Deforestation to make room for palm oil plantations is wiping out the natural habitat of the lovable red apes
Having worked closely during eight years as a volunteer with the Houston Zoo’s orangutans and other primates, I fell in love with the magnificent red apes despite their habit of having fun by getting a mouthful of water and spitting with deadly accuracy at me and their regular keepers. Oh yes, to add insult to injury, occasionally one of the males would poop in his water bowl, get a mouthful of a poop-water cocktail, and fire away at anyone who came within 20 feet of him.
It is a crying shame that Orangutans in the wild are about to be wiped out because of the demand for soap and perfume.
BABY ORGANGUTAN LEFT WITH STUMPS OF MISSING FINGERS THAT WERE SLICED OFF WITH A MACHETE DURING FOREST CLEARANCES
Sura, four months, was found wounded in Tumbang Koling, in Indonesian Borneo, after a forest was cleared for a new oil palm plantation
By Mia de Graaf
Mail Online
November 22, 2013
A four-month-old Orangutan is recovering after having the tips of his fingers hacked off, allegedly during forest clearances for a new oil palm plantation in Indonesian Borneo.
Sura, who was discovered by a resident of the Tumbang Koling village in East Kotawaringin Regency, is being nursed back to health by specialists at the Nyaru Menteng Rescue centre.
Vets carried out a full health check and discovered three of his fingers had been severed by either a knife or machete.
Sura now needs to be cared for by a full-time babysitter.
British charity Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation is helping fund the centre and Sura's care.
It is the latest scandal to emerge in the controversy over deforestation as companies plough through Indonesia's wildlife to build oil plantations.
The sweep has caused a rapid decline in the orangutan population.
Environmentalists fear they have years of work ahead of them in educating remote villages about the need to protect, not capture or kill, these animals whose numbers are falling dramatically.
About 100 years ago it was thought there were 315,000 orangutans in the wild but today there are less than 54,000 in Borneo and only around 6,000 on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
As manufacturers look for places to cultivate oil for soaps and perfumes, the primates' natural habits are being ploughed by bulldozers.
And now homeless, many have been captured by local villagers, abused, and used for entertainment.
Last month, International Animal Rescue saved an orangutan from Tempurkan, which had no food or water and was being forced to dance and fight with humans.
Alerted by a villager, the charity found Ael - which means 'Saint' - sedated her and then moved her to a rescue centre. She will be released into the wild when a safe area in the forest can be found for her.
Meanwhile, the villagers have been told that catching and keeping an orangutan is against the law in Indonesia.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
HAMAS MAY BE PLANNING FOR WAR WITH ISRAEL TO REGAIN SUPPORT OF IRAN AND HEZBOLLAH
Siding with the rebels trying to overthrow Syria’s Assad had cost Hamas dearly, as has Egypt’s crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood
The cut off of financial aid by Iran and Hezbollah, together with an embargo by the Egyptian military regime, has left the Hamas rulers of Gaza desperate to remain in power.
FEAR IS DRIVING HAMAS TO FURTHER RADICALIZE
By Aviel Schneider
Israel Today
November 22, 2013
Hamas finds itself increasingly isolated and under pressure after the fall of its Muslim Brotherhood patrons in Egypt, the combined Israeli-Egyptian effort to shut down Gaza's smuggling and terror tunnels, and Iran's newfound reluctance to fund the group.
Hamas' response to this situation has been increasing radicalization. In Gaza today, the Islamists rule by brute force, imposing something of a reign of terror.
Several Palestinians from Jerusalem and the region around Hebron told Israel Today just how dire the situation has become.
"As dissatisfaction among the Palestinian population [in Gaza] grows, Hamas' only recourse is to become increasingly strict," said Adel, whose uncle Abasan al-Kabir lives in the Gaza town of Khan Younis.
"Gaza has become a living hell," he continued. "Anyone who criticizes Hamas is immediately arrested and tortured. Many now realize that Hamas is not the solution for a better life in Gaza."
Just a year ago, Hamas seemed to be at the height of its popularity. When Israel's "Operation Pillar of Cloud" to combat Gaza rocket attacks came to an abrupt and unexpected end on November 21, 2012, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal boasted that the group had brought Israel to its knees.
In the following weeks, Hamas was praised across the Arab world for having taken on the Israeli army and forcing it to "surrender." Hamas this year celebrated the anniversary of this "victory over Israel" with military parades in Gaza.
But the current reality is that Hamas has very little reason to celebrate.
In the past year the political situation in the Middle East has changed significantly. Hamas threw its lot in with the fellow Sunni rebels in Syria, but despite all forecasts to the contrary, the regime of President Bashar Assad looks set to endure. And that decision has cost Hamas dearly.
There is a centuries-old conflict between the Sunnis and the Shiites. Despite this conflict, Shiite Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, had long supported Hamas due to their common enemy, Israel.
But Iran, Hezbollah and the Shiites are backing Assad, and have not take kindly to Hamas taking sides with their challengers. This "disloyal behavior" has resulted in the Iranian money tap being turned off.
Things might actually be worse for Hamas on the Egyptian side. The military leaders who now control the country know that Hamas was born of the Muslim Brotherhood, and view the two movements has still being closely aligned. As such, Hamas has been hit hard by Cairo's new anti-Muslim Brotherhood policies.
Meanwhile, an Israeli analysis of the situation would suggest that while Hamas is putting on a facade of calm in the face of calamity, it is rapidly preparing for the one thing that can raise its stock in the region: war with Israel.
The cut off of financial aid by Iran and Hezbollah, together with an embargo by the Egyptian military regime, has left the Hamas rulers of Gaza desperate to remain in power.
FEAR IS DRIVING HAMAS TO FURTHER RADICALIZE
By Aviel Schneider
Israel Today
November 22, 2013
Hamas finds itself increasingly isolated and under pressure after the fall of its Muslim Brotherhood patrons in Egypt, the combined Israeli-Egyptian effort to shut down Gaza's smuggling and terror tunnels, and Iran's newfound reluctance to fund the group.
Hamas' response to this situation has been increasing radicalization. In Gaza today, the Islamists rule by brute force, imposing something of a reign of terror.
Several Palestinians from Jerusalem and the region around Hebron told Israel Today just how dire the situation has become.
"As dissatisfaction among the Palestinian population [in Gaza] grows, Hamas' only recourse is to become increasingly strict," said Adel, whose uncle Abasan al-Kabir lives in the Gaza town of Khan Younis.
"Gaza has become a living hell," he continued. "Anyone who criticizes Hamas is immediately arrested and tortured. Many now realize that Hamas is not the solution for a better life in Gaza."
Just a year ago, Hamas seemed to be at the height of its popularity. When Israel's "Operation Pillar of Cloud" to combat Gaza rocket attacks came to an abrupt and unexpected end on November 21, 2012, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal boasted that the group had brought Israel to its knees.
In the following weeks, Hamas was praised across the Arab world for having taken on the Israeli army and forcing it to "surrender." Hamas this year celebrated the anniversary of this "victory over Israel" with military parades in Gaza.
But the current reality is that Hamas has very little reason to celebrate.
In the past year the political situation in the Middle East has changed significantly. Hamas threw its lot in with the fellow Sunni rebels in Syria, but despite all forecasts to the contrary, the regime of President Bashar Assad looks set to endure. And that decision has cost Hamas dearly.
There is a centuries-old conflict between the Sunnis and the Shiites. Despite this conflict, Shiite Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, had long supported Hamas due to their common enemy, Israel.
But Iran, Hezbollah and the Shiites are backing Assad, and have not take kindly to Hamas taking sides with their challengers. This "disloyal behavior" has resulted in the Iranian money tap being turned off.
Things might actually be worse for Hamas on the Egyptian side. The military leaders who now control the country know that Hamas was born of the Muslim Brotherhood, and view the two movements has still being closely aligned. As such, Hamas has been hit hard by Cairo's new anti-Muslim Brotherhood policies.
Meanwhile, an Israeli analysis of the situation would suggest that while Hamas is putting on a facade of calm in the face of calamity, it is rapidly preparing for the one thing that can raise its stock in the region: war with Israel.
NY MAYOR-ELECT DE BLASIO RELIES ON ADVICE OF SOROS-FUNDED GROUP THAT RELIES ON ADVICE OF EX-CONS
Under de Blasio, NYPD could become a toothless tiger
De Blasio, who in his younger days was an ardent supporter of Nicaragua’s Marxist Sandinista rebels, continues to show his extreme left-wing credentials by relying on advice of Talking Transitions, a group funded by left-wing billionaire George Soros. Under de Blasio, NYPD could become a toothless tiger.
EX-CONS OFFER NY MAYOR-ELECT ADVISE ON POLICING
By Sandy Fitzgerald
Newsmax
November 22, 2013
A group of ex-criminals on Thursday offered New York Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio tips on policing and corrections, and ended up describing what the New York Post called a "get-soft" approach to policing.
What evolved from the Manhattan forum sponsored by Talking Transitions, an advisory group funded by liberal billionaire George Soros, was an endorsement for dumping Mayor Michael Bloomberg's controversial stop-and-frisk crime-prevention policy.
DeBlasio didn't attend the forum — which brought together 50 ex-convicts, drug addicts, and vagrants — according to the Post. But he reportedly is considering dropping or changing stop-and-frisk, which has already undergone some changes due to a court ruling because of the way police target suspicious people on the streets.
Less police surveillance sounded like a good idea to at least two of the former convicts.
"I like the idea of ending stop-and-frisk," said Mikell Green-Grand, who has served time for grand larceny and identity theft, the Post reported.
Arthur Castillo, whose convictions include assault and possessing stolen property, complained that the police watch ex-cons too closely.
"A lot of us don’t feel we have an opportunity to re-adapt to normal life because we are treated as criminals even though we are free," he said.
Talking Transitions is advising deBlasio as he prepares to take office, the Post noted, adding that the views expressed at the forum could end up having "real policy effects" — a prospect that excited some of those at the forum.
"Bloomberg forgot about all of us. I’m hoping deBlasio remembers us," commented ex-con Gregorio “Koko” Cruz, 63, whose convictions include first-degree manslaughter, robbery, kidnapping, and criminal possession of a weapon, the Post reported.
De Blasio, who in his younger days was an ardent supporter of Nicaragua’s Marxist Sandinista rebels, continues to show his extreme left-wing credentials by relying on advice of Talking Transitions, a group funded by left-wing billionaire George Soros. Under de Blasio, NYPD could become a toothless tiger.
EX-CONS OFFER NY MAYOR-ELECT ADVISE ON POLICING
By Sandy Fitzgerald
Newsmax
November 22, 2013
A group of ex-criminals on Thursday offered New York Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio tips on policing and corrections, and ended up describing what the New York Post called a "get-soft" approach to policing.
What evolved from the Manhattan forum sponsored by Talking Transitions, an advisory group funded by liberal billionaire George Soros, was an endorsement for dumping Mayor Michael Bloomberg's controversial stop-and-frisk crime-prevention policy.
