News of the Week
Election 2012 *************** Obama plays active role in Dem primaries President Obama is playing an active role in Democratic primaries this cycle, triggering behind-the-scenes lobbying efforts to nab the coveted endorsement. ************** Santorum says Obama agenda not "based on Bible" Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum challenged President Barack Obama's Christian beliefs on Saturday, saying White House policies were motivated by a "different theology." ************** Maine GOP: Results went to spam Maine Republican Party chairman Charlie Webster has admitted that the state party made numerous clerical errors in counting the state’s caucus results — even omitting some votes because emails reporting tallies “went to spam” in an email account. ************** Pelosi endorsement of gay marriage plank raises stakes for Democrats A move to put gay marriage in the Democratic Party platform at this year’s convention could prove problematic for Democrats as they seek to keep the election-year conversation focused on their efforts to right the economy. ************** Top GOP Senator Says ‘If Romney Loses Michigan, We Need a New Candidate’ ************** Millions of Dead Voters, Brought to You By Eric Holder Over a year ago, I first warned that the Obama administration adopted a policy of refusing to enforce federal laws which require states to purge dead and ineligible voters from the rolls. I discuss at length the details of this policy as revealed to me when I worked at the Justice Department in my book Injustice. Today we learn that American voter rolls are infested with millions of dead and ineligible voters heading into the presidential election. ************** Can Republicans Avoid a Debacle? To say the least, things do not look good for the Republicans at this moment. Rasmussen polls released Tuesday showed Romney trailing Obama at 49 to 42 and Santorum lagging even further behind at 41. No word on Gingrich, but it’s hard to be optimistic. ************** An Adelson-Romney Deal? Just last week, the media was reporting on private meetings between Mitt Romney’s Adelson, allegedly to get him to stop backing Gingrich. Now the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Adelson is going to pump $10 million to a Gingrich super PAC to go after Santorum on Super Tuesday. ************** Judicial Watch Announces: The 2012 Election Integrity Project We all saw what happened in 2008 and 2010, where the now bankrupt “community organization” ACORN and its partner in crime, Project Vote, engaged in massive voter registration fraud. (The starting line-up for the Dallas Cowboys registered to vote in Nevada, to give just one absurd example of ACORN’s work.) Occupy Wall Street *************** How 'Occupy' went wrong A trashed house in Brooklyn has become a symbol of a movement that failed to capitalize on popular anger ************** House Republicans to Obama: Nuke cut plan is ‘dangerous’ President Obama’s plan for the Pentagon to cut deployed strategic nuclear warheads by 80 percent is meeting harsh resistance from House Armed Services Committee Republicans on Capitol Hill who called the plan “dangerous.” ************** More arraignments in the takeover of a former bank building on River Street in Santa Cruz SANTA CRUZ - Another of the 11 people charged in connection with the takeover of a former bank building was arraigned Wednesday on charges of trespassing, conspiracy and vandalism. ************** Occupy Movement Gets A PAC The Occupy movement has decided to fight fire with fire. ************** Occupy Unmasked – The Movie Trailer ************** RICO Statutes: Good Enough for the Mob, Good Enough for #OccupyWallStreet Some of the most powerful tools in the hands of government prosecutors–as well as private citizens seeking justice–are the remedies available under the federal RICO statutes. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as RICO, is a U.S. federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal enterprise. Obamacare ************** Priest, Pro-Life Activists Arrested for Protesting ObamaCare Mandate at the White House Perhaps the activists made a mistake here. If only they had claimed to be occupiers… ************** Obama's OMB diractor admits insurance penalty is NOT a tax ************** As Obama pushes new regulations, UK eyes privatizing its health care Filmmaker Michael Moore glorified the United Kingdom’s National Health Service in his 2007 documentary ”Sicko,” making a cult film argument that socialized medicine works. But Prime Minister David Cameron, the Tory MP who heads a coalition government in England, is apparently not a Moore fan: He is working to partially privatize the NHS, beginning a massive outsourcing of medical services to private health care providers throughout the U.K. "Hide The Decline" *************** Omnibus Epic Greenfail We could fill up this space every day with new items about the latest environmental