analysis policy in all the world: tháng 7 2009

Thứ Sáu, 31 tháng 7, 2009

Fish

Eric Holder: Worst Attorney General in U.S. History

Last year, Wired Magazine visited the Homeland Security Stakeholders SI Conference and snapped some photos of a transportation security display.

This is a replica of a nitroglycerin bomb that Ramzi Yousef used in an attempt to destroy Philippine Airlines flight 434. The bomb detonated and killed a passenger, but failed to take the plane down.

This shoe-bomb is an accurate copy of Richard Reid's footwear. The terrorist was subdued by passengers after attempting to ignite his shoes.

According to an FBI investigation, had Reid succeeded, 197 men, women and children would have perished.

Last month, Attorney General Eric Holder decided to improve Reid's sentencing conditions, permitting him to socialize, evangelize and recruit fellow prisoners. In addition, he can now communicate with sympathetic members of the press. These actions directly contravene advice from every national security expert.

On June 17, at the Administrative Maximum (ADX) penitentiary in Florence, Colo., ...inmate number 24079-038, began his day with a whole new range of possibilities. Eight days earlier, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Denver filed notice in federal court that the Special Administrative Measures (SAMs) which applied to that prisoner—Richard C. Reid, a.k.a. the “Shoe Bomber”—were being allowed to expire. SAMs are security directives, renewable yearly, issued by the attorney general when “there is a substantial risk that a prisoner’s communications, correspondence or contacts with persons could result in death or serious bodily injury” to others...

...in order to appease political constituencies both here and abroad, the Obama administration is moving full steam ahead, operating on the false premise that giving more civil liberties to religious fanatics bent on destroying Western civilization will make a difference in the Muslim world. In a letter sent to his father as he began his hunger strike, Reid provided a preview of how he will exercise his newly enlarged free speech rights, calling Mr. Obama a “hypocrite” who is “no better than George Bush.” His lawsuit remains active while the Department of Justice works out a settlement that satisfies the man who declared, “I am at war with America.”

Put simply, Holder -- following President Obama's orders, it would seem -- has unleashed Reid to pursue Jihad in prison, evangelizing, preaching and editorializing to recruit those who would re-enact 9/11 on a grander scale.

Perhaps this action should not comes as a surprise. Holder was a senior partner in the prestigious law firm of Covington & Burling, which represents 17 Yemenis currently held at Gitmo. In January, an anonymous contributor to Michelle Malkin's website wrote:

The fact that Mr. Holder, while Deputy Attorney General, pushed for the release of 16 violent FALN terrorists against the advice of the FBI, the US Attorneys who prosecuted them and the NYPD officers who were maimed by them, suggests that he was perfectly willing to put politics before the national security interests of the country. He is not suited for the job of attorney general...

That statement was, quite obviously, prescient.

Remember the case where several "New Black Panthers" intimidated Caucasian, Hispanic and Asian voters at a polling place in Philadelphia? They flaunted billy clubs at at the polls until the police showed up. One of the defendants, Jerry Jackson, is an elected member of the local Democratic Committee and, at the time of the incident, was a "credentialed poll watcher for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party".

Attorney General Eric Holder's Department of Justice (i.e., the Obama administration) killed a civil complaint related to the incident. A prominent 1960s civil rights activitist called the case "the most blatant form of voter intimidation" he'd ever seen, including the Mississippi voting rights crisis. A former commissioner at the Federal Election Commission stated, "In my experience, I have never heard of the department refusing to take a default judgment."

Holder's behavior is outrageous. He has not only failed to uphold his oath of office, but his decisions to act as a puppet for administration policy, consequences be damned, indicate a reckless disregard for the law and the safety of all Americans. Holder must resign or be ejected from office.

Update: Hack Panthers.

Linked by: McClatchy Watch. Thanks!

Another Classy, Compassionate Liberal

They're so caring.

Nice photo shoot, Roseanne.

I'll give you one guess as to what she calls her cookies.

Update: NewsBusters has additional detail.

Hat tip: SondraK.

Larwyn's Linx: Who will tell Michael J. Fox he needs to die?

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Cornucopia

Hot Pocket: Gaffigan (Video)
Chinese Buffet: Pinette (Video)
Redneck word for the day: Obama: Powers

Thứ Năm, 30 tháng 7, 2009

One Lucky Trucker

A landslide took out a bridge in the Chinese province of Szechuan. A couple of more inches and...

Via: Xinhua Net.