DeBlasio didn't attend the forum — which brought together 50 ex-convicts, drug addicts, and vagrants — according to the Post. But he reportedly is considering dropping or changing stop-and-frisk, which has already undergone some changes due to a court ruling because of the way police target suspicious people on the streets.
Less police surveillance sounded like a good idea to at least two of the former convicts.
"I like the idea of ending stop-and-frisk," said Mikell Green-Grand, who has served time for grand larceny and identity theft, the Post reported.
Arthur Castillo, whose convictions include assault and possessing stolen property, complained that the police watch ex-cons too closely.
"A lot of us don’t feel we have an opportunity to re-adapt to normal life because we are treated as criminals even though we are free," he said.
Talking Transitions is advising deBlasio as he prepares to take office, the Post noted, adding that the views expressed at the forum could end up having "real policy effects" — a prospect that excited some of those at the forum.
"Bloomberg forgot about all of us. I’m hoping deBlasio remembers us," commented ex-con Gregorio “Koko” Cruz, 63, whose convictions include first-degree manslaughter, robbery, kidnapping, and criminal possession of a weapon, the Post reported.
STONED INMATES CHATTING ON CELLPHONES AT LONDON’S BRIXTON PRISON
Apparently security at this British prison is rather lax since drugs and cellphones are readily available to the inmates. PACOVILLA’s Jeff Doyle says the lax inmate-centered modality employed in the UK is the direction California corrections “is slouching.”
SO MUCH CANNABIS BEING SMOKED AT BRIXTON PRISON THAT OFFICERS’ CLOTHES SMELL OF IT, WATCHDOG REVEALS
'Major concern': the watchdog says the availability of drugs in Brixton prison is helping to fuel gambling, indebtedness, bullying and intimidation
By Martin Bentham
London Evening Standard
November 22, 2013
So much cannabis was being smoked by inmates during inspections at a London prison that guards’ clothes smelt of the drug, an official watchdog revealed today.
A report says that the availability of drugs in Brixton prison is a “major concern” and is helping to fuel “gambling, indebtedness, bullying and intimidation” within the jail.
It says that staff shortages have stopped “suspicion” tests being carried out on inmates thought to be using drugs and also warns that “not enough action” was being taken to stop prisoners on temporary release from bringing illicit substances into the prison on their return.
The most startling disclosure, however, is that cannabis use is so extensive that the drug's distinctive aroma is tainting the clothes of those who visit its wings.
The report, by the prison’s independent monitoring board, states: “Cannabis was sometimes being smoked so much on A and B wings that officers’ and monitoring board members’ clothes smelt of it.”
The document says the availability of illegal drugs was the “fuel for much of the bullying” in the prison and that the lack of swift action to tackle the problem was a “significant failure” by staff.
It adds: “A major concern for the board this year has been the availability of illicit drugs, mobile phones, and other items of contraband. This has led to gambling, indebtedness, bullying and intimidation, resulting, in some areas, in a significant deterioration of the generally harmonious regime in the prison.”
The report states that only one sniffer dog was available at one point to check for drugs and that further “suspicion” tests were not carried out because of staff shortages. Surprise “whole wing” searches were also “less practicable” because of a lack of officers.
The report also warns that another drug, the former legal high “Spice”, which was banned in 2009, was “much in evidence” and that only limited tests to detect it were being carried out because the process was “too expensive” to do regularly.
It adds that around 10 per cent of inmates given temporary release on licence had been “reclassified” because of drug use or possession, including several who worked for the prison’s “Bad Boys Bakery” which supplies Caffe Nero outlets across London.
The board calls for “more searches of all types in future”, including of “staff and contractors”, but warns that some prisoners have now “turned to home-made hooch” as drug enforcement begins to improve.
A Prison Service spokesman said the use of drugs was taken “very seriously” and that “swift action” had been taken to tackle the problems at Brixton.
He added: “The number of prisoners testing positive for drug misuse has fallen. Offenders are well aware that anyone caught with prohibited items will face swift and robust punishment.”
SO MUCH CANNABIS BEING SMOKED AT BRIXTON PRISON THAT OFFICERS’ CLOTHES SMELL OF IT, WATCHDOG REVEALS
'Major concern': the watchdog says the availability of drugs in Brixton prison is helping to fuel gambling, indebtedness, bullying and intimidation
By Martin Bentham
London Evening Standard
November 22, 2013
So much cannabis was being smoked by inmates during inspections at a London prison that guards’ clothes smelt of the drug, an official watchdog revealed today.
A report says that the availability of drugs in Brixton prison is a “major concern” and is helping to fuel “gambling, indebtedness, bullying and intimidation” within the jail.
It says that staff shortages have stopped “suspicion” tests being carried out on inmates thought to be using drugs and also warns that “not enough action” was being taken to stop prisoners on temporary release from bringing illicit substances into the prison on their return.
The most startling disclosure, however, is that cannabis use is so extensive that the drug's distinctive aroma is tainting the clothes of those who visit its wings.
The report, by the prison’s independent monitoring board, states: “Cannabis was sometimes being smoked so much on A and B wings that officers’ and monitoring board members’ clothes smelt of it.”
The document says the availability of illegal drugs was the “fuel for much of the bullying” in the prison and that the lack of swift action to tackle the problem was a “significant failure” by staff.
It adds: “A major concern for the board this year has been the availability of illicit drugs, mobile phones, and other items of contraband. This has led to gambling, indebtedness, bullying and intimidation, resulting, in some areas, in a significant deterioration of the generally harmonious regime in the prison.”
The report states that only one sniffer dog was available at one point to check for drugs and that further “suspicion” tests were not carried out because of staff shortages. Surprise “whole wing” searches were also “less practicable” because of a lack of officers.
The report also warns that another drug, the former legal high “Spice”, which was banned in 2009, was “much in evidence” and that only limited tests to detect it were being carried out because the process was “too expensive” to do regularly.
It adds that around 10 per cent of inmates given temporary release on licence had been “reclassified” because of drug use or possession, including several who worked for the prison’s “Bad Boys Bakery” which supplies Caffe Nero outlets across London.
The board calls for “more searches of all types in future”, including of “staff and contractors”, but warns that some prisoners have now “turned to home-made hooch” as drug enforcement begins to improve.
A Prison Service spokesman said the use of drugs was taken “very seriously” and that “swift action” had been taken to tackle the problems at Brixton.
He added: “The number of prisoners testing positive for drug misuse has fallen. Offenders are well aware that anyone caught with prohibited items will face swift and robust punishment.”
DOCTOR DIAGNOSES EXCRUCIATING PAIN ALL OVER PATIENT’S BODY
The Unconventional Gazette
November 22, 2013
A gorgeous young redhead goes into the doctor's office and said that her body hurt wherever she touched it.
'Impossible!' says the doctor.. 'Show me.'
The redhead took her finger, pushed on her left shoulder and screamed, then she pushed her elbow and screamed even more. She pushed her knee and screamed; likewise she pushed her ankle and screamed. Everywhere she touched made her scream.
The doctor said, 'You're not really a redhead, are you?
'Well, no' she said, 'I'm actually a blonde.'
'I thought so,' the doctor said, 'Your finger is broken.'
November 22, 2013
A gorgeous young redhead goes into the doctor's office and said that her body hurt wherever she touched it.
'Impossible!' says the doctor.. 'Show me.'
The redhead took her finger, pushed on her left shoulder and screamed, then she pushed her elbow and screamed even more. She pushed her knee and screamed; likewise she pushed her ankle and screamed. Everywhere she touched made her scream.
The doctor said, 'You're not really a redhead, are you?
'Well, no' she said, 'I'm actually a blonde.'
'I thought so,' the doctor said, 'Your finger is broken.'
Friday, November 22, 2013
KENNEDY FAMILY MONEY BOUGHT FREEDOM FOR MICHAEL SKAKEL
During the 11 years he’s been in prison, Skakel’s parents and other members of the Kennedy family have spent millions of dollars to have his conviction overturned
Michael Skakel, who has spent 11 years in prison for the 1975 murder of 15-year-old Martha Moxley, has now been released on $1.2 million bail. His release comes after Rockville, Connecticut Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Bishop ordered a new trial for Skakel last month, ruling that he did not receive a fair trial because his lawyer, Mickey Sherman, had not represented him effectively, thereby depriving him of his constitutionally guaranteed right to counsel.
Skakel’s parents and other members of the Kennedy family have spent millions of dollars on lawyers, numerous appeals, investigations, expert witnesses, etc., in their efforts to get his conviction overturned.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., swears that Skakel, his cousin, did not kill Martha Moxley. Kennedy insists there are five eyewitnesses who can testify that Skakel was 11 miles away from the crime scene at the time of the murder. He says that if his cousin had murdered Moxley, he would have admitted it. To hear RFK Jr. and other family members tell it, the prosecutors should have been locked up, not this fine upstanding gentle soul who is caring, generous and committed to his faith, family and friends. Yeah right, tell that to Dorthy Moxley, the mother of the young girl Skakel was convicted of clubbing to death.
What’s interesting about this case is that Mark Fuhrman, the disgraced former LAPD detective turned author, went to Greenwich where, some 20 years after her death, he investigated and solved the murder of Martha Moxley, a case the local and state authorities either couldn’t or wouldn’t solve. Fuhrman, who found the infamous glove in the O. J. Simpson murder case, then wrote a book about his investigation - Murder in Greenwich (1998, ISBN 0060191414) – which forced the local authorities to reopen their investigation.
Court records show that Skakel’s family spent more than $2 million for his defense before and during the murder trial. Skakel had the best criminal attorney money could buy. For a judge to now say that Sherman did not give Skakel an adequate defense seems awful ludicrous to me. I wonder if Judge Bishop could be beholden to the Kennedys?
As for a new trial, it will be extremely difficult for the prosecution to retry this case after all these years. The prosecution is appealing Judge Bishop’s ruling. If the ruling is upheld, don’t hold your breath while waiting for a new trial.
Michael Skakel, who has spent 11 years in prison for the 1975 murder of 15-year-old Martha Moxley, has now been released on $1.2 million bail. His release comes after Rockville, Connecticut Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Bishop ordered a new trial for Skakel last month, ruling that he did not receive a fair trial because his lawyer, Mickey Sherman, had not represented him effectively, thereby depriving him of his constitutionally guaranteed right to counsel.
Skakel’s parents and other members of the Kennedy family have spent millions of dollars on lawyers, numerous appeals, investigations, expert witnesses, etc., in their efforts to get his conviction overturned.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., swears that Skakel, his cousin, did not kill Martha Moxley. Kennedy insists there are five eyewitnesses who can testify that Skakel was 11 miles away from the crime scene at the time of the murder. He says that if his cousin had murdered Moxley, he would have admitted it. To hear RFK Jr. and other family members tell it, the prosecutors should have been locked up, not this fine upstanding gentle soul who is caring, generous and committed to his faith, family and friends. Yeah right, tell that to Dorthy Moxley, the mother of the young girl Skakel was convicted of clubbing to death.
What’s interesting about this case is that Mark Fuhrman, the disgraced former LAPD detective turned author, went to Greenwich where, some 20 years after her death, he investigated and solved the murder of Martha Moxley, a case the local and state authorities either couldn’t or wouldn’t solve. Fuhrman, who found the infamous glove in the O. J. Simpson murder case, then wrote a book about his investigation - Murder in Greenwich (1998, ISBN 0060191414) – which forced the local authorities to reopen their investigation.
