That's right, fifty weeks into this year; forty-seven into the "new" administration of the First Citizen.

Again, this will be a short week as far as my commentary for news items goes, but it is a good time to reflect on where we've come in 2009, and almost half-way through Anno Libertatus 233.  So  here are 36 interesting and important stories.

Monday

Stupid people tricks - Culture wars
West Virginia:  Photographer Arrested for Taking Picture of Santa and Choir in Mall
WVgazette.com
An award-winning video journalist was arrested by Charleston Police Tuesday after he took pictures of Santa Claus and a choir at the Town Center Mall. Scott Rensberger, 47, of Washington is charged with battery on a police officer and resisting arrest, according to criminal complaints filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court. According to the complaint, Rensberger slapped the hand of Charleston police Cpl. R.C. Basford as the officer attempted to block Rensberger from taking a picture of him. Rensberger then "attempted to pull away" from the officer, Basford wrote in the complaint.

Government fright-propaganda strikes again: anyone taking a picture of a "child" (apparently defined as someone under the age of 30 or so - anyone who has to be carded to buy smokes, I guess) is now suspected of being a child-molester or internet-porn purveyor, or a kidnapper.  And so cops - even rent-a-cops - can demand that someone taking pictures show them the pictures and erase any that the cops might find objectionable, for whatever reason.  And the First Citizen and assorted Nazgul forbid if you try and take a picture of the cop himself - you never saw an Mennonite or Hopi dancer so affronted as a West Virginia cop, apparently.

Mama's Note: It is the growing problem of police who demand, with lethal force, that everyone grovel and comply instantly with every whim. Those who don't are often seriously injured or killed, regardless of whether or not they are ABLE to bow and scrape as required - let alone if they are willing to do so.

Culture wars - killing babies
Texas: Austin continues to use taxpayer money to kill babies
Townhall.com (Baptist Press)
AUSTIN, Texas (BP)--Bucking the pleas of nearly 10,000 local petitioners, the Travis County Board of Central Health in Austin unanimously approved a renewal contract worth about $450,000 to fund abortions for poor women with county property taxes.

It is perhaps time to move the Texas capitol to someplace that doesn't believe in stealing money to kill babies, or perhaps for the Texas Legislature to outlaw the practice and curb this illegal and unconstitutional usurpation of power by a local government.  Perhaps the problem would be less likely to occur if the capitol were in Abilene or some place more representative of liberty and freedom than this cesspool called Travis County.  The good Colonel must be disgusted indeed at the thought of his namesake betraying the cause of liberty for which he fought and died.

Congress in action - Theft by government
Senate Sends $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill to Obama
Townhall.com
The Senate on Sunday passed a $1.1 trillion spending bill with increased budgets for vast areas of the federal government, including health, education, law enforcement and veterans' programs.

Some of the "lowlights" include:

_$519 billion in routine payments for Medicare and Medicaid.

That's right, almost HALF for what is essentially welfare and government-run/controlled business.

_$3.9 billion for more than 5,000 "earmarks," or home-state projects sought by lawmakers.

In other words, PORK.  Stealing from other people to pay for votes in your district or state.

_A pay raise for federal employees averaging 2 percent.

A "cost-of-living" allowance even as tales of federal wages exploding upward still reverberate, and while millions of Americans have NO JOBS and NO PAY for the holidays, federal employees get fatter.

_Establishes an appeals process for automobile dealers closed by General Motors and Chrysler.

Note that it was a government guru (a "Czar") that told GM and Chrysler what to close - but now more interference will make it even worse.

_Permits the District of Columbia government to provide abortions with locally raised revenue, permits needle exchange programs in the city and allows implementation of a medical marijuana referendum.

This is the same thing that I am railing against Austin, TX, about - stealing money from people to kill babies, and both fighting the drug war while pretending to care about people.  A medical marijuana referendum in DC is a joke, as long as Congress itself doesn't change the laws.

_Eases restrictions on federal funding of needle exchange programs nationwide to combat the spread of disease by drug users.

So we will spend money to FIGHT recreational drug use AND spend money to SUBSIDIZE that drug use.  Perfectly sensible - in Wonderland.

_Allows Amtrak passengers to transport firearms in checked luggage.

Second Amendment, anyone?  Really?

[Mama's Note: Actually, this is a MESS. The wording of the thing clearly mandates that the gun owning PASSENGERS be locked in a box!! Take a look at the Gun Rights Examiner for the details. It would be funny if it wasn't so sick.]