Blue State Bloodletting

Consider the men and women who control every elected branch of government, Democrats all. A president from Chicago. A house speaker from San Francisco. Powerful committee heads from Boston, Manhattan, Beverly Hills and the Bay Area.

Strikingly, the worst economic hardships are suffered by residents of their "blue" states; the very same areas that these bureaucrats purport to represent. Consider the following facts.

• Oregon, Michigan and California have the highest unemployment rates in the country.

• The red states, including the Dakotas, Idaho, Texas, Utah, and North Carolina, are the fastest growing regions.

• Economic forecaster Bill Watkins notes that when the economy rebounds, people and businesses will naturally migrate to "places that are affordable and don’t have the fundamental tough tax and regulatory structures", i.e., red states.

• Blue states have allowed public sector employment to explode; and are dominated by public employee unions since the sixties. New York and California are examples where public sector employment has grown unchecked and been allowed to dominate the political process.

• These unions bask in lavish benefits that become onerous even in good economies. Now, in California alone, state pensions are $200 billion in the red.

• San Francisco has more than 700 retirees earning over $100,000 a year.

• Blue states also have allowed environmental regulation to overwhelm the real economy. Climate change regulations have crushed manufacturing companies in California, which has lost roughly 400,000 jobs in that sector in only eight years.

• Blue state trucking firms are dying and harming minority business-owners most of all.

• In California's central valley, large cultivated areas will be forced to return to desert-like conditions due to regulations that hope to save an obscure fish species. In May alone, 30,000 agriculture jobs were lost, which were mostly held by Latinos, and unemployment is 17% in the region and as high as 40% in some towns.

• Michigan fares no better. Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm has attempted to create "green jobs" for years. Yet by every measure, Michigan is dying.

• Michigan ranks at or near the bottom for unemployment, out-migration, the worst place to start a business, per capita income (from 16th to 33rd under Granholm's tenure).

• Detroit has a 22% unemployment rate and 33% of the population receives food stamps. Six of the worst ten U.S. job markets are in Michigan.

• Already burdened with the highest tax rates in the country, blue state middle income earners (households earning between $125K and $250K) are about to be lumped in with the "rich".

• Despite his "no-blue-states-no-red-states-just-the-United-States" rhetoric, more than 90 percent of the top 300 administration officials come from states that went blue for President Obama.

• This approach, according to political scientists, is natural for products of the Chicago machine. Opposition is unheard of. 49 out of 50 aldermen are Democrats—and follow policies adopted by the small central cadre, similar to the Politburo.

• Once policy is set, Daley operatives like David Axelrod begin spinning up the media and twisting recalcitrant arms to bully ahead and sway public opinion.

• But, without question, machine politics demonstrably hurts its citizens. Democracy doesn't exist in these areas; taxpayers and businesses flee the core cities, and sometimes blue states entirely, to free themselves from unresponsive regimes that grow unchecked in good times and bad.

This is the environment that Barack Obama and his close-knit cadre of Chicago hacks intend to replicate. Government for the government and not the people. Unions bosses grown obese with monopoly power. And one-party rule.

It is a recipe for disaster, California- and Michigan-style.

Hat tip: Joel Kotkin ("Blue State Meltdown and the Collapse of the Chicago Model").

ObamaCare™ Today: 7.4 Million in Britain Can't See a Dentist

Another success story for government-run health care! The UK charity network Citizen's Advice reported last year that "7.4 million citizens could not get access to a government (NHS) dentist."

Millions of adults in England and Wales haven’t been to an NHS dentist since April 2006 mainly because they couldn’t find one to treat them, says new research carried out for national charity Citizens Advice as it urges Primary Care Trusts to spend newly allocated resources to improve access.

...It was mentioned by 31% of respondents in England and Wales who have not been to an NHS dentist since April 2006. This is the equivalent of approximately 7.4 million people who have not been to an NHS dentist since April 2006 because of difficulties in finding one. Of these, the equivalent of approximately 4.7 million have sought private treatment instead and the equivalent of approximately 2.7 million have gone without treatment altogether...

...A [charity] in North Yorkshire reported a pensioner on a low income who needed emergency dental treatment in hospital. They advised her she would need further treatment and would need to find an NHS dentist. There were two available in the area but both have 12 month waiting lists...

Gee, socialized medicine sounds great, don't you think so?

Greedy British. How many teeth do they think a person needs?

Iranian State Television Presents: Meet the Press

Welcome to Iran's longest running program since the revolution: Iranian TV's Meet the Press!

