Federal agencies overseeing the Internet infrastructure are unprepared for the sudden congestion that could result from a severe flu outbreak, the Government Accountability Office said in a report (pdf) released earlier this month.
http://thehill.com/images/stories/blogs/gaoflureport.pdf
If a flu pandemic sends millions of workers and students home to telecommute--some students are already using Skype to tune into their classes from home--the Internet could be overwhelmed with traffic, slowing down vital communications and functions essential to national security and financial systems, the report said. The Homeland Security Department, the Federal Communications Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission are among the agencies the GAO says are not prepared to handle that sort of pressure.

“Given the importance of the Internet infrastructure to our nation’s communications and commerce, we suggested that Congress consider clarifying the legal framework guiding Internet recovery,” GAO said. “While a pandemic will not directly damage physical infrastructure such as power lines or computer systems, it could threaten critical systems by potentially removing the essential personnel needed to operate them from the workplace for weeks or months.”

Like in other emergencies, such as national disasters or terrorist attacks, maintaining some sort of access to the Internet during a flu outbreak is increasingly important. But the GAO says a flu emergency presents unique challenges because outbreaks would likely come in waves and sick workers and students will be placing prolonged stress on the network as they try to stay in touch with their bosses and teachers.


Federal Computer Week has a very detailed explanation http://fcw.com/Articles/2009/10/27/Internet-capacity-threat-flu-pan... of how a flu pandemic will affect the Internet's operation. In metropolitan suburbs, for example, an emergency situation could cause demand to exceed the capacity of Internet service providers’ network infrastructure. That's because networks are not designed to carry 100 percent of the potential traffic users could generate all at once, since all subscribers are rarely online at the same time. But if most people are working from home, the networks can easily be overwhelmed and buckle under the extreme demand.

The GAO recommended that DHS, for example, "work with other federal partners to determine if sufficient authority exists for one or more relevant agencies to take any contemplated actions to address Internet congestion."

Obama will shut us down VERY soon

The relationship between President Barack Obama and the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan has been put under severe strain by Gen Stanley McChrystal's comments on strategy for the war.

By Alex Spillius in Washington
Published: 7:00AM BST 05 Oct 2009

 

US General Stanley McChrystal Photo: AFP/GETTY

According to sources close to the administration, Gen McChrystal shocked and angered presidential advisers with the bluntness of a speech given in London last week.

The next day he was summoned to an awkward 25-minute face-to-face meeting on board Air Force One on the tarmac in Copenhagen, where the president had arrived to tout Chicago's unsuccessful Olympic bid.

Gen James Jones, the national security adviser, yesterday did little to allay the impression the meeting had been awkward.

Asked if the president had told the general to tone down his remarks, he told CBS: "I wasn't there so I can't answer that question. But it was an opportunity for them to get to know each other a little bit better. I am sure they exchanged direct views."

An adviser to the administration said: "People aren't sure whether McChrystal is being naïve or an upstart. To my mind he doesn't seem ready for this Washington hard-ball and is just speaking his mind too plainly."

In London, Gen McChrystal, who heads the 68,000 US troops in Afghanistan as well as the 100,000 Nato forces, flatly rejected proposals to switch to a strategy more reliant on drone missile strikes and special forces operations against al-Qaeda.

He told the Institute of International and Strategic Studies that the formula, which is favoured by Vice-President Joe Biden, would lead to "Chaos-istan".

When asked whether he would support it, he said: "The short answer is: No."

He went on to say: "Waiting does not prolong a favorable outcome. This effort will not remain winnable indefinitely, and nor will public support."

The remarks have been seen by some in the Obama administration as a barbed reference to the slow pace of debate within the White House.

Gen McChrystal delivered a report on Afghanistan requested by the president on Aug 31, but Mr Obama held only his second "principals meeting" on the issue last week.

He will hold at least one more this week, but a decision on how far to follow Gen McChrystal's recommendation to send 40,000 more US troops will not be made for several weeks.

A military expert said: "They still have working relationship but all in all it's not great for now."

Some commentators regarded the general's London comments as verging on insubordination.

Bruce Ackerman, an expert on constitutional law at Yale University, said in the Washington Post: "As commanding general, McChrystal has no business making such public pronouncements."

He added that it was highly unusual for a senior military officer to "pressure the president in public to adopt his strategy".

Relations between the general and the White House began to sour when his report, which painted a grim picture of the allied mission in Afghanistan, was leaked. White House aides have since briefed against the general's recommendations.

The general has responded with a series of candid interviews as well as the speech. He told Newsweek he was firmly against half measures in Afghanistan: "You can't hope to contain the fire by letting just half the building burn."

As a divide opened up between the military and the White House, senior military figures began criticising the White House for failing to tackle the issue more quickly.

They made no secret of their view that without the vast ground force recommended by Gen McChrystal, the Afghan mission could end in failure and a return to power of the Taliban.

"They want to make sure people know what they asked for if things go wrong," said Lawrence Korb, a former assistant secretary of defence.

Critics also pointed out that before their Copenhagen encounter Mr Obama had only met Gen McChrystal once since his appointment in June.

 

Chinese Military Police Ready to Crackdown 'Xinjiang'-Style: Nine Fushan Church Leaders Kidnapped
SHANXI, China, Sept. 29 /Christian Newswire/ -- On Friday, September 25, nine Fushan Church leaders, including Pastor Yang Rongli, were kidnapped by Shanxi PSB officers while traveling to Beijing to petition the central government for justice concerning the local authorities' brutal attack on September 13th. They were illegally seized without warrant, and have not been heard from since Friday night. After the arrests, local authorities forcibly confiscated all computers, TVs and other church- owned valuables, calling them "illegal materials." Remaining church leaders and active members were placed under house arrest and are now under constant surveillance.

On September 26, the central government stationed state military police inside the main Fushan Church in Linfen city, where 5,000 of the 50,000-member Linfen House Church network worship together weekly, to prevent them from entering the building or holding services. Military police now guard the building and the surrounding areas around the clock.