_$68.2 billion for the Education Department.

More educrats and less real education, as usual.

_$109.6 billion for veterans programs, a 15 percent increase, including $45.1 billion for health care.

This MIGHT make sense if it wasn't Congress causing the need for such services to be increased.  And if most of this wasn't going to support more bureaucrats.  Veterans are as much of an excuse as "the children".

_$7.3 billion for the 2010 census.

And if Congress bothered to read the constitution and just counted noses in order to determine how many representatives and electoral votes we are going to get... this would likely cost less than a tenth of this, if that.

_$18.7 billion for NASA, a 5 percent increase.

More government waste when private business could do ten times as much, ten times more quickly.

_$7.9 billion for the FBI, a 7 percent increase.

So that they can track down more homegrown "terrorists" like the veterans and others?

_$3.7 billion for grants to state and local law enforcement.

So that the local and state law enforcement transfer their allegiance to federal paymasters and not to the people that they supposedly serve?

_$5.1 billion for heating subsidies for the poor, almost 40 percent more than requested.

Welfare, pure and simple - even while the Administration and Congress seemingly do everything possible to raise the cost of that heating fuel and electricity; we subsidize people to use more.

_$41 billion for highway construction, a slight increase.

What you aren't told is that this money comes from gasoline and diesel excise taxes intended to pay for highways - except that Congress dictates that much of it must be diverted to "public art" and to subsidies for public transportation and a whole bunch of pork projects that aren't included in the "earmarks."

_$1.6 billion to subsidize Amtrak.

The biggest Welfare Queen on the planet, I suspect.

Our right to defense ourselves
CDC "gun violence research" cover for new attack on rights
Buckeye Firearms Association/Jews for Preservation of Firearms Ownership
"Buckeye Firearms Association is a single issue, non-partisan PAC concerned with gun rights. As such, the debate on health care reform occurring across the U.S. is not something that would be within our normal sphere of coverage. However, my good friend Chad Baus posted a story a few days ago highlighting how the Centers for Disease Control has begun researching gun violence and the impact of gun violence on health care costs. This immediately set off alarm bells in my head as the pieces fell into place. Why, you ask? Health care reform is a brilliant way to regulate guns without violating the Second Amendment. ...Chad's article pointed to a Washington Times editorial taking the CDC to task for circumventing congressional orders to abstain from gun control "research." The original reasoning behind this "research" ban was that the CDC would be using tax dollars to advance a gun control agenda, and the taxpayers rightly put an end to these shenanigans. Now, under President Obama, the CDC is defying this ban by researching "health care costs" and how guns impact health insurance and health care services. ... So, sometime in the near future, a tax-payer funded study will show that gunshot wounds take up a tremendous amount of medical resources, almost all of which goes unreimbursed, because the victims are uninsured. ... Here is a preview of the new health insurance application forms:Name, address, age, gender, height, weight, prior medical conditions, do you smoke, do you own guns, if so how many and what kind...."

I know, just what we needed to hear, right?  The problem is, we give government more and  more power (or let them steal it, same thing) and OF COURSE they have dozens of ways to punish us and discourage us from arming ourselves against criminals, whether free-lance or government-sponsored.

Home Front
LA: Indian village holds out against plea to move
Yahoo! News
“Bourg is a tidy Cajun bayou town a few miles north of Dardar’s hurricane-smashed Indian village in the marsh where holdout families are being urged to move to by a tribal chief, scientists and public officials. Why? Because life on this spit of soggy land 6 miles from the Gulf of the Mexico may soon be impossible for the interrelated families with French, Choctaw, Houma, Biloxi and Chitimacha bloodlines that go back 170 years when a Frenchman came here with his Choctaw wife and named the island after his father, Jean Charles. The road to the island is caving in. Hurricanes are flooding homes more often. The Gulf gets closer every year. Isle de Jean Charles is at risk of disappearing under the Gulf of Mexico. … With a bad limp from 40 years of backbreaking work dredging for oysters, Edison Dardar hobbles over to a handmade plywood sign on the road through the village. He stands next to it proudly. It reads: ‘Island is not for sale. If you don’t like the island stay off. Don’t give up fight for you rights. It’s worth saving. Edison Dardar Jr.’ ‘My son wrote it,’ Dardar, who cannot read and write himself, says with a grin.” (12/13/09)

Despite all our problems, for centuries America has been a land of hope and liberty for people like this, but now it is necessary to bring them into the real world, or so the story goes.  Can these little clans or tribes of people survive long enough for the rest of society to return to sanity? 