Court records show that Skakel’s family spent more than $2 million for his defense before and during the murder trial. Skakel had the best criminal attorney money could buy. For a judge to now say that Sherman did not give Skakel an adequate defense seems awful ludicrous to me. I wonder if Judge Bishop could be beholden to the Kennedys?
As for a new trial, it will be extremely difficult for the prosecution to retry this case after all these years. The prosecution is appealing Judge Bishop’s ruling. If the ruling is upheld, don’t hold your breath while waiting for a new trial.
GOVERNMENT WORKER WHO ADVOCATED KILLING WHITES HAS BEEN SUSPENDED, CANT GET FIRED, BUT IS STILL GETTING PAID
How did a man who advocates the mass murder of whites ever get hired by the Department of Homeland Security? There must be something lacking in the DHS applicant screening process.
DHS WORKER WHO CALLED FOR KILLING OF WHITES NOT AXED, GETTING PAID
Newsmax
November 21, 2013
A black-nationalist Homeland Security employee who was placed on leave nearly four months ago for running a website that espouses the mass murder of whites has yet to be axed, says Alex Seitz-Wald, a political reporter for The National Journal.
"This isn't wishy-washy. There's no gray area here. It's very clear what he's saying and it's pretty obvious that he should be fired. I don't think anyone disagrees with that," Seitz-Wald told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
"I don't think even the Department of Homeland Security disagrees with that. The problem is their hands are a little bit tied here by these kind of absurd laws that make it so hard have him fired."
In August, the Southern Poverty Law Center revealed that Ayo Kimathi, using the online name "the Irritated Genie," called for "ethnic cleansing" of "black-skinned Uncle Tom race traitors" on his website.
"In order for Black people to survive the 21st century, we are going to have to kill a lot of whites — more than our Christian hearts can possibly count," he reportedly wrote.
DHS deputy press secretary Gillian Christensen confirmed to Seitz-Wald this week that Kimathi's status has not changed and that he is still on leave pending review.
"He's basically at home, collecting a paycheck 'under review,' whatever that means," Seitz-Wald said.
"This guy is getting paid as they go through the hoops of trying to get rid of him."
DHS WORKER WHO CALLED FOR KILLING OF WHITES NOT AXED, GETTING PAID
Newsmax
November 21, 2013
A black-nationalist Homeland Security employee who was placed on leave nearly four months ago for running a website that espouses the mass murder of whites has yet to be axed, says Alex Seitz-Wald, a political reporter for The National Journal.
"This isn't wishy-washy. There's no gray area here. It's very clear what he's saying and it's pretty obvious that he should be fired. I don't think anyone disagrees with that," Seitz-Wald told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
"I don't think even the Department of Homeland Security disagrees with that. The problem is their hands are a little bit tied here by these kind of absurd laws that make it so hard have him fired."
In August, the Southern Poverty Law Center revealed that Ayo Kimathi, using the online name "the Irritated Genie," called for "ethnic cleansing" of "black-skinned Uncle Tom race traitors" on his website.
"In order for Black people to survive the 21st century, we are going to have to kill a lot of whites — more than our Christian hearts can possibly count," he reportedly wrote.
DHS deputy press secretary Gillian Christensen confirmed to Seitz-Wald this week that Kimathi's status has not changed and that he is still on leave pending review.
"He's basically at home, collecting a paycheck 'under review,' whatever that means," Seitz-Wald said.
"This guy is getting paid as they go through the hoops of trying to get rid of him."
NEW YORK COUPLE MARRIED 81 YEARS
John and Ann Betar found to be 2013’s longest married couple in America
John says the key to a long marriage is to always agree with your wife. My wife and I have been married 60 years and the key to our long marriage is that we rarely talked to each other, thereby avoiding any arguments. And that’s how we beat her family's prediction that the marriage would never last.
‘THE KEY IS TO ALWAYS AGREE WITH YOUR WIFE’: AMERICA’S LONGEST MARRIED COUPLE PREPARE FOR 81ST WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
John Betar, 102, and wife Ann, 98, eloped on November 25, 1932
Mail Online
November 21, 2013
As America's longest married couple prepare to celebrate their 81st wedding anniversary, 102-year-old husband John Betar has revealed the secret behind their incredible relationship - 'always agree with your wife!'
John and Ann Betar eloped on November 25, 1932, fleeing their close-knit Syrian neighborhood in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
They got into John's Ford Roadster and drove as fast as they could to Harrison, New York, to avoid Ann's father's plans to marry her off to a man 20 years older.
Now, as they prepare to celebrate their anniversary on Monday, the couple, named on Valentine's Day by Worldwide Marriage Encounter as 2013's 'longest married couple' in America, can only laugh as they look back on the commotion they caused.
'Everyone was hopping mad, and my wife's aunt consoled my father-in-law by telling him not to worry, the marriage won't last,' chuckled John Betar, now 102 and still driving 'though not quite as fast as the day we got married.'
Ann Betar, 98, said she 'had no choice but to elope because my father was set on me marrying a much older man, and I was 17. John was not the boy next door, but the boy across the street who I loved,' she said.
'He was 21 and used to drive me to high school in his Ford Roadster,' she added.
'That's why she married me, she loved that car,' joked John Betar, as he sat on a couch holding his wife's hand in the waterfront house they have shared since 1964.
The day the couple tied the knot, the Great Depression was in full swing, 'King Kong' had yet to shake up the silver screen, and future U.S. President John F. Kennedy was just a high school student.
'We have watched the world change together,' said John Betar. 'The key is to always agree with your wife.'
The couple's house is on Long Island Sound, just a few miles from where they raised their five children in Bridgeport. John ran a grocery store before becoming a realtor.
Life has not always been easy. The couple lost one daughter and their only son to cancer within the past 15 years.
'No matter how many children you have or how old they are, it's the worst thing that can happen to a parent,' Ann Betar said. 'But our oldest daughter is 80 years old.'
The Betars have 14 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.
Last February, representatives of Worldwide Marriage Encounter, a Christian group based in San Bernardino, California, flew to Fairfield to present the Betars with a plaque and other gifts.
It determined they were the longest-married living couple in the United States, based on a review of nominations sent in from around the country.
Dick Baumbach, a group spokesman, came up with the idea for the annual award to 'encourage young couples to stay together.'
The Betars even finish each other's sentences.
'We'll be together forever,' said John, as Ann added softly, 'somewhere we will be.'
John says the key to a long marriage is to always agree with your wife. My wife and I have been married 60 years and the key to our long marriage is that we rarely talked to each other, thereby avoiding any arguments. And that’s how we beat her family's prediction that the marriage would never last.
‘THE KEY IS TO ALWAYS AGREE WITH YOUR WIFE’: AMERICA’S LONGEST MARRIED COUPLE PREPARE FOR 81ST WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
John Betar, 102, and wife Ann, 98, eloped on November 25, 1932
Mail Online
November 21, 2013
As America's longest married couple prepare to celebrate their 81st wedding anniversary, 102-year-old husband John Betar has revealed the secret behind their incredible relationship - 'always agree with your wife!'
John and Ann Betar eloped on November 25, 1932, fleeing their close-knit Syrian neighborhood in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
They got into John's Ford Roadster and drove as fast as they could to Harrison, New York, to avoid Ann's father's plans to marry her off to a man 20 years older.
Now, as they prepare to celebrate their anniversary on Monday, the couple, named on Valentine's Day by Worldwide Marriage Encounter as 2013's 'longest married couple' in America, can only laugh as they look back on the commotion they caused.
'Everyone was hopping mad, and my wife's aunt consoled my father-in-law by telling him not to worry, the marriage won't last,' chuckled John Betar, now 102 and still driving 'though not quite as fast as the day we got married.'
Ann Betar, 98, said she 'had no choice but to elope because my father was set on me marrying a much older man, and I was 17. John was not the boy next door, but the boy across the street who I loved,' she said.
'He was 21 and used to drive me to high school in his Ford Roadster,' she added.
'That's why she married me, she loved that car,' joked John Betar, as he sat on a couch holding his wife's hand in the waterfront house they have shared since 1964.
The day the couple tied the knot, the Great Depression was in full swing, 'King Kong' had yet to shake up the silver screen, and future U.S. President John F. Kennedy was just a high school student.
'We have watched the world change together,' said John Betar. 'The key is to always agree with your wife.'
The couple's house is on Long Island Sound, just a few miles from where they raised their five children in Bridgeport. John ran a grocery store before becoming a realtor.
Life has not always been easy. The couple lost one daughter and their only son to cancer within the past 15 years.
'No matter how many children you have or how old they are, it's the worst thing that can happen to a parent,' Ann Betar said. 'But our oldest daughter is 80 years old.'
The Betars have 14 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.
Last February, representatives of Worldwide Marriage Encounter, a Christian group based in San Bernardino, California, flew to Fairfield to present the Betars with a plaque and other gifts.
It determined they were the longest-married living couple in the United States, based on a review of nominations sent in from around the country.
Dick Baumbach, a group spokesman, came up with the idea for the annual award to 'encourage young couples to stay together.'
The Betars even finish each other's sentences.
'We'll be together forever,' said John, as Ann added softly, 'somewhere we will be.'
WHO SAID MEN DON’T REMEMBER?
The Unconventional Gazette
November 21, 2013
Bob and Diane were Christmas shopping. The shopping center was packed, and as Diane walked through one of the malls she was surprised when she looked around to find that Bob was nowhere to be seen.
She was quite upset because they had a lot to do and she became so worried that she called him on her cell phone to ask him where he was.
In a quiet voice he said, "Honey, do you remember the jewelers we went into about five years ago where you fell in love with that diamond necklace that we couldn't afford, and I told you that I would get it for you one day?"
The wife choked up and started to cry and said, "Yes sweetheart, I do remember that jewelry store."
He replied, “Well, I’m having a couple of beers in the bar next door.”
November 21, 2013
Bob and Diane were Christmas shopping. The shopping center was packed, and as Diane walked through one of the malls she was surprised when she looked around to find that Bob was nowhere to be seen.
She was quite upset because they had a lot to do and she became so worried that she called him on her cell phone to ask him where he was.
In a quiet voice he said, "Honey, do you remember the jewelers we went into about five years ago where you fell in love with that diamond necklace that we couldn't afford, and I told you that I would get it for you one day?"
The wife choked up and started to cry and said, "Yes sweetheart, I do remember that jewelry store."
He replied, “Well, I’m having a couple of beers in the bar next door.”
Thursday, November 21, 2013
WHITE SCUMBAG FINALLY EXECUTED FOR 1977 MURDER
Missouri exterminates killer of blacks and Jews who also shot and paralyzed Larry Flynt
How anyone can be opposed to capital punishment for monsters like Joseph Paul Franklin is beyond comprehension to me. In his case it took 35 years for justice to be done.
MISSOURI EXECUTES SERIAL KILLER FRANKLIN
Associated Press
November 20, 2013
White supremacist serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin has been put to death in Missouri. It was the state's first execution in nearly three years.
