters assigned to the fire, no fixed wing aircraft, hundreds of engines and multiple strike teams assigned to the Tea Incident.
Estimated Cost to Date
$3,500,000
For further information:
Tea Incident Information Line: (805) 969-2537
Website: www.montecitofire.com
Name: Tea Incident
Start Date/Time: 11/13/08 @ 5:45 p.m.
Location: Santa Barbara County
Incident Command Organization: Unified
Acreage and Containment
This fire has burned 1,800 acres and is 40 percent contained.
Evacuations and Road Closures
Evacuations and road closures remain in effect for the west portion of Montecito and portions of Santa Barbara. Incident Command Team 10 and Law Enforcement are working on a plan to allow residents affected by the fire back into their respective property.
Fire Progression
Fire progression is projected to move to the west towards Mission Canyon Road in the Santa Barbara area; and an eastward spread towards Hot Springs Road in the Montecito area that has been affected by the fire. The south end of the fire is holding but crews will remain in the area. The north end of the fire, which extends into the Los Padres National Forrest, has open line and will be a focus for the next operational period.
Structures Destroyed and Property Damaged
The fire has destroyed 111 homes, and damaged 9 residential structures. 1500 residents remain threatened.
Personnel and Apparatus
2,235 firefighters and overhead personnel are assigned to this incident under unified command. Two civilians have been injured. There are no confirmed reports of injuries to any firefighting personnel. There are 9 helicopters assigned to the fire, no fixed wing aircraft, hundreds of engines and multiple strike teams assigned to the Tea Incident.
Estimated Cost to Date
$3,500,000
For further information:
Tea Incident Information Line: (805) 969-2537
Website: www.montecitofire.com
Friday, November 14, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Copious Dissent - Your Daily Dose of Liberty: Don't look now but Paulson has made a move which , if you are willing to see is
"The greatest heist in world history (which) is happening right before our very eyes, and I'm wondering: Where are all the liberals?
...Do you realize that our Federal Government just spent close to 25% of our GDP via an unelected official? What would it take to see some outrage?"
My own guardian angel has saved me many a time and as of now I can see flames a few miles a way. My twenty something amazing kid, whose guardian angel she has been aware of since she was little had helicopters spraying foam in the war against hell. Our house full of friends evacuated and with their creatures. Rescue Remedy helps the freaked out cats.
"The greatest heist in world history (which) is happening right before our very eyes, and I'm wondering: Where are all the liberals?
...Do you realize that our Federal Government just spent close to 25% of our GDP via an unelected official? What would it take to see some outrage?"
My own guardian angel has saved me many a time and as of now I can see flames a few miles a way. My twenty something amazing kid, whose guardian angel she has been aware of since she was little had helicopters spraying foam in the war against hell. Our house full of friends evacuated and with their creatures. Rescue Remedy helps the freaked out cats.
Certainly I would think twice about hiring these folks if it were my meat packing plant.
Dhimmi Watch: Muslims get last laugh at Swift: Plant must pay $365,000 to Muslims fired for walking off job
Dhimmi Watch: Muslims get last laugh at Swift: Plant must pay $365,000 to Muslims fired for walking off job
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Go check out how Joan of Argghh thinks and writes. The RNC should be begging her to work for them.
Primordial Slack: First Volley: My Letter to the RNC Chair
Primordial Slack: First Volley: My Letter to the RNC Chair
Here is an excerpt from Victor Davis Hanson's excellent piece at NRO.
"Excuse me?
"The world may be temporarily awestruck with the wise and all-powerful Obama, but it’s not quite ready to coalesce into a kinder, gentler global family — one people, under one Messiah, indivisible, with peace and justice for all.
In fact, Vladimir Putin doesn’t care a whit that Barack Obama is a path-breaking African-American, much less the first person of color to be an American president. The Chinese can’t quite appreciate in translation Obama’s mellifluous cadences. France’s cool Sarkozy isn’t swayed much by the Obama sunglasses, snazzy polo shirt, or nifty outside jump shot.
All these states have interests — not deities. For the most part, either their enmity with or fondness for the United States antedated George Bush. The world’s mental map wasn’t erased away when Bush took power. Being the planet’s most powerful democracy, and a free and confident world peacekeeper, either excites admiration or earns envy — and even the most crude or the most elegant American president can’t change much that simple fact of global human nature.
To the small degree Obama’s superior charm and style will improve things, the Russians may toast, backslap, and bear hug Obama — before seeking to body slam him against the wall on Polish anti-missile sites. The smiling Europeans will scurry around mumbling “Yes, but of course!” — as they shirk even more. An unhinged President Ahmadinejad will endlessly write rambling letters to Barack Hussein Obama as the last centrifuges come on line. The jihadists will sigh rather than swear as they continue to try to blow us all up."
Win One For the Messiah! by Victor Davis Hanson on National Review Online
"Excuse me?
"The world may be temporarily awestruck with the wise and all-powerful Obama, but it’s not quite ready to coalesce into a kinder, gentler global family — one people, under one Messiah, indivisible, with peace and justice for all.
In fact, Vladimir Putin doesn’t care a whit that Barack Obama is a path-breaking African-American, much less the first person of color to be an American president. The Chinese can’t quite appreciate in translation Obama’s mellifluous cadences. France’s cool Sarkozy isn’t swayed much by the Obama sunglasses, snazzy polo shirt, or nifty outside jump shot.
All these states have interests — not deities. For the most part, either their enmity with or fondness for the United States antedated George Bush. The world’s mental map wasn’t erased away when Bush took power. Being the planet’s most powerful democracy, and a free and confident world peacekeeper, either excites admiration or earns envy — and even the most crude or the most elegant American president can’t change much that simple fact of global human nature.
To the small degree Obama’s superior charm and style will improve things, the Russians may toast, backslap, and bear hug Obama — before seeking to body slam him against the wall on Polish anti-missile sites. The smiling Europeans will scurry around mumbling “Yes, but of course!” — as they shirk even more. An unhinged President Ahmadinejad will endlessly write rambling letters to Barack Hussein Obama as the last centrifuges come on line. The jihadists will sigh rather than swear as they continue to try to blow us all up."
Win One For the Messiah! by Victor Davis Hanson on National Review Online
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
YouTube - Navy Hymn: Eternal Father (Strong to Save)
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who biddest the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy Word,
Who walked on the foaming deep,
And calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
O Trinity of love and power!
Our family shield in danger’s hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect us wheresoever we go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.
[The Wreck, by Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900)]
The Wreck, by Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900)
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who biddest the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy Word,
Who walked on the foaming deep,
And calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
O Trinity of love and power!
Our family shield in danger’s hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect us wheresoever we go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.
[The Wreck, by Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900)]
The Wreck, by Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900)
Monday, November 10, 2008
Home
"While America struggles with the sub-prime and credit market crisis, Shariah Islamic Finance, also known as Shariah-Compliant Finance, is quickly infiltrating our financial markets – and bringing Islamic shariah law with it. As one leading Islamic authority on Shariah-Compliant Finance has stated, it is “jihad with money.” In a new ACT! for America video, Joy Brighton, ACT! for America’s financial expert on Shariah- Compliant Finance, warns America of this chilling threat."
