HEADLINES

Thursday, January 13, 2011

US Based Muslim Terror Org. To Muslim Community "Don't Talk To The FBI"

by Scott Baker



US Based Muslim Terror Org. To Muslim Community "Don't Talk To The FBI": "

Two years ago the word guilty was read in a Dallas court room a total of 108 times, as a jury convicted the Holy Land foundation, and each of the associated defendants of raising money to fund Hamas terrorism. Implicated a long with those convicted was supposed civil rights organization CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations which lobbies the government from its headquarters in Washington DC. CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land case as evidence in the trial showed them to be a offspring of the same Muslim Brotherhood who created Hamas and other terrorist groups.



With CAIRs background as an arm of a world-wide terrorist network within the United States, it is not surprising that they have a poster created to tell Muslims to avoid any connection with the FBI.









The poster above was used to announce a February 9th event at the East Side Cultural Center in Oakland.

The poster was designed in the late 1970s or early 1980s and has been reproduced by various groups and activists since then in response to alleged harassment by the FBI and to protest grand jury subpoenas.

“I think it’s subject to misinterpretation,” spokesman Ibrahim Hooper told Fox News Radio when speaking about the poster. “We decided out of extreme caution to take it down.”
Misinterpretation? What could be misinterpretation? Did they mean build a fence instead of build a wall? Oh, I know when they said "Don't Talk To The FBI" they meant US Muslims shouldn't talk but whisper. Come on this is the same double-speak CAIR pulls over the eyes of TV hosts when they appear to claim that Islamic terrorism has nothing to do with Muslims.

Hooper conceded the poster “crosses the line,” but refused to renounce the artwork and blamed critics for fomenting what he called a manufactured controversy.



“The entire American-Muslim community is under the microscope right now with a cottage industry of Muslim bashers,” he said. “We’re used to this kind of attack by the Islamophobic hate machine and in this case there is some justification in terms of the possibility of misinterpretation of this poster.”
Ah, old faithful, Islamophobia.



However, former FBI assistant director Bill Gavin told Fox News Radio the poster is sending the wrong message to the Muslim community.



“It sends out a real negative attitude to the Islamic community of what the FBI is really all about,” Gavin said. “This is just a propaganda tool to try and thwart an active investigation into criminal acts by a would-be terrorist group.”



“Why wouldn’t you talk to the FBI,” Gavin wondered. “If, in fact, there is something being done to destroy the image of Islam in the United States, then it should be stopped. We should put a positive face on Islam -- not Islamic extremists.”
Aye, as they say there's the rub because anytime any media out interviews people from CAIR that is exatcly what they are doing putting a positive face on Islamic extremists.
Please email me at yidwithlid@aol.com to be put onto my mailing list.
Feel free to reproduce any article but please link back to http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com
"

Mexican Gunmen Shoot Across Border at Texas Road Crew

by Jim Hoft



Mexican Gunmen Shoot Across Border at Texas Road Crew: "

Mexican gunmen shot across the border today at a road crew working 70 miles from El Paso.

KVIA reported, via Free Republic:


Hudspeth County, Texas Sheriff Arvin West confirmed a Hudspeth County road crew came under fire Thursday morning from gunmen in Mexico.


Sheriff West told ABC-7 that around 10:30 a.m, Thursday a road crew was repairing a part of Indian Hot Springs road, just east of Neely’s crossing in Hudspeth County along the US-Mexico border when they came under gunfire from the Mexican side.


The crew was able to escape unharmed and managed to call for help. Units from the Texas Department of Public Safety, Border Patrol and Hudspeth County sheriff’s deputies responded within minutes. They were able to determine the shots came from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande but were unable to spot the actual gunmen.


West added this is the first time county crews have come under direct fire. No one was injured and no equipment was damaged.


Less than 70 miles, west of Hudspeth County, El Paso has had its share of bullets crossing the border.

