Boker tov, Boulder!

AQ, always a step ahead

Carl in Jerusalem reports:

... an operation by MI5 has uncovered evidence that Al Qaeda is planning a new stage in its terror campaign by inserting ‘surgical bombs’ inside people for the first time.

Security services believe the move has been prompted by the recent introduction at airports of body scanners, which are designed to catch terrorists before they board flights.

 

DEBKA:

.... Had the White House National Security Council, US intelligence and counter-terror agencies properly studied al Qaeda's failed attempt to assassinate Prince Muhammad bin Nayef, deputy interior minister and commander of the Saudi anti-terror campaign in Yemen five months ago, they might have detected pointers to al Qaeda's latest terror offensive and its methods.

Like the Nigerian bomber Umar Abdulmutallab, the Saudi minister's would-be assassin, Abdullah Hassan Tali' al-Asiri (al Qaeda-styled Abu Khair), who did not survive the attack, used explosives hidden in his underwear to fool the prince's bodyguards. He won an audience with the prince by posing as an informant, the same trick used by the Taliban suicide bomber to penetrate a US base and kill 7 CIA agents and a US soldier last month.

This emerging prototype was missed by US intelligence experts.

:/

HOPE all you'd like, but you cannot CHANGE the facts (You Lie!)

 

PRESIDENT OBAMA: By the time I took office, we had a one year deficit of over $1 trillion and projected deficits of $8 trillion over the next decade. Most of this was the result of not paying for two wars, two tax cuts, and an expensive prescription drug program. On top of that, the effects of the recession put a $3 trillion hole in our budget. All this was before I walked in the door....

 

 

"Not exactly," according to Noel Sheppard at News Busters: 

After all, on March 14, 2008, then Sen. Obama voted in favor of the 2009 budget which authorized $3.1 trillion in federal outlays along with a projected $400 billion deficit.

 

 

The 51-44 vote that morning was strongly along party lines with only two Republicans saying "Yes."

 

YEAs ---51
Akaka (D-HI) Baucus (D-MT) Biden (D-DE) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Clinton (D-NY) Collins (R-ME) Conrad (D-ND) Dodd (D-CT) Dorgan (D-ND) Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI)	Feinstein (D-CA) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Johnson (D-SD) Kennedy (D-MA) Kerry (D-MA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Landrieu (D-LA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lincoln (D-AR) McCaskill (D-MO) Menendez (D-NJ) Mikulski (D-MD)	Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Nelson (D-NE) Obama (D-IL) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller (D-WV) Salazar (D-CO) Sanders (I-VT) Schumer (D-NY) Snowe (R-ME) Stabenow (D-MI) Tester (D-MT) Webb (D-VA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR)

When the final conference report was presented to the House on June 5, not one Republican voted for it.

This means the 2009 budget was almost exclusively approved by Democrats, with "Yeas" coming from current President then Sen. Obama, his current Vice President then Sen. Joe Biden, his current Chief of Staff then Rep Rahm Emanuel, and his current Secretary of State then Sen. Hillary Clinton.

.... Sadly, Obama-loving media care not to address this inconvenient truth.

But that's just the beginning, for on October 1, 2008, Obama, Biden, and Clinton voted in favor of the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) designed to prevent teetering financial institutions from completely destroying the economy.....

YEAs ---74
Akaka (D-HI) Alexander (R-TN) Baucus (D-MT) Bayh (D-IN) Bennett (R-UT) Biden (D-DE) Bingaman (D-NM) Bond (R-MO) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Burr (R-NC) Byrd (D-WV) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Chambliss (R-GA) Clinton (D-NY) Coburn (R-OK) Coleman (R-MN) Collins (R-ME) Conrad (D-ND) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Craig (R-ID) Dodd (D-CT)	Domenici (R-NM) Durbin (D-IL) Ensign (R-NV) Feinstein (D-CA) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Gregg (R-NH) Hagel (R-NE) Harkin (D-IA) Hatch (R-UT) Hutchison (R-TX) Inouye (D-HI) Isakson (R-GA) Kerry (D-MA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Kyl (R-AZ) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lincoln (D-AR) Lugar (R-IN) Martinez (R-FL) McCain (R-AZ)	McCaskill (D-MO) McConnell (R-KY) Menendez (D-NJ) Mikulski (D-MD) Murkowski (R-AK) Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-NE) Obama (D-IL) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller (D-WV) Salazar (D-CO) Schumer (D-NY) Smith (R-OR) Snowe (R-ME) Specter (R-PA) Stevens (R-AK) Sununu (R-NH) Thune (R-SD) Voinovich (R-OH) Warner (R-VA) Webb (D-VA) Whitehouse (D-RI)

