From the ROFL! File: Talibastards Arranging Their Own Meetings with Allah

Via thesun.co.uk:

Up to 20 are thought to have died planting Improvised Explosive Devices.

They were racing to plant the IEDs before the Allied offensive Operation Moshtarak. The triggers on the IEDs have become so sensitive the terrorists are accidentally detonating them as they hide them.

Last night a highly-placed source said: "The Taliban know only too well how effective the IED has proved to be.

You will find the original story as posted here.

I have to wonder here that, if you are a camel-washer and accidentally blow yourself up but fail to take any infidels with you, do you still get the 72 virgins?

ObamaCare: Instrument of Tyranny

I almost feel sorry for those among us who believe there are people up in Washington that actually care about their health care. Oh sure, there might be a few, but I bet you could fit them all in a phone booth with room to spare.

ObamaCare really is nothing more than HillaryCare, revised, regurgitated, massaged, and stroked. The hideous consequences of its passage will be no different, as it will ultimately result in the federal government running our nation's health care system in its entirety.

This has been the goal of the left for nearly ten decades. If we have any chance at all of keeping America a free nation, that cannot be allowed to happen, as once the federal government takes control, they will quite literally have us by the proverbial short hairs, and will thenceforth and forevermore have near total control of our lives.

It would be the sort of tyranny that would have given the average NAZI a major woody, as they had nowhere near the technology that exists today.

Via Kyle-Anne Shiver at biggovernment.com:

For the past several months, I have been working with an appointed member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), the sub-committee on health and technology. My contact on the health and technology sub-committee was privy to conversations, which when related to me, literally caused shivers down my spine.

Every single detail in my opening paragraphs of this article were actually discussed in this committee and seen as a good for the future of American society. Only a scientifically controlled populace, according to these gurus of population and health control, can survive. These scientists see their mission as one of absolute control over even the most private aspects of human life.

Not since the aftermath of WWII — when the ends of the scientific-progressive state were revealed to the world in vivid pictures of the Nazi death camps — have progressives dared to raise their heads in America to such a degree as they are now, under the leadership of Obama’s science guru, John Holdren. Holdren, early in his career, declared himself a Malthusian scientist and has, regretfully, never recanted, nor substantially altered his worldview. In Holdren’s mind, as revealed in confirmation testimony, only his numbers have been off in the past, not his conclusions on the necessity of scientific control as a societal good.

You will find the entire article here.

I bet you want see this in the New York Times or the Washington Post.

Scared yet?

Feds Move to Increase Internet Control

As I have noted previously, the federal government, under the guise of "cybersecurity," is moving toward taking increasing control of the Internet. That effort is now being aided by legislation currently being crafted by Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).

Via thehill.com (emphasis mine):

According to an aide familiar with the proposal, the bill includes a mandate for federal agencies to prepare emergency response plans in the event of a massive, nationwide cyberattack.
The president would then have the ability to initiate those network contingency plans to ensure key federal or private services did not go offline during a cyberattack of unprecedented scope, the aide said.

[...]

Privacy groups are nonetheless likely to take some umbrage at Rockefeller and Snowe's latest effort, an early draft of which leaked late last year.

When early reports predicted the cybersecurity measure would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency," online privacy groups said they felt that would endow the White House with overly ambiguous and far-reaching powers to regulate the Internet.

You will find the entire article at this link.

Given that the Internet has become such an integral part of life in America, and realizing that a determined cyberattack could severely damage our nation, I am not suggesting that the federal government has no role in this area. After all, defending this nation is priority #1 for the federal government.

What I am concerned about is government abuse, given that we hear more and more about abuses of power being carried out by government agents all the time, and not necessarily those employed by the feds.

I am not all that comfortable with this kind of power being put in the hands of one person, regardless of who they are, and that goes double, or even triple, given who is residing in the White House at the moment.

Somewhere a line needs to be drawn between defending cyberspace and protecting the privacy and freedoms we are constitutionally guaranteed, yet I freely admit I am not exactly sure where that line needs to be placed. I am, however, quite sure I don't want the likes of Jay Rockefeller and Olympia Snowe being the ones to draw it.

Sadly, this crucial issue hasn't gotten anywhere near the play in the public arena that it should, given the serious implications involved.

Hopefully that will change as this legislation makes its way though congress.

BOHICA: CommieCare Rides Again

Even before that farcical show of a health care "summit" in D.C. today had even ended, and most likely weeks before it even started, the democrats were already planning to ram through a government takeover of our heath care system beginning next week.

Don't be fooled when you hear democrats say they do not support a "public option," because they are lying through their teeth.

After all, the whole point of their shoving this "reform" plan right up our nether region is the same today as it has been for the last 100 years: A full blown takeover of our health care system by the federal government.

Anyone who doesn't see this hasn't been paying attention.

This is not a reform plan, but a payment plan, and I don't have to tell you who will ultimately be footing the bill for this insanity, either.

Via Politico.com:

After a brief period of consultation following the White House health reform summit, congressional Democrats plan to begin making the case next week for a massive, Democrats-only health care plan, party strategists told POLITICO.

A Democratic official said the six-hour summit was expected to “give a face to gridlock, in the form of House and Senate Republicans.”

Democrats plan to begin rhetorical, and perhaps legislative, steps toward the Democrats-only, or reconciliation, process early next week, the strategists said.

You can read the whole thing at this link.

As I have been saying for some time, these people are communists at heart who only care about one thing, and that is getting control of the greatest health care system in the world - not to cover the uninsured or lower costs, but for power and control.

Should this lunacy ultimately pass into law, undoing it in 2013 is going to be exceedingly difficult, perhaps even impossible, and the far-left knows this.