"

Krauthammer: Rush has a Condescending View of What America Is Looking For In a President (Video)

by Jim Hoft



Krauthammer: Rush has a Condescending View of What America Is Looking For In a President (Video): "

Ruh-Roh. This can’t end well…

Krauthammer disagreed with Rush Limbaugh’s view of the Obama speech last night saying he has “a condescending view of much of America.”

Via Special Report:



Krauthammer disagreed with Rush’s assessment that the elites were slobbering all over the president’s speech last night.


“As one of the three slobberers on the set, let me say that I find it interesting that only the ruling class wants a president who is smart, articulate and oratorial in delivering a funeral oration. It’s an odd and rather condesending view of what the rest of America is looking for in their president.”


I think Charles missed the point.

"

Video: Sarah Palin's Facebook Page Being Scrubbed in Real Time

from Little Green Footballs



Video: Sarah Palin's Facebook Page Being Scrubbed in Real Time: "

Following the shootings in Arizona, Sarah Palin's Facebook drones went into overdrive, scrubbing any and all criticism from her page. Someone captured this video showing the comments disappearing as fast as they're posted; I don't know what the final count of deleted comments is, but it has to be in the tens of thousands. Watch the numbers...



[Video]

"

Limbaugh vs. Krauthammer? Columnist calls radio talker ‘odd and condescending’

from The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment



Limbaugh vs. Krauthammer? Columnist calls radio talker ‘odd and condescending’: "Conservative figures have clashing views of Obama's University of Arizona speech"

After Praising Coal Industry – For the First Time Ever Team Obama Revokes Coal Permit

from The Gateway Pundit by Jim Hoft



After Praising Coal Industry – For the First Time Ever Team Obama Revokes Coal Permit: "

On Sunday April 25, 2010, President Barack Obama attended the memorial service in West Virginia for the 29 miners who perished in the nation’s worst mining disaster in 25 years. During his speech to the families Obama praised the coal miners and “the fruits of their labor that so often we take for granted.”


“Five miles into a mountain. The only light, the lamp on their caps. Day after day they would burrow into the coal. The fruits of their labor that so often we take for granted. The electricity that lights up a convention center; that lights up our church or our home our school our office. The energy that powers our country. The energy that powers the world.


President Obama praised the coal industry at the miner memorial service.


Today the Obama Administration, for the first time ever, blocked an already approved bid to build one of the largest mountaintop removal coal mines in Appalachian history.

The Politico reported:


The Obama administration Thursday reversed a Bush-era decision and blocked a bid to build one of the largest mountaintop removal coal mines in Appalachian history.


For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency is revoking a permit already issued, taking back its approval for Arch Coal’s Spruce No.1 mine in southern West Virginia. EPA said the mine would cause unacceptable damage to local waterways and public health.


EPA’s decision is a major victory for environmental groups, who have fought against the mine since it was proposed more than a decade and cements agency administrator Lisa Jackson’s status as their environmental hero. The George W. Bush administration had approved the Clean Water Act permit in 2007.


“In sharp contrast to the previous administration’s policies on mountaintop removal coal mining, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is showing a strong commitment to the law, the science and the principles of environmental justice,” Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune said today. “She deserves enormous credit for changing policies to protect Appalachia’s health, land and water.”


But EPA’s critics are vowing to battle the decision in the courts, Congress and the White House.


Remember: When democrats talk about serious solutions to this nation’s energy problems – They’re lying.

"

Term 'Blood Libel' Used on MSNBC in 2000 in Reference to Bush, In 2006 to Kerry Without Objection by Network Hosts

from NewsBusters.org | Exposing Liberal Media Bias by Ken Shepherd



Term 'Blood Libel' Used on MSNBC in 2000 in Reference to Bush, In 2006 to Kerry Without Objection by Network Hosts: "







While the liberal media, particularly Obama acolytes at MSNBC, immediately jumped down former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's throat for her use of the term "blood libel" in a video statement yesterday, it appears the network has not always thundered with righteous indignation at the use of the term.



