Power Line Gets Hit With DOS Attacks After Showing IFD Videos

Interesting piece at Power Line about suffering Denial-of-Service attacks after they put up a series of videos from the Israeli Defense Forces.

Talk about disproportionate response. Just an hour or so after Power Line posted a series of videos from the Israeli Defense Forces--videos that, as Scott discovered, YouTube had pulled--we experienced a Denial-of-Service attack from a cabal of a half-dozen servers in the U.S. The attack sought to make Power Line and the videos we are hosting inaccessible by overloading our server. Our data center promptly registered the attack, and then defeated it by placing Power Line behind an advanced computer called a Cisco Guard. This device recognize malicious Internet traffic and defeats it.

They have a nifty graph showing the attacks as well.

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Vicki Iseman Sues new York Times

Many will remember the name Vicki Iseman from when the New York Times wrote a piece about John McCain implying he had an inappropriate relationship with a lobbyist, Iseman, then proceeded to write a story which showed no inappropriate relationship whatever.

Caused a stir with the right and many on the left criticizing the NYT for their lack of journalistic integrity and their yellow journalism practices.

Now news reports are out that Iseman is suing the NYT for $27 million over that piece.

The suit, filed in the Federal District Court in Richmond, Va., said that a front-page article on Feb. 21 “falsely communicated” that the lobbyist, Vicki L. Iseman, and Mr. McCain “had an illicit ‘romantic’ and unethical relationship in breach of the public trust in 1999.” At that time, Ms. Iseman was representing clients before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, then headed by Mr. McCain.

“Ms. Iseman did not engage in any behavior toward him that was anything other than professional and appropriate,” said the suit, which seeks damages of $27 million.

The defendants named are Bill Keller, the paper’s executive editor; Dean Baquet, its Washington bureau chief; Jim Rutenberg, Stephen Labaton and David D. Kirkpatrick, all Times reporters; and Marilyn W. Thompson, then a reporter for the paper.

You can read the 44 page complaint, filed December 30, 2008, here.

As Hot Air points out, the complaint alleges "malice" reckless disregard of the truth and falsity of material.

Strong allegations and hopefully the Times will be held accountable for their actions.

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Barack Obama Disagrees With Blagojevich Senate Appointment

Rod Blagojevich appointed Attorney General Roland Burris to the Illinois senate seat and Barack Obama issued a statement disagreeing, not with Blagojevich's choice, but with the fact that he made the appointment itself.

Obama issued the following statement in which he disagreed with the appointment:

"Roland Burris is a good man and a fine public servant, but the Senate Democrats made it clear weeks ago that they cannot accept an appointment made by a governor who is accused of selling this very Senate seat. I agree with their decision, and it is extremely disappointing that Governor Blagojevich has chosen to ignore it. I believe the best resolution would be for the Governor to resign his office and allow a lawful and appropriate process of succession to take place. While Governor Blagojevich is entitled to his day in court, the people of Illinois are entitled to a functioning government and major decisions free of taint and controversy."

Read the rest here.

Blagojevich should have known that no matter how decent a man or politician Burris is, the appointment is tainted...bad move on Blgo's part.

The Senate leadership has also called Blago's appointment, unacceptable.

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Israeli Consulate Citizens’ “Press” Conference on Twitter Today

David Saranga, Consul of Media and Public Affairs in New York, will answer questions from the public about the situation in Israel and Gaza on Twitter today, Dec 30 at 1-3PM EST.

According to IsraelPolitick.org, David Saranga, Consul of Media and Public Affairs in New York, will answer your questions about the situation in Israel and Gaza in a “Citizens’ Press Conference.”

You can submit your question by directing it to their Twitter account.

Responses longer than 140 characters will be directed with a link to an answer posted in their blog.

 

Technorati Tags: Twitter,GazaIsraeli,Consulate,press conference,David Saranga,Consul of Media and Public Affairs

OBAMA SHOULD KEEP GITMO OPEN

Via an email from Melanie Morgan, Chairman of Move America Forward, (the largest pro-troops organization) she sent over a press release with a little note, the note will not be copied here but the press release will.

Melanie and others went to Gitmo (Guantanamo Bay Naval Base) to take a look at conditions there.

Here is the press release:

OBAMA SHOULD KEEP GITMO OPEN

MAF Leaders Call on President-Elect to Visit Personally to Get Facts

SACRAMENTO – Move America Forward (MAF), the nation’s largest pro-troop, grassroots organization, urged President-Elect Barack Obama to personally travel to the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and learn why Gitmo should be kept open to house the world’s worst terrorists.

Melanie Morgan, Chairman of Move America Forward, led a delegation to the naval base last week to bring gifts, Christmas and Hanukkah cards and expressions of support to American troops there. The entourage was granted a tour of the detention facilities while at the base.

Morgan, said, “We strongly urge President-elect Obama to meet with our military men and women at Guantanamo Bay and see for himself the high level of professionalism of America’s soldiers. He can then be assured that these terrorists are treated far better in the detention center than they are in their own countries. They have better food, better health care, better security, better movie selections and better and cleaner clothes than they have ever had in their lives.

“There is a reason why the average terrorist detainee has gained 15 pounds while staying here. It isn’t because he is being mistreated, instead he is being treated with kid gloves,” Morgan concluded.

Morgan was accompanied on the trip by Kylie Williams, the official ambassador for veterans’ advocacy for the State of Florida, who facilitated the trip. Traveling on the tour in addition to Morgan and Williams were MAF staff members Catherine Moy, Danny Gonzalez and Ryan Gill. Also accompanying the group was Gold Star Mom and MAF spokesperson Debbie Lee, whose son Marc Alan Lee was the first Navy SEAL killed in Iraq.

Morgan added, “It disturbed me to see how well the terrorists are being treated, and then have to put up with liberal politicians attacking our troops. As one of the soldiers said to me, ‘It makes us sick when people tell lies about what we do. We are proud to represent America and we do NOTHING to shame our Commander-in-Chief or the American people.’

Obama appeared on 60 Minutes last month and proclaimed again, “I intent to close Guantanamo and I will follow through on that.” He has said that he wants to move the terrorists to Leavenworth, Kansas, and other civilian and military prisons in the United States.

"Do we really want to invite terrorist attacks to our neighborhoods, schools and communities where federal prisons are potentially slated to house these monsters?" asks Morgan

The group is urging Obama to reverse his campaign pledge to close Gitmo and bring the terrorists to the United States for criminal trials.

Debbie Lee responded, “My son gave his life to kill the terrorists in their country, not to bring them to our country. Our military men and women are sacrificing every day to keep us safe. The wrong thing for the President to do is to close this base in the face of false charges against our military. He should get the facts himself and not listen to those who follow the anti-military line without knowing the truth.”

The worst comment from an American politician came from Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin:

"If I ... didn't tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners [At Guantanamo] in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime, Pol Pot, or others that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners." (PBS' "The Newshour," 6/17/05)

Durbin subsequently offered a half-hearted apology for his outrageous accusations against our military.

In reality, the terrorists have better accommodations than our troops. They live in air conditioned state-of-the art new buildings; they have more recreation time than American school children; they get prayer rugs and Qurans, which non-Muslim U.S. soldiers cannot even touch. They get six different menus to choose from; among their offerings are Baked Tandouri Chicken Breast, Mustard-Dill Baked Fish, Lyonnaise Rice, and Fish Amandine.