I can already hear the cries of, "The republicans want to take away your health care!" emanating from the dems and their media dog-washers in the months leading up to the 2012 elections.

And why not? After all, that scare tactic has paid dividends for the left when it comes to Social Security.

Ed Morrissey has more here.

(h/t: Drudge)

China Widens Lead as World's Top Food Producer

Via BusinessDay:

China extended its position as the world’s leading food producer in 2008, when its agricultural production jumped 30%, measured by value, World Trade Organization data show.

Chinese farm production rose to $759,94 billion in 2008, the latest year for which figures are available, from $584,25 billion in 2007, according to a note by the WTO secretariat, circulated on the WTO website and dated February 23.

[...]

US agricultural production was $311,23 billion in 2007, the latest year for which data are available, up from $246,57 billion in 2006 - China was already ahead of the US in 1995 when the WTO series starts.

You will find the entire article here.

See also this.

America's decline into oblivion doesn't have to be inevitable, but it will be if something drastic isn't done, and soon. Just putting more republican fannies in congressional seats isn't going to cut it, as they have proven themselves to be little better than their democrat counterparts.

One sure way to not just slow or even halt our seemingly inexorable slide into history's already crowded gutter, but to actually reverse it thus ultimately returning this nation to prosperity and global prominence, would be to simply rip out the hideous and confiscatory federal income tax system that is driving our retreat, and replace it with the FairTax.

As I see it, the FairTax is America's last great hope not just for its very survival, but to also return it to being the prosperous and free nation it once was.

I have no doubt that eventually the American people are going to reach the same conclusion.

The only question is, will it be in time?

What a Dying Private Sector Economy Looks Like

Just press the Play button.

Scared yet?

Florida School Teaches Kids About Life Under Communism

Via HeraldTribune.com:

The line: "I will serve the glorious East German state better."

The students copied it repeatedly after watching a propaganda film depicting the evils of Western culture.

The drill was part of a history lesson taken to an elaborate level Tuesday at Pine View, where Stephany and the rest of the 2,000 students participated in an interactive lesson commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago.

"This was a project of the history club, and their idea was that students should really have an idea of what it was like to live in a communist state," said social studies teacher Patricia Johnston, who helped organize the project and served as the lead "comrade."

Students, with the help of a local landscaping company, erected a nearly 100-foot paper replica of the Berlin wall, complete with graffiti. It stood across the middle of the campus to mimic the concrete wall that separated communist East Germany from capitalist West Germany from 1961 to the end of 1989.

You will find the entire story at this link.

I think this is a really great idea, given today's widespread and profound ignorance of what communism really is all about, particularly among younger Americans.

What I find truly amazing about this is that Pine View is a government school for gifted students.

Perhaps this idea will spread so that the evils of the most murderous, tyrannical and freedom-robbing form of government the world has yet seen will not be forgotten - lest they be repeated.

Creeping Freedom and Liberty

Via Jeremy Lott at Real Clear Politics:

I first began to see the full scope of these victories last month when I had lunch with a serious libertarian historian of campaign finance law. It was the eve of the Citizens United decision, which would effectively scrap most restrictions on independent campaign spending by individuals, groups, and corporations. He told me that if the ruling came down as expected -- and it did -- then he might have to find himself a different line of work. Mission accomplished.

The lawsuit that tore down most of our restrictive campaign finance laws was brought by a conservative filmmaker with an ax to grind against Hillary Clinton. The basis of arguing against that law was laid out by libertarian legal scholars who pointed out that the free speech clause of the First Amendment ("Congress shall make no law...") is clear. Libertarians argued that the case against prohibiting corporations from taking part in campaigns was specious. It didn't matter if it was an individual speaking or people speaking corporately. The real rub was whether the government can silence speech.

And they painted the argument that money isn't speech as a bit of liberal naivete. After all, money makes the mass exercise of speech possible. Wendy Kaminer wrote in The Atlantic that "as a practical matter, money is speech" and, the clincher, "Few reproductive choice advocates would insist that money isn't choice."

As with the First Amendment, so with the Second. The 2008 Heller decision, which finally and unambiguously stated that law abiding U.S. citizens have a "right to keep and bear arms," was the result of several lawsuits, included one launched by scholars associated with the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, and argued by libertarian lawyer Alan Gura. Cato thought its role in the case so important that it commissioned the book Gun Control on Trial.

You will find the entire article at this link.

While these may be small victories against ever-advancing government tyranny, they are victories just the same, and I find them to be not a little encouraging given this nation's often seemingly steadfast determination to imitate the Roman Empire in committing suicide.

I have often said that America was founded by people who were essentially libertarians, and if this nation is to be saved, it will be libertarian principles that ultimately save it.

There may be hope for America yet.

(h/t: Boortz.com)

Photo credit: ncrider.com.

Boortz Government Outrage Page

Things that will really, really piss you off:

Pa. school official defended in webcam spy case

5th-Grader Says 'Gifted' Standards Unfair

Michael Steele's spending spree angers donors

Make sure you have plenty of Mylanta/Tums/Rolaids on hand - and maybe a healthy supply of adult beverages, too. You're gonna need them.

A Notepad Mea Culpa Regarding the A.C.L.U.

I have to admit that I am not a real big fan of the A.C.L.U. I understand what they claim to be, but they have always seemed to me somewhat biased and selective when it comes to speaking out in defense of certain individuals or groups. My sense has always been, with a few notable exceptions, they tend to lean a little too far to the left for my comfort, but that is not to say they don't get it right on occasion.