Tthere was no reaction from MSNBC's Chris Matthews in 2000 when Jack Kemp used the term to describe a harsh radio ad the NAACP had used against then-Gov. George W. Bush (R-Texas) nor in 2006 when Mike Barnicle used the term in reference to Sen. John Kerry having been criticized by a group of Vietnam War swift boat veterans.



Kemp used the term on the December 19, 2000 edition of "Hardball," while he and Matthews were discussing why so few black Americans actually voted for Bush. In that exchange, Kemp lamented as "blood libel" a harsh ad the NAACP National Voter Fund ran that suggested Bush had blood on his hands for failing to support a hate crimes bill.



Here's the relevant portion (emphasis mine):







KEMP: ...I think racial reconciliation in America is a key issue, a very important issue, and I've got to say this as a Republican, and the party of Lincoln cannot lose 92 percent of the African-American vote any more in this century.





MATTHEWS: Right. Why, you know, I looked at the stats yesterday, Jack. Apparently the number for Republican voting in the party is lower than it was. You have to go back to the Goldwater campaign in '64, and he opposed for, I think constitutional reasons, the Civil Rights Act in '64, to get as low a black vote for Republicans. Why is it getting worse for your party?





KEMP: Oh, that pains me. Having played professional football for 13 years, having been Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, I've been talking with J.C. Watts and a lot of African-Americans throughout the country, no one thinks it's good for America to have such a split between black and white. It isn't good for Democrats to take the black vote for granted. It isn't good for the Republican Party to write it off and I don't, I'm not accusing anybody of writing it off, including Bob Dole and Jack Kemp.





But it isn't good for our democracy. My hope is that we make this a very high priority in the early part of this decade and century. I think George Bush, again, meeting with black pastors. He should meet with the Congressional Black Caucus. He ought to talk about things that are important to this country. That doesn't mean he has to kiss anybody's ring, but this country really has to deal with racial reconciliation and I believe George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell can be a redeeming presidency here in these first four or hopefully eight years.





MATTHEWS: Do you think the way, do you think that the Democrats exploited this? I mean the NAACP ran an ad this year...





KEMP: Oh, that was sad.





MATTHEWS: ... basically blaming Bush for the James Byrd horror story because they said he wouldn't back a hate crime, even though he actually, he, you know, he -- they're executing those people.





KEMP: Oh, I served in the Congress with Kweisi Mfume. He, I want to say, is a friend of mine. I talked to him before George W. Bush spoke at the NAACP during the campaign and Kweisi is a man of integrity.





I really can't believe, and I just say this without any knowledge ahead of time, I don't believe that Kweisi Mfume, in my opinion, would have allowed, could have allowed, would have funded such a brutal, brutal ad hominem blood libel ad against George W. Bush.




Six years later, on the October 31, 2006 "Scarborough Country," MSNBC contributor Mike Barnicle lamented that Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) had not effectively handled the Swift Boat Veterans attack on his credibility two years prior (emphasis mine) and thus had a lack of credibility in his ongoing critique of the war in Iraq:




The problem for Kerry here is that two years ago, Joe, he did not talk like that when he was undergoing a blood libel by the Swift Boat people. If he had stood up two years ago, in July of 2004, and looked into the cameras with the same intensity he showed today on this issue and said, Hey, I didn`t see Dick Cheney on the bow of my boat in the Mekong Delta, we might have a different president today. That didn`t happen then, and so he`s playing catch-up in terms of his reputation now.


"

Banks Sell Bonds at Fastest Pace in Five Years: India Credit

from BusinessWeek - Business News, Stock Market & Financial Advice



Banks Sell Bonds at Fastest Pace in Five Years: India Credit: "India’s banks are cutting bond holdings at the fastest pace in five years, deterred by accelerating inflation and the widest swings in debt prices in six months."