Home
Home
Andrew Klavin's new piece from City Journal on his trip to Afghanistan: read it all.
"Now, there’s one thing I know for sure I’d try to put into a War on Terror movie, one thing I found out the moment I got through the Kuwaiti checkpoint and onto the air base: even at its best, military life in these parts is damned uncomfortable. The whole atmosphere of the place was depressing: the endless brown desert of tents and huts, the unsmiling bureaucrats demanding such-and-such an order bearing such-and-such a stamp, the latrines dense with disinfectant and pornographic graffiti, and the sleeping quarters with up to 12 men snoring and farting on the bare mattresses of bunk beds, their boots on, their packs for pillows. To be sure, there were a McDonald’s hut, a Subway, and a Morale, Welfare, and Recreation tent where you could watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 followed directly by Good Luck Chuck. But after two days stuck here on the bureaucratic treadmill, I was more than ready to hire a limo to drive me back to LA.
In my movie, the lead won’t have to get shot at to be a hero. Dude’ll get a medal just for showing up."
Five Days at the End of the World by Andrew Klavan, City Journal Autumn 2008
"Now, there’s one thing I know for sure I’d try to put into a War on Terror movie, one thing I found out the moment I got through the Kuwaiti checkpoint and onto the air base: even at its best, military life in these parts is damned uncomfortable. The whole atmosphere of the place was depressing: the endless brown desert of tents and huts, the unsmiling bureaucrats demanding such-and-such an order bearing such-and-such a stamp, the latrines dense with disinfectant and pornographic graffiti, and the sleeping quarters with up to 12 men snoring and farting on the bare mattresses of bunk beds, their boots on, their packs for pillows. To be sure, there were a McDonald’s hut, a Subway, and a Morale, Welfare, and Recreation tent where you could watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 followed directly by Good Luck Chuck. But after two days stuck here on the bureaucratic treadmill, I was more than ready to hire a limo to drive me back to LA.
In my movie, the lead won’t have to get shot at to be a hero. Dude’ll get a medal just for showing up."
Five Days at the End of the World by Andrew Klavan, City Journal Autumn 2008
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Tina Humphrey
HT to Lisa for introducing me to
Chandi and Tina , souls in sync with Truth and Beauty.
Music is I Giorni" by Ludovico Einaudi
Friday, November 07, 2008
Everything you need to know about THE DRESS:Wonkette : Michelle Obama’s Hell-Colored Election Night Dress Check out the comments.
Just so you know what has been achieved in one generation.
Communist Goals - 1963 Congressional Record
Communist Goals - 1963 Congressional Record
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Stunning, creepy and it is not a movie folks.
Gateway Pundit: Change... Obama Announces Creation Of His Marxist Youth Corps
Gateway Pundit: Change... Obama Announces Creation Of His Marxist Youth Corps
> Still stunned and astounded that in one generation the world wide Marxist movement has achieved control of non profits, the main stream media, textbooks, universities, churches and schools and has plummeted into office the POTUS. I want to be wrong. In comments over at OC,the holy fountain, a perfect reminder from commenter Bulletproof Monk
>k
> "... we chant weekly in the Divine Liturgy and Vespers of the Orthodox
> Church...
>
> In peace let us pray to the Lord.
> (Lord have mercy.)
>
> For the President of the United States and all civil authorities, and for
> our armed forces everywhere, let us pray to the Lord.
> (Lord have mercy.)
>
> ...This, I believe, is the proper attitude, as it doesn't commit one to
> agreement with worldly powers, but keeps one appropriately and divinely
> engaged with the World through O in the hope of transforming and transfiguring
> the princes of the world.
>
> When millions of Christians were martyred in Christ in the Soviet Union,
> they still prayed for the civil authorities that were persecuting them. Seek
> to walk in the light that shines through the darkness, and fear not, for the
> Lord is truly with thee, always, unto the ages of ages.
>
> In Christ.
>
>k
> "... we chant weekly in the Divine Liturgy and Vespers of the Orthodox
> Church...
>
> In peace let us pray to the Lord.
> (Lord have mercy.)
>
> For the President of the United States and all civil authorities, and for
> our armed forces everywhere, let us pray to the Lord.
> (Lord have mercy.)
>
> ...This, I believe, is the proper attitude, as it doesn't commit one to
> agreement with worldly powers, but keeps one appropriately and divinely
> engaged with the World through O in the hope of transforming and transfiguring
> the princes of the world.
>
> When millions of Christians were martyred in Christ in the Soviet Union,
> they still prayed for the civil authorities that were persecuting them. Seek
> to walk in the light that shines through the darkness, and fear not, for the
> Lord is truly with thee, always, unto the ages of ages.
>
> In Christ.
>
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Gagdad Bob
"Soul-Surfing On the Agitated Waves of the Day"
"I can already think of at least ten reasons why President Obama is a good thing:
10. Booming business for cult deprogrammers.
9. Big blow to racial grievance hustlers; Al Sharpton will have to go back to mugging individuals instead of corporations.
8. Terrorists won't hate us as much when they kill us. Plus, we can fight them here rather than way over in Iraq, thus saving gas money.
7. Everything is Obama's fault.
6. AM radio will go back to playing music instead of abusing free speech with conservative talk.
5. People will be more serious about preventative health instead of relying on "doctors."
4. Jews will no longer run the world.
3. We can play the race card in international relations.
2. No concerns about our children and grandchildren growing "soft" for having it so easy. Plus we can blame the idiot youth for their own future problems, since they supported Obama by a 2-1 margin.
1. Conservatives get the #1 draft pick in '09."
"Soul-Surfing On the Agitated Waves of the Day"
"I can already think of at least ten reasons why President Obama is a good thing:
10. Booming business for cult deprogrammers.
9. Big blow to racial grievance hustlers; Al Sharpton will have to go back to mugging individuals instead of corporations.
8. Terrorists won't hate us as much when they kill us. Plus, we can fight them here rather than way over in Iraq, thus saving gas money.
7. Everything is Obama's fault.
6. AM radio will go back to playing music instead of abusing free speech with conservative talk.
5. People will be more serious about preventative health instead of relying on "doctors."
4. Jews will no longer run the world.
3. We can play the race card in international relations.
2. No concerns about our children and grandchildren growing "soft" for having it so easy. Plus we can blame the idiot youth for their own future problems, since they supported Obama by a 2-1 margin.