The 63-year-old Franklin targeted blacks and Jews in a cross-country killing spree from 1977 to 1980. He was executed Wednesday at the state prison in Bonne Terre for killing Gerald Gordon in a sniper shooting outside a suburban St. Louis synagogue in 1977.
Franklin was convicted of seven other murders across the country and claimed responsibility for up to 20 overall. The Missouri case was the only one that brought a death sentence.
The execution was the first in Missouri using a single drug, pentobarbital.
Franklin's fate was sealed early Wednesday when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal appeals court decision overturning stays granted Tuesday.
Franklin's lawyer had launched three separate appeals: One claiming his life should be spared because he is mentally ill; one claiming faulty jury instruction when he was given the death penalty; and one raising concern about Missouri's first-ever use of a new execution drug, pentobarbital.
Like other states, Missouri had long used a three-drug execution method. Drugmakers stopped selling those drugs to prisons and corrections departments, so in April 2012 Missouri announced a new one-drug execution protocol using propofol. The state planned to use propofol for an execution last month.
But Gov. Jay Nixon ordered the Missouri Department of Corrections to come up with a new drug after the European Union threatened to limit exports of the popular anesthetic if the United States used it in an execution, prompting an outcry among U.S. medical professionals.
The appeals and supreme court rulings overturned U.S. District Court Judge Nanette Laughrey decision late Tuesday. She held that the Missouri Department of Corrections "has not provided any information about the certification, inspection history, infraction history, or other aspects of the compounding pharmacy or of the person compounding the drug." She noted that the execution protocol, which has changed repeatedly, "has been a frustratingly moving target."
Franklin has also admitted to shooting and wounding civil rights leader Vernon Jordan and Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt, who has been paralyzed from the waist down since the attack in 1978.
Franklin was in his mid-20s when he began drifting across the country. He bombed a synagogue in Chattanooga, Tenn., in July 1977. No one was hurt, but soon, the killings began.
He arrived in the St. Louis area in October 1977 and picked out the Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel synagogue from the Yellow Pages. He fired five shots at the parking lot in Richmond Heights after a bar mitzvah on Oct. 8, 1977. One struck and killed Gerald Gordon, a 42-year-old father of three.
Franklin got away. His killing spree continued another three years.
Several of his victims were interracial couples. He also shot and killed, among others, two black children in Cincinnati, three female hitchhikers and a white 15-year-old prostitute, with whom he was angry because the girl had sex with black men.
He finally stumbled after killing two young black men in Salt Lake City in August 1980. He was arrested a month later in Kentucky, briefly escaped, and was captured for good a month after that in Florida.
Franklin was convicted of eight murders: two in Madison, Wis., two in Cincinnati, two in Salt Lake City, one in Chattanooga, Tenn., and the one in St. Louis County. Years later, in federal prison, Franklin admitted to several crimes, including the St. Louis County killing. He was sentenced to death in 1997.
How anyone can be opposed to capital punishment for monsters like Joseph Paul Franklin is beyond comprehension to me. In his case it took 35 years for justice to be done.
MISSOURI EXECUTES SERIAL KILLER FRANKLIN
Associated Press
November 20, 2013
White supremacist serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin has been put to death in Missouri. It was the state's first execution in nearly three years.
The 63-year-old Franklin targeted blacks and Jews in a cross-country killing spree from 1977 to 1980. He was executed Wednesday at the state prison in Bonne Terre for killing Gerald Gordon in a sniper shooting outside a suburban St. Louis synagogue in 1977.
Franklin was convicted of seven other murders across the country and claimed responsibility for up to 20 overall. The Missouri case was the only one that brought a death sentence.
The execution was the first in Missouri using a single drug, pentobarbital.
Franklin's fate was sealed early Wednesday when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal appeals court decision overturning stays granted Tuesday.
Franklin's lawyer had launched three separate appeals: One claiming his life should be spared because he is mentally ill; one claiming faulty jury instruction when he was given the death penalty; and one raising concern about Missouri's first-ever use of a new execution drug, pentobarbital.
Like other states, Missouri had long used a three-drug execution method. Drugmakers stopped selling those drugs to prisons and corrections departments, so in April 2012 Missouri announced a new one-drug execution protocol using propofol. The state planned to use propofol for an execution last month.
But Gov. Jay Nixon ordered the Missouri Department of Corrections to come up with a new drug after the European Union threatened to limit exports of the popular anesthetic if the United States used it in an execution, prompting an outcry among U.S. medical professionals.
The appeals and supreme court rulings overturned U.S. District Court Judge Nanette Laughrey decision late Tuesday. She held that the Missouri Department of Corrections "has not provided any information about the certification, inspection history, infraction history, or other aspects of the compounding pharmacy or of the person compounding the drug." She noted that the execution protocol, which has changed repeatedly, "has been a frustratingly moving target."
Franklin has also admitted to shooting and wounding civil rights leader Vernon Jordan and Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt, who has been paralyzed from the waist down since the attack in 1978.
Franklin was in his mid-20s when he began drifting across the country. He bombed a synagogue in Chattanooga, Tenn., in July 1977. No one was hurt, but soon, the killings began.
He arrived in the St. Louis area in October 1977 and picked out the Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel synagogue from the Yellow Pages. He fired five shots at the parking lot in Richmond Heights after a bar mitzvah on Oct. 8, 1977. One struck and killed Gerald Gordon, a 42-year-old father of three.
Franklin got away. His killing spree continued another three years.
Several of his victims were interracial couples. He also shot and killed, among others, two black children in Cincinnati, three female hitchhikers and a white 15-year-old prostitute, with whom he was angry because the girl had sex with black men.
He finally stumbled after killing two young black men in Salt Lake City in August 1980. He was arrested a month later in Kentucky, briefly escaped, and was captured for good a month after that in Florida.
Franklin was convicted of eight murders: two in Madison, Wis., two in Cincinnati, two in Salt Lake City, one in Chattanooga, Tenn., and the one in St. Louis County. Years later, in federal prison, Franklin admitted to several crimes, including the St. Louis County killing. He was sentenced to death in 1997.
IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER’S ATTACKS ON FRANCE AND ISRAEL LEAD TO SHOUTS OF ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’
The Obama administration is determined to reach a diplomatic solution with a nation that responds to attacks on France and Israel that do not mention the United States with shouts of ‘Death to America.’
FRANCE SLAMS IRAN OVER ANTI-ISRAEL REMARKS
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
November 20, 2013
France on Wednesday continued to demonstrate that it has Israel's back in the ongoing Iran nuclear saga when French President Francois Hollande blasted Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his bitter remarks targeting the Jewish state.
Addressing an elite unit of his Revolutionary Guards, Khamenei called Israel the "rabid dog of the region" and promised that "the Zionist regime...is doomed to extinction."
Khamenei also took aim at France for cozying up to Israel of late, and somewhat comically vowed to "slap the aggressors in the face."
Even when the talk was all of France and Israel, the US still couldn't seem to catch a break, as the gathered Iranian troops responded to their leader's speech by chanting "Death to America."
A French government spokeswoman said that Hollande viewed Khamenei's remarks as "unacceptable" and detrimental to nuclear negotiations between Iran and Western powers that resumed in Geneva on Wednesday.
Israel remains skeptical and concerned over the kind of deal that could result from those talks. France's position notwithstanding, the Obama Administration appeared determined to push through a deal that would remove Western sanctions without requiring Iran to dismantle its ability to build nuclear weapons in the future.
Meanwhile, Israel appears to be gearing itself up for the possibility of having to go it alone in striking Iran's nuclear facilities.
"We’ve said very clearly that if the world does not act we will solve the problem alone, and we meant just that," Knesset Member Ze'ev Elkin told Arutz Sheva radio. "We are able to act. Our ability to cause damage to Iran's nuclear program is not as strong as that of the Americans, but this ability is definitely there and we cannot sit back if we see that Iran is advancing towards a nuclear weapon."
FRANCE SLAMS IRAN OVER ANTI-ISRAEL REMARKS
By Ryan Jones
Israel Today
November 20, 2013
France on Wednesday continued to demonstrate that it has Israel's back in the ongoing Iran nuclear saga when French President Francois Hollande blasted Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his bitter remarks targeting the Jewish state.
Addressing an elite unit of his Revolutionary Guards, Khamenei called Israel the "rabid dog of the region" and promised that "the Zionist regime...is doomed to extinction."
Khamenei also took aim at France for cozying up to Israel of late, and somewhat comically vowed to "slap the aggressors in the face."
Even when the talk was all of France and Israel, the US still couldn't seem to catch a break, as the gathered Iranian troops responded to their leader's speech by chanting "Death to America."
A French government spokeswoman said that Hollande viewed Khamenei's remarks as "unacceptable" and detrimental to nuclear negotiations between Iran and Western powers that resumed in Geneva on Wednesday.
Israel remains skeptical and concerned over the kind of deal that could result from those talks. France's position notwithstanding, the Obama Administration appeared determined to push through a deal that would remove Western sanctions without requiring Iran to dismantle its ability to build nuclear weapons in the future.
Meanwhile, Israel appears to be gearing itself up for the possibility of having to go it alone in striking Iran's nuclear facilities.
"We’ve said very clearly that if the world does not act we will solve the problem alone, and we meant just that," Knesset Member Ze'ev Elkin told Arutz Sheva radio. "We are able to act. Our ability to cause damage to Iran's nuclear program is not as strong as that of the Americans, but this ability is definitely there and we cannot sit back if we see that Iran is advancing towards a nuclear weapon."
PERHAPS IT’S TIME TO CONSIDER LEGALIZING PROSTITUTION
Grits says: "Many of the worst negative consequences - including human trafficking, exploitation by pimps, and law enforcement corruption - primarily result from delivering services through a black market."
That argument is very similar to the argument against the War on Drugs.
While I believe the War on Drugs is not the failure its critics claim, and while I think the legalization of marijuana would be a grave mistake, I do believe that we could legalize prostitution without necessarily exacerbating public safety or public health problems.
PROSTITUTION/LAW ENFORCEMENT FOLLIES
Grits For Breakfast
November 19, 2013
A couple of stories about law enforcement in Texas allegedly protecting prostitution lately caught Grits eye:
First, a major prostitution bust in San Antonio in 2007 "fizzled amid allegations from some who alleged the FBI interfered with the SAPD probe, and that [the main target Samuel] Flores was protected because he cooperated with the FBI on unrelated investigations," the SA Express-News' Guillermo Contreras reported last week. Mr. Flores "was nabbed [last] week in Austin on an indictment alleging he was dealing methamphetamine in San Antonio. He was denied bond during a hearing in Austin on Thursday, and ordered transferred to San Antonio for trial. "
Wrote Contreras, "The FBI and U.S. attorney's office denied the allegations, but nonetheless, the matter bruised feelings between the FBI and SAPD and resulted in an internal affairs investigation by the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility," the results of which were never released.
