For some reason this isn’t sitting too well with my gut:
Bad Books Behind Bars: An inventory of extremist Islamic texts in federal prisons
Especially after yesterday’s FBI bust.
Category Archives: Action Item
Jihadist Training in US Prisons
Read the Bill? Perish the Thought!”
Brian Beutler of TPM may be enamoured by the tactics Waxman took to make sure his “C-r-ap N’ Ty-rade” bill would be heading our way in a few short days:
Faced with the possibility that the GOP minority might require the committee’s clerks to read aloud the 900-page Waxman-Markey climate change bill, or many of its 400-plus proposed amendments, the committee’s chairman, Henry Waxman (D-CA), hired a speed reader. An quick tongued, acting-clerk, if you will.
The quick tongued clerk soon had the RINO’s running back to their prehistoric caves whence they came, once again conceding to political theatrical blackmail:
Mary Katharine Ham of TWS gives a true constitutional perspective as to the trouble the Republican party is in for the next couple of years while the halls of Congress are thick with these spineless creatures who claim to represent us:
Democrats Cleverly Thwart ‘Nefarious’ Republican Scheme to Have Congress Read Cap-and-Trade Bill With Speed Reading Clerk
Heaven forfend! Who would want to make the committee, which is supposed to understand the bill, actually listen to the contents of all 900 pages of it?
Even if the reading of the bill is a partisan “stall tactic” on the part of the Republicans, intellectually honest folks who want government to function responsibly would have to admit it’s a pretty benign one—beneficial, even. The brouhaha over reading the bill is an implicit, disturbing admission that—yes!— your Congress will enact a 900-page bill heavily regulating the fundamental engine of the American economy and your life in unprecedented ways without ever having read it. Feel good about that?
Beyond TPM’s take, which is predictable from a left-leaning site, the laughter inside the hearing room from lawmakers themselves is illustrative of the darkly comic state of legislative affairs on the Hill. Just remember: This is only the attempted reading of one tiny amendment by a speed-reading clerk, no less, and the reaction in the chamber is, “Ho, ho, ho, imagine if we were actually serious about this! It’s ludicrous! The language is mystifying, the prose impenetrable. It’d be absolutely excruciating to read all of those words together, in a row. Someone once told me that’s what my monocle was for, but I absolutely refuse to believe it. Now, Alfred, collect my topcoat and cigars, and let’s head to the club for a brandy before someone else tries to burden us with the stewardship of the taxpayers’ money. Read the bill. Perish the thought!”
So, while this was going on today, I was calling DC and making my opinion be heard. Have you made that call lately?
1-202-225-2801 ~ Herseth-Sandlin’s DC office
I also received 3 letters today, 2 from Johnson and 1 from Thune. I’ll be working on an article on their contents over the weekend. I have to say that Johnson, or should I say his staff, is so well versed in using talking points vs actually answering the question that . . .
I am thinking of coming up with some kind of “SHAM-A-WARD” for their office. They are sooo deserving of it.
Mr “Unconstitutional in Chief” to Use Blackmail to Get His Way on Closing Gitmo
Here comes the threat to Congress…”Give me the money to close Gitmo or ELSE”!
This in from the GATEWAY PUNDIT:
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Obama Rallies Far Left Human Rights Groups Before Security Speech
In a sane world the president might meet with military or intelligence officials before a major speech on national security.But,Dear Leader Obama chose instead to meet with Far Left sham human rights groups (You know, the ones who somehow manage to blame America for every tragedy in the world while ignoring real human rights abuses) before his major post-Cheney national security speech today in Washington DC.
Greg Sargent reported that all three cable news outlets will carry Cheney’s speech tomorrow morning live directly after Dear Leader makes his speech.
The Huffington Post reported:
Under heavy criticism for a series of decisions on national security that resembled, for some, those of the Bush years, President Barack Obama hosted a lengthy meeting on Wednesday with the leaders of several key human rights and civil liberties groups.
Addressed were the topics that promise to be front and center during the President’s major foreign policy speech scheduled for Thursday.
According to an attendee, Obama expressed frustration with Congress’ decision to remove funding for the closure of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay. The president declared that his hands were tied in some ways regarding the use of reformed military tribunals, though he pledged to try as many detainees as possible in Article III federal courts.
Speaking to human rights officials on Wednesday, the president also left the door open for the future release of detainee abuse photos, saying that his administration’s current opposition to the release was dictated by immediate concern over the complications it could cause to America’s mission in Afghanistan.