 

Bottom Line:

... Obama approved every penny spent in fiscal 2009 either via his votes in the Senate or his signature as President.

 

Barbra Streisand admits she is not a constitutional scholar

  "Corporations are not people nor are they individual citizens. They are chartered by states to conduct commerce. And while I certainly don't pretend to be a constitutional scholar, I have been reading a lot about this and thankfully, many brilliant minds do agree with me." --B.S. at HuffPo 

 

Streisand must have meant OTHER PEOPLE'S corporations, because her company, "First Artists," was formed (in 1969) by herself, Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier, all of whom should be considered "people," no?

 

September 19, 1983

Thomas Eric DeMoss , Plaintff
v.
First Artists Production Company, Ltd., et al. , Defendants

Plaintiff Thomas DeMoss, a resident of Aurora, Ohio, brings this action under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act"), 15 U.S.C. ? 78a et seq.; the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO"), 18 U.S.C. ?? 1961-1968; and diverse constitutional theories.

 DeMoss owned stock in defendant First Artists Production Company ("First Artists"), a Delaware corporation whose principal place of business is in Los Angeles, California. Several of its original owners were prominent movie stars, but currently First Artists is not making any films. When the disputed transactions began, more than 1,663,000 shares of First Artists common stock were registered, outstanding, and traded over the counter. Between September, 1981 and March, 1982, First Artists was the target of a takeover effort by Mascot Industries Limited ("Mascot"), which is a conglomerate, investing in a wide array of companies.

Attempting to block the takeover, First Artists brought suit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, seeking a preliminary injunction under the Exchange Act, and damages under RICO. First Artists Production Company, Ltd. v. Mascot Industries Ltd., No. 81-4650 (MRP) (C.D.Cal. filed Sept. 9, 1981). The suit settled when First Artists agreed to be merged into Mascot. Defendant Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp, a law firm, represented First Artists in the litigation and merger negotiations.

 DeMoss' pro se complaint alleges, with scattershot precision, a plethora of violations of the Exchange Act and RICO. He charges that the defendants unlawfully conspired to effectuate the merger; that the proxy statements mailed to him during the tender offer battle contained fraudulent statements and material omissions; that other information transmitted to him by telephone and letter was also fraudulently misleading; and that he was wrongfully denied access to shareholder lists and minutes of shareholder meetings.... 

 

Besides, Barbra's never been big on First Amendment freedoms.  You've heard of the "Streisand Effect"?

Speaking of constitutional scholarship, if you're in the LA area, you don't want to miss Seth Lipsky at the Skirball tomorrow night:

 

 

One of the historic figures in modern American Journalism, Seth Lipsky will present a lecture and booksigning on his new book, The Citizen's Constitution: An Annotated Guide, Mr. Lipsky is the founder of the New York Sun and was its editor-in-chief from 2002-2008.  He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing in 1991, the founding editor of the Forward newspaper, and a former contributing editor of the Wall Street Journal.

 

Be there, or be like Barbra.

$10 per person at the door. Registration is recommended -- online or by email to RSVP@CJHSLA.org.  For more information, call my friend Doris Wise Montrose at (818) 704-0523.

 

This event is presented by Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, Jewish Current Issues, the David Horowitz Freedom Center, The Republican Jewish Coalition and the San Fernando Valley Republican Club.