Meanwhile, in Dallas vice squad Detective Jose Luis Bedoy has been indicted on federal charges for tipping off a prostitute with whom he was engaged in intimate relations about upcoming Dallas PD stings, giving her tips on how to avoid arrest, Tanya Eiserer at the Dallas News reported. “Authorities allege that the relationship lasted for years and during the entire time Bedoy provided 'law enforcement-sensitive information to her about DPD Vice Unit prostitution raids and other enforcement actions.'”
Both stories hint at larger, big-picture issues. The latter reminds me of a study out of Chicago that found 3% of tricks by prostitutes operating without pimps were "freebies given to police" in exchange for protection. The former reminds us of the pitfalls of police reliance on criminals as confidential informants, who frequently go on to commit as many crimes as they help police solve, but under the de facto protection of law enforcement.
In an era when HBO has turned a legal Nevada brothel into a popular reality TV series, Grits has to wonder whether, when it comes to keeping the "oldest profession" illegal, the juice really is worth the squeeze. Many of the worst negative consequences - including human trafficking, exploitation by pimps, and law enforcement corruption - primarily result from delivering services through a black market.
That argument is very similar to the argument against the War on Drugs.
While I believe the War on Drugs is not the failure its critics claim, and while I think the legalization of marijuana would be a grave mistake, I do believe that we could legalize prostitution without necessarily exacerbating public safety or public health problems.
PROSTITUTION/LAW ENFORCEMENT FOLLIES
Grits For Breakfast
November 19, 2013
A couple of stories about law enforcement in Texas allegedly protecting prostitution lately caught Grits eye:
First, a major prostitution bust in San Antonio in 2007 "fizzled amid allegations from some who alleged the FBI interfered with the SAPD probe, and that [the main target Samuel] Flores was protected because he cooperated with the FBI on unrelated investigations," the SA Express-News' Guillermo Contreras reported last week. Mr. Flores "was nabbed [last] week in Austin on an indictment alleging he was dealing methamphetamine in San Antonio. He was denied bond during a hearing in Austin on Thursday, and ordered transferred to San Antonio for trial. "
Wrote Contreras, "The FBI and U.S. attorney's office denied the allegations, but nonetheless, the matter bruised feelings between the FBI and SAPD and resulted in an internal affairs investigation by the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility," the results of which were never released.
Meanwhile, in Dallas vice squad Detective Jose Luis Bedoy has been indicted on federal charges for tipping off a prostitute with whom he was engaged in intimate relations about upcoming Dallas PD stings, giving her tips on how to avoid arrest, Tanya Eiserer at the Dallas News reported. “Authorities allege that the relationship lasted for years and during the entire time Bedoy provided 'law enforcement-sensitive information to her about DPD Vice Unit prostitution raids and other enforcement actions.'”
Both stories hint at larger, big-picture issues. The latter reminds me of a study out of Chicago that found 3% of tricks by prostitutes operating without pimps were "freebies given to police" in exchange for protection. The former reminds us of the pitfalls of police reliance on criminals as confidential informants, who frequently go on to commit as many crimes as they help police solve, but under the de facto protection of law enforcement.
In an era when HBO has turned a legal Nevada brothel into a popular reality TV series, Grits has to wonder whether, when it comes to keeping the "oldest profession" illegal, the juice really is worth the squeeze. Many of the worst negative consequences - including human trafficking, exploitation by pimps, and law enforcement corruption - primarily result from delivering services through a black market.
PITHY STUFF
By Charlie Daniels
The Charlie Daniels Band
November 18, 2013
If you are offended by political incorrectness just stop reading right now cause I'm going way out of bounds on this one.
When deficit spending became an accepted policy of the United States government the nation began its long and painful journey toward an inefficient, top-heavy government and the insolvency we are now facing eye to eye.
Both parties are guilty, both parties are culpable, both parties preach fiscal responsibility and practice undisciplined, flagrant spending of the public funds, with bridges to nowhere, airports that service two planes a week and pie in the sky energy projects that drain billions of dollars from the depleted public coffers and quietly go out of business leaving the treasury with not so much as a promissory note.
America being broke and in debt for every foreseeable generation has no effect on the self centered professional politicians who are willing to sell off pieces of the nation and the welfare of it's people for no other reason than keeping their jaded, out of touch, power hungry selves in office.
America has been teetering on the brink for the last several decades. Oh I know that by jimmying the facts, using stilted semantics and downright false information, one administration or another has been able to claim that the nation has averted the abyss and is on the way to full employment and rock solid solvency.
But the sorry truth is that Social Security is not in a lock box, the government and it's voluminous and repetitive bureaucracies are bloated, redundant and so bogged down in regulations they can't move, Congress takes politburo type liberties, with different health plans and retirement packages, the IRS is corrupt, outdated and much too powerful.
The Pentagon operates like a college fraternity with retired generals and admirals taking jobs with lobbying firms to use their contacts to secure multibillion-dollar contracts and gouging the government with five hundred dollar hammers that could be purchased in any ordinary hardware store for a fraction of the cost.
The planet is beset with Islamic terrorism, the homeland (mainland America) was attacked for the first time in over 220 years, we have unprecedented national debt and in the middle of all this we elect a president who seems to think that the national treasury is his personal piggy bank; a president who goes around the world apologizing for the greatness of America and actually bowing to a Saudi King.
A president whose college records are not available to the public, who spent his early life, at least the limited part of it we can find out about, in the company of anarchists and radicals and admires the teachings of Saul Alinsky and even tried to appoint an avowed communist to a government post.
A chief executive who's experience amounts to two years in the Senate and a lifetime spent in academia and community organizing, a man who never ran a business or made a payroll and who has surrounded himself with a gaggle of politically correct eggheads and ideologues who think America needs to be fundamentally changed into a European type Socialist Utopia.
Having control of both houses of Congress in the first two years of his presidency he pushed through the most economically crippling piece of legislature to ever hit Capitol Hill and the Democrats passed it without even reading it.
Now that the practical implications of this atrocious piece of tripe is coming to fruition, in typical Obama style he is just as befuddled as the rest of us and has no idea how to deal with the physical or political ramifications of his own invention.
Americans are losing their insurance policies, policies they've been happy with for years and the same Democrats who have been telling us it's the law of the land are running scared and scrambling to come up with some quick fix before they face the voters next year.
Well there is no quick fix for Obamacare, the fact of the matter is that you can't polish a cow patty and what Obama is proposing will not fix anything, he's just concerned with losing both houses of Congress and wants to put off the pain until after the next election.
People the United States of America is in a total mess and the people in charge have no idea how to dig our way out of it. It's like trying to play the Super Bowl with a high school quarterback and a bunch of Pop Warner League players.
Obama is not capable, ideologically or physically of running this or any other nation and neither are the team he has surrounded himself with.
His removal of experienced military officers from positions of strategic and tactical importance is either rank ignorance or disrespect for the military.
His cavalier attitude toward Iran, his naive belief that he can strike a deal to stop the production of nuclear weapons will do nothing more than lift sanctions and allow Iran the time they need to perfect their nuclear program, leaving every country in the Middle East vulnerable and forcing Israel to take unilateral action to avoid their destruction.
Can America survive the Obama years?
Not if this man is left alone to have his way. America at the end of Obama's presidency will be a weaker, less productive nation, no longer feared or even taken seriously, a confused country with no direction, a country torn apart with the worst racial relations in half a century and a staggering entitlement commitment.
What a legacy.
The Charlie Daniels Band
November 18, 2013
If you are offended by political incorrectness just stop reading right now cause I'm going way out of bounds on this one.
When deficit spending became an accepted policy of the United States government the nation began its long and painful journey toward an inefficient, top-heavy government and the insolvency we are now facing eye to eye.
Both parties are guilty, both parties are culpable, both parties preach fiscal responsibility and practice undisciplined, flagrant spending of the public funds, with bridges to nowhere, airports that service two planes a week and pie in the sky energy projects that drain billions of dollars from the depleted public coffers and quietly go out of business leaving the treasury with not so much as a promissory note.
America being broke and in debt for every foreseeable generation has no effect on the self centered professional politicians who are willing to sell off pieces of the nation and the welfare of it's people for no other reason than keeping their jaded, out of touch, power hungry selves in office.
America has been teetering on the brink for the last several decades. Oh I know that by jimmying the facts, using stilted semantics and downright false information, one administration or another has been able to claim that the nation has averted the abyss and is on the way to full employment and rock solid solvency.
But the sorry truth is that Social Security is not in a lock box, the government and it's voluminous and repetitive bureaucracies are bloated, redundant and so bogged down in regulations they can't move, Congress takes politburo type liberties, with different health plans and retirement packages, the IRS is corrupt, outdated and much too powerful.
The Pentagon operates like a college fraternity with retired generals and admirals taking jobs with lobbying firms to use their contacts to secure multibillion-dollar contracts and gouging the government with five hundred dollar hammers that could be purchased in any ordinary hardware store for a fraction of the cost.
The planet is beset with Islamic terrorism, the homeland (mainland America) was attacked for the first time in over 220 years, we have unprecedented national debt and in the middle of all this we elect a president who seems to think that the national treasury is his personal piggy bank; a president who goes around the world apologizing for the greatness of America and actually bowing to a Saudi King.
A president whose college records are not available to the public, who spent his early life, at least the limited part of it we can find out about, in the company of anarchists and radicals and admires the teachings of Saul Alinsky and even tried to appoint an avowed communist to a government post.
A chief executive who's experience amounts to two years in the Senate and a lifetime spent in academia and community organizing, a man who never ran a business or made a payroll and who has surrounded himself with a gaggle of politically correct eggheads and ideologues who think America needs to be fundamentally changed into a European type Socialist Utopia.
Having control of both houses of Congress in the first two years of his presidency he pushed through the most economically crippling piece of legislature to ever hit Capitol Hill and the Democrats passed it without even reading it.
Now that the practical implications of this atrocious piece of tripe is coming to fruition, in typical Obama style he is just as befuddled as the rest of us and has no idea how to deal with the physical or political ramifications of his own invention.
Americans are losing their insurance policies, policies they've been happy with for years and the same Democrats who have been telling us it's the law of the land are running scared and scrambling to come up with some quick fix before they face the voters next year.
Well there is no quick fix for Obamacare, the fact of the matter is that you can't polish a cow patty and what Obama is proposing will not fix anything, he's just concerned with losing both houses of Congress and wants to put off the pain until after the next election.
People the United States of America is in a total mess and the people in charge have no idea how to dig our way out of it. It's like trying to play the Super Bowl with a high school quarterback and a bunch of Pop Warner League players.
Obama is not capable, ideologically or physically of running this or any other nation and neither are the team he has surrounded himself with.
His removal of experienced military officers from positions of strategic and tactical importance is either rank ignorance or disrespect for the military.
His cavalier attitude toward Iran, his naive belief that he can strike a deal to stop the production of nuclear weapons will do nothing more than lift sanctions and allow Iran the time they need to perfect their nuclear program, leaving every country in the Middle East vulnerable and forcing Israel to take unilateral action to avoid their destruction.
Can America survive the Obama years?
Not if this man is left alone to have his way. America at the end of Obama's presidency will be a weaker, less productive nation, no longer feared or even taken seriously, a confused country with no direction, a country torn apart with the worst racial relations in half a century and a staggering entitlement commitment.
