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Libertarian
Commentary on the News, 08 - 14 February, 2009
This week
I again heard person after person more and more depressed about the state
of the nation, as the Congress sought to "fix" the "mess"
we are in - even though government is not the solution to our problem,
government IS the problem. Even liberals and those who voted for Mr. Obama
are showing up among the panicked and the fearful. I've touched more on
this in the various commentaries.
Monday:
Culture
wars:
United
Nations Population Fund Leader Says Family Breakdown is a Triumph for
Human Rights
LifeSiteNews.com
A leader in the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has declared
that the breakdown of traditional families, far from being a “crisis,”
is actually a triumph for human rights. Speaking at a colloquium held
last month at Colegio Mexico in Mexico City, UNFPA representative Arie
Hoekman denounced the idea that high rates of divorce and out-of-wedlock
births represent a social crisis, claiming that they represent instead
the triumph of “human rights” against “patriarchy.”
Mr. Hoekman
is a perfect example of the modern Tranzi, who actually seems to welcome
the collapse of society, and has such a warped view of human rights that
he thinks this is an advance for humanity. You can almost NEVER cooperate
and reconcile with such people - they can only be fought.
Home front:
Washington:
new bill demands DNA of all arrestees
World Net Daily
Citizens who have been arrested may be required to submit DNA samples
to authorities before being convicted of any crime – and those records
would be kept in state and federal databases. The Washington state Legislature
has introduced
a measure that would require police to obtain the samples from even
suspects accused of minor crimes such as shoplifting, according to the
Seattle Times. The proposal is part of a new movement in several states
to adopt similar measures. More than 12 states already permit police to
collect samples prior to convictions and three more are considering adding
the provision.
Washington
State living up to its liberal reputation - one more brick in the building
of the police state here and in the other states. They pay lip service
to constitutional guarantees of "privacy rights" when it comes
to all the things that they want (abortion, sex education in GRTF schools,
politicians' "private lives," but when it comes to basic human
rights - look out!
Mama's
Note: The frog is being slowly cooked, right on schedule... And the death
of a thousand cuts will continue until we all decide to take the knives
out of the hands of our murderers. Will we? Some of us already have. Vote
with your feet, people.
Congress
in action:
Paul
says GOP senators caved on stimulus
AOL News
Former presidential candidate Ron Paul criticized President Obama's
economic recovery proposal but said Saturday that blame for the financial
crisis is deep-seated and includes Republicans who failed to hold the
line on spending during the Bush administration. He also offered a harsh
critique of the three Republican senators who have said they will vote
for the economic recovery proposal. A vote is scheduled for early next
week.
Dr. Paul
is getting more unpopular in DC, while his favor seems to be growing among
all sectors of the home front, with statements like this. He is right
to bring up past sins, and to point out that doing business as usual is
going to fail, as usual. Our economy, our market system, has finally reached
the breaking point after supporting the burden of incredibly-excessive
government for close to 80 years. The consequences - the punishment for
breaking natural laws - will not wait for the next generation.
Mama's
Note: Eighty years? The process started the day the "Constitution"
was signed. Read the real history of that process, folks.
The New
Administration:
New
Administration to take direct control of 2010 Census
World Net Daily
In a move with major political implications for voting, districting
and representation in future elections, the Obama administration has demanded
oversight of the 2010 U.S. census. The move has Republicans crying foul,
alleging that transferring the power of census-taking from the Commerce
Department, which normally oversees the U.S. Census Bureau, to the White
House is an attempt to manipulate redistricting of congressional seats….
The Washington Post's Mary Ann Akers reports a senior Republican aide
telling her that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has no business
overseeing the headcount that will shape the future of U.S. elections.
Just when
a lot of people thought that our federal government had run out of ways
to further corrupt itself and further trash confidence in itself, we get
this. With his Chicago machine background, Mr. Emanuel is the perfect
person to corrupt this - he'll no doubt have the census takers walking
down the lanes of the cemetery in all those key districts where that bloc
of voters has been so useful in the past.
Government-run,
tax-funded schools:
New
Hampshire: new bill submitted to take more control of homeschoolers
World Net Daily
Homeschoolers in recent months have weathered the turmoil of a California
court opinion that appeared to ban the activity, and while the threat
later was removed, proposals that would hinder parents who want to teach
their own children remain pending. That's according to the Home School
Legal Defense Association, which monitors the situations closely. The
newest warning, the organization said today, comes from New Hampshire.
Pending in the state legislature is a plan by Rep. Judith Day that would
"radically" rewrite the testing and assessment demands under
the state's existing laws.
For several
years now, people have been telling me not to worry about homeschoolers
- that they are the junk yard dogs of local and state politics and will
protect themselves. But this story should remind us that even in a "Free
State" (wannabe) like NH, there are those that want to steal that
freedom, and the new Administration gives them the incentive to go out
and steal some more.
Crash of
2009:
Unregulated
‘Private Market … Caused a Lot of Problems,’ Says Financial
Services Chair
CNSNews.com
House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said Sunday
that an unregulated “private market” in the financial industry
caused a lot of problems that the Democratic Congress now needs to fix.
He also suggested that Americans now “hate” banks and that helping
people stave off foreclosure on their mortgages, government scrutiny of
executive compensation, higher taxes, and prodding banks to lend more
money may all be part of the solution to what ails the U.S. economy.
Mr. Frank doing what he does best - inventing things. Seems pretty obvious
that "regulators" like him created the conditions that led to
this mess.
Congress
in action:
Federal
Spending Was on ‘Starvation Diet’ During Bush Years, Says Democratic
Senator
CNSNews.com
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) Said Sunday that some of the spending
in the $819-billion stimulus passed by the House of Representatives last
week represented important federal spending priorities needed to “make
up for a starvation diet under the Bush administration.” Under that
“starvation diet,” the annual federal budget grew by 1.32 trillion.
As a friend remarked, "Don't let the truth stand in the way of a
good story." Do they hold us in such contempt that they can't at
least lie plausibly?