In an interview with the Huffington Post, Massimino detailed what she described as a “lively and detailed and serious” discussion on some of the days most vexing national security issues. Over the course of roughly an hour and fifteen minutes, Obama, along with Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Attorney General Eric Holder, advisers Valerie Jarrett and David Axelrod, foreign policy hand Dennis McDonough, and counter-terrorism chief John Brennan, held court with a group of academics, as well as officials with the ACLU, Human Rights Watch, and the Center for Constitutional Rights.
I’m thinking that our brave men and women inthe military will have something to say about this one and it won’t be
“Hiel Obama”.
“Spring Cleaning”
Taking a few days to do some spring cleaning and planting, so in the meantime…
The Conservative forces are uniting and it’s time to get to work, let not one weed be left to grow, spread and destroy the fruitful garden that is the United States of America!
Dr Utopia’s ISM Potion: The Socialists Cure Against A Capitalist Republic
Who Knew.. Today’s Statist/Socialist/Marxist/Progressive Politicians learned all they knew from a 1950’s cartoon:
Makes ya wonder doesn’t it? Old Ronnie and Goldwater knew exactly what was in store back during the presidential campaign of 1964.
Introducing: “Government Trucking Inc”
It seems we will now be the proud owners of a major trucking operation that was once 2 of the largest operations in the US that were on the brink of insolvency due to their pension plans and practices of not bidding freight rates that would sustain the operations. This I know, because we have to compete with them and are constantly having to either haul cheap to get moving or just plain let the wheels stay idle until competitive, fair marketed and rated freight is available. Rates are so bad right now thanks to these “RATE RAPERS”, and we knew it was only a matter of time before they went begging, but we didn’t think it would be our hard working dollars that would be bailing them out.
The ultimate question in my mind though is “why in the world would a transportation company need a billion dollars”?
…get this…”to keep their union pension plans afloat”!!!
This in this weekend from Land-Line magazine:
Less-than-truckload giant YRC Worldwide plans to seek a $1 billion bailout from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.
The Wall Street Journal reported the company, based in Overland Park, KS, says it needs to shore up its pension plan, which has a $2 billion obligation over the next four years. Chief Executive Bill Zollars says YRC inherited pension obligations for many employees who never worked for the company as it is presently configured.
YRC has already negotiated a 10 percent pay cut for its union employees in exchange for partial ownership of the company.
In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Zollars said the company had other cost-cutting measures planned if necessary, including closing 20 more terminals across the country in cities where the company has more than one.
But why this transportation company?
Maybe because as the WSJ reported: they have that special connection with “The One”?
Or maybe connections with one of the already bailed-out firms?
Unionized Yellow Transportaion and Roadway Transportaion are the biggest “thorn in the side” to hard working independent truckers. Their practices of manipulating the freight market by keeping rates too low for the little guy to be able to compete with, is the ultimate cause of their downfall. Rates to low to sustain their commitments and contracts with the unions.
Meet YRC Worldwide, Yellow-Roadway Worldwide, Inc, soon to be Government Trucking Inc.
Yep, just another Fortune 500 company and one of the largest transportation service providers in the world, is the holding company for a portfolio of successful brands including YRC, YRC Reimer, YRCLogistics, New Penn, Holland, Reddaway and YRC Glen Moore. Building on the strength of its heritage brands, Yellow Transportation and Roadway, the enterprise provides global transportation services, transportation management solutions and logistics management. The portfolio of brands represents a comprehensive array of services for the shipment of industrial, commercial and retail goods domestically and internationally.
Now, call me ignorant, but how successful can you be if your going to the government for a $1 Billion dollar bail-out? Being around and in the trucking industry all my life, I know the only time we have gone to the bank was when we needed new equipment or when were needed a start-up loan. NEVER did we go to the bank to keep our employee obligations afloat.
After finding the previous connections, I decided to go play a game of “connect the dollars” via MUCKETY and I have to say, it was hard to decide which connections to use, the list is long, but here are the prominent ones:
The Connection:
The main character is Carl W. Vogt, who is not only the Chairman of the Federal Transportation Board, he is also a Director of YRC Worldwide Inc.
YRC is also in deep with House minority leader, John Boehner, (R) Ohio as well as the top Republican PAC group. YRC is also connected to none other than the DNC via Howard Dean who is also a Director of YRC and it goes on and on.
So, why will I expect YRC to get their bail-out?