What a legacy.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
DID OSWALD ACT ALONE IN KILLING KENNEDY?
Was Lyndon B. Johnson behind the assassination of JFK? The CIA? The military-industrial complex? The Mafia? Fidel Castro? The KGB? Was there a second shooter? Or did Lee Harvey Oswald act alone?
Watch this outstanding documentary by Newsmax
Watch this outstanding documentary by Newsmax
TEEN TERRORISTS HAVING FUN PLAYING ‘KNOCKOUT GAME’
The game, wherein teenagers knockout unsuspecting pedestrians or bicyclists and record the attacks on video, can be deadly and is spreading across the country
The ‘Knockout Game,’ a recreational activity by teen terrorists, is spreading across the country. The game is played by sneaking up on unsuspecting pedestrians or bicyclists and delivering a knockout blow to the head. Victims are chosen at random. Not only men, but women and the elderly have also been attacked. At least three victims have been killed. The attacks are videotaped and shown on social media sites.
These young thugs are truly teen terrorists. When arrested, they readily admit they are playing the game just for the fun of it. The justice system should treat these thugs as terrorists and the courts should show them absolutely no mercy, no matter how young they are or how abusive their childhood may have been.
‘KNOCKOUT’ GAME TAKES VIOLENCE TO A NEW LEVEL
Youths are walking the streets searching for unsuspecting victims, then punch them in the face just for the fun of it
examiner.com
November 17, 2013
It would be stretching it a bit to call "Knockout" a game, and news sources on Sunday apparently are in agreement. The action seems to involve trying to punch a victim in the head to render the person unconscious.
The game, played by young, male teenagers, some as young as 12 or 13-years old, involves coming up behind someone, and trying to knock them out with one punch. If they are unsuccessful, they will continue to beat on the victim until he or she is unconscious, or in some cases, dead.
There have been three deaths reported, the most recent one in New Jersey involved a man being hit in the head so hard his neck was broken. A 13 and a 14-year-old were charged in the man's murder.
In New York state, police are looking at attacks this week in predominately Jewish neighborhoods as "hate crimes." The most recent attack took place in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, when a man walking alone was accosted by a group of 10 men who punched him and kept going.
The so-called "Knockout Game" is not confined to New York, but is being seen all across the country. A 27-year-old woman walking home the other night in Washington, D.C. was attacked by a group of teenagers on bicycles who slugged her on the back of her head, hard, and took off laughing.
Denver, Colorado is another city to add to the growing list that includes the states of West Virginia, New Jersey, and several others. The "Game" goes by several names. It is also called "One Hitter Quitter" and "Knockout King" and "Pick 'Em Out" and "Knock 'Em Down."
When asked why they were doing it, and what was the point of the game, one teen answered, "For the fun of it."
The ‘Knockout Game,’ a recreational activity by teen terrorists, is spreading across the country. The game is played by sneaking up on unsuspecting pedestrians or bicyclists and delivering a knockout blow to the head. Victims are chosen at random. Not only men, but women and the elderly have also been attacked. At least three victims have been killed. The attacks are videotaped and shown on social media sites.
These young thugs are truly teen terrorists. When arrested, they readily admit they are playing the game just for the fun of it. The justice system should treat these thugs as terrorists and the courts should show them absolutely no mercy, no matter how young they are or how abusive their childhood may have been.
‘KNOCKOUT’ GAME TAKES VIOLENCE TO A NEW LEVEL
Youths are walking the streets searching for unsuspecting victims, then punch them in the face just for the fun of it
examiner.com
November 17, 2013
It would be stretching it a bit to call "Knockout" a game, and news sources on Sunday apparently are in agreement. The action seems to involve trying to punch a victim in the head to render the person unconscious.
The game, played by young, male teenagers, some as young as 12 or 13-years old, involves coming up behind someone, and trying to knock them out with one punch. If they are unsuccessful, they will continue to beat on the victim until he or she is unconscious, or in some cases, dead.
There have been three deaths reported, the most recent one in New Jersey involved a man being hit in the head so hard his neck was broken. A 13 and a 14-year-old were charged in the man's murder.
In New York state, police are looking at attacks this week in predominately Jewish neighborhoods as "hate crimes." The most recent attack took place in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, when a man walking alone was accosted by a group of 10 men who punched him and kept going.
The so-called "Knockout Game" is not confined to New York, but is being seen all across the country. A 27-year-old woman walking home the other night in Washington, D.C. was attacked by a group of teenagers on bicycles who slugged her on the back of her head, hard, and took off laughing.
Denver, Colorado is another city to add to the growing list that includes the states of West Virginia, New Jersey, and several others. The "Game" goes by several names. It is also called "One Hitter Quitter" and "Knockout King" and "Pick 'Em Out" and "Knock 'Em Down."
When asked why they were doing it, and what was the point of the game, one teen answered, "For the fun of it."
HAMAS LEADER CALLS ISRAEL ‘A CANCEROUS TUMOR THAT MUST BE REMOVED AND UPROOTED,’ BUT NOT UNTIL HIS CRITICALLY ILL FAMILY MEMBERS ARE HEALED IN ISRAELI HOSPITALS
Hundreds of Gazans enter the hated ‘cancerous tumor’ every month for medical treatment. It’s ironic that one minute they call for the obliteration of the Jewish state and the next minute they are clamoring to get in for treatment by doctors in Israeli hospitals that they cannot get in Gaza.
HAMAS LEADER SENDS GRANDDAUGHTER TO ISRAEL FOR TREATMENT
Ryan Jones
Israel Today
November 19, 2013
Israel is the devil and the merciless foe of the Palestinian Arabs. Except for when a Palestinian leader or one of his or her family members needs emergency medical care.
Israel on Sunday provided such treatment to Amal Haniyeh, granddaughter of Gaza-based Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, of all people.
The one-year-old girl had reportedly deteriorated to critical condition after contracting an acute infection of her digestive tract. Seemingly without hesitation, Haniyeh sent the girl to Israel, and the Jewish state, equally without hesitation, opened its arms to help the child.
Nor was little Amal the first member of the Haniyeh family to receive medical care from Israel. In the summer of 2012, Haniyeh's brother-in-law was rushed across the border to receive urgent heart treatment at a hospital near Tel Aviv.
Now, this is nothing new on the Israeli side of the equation. Hundreds of Palestinians from Gaza enter Israel every month for medical treatment, some of it life-saving.
But for Haniyeh himself to send his own flesh and blood into what he and other Hamas leaders describe as the lion's den certainly must send the wrong kind of message.
Speaking at a conference on education last year, Haniyeh labeled Israel "a cancerous tumor that must be removed and uprooted," and urged Palestinian school teachers to "raise a generation that will fight and liberate the Palestinians from the occupation."
And, no, his definition of "occupation" is not confined to the pre-1967 armistice lines.
"The armed...struggle [is] the path and the strategic choice for liberating the Palestinian land, from the [Mediterranean] sea to the [Jordan] river, and for the expulsion of the invaders and usurpers [Israel]... We won't relinquish one inch of the land of Palestine," Haniyeh stated in December 2011 on the occasion of Hamas' 24th anniversary.
Two months later in Tehran, Haniyeh insisted that Hamas would "never recognize Israel," regardless of any peace agreement reached between Israel and other Palestinian leaders.
One must wonder, if Hamas' long-term strategic goals are met, where then will Haniyeh send his family when they become ill?
HAMAS LEADER SENDS GRANDDAUGHTER TO ISRAEL FOR TREATMENT
Ryan Jones
Israel Today
November 19, 2013
Israel is the devil and the merciless foe of the Palestinian Arabs. Except for when a Palestinian leader or one of his or her family members needs emergency medical care.
Israel on Sunday provided such treatment to Amal Haniyeh, granddaughter of Gaza-based Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, of all people.
The one-year-old girl had reportedly deteriorated to critical condition after contracting an acute infection of her digestive tract. Seemingly without hesitation, Haniyeh sent the girl to Israel, and the Jewish state, equally without hesitation, opened its arms to help the child.
Nor was little Amal the first member of the Haniyeh family to receive medical care from Israel. In the summer of 2012, Haniyeh's brother-in-law was rushed across the border to receive urgent heart treatment at a hospital near Tel Aviv.
Now, this is nothing new on the Israeli side of the equation. Hundreds of Palestinians from Gaza enter Israel every month for medical treatment, some of it life-saving.
But for Haniyeh himself to send his own flesh and blood into what he and other Hamas leaders describe as the lion's den certainly must send the wrong kind of message.
Speaking at a conference on education last year, Haniyeh labeled Israel "a cancerous tumor that must be removed and uprooted," and urged Palestinian school teachers to "raise a generation that will fight and liberate the Palestinians from the occupation."
And, no, his definition of "occupation" is not confined to the pre-1967 armistice lines.
"The armed...struggle [is] the path and the strategic choice for liberating the Palestinian land, from the [Mediterranean] sea to the [Jordan] river, and for the expulsion of the invaders and usurpers [Israel]... We won't relinquish one inch of the land of Palestine," Haniyeh stated in December 2011 on the occasion of Hamas' 24th anniversary.
Two months later in Tehran, Haniyeh insisted that Hamas would "never recognize Israel," regardless of any peace agreement reached between Israel and other Palestinian leaders.
One must wonder, if Hamas' long-term strategic goals are met, where then will Haniyeh send his family when they become ill?
SAN DIEGO COUNTY HAS SEPARATE HOUSING UNIT AND SPECIAL PROGRAMS FOR JAILED VETERANS
While military veterans should not be absolved of their crimes because they fought for our country, once they have been jailed, a correctional program that will help them to become productive citizens when they are released is one way we can repay them for their service to this country.
SEPARATE JAIL FACILITIES SEEK TO CUT RECIDIVISM RATES AMONG VETERANS
The San Diego sheriff offers classes, special housing to increase the chances vets don't repeat offenses; programs also assist with drug and alcohol abuse
By Tony Perry
Los Angeles Times
November 18, 2013
VISTA, Calif. — The N-Module-3 housing wing at the San Diego County Jail was recently repainted red, white and blue.
Brightly colored paintings now hang on the walls: one of the Statue of Liberty, another of the U.S. flag, and one of a screaming eagle landing with talons outstretched. Hanging from the ceiling are the service flags of U.S. military branches and the POW/MIA flag.
The paintings and the flags are key to a program begun this month that aims to reduce recidivism among veterans who have slipped into the criminal justice system after leaving the structured world of military service.
Thirty-two veterans serving sentences or awaiting trial have volunteered to live in the module separate from the other prisoners and participate in classes meant to increase their chances of making a law-abiding return to civilian life.
"We're all dedicated to making this work, nobody wants to go back," said Jeremy Thomas, 22, who served with the Marines in Afghanistan and lost his left hand when a roadside bomb exploded.
Each of the veterans has agreed to take classes Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to assist with problems of post-traumatic stress disorder, anger management, substance abuse, parenting and other issues.
"We hope that by putting them together we can rekindle that esprit de corps they had when they were serving their country," said San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore, whose department runs the jails. "It's a great population to work with."