Mama's
Note: As with any parasite, the government will grow and reproduce to
the limit of the food supply. It will always consider itself on the edge
of starvation, since any reduction in food will require an end to that
growth. So, it's not necessarily a "lie." Truth often depends
on the perspective and goals of the one telling it.
The new
Administration:
Obama
Stocks Econ Recovery Board with Business Chiefs and Labor Leaders
CNSNews
President Barack Obama announced on Friday a new economic advisory
board, filled with business executives – many of whom contributed
heavily to Democratic campaigns in 2008 -- and the two most politically
active organized labor groups.
After all, who knows more about the economy than those who have looted
it and lived fat off of it for decades? And of course, ensured that the
liberal politicians enjoyed the spoils as well?
The new
Administration:
Stephanopoulos
Not Advising White House on Policy, ABC News Says
CNSNews.com
An ABC News spokesperson told CNSNews.com that George Stephanopoulos
does not advise White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in regular phone
conversations but speaks to him “as a friend and as a source.”
Stephanopoulos and Emanuel worked in the White House together during President
Clinton’s first term.
Ah, yes, and Mr. Clinton never discusses anything about foreign relations
with the new Secretary of State.
Mama's
Note: It's sort of irrelevant, really. None of them have any intention
of doing anything remotely intelligent anyway. You can't wet a river.
The new
Administration:
Obama
Handles First Natural Disaster from Afar
CNSNews.com
President Barack Obama is handling the first natural disaster of his
presidency from the White House – an ice storm that has claimed the
lives of at least 59 people. So far, he has not visited the affected region.
Kentucky was the hardest hit. Acting Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) Administrator Nancy Ward did not arrive in Kentucky until Feb.
4, ten days after the Jan. 26 storm. A White House spokesman told CNSNews.com
that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will visit Kentucky
this week.
Well, you do have to admit that it was not a NOISY natural disaster -
none of the media condemning Mr. Obama the way they screamed imprecations
at Mr. Bush. But then, Kaintuck country boys just don't scream the way
N'Orleans or Pacific coast liberals can, either.
Mama's
Note: It amazes me that there is anyone left in this country who still
believes that the Federal government, much less the president, has anything
legitimate to do with such things in the first place.
Congress
in action:
Senate
Energy Chair 'Doesn't Know' If U.S. Should Open More Offshore Drilling
CNSNews.com
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), the chairman of the Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee, told CNSNews.com he needs to check with the
Obama administration before deciding whether the U.S. should expand offshore
oil and gas exploration to lessen America's dependence on foreign oil.
“I want to hear their point of view before I reach a conclusion,"
Bingaman said when asked whether the executive and congressional bans
on offshore oil drilling, which were removed last year, should be reinstated.
Well, if anyone should know that drilling isn't really needed, it is Mr.
Bingaman. His state of New Mexico has been driving drillers away as fast
as it can, and then complaining because of lost jobs and taxes and sales
in the Plaza. Now, I suppose I must give Mr. Bingaman the benefit of the
doubt and say he is doing it for jobs in his own state, but his track
record shows he wants drilling in NM even less than he does offshore.
Mama's
Note: My problem, as always, is wondering just why Mr. Bingaman has any
control of it beyond his own property.
Russian
front:
Biden
Offers Russia A New Start, But Key Disagreements Remain
CNSNews.com
Russian officials responded favorably to Vice President Joe Biden’s
policy speech at a weekend security conference in Germany, but the two
major irritants in bilateral relations during the Bush administration
– Russian conduct in former Soviet territories and U.S. missile defense
plans – show no sign of going away. Biden said it is time “to
press the reset button and to revisit the many areas where we can and
should be working together with Russia.”
Funny, according to all the newsfeeds from the election campaign and the
last days of the Bush White House, I though it was RUSSIA that was going
to give the USA a "new start." With Medenev and Putin on one
side and Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden on the other, I can think of a LOT of
ways that the two countries can be working together, and many of them
are not nice to think about.
World wars:
Pakistani
Scientist Who Leaked Nuclear Secrets to Iran, N. Korea Is Now Free
CNSNews.com
The Pakistan government is trying to play down and distance itself
from a court order releasing the world’s most notorious nuclear proliferator
from house arrest. The move threatens to exacerbate tensions with the
West.
Blame it on the Nazgul - who are about to unleash (with the cooperation
of the new Administration, of course) a collection of people that may
not be as smart as this guy, but are just as evil and anxious to do for
the West as he is.
Home front:
STATE
SOVEREIGNTY IS STARTING TO STEAMROLL
JPFO
Some states see the ugly Obama nation [sic] storm on the horizon and
are taking action to protect their citizens. Montana for one is not playing
silly games when it comes to gun rights. You may want to share this information
with others in your state today. Please read...
I like the "Freedom Gang" over at JPFO - I support them (I love
their cookie cutters and what we can bake with them!), and they do a lot
of good. But this kind of whistling past the graveyard doesn't help much.
These resolutions all sound good, but they are as MUCH good as a kitten
growling at a full-grown starving wolf. And virtually NONE of these make
it out of committee, much less get an up-down vote. Instead, what does
make it out of the legislature and into the governors office to sign in
dozens of states, including South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, New Hampshire,
Idaho, and many more, is a steady trickle of knuckling under to DC once
more and again, once more, usually because of money - grants and highway
user funds and things like that. And the same thing happens in the counties
and towns going to the legislature. We are selling our birthright, one
bowl of pottage at a time. And all the "Joint Resolutions" with
pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by and no enforcement action, no deadlines, and
NO funding for adequately training and equipping state forces, are W-O-R-T-H-L-E-S-S.
Mama's
Note: If the states really believed this and intended to regain their
sovereignty they would do all of the following:
1. Organize,
arm and train the citizen militia -
repeal all "gun control" crap on the books immediately.
2. Have
that militia escort every single federal employee and lackey to the boarder
and kick them over it - with a stern warning that hanging or worse awaited
any who returned. Then man the boarders to enforce it.
3. Stop receiving any federal handouts, refund to state taxpayers any
undisbursed funds.
4. Repeal ALL federal mandates and regulations, releasing all nonviolent
prisoners.
Think
any of that is about to happen? When pigs fly.