ChinaAid has since learned that the central government was and is directly responsible for the escalating crackdown campaign against the Linfen Church. Ironically twisting the facts, the Beijing PSB has categorized the Linfen Church incident as a "violent uprising" and resolved to use military force to subdue the alleged "unrest." Reliable government sources informed ChinaAid that a notice was sent to all relevant government agencies over the weekend, ordering them to be prepared to use military force to crackdown on the churches throughout China, in the same way the recent violent incident in Xinjiang was suppressed. They are calling the maneuver the "Xinjiang Model, " a method that resulted in the deaths of several hundred people in Xinjiang in August.

"To have military police occupy a peaceful church is an unprecedented tragic development in 60 years of PRC history, which itself shows the reality of today's situation regarding religious freedom in China," ChinaAid President Bob Fu stated. "The Chinese government has no reason to be fearful of the peaceful Christian church. We call upon the international community to continue to urge the Chinese government to respect Chinese citizens' religious freedom and to avoid shedding innocent blood."

ChinaAid denounces the comparison of the attack on the peaceful Fushan Church to the Xinjiang incident and the excessive use of military force to suppress the Linfen House Churches. We call for the immediate release of the kidnapped church leaders, and the rightful restoration of all church property. We further call on the Chinese central government to cease enacting the "Xinjiang Model" of military involvement to unjustly subdue a peaceful church populace.

We call on the international community to continue protesting the brutal treatment of Christians and the suppression of religious freedom in China.

For more ways to take action and contact authorities, go to www.ChinaAid.org , and see the full press release, 9/29/2009.
 

CODY, Wyo. - Michael Hilton of American Police Force arrived in Hardin with promises of Mercedes police cars and expertise in operating prisons. He delivered the cars last week, but may have learned about prisons following a 1993 conviction for grand theft.

Public records from police and state and federal courts in California show that Michael Anthony Hilton, using that name and more than a dozen aliases over several years, is cited in multiple criminal, civil and bankruptcy cases, and was sentenced in 1993 to two years in state prison in California.

Hilton pleaded guilty in March 1993 to 14 felonies, including 10 counts of grand theft, one count of attempted grand theft and three counts of diversion of construction funds, according to Orange County court records. He was sentenced to two years in prison, but it is unclear how much time he served.

Court records in that case list his real name as Michael Hilton, but they also include the aliases Midrag Ilia Dokovitch, Midrag Ilia Dokovich and Michael Miodrag.

Hilton, who speaks heavily accented English, has told reporters that he is a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Montenegro, a country bordering Serbia, and once part of the former Republic of Yugoslavia.

The same aliases and other similar ones, all with slightly different spellings, show up in many other court documents citing Hilton, including a May 2003 Orange County case in which Hilton pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol.

A booking photo from the Huntington Beach Police Department from Hilton's DUI arrest on March 14, 2003, shows him heavier, beardless and with more hair than he has now.

It also shows the same facial features, including a distinct arched wrinkle over his left eye, along with three deep brow furrows, small, circular indentations in the center of his forehead and a cleft tip on the nose.

Michael Hilton and his aliases are listed as defendants in various Orange County civil cases alleging fraud and breach of warranty, including a March 2000 case where he is accused of fraud, larceny, breach of contract and false pretenses.

Court documents in that case allege that Hilton and others solicited investments of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the plaintiff for the creation of collectible Super Bowl commemorative coins.

The complaint alleges that Hilton and others falsely told the plaintiff that the money would be used for the design and manufacture of the coins, and to pay for a National Football League license to produce them.

In fact, the complaint states, no such license was ever issued by the NFL.

Court documents show that the plaintiff obtained a 2001 judgment for $200,000 against Hilton, listing his aliases of Miodrag Dokovich and Midrag Ilia Dokovich.

Hilton also declared Chapter 13 bankruptcy twice during a 15-month period.

He filed under his real name, citing the alias Miodrag A. Dokovich, in November 2002, listing a Stanton, Calif., home address and a Fountain Valley, Calif., business address tied to the Belgrade Market Liquor and Deli.

In February 2004, Hilton filed under his real name, citing the alias Miodrag Dokovich, and listing a Santa Ana, Calif., home address. He estimated his assets at less than $50,000, and listed as creditors only a credit union and his landlord.

Both bankruptcy filings appear to have been intended to delay eviction proceedings against him. Under federal bankruptcy law, tenants are generally protected from eviction while they reorganize their finances.

Anh Q.D. Nguyen, a Garden Grove attorney, said in an e-mail that he represented Hilton's landlord in an eviction case against Hilton that was filed in January 2004.

Nguyen said that Hilton "filed an eleventh-hour bankruptcy petition in which my office successfully obtained relief from the bankruptcy automatic stay, in order to reclaim possession of the rented premises."

Hilton had also been named as a defendant in July 2002 as part of separate eviction proceedings before his bankruptcy filing that year.

Hilton filed both bankruptcies without an attorney, paying less than $275 in filing fees for each. Both petitions were dismissed by the court after Hilton failed to provide necessary documentation, including a financial reorganization plan.

Chapter 13 bankruptcies generally remain on personal credit histories for seven years, and show up on standard credit checks.

When asked on Wednesday about Hilton's business dealings before his involvement with APF, company spokeswoman Becky Shay said, "That information is not going to be made available at this point."

"That's his private business. He is a man who distinguishes between private and business, between personal and corporate," she said.

Shay said she would check with Hilton for a comment about his DUI arrest, but did not provide further details.

She did not respond to an additional call made later Wednesday seeking more information about Hilton's other past legal problems.
 

LIVE CHAT ON THIS SUBJECT CLICK HERE

This is the real deal folks. I got a email tonight sounded pretty impossible, what I'm finding is scary as hell. I will first post the news stories about this, followed by the email. This action falls in with what we have been warning about. WE NEED SOMEONE IN MONTANA TO CHECK THIS OUT.
American Police Force Appears to be DEFENSE CONTRATOR who's website was born in May 09, they Incorporated in CA about the same time but do not appear to be American at all!!!!!! http://www.americanpolicegroup.com/funny they deleted the site, click read more and watch the videos, the site is in the 2nd video. BE SURE to click the read more link at the bottom of this article to see all the updates as they come in, also the notes at the bottom.