First Citizen
White House: Prosperity’s just around the corner
Yahoo! News
“Senior White House economists on Sunday predicted the U.S. economy will start creating jobs by spring and said that boosting employment will be at the top of President Barack Obama’s agenda next year. Growing public frustration with the still-sluggish economy and double-digit unemployment has weighed on Obama’s popularity and may put his fellow Democrats at risk in the 2010 congressional elections.” (12/13/09)

"There'll be pie in the sky, by and by," goes the old hobo song (actually written by Joe Hill) about sky-pilots and their promises.  The chorus is sung:
You will eat [You will eat] bye and bye [bye and bye]
In that glorious land above the sky [Way up high]
Work and pray [Work and pray] live on hay [live on hay]
You'll get pie in the sky when you die [That's a lie!]

The First Citizen doesn't have long hair like the preachers in the song, but he is just as wrong and just as desperate for some more converts to his cause.

Self-Defense
TX: Armed intruder killed at apartment
Houston Chronicle
“An armed intruder was killed Friday night in a possible case of self-defense, Houston police said. The man forced his way inside a unit in the 12900 block of Whittington around 9:20 p.m. and showed a pistol to those inside, Police Department spokesman John Cannon said. ‘He specifically aimed the pistol toward two people when a third person in the apartment retrieved a pistol of his own,’ Cannon said. The third person said he shot the intruder because he feared for the safety of everyone in the west Houston apartment, police said. The intruder died at the scene.” (12/12/09)

Mama's comments:   Don't you just love the mainstream media morons. What could this possibly have been EXCEPT self defense? ARGGG If someone aims a pistol at me, I won't have any doubts about it.

Nathan's thoughts: This appears to be another case where the MSM is reduced to trying to create doubts in the minds of their readers as to the true situation, doesn't it?  Same for the cops - the way it is worded, if the man had not actually been pointing the gun at the people, the third person would not have been justified in shooting.  Fortunately the ROE (Rules of Engagement) in home defense are NOT what the Tranzis make our troops follow in Mesopotamia.

Self-Defense
TX: Robber fatally shot at repair shop
My Fox Houston
“A would-be robber is shot to death by a tire store owner in north Houston, and officers are searching for three suspects who got away. The shooting took place after 8 p.m. Wednesday at the 11100 block of Bauman Road. Police say four men tried to stage a robbery at the El Mante Tire Shop at the 11000 block of Bauman Road at approximately 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. The store owner, who has a license to carry a concealed handgun, drew his weapon and started shooting. One robbery suspect died in the shop, but three others escaped in a black Mercury Mountaineer with chrome rims.” (12/10/09)

Mama's comments: With chrome rims??? They saved the really vital information until the end... sigh.

Nathan's thoughts:  Hey, it was a tire store - that would be the detail he'd notice!  I see again how the media (Fox, in this case) try to cast doubt - if the owner had NOT had a CCW permit, perhaps he wouldn't have been "permitted" to shoot at the four men?  On his own property.  Perhaps the warning about the chrome rims is a subtle hint that these aren't ordinary robbers - unless the vehicle was stolen.  A Mountaineer lists for $29 to $35K - I assume the chrome rims are on the higher priced versions.  So maybe these guys needed new tires for the vehicle and decided to save a few bucks??? 

Mama's Note: I dunno... seems if I'd just been attacked, and had to kill a man, I'd not be noticing much of anything else right then... but maybe I'm weird. I do not remember the face of the man who attacked me - the one I had to shoot. 

TUESDAY

TRANZI tricks
Study: Kids see too many junk food ads
Arizona Republic
“Children would have to watch 10 hours of television to see one commercial for healthful food. During that time, they would see 55 commercials for junk food. Those are among the findings of a new study by a University of Arizona professor who examined TV programming aimed at children 11 years old and younger. Professor Dale Kunkel’s study, commissioned by Children Now, a California-based advocacy group, concluded that the food-and-beverage industry has failed to live up to promises to market more healthful foods to children. Kunkel and Children Now say Congress needs to impose restrictions on advertising aimed at kids because it’s clear the industry cannot regulate itself.” (12/15/09)

Mama's comments: What is clear is that parents will not regulate how much TV their kids watch. But that, of course, is beyond the expectations of these idiots.