TUESDAY:
The New
Administration:
Obama regime invokes “state
secrets”
Bloomberg
“The Obama administration is backing an anti-terrorism policy
of President George W. Bush, urging a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit
that accuses a Boeing Co. unit of helping the CIA fly suspects overseas
to be tortured. The Justice Department said it is reviewing other cases
in which the Republican Bush administration urged similar complaints be
dismissed because of the need to protect state secrets.” [Editor’s
note: Told ya -- same as the old boss! - TLK] (02/10/09)
Yes, Tom, you and I and MamaLiberty and Claire and Lobo and Sunni and
Deb and Steve and Andre and a lot of others have told them - and a few
who voted for Obama have realized now (pretty quickly, considering) that
they are no better off, except that THEY aren't barfing when they see
the President on a magazine cover.
Islamic
war:
Al
Qaeda threatens India in video
Sify [India]
“Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, said to be the Al Qaeda’s military
commander in Afghanistan and believed to have been killed in a US drone
strike in August 2008, warned in a video in Arabic sent to the BBC in
Islamabad that India ‘will have to pay a heavy price if it tried
to attack Pakistan.’ ... Yazid, who is said to be ranked behind Ayman
Al Zawahiri in the organisation, also called upon the people of Pakistan
to rise and overthrow the present government and president, BBC reported.”
(02/10/09)
The Islamists, including the Salafi, the Wahhabi, and others, have never
forgiven Britain for cleaning up the mess their co-religionists made of
India in the first place, and they've had even less time to accept that
the UK, for all of its mistakes in the Raj and in the Middle East, set
back their goals for decades with a number of key decisions, not the least
of which was to split Pakistan and India. But India was once part of the
Ummah, the dar al Islam, and it could be again if these people have their
way.
War on
some drugs:
AZ: State tracking Rx drug users
Arizona Republic
“Have you taken the painkillers OxyContin or Vicodin in the past
10 months? How about the sleep aid Ambien or the stimulant Ritalin? If
you have and you obtained the drug legally, your prescription information
is likely being stored in a centralized, state-managed database that can
be accessed by doctors and pharmacists around Arizona. The program, which
debuted in December and is overseen by the Arizona State Board of Pharmacy,
is designed to cut down on the persistent problem of prescription-drug
abuse. But it also has raised concerns among privacy-rights groups that
fear computer hackers or unscrupulous health workers will access patients’
personal information.” (02/09/09)
Just as critical, the stimulus bill will create this sort of thing on
a national scale, and the level of mischief it will cause is enormous.
Imagine a hotshot DA trying to cinch his reelection by expanding the nanny
state to force anyone currently on a psychotropic prescription to "temporarily"
turn in their weapons to the cops until they are again "safe"
to own.
Europe's
Last Generation:
World Bank
covered up destruction of Albanian village
Fox News
“Managers at the World Bank provided false information to the
agency’s board of directors about a $39 million, politically-connected
European ‘coastal cleanup’ project that led to the destruction
and destitution of a powerless village in Albania in 2007 -- and then
spent nearly two years trying to cover it up, FOX News has learned. Bank
insiders also misled and stonewalled a panel of independent investigators
commissioned by the board to investigate the scandal, according to the
investigators themselves. ... For its part, once the report leaked in
Albania last week, the bank announced that further disbursements of the
loan for the Albanian project had been temporarily suspended on Jan. 9
‘due to certain outstanding policy and operational issues.’”
(02/09/09)
Another example of Tranzi scheming - if it hadn't had the whistle blown
on it, all would be just fine. Europeans look with envy on all the wilderness
areas and roadless areas and study areas that the US and Canada have,
and want to do the same in Europe so that the worship of Mother Gaia can
be facilitated (well, more than that, I realize); and since Europe is
kind of crowded (although that is changing, too), that means that people
have to moved out of the way for "nature."
Nazgul:
CA: Judges tentatively
order inmates released
MSNBC
“A special panel of federal judges tentatively ruled Monday that
California must release tens of thousands of inmates to relieve overcrowding.
The judges said no other solution will improve conditions so poor that
inmates die regularly of suicides or lack of proper care.” (02/09/09)
I suspect that this is nothing but political grandstanding to help give
the California government an excuse to raise more taxes and pay for doubling
the size of their enormous gulag archipelago, already the largest in the
nation. According to a quick review of the news, the truth is that the
suicide rate has DROPPED in California prisons for the last two years.
Also, most suicides occur in isolation cells, solitary confinement - obviously
why they are in those cells might have a bearing on overcrowding, but
it isn't Zelazny syndrome that is causing them to hang themselves. As
for "proper care," I've been told more than once that the average
prisoner in California (and in Federal prisons) sees doctors and nurses
twice or three times as often as a good many middle class families who
are NOT in prison. And IF lack of medical care was the real issue, they
ought to be building more clinics and hiring more doctors, not releasing
prisoners - what, are they going to provide health insurance for these
furloughed convicts?
Mama's
Note: Unfortunately, the real problem is that it won't be the many thousands
of nonviolent "offenders" who are released, but most likely
the very murders, rapists and thieves who actually need to be kept locked
up. The immediate release of those who have harmed nobody would leave
plenty of room and resources to keep the predators off the streets. But,
of course, that has little or nothing to do with the government agenda
anyway.
Home front:
GA: FBI raids plant at center of salmonella
scare
Anniston Star
“Federal agents on Monday raided a Georgia peanut processing plant
linked to the nationwide salmonella outbreak that has prompted one of
the largest product recalls in U.S. history. The FBI executed search warrants
at both the plant in Blakely, Ga., and at Peanut Corp. of America’s
headquarters in Lynchburg, Va., according to a senior congressional aide
with knowledge of the raids.” (02/09/09)
By the end of the week, this company had declared bankruptcy and closed
all its operations, leaving hundreds without work and panic continuing
to sweep the nation. Sadly, people die - fifty years ago, eight people
dying of salmonella would have appeared on the obituary page and not the
front page - because people die and get sick of salmonella constantly.