Morgan said, “I don't remember seeing that on the menu at Nazi concentration camps or in Soviet gulags. I doubt Pol Pot offered them in the killing fields of Cambodia.”

According to the Congressional Record , Vermont U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy had this to say:

"Now that may sound like an experience from some oppressive and authoritarian regime, something that may have happened under the Taliban, something that Saddam Hussein might have ordered or in the fiction of Kafka." (Congressional Record, 9/28/06, p. S10356)

“It is just disgusting what some American politicians are willing to say to appeal to the far left anti-military crowd in the United States. When terrorists decided to smash their TV and destroy their TV room at Gitmo because a Palmolive soap commercial came on that revealed a woman's arm, what do you think our response was? Yes, we got them a new flat screen TV - although this time it is encased in hard Plexiglas so they couldn't destroy it again,” Morgan said.

Recent news stories suggest that Obama may be having second thoughts about bringing terrorist onto American shores. Negotiations are apparently underway with some of our allies to hold some of the terrorists on their shores to keep Obama from having to take the political heat of bringing terrorists to America.

“The real solution is easy,” Morgan said, “if Obama can free himself from the left-wing anti-military ideologues that supported his campaign. . . Keep Gitmo Open!”

MY Heroes of the year

(The pictures of the visits with the wounded here just happen to be from The Daily Mail)



















Yes, President Bush is one of MY Heroes of the Year! No, I am not talking about his politics, or his policies. President Bush is one of MY Heroes of this Year, and any other, for a couple of major reasons.

The big reason I name President Bush a hero of mine is because of his unstinting - tireless - role as "Comforter in Chief." Oh I know his IS the Commander in Chief of the United States military, and goodness knows the msm has taunted him mercilessly about his decisions regarding his deployment of our men and women in the Global War on Terror. For what it's worth, I believe that history will vindicate the President in his decisions. However, whilst the media has continuously badmouthed, been downright insulting, and ignorant, in their treatment of the President, they have missed what I feel is a side of him that more than a few of our military heroes, and their families, have seen. Whilst the media has attacked the President at every turn, like a pack of rabid dogs, he has been quietly visiting our wounded at Walter Reed and BAMC and in many other places.,,,

I DO have more - much more - and other Heroes of the Year that *may* surprise you,

Go over to Assoluta Tranquillita and read the rest here. Warning: it IS long!

From CJ!

Because I couldn't come up with any other creative header!

CJ Free Songs For Troops
December 29th, 2008 by CJ

Billboard.com and the Army have teamed up to provide free music downloads to the troops. To get two free downloads of your choosing, simple visit the "Send A Song" Billboard site and register using a .mil email account. A code will be sent to that email that you can use to download any two songs from their site. I've already tested it and gotten my two songs (All-American Rejects - Gives You Hell & Hinder - Without You). Now go get yours. But hurry, this offer ends December 31st!!

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And then there is THIS (NB: prepare to be royally ****** off!)

Terrorist Attack Kills 14 Children On Last Day Of School

December 29, 2008 By CJ
Posted in Uncategorized, Why We Serve

“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” - Isaiah 6:8

Why would I start with a Biblical quote? First of all, to annoy hippies. Second, because we need to send all of us into Afghanistan, peform a “hands across the desert”, and purge Afghanistan of every Taliban and AQ terrorist we can find. I’m not talking purging in the detention facility or Gitmo sense. I’m talking shoot on sight. Just kill them all. This has got to stop:

A single-file line of school children walked past a military checkpoint Sunday as a bomb-loaded truck veered toward them and exploded, ending the lives of 14 young Afghans in a heartbreaking flash captured by a U.S. military security camera. The video shows an SUV slowly weaving through sandbag barriers at a military checkpoint just as a line of school children, most wearing white caps, comes into view.

This sickens me to the core. These people are barbarians and yet the extreme left in this country want us to bend over backwards to protect their “rights”. These people don’t deserve rights. These people don’t deserve life. These are the kinds of circumstances for which torture should not be authorized, but actively and publicly encouraged. Perhaps watching their fellow AQ and Taliban prisoners getting their fingernails pulled off one by one or hot pokers stuck through their eyeballs will convince the rest of them to keep their destructive tendencies aimed at people who can defend themselves. But, I know that it wouldn’t be terrorism if they did that.

There’s more:

To read the rest of this one (and yes, there is video) go here.

Thank you, CJ!

Soldiers' Angels Needs YOU!

Sure you might not be here on the front line, covered in filth, smelling like hell, your heart going a mile a minute, not knowing what's coming next: if your next step is on that TRP, or if your going to be the latest recruiting tool for some insurgent's new video while they take pot shots at you. But, what you all do with those cards, care packages, cookies is just as important...

When I get a box (or anyone else gets a box) its hard to describe. You find a nice quiet corner and everyone knows not to bother you. You sit there and look over the box as if you had never seen anything like it before. You read who it's from, and a smile crosses your face--you recognize the name. You might already know what's inside, but it does not matter. Some tear it open as fast as they can, others take their time and enjoy every second of it. Once inside, you go through it, every little item once, twice, sometimes three times. It's a very delicate process. You breathe it in and you think of the person who sent it to you. You think of home, family, cars, summer--everything all at once. And for a very short time, you are there away from this SH*T hole. You are grateful. Then you look around and there's always a buddy who is down or having a bad day. You share your box--sometimes just with the one guy, sometimes with everyone--and it's electric. Everyone catches that feeling, and we start talking about home, about things we miss, things we are going to do when we get back, and the heaviness of the day lifts and it's not so bad.

...It's not the "things" that are sent that matter to us, it's the thought. That's the power ALL of you have who take the time to send things. You can change the worst day into the best day, in a split second. - MP in Iraq

Soldiers' Angels

The length of each adoption depends on the branch of service your soldier is in and a number of other factors, but generally averages between six (6) months to twelve (12) months. On occasion, they can be extended, but this is the average. When you adopt you are committing to sending a card or letter each week, and a minimum of 1 or 2 care packages a month. This is one of the most important things that can be done to help bring home a healthy hero; it is so very important for each of them to know they are loved and supported, and your letters and care packages prove just that.

Care packages do not have to be expensive: you can put together your own (we have a detailed list of the most-requested items for you--snacks, hygiene products, and games or magazines).

Soldiers' Angels

There are Many Ways to Support our Service Members:

Donate to Soldiers' Angels - If you would like to assist Soldiers' Angels in its troop support activities, please consider a financial donation. Donations of every size help provide aid and comfort to the troops through our many projects and activities. You can also donate stock, old electronics, air miles, care package items and much more. For details go to Soldiers' Angels


Join a Soldiers' Angels Team - If you want to dig deep into the Soldiers' Angels mission, we invite you to join one of our many teams. The 30+ teams of Soldiers' Angels specialize in filling specific servicemember and family needs. You can get involved in sending handmade blankets to the wounded, supporting our military chaplains, helping soldiers distribute toys and clothing to children in Iraq and Afghanistan, and much, much more! To find a team that fits your interests, please see the complete list in the center of our homepage at Soldiers' Angels

Barack The Magic Negro Parody Causes A Stir-Video

Chip Saltsman, a Tennessee candidate for the Republican party chairman, sent out a CD to colleagues, one of the songs in that CD was a parody first played on Rush Limbaugh, last year, and I see many are weighing in on the parody and the fact that it was one of those listed on the CD Saltman sent out.