Usual Suspects Attack Wicker Amendment
http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=5152

Friday, September 25, 2009


Last week, we reported on the Wicker amendment—a NRA-backed amendment to H.R. 3288 (the FY 2010 Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development appropriations bill) that would reform policies regarding the transportation of firearms on Amtrak trains. The measure was adopted by the Senate on Wednesday, September 16, by a vote of 68-30, and would allow law-abiding Amtrak passengers the ability to securely transport firearms in their checked baggage while traveling by Amtrak train. Currently, passengers who choose to travel by passenger rail in the United States cannot transport a firearm in checked baggage as they can on airlines.

Not wanting to miss any opportunity to grandstand and show off his vehemently anti-gun views, New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine (D) sent a letter to Congressional leaders asking them to oppose the Wicker amendment.

The Governor said in his letter, “I am outraged by a provision included in the Senate FY10 Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development ("THUD") appropriations bill that requires Amtrak to accept passengers who carry firearms and ammunition in their checked baggage. This provision creates an unacceptable threat to the safety of New Jerseyans.” Corzine, of course, ignored the fact that American citizens safely transport firearms in checked baggage on airlines every day.

Corzine went on to say that he “will not allow the NRA to force guns to be transported or carried into places like Newark and New Brunswick Stations, the gateways to our major universities.”

“Force guns to be transported or carried” into New Jersey? That’s sensationalism at its finest. So much for the option of exercising our Second Amendment freedoms.

Another career anti-gun politician also jumped on the bandwagon to punish the law-abiding for political gain—none other than New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

We have been reporting a lot lately about Bloomberg’s anti-gun group “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” (MAIG), which has built its membership by selling itself as a group solely interested in fighting “illegal” guns. A look at its agenda, however, clearly shows that fighting criminals is not what this group is about. Instead, MAIG has focused its efforts on promoting new gun laws and regulations and on furthering its anti-gun agenda in the courts.

So it comes as no surprise that Bloomberg would also come out against the Wicker amendment. Speaking from Penn Station on September 20th, Bloomberg said, “If anyone in Congress thinks that the threat of a terrorist attack on a train has gone away, they are sadly mistaken. And the American people will blame the Senate if a terrorist attack does occur.” He went on to say, “The legislation allowing guns on Amtrak was passed because of ideological politics—not public safety.”

Bloomberg was joined by a contingent of local mayors, as well as anti-gun Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D), who concluded, “This shows that the [National Rifle Association] has too much influence over Congress.”

It appears you can add participatory politics by voting citizens to Hizzoner’s growing list of dislikes.
Friday, September 25, 2009


Last week, we reported on the Wicker amendment—a NRA-backed amendment to H.R. 3288 (the FY 2010 Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development appropriations bill) that would reform policies regarding the transportation of firearms on Amtrak trains. The measure was adopted by the Senate on Wednesday, September 16, by a vote of 68-30, and would allow law-abiding Amtrak passengers the ability to securely transport firearms in their checked baggage while traveling by Amtrak train. Currently, passengers who choose to travel by passenger rail in the United States cannot transport a firearm in checked baggage as they can on airlines.

Not wanting to miss any opportunity to grandstand and show off his vehemently anti-gun views, New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine (D) sent a letter to Congressional leaders asking them to oppose the Wicker amendment.

The Governor said in his letter, “I am outraged by a provision included in the Senate FY10 Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development ("THUD") appropriations bill that requires Amtrak to accept passengers who carry firearms and ammunition in their checked baggage. This provision creates an unacceptable threat to the safety of New Jerseyans.” Corzine, of course, ignored the fact that American citizens safely transport firearms in checked baggage on airlines every day.

Corzine went on to say that he “will not allow the NRA to force guns to be transported or carried into places like Newark and New Brunswick Stations, the gateways to our major universities.”

“Force guns to be transported or carried” into New Jersey? That’s sensationalism at its finest. So much for the option of exercising our Second Amendment freedoms.

Another career anti-gun politician also jumped on the bandwagon to punish the law-abiding for political gain—none other than New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

We have been reporting a lot lately about Bloomberg’s anti-gun group “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” (MAIG), which has built its membership by selling itself as a group solely interested in fighting “illegal” guns. A look at its agenda, however, clearly shows that fighting criminals is not what this group is about. Instead, MAIG has focused its efforts on promoting new gun laws and regulations and on furthering its anti-gun agenda in the courts.

So it comes as no surprise that Bloomberg would also come out against the Wicker amendment. Speaking from Penn Station on September 20th, Bloomberg said, “If anyone in Congress thinks that the threat of a terrorist attack on a train has gone away, they are sadly mistaken. And the American people will blame the Senate if a terrorist attack does occur.” He went on to say, “The legislation allowing guns on Amtrak was passed because of ideological politics—not public safety.”

Bloomberg was joined by a contingent of local mayors, as well as anti-gun Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D), who concluded, “This shows that the [National Rifle Association] has too much influence over Congress.”

It appears you can add participatory politics by voting citizens to Hizzoner’s growing list of dislikes.

CNSNews.com
Liberals Are Killing America
Monday, September 28, 2009
By Alan Caruba


It is not a new observation, but it is one that needs review and repeating every so often. Why do liberals always seem to get on the wrong side of any issue concerning America’s future, including its sovereignty, financial security, and defense?

I think this question is particularly timely given the public discussion of Obamacare that included a huge, peaceful protest march on Washington September 12th. The President’s nonstop campaign to get “reform” passed and the heated exchanges in Congress do not represent actual healthcare reform, but are testimony to a liberal obsession with a very bad idea.

You know something is desperately wrong when Democrats will not permit the proposed bill to enjoy a grace period of 72 hours during which both the public and members of Congress can actually read it before a vote is taken.