The elderly, the young, and those already in bad health take the brunt
of the punishment from such diseases. But today, the rumors start and
turn into an amazing campaign. This company's headquarters is, ironically
enough, at Lynchburg - and the company appears to have been duly lynched.
Regardless of the truth of the matter.
World wars:
UK: Countries
face new UK visa rules
BBC News [UK]
“South Africans visiting the United Kingdom will need a visa,
under new rules issued by the Home Office. Bolivia, Lesotho, Swaziland
and Venezuela also failed a test of the threat posed by their citizens
in terms of security, immigration and crime. Nationals from the five countries
will now need to provide fingerprints and pay a fee to obtain a visa before
traveling to the UK.” (02/09/09)
For subjects of Lesotho, Swaziland, and South Africa, this is a shock,
after decades of better treatment as members of the Commonwealth. But
frankly, as long as the Islamic terrorists can come through France and
Belgium and Italy and other countries of Eurabia, cutting off these five
countries isn't going to make the UK all that much safer. And then we
can talk about the homegrown, or home-nurtured, threats.
Crash of
2009:
UK: “This is the worst recession
for over 100 years”
Independent [UK]
“In an extraordinary admission about the severity of the economic
downturn, Ed Balls even predicted that its effects would still be felt
15 years from now. The Schools Secretary’s comments carry added weight
because he is a former chief economic adviser to the Treasury and regarded
as one of the Prime Ministers’s closest allies. Mr. Balls said yesterday:
‘The reality is that this is becoming the most serious global recession
for, I’m sure, over 100 years, as it will turn out.’ He warned
that events worldwide were moving at a ’speed, pace and ferocity
which none of us have seen before’ and banks were losing cash on
a ’scale that nobody believed possible.’ The minister stunned
his audience at a Labour conference in Yorkshire by forecasting that times
could be tougher than in the depression of the 1930.” (02/10/09)
IF it is indeed "tougher" than 1929-1949, it is because western
governments have more more of a mess before and during the initial phases
of Great Depression II than they did in the old Great Depression. And
because people -way too many people - thought that we were PAST history:
that really bad things like the Great War and the Great Influenza Epidemic
(of 1918) and the Great Depression and the SECOND World War were things
that only happened in the history books.
Mama's
Note: Most of the people of the world, and certainly all of their governments,
still need to learn the first lesson is crisis management. When you find
yourself in a hole, the important thing is to STOP DIGGING.
Our right
to defend:
PA: City
gun statute targeted -- limits defense options, lawyer says
Lancaster News
“Charges against a city man who fired a pistol into the air to
stop a group from assaulting his cousin should be dropped because the
city ordinance limiting the discharge of guns flies in the face of state
law and the Constitution, the defendant’s attorney told a county
judge during a hearing Friday. Lancaster city’s revised gunfire ordinance
unconstitutionally restricts the right to protect oneself and others ...
Representing the city, attorney Neil L. Albert said the city is entitled
to regulate firearms discharge under state law and the charge against
Swinton is appropriate ... Swinton said his cousin was being attacked
and beaten by a group of assailants and that he fired a warning shot to
disperse them.” (02/07/09)
Smart defense IF this particular nazgul is really going to stand for "being
lectured" about the constitution.
Mama's
note: Of course the "laws" are stupid and counterproductive.
That said, shooting into the air is ALWAYS a bad idea. Every person who
holds a gun is totally responsible for where each bullet fired goes. They
all go somewhere and hit something!! If a person has a legitimate self
defense reason to draw and shoot, he must have an identifiable target
each and every time. A "warning shot" into the air is totally
irresponsible and never, never justified.
So,
the only real question for the judge is: did this man harm an innocent
person with his irresponsible shooting? If not, case dismissed - but I
hope his friends and family give him a really, REALLY hard time about
it until he demonstrates better judgment.
Tyranny
of local government:
Daley: Chicago’s city employees
no match for private sector
WBBM News
“Mayor Daley said Wednesday he unloaded four of Chicago’s
most valuable assets for a $6 billion mountain of cash, in part, because
city employees are clock-watchers who don’t think about the customers.
... ‘We can’t compete with the private sector. The private sector
has a complete idea of who your customers are. Government doesn’t
have customers. They only have citizens.’ Daley offered his blunt,
candid assessment of city workers after joining business leaders at a
Merchandise Mart news conference called to launch the so- called ‘Green
Office Challenge’ aimed at encouraging downtown buildings to conserve.”
(02/05/09)
Gee whilikers, Mr. Greenjeans, that Mayor Daley is suddenly spouting some
sense. You think he might be cracking under the strain? I really may keep
a quote from him: “You should think outside the box. You can’t
ask taxpayers to be taxed more and more,” Daley said.
New Religions:
Environism:
Nuclear
Fusion-Fission Hybrid Could Destroy Waste
Environmental Protection News
Physicists at The University of Texas at Austin have designed a new
system that, when fully developed, would use fusion to eliminate most
of the transuranic waste produced by nuclear power plants... more
Listen
carefully and you will hear the screams of environists, who have taken
the really minor problem of transuranic wastes and elevated it to the
perfect excuse to do nothing with nuclear power - in reality, the radiation
released by mining, processing, and burning coal in power stations is
MUCH more likely to cause harm than the nuclear wastes; and this is even
if we DON'T use this material as it should be - a source of more energy.
The Compact Fusion Neutron Source (CFNS) not only takes and breaks down
the heavy radioactive metals into far safer elements, but it produces
more power doing so! Together with the "battery-nukes" being
developed by a New Mexico company, this could totally revolutionize electrical
production in this nation - indeed, it could completely change ALL energy
use in the nation. And that is exactly what the environists fear - cheap
clean energy. Why? Because first and foremost, environism is about control
- and less energy, more expensive energy, means more control.
Wednesday:
Excuse
me, step aside, the railroad is coming through. (See
the song here) Not the best rendition, but the only one I could find
readily. It is an old Texas song about how the state let railroads steal
land to build through.) The "stimulus bill" is going strong,
and a few GOP or non-Demo types aren't going to stop it.
Congress
in action:
Sen.