idiocy or green energy madness. I keep meaning to comment on a couple of the more notable ones, and highlight some good recent analysis on the issue from my pal Zen Zycher, but the greenfail news stacks up so fast in my in-box that I can’t keep up. ************** Study: Sierra snowfall consistent over 130 years Snowfall in the Sierra Nevada has remained consistent for 130 years, with no evidence that anything has changed as a result of climate change, according to a study released Tuesday. ************** New sat data shows Himalayan glaciers hardly melting at all Results 'really were a surprise', say climate profs War & Terror *************** Federal agents arrest Amine El Khalifi; he allegedly planned to bomb Capitol Federal authorities on Friday arrested a 29-year-old Moroccan man in an alleged plot to carry out a suicide bombing at the U.S. Capitol Building, the latest in a series of terrorism-related arrests resulting from undercover sting operations. ************** Iranian bomber blows off his legs in Bangkok as grenade he hurled at police bounces off tree and explodes at his feet Stash of explosives blow roof off house occupied by three Iranians Two men fled, but Saedi Moradi staggered out and tried to hail a taxi Driver refused lift as Moradi covered in blood, so he hurled a grenade Threw another explosive at police but it bounced off tree and hit his legs 'We know who carried this out and we will settle scores with them', says Israel ************** Navy’s Rail Gun Blasts Through Budget Restrictions The Navy came very, very close to losing its futuristic gun that shoots bullets with a giant electric charge. But while a congressional committee recommended axing the Electromagnetic Railgun in June, the program survived — even if it’s still got to clear lots of technical hurdles before it can launch bullets from ships at hypersonic speed. And it’s not the only high-tech Navy project that looks like it (mostly) dodged the budget axe. National *************** Animal rights group says drone shot down Animal rights group SHARK said a remote-controlled aircraft like this one was shot down near Ehrhardt. It planned to use the drone to video live pigeon shoots at the privately owned Broxton Bridge Plantation. ************** University Of Texas Researchers Find No Direct Link Between Fracking And Contaminated Groundwater Researchers at the University of Texas have concluded hydraulic fracturing used to extract natural gas does not directly contaminate groundwater, the AP reports. ************** 2nd N.C. Mother Says Daughter’s School Lunch Replaced for Not Being Healthy Enough North Carolina officials have said there was a misunderstanding when a preschooler’s homemade lunch was sent home for not meeting certain nutritional requirements, but now a second mother from the same school has come forward exclusively to The Blaze to say the same thing happened to her daughter. ************** Sixty-Five Representatives File Challenge to NLRB's Ambush Election Rule Today, House Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) joined Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) and Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN) to introduce a resolution (H.J. Res. 103) under the Congressional Review Act that will block the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) December ambush election rule. Sixty-five representatives supported the resolution upon introduction. ************** Queens Teacher Had Class Contact Inmate Who Previously Faced Child Porn Charges Officials at the Department of Education say they are looking to fire a Queens teacher who had her fifth-grade students send Christmas cards to a prison inmate who was previously been charged with possessing child pornography. ************** The Long Arm Of Uncle Sam Just Got Longer This one's hot off the presses. Just yesterday, our friends at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a press release on its latest ruling related to foreign 'money service businesses (MSBs).' ************** State Inspectors Searching Children’s Lunch Boxes: “This Isn’t China, Is It?” A mother in Hoke County complains her daughter was forced to eat a school lunch because a government inspector determined her home-made lunch did not meet nutrition requirements. In fact, all of the students in the NC Pre-K program classroom at West Hoke Elementary School in Raeford had to accept a school lunch in addition to their lunches brought from home. ************** Inside Media Matters: Sources, memos reveal erratic behavior, close coordination with White House and news organizations David Brock was smoking a cigarette on the roof of his Washington, D.C. office one day in the late fall of 2010 when his assistant and two bodyguards suddenly appeared and whisked him and his colleague Eric Burns down the stairs. ************** Did Yale University plan to create an intellectually superior race of children to repopulate Britain