EPA revokes permit for hilltop mining in West Virginia

from CNN.com - U.S.



EPA revokes permit for hilltop mining in West Virginia: "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Thursday revoked a permit for one of the nation's largest mountaintop removal mining projects, saying it would destroy water, wildlife and Appalachian communities in West Virginia.


"

AP Praises Hateful Radical Dupnik – Links Shooting Rampage to Arizona’s “Shameful” Politics

by Jim Hoft



AP Praises Hateful Radical Dupnik – Links Shooting Rampage to Arizona’s “Shameful” Politics: "

Obviously, the AP didn’t get the White House memo to “shut it.”

Tonight the AP praised far left radical Sheriff Clarence Dupnik and linked the mass murder on Saturday to Arizona immigration policy.




President Barack Obama shakes hands with Sheriff Clarence Dupnik as he and first lady Michelle Obama arrive in Tucson, Ariz., to attend a memorial service for victims of last Saturday’s shooting rampage that killed six people and left 14 injured, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)


The AP reported:


The woman was a native Arizonan, her family going back six generations. Hours after her congresswoman was gunned down at a neighborhood supermarket, she stood at a candlelight vigil on a street corner and clutched a sign that read “Peace.”


Margaret Robles lamented the shooting in the town where she’d lived all her 64 years. She praised Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, agonized for all the victims. But her sadness was mixed with shame.


“I’m embarrassed to say I’m from Arizona,” said the retired teacher’s aide. “Too many things are happening.”


Yes, acts of violence can, and do, happen anywhere. And the dismay over the nasty political rhetoric of past years — much discussed in the days since Saturday’s rampage — reaches far beyond this state’s borders.


Yet a feeling resonates among some in the days since the shooting: that Arizona has become the nation’s epicenter of divisiveness, the forefront of so much that’s gone wrong.


The local sheriff of 30 years, Clarence Dupnik, perhaps put it most bluntly, condemning his native state as “the mecca for prejudice and bigotry.”


“The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous,” he said. “And unfortunately Arizona, I think, has become sort of the capital.”


Just as the tragedy has prompted national politicians and citizens elsewhere to rethink who we are and where we’re going as a country, it has left some here questioning the identity and ideals of a state that has come to exemplify a radical, antiestablishment, we’ll-do-things-our-way approach to governing.


The “meth lab of democracy,” comedian Jon Stewart called it last year, after Republican Gov. Jan Brewer signed the anti-immigration law that instructs police to demand proof of a questionable person’s legal status. The measure, which inspired nationwide protests, boycotts and a flurry of lawsuits, was signed within a week of another law making Arizona the third state allowing people to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.


By the way… The AP forgot to mention that a vast majority of Americans support Arizona’s “shameful” immigration law.

"

New Jersey lawmaker proposes licensing bicycles, what's next?

by Christian Tappe



New Jersey lawmaker proposes licensing bicycles, what's next?: "A New Jersey lawmaker has proposed a bill that would require people who ride bikes to register said bikes with the Motor Vehicle Commission. In exchange for ten dollars, bikers would receive a little license plate for their bike. How precious! And if they don’t? They’d be looking at $100 fine.

Aside from the asininity of...



"

Glenn Reynolds Explains the Lamestream Media’s Palin Obsession

by Jim Hoft



Glenn Reynolds Explains the Lamestream Media’s Palin Obsession: "

Glenn Reynolds attempted to explain the lamestream media’s Palin obsession today.


NICK GILLESPIE: Palin’s Not Complicit in Loughner Shooting, but She Sure Ain’t Presidential, Either. Has any other public figure ever had to try to act “Presidential,” though, while being accused of complicity in mass murder?


On the other hand, if (as isn’t clear to me) she actually wants to be President, she’ll have to learn to be Presidential. Barack Obama has had his problems in that department, too, and unlike Palin, he’s had the benefit of a desperately supportive and eager-to-please mainstream media.