Dumb and Dumber, the Stats: How Obama Got Elected

 

 

56 pct of women preferred Obama to McCain (43 pct). Source: CAWP

Women are consistently less knowlegable about politics and economics than men, according to the Pew Research Center News IQ Quiz and past News Consumption surveys.

 

66 pct of those under age 30 voted for Obama

Younger people are far less knowlegable about politics and economics than older people. Source: Pew Research Center News IQ Quiz

When asked to name the country that intelligence officials believe trained and equipped the suspected Christmas Day bomber, close to six-in-ten (59%) Americans age 50 and older correctly identify Yemen, compared with just 25% of those younger than age 30. Similarly, there is a 34-point difference between those younger than 30 and older than 50 in knowledge of who leads the U.S. Senate (16% vs. 50%).

65 pct of voters with "college experience" voted for Obama

Only 45% of college graduates know that it takes 60 Senate votes to overcome a filibuster. Source: Pew Research Center News IQ Quiz

 

 

Only 8 pct of Republicans age 30+ voted for Obama (+ 15 pct of those 18-29)

Republicans are more substanially more knowledgeable than Democrats:

• On a quiz of 12 questions, Republicans averaged 5.9 correct answers. Independents correctly answered 5.6 on average and Democrats answered 4.9 correct on average.
• Nearly half of Republicans (48%) are able to identify Reid as Senate majority leader compared with just a third (33%) of Democrats -- a 15 point gap.
• While 67% of Republicans could answer correctly that the U.S. imports [ two thirds ] of the oil we consume, only 52% of Democrats knew that -- another 15 point gap.

 

 

And here's the Really Bad News for the Country (though probably Great News for Obama and the Dims):

Compared with the News Quiz from nearly a year ago, it proved harder for the public to answer at least half the questions correctly this time:

Only 42% of Americans answered at least six questions right, compared with 71% who answered at least half the questions correctly in March 2009.

 

Faced with a dumb - and getting dumber - electorate,  where should conservatives focus their efforts in the coming midterm elections?  EDUCATING VOTERS ON OUR HISTORY, SIMPLE CIVICS AND CURRENT EVENTS!  Duh.

 

 

Boker tov ~ Time to wake up

Good Shabbes

BSHALACH

The people of Israel had a charmed existence in their life in the desert. Unlike us, their descendants, they did not face economic downturns or long lines waiting at the supermarket checkout counter. Their food was delivered to them daily (for the righteous at their doorstep) and a magical well of Miriam sustained their needs for water without bills and taxes and surcharges.

The great clouds of honor protected them from heat and the sun and their clothing was miraculously laundered and cleaned for them. It was the idyllic life. But apparently it wasn’t. The rest of the Torah, including this week’s parsha, is replete with repeated complaints about the food, the water, about everything, about life itself.

 

Their memories of Egypt become fonder and fonder and their ingratitude towards Moshe and God reaches startling proportions. Moshe, the redeemer of Israel and their unquestionably revered leader, is heard to say to God in this week’s parsha that he feels his life endangered by the murmurings of dissatisfaction of the people against God and him. “Soon they will stone me,” he states.

What happened to their belief in “God and in Moshe, His servant?” How did it occur that they could complain about the marvelous situation of security and freedom in which they now found themselves? How can they proclaim that they want to return to Egypt, the country of their oppression and persecution? These questions are very disturbing ones and all of the great Jewish commentators to the Torah have attempted to deal with them.  

Though each of the commentators offers a differently nuanced answer to these questions there is a common thread that runs through all of their words and ideas. And that is that human beings are basically dissatisfied creatures. The rabbis taught us that he who has one hundred (million, billion, trillion?) always wishes for two hundred!

The rabbis, therefore, defined wealth in terms of personal satisfaction and gratitude and they ruefully remarked that there are rather few wealthy people present in our world. “Most of the world is poor,” they declaimed and they were not speaking of material artificially and statically arrived at poverty lines. In fact, the largesse and ease poured unto our ancestors as they left Egypt was meant to teach them that no amount of material well being would ever be enough for them.