The irony of the current battle is that the bill will significantly change Medicare, a program advocated by liberals and, like Social Security, established by Democrats in Congress. It will destroy a free market for insurance programs individuals may choose to purchase. Or not.

There is no dispute that both programs, safety nets for Americans, have been helpful. Neither is voluntary There is no doubt that both are insolvent because they are unsustainable. This has been exacerbated by the way Congress has dipped into the funds intended to be set aside for them.

Obamacare will end up killing a lot of the people that Medicare was intended to save from the diseases and accidents that afflict the elderly.

It is not so much a “reform” as an admission of the failure of Congress to properly administer Medicare. Moreover, the “reform” will seize control of one sixth of the nation’s economy and dangerously, insidiously come between physician and patient.

It is a reform that is doomed to failure because there simply are not enough doctors, nurses, and other licensed and certified healthcare providers.

The global warming hoax and the arguments that “saving the environment” justifies a horrid “cap-and-trade” bill under consideration is another example of how liberal zeal for apparently noble “causes” reaps more harm than good. In the process, actual known, proven science has been abandoned.

In many ways, America has historically demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to Nature. The set asides of vast tracks of national forests and natural wonders such as the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone attest to this and the national effort to clean our waters and air attest to this.

The problem, one that was anticipated and feared by the Founding Fathers, is the continued expansion of the federal government’s control over all aspects of our lives. The creation and existence of the departments of education and energy have harmed America in countless ways. The Environmental Protection Agency is an assault on science and property rights. All are essentially unconstitutional.

There never was any scientific evidence for “global warming” and yet it has been the all-purpose “go to” justification for restrictions that range from toilets that lack sufficient power to flush and, soon, a prohibition on the incandescent light bulb. Environmental restrictions have done irreparable harm to the nation’s economic growth.

Natural phenomenon from hurricanes to floods to forest fires have been blamed on global warming and this continues even though the Earth has been in a cooling cycle for a decade and what warming occurred after 1850 was a natural cyclical response to a previous little ice age that had begun in the 1300s.

Liberals, however, lack common sense. Environmentalism has transformed from conservation to a wholesale attack on America’s industrial base and, in a larger sense, capitalism. The Left has always attacked capitalism and the free market system that is essentially self-regulating.

This is particularly evident in liberal efforts to render the nation unable to access its own vast energy reserves of oil, natural gas, and coal. Energy is called the “master resource” because, without it, life can be harsh and progress in the form of innovation and invention, slows. Industrialized nations are differentiated from “undeveloped” nations almost entirely on the basis of the availability and widespread use of affordable energy.

Liberals, however, would not just leave vast parts and populations of the world bereft of the energy needed to grow crops, create jobs, and serve the basic needs of their people, but continue to use environmentalism to denigrate everything from driving one’s car to the use of plush toilet paper.

While America has always been “a nation of immigrants”, the process of accepting new citizens has been undermined in recent decades by the ceaseless flow of illegal aliens entering the nation and not merely ignoring the naturalization process, but also taking wrongful advantage of social programs such as welfare, our educational system, and our healthcare system. Liberals, however, continue to campaign for amnesty programs.

The liberal attack on the institution of marriage, on the free expression of religious faith, and other elements necessary to a civil society is yet another example of the way a nation they profess to love is undermined as its core values are systematically destroyed.

And let it be said that in the decades since the 1960s and 70s, men and women who have been elected to Congress and to occupy the White House on the basis of their avowed conservatism, have too often yielded to liberal arguments and programs. Tax and spend is now a bipartisan philosophy.

Liberals now hold majority political power in Congress and the White House, and the nation has been witness to the abandonment of our allies abroad and an appalling level of corruption, wasteful spending on pet projects, of which ACORN is just one example.

Liberals created the programs that led to massive mortgage loan failures; liberal programs enacted to impose “fairness” ignored the inability of everyone to own their own home. Something was desperately wrong when government entitles such as Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac owned over half of all mortgage loans.

The government’s failure to exercise oversight and regulation over all elements of the nation’s financial system, based on existing laws, has resulted in the greatest ponzi scheme of the modern era and the failure of banks and investment houses. The Federal Reserve is neither federal nor a reserve.

Lastly, the grasp for ever more power, the introduction of unelected “czars” in the executive branch, and the possibility that the most liberal president ever elected is seeking the destruction of the nation call for both action and an increased devotion to conservative principles.

Americans are demanding a return to governance based on the limits of the Constitution and the reduction of senseless spending and borrowing. America belongs to “We the People,” and We the People must defend it from those who see America only as a nation to be plundered.

In typical Marxist (Progressive) fashion senator Dianne Feinstein and her ilk move to create a Desert (Dust Bowl) in the San Joaquin Valley of California. This over a "fish" that somehow got into a "Man Made Canal" which is now declared a Natural Habitat?? Has anyone asked GOD about this? ?

Just like the use of corn and soy beans for the production of ethanol, that cost more and does more damage to the atmosphere than the conversion of oil to gas, they, these Progressive Monsters, are willing for people to go hungry in support of the "Global Warming Lie" and
Environmental Madness.

Source and complete article:

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=507219



IBD Editorials


Fish Vs. Farmers

Posted 09/25/2009 07:16 PM ET


Delta smelts: Preferred over humans.
Environmentalism: Sen. Dianne Feinstein votes to deny water to California's drought-stricken San Joaquin Valley. Farmers, families and food are being held hostage to an endangered fish called the delta smelt.
There was a time when the San Joaquin Valley was the most productive agricultural region in the world. It was a large part of what made the Golden State golden.
Now it's a place where farmers no longer farm, but instead line up at food banks to feed the families of those who once fed the rest of the country and a good chunk of the world.
The largest man-made agricultural disaster since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s is unfolding in the valley due to yet another attempt to protect a fish declared to be threatened under the Endangered Species Act. This damage is being done to protect the hypomesus transpacificus, otherwise known as the delta smelt.
Last December the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in its finite wisdom, issued something called a biological opinion imposing water restrictions on the San Joaquin Valley and surrounding areas to protect the habitat of this tiny fish. The authorities forget the species homo sapiens, also part of the ecosystem, is threatened.
Its habitat is being destroyed — by government edict.
To protect the smelt, billions of gallons of water from the mountains east and north of Sacramento have been channeled away from farms and into the ocean, while farmers watched their crops wither and their once-productive land become barren.
Kern County authorities say that 145,000 acres that are usually irrigated with this water were killed or underirrigated last year. The loss was estimated at $100 million in that county alone. The University of California, Davis, estimates that San Joaquin Valley farm revenue losses ranged from $482 million to $647 million. Total economic losses could hit $3 billion this year.
In affected areas, the jobless rate is at 14%, with farming towns such as Mendota experiencing unemployment near 40%. In August, 50 valley mayors signed a letter to President Obama asking him to come and witness the devastation firsthand.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he "doesn't have the authority to turn on the pumps" that the feds have ordered turned off. In June, the administration denied his request to designate California a federal disaster area because of the drought even though the U.S. Drought Monitor lists 43% of the state as being under "severe drought" conditions.
Environmentalists say the drought is a natural phenomenon and that it was the water diversion that was doing damage to the region, harming both smelt and salmon. They say man's activities have put too many claims on too little water and it's time to pay the piper.
Yet California farmers and our nation — with higher food prices and less availability — are paying the piper. The UC Davis study conservatively estimates that 24,000 to 32,000 jobs have been destroyed by environmental regulations such as the smelt ruling.
Losses could approach 80,000 jobs if the situation intensifies

Robert Morley Columnist
Japan Abandons America
September 22, 2009 | From theTrumpet.com
The USS America is sinking and Japan is getting off while it can.

Robert Morley

For over 50 years, one party ruled Japan virtually uninterrupted. During that time, Japan remained a loyal ally and supporter of U.S. policy. This month, a historic event took place.

Japan has new leadership. In a landslide victory, a new party has done the seemingly impossible. A new freshman class of leaders now governs the Land of the Rising Sun. The effects are already rippling across the Pacific toward America.

Yukio Hatoyama is Japan’s new leader. He officially took office last Wednesday, and he is already threatening to split with the United States.

Hatoyama blames America for the global economic crisis and says that the U.S. is responsible for “the destruction of human dignity.” He campaigned on protecting traditional Japanese economic activities and reducing U.S.-led globalization.

During the run-up to the election, Hatoyama’s finance minister told the bbc he was worried about the future value of the dollar, and that if his party were elected in the upcoming national elections, it would refuse to purchase any more U.S. treasuries unless they were denominated in Japanese yen.

Japan is the world’s second-largest economy. It is also America’s second-most-important creditor. The U.S. government owes Japan over $724 billion! The only nation America owes more money to is China ($800 billion). The U.S. also imports $140 billion worth of goods from Japan each year.

If Japan were to follow through with its threat to only lend in yen, the dollar would probably fall hard. What would that mean? America gets more expensive consumer goods, higher unemployment, and currency inflation. If other nations like China follow suit, we would be looking at a currency crisis­Zimbabwe-style.

The new government in Japan has also pledged to diversify its foreign currency reserves away from the dollar. This means that at some point, it will need to dramatically reduce how much money it lends to America. America is planning to borrow record amounts over the next couple of years, so something isn’t adding up here. Where will the money come from?

“The financial crisis has suggested to many that the era of U.S. unilateralism may come to an end,” Hatoyama wrote in an August 26 New York Times article titled “ A New Path for Japan.” “It has also raised doubts about the permanence of the dollar as the key global currency.”

But Hatoyama isn’t just charting a separate economic course for Japan. His campaign also promised a more “independent” foreign policy from Washington, and closer relations with Japan’s Asian neighbors.

More alarming for American policymakers, Hatoyama has authorized a wide-ranging review of the U.S. military presence on Japanese soil. He is reexamining the agreement that permits U.S. warships to dock at Japanese ports, and has said Japan should take a second look at why it is spending billions to house and transfer U.S. troops between its islands. Hatoyama has also moved to quickly end Japan’s fueling support for the U.S. naval anti-terrorism efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

On Wednesday, an even bigger torpedo hit. Both U.S. and Japanese officials confirmed that discussions were underway to remove all U.S. fighter aircraft from Japan.

So many alarm bells have been clanging in Washington that the Australian reports the U.S. administration has requested “immediate clarifying discussions” on just how far Japan wants to take the disengagement. But there may not be too much America can do if Japan is intent on reducing America’s presence in Japanese territory. Regarding the U.S.-Japan security relationship, Richard Armitage, former U.S. deputy secretary of state, said: “If the government of Japan asked us to change things, we’d argue, we’d kick and scream, but ultimately we’d have to do it.”

Japan is a major platform for American power projection. Losing it would be devastating to U.S. security.

Japan is America’s most important forward base in the Pacific. It is an unsinkable aircraft carrier from which American task forces can operate to secure the flow of trade and resources across the Pacific.

At a time when China is increasingly challenging American authority in the East and South China Sea, when North Korea is brandishing nuclear weapons, and Islamic terrorism is on the upswing in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, America can ill afford to lose Japanese military and logistical support.

But it is losing it.

In his New York Times article, Prime Minister Hatoyama asked, “How should Japan maintain its political and economic independence and protect its national interest when caught between the United States, which is fighting to retain its position as the world’s dominant power, and China, which is seeking ways to become dominant?” (emphasis mine throughout).

Being allied with America has become a problem for Japan.

The new prime minister is no doubt asking himself: How do I protect Japan’s interests? The distant Americans sit 5,500 miles across the Pacific Ocean. One billion Chinese could fly to Tokyo for breakfast, Taiwan for lunch, and back home for kung pao dinner before America’s fastest jets could make it much past Hawaii.

In the same article, Hatoyama answered his own question: “[W]e must not forget our identity as a nation located in Asia,” he said. “I believe that the East Asian region, which is showing increasing vitality, must be recognized as Japan’s basic sphere of being.”

