Flashpoint! header.

ASTEROID TO DESTROY EARTH - FOR REAL, NOT A MOVIE

2011-08-17T10:33:00.001-07:00

You saw the movie. Now experience the real thing.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2026710/Fact-following-fiction-Scientists-plan-mission-blow-asteroid-hurtling-Earth.html.My objection to this scenario is that if they blow the asteroid to smithereens, the smithereens there will still; be there to destroy the earth. The same amount of materiacefier'sl will be there.
But its something to do for spa whose real missions have been cancelled. Anyway, it won't happen until 2036. We're bound to recover from the Obama administration by then.

FEDERAL AGENTS ASSUME JURISDICTION IN GIRAFFE DEATH

2011-08-04T09:57:00.001-07:00

The FBI has assumed jurisdiction over possible murder of one of Tucson Zoo's giraffes. An animal apprentice has confessed to accidentally feeding the giraffes oleander leaves. which are poisonous to giraffes. Two of the many giraffes in the zoo were sickened, one died.

The apprentice was fired.

We are not certain of the basis for federal action in this case. The deceased giraffe might have been born in Africa but the birth certificate has not been found. Federal agents will leave no stone unturned now that a few trillion dollars more has been infused into the federal colossus.

WE ARE NOT AMUSED

2011-07-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

Editorial writers have given up writing about the substantive meaning of what's happening in Washington and taken to criticizing the act itself.
Americans are not panicked as they were supposed to be. No matter what comes out of these legislative discussions, if anything, they believe that the sun will rise on Wednesday, and it will probably be hot. The only Americans breaking a sweat over this crisis are the officials. The American people have essentially turned over the flap to them and were told, "Take care of it. I have real things to do. We'll deal with you in the next election."

DEUS?

2011-07-24T07:57:00.003-07:00

Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, its Deus ex machina!!

Does your gut tighten a little with each newscast? We get closer to the default on the national debt. It’s like riding into the sun. We believe it’s going to happen, but we don’t really. We think someone somewhere will pull a rabbit out of his hat and save us. Someone somewhere has a few trillion dollars they’ve been saving for a rainy day.

Maybe they just don’t believe it’s really raining. It doesn’t feel like rain.

Deadlines come and deadlines go, and still we go on. The news doesn’t feel real – sandwiched in between commercials. It will feel real enough if we fail, which seems inevitable.

Congress and the president are working on the terrible task of making something out of nothing -- something in the Treasury out of the nothingness of reality.

I warned them. Many others did, too. But it still doesn’t seem real.

The next deadline is today at 4 pm eastern time. One o’clock western time. The time Asian markets open. From there it’s just one deadline after another. We won’t make any of them. Not really. But maybe they can cook up some smoke that will buy us a few more months.

PRESIDENTIAL MALPRACTICE?

2011-07-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

I had thought (hoped) that a dose of reality would awaken our president from his slumber. But release of actual t statistics did not chasten him at all. In fact, he seemed encouraged.
Even if he does not win a second term, there will be little left of us when he finally departs.

Is it possible to sue a president for malpractice? Mispractice? Dyspractice?

Look at the numbers on these Shadow Statistics which reveal worse positioning..http://www.shadowstats.com/

HAPPY TIMES ARE HERE AGAIN...

2011-07-08T07:29:00.000-07:00

An unnamed White House official said that we are not facing a double-dip recession. He did not, however,deny this is all one big recession.

In other happy news, President Obama has cancelled this weekend's vacation in Idaho or someplace like that.

At this writing we are only minutes away from hearing today's Big Excuse.

U.S. DEMOGRAPHICALLY DOOMED

2011-07-02T10:55:00.001-07:00

You know all those millionaires and billionaires President Obama has said will have to have their taxes increased to balance the budget? I funny thing is happening. Since 2007, the numbers of mere millionaires in the country suddenly dropped by by 800,000. Even more inexplicably, 3,000,000 new millionaires suddenly appeared in other countries.

It is estimated that over 6.5 million Americans are leaving or planning on leaving this country each year. According to a recent Zogby Research study, a massive and silent migration is under way: families are leaving America at a rate of 742 per hour. The rich didn't get that way by being stupid.

It's not just the super-rich who are moving on to greener pastures, many thousandaires are searching for ways to migrate to more favorable tax and legal climes. Regular, middle class Americans are becoming scared of the powers their government has assumed and the tax rate that it is threatening to impose to pay for its profligate spending supporting the 50% or more who pay no taxes at all.

As illegal aliens are voting with their feet by moving unbidden in to the US, Americans of great to moderate means are quietly leaving. The total demographic results of this is to see America's wealthiest, best educated citizens tip-toeing quietly out of the country and being replaced by poorer, less well-educated persons. This is a dire trend that will end in disaster for the U.S.

NORTH KOREA MEETS ITS GOALS

2011-06-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

North Korea issued orders closing its universities and reassigning students to manual labor. The government said it had achieved its goal of becoming a great and powerful nation, so why go to classes any more?

FOLLOW THE BOUNCING BALL

2011-06-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

Now let me see if I've got this right. We're going to borrow a few billion dollars from China to lend to Greece?

OBAMA WILL RESIGN

2011-06-19T08:57:00.001-07:00

By Alan Caruba

I always thought it was creepy the way Barack Hussein Obama has repeatedly referred to the likelihood of his being a one-term President. It is as if he knew, even as he campaigned in 2008, that all the loose ends and unanswered questions about his life would eventually disqualify him.

It is now widely acknowledged that the mainstream media ran interference for him, ignoring or disparaging those who questioned his eligibility. After two and a half years in office, however, his arrogance and incompetence is so manifest that even they can no longer cover for him.

Obama has single handedly generated a mass political movement called the Tea Party and election results for governors and members of Congress have put opposition candidates into office.

On March 31, 1968, then-President Lyndon B. Johnson announced that he would not run for reelection, responding to the massive opposition to the war in Vietnam. On August 9, 1974, Richard M. Nixon announced his resignation in the wake of the Watergate scandal to avoid impeachment.

I predict that Barack Hussein Obama will resign before the end of his first term. He may well do so prior to the September 2012 Democratic Party convention.

Obama was never eligible to run for the office. In his book, “Where’s the Birth Certificate? The Case that Barack Obama is Not Eligible to be President”, Dr. Jerome R. Corsi, Phd, devotes 387 pages, complete with appendices and endnotes, to irrefutably make that case.

Anyone who reads Article 2, Section 1, of the Constitution, however, can make that case in less than a minute. Only a “natural born” individual whose both parents were American citizens can be President. Obama’s father was a citizen of Kenya. There is no dispute regarding what the Founders meant when they said “natural born.” Further clouding Obama’s eligibility is the time he spent in his youth in Indonesia as the adopted son of that nation’s nationality.

Corsi’s book explores all the other mysteries including a highly suspicious Social Security number, passports, and other documentation that any candidate for office would normally submit to public disclosure. A massive cover up that includes the national press corps, the Democratic Party, Congress and even the U.S. courts, permitted Obama to gain and hold the office.

Indeed, Corsi’s book is not the first to reveal the deceptions. At least three other books have meticulously examined the issue. They include “The Manchurian Candidate” by Aaron Klein with Brenda J. Elliot, “The Blueprint: Obama’s Plan to Subvert the Constitution and Build an Imperial Presidency” by Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski, and “The Post-American Presidency” by Pamela Geller with Robert Spencer.

Corsi, however, has the benefit of timing. As the nation enters the period following Obama’s announcement he is running for reelection and during the process of selecting a Republican opponent, the issue of his eligibility is gathering momentum.

The polling data is all against him. The failure of his policies, combined with the massive increase in the national debt, rising unemployment, the implosion of the housing market, and a growing perception of incompetence, are coalescing to give weight to the demand that he end his candidacy or resign.

“History has not been kind to U.S. Presidents that have attempted to hide behind a lie,” says Corsi.

When republics begin to ignore their founding documents, they are literally committing suicide and, in Obama’s case, it is an assisted suicide.

The recognized definition of a “natural born citizen”, a requirement to be President, does not require much more than common sense. In a May article published by Canada Free Press, Lawrence B. Solum, the John E. Cribbett Professor of Law at the University of Illinois College of Law, is quoted as having written in September 2008, “Anyone born on American soil whose parents are citizens of the United States is a natural born citizen.”

Ironically, in 2008, his political opponent, Sen. John McCain, whose both parents were Americans when he was born in Panama, was the subject of a Senate Resolution confirming his eligibility to run. The then-Democrat controlled Senate took up no such action regarding Obama. If they had, they would have had to hold a convention to pick a new candidate!

Lawrence Sellin, the author of the Canada Free Press article cited above, warned “Whether through cowardice or arrogance, both Republican and Democrats fail to appreciate the fact that ordinary Americans are reaching a tipping point. Imagine a Tea Party on steroids.”

“If the Constitutional crisis is not soon addressed, the present political polarization will inevitably lead to political fragmentation. Erosion of the Constitution will inevitably lead to the collapse of the rule of law.”

There is no documentation to support the myths about his life that Obama has carefully devised. Indeed, the President has reportedly spent millions to deny public access to his birth certificate and all other records.

If he resigns, he may be able to assert the legitimacy of every piece of legislation, every executive order, signed into law, but if he is found to have been ineligible, every one of them would become null and void.

The nation can be put right again as a Constitutional Republic. Obama has led an unlawful regime. America has been drunk on socialism since the 1930s. It’s time to sober up.

© Alan Caruba, 2011

JEWISH COURT IMPOSES "SHARIA LAW" ON DOG

2011-06-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

A Rabbinical court in Jerusalem condemned a dog to death by stoning by local children. The judges believed that the dog had been inhabited by the spirit of a lawyer who had insulted the court twenty years earlier.

U.S. SAID TO BE IN TALKS WITH TALIBAN

2011-06-18T16:29:00.000-07:00

Hamid Karzai, president of Pakistan, revealed that the U.S. is in talks with the Taliban in an effort to end the war in Afghanistan. Understandable: it's getting boring. Both sides denied the talks so they must be true. If the war is ended now, we will have nothing to show for it. We could end it later and have even less to show for it.
Does anyone remember the original rationale for entering the war? There must have been a reason that seemed good at the time.The war was becoming ridiculous with US forces paying "tolls" to Taliban soldiers for the right to carry munitions past certain check points, munitions intended for use against the Taliban.

A SHORT BUT EXCITING LIFE IN MONTANA

2011-06-18T11:52:00.001-07:00

This young deer was minding his own business, browsing on brush in rural Montana,when he suddenly found himself flying high in the sky. He had been snatched by a hungry eagle who was planning on having him over for lunch. Somehow, the deer managed to decline the invitation so the eagle dropped him to the ground. Well, toward the ground anyway. The fawn got hung up in some power line and was electrocuted. A tragic end of a young explorer in Montana.

A PLACE FOR TONY WEINER

2011-06-18T11:29:00.001-07:00

There seems to be something akin to the elephant's graveyard for washed-up politicians and the detritus of television commentators. It's Al Gore's television network, Current TV, which already features Keith Olbermann. Rumor has it that Anthony Weiner has been asked to appear regularly on his own show.

I think it is wonderful that there is a program to keep these professional bloviators off the streets. Thanks to galloping technology, today anyone can have is own television network. On Current TV they can be given what appears to be their own show, invite any of their acquaintances willing to seen with them, and continue to earn the kind of money such idlers get used to making for the slightest effort.
While Weiners' wife sits at home contemplating her next move, we eagerly await news that Weiner is "dating" Paris Hilton.
I must admit it's a wonderfull economy that maintains safety nets for such people.

WAR IN LIBYA? IT DEPENDS ON YOUR DEFINITION OF "WAR"

2011-06-16T10:18:00.001-07:00

I did not have martial relations with that country.

HERE IS THAT NATIONAL SECURITY FORCE OBAMA PROMISED US (Click here)

2011-06-15T09:24:00.002-07:00

Is this the face of a tyrant or a dupe?