after World War Two? Yale University only offered children of Oxford and Cambridge university staff an evacuation to the U.S. One evacuee has raised questions about the experience asking did they want 'to save the gene pool?' Yale's president James Angell was 'a fanatic eugenicist in the worst meaning of that word' ************** Media Matters memo called for hiring private investigators ‘to look into the personal lives’ of Fox employees A little after 1 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2009, Karl Frisch emailed a memo to his bosses, Media Matters for America founder David Brock and president Eric Burns. In the first few lines, Frisch explained why Media Matters should launch a “Fox Fund” whose mission would be to attack the Fox News Channel. ************** The Libertine Police State Live-and-let-live is not the sexual revolution's endgame. ************** Supreme Court Justice Breyer robbed at knifepoint during Caribbean vacation Washington (CNN) -- Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer was robbed last week by an intruder armed with a machete while Breyer was vacationing on the Caribbean island of Nevis, court officials said Monday. ************** Are Liberal Arts Colleges Becoming Finishing Schools for Women? I spent the morninig laughing and being intrigued by a book called Worthless: The Indispensable Guide to Choosing the Right Major by a guy named Aaron Clarey. On the back of the book is picture that (I assume) is Clarey louging on what looks like the beach with an Army t-shirt on smoking a big cigar. This is the guy who is going to give you or your kid some good practical advice on how to pick a major in college. Economy
& Taxes *************** High Real Unemployment Data Reflect Poorly On Obama Economy: The media machine that desperately wants Barack Obama re-elected has turned its focus on what it says are good unemployment numbers. The truth, though, is the job climate in America is miserable. ************** Athens rehearses nightmare of default On Friday afternoon, Constantine Michalos, president of the Athens chamber of commerce, sat in his office – around the corner from where protesters were hurling chunks of marble at riot police – and contemplated what was once unthinkable: that Greece would default on its debt and then be forced into a messy exit from the euro. ************** The plunging labor force participation rate is now officially ‘a thing’ in U.S. politics You can now add the labor force participation rate to a) the unemployment rate, b) net new payrolls, c) GDP growth, and d) gasoline prices as economic statistics politicians will often cite as proof the economy is getting better or worse. ************** Nearly 6 percent of California workers employed by state ************** Greek rhetoric turns into battle of wills The battle of wills between Athens and its eurozone lenders has intensified, with Greece's finance minister accusing "forces in Europe" of pushing his country out of the euro while his German counterpart suggested postponing Greek elections and installing a new government without political parties. ************** Complete List Of Europe's Expanded Bank "Junk" ************** Nigel Farage: Globalist Troika Driving Greece Towards Violent Revolution ************** Obama Pushes Global Minimum Tax in Milwaukee Earlier this week, White House economic adviser Gene Sperling announced his support for changes in the tax structure. “[W]e need a global minimum tax so that people have the assurance that nobody is escaping doing their fair share as part of a race to the bottom or having our tax code actually subsidized and facilitate people moving their funds to tax havens,” Sperling said at an official White House meeting. He even indicated that President Obama “supports” this change. ************** Greek Tragedies ************** World Bank's Zoellick to step down June 30 World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Wednesday he plans to step down when his term ends on June 30, raising questions whether the United States will insist on holding on to a job that has always gone to an American. ************** California's high-income taxpayers dropped sharply Gov. Jerry Brown wants to hit California's highest-income taxpayers with billions of dollars in new taxes, and is jousting with other groups with their own tax-the-rich measures over which, if any, will win voter approval. ************** White House Economic Adviser: 'We Need a Global Minimum Tax' Gene Sperling, director of the White House's national economic council, said today at an official meeting that "we need a global minimum tax" ************** The corporatist state Nevada Governor’s plan overlooks key economic fundamentals Having seen Silver State unemployment figures staying too high for too long, Gov. Brian Sandoval and his economic development team naturally wish to do something to put displaced Nevada workers back on the job. ************** Obama