Back on February 10th, I posted this article about the feds and police spying on pro-lifers in Wisconsin, and in which I wrote the following:

I doubt we will hear so much as a peep out of the A.C.L.U., either. Of course, we all know if George W. Bush were still in the White House and the feds were investigating, say, C.A.I.R., the people at the ACLU, among other lefty-oriented organizations, would be spinning on their eyebrows and spitting nails over it.

Apparently I was a little hasty in condemning the ACLU for its "lack of action" in this matter, as this comment was posted by Chris Ahmuty of the ACLU of Wisconsin:

Anonymous said...

Dear Dave,
The ACLU objected to this instance of domestic spying the day Wisc. Pro Life issued their media release. Below is our tweet with a link to the AP story in which we condemn the govt. And we have not stopped here. There is a lot going on which might surprise you.

"ACLU WI asks are the feds spying on you? http://bit.ly/9xBHvf "

Chris Ahmuty, ED
ACLU of Wisconsin

The link provided by Mr. Ahmuty lead to this Wisconsin State Journal story:

It concluded the report was unlikely to "have any impact on civil liberties or civil rights" given its limited dissemination. But anti-abortion groups and the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin on Monday both criticized the federal government's collection of information on law-abiding protesters.

You will find the whole story here.

I hope the attention this matter has generated will cause the DHS, and other law enforcement agencies, to consider their actions carefully the next time around. After all, our federal government has, in a sense, acquired the power of life and death over us, and power of that nature needs to be watched closely. Very closely.

-And it matters not whether the people running said government have a "D" or and "R" behind their names.

I also hope the scrutiny will result in those responsible for this hideous incident to be called on the carpet, but that is probably asking a bit much given the current environment in D.C.

Ed. note: The Notepad thanks Mr. Ahmuty for pointing its error out, and for teaching this blogger a lesson.

Online Tax Revolt March for America

TAX PROTEST! MARCH ON WASHINGTON

By Neal Boortz @ February 18, 2010 9:12 AM

We'll make the announcement today on the show. I've never seen anything like this done before ... but the short version is that you'll be able to participate in a march on Washington for tax reform. It doesn't matter whether you support the FairTax, a flat tax, or just lower tax rates. If you want to see reform they you should participate. The march will culminate with a rally in Washington on April 15th ... and yes, you can be there in person or participate from home. This will be innovative and fun ... so tune in to the show today for details.

Cool. I'm Joining the Boortz Fair Tax Brigade group.

The site will be up and running sometime today, so keep checking this link.

UPDATE: The site is up!

UAH Killer Professor Is Lefty Kook

Via BostonHerald.com:

“She was an oddball - just not very sociable,” said Sylvia Fluckiger, a former lab technician who worked with Bishop in 1993.

Bishop acknowledged at the time being questioned in the bombing attempt of a Harvard medical doctor evaluating her on doctorate work, a professor with whom Bishop was known to quarrel, Fluckiger said.

Reyes confirmed he is working with the FBI to learn more about why Bishop was a suspect in the attempted bombing of Dr. Paul Rosenberg, who received a double-pipe bomb in the mail on Dec. 19, 1993. He ran from his Newton home with his wife, escaping without injury. The bomb never exploded.

You can read the entire article here, and also about what some of the witnesses are saying here.

Ted Kaczynski, Bill Ayers, Amy Bishop...

You know, I think Janet "Reno II" Napolitano might want to consider shifting her focus away from armed conservatives and start keeping tabs on communist college professors, as they seem to be a far larger threat to innocent people.

Just a thought.

Leslie Gelb: Rahm Should Go

Via the Daily Beast:

President Obama desperately needs a sweeping staff shakeup to save his presidency. Leslie H. Gelb on why he must reassign Rahm, dump Larry Summers, and get rid of National Security adviser Jim Jones.

The negative, even dismissive, talk about the Obama White House has reached a critical point. The president must change key personnel now. Unless he speedily sets up a new team, he will be reduced to a speechmaker. It’s mostly a matter of relocating the Chicago and campaign crowd who surround the Oval Office and inserting people with proven records of getting things done in Washington and the world.

To be fair, it’s not clear whether the bad judgments on priorities, practicalities, and steadiness come from Mr. Obama or his White House team. Maybe he overpowers them in discussions, or maybe he gives them a role in policymaking far beyond their experience in that realm. Unless you’re there, you don’t know. But Mr. Obama is the president, and except for the right-wing crazies, most Americans still recognize his great talents and promise. It is he who’s got to be helped. So it is they who’ve got to go.

You will find the entire article here.

I thought this line was interesting:

But Mr. Obama is the president, and except for the right-wing crazies, most Americans still recognize his great talents and promise. It is he who’s got to be helped. So it is they who’ve got to go.

Really?

Hey, Leslie, I have an idea. Obama could just fire himself. What a wonderful gift to freedom and liberty that would be.

Wisconsin Billboard: IMPEACH OBAMA

Via nbcchicago.com:

Somebody in Wisconsin doesn't like President Barack Obama all that much.

An unnamed company has paid for a billboard along Highway 41 in Oshkosh that reads, "Impeach Obama."

The tagline says: "America's small businesses are failing; help us spread the message."

It was paid for by an unnamed company represented by Tom Wroblewski who told the AP the sentiment is that Washington politics are bad for small businesses.

The billboard is scheduled to remain up for at least six months, at a cost of $1,000 per month.

Jef Hall is the chairman of the Winnebago County Democratic Party. He says having a bad opinion of the president doesn't mean there's been an impeachable offense.

Wroblewski says despite the billboard's language, he's not suggesting Obama committed an impeachable offense.

Huh?

Obama has committed no impeachable offenses?

I am now of the opinion that this nation will not survive three more years of Obama in the White House.

I realize many hold the belief that no one person could ever damage America beyond the point of repair.