TRADING EMISSION RIGHTS FOR EUROS

2011-06-13T13:45:00.001-07:00

Would you trade your precious CO2 emission allowances for mere money? The Greek Treasury, is negotiating to sell the rights to emit one million allowances for 17 million euros. That represents one ton of CO2 per allowance. Is there a certain unreality to this transaction?

OFFICIALS DEMAND KEYS TO HOMES AND BUSINESSES

2011-06-13T13:26:00.002-07:00

Would you object to your local fire officials having keys to your house in case of emergency. Well that's about what the 2009 International Fire Code requires. The key would be kept in a lock box (presumably more substantial than the one Al Gore proposed) with a copy in the fire office.
The residents of Cedar Falls, Iowa do object. Perhaps they had visions of lock boxes accessible to police next, so they could search for contraband. Oh, yes. That's how liberties evaporate in our country today.

WHERE THE JOBS ARE GOING

2011-06-13T12:54:00.001-07:00

It's no wonder jobs are being lost in this country. Consider the Carlisle Area School District in Pennsylvania. They got rid of their landscaping staff at a saving of $15,000 a year. To keep the grounds,they hired some sheep. Now sheep don't work for peanuts. They are happy with the grass on the school's campus. The only supply they need is water. And they won't demand a union.

Another job Americans won't do goes not to the Chinese but is outsourced to a different species. Good for the school district. Bad for landscapers.

AL QAEDA ADMITS DEFEAT

2011-06-11T07:54:00.002-07:00

In an analysis of al Qaeda’s latest release, Stratfor International infers that it is a statement of defeat from al Qaeda intended for Arabic-speaking audiences. It admits that it is leaderless and urges adherents to abandon the mass movements in the West that have proven more successful elsewhere. It says instead that individuals must carry out jihad on their own and suggests a few ways that are doomed to failure.

Al Qaeda seems puzzled that its calls for violence have been successful in so many other places but notably not in the U.S. We submit that the biggest reason for that is that the potential cohort of young men longing to martyr themselves for Allah is being seduced by the freedom and opportunity of the west. They are getting just a tad too comfortable in the American way of life. Jihad can wait. Having a pocket full of money, a fast car, and a wide selection of potential sexual partners – here and now, not some day -- has devalued the anticipated rewards of Muslim paradise.

LOTTERY TICKETS ON LINE?

2011-06-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

Several states are hoping to offer their lottery tickets on line. This will capture a vast number of players who have thus far managed to elude them.

Undoubtedly they will seek the most lucrative locations for their new machines: homeless shelters, that spot right outside the bankruptcy court, the international departure lounges at airports, unemployment offices, and intercity bus stations.

ARIZONA FIRES CAUSE FORESTS CLOSING

2011-06-09T10:51:00.000-07:00

Disastrous huge forest fires in Arizona have forced the Forest Service to order all national forests in the state closed.
This is a colossal job for the Forest Rangers: taking in all those trees and taking down and storing the mountain set. But they do what they have to

ANTHONY WEINER IN HAPPIER TIMES

2011-06-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

KEEPING TRACK OF OUR WARS

2011-06-09T10:10:00.004-07:00

At this writing, the US was involved in the following wars and war-like actions:

WAR 1 - Iraq. Winner: USA (tentative)

WAR 2 - Afghanistan - Pakistan (US looking for a way out)

WAR 3 - Libya (In full swing)

WAR 4 - Yemen. (Now reported going kinetic)

WAR 5 - Syria (Coming soon)

Commentary: Couldn't we just to buy these rinkydink countries for less than the cost of destroying them?

6/10/11

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING

2011-06-08T15:57:00.000-07:00

A huge new oil field has been discovered. According to scientists, it is the second largest in the world. Early estimates put it at 250 billion barrels, worth abut $27 trillion. Guess where it is: Israel.

PRESIDENTIAL DOINGS LATELY

2011-06-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

Obama

The Federal Reserve has announced that it will not buy any more Treasury Bonds. That program was akin to have your right hand sell bonds to your left hand. Now those bonds are so worthless, even the Fed won’t buy them. So what to do? Well if they can’t sell them, maybe we can give them away.

The president told Greece that we will donate to them a stack of greenbacks and T-Bonds this high to tide them over their financial embarrassment.

Handing out worthless stuff seems to be this president’s forte. Note the credit he’s taking for creating 29,000 jobs last month. Of course they were all with McDonalds and involved wearing paper hats.

TREASURY ADMITS WE HAVE NO GOLD

2011-06-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

Comments (31)

The following exchange between Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) and the Fed’s attorney Scott Alvarez proves, without a shadow of a doubt, that The Federal Reserve has no gold backing the US dollar.
Most in the alternative news sphere suspected it – now it’s fact.

The Federal Reserve does not own any gold at all. We have not owned gold since 1934, so we have not engaged in any gold swap.
…
What appears on our balance sheet is gold certificates…Before 1934 the Federal Reserve did, we did own gold. We turned that over by law to the Treasury and received in return for that gold certificates.

The exact relationship between the Federal Reserve, the US Treasury and these non-tradeable gold certificates is not exactly clear, but an attempt to explain what’s actually going on has been put forth by goldnews.com:

In any case, we can analyze the implications of the basic facts and come to a couple of conclusions:
1) The widespread notion that the Fed owns gold is false. The corollary to this is the mistaken belief that the Fed understates its gold holdings on its balance sheet by only reporting certificates based on the $42.22 statutory gold value. The Fed does not in fact own the US gold stock multiplied by the market price of gold, unless the Treasury defaults and even then its not clear. The Fed does, however, own a claim to currency totaling $11.1 billion and this value has a remote chance of going up significantly if the Treasury revalues its gold and maintains the practice initiated in the Par Value Modification Act.
2) The fact that the Fed owns no gold, nor claims to any gold, means the fundamental value of the dollar lacks any backing besides dollars themselves, not including Fed building and equipment. Dollars are in essence worth a lot less than many people thought, and the Fed is much more impotent in using the prowess of their assets, and conducting monetary policy in general, than many believed. In all, Alvarez’s clarification strengthens the case for gold’s high dollar value immensely.

An interesting perspective, and one, if true, suggests that the value of your dollar in terms of gold is actually much less than believed – like close to zero. Our currency is not only not backed by gold, but in the event of a dollar meltdown the only assets backing the world’s reserve currency are worthless toxic mortgages purchased by The Fed in recent years from insolvent banking institutions.
The only thing holding this thing together at this point is market confidence. When that goes, everything else goes with it.

Author: Mac Slavo
Date: June 6th, 2011
Website: www.SHTFplan.com
Copyright Information: Copyright SHTFplan and Mac Slavo. This content may be freely reproduced in full or in part in digital form with full attribution to the author and a link to www.shtfplan.com. Please contact us for permission to reproduce this content in other media formats.

WORLD BANK WANTS $200 BILLION TO HELP DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

2011-06-05T15:02:00.000-07:00

It wants the new tax imposed on jet fuel and shipping fuel. These funds would help the developing world prepare for more droughts, floods, and rising seas.

Say, World Bank, haven’t you heard: we’re broke. We may not be a developing country, but our national debt is bigger than any of theirs. Ours might be called a de-developing country. In fact, I would suggest if you scrape together that money, you put us on the recipients’ list not the donor’s list.

DRUG WAR DEATHS IN U.S. HIGH, BUT LOWER THAN THE REST

2011-06-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

Feeling abused because the Mexican drug war has brought death and destruction to the American homeland? As bad as it seems, TIME Magazine has ranked the Western Hemisphere north of the canal by the number of homicides attributed to drug activities. Guatemala, directly south of Mexico is experiencing a crime wave it attributes to Los Zetas, a drug cartel operating in the area. Recently, gunmen there broke into a house and killed 25 people, all but two were beheaded. Murder rates in Central America are the highest in the Northwestern hemisphere. Here are the homicide rates per 100,000 people: US 5, Mexico 14, Guatemala 42, El Salvador 65, and Honduras 77.

So far, efforts to combat cartel violence have been lame. Concerted effort is needed.

ROGUE PRESIDENT MAKES WARS ON HIS OWN

2011-06-04T12:01:00.001-07:00

Why are we in Libya? Oh, we're not, eh? The president says we are not "in" Libya, we're just bombing and strafing and killing people there. But we are doing it from offshore naval assets. And those planes that used to be marked "USAF" were hurriedly painted over "NATO."

We have no interests in Libya. We don't buy their oil or anything else. President Muammar Qaddafi may be a bad man in some sense, but it is not the mission of the United States to judge the quality of the world's leaders and remove those we find deficient, lest we judge our own.

President Obama has secured a resolution from the UN purporting to authorize, military action against Libya. But the US Constitution does not authorize him to start wars. That power is reserved for Congress. Obama doesn't care. He controls the military so who is going to stop him? Given a choice of being governed by the UN or the US, Obama chooses the former.

We are in enough wars already and we're not winning any of them. That's bad enough. But to have the president go off to start a war on his own with a country we have no beef with is intolerable. Congress should start impeachment proceedings immediately. Steps should be taken to remove this man from office while there is still an office there.

HOME PRICES FALLING?

2011-06-04T11:12:00.000-07:00

Remember: Location, Location, Location. Prices are rising in some places. Here are some with their recent annual increase in value:

Paris, France 22%

Hong Kong 15%

Helsinki 12%

Shanghai 11%

Beijing 11%

Singapore 11%

London 8.6%

Zurich 8%

Los Angeles -2.2%

Moscow -8%

INDICATORS OF ECONOMIC DIRECTION

2011-06-04T08:28:00.001-07:00

One of the signs of economic collapse is destruction of essential infrastructure to realize the raw materials for their intrinsic value. Here we see the results of increasing theft of railroad tracks: reducing valuable objects to scrap and exposing fellow citizens to peril. This train derailed. Passengers could have been killed if that train were at cruising speed

2011-05-30T08:18:00.002-07:00

ENVIRONMENTAL FIREWORKS

2011-05-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

There will be no fireworks in La Jolla's Independence Day celebration this year and probably not next year, either. Environmental nuts have succeeded in getting a court to prohibit such display before filing an environmental impact study. Since such reports take years and tens of thousands of dollars to create, it's already too late for next year, even if La Jolla feels wealthy enough to finance one.

The question remains open: Will the city be required to file an environmental impact statement describing the effects of not having a fireworks display this year?

PEACE IN OUR TIME

2011-05-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

We seem to be engaged in some sort of quasi-military, non-kinetic, semi-hostile activity involving Libya. Any military action that requires three hyphens to describe it must be evading something other than enemy fire.Oops. There is no enemy, just people who are not friends. Couldn't be enemies because no hostilities have been declared.

In fact, nothing has been declared unless you consider the president's friendly advice to Col. Qaddafi to get out of town as a declaration.

The president, although commander-in chief of the military, has no authority to declare war. The Constitution reserves that privilege to Congress. Unfortunately, it doesn't require the president to get a declaration before committing forces to battle. My opinion is that Tomahawk missiles constitute forces even though inanimate objects. So let's not quibble over whether "forces" have been committed. Nor is the question left open with the explanation that our aircraft were not bombing people, only antiaircraft installations. If anyone was hurt, we're sorry about that.

Were the founders so sloppy in writing the Constitution? Not really. "To declare war" was a term of art from the Law of Nations with a clearly understood meaning in 1787. It was necessary to declare war only when offensive operations were to be undertaken, not defensive ones.

It's all academic anyway since the world community outlawed the aggressive use of force between nations in 1945, and no nation has declared war ever since.

WHEN NOBODY WANTS YOU

2011-05-28T14:29:00.001-07:00

The US Supreme Court has ordered California to reduce its prison population by 33,000 inmates. It didn't specify what to do with them. Someone got the bright idea to ship Mexican nationals back to Mexico, but mayors of Mexican border cities said they already had enough criminals and didn't want any more, Mexican or not. I think I can confidently say that the same attitude prevails in Arizona -- in fact, anywhere.