Nathan's thoughts: Since I don't watch broadcast TV, I don't know if this is true or not - and this "study" is subject to a large degree of skepticism.  And I've seen a LOT of marketing of "healthful" foods to kids in supermarkets and newspapers.  But whatever Kunkel and this "Children Now" group claim as the excuse, what they WANT is more government control.  Children are the excuse.

Stupid Government/TRANZI tricks
FCC Official Says He’s Not Carrying Out ‘Secret Plot Funded by George Soros to Get Rid of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck’
CNSNews.com
Mark Lloyd, the chief diversity officer and associate counsel at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), says he is not carrying out a “secret plot funded by George Soros” aimed at getting rid of conservative talk-show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Lloyd, the keynote speaker at a Monday forum sponsored by the Media Access Project (MAP), also said that there was a “right-wing smear campaign” against him.

Of course what he says is literally true: it is not a "secret" plot - it is right out in the open.  And it is not funded by Soros - Lloyd's paycheck and expenses are paid for by Congress - either stolen from the taxpayers or borrowed from China.  And the best defense is a good offense - he is not in a plot, but Limbaugh and Beck et al are in a plot against him...

Crash of 2009
Wells Fargo to repay $25 billion bailout
CNN
"Wells Fargo said Monday it has reached an agreement with the government to return $25 billion in bailout money it received during last year's financial crisis. The San Francisco-based bank said repayment of the funds is contingent on a $10.4 billion common stock offering. The move comes on the same day that Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) announced plans to repay the $20 billion it received under the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, while Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) returned $45 billion in TARP money last week." (12/14/09)

Wells Fargo, at least, was forced into taking this TARP money, so it is no surprise that they want to give it back and hopefully cut the strings that it came with.  I'm sure that BAC and C are feeling the same way (although they supposedly really needed the money).  The fact that the government has now agreed to all this means that the First Citizen's ministers feel they now have the power to control the banks - OR - the banks have reasserted their control over the Administration and are now in the cat's seat.  Either of which may mean that the repayment isn't really happening, or that this was just another way to inflate the money supply.  Did you notice?  No one is saying WHAT the payments of the TARP are going to be used for - like retiring some Chinese debt or something.  I suspect all this "free" money will get "reinvested" in more "stimulus" or just in the maw of welfare and interest payments.

Mama's Note: Well, since it was not really "money" that was loaned to these banks, it's not real money being "paid back" either. It was all debt to start with. It should be simply taken off the books both ways and forgotten, but we all know that's not going to happen.

New religions: environism
Clean Water Restoration Act raises land grab fears
Fox News
"Upwards of 40 percent of all land in the United States is already under some form of government control or ownership -- 800 million to 900 million acres out of America's total 2.2 billion acres. The government now appears poised to wield greater control over private property on a number of fronts. ... Outraged over that ruling and a series of recent efforts by government to wield greater control over private property, citizens are fighting back. ...The Clean Water Restoration Act currently pending in the U.S. Senate could reach to control even a 'seasonal puddle' on private property." (12/14/09)

Frankly, we are ALREADY at that point - I've had regulators tell me with a straight face that a one-foot deep swale on a 1:1 slope hillside that hasn't had water in it since 1981 (at the latest) is "waters of the United States" and therefore requires a federal permit to dig in or near it, let alone block it by building a road across it.  The CWRA will further the agenda of preventing businesses and private individuals from doing anything with their land period, of if "allowed to" by local, state, and federal government, with such serious restrictions as to make it all but impossible to afford it unless you are of one of the new nobility: then you can do whatever you want, and get paid by the government(s) to do it.

WEDNESDAY

Theft by Government and Corporations
Tax deal is worth billions to Citigroup
Washington Post
The federal government quietly agreed to forgo billions of dollars in potential tax payments from Citigroup as part of the deal announced this week to wean the company from the massive taxpayer bailout that helped it survive the financial crisis.

This is adding insult to injury - I'd suggest finding a new bank if you have anything at all to do with Citibank.  The incestuous relationship between the "New" Administration and Big Finance (International Bankers) takes a whole big step forward.

Islamic War - Home Front
Illinois prison picked for detainees
Washington Post
CHICAGO -- President Obama, determined to change U.S. detention policy and shut the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, pointed Tuesday to a small town in Illinois as a big part of the answer.