There had to be another dimension that had to enter their lives and beings. And that was an intangible one of spirit and holy purpose, of Godly behavior and gratitude for life itself. It was represented by the Torah that they would receive and accept at Mount Sinai fifty days after their liberation from Egyptian slavery.

 

For fifty days their ingratitude would be forgivable for they had no other insight into life except the always unsatisfactory material one. After receiving the Torah at Sinai they would now be held to a higher standard of appreciation and thankfulness.

That has been the secret of Jewish resilience and survival throughout many a very bleak physical time. It remains valid and true for our current time as well.

 

Shabat shalom.

 

Rabbi Berel Wein

I heart my Rep

I wish this were a fuller quote, but it's all I can find so far.

.... Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., has just asked Obama if he would reconsider his desire to pass a bill limiting carbon emissions with a cap and trade system...

"These are job killing policies," Capito said.

Obama admitted there is a "serious disagreement" with Republicans and that "cleaner forms of energy are going to be increasingly important. Even if some folks are skeptical about climate change, the world is not skeptical"...

 

I saw it as it happened, on television.  I was so proud of Shelley and her very earnest, authentic representation of the state (the other two, not so much).  Obama's answer was long and rambling, but I would boil it down to something along these lines:

West Virginia has to realize this is not the 1950s anymore, COAL is ew-dirty, and if your state doesn't somehow get with the program and Change in the direction I have decreed, then you and your coal miners can drop dead for all I care.

Admittedly, that's just my interpretation. Will look for a transcript.

 

----------------- UPDATE / Sunday -----------------------

-----------------------------

 

Shelley's office on Capitol Hill
 

 

 

life size photographic portrait of Coy and Carissa Daniels

from

http://www.americascoalminers.com/

More on flying with tefillin

Todah rabah to Esther Sarah for sending this along:

 

 

AISH: The Tefillin Bomb

.... For someone who's never seen these religious items they can certainly appear strange. To the stewardess who alerted the captain to these foreign objects, with their unrecognizable black boxes and their unusual attached strings, they represented a potential danger strong enough to warrant the plane making a forced landing in Philadelphia to be welcomed by FBI agents, the police and the fire department.

Remarkably enough on a flight from New York City, one of the major Jewish population centers in the world, not one person on board had ever seen tefillin, or could vouch for their authenticity as a mitzvah rather than a menace!

So the Associated Press came to ask me about this ritual which I explained has been around for more than 3000 years....

 

plus more here :)

The Incredible Audacity of Adam Liptak

 

Adam Liptak, Supreme Court correspondent for The New York Times, has the unmitigated gall to suggest that the Justices of the Supreme Court might have avoided the "discord" between themselves and the President ... by not showing up at the State of the Union address:

 

"The flashes of discord between the two branches might have been avoided had the justices followed the example of Chief Justice... Rehnquist, who once skipped the State of the Union address... to attend to other matters."

 

 

Brace yourself, "Everything is about to get more expensive."

 

 

 

Seeking Alpha (edited ever so slighting by yours truly):

Over the next year or two, you will likely find yourself paying a LOT more at the gas pump. Big changes are taking place in the oil industry. With increased global demand and declining supply, easy oil is not so easy anymore.

There are very few things in the modern world that aren't

• made from oil,
• made by machines dependent on oil,
• or shipped by vehicles powered by oil.

 

Therefore . . .

 

Everything is about to get more expensive. From gasoline to anti-freeze, life jackets to golf balls, and eye glasses to fertilizer.

... it's enough to strike panic in the hearts and wallets of the average consumer.

 

So... Drill Here?  

Now?

 

[On Wednesday] Senators Jim Webb (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) wrote a stinging letter to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar over his most recent delay on offshore drilling, this time for an area off the coast of Virginia estimated to have 130 million barrels of oil and over one trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The announcement of delay against which the Virginia Senators are arguing came from the Minerals Management Service in a meeting that was behind closed doors and off limits to the press...

 

 

Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010: At a press conference in JFK International Airport (NYC), Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar (at left) ... announced a proposed ban on bringing Burmese pythons and eight other kinds of large snakes in the country, saying they threaten the environment.

 

What a snake.