“I also feel that as a result of the failure of the Iraq war and the financial crisis, the era of U.S.-led globalism is coming to an end ….” Hatoyama even said that Japan must “spare no effort to build the permanent security frameworks” essential to creating a new anti-dollar regional Asian currency shared by China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Hatoyama doesn’t just think America’s economy and power are fading fast, he’s publishing it in the New York Times! He sees Japan’s future as being with Asia. And he’s right.

There is a bold movement occurring in Asia. Old animosities are being forgotten, or resolved. “I believe that regional integration and collective security is the path we should follow,” Hatoyama reiterated. Only “by moving toward greater integration” can Asia’s problems be solved, he said.

This movement toward greater Asian cooperation will soon speed up drastically. Not only do the facts prove it, biblical prophecy forecasts it. A major military alliance between Russia, China and Japan is about to be locked in. (Read about this specific prophecy in Russia and China in Prophecy.)

Prime Minister Hatoyama may be the most pro-Asian Japanese prime minister yet. He has pledged to ignore Japan’s World War ii shrine that honors the country’s war dead, to avoid offending Korea. His only son is attending a prestigious Russian engineering university. And he is the first Japanese prime minister to receive election coverage by any Chinese print media­and it was front-page news in the Communist Party’s People’s Daily. Also, for the first time, a Chinese television station provided live coverage of the election that saw Hatoyama take power.

Japan’s new policy is focused on Asia­and winning friends on the Asian continent.

America is about to lose its Japanese ally. “The U.S. has been critical of new trends in Japan, but we are not a colony of Washington and we should be able to say what we want,” said Makoto Watanabe, a professor of media and communication at Hokkaido Bunkyo University in Japan. “[W]hile under previous governments Japan had become a yes-man to the U.S., this suggests to me that healthy change is taking place.”

But that change will not be healthy­especially for America.

The Bible describes a time when America will be besieged by its former trade partners. This siege, warned about in Deuteronomy 28:52, is both economic and military in nature. “And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.”

America is about to be blockaded. For this to occur, Japan would need to take a radical turn from its recent historical political and economic persuasions.

It is radically turning. Today we are witnessing a dramatic fulfillment of this prophecy. America is about to become perilously isolated. The nation with the single largest merchant fleet in the world will turn its back on an economically waterlogged America. And America, without its most important military bases in Asia, will be one step closer to being pushed right out of the Asia Pacific altogether.

No scolding of North Korea and Iran from Barry today, all is kumbayah in UN-land– as the global new world order marches on. Barack Obama took the head (unprecedentedly and probably unconstitutionally) of the powerful UN Security Council, where a unanimous cry went up today: Everyone Must Disarm.

Nukes, for now. Because the sky in Barack Obama’s world is pink, and unicorns and rainbows frolic and sparkle across the globe. (Our allies in Eastern Europe doesn’t need a missile defense system for the same reasons.)

Iran, North Korea, Libya, Venezuela…no crazies there, right? Russia will say whatever the UN wants to hear about it’s nuke-busting progress, and continue doing exactly as it pleases. It pocketed our throwing Czechoslovakia and Poland under the bus, outrageous enough as that was, but we didn’t even get anything in return. Obama would be well served to see the vast similarities between Russian politics and The Chicago Way.

Obama said the summit was “not about singling out individual nations,” but was aimed at “standing up for those nations that agree to the peaceful pursuit of nuclear energy.” S’mores, anyone?

Speaketh The One to a host of world leaders, including the certifiably insane Muommar al_Quaddafi:

“We now face proliferation of a scope and complexity that demands new strategies and new approaches.

“The historic resolution we just adopted enshrines our shared commitment to a goal of a world without nuclear weapons. And it brings Security Council agreement on a broad framework for action to reduce nuclear dangers as we work toward that goal.”

I’m sure we’ll go first. Who will be verifying the nuke-scrapping? The UN has such a stellar track-record in this area. You know, this would be an easy way to move nuclear weapons under control of the Executive Branch. Just food for thought.
 

MANCHESTER, Ky. — 

A U.S. Census worker found hanged from a tree near a Kentucky cemetery had the word "fed" scrawled on his chest, a law enforcement official said Wednesday, and the FBI is investigating whether he was a victim of anti-government sentiment.

The law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss the case and requested anonymity, did not say what type of instrument was used to write the word on the chest of Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old part-time Census field worker and teacher. He was found Sept. 12 in a remote patch of the Daniel Boone National Forest in rural southeast Kentucky.

The Census Bureau has suspended door-to-door interviews in rural Clay County, where the body was found, pending the outcome of the investigation. An autopsy report is pending.

Investigators have said little about the case. FBI spokesman David Beyer said the bureau is assisting state police and declined to confirm or discuss any details about the crime scene.

"Our job is to determine if there was foul play involved — and that's part of the investigation — and if there was foul play involved, whether that is related to his employment as a Census worker," said Beyer.

Attacking a federal worker during or because of his federal job is a federal crime.

Sparkman's mother, Henrie Sparkman of Inverness, Florida, told The Associated Press her son was an Eagle scout who moved to the area to be a local director for the Boy Scouts of America. She said he later became a substitute teacher in Laurel County and supplemented that income as a Census worker.

She said investigators have given her few details about her son's death — they told her the body was decomposed — and haven't yet released his body for burial. "I was told it would be better for him to be cremated," she said.

Henrie Sparkman said her son's death is a mystery to her.

"I have my own ideas, but I can't say them out loud. Not at this point," she said. "Right now, what I'm doing, I'm just waiting on the FBI to come to some conclusion."

Gilbert Acciardo, a retired Kentucky state trooper who directs an after-school program at the elementary school where Sparkman was a frequent substitute teacher, said he had warned Sparkman to be careful when he did his Census work.

"I told him on more than one occasion, based on my years in the state police, 'Mr. Sparkman, when you go into those counties, be careful because people are going to perceive you different than they do elsewhere,"' Acciardo said.