150 miles west of Chicago in the "Heartland" - also known as a "target-rich environment" if you are al Qaeda.  Another couple hundred million of "stimulus money" spent to upgrade a boondoggle state prison and help the Chicago Machine continue to luxuriate in ill-gotten political moolah.  Not as great as the Olympics but surely an acceptable consolation prize.  And it will make it so convenient to be able to have all these jihadists close by.

Home Front
Dick Armey to Protesters: ‘I’ve Never Seen So Many Attractive Domestic Terrorists’
CNSNews.com
Hundreds of people dressed in red and carrying American flags gathered outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to protest the Senate health care bill, chanting “kill the bill” and calling for the impeachment of President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Speakers at the “Code Red Rally” said the Senate health care bill tramples on the Constitution, infringes on personal liberty, rations care for the elderly and uses taxpayers’ money to pay for abortion.

I guess that it is a start - but too little and decades too late.  It is far too late for this kind of kind and gentle protest, cute as it may be.  Hopefully, a few (maybe as many as 10%) of these protesters will realize this is a futile effort and move to things which will help.

Congress in Action
Sen. Lieberman Says Government Makes People Pay For Things They Think Are Immoral 'All the Time'
CNSNews.com
Asked whether he thinks it is "morally right" to take tax dollars from pro-life Americans and use it to pay for health insurance plans that cover abortion, Sen. Lieberman told CNSNews.com, "it happens all the time because we put money into a general pot and then it goes to things that some people support and some don’t.”

"By their own mouth do they condemn themselves."  Not only do they accept that they are evil, they glorify their evil.

Congress in Action - Islamic War
Legislation Targeting Iran Gas Imports Called ‘Last, Best Hope’ for Ending Nuclear Crisis Peacefully
CNSNews.com
The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill that would empower President Obama to punish firms that supply Iran with gasoline or help Iran refine petroleum products at home. A leading advocate for the legislation called it “the last, best hope for diplomatically ending Iran’s nuclear weapons program.”

One more joke out of DC, I guess.  Assuming the First Citizen would even use the power (and assuming that he didn't already have the power, the way Congress and the Administration use the Constitution as toilet paper today), what will this do to Iran?  They'll get it from Russia or the Saudis or Europe... and use it to whip their own people to new heights of fanaticism and devotion to the cause of Persian domination of the Ummah and the long-term restoration of Persian Imperial glory.

First Citizen - New Religions: Global Warming
Canadian Company Will ‘Offset’ Emissions From Obama’s Air Force One Flight to Copenhagen Climate Conference
CNSNews.com
A private Canadian company says it will plant 1,176 trees to offset the carbon emitted by Air Force One when it carries President Barack Obama to Copenhagen for the international climate conference.

Oh, please - what a scam this is!  What a piece of garbage, and how this company will reap a host of benefits (fruits of a con game) from it.

Home Front
Immigration overhaul bill unveiled in US House
Los Angeles Times
"Raising the curtain on a new round of debate over immigration reform, a group of Democratic congressional lawmakers introduced a comprehensive bill Tuesday that, among other provisions, would offer a path to legalization for the country's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. The bill, championed by Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.), was decidedly more pro-immigrant than the bipartisan legislation House lawmakers debated two years ago. And the latest version drew  immediate fire from the left as well as the right. Groups opposed to legalization derided it as a form of amnesty, and more-liberal factions complained that it relied too heavily on enforcement." (12/15/09)

One more threat to liberty and society. I'd certainly call it amnesty - pay a $500 "fine" and have multiple felonies (or what should be felonies) and innumerable misdemeanors wiped off your record?  Hopefully, like the two-year-old legislation it replaces, it too will die.  Imagine, we have 10 million jobless and 12 million illegal immigrants - most of them apparently employed: what does that equal? (Theoretically, if the numbers were true (and they aren't), we'd have room to go out and bring in 2 million honest and peaceful immigrants that would understand there isn't any such thing as a free lunch.  And the free loaders that got shipped back "home" could understand that they are responsible for their own nightmare because they tried to take the easy way in.  And meantime, the identity theft, the trespassing, the outright theft and vandalism that is endemic to the massive hidden migration routes and destination cities, would drop off significantly, to say nothing of the disappearance of one excuse for a police state.