The Soviet Union used to ship its criminal undesirables to Siberia. But lately that has become inhabited by more respectable persons. Guantanamo is full up, so we can't put them there. France used to exile its criminals to Devil's Island, part of the notorious French penal colony in French Guiana until 1952. Now it is used as a French spaceport and tourist attraction. There was a time when Britain sent such miscreants to Australia and look what they did to it. China reputedly ships such prisoners to labor camps and uses them as organ donors (Waste not, want not).

Let's face it: nobody wants them. Oh, wait. Democrats could put them in buses and move them around to places where itinerant voters are needed. Better not give them any ideas.

MAMMAS, DON'T LET YOUR BABIES GROW UP TO BE FORCASTERS

2011-05-28T13:01:00.000-07:00

At least have them stay out of Italy.

Seven of Italy's top seismologists have been indicted for manslaughter, charged with the deaths of 308 people killed in an earthquake in 2009 which they failed to predict. The defendants are facing lengthy prison sentences if convicted.

So far, the long, gnarled arm of Italian justice seems unswayed by testimony of scientists all over the world that predicting earthquakes is impossible,and no major quake has ever been successfully predicted. Tell that to the guy who has been predicting the end of the world since 1994.

IS THE PATRIOT ACT LAW OR NOT?

2011-05-27T13:08:00.002-07:00

On Thursday, May 26, the Patriot Act, by its own terms, expired at midnight. It was ostensibly extended for another 4 years by the Congress. But the Constitution – that annoying document – requires for effective passage that before it becomes law, a bill be “presented to the President of the United States. If he approve, he shall sign it…..”

In this case, because the Senate passed the bill only a few hours before it was to expire and the president was out of the country where he could not act on this matter in a timely fashion, he had the bill signed by an autopen. This is a device that is capable of reproducing the president’s signature and is usually used to create letters and similar documents that appear to have been personally signed.

No evidence has been revealed as to whether the bill was presented to the president and when. The question remains whether the president’s signature produced by a mechanical device meets the requirements of Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution.

It won’t matter. The government will proceed to act as if the act had been extended, until the next prosecution for violating it arises. Then it is certain to be raised by the defense. It leaves the act twisting in the wind.

It also raises the question whether he could have eliminated this question by transmitting an electronic copy of the bill to the president, wherever he was, and had him actually sign the copy. This would have left only the smaller question of whether the electronic copy was adequate for presentation and signing. Since the Constitution does not define the term “bill,” the court could more easily find that such a copy was sufficient to meet Constitutional requirements.

In 1964, a federal court found that a president embarking on a trip abroad may demand Congress make personal presentation of bills to him abroad or delay presentation until his return. However, in this case the act would have expired within such time. The court seemed to place greater meaning on the signing than the presentment since the latter is a public event and the former can be accomplished in private.

In its present position, no one can say with certainty that the bill would be found sufficient to prosecute anyone under.

OBAMA BIRTH CERTIFICATE AT LAST REVEALED

2011-04-27T10:21:00.002-07:00

It is primarily academic at this point. Almost any remedy available would take too long to be effective during his incumbency. Declare all bills he signed as void? A dream that will never happen. So why generate another constitutional crisis at this juncture? Whether we believe it or not, let's all just play along and pretend we do. It's entirely too much trouble, considering the urgent matters facing this administration, to call in Joe Biden, the president's life insurance policy.

I am concerned if it took this long for the CIA to create this obvious forgery. I thought they were better than that.

GASOLINE RATIONING IS INEVITABLE

2011-04-24T11:55:00.000-07:00

Forgive me for tooting my own horn a bit, but there is a reason for it. I was among the first to warn that the

was riding into a fiscal cul-de-sac and that the national debt would be paid off by default. Here it is a few years later and we are just about where I figured we would be.

Now it’s time for me to make another fearless forecast. Gasoline will be rationed before the end of this year.

Actually it’s the easiest forecast anyone could make. Just take the newspapers from the Carter administration, change Carter to Obama, change “New York Times” to “Twitter” and you’re half way there.

There is an important difference, however. Gasoline prices in the ‘70s rose as a result of constraint in supply from the Middle East that left Mr. Carter baffled and wearing Cardigan sweaters in the White House. This time we are not suffering constraint in supply. “President” Obama encourages rising prices with domestic policy. While badmouthing speculators, he is making them fortunes by his predictable edicts. Obama is determined to put the squeeze on internal combustion engines. Without even a tip of the hat to Al Gore any more, he has inhibited domestic supply, encouraged importation of oil, and reveled in the tax this imposes on Americans, an invisible tax that flows directly overseas.

America

has vast reserves of oil and oil precursors but they are off limits for domestic use. We are saving them for the proverbial rainy day. When will that day come, at $5.50/gallon, $7, $10? The answer is never. That stuff stays in the ground so the government can exert more control over our lives. Those reserves will probably be designated “national emergency reserves,” never to be recovered for human use.

Meanwhile we will continue to be strangled by astronomical prices which will be blamed on gouging gas stations, outrageous profits by oil companies, and the shortage of sushi in

Japan

. Eventually, It will become necessary for the government to nationalize the oil companies and return those windfall profits “to the people.” Of course when the government runs those oil companies, there will be no profits for the people, just enormous political contributions. (See

Venezuela

for the model.)

There will be alternative sources of energy developed. Some may even be practical. But if they are, they will be outlawed for various reasons. Mainly, the government doesn’t tolerate competition. Approved alternatives will include bicycles, electric cars that hide their pollution miles away at the generating station, walking (yes, people power). The use of animals like horses will be discouraged for sanitary reasons.

But do not be troubled. Fearless Leader has the problem well I hand. We will raise the money to service the national debt by taking it from the rich. “They can afford to pay just a little more.” A little more? There isn’t enough money in the entire country to pay off our national debt. “But it is guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the

United States

.”

What that really means is that the government promises to extract as much money as necessary from its taxpayers to make the obligation good. But that money doesn’t exist. And if we simply gave China the entire country: the keys to the White House, to the Treasury, to every Texaco rest room, and the drawings of the dreams of little boys everywhere, the high speed train to run from coast to coast, plus the allegiance of all 350,000,000 of us, we’d still owe them money.

It should be noted that we already have a high-speed transportation service from coast to coast and more. It’s called airlines. But what can you expect from a president who, commanding the most powerful military in the world, starts a war with a Third World country like Libya and looks like we’re losing it?

And what about

Syria

? Are we going to let them get away with that?

INTERNET KILL SWITCH FOR PRESIDENT?

2011-01-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

The Senate is considering a kill switch which would give the president dictatorial powers over the internet. It would permit the president to order any facility off the grid or closed down if he declares a cyberemergency. The most remarkable feature of the bill is that it prohibits judicial review of the president’s actions under the act. Aggrieved parties could appeal to Janet Napolitano, whose decision would be final and not subject to court review.

It is noted that the Communications Act of 1934 gives the president similar powers. But that was long before the advent of the internet.

2011-01-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

AMANPOUR KNOWS WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SHOOTING

ABC’s Christianne Amanpour said recently that the murder of President Kennedy in 1964 so traumatized the nation that it still poisons the political air. So strong is its influence, it is responsible for the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords 47 years later.

Not only was the accused not born when that happened, probably his farther was but a baby then. Just watch out in 2058 for further repercussions of the crime

RUSSIA SUCKERS U.S. ON “START” TREATY

2011-01-15T16:52:00.000-07:00

START stands for Strategic Arms Limitation. But they limit us more than the Russians. Each side commits to limit its strategic nuclear arms to 1550. That will be easy for the Russians who, coincidentally now have 1550 warheads deployed/.We have more. But we won’t after this treaty.

But we will set an example the rest of the world will follow. At least that’s what "President” Obama thinks. Others think it will tempt other nations to gain superiority over the

U.S.

Another hook Obama bit on is a revised inspection program which would cripple our ability to monitor Russian compliance.

But here is the pièce de résistance: either side may withdraw from the treaty upon a mere asserttion that it feels insecure. An agreement the parties can withdraw from at will is not an agreement. It is a sham.

In sum, Obama is being taken for a ride. The only question outstanding is whether the ride is voluntary

THE BEAR MINIMUM

2010-10-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

In what is denied as a harbinger of news on the stock market, Japan is experiencing a bear market, not in securities, but in live bears.

Black bears are indigenous to Japan but usually they stay in the woods subsisting on grubbing handouts fro tourists and meager royalties from TV commercials. But his year their acorn crop failed and they have been venturing into cities seeking acorns and other goodies from locals.

Lacking even “spare change,” they are reduced to shaking down merchants for legumes. Weighing well over 200 pounds, a lack bear can be intimidating. Especially in packs.

Won’t you adopt a Japanese bear today? As little as ¥200 will feed a voracious bear for a day. Won’t you write to “Bears, Tokyo 8874-08372?

NEW LOTTERY ENRICHES ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

2010-05-09T09:55:00.000-07:00

Are you an illegal immigrant? Are you charged with a crime? Do you expect to be deported? You are in luck. You may be in line for a six-figure gift from the United States.

Here's all you have to know to win: have your criminal case resolved one way or the other, line up for deportation. If ICE leaves you mouldering in some lock up more than two days before it deports you, you are a winner.

Cecil Harvey, a career criminal from Barbados who was living in Brooklyn won $145,000 for being detained for 30 days. That's $4833 a day. Even if you are deported, you can still claim your winnings for excessive detention before deportation.

Cecil Harvey won, you can too. What a country, eh? This is truly the land of opportunity.

EXPLORING THE DEPTHS

2010-05-09T06:33:00.000-07:00

I the ocean is full of critters that look like this, and it is, I'll just stay on dry land.

LESSONS FROM THE GULF BLOWOUT

2010-05-09T04:31:00.000-07:00

Paul Driessen

Transocean’s semi-submersible drilling vessel Deepwater Horizon was finishing work on a wellbore that had found oil 18,000 feet beneath the seafloor, in mile-deep water fifty miles off the Louisiana coast. Supervisors in the control cabin overlooking the drilling operations area were directing routine procedures to cement, plug and seal the borehole, replace heavy drilling fluids with seawater and extract the drill stem and bit through the riser (outer containment pipe) that connected the vessel to the blowout preventer (BOP) on the seafloor.

Suddenly, a thump and hiss were followed by a towering eruption of seawater, drilling mud, cement, oil and natural gas. The BOP and backup systems had failed to work as designed, to control the massive amounts of unexpectedly high-pressure gas that were roaring up 23,000 feet of wellbore and riser.

Gas enveloped the area and ignited, engulfing the Horizon in a 500-foot high inferno that instantly killed eleven workers. Surviving crewmen abandoned ship in covered lifeboats or jumped 80 feet to the water.

The supply boat Tidewater Damon Bankston rushed to the scene and helped crewmen get their burned and injured colleagues aboard. Shore-based Coast Guard helicopters tore through the night sky to brave the flames and take critically injured men to hospitals.

Thirty-six hours later, the Deepwater Horizon capsized and sank, buckling the 21-inch diameter riser and breaking it off at the rig deck. Three leaks began spewing some 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) of crude oil per day into the ocean. As the oil gathered on the surface and drifted toward shore, it threatened a major ecological disaster for estuaries, marine life and all who depend on them for their livelihoods.

Thankfully, after getting rough for a couple days, the seas calmed. Industry, Coast Guard, NOAA and Minerals Management Service (MMS) crews and volunteer from Louisiana to Alaska had some time to recalculate the spill’s trajectory, deploy oil skimmer boats and miles of containment booms, and burn some of the oil off the sea surface. They lowered ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) to cap the end of the riser and spray chemicals that break down and disperse the oil.

Aircraft sprayed more dispersants over floating oil, and technicians hurried to build and deploy heavy cofferdams specially designed to sit atop the broken riser and BOP stack, collect the leaking oil and pipe it up to tanker barges. Drill ships are heading to the scene, to drill relief wells, intersect the original hole, cement it shut and permanently stop the leak. ExxonMobil, Shell, ConocoPhillips and many other companies have offered BP, Transocean and Halliburton assistance on all these fronts.

How bad will the disaster be? Much depends on how long the calm weather lasts, how quickly the cofferdams can be installed, and how successful the entire effort is. There is some cause for optimism – and much need for prayer, crossed fingers and hard work.

