Poor Carnival Queen Pelosi…
Posted By admin on May 19, 2009
What did House Speaker Nancy Pelosi know and when did she know it? It doesn’t matter as long as she covers her ass… seems she not doing such a good job of that either.
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More Slick Wordsmithing: Don’t Be Fooled. It’s Blatant Chicanery and Changes Nothing
Posted By admin on March 17, 2009
In a Spiegel Online interview Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was asked about her apparent refusal to say the word ‘terrorism’: [Source]
Spiegel: Madame Secretary, in your first testimony to the US Congress as Homeland Security Secretary you never mentioned the word "terrorism." Does Islamist terrorism suddenly no longer pose a threat to your country?
Napolitano: Of course it does. I presume there is always a threat from terrorism. In my speech, although I did not use the word "terrorism," I referred to "man-caused" disasters. That is perhaps only a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear toward a policy of being prepared for all risks that can occur.
Man-caused disaster? Nuance? Risk management? What the hell? Has the English language become Orwell’s 1984 ‘Newspeak? A man-caused disaster can be as mundane as leaving the toilet seat up, as personally disastrous as losing your paycheck to a mugger or as socially devastating as arson related forest fires and bridge collapses. While the least of those are merely annoying and the worst of those are truly horrific they are viewed with some degree of actual relevance and an understanding that the results are immediately manageable; that we are capable, equipped and willing to manage them.
But to call TERRORISM — the willful murder of innocents, the irradicable intolerance, the purposeful and deliberate propagation of wide-spread fear– a MAN-CAUSED DISASTER? That, my friend, is not simply playing with language. It is a deliberate attempt to alter public mindset about the current President’s abilities… a *deception* seeking to create blind faith in some predetermined success and generate a undeserved sense of accomplishment. That is both foolish and dangerous. To attempt to spread a (false) sense of security with slick wordsmithing is meant to undermine American and Americans, to silence dissent and to lull us into acquiescence… it steals our consent and our involvement in the larger picture.
Obama, Napolitano et al can play with words all they want of course, and most likely will, but to continue calling terrorism anything other than what it is is to willfully seek a true American disaster. I am *not* advocating mindless, useless reaction or self-destructive hate and fear-mongering but rather conscious mindful honesty and truly transparent discussions that take into account the TRUE nature of terrorism in the world today.
What about you? Will *you* give up and give in? Are *you* ready to slip quietly into their offered illusion that all is well… that there is no such thing as willful deadly terrorism… that mindless hate and intolerance is only an occasional inconvenient hazard?
Are you willing to listen only to what they want you to hear? Will you consent, by your silence, to the redefining of ‘the war on terrorism’ to simply a ‘matter of risk management’?
Words are NOT just words. I don’t know about you but I refuse to accept that if ‘they’ can only nuance the words *just right* the terrorists –the radical murderers and haters around the world– will simply give up and fall in line, learning love and tolerance along the way.
By all means. Diplomacy first and foremost. But we can never give in to fear *or* naivete in the belief that enemies will forgo their own convictions.
More on Individualism vs Collectivism - Redux!
Posted By admin on March 13, 2009
A relevant [and slightly edited] re-post from last October:
I was thinking this morning about people who are far too accepting of their loss of freedoms/rights… but my mind automatically swung to the belief that as Americans, who we fundamentally ARE, surely the majority of us cannot -will not- allow the very foundation, and fundamental beliefs, of our country to be rewritten.
We are a relatively young country and unique in that we were founded on and for the establishment and preservation of democratic rights; that, where there would be government, citizens would play a very strong role in exactly *what* that government was. Now many seem to have forgotten that and want to hand those rights off to the government as if any group of people, with their own agendas, know better that any citizen what is best for us.
"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
In a perfect world we would be able to rise up and sweep clean, not the government, but the people that have tried to harness it for their own ends.
Don’t get me wrong… I abhor the rights being covertly and overtly stripped from Americans; I abhor the way the reins have been taken from ‘we the people’ and are now firmly held by elected officials of both parties. And I do not believe it is something that has been limited to the last administration but rather something that goes back a lot further.
Having said that I have to acknowledge that, at this time, we have few choices. With all my heart, and love for this country, I do not believe becoming a collectivist society is the answer. It may sound all ‘new world’ and kumbaya to imagine a brighter world where we can all hold hands and help one another by sacrificing. But we would simply be sacrificing MORE rights and freedoms and giving more power to a government that cares for nothing more than gaining more power and silencing dissent. That is exactly what that kind of society would mean.
I disagree with many conservatives on some issues that are important to me… but in looking at the bigger picture of what America fundamentally IS I have come to think that moderate conservatism as the only currently available genuine solution -because it falls more in line with what is intrinsically and historically American… less government, reduced spending, controlled taxation- and I have to be honest enough to admit that while it may not be *the* solution it is at least closer to the center… closer to what I think is truly ‘in defense’ of America.