The parody is called "Barack The Magic Negro" and it is set to the tune of "Puff The Magic Dragon". It is done by an Al Sharpton impersonator named Paul Shanklin.


The "Barack The Magic Negro" Video itself is below:


Barack The Magic Negro - The most popular videos are a click away

Lyrics:

Barack the Magic Negro lives in D.C.
The L.A. Times, they called him that
‘Cause he’s not authentic like me.
Yeah, the guy from the L.A. paper
Said he makes guilty whites feel good
They’ll vote for him, and not for me
‘Cause he’s not from the hood.

See, real black men, like Snoop Dog,
Or me, or Farrakhan
Have talked the talk, and walked the walk.
Not come in late and won!

Oh, Barack the Magic Negro, lives in D.C.
The L.A. Times, they called him that
‘Cause he’s black, but not authentically.
Oh, Barack the Magic Negro, lives in D.C.
The L.A. Times, they called him that
‘Cause he’s black, but not authentically.

Some say Barack’s “articulate”
And bright and new and “clean.”
The media sure loves this guy,
A white interloper’s dream!
But, when you vote for president,
Watch out, and don’t be fooled!
Don’t vote the Magic Negro in –
‘Cause —

’Cause I won’t have nothing after all these years of sacrifice
And I won’t get justice. This is about justice. This isn’t about me, it’s about justice.
It’s about buffet. I don’t have no buffet and there won’t be any church contributions,
And there’ll be no cash in the collection plate.
There ain’t gonna be no cash money, no walkin’ around money, no phoning money.
Now, Barack going to come in here and ........

YouTube URL for news cast video, discussing the parody below, found here.



As you can imagine, reactions to this parody are mixed, with some being completely offended and others thinking it is bad taste while still others think a parody is just that, a humorous thing to do.

Weigh in.

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Israel/Hamas- What Obama Would Do

The New York Times reminds readers that while Barack Obama is deferring to President Bush on the Israeli/Hamas conflict at the moment, Obama's stance once he takes office, might not be very different than Bush's is right now.

The NYT points out to previous public statements made by Obama, which encouraged them to defend themselves, one of which was while he was visiting Sderot, a town that has been under constant rocket fire from Hamas in Gaza, where he said "If somebody was sending rockets into my house, where my two daughters sleep at night, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.”

Another hint regarding how Obama would deal with the situation comes from David Axelrod, on Sunday when speaking to CBS’s “Face the Nation”, where he said Obama will stand by his remarks about Israel, and he noted the special relationship between Israel and the United States.

Despite Arab protests, the fact is any country that is being attacked, on a weekly basis with rockets raining down on their civilian citizens, has the right, and the obligation to defend themselves and do what is needed to stop those attacks.

CNN reports that it is day three in those strikes against Gaza.

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Bloggers vs 'Real Journalists'

I find the discussion I see going on about a Wall Street Journal opinion piece to be enlightening, and being an opinionated blogger myself, I of course, have to add my two cents here.

Let us catch everyone up before imparting my own pearls of wisdom.

Evidently, Glenn Reynolds, of Instapundit fame, "heralds an era in which "[m]illions of Americans who were in awe of the punditocracy now realize that anyone can do this stuff."

That seems to have riled a Mr. Paul Mulshine, in a WSJ editorial piece, who laments:

No, they can't. Millions of American can't even pronounce "pundit," or spell it for that matter. On the Internet and on the other form of "alternative media," talk radio, a disliked pundit has roughly a 50-50 chance of being derided as a "pundint," if my eyes and ears are any indication.

He goes to point out that it is "real journalists" that attend meetings, read through documents and "analyze" things so they can inform the public of the news.

Well here is the deal as I see it... Reynolds is right, if enough independent, lowly bloggers, with a good vocabulary, were strewn our across America and willing to attend local meetings and go through documents which now are usually all published online, then yes, old media can and will be replaced.

Sure, many times, we bloggers find the news, paste important paragraphs and give our opinions which if we were real "journalists" writers would calling "analysis" instead of opinion, and bring the news to people who come to our sites.

Other times bloggers have been known to get their hands on PDF documents, produce them, go through them and show the blog reading public the portions of the reports that the major media "journalists" deliberately do not mention in their all important "analysis".

The reason I started blogging was simple and addresses this whole debate in my mind.

Bloggers do give their opinions or analysis of any given situation, agreed, but bloggers do something that the professional journalists do not....we provide links to the original sources to which we use to determine our opinions and analysis.

We give our readers a chance to read the original reports, data, PDF's, court papers, whatever the case may be, then those readers can decide for themselves if they agree with our "analysis" or if they come to a different conclusion.

We don't hide relevant facts to make the pieces match our preconceived ideas....we provide sources, we link.

Before I started blogging, I heard the news, read some online news articles, but found what I was getting was the writers opinion and when I looked for the original source to be able to form my own opinion, you know where I found the links to the original sources?

Bloggers. Blogs. Before I even knew exactly what a blog was.

So, to Mr. Mulshine, a quick note..... if journalists want to stay relevant, they need to stop thinking their opinion is the only opinion, they need to start providing links to the original sources and stop expecting people to take their word as the word of God.

Otherwise, those army of Davids, are definitely going to start reporting original pieces and they will be trusted more because they will provide something the old media, the mainstream media, refuse to..... the facts to go along with a "journalist's" opinion.

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Telegraph: 2008 Global Warming Disproved

The Telegraph has an interesting piece out showing the articles and reports that came out in 2008, which disproves that myth about "man-made global warming."

First, all over the world, temperatures have been dropping in a way wholly unpredicted by all those computer models which have been used as the main drivers of the scare. Last winter, as temperatures plummeted, many parts of the world had snowfalls on a scale not seen for decades. This winter, with the whole of Canada and half the US under snow, looks likely to be even worse. After several years flatlining, global temperatures have dropped sharply enough to cancel out much of their net rise in the 20th century.

Ever shriller and more frantic has become the insistence of the warmists, cheered on by their army of media groupies such as the BBC, that the last 10 years have been the "hottest in history" and that the North Pole would soon be ice-free – as the poles remain defiantly icebound and those polar bears fail to drown. All those hysterical predictions that we are seeing more droughts and hurricanes than ever before have infuriatingly failed to materialise.

Even the more cautious scientific acolytes of the official orthodoxy now admit that, thanks to "natural factors" such as ocean currents, temperatures have failed to rise as predicted (although they plaintively assure us that this cooling effect is merely "masking the underlying warming trend", and that the temperature rise will resume worse than ever by the middle of the next decade).

Secondly, 2008 was the year when any pretence that there was a "scientific consensus" in favour of man-made global warming collapsed. At long last, as in the Manhattan Declaration last March, hundreds of proper scientists, including many of the world's most eminent climate experts, have been rallying to pour scorn on that "consensus" which was only a politically engineered artefact, based on ever more blatantly manipulated data and computer models programmed to produce no more than convenient fictions.

Thirdly, as banks collapsed and the global economy plunged into its worst recession for decades, harsh reality at last began to break in on those self-deluding dreams which have for so long possessed almost every politician in the western world. As we saw in this month's Poznan conference, when 10,000 politicians, officials and "environmentalists" gathered to plan next year's "son of Kyoto" treaty in Copenhagen, panicking politicians are waking up to the fact that the world can no longer afford all those quixotic schemes for "combating climate change" with which they were so happy to indulge themselves in more comfortable times.