Let’s just say they are coming into the “GREEN” for the “NON” global warming agenda to ruin our economy:
“The transportation providers of YRC Worldwide Inc. participate in programs and processes for protecting and preserving the environment. These strategies have the twin goals of reducing our carbon footprint while optimizing our corporate resources. Our industry-leading companies effectively and aggressively promote greenhouse gas reduction strategies, waste reduction, and conservation across their daily operations.”
There you have it folks.
It doesn’t matter your industry or occupation, the unions and the government have their greedy hands in it all to wipe out the little guys for their socialist, fascist, marxist global agenda.
We will all soon be part of “Government Worldwide Inc”.
I’ll have more on these self-insured mega trucking operations later in the week after I get through all the paperwork and phone calls to get the intial BS out of the way from another “mega mishhap” due to one of their drivers inability to handle his equipment. The 2nd in 2 years time:
This was yesterday……………………………………………………………………………………………………….This was 2 years ago
Both happened at truck stops, this weeks happened while innocently parked with plenty of room all around for another truck to maneuver, the other that happened a couple years ago was while the truck was parked at the fuel islands. In that case, the “BIG” company drivers tried to get out of it by pretending to…get this..”speak no English”. They were allowed to get back in their company truck, that had expired plates, and continue on, onto the truck scale, where the driver continued to wreak havoc doing more damage to his company rig as well as the guard posts at the scale. It took nearly 8 months to get compensated from that self-insured national corporate trucking operation. You see, they thought that they should only have to reimburse us according to their company rates, not what we actually were contracted to work for, and they also thought that they shouldn’t have had to pay for the rental truck we had to lease to deliver and finish the run.
So, my 1st action tomorrow: call Thune’s office and fill them in on this little web of deceit.
Then onto the task of prying out of the hands of another self-insured mega trucking corporation, what is due to us to fix our equipment and make sure we are compensated for the revenue we will loose while it is in the body shop.
There you go Patriots, you now have a hint of what “Government Trucking Inc” will be like. For us, it will just be another day and another dollar in their favor.
God Bless, drive safe and remember to thank a trucker should you happen along their path.
UPDATE: thought I would share our co-driver with you. She has 14 years of experience and a perfect driving record…
US Supreme Court Tells White House and Congress: “No More Infringing on the States 10th Amendment Rights”
A Tale of Two Courageous County Sheriffs
By Ron Ewart
All around us, the power of the federal government is manifested by hundreds of presidential executive orders, thousands of un-read legislation emanating from the U. S. Congress and millions of bureaucratic rules, regulations, restrictions and ordinances, issuing forth from the government’s massive bureaucracy ….. laws, rules, regulations, restrictions and ordinances that in most cases, bear no resemblance to constitutional law, much less constitutional authority. These people don’t seem to care about constitutional law or constitutional authority, they just do it, because they can and it takes an alert citizenry to challenge them. How do you fight such a monster?
The U. S. Constitution is still in tack and upon occasion the U. S. Supreme Court will rule along the lines of the actual intent of the Framers of that Constitution. But it took two brave sheriffs of the great state of Arizona and the great state of Montana, both Western States who still believe strongly in states rights, to “esplain” it to the federal government, whom apparently does not think that they are governed by that famous document of liberty, or falsely believes that their “rule” supersedes it. It doesn’t…
It is not necessary to resort to civil war or revolution, to upset the “apple cart” of an arrogant, out-of-control federal government that has lost all allegiance to the Supreme Law of the Land. We only need use the most important tool of all, that the Founders gave us, our Constitution. With it, we can challenge the “bully” and win.
Finally, throughout our history, from even way before the ratification of our Constitution, the County Sheriff was the ultimate law for his jurisdiction. He is the only law enforcement officer in America elected by the people and answerable only to the people. He swears on solemn oath to preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States and most sheriffs take that oath very seriously. The County Sheriff, operating under the authority of the 10th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, could very well be the last line of defense of the God-given, unalienable, individual rights of the people and the protector of the Constitution, as well as American sovereignty.
In Mack/Printz v USA, the U S Supreme Court declared that the states or their political subdivisions, “are not subject to federal direction.”
Sheriff’s Mack and Printz paid a very heavy price for their courage but it was that courage and their sacrifice that scored a victory for all citizens of the United States, proving that we are still a Constitutional Republic under the rule of law and we have not morphed into an Absolute Democratic Monarchy, under the rule of the mob ….. yet!
read full article here
Urgent UPDATE: Going Down a Dangerous Road
I’ve been following the “American Grand Jury” movement, even to the point of asking for an application, which I have never returned and in all reality, will never print it out, let alone fill it out and return it.