War on Islam - Home Front
WA: Islamist convicted in shootings at Seattle Jewish center
Los Angeles Times
"A King County jury on Tuesday found Naveed Haq guilty of aggravated first-degree murder in the 2006 shootings at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, a verdict that carries an automatic life sentence. ... Haq opened fire in the center's offices, killing Pamela Waechter, 58. Several of the shooting victims who were in the courtroom hugged tearfully when the verdicts were announced. ... Prosecutors had introduced as evidence recordings from 10 phone calls Haq, 34, placed to his family after his arrest. In them, Haq told his mother he was 'a soldier of Islam.'" (12/15/09)

Too little - too late.  First, SOMEONE should have been armed at the JFGS office - probably Ms. Waechter herself AND others.  Second, if there were ever a reason for "hate crime legislation" then this sort of attack is it - and this was more than a crime, this was an attack by a man who claimed to be a "soldier" and should have been treated as one who commits a violation of the Laws of War: a drumhead court martial and a slow death by hanging.

Self-defense
FL: Wheelchair-bound man shoots home invader to death
Palm Beach Post
"Gary Wroblewski says he was watching television in the Silver Springs Shores neighborhood off County Road 464 late Monday night when someone knocked on his door. Wroblewski slightly cracked open the door and found a man claiming he needed help with his broken down car. He says he was immediately suspicious of the man and his story. 'So I went and got my gun. I held it behind the door and I opened the door,' said Wroblewski. Wroblewski says he tried to send the man away and suggested he go to another house or call AAA. He says that is when another man, this one wearing a mask, appeared out of nowhere and forced his door open. Wroblewski was knocked out his wheelchair but was able to hold onto his gun and shot the masked invader. 'I fired three shots,' recalled Wroblewski. 'Obviously you hit one of them,' said a photojournalist. 'Yeah, severely,' said Wroblewski." (12/15/09)

Mama's Comments: Why in the world would he open the door once he was suspicious? And how did he have time to "go get his gun?" I never understand how that works. This guy was just really lucky.

Nathan's Thoughts:  This man, like many of us, no doubt was unwilling to just turn away someone who was really in trouble, and also doesn't want to have his life ruled by fear.  But with doubts, he prepared, no doubt trusting to the chain on his door, by getting his pistol... and was proved right but did not expect a second person.  He should have prepared more... but God was with him, and he lives because God helps those who help themselves.

Health Care Panic of 2009
Analysis: 135,000 uninsured Americans to die before health "reform"
Raw Story
"If Democrats manage to pull off efforts to reform the US healthcare system and ensure coverage for millions who are currently without insurance, the new system -- by design -- will likely still leave tens of thousands to die without insurance before reforms kick in. A Raw Story analysis, based on a recent Harvard Medical School study, estimates that 135,000 American citizens and over 6,600 US veterans will die due to a lack of health insurance before current proposed healthcare reform measures would take effect. One hundred and thirty- five thousand US lives far exceeds the total number of Americans who died in the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the attacks of 9/11 combined." [Editor's note: Which shows a lot about the real priorities involved in this battle - SAT] (12/15/09)

No, Steve, this just shows how shady and stupid the people arguing this are - notice it doesn't say that these people will NOT die if they get health insurance... veterans, in particular, can walk (or be walked) into a VA clinic or hospital and get treatment without having to demonstrate financial conditions first... just the fact that they are a veteran.  You DON'T die due to a "lack of health insurance" - you die due to a lack of good health, and good health care - which doesn't have anything to do with insurance (except for stress of worrying about paying for the bill afterwards, maybe). Truth is, millions of people die each year that HAVE health insurance, and that insurance doesn't keep them from dying!  Duh!

Government-run, tax-funded schools
Massachusetts: 8-yr-old boy sent home for Jesus drawing
Associated Press
"An 8-year-old boy was sent home from school and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation after he was asked to make a Christmas drawing and came up with what appeared to be a stick figure of Jesus on a cross, the child's father said Tuesday. Chester Johnson told WBZ- TV that his son made the drawing on Dec. 2 after his second-grade teacher asked children to sketch something that reminded them of the holiday. Johnson said the teacher became upset when his son said he drew himself on the cross. Johnson, who is black, told WBZ he suspects racism is involved. He said he thinks the school overreacted and wants an apology. ... The boy was cleared to return to school on Dec. 7 after the evaluation found nothing to indicate that he posed a threat to himself or others." (12/15/09)

Racism?  Probably not - but something worse.  The TRANZI desire to turn the young against religion means that things like this must be quickly turned into traumatic events that burn into the mind of the child how evil religion in school (and anywhere else in public) is.