I once believed that, too.

Not anymore.

Man-Made 'Climate Change' Scam Finally Unraveling (Maybe)

I pegged man-made climate change as a scam pretty much from day one. I mean, the very idea that human activity could affect the climate of the Earth has always struck me as preposterous, if not a little arrogant.

What I found equally preposterous, and not a little disturbing, was the large number of people the world over who were so easily convinced by the scam artists that CO2 was somehow a pollutant. This probably reflects on the rather sorry state of science education not just here in America, but all over the planet. The appalling lack of common sense so prevalent today probably contributed to this, too.

I also began to notice something else, and that was the political leanings of those who were pushing this fraud. I very quickly picked up on a common trait that most all of them shared: They were all socialists, Marxists and communists.

Other people began noticing this, too, hence the term watermelon - green on the outside, red on the inside. Many also began noticing the rank hypocrisy of the fraudsters themselves, such as Al Gore, R.F.K. Jr., and many many others who were living in huge mansions and flying all over creation in private jets of all sizes and descriptions telling us ignorant peons to bury our cars, go live in tents, eat vegetables and wear hemp sandals.

There was something else going on, too. These frauds were using scare tactics to push a lot of legislation through congress that was decidedly hostile to freedom and liberty. They managed to get a lot of it through, too, which to date has cost the American taxpayer approximately $79 billion. They are still trying today with the hideous freedom and liberty destroying Cap & Trade (which I refer to as Crap & Tax) bill.

Even if they can't get this abomination through congress, the EPA is saying they will implement it through regulation with the blessings of Obama administration, which isn't exactly keen when it comes to defending the country's founding principles. I just bet our nations founders are overjoyed.

It now seems one of the scientists at the center off all this is now backing away from many of his earlier claims about man's affect on the planet's climate.

Via the dailymail.co.uk:

Professor Jones told the BBC yesterday there was truth in the observations of colleagues that he lacked organisational skills, that his office was swamped with piles of paper and that his record keeping is ‘not as good as it should be’.

The data is crucial to the famous ‘hockey stick graph’ used by climate change advocates to support the theory.

Professor Jones also conceded the possibility that the world was warmer in medieval times than now – suggesting global warming may not be a man-made phenomenon.

And he said that for the past 15 years there has been no ‘statistically significant’ warming.

The admissions will be seized on by sceptics as fresh evidence that there are serious flaws at the heart of the science of climate change and the orthodoxy that recent rises in temperature are largely man-made.

Professor Jones has been in the spotlight since he stepped down as director of the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit after the leaking of emails that sceptics claim show scientists were manipulating data.

You can read the entire article here.

Even if this scam is finally fully exposed for the hideous fraud that it is, that won't stop the federal government from continuing to use climate change in a effort to further encroach on our God-given freedoms. I'm not real sure if it is going to hamstring the U.N. from trying to use it as a tool for yet another global wealth redistribution scheme, either, although the recent collapse at Copenhagen was encouraging.

I do, however, think we are moving closer to a time when Al Gore & Co. are going to owe us an engraved apology - along with $79 billion.

Time to End Universal Suffrage?

Tom Tancredo makes his case:

---

---

The uncivil debate over civic illiteracy

---

Posted: February 13, 2010
1:00 am Eastern

© 2010

After 35 years in politics, I am seldom surprised by the venom that flows from the mouths of liberals when one of their sacred cows is criticized. But the "fan mail" following my speech a week ago to the tea-party convention in Nashville has been truly amazing.

I spoke to the opening session of the event about why it is a good thing that John McCain was not elected president. I expected those remarks to be controversial in some quarters, but the only controversy in the news coverage of my speech was about my suggestion that we need a civics literacy test for voters.

Evidently, you cannot question the value of universal suffrage, and in the liberal lexicon, universal suffrage means not only that there should be no unreasonable or discriminatory bars to voting, but that all adults should be forced to vote, no matter how ignorant or disconnected to the civic affairs of the community.

I did not say in Nashville that all 67 million Obama voters are illiterate rabble who would fail a civics literacy test. What I did suggest and what I believe is that in the 2008 presidential election, the margin of victory for Obama was provided by people who would not be at the polls if we had meaningful civics literacy requirements for voting. Hence my statement that the lack of a civics literacy requirement is one reason we have a committed socialist ideologue in the White House today.

That statement provoked a stream of angry e-mail messages from outraged Obama voters, many of whom proudly proclaimed their advanced degrees in art history, Egyptology and political science. The message was as consistent as it was strident: What an ignoramus I must be to question the educational level of Obama voters!

My tea-party remarks had nothing to do with educational credentials or even IQ. We are all painfully aware that Barack Obama, like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton before him, got more votes from college professors than his Republican opponent. My remarks were aimed at the electorate's lack of civics literacy, which is quite different. Literacy in civics and American history is not necessarily enhanced by additional years of higher education devoted to increasingly specialized expertise in some field.

I have often suggested that new voters should be required to pass the civics literacy test already given to immigrants who want to become naturalized citizens. Yet, my suggestion was twisted into the idea that I want to see a return to "Jim Crow laws" that were used to keep blacks from voting.

This distortion of my proposal requires two acts of self-deception. First, it requires you to believe that minorities will fail any civics test, an idea that is highly insulting to all minorities. Secondly, it requires a willful disregard of the real history of Jim Crow laws. Blacks were not kept from voting by the laws themselves but the blatant discriminatory way they were administered by local officials. It is absurd to claim that any civics literacy test will be discriminatory, yet that is how my proposal was described by leftist bloggers and liberal journalists like E.J. Dionne.