Predicts He Will Breach Debt Ceiling Two Months Before Election In light of the epic fiasco from last August, when the US debt ceiling hike became a 2 month televized affair, culminating with the GOP caving, but not before the S&P downgraded the US (and in the process breaking the US stock market), Zero Hedge has long been analyzing the chronology of future debt breaches, as with the presidential election in November, what happens in the months and weeks ahead of it as pertains to the number one problem facing America - its lethal debt addiction - will be by far the biggest weakness of Obama's campaign. ************** Obama’s budget calls for pay raises; federal workforce size would remain flat Video: President Obama unveiled a $3.8 trillion spending plan on Monday for 2013 that seeks to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade but does little to restrain growth in the government's huge health benefit programs. ************** On the Dole: A fifth of all Americans Skyrocketing food-stamp enrollments over the last few years have played a notable role in this year’s presidential race, but it’s not just food stamps that have exploded — it’s entitlements, generally: housing subsidies, Medicaid rolls, college loans and much, much more. ************** Ryan: President’s Budget Ensures Debt Crisis and Decline President’s budget reveals broken promises, failed leadership and a diminished future ************** Moody's Downgrades Italy, Spain, Portugal And Others; Puts UK, France On Outlook Negative ************** China Instructs Banks to Roll Over $1.7 Trillion in Debt to Avoid Mass Default A few years ago local Chinese municipalities had little debt. Today they have a $1.7 trillion mountain of it, nearly all of it financing economically non-viable projects in the name of "stimulus". ************** Social Security Plan Symbolizes Entitlement Failure Social Security's disability program is a political quagmire — and a metaphor for why federal spending and budget deficits are so difficult to control. The numbers are too big; the details, too complicated; and the choices, when faced, too wrenching. ************** Greek lawmakers approve austerity bill as Athens burns The Greek parliament approved a deeply unpopular austerity bill to secure a second EU/IMF bailout and avoid national bankruptcy, as buildings burned across central Athens and violence spread around the country. ************** Charting The Federal Reserve's Assets - 1915-2012 Here we present a history of the Fed in charts. As you’ll surely glean from the below — the Fed has degenerated from a by and large passive institution (dealing only in high-quality self-liquidating commercial paper and gold) to an active pursuant of junk, an enabler of wars, a ‘benevolent’ combatant of the depressions of its own creation, a central planner of employment & prices and of course a forgiving friend to inconvenient market follies. ************** Congress Eyes New Rules For Inherited IRAs A surprise proposal in Congress to drum up tax revenue from inherited IRAs is raising eyebrows—and making some financial advisers nervous. *************** International *************** U.K.: Boy, 7, branded a racist for asking schoolmate: 'Are you brown because you come from Africa?' The mother of a seven-year-old boy was told to sign a school form admitting he was racist after he asked another pupil about the colour of his skin. ************** Russia slams Latvia for rejecting second language Moscow on Sunday slammed Latvia for rejecting Russian as a second language in a highly emotive referendum that exposed the tensions lingering in the Baltic nation since its years under Soviet rule. ************** A "Crystal Ball View Of Europe In 2022" http://www.zerohedge.com/news/crystal-ball-view-europe-2022 ************** Full-scale tank built from more than 5,000 egg cartons and 26 litres of glue For those who like their eggs with soldiers, this full-scale tank is an eggshell-lent idea – as it's built from more than 5,000 egg cartons. ************** UK: Police can monitor file download histories Police officers have been tracking when downloaders of copyright-infringing files have deleted their download histories, according to the Serious Organised Crime Agency. ************** German bestiality brothels spur call for animal sex ban Madeleine Martin, the animal protection official for Hessian state government, said the law needed to be changed to make sex abuse of animals – known as zoophilia – a crime. ************** Russia Blunders in South Ossetia Russia’s 2008 campaign against Georgia secured the independence of the border regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but it has curried considerably less favor in the region since then. ************** Chavez allies attack new opponent Capriles as Jewish, gay Allies of President Hugo Chavez are bombarding Venezuela's newly anointed opposition leader Henrique Capriles with attacks, questioning his