THURSDAY

Congress in Action - Health Care Panic of 2009
Sen. Lincoln: Congress Can Force Americans to Buy Health Insurance Because Constitution ‘Charges Congress With the Health’ of the People
CNSNews.com
Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) told CNSNews.com that Congress has the authority to force individual Americans to buy health insurance because the U.S. Constitution “charges Congress with the health and well-being of the people.” However, the words “health” and “well-being” do not appear anywhere in the Constitution.

I dearly love this quest of CNS News to ask all these senators about this - exposing them for the incredible hypocrites and powermongers that they are.  The powers that Congress has are clearly enumerated, but we know that 98% of their time is spent on matters which they really have NO authority to even discuss.  When the "massive civil unrest" comes, we know that most of these "leaders" will be on the wrong side - at least in their hearts, since they are politicians and will quickly move to the side of liberty when they see that side winning.

First Citizen
After Covering Up Symbol for Jesus at Georgetown, White House Had Obama Speak in Front of Symbols for AMA, AARP, Other Groups
CNSNews.com
When President Barack Obama spoke at Georgetown University on April 15, the university complied with a White House request to cover up all signs and symbols behind the podium where the president spoke -- including the monogram “IHS”-- a symbol for the name of Jesus. Since then, President Obama has spoken at a number of venues while standing or sitting in front of other prominently displayed symbols and monograms that were not covered up.

Of course, he SUPPORTS the agenda of those organizations, unlike the agenda of the Prince of Peace or virtually any of the churches which claim to follow Him.  So I guess maybe the Administration thought that to leave "IHS" (In hoc signis - by this Sign) visible would open the First Citizen to charges of false advertising."

New Religions (Global Warming) - American Front
Chavez, Mugabe Attack Capitalism and the West at Copenhagen Climate Conference
CNSNews.com
Warning that that “silent and terrible ghost” of capitalism is lurking in Copenhagen, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez roused the global climate conference in the Danish capital Wednesday with a populist speech targeting his perennial target, the United States. Both Chavez and fellow dictator Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe railed against the developed world.

If there were justice in the world, neither one of these men would have traveled to Denmark, because Danish authorities would be arresting them to try them for conspiracy against liberty and (especially in Mugabe's case) the blood of millions on their hands.  Sadly, Denmark's morality and love of freedom has gone away since World War Two.

New Religions - TRANZI Tricks
Signs of hope emerge at climate conference
Washington Post
COPENHAGEN -- As President Obama prepared to visit the historic climate conference here, there were signs Wednesday of a break in the impasse between rich and developing nations.

"Hope" is of course a very subjective term to use here - keep in mind this is the Washington Post. My prayer is for more and more stalling.

Mama's Note: I'm praying for a killer blizzard... so they'll all be stuck in one room long enough to REALLY hate each other's guts.  And I didn't even consider how good it would be for all the utilities to go out until just this moment. They should all have to live as they want us to... if only for a little while.

Congress in Action
House passes several temporary measures
Washington Post
The House pushed through a last-minute flurry of legislation Wednesday, including a $636 billion Pentagon funding bill, a short-term rise in the nation's debt limit, and an extension of unemployment and health benefits for millions of jobless Americans.

In reality, ALL Congressional legislation is "temporary," because the more stupid things like this that they do, the more they shorten the time when they matter, before people really do revolt. In the meantime, we all suffer more and more by this spending and mess.

Congress in Action - Islamic War
Pelosi says she will not seek votes for troop surge
Washington Post
President Obama will have to argue his own case to House Democrats as he seeks support for a planned surge of 30,000 troops into Afghanistan, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday, adding that she is finished asking her colleagues to back wars that they do not support.

Methinks that she is starting to get worried about HER base - that deeply anti-military and anti-freedom/liberty city of San Francisco.

Congress in Action - Health Care Panic of 2009
Senate plan is called too empowering to health insurers
Washington Post
The Senate health-care bill could enable insurers to avoid some of the strongest consumer protections and benefit requirements adopted by state governments, Democratic lawmakers from Maine and California say.

I thought this was one of the reasons for the piece of garbage.

Congress in Action - RINOs and the Crash of 2009
McCain backs bills that would split big banks
Charleston Daily Mail
"Two senators, one from each party, called Wednesday for breaking up large financial firms that perform both commercial and investment banking, adding a wrinkle to already difficult talks in the Senate on how to regulate Wall Street. Sens. John McCain, the former Republican presidential candidate from Arizona, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, introduced legislation that would prohibit commercial banks from undertaking brokerage activities." (12/17/09)

For those members of the GOP who fondly believe it would be better if McCain had won 13 months ago - not very much better.  Let us further meddle in a once-free market.  If he REALLY wanted to break up these, the reform would be to abandon MOST banking laws now and the rest sooner than later - AND end the Fed.