1. Conservatives get the #1 draft pick in '09."
Here we go . . .Shariah finance law in the USA
Washington Times - GAFFNEY: Treasury submits to Shariah
Washington Times - GAFFNEY: Treasury submits to Shariah
------ David Horowitz <http://www.frontpagemag.com/blog/Profile.aspx?ba=3d9e0209-1206-4f63-94c6-99a0aa6a4456>
A Historic Victory
I went to my polling station to vote about 2:30PM. There was one person in line in front of me and my wait was about 2 seconds. So much for the paranoia about the suppression of the vote. There are always screwups at election time but it was not until Florida 2000 that these began to enter the folklore of conspiracy which is an American political religion. This year the paranoia got hot and heavy on both sides. Republicans were sure election fraud was going to rule the day and the Democrats would steal the election. Democrats were just as paranoid that racism would deny the first African American his opportunity to be president. Both were wrong.
I am glad that Obama won by a big enough margin to lay to rest any claim the election was stolen.. I am glad he won by a big enough margin so that only cranks will continue to claim that the words racism and America can ever be reasonably linked. This is a historic moment in our country's history, and reaffirms our place as the most remarkable nation on this earth. Conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
I think it's important for all my fellow conservatives to take a moment in the next few days to reflect on these facts and not rush into the partisan struggles which are bound to crowd our political space in the years to come. Let us reflect on the fact that sharp as our divisions are, we are a nation that settles our differences at the ballot box and not in civil strife. Let us do the American thing and give this man the benefit of the doubt and the opportunity to prove his mettle by assuming his role as the leader of our nation -- one and indivisble; let us see if he will live up to his promises to heal the country's wounds and unify its contending factions.We face a terrible economic test at home, and barbaric enemies abroad. There will be time enough to hold him to account if he does not honor his promises, and to celebrate with him if he does. In the meantime, let us celebrate this historic moment in America's progress, and do everything we can to show the generosity of spirit that has made America a land that we love.
------ End of Forwarded Message
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Monday, November 03, 2008
After you vote get your mind off the election and take QP"S advise and get on with it by packing a shoe box with Christmas goodies while we are still allowed to celebrate it publicaly.
HT QP
Samaritan's Purse | Operation Christmas Child | Pack a Shoe Box
HT QP
Samaritan's Purse | Operation Christmas Child | Pack a Shoe Box
Sunday, November 02, 2008
A Personal Choice from Sultan Knish
Liberal doesn't even begin to describe her background, the zip code where she grew up is two things, extremely pricey and extremely liberal. She went to a Seven Sisters school, majored in something surprisingly practical but went to work in a non-profit in order to give something back.
In a place like that activism isn't a 9 to 5 job and doesn't begin or end with the organization's stated mission involving the elderly but spilled over into staff using it to organize campaigns on everything from boycotts of environmentally abusive companies to readings of Eve Ensler. And of course the election year brought with it posters, taped cartoons, many of them hand drawn by staffers, and most of all the use of the office's computers to promote the cause on social networking sites.
Unlike many New York Democrats who had started out for Hillary, the staff was young and progressive and were split between Edwards and Obama, those few who weren't holding out for a "genuinely" progressive party. She had started out supporting Edwards but switched to Obama in time to go with the flow. She had read his book and found his speeches inspiring, but as the campaign went on it was his supporters whom she found turning increasingly ugly. She had not been a Hillary supporter but the jokes from many of the male staffers, the ugly cartoons that went up, the emails and flash animations she was being forwarded and the casual comments were not only crossing a line into sexism but passing it by with the speed of a fastball in Yankee Stadium.
She tried to speak up once or twice, only to be mocked and ridiculed. So she remained silent. When Palin joined the ticket though things reached a new level of ugliness. If the jokes and cartoons had been bad before they reached a new low. And because she had dark hair and wore glasses similar to Palin's, some of the jokes were now being aimed at her. The day that the email of Palin's head photoshopped on a pornographic picture was forwarded around the office, she tried to file an official complaint over the creation of a hostile workplace environment. Instead she was told to stop sabotaging the good work being done and though her complaint was supposed to be confidential, it was clear that everyone in the office knew about it. The next day the email forwarded to her featured her head photoshopped in place on the offending picture.
But she remained where she is. She believes in the work she is doing and emphatically does not want to cause any harm to the organization. She will however be voting for John McCain. She doesn't agree with many of his policies, but she thinks he is a decent man. She hasn't turned on Obama though many of the speeches she found inspiring now seem shallow, but she doesn't understand why something that began on such an inspirational note has brought out such ugliness in the people she considered her friends. She hesitates to use the word Nazi like but she lets slip that it reminds her of her grandfather describing the change that came over his fellow workers in that time. It frightened him then and what she is seeing frightens her now.
And so she has made a personal choice that is she sharing with few people, but she is not alone in that choice even in that office.
Across America there are millions of stories like these, of people wrestling with their convictions, resisting the bullying, the tide of media and peer pressure, of sweet talking and outright intimidation. Their voices are quiet, they may not even answer truthfully when the pollsters ask, but they have seen the Obama revolution and they want no part of it.
Sultan Knish
Liberal doesn't even begin to describe her background, the zip code where she grew up is two things, extremely pricey and extremely liberal. She went to a Seven Sisters school, majored in something surprisingly practical but went to work in a non-profit in order to give something back.
In a place like that activism isn't a 9 to 5 job and doesn't begin or end with the organization's stated mission involving the elderly but spilled over into staff using it to organize campaigns on everything from boycotts of environmentally abusive companies to readings of Eve Ensler. And of course the election year brought with it posters, taped cartoons, many of them hand drawn by staffers, and most of all the use of the office's computers to promote the cause on social networking sites.
Unlike many New York Democrats who had started out for Hillary, the staff was young and progressive and were split between Edwards and Obama, those few who weren't holding out for a "genuinely" progressive party. She had started out supporting Edwards but switched to Obama in time to go with the flow. She had read his book and found his speeches inspiring, but as the campaign went on it was his supporters whom she found turning increasingly ugly. She had not been a Hillary supporter but the jokes from many of the male staffers, the ugly cartoons that went up, the emails and flash animations she was being forwarded and the casual comments were not only crossing a line into sexism but passing it by with the speed of a fastball in Yankee Stadium.
She tried to speak up once or twice, only to be mocked and ridiculed. So she remained silent. When Palin joined the ticket though things reached a new level of ugliness. If the jokes and cartoons had been bad before they reached a new low. And because she had dark hair and wore glasses similar to Palin's, some of the jokes were now being aimed at her. The day that the email of Palin's head photoshopped on a pornographic picture was forwarded around the office, she tried to file an official complaint over the creation of a hostile workplace environment. Instead she was told to stop sabotaging the good work being done and though her complaint was supposed to be confidential, it was clear that everyone in the office knew about it. The next day the email forwarded to her featured her head photoshopped in place on the offending picture.
But she remained where she is. She believes in the work she is doing and emphatically does not want to cause any harm to the organization. She will however be voting for John McCain. She doesn't agree with many of his policies, but she thinks he is a decent man. She hasn't turned on Obama though many of the speeches she found inspiring now seem shallow, but she doesn't understand why something that began on such an inspirational note has brought out such ugliness in the people she considered her friends. She hesitates to use the word Nazi like but she lets slip that it reminds her of her grandfather describing the change that came over his fellow workers in that time. It frightened him then and what she is seeing frightens her now.
