Los Angeles City Council Passes Islamic Law Resolution: (Sharia) Blasphemy Enforcement

from Atlas Shrugs by Pamela Geller

Los Angeles City Council Passes Islamic Law Resolution: (Sharia) Blasphemy Enforcement: "

"Islamophobia" is enforcement of Islamic blasphemy laws. Islamic law (sharia) commands no candor, no criticism of Islam. Blasphemy laws.

It is shocking that this side of Sodom and Gomorrah is passing Islamic resolutions. No one in America gives a rats ass what and who you worship, just don't force it upon us. I don't care if you worship a stone, just don't stone me with it. And stop telling us how many Muslims don't commit jihadi acts. Of course they don't. So what? I don't believe in rewarding people for doing the right thing. I don't believe in congratulating people for not committing acts of violence against members outside of their religion.

The LA Council's recent passage of a resolution that opposes "Islamophobia" and "repudiates" random acts of violence against Muslims is a step back centuries into the dark ages. According to the FBI, "hate crime" against Muslims is at its lowest in a decade but acts of jihad are at accelerating at warped speed. No resolutions against jihad, honor killings, misogyny, gender apartheid, Islamic antisemitism, kuffirophobia, etc.

Joe R. Hicks and David A. Lehrer: Hyperbole rules in Muslim debate LA Daily News

WITHOUT serious debate or examination, the Los Angeles City Council recently passed a resolution that opposes "Islamophobia" and "repudiates" random acts of violence against Muslims.

This admittedly ceremonial resolution apparently accepts the premise that residents of the city commit acts of hate against Muslims so often that it warrants an official resolution from city leaders condemning and repudiating these acts. Is this really the case?

According to the latest hate crime report from the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, 88 percent of all religiously based hate crimes in 2009 were against Jews. Hate crimes that targeted Muslims (3 percent) ranked slightly above those directed at Scientologists (1 percent). In fact, the commission found that attacks against Christians (8 percent) outnumbered attacks against Muslims.

In any case, the actual number of reported hate crimes based on religion is quite small. In a county that has more than 10 million highly diverse residents, only a total of 131 crimes based on religion took place in all of 2009. Of course, this in no way takes away from the emotional or physical harm that each and every one of these attacks causes.

Since only 3 percent of 131 hate crimes during 2009 was directed against Muslims, it's difficult to understand why city leaders would pass a resolution that zeroes in on the category that has the next-to-lowest numbers recorded by the County's Human Relations

Commission.

It appears that the City Council simply took information provided by an advocacy group, one that's hardly unbiased, and uncritically spat out a resolution opposing "Islamophobia" and "random acts of violence against Muslim-Americans."

This begs the question: Except for some Islam-hating cretins with sub-zero levels of intelligence, exactly who is in favor of random acts of violence against Muslims?

The term "Islamophobia" has crept into popular use, drummed into our consciousness by a sensationalized Time magazine cover story, and activists who exaggerate anti-Islamic bias for the causes they espouse. The term dominated the often angry debates that swirled around the plan to build a mosque 600 feet from Ground Zero in New York. While there are extremists at both the left and right ends of the political spectrum, the issues surrounding this controversial building project are far more complex than anti-Islamic bigotry.

Factually, there is no alarming number of attacks against Muslim-Americans. According to the FBI, the largest number of recorded hate crimes against Muslim-Americans took place in 2001. That year the number dramatically escalated from only 28 in 2000 to 481 in 2001 - the year that young Muslim men drove planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field outside of Shanksville, Pa., murdering 3,000 innocent Americans in the name of Islam.

Prior to the City Council resolution, the Muslim Public Affairs Council released a statement expressing skepticism about tactics used by law enforcement among Muslim-Americans. The statement referenced the recent and troubling incident where the FBI says a young Somali man in Portland, Ore., plotted to blow up a public Christmas tree lighting ceremony. The MPAC statement also mentioned a similar case in Baltimore, where the FBI says a Muslim convert planned to bomb a military recruitment center in that city.

This statement from MPAC is in effect a thinly veiled claim that government agents entrapped these wannabe-terrorists. But as we have discovered, this young man's dilemma in Portland was hardly entrapment - in fact, as we know, his father called the FBI to let them know about his son's growing jihadist views. Nonetheless, the claims from MPAC and other Islamic activists groups were taken seriously enough to cause a response from the nation's attorney general. Eric Holder gave a 20-minute speech in San Francisco at the annual dinner event of Muslim Advocates, an Islamic civil rights group.

Speaking forcefully, Holder told the group, "These types of operations have proven to be an essential law enforcement tool in uncovering and preventing potential terror attacks .... Those who characterize the FBI's activities as `entrapment' simply do not have their facts straight - or do not have a full understanding of the law."

But of course, the advocacy of causes may or may not take facts into account, nor always have a good understanding of the law.