Suddenly it has become rather less appealing that we should divert trillions of dollars, pounds and euros into the fantasy that we could reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 80 per cent. All those grandiose projects for "emissions trading", "carbon capture", building tens of thousands more useless wind turbines, switching vast areas of farmland from producing food to "biofuels", are being exposed as no more than enormously damaging and futile gestures, costing astronomic sums we no longer possess.

All this isn't to say that scientists did not speak up earlier than 2008, but from recent news reports, many covered here as well, 2008 was, indeed, the year which the whole "man-made" global warming theme started unraveling at massive speeds.

kudos to The Telegraph for daring to state the obvious, something our newspapers here in the U.S. wouldn't dare to do.

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Israel strikes back against Hamas

Hamas has fired over 100 rockets into Israel over the past days and Israel struck back against Hamas targets throughout Gaza in retaliation for the recent heavy rocket fire from the area, hitting mostly security headquarters, training compounds and weapons storage facilities.

Waves of Israeli aircraft swooped over the Gaza Strip on Saturday, firing missiles at Hamas’s security headquarters and killing more than 200 people, bringing the highest death toll in Gaza in years in a crushing response to rocket fire by Hamas against Israeli towns.

More from Haaretz and CNN.

Christmas In Baghdad

Iraqi families that have been in exile, having escaped the worst of the violence are returning, many of which returned for Christmas, saying they feel more secure and safer now.

Hundreds of Christians gathered to celebrate Christmas in Baghdad, most acknowledging that improved security conditions have allowed them to move more freely throughout the city after returning from years-long exiles in Syria, Egypt, Jordan or Iraq's northern Kurdistan region.

In the Christian neighborhood of Karada on Thursday, a Santa Claus handed out religious CDs and pamphlets, including "25 Stories From the Bible" and "The Greatest Gift." In recent years, such an act could have resulted in death.

Our military has done a wonderful job turning things around in Iraq... kudos to them for all their hard work and sacrifice.

Speaking of our military, Barack Obama also made an appearance to a Marine Corps base in Hawaii Kaneche Bay, where they were eating their Christmas dinner of salad, candied sweet potato with marshmallow topping, cream of mushroom soup, mashed potatoes, beef, ham, turkey, broccoli and corn.

“Just wanted to say hi, hey guys,” Obama said as he walked into the Anderson dining hall which was decked out in Christmas decorations.

The diners represented seven military units -- Marine and Navy -- some of whom were joined by their families for Christmas dinner.

As Obama entered the room, it was absent of the regular fanfare of cheering and clapping. The diners were polite, staying seated at their respective tables and waited for the president-elect to come to them to stand up.

Obama, dressed casually in a blue polo shirt and dark khaki trousers, worked his way around the room -- table by table -- and took pictures with the service members. He slapped them on the back at times, shook hands, and signed some autographs.

“Hey guys, Merry Christmas,” The president-elect said as he walked from table to table.

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How To Make Friends In Afghanistan: Give Them A Hard On

Short and sweet folks but couldn't resist bringing this little tidbit to my readers.

Viagra is the way to the Afghanistan man's ...um.... heart?

The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women. His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity, and reached into his bag for a small gift.

Four blue pills. Viagra.

"Take one of these. You'll love it," the officer said. Compliments of Uncle Sam.

The enticement worked. The officer, who described the encounter, returned four days later to an enthusiastic reception. The grinning chief offered up a bonanza of information about Taliban movements and supply routes -- followed by a request for more pills.

Funniest. Thing. Ever!!!!!

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Retailers Suffer From 'Worst Holiday Sales Season' On Record

It was expected, so it isn't a surprise but the Wall Street Journal reports that retailers have suffered the "worst holiday sales season on record" this year.

Price-slashing failed to rescue a bleak holiday season for beleaguered retailers, as sales plunged across most categories on shrinking consumer spending, according to new data released Thursday.

Despite a flurry of last-minute shoppers lured by the deep discounts, total retail sales, excluding automobiles, fell over the year-earlier period by 5.5% in November and 8% in December through Christmas Eve, according to MasterCard Inc.'s SpendingPulse unit.

When gasoline sales are excluded, the fall in overall retail sales is more modest: a 2.5% drop in November and a 4% decline in December. A 40% drop in gasoline prices over the year-earlier period contributed to the sharp decline in total sales.

But considering individual sectors, "This will go down as the one of the worst holiday sales seasons on record," said Mary Delk, a director in the retail practice at consulting firm Deloitte LLP. "Retailers went from 'Ho-ho' to 'Uh-oh' to 'Oh-no.'"

The holiday retail-sales decline was much worse than the already-dire picture painted by industry forecasts, which had predicted sales ranging from a 1% drop to a more optimistic increase of 2.2%.

It is a long piece, so read the whole thing.

When you can go to a Home Depot, using this as just an example, and across the street there is a Lowes, or you find six different shoe stores in one strip mall, it figures that with the economy suffering as it is, something is going to have to give.

There comes a point where it moves from "competitive" and gets to downright ridiculous, and we hit that point long ago.

Now stores are slashing prices and offering after Christmas sales, but I fully expect to see some of these larger stores shutting down come the new year.

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Texas Report On Abuse At FLDS Compound

The Department of Family and Protective Services issued their report from their investigation into the abuses against the underage children at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, which is the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints compound that heavily in the news last April.

Nearly two-thirds of the families living at a polygamist group's ranch — targeted in a high-profile raid last spring — had children who were abused or neglected, Texas child welfare officials said in a report released Tuesday.

The Department of Family and Protective Services concluded there was evidence that 12 girls, ages 12 to 15, were "spiritually" married to adult men in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which runs the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado. Seven of them had one or more children, the report says.

Another 262 children were listed as neglected because the agency said their parents knew there was sexual abuse in the household but did not move to protect their children from possible abuse.

The report, which summarizes the investigations done on all 439 children at the West Texas ranch, was issued at the request of the Health and Human Services executive commissioner, a gubernatorial appointee who oversees the protective services agency.

Read the rest.

All previous pieces on this issues can be found here.

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Not Everyone On The Left Is Whining About Rick Warren

After the news came out about Pastor Rick Warren being chosen by Barack Obama to give the inaugural invocation, I showed a few over-the-top reactions from the left and days later, I see the left and specifically the gay community are still howling at the moon over the choice.

They claim Warren is "intolerant" while they are being even more "intolerant" in their criticisms and whining.

Today alone, on memeorandum, I see people canceling their inauguration parties, complaining about things on Warren's website and generally having themselves a temper tantrum over the choice.

But not all of the gay community players are showing this level of intolerance. Some are actually showing they are not hypocritical in nature by speaking of tolerance while they are being extremely intolerant, and one such example is Melissa Etheridge, over at Huffington Post.

Well, I have to tell you my friends, the universe has a sense of humor and indeed works in mysterious ways. As I was winding down the promotion for my Christmas album I had one more stop last night. I'd agreed to play a song I'd written with my friend Salman Ahmed, a Sufi Muslim from Pakistan. The song is called "Ring The Bells," and it's a call for peace and unity in our world. We were going to perform our song for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, a group of Muslim Americans that tries to raise awareness in this country, and the world, about the majority of good, loving, Muslims. I was honored, considering some in the Muslim religion consider singing to be against God, while other Muslim countries have harsh penalties, even death for homosexuals. I felt it was a very brave gesture for them to make. I received a call the day before to inform me of the keynote speaker that night... Pastor Rick Warren. I was stunned. My fight or flight instinct took over, should I cancel? Then a calm voice inside me said, "Are you really about peace or not?"