But it will take weeks to years of uncontrolled leakage, before this spill comes close to previous highs, such as the:

* Santa Barbara Channel oil platform blowout (1969): 90,000 barrels off the California coast;

* Mega Borg tanker (1990): 121,400 barrels in the Gulf of Mexico off Galveston, TX;

* Exxon Valdez tanker (1989): 250,000 barrels along 1,300 miles of untouched Alaska shoreline;

* Ixtoc 1 oil platform blowout (1979): 3,500,000 barrels in

Mexico

’s Campeche Bay;

* Saddam Hussein oil field sabotage (1991): 857,000,000 barrels in

Kuwait

;

* Natural seeps in US waters: 1,119,000 barrels every year from natural cracks in the seafloor.

Cold water and climate meant Alaska’s Prince William Sound recovery was slow; Campeche beaches and coastal waters largely rebounded much more rapidly. Mississippi River flows through the warm Delta region may help keep some oil from pushing too far into the estuaries and speed recovery of oyster, shrimp and fishing areas, as it did with spills during pre-1960 drilling. Prayers and crossed fingers again.

Should we stop drilling offshore? We can hardly afford to. We still need to drill, so that we can drive, fly, farm, heat our homes, operate factories and do everything else that requires reliable, affordable petroleum. Indeed, over 62% of all

energy still comes from oil and gas. And we certainly need the jobs and revenues that

offshore energy development generates.

We’ve already banned drilling in ANWR, off the Florida, Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and in many other areas. We’ve made it nearly impossible to mine coal or uranium, or build new coal-fired power plants or nuclear reactors. We’ve largely forced companies to drill in deep Gulf waters, where risks and costs are far higher, and the ability to respond quickly and effectively to accidents is lower.

We’ve also forced companies to take drilling risks to foreign nations – and then increased the risks of tanker accidents that cause far greater spillage when they bring that oil to

America

. Meanwhile,

Russia

China

and

Cuba

are preparing to drill near the same Gulf and Caribbean waters that we’ve made off limits – employing their training, technologies, regulations and ecological philosophies.

Even with this blowout and its 1969 Santa Barbara predecessor,

America

’s offshore record is excellent. Since 1969, we have drilled over 50,000 wells in state waters and on the Outer Continental Shelf. There have been 13 losses of well control involving more than 50 barrels: five were less than 100 barrels apiece; one was a little over 1,000 barrels; two (both in 1970) involved 30,000 barrels or more. Only in Santa Barbara (so far) did significant amounts of oil reach shore and cause serious environmental damage.

Globally, tankers have spilled four times more oil than drilling and production operations, often in much bigger mishaps, often in fragile areas – and chronic discharges from cars and boats dwarf tanker spills by a factor of eight. (All spill data are from the MMS and National Research Council.)

What should we do next? Recognize that life, technology and civilization involve risks. Humans make mistakes. Equipment fails. Nature presents us with extreme, unprecedented, unexpected power and fury.

Learn the right lessons from this tragic, catastrophic, probably preventable accident. Avoid grandstanding and kneejerk reactions. Replace people’s lost income. Insist on responsible, adult thinking – and a thorough, expert, non-politicized investigation. Find solutions instead of assigning blame.

Why did the BOP and backups fail? What went wrong with the cement, plugs and pressure detection devices, supervisor and crew monitoring and reactions, to set off the catastrophic chain of events? How can we improve the technology and training, to make sure such a disaster never happens again? Did the regulators fail, too? How can we improve oil spill cleanup technologies and rapid response?

Ask what realistic alternatives we have. Not “Sim

USA

” and virtual energy. Real energy.

Can we afford to shut down our domestic oil and gas industry – economically, ecologically and ethically – and import more, as we export risks to other countries, and shift risks from drilling accidents to tanker accidents? Can we afford to replace dozens of offshore rigs with thousands of towering offshore wind turbines, creating obstacle courses for ships laden with bunker fuel or crude oil?

Drilling in deep waters far from shore is a complex, difficult, dangerous business. Let us remember and pray for the eleven who died, those who were burned and injured, and their families and loved ones. Let us also pray for all who daily risk life and limb, to bring us the energy that makes our lives, jobs and living standards possible – and for all whose lives have been affected by the spill.

[To learn more about offshore drilling and production and this accident, visit the NOAA emergency response page, Open Choke Deepwater Horizon spill page, and Drilling Ahead oil professionals network.]

Paul Driessen is senior policy advisor for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow.

THINKING ABOUT MEXICANS

2010-05-09T04:28:00.000-07:00

By Alan Caruba

For some time now friends have been asking me why I haven’t written anything about the Arizona law, amnesty, illegal immigration, and Mexicans.

The problem with trying to see all sides of the problem is that, sooner or later, you have to pick a side. That is what Americans are doing in light of the recent law passed in Arizona; a law that mirrors a federal law that, quite simply, is not being enforced.

What exactly were Arizonans expected to do in light of the fact that their border with Mexico is now a war zone?

A typical bachelor, I pretty much have the same thing for lunch every day, a soft tortilla in which two thin slices of smoked turkey are placed. Thirty seconds in the microwave and about five bites later lunch is over. And every day I look at that damned tortilla and I think about Mexicans.

Not Carlos Slim, one of the richest men in the world, but those poor souls trekking across deserts or sneaking in any way they can because, presumably, Mexico sucks so bad that their only hope is the land of the free and the home of the brave.

There are a number of factors that encourage Mexicans to come here, not the least of which is that per capita income is about one-third of that in the U.S. Mexico has always had an oligarchy of families that controlled the bulk of the money there and, on top of that, there are the drug lords whose income allows them to corrupt those in government positions and to kill those who oppose them.

President Felipe Calderon has made strides to improve the economy which has largely depended on its national oil company and tourism. Trade with the U.S. and Canada has tripled since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994 and with forty trade agreements with other nations. There are an estimated 46.1 million in its labor force. Nearly 60% are in the services sector, 25.7% are in industry, and 15.1% are in agriculture. Overall, 18.2% live below the poverty level and, in terms of their personal assets, 47% can be defined as poor.

A growing amount of agricultural harvesting in America is mechanized, but I have heard estimates that up to 80% depend on farm labor to do the hard work of picking produce. The Mexicans who cross the border often seek to make enough to send money back home and return there. A simple guest worker program is needed and long overdue.

Agriculture is a huge part of our national GDP.

Arizona arrived at its decision to deal with its illegal immigration problem because of a dramatic rise in crime of every description. It did so because the federal government has paid lip service to protecting its and the other 2,000 miles of our southern border.

What has myself and many other Americans thinking about Mexicans who are here illegally is as much a question of their attitude as of statistics. These are people whose heroes are not George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or any other American icons. These are people who do not grow up celebrating the Fourth of July.

Something is very wrong when illegal aliens, Mexicans and others from south of the border, feel empowered to march in the streets of our nation’s cities to demand instant citizenship. They have no right to be in the streets. They have no right to be in America.

Something is very wrong when America makes all manner of accommodation with what is essentially an invasion by millions of people who are here illegally.

The warnings against a bilingual society are based in the reality of how this undermines national cohesion. Generations of immigrants, including my own grandparents, learned to speak English. The provision of all manner of free services costs taxpayers billions. It has distorted our educational and healthcare systems, and put an extraordinary burden on law enforcement and incarceration.

Americans are not opposed to legal immigration. They are opposed to a federal government that fails to meet its primary obligation to defend our borders and, by doing so, defend our native-born and naturalized citizens.

Politically, the current administration and the Democrat Party want to depict Republicans as racists because they want the Constitution and other applicable laws enforced. We need to see through this deception; a position designed to enhance their political power by luring Hispanics into their party by offering amnesty.

We tried amnesty in the past. It doesn’t just extend to those receiving citizenship for having broken our laws, it invites a new wave of illegal aliens. It is an extraordinarily bad idea.

So, while I personally harbor no ill will toward Mexicans, I do oppose they’re being here illegally and I resent the resulting costs that must be borne by Americans. The problem is that there are anywhere from twelve to twenty million illegal aliens, including all such people, Hispanic and others, in the nation.

Other nations, including Mexico, have extremely harsh laws regarding illegal aliens. Unless and until the federal government begins to seriously enforce our laws, it puts our lives, our economy, and our nation at risk.

Caruba blogs daily at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com. An author, business and science writer, he is the founder of The National Anxiety Center.

FIRST THEY CAME FOR THE BANKERS, THEN THE HEALTH CARE WORKERS, THEN YOUR GUNS

2010-05-09T04:24:00.001-07:00

Lambs to the slaughter
Smoking-gun evidence of ruling elite’s
looming plan to confiscate your firearms

Right now, Washington is scheming and scamming to erode then erase the Second Amendment from our Constitution. And it will accomplish it through the signing of international treaties on gun control, bypassing the normal legislative process in Congress, tightening regulations upon firearm and ammunition manufacturers, using the antigun financing of tycoons and ultimately confiscating all firearms under the guise of terrorism patrol and enforcement.

Without public debate and cloaked in secrecy, gun control will covertly come upon us like a thief in the night. One day, we will wake up to discover that the U.S. has signed a global treaty that will prohibit any transfer of firearm ownership, force reductions in the number of firearms privately owned and eventually eradicate the planet of guns for law-abiding citizens. Of course, the criminals will still illegally have their guns. And on that day, if you do not comply with that global treaty, you will be fined and face imprisonment. This is not a fictitious story or false warning. As sure as government health care has been shoved down our throats, so will the barrels of our guns. And left with little defense, we will go as lambs to the slaughter.

I believe the political stars are aligning right now for just such a "perfect storm" of domestic disarmament: via the election and work of an antigun president, the disarmament passions of the Washington elites and the United Nations, the appointments of gun prohibitionists from the White House to the Supreme Court, and the funding of an anti–Second Amendment movement by billionaire progressives like George Soros.

This is the evidence – the smoking gun, if you will – of the pressing threat to the Second Amendment and our firearm freedoms.

As Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, wrote in the American Rifleman (February 2010): "President Obama's political mantra of 'hope and change' has morphed into a very real threat. Obama's deep curtsy to international arms control has given 'hope' to the international gun-ban crowd that they will prevail."

It was no surprise when Obama was elected that the nation was consumed with other domestic issues and had selected a president with one of the most anti-firearm records in American history. During his presidential campaign, the National Rifle Association outlined more than two dozen ways that Obama has fought against America's Second Amendment firearm freedoms over the years. So much so, that the NRA style='color:windowtext'>graded Obama's (and Hillary Clinton's) voting records among other presidential candidates as an "F." (Does that give any freedom-loving firearm bearer any hope now that both are now part of the same administration?) No wonder a Gallup poll in October 2009 revealed that 41 percent of all Americans and 52 percent of gun owners believe that Obama will try eventually to ban the sale of guns.

It was also no surprise, therefore, a year ago this month when Obama personally promised Mexican President Felipe Calderon that the White House would push to ratify through the Senate the CIFTA (the Inter-American Convention Against Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms) treaty, which has sat tabled and unapproved by the U.S. Senate since 1997.

But then, as quickly as he initiated the debate, the president just as quickly ceased trying to ratify CIFTA in the U.S. Senate. Why was that? Cato Institute scholar Ted Galen Carpenter said there was a reason that the treaty was tabled a year ago by Obama. I agree. I believe that reason was Obamacare. He knew he couldn't tackle and force through Congress two incredibly hot and volatile issues at once, at least of this caliber. But now that Obamacare is law, it's no surprise that both CIFTA and a separate U.N. small-arms treaty are experiencing a renewed life. And like Obamacare was pitched solely under "health-care reform," you can bet that a small-arms weapon ban will be pitched under "a fight against global terrorism and drug wars."

Trust me that what sounds like a tool being used against terrorism or illegal arm trade will actually further restrict Americans' right to bear arms. Under the disguise of an effort to combat drug violence, the passage of CIFTA or its equal will further clamp down upon our Second Amendment freedoms.