Palin, on the other hand, has been royally screwed-over by that same media, and has managed to come back and beat them out again and again, from “death panels” to “blood libel.” And that engenders considerable sympathy. A musician friend of mine who’s not especially political emailed me the other day: “I don’t particularly care for Palin, but every time they do this to her, I find myself hoping she becomes President, out of pure spite.”


I understand the sentiment, but being screwed over by the media, while it may breed sympathy, isn’t a qualification for being President. Richard Jewell was royally screwed over by the media, too, but he didn’t belong in the White House because of it. if Palin is to be elected President, it’s not going to be on a sympathy vote.


But here’s what’s going on in the dance between Palin and what she calls the “lamestream” media: Every time they attack her, they wind up doing something that hurts them worse than it hurts her. She may not become President, and she may not even want to be President — though, regardless, it’s in her interest to keep everyone guessing as long as possible — but with little more than an Internet connection and Facebook she’s done more lasting harm to their position than anybody else. Last night Barack Obama threw them under the bus over the whole “rhetoric” question, just hours after she had managed to work them into a snarling frenzy with an Internet video. Even though it’s hurting them, they can’t — and I mean, literally, psychologically can’t — leave her alone. And she’s getting rich the whole time.


So I don’t know about “Presidential,” but who’s dumb, here?

"

Milking the Tragedy Part 6,492: John Kerry Wants to Spend More on Green Energy

by Van Helsing



Milking the Tragedy Part 6,492: John Kerry Wants to Spend More on Green Energy: "

Let's see, how else can liberals demonstrate their utter shamelessness by exploiting the tragedy in Tucson? I know: by using it to push infrastructure spending and budget-busting 'green energy' boondoggles.



Congresswoman 's Gabrielle Giffords' (D-Ariz.) shooting in Tucson, Ariz., last weekend has brought up several questions about the partisan nature of our current political climate. But today Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said in a speech at the left-leaning policy think tank Center for American Progress that working in a bipartisan manner on infrastructure and clean energy could help overcome the 'divisive political rhetoric' in the wake of the Tucson tragedy.


"In the weeks and months ahead, the real issue we need to confront isn't just what role divisive political rhetoric may have played on Saturday — but it's the violence divisive, overly simplistic dialogue does to our democracy every day," Kerry said.


The preferred way to confront simplistic dialogue is to plunge ever deeper into debt by throwing money we don't have at politically correct, pie in the sky green energy projects, rather than extracting the efficient energy from under our feet.



Drones Lurch:



"[quack quack quack quack quack] … in this time of crisis and mourning, in this time of challenge and opportunity, we need to commit to reaching across the aisle, as colleagues did before us, to unite to do the exceptional things that will … [quack quack quack quack quack]"


Open your wallets, America. Do it for Gabby.



KERRY-REPORTING-FOR-DUTY.jpg

Hanoi John, reporting for spending.


On a tip from Mats. Hat tip: Weasel Zippers.

"

Did Speaker Boehner Really Snub AZ Memorial Service?

by Meredith Jessup


Did Speaker Boehner Really Snub AZ Memorial Service?: "

According to the New York Daily News, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, opted to attend an inside-the-beltway Republican National Committee cocktail party rather than accept an invitation from President Obama to fly on Air Force One to attend Wednesday evening‘s memorial rally for the victims of last Saturday’s shooting.


Does this really sound plausible?


Not really, yet many liberal Democrats were criticizing Boehner Thursday for “skipping out” on Wednesday’s memorial service to host a “cocktail party” for the RNC.


“It is disrespectful for Speaker Boehner to skip joining the President’s and bipartisan congressional delegation to the Tucson Memorial so he could host a Washington D.C. cocktail party for RNC members,” a Democratic leadership aide told Politico.


In actuality, the House of Representatives held a vigil for the victims of Saturday’s shootings on Wednesday. With Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi en route to Arizona with President Barack Obama, Boehner opted to stay in Washington to attend the House vigil. If Boehner had accepted President Obama’s invitation, then leaders of both parties would have missed the Wednesday vigil, liberal blog site Talking Points Memo notes.