We can look at history, recent and ancient, at societies that have failed… and collectivist societies fail every time and fail dramatically. As I said, America was and is a Republic… and an experiment in Democracy. To end that in some rash hope for radical change towards collectivism is, in my opinion, a big mistake.
We Need To Remember That America is a Republic NOT a Democracy…
Posted By admin on February 3, 2009
… and for good reason. Ten minutes, 36 seconds. It’s worth the time to watch and (re)learn.
Why The Stimulus Won’t Work Now… or anytime soon.
Posted By admin on January 31, 2009
Donald Lambro @ WashingtonTimes
It will take a lot longer than almost anyone thinks for the Obama administration to get the $825 billion stimulus money into the economy. Don’t believe me? Read the Congressional Budget Office’s recent analysis of the Democrats’ plan.
President Obama has said he intends to give the economy "a jolt" by quickly injecting stimulus funds into the nation’s economic arteries in the hopes of creating more than 3 million jobs. But according to the nonpartisan CBO, which crunches budget numbers for Congress, only a small fraction of the proposed $274 billion in infrastructure spending to jump-start the economy will be spent by the end of this fiscal year and the rest won’t be disbursed until 2010 or later.
[...]
Among CBO’s findings:
- Only about $26 billion, or 9 percent of the infrastructure stimulus, will be spent by Sept. 30, the end of fiscal 2009.
- Less than half of the $30 billion in highway-construction money will be circulated over the next four years.
- Incredibly, CBO says only about $4 billion in highway-construction funds will get into the economy by September 2010.
- Mr. Obama talks about creating thousands of "green" jobs by pumping billions into biofuel, solar, wind and other technology. But most of those jobs won’t be seen for many years. Only about $1 in $7 of the stimulus plan’s $18.5 billion investment in renewable-energy resources and energy-efficiency programs will be spent by 2010, according to the CBO.
Its findings reaffirm Obama economic adviser Jason Furman’s warning last year that infrastructure spending is one of the "less-effective options" for boosting jobs and economic growth. In an economic paper evaluating all the ways to end the recession, Mr. Furman doubted any infrastructure spending "would generate significant short-term stimulus," because all too often the money is not spent "until after the economy has recovered."
But this is only part of the story in this huge public-works boondoggle that experience tells us cannot and will not get the economy growing again. Here’s where much of the money is going:
(1) Government-run programs at the federal, state and local level. This stimulus bill will pour billions into 150 different federal programs, from the money-losing Amtrak rail service to the Transportation Security Administration.
(2) The Pell Grants get $15.6 billion, to increase each student grant by $500, though the added money ends in two years. This may be a worthy thing to do, but it’s not going to create any new jobs.
(3) Another $54 billion will go to 19 programs that the Office of Management and Budget has rated as "ineffective" or "results not demonstrated."
(4) Much of the money will go to federal programs that still have unspent funding in their accounts. For instance, the bill will pump another $2 billion into the Army Corps of Engineers’ water-construction program that still has $1.5 billion in unobligated funds.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s homeless-assistance program would get $1.5 billion despite an unobligated balance of $1.5 billion.
The General Services Administration has $3.3 billion of unspent funds, but GSA would get another $7.7 billion from the stimulus package.
(5) Billions will be dished out under this so-called stimulus bill mostly to protect or create government jobs - including money to renovate federal buildings, and $600 million for the government to buy brand-new cars and vans.
[...]
The money is being spread around like a slush fund, going out to every nook and cranny of the federal bureaucracy. This will not create a single new job, let alone stimulate the economy. Everyone from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the Smithsonian Institution will get a piece of the action.
As for the plan’s "making work pay" tax credit that will lower withholding taxes for low- to middle-class workers, it is estimated this would add $10 to $20 per paycheck for those below the median income level. That’s far from the much-hyped economic "jolt" that Mr. Obama is promising beleaguered taxpayers.
Donald Lambro, chief political correspondent of The Washington Times, is a nationally syndicated columnist.
King Obama: Lord of the Realm, King of America???
Posted By admin on January 19, 2009
In their freaking dreams…
thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z
H.J.RES.5
Title: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President.
Sponsor: Rep Serrano, Jose E. [NY-16] (introduced 1/6/2009) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 1/6/2009 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
‘Hopey-Changey’ Framing of Socialism is Dangerous in the Extreme
Posted By admin on December 14, 2008
Another sodahead discussion on defining socialism:
Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating common market paradigms often based in state, internationally merged corporations and collective ownership which addresses the administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and an egalitarian society characterized by equal opportunities for all individuals through theories of egalitarian distribution and regulation of wealth………so this is the wikipedia definition….pls highlight your points of contention…..egalitarian society characterized by equal opportunities?…… common market paradigms?…..thank you
Egalitarian society characterized by equal opportunities. Common market paradigms.