Specter Responds to Health Care Scare in Stimulus Bill
CNSNews.com
"We are not going to let the federal government monitor what doctors
do,” Sen. Arlen Specter told Fox News on Tuesday. Specter, one of
only three Republicans to support the Democrats’ stimulus/spending
bill, was responding to growing concerns over health care provisions buried
deep in the bill.
Okay, so
why did he vote for it? Sir, I am sorry but I don't believe you - you
have let the government monitor virtually everything everyone else does,
so why would you claim to object to doctors being monitored (more than
they already are - watch what happens when a doctor prescribes something
on the forbidden list) and still vote for the bill?
Mama's
Note: The good news is that the more things are monitored and controlled,
but more people will look for and find alternatives that can't be monitored
and controlled. Alternative medicine is booming right now, and far more
people are starting to look for wellness instead of chemical "health
care." Sometimes the "unintended consequences" are really
a gift to all of us.
Congress
in action
Specter
Says Stimulus Must Emerge from Conference Committee 'Virtually Intact'
CNSNews.com
“My support for the Conference Report on the stimulus package
will require that the Senate compromise bill come back virtually intact
including, but not limited to, overall spending, the current ratio of
tax cuts to spending, and the $110 billion in cuts,” Specter told
CNSNews.com in a statement.
Ah, the
good Senator speaks out again! This time, I again disagree with him: the
correct ratio of spending to tax cuts is ONE dollar of spending CUTS to
ONE dollar of tax cuts. Now, wait, I misspoke. With our current national
deficit, the best ratio is FIVE dollars of spending CUTS to one dollar
of tax cuts: minimum spending cuts $550 BILLION. THAT would be a real
stimulus.
Mama's
Note: I still want to know why anyone would think, by any stretch of rational
thinking, that this man or others like him should have anything to say
about how we spend the money we earn. What he thinks or wants should be
totally irrelevant to what you and I do with our life and property.
The new
Administration:
Obama
Talks About Investigating Bush Officials, Handling Iran, Stimulating Economy
CNSNews.com
President Barack Obama said he will “take a look” at a proposal
to investigate former Bush administration officials as part of a “truth
and reconciliation commission” supported by some congressional Democrats.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Said Monday
he wants to set up such a committee to investigate the alleged torture
of terror suspects on Bush’s watch, among other matters.
Ah, with
this fine example of South African racial politics being imitated, is
Mandala-style advanced socialism far behind? As I've mentioned before,
Tom Krautman some years ago predicted that the next Democratic Administration
would try and convict the last GOP Administration of crimes and put the
ex-Prez into prison. One more step in that direction. What we may have
here is a modern version of the House Unamerican Activities Committee
of the 1950s.
Mama's
Note: Just another dog and pony show to fool the rubes. I suspect that
Bush would "retire" to his Argentina property long before anyone
could bring this about anyway.
The Crash
of 2009:
Obama
Frames the Argument As Those Who Want to Do Something vs. Those Who Want
to Do Nothing
CNSNews.com
In
his prime-time news conference Monday night, President Obama several times
described the current battle in Washington as a struggle between those
who want to save the economy and those who want to “do nothing.”
Not true, say Republicans, who agree on the need for government action
– but who differ on how the stimulus plan should work. Republicans
say the only way to quickly stimulate the economy is to lower tax rates
for individuals and small businesses.
Mr. Obama,
those of us opposed to this "stimulus" package do NOT want to
do NOTHING - rather, we want to do the RIGHT thing: stop government spending,
stop government taxing, stop printing or borrowing money like it is 1999,
and LIBERATE the economy by eliminating government regulations and meddling.
That is quite a "to-do" package, sir, and is certainly NOT a
do-nothing plan.
Mama's
Note: Oh, but that depends on your definition of nothing! What you suggest
would involve all kinds of things they want NOTHING to do with, so I can
see their logic here. I mean, what's in any of that to increase their
power and perks?
The Panic
of 2009:
So
Far, Effectiveness of $700 Billion Bank Bailout Cannot Be Measured
CNSNews.com
The government has not been able to measure the effectiveness of the
$700 billion bank bailout passed by Congress last fall, according to the
Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress.
“We are not actually sure how it (TARP) is functioning,” Tom
McCool, director of the GAO's center of economics, told CNSNews.com. “Part
of it is because of data limitations.”
Why am
I NOT surprised? At their ability to not figure out this? Actually, looking
around, I would say that the effectiveness can be very much rated as somewhere
between "5" - totally useless and "4" - almost totally
useless. I am sure that some banks in the Bahamas and Switzerland may
have benefited, together with a lot of worthless bank executives and a
lot of reelected Congressmen, but the GAO is simply unable and unwilling
to see it. Maybe they need to start looking
in people's freezers.
Mama's
Note: I don't know why anyone would be surprised at this. The Federal
government hasn't been able to account for much of the money it gets (or
invents) for a very long time.
World Wars
- East Asian front:
China
Eases Through U.N. Human Rights ‘Review’
CNSNews.com
China won praise from countries including Sudan, Cuba, Iran, Burma,
Egypt and Zimbabwe during a United Nations “review” of its human
rights record this week. The "universal periodic review" has
been hailed as a valuable mechanism to examine nations' human rights records,
but critics say it allows repressive regimes to cover for each other.
Oh, well,
this is as great as being recommended for retention as a college professor
by a committee made up of six grade-school dropouts. The only ones not
on the committee that could have made a more-biased committee would be
North Korea, Syria, and the ghost of Saddam Hussein.
Stupid
government tricks:
Deadly
Australian Wildfires Fuel Debate About Controlled Burning
CNSNews.com
The deadliest wildfires in Australia’s history are still burning,
but fingers are already being pointed in various directions, with climate
change and green-inspired policies in the crosshairs as a decades-old
debate about controlled burning is rekindled. While climate change advocates
focus on rising temperatures and drought, others note that fuel –
flammable vegetation and twig, leaf and bark litter – is the one
controllable factor involved.
Frankly,
all I see in the news is a bunch of incompetent government officials,
mistakenly trusted by their communities, who are trying to point fingers
away from themselves for their own stupidity, and screaming that the sky
is falling.