And so she has made a personal choice that is she sharing with few people, but she is not alone in that choice even in that office.
Across America there are millions of stories like these, of people wrestling with their convictions, resisting the bullying, the tide of media and peer pressure, of sweet talking and outright intimidation. Their voices are quiet, they may not even answer truthfully when the pollsters ask, but they have seen the Obama revolution and they want no part of it.
Sultan Knish
Gateway Pundit: Obama's Plans For Marxist-like National Civilian Security Force Back in the News
Gateway Pundit: Obama's Plans For Marxist-like National Civilian Security Force Back in the News: "'We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set,' he said Wednesday. 'We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded.'"
Saturday, November 01, 2008
American Thinker Blog: Escape plan for liberals if McCain/Palin win
"
Andy Bowers and the crew at LiveLeak have produced a hilarious spoof of an infomercial directed at elitist liberal Americans who might wish to flee to Canada after the election, should the GOP win. We can all use a laugh right now."
American Thinker Blog: Escape plan for liberals if McCain/Palin win
Escape plan for liberals if McCain/Palin win
Andy Bowers and the crew at LiveLeak have produced a hilarious spoof of an infomercial directed at elitist liberal Americans who might wish to flee to Canada after the election, should the GOP win. We can all use a laugh right now."
American Thinker Blog: Escape plan for liberals if McCain/Palin win
------ Forwarded Message
From: Robert Eringer
Date: Sat, 1 Nov 2008 07:01:30 -0700
D.C. habit:
Robert Eringer
November 1, 2008 12:00 AM
If Barack Obama wins the White House three days from now, he is likely to entrust John McLaughlin, Rand Beers, John Brennan and Anthony Lake with our nation's national security policies. To quote Yogi Berra, "This is like dèjé vu all over again."
"These are Obama's principal intelligence advisers," a former CIA official confirmed for The Investigator. "Which means that his call for 'change' is as hollow as it is ridiculous."
Mr. McLaughlin served in the CIA for 32 years and was deputy director of that agency when he resigned in a huff in November 2004. Before that, he was deputy director of the agency's analytical division.
"It was John McLaughlin's analytic failure that led to the invasion of Iraq," said a former CIA operations officer who had a front row seat during pre-war U.S.-Iraq machinations between the White House and CIA. Or, as another senior intelligence source put it: "He has a history of tailoring his analysis to satisfy the needs of the principal and cannot be trusted to be a provider of intelligence information."
This source added that Mr. McLaughlin serves his own best interests. "One can be assured," he said, "that anyone who leaves the intelligence community and immediately finds a job with a news outlet, as McLaughlin did with CNN, leaked classified information while in office."
Mr. Beers, a former National Security Council staffer, would likely be national security adviser to Mr. Obama. Highly partisan, Mr. Beers -- according to a member of the intelligence community -- while at the NSC gathered inside-White House, NSC and top level State Department information -- and placed it at the disposal of John Kerry's presidential campaign to secure a senior job. When informed by FBI agents in June 1996 that mainland China had hatched a plot to secretly fund President Clinton's re-election campaign, Mr. Beers famously declined or neglected to inform his boss, national security adviser Anthony Lake.
John Brennan was an analyst at CIA until Director George Tenet made him a special assistant and, says a former CIA official, "turned him into a creature of the Bush administration to become Fran Townsend's gopher." (Ms. Townsend was assistant to President Bush for Homeland Security.) "I'm just appalled that these are the guys Obama has around him," continued The Investigator's CIA informant. "They are inside-the-Beltway chair-movers. We call it 'rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.' "
Mr. Brennan is CEO of The Analysis Corporation, a State Department sub-contractor that found itself in hot water earlier this year after improperly searching the passport records of presidential candidates. "Brennan is a substantial self-promoter and achieved nothing but dysfunction while head of the Terrorist Threat Integration Center," a former intelligence official told The Investigator. "One could argue that his effort was a complete waste of energy."
It is believed by some Democratic bigwigs that Mr. Obama would select Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico as secretary of state -- Richardson's reward for coming out early against Hillary despite "owing" his allegiance (in Bill Clinton's mind, anyway) to the Clinton campaign.
Big mistake. Mr. Richardson is a walking bundle of scandals ready to come unstuck at the first mention of Senate confirmation process. Something about women, including a former personal assistant, weary of being groped and tweaked, who finally snapped, "Cut it out or you will wake up one morning and find your name splashed on the front page of every newspaper in New Mexico," and intimate dinners with girlfriends at El Farol's on Canyon Road in Santa Fe and Embudo Station, a brew house halfway between Santa Fe and Taos.
And something about corruption: Rumors are circulating that the governor received cash kickbacks from the construction of Rail Runner Express, a new commuter train between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. In addition, the FBI and U.S. Attorney's office are investigating Beverly Hills-based CDR Financial Products and its CEO, David Rubin, for contributing $110,000 to Mr. Richardson's political pursuits after winning a $1.6 billion bond issue to fund NM highway projects, including the Rail Runner.
And the man Mr. Richardson supported to become president of Highlands University in 2004? Meet Manny Aragon, former president of the state senate, who 17 days ago pled guilty to conspiracy and mail fraud and now faces five years in the clink for siphoning $700,000 from construction funds allocated by the governor.
Some say Bill smells.
So secretary of state in an Obama administration would probably go to Anthony Lake, but only if the Democrats score at least 60 seats in the Senate to ensure confirmation. That's because when Mr. Lake was nominated by Bill Clinton to be director of Central Intelligence, he requested his name be withdrawn after learning he would be confronted with allegations that he endeavored to personally profit from oil companies in "the Stans" (former Soviet Union) while still national security adviser.
"Change" will bring him back.
That's how Washington works, with a government-in-exile occupying think tanks like Brookings and CSIS, and lobbying firms, where former officials hibernate until their party makes a comeback and they rejoin officialdom with stale agendas repackaged as "change."
John McCain's intelligence and foreign policy advisers are no different. Mr. McCain's main guy, Randy Scheunemann, is a professional lobbyist who lobbied on behalf of disgraced Iraqi exile Ahmad Chalabi for the U.S. to invade Iraq. And while advising Mr. McCain on foreign policy, Mr. Scheunemann took money from the Republic of Georgia to lobby its causes as a registered foreign agent.
The point: The Capital Establishment is in control; the commander-in-chief constrained. A new president takes two-to-three years just to fill appointments -- and then it's re-election time.
Although "change" is the rhetorical slogan of choice this election, get ready for another four years of yielding to lobbyists, turf wars and pork -- and contrived scandals to divert your attention from being sold out. As Sarah Palin might say: Same old, same old.
In perpetuation of its own pork, Washington knows how to hog-tie a new chief executive.
If you have a story idea for The Investigator, contact him at reringer@newspress.com. State if your query is confidential.