While I admire the Patriotism of those who are promoting and over seeing the grand juries, I have this nasty “GUT” feeling that there could be real trouble down the road “if and when” any of the presentments/indictments ever see the light of a court room.
Why?
It became all too clear while listening to a recent blog-talk radio episode, that there is a deep seeded biased effort to bring a “guilty as charged” mentality to the grand jury. When the guest promoted getting as many of these juries together to bring more indictments all across the country, while they openly promote and brag about the presentments/ indictments already handed down, my heart stopped a beat and my head was sent spinning in disappointment.
Of all things, juries are to be non-biased and is the reason many court proceedings are moved from their original jurisdictions.
Unless those overseeing these grand juries can show without a shadow of a doubt that ANY and ALL grand jury members haven’t been subjected to biased views/evidence against the defendant prior to the grand jury proceedings, NONE of these presentments/indictments will hold up to the scrutiny of any open court where lawyers are allowed to enter into the picture.
But, should this discourage those from continuing the grand juries? I think NOT. If nothing else, they bring awareness to the tyranny and treason being perpetrated upon the Constitution and the citizens of the United States.
So, to all my fellow patriots who are caught up and running with the grand jury movement, I wish you well, but I also wish you the sense to see a HUGE problem down the road that CAN and WILL come back to bite you if you continue to recruit grand jury members openly and publicly on the same website where conclusions of previous grand juries are being reported.
UPDATE: here is my proof:
35 Texas Citizens The indictment: Fraud and Treason
There was never a hint of indecision when this group of concerned citizens got together in Texas and decided to go to work. In their minds “the man who hates America” needed to be indicted and the sooner the better.The jury spent a week reviewing and contemplating the evidence but the vote was swift and decisive. All 35 members raised their hands and said, “we want this man tried in court and we are now looking to the Great State of Texas to bring that justice to our citizens.”
I hardly think our founding fathers would approve of this sort of activity being promoted under the guise of a constitutional grand jury. They have sunk to the level of the statist/progressive actions in which they claim to deplore: the abuse of the Constitution.
Developing: Amendment to the Constitution Protecting Their Nationalized Healthcare Agenda
RED FLAG ALERT: IMMEDIATE ACTION IS NEEDED: CONTACT ALL YOUR REPS ON THE STATE AND NATIONAL LEVEL
111TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. J. RES. 4
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States regarding
health care.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 6, 2009
Ms. MCCOLLUM introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary
JOINT RESOLUTION
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United
States regarding health care.
1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives
2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
4 This joint resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Health
5 Protection Amendment of 2009’’.
6 SEC. 2. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
7 The following article is proposed as an amendment
8 to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be
9 valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitu10
tion when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of
VerDate Nov 24 2008 00:08 Jan 08, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:BILLSHJ4.IH HJ4 smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
2
•HJ 4 IH
1 the several States within seven years after the date of its
2 submission for ratification:
3 ‘‘ARTICLE —
4 ‘‘SECTION 1. Health care, including care to prevent
5 and treat illness, is the right of all citizens of the United
6 States and necessary to ensure the strength of the Nation.
7 ‘‘SECTION 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce and implement this article by appropriate legislation.’’.
Æ
THERE IS ALSO A LOT MORE GOING ON WITH HEALTH CARE LEGISLATION AND THERE ARE BILLS UP THE WAZOO THAT NEED TO BE PICKED THROUGH THAT ARE NOT BEING REPORTED INT HE MSM. I URGE EVERYONE TO TAKE THE TIME TO READ AND GET A 1ST HAND GRASP AS THE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS AS IT IS ONE OF THE “KEY” ITEMS THEY NEED TO GET IN PLACE FOR COMPLETE TAKEOVER AND ABOLISHMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION AS IT WAS ADOPTED BY THE FOUNDING FATHERS AND RATIFIED, AS WELL AS ADOPTED, BY ALL THE STATES.
Update #1: So now the “stars” are in the drivers seat for Constitutional legislation?
Quoting the T.I.C.(teleprompter in chief): “The stars are aligned for health care reform”.