Again, as Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, summarized in the American Rifleman (February 2010): "The administration is trying to act as though this is really just a treaty about international trade between nations, but there's no doubt … that the real agenda here is domestic firearms control."

NRA might mean National Rifle Association, but it also means to me, "Never Remove (your) Arms." The fact is, the Second Amendment could even save your life.

That was the case this past year for Vern Grant, a 75-year-old Army veteran with Parkinson's disease and diabetes, who had just suffered through the death of his wife. Two weeks later, Vern was attacked by a burglar in his Washington home. After smashing the windows of Vern's handicap van and scavenging through his medicines, the intruder broke the glass of his back door and entered his home. Vern says the intruder was incoherently screaming.

The intruder nearly killed Vern after hitting him in the head. But Vern was able to grab and fire his gun in self-defense, hitting the suspect. Vern miraculously made it to his neighbor's house, where he sought help.

The suspect was airlifted to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and Vern was released from the hospital after his head wounds were treated.

Grateful for his life and the Second Amendment, Vern asked a question to a reporter that we all should easily answer, "You'd do the same if you thought he was going to kill you, wouldn't you?"

Yes I would, Vern. In fact, by way of fair warning for any would-be burglars that break into my house, I hope they read the sign on my front porch first: "We don't dial 9-1-1 here."

Find any gun in just a second!

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It operates on Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Whether you're a seasoned firearm expert who loves the smell of gunpowder or a novice just realizing the importance of familiarizing yourself with these valuable tools, the "Firearms Multimedia Guide" is what you're aiming for.

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The United Nations wants your guns!

They want all of them – now – and they've found a way to do it. In fact, the U.N. is so cocksure it can commandeer the Second Amendment that it chose the Fourth of July, 2006, to hold its global gun ban summit in New York City.

If you think there's no way an armed U.N. platoon of blue helmets can knock on your door to take your guns, this book just became your next must-read.

Wayne LaPierre's "The Global War on Your Guns" takes you inside the U.N. plan to destroy the Bill of Rights by attacking the one right that makes any right possible, the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. LaPierre's well-researched chapters outline the threat itself, how the U.N. works, and the phalanx of international forces determined to eliminate the basic human right of self-preservation through elimination of all private firearm ownership.

Learn More »

Charl van Wyk visited St. James Church in South Africa, the serenity of Sunday worship soon shattered when a gang of terrorists burst into the large church, blasting automatic weapons and tossing hand grenades.

They came to kill Christians and accomplished their grisly aims with icy effectiveness – until van Wyk fired back.

In his book, "Shooting Back: The Right and Duty of Self-Defense," the leading firearm-and-self-defense advocate chronicles a gripping tale of surviving the infamous St. James Massacre – the most murderous terrorist attack on a church in history.

Learn More »

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SOCIALIST ECONOMICS DOESN'T WORK IN VENEZUELA, EITHER

2010-05-08T15:47:00.000-07:00

Inflation in Venezuela has hit 30%. Venezuela's currency is melting in the sun. President Hugo Chavez has designated as scapegoats "importers who buy things abroad then sell them here for more than they cost."

Duh, Hugo, would you like them to sell the stuff for less than cost just to be nice? Why not pass a law that nobody can charge more for anything than they paid for it. That would teach those dirty capitalists a lesson, wouldn't it? Chavez says he is setting up another commission to deal with the problem. It is unknown how any commission will deal with such a problem in the formerly prosperous nation.

THIS APPARENT POLICE MISCONDUCT DID NOT HAPPEN IN ARIZONA

2010-05-08T15:30:00.001-07:00

The racially charged videotape shows officers stomping on an innocent detainee after they responded to several 911 calls for a report of an armed robbery in the parking lot of a night club outside Seattle. The man was later released when police determined he was not involved in the crime.

LIFEFORMS SIMILAR TO SATURN'S MOON FOUND ON EARTH

2010-05-08T15:13:00.000-07:00

The LaBrea Tar Pits are the closest thing on earth to conditions on Saturn's moon, Titan. Scientists have found the tar pits teaming with life that is unique to the pits. They speculate that life on Titan consist of life forms like those pictured. If that is the case, I suppose they won't be imparting any advanced technology to us any time soon. Take a look. Is it smiling?

IRONIC SUICIDE

2010-05-08T14:59:00.000-07:00

The executive director of the Chicago area commuter rail trains apparently committed suicide by stepping in front of one of his trains. An investigation had just started as to the circumstances of a $56,000 bonus that was unauthorized.

THIS IS WHAT THEY SAID WOULD NEVER HAPPEN

2010-05-07T08:09:00.002-07:00

Violence at the airport X-ray machine. Security agents working the airport x-ray machine have become accustomed to commenting on the physical characteristics revealed by the x-ray. The typical comments were about size and configuration of breasts and size of penis. One worker who was pictured was subsequently harassed over his small penis until he beat his harasser senseless.

But we know this could never happen because they assured us... It seems the worst fears of travelers are coming true.

A DAY LATE AND A TRILLION SHORT

2010-05-07T07:44:00.001-07:00

The House of Representatives will hold a special hearing today on yesterday's stock market crash, like they could do anything about it.

Perhaps on Monday, they will hold a hearing on today's stock market crash, as if they could do anything about it.

Just a friendly suggestion: try holding hearings on something you can affect, like gravity.

FUN WITH MONEY

2010-05-07T06:32:00.000-07:00

Can it be true? The word on the street is that the stock market went wild yesterday because some grade school dropout they employ to insert the proper numbers into the big board hit the "billion" button instead of the "million" button and bankrupted Turkmenistan and Switzerland, while turning Botswana into a lavish paradise? Maybe we can all take turns playing with that machine. It would be fun.

RODRIGUEZ FILM MIGHT STIR UNANTICIPATED CONSEQENCES

2010-05-07T06:18:00.000-07:00

Robert Rodriguez has just released a film intended to lubricate racial harmony in Arizona. He has, of course, done this from the comfort of his home in California. I predict that the film will, like most things, have unintended consequences. First, gringos will hire Mexican body guards to protect them against the half dozen Mexicans who take Rodriguez seriously. This will solve the unemployment problem caused by the boycott of Arizona. Next, Bob Walkup will lead his band of intrepid warriors south to take over Sonora. In their zeal to conquer la frontera, they will make an illegal left turn and wipe out the Gulf Cartel with some Shock & Awe left over from the Iraqi campaign. That will break the stalemate in the cartel wars, thus bringing peace and justice to northern Mexico.

With peace restored in Mexico, Mexicans who had risked life and limb to make a new life in Arizona will return to the welcoming arms of Mexico where they will employ the skills they acquired in Arizona to build a new and better Mexico. The new prosperity there will attract Americans who will cross the border at night into Sonora, searching for a better life, a life without the IRS.

I am copyrighting this scenario in case Rodriguez likes it so much he wants to use it. Talk to my agent.

GREECE IS WHAT 'CHANGE' LOOKS LIKE. WHAT HAPPENED TO 'HOPE'?

2010-05-06T11:36:00.002-07:00

Okay, we gave half a skillion dollars to Greece. Europe gave the other half,. Oh, these gifts are called loans. But there is no mechanism in place for Greece to pay them back. As we saw with the housing crisis, when you lend money to people who have no ability to repay it, you may as well write it off as a gift.

We have been spending Grecian style ourselves.The House and the White House just close their eyes and roll those presses. They aren't even keeping count of the results. Economists are warning that the Greek problem could go global within days. What then? Everyone into the streets? We have so many things to protest it will be hard to know which is whom.

And if everyone is in the streets, who is working? Who is making electricity/ Who is delivering food? This country has never seen so irresponsible an administration or Congress. Never. They will wreck the country before they are through. Do you think maybe that's what they want? If they destroy it, then they are at liberty to rebuild it as they want it.

NATIONAL UNION OF ALL POLICE AND FIREFIGHTERS IN WORKS

2010-05-06T11:07:00.002-07:00

Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are up to their sneaky stuff again, pandering to big labor. This time it is our local police and firefighters they want to organize into a union at the federal level. The bill is S. 3194. It would force all such municipal employees into a national union. They would have to strike when they were told to strike and they would have their incomes set at the national level.

Look at what happened in California which went along with this madness. The City of Vallejo went bankrupt after it was forced to spend 75% of its budget on unionized police and firefighters. Other cities have suffered similar results. And those have been local actions. Imagine what will happen when his bill nationalizes all police and firefighters in the nation. And you know how Tucson City Council is. They will roll over for this and wait for union bosses to rub their tummies.

In essence, these local employees would have their salaries set in Washington and if our city could not pay that much, too bad. Their pay comes off the top. Volunteer police and firefighters would be unlawful. They would have to be paid the same as professional personnel.

Harry and Nancy are trying to slip this one through while people marching in the streets distracting America with immigration problems.

TSA'S PANTS

2010-05-06T07:53:00.002-07:00

The flight of Faisal Shahzad, the Times Square bomber -- excuse me, the alleged Times Square bomber -- was nearly successful in making his getaway because there are two competing lists involved.

People don't realize that in addition to the "no fly" list, there is a "no boarding" list. So it is possible, theoretically, to fly if you can do it without boarding, or of boarding without flying. Apparently, the latter is the choice Shahzad made and that's why he was caught.

It seems that the two lists are part of a belt-and-suspenders approach to the problem, but it doesn't seem to work all that well. TSA's pants keep falling down anyway.

ANOTHER GANG DEMANDING A BAILOUT

2010-05-06T07:23:00.001-07:00

A United Nations biodiversity group is calling for a bailout for disappearing species. They assert that vast numbers of species face extinction. Well if that's true, those guys must have been asleep for years. They have mucked up development all over the country, thwarting plans that would irritate some critters. Yet for all their interference, they now tell us that those very species they said they were protecting face extinction. Either they were wrong before or they're wrong now. Or maybe nature is just having its way. The species that face extinction may be unfit to live in the world as it now exists. Other species will rise up to fill those niches. Ecological niches do not just remain vacant.

It looks more like a concerted move to line their pockets. Everybody needs a bailout, why not them? Let nature have her way and without a bailout.

BETTER NOT SHOUT, BETTER NOT POUT, AL SHARPTON IS COMING TO TOWN

2010-05-06T07:01:00.001-07:00

One might suspect Arizona had not elected a legislature and a governor, so we need Al Sharpton to tell us how to run Arizona. Al, run for office. When you get elected, come on back and do the thankless job of trying to please everybody all the time. Meanwhile, we may listen to what you have to say. but we have elected people to perform those functions. It would be an abdication of their sworn duty to turn any of their authority over to you.

SUPERCOLLIDER DOES NOT DESTROY EARTH

2010-05-06T06:39:00.001-07:00

Remember when a bunch of scaredy-cats warned that the Hadron supercollider had the potential to create a black hole which could gobble up the entire earth? Well it didn't and it didn't. They are busy right now seeking new dimensions, strings, and an explanation for a universe full of mysterious "dark matter."

Whenever science made major advances, there have been fearful people who worried about the worst. Better be safe than informed. If we left it up to such people they would have banned electricity as too dangerous for home use.

"WE KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE"

2010-05-06T06:24:00.000-07:00

Pennsylvania's "creepy" ad draws attention and criticism. "We know where you are." Of course they know where you are. You've been filing tax returns with your address on them, haven't you?

Frankly, the deal to waive all penalty and cut the interest in half looks mighty attractive. If I owed Pennsylvania some taxes (I don't) I'd be looking to make that deal. I would demand a foregiveness of all the interest and penalty and a release for paying just the tax due. I believe they would take that offer.

Yes, it's creepy. But it got your attention, didn't it? They need the money. If you owe it to them, now would be a good time to figure out how to fund a deal. They talk tough, but they sound negotiable.

2010-05-06T06:07:00.003-07:00

>>To defeat terrorism, disarm Americans.<<

(Lawmakers lump guns in with terrorism although only one incident involved guns and that gun was furnished to the shooter by the Army.)