Read the rest here.

"

Coded American Civil War message in bottle deciphered (BBC)

from memeorandum

Coded American Civil War message in bottle deciphered (BBC): "

BBC:

Coded American Civil War message in bottle deciphered — A message in a bottle delivered to a Confederate general during the American Civil War has been deciphered, 147 years after it was written. — In the encrypted message, a commander tells Gen John Pemberton that no reinforcements …

"

Video: Janet Napolitano Defends Intel Director’s Ignorance: ‘Those Of Us Who Needed to Know, Knew’

by The blogprof

Video: Janet Napolitano Defends Intel Director’s Ignorance: ‘Those Of Us Who Needed to Know, Knew’: "An update on last week's post: Video: Obama's U.S. Director of National Intelligence 'deer in headlights' moment: clueless and speechless on London terror arrests. Here's the brain fart caught on tape:

We're in the best of hands, folks! A week later, Napolitano - the same one who thinks there are only 364 days in a year that she needs to be doing her job of protecting America - came out on the circuit and defended that hapless James Clapper:

via BreitbartTV. Just to reaffirm that James Clapper is indeed the Director of National Intelligence. The key word being Intelligence.

"

Reading your wife's email on your own computer now a felony in Michigan

by The blogprof

Reading your wife's email on your own computer now a felony in Michigan: "Well this one hits pretty close to home. A Rochester Hills man, who's house I can likely walk to from my own, is being charged with a felony for reading his wife's email on his own computer even though his wife supplied him with the password to her account. They are now divorced because she was cheating on him (hubby #3) with hubby #2. I gotta think prosecutors around here have better things to do with their time. From The Detroit Free Press: Is reading wife's e-mail a crime? Rochester Hills man faces trial

In fairness, this guy was a moron for becoming husband #3

A Rochester Hills man faces up to 5 years in prison -- for reading his wife's e-mail.

Oakland County prosecutors, relying on a Michigan statute typically used to prosecute crimes such as identity theft or stealing trade secrets, have charged Leon Walker, 33, with a felony after he logged onto a laptop in the home he shared with his wife, Clara Walker.

Using her password, he accessed her Gmail account and learned she was having an affair. He now is facing a Feb. 7 trial. She filed for divorce, which was finalized earlier this month.

Legal experts say it's the first time the statute has been used in a domestic case, and it might be hard to prove.

'It's going to be interesting because there are no clear legal answers here,' said Frederick Lane, a Vermont attorney and nationally recognized expert who has published five books on electronic privacy. The fact that the two still were living together, and that Leon Walker had routine access to the computer, may help him, Lane said.

'I would guess there is enough gray area to suggest that she could not have an absolute expectation of privacy,' he said.

About 45% of divorce cases involve some snooping -- and gathering -- of e-mail, Facebook and other online material, Lane said. But he added that those are generally used by the warring parties for civil reasons -- not for criminal prosecution.

'It is an indication of how deeply electronic communication is woven into our lives,' Lane said.

Leon Walker was Clara Walker's third husband. Her e-mail showed she was having an affair with her second husband, a man who once had been arrested for beating her in front of her small son. Leon Walker, worried that the child might be exposed to domestic violence again, handed the e-mails over to the child's father, Clara Walker's first husband. He promptly filed an emergency motion to obtain custody.

If this stands up, how many parents are going to get sued for snooping on their kid's email? The above freep story has generated quite an interest with almost 300 comments and running. The poll is also telling:

Really, the prosecutors must have something better to do. For instance this: Illegal alien gets 3rd DUI; was going wrong way on Hall Rd. with wife, 1-year-old child. How about getting these guys off our streets?

"

Suckers! Obama Returns to End-of-Life Plan - Through Executive Fiat - That Caused Stir And Was Stripped From ObamaCare

by The blogprof

Suckers! Obama Returns to End-of-Life Plan - Through Executive Fiat - That Caused Stir And Was Stripped From ObamaCare: "It's not enough that death panels remained in ObamaCare and are now reaping havoc: ObamaCare Death Panels begin early: FDA pulls Avastin approval for breast cancer OVER COST CONCERNS. Obama wants a provision that was stripped out of ObamaCare to 'end of life counseling' in which doctors are incentivized to get patients to basically kill themselves via medical neglect. Essentially Obama's 'take a pain pill and die' strategy. To save costs of course. As you might suspect, Obama can;t get this legislation through Congress so he is instead going to push it through regulation just like so many other priorities:

From the New York Times via memeorandum: Obama Returns to End-of-Life Plan That Caused Stir

Under the new policy, outlined in a Medicare regulation, the government will pay doctors who advise patients on options for end-of-life care, which may include advance directives to forgo aggressive life-sustaining treatment.

