Former Community Pisser-Offer Pressing for Internet IDs

Via cbsnews.com:

STANFORD, Calif. - President Obama is planning to hand the U.S. Commerce Department authority over a forthcoming cybersecurity effort to create an Internet ID for Americans, a White House official said here today.

It's "the absolute perfect spot in the U.S. government" to centralize efforts toward creating an "identity ecosystem" for the Internet, White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt said.

That news, first reported by CNET, effectively pushes the department to the forefront of the issue, beating out other potential candidates including the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. The move also is likely to please privacy and civil liberties groups that have raised concerns in the past over the dual roles of police and intelligence agencies.

The announcement came at an event today at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, where U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Schmidt spoke.

The Obama administration is currently drafting what it's calling the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, which Locke said will be released by the president in the next few months. (An early version was publicly released last summer.)

"We are not talking about a national ID card," Locke said at the Stanford event. "We are not talking about a government-controlled system. What we are talking about is enhancing online security and privacy and reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need to memorize a dozen passwords, through creation and use of more trusted digital identities."

The Commerce Department will be setting up a national program office to work on this project, Locke said.

Details about the "trusted identity" project are unusually scarce. Last year's announcement referenced a possible forthcoming smart card or digital certificate that would prove that online users are who they say they are. These digital IDs would be offered to consumers by online vendors for financial transactions.

Schmidt stressed today that anonymity and pseudonymity will remain possible on the Internet. "I don't have to get a credential if I don't want to," he said. There's no chance that "a centralized database will emerge," and "we need the private sector to lead the implementation of this," he said.

Inter-agency rivalries to claim authority over cybersecurity have exited ever since many responsibilities were centralized in the Department of Homeland Security as part of its creation nine years ago. Three years ago, proposals were were circulating in Washington to transfer authority to the secretive NSA, which is part of the U.S. Defense Department.

In March 2009, Rod Beckstrom, director of Homeland Security's National Cybersecurity Center, resigned through a letter that gave a rare public glimpse into the competition for budgetary dollars and cybersecurity authority. Beckstrom said at the time that the NSA "effectively controls DHS cyber efforts through detailees, technology insertions," and has proposed moving some functions to the agency's Fort Meade, Md., headquarters.

The Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2010

I am posting this mostly for fun, but also to demonstrate just how ludicrous and out-of-joint our society is becoming in this grossly over-barristered nation.

Via cnsnews.com:

(CNSNews.com) – A lawsuit against a restaurant for failing to offer artichoke-eating instructions and a convicted killer’s lawsuit to receive electrolysis as part of a state-funded sex change are among the top five Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2010 compiled by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform.

The Faces of Lawsuit Abuse campaign was launched by ILR to raise public awareness of the impact that abusive lawsuits have on small businesses, communities, and individuals. Small business account for 64 percent of new jobs in the economy, and they paid $105.4 billion in tort liability costs in 2008.

“While many of these lawsuits are humorous and others quite troubling, the damage inflicted by abusive litigation is very real,” said ILR President Lisa Rickard. “More litigation is something we can ill afford in this troubled economy that desperately needs more jobs, not more lawsuits.”

Number five on the list was the lawsuit filed by Dr. Arturo Carvjal, a doctor with a family practice in Hollywood, who sued Houston’s Restaurant because he was sent to the hospital with severe abdominal pain and discomfort after eating an entire artichoke.

You can read the rest at this link.

And we wonder why our society is sliding into the gutter.

We need a Loser Pays system, as that would bring a swift end to much of this hideous, expensive nonsense that only lines the pockets of the trial lawyers and drives up the cost of everything for everybody.

Government School Children Forced to Pray to Allah

Via americanthinker.com:

The video was taken inside the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center - Boston's controversial Saudi-funded mega-mosque - during a Wellesley Middle School social studies trip to the mosque, ostensibly taken to learn about the history of Islam first-hand. Yet the video reveals that the students are being blatantly mis-educated about Islam. A mosque spokesperson is seen teaching the children that in Mohammed's 7th century Arabia women were allowed to vote, while in America women only gained that right a hundred years ago. This seems to be an increasingly recurring theme in American schools - the denigration of western civilization and the glorification of Islamic history and values. In fact, just recently, the American Textbook Council revealed that the New York State high school regents exam whitewashes the atrocities that occurred during the imperialistic Islamic conquest of Christian Byzantium, Persia, the African continent, and the Indian subcontinent, even as it demonizes European colonialism in South America.