I told my manager to reach out to Pastor Warren and say "In the spirit of unity I would like to talk to him." They gave him my phone number. On the day of the conference I received a call from Pastor Rick, and before I could say anything, he told me what a fan he was. He had most of my albums from the very first one. What? This didn't sound like a gay hater, much less a preacher. He explained in very thoughtful words that as a Christian he believed in equal rights for everyone. He believed every loving relationship should have equal protection. He struggled with proposition 8 because he didn't want to see marriage redefined as anything other than between a man and a woman. He said he regretted his choice of words in his video message to his congregation about proposition 8 when he mentioned pedophiles and those who commit incest. He said that in no way, is that how he thought about gays. He invited me to his church, I invited him to my home to meet my wife and kids. He told me of his wife's struggle with breast cancer just a year before mine.

When we met later that night, he entered the room with open arms and an open heart. We agreed to build bridges to the future.

As readers here understand, I did not vote for Obama, do not think he will make a good president, but with that said, I am happy to see that he is reaching out, as he promised to, and attempting to build bridges where he can.

He has lost some support from more of the extreme left base but he has gained the eye and attention of others that are more in the middle.

To me, that is a great trade for Obama and kudos to him for not backing down in the face of the hard left's empty threats.

If they don't like his choices for his cabinet, or his choices for his inauguration, they have no one but themselves to blame, they voted for him, so now they need to sit down, shut up and let the man make the choices that are his to make since he was the one elected and they were not.

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Children of Iraq

And THIS is why we are in Iraq..H/T to Yankeemom. Enjoy!!!



And then there is this. "Our bad ass military showing their softer side." THAT'S the title of these videos on My Pet Jawa, which is where Yankeemom got them. No commentary from me needed.

In the Arms of Our Angels



God bless all our troops!

*and if you go over to Assoluta Tranquillita, you'll find a bonus video. Just sayin'*

Nine Decapitated Bodies Found Near Acapulco

A CNN video (above) describes how Mexican drug cartels are now attempting to infiltrate the U.S. Border Patrol.

Mexican police found nine tortured and decapitated bodies just north of Acapulco Sunday. They were identified as Mexican soldiers who died in the escalating drug war that is terrorizing the Mexican government and bleeding across the U.S. border.

According to Reuters, the bodies were found stuffed in a bag on the side of a highway near a shopping center an hour north of the tourist resort of Acapulco.

Tens of thousands of troops and police deployed by Mexico’s President Calderon have failed to curb the growing drug cartel violence which now threatens U.S./Mexican border towns.

Drug killings throughout Mexico have more than doubled to over 5,300 this year, scaring off investment and tourists. The United States has sent hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to help its southern neighbor fight the cartels. . .

A note left with the severed heads warned of more decapitations, the state police said.

U.S.A. Today reports that the body count is rising faster than Baghdad’s in Juarez, Mexico, a city across the border from El Paso, Texas. Schools are under attack and the “Juarez Cartel, the rival Gulf Cartel and the Mexican government are fighting a three-way war for control of the city.”

Beheadings, hangings and mass executions have become a nightly occurrence in this city known for its feminicidios— the unsolved murders of more than 300 women since 1993.

In November parents and teachers “started getting telephone calls demanding protection money or the students would be kidnapped.” Schools have closed for days, playgrounds are empty, and teachers are hiring security guards. Homework assignments have been given to parents who are keeping their children home.

The El Paso Times has written that Juarez is a city that is almost dead and that “families and individuals on both sides of the border live in a perpetual state of sadness.”

The once lively downtown nightclub and tourist district “is now hauntingly silent.” Few Americans dare to cross the border for any reason.

In 12 months, the Juárez we've known for decades has collapsed, its historic bond with us poisoned by so much brutality.

Now, we tell Juárez relatives we won't celebrate the holidays with them this year unless they come over to this side. Our spouses refuse to let us cross the children into Mexico, refuse to put them at risk in the Juárez killing fields.

Technorati Tags: decapitations,beheadings,Drug wars,Mexico,Mexican,drug cartels,Acapulco,Juarez,El Paso,United States,border,cities,town,schools,fence,illegal immigration,immigration.

 

The Case of Lt. Col. West and the Feminization of American Culture

9/11 and the Great Debate
An alternative paradigm

After the shock of 9/11 and three bitter and contentious presidential elections, we still find ourselves a nation divided, hopelessly divided between red states and blue states, conservatives vs. liberals, and patriots vs. multiculturalists. Fundamentally, the dispute centers on two vital questions: What was the national significance of 9/11, and what should be the nature of our response? At stake in these debates is nothing less than the future of our democratic society.

I contend that we have framed the debate in inappropriate terms. There can be no overarching liberal or conservative response to violent aggression. The only appropriate response must be one that is purposely tailored to the specific nature of the attack. In the hope of casting new light on this discussion, I propose an alternative paradigm: reframing the issues in masculine or feminine terms – that is, the masculinization or femininization of society.

History appears to support the view that during prolonged periods of peace (the absence of actual enemy attacks on native soil), societies tend to become more feminine.* This does not mean to suggest that societies in peacetime necessarily become soft or effeminate, rather, that they become more inward directed, more concerned with what might for the sake of argument be characterized as feminine issues—that is, social and domestic issues, principally concerned with personal rights and civil liberties, as opposed to more aggressive nationalistic pursuits such as military ventures or foreign affairs. As peace settles in those traditional masculine virtues—strength, courage, duty, loyalty, bravery, honor—which served the society so well in time of war, and may in fact have saved the very life of that society—are gradually shunted aside and devalued, eventually replaced by the gentler feminine virtues of patience, understanding, nurturing, tolerance, and love.

Over the years, I submit, the character of America has changed. Somehow we, the valiant, universally respected victors of World War II, have come to be perceived—at least by our enemies—as a weak, feminine, Godless nation, selfish, self-centered, worshipful of youth and pleasure, obsessed with all the classic vanities—wealth, health, weight, style, status, and safety. An unapologetically self-indulgent society, who eagerly spends $42 billion a year on cosmetic plastic surgery and anti-aging products.* A cowardly society, loathe to risk the slightest injury to its soft, well-pampered skin. Of course, this is a grossly distorted, overly-simplistic view which, at least as it applies to our courageous military is, thank God, just plain wrong. Indeed, it is arguable that this is merely the sour self-righteous Islamisist view of a successful Western capitalist democracy. However, there may be more than one element of truth in this unflattering portrait. We have indeed changed. And nowhere has this change been more perfectly exemplified than in our deeply conflicted reactions to the events of September 11, 2001.

Immediately following the attacks on New York City, the Peace Protestors were out in force, filing into Manhattan’s parks and squares with their obligatory candles and guitars.


Under this maudlin display of love and good will, it quickly became apparent that there were those among us whose sense of national pride had been so thoroughly compromised by insidious doubts and—mostly inaccurate—leftist propaganda that they actually began to wonder aloud if perhaps we didn’t deserve it.