=
------ End of Forwarded Message
Friday, October 31, 2008
Mary Belle sent me this one written by Craig Smith of World Net Daily in a commentary Nov 2006 . I mean, I know that Obama promises change and one big happy world family but really dahlings
'What are we so unhappy about?'
> A. Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 Days a
> week?
> B. Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and
> heating in the winter?
>
>
> C. Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?
> D. Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see
> more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?
> E. Maybe it is the ability to drive our cars and trucks from the Pacific
> Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as
> we move through each state.
>
>
> F. Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the
> way that can provide temporary shelter?
> G. I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from
> around the world is just not good enough either.
> H. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and
> provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the
> hospital.
> I. Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.
>
>
> J. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a
> group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch
> equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family, and
> your belongings.
> K. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar
> or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest
> will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.
> L. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping
> and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90% of teenagers own cell
> phones and computers.
> M. How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy
> that are the envy of everyone in the world?
> Maybe that is what has 67% of you folks unhappy.
> Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has
> ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. , yet has a great disdain for
> its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the
> world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have, and what we hate
> about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.
> I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan
> to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is
> this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The
> president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be
> the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in
> keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks? The
> commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you
> and me?
>
>
> Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news
> affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for
> yourself and see all the good things and be glad? Think about it......are you
> upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it
> because the 'Media' told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful
> behind every day.
>
>
> Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered
> to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently
> no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to
> go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an 'other than honorable''
> discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable' discharge after a few
> days in
> the brig.
> So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of
> Americans?
> Say what you want, but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they
> specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and
> guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows
> this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, and
> when criticized, try to defend their actions by 'justifying' them in one way
> or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to
> write a book about how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have
> done it
> this way......Insane!
> Turn off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New
> York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all
> we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad. We are among
> the most blessed people on Earth and should thank God several times a day, or
> at least be thankful and appreciative.' 'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out
> of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country
> from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist
> attacks, 'Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge
> of Allegiance?'
>CHEERS!
'What are we so unhappy about?'
> A. Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 Days a
> week?
> B. Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and
> heating in the winter?
>
>
> C. Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?
> D. Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see
> more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?
> E. Maybe it is the ability to drive our cars and trucks from the Pacific
> Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as
> we move through each state.
>
>
> F. Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the
> way that can provide temporary shelter?
> G. I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from
> around the world is just not good enough either.
> H. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and
> provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the
> hospital.
> I. Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.
>
>
> J. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a
> group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch
> equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family, and
> your belongings.
> K. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar
> or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest
> will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.
> L. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping
> and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90% of teenagers own cell
> phones and computers.
> M. How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy
> that are the envy of everyone in the world?
> Maybe that is what has 67% of you folks unhappy.
> Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has
> ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. , yet has a great disdain for
> its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the
> world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have, and what we hate
> about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.
> I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan
> to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is
> this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The
> president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be
> the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in
> keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks? The
> commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you
> and me?
>
>
> Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news
> affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for
> yourself and see all the good things and be glad? Think about it......are you
> upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it
> because the 'Media' told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful
> behind every day.
>
>
> Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered
> to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently
> no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to
> go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an 'other than honorable''
> discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable' discharge after a few
> days in
> the brig.
> So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of
> Americans?
> Say what you want, but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they
> specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and
> guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows
> this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, and
> when criticized, try to defend their actions by 'justifying' them in one way
> or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to
> write a book about how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have
> done it
> this way......Insane!
> Turn off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New
> York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all
> we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad. We are among
> the most blessed people on Earth and should thank God several times a day, or
> at least be thankful and appreciative.' 'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out
> of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country
> from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist
> attacks, 'Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge
> of Allegiance?'
>CHEERS!
"Watching a Senator Barack Obama worship service -- I mean campaign rally stop -- almost makes me wonder why I'm not voting for him. Will he really begin to “heal the planet” and slow the rise of the oceans? Can all of these devoted disciples of The One be wrong?..."
Change We Can Believe In? - HUMAN EVENTS
Change We Can Believe In? - HUMAN EVENTS
Thursday, October 30, 2008
I love you Iowahawk. My moolah blunders ache I have laughed so hard today.
iowahawk: As a Conservative, I Must Say I Do Quite Like the Cut of this Obama Fellow's Jib
iowahawk: As a Conservative, I Must Say I Do Quite Like the Cut of this Obama Fellow's Jib
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
This looks like a handy little $350.00 item to slip into your purse or back pack.
PepperBall Technologies Incorporated | FlashLauncher
PepperBall Technologies Incorporated | FlashLauncher
HT to Joan of Arrggh the primordial slackette
for pointing out this video of Larry Grathwohl who went undercover with the Weather Underground Bill Ayers and Bernadette Dohrn's radical far left organization. Like Joan, I am astounded and impressed that these people have managed to actually be running their candidate and that he is a heartbeat from the most powerful office in the world.
Joan's right, alcohol helps.
Instead of checking your information at Snopes which I have noticed has somewhat of a left leaning bias look for the truth here .
Dennis Prager : Why the Left Wants to Change America - Townhall.com
"--Republican rallies are hate-fests.
--John McCain has run a racist campaign against Barack Obama.
--Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, is a religious zealot and an idiot.
--Christian fundamentalists are on the verge of taking over America and turning it into a theocracy.
--The world is getting closer and closer to catastrophic and irreversible damage caused by human beings; and George W. Bush and energy interests are standing in the way of preventing universal destruction.
--America is on the road to fascism.
Now, as it happens, none of those things is true. But the left believes them all. That is why radical "change" becomes mandatory -- or America will collapse (and the world, too, which is why Barack Obama often mentions changing the world, as well as America)...But as for the left, it lives in a bubble of its making. That is why most leftists live in places where nearly everyone shares their fantasies -- bubbles such as Manhattan, San Francisco, Boston, the west side of Los Angeles, and the most hermetically sealed of the bubbles: universities. They interact almost only with other people who share their fantasy world of America Made Bad."
Read the rest here:
Monday, October 27, 2008
Bill Whittle weighs in on the Obama tape from WBEZ the Chicago Public Radio station posted earlier today: SHAME CUBED:
Eject! Eject! Eject!
Eject! Eject! Eject!
Thomas Sowell at NRO interviewed by Peter Robinson on the distinctions and differences between interests and visions.
Uncommon Knowledge on National Review Online
Uncommon Knowledge on National Review Online
Obama Bombshell Redistribution of Wealth Audio Uncovered
Ahh, "economic justice" and what your government can do for you like "redistributive change" legislatively.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Calling all raccoons to join Team Sarah and let us defeat those who would destroy this great country.
Neocon Latina: The Man Who Got Obama Into Harvard Law School
You all know this already most likely, nonetheless I had let Al Mansour's name slip out of my addled brain so here is neoconlatina with a little review along with the added bonus of his reading list.