Mama's
Note: Same stupid game as has been played in all the areas of Southern
California and elsewhere. When people do not manage their land, nature
can take a terrible toll on their lives. Fire cannot be prevented, but
it can be managed. Ignoring or fostering the conditions that make it deadly
is stupid.
Stupid
people tricks:
Cher:
Republican Rule Almost 'Killed Me'
CNSNews.com
Singer and actress Cher says that life under Republicans almost "killed"
her, and that President Barack Obama's "spirit" will allow him
to do "more than anyone could possibly do."
Too bad.
Seriously, why do people like her make wild statements like this? And
what "spirit" is she talking about? That of Abe Lincoln, who
freed the slaves and made freemen slaves? Or perhaps FDR, who freed us
from fear so that we could become fearful of more things? Or maybe a long
line of Chicago politicians in the employ of Al Capone and a long line
of gangsters? I wonder how she will like life as a dhimmi (assuming she
believes in God and thereby qualifies?)?
Mama's
Note: I still have not figured out quite what all these dimwits want the
Obomination to "do." It will probably become fairly clear to
even the most retarded of them that things are just getting worse the
more he does. Unfortunately, it's probably too late to avoid the crash
even if they all suddenly woke up today.
THURSDAY:
Congress
in action:
Stimulus
Bill Raises Concerns Over Government Rationing of Health Care
CNSNews.com
Two provisions in President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan
could give the federal government the authority to oversee the medical
decisions made between doctors and patients, critics warn, which could
result in the rationing of health care. The plan to make all health records
electronic and establish an effectiveness board to review health care
costs was part of the $838 billion economic stimulus bill that passed
the Senate Tuesday. Critics note that the electronic medical records will
be mandatory.
Notice
yesterday that "GOP" Senator Arlen S. was going on and on about
how this wouldn't be allowed. Of course, no one READ the 1075 page document
- not even the people who wrote pieces of it. (Too bad that there isn't
someone in one of those offices that puts these things together that couldn't
still get some USEFUL laws in there, like Bill of Rights Enforcement or
deestablishing the IRS or BATFE!) When you combine this with Mrs. Pelosi's
statement that abortion will help us get over our economic crisis more
quickly, it gets quite scary, thank you!
Congress
in action:
No
Reason to Worry About Those Health Efficiencies in Stimulus Bill, Democrat
Says
CNSNews.com
Democrats are downplaying concerns about health provisions tucked into
the massive stimulus/spending bill now making its way through Congress.
“There is nothing in this legislation that interferes with a doctor
making a decision, with the patient, on what is appropriate care,”
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) told Fox News on Wednesday.
Well, shucks!
Don't worry none about that guy hiding over there behind that curtain.
Mama's
Note: Exactly! Why, we all know the gummint is our best friend and would
NEVER do anything to hurt anyone or steal their property! (Puke)
Congress
in action:
Senators
Who Backed Stimulus Not Sure How Many Jobs It Will Create
CNSNews.com
In
his press conference on Monday, President Obama said his economic stimulus
package would create or preserve up to 4 million jobs, but on Tuesday,
lawmakers on Capitol Hill who voted for the $838-billion stimulus told
CNSNews.com there is no way to know how many jobs the bill will create.
Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), who voted against the bill, told CNSNews.com he
doubts it will create as many jobs as the president and Democrats claim.
I bet they
know how many government jobs in their own states they are promised, though
- and of course, no one can promise ANY nonmilitary and non-government
jobs. A list posted
on line shows where people are trying to figure this out, and just
looking at the states I know real well, this is a crock!
Mama's
Note: There is only ONE "job" any politician is really interested
- his or her own.
The new
Administration:
Senate
Judiciary Committee Likely to Approve Playboy’s Former Lawyer as
Deputy AG
CNSNews.com
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are poised to vote Thursday
to confirm David W. Ogden as deputy attorney general despite concerns
by some lawmakers that he has spent much of his career arguing on behalf
of top pornographers and abortionists. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), a former
prosecutor, questioned Ogden as if he were a hostile witness in a courtroom.
I haven't
heard "it takes a crook to catch a crook" from a Congressman
yet, but I bet Mr. Arlen's writers have that in mind for when he again
votes with the Dems.
The new
Administration:
Treasury
Can't Say How Much Taxpayers Will Have to Pay for New Financial Industry
Bailout
CNSNews.com
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced a plan Tuesday to inject
up to $2 trillion into the nation’s wounded financial system, but
he would not -- or could not -- say how much of the new program ultimately
will be charged to taxpayers. The only pledge Geithner made was that the
programs would continue as long as they were needed.
You know,
for an Administration that was elected just four months ago because they
said that they all the answers figured out, this Administration sure has
some dumb people working for it, 'cause they sure don't know very much.
Of course, he's like that ol' guy who was learning to run the water treatment
plant, said, he didn't have to know how to shut the water off, jest get
it turned on!
Mama's
Note: The answer to that one is pretty obvious... ALL OF IT! The government
does not have any other source of income except the people, one way or
another.
The new
Administration and environists:
Obama
Administration Delays Offshore Drilling
CNSNews.com
Once
again applying the brakes to Bush administration policy, the Obama administration
on Tuesday delayed a plan to eventually begin drilling for oil and gas
on the Outer Continental Shelf. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar also said
the Obama administration will incorporate “renewable” wind,
wave, and ocean current energy into its offshore energy plan.
This is
one campaign promise that Mr. Obama is keeping. Of course, we all saw
this coming, especially when Ken Salazar was selected to institute an
"all-environists, all-the-time" regime at Interior. (But I'm
sure that Senator Kennedy isn't happy about offshore wind energy, is he?)
Ambiguous
Election Result Leaves Israel in Flux
CNSNews.com
Israeli voters handed Kadima and its leader, Tzipi Livni, a small victory
in elections Tuesday, but the strong showing of right-wing parties makes
it far from certain that she will be able to build a workable governing
coalition and become Israel’s second female prime minister. Whoever
forms the next government, the outcome shows a sizable swing to the right.