sexuality, disparaging his Jewish roots and casting doubt on the legitimacy of the primary vote. ************** Greek economy spirals down as EU forces final catharsis A Greek default and traumatic ejection from the euro moved a step closer last night after eurozone finance ministers cancelled a crucial meeting, accusing Athens of failing to flesh out austerity cuts. ************** Mr Chávez, meet the opposition So Hugo Chávez’s challenger in October’s presidential elections has finally been decided, with Henrique Capriles Radonski (pictured) convincingly seeing off his opponents in primary elections on Sunday. ************** Syria Resumes Shelling, Rejecting U.N. Rebuke The Syrian government on Tuesday brushed aside a stern castigation from the top United Nations human rights official about its deadly attacks on civilians, calling her assessment propaganda as Syria’s military resumed what one activist described as the “brutal shelling” of the city of Homs. ************** Libya Tells UN Rights Council: “Gays threaten continuation of human race” Gays threaten the continuation of the human race, Libya’s delegate told a planning meeting of the UN Human Rights Council today, reported the Geneva-based UN Watch monitoring group. It was the first appearance in the 47-nation body by the post-Gaddafi government, whose membership was restored in November following Libya’s suspension in March. ************** Muslim Brotherhood Warns U.S. Aid Cut May Affect Egypt’s Peace Treaty With Israel A top Muslim Brotherhood official has warned that any cuts in U.S. aid to Egypt could affect Cairo’s peace treaty with Israel – the latest sign that Egypt’s emerging political forces intend to call Washington’s bluff over the diplomatic dispute triggered by a crackdown on non-governmental organizations. ************** Oliver Stone's son converts to Islam in Iran US filmmaker Sean Stone, son of Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone, converted to Islam on Tuesday in Iran, where he is making a documentary, he told AFP. *************** Opinion *************** Why Multiculturalism Is Racism “The worm inside the doctrine of multiculturalism is the lie that all cultures are worthy of equal respect and equally embracing of individual freedom and democracy.” - Dr. Salim Mansur Dr. Salim Mansur’s new book Delectable Lie: A Liberal Repudiation of Multiculturalism has been positively reviewed and endorsed by a handful of mainly conservative reviewers and distinguished intellectuals. ************** Over-regulated America The home of laissez-faire is being suffocated by excessive and badly written regulation ************** Saving Social Security with Personal Retirement Accounts There are two crises facing Social Security. First the program has a gigantic unfunded liability, largely thanks to demographics. Second, the program is a very bad deal for younger workers, making them pay record amounts of tax in exchange for comparatively meager benefits. ************** The scourge of deregulation President Obama has been using "deregulation" as a curse word since the 2008 campaign, and many liberals writing about lobbying tend to assume that all big business ever wants is deregulation. ************** Thought Monty's got a big Doom post for tomorrow, and while I don't have anything to add to it per se, I have a related thought. I grew up on the East Coast. For a while, I lived in California. I was blown away to learn that people could just start bonfires on the beach, whenever they liked. Now, to be honest, I learned on this when the government was trying to crack down on the practice, but I was blown away at the idea that a private citizen could, in this country, previous to changes in this law at least, simply create a bonfire on the beach and enjoy it. Just because he wanted to. ************** Perils of the Welfare state We do not live in an ideal world. Ideally, we would not be in the mess we're in right now. Ideally, we'd have an electorate that would understand the long-term harm their addition to welfare dollars is. Ideally, the government would stick to the functions proper to a government and leave the citizens to lead their own lives as they see fit. Ideally, no welfare state would be necessary because the citizens would recognize it for the untenable and liberty-sapping lie that it is. ************** Today's Humans Ready to Love Tomorrow's Robots ************** Why Every House Conservative Should Oppose the Highway Bill ************** Europe in the Rearview Mirror The Dream and the Nightmare The European Union was always a paradox. Its existence was predicated entirely on the notion of German guilt, translating into massive cash transfers east and south. Just as Versailles was supposed to have restrained Germany, then a divided, postwar Germany, then NATO integration and the common Soviet enemy, and then the EU — and now what next? *************** |
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