Predictably, in this age of Internet video messaging

, left-wing blogs and liberal advocacy groups sent the video clip of my remarks to their members and asked them to "send Tancredo a message." The messages generated by this organized temper tantrum ran the gamut from questions about my patriotism to solemn prayers that I would get some horrible disease and die a painful death – and soon.

All our founders' inspiring, biblical quotes in one place – a must-have for your library: "America's God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations"

The potential for "elected despots" was well understood by our nation's founders, and they devised mechanisms in the Constitution to reduce that danger. They understood that throughout history, democracies had followed certain patterns and cycles, cycles ending in tyranny. So, instead of a pure democracy, they designed and established a republic organized as a representative democracy, with checks and balances and other innovations to help safeguard our liberties.

Voting your own short-term self-interest over the common good is a problem as old as Rome, but today it has taken on a new urgency. Using the powers of government to expropriate other people's wealth and property enters the pandemic stage when half the voting public pays no taxes

and a third of adults are government employees

or living on government pensions.

Can civics literacy programs in our schools and civics literacy tests for voters hold these forces in check? Maybe it's not the whole answer, but to me, it sure seems like a good start.

-End

Tom Tancredo's commentary was originally posted here.

I agree wholeheartedly with Rep. Tancredo. The votes of the stoopid and the illiterate (civic or otherwise) have pushed this nation right to the very edge of its destruction.

In fact, I would go one step further and restrict voting in national elections to only those who actually pay federal income taxes. Net tax consumers should have no say.

There is, after all, no constitutional right to vote in a national election.

If we continue to allow the non-productive to use the power of the federal government to take from the productive, the fate that Alexis de Tocqueville warned us about all those years ago is going to become a cold, stark reality.

Since the beginning of recorded history all free republics have shared one common trait: They all managed to vote themselves right out of existence.

Perhaps we might be the ones to finally break the chain.

The Obamanistas Want To Track Your Cell Phone

Via CNET.com (emphasis mine):

Two years ago, when the FBI was stymied by a band of armed robbers known as the "Scarecrow Bandits" that had robbed more than 20 Texas banks, it came up with a novel method of locating the thieves.

FBI agents obtained logs from mobile phone companies corresponding to what their cellular towers had recorded at the time of a dozen different bank robberies in the Dallas area. The voluminous records showed that two phones had made calls around the time of all 12 heists, and that those phones belonged to men named Tony Hewitt and Corey Duffey. A jury eventually convicted the duo of multiple bank robbery and weapons charges.

Even though police are tapping into the locations of mobile phones thousands of times a year, the legal ground rules remain unclear, and federal privacy laws written a generation ago are ambiguous at best. On Friday, the first federal appeals court to consider the topic will hear oral arguments (PDF) in a case that could establish new standards for locating wireless devices.

In that case, the Obama administration has argued that warrantless tracking is permitted because Americans enjoy no "reasonable expectation of privacy" in their--or at least their cell phones'--whereabouts. U.S. Department of Justice lawyers say that "a customer's Fourth Amendment rights are not violated when the phone company reveals to the government its own records" that show where a mobile device placed and received calls.

You will find the entire article at this link.

It appears our Constitution is about to be shat upon yet again by the federal government, and the 4th Amendment thereof may be about to take in right in the neck.

Just like CARNIVORE and ECHELON, I doubt we will be hearing much from the left over this outrage. After all, one of their own is currently in the White House, so that makes this sort of nonsense acceptable in their twisted way of thinking.

Of course, if George W. Bush was still POTUS, these very same hypocrites would be spinning on their eyebrows and spitting nails, while accusing GWB of being everything but a child of God.

Understand, I have no problem with law enforcement using available technology to track real criminals, particularly those who pose a danger to innocents, but they at least should have to obtain a warrant to do so. I would even support a streamlined process to speed up the process, but only if it is very tightly controlled.

Obviously our system of privacy laws has a very long way to go before it catches up with rapidly advancing technologies. This is not a little dangerous to those of us who believe in our right to privacy and the 4th Amendment, as government could get away with a lot of shenanigans in the interim.

It's even more of a concern when you take into consideration the decidedly totalitarian leanings of those currently in power, and who seem to often operate is if the Constitution does not apply to them.

Stay tuned, because this hideous story is far from over.

To Any Republican Congress People Thinking of Attending Obama's Health Care Town Hall

In the immortal words of Sheriff Buford T. Justice, you can think about it, but doooooooon't do it.

After all, it wouldn't look nice on his highway - or any other highway.

DHS & Police Illegally Investigate Pro-Lifers in Wisconsin

Via LifeNews.com:

Obama Administration Admits It Wrongly Tracked Abortion Groups in Wisconsin

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 8, 2010

Email RSS Print

Madison, WI (LifeNews.com) -- The Department of Homeland Security admitted today that it improperly conducted a threat assessment on pro-life and pro-abortion groups in Wisconsin. The assessment came before an expected rally last year in response to the University of Wisconsin Hospital board decided to allow abortions.

In February 2009, pro-life advocates planned to protest the hospital's decision to open up a new Madison Surgery Center doing abortions.

The Associated Press reported today that the department said in a memo that it "destroyed all of the copies of the assessment after an internal review found it violated intelligence gathering guidelines about 'protest groups which posed no threat to homeland security.'"

AP indicated the assessment was reportedly only shared with the director of Wisconsin's intelligence-sharing center and local police in Middleton, Wisconsin, the site of the rally.

Today, a pro-life organization in Wisconsin informed LifeNews.com of its concerns.

In response to an open records request by the Alliance Defense Fund and Pro-Life Wisconsin, the Middleton Police Department and the Wisconsin Department of Justice, along with the Department of Homeland Security all refused on February 4 to release copies of the threat assessment.