The election
apparently was not called for some time - it was that close, and Bibi
will be more of a pain in the rear to Livni than he has been in the past
to Kadima. But for now, Israel will continue to try to appease everyone,
and ultimately, appease no one.
Home front:
stupid government tricks:
Shockwaves coming for police &
prosecutors
Fox News Forum
“A forthcoming study from the National Academy of Sciences on
the poor quality of forensic science in America’s courtrooms is expected
to send shockwaves through the criminal justice system. … Law enforcement
organizations have tried to derail the report nearly every step of the
way, and with good reason. Police and prosecutors have been relying on
bad science to get convictions for decades. It’s only recently, as
the onset of DNA testing has begun uncovering a disturbing spate of wrongful
convictions, that some of the criminal justice system’s cottage industry
pseudo-sciences like ‘bite mark analysis’ have been exposed
for the quackery they are. The power of DNA to exonerate the condemned
has us quickly learning that our courts have for years been corrupted
by charlatans and snake-oil salesmen.” (02/10/09)
My comments: We have to remember that, first and foremost, "forensics"
is a "government science," just like "race science"
in the Third Reich and "evolution science" and "global
warming science" in the modern Tranzi state. (And for that matter,
most branches of sociology and psychology.) Unfortunately, most jurors
will continue to believe the garbage that prosecutors and magistrates
feed them.
Mama's
comments: Nurses have known this for a very long time. I took a course
once supposedly to train nurses to assist with rape forensic evidence
gathering. What a joke. And the fairy tales of forensics presented on
TV form the basis of knowledge for most juries, so of course they think
it's magic. All the more reason to cultivate and practice a 'medicine'
the government can't get their hands on. :)
Home front:
Socialized medicine
on the installment plan
Cato Institute
“The withdrawal of Tom Daschle as President Obama’s nominee
for secretary of health and human services is generally viewed as a setback
for the president’s health care reform plans. Even so, the Obama
Administration is already well on its way toward putting the government
in charge of our health care system.” (02/11/09)
The stimulus package helps that effort tremendously (as Friday's first
story points out). And Tom Daschle isn't gone - he's just going to continue
as a hired-gun "consultant" at a whole lot more money than he'd
have brought in as a cabinet member - just without the prestige. And believe
me, Tom is hurt badly, personally, to lose the prestige. But not so much
that he won't play the Tranzi game and give up on his project to socialize
medicine like the UK never dreamed of.
FRIDAY:
New Administration
and Congress in action:
Was
Obama Pushing for National Health Care Provisions to Be Included in Final
Stimulus Package?
CNSNews.com
President Barack Obama had not “specified” whether he would
insist that two controversial national health care provisions be included
in the final economic stimulus bill, White House Deputy Press Secretary
Jennifer Psaki said Wednesday before the elements of the final deal were
released.
Most of the 535 legislators on Capitol Hill don't know what is in this
bill, but you can be sure that all the various subject experts in the
Administration who put Frankenstein's monster together know what their
various pieces are - and it is more than the gun control provisions (no
guns for people who have been treated by a psychiatrist, including soldiers
back from the Sand Boxes, for example) - and you can be sure that these
provisions were placed with great care. Almost certain is the fact that
they were not put in as "throwaways."
Free speech:
Acting
FCC Chair Sees Government Role in Pushing ‘Media Diversity’
CNSNews.com
Acting Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Copps says
he doesn’t support bringing back the controversial Fairness Doctrine,
but said he does think government has a role in enforcing media “diversity.”
That role includes reexamining licensing and other regulations for radio
stations -- including AM stations dominated by talk radio -- to make them
“more reflective” of public interests.
I think that someone very carefully orchestrated this obvious campaign
and its schedule: every few days another Congressman comes out of the
closet and another Administration flack speaks up. It is a steady drumbeat
leading to an obvious conclusion: once more these people intend to ignore
the Constitution, which has NO provision for "a government role in
enforcing" ANYTHING in the media. It seems to me that "public
interests" are best determined by a free market - a market that regulates
Ed Schulz to the evening in favor of Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck, and
relegates Al Franken to left-wing political campaigns in socialist Scandinavian
countries like Minnesota.
Government-run,
tax-funded schools:
Vast
Majority Support Teaching Evidence For and Against Darwin’s Evolution
Theory
CNSNews.com
A large majority of Americans think biology teachers should teach Charles
Darwin’s theory of evolution along with the scientific evidence against
the theory, according to a poll by Zogby International. The telephone
survey of 1,053 likely voters by Zogby (as showed that 80 percent of Americans
“agree that teachers and students should have the academic freedom
to discuss both the strengths and weaknesses of evolution as a scientific
theory.”
As I inferred in a previous comment, "evolution" is as bogus
a science as race science or global warming - anyone with any scientific
training which has not been brainwashed by the steady diet of socialization
and the rest of modern "public" schools" - or who has broken
that brainwashing to some degree, who seriously looks at Darwinism and
its successors, finds that they no more meet the definition of a rigorous
science than psychology and sociology: indeed, evolution is worse: NO
ONE has ever demonstrated any proof of the theory more complex than flies
and moths changing their colors and their eating habits - but they've
not "evolved" a moth into a camel, or created a "post-modern"
horse as the newest in a series of "horselike" creatures developing
into the modern horse. So ANY study of evolution withOUT comparing it
to other theories (as viewed in the secular mind) and without examining
its pro's and con's is nothing but religious propaganda - as many people
with bumper stickers like "Darwin loves you" and legs added
to the old Christian symbol of the fish with "Darwin" inside
it admit tacitly, even though that is clearly NOT their intent.
Home Front:
Feds
Have Built Only 32 Miles of 700 Mile Double-Border Fence Originally Mandated
by Congress
CNSNews.com
One reason the Department of Homeland Security has been able to do
so little is an amendment that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R.-Texas) slipped
into an omnibus appropriations bill that Congress passed in December 2007.
Hutchison’s amendment put a loophole in the fence law that allowed
the Homeland Security not to build the fence Congress had mandated the
year before.