The mosque spokesperson also taught the students that the only meaning of Jihad in Islam is a personal spiritual struggle, and that Jihad has historically had no relationship with holy war. As far as we know, the school has not corrected these false lessons.

You can read the rest, as well as view the video at this link.

I have to disagree with the author on one point, as I think all the parents should sue, as well as demand the school officials responsible for this be terminated immediately.

Like I have always said, packing off a child to a government school is a flagrant act of child abuse.

Short Take: Big Brother Invades Your Trash Can

I really have to wonder when the "turd counters" are coming, lest we flush too soon and waste more water than the monitoring government goon of the moment thinks we're entitled to.

And don't think for a minute something like that won't be tucked deep into whatever "climate" bill the commies are feverishly brewing up.

After all, they know their time is short.

They Are Coming For Your IRA's

Via Boortz.com:

So how's that working out for Argentineans? Back in 2008, Argentina decided that it really didn't want to let the financial crisis go to waste. So the wealth redistributionists thought that this would be a great time to seize all private pension funds! Remember that? The government nationalized $30 billion worth of assets under the guise of "protecting" the people from the perils of a volatile capitalists system.

Less than two years later, what is the government doing with that private money that it has now seized? It is using those nationalized pension funds to finance its current spending. How do you like that? From what we can put together from the Spanish reports in La Nación, the government is funding its overhead costs with billions from the guarantee fund for the nationalized pension system. So the government seizes these private pension funds and then "borrows" the money to cover its overhead costs, promising people that there funds will be there when they are ready to retire. Meanwhile, Argentina keeps spending and debt continues to rise. Sounds like a Ponzi scheme to me!

You do know, don't you, that at this very moment the Obama administration is conducting studies on the possibility of seizing or gaining control over your pension plans ... much like they did in Argentina. Just something to keep on your radar screen.

I have been warning about this for years, yet I usually get nothing but blank stares in response - the exact same blank stares I got back when I said ObamaCare was most likely going to pass.

As I have been saying for eighteen months, we are under a rapidly-advancing communist coup, and the communists are serious.

Damned serious.

Why is America in such Seriously Deep Doo-Doo?

Because we allow morons like this to vote in our elections:



Perhaps this blissfully ignorant Obamabot should have spent his time in government school actually learning how to read.


(h/t: Boortz.com)

Perfesser Barry Soetoro

My friend Eowyn over at Fellowship of the Minds dropped this little gem of a post on her blog today, and I thought I would share it with you:

This is MAJOR news.

One of the accomplishments much trumpeted by Obamabots is that their man, the Punk, after he graduated from Harvard Law School was a “professor” at Chicago University Law School. Finally, a leading faculty member at Chicago Law has come forth with the truth on Obama’s teaching, including:

• How Obama got a job teaching law: It was a political favor. The law school actually had turned down his application to teach there.
• What his academic title was: Obama was a “lecturer,” never a “professor,” not even an “adjunct” professor. The distinctions between/among these academic titles are important. A lecturer is someone who is hired on a year-by-year basis, without going through rigorous screening or possessing sterling academic credentials.
• How other faculty members regarded him: They thought him lazy and unqualified.
• What he taught at the law school: Although he was hired to teach Constitutional Law, Obama instead taught Machiavellian power politics à la Saul Alinsky, the Marxist ideologue who dedicated his book on community organizing, Rules for Radicals, to the fallen evil angel Lucifer.

I hope this revelation of Obama’s Chicago Law School “teaching” will be the first of more truth-tellings by those who had known the Punk.

You will find the rest at this link.

I think we are beginning to get a much clearer picture of who, not to mention what, Barack Hussein Obama actually is.

We are also gaining a much better understanding of why this supposedly highly-educated, "eloquent" man requires the aid of a teleprompter to string even two coherent sentences together.

We are also beginning to see why he has shelled out nearly $2 million to keep large parts of his past hidden from public scrutiny.

Of course, this was all out there in plain sight for people to see way back when this mysterious protege of the America-hating George Soros first announced his candidacy for POTUS. It's just too bad that 65 million of our fellow Americans couldn't turn off American Idol and put down their stupid People Magazines long enough to take notice.

Elections, after all, have consequences, and the one that took place in November of 2008 may have reverberations that last well beyond our lifetimes.

Speaking purely for myself, I now see the elevation of Barack Hussein Obama to the presidency as surpassing Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, gun control, and government "education" as the most colossal scam ever perpetrated on the American people.