Congressional supporters of the new policy, though pleased, have kept quiet. They fear provoking another furor like the one in 2009 when Republicans seized on the idea of end-of-life counseling to argue that the Democrats’ bill would allow the government to cut off care for the critically ill.

The final version of the health care legislation, signed into law by President Obama in March, authorized Medicare coverage of yearly physical examinations, or wellness visits. The new rule says Medicare will cover “voluntary advance care planning,” to discuss end-of-life treatment, as part of the annual visit.

Under the rule, doctors can provide information to patients on how to prepare an “advance directive,” stating how aggressively they wish to be treated if they are so sick that they cannot make health care decisions for themselves.

While the new law does not mention advance care planning, the Obama administration has been able to achieve its policy goal through the regulation-writing process, a strategy that could become more prevalent in the next two years as the president deals with a strengthened Republican opposition in Congress.

In other words, he's legislating through executive fiat. This is exactly the kind of thing that comes under the purview of Congress. Remember that Obama said on national TV that pain pills may be preferable to actual treatment:

Remember that next time you're in the doctor's office and he or she is trying to convince you to die for the 'greater good.' Lots of commentary on this throughout, including from Hot Air, Cubachi, Left Coast Rebel, Don Surber, Legal Insurrection, Weasel Zippers, Ann Althouse, Outside the Beltway, Scared Monkeys, Patterico's Pontifications, Liberty Pundits Blog, The Astute Bloggers, Conservatives4Palin, Fausta's Blog and JammieWearingFool

"

Jesse Jackson Jr.’s Response to Blogojevich Scandal: “Everyone of Us Has Erred”

by Jim Hoft

Jesse Jackson Jr.’s Response to Blogojevich Scandal: “Everyone of Us Has Erred”: "

Jesse Jackson Jr. spoke to reporters today about the recent scandals that have plagued his career.

The Illinois Representative told reporters, “Everyone of us has erred.”

You can tell he’s a lib.

The AP reported

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who has largely avoided the public eye of late, said in a rare interview Saturday that he is a public servant, not a perfect one, and didn’t rule out a future run at higher office.

Jackson, who has been dogged by links to the corruption case against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and questions about his own relationship with a female “social acquaintance,” told The Associated Press that he continually struggles with his “personal shortcomings.”

That includes mending his family relationships over the “immensely personal matter” of the female acquaintance and assessing his political ambitions, which once included Chicago mayor or U.S. senator.

“Every one of us has erred in their personal lives and while I don’t claim to be a perfect servant, I’m a public servant,” Jackson told the AP. “Often times we carry with us the burdens of our personal shortcomings even as we struggle to articulate and clarify a message that helps other people. That what I dedicated my life to.”

The congressman spoke to the AP after delivering a rousing Christmas message to hundreds of detainees at Cook County Boot Camp along with his father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson. It was an unusual public appearance for the congressman.

Jesse Jackson Jr. told the media in December 2008 that he was not a target in the Blagojevich investigation. He lied.

"

It Must Be Campaign Season: Obama Goes to Church – a “Rare Occurence”

by Jim Hoft

It Must Be Campaign Season: Obama Goes to Church – a “Rare Occurence”: "

Barack Obama must be looking ahead to 2012.

The Obama family went to church today, a “rare occurence” according to the media.

But, when Obama does go to church, he likes a lively sermon.

The AP reported:

President Barack Obama and his family took a break from their Hawaiian vacation to attend Sunday church services, a rare occurrence for a president who prefers to worship in private.

The first family arrived at a chapel at Marine Corps Base Hawaii mid-morning for a multi-denominational service. The Obamas were greeted by clapping parishioners and a band playing “Joy to the World” as they were led to their seats in the front row…

Obama was the first worshipper to take communion, dipping the wafer in wine before placing it in his mouth.

One in five Americans believe Obama is Muslim. So does the Saudi media.

"

It Must Be Campaign Season: Obama Goes to Church – a “Rare Occurence”

by Jim Hoft

It Must Be Campaign Season: Obama Goes to Church – a “Rare Occurence”: "

Barack Obama must be looking ahead to 2012.

The Obama family went to church today, a “rare occurence” according to the media.

But, when Obama does go to church, he likes a lively sermon.

The AP reported:

President Barack Obama and his family took a break from their Hawaiian vacation to attend Sunday church services, a rare occurrence for a president who prefers to worship in private.

The first family arrived at a chapel at Marine Corps Base Hawaii mid-morning for a multi-denominational service. The Obamas were greeted by clapping parishioners and a band playing “Joy to the World” as they were led to their seats in the front row…

Obama was the first worshipper to take communion, dipping the wafer in wine before placing it in his mouth.

One in five Americans believe Obama is Muslim. So does the Saudi media.