New York lawmakers visit the Hill to discuss terrorism and gun control

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs heard testimony from top New York lawmakers on May 5. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Rep. Peter King (R-NY) went before the committee members to discuss the threat of terrorism in New York in light the recent attempted attack on Times Square. Much of the focus of the hearing was on legislation that would make it more difficult for terrorists to purchase firearms

"Since 1990, there have been more than 20 terrorist plots -- or actual attacks -- against our City," stated Bloomberg. "That's why it's so critical for Congress to fully fund homeland security programs... and to take other steps that will help us fight terrorists and make it harder for them to attack us."

Why the attack on guns? Guns have not been major instruments of terror, explosives have. This is an effort to make it more difficult for Americans to defend themselves. Government types don't ever want to face American citizens who are armed, even though the only kind of guns still allowed to Americans are semi-auto popguns.

'BORDER SECURITY' HAS NO MEANING TO GOVERNMENT TYPES

2010-05-06T05:43:00.002-07:00

According to officials throughout government, the term "border security" has no meaning. They have their own term for it and what it means. “Operational control means you have the ability to detect, identify, classify, respond and resolve any border incursion in your area of responsibility,” says Paul Beeson, Yuma, AZ sector chief of the Border Patrol. Okay, I'll buy that. But when we laymen say border security, that's what we mean, and you know it.

(Left) Mexicans in Tijuana were apprehended dismantling the metal from the fence to sell as scrap. ((Right) Peta wants to warn approaching Mexicans of America's unhealthy diet.

OBAMA BORN IN AT LEAST TWO HOSPITALS

2010-05-06T05:26:00.001-07:00

Aside from the hospital in Mombasa that has claimed and celebrated the birth of our esteemed "president" there, now two hospitals in Honolulu are claiming that distinction. They are Queen's Hospital and Kapi'olani Hospital. You pays you money and you takes yer cherce.

If you still care, you can read this expose in WND. Click here. Personally, I am sick of the issue. If we ever get the real story, it will probably be years from now and not matter. Obama has obscured the issue beautifully. From no information to too much information. A masterful job.

MEXICAN EDITORIAL SAYS MEXICANS MUST MAKE MEXICO A PLACE MEXICANS WANT TO LIVE

2010-05-05T18:24:00.001-07:00

El Diario (Cd. Juarez, Chih) editorially says Mexico must make itself a country its people are willing to live in so they don't have to sneak across the border in search of the American Dream. Here is an excerpt.

El Diario (Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua) 5/4/10

It’s painful to repeatedly ascertain the suffering of our fellow countrymen who daily cross after the “American dream.” The insults and recriminations have not been long in coming from we Mexicans, and especially border area residents, against the Americans; without stopping to think that the main responsible party for that displacement of illegals to the United States is our own Mexican government, due to the lack of opportunities and misery in which they live, which pushes them above all to cross the border.

What has Mexico done to hold on to its fellow residents and to avoid having them cross illegally into the United States? If the maquiladora phenomenon lessened migration somewhat, why not use that example and create employment? Why not improve agricultural productivity? Why not offer equality of opportunity? There have been Mexicans mistreated in their own country, that’s why they emigrate, and once there, they don’t want to return, because they know the conditions in the country are not going to be different than when they left and they will return to misery.

We must accept that each country is sovereign and independent, and that the United States has the power to enact laws which may be favorable to them. Illegal immigrants, workers or not, are outside the law of that country, they crossed under the shadows and have stayed within them. We mustn’t be demanding better treatment for our fellow countrymen from the Americans, it’s here at home where we must give them a proper life so that they may not find themselves in need of leaving their land, their customs and roots.

A FEW DAYS IN THE LIFE OF AN ILLEGAL ALIEN

2010-05-05T08:39:00.004-07:00

I think I have it figured out. Tucson Mayor Walkup says illegal aliens are good for Tucson's economy. At first, that seemed like arrant nonsense. But as I thought more about it, I realized it must be true.

Consider a typical illegal alien who crosses the border in the dead of night carrying a backpack. Does the backpack contain all his worldly goods? No. It contains $2.5 million worth of cocaine. He gives the cocaine to his contact when he arrives, collects his payment for transporting the drugs and goes about his business.

The illegal alien has enriched the drug peddler and has $1000 in his pocket. He's hungry from the trip so he buys himself lunch with some of the money he just got. Then he gets together with a few friends and they do some friendly shoplifting. That evening they get hopped up on malt liquor and perform a home invasion. The occupants of the house are present and are convinced to show the invaders where their secret stash is.

They are nice fellows so, getting all they came for, and not finding any nubile females available, they leave. At sun rise they send some money back home for for their families. Having nothing much to do after pawning the materials from the home invasion, they start feeling horny. This leads to all sorts of complications. The next home invasion is more productive. Not only did they get a wad of money and some jewelry, they got the keys to the family SUV. And -- jackpot -- there were two girls there ages 15 and 17. They take turns raping the girls. Then they leave. The parents were held at bay with guns stolen from another job, so they were not hurt.

Well, time to go back to pick up another shipment.

I could go on, but can you see all the economic activity generated by a single illegal alien? Multiply that by the number of illegal aliens entering every day. It is this economic activity Mayor Walkup says the city would miss if the boycott continues or if we actually get control of the border.

CITY OF TUCSON SURRENDERS TO BOYCOTT

2010-05-05T07:18:00.003-07:00

The City of Tucson, now conducting its own foreign policy (why not, nobody else is?) has surrendered to the boycott and will sue the state to repeal SB1070. If they had any balls, they would be suing Raul Grijalva.

It isn't as much that Mayor Walkup and most of his council members rolled over on their backs and whined "Please don't hurt me any more." But it was damned close. What a spineless bunch of wimps! Mayor Walkup declared his love for illegal aliens. "Much of Tucson's economy is derived from Mexican tourists who come here on vacation and to shop," he said. SB1070 doesn't apply to vacationers and shoppers. It applies to illegal immigrants. There is a difference between shopping Mexicans and drug smuggling Mexicans. But Hizzoner doesn't seem to recognize that subtle distinction.

Maybe they will go all the way and declare Tucson a sanctuary city, thus appeasing San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles and San Diego, all of which I am including in my personal boycott.

SB1070 hasn't even gone into effect yet and already Tucson is surrendering. The blood of the innocents will be on your hands. I'll remember this the next time I have business with the City Council. Since they are so sensitive to boycotts, let's see how they handle my personal boycott of the city. I personally will take all my business elsewhere. There now! Are they quaking in their boots?

HOUSE MAKES MAJOR CHANGES IN NAVY

2010-05-05T06:44:00.002-07:00

Say goodbye to the Department of the Navy. It is being eliminated. But fear not. The House of Representatives is replacing it. The replacement for the Department of the Navy will be The Department of the Navy and Marines. Ah, yes. That's much better.

Oh, and in the Fox News dispatch, their military expert refers to Camp Jejune. I'm pretty sure that's wrong. The last I heard, the Marine camp in North Carolina was named Lejeune. The difference is, Lejeune is a Marine Camp. Jejune is a word meaning "insubstantial," "useless," " empty." Is somebody trying to tell us something?

CAN WE COUNT ON ISLAMIC BOMBERS ALL TO BE INCOMPETENT?

2010-05-05T06:22:00.000-07:00

Are these really the best bombers the Islamic world can send us? Is this the most competent crew they have or are they trying to lull us into a false sense of security? This domestic clown who doesn't even know what kind of fertilizer explodes and which does not, that character who tried to explode his Jockey shorts, that earlier clown with the exploding shoes (thanks to whom we all have to take off our shoes to get on a plane) -- are we really getting their best personnel? I am insulted.

Or maybe they were lulled into a false sense of potency by the appointment of Janet Napolitano, who is all that stands between us and Islamo-Armageddon.

Something is wrong here. Neither they nor we seem to have a good idea what we're doing. Can't we call it off. We're all looking bad. Go bother some other country. Try setting up your Islamic caliphate in the Antarctic. Nobody will know or care. And we will be able to board planes without having to curse the cause of all that security, you.

JANET NAPOLITANO: AS GOOD AS SHE'S EVER BEEN

2010-05-05T05:43:00.003-07:00

Janet Napolitano demonstrates no pride. Does she need a job so badly she is willing to look as useless as she does? Yesterday, she said that the Obama administration has shown an "absolute laser-like focus on that border." You would think her tongue would fall out before she could finish such an obvious lie. In truth, the administration has shown utter disregard for the border and its problems. Nothing is less important to Obama and his useless henchwoman, Napolitano.

Napolitano last week said that the border is as secure as it's ever been. That much is so. But the border is not secure by any measure. The fact that it is as secure as ever only reflects on how insecure it has traditionally been.

This stolid woman is actually in charge of the security of the entire nation. No better choice could Obama have made if he wanted to sacrifice homeland security yet make it appear that someone was doing something about it. Well, we are not deceived. She is doing as little as she can get away with. She could hardly do less if she just stayed home.

A MESSAGE FROM JACK WARDEN

2010-05-05T05:14:00.002-07:00

A press release from Jack Warden.

His comments, submitted for your consideration, do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Flashpoint!

The Closer We Get, the Uglier The Arizona Cattlemen’s Association:Looks

“Stop Sending Donations to These Jackasses,” says Jack Warden

May 04, 2010

CSII Press

Tucson Arizona

In response to the Krentz Murder, several weeks ago former Minuteman V.P. Al Garza (now the Chief Ramrod for the Patriots Coalition) offered to lend a hand to support his Cochise County Neighbor, the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association.

You’re “Dead Wrong” if you think that now, finally after all these years, like-minded Patriots will put their resources together and work shoulder to shoulder to Protect the Border.

Al just told me: “The Cattlemen didn’t even bother to respond!”

So much for brotherly love, the old fashioned frontier ethic that neighbors always help neighbors, and that tired old maxim: “We’re All in This Together.”

Now it’s clear: When it Comes to the Close the Border Gunfight, The Cattlemen Are Just In It For Themselves!

In light of new information that has just come to light, Tucson Political Activist Roy Warden now calls upon all the “Close the Border” Activist Groups to tell their members:

“Stop Sending Money to the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association or to the Krentz Family.”

“These ‘Good Old Boys’ only care about their money, their safety and the safety of their families,” Warden said.

“The Cattlemen don’t care about YOU!”

Warden’s anger is inspired by an April 26, 2010 article written by a guy named “Jolley,” (a freelance writer for the Beef Industry) and a statement made by Patrick Bray, Deputy Director of Government Affairs for the Arizona Cattlemen's Association, who said:

"I read your article on Arizona’s SB 1070 today and wanted to let you know that the association took no position on the bill. (SB-1070) Unfortunately this would not have helped Robert Krentz and it does not help any of our folks along the border.” (click here)

“Unless it directly affects them, the Arizona Cattlemen don’t care about Illegal Alien Crime in our neighborhoods, regular folk like ourselves getting murdered right and left, Illegal Aliens occupying American jobs, or anything else which concerns US,” Warden says.

“In fact, the Cattlemen have always benefited from Cheap Illegal Mexican Labor, the Cheap Wage Economy, and Illegal Alien Consumption of Arizona Beef.

“The Cattlemen are only in it for the Money. From their point of view, every time an Illegal Alien Family sits down to eat dinner at Burger King (on this side of the border), the Cattlemen make money.”

Moreover: Warden contends the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association supports the re-election of John “Amnesty” McCain, a long time champion of Tucson City and Pima County Open Border Policy, the political efforts of Don Diamond, Jim Click, Mac McGruder and the rest of the Arizona “Good Old Boys” who have worked behind the scenes to Gut Arizona Employer Sanctions.

In short, Warden says the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association is just another part of the entire industry of “Fat Cats Who Got Rich off of Mexican Illegal Aliens.”

At this pivotal moment in history, with the fate of American Sovereignty hanging in the balance, WE WILL NOT PERMIT “Fence Sitting” on the issue of American Security and SB 1070, which WILL PROTECT American jobs, slow crime rates, ease the strain upon our schools and other public institutions, and most of all:

SB-1070 Will Enforce Federal Immigration Law and Stop Tucson City and Pima County Open Border Policy

Warden says: “You’re either WITH us or AGAINST us.”