Pro-Life Wisconsin officials told LifeNews.com that the assessment was "inappropriately shared" and should never have targeted pro-life groups.

“The majority of Americans identify themselves as pro-life, and the Middleton Police Department has shown they are out of touch with this peaceful majority,” said Peggy Hamill, state director of the pro-life group. “Pro-lifers are not a minority of the population, nor are they second-class citizens. We refuse to let our First Amendment rights be silenced.”

A few months later in 2009, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights concluded the investigation was an improper use of department resources.

The conclusion said the department inappropriately directed against activities protected by the First Amendment, in which law enforcement inappropriately engaged in “the collection, retention and dissemination of U.S. person information regarding protest groups which posed no threat to homeland security and… violated [DHS] Guidelines.”

Hamill said DHS destroyed its copies of the report, but the Middleton Police Department retained its copy.

In January 2010 the Alliance Defense Fund, on behalf of Wisconsin pro-life advocates, asked the Middleton Police Department for a copy of the report pursuant to Wisconsin’s open records laws.

The Middleton Police Department refused to disclose the report and further said that the DOJ similarly refused to authorize disclosure of the report, despite the fact that DHS had already determined that the report was an improper investigation of freedom of speech activities.

“This move by DHS illustrates the Obama administration’s goal of silencing pro-lifers. It is disturbing that a local police department has apparently tapped into the security apparatus of the federal government to potentially obstruct free speech,” Hamill concluded.

“Last year, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano unjustly included pro-lifers in a report on domestic terrorism, and here we see her words in action," she said.

-End

You can find Steve Ertelt's original article here.

Welcome to Comrade Chairman Obama's Amerika.

If we were living in a sane world, my hope would be that heads were going to ultimately roll over this travesty, particularly that of Janet "Reno II" Napolitano, but I shan't hold my breath waiting for it to happen, as the Holder "Justice" Department has shown itself to be somewhat, a'hem, lax in enforcing the law when it involves those they support.

I doubt we will hear so much as a peep out of the A.C.L.U., either. Of course, we all know if George W. Bush were still in the White House and the feds were investigating, say, C.A.I.R., the people at the ACLU, among other lefty-oriented organizations, would be spinning on their eyebrows and spitting nails over it.

As for the State Controlled Media, they are about as close to useless as it is possible to be.

I would love to see some serious federal lawsuits brought forth over this matter, as that is probably the only way those responsible for this blatantly illegal idiocy will ever be forced to explain themselves.

Clearly we are dealing with a rogue administration that considers itself immune from constitutional scrutiny of any kind, and is not above using federal and local law enforcement agencies to try and intimidate those who actively, or even passively, oppose the hideous policies of the Obamanistas.

It does not get any more hideous than wantonly murdering unborn children, or supporting those that do.

Given Obama's actions during the campaign in attempting to use the courts to silence his detractors, this should surprise no one. It most definitely does not surprise me.

Not even a little bit.

John Stossel Laments Our Trip Down the Road to Serfdom

February 10, 2010

Increasing Government Power Threatens Freedom

By John Stossel

Government is taking us a long way down the Road to Serfdom. That doesn't just mean that more of us must work for the government. It means that we are changing from independent, self-responsible people into a submissive flock. The welfare state kills the creative spirit.

F.A. Hayek, an Austrian economist living in Britain, wrote "The Road to Serfdom" in 1944 as a warning that central economic planning would extinguish freedom. The book was a hit. Reader's Digest produced a condensed version that sold 5 million copies.

Hayek meant that governments can't plan economies without planning people's lives. After all, an economy is just individuals engaging in exchanges. The scientific-sounding language of President Obama's economic planning hides the fact that people must shelve their own plans in favor of government's single plan.

At the beginning of "The Road to Serfdom," Hayek acknowledges that mere material wealth is not all that's at stake when the government controls our lives: "The most important change ... is a psychological change, an alteration in the character of the people."

This shouldn't be controversial. If government relieves us of the responsibility of living by bailing us out, character will atrophy. The welfare state, however good its intentions of creating material equality, can't help but make us dependent. That changes the psychology of society.

I'll explore this tomorrow night on my Fox Business show, 8 p.m. Eastern (rebroadcast Friday at 10 p.m.).

According to the Tax Foundation, 60 percent of the population now gets more in government benefits than it pays in taxes. What does it say about a society in which more than half the people live at the expense of the rest? Worse, the dependent class is growing. The 60 percent will soon be 70 percent.

Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin seems to understand the threat: He worries that "more people have a stake in the welfare state than in free enterprise. This is a road that Hayek perfectly described as 'the road to serfdom.'" (Tomorrow I will ask Ryan why, if he understands this, he voted for TARP and the auto bailouts.)

Kurt Vonnegut understood the threat of government-imposed equality. His short story "Harrison Bergeron" portrays a future in which no one is permitted to have any physical or intellectual advantage over anyone else. A government Handicapper General weighs down the strong and agile, masks the faces of the beautiful and distracts the smart.

So far, the Handicapper General is just fantasy. But Vice President Joe Biden did shout at the Democratic National Convention: "Everyone is your equal, and everyone is equal to you." If he meant that we're all equal in rights and before the law, fine. If he meant government shouldn't put barriers in the way of opportunity, great. But statists like Biden usually have more in mind: They want government to make results more equal.

Two actual examples of the lunacy:

When colleges innovated by having students use Kindle e-book readers instead of expensive textbooks, the Justice Department sued them, complaining that the Kindle discriminates against blind students. The department also is suing the Massachusetts prison system because it makes prospective prison guards take a physical test. Since women don't do as well as men on that test, Justice claims the test discriminates against women.