Nice, pleasant terms. Who wouldn’t want to believe in the promise of such a wholesome, kumbaya society. The problem with phrases and descriptions such as those is that they are simply non-specific, vague and ambiguous at best. Nothing more. The problem with framing an argument or discussion about socialism is that for each person their own point of view defines it differently. You may see equality and freedom from injustice, while I may see unfair practices giving opportunity to ‘who’ someone is rather that ‘what’ someone does. Who wouldn’t want an end to socio-economic distress and imbalance? But the reality is what it is… "… inequality of some kind will always be a characteristic of the human condition." W. J. Stankiewicz
Simplified? Taking, by mandate, from those that do and giving to those that don’t, and won’t, will never GROW a strong, healthy, productive society; it will never stimulate the economy, education, health care or technological advances. In a mixed liberal/conservative/capitalist society where the poor and sick are cared for, where the middle class is allowed to make their own decisions and the successful and affluent are allowed to function as producers and economic catalysts is a society that can be healthy, potent and beneficial to everyone. The key, imo, is a centrist approach. There must needs, of course, be some redistribution of wealth to care for those who CANnot (not WILL not) care for themselves. Anything more and it then becomes the elite ‘deciders’ making decisions for ‘the masses’. Forced (so-called equal) redistribution, forced or mandatory compliance in some dream of an egalitarian utopian society, will merely grease the skids and hasten the death of America.
No one wins when collectivism or excessive liberal socialism replaces individuality no matter how pleasantly it is explained or defined.
It Ain’t Kumabaya, Kids.
Posted By admin on December 12, 2008
New Poll Warns Daschle, Obama: Mandatory Health Insurance Big Loser with Public; Voters Want Return on Stem Cell Research
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec 11, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ — Less than 15% of U.S. voters support, and 53% oppose, a proposal pushed by health insurers requiring every American to provide proof of private health insurance or face tax penalties or other fines, according to a new poll. The poll, commissioned by Consumer Watchdog, also found that by just under a two-to-one margin voters favor requiring a return on taxpayer-funded research that leads to new medical treatments or prescription drugs.Download the poll here: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/healthcarepollmemo.pdf. [...] The poll was conducted by Grove Insight.President-elect Obama opposed policies requiring all Americans to buy private health insurance coverage, the so-called "individual mandate," as a candidate. Senator Tom Daschle left open the possibility of his support for the approach in his book, "Critical," under the pretense that he is "not willing to sacrifice worthy improvements on the altar of perfection." Unlike plans pushed by health insurers, Daschle’s proposal importantly would give Americans access to a public insurance program "modeled after Medicare." Overall, 40% of voters say they are "strongly" opposed to mandating that "every American show proof that they have health insurance coverage or face tax penalties."
It’s not rocket science. I simply do not understand how so many can be so blind to reality.
So all together now Prez Elect Barry Obama PEBO’s boys and girls; come on you die-hard liberal hippies and naive left-loons…. you can do it. Sure you can, it’s not hard.
Let’s spell it out first… S O C I A L I S M. See, that was easy…now try saying it. Socialism. Keep saying it, again and again. FEEL the word, accept the word; accept that it is not a groovy, feel good, pie in the sky, kumbaya feeling of communal intercourse… it is a dangerous and destructive REALITY.
After you’ve mastered the bad ‘word‘ then you might want to LEARN a few things about it’s HISTORY. Put the two together, socialism + historical research, and enlightenment may follow. Again… it’s not rocket science and I simply do not understand how so many can be so blind to reality.
Yes Please… Clinton for Secretary of State!
Posted By admin on November 14, 2008
Hillary for Secretary of State? Yes, please!
From Jake Tapper at Political Punch:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?
November 14, 2008 12:58 PMThere’s a lot of buzz in DC about the fact that the Obama Transition Team is, according to one knowledgeable source, "very serious" about Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, being under consideration for Secretary of State.
ABC News can confirm that President-elect Barack Obama met with Clinton on Thursday afternoon at Obama’s downtown office in Chicago. The AP first broke the news and reported that the motorcade of Clinton, who receives Secret Service protection as a former first lady, was seen leaving the office complex shortly before Obama left for the day.
George Stephanopoulos reported Clinton’s name being in the mix last week on Good Morning America, but the buzz grew louder after Clinton was spotted boarding a flight to Chicago.
Her spokesman Philippe Reines would not discuss Clinton’s schedule, and of course the Obama Transition Team would not comment.
The thinking about a Secretary of State Clinton is simple, I’m told: she’s smart, she’s strong, she’s experienced, she’s a team player, she is usually pretty diplomatic, and she also brings some gender diversity to an Obama Team concerned about such matters.