The program was spurred both by a sense of obligation toward the veterans and also an increased need to reduce recidivism to accommodate the state's prison realignment program that threatens to overwhelm the capacity of local jails.
"We've got to do things differently," Gore said.
Angela Simoneau, a social worker for the Department of Veterans Affairs in San Diego, said she and others participating in the program will be watching for numbers to support expanding the program to other local jails. "Data is on everyone's mind," she said.
Nationwide, a small but growing number of jails have housing and programs specifically targeting veterans, an effort that the VA encourages and supports by forming partnerships with local law enforcement.
"Being treated as a veteran reminds them of a time when their lives made sense and they deserved the respect of others," VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, a retired Army general, told a recent convention of the American Correctional Assn.
An estimated 1 in 9 prisoners in the U.S. is a military veteran, according to the Department of Justice. But only 1 in 6 is being helped by the VA with the challenge of resuming life after incarceration, said Shinseki, who has vowed to get more help for those veterans.
The California prison system does not house veterans separately from other prisoners but does encourage formation of veterans-only discussion groups at its 34 institutions, a spokesman said. VA "reentry specialists" regularly meet with prisoners on the verge of being released to tell them of benefits and therapy programs.
In Los Angeles County, where the Sheriff's Department runs the largest jail system in the country, 291 prisoners are housed in veteran-only dorms where they participate in programs including Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous and classes in art, computers and relationship counseling.
One of the oldest and most successful of the veterans-behind-bars programs is run by the San Francisco Sheriff's Department at its jail in San Bruno.
Begun in 2010, the San Francisco program houses 48 veterans in a separate "pod" where they can receive help from specialists from the VA and the Bay Area nonprofit group Swords to Plowshares.
San Diego County Deputy Dist. Atty. Harrison Kennedy, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan as an Army lawyer, said a veterans program is a natural for San Diego, which, because of its many Marine Corps and Navy bases, has the largest population of recent veterans in the country.
"We have a unique population," said Kennedy, who works in the county's veterans' court system. "There is an incredible potential here for success."
Most of the jail deputies are volunteers who preferred working with the veterans.
"In here, the staff is totally different than out there," said inmate Kimbra Kelley, 49, a former Marine.
There are incentives for inmates to participate, seemingly small to outsiders but very large in the life of the incarcerated: pillows, more television time, more time in the exercise yard, extra mattresses, an extra visit each week from family members, access to a vending machine and, soon, a microwave oven.
"This is the future, gentlemen: incentive housing," sheriff's Lt. Steven Wicklander told the inmates during a visit this month.
If any of the 32 veterans quits attending the classes and stays in his cell, he can be returned to general population. There's a waiting list among the 270 veterans in county custody to transfer to N-Module-3.
"We were given an opportunity, and we're going to hold on to it for dear life," said Dana Mulvany, 42, who served in the Navy.
SEPARATE JAIL FACILITIES SEEK TO CUT RECIDIVISM RATES AMONG VETERANS
The San Diego sheriff offers classes, special housing to increase the chances vets don't repeat offenses; programs also assist with drug and alcohol abuse
By Tony Perry
Los Angeles Times
November 18, 2013
VISTA, Calif. — The N-Module-3 housing wing at the San Diego County Jail was recently repainted red, white and blue.
Brightly colored paintings now hang on the walls: one of the Statue of Liberty, another of the U.S. flag, and one of a screaming eagle landing with talons outstretched. Hanging from the ceiling are the service flags of U.S. military branches and the POW/MIA flag.
The paintings and the flags are key to a program begun this month that aims to reduce recidivism among veterans who have slipped into the criminal justice system after leaving the structured world of military service.
Thirty-two veterans serving sentences or awaiting trial have volunteered to live in the module separate from the other prisoners and participate in classes meant to increase their chances of making a law-abiding return to civilian life.
"We're all dedicated to making this work, nobody wants to go back," said Jeremy Thomas, 22, who served with the Marines in Afghanistan and lost his left hand when a roadside bomb exploded.
Each of the veterans has agreed to take classes Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to assist with problems of post-traumatic stress disorder, anger management, substance abuse, parenting and other issues.
"We hope that by putting them together we can rekindle that esprit de corps they had when they were serving their country," said San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore, whose department runs the jails. "It's a great population to work with."
The program was spurred both by a sense of obligation toward the veterans and also an increased need to reduce recidivism to accommodate the state's prison realignment program that threatens to overwhelm the capacity of local jails.
"We've got to do things differently," Gore said.
Angela Simoneau, a social worker for the Department of Veterans Affairs in San Diego, said she and others participating in the program will be watching for numbers to support expanding the program to other local jails. "Data is on everyone's mind," she said.
Nationwide, a small but growing number of jails have housing and programs specifically targeting veterans, an effort that the VA encourages and supports by forming partnerships with local law enforcement.
"Being treated as a veteran reminds them of a time when their lives made sense and they deserved the respect of others," VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, a retired Army general, told a recent convention of the American Correctional Assn.
An estimated 1 in 9 prisoners in the U.S. is a military veteran, according to the Department of Justice. But only 1 in 6 is being helped by the VA with the challenge of resuming life after incarceration, said Shinseki, who has vowed to get more help for those veterans.
The California prison system does not house veterans separately from other prisoners but does encourage formation of veterans-only discussion groups at its 34 institutions, a spokesman said. VA "reentry specialists" regularly meet with prisoners on the verge of being released to tell them of benefits and therapy programs.
In Los Angeles County, where the Sheriff's Department runs the largest jail system in the country, 291 prisoners are housed in veteran-only dorms where they participate in programs including Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous and classes in art, computers and relationship counseling.
One of the oldest and most successful of the veterans-behind-bars programs is run by the San Francisco Sheriff's Department at its jail in San Bruno.
Begun in 2010, the San Francisco program houses 48 veterans in a separate "pod" where they can receive help from specialists from the VA and the Bay Area nonprofit group Swords to Plowshares.
San Diego County Deputy Dist. Atty. Harrison Kennedy, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan as an Army lawyer, said a veterans program is a natural for San Diego, which, because of its many Marine Corps and Navy bases, has the largest population of recent veterans in the country.
"We have a unique population," said Kennedy, who works in the county's veterans' court system. "There is an incredible potential here for success."
Most of the jail deputies are volunteers who preferred working with the veterans.
"In here, the staff is totally different than out there," said inmate Kimbra Kelley, 49, a former Marine.
There are incentives for inmates to participate, seemingly small to outsiders but very large in the life of the incarcerated: pillows, more television time, more time in the exercise yard, extra mattresses, an extra visit each week from family members, access to a vending machine and, soon, a microwave oven.
"This is the future, gentlemen: incentive housing," sheriff's Lt. Steven Wicklander told the inmates during a visit this month.
If any of the 32 veterans quits attending the classes and stays in his cell, he can be returned to general population. There's a waiting list among the 270 veterans in county custody to transfer to N-Module-3.
"We were given an opportunity, and we're going to hold on to it for dear life," said Dana Mulvany, 42, who served in the Navy.
BITCOINS, VIRTUAL CURRENCY, WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY TALING ABOUT?
The world of cyberspace and technology has overtaken many old codgers like me and left us clueless in the dust
Bitcoins, virtual currency, virtual cash? I feel like a convict who has been locked up in prison for 50 years and finds himself in a strange and different world, one he cannot recognize or fathom upon his release.
BITCOINS SURGE TO OVER $900 A PIECE IN VALUE AFTER SENATE HEARING TO DISCUSS THE IMPLICATIONS OF VIRTUAL CURRENCY
Congress hears how 'digital cash' is increasingly being used by criminals
By Daniel Miller
Mail Online
November 19, 2013
Bitcoin surged to $900 following a Senate hearing to discuss the implications of the growing popularity of virtual currencies.
Congress was told that while virtual currencies may give consumers a cheap, efficient and convenient way to move money, those same attributes make them appealing to criminals.
Mythili Raman, acting assistant attorney general, for the Justice Department's Criminal Division said: 'We have seen increasing use of such currencies by drug dealers, traffickers of child pornography, and perpetrators of large-scale fraud schemes.'
The currencies offer criminals both anonymity and the ability to process transactions that cannot be reversed, which can 'significantly complicate' the government's ability to follow money trails in related criminal investigations, she told the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
Further complicating efforts, many digital currency services do not have controls to protect against abuse, Raman said.
'Many are still struggling with implementing appropriate anti-money laundering, know-your-customer and customer due diligence programs,' she said in prepared remarks.
Raman appeared alongside top officials from the Secret Service and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network before the Senate Homeland Security Committee to answer questions about the growing use of digital currencies such as Bitcoin, and whether the government is doing enough to police the market.
'Virtual currencies, perhaps most notably Bitcoin, have captured the imagination of some, struck fear among others, and confused the heck out of the rest of us,' Senator Thomas Carper, who chairs the committee, said in his opening remarks at the standing-room only hearing.
Virtual currencies or digital cash have increasingly become a popular new way to purchase goods or services.
They are not regulated or issued by a central bank. They have been touted by some as an alternative currency in countries facing financial instability.
The most popular virtual currency is Bitcoin, which exists through an open-source software program and whose supply is controlled by a computer algorithm.
But critics have raised concerns about a lack of regulatory oversight over virtual currencies and the fact that some of them can be transferred anonymously, raising fears that they could be used by scam artists.
The general counsel of the Bitcoin Foundation, Patrick Murck, told lawmakers that digital currencies offer many benefits and are not only a cloak for illegal business. But he added that law enforcement would have to develop new methods to investigate some criminal activity.
Over the past year, U.S. authorities have taken action against several players in the digital currency space.
In May, U.S. authorities seized two accounts linked to the Tokyo-based exchange Mt. Gox, the major operator for the Bitcoin digital marketplace, after it failed to register with FinCEN.
Around the same time, U.S. criminal authorities also indicted the operators of the digital currency exchange Liberty Reserve and accused the company of helping criminals launder more than $6 billion in funds linked to everything from child pornography to software used for bank hacking.
In October, federal authorities shut down an online marketplace called Silk Road that was used for purchasing drugs and hiring hit men.
Earlier this month a new version of the website opened for business again, raising concerns over whether authorities were fighting a loosing battle.
Raman rejected such concerns and said the government was sending a message to criminals by taking down these organizations. 'We have kept pace,' she said.
Bitcoins, virtual currency, virtual cash? I feel like a convict who has been locked up in prison for 50 years and finds himself in a strange and different world, one he cannot recognize or fathom upon his release.
BITCOINS SURGE TO OVER $900 A PIECE IN VALUE AFTER SENATE HEARING TO DISCUSS THE IMPLICATIONS OF VIRTUAL CURRENCY
Congress hears how 'digital cash' is increasingly being used by criminals
By Daniel Miller
Mail Online
November 19, 2013
Bitcoin surged to $900 following a Senate hearing to discuss the implications of the growing popularity of virtual currencies.
Congress was told that while virtual currencies may give consumers a cheap, efficient and convenient way to move money, those same attributes make them appealing to criminals.