Arthur Brooks, who heads the American Enterprise Institute, says statism is becoming the "central organizing power in our economy," and that the battle between free enterprise and statism will shape our futures. He remains optimistic because a recent poll showed that 70 percent of Americans want free enterprise. I'm less sanguine. In that same poll, 54 percent of Americans said government should exert more control over the economy. Brooks discounts that, claiming people forget their "core values" during crises.

But he asks the right question: Do we want a culture of takers or makers? Ryan and Brooks say most people want "the American idea": freedom and self-responsibility. I fear they want a Mommy State to take care of them. What do you think?

The choice is crucial. If we continue down the Road to Serfdom, our destination will be a poorer society, high unemployment, stagnation and complacency.

Copyright 2010, Creators Syndicate Inc.

Note: The above John Stossel article was originally posted here.

Union Goons: Tea Party Ideas 'Dangerous'

Only from the mind of union thugs would come the idea that the ideals America was founded upon are dangerous.

Via Ed Morrissey @ HotAir:

A new Web site targeting the tea parties is a part of a complex network of money flowing from the mountainous coffers of the country’s biggest labor unions and trickling slowly into political slush funds for Democratic activists.

A seemingly grassroots organization that’s mounted an online campaign to counter the tea party movement is actually the front end of an elaborate scheme that funnels funds — including sizable labor union contributions — through the offices of a prominent Democratic party lawyer. …

But a close look reveals the APPC’s place in a complex network of money flowing from the mountainous coffers of the country’s biggest labor unions into political slush funds for Democratic activists.

Here’s how it works: What appears like a local groundswell is in fact the creation of two men — Craig Varoga and George Rakis, Democratic Party strategists who have set up a number of so-called 527 groups, the non-profit election organizations that hammer on contentious issues (think Swift Boats, for example).

Varoga and Rakis keep a central mailing address in Washington, pulling in soft money contributions from unions and other well-padded sources to engage in what amounts to a legal laundering system. The money — tens of millions of dollars — gets circulated around to different states by the 527s, which pay for TV ads, Internet campaigns and lobbyist salaries, all while keeping the hands of the unions clean — for the most part.

The system helps hide the true sources of funding, giving the appearance of locally bred opposition in states from Oklahoma to New Jersey, or in the case of the Tea Party Web site, in Illinois.

Video: Frozen Wasteland

FROZEN WASTELAND

Up here on the farm
We chop wood To stay Warm
We all could use some Global Warming

We all need to fight
To preserve our rights
I don't want to be taxed a just for breathing

Open your eyes
Don't believe their lies
It's just a Frozen Wasteland

Al Gore is a liar
His pants are on fire
Plus he's getting rich from carbon offsets

He's loose with the facts
All he wants is a tax
Lets get together
Before it gets much colder

Frozen Wasteland
Its just a Frozen Wasteland
Frozen Wasteland
Frozen Wasteland

WE'RE ALL FROZEN!!

(h/t: Noel Sheppard @ NewsBusters.org)

Billboard of the Year

There has been a great deal of speculation as to whether it is real or not, but Bob Collins at Minnesota Public Radio says he has seen it with his own eyes.

Cool.

Audi Super Bowl Ad

Much too close to reality to be funny.

N.C. Town to Residents: To Hell with the Constitution

In case you have been snowed in without power and haven't heard, on Friday, the residents of King, North Carolina, came under a "state of emergency" declared by the town's City Council due to the approaching bad weather.

This state of emergency automatically activated a state law that, according to the town's Chief of Police, automatically installs a curfew, restricts the sale of alcohol, and prohibits the transport of firearms in vehicles if a "driving ban" is called for as part of the "emergency."

A driving ban was included between midnight and 5am in this case, meaning that town residents were only allowed to bear arms on their own premises, and were thus prohibited from transporting them in their vehicles.

You can see the WXII12.com story here.

Here is an interesting video I found on YouTube:



Of course, many residents of the town were incensed at having their constitutional rights shat upon in such a tyrannical fashion, and expressed their displeasure in no uncertain terms.

Hopefully the residents of King, as well as citizens all across North Carolina, will now realize that elections do have consequences, and respond by removing the idiot politicians who are responsible for this unconstitutional action from office at their next opportunity. Perhaps sooner.

I see what happened in King this weekend to be a stark precursor to what life in Obama's Amerika could very well be like in the near future, as given the tyrannical leanings of those currently in power in D.C., I could easily envision something like this happening on a national scale.

The lesson here is that those of us to whom freedom and liberty still matter must remain ever vigilant, lest something similar happen to us.

You can read more about it here.

Obama is Spending Us Into Well Beyond Mere Oblivion

Let's face it, folks, George W. Bush did not exactly endear himself to we of the fiscal conservative persuasion, but Barack Hussein Obama, with no small amount of help from a slew of like-minded, out-of-control congress-critters, is on a blistering pace to make the Bush administration appear positively miserly in comparison.

I pulled this form Boortz.com a little earlier, and it doesn't paint a pretty picture for future Americans:

THE TRUTH ABOUT GOVERNMENT

By Neal Boortz @ February 8, 2010 8:42 AM

Since we're talking about our wonderful Imperial Federal Government .... Here are some shocking facts to keep in mind:

-The cost of our federal government is 25% of our total economy (GDP).
This is compared with the average of 20.7% of the GDP during 1970-2009

- If you include the cost of state and local government, the total cost of government is almost 40% of our GDP

- Since 2008, the cost of our federal government has increased by one-fourth

- By 2020, Obama will have increased the federal government by one-half on a per family basis

- Before the recession, federal spending totaled $24,000 per household

- By 2020, Obama would raise that to $36,000 per household

Just remember these numbers folks. They have meaning.