"

It Must Be Campaign Season: Obama Goes to Church – a “Rare Occurence”

by Jim Hoft

It Must Be Campaign Season: Obama Goes to Church – a “Rare Occurence”: "

Barack Obama must be looking ahead to 2012.

The Obama family went to church today, a “rare occurence” according to the media.

But, when Obama does go to church, he likes a lively sermon.

The AP reported:

President Barack Obama and his family took a break from their Hawaiian vacation to attend Sunday church services, a rare occurrence for a president who prefers to worship in private.

The first family arrived at a chapel at Marine Corps Base Hawaii mid-morning for a multi-denominational service. The Obamas were greeted by clapping parishioners and a band playing “Joy to the World” as they were led to their seats in the front row…

Obama was the first worshipper to take communion, dipping the wafer in wine before placing it in his mouth.

One in five Americans believe Obama is Muslim. So does the Saudi media.

"

‘Unexpectedly’! Global Warming Continues to Bury East Coast in Blizzard

from The Other McCain by Robert Stacy McCain


‘Unexpectedly’! Global Warming Continues to Bury East Coast in Blizzard: "“Atlanta and the Southeast were hit with a rare Christmas snowstorm Saturday.” In fact, it was my hometown’s first Christmas snowstorm since 1882 and The Blog Prof provides this video report: Speaking of professors who blog: Professor Glenn Reynolds has photos of cute dogs and horses in the snow, because chicks dig that stuff. William Teach is [...]"

Paper: 'No matter what the weather, it's all due to warming'...

from Drudge Report RSS Feed - Drudge Feed, Drudge RSS, Drudge XML


Paper: 'No matter what the weather, it's all due to warming'...: "
Paper: 'No matter what the weather, it's all due to warming'...


(First column, 7th story, link)

---

Related stories:

NYT: Bundle Up, It's Global Warming...

"

Blame Barney Frank for the "Great" Recession, Not George Bush

from YID With LID by Jeff Dunetz


Blame Barney Frank for the "Great" Recession, Not George Bush: "

The progressive Democrats in power must believe that the citizens of this country are absolute morons, either that or they haven’t read a newspaper in two years and don’t realize that George Bush is no longer president. The Democratic party plans on retaining their change message for their 2010. Their new tag line is “vote for us, or its back to the bad old economic policies of George Bush. That’s right Barack Obama and his progressive majority are going to campaign as if they were all still in kindergarten “Its not my fault….blame Bush.”

Not only is that approach childish, but it belies the truth. Allow me to suggest that the policies of Barney Frank had more to do with the bursting of the housing bubble, the resulting bank crisis and the “great recession,” than the policies of George Bush. Led by Frank the Democratic party brought down the banking industry by forcing banks to give loans to people who couldn’t afford them, then he blunted the Republican attempts to regulate the industry

Frank aggressively fought reform efforts by the Bush administration. He told The New York Times on Sept. 11, 2003, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s problems were “exaggerated.” Exaggerated? Thanks to Fannie and Freddie the housing market collapsed and we fell into this “great recession.”

“These two entities – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – are not facing any kind of financial crisis,” Frank Opined to the Times. “The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”

The 10/8/03 Washington Post reported that Frank opposed giving the Bush administration the approval rights over banking business activities that “could pose risk to the taxpayers.” He worried the Treasury Department “would sacrifice activities that are good for consumers in the name of lowering the companies’ market risks.”

In the video below Frank sits in a 9/10/03 House Financial Services Committee hearing and says Fannie and Freddie are sound, and there is no housing disaster coming.

Rep. Barney Frank (D., Mass.): I worry, frankly, that there’s a tension here. The more people, in my judgment, exaggerate a threat of safety and soundness, the more people conjure up the possibility of serious financial losses to the Treasury, which I do not see. I think we see entities that are fundamentally sound financially and withstand some of the disaster scenarios.

Two years later the United States was much closer to the bursting on the housing bubble. The Republicans in Congress introduced a bill to regulated Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Led by Barney Frank and Chris Dodd the bill was killed.

On June 27, 2005 Barney Frank stood up on the floor of the House of Representatives and told America that there is undue concern about the housing market and even though prices were growing very quickly the housing market is not like the Dot.Com industry, the housing bubble will not burst.

If the Guinness Book of World records had a hypocrisy category, the winner would be Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Banking Committee. Let me revise that, Frank wouldn’t be the winner, judging by his actions the Guinness people would have to retire the category.

When the housing bubble finally burst Mr. Frank called for prosecution of the people who caused the banking crisis, he should have looked in the mirror.

Barney Frank got away with his housing bubble hypocrisy and is still getting away with it. Fannie and Freddie are still asking the public for money, the economy is still in the toilet and the Democratic Party is still blaming President Bush.