She brings instant stature to the job, one Democrat told me. Many world leaders have known her for almost two decades.
"Clinton is the gold standard around the world, " said Chris Lehane, a former spokesman for Vice President Al Gore.
[...]
And of course, she and Obama famously and repeatedly clashed over international issues during their contentious primaries. She assailed as "naive" his willingness to speak to the leaders of hostile regimes without preconditions and she assailed as reckless his public discussions about his willingness to attack high-value terrorist targets in Pakistan with or without Pakistan government permission.
Obama "basically threatened to bomb Pakistan, which I don’t think was a particularly wise position to take," Clinton said at the Democratic debate in Cleveland, Ohio, on February 26.
[...]
In Boca Raton in May, Obama — asked by a vote if he would consider putting Clinton on the ticket — said, "I’m a practical-minded guy. And, you know, one of my heroes is Abraham Lincoln. And a while back there was a wonderful book written by Doris Kearns Goodwin called ‘Team of Rivals.’"
The book, Obama said, discussed how "Lincoln basically pulled in all the people who had been running against him into his Cabinet because whatever personal feelings there were, the issue was how can we get this country through this time of crisis. And I think that has to be the approach that one takes, whether it’s vice president or Cabinet, whoever."
– Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller
Urgent! Pine Ridge Reservation Needs Help.
Posted By admin on November 14, 2008
Cross posted from RiverDaughter-The Confluence:
Urgent! Pine Ridge Reservation Needs Help.
Posted on November 13, 2008 by shtueyThe Pine Ridge Reservation has been in a state of crisis since its creation by the United States government in the late 1800’s. It is a sordid and painful history, part of the great genocidal stain on the fabric of American society, and one that continues to fester.
The economic situation is desperate. The unemployment rate is 85%, and 97% of residents live below the Federal poverty line. The average annual income was $3800 in 1999. Adolescent suicide is four times the national average. The infant mortality rate is 5 times the national average. If not for AIDS related deaths in Africa, Pine Ridge would have the lowest life expectancy on the planet (47 years for men, and low 50’s for women).
There are many families living without electricity, telephones, running water, or sewers, and often rely on wood stoves to heat the broken down trailers and shacks that serve as their homes.
There are hundreds of families living in overcrowded conditions. It is not uncommon for single-family homes to be occupied by 10-12 people comprised of 3 generations. This is third world poverty right here in America. In a nation that raised over $1 billion for a presidential election it is a disgrace that this goes on.
As PUMAs, part of our mission going forward must be to serve as a voice, not just for Pine Ridge, and similar places in Indian Country, but for all communities across our nation that have been marginalized, and left without a voice.
This email was forwarded to me from Debi McLeod from Native Americans Against Obama regarding an emergency situation at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The situation there is always dire, but now even more so. [...] It is a continuing disgrace that this goes on in America. Let’s do what we can.
Where is the Red Cross? Where is FEMA? Where is the National Guard? The Lakota Reservation in South Dakota has been struck with a huge, early season snow storm. Elderly people are without propane, there is a great lack of food, medicine and warm winter clothing.
According tho the president of the Reservation, the State of South Dakota is doing almost nothing. The roads are still not plowed and people are dying.
They need our help in way of wood, propane, warm winter clothing, food and assistance with plows.
If you are in the area and have the heart to help these folks, go to the Porcupine School or call 605-867-1111.
If you can, send money, call and get details on arrangements. If you can send materials, as this is going to be a long winter for the sick the elderly and the children, the address is
Republic of Lakotah
P.O. Box 99
Porucupine, SD 57772Winters are brutal in this area, and this one is worse than they can deal with. Any and all help will be remembered by the people for their entire lives, and lives is what this is about.
Please, with our Holidays coming, help these people NOW while we can still help. People are dying right now.
Feel free to contact John for more information.
John Stroebel
PO 166 Centennial Wyoming 82055
307-745-3493The priorities seem to be monies for the propane fund, winter clothing, and blankets. Another source of contact information is Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation. If you look around the site you will find various drives. I will be provide more information as I receive it. We have a unique opportunity to show the nation just what PUMAs are made of. I have taken preliminary steps to start a drive for propane funds and dry goods at my place of work. We can do the same in our communities. We’ve been dealing with so much darkness; let’s shine some light.
Follow this link to find out how to aid the utility fund, and the battered women’s shelter at Pine Ridge.
This link will direct you to organizations collecting clothing, winter coats, and other dry goods at Pine Ridge.
You can donate to the Conflucian Pine Ridge Blizzard Fund here.
Please, do anything and everything you can to help. People -Americans- are dying. And please pass this information on to local, social and/or church organizations.