Mythili Raman, acting assistant attorney general, for the Justice Department's Criminal Division said: 'We have seen increasing use of such currencies by drug dealers, traffickers of child pornography, and perpetrators of large-scale fraud schemes.'
The currencies offer criminals both anonymity and the ability to process transactions that cannot be reversed, which can 'significantly complicate' the government's ability to follow money trails in related criminal investigations, she told the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
Further complicating efforts, many digital currency services do not have controls to protect against abuse, Raman said.
'Many are still struggling with implementing appropriate anti-money laundering, know-your-customer and customer due diligence programs,' she said in prepared remarks.
Raman appeared alongside top officials from the Secret Service and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network before the Senate Homeland Security Committee to answer questions about the growing use of digital currencies such as Bitcoin, and whether the government is doing enough to police the market.
'Virtual currencies, perhaps most notably Bitcoin, have captured the imagination of some, struck fear among others, and confused the heck out of the rest of us,' Senator Thomas Carper, who chairs the committee, said in his opening remarks at the standing-room only hearing.
Virtual currencies or digital cash have increasingly become a popular new way to purchase goods or services.
They are not regulated or issued by a central bank. They have been touted by some as an alternative currency in countries facing financial instability.
The most popular virtual currency is Bitcoin, which exists through an open-source software program and whose supply is controlled by a computer algorithm.
But critics have raised concerns about a lack of regulatory oversight over virtual currencies and the fact that some of them can be transferred anonymously, raising fears that they could be used by scam artists.
The general counsel of the Bitcoin Foundation, Patrick Murck, told lawmakers that digital currencies offer many benefits and are not only a cloak for illegal business. But he added that law enforcement would have to develop new methods to investigate some criminal activity.
Over the past year, U.S. authorities have taken action against several players in the digital currency space.
In May, U.S. authorities seized two accounts linked to the Tokyo-based exchange Mt. Gox, the major operator for the Bitcoin digital marketplace, after it failed to register with FinCEN.
Around the same time, U.S. criminal authorities also indicted the operators of the digital currency exchange Liberty Reserve and accused the company of helping criminals launder more than $6 billion in funds linked to everything from child pornography to software used for bank hacking.
In October, federal authorities shut down an online marketplace called Silk Road that was used for purchasing drugs and hiring hit men.
Earlier this month a new version of the website opened for business again, raising concerns over whether authorities were fighting a loosing battle.
Raman rejected such concerns and said the government was sending a message to criminals by taking down these organizations. 'We have kept pace,' she said.
CANCER RESEARCHERS: ‘DON’T GET CANCER’
Researchers say having cancer is “bad,” and that people should, if possible, not get it
The Onion
November 18, 2013
PHILADELPHIA—Calling the contraction of the disease “not good,” and saying that not having the illness is highly preferable to having it, oncologists representing the American Association for Cancer Research urged the U.S. populace Monday not to get cancer.
The panel, which consisted of medical experts at the top of their respective fields in cancer research, education, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, addressed the media for 45 minutes, saying that people’s best hope in terms of living a long, cancer-free life is to never develop cancerous cells in any part of the body, ever.
“After years of closely studying this illness and learning about how it grows and arbitrarily attacks vital organs throughout the body at an uncontrollable rate until one eventually dies, we have concluded that not having cancer is the best way to go,” said Dr. Robert Bertino, who specializes in molecular biology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. “If you are going to contract a harmful illness, get diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, meningitis, or even Type 2 diabetes. Anything but cancer. Cancer is just the worst.”
“A lot of people die from it,” he added. “It’s bad.”
According to specialists, people should not contract colon cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, stage IV lung cancer, esophageal cancer, liver cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, or any one of the roughly 200 other known forms of cancer. In addition, researchers confirmed that if it comes down to having terminal vs. non-terminal cancer, both are undesirable, but non-terminal is recommended.
However, oncologists said that even less threatening forms of the illness, such as non-melanoma skin cancer, should be steered clear of, with Bertino explaining that, “You have the surgery, you think it’s gone, it comes back for some reason, God knows why, and then it spreads to your lymph nodes, and that’s that.”
AACR officials went on to recommend that individuals should avoid having a family history of cancer, and that if people must grow tumors, they should make sure to only develop benign ones.
“When a patient comes in to visit me because they have malignant tissue in their breast or under their arm, the first thing I say is, ‘It would be much better if this hadn’t happened,’” said Dr. Sydney Drysdale, head of oncology at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. “I tell them I have studied this illness for decades, I’m the foremost expert when it comes to the spread of cancer, and then I look them in the eye and say cancer is literally the last thing I’d want in my body. I tell them it’s not a death sentence, but that it certainly could be. It’s cancer. You shouldn’t get it.”
“Sometimes patients will ask about clinical trials and I’ll say clinical trials wouldn’t even be an issue if you hadn’t gotten cancer in the first place,” Drysdale continued. “My best advice: Don’t have abnormal cells that uncontrollably divide and invade other tissues.”
Top cancer researchers throughout the country urged individuals to think of the benefits of not having cancer, such as being alive for a much longer period of time, feeling healthy, not putting your family through what will easily be the most difficult period of their entire lives, never feeling like you’re at the mercy of near impossible and hopeless science, and being able to die of natural causes and not cancer.
Moreover, while 10 out of 10 oncologists recommended never having cancer, 100 percent of people who do not currently have cancer reportedly said they are much happier because of it.
“If I could do it all over again, I would not have gotten cancer,” said 46-year-old Kevin Glanville, who is currently battling chronic myeloid leukemia. “Getting chemotherapy two times per week and constantly feeling weak and nauseous when there is a good chance the treatment won’t even work is much less attractive to me than, say, not dealing with those circumstances.”
“My doctor contacted some colleagues of his who work in the cancer research lab at the Mayo Clinic,” he continued, “and they said that, for the foreseeable future, if there is any way I cannot have cancer anymore I should do that.”
The Onion
November 18, 2013
PHILADELPHIA—Calling the contraction of the disease “not good,” and saying that not having the illness is highly preferable to having it, oncologists representing the American Association for Cancer Research urged the U.S. populace Monday not to get cancer.
The panel, which consisted of medical experts at the top of their respective fields in cancer research, education, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, addressed the media for 45 minutes, saying that people’s best hope in terms of living a long, cancer-free life is to never develop cancerous cells in any part of the body, ever.
“After years of closely studying this illness and learning about how it grows and arbitrarily attacks vital organs throughout the body at an uncontrollable rate until one eventually dies, we have concluded that not having cancer is the best way to go,” said Dr. Robert Bertino, who specializes in molecular biology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. “If you are going to contract a harmful illness, get diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, meningitis, or even Type 2 diabetes. Anything but cancer. Cancer is just the worst.”
“A lot of people die from it,” he added. “It’s bad.”
According to specialists, people should not contract colon cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, stage IV lung cancer, esophageal cancer, liver cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, or any one of the roughly 200 other known forms of cancer. In addition, researchers confirmed that if it comes down to having terminal vs. non-terminal cancer, both are undesirable, but non-terminal is recommended.
However, oncologists said that even less threatening forms of the illness, such as non-melanoma skin cancer, should be steered clear of, with Bertino explaining that, “You have the surgery, you think it’s gone, it comes back for some reason, God knows why, and then it spreads to your lymph nodes, and that’s that.”
AACR officials went on to recommend that individuals should avoid having a family history of cancer, and that if people must grow tumors, they should make sure to only develop benign ones.
“When a patient comes in to visit me because they have malignant tissue in their breast or under their arm, the first thing I say is, ‘It would be much better if this hadn’t happened,’” said Dr. Sydney Drysdale, head of oncology at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. “I tell them I have studied this illness for decades, I’m the foremost expert when it comes to the spread of cancer, and then I look them in the eye and say cancer is literally the last thing I’d want in my body. I tell them it’s not a death sentence, but that it certainly could be. It’s cancer. You shouldn’t get it.”
“Sometimes patients will ask about clinical trials and I’ll say clinical trials wouldn’t even be an issue if you hadn’t gotten cancer in the first place,” Drysdale continued. “My best advice: Don’t have abnormal cells that uncontrollably divide and invade other tissues.”
Top cancer researchers throughout the country urged individuals to think of the benefits of not having cancer, such as being alive for a much longer period of time, feeling healthy, not putting your family through what will easily be the most difficult period of their entire lives, never feeling like you’re at the mercy of near impossible and hopeless science, and being able to die of natural causes and not cancer.
Moreover, while 10 out of 10 oncologists recommended never having cancer, 100 percent of people who do not currently have cancer reportedly said they are much happier because of it.
“If I could do it all over again, I would not have gotten cancer,” said 46-year-old Kevin Glanville, who is currently battling chronic myeloid leukemia. “Getting chemotherapy two times per week and constantly feeling weak and nauseous when there is a good chance the treatment won’t even work is much less attractive to me than, say, not dealing with those circumstances.”
“My doctor contacted some colleagues of his who work in the cancer research lab at the Mayo Clinic,” he continued, “and they said that, for the foreseeable future, if there is any way I cannot have cancer anymore I should do that.”
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN GOING DOWNHILL FAST
Arrested after his new girlfriend alleges he threatened her with a shotgun
Seminole County sheriff’s deputies arrest George Zimmerman on Monday after his new girlfriend alleged he threatened her with a shotgun at the home they were sharing in Apopka, Florida. He was charged with aggravated assault, battery and criminal mischief. By the time deputies arrived shortly before 1 p.m., he had barricaded himself inside the house by wedging furniture against the door. His girlfriend, who had been waiting outside, gave the deputies a key to the house. When deputies entered, Zimmerman did not resist and he was not armed.
The arresting officers must have found some evidence backing up his girlfriend’s allegations or they would not have arrested and charged Zimmerman with aggravated assault.
According to the arrest report, Zimmerman’s girlfriend said he had smashed a glass table, threatened her with a shotgun and eventually shoved her out of the house.
Zimmerman has come to the attention of the cops a number of times since his acquittal in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. He’s been going downhill fast and it is time for the State of Florida to pull the plug on his concealed carry permit. And it may also be time to lock him up in a looney bin before the dickhead kills someone who is not a thug like Martin was.
Seminole County sheriff’s deputies arrest George Zimmerman on Monday after his new girlfriend alleged he threatened her with a shotgun at the home they were sharing in Apopka, Florida. He was charged with aggravated assault, battery and criminal mischief. By the time deputies arrived shortly before 1 p.m., he had barricaded himself inside the house by wedging furniture against the door. His girlfriend, who had been waiting outside, gave the deputies a key to the house. When deputies entered, Zimmerman did not resist and he was not armed.
The arresting officers must have found some evidence backing up his girlfriend’s allegations or they would not have arrested and charged Zimmerman with aggravated assault.
According to the arrest report, Zimmerman’s girlfriend said he had smashed a glass table, threatened her with a shotgun and eventually shoved her out of the house.
Zimmerman has come to the attention of the cops a number of times since his acquittal in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. He’s been going downhill fast and it is time for the State of Florida to pull the plug on his concealed carry permit. And it may also be time to lock him up in a looney bin before the dickhead kills someone who is not a thug like Martin was.
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