So, even though he tried to pass silliness like this onto one of the most diplomatic, upstanding and classy 1st ladies, the TIC is now falling back onto former 1st lady, his SOS for advice on how to tackle big legislative issues:
For some reason, this just isn’t making me feel very confident, care to chime in?
In His Own Words
Obama goes on the record, off the cuff, about health care.
By Tevi Troy
Does anybody still read The New York Times Magazine? If not, everyone missed a recent interview with President Obama, in which he expounds, without a TelePrompTer, on his views on health care. In general, the interview reveals a good understanding of some of the challenges facing our system, such as high costs, especially during the end-of-life period. But it also hints at some unrealistic solutions, such as “comparative-effectiveness research” to drive down costs, an independent board to make health-care decisions, and some kind of non-democratic decision-making process that doesn’t go through what he calls the “normal channels.”
The president gets the interview off to a good start, encouraging consumer participation in the decision-making process. Consumer participation is part of what’s known as “value-driven health care,” an effort to use technology and transparency to let consumers make decisions based on both cost and quality of care. Obama even mentions an effort to correct “the asymmetry of information between patient and provider.” This would let covered consumers make smart decisions that contemplate cost.
The problem is that while the Bush administration had a clear and serious belief in all four elements of value-driven health care — information about cost, information about quality, technologies to make that information transparent, and incentives to encourage consumers to use said information — it’s not at all clear that Obama does. There’s some doubt whether Obama even means the same thing that Bush did when he mentions consumer involvement.
Obama also mentions Medicare and Medicaid and our “obligation to get those costs under control.” He is right about the problem of cost, but it was not clear what he could do to achieve this. While the White House is indeed looking for cost-cutting opportunities within Medicare, such ideas usually end up on Congress’s cutting-room floor.
One broader cost-cutting measure he mentions is comparative-effectiveness research, a $1.1 billion effort via the stimulus package to compare different therapies and try to get to official judgments about which ones work better. His vision for comparative effectiveness is one of objective studies through which you will learn that “the blue pill, which costs half as much as the red pill, is just as effective, and you might want to go ahead and get the blue one.” Once consumers have access to these studies, he believes, “if a provider is pushing the red one on you, then you should at least ask some important questions.”
The problem with his vision of comparative effectiveness is two-fold. First, per the stimulus legislation, it is supposed to be a measure of effectiveness, not a cost-comparison tool. Second, and more important, this binary view of effectiveness (one therapy is more effective than the other) is not compatible with the emerging notion of personalized medicine, which takes individuals’ genomic structures into account. Personalized medicine may teach us that while therapy A works better in the aggregate, therapy B might be better for some individuals based on their unique DNA. We have made great strides in bringing about personalized medicine in recent years, particularly through the unlocking of the human genome, but the technological challenges may pale before the policy obstacles that cost-cutters could place in personalized medicine’s path.
A cost-cutting measure that he does not mention in the interview, but that began getting media attention yesterday, is the new health-industry-developed plan to reduce spending growth. It is an open question how “voluntary” these reforms from terrified industry reps really are, and how enforceable they will be in the future.
Another subject the president discusses with the Times is the problem of end-of-life care. He tells the story of his grandmother, who got an expensive hip replacement, then died two weeks later. President Obama says he “would have paid for that hip replacement just because she’s my grandmother.” At the same time, however, he notes that “whether, sort of in the aggregate, society making those decisions to give my grandmother, or everybody else’s aging grandparents or parents, a hip replacement when they’re terminally ill is a sustainable model, is a very difficult question.” Furthermore, he recognizes that Americans don’t want to hear that we will not provide expensive late-stage care, a la England. As the president puts it, “If somebody told me that my grandmother couldn’t have a hip replacement, and she had to lie there in misery in the waning days of her life — that would be pretty upsetting.”
His answer to this question, however, is also somewhat upsetting — and not just because he calls denying care to the terminally ill “very difficult” and “upsetting,” but never “something we won’t do.” He says that “there is going to have to be a conversation that is guided by doctors, scientists, ethicists. And then there is going to have to be a very difficult democratic conversation that takes place.” And not only will this be difficult, he claims, but he has trouble imagining “the country making those decisions just through the normal political channels. And that’s part of why you have to have some independent group that can give you guidance.” It is unclear what this group will look like, but the notion of some empyrean body, developed outside the normal political channels, making health-care decisions for the country, is a notion that makes me very, very nervous.
— Tevi Troy, deputy secretary of health and human services from 2007 to 2009, is a visiting senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.
Constitutionally Speaking 