"Even though he was with the Census Bureau, sometimes people can view someone with any government agency as 'the government.' I just was afraid that he might meet the wrong character along the way up there," Acciardo said.

Acciardo said he became suspicious when Sparkman didn't show up for work at the after-school program for two days and went to police. Authorities immediately initiated an investigation, he said.

"He was such an innocent person," Acciardo said. "I hate to say that he was naive, but he saw the world as all good, and there's a lot of bad in the world."

Lucindia Scurry-Johnson, assistant director of the Census Bureau's southern office in Charlotte, North Carolina, said law enforcement officers have told the agency the matter is "an apparent homicide" but nothing else.

Census employees were told Sparkman's truck was found nearby, and a computer he was using for work was found inside it, she said. He worked part-time for the Census, usually conducting interviews once or twice a month.

Sparkman has worked for the Census since 2003, spanning five counties in the surrounding area. Much of his recent work had been in Clay County, officials said.

Door-to-door operations have been suspended in Clay County pending a resolution of the investigation, Scurry-Johnson said.

The Census Bureau has yet to begin door-to-door canvassing for the 2010 head count, but it has thousands of field workers doing smaller surveys on various demographic topics on behalf of federal agencies. Next year, the Census Bureau will dispatch up to 1.2 million temporary employees to locate hard-to-find residents.

The Census Bureau is overseen by the Commerce Department.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of our co-worker," Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with William Sparkman's son, other family and friends."

Locke called him "a shining example of the hardworking men and women employed by the Census Bureau."

Appalachia scholar Roy Silver, a New York City native now living in Harlan County, Kentucky, said he doesn't sense an outpouring of anti-government sentiment in the region as has been exhibited in town hall meetings in other parts of the country.

"I don't think distrust of government is any more or less here than anywhere else in the country," said Silver, a sociology professor at Southeast Community College.

The most deadly attack on federal workers came in 1995 when the federal building in Oklahoma City was devastated by a truck bomb, killing 168 and injuring more than 680. Timothy McVeigh, who was executed for the bombing, carried literature by modern, ultra-right-wing anti-government authors.

A private group called PEER, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, tracks violence against employees who enforce environmental regulations, but the group's executive director, Jeff Ruch, said it's hard to know about all of the cases because some agencies don't share data on instances of violence against employees.

From 1996 to 2006, according to the group's most recent data, violent incidents against federal Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service workers soared from 55 to 290.

Ruch said that after the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, "we kept getting reports from employees that attacks and intimidation against federal employees had not diminished, and that's why we've been tracking them."

"Even as illustrated in town hall meetings today, there is a distinct hostility in a large segment of the population toward people who work for their government," Ruch said.

Over two months ago, the National Association for Gun Rights first broke this incredible tale out of Shreveport, Louisiana.

At the time, no other gun rights organization had touched the story.  But when we tracked down the victim for an interview, we couldn't believe what we heard, and we immediately sent out a nationwide alert.

The story went viral overnight.

If this tale of government abuse moves you, send it to a friend or family member to get the word out.

 

According to Cedric Glover, mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, his cops "have a power that [. . .] the President of these Unites States does not have":   His cops can take away your rights.

And would you like to guess which rights he has in mind?

Just ask Shreveport resident Robert Baillio, who got pulled over for having two pro-gun bumper stickers on the back of his truck -- and had his gun confiscated.

While the officer who pulled him over says Baillio failed to use his turn signal, the only questions he had for Baillio concerned guns:   Whether he had a gun, where the gun was, and if he was a member of a pro-gun organization.  No requests for a driver's licence, proof of insurance, or vehicle registration -- and no discussion of a turn signal.
Accordingly, Baillio told the officer the truth, which led the police officer to search his car without permission and confiscate his gun.

However, not only does Louisiana law allow resident to drive with loaded weapons in their vehicles, but Mr. Baillio possessed a concealed carry license!

What does such behavior demonstrate, other than transparent political profiling -- going so far as to use the infamous Department of Homeland Security report on "Americans of a rightwing persuasion" as a how-to guidebook, no less?

Mr. Baillio made no secret of his political affiliations: An American flag centers a wide flourish of pro-freedom stickers and decals on his back windshield.

In fact, when Baillio asked the officer if everyone he pulls over gets the same treatment, the officer said no and pointed to the back of his truck.

Baillio phoned Mayor Glover to complain about this "suspension of rights" only to find that his city's morbidly obese "commander in chief" was elated at the story:  According to Glover, Baillio got "served well, protected well, and even got a consideration that maybe [he] should not have gotten."

Thankfully, Mr. Baillio recorded a good bit of that phone call.  You can watch a video with the transcriptions here.  I've reproduced a chunk of the call below:

Baillio: (in the context of being asked about the presence of a gun) Well, I answered that question honestly, and he disarmed me.

Glover: Which would be an appropriate and proper action, sir. The fact that you gave the correct answer -- it simply means that you did what it is you were supposed to have done, and that is to give that weapon to the police officer so he could appropriately place it in a place where it would not be a threat to you, to him, or to anyone in the general public.

[. . .]

Glover: My direction to you is that, had you chosen not to properly identify the fact that you had a weapon and directed that officer to where that weapon was located; had you been taken from the vehicle, and the officer, in the interest of his safety, chose to secure you in a safe position, and then looked, found, and determined that you did, in fact, have a weapon...then, sir, you would have faced additional, [inaudible], and more severe criminal sanctions.

Baillio: So what you're saying is: I give up all my rights to keep and bear arms if I'm stopped by the police: Is that correct?

Glover: Sir, you have no right, when you have been pulled over by a police officer for a potential criminal offense [which would be what?! - DB] to stand there with your weapon at your side in your hand [Baillio's weapon was nowhere near his side or his hand, and Glover knew that. -- DB] because of your second amendment rights, sir. That does not mean at that point your second amendment right has been taken away; it means at that particular point in time, it has been suspended.


Will Grigg from ProLibertate, an excellent freedom blog, has this to say:

According to Glover, a police officer may properly disarm any civilian at any time, and the civilian's duty is to surrender his gun -- willingly, readily, cheerfully, without cavil or question.