Presented with this recollection of events, Boehner’s spokesman Michael Steel confirmed, and defended his boss. “Boehner would not have been able to attend the bipartisan prayer service if he’d gone to Tucson,” he said. “Yesterday, Rep. Giffords’ colleagues on both sides of the aisle honored her and mourned those who were lost. The Speaker felt his place was here in the House, with them.”


Additionally, Boehner‘s office corrected rumors being floated around the blogosphere about the Speaker’s “cocktail party” attendance. According Boehner’s office, the Republican leader spoke at the RNC event for just three minutes before departing to watch President Obama’s speech on television.


A number of liberal talking heads noticed Boehner’s absence Wednesday evening and proceeded to pile on unfair attacks and mischaracterizations. But to their credit, TPM notes that the “narrative taking hold — that Boehner rejected a ride on Air Force One in order to attend an RNC event — is more complicated than the soundbites.”


Politico’s assistant managing editor Jeanne Cummings appeared on MSNBC earlier today to try and dispel the rumors:



Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

"

Tackling Deficits: The Chicago Way, and the Other Way

by Mike Brownfield



Tackling Deficits: The Chicago Way, and the Other Way: "

While it’s being reported that every state (except Florida) had snow on the ground this week, 46 states are digging out of another kind of mess — a combined deficit of at least $127 billion. Democratic and Republican state leaders alike are grappling with structural budget deficits, many of whom are proposing budget cuts to tackle the problem.


But then there’s Illinois.


President Barack Obama’s home state is beleaguered by a $15 billion budget deficit that is said to be the worst in the nation. And apparently the last thing on Democrat Gov. Pat Quinn’s mind is budget cuts. Instead, he intends to sign a bill passed by the state legislature that would raise state income tax by 67 percent (from 3 to 5 percent) and borrow $12.2 billion to pay the bills ($6.2 billion of which are past-due). (Quinn campaigned on a pledge to only raise taxes by one percentage point.)


Some in his own party are questioning the strategy. Illinois’ News-Democrat quotes State Rep. Tom Holbrook (D):


“I don’t think we need to dig ourselves in any deeper,” said Holbrook, adding he wants Quinn’s staff to tell “us where they’re going to make cuts before we even look at revenue. This is a crisis.”


Likewise, State Sen. Bill Haine (D) said, “I’d like to see a iron lid on spending.” Meanwhile, Quinn’s plan to raise taxes didn’t garner a single Republican vote, and 10 Democrats voted “no.”


There are some folks who will benefit from Quinn’s decision to raise taxes by some $7 billion. None of them are in Illinois, though. In Wisconsin, newly elected Gov. Scott Walker (R) wants to launch an advertising campaign aimed at encouraging Illinois businesses to move north to escape the tax increases. Likewise, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) sees a boon for his state. “It’s like living next door to ‘The Simpsons’ — you know, the dysfunctional family down the block,” Daniels said.


Fortunately, the Quinn way isn’t the only way. Even Democratic leaders in traditionally liberal states are seeing that tax hikes and borrowing aren’t the only option, and it’s not a party-line issue. Take California, for example. Newly elected Gov. Jerry Brown (D) faces a $28 billion deficit and has proposed $12 billion in cuts to the state’s higher education system, health care and social service programs (in addition to $12 billion in new taxes). Quoth Brown:


No more smoke and mirrors on the budget. No empty promises. Second: No new taxes unless the people vote for them. And third: Return as much as possible -— decisions and authority — to cities, counties and schools.


And though cuts to education and social programs aren’t big winners for the left, even Democratic leaders in the state legislature seem to be on board. The president pro tem of the state senate, Darrell Steinberg (D), pledged his confidence that he can get the budget cuts through his caucus.