Neocon Latina: The Man Who Got Obama Into Harvard Law School
Neocon Latina: The Man Who Got Obama Into Harvard Law School
Sunday, October 19, 2008
JammieWearingFool
HT LGF
Have we really let our country be taken over by these people? I am stunned. Read it all and then tell me you plan to still cast your vote for Obama.
JammieWearingFool
Have we really let our country be taken over by these people? I am stunned. Read it all and then tell me you plan to still cast your vote for Obama.
JammieWearingFool
Saturday, October 18, 2008
My ex spook pal Robert Eringer emailed me an article he wrote for the Santa Barbara News Press. One more damn thing to fret about..
October 18, 2008 7:13 AM
"The geniuses at Homeland Security who brought you hare-brained procedures at airports (which inconvenience travelers without snagging terrorists) have decreed that October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. This means The Investigator -- at the risk of compromising national insecurities -- would be remiss not to make you aware of the hottest topic in U.S. counterintelligence circles: rogue microchips. This threat emanates from China (PRC) -- and it is hugely significant.
The myth: Chinese intelligence services have concealed a microchip in every computer everywhere, programmed to "call home" if and when activated.
The reality: It may actually be true.
All computers on the market today -- be they Dell, Toshiba, Sony, Apple or especially IBM -- are assembled with components manufactured inside the PRC. Each component produced by the Chinese, according to a reliable source within the intelligence community, is secretly equipped with a hidden microchip that can be activated any time by China's military intelligence services, the PLA.
"It is there, deep inside your computer, if they decide to call it up," the security chief of a multinational corporation told The Investigator. "It is capable of providing Chinese intelligence with everything stored on your system -- on everyone's system -- from e-mail to documents. I call it Call Home Technology. It doesn't mean to say they're sucking data from everyone's computer today, it means the Chinese think ahead -- and they now have the potential to do it when it suits their purposes."
Discussed theoretically in high-tech security circles as "Trojan Horse on a Chip" or "The Manchurian Chip," Call Home Technology came to light after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) launched a security program in December 2007 called Trust in Integrated Circuits. DARPA awarded almost $25 million in contracts to six companies and university research labs to test foreign-made microchips for hardware Trojans, back doors and kill switches -- techie-speak for bugs and gremlins -- with a view toward microchip verification.
Raytheon, a defense contractor, was granted almost half of these funds for hardware and software testing.
Its findings, which are classified, have apparently sent shockwaves through the counterintelligence community.
"It is the hottest topic concerning the FBI and the Pentagon," a retired intelligence official told The Investigator. "They don't know quite what to do about it. The Chinese have even been able to hack into the computer system that handles our Intercontinental Ballistic Missile system."
Another senior intelligence source told The Investigator, "Our military is aware of this and has had to take some protective measures. The problem includes defective chips that don't reach military specs -- as well as probable Trojans."
A little context: In 2005 the Lenovo Group in China paid $1.75 billion for IBM's PC unit, even though that unit had lost $965 million the previous four years. Three congressmen, including the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, tried to block this sale because of national security concerns, to no avail. (The PRC embassy in Washington, D.C., maintains a large lobbying presence to influence congressmen and their staffs through direct contact.)
In June 2007, a Pentagon computer network utilized by the U.S. defense secretary's office was hacked into -- and traced directly back to the Chinese PLA.
A report presented to Congress late last year characterized PRC espionage as "the single greatest risk to the security of American technologies." Almost simultaneously, Jonathan Evans, director-general of MI5, Britain's domestic security and counterintelligence service, sent a confidential letter to CEOs and security chiefs at 300 UK companies to warn that they were under attack by "Chinese state organizations" whose purpose, said Mr. Evans, was to defeat their computer security systems and steal confidential commercial information.
The Chinese had specifically targeted Rolls-Royce and Shell Oil.
The key to unlocking computer secrets through rogue microchips is uncovering (or stealing) source codes, without which such microchips would be useless. This is why Chinese espionage is so heavily focused upon the U.S. computer industry.
Four main computer operating systems exist. Two of them, Unix and Linux, utilize open-source codes. Apple's operating system is Unix-based.
Which leaves only Microsoft as the source code worth cracking. But in early 2004, Microsoft announced that its security had been breached and that its source code was "lost or stolen."
"As technology evolves, each new program has a new source code," a computer forensics expert told The Investigator. "So the Chinese would need ongoing access to new Microsoft source codes for maintaining their ability to activate any microchips they may have installed, along with the expertise to utilize new hardware technology."
No surprise then that the FBI expends much of its counterintelligence resources these days on Chinese high-tech espionage within the United States. Timothy Bereznay, while still serving as assistant director of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division, told USA Today, "Foreign collectors don't wait until something is classified -- they're targeting it at the research and development stage." Mr. Bereznay now heads Raytheon's Intelligence and Information Systems division.
The PRC's intelligence services use tourists, exchange students and trade show attendees to gather strategic data, mostly from open sources. They have also created over 3,500 front companies in the United States -- including several based in Palo Alto to focus on computer technology.
Back in 2005, when the Chinese espionage problem was thought to be focused on military technology, then-FBI counterintelligence operations chief Dave Szady said, "I think the problem is huge, and it's something we're just getting our arms around." Little did he know just how huge, as it currently applies to computer network security.
The FBI is reported to have arrested more than 25 Chinese nationals and Chinese-Americans on suspicion of conspiracy to commit espionage between 2004 and 2006. The Investigator endeavored to update this figure, but was told by FBI spokesman William Carter, "We do not track cases by ethnicity."
Excuse us for asking. We may be losing secrets, but at least the dignity of our political correctness remains intact.
Oh, and Homeland Security snagged comic icon Jerry Lewis, 82, trying to board a plane in Las Vegas with a gun -- no joke."
If you have a story idea for The Investigator, contact him at reringer@newspress.com. State if your query is confidential.
October 18, 2008 7:13 AM
"The geniuses at Homeland Security who brought you hare-brained procedures at airports (which inconvenience travelers without snagging terrorists) have decreed that October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. This means The Investigator -- at the risk of compromising national insecurities -- would be remiss not to make you aware of the hottest topic in U.S. counterintelligence circles: rogue microchips. This threat emanates from China (PRC) -- and it is hugely significant.
The myth: Chinese intelligence services have concealed a microchip in every computer everywhere, programmed to "call home" if and when activated.
The reality: It may actually be true.
All computers on the market today -- be they Dell, Toshiba, Sony, Apple or especially IBM -- are assembled with components manufactured inside the PRC. Each component produced by the Chinese, according to a reliable source within the intelligence community, is secretly equipped with a hidden microchip that can be activated any time by China's military intelligence services, the PLA.
"It is there, deep inside your computer, if they decide to call it up," the security chief of a multinational corporation told The Investigator. "It is capable of providing Chinese intelligence with everything stored on your system -- on everyone's system -- from e-mail to documents. I call it Call Home Technology. It doesn't mean to say they're sucking data from everyone's computer today, it means the Chinese think ahead -- and they now have the potential to do it when it suits their purposes."