How do we explain the startling contrast between these ambivalent reactions to the horrors of 9/11 and the almost immediate display of visceral anger in response to the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941; even though it could be argued that, though admittedly dishonorable and treacherous, the Japanese attacks were in fact a military attack against a military target, that actually resulted in less fatalities (2,403 compared to 2,986) than were incurred on 9/11—while virtually all of the 2,749 victims in New York City were innocent civilians. Where, one might ask, is our righteous anger? What has happened to that steely resolve which we so courageously sustained throughout those terrible war years? How did we lose our way? And how, after our final victory, did we fall from those bright heights of post-war optimism down into this dark abyss of doubt and disillusionment?

From The Secret of Sansom's Hair: Hollywood and the Demasculinization of America by Roger W. Gardner
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The Case of Lt. Col. West

Lt. Col. Allen B. West in undated family photo (Courtesy Angela West)

OPERATION: IRAQI FREEDOM
Lt. Col. West fined $5,000
Avoids court martial for using shock tactics to save lives
By Art Moore
World Net Daily

An officer in Iraq who used shock interrogation tactics to thwart an impending attack on American soldiers was punished with forfeiture of two month's pay, according to his lawyer.
Previously faced with the possibility of a court martial, Lt. Col. Allen B. West accepted Article 15 non-judicial punishment from the commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division at a hearing today in Tikrit, Iraq, said Neal A. Puckett, a retired Marine officer.

Puckett said the loss of pay amounts to $5,000.

"I'm pleased that it's over with," West told WorldNetDaily by telephone from San Antonio, Texas. "But I thought that taking $5,000 away from a guy who is about to retire was a little bit unnecessary.

"I didn't think that needed to be part of a sentence in order to send whatever message the commanding general thought he needed to send," he continued.

"Simply a letter of reprimand should have done it," Puckett insisted.

West will return to Ft. Hood, Texas, as soon as transportation can be arranged and will be assigned to the Rear Detachment of the 4th Infantry Division as he awaits the processing of his retirement request.

The punishment does not affect his eligibility for retirement and pension, Puckett said.

West's commanding officer, Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno, had authority to accept or reject the recommendation of administrative punishment from the officer who presided over West's preliminary hearing in Tikrit last month, Lt. Col. Jimmy Davis.

At his preliminary hearing, West acknowledged he allowed two soldiers to beat an Iraqi policeman who refused to reveal details of an ambush plot and fired his pistol near the man's head, threatening to kill him.

As WorldNetDaily reported, under threat of an attack, West took charge of the interrogation of an Iraqi policeman, Yahya Jhodri Hamoody, determined to flush out details as he warned subordinates "it could get ugly." Threatening to kill the Iraqi if he didn't talk, West fired a pistol near the policeman's head.

The scared policeman then immediately disclosed the information, leading to the arrest of two Iraqis last August and cessation of attacks on West's 4th Infantry Division battalion.

At the hearing last month, West was asked by his defense attorney if he would do it again.

"If it's about the lives of my men and their safety, I'd go through hell with a gasoline can," he said.

"But that's what's going on out there in the streets here, and that's how I feel about my boys," he told the hearing, held in one of Saddam Hussein's lavish palaces. "There is not a person in this room I would not sacrifice my life for."

But Army prosecutors believe his actions in the town of Saba al Boor, near Tikrit, violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He was charged with aggravated assault and faced a wide range of possible outcomes from no disciplinary action to a sentence of up to eight years in prison.

The prosecutors gave West a choice – face charges or resign within days of his 20 years of service, losing retirement benefits. West chose to face the charges and place his fate in the hands of Maj. Gen. Odierno.

Puckett said West can be contacted by e-mail and his wife has her own e-mail address.

Angela West has set up a legal fund for her husband with the following address: Allen West Defense Fund c/o Angela West, 6823 Coleman Drive, Ft. Hood, TX 76544.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
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Lt.Col. West and the Feminization of American Culture
By KG at Crusader Rabbit

"The 'West Affair' has implications for the survival of American civilization. It is just that important. Great empires of the past have similarly dissolved, disintegrated, and disappeared as a result of the same malady that holds America in its grasp -- the feminization of their culture. Why few in America realize this truth in its stark reality and its dark implications for the future -- most concern themselves with the minute details of the media's entertaining but trivial political 'issue of the day' -- tells us more about America than it does about the primary actors in the 'West Affair.' "
The whole thing makes fascinating--if depressing--reading. How are we going to turn this trend around? Is it too late?

Do YOU remember?

The plane was headed for New York

1988: Jumbo jet crashes onto Lockerbie

A Pan Am jumbo jet with 258 passengers on board has crashed on to the town of Lockerbie near the Scottish borders.

Initial reports indicate it crashed into a petrol station in the centre of the town, between Carlisle and Dumfries, and burst into a 300-foot fireball.

Hundreds are feared dead as airline officials said flight 103 was about two-thirds full with 255 adults and three children on board.

Rescue teams have confirmed there are many casualties at the scene including townspeople who were on the ground.

The Boeing 747 left London Heathrow at 1800 GMT bound for New York's JFK airport...

In Context

In total 259 people aboard the flight and 11 on the ground died in the crash which took place 38 minutes after take-off.

The debris from the aircraft was scattered across 845 square miles and the impact reached 1.6 on the Richter scale.

The subsequent police investigation was the biggest ever mounted in Scotland and became a murder inquiry when evidence of a bomb was found.

Two men accused of being Libyan intelligence agents were eventually charged with planting the bomb.

Abdelbaset ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was jailed for life in January 2001 following an 84-day trial under Scottish law, at Camp Zeist in Holland.

His alleged accomplice, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, was found not guilty.

In 2002 Al Megrahi's appeal against conviction was rejected. [both pieces from BBC here]

A number of ceremonies are planned
in Lockerbie throughout the day

Special "places to remember" are being opened in Lockerbie, with a wreath-laying ceremony taking place at the Dryfesdale Ceremony.

In the evening there will be services at both the Tundergarth and Dryfesdale Church.

A little after 1900 GMT the exact anniversary of the atrocity will be remembered.

For many who lived through it, the memories remain fresh despite the time which has passed.

We were sitting in our houses at Christmas we didn't have any trees, cards and decorations - we took them down Maxwell Kerr Eyewitness

George Stobbs, Lockerbie's police inspector at the time, recalls the events of 20 years ago with great clarity.

"Nobody actually knew what had happened, we realised an aircraft had come down but I thought it was a military aircraft," he said.

"Once I got into Sherwood Crescent I could see flames along the roadside, the footpaths were burst and there were gas pipes fractured - there were dancing flames coming up from them.

"Hedges were on fire, drop pipes on the side of houses were on fire and they were in turn climbing up and setting fire to the roofs."

It was only later in the evening that the scale of the death toll at Lockerbie began to emerge.[here]

It is said that those who forget history, are doomed to repeat it. Will YOU forget?

*cross-posted from Assoluta Tranquillita*

Canadian is new Governor of Kandahar

Tooryalai Wesa, 58, fled Afghanistan in 1991 and settled in Coquitlam, B.C, Canada. Today, he takes up a new post as Governor of Kandahar.

"Some of the Afghans are trying to come back because we want to help the country and because of the lack of the professional people" in the country, Wesa told CTV Newsnet Thursday in a telephone interview from Kabul, Afghanistan.