Jumping from the West coast to the East coast, New York has its share of problems, too. The Empire State faces a budget deficit of $10 billion (that is projected to grow to $17 billion by 2014). Incoming Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has declared the state to be in crisis and, as Reuters reports, is “proposing solutions long championed by Republicans to control a soaring budget deficit, overhaul Medicaid and reform a dysfunctional government.” He’s pledging not to increase taxes or rely on borrowing while proposing cuts, freezing state workers’ wages, keeping spending increases at the rate of inflation, and easing mandates on local government.


Budget cuts and a distaste for new taxes. That’s a sharp contrast to the tack taken by Illinois’ Gov. Quinn. It’s also the message that voters brought to the polls in November when they sent a whole new crop of representatives to Congress. The reality of the high cost of spending is hitting states hard, and it’s likewise a problem for the United States as a whole. Heritage notes that, “Even with $3 trillion in tax increases over the next decade, the President’s budget would double the national debt to more than $20 trillion ($138,000 per household) by 2020.” The new Congress should look to cut spending, and they can start with $343 billion in available cuts in FY 2012.


Congress should also take heed that what is happening in Illinois on a micro scale can happen to the United States on a macro scale. Just as other Midwestern states are looking to lure businesses away from Illinois’ bad economic environment, other countries can attract businesses and jobs away from the United States. And businesses don’t have to look far. As The Heritage Foundation’s 2011 Index of Economic Freedom shows, Canada ranks higher than the United States in economic freedom and has improved its long-term competitiveness thanks in part to straightforward regulations and a declining corporate tax rate. Meanwhile, the United States is not the free economy it once was, largely due to last year’s government spending spree, leading to fragile business confidence and crushing public debt. The result? Eroded economic freedom and weakened long-term competitiveness.


Members of Congress should take a cue from the states that are looking at spending cuts to tackle their deficits. But they should also learn Illinois’ lesson — creating a bad environment for business can be your neighbor’s economic gain.

"

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee Bans Talk Radio

by Rory Cooper



Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee Bans Talk Radio: "


In what could only be described as a bizarre and illogical first move as the newly elected governor of Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee (I) announced a ban on state employees having any contact with radio broadcasters. The move is part of a broader attack on radio broadcasters by liberals across the nation in the wake of the tragedy in Arizona.


Shortly after the heartbreaking incident in Tucson, liberals across the spectrum immediately began assigning blame for it, without evidence, to conservatives and the tone of rhetoric in today’s politics. Even after this notion was completely debunked as anything was learned of the shooter, Jared Loughner, liberal leaders persisted. Even after President Obama wisely rebuked such a suggestion in his Tucson address.


Congressman Bob Brady (D-PA) chose to introduce a bill that would limit the exercise of free speech to that which a member of congress agrees with, dismissively saying: “Let the Supreme Court deal with freedom of speech. Let the Supreme Court deal with the Constitution. Congress passes laws. That’s what we do.”


Congressman Jim Clyburn (D-SC) and Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) chose to call for a return to the Fairness Doctrine, looking for a better way “to control our airwaves.” Of course, Congress censoring the airwaves was an idea rejected long ago. In fact, the Fairness Doctrine was in place when President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated, so its connection with the incident in Arizona is nothing but opportunism on the part of elected leaders looking to stifle free speech and debate.


Taking a cue from Clyburn and Slaughter, Governor Chafee didn’t even wait for the FCC to take action against radio broadcasters, and instead muzzled all state employees unilaterally. Chafee’s spokesman defended the decision saying talk-radio is “ratings-drive, for-profit programming” and went on to say they don’t “think it is appropriate to use taxpayer resources” -in the form of state employee work time to- “support for-profit, ratings-driven programming.”


This attempt to conceal their personal animosity towards one broadcast vehicle and the free speech platform it provides is simply illogical and obtuse. If the problem is simply that radio hosts are “for-profit” than any media ban would absolutely have to include television, print newspapers and the internet. Since almost all media is a business enterprise. But of course, it does not. If the problem was that radio is “ratings-driven” then even National Public Radio (NPR) and PBS television would be off-limits since they absolutely pay attention and promote ratings as well.