Discussed theoretically in high-tech security circles as "Trojan Horse on a Chip" or "The Manchurian Chip," Call Home Technology came to light after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) launched a security program in December 2007 called Trust in Integrated Circuits. DARPA awarded almost $25 million in contracts to six companies and university research labs to test foreign-made microchips for hardware Trojans, back doors and kill switches -- techie-speak for bugs and gremlins -- with a view toward microchip verification.
Raytheon, a defense contractor, was granted almost half of these funds for hardware and software testing.
Its findings, which are classified, have apparently sent shockwaves through the counterintelligence community.
"It is the hottest topic concerning the FBI and the Pentagon," a retired intelligence official told The Investigator. "They don't know quite what to do about it. The Chinese have even been able to hack into the computer system that handles our Intercontinental Ballistic Missile system."
Another senior intelligence source told The Investigator, "Our military is aware of this and has had to take some protective measures. The problem includes defective chips that don't reach military specs -- as well as probable Trojans."
A little context: In 2005 the Lenovo Group in China paid $1.75 billion for IBM's PC unit, even though that unit had lost $965 million the previous four years. Three congressmen, including the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, tried to block this sale because of national security concerns, to no avail. (The PRC embassy in Washington, D.C., maintains a large lobbying presence to influence congressmen and their staffs through direct contact.)
In June 2007, a Pentagon computer network utilized by the U.S. defense secretary's office was hacked into -- and traced directly back to the Chinese PLA.
A report presented to Congress late last year characterized PRC espionage as "the single greatest risk to the security of American technologies." Almost simultaneously, Jonathan Evans, director-general of MI5, Britain's domestic security and counterintelligence service, sent a confidential letter to CEOs and security chiefs at 300 UK companies to warn that they were under attack by "Chinese state organizations" whose purpose, said Mr. Evans, was to defeat their computer security systems and steal confidential commercial information.
The Chinese had specifically targeted Rolls-Royce and Shell Oil.
The key to unlocking computer secrets through rogue microchips is uncovering (or stealing) source codes, without which such microchips would be useless. This is why Chinese espionage is so heavily focused upon the U.S. computer industry.
Four main computer operating systems exist. Two of them, Unix and Linux, utilize open-source codes. Apple's operating system is Unix-based.
Which leaves only Microsoft as the source code worth cracking. But in early 2004, Microsoft announced that its security had been breached and that its source code was "lost or stolen."
"As technology evolves, each new program has a new source code," a computer forensics expert told The Investigator. "So the Chinese would need ongoing access to new Microsoft source codes for maintaining their ability to activate any microchips they may have installed, along with the expertise to utilize new hardware technology."
No surprise then that the FBI expends much of its counterintelligence resources these days on Chinese high-tech espionage within the United States. Timothy Bereznay, while still serving as assistant director of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division, told USA Today, "Foreign collectors don't wait until something is classified -- they're targeting it at the research and development stage." Mr. Bereznay now heads Raytheon's Intelligence and Information Systems division.
The PRC's intelligence services use tourists, exchange students and trade show attendees to gather strategic data, mostly from open sources. They have also created over 3,500 front companies in the United States -- including several based in Palo Alto to focus on computer technology.
Back in 2005, when the Chinese espionage problem was thought to be focused on military technology, then-FBI counterintelligence operations chief Dave Szady said, "I think the problem is huge, and it's something we're just getting our arms around." Little did he know just how huge, as it currently applies to computer network security.
The FBI is reported to have arrested more than 25 Chinese nationals and Chinese-Americans on suspicion of conspiracy to commit espionage between 2004 and 2006. The Investigator endeavored to update this figure, but was told by FBI spokesman William Carter, "We do not track cases by ethnicity."
Excuse us for asking. We may be losing secrets, but at least the dignity of our political correctness remains intact.
Oh, and Homeland Security snagged comic icon Jerry Lewis, 82, trying to board a plane in Las Vegas with a gun -- no joke."
If you have a story idea for The Investigator, contact him at reringer@newspress.com. State if your query is confidential.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Racoonmended reading from Gagdad in todays comments at OC:
Power Line - Spread your own wealth around
Power Line - Spread your own wealth around
More on Sharia compliant finance:
Family Security Matters Exclusive: Sharia-Compliant Finance: How Not to Solve the Financial Crisis
Family Security Matters Exclusive: Sharia-Compliant Finance: How Not to Solve the Financial Crisis
Imagine your surprise when you open your child's literature textbook and find fifteen pages covering Barack Obama. More propaganda in public school textbooks- this is outrageous.
Real Debate Wisconsin: Racine schools hand out textbook with 15 page Obama love-fest...
Real Debate Wisconsin: Racine schools hand out textbook with 15 page Obama love-fest...
Saturday, October 11, 2008
One of the few that has stood up to Hollywood and told the truth. HT Mary Belle.
5 Myths About Those Tinseltown Liberals
By Andrew Klavan
Sunday, October 12, 2008; B03
"Hollywood used to be called the Dream Factory, but nowadays it seems to be grinding out as much propaganda as anything else. Next off the weary assembly line: Oliver Stone's "W.," which opens on Friday. If the trailer is any indication, this movie will depict our current president's life as an evolution from drunken loser to dangerous idiot -- and just in time for the election, too.
The director of "Nixon" and "JFK," Stone has shown himself to be a master of rewriting reality until it resembles his left-wing ideology, but he's by no means alone. For the past 30 years or so, Hollywood storytelling has been guided by a liberal mythos in which, for example, blacklisting communist screenwriters during the '50s was somehow morally worse than fellow-traveling with the Stalinist murderers of tens of millions ("Trumbo"); Che Guevara was a dashing, romantic liberator instead of a charismatic killer ("The Motorcycle Diaries"); and the worldwide violence currently being waged by Islamo-fascists is either a figment of our bigoted imaginations or the product of our evil deeds ("V for Vendetta").
Hollywood moviemakers, in other words, have been telling lies -- loudly, constantly and almost always in support of a left-wing point of view. And these lies are most prolific and tenacious when the Hollywood left is lying about itself. Here's a list of their most egregious whoppers:
1. Hollywood has no political agenda -- it's just out to make money.
Would that it were so. All through 2007, Hollywood sent American multiplexes the message: "We don't like the war on terror." All year, American moviegoers sent a message back to Hollywood: "We don't care." "Lions for Lambs," "In the Valley of Elah," "Redacted," "Rendition" -- movie after movie in which our film-land elites derided U.S. efforts to smack down Islamist terrorism bombed at the box office. Even the guys who ran Fannie Mae would have figured out that this was a losing economic strategy. But not Hollywood; 2008 gave us even more anti-war flops, such as "Stop-Loss" and "War, Inc." As ace film blogger John Nolte pointed out, only one war-on-terror film, the mediocre "Vantage Point," did good business. Why? Because it showed Americans as the good guys they are. If Hollywood were all about making money, it would do that a lot more often.