While there were plenty of problems with George Bush’s policies, this recession has more to do with the policies of the progressive Democrats, than those of the former president. In fact, if the POTUS and his progressive lemmings were to be truthful, they should be blaming Barney Frank because when you examine what happened Frank is the one blocked the regulation of Fannie and Freddie and it was Frank who kept saying over and over there is no housing crisis.

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

"

Alabama Town's Failed Pension Is a Warning. Detroit Isn't Listening

from theblogprof by The blogprof


Alabama Town's Failed Pension Is a Warning. Detroit Isn't Listening: "From the New York Times a couple of days ago: Alabama Town's Failed Pension Is a Warning

This struggling small city on the outskirts of Mobile was warned for years that if it did nothing, its pension fund would run out of money by 2009. Right on schedule, its fund ran dry.

Then Prichard did something that pension experts say they have never seen before: it stopped sending monthly pension checks to its 150 retired workers, breaking a state law requiring it to pay its promised retirement benefits in full.

Since then, Nettie Banks, 68, a retired Prichard police and fire dispatcher, has filed for bankruptcy. Alfred Arnold, a 66-year-old retired fire captain, has gone back to work as a shopping mall security guard to try to keep his house. Eddie Ragland, 59, a retired police captain, accepted help from colleagues, bake sales and collection jars after he was shot by a robber, leaving him badly wounded and unable to get to his new job as a police officer at the regional airport.

Far worse was the retired fire marshal who died in June. Like many of the others, he was too young to collect Social Security. 'When they found him, he had no electricity and no running water in his house,' said David Anders, 58, a retired district fire chief. 'He was a proud enough man that he wouldn't accept help.'

The situation in Prichard is extremely unusual -- the city has sought bankruptcy protection twice -- but it proves that the unthinkable can, in fact, sometimes happen. And it stands as a warning to cities like Philadelphia and states like Illinois, whose pension funds are under great strain: if nothing changes, the money eventually does run out, and when that happens, misery and turmoil follow.

The city wants to cap pension benefits at $200 per month. Benefits used to be at $3,000 per month. Small haircut, no? The NYT apparently missed Detroit which is building up its resume as th most incompetent public entity to ever manage a pension: Risky bets cost Detroit pension funds $480 million since 2008. And by risky, the freep means that no business is done in the D sans corruption or graft or both.

Many of the investments involved secretive middlemen, who pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars, or were vetted by controversial investment adviser Adrian Anderson and his firm, North Point Advisors, the subjects of earlier Free Press investigations.

A federal grand jury and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating some of the deals that soured and Anderson's role in them, the Free Press has learned.

In the meantime, the pensions are paying the legal bills of Anderson and a second adviser who scrutinized failed real estate deals. That adviser received a grand jury subpoena in March.

...The combined losses are staggering for public pensions already battered by the financial crisis of 2008. The most recent annual report shows the funds had combined assets of $5.44 billion in June 2009, down from nearly $7.4 billion in June 2008.

If cash-strapped Detroit has to make up the shortfall, it could mean higher taxes or reduced services, such as fewer police on the street. But the chairs of the two pensions say the funds are not at risk of being unable to pay benefits.

As usual Detroit is - as I have mentioned many times on this blog - a pension and healthcare management entity that performs shoddy services on the side. The taxpayers now work for the public sector unions, not the other way around. No taxpayer should be on the hook for a public employee that no longer works for them. Yet pensions do just that. It's high time to bury the pension fossil and do what the private sector does - give out defined contributions. Of course, that would eliminate the graft and the corruptocrats that run the D won't have any of it. On a bigger scale, MI could save $5.7 billion a year by simply bringing public sector employment benefits in line with the private sector. Close to here in southeastern Michigan, a story similar to the one in Alabama: MI state denies Hamtramck permission to declare bankruptcy. The problem? Union bennies, as usual. Just what happens in case of bankruptcy? This:

More on the Alabama situation at Wall Street Journal, The Other McCain, National Review and Viking Pundit. HT: memeorandum

"

Obama administration installing “death panels.” Palin was right after all.

from Liberty Pundits Blog by Jennifer Caballero


Obama administration installing “death panels.” Palin was right after all.: "

After all the criticisms against Sarah Palin for calling out the death panels in Obamacare, turns out she was right after all.

The Obama administration is planning to install “end of life counseling” into the healthcare bill.

Related Posts

1. Q And O: Death Panels. What Death Panels?


2. Senate bill requires 67 vote supermajority to kill death panels


3. Uh Oh: CBO says Obama is lying wrong – Medicare benefits will be cut


4. Rationing and ‘Death Panels’ Widely Used in Britain


5. AP tries to soften us up for death panels: How much is a year of life worth? How about just 12 days?

"

Economic Woes May Destroy Middle Class, Sen. Coburn Warns

from FOXNews.com by foxnewsonline@foxnews.com


Economic Woes May Destroy Middle Class, Sen. Coburn Warns: "Sen. Tom Coburn says the U.S. could face 18 percent unemployment and a massive contraction in its economy that would destroy the middle class if it does not get its fiscal house in order — warning U.S must contract spending to avoid 'apocalyptic pain.'"