Born and raised in Kandahar, Wesa has extensive work experience in the province and feels that he can be an effective link between the local population and the international force of soldiers, diplomats and aid workers currently posted there.

Go read the rest at Assoluta Tranquillita here.

SANTA TO MAKE PRE-CHRISTMAS EVE INSPECTION

SANTA TO MAKE PRE-CHRISTMAS EVE INSPECTION OF SANTA TRACKER HEADQUARTERS AT NORAD
Flight by World-Famous Macy's Santa to Help Children of our Fallen Military Heroes
Santa Offers Holiday Tips for Those Coping with Grief During the Holiday Season

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 19, 2008

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Just before his epic flight on Christmas Eve, the world-famous Macy's Santa will make a special trip on December 23rd to NORAD's Santa Tracker headquarters. Santa's special flight next week will provide support for children of our nation's fallen military heroes who are involved with TAPS, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.

As Santa's Traveling Workshop, Santa's flight on a Halcyon Jet will take him to NORAD's Santa Tracker headquarters, where Santa will ensure that all is in order for Christmas Eve. He'll also visit a household chosen by the winner of an online eBay auction and visit a children's home or military base to talk with boys and girls. Proceeds from the auction will help children of our fallen military heroes.

Located at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), has been in the business of tracking Santa on Christmas Eve for the past 50 years. The command will track Santa as he flies from New York City on December 23rd to the community selected by the winning auction bidder, welcome Santa to tour NORAD, and then track Santa back to the North Pole on December 23.

TAPS, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, will distribute toys provided by Santa and the workshop to children who have lost a parent. "Santa's flight and toys will bring a lot of holiday cheer to children who have suffered a great loss and while also raising awareness for the ongoing programs that help children cope with their grief," said Bonnie Carroll, founder and chairman of TAPS.

Because the holidays can be a difficult time for families who are grieving, said Carroll, Santa also will offer some tips during his December 23rd flight to help those who are supporting a bereaved child this holiday season. "Among children involved with TAPS, the one gift they most want is one that Santa can't bring – the return of the parent or relative who died," said Carroll. "We know that Santa is working hard to bring joy and holiday cheer to children who've suffered the death of someone they love, and his December 23rd flight shows he cares about them and will provide resources to help the children of our fallen military heroes."

A few of the tips Santa offers are:

Make holiday plans that help your child feel nurtured, emotionally safe, and comfortable. Review your plans for the holidays with your child. Spend the holidays where you and your child feel supported, nurtured, and comfortable.

Allow your child to remember the person who died through a tribute. Light a candle together at dinner time to remember the person who died. Make a wreath with pictures and items that represent the things the lost loved one cared about and place it at the gravesite for the loved one. Hang an ornament on the tree that reminds the child of the loved one. Help your child offer a blessing at a holiday meal that honors the person who died. Create a picture or collage with your child, display a favorite photograph in your home, or let your child help you set a place at the dinner table to represent the loved one who died.

Laughter, play and joy are good for your child. Children do not grieve continuously and they need to take breaks from grieving. Encourage your child to play, run, and do recreational activities he or she would normally do. Clowning around and laughing (which releases endorphins into the brain) are good for children.

More tips on dealing with grief during the holidays for children and adults are available at www.taps.org<http://www.taps.org>.

Santa's Traveling Workshop has brought toys and cheer to hundreds of thousands of children and families in need, beginning in December of 2005 after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It also delivered 100,000 toys to children from all walks of life on the National Mall in Washington, DC in 2006.

TAPS provides ongoing emotional help, hope, and healing to all who are grieving the death of a loved one in military service to America, regardless of relationship to the deceased, geography, or circumstance of the death. TAPS meets its mission by providing peer-based support, crisis care, casualty casework assistance, and grief and trauma resources. Services are provided free of charge. For more information go to www.taps.org<http://www.taps.org> or call the toll-free crisis line at 800.959.TAPS.

Media Contacts
Santa's Traveling Workshop Media Contact: Travis Thomas, 858.759.2000

TAPS Media Contact: Ami Neiberger-Miller, 202.588.TAPS, ami@taps.orgami@taps.org>

Campaign for New York Senator Update-Dealing With Media Bias

With great fanfare, earlier this week I threw my hat in the ring for the open NY Senate Seat. Since then the Mainstream Media has shown its true bias. They were all over the story of Ms Kennedy, not ONE mention of Yidwithlid. They even covered and praised Caroline's Lunch with Al Sharpton. AL SHARPTON ???? For Pete's Sake !! She wants to be senator and she is having lunch with AL Sharpton--- a professional BIGOT. OH MY GOD !

Governor Paterson I understand the severe pressure you face. When President-elect Obama didn't give Ms Kennedy the job she wanted (UN Ambassador) you were stuck with "paying off" Caroline and her Uncle Ted with the NY Senate seat.

Just to show you what a wonderful problem solver I can be as Senator, here is a solution for you to get out from under the pressure AND to solve another Democratic party problem. If you suggest this you will look like a party superstar. Tell Obama to give Ms Kennedy the Illinois Senate Seat. That's right, Illinois. Its a great solution.

With all the scandal Illinois is facing they an Icon appointed to that Senate Seat to remove the pretense of "monkey business". There is no bigger Democratic Party Icon than the Kennedy family. Now that is somthing Ms Kennedy IS qualified for---being a professional icon. Even better is the fact that there is precedent for a move like this, Hillary Clinton. She is grew up in Illinois, lived in Arkansas and only moved to NY to become Senator. We had her shoved down our throats as a carpet bagger. Lets send Illinois a carpet bagger of their own.

Governor, with Ms Kennedy out of the way, you would be free the most unqualified person left to by the NY Senator--ME choose me, It is plain to see (oops sorry, I didn't mean anything by that). It is clear that with Caroline out of the way, I am the number one, most unqualified candidate for the NY Senate Seat.

While Ms Kennedy went upstate to meet with leaders, I traveled around Nassau County to meet key party people. While none of them would meet with me, I did see the building where the County Executive works. Because he has already incited two pogroms against Jews, I did not want to have lunch with "Reverend" Al Sharpton, but did have a really good slice of Pizza and the guy behind the counter, Mario says I am perfect for the Senate Seat.

Sadly, there was no Media Coverage of my trip. The left wing media is as in love Obama's choice for Senator, Ms Kennedy, almost as much as they are with the President-elect/messiah himself. The NY City media spoke glowingly of her trip upstate yesterday, no one mentioned her lack of qualifications, they just repeated her "stump speech," like this from the NY Daily News:

"I have had a life-long commitment to public service. I've written books on the Constitution and the importance of individual participation," she said. The 51-year-old Kennedy also touted her mom skills as well as her "commitment to education in New York City, training principals, working for kids." "I think I really could help bring change to Washington," she said.

WELL EXCUSE ME, Ms "My Uncle is a Senator, " you are not the only one involved with public service. I go to Minyan at my shul every day, and those services are very public. You might be a MOM but I am a DAD. I have taught my kids all of the basic skills, from laying off a curve ball when the count is in your favor to channel flipping and "pull my finger".

I will not only bring change to Washington, but I will bring paper money. Hard earned paper-money-- made by people who have had to worry about covering expenses from taxes that are too high, or people have to worry about losing their jobs. My qualifications were learned in the School of Hard Knox, your only qualification is that you can see New York from your summer house on the cape. I will scrap and fight for NY, YOU DON'T EVEN VOTE.