And to wage a battle against a broadcast medium rather than simply choosing not to go on a particular show, as Chafee has done in the past, simply demonstrates a lack of awareness of how the media operates in the 21st century. Americans are no longer tied to three networks for news, and a handful of newspapers. If they don’t like a personality on Twitter, they can unfollow them. If they don’t like a newspaper, they can choose from thousands of publications online. If they don’t like a television show or network, they can flip to one of the many other choices. And if they don’t like a radio host, they can strategically choose another show to listen to, or appear on.


Americans need to celebrate the media choices available to them today, rather than allow elected leaders to try and limit their options and access to news and analysis through raw government dictates like the Fairness Doctrine or Chafee’s radio ban.


Seeing that their crusade against the airwaves was lacking intellectual substance, Governor Chafee today announced that the ban may only be temporary. Chafee denied it had anything to do with the criticism he himself faces from radio hosts saying: “we can’t be diverted with all the nonsense on talk-radio,” adding “it’s more entertainment than journalism.”


Whether Governor Chafee has any respect for those who take to the airwaves each day to report and analyze the news isn’t important. He does not need to respect them. But what he does need to do is respect their power to exercise their first amendment rights without fear of government retribution.


As an elected official, Governor Chafee should know that he cannot build consensus on issues facing the state, or the actions he plans to take without properly explaining his agenda to the people of Rhode Island. He certainly is aware of this, since he often took to the same radio airwaves he now seeks to ban as he was campaigning for the office of governor.


If Chafee chooses to use the tragedy of Arizona to further a goal of silencing his critics, it will be a terrible precedent for civil and free discourse. Rhetoric is not inherently uncivil simply because it disagrees with the liberalism Chafee espouses.


As President Obama said last night in his Tucson address: “[I]t’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.” Using this tragedy to satisfy a grudge against an entire broadcast spectrum is not a strategy of healing, but will only further divide our nation and our discourse.

"

Levin: Obama’s speech was anything but presidential

by therightscoop



Levin: Obama’s speech was anything but presidential: "Levin says that he was a little offended that after four days of people in Obama’s own party libeling innocent Americans, that instead of encouraging his own party to be more civil and to stop laying blame for this, Obama lectured all Americans on civility even though they didn’t have anything to di with it. [...]"

Rush: We don’t need lectures from uncivil leftists

by therightscoop



Rush: We don’t need lectures from uncivil leftists: "Rush wonders what the civil response would be to the incivility of the left. He cites example after example and then begins to list their false accusations against him and others. But what is sure to be the take away line from this is a short statement aimed directly at the Left that is sure [...]"

EPA Handing Out Millions in Taxpayer Money to Study Combination of Pollution and ‘Social Stressors’ in Poor Neighborhoods

by Editor



EPA Handing Out Millions in Taxpayer Money to Study Combination of Pollution and ‘Social Stressors’ in Poor Neighborhoods: "

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has made environmental justice a top priority for her agency. The EPA defines environmental justice as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people — regardless of race, color, national origin, or income — with respect to the development and enforcement of environmental laws and regulations.


By Penny Starr at CNSNews.com


EXCERPTS:


Last year, the EPA made a public commitment to address “disproportionate environmental health impacts,” said Paul Anastas, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “This research could pave the way for more interdisciplinary work that is responsive to community concerns and environmental justice.”


The $7 million in grants, to be distributed through 2014, will go to a study, portions of which are being conducted at the following universities, including one in Taiwan:


University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in New York; University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; University of Texas School of Public Health; National Chiao-Tung University; University of Texas Anderson Cancer Center; Boston University; University of Texas School of Public Health; University of North Carolina; University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston; and Harvard School of Public Health, Channing Laboratory.


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"

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