From Glover's perspective, it is only when firearms are in the hands of people other than the state's uniformed enforcers/oppressors that they constitute a threat, not only to the public and those in charge of exercising official violence but also to the private gun owner himself.

NAGR spoke with Mr. Baillio, and he told us that he's in the process of securing the official procedures and codes for firearm handling and private property confiscation for the Shreveport police department.

So far, the city has been half-heartedly cooperating with him.

"I felt sick," Baillio told NAGR. "My uncles didn't die for this country so I could surrender my rights like a wimp. I felt terrible. I was just thinking of all that my family has done for freedom in this nation -- including dying -- and here they are disarming me at a traffic stop."

What to do?

Read Luke's commentary here, and participate in the discussion by leaving a comment.

Send this around. This kind of behavior cannot go unchecked.

Call Mayor Glover's office to complain: (318) 673-5050.


I'll leave you with one last consideration.  As a licensed firearms instructor in charge of a hundred different students every month, I'm often asked if citizens should voluntarily inform police officers of the presence of a firearm during a routine traffic stop.

While different states have different laws, my answer for Colorado citizens is an emphatic "No": Colorado law doesn't require you to volunteer that kind of information, and this case in Louisiana proves why, if at all possible, you should never invite trouble by doing so.

For Liberty,

Dudley Brown
Executive Director NAGR

Israel: 'We may have to attack Iran by Dec.'

Israel will be compelled to attack Iran's nuclear facilities if Western powers do not impose serious sanctions against Teheran by the end of 2009, former deputy defense minister Ephraim Sneh said on Wednesday.

"We cannot live under the shadow of an Iran with nuclear weapons," he was quoted as telling Reuters in an interview on a visit to the UK. "By the end of the year, if there is no agreement on crippling sanctions aimed at this regime, we will have no choice."

Sneh reportedly stressed that a military strike would be "the very, very last resort. But ironically it is our best friends and allies who are pushing us into a corner where we would have no option but to do it."

"I wonder if they will [put a tougher sanctions regime in place] quickly enough. If not, we are compelled to take action."

Sneh, who holds no position in the government and was speaking in his personal capacity, told Reuters it was not clear the US and EU had the decisiveness to take such steps, which should include tougher banking and oil curbs, by year's end. He added that the need for the involvement of "Russia and China is a myth," as strict sanctions imposed by the West would be tough enough to work.

"It is bloodless, and it even stops short of a naval blockade," he said.

Sneh reportedly explained that Jerusalem could not accept a nuclear-armed Iran because government processes would be "substantially distorted," as the cabinet's decision making would be hostage to the fear of Teheran's nuclear retaliation.

If the Islamic republic completes its military nuclear program, immigration to Israel would stop, young men and women would emigrate to pursue their future in places seen as more secure and investment in Israel would be reduced, he reportedly said.

The former deputy minister also warned that Iran would pressure moderate Arab states to toughen their positions vis-a-vis Israel, and that a nuclear Iran would prompt Saudi Arabia and Egypt to obtain nuclear weapons themselves, bringing about a Middle East "fully loaded with nuclear weapons."

The Weekly Standard is reporting that top Obama administration arms-control officials are en route to Eastern Europe right now to deliver sobering news to officials there about U.S. plans for ballistic missile defense.

Ellen O. Tauscher, the new under secretary of state for arms control and international security, and Alexander Vershbow (right), the Pentagon's assistant secretary for international security affairs, are reportedly set to meet with Polish and Czech leaders to give them the results of the administration's policy review on the matter, including their verdict on Bush administration plans to build sites in their countries.

State Department sources would neither confirm nor deny whether the officials are on the move.

President Obama has promised to overhaul the missile-defense program throughout his campaign and presidency and Tauscher led the charge in Congress to prevent construction of the European sites from commencing.

Tauscher was also the State Department's representative on the Pentagon-led interagency task force assigned to make the new recommendations.

Those recommendations were expected later this month, but the secret reported trip could be an indication that Obama himself has signed onto whatever the decision is.

The administration review focused on alternatives for the long-range interceptor planned for Poland, which include short-range interceptors and sea-based missiles.

A senior GOP Senate aide said that the effect of the administration's switch to short- range systems, such as the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3), was that the program would no longer have any capability to defend the U.S. homeland and would only be able to protect parts of Europe.

"The important fact here is that if you go with the land-based SM-3s, you don't protect the United States," said the aide.

"It changes the nature of the debate," the aide continued. "Why should the U.S. spend 6 or 7 billion dollars just to protect Europe? That's going to be a completely different argument."

This comes on the heels of the Obama Administration siding with South American socialists against the Honduran interim government that ousted their President, who would not abide by nor follow Honduran law.

These stunning 180 degree reversals continue to anger Americans, and now sends signals to our allies that not only are we not to be dependent on as allies, but have capitulated to their adversaries in their region.

The administration's distancing itself from Israel is another signifiant turn-around.

The day gets closer when instead of fighting Al qaeda, the Taliban, Iran, and North Korea, we will be joining them as allies, and helping them to vanquish what is quickly becoming what is left of the West.

Unless Conservatives act quickly to stem the tide by applying pressure to Congress and the Presidency we will be facing formidable foes that will be difficult to confront at a much more severe price than would be required today.

We cannot wait until the next election, we must convert our zeal and our energies into positive action that will result in the required change of attitude in Congress and in the Executive Branch.

You as Conservatives are not without resources. What would you propose as courses of action to take to ensure that we secure our Freedoms and ensure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity? What forces can we bring together to make this happen?

Maxine Waters wants to hear from you!

Maxine Waters wants the press to investigate all the racists & "tea baggers" from the marches & the tea parties. She said that she wants to know what we're thinking and why we're against Obama. She called us "birthers" "racists" "tea baggers". So, let's let her know what we're thinking!!

Her phone number is (202) 225-2201.
Her fax number is (202) 225-7854.

Or you can get an e-mail form from this link.
http://www.house.gov/waters/contact/