“The Arizona Cattlemen’s Association is AGAINST US.”

So send them an email: Let these Two-Bit, Four-Flushin’ Pikers know:

“THEIR precious lives are no more important than OURS!”

“We’re sick and tired with Cow Puncher Sanctimony and all the sniveling going on about ‘Poor Bobby Krentz’ who opposed putting up the fence in the first place,” Warden said.

“We’re Mad as Hell and Not Gonna Take It Anymore!!”

Roy Warden

roywarden@cox.net

Copy this article and email it to the following two Arizona Cattlemen addresses:

The Arizona Cattlemen’s Association

Bill McGibbon

US DISARMAMENT ALWAYS INVITES WAR

2010-05-05T04:55:00.000-07:00

Taking up where I left off in my column, below, "Be Afraid..." Investors Business Daily takes up and says Barack Obama is hopelessly naive when it comes to disarmament. Every time we have tried to lead the world into disarmament by flaunting our weakness, it has led to war. Read this fine column, "America's Nuclear Surrender," by clicking here.

VIOLENCE SPREADS THROUGHOUT CENTRAL AMERICA

2010-05-04T18:55:00.001-07:00

The month of April ended with 385 homicides in El Salvador, and the total for the year has now reached 1,473. This occurs despite the fact that the country’s armed forces have been deployed out on the streets since November of ’09 to support the National Civil Police.The first two days of May have already brought about 30 assassinations.

Editors of Mexican dailies pointed out that today, Freedom of the Press World Day, the press coverage of certain “delicate” matters has been modified or eliminated due to the constant threats from drug traffickers or from regional political powers. “Article 19,” an organization focusing on the defense of freedom of expression. The four agreed that some news is not published because the press rooms get “requests that can be taken as veiled threats.” The National Commission on Human Rights reported this Sunday that 61 journalists have been assassinated in Mexico in the last ten years, plus 10 others who have vanished since 2005. “requests that can be taken as veiled threats.” The National Commission on Human Rights reported this Sunday that 61 journalists have been assassinated in Mexico in the last ten years, plus 10 others who have vanished since 2005.

The following casualties occurred over the weekend:

Shootout in Tamaulipas leaves four dead
Thirty-three murdered over the weekend in Chihuahua
Seven executed outside a bar in Ciudad Juarez
Eight persons murdered in Guerrero

It's bad enough this is going on south of the border. We are trying to keep it from spreading to the US.

NEWSBUSTED TACKLES ARIZONA

2010-05-04T09:07:00.001-07:00

IN THE YEAR OF...

2010-05-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

It was particularly obtuse of the White House to date the proclamation of Jewish Heritage Month as having been signed "In the Year of Our Lord 2010." After some discussion, they settled on "In the Year 2010." Note that the Jews didn't demand it be memorialized as occurring "In the Year 5770," the year as calculated on the Jewish calendar.

Just as a matter of interest, I looked at some of my certificates to see how they denoted the year executed. My diploma from law school, a Catholic institution, carried the civil date plus the date calculated from the year of the founding of the university. My certificate of admission to the US Supreme Court was dated "In the Year of Our Lord..." I wonder if they are still doing that.

SHHH. I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO TELL YOU THIS

2010-05-04T08:23:00.000-07:00

A man in Marion County Florida irritated police who were ready to administer a Breathalizer test on him. Just before the test, he found and drank one last swig of whiskey. No Breathalizer today.

What most lawyers know and are not supposed to tell you is that that is a perfect way to defeat a Breathalizer. The blood alcohol measure would be overwhelmed by the booze you just swallowed. So the test cannot be administered. Police should separate you from your stash as soon as they decide to administer a Breathalizer. The Florida cops screwed up.

BUYING UP ALL VACANT LAND

2010-05-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

The only restraint on the Pima County Board of Supervisors is money. If they only had enough money, they would buy up all the undeveloped land around the city to preserve it for, as they have said, "wildlife corridors, mature saguaros, important riparian areas, and peaks and ridges " What is not a peak or a ridge in he mountains? Talk about creating a stagnant economy. There would be no place for Tucson to grow. That is if anyone wanted it to grow, if anyone wanted more jobs, if anyone wanted more businesses paying more taxes. Lacking that money, the board will, within the laws against uncompensated taking, restrict development by regulation.

The stagnancy to be created is a recipe for disaster. A community either grows or it shrivels It can't stand still. If stagnation is the choice, then people seeking opportunity will leave for more hospitable climes. People will keep getting born here, people will continue to immigrate here. But if there is no room to grow, they will have to leave to seek their fortunes elsewhere, Is that really what Tucson wants? Maybe it is. Maybe they covet a city of mostly retirees just playing golf. But with enough stagnation, even the caddies and waiters will be squeezed out. And the city will die.

BOYCOTT OR INVASION?

2010-05-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

Militant Mexicans can't makeup their minds whether to flood Arizona with Mexicans or to boycott the state as they have also threatened to do.

In either case, the United States government sees no evil and is perfectly fine with either eventuality. Arizona is a long way from Washington and while they see Mexicans marching in the streets, they see few Arizonans protesting the invasion. Since it seems to be a point of the Obama administration to meld the US and Mexico together, Obama sees no problem. His longer range goal calls for amnesty, i.e., citizenship, for all Mexicans who have managed, one way or the other, to plant their feet in the US, yielding huge Democrat victories in all polls.

He doesn't care so much what Arizonans want since they will be outnumbered in Arizona after amnesty.

TRY-OUTS FOR OBAMAVILLE?

2010-05-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

A man in Columbus, Ohio help up the Huntington Bank. During his escape, he handed $100 bills to two people he encountered. I suspect it was a demonstration of a guy looking for a job in the Obama adinimistration.

BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID -- OBAMA REVEALS TOP SECRET DATA

2010-05-04T06:53:00.001-07:00

The US has and will admit to 5113 active and ready nuclear warheads. Until Obama got into the White House, this number had been top secret. But Obama thinks transparency in our nuclear armament is a good thing. So he's throwing the doors wide open. "Come take our nuclear secrets." And watch our arsenal shrink." Obama is convinced if we become less potent, put our military muscle on the same scale as our adversaries, they won't have to fear us. If they don't fear us, they can relax.

Of course, some of them may take it as an opportunity to attack. But he discounts that possibility. They wouldn't do that because that would subject them to UN sanctions. And we all know how much such loonies as Ahmadinejad worry about sanctions.

Obama believes that the US is the main threat to peace in the world and our arsenal forces others to compete for weapons superiority. So if we can appear less threatening to the world, the world will voluntarily disarm. And what if, instead, it takes our disarmament as a signal to attack while this "president" is still in charge?

HAWKING EXPLORES TIME TRAVEL

2010-05-03T17:52:00.000-07:00

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking says time travel is possible, but only forward. Going back in time violates the law of causation, that causes always precede effects. I would be so bold as to suggest that the law of causation may not be absolute. We are breaking laws of physics now every day. Laws we thought to be immutable turn out to be flexible. Perhaps causation can be reversed, too. To read the story, click here.

PREACHER ARRESTED FOR TELLING THE TRUTH

2010-05-03T07:13:00.002-07:00

Dale McAlpine was charged with causing “harassment, alarm or distress” after a homosexual police community support officer (PCSO) overheard him reciting a number of “sins” referred to in the Bible, including blasphemy, drunkenness and same sex relationships.Police officers are alleging that he made the remark in a voice loud enough to be overheard by others and have charged him with using abusive or insulting language, contrary to the Public Order Act.

Apparently the law in England now is that you can say anything you want to as long as nobody can hear you.

JOHN McCAIN COMES HOME

2010-05-03T03:54:00.002-07:00

John McCain has found himself. He lost himself in the Beltway and went over to the dark side. But now he's back. And he's fighting mad at illegal aliens. Well, we'll take all the help we can get to close that border to criminals, but how do we know John won't get sucked back across the aisle if he's reelected? You know that Beltway mentality is mighty seductive. Party, party, party.

I would think we might be better off with a person who has always known where he stands on the border, not a line straddler. And if J.D. gets coopted, we can throw him out, too. Keep these guys on a short leash and make sure they don't spend so much time in Washington that they need a map to find home.

John is fine man. We owe him for his valor in Vietnam. But we don't owe him a Senate seat.

FLASH ---- NEW LEAD IN KRENTZ KILLING

2010-05-03T03:02:00.000-07:00

The killing of Southern Arizona rancher Rob Krentz that sparked an outcry to secure the border was not random, and investigators are focusing on an American suspect, the Arizona Daily Star is reporting Monday morning.

PAKI TALIBAN CAUGHT US IN A GOOD MOOD

2010-05-03T02:30:00.006-07:00

The Pakistani Taliban caught us in a good mood. Never mind why, we just are. Maybe it's because when all is said and done, we are living in the United States of America and you are living in the flea-infested parts of Pakistan. So you claim to have tried to blow up an SUV you parked near Times Square. Well it was a ham-handed job whoever did it. It was such a dud, I'm surprised you are willing to claim it.

So what are we going to do about it? You don't understand. New York is used to this kind of nonsense. To us, this is just a wrinkle in our collar. Kid's play. Come on, blow up all the SUVs you can, or try to. We'll make more. We sweep up after guys like you all the time. Yes, it's just not that easy to get our goat. We must admit to some amusement that your best technology can't competently blow up a used car. Police say the fertilizer you thought was bomb-type was in fact -- well, just fertilizer. The potted plants in the square appreciate the dose.

If you really irritated us, like if you knocked down some buildings full of people, that would pi$$ us off. You might start seeing our people and equipment soon after that right in your own back yard. You might get to enjoy one of our Shock & Awe shows like the Iraqis got to see.

But it's going to take more than this to move our armies. Just be assured that if and when we move, you may regret having kicked us in the shins. Eventually, we do get fed up with guys like you. If and when we get around to you, you will be nothing more than grease spots on the ground. 'Til then, have a nice day.

UTAH SEIZES LAND FROM FEDERAL GOV'T UNDER EMINENT DOMAIN

2010-05-02T08:29:00.001-07:00

Utah has picked a fight with the feds (doesn't everyone?) exercising what it calls its territorial rights and sovereignty, it wants to reclaim the federal land within its borders. The feds own 60% of Utah and every square foot of it is set aside for "preservation." Utah wants the right to allow recovery of valuable minerals on that land.Utah sees this as the long-range solution to their financial problems. Other Western states are watching Utah very closely. Arizona is 41.1% owned by the feds. Only 13% is privately owned. The rest is owned by other governments.

PLAYING BLIND MAN'S BLUFF WITH THE ECONOMY

2010-05-02T08:10:00.001-07:00

+Observing the Obama administration is like watching a contestant play pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey in which the contestant is blindfolded, spun around, and then has to strike a goal, in that case the donkey. "President" Obama is still spinning around but in the past he has missed the donkey by a country mile. Right now, he is leaning toward creating a financial incentive for those who have made too much to make a whole lot more if they will follow his lead and create "carbon-free energy." Okay, he hasn't heard yet that that carbon-free BS is passé. Nonetheless, if you will invest in such claptrap, the government will provide tax incentives to cover 30% of all project costs and will guarantee project costs up to 80% of the total cost. That's 110% government involvement. You think Goldman Sachs was cooking the government's goose, this just cries out "Come rape me."

My fear is that somebody is going to make a lot more money than he needs. What will Obama do then?

IS THE USA TOO BIG TO FAIL?

2010-05-02T07:52:00.002-07:00

By Alan Caruba

Lately I have been playing with the question, is the United States of America too big to fail?

Greece’s bonds are now rated as “junk.” It will have to be bailed out with billions from the nations of the European Union, but Portugal is not far behind and so are Italy and Spain. Iceland went belly-up months ago. Meanwhile, the sovereign debt of the United Kingdom, plus the assets of its five largest banks, exceeds 500% of its gross domestic product (GDP)!

According to Forbes, in the United States the total federal debt, including debt held by government agencies like the Social Security fund has ballooned by 50% since 2006 to $12.3 trillion. The U.S. government debt-to-GDP radio is 84%. A tipping point into default is generally believed to be 90%.