2. Hollywood liberals speak truth to power.
In a pig's eye -- and a pig wearing lipstick at that. Sure, left-wing filmmakers are fearless when depicting snarling, evil Republican politicos, as in "The American President," or savage environment-destroying businessmen, as in "Michael Clayton ," or the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy , as in the Edward R. Murrow hagiography "Good Night, and Good Luck." But those make-believe right-wingers and long-dead senators have no power whatsoever over the filmmakers. The people who do have power are the executives and directors who hire them, the reviewers who bolster their product and the elite opinion-makers who lavish them with prizes and prestige -- and they're all part of the Hollywood left-wing establishment. To the true Hollywood power, liberal filmmakers speak nothing but slavish conformity . . . and after a while, they start to think it's the truth.
3. Hollywood liberals are liberal.
Is censorship liberal? Movie ideas that don't toe the liberal line are hampered and censored at every level. I have personal knowledge of ideas that were shot down, drastically rewritten and limited in release simply because their themes were pro-American or pro-military.
But Hollywood supports unions, a stalwart Democratic cause, right? Well, yeah, if you watch "Norma Rae" or "Hoffa." But in real life, filmmakers routinely outsource their productions to places such as Vancouver and Budapest, where they can avoid paying union premiums. And when the Writers Guild struck last year, we saw studio liberals turn into corporate hard-guys in the blink of an eye.
All right, but anyone who saw "The Contender," with its tale of a female vice presidential candidate slandered by sexists, might think that the Hollywood left wouldn't run down a politician because of her gender. Yet Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has found that this applies only if you conform to the leftist agenda. Hollywood insiders have attacked Palin with sexist remarks so low and crude they can't even be repeated here.
4. Liberals don't exclude conservatives; conservatives just aren't that creative.
I get this in letters all the time -- and even fielded it while sparring recently on washingtonpost.com : "Why don't you just admit it? Conservatives have no talent!" But how often have we heard this argument made by those on the inside wanting to keep others out? "We're not excluding blacks; they're just not smart enough to manage baseball teams." "It's not that we wouldn't hire a woman; women just don't have a brain for business." There are a million pro-American, pro-God, pro-family, pro-liberty stories waiting to be told and plenty of good writers and directors to tell them. Can't they film "Hard Corps," the autobiography of Navy Cross recipient Marco Martinez, who went from being a New Mexico gangster to a Marine hero in Iraq? Or "My Men Are My Heroes," the rousing story of Marine 1st Sgt. Brad Kasal and the taking of Fallujah? Forget it. The door is shut, the fix is in, and the blacklist -- or at least a graylist -- is alive and well.
5. Hollywood leftists are patriotic in their own way.
Words -- despite what you might have learned at university -- actually have meanings. The meaning of the word patriotism is "love of country." If you don't love your country, you're not a patriot. "When I see an American flag flying, it's a joke," the late director Robert Altman told the Times of London in January 2002. "America is dumb," actor Johnny Depp , who lives in France, said in 2003. Receiving an award in Spain in 2002, actress Jessica Lange told the audience, "It makes me feel ashamed to come from the United States -- it's humiliating."
Making anti-war films while American troops are under fire is not patriotic. Exporting movies that consistently show the United States in a bad light is not patriotic. Ceaselessly casting America and its government as the bad guy is not patriotic, either. And while, yes, I admit that there are many people of good will and patriotism on the left, those who love truth, courage, tolerance and America might be forgiven for wondering whether it isn't time for regime change in Los Angeles."
Andrew Klavan's novels and screenplays have been turned into such films as "True Crime" and "Don't Say a Word." His latest novel is "Empire of Lies."
5 Myths About Those Tinseltown Liberals
By Andrew Klavan
Sunday, October 12, 2008; B03
"Hollywood used to be called the Dream Factory, but nowadays it seems to be grinding out as much propaganda as anything else. Next off the weary assembly line: Oliver Stone's "W.," which opens on Friday. If the trailer is any indication, this movie will depict our current president's life as an evolution from drunken loser to dangerous idiot -- and just in time for the election, too.
The director of "Nixon" and "JFK," Stone has shown himself to be a master of rewriting reality until it resembles his left-wing ideology, but he's by no means alone. For the past 30 years or so, Hollywood storytelling has been guided by a liberal mythos in which, for example, blacklisting communist screenwriters during the '50s was somehow morally worse than fellow-traveling with the Stalinist murderers of tens of millions ("Trumbo"); Che Guevara
Hollywood moviemakers, in other words, have been telling lies -- loudly, constantly and almost always in support of a left-wing point of view. And these lies are most prolific and tenacious when the Hollywood left is lying about itself. Here's a list of their most egregious whoppers:
1. Hollywood has no political agenda -- it's just out to make money.
Would that it were so. All through 2007, Hollywood sent American multiplexes the message: "We don't like the war on terror." All year, American moviegoers sent a message back to Hollywood: "We don't care." "Lions for Lambs," "In the Valley of Elah," "Redacted," "Rendition" -- movie after movie in which our film-land elites derided U.S. efforts to smack down Islamist terrorism bombed at the box office. Even the guys who ran Fannie Mae
2. Hollywood liberals speak truth to power.
In a pig's eye -- and a pig wearing lipstick at that. Sure, left-wing filmmakers are fearless when depicting snarling, evil Republican politicos, as in "The American President," or savage environment-destroying businessmen, as in "Michael Clayton
3. Hollywood liberals are liberal.
Is censorship liberal? Movie ideas that don't toe the liberal line are hampered and censored at every level. I have personal knowledge of ideas that were shot down, drastically rewritten and limited in release simply because their themes were pro-American or pro-military.
But Hollywood supports unions, a stalwart Democratic cause, right? Well, yeah, if you watch "Norma Rae" or "Hoffa." But in real life, filmmakers routinely outsource their productions to places such as Vancouver and Budapest, where they can avoid paying union premiums. And when the Writers Guild struck last year, we saw studio liberals turn into corporate hard-guys in the blink of an eye.
All right, but anyone who saw "The Contender," with its tale of a female vice presidential candidate slandered by sexists, might think that the Hollywood left wouldn't run down a politician because of her gender. Yet Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin
4. Liberals don't exclude conservatives; conservatives just aren't that creative.
I get this in letters all the time -- and even fielded it while sparring recently on washingtonpost.com
5. Hollywood leftists are patriotic in their own way.
Words -- despite what you might have learned at university -- actually have meanings. The meaning of the word patriotism is "love of country." If you don't love your country, you're not a patriot. "When I see an American flag flying, it's a joke," the late director Robert Altman
Making anti-war films while American troops are under fire is not patriotic. Exporting movies that consistently show the United States in a bad light is not patriotic. Ceaselessly casting America and its government as the bad guy is not patriotic, either. And while, yes, I admit that there are many people of good will and patriotism on the left, those who love truth, courage, tolerance and America might be forgiven for wondering whether it isn't time for regime change in Los Angeles."
Andrew Klavan's novels and screenplays have been turned into such films as "True Crime" and "Don't Say a Word." His latest novel is "Empire of Lies."
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