-End

Obama and the far-left are very rapidly spending this country right down the financial crapper. Personally, I believe this is being done deliberately.

This idiocy must be stopped now, not in 2013.

CBS: Jack Murtha Dead at 77

Karma's a bitch, ain't it?

I will have no further comment on this tool of our enemies.

The Government Wants Your Retirement Cash

Via Neal Boortz:

I've been telling you about this for a while now. This, to me, is one of the most dangerous schemes currently slithering through the crevices and dark spots of the Imperial Federal Government in Washington. What am I talking about? What I believe to be plans by the Obama administration to, in effect, seize your retirement funds and use them to finance their deficit spending. Remember ... there are more than $3 trillion dollars sitting out there in individual retirement, IRA and 401K plans. Politicians just cant stand the idea of this much money sitting out there in private investments ... out of the grasp of politicians. So .... Something needs to be done. And sure enough, something is going to be done. The Treasury Department and the Department of Labor were going to start taking comments on ways to promote the idea converting 401(k) savings and IRAs into annuities or other steady payment streams. Well you can finally take a look at this document for yourself:

Request for Information Regarding Lifetime Income Options for Participants and

Beneficiaries in Retirement Plans

Here, I'll post a little to get you started:

The Department of Labor and the Department of the Treasury (the "Agencies") are currently reviewing the rules under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the plan qualification rules under the Internal Revenue Code (Code) to determine whether, and, if so, how, the Agencies could or should enhance, by regulation or otherwise, the retirement security of participants in employer-sponsored retirement plans and in individual retirement arrangements (IRAs) by facilitating access to, and use of, lifetime income or other arrangements designed to provide a lifetime stream of income after retirement. The purpose of this request for information is to solicit views, suggestions and comments from plan participants, employers and other plan sponsors, plan service providers, and members of the financial community, as well as the general public, on this important issue.

You will find Neal's entire article here.

Wake the hell up, sheeple. You are missing one hell of a coup.

Las Vegas Mayor Tears Dear Leader a New One

Sweet!

Are You Ready for Boob Bombs?

Ready or not, the camel-washers certainly are, as Islamic goon docs are now working to implant explosives in women's breasts.

Via WorldNetDaily:

LONDON – Agents for Britain's MI5 intelligence service have discovered that Muslim doctors trained at some of Britain's leading teaching hospitals have returned to their own countries to fit surgical implants filled with explosives, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

Women suicide bombers recruited by al-Qaida are known to have had the explosives inserted in their breasts under techniques similar to breast enhancing surgery. The lethal explosives – usually PETN (pentaerythritol Tetrabitrate) – are inserted during the operation inside the plastic shapes. The breast is then sewn up.

You can read the entire article here.

Next time you are on a flight with a Muslim woman, keep in mind the boobs under that Burqa just might be loaded.

Government Skools: Recruiting Ground for the Far Left

I have long held the belief that government schools exist solely for the purpose of aiding in the growth and broadening the scope of government. These so-called "schools" work toward this goal in two ways - educating children just enough to be marginally employable, and indoctrinating them to believe that government can solve all of their problems.

The last thing government wants is to have true independent thinkers running around. After all, people who can think, as well as do for themselves, don't need government in their lives, and are often hostile to government intrusion into them.

That, of course, just cannot be allowed, as we all know government knows what is best for us.

But it runs much deeper than that, as Barack Hussein Obama is now tapping government schools to supply his far-left crusade with willing recruits to promote his freedom-destroying agenda:

Pamela Geller over at Atlas Shrugs posted this on Saturday:

An Atlas reader, Chuck, has a student in the eleventh grade in an Ohio High School. Her government class passed out this propaganda recruiting paper so students could sign up as interns for Obama's Organizing for America (OFA is the former mybarackobama.com site.)

Obama is using our public school system to recruit for his Alinsky-inspired private army. Organizing for America is (and I quote) recruiting in our high schools to "build on the movement that elected President Obama by empowering students across the country to help us bring about our agenda" ............of national socialism.

The Ohio High School is Perry Local in Massillon, Ohio.

This is incredible. And evil. Suffer the little children -- enlisted like SS youth. This is no accident. Obama is poisoning our public school system. He acts as if it's his own private breeding farm. Once again academic learning and achievement is hopelessly abandoned, and supplanted by radical leftist activism from the leftwing Alinsky indoctrinators in the perversepublic school system.

Children must be advised to expose this ugly propaganda. Children must tell their parents how they are being used and manipulated. Parents, warn your kids. Better yet, home school.

Check out the recommended reading list page 4:

>Rules for Radicals, Saul Alinsky
>The New Organizers, Zack Exley
>Stir It Up: Lessons from Community Organizing and Advocacy, Rinku Sen
>Obama Field Organizers Plot a Miracle, Zack Exley, Huffington Post
>Dreams of My Father Chicago Chapters, Barack Hussein Obama

You can read Pamela's entire excellent post here, and I strongly urge you to do so, as it is utterly chilling.

You can read more on this from Noel Sheppard at NewsBusters, who weighs in on this idiocy as well, as has my friend Gio at Giovanni's World.

Surprisingly, I haven't seen much on this anywhere else as yet, but maybe that will change as this story spreads, and I hope it goes viral.

Of course, this lunacy is absurd in the extreme, and should in no way be tolerated by a society that truly values its freedom. And that brings up a question many seem to be afraid to ask these days: Do the American people really still value their freedom?

I was once perhaps naive enough to believe we did, but given my observations over the last twelve months regarding Obama's rapidly unfolding Marxist nightmare, and the maddening (to me, anyway) complacency being displayed by the bulk of the American people, I am no-longer convinced that we do.