FRIDAY

American Front
Chavez sees US threat in Dutch islands
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Hugo Chavez accused the Netherlands on Thursday of allowing the United States to use Dutch islands off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast to prepare a possible military attack against his country. The Venezuelan leader said the U.S. military, to prepare for a possible offensive, has sent intelligence agents, war ships and spy planes to Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire, which are self-governing Dutch islands.” (12/17/09)

Mama's comment: Possible, or just raving?

Nathan's thoughts: Probably raving - for one thing, the US wouldn't need to sneak in and out - they are a part of NATO after all.  And Chavez has been accusing the US of planning to invade for virtually his entire time in office: useful propaganda to get the plebiscites to go his way, and to justify continuing to steal everything from his subjects.  A friend in Cortez is Venezuelan and stays in touch with her family - it is very bad down there.

Besides, where would we find the troops to send?  And right now, the First Citizen needs all of his base he can keep, after 30,000 more to Afghanistan.

New Religions - TRANZI Tricks
Climate deal falls short of key goals
Washington Post
COPENHAGEN -- President Obama helped broker a climate deal with a group of leading nations that provides for monitoring emission cuts by each country but sets no global target for cutting greenhouse gases, and no deadline for reaching a formal international climate treaty.

It will be presented as a massive victory in the face of daunting odds... but it does buy time for more fighting, since there is no treaty ala Kyoto or Lisbon that the Tranzis can use to rally around.

Home front
States get more time to comply with Real ID
Washington Post
The Obama administration will abandon a Dec. 31 deadline for states to tighten security requirements for driver's licenses, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Friday.

I would have bet a year ago that the First Citizen would have had the clout to force this through, so this is good news.  But they will be working their way around it some how.  RealID is NOT dead, just may have a facelift and name change.

Congress in Action - Health Care Panic of 2009
Senate down to wire on health-care reform
Washington Post
Senate Democratic negotiators scrambled late Friday to lock down the 60th vote needed to move health-care reform to final passage, a process that must begin before midnight Saturday for Majority Leader Harry M. Reid to meet his self-imposed Christmas deadline.
It seems to be down to one hold-out, Nelson of Nebraska.  Reid has intentionally created a crisis atmosphere to pressure Nelson and others, even while trying to buy them off.

SATURDAY

Congress in Action - Health Care Panic of 2009
Nelson supports health bill after tough bargaining
AP 
WASHINGTON – A holdout no more, Sen. Ben Nelson agreed Saturday to provide the 60th and deciding vote for Senate passage of sweeping health care legislation, capping a year of struggle and a final burst of deadline bargaining. Nelson, D-Neb., said he made his decision after winning fresh concessions to limit the availability of abortions in insurance sold in newly created exchanges, as well as tens of million in federal Medicaid funds for his home state.

Mama's comments: So it's over, I guess... Looks like the socialized medicine cat has been let out of the bag.

Nathan's thoughts: He betrayed his state, sold us all out and down the river, but he stays in the good graces of his colleagues.  Even the people who are more concerned about abortion than anything esoteric like more socialism are upset with him, according to e-mails.  Reid brings home the bacon for the Triumvirate, and our enemies get a Christmas present.  This makes me sick. However, some other news indicates that Webb of Virginia and Lincoln of Arkansas may still be blocks to progress. The word is also that Nelson was persuaded to turn his coat for $500 million in pork AND by a threat to close Offutt AFB - which is a hollow threat indeed, given StratCom HQ is there.  But with the pressure and such, I wonder if the First Citizen and Reid didn't also dig up or create some dirt on Nelson to persuade him.  That worked well in the Reichstag, after all.

Mama's Note: Here is some more about the potential flak from this deal.

Nelson caves, Reid introduces 400 page amendment to Obamacare bill
Examiner.com
The lone Democratic holdout, Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson, has agreed to support Obamacare -- one of the crown jewels of Obamaism.
Now that the Democrats have the 60 votes they need to quash Republican-led filibusters against Obamacare, Reid has introduced his
400 page amendment this morning. You can read the huge amendment here [pdf].