NYT: Bundle Up, It's Global Warming...

NYT: Bundle Up, It's Global Warming...: "
NYT: Bundle Up, It's Global Warming...


(First column, 6th story, link)

---

"

Get Ready For The Familiar Democrat Whine in 2011…”Washington Is Broken”

from Flopping Aces by Curt

Get Ready For The Familiar Democrat Whine in 2011…”Washington Is Broken”: "

Remember this? (2:50 mark)

Joe Biden – “Washington, right now, is broken,”

Back in February when he uttered those words the Democrats has majorities in the House and the Senate. But still they complained they couldn’t get anything done. They then passed Socialized Health Care. Took over companies they had no business taking over. Passed a treaty with Russia that makes us infinitely less safer. Pushed through a stimulus for “shovel ready” projects that did absolutely nothing for the economy. But still they whined they couldn’t get anything done.



Byron York:

Democrats and their partisans in the press complained about Washington being broken only at those times when their agenda was imperiled. Vice President Biden’s statement, for example, came after the election of Massachusetts Republican Sen. Scott Brown took away the Democrats’ filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Just a few weeks later, when Barack Obama signed the national health care bill into law, Biden was all smiles.

Now, after the lame-duck session, Democratic leaders are happy again. But it’s only temporary. As the new year approaches, get ready for a new round of Democratic Washington-is-broken grumbling.

~~~

It’s also why you’re hearing new rumbling about what many Democrats consider the ultimate fix for the Washington-is-broken problem: eliminating the filibuster. A perennial complaint, unhappiness with the filibuster is likely to reach new heights among Democrats in the next few months. Already, the entire returning Democratic caucus has signed a letter by Sens. Carl Levin and Mark Warner calling for rules changes that will make it easier to kill filibusters. Some are also hoping to make it possible to change the Senate’s rules with a simple majority vote, rather than the two-thirds vote required now. That way, Democrats could do anything they want, even without that 60-vote majority.

It won’t happen; there aren’t the votes. It could even be that Democrats are pushing the anti-filibuster argument so loudly because they know it won’t happen. That way, they can position themselves as favoring “filibuster reform” with the comfort of knowing they’ll still have the filibuster the next time they’re in the minority, which might be soon.

Meanwhile, new voices are taking up the Washington-is-broken crusade. At the recent New York rollout of the Democratic-leaning group No Labels, speaker after speaker pushed the idea that “hyperpartisanship” in Washington has prevented elected leaders from “getting things done.” They’re looking for some still-unspecified new approach to break the partisan deadlock.

But Byron makes the point that it SHOULD be difficult to pass legislation that will fundamentally change millions of American lives. The last two years Democrats had enough members to pass whatever the hell they wanted and look where it got us. Rising interest rates, increasing unemployment, and rising consumer prices. They printed money and passed bills that spent more.

We got screwed.

…in a divided government, there must be some agreement between the parties before legislation can move forward. And if there isn’t agreement, then maybe the legislation shouldn’t move forward. When that happens, Washington isn’t broken. It’s working.

Amen.

Of course Obama will be too busy this year to compromise on anything since he will be in campaign mode….if he ever left that mode: (h/t JammieWearingFool)

President Obama will spend more time outside of Washington, D.C., next year engaging with he public, according to a top White House adviser and close friend of the president.

One year before Obama faces reelection, he is expected to make a greater effort to connect with potential voters after facing charges being too aloof during his first two years in the Oval Office. The president’s “biggest regret” was that because of economic turmoil, ”He had to spend almost every waking hour in Washington working on solving that crisis,” senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “And what he missed sorely was engagement with the American people.

Sooooo….he spent every waking hour in Washington because of the economy and his solution to the problem now is to NOT pay any attention to it and instead go schmooze with voters 2 years before the next Presidential election. But wasn’t it just three days ago that he pledged a “singular focus” on the economy?

Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

He’s getting out of town because he knows the days of being able to force any agenda item down the throats of Americans are long gone. Instead of actually becoming a somewhat mediocre President and working towards REAL bipartisanship he will flee, shake hands, and whine that Washington is again, broken.

A leader this man is not.

"

OBAMA POLICE STATE UPDATE: Administration to Target Malls & Hotels

by Jim Hoft

OBAMA POLICE STATE UPDATE: Administration to Target Malls & Hotels: "

Get feeled up or fined… The choice is yours.



(LA Weekly)

Any passenger who refuse the new TSA gropings may face $11,000 fines and possible arrest.

Next up… The Obama Administration is going to begin using their police state security techniques at malls and hotels.

Breitbart reported:

The United States is stepping up security at “soft targets” like hotels and shopping malls, as well as trains and ports, as it counters the evolving Al-Qaeda threat, a top official said Sunday.