Can the whole financial system be gamed?

Well, yes. On September 15, 2008 there was a suspicious, coordinated withdrawal of $550 billion from American banks just before the end of the 2008 election campaigns. It forced the Federal Reserve to shut down the drain of funds leaving the nation.

Within days the then-Secretary of Treasury, Henry Paulson was asking Congress to cut him a blank check for billions in order to stave off the collapse of major financial institutions. Subsequently, one of them, Lehman Brothers, was allowed to fail while a forced marriage between Bank of America and Merrill Lynch ensued to keep the latter from failing.

Troubled asset or TARP funds were dispensed and repaid. It’s hard not to make a profit when the Federal Reserve is lending you billions at zero interest rates.

It is now official White House policy to berate Wall Street and threaten it with a ruinous expansion of regulation. Others considered enemies of the state by the Obama administration include insurance and pharmaceutical companies, along with producers of oil and coal.

The whole world of central banking is deliberately murky to the outsider. I have no idea how it works except that their first imperative is to remain solvent so that the sovereign entity they serve remains solvent as well.

That is not easy in an era when most nations have socialist regimes requiring very high taxes with which to redistribute their nation’s wealth. This is further complicated if the nation’s population is aging as is the case throughout Europe. America is aging too as the Baby Boomer generation begins to reach 65.

In point of fact, Social Security, the oldest Ponzi scheme in town, is now taking in less money than it is paying out.

Ironically, an element of this aging is the fact that America has had a remarkable healthcare system that has contributed to expanding average life expectancy to 78 among men and over 80 among women. That will change if Obamacare is allowed to make the rules. Old people will become expendable.

The other Ponzi scheme is Medicare and Medicaid. They are expected to go broke in about eight years or so. All of the billions collected from income taxes every year now go to Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and to defense spending. To pay all other government expenses, the money must be borrowed.

When you “reform” Medicare as the Obama administration and the Democrats in Congress just did and it turns out that it is going to cost billions more than the former system, you have to wonder about the depths of stupidity involved?

A child born today arrives with a debt of $30,000. To secure a college education, the average expense is around $100.000. Life in America is going to be ruinously expensive, including for the 40% of Americans who pay no income taxes.

Beyond the borrowing and spending is another factor that is being ignored or undermined. The nation requires a dependable supply of electricity to keep EVERYTHING going. When the electricity stops, the nation will stop. It will be unable to function. Computers, the banks, the trains, the airlines, the supermarkets, gas station pumps, television, heating and cooling systems, elevators….EVERYTHING.

This is hardly the time to be lavishing billions in federal subsidies on dubious “clean energy” systems such as wind and solar, but that is exactly what the Obama administration is doing.

The reality is that coal-fired, natural gas and nuclear energy generates 88% of the electricity we use. We need more, not less, as our population increases.

At what point do Americans begin to ask why the Obama administration:

# Has imposed a very expensive overhaul of the nation’s health system,

# Is opposing the development of traditional sources of electrical power and for transportation,

# And is attempting to impose the biggest tax on energy use (Cap-and-Trade) in the nation’s history.

Perhaps the worst idea is a VAT (value added) tax that will affect every purchase of, well, everything.

At what point will the economy of the United States of America simply fail under this very unpleasant set of conditions? The answer in part is when other nations decide not to buy our treasury notes.

The United States has gone from the greatest economy the world has ever seen to being a creditor nation whose currency is in danger of being devalued.

I don’t like thinking about such things. No one does, but someone must.

Caruba blogs daily at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com. An author, business and science writer, he is the founder of The National Anxiety Center.

READERS REJECT DRUG LEGALIZATION

2010-05-02T06:26:00.001-07:00

Recently, Flashpoint! asked its readers if they would favor drug legalization as a way to stop smuggling and violence at the border. By an overwhelming margin (24:9%), readers responded "no, that stuff can destroy a nation. We must defeat the cartels."

Personally, I favored the "yes" answer because (1) our country is already fully serviced with drugs but it comes covered with the blood of those opposing it, (2) we might be able to assert some control over the drugs if they were legalized which we cannot now, (3) it will be almost impossible to defeat the cartels as long as they are based on foreign soil, (4) the only way to defeat the cartels is to invade Mexico and impose an "Iraqi Solution"' on that country. I see no sentiment for that kind of action, nor do I expect ever to since so many Mexican nationals have taken up US residence and influence our foreign policy.

SENATE REVIVES AMNESTY -- HERE'S HOW TO STOP IT

2010-05-02T06:11:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON – "Amnesty will spell the death knell of this country" if it's not stopped, says the organizer of a new campaign designed to flood the U.S. Senate with letters of sharp protest as it begins discussions of a sweeping new "comprehensive immigration reform plan."

"Amnesty will tear this country apart," says Joseph Farah, founder and CEO of WorldNetDaily. "When 70 percent of Americans support Arizona's dramatic and courageous action to fill the void of federal failure on policing our borders, Washington is about to flout the will of the people once again. This is a brazen action to buy illegal votes. This is utter contempt for the rule of law and the will of the people. It must be stopped. This will be a genie that cannot be placed back in the bottle."

To combat it, Farah came up with "The No Amnesty Pledge."

It is, says Farah, an easy and inexpensive way for American citizens to make their voices heard effectively throughout the entire U.S. Senate, reaching all 100 members by Fed Ex with "The No Amnesty Pledge." All at a cost of $24.95.

"I want you to visualize boxes of these protest messages arriving in every member's office every day," explains Farah, "delivered by Fed Ex. It's the power of collective action. It demonstrates that we mean business – that Americans will not accept the destruction of their country lying down."

The letter says:

This is more than a letter of protest of efforts to provide amnesty for tens of millions of illegal immigrants currently residing in the U.S. It's a promise of a vote against any senator who supports such a plan.

It's a promise of financial support to candidates opposing any senator who supports such a plan.

It's a promise to expose this betrayal of the rule of law and the will of the people to the constituents of any senator who approves such legislation.

It's a promise to use any legal means necessary to thwart the future ambitions and aspirations of any senator who chooses to reward lawbreakers and punish law-keepers.

It's a promise to fight tooth and nail, even resorting to peaceful civil disobedience if necessary, to ensure that such legislation can never be carried out.

I don't expect you to read all of the "No Amnesty Pledge" letters currently flooding into your office. All you have to do is read one – and notice the volume of duplicate letters you are receiving, all sent by different American citizens who are thinking about this issue just as I am.

Frankly, we're concerned that what is being considered by the U.S. Senate would tear this country apart, break trust between the people and government and forever change the character of our nation and our communities.

Vote no on amnesty – or else!

Your name here

For those tired of jammed Capitol switchboards, fax machines getting turned off and the hassle of writing letters only to one's own representative and two senators, adds Farah, this program offers Americans a real bargain in getting their voice heard in Washington.

A dozen members of Congress sent unsolicited testimonials to the power of the highly publicized "pink slips" campaign. Five members of Congress held a press conference on the Capitol grounds to commend the program. Sen. Jim DeMint went on Fox News Channel to extol it.

"This is a powerful new vehicle that allows busy Americans to be part of a major demonstration of power and discontent," says Farah. "Don't wait. Who knows how quickly the Senate may act on this plan to increase the size of the constituency of those who know their days are numbered."

How else could you send, by Fed Ex delivery, 100 individually addressed letters, with the senders' name attached, to all members of the U.S. Senate for just $24.95?

Make your voice heard now through "The No Amnesty Pledge."

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LEGAL IMMIGRANTS BOYCOTTING THEMSELVES, LOSE JOBS

2010-05-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

The boycott of Arizona is really pinching the hospitality industry. And if it's pinching the hospitality industry, it must also be pinching the employees of the hospitality industry, the people who work there. It is mighty consistent for the wait staff, the cleaners, the groundskeepers and all the rest who have given up their income to make a point, however misguided. We have to respect that kind of consistency. I am certain they knew before they started what price they would pay for boycotting themselves. Just one question. Is Raul Grijalva giving his salary to those Hispanics who lost their jobs due to his boycott?

NUCLEAR FREE EFFORTS ARE FUTILE

2010-05-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

The U.S. is negotiating with Egypt a proposal to make the Middle East a region free of nuclear weapons, as the U.S. seeks to prevent Iran from derailing a monthlong U.N. conference on nuclear nonproliferation that begins Monday.

U.S. officials familiar with the move call it an important step in assuring countries that Washington—criticized by some for its silence about Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal—will equitably address weapons proliferation across the region, as Iran seeks to shift focus away from its own nuclear program. Washington also reassured Israel it won't foist a nuclear-free zone on the region until all parties agree to it and significant progress has been made on Mideast peace.

This conference is an exercise in futility. It is shocking that our diplomats and other officials can't see that. No nation is going to renounce its most fearsome weapons in exchange for airy promises. Only the Obama administration is that unrealistic. The nuclear genie is out of the bottle and will not go back in no matter what is said or who says it. All nations recognize that their primary responsibility is to perpetuate their nation and, if possible, their people. Only Barack Obama seems uncertain of that. The job of Western diplomats is to arrange conditions so that those weapons are not used. Talk is cheap. But there is much action that can be taken.

TIRED OF GEITHNERISMS? HERE THE REAL SCOOP ON THE ECONOMY

2010-05-01T10:20:00.001-07:00

Hankerin' for some real statistics on the economy. Here, courtesy of ShadowStats.com, is the real skinny. Read 'em and weep.

REPORTS OF OBAMA CAUGHT WITH MISTRESS COULD UNRAVEL PRESIDENCY

2010-05-01T06:25:00.008-07:00

It would be ironic if after all the unconstitutional and just unwise things Barack Obama has done to this country, his presidency would be ended by a sexual scandal. The story is reported this morning exclusively by The National Enquirer, which has a track record for accuracy in such cases. Click here to read the story.

WHO WILL PARADERS BE REPRESENTING?

2010-05-01T06:01:00.000-07:00

Many thousands are expected to turn out in Arizona today to protest the new law, even though most have never actually read the law, even as amended. Who will they be demonstrating for, the smugglers who shot one of our deputies last night? If not, it would be well if they made their position clear. Unrestricted entry into Arizona is not acceptable Intruders willing to kill in order to pursue their unlawful businesses cannot be tolerated. March all you want. Demonstrate all you will. If you are demanding the right to break the law, forget it! We take our law pretty seriously around here.

ILLEGAL INTRUDERS SHOOT DEPUTY OVER MARIJUANA SMUGGLING

2010-05-01T05:32:00.006-07:00

Pinal County Deputy Louie Puroll was patrolling alone Friday afternoon in a rugged area near Interstate 8, about 50 miles south of Phoenix, when he came upon a band of suspected smugglers, authorities said. Pinal County lies between Phoenix and Tucson and is absorbing a lot of new construction (or was) as the two metropolises grow together.

State and federal law enforcement agencies deployed helicopters and scores of officers to search a 100 square-mile zone near the Interstate and Arizona 84 for the suspects. The Arizona Republic reported officials said more than one of the choppers came under fire during the manhunt.

We hate to seem inhospitable, but this is one of the reasons we cannot welcome illegal intruders. Let's not dignify their status by calling them any kind of migrants. They are not migrating. They are intruding to pursue illegal activities and will kill anyone who gets in their way.

NOW THAT IRAN HAS A SEAT ON THE WOMEN'S PANEL OF THE U.N., WILL THEY ALL HAVE TO WEAR BURQAS?

2010-04-30T17:15:00.001-07:00

Do you think somebody in Washington was asleep at the switch this week when Iran was seated without objection on the Commission on the Status of Women at the UN. If Iran gets to dictate women's rights in the world, they will all wind up wearing burqas. Well, they have to, don't they? Iran's membership sort of ratifies their theory that women have the power to cause earthquakes just by revealing their faces, let alone bodies.

Maybe if the crowd in Washington were paying more attention to federal responsibilities instead if mucking around in state affairs these things wouldn't slip by. It's not as if they were busy sealing the border or anything.,