Any bets on when that gets torn down? Good fences HELP make good neighbors
and Mexico is getting ready to become an even worse neighbor than it has
been for the last 199 years. (Mexico's War for Independence began on 16
SEP 1810.) When the US (economy) sneezes, Mexico catches cold; if we now
have flu, Mexico's economy is likely ready to move to the morgue, and
guess who is going to be playing the part of Okies and Arkies in a 2010
version of "Grapes of Wrath"?
Past Stupid
Government Tricks:
What
Would Lincoln Think About the Economic Stimulus?
CNSNews.com
Historians say it’s impossible to know for sure because The Great
Emancipator lived in a radically different era than our own. One thing
is clear -- Lincoln was not antigovernment, according to Robert McGregor,
a professor of history at the University of Illinois at Springfield. He
was one of the first to expand presidential power and the power of the
federal government.
Now, isn't this something? A mainstream "Christian" news source
which does not elevate Lincoln to sainthood. It is actually rather interesting
to note that the references to Mr. Obama as being the new Lincoln may
have declined a bit in the last few weeks leading to Lincoln's birthday
- especially since more people are actually reading about what Mr. Lincoln
did in his term in office. Let me suggest one very
good analysis of the GOP during and after Mr. Lincoln, at , or read
Gary Reed's short column.
Islamic
war:
Islam
Critic Plans to Defy British Ban
CNSNews.com
Dutch anti-Islamist lawmaker Geert Wilders planned Thursday to defy
a ban on traveling to Britain, where he was invited to attend a screening
at the House of Lords of his provocative film linking the Koran to extremism
and terrorism. The ban triggered outrage from Dutch politicians across
the political spectrum.
Heer Wilders DID defy the ban, and was arrested and escorted back to the
Netherlands, in an incident which has scandalized many of Her Majesty's
subjects. So low has Brown's government fallen that they have to lick
the sandals of their Islamic minority. No wonder Ah-made-a-jihad can make
the claims he does (next story).
Islamic
war:
‘World
Arrogance’ is Defeated, Ahmadinejad Says of US
CNSNews.com
Iran’s official Irna news agency said Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez agreed during a telephone
conversation Wednesday that the “power of the world arrogance is
now defeated and on the verge of being overthrown.” The news came
one day after Ahmadinejad said that Tehran
was ready for talks with Washington.
Obviously, these people have decided that President Obama is not going
to stand up to them on anything. Was it really less than two decades ago
that we were celebrating the fall of Soviet Communism and the end of the
Cold War?
Stupid
government tricks:
Final
Stimulus Bill Creates Government Database that Will Hold Every American’s
Personal Medical Records
CNSNews.com
The final version of the Democrats' stimulus bill includes a provision
creating a federal database that will hold the personal medical records
of every American, Katie Grant, spokeswoman for House Majority Leader
Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Told CNSNews.com Thursday.
I've been dealing with government filing systems for my entire adult life,
and I can tell you that a lot of us may never see our records straight
again. That is beyond the issue of privacy, government control of health
care, nationalizing health care or anything else: first and foremost,
government is essentially incompetent.
Mama's
Note: Well, you wouldn't want one that WAS competent, would you? The answer
here is to make the government data base irrelevant. Don't trust your
health to them period. Find alternatives, starting NOW.
The new
Administration:
Obama
Loses A Third Cabinet Nominee
CNSNews.com
Nine days after President Barack Obama told the nation that Republican
Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire was “the right person” to lead
the Commerce Department, Gregg has said thanks, but no thanks. He said
he differed with Obama on both the stimulus package and the 2010 Census.
The very fact that Mr. Judd refused on grounds of principle is an indication
that he would have done well - but the impact on the Senate, already infested
with at least three public RINOs (Collins, Snow, and Spectre), would have
been even worse. Mr. Obama is building up quite a track record on political
appointments.
Congress
in action:
GOP
Calls Obama’s Census Plans Unconstitutional, an ‘Assault on
Democracy’
CNSNews.com
House Republican leaders on Thursday criticized President Barack Obama’s
plans to get White House political staff more involved in the coming 2010
census, calling the move unconstitutional and a political power grab.
The fact that so far not ONE Democrat in Congress has spoken up against
this, although they attacked far less dangerous actions by Mr. Bush, is
an indication that it is indeed a power grab and one which could permanently
change this nation. This effort may fail, but don't expect Mr. Obama and
his staff (or backers) to give up.
Mama's
Note: What is called for here is massive civil "disobedience."
They can't put all of us in jail. Just say NO!
Islamic
war:
Two
Decades On, Rushdie Death Sentence Fatwa Still Valid
CNSNews.com
Twenty years after Iran ordered the death of British author Salman
Rushdie and his publishers for blaspheming Islam, Tehran has confirmed
that the verdict still stands. In a recent interview with The Times of
London, Rushdie said the West should have realized that the Iranian fatwa
was the beginning of a new era.
Sigh. As I pointed out above, we can't even remember that 20 years ago,
Communism was a rapidly fading and failing threat, but the Wahhabi, Salafi,
the Arabs and the Persians, don't seem to forget as rapidly as we do.
Mama's
Note: Their memory doesn't seem to be very relevant since they don't seem
to have much power to do anything about it. I don't understand why this
should be a big deal.
Your
comments and feedback are welcome! Now
PoL has its own forum at The Mental Militia! Check
it out
Don't
forget to send in your local news stories about SWAT activity. See
the new page dedicated to this timely subject.
Nathan
Barton is writing from either the Four Corners or the Black Hills - two
places where there is still a hope of liberty and freedom for the 21st
Century and beyond. He is a libertarian (a lover of liberty) because he
is a Christian; a follower of Christ Jesus, Who came to make all men free
in all ways. He was born, by God's grace, a Westerner, an American; he
is a Christian, and therefore a libertarian, again by God's grace and
his own free will and choice. Nathan's writings and words and life seek
to live up to the potential of all these things, knowing that he can never
achieve perfection on this earth in any of those things, but never giving
up trying.
Be sure
to visit my blog, Liberty's
Outpost.
Special
Feature! Add your signature to the NEW
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By Robert Greenslade
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Tread on Me flags used by the June 23d Movement and other Property Rights
Organizations: you
can get them for $10.00 plus shipping here.
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