A year after a foiled plot to bomb a US-bound passenger plane, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told CNN’s “State of the Union” program that other places and modes of transportation must now be scrutinized.

“We look at so-called soft targets — the hotels, shopping malls, for example — all of which we have reached out to in the past year and have done a fair amount of training for their own employees,” Napolitano said.

Since an attempted bombing on a packed Saturday night in Times Square in May, New York, for example, has installed hundreds of security cameras as part of a plan to triple the number of cameras to 3,000.

In September, the city activated some 500 new surveillance cameras at its three busiest subway stations — Times Square, Penn Station and Grand Central.

“The overall message is everything is objectively better than it was a year ago, particularly in the aviation environment. But we’re also looking at addressing other areas,” Napolitano said.

As extremists struggle to circumvent tighter security at airports and search for new avenues, she said US officials were looking to step up broader measures.

“What we have to do is say, well, what other ways are they thinking to commit an act, because our job is not only to react, but to be thinking always ahead, what could be happening,” Napolitano said.

“And so we have enhanced measures going on at surface transportation, not because we have a specific or credible threat there, but because we know, looking at Madrid and London, that’s been another source of targets for terrorists.”

"

Barney Frank: “It’s not my job to know what I’m doing” or something

from Public Secrets » Life with the Nanny President by Phineas Fahrquar

Barney Frank: “It’s not my job to know what I’m doing” or something: "

Unbelievable.

Congressman Bawney Fwank (D-MA) says it’s not his job to know whether a law he votes on is constitutional or not — that’s the Supreme Court’s job, silly!

In the next Congress, Republicans will require every bill to cite its specific constitutional authority, a reminder to color inside the lines drawn long ago by the Founding Fathers.

The rule is a mostly symbolic overture to the Tea Party, for which an animating cause was that much of the congressional agenda over the last two years, including the president’s health care law and the bailouts for Wall Street, has been unconstitutional.

But some House Democrats are steamed at the charge their agenda has gone beyond Congress’s constitutional authorities.

“It’s an air kiss they’re blowing to the Tea Party,” said Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Barney Frank about the rule. “Anything we’re doing that’s unconstitutional will be thrown out in court. Some of them interpret the constitution very differently, but no, that will not be a problem.”

In other words, “anything I’m do is going to be checked by those guys, so why should I bother to understand the driver’s manual? Just because I have the keys? Oh, please.”

Bawney, there’s a big difference between accepting judicial review and just throwing up your hands and saying it’s not your danged problem. In fact, it is your danged problem, like it or not. Allow me to remind you of your oath of office — you know, that thing you recited between accepting fat envelopes from lobbyists:

“I, (name of Member), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

Those highlighted parts are there for your benefit, Bawney. It’s a fair bet that carrying out your oath means understanding the document you swear to protect and defend. You might try it sometime, and try less of the arrogant jackass routine.

Be sure to read the whole article, folks. It’s just chock-full of charming quotes like that from “Representative” Fwank’s fellow oligarchs Democratic colleagues.

BY THE WAY: I have a question for the voters of the 4th congressional district of Massachusetts. What were you thinking? How in God’s name could you people ever choose that spiteful, arrogant, contemptible toad over Sean Bielat last month? Enlighten me, please; I’m really at a loss here.

h/t Jennifer Rubin via Gay Patriot

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)

"

Days After Promising to Focus on the Economy, Obama Now Plans to Get Out of Washington More

from JammieWearingFool by JammieWearingFool

Days After Promising to Focus on the Economy, Obama Now Plans to Get Out of Washington More: "This could also be a good reason for a tour of America's finest golf courses.President Obama will spend more time outside of Washington, D.C., next year engaging with he public, according to a top White House adviser and close friend of the president.One year before Obama faces reelection, he is expected to make a greater effort to connect with potential voters after facing charges being too"

Days After Promising to Focus on the Economy, Obama Now Plans to Get Out of Washington More

from JammieWearingFool by JammieWearingFool

Days After Promising to Focus on the Economy, Obama Now Plans to Get Out of Washington More: "This could also be a good reason for a tour of America's finest golf courses.President Obama will spend more time outside of Washington, D.C., next year engaging with he public, according to a top White House adviser and close friend of the president.One year before Obama faces reelection, he is expected to make a greater effort to connect with potential voters after facing charges being too"

Julian Assange Signs $1.3 Million Book Deal

from The Greenroom by Howard Portnoy

Julian Assange Signs $1.3 Million Book Deal: "

Who says crime—or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof—doesn’t pay? Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, has signed a deal to publish his autobiography that will net him over $1.3 million dollars.

In an interview with Britain’s Sunday Times, Assange is quoted as saying:

I don’t want to write this book, but I have to. I have already spent 200,000 pounds [about $309,00] for legal costs and I need to defend myself and to keep WikiLeaks afloat.

The book will be published simultaneously in the U.S. and U.K. by publishers Alfred A. Knopf and Canongate respectively. The deal with Knopf will bring Assange $800,000, the deal with Canongate 500,000 dollars. Assange expects to earn an additional $1.5 million from serialization and book club rights.

Apart from the financial burden of covering attorneys’ fees, Assange has faced an uphill struggle keeping WikiLeaks alive. Credit card giants Visa and MasterCard, Bank of America, and PayPal have all blocked donations to the whistleblower site. Assange, who is on bail and fighting extradition by Sweden over allegations of sexual assault, has called these companies “instruments of U.S. foreign policy.”

WikiLeaks’ latest project is the gradual dissemination of tens of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables. The U.S. Justice Department continues to weigh criminal charges over the release of 250,000 secret cables in November.

Meanwhile, now that the terms of Assange’s book deal have been released, speculation is running high on who will play the Australian in the film version of the book, which is sure to follow. This observer says smart money is on Neil Patrick Harris.

Related Articles

• Chutzpah alert: Julian Assange lashes out at media for leaking info–about him


• Julian Assange’s latest ally: Michael Moore


• WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange granted bail


• Revenge of the nerds: WikiLeak-inspired cyber attacks escalate


• WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange threatens to launch “doomsday files”


• Is WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a criminal?

Cross-posted at the Examiner. Follow me on Twitter or join me at Facebook. You can reach me at howard.portnoy@gmail.com or by posting a comment below.

"

ICE AGE: Columbia, SC has first Christmas snow since records first kept in 1887...

from Drudge Report RSS Feed - Drudge Feed, Drudge RSS, Drudge XML

ICE AGE: Columbia, SC has first Christmas snow since records first kept in 1887...: "
ICE AGE: Columbia, SC has first Christmas snow since records first kept in 1887...


(First column, 1st story, link)

---

"

Shocker. Analysts Agree That START Nuke Treaty Goes Easy on Russia

from Gateway Pundit by Jim Hoft

Shocker. Analysts Agree That START Nuke Treaty Goes Easy on Russia: "

Barack Obama told the American people last week that the START Treaty would help create a world without nuclear weapons.



“This treaty will enhance our leadership to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and seek the peace of a world without them.”

What he meant was it would create a world without US nuclear weapons.

It’s sure is a good thing that this wasn’t amended and discussed before it was rammed through.

Analysts agree that the new START Nuclear Treaty will go easy on Russia.

The AFP reported:

The new Russia-US nuclear arms pact may have been hailed as historic but analysts said that all Moscow really has to do is phase out Soviet-era missiles and warheads that are already out of date.

The new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) was ratified by the US Senate on Wednesday after a passionate months-long debate and given initial approval by Russia’s State Duma lower house of parliament two days later.

It will face two more hearings in Russia and almost certainly come into force within the next few months.

The first nuclear pact in two decades has been feted as vital to global security because it reduces old warhead ceilings by an impressive 30 percent and sets a streamlined new inspection procedure designed to eliminate cheating.

The new START limits each side to 1,550 deployed warheads and 700 deployed long-range missiles — including those fired from submarines — and heavy bombers.

The two sides may also have up to 800 deployed and non-deployed launchers and bombers.

But analysts said that Russia’s real problem was that even these lower missile and launcher ceilings were too high for the country to keep pace with the United States.

Soviet-era missiles such as the Saber SS-22 are rapidly approaching their expiry date and technical specifications mean the weapon has no purpose if its nuclear warheads are taken out of commission.

Independent estimates from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists said that in late 2009 the United States in fact had 2,200 “operational” nuclear warheads and 2,500 more warheads in reserve that could be activated if necessary.

Russia on the other hand was believed to have had a total of 2,600 operational long-range warheads covered by START.

But the required phase-out of old missiles is not the only thing working in Russia’s favour. New counting rules will also allow it to attribute just one warhead per bomber even if it carries more — a point insisted on by Moscow during the treaty negotiations.

National Defence magazine editor Igor Korotchenko told the RIA Novosti news agency that Russia was now likely to keep just 390 missiles and bombers as it looks to save money ahead of a new round of strategic reductions in 2020.

And Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov saw nothing but the treaty’s advantages as he defended it parliament Friday.

“We will not have to make any cuts to our strategic offensive weapons,” Serdyukov told sceptical lawmakers from the Communist opposition. “But the Americans — they will indeed have to make some cuts.”



“Serdyukov is right,” said Moscow’s Centre for Disarmament Director Anatoly Dyakov. “Russia has already met its launcher obligations. It only has 560 of those.

Hat Tip K. Solomon

"