Today's guest: Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, his holy beardness... Ayatollah Ali Khamenei!

And now to your host: Haddad HomAyoon...

Supreme Leader, many young, foolish students have asked why must we stone women for adultery, hang homosexuals, flog dissidents, and suppress opposition political --

Silence! Guards! Send this infidel host to the gallows! Next host!

Errr... umh... Dearest Supreme Leader, some misguided souls argue that Iran must abandon its quest for nuclear weapons and embrace a new strategy for --

Outrageous! Guards!! 500 lashes and 25 years for this traitorous son of a monkey! Next!

Uhm... ahhhh... oh... Most Benificent... Supreme Leader... of Untold Piety, should thieves suffer two hand amputations rather than one?

Ah, excellent question... host. Remember, as prescribed by hodud, amputation of a single hand is a punishment approved by Iran’s Supreme Court. And remember a missive from years past: if thieves don’t want their hands cut off, they should stop stealing. Also, I may confide that our latest statistics show that public amputations have a visible effect on controlling the crime rate!

Uhmm... excellent, excellent. Well, Outrageously Wondrous Supreme Leader of Epic, Awesome Wisdom and Piety... we appear to have run out of time...

Thank you for watching Meet the Press. Join us next week, when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Sean Penn interrogate our hosts.

Also, we have many job openings on Meet the Press, including television hosts - no experience whatsoever required! Call 7-21 to apply.

Thank you for watching and tune in next week. Now stay tuned for Project Runway: Burka Babes Go Wild!

Larwyn's Linx: MSNBC forced to pen heartbreaking headline

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Eulogy

Dorothy D. Hoft --- August 1925-July 2009: GWP

Nation

'The Deal' Between Waxman and Blue Dogs: NRO
The Constipation of Power: PJM (Fernandez)
'Under Obamacare, your current insurance is doomed': Freddoso

An Indicted Terrorist's Facebook Account: Jawa
Terror Facebook Page -- With Photos!: Jawa
Islamic Charter School Countersues ACLU: Atlas

Elderly Lead Opposition to Obamacare: Morris
Paul Ryan slaps down Socialist spin: FreeLight
Obama Science Czar: Babies aren't human until 'socialized': STACLU

Civil Rights: Black Panther Voter Fraud Absolved: STACLU
Gay Marriage Slippery Slope is Back!: LegalIns
Are 'Birthers' Nuts?: STACLU

Economy

Obama Fails: AT (Dunn)
Stocks Just Happen to Go Up as Dem Agenda Crashes, Burns: Ace

Climate & Energy

Krakatoa Stirs Once More: Daily Mail (UK)
"Science" Czar Pushed "De-Development" of US in Seventies: Ace
Global Warming Religion: Sense

Media

Malkin on... The Today Show?: Hot Air
Andrew Sullivan is... right?: WklyStd
Obama's Popularity is Sinking: S, C & A

MSNBC Forced to Write Heartbreaking Headline About New Poll: Ace
Associated Press Declares War on the Online World: PJM (Blumer)

World

Gaza goes Taliban: Prairie
Obama Regresses to Cold War Mythology … and Switches Sides: PJM (Atbashian)
Afghanistan Idol: PJM (Toto)

SciTech

NYSE Leaves Confidential Infrastructure Data Exposed: Zero Hedge

Thứ Tư, 29 tháng 7, 2009

Barney Frank Calls Barack Obama a Liar

Cornered by health care advocacy group Single Payer Action, Barney Frank blurted (or, more correctly, slobbered) out the real motivation behind Obamacare's "Public Option".

Interviewer: Don’t you think we should scratch everything and start anew with single payer? Why not?

Frank: No…because we don’t have the votes for it. I wish we did. I think if we get a good public option it could lead to single payer, and that’s the best way to reach single payer. Saying you’ll do nothing until you get single payer is a sure way never to get it.

Interviewer: Right now, it’s not a strong public option, is it?

Frank: Well, we don’t know what the plan is. I’m for a strong public option. I think your strategy is suicidal for trying to get single payer. I think the best way we’re going to get single payer – the only way – is to have a public option demonstrate its strength and power.

So here's Barney Frank, the brains behind Fannie Mae and the financial meltdown, flat out admitting that the way to single-payer is to fool voters with "a public option". And he flatly states that the public option will overwhelm and eradicate private insurance plans.