There is one more thing you all should know, there is another blogger who has thrown her hat in the ring, but she is too qualified. It is obvious that the Governor does not want to consider qualified people. Her name is Pamela Geller and she runs the site Atlas Shrugs. I am telling you this because she is not a good candidate. You see she brighter and more qualified than me, thus she should not be considered.

Sammy Benoit, Yidwithlid, is the editor of the Blog, Yid With Lid, and a candidate for the office of Senator of the Great State of New York.

Manmade Global Warming- BOGUS

BOGUS

CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers had never bought into the notion that man can alter the climate and the Vegas snowstorm didn’t impact his opinion. Myers, an American Meteorological Society certified meteorologist, explained on CNN’s Dec. 18 “Lou Dobbs Tonight” that the whole idea is arrogant and mankind was in danger of dying from other natural events more so than global warming.

“You know, to think that we could affect weather all that much is pretty arrogant,” Myers said. “Mother Nature is so big, the world is so big, the oceans are so big – I think we’re going to die from a lack of fresh water or we’re going to die from ocean acidification before we die from global warming, for sure.”

I have always said, it is arrogant of man to think that what we do will harm Earth.

Face it, Earth was here before us and it will be here long after we are extinct and to assume that we have any control of the weather itself is arrogant idiocy on our part.

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Bush To The Rescue: $17.4 billion to automakers

After the House voted to bail out automakers with $14 Billion and the Senate failed to get the votes to pass said bailout, talk was that bush would step in and rescue them instead of letting them file for bankruptcy, using part of the Wall Street bailout monies.

Today I see news from ABC and others stating that Bush and the Feds are going to give the automakers a $17.4 billion, low interest loan. despite the fact that the majority of Americans do not want taxpayer money given to privately owned companies to pull their asses out of the fire.

"In the midst of a financial crisis and a recession, allowing the U.S. auto industry to collapse is not a responsible course of action," President Bush said today. "It could send our suffering economy into a deeper and longer recession. And it would leave the next president to confront the demise of a major American industry in his first days of office."

The money for the loans will come from the Troubled Asset Relief Program fund, signed into law this fall to bail out the financial industry.

The Treasury Department will provide $13.4 billion in short-term financing in December and January and plans to make another $4 billion available in February, provided Congress allows the White House to reach into the second half of the $700 billion TARP fund.

Not only is this a massive mistake on Bush's part, but it seems the incoming Obama administration is behind the plan as well.

The White House has been talking to the Obama team about its strategy, and the incoming Democratic administration has expressed no objections to the plan, sources told ABC News.

Bush's full statement below:

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. For years, America's automakers have faced serious challenges -- burdensome costs, a shrinking share of the market, and declining profits. In recent months, the global financial crisis has made these challenges even more severe. Now some U.S. auto executives say that their companies are nearing collapse -- and that the only way they can buy time to restructure is with help from the federal government.

This is a difficult situation that involves fundamental questions about the proper role of government. On the one hand, government has a responsibility not to undermine the private enterprise system. On the other hand, government has a responsibility to safeguard the broader health and stability of our economy.

Addressing the challenges in the auto industry requires us to balance these two responsibilities. If we were to allow the free market to take its course now, it would almost certainly lead to disorderly bankruptcy and liquidation for the automakers. Under ordinary economic circumstances, I would say this is the price that failed companies must pay -- and I would not favor intervening to prevent the automakers from going out of business.

But these are not ordinary circumstances. In the midst of a financial crisis and a recession, allowing the U.S. auto industry to collapse is not a responsible course of action. The question is how we can best give it a chance to succeed. Some argue the wisest path is to allow the auto companies to reorganize through Chapter 11 provisions of our bankruptcy laws -- and provide federal loans to keep them operating while they try to restructure under the supervision of a bankruptcy court. But given the current state of the auto industry and the economy, Chapter 11 is unlikely to work for American automakers at this time.

American consumers understand why: If you hear that a car company is suddenly going into bankruptcy, you worry that parts and servicing will not be available, and you question the value of your warranty. And with consumers hesitant to buy new cars from struggling automakers, it would be more difficult for auto companies to recover.

Additionally, the financial crisis brought the auto companies to the brink of bankruptcy much faster than they could have anticipated -- and they have not made the legal and financial preparations necessary to carry out an orderly bankruptcy proceeding that could lead to a successful restructuring.

The convergence of these factors means there's too great a risk that bankruptcy now would lead to a disorderly liquidation of American auto companies. My economic advisors believe that such a collapse would deal an unacceptably painful blow to hardworking Americans far beyond the auto industry. It would worsen a weak job market and exacerbate the financial crisis. It could send our suffering economy into a deeper and longer recession. And it would leave the next President to confront the demise of a major American industry in his first days of office.

A more responsible option is to give the auto companies an incentive to restructure outside of bankruptcy -- and a brief window in which to do it. And that is why my administration worked with Congress on a bill to provide automakers with loans to stave off bankruptcy while they develop plans for viability. This legislation earned bipartisan support from majorities in both houses of Congress.

Unfortunately, despite extensive debate and agreement that we should prevent disorderly bankruptcies in the American auto industry, Congress was unable to get a bill to my desk before adjourning this year.

This means the only way to avoid a collapse of the U.S. auto industry is for the executive branch to step in. The American people want the auto companies to succeed, and so do I. So today, I'm announcing that the federal government will grant loans to auto companies under conditions similar to those Congress considered last week.

These loans will provide help in two ways. First, they will give automakers three months to put in place plans to restructure into viable companies -- which we believe they are capable of doing. Second, if restructuring cannot be accomplished outside of bankruptcy, the loans will provide time for companies to make the legal and financial preparations necessary for an orderly Chapter 11 process that offers a better prospect of long-term success -- and gives consumers confidence that they can continue to buy American cars.

Because Congress failed to make funds available for these loans, the plan I'm announcing today will be drawn from the financial rescue package Congress approved earlier this fall. The terms of the loans will require auto companies to demonstrate how they would become viable. They must pay back all their loans to the government, and show that their firms can earn a profit and achieve a positive net worth. This restructuring will require meaningful concessions from all involved in the auto industry -- management, labor unions, creditors, bondholders, dealers, and suppliers.

In particular, automakers must meet conditions that experts agree are necessary for long-term viability -- including putting their retirement plans on a sustainable footing, persuading bondholders to convert their debt into capital the companies need to address immediate financial shortfalls, and making their compensation competitive with foreign automakers who have major operations in the United States. If a company fails to come up with a viable plan by March 31st, it will be required to repay its federal loans.

The automakers and unions must understand what is at stake, and make hard decisions necessary to reform, These conditions send a clear message to everyone involved in the future of American automakers: The time to make the hard decisions to become viable is now -- or the only option will be bankruptcy.

The actions I'm announcing today represent a step that we wish were not necessary. But given the situation, it is the most effective and responsible way to address this challenge facing our nation. By giving the auto companies a chance to restructure, we will shield the American people from a harsh economic blow at a vulnerable time. And we will give American workers an opportunity to show the world once again they can meet challenges with ingenuity and determination, and bounce back from tough times, and emerge stronger than before.

Thank you.

END 9:08 A.M. EST

Malkin brings a couple points out. First, John Boehner's statement and then the illegality of the "loan" (bailout).

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