Now Barack Obama's been saying for weeks that the public option won't hurt private insurers, which everyone knows is a bald-faced lie.

Mr. Obama dismissed the idea of a government takeover of health care, saying a public insurance system would complement, not replace, private companies.

“It will keep government out of health care decisions, giving you the option to keep your (private) insurance if you’re happy with it,” he said.

You're not going to get to keep your private insurance -- and everyone knows it. And Barney Frank just confirmed it, calling Barack Obama a liar.

At an AARP-sponsor townhall event, Obama was also confronted -- stunningly -- with a direct question about rationing care for the elderly

Q: The other has to do with the knowledge that there will be millions of dollars of cuts in Medicare over the years to accommodate baby boomers. So the question is, does this translate into dictation of what can and cannot be given to a senior as service? For example, will there be fewer hip and knee replacements? Even if I decide when I'm 80 that I want a hip replacement, am I going to be able to get that? Am I going to be able to see a cardiologist if I have a heart condition, or other specialist? Or is that going to all be primary care? I'm calling it rationing of care, I'm coining [sic] it that.

Obama: ...My interest is not in getting between you and your doctor, although keep in mind right now, insurance companies are often getting between you and your doctor. So it's not as if these choices aren't already being made; it's just they're being made by private insurance companies, without any real guidance as to whether the decisions that are being made are good decisions to make people healthier or not...

This answer is, at its heart, dishonest.

You and your doctor make the decisions on your treatment. If you have insurance, you will try to get your insurance company to pay for as much treatment as you can, depending upon your policy. And, if you're denied, you can appeal and even go to state regulators to insist upon treatment if you feel you're treated unfairly.

But in the Obama plan, all decisions are made by five unelected bureaucrats who can deny you treatment based upon a formula, the same way that Canada and Great Britain's national health services operate. They will absolutely deny you tests, medications, innovations, and so forth -- because that's precisely what happens in Canada and Britain!

Obama's federal health board will get between you and your doctor and will ration treatments to you based upon your age. Obama knows it -- and he doesn't care whether you think he's lying or not. Obama went on to say:

We also want to start rewarding doctors for quality, not just the quantity, of care that they provide. Instead of rewarding them for how many procedures they perform or how many tests they order, we'll bundle payments so providers aren't paid for every treatment they offer with a chronic -- to a patient with a chronic condition like diabetes, but instead are paid for how are they managing that disease overall. And we'll create incentives for physicians to team up and treat a patient better together, because we know that produces better outcomes.

So Obama himself confirms that his federal health board will, in fact, interfere with your doctor's relationship. It will dictate every facet of care based upon not you as the individual, but you as a nameless statistic, a record in an actuarial table.

And if a Politburo in Washington refuses you care, it means no! Unlike an insurance company, you have no recourse whatsoever!

Obama's disingenuous tripe continued unabated at the AARP town hall.

But we all know that right now, we've got a problem that threatens Medicare and our entire health care system, and that is the spiraling cost of health care in America today. As costs balloon, so does Medicare's budget. And unless we act, within a decade -- within a decade -- the Medicare trust fund will be in the red.

There is no Medicare "Trust Fund". They already stole all the money!

So why, then, is the answer to impose a Medicare-like system on the entire nation?

Why would you take a failed model, fraught with billions in fraud, and expand it?

Because Obama and the Democrats care about expanding their own power. They could care less about your health care, your doctor, your treatments, medical innovations and anything else. They care about expanding government's power at the expense of you, the individual, and your liberty.

Hat tip: Mark Levin.

U.S. Soldier Demands Apology From Claire McCaskill

Ed Morrissey writes, "...in almost six years of blogging, rarely have I seen anyone pack as much letter-perfect constitutional instruction as one soldier did at an ObamaCare townhall/protest yesterday in St. Louis. It doesn’t surprise me at all that a young soldier would understand the concepts and the historical context of the Constitution. It surprises me that he has to explain it to the people in Congress."

Given the egregious posse of Boxer, Dodd, Feinstein, Frank, Mollohan, Murtha, Obey, Pelosi, Rangel, Reid and Waters -- so crooked you can open wine-bottles with 'em -- I think Ed is vastly overestimating Democrats in Congress.

They appear to be interested in only one thing: personal enrichment. The Constitution can go to hell as far as they're concerned.

The Somali Coast Cruise Package is Back!

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Depart from beautiful Sawakin in the Sudan and arrive refreshed at Bagamoya in Tanzania, seven adrenaline-charged days later!

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