I really want to believe that America has not become too stoopid to survive as it was founded, but I am truly beginning to wonder whether or not it has.

God help us.

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?

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

America's Declining Economic Freedom

If, like me, you are one who pays fairly close attention to the level of freedom and liberty we still enjoy as citizens of the greatest experiment in freedom that has ever been conducted since the first historians began scratching figures into the walls of caves, you have no doubt noticed that we have been losing said freedoms at what I consider to be an alarming, as well as an unacceptable, rate.

Like me, you have probably wondered from time to time just exactly where we stack up against the rest of the world in this all-important area. Well, the people at the Heritage Foundation have been examining this, as they do each year, and have come up with some analysis that should send a chill down the spine of anyone who truly values their freedom, particularly that of the economic variety. One year ago, we were the sixth freest economy in the world, which was pretty pathetic. Now we have dropped to eighth place.

Via the Wall Street Journal (Bolds are mine):

The United States is losing ground to its major competitors in the global marketplace, according to the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom released today by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. This year, of the world's 20 largest economies, the U.S. suffered the largest drop in overall economic freedom. Its score declined to 78 from 80.7 on the 0 to 100 Index scale.

The U.S. lost ground on many fronts. Scores declined in seven of the 10 categories of economic freedom. Losses were particularly significant in the areas of financial and monetary freedom and property rights. Driving it all were the federal government's interventionist responses to the financial and economic crises of the last two years, which have included politically influenced regulatory changes, protectionist trade restrictions, massive stimulus spending and bailouts of financial and automotive firms deemed "too big to fail." These policies have resulted in job losses, discouraged entrepreneurship, and saddled America with unprecedented government deficits.

In the world-wide rankings of economic freedom, the U.S. fell to eighth from sixth place. Canada now ranks higher and boasts North America's freest economy. More worrisome, for the first time in the Index's 16-year history, the U.S. has fallen out of the elite group of countries identified as "economically free" by the objective measures of the Index. Four Asia-Pacific economies now sit atop the global rankings. Hong Kong stands in first place for the 16th consecutive year, followed by Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. Every region of the world maintains at least one country among those deemed "free" or "mostly free" by the Index.

You will find the rest at this link. I strongly encourage you to read it in its entirety.

I have to believe the overall decline of America is reversible, even though it flies in the face of recorded history.

What helped get us here was the spread of the idea that people could use government to loot the property of others. That idea can be eliminated, even though doing so is an extremely tall order.

History does not have to repeat itself.

Cass Sunstein Must Go

I am not sure exactly what rock Comrade Chairman Obama found this goober of a "Regulatory Czar" under, but I think it is long past time this freedom-hating waste-of-sperm was run off for good. How he came to attain his lofty position, as well as which congressional idiots voted to confirm his rising thereto, matters not at all at this point.

He has to go. Like yesterday.

Via WND:

In a lengthy academic paper, President Obama's regulatory czar, Cass Sunstein, argued the U.S. government should ban "conspiracy theorizing."

Among the beliefs Sunstein would ban is advocating that the theory of global warming is a deliberate fraud.

Sunstein also recommended the government send agents to infiltrate "extremists who supply conspiracy theories" to disrupt the efforts of the "extremists" to propagate their theories.

I think you get the idea.

You can read the entire WND article here.

This goober-cheese takes far-left radical to a heretofore unseen level.

Obviously the 1st Amendment is totally lost on this mindless moron, as it is to the former community agitator who appointed him. The fact that Barack Hussein Obama placed him in his current position should have freedom-loving Americans hitting the streets in droves, not just in protest of Sunstein, but of his Oval Office benefactor, who took an oath upon his inauguration to preserve, protect, as well defend, the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, both foreign and domestic.

Obama is failing miserably in all three areas.

Cass Sunstein is clearly a kook, and has no business occupying a place of authority in a free republic.

Though our founders were not aware of Cass Sunstein specifically, they were not a little unfamiliar with his type.

Perhaps that familiarity was what helped ultimately prompt the 2nd Amendment.

Changes

We are now one year into what I believe is essentially a communist coup. I know many recoil when the "C" word comes out, but as Lenin himself once said, the ultimate goal of socialism is communism.

Why beat around the bush?

Though I saw this takeover coming long before Barack Hussein Obama was elevated to the presidency, the speed at which it has been unfolding since has rattled even me, and I am not one easily rattled.

In the last year, we have seen the federal government almost complete its long-running takeover of the FMs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which now give the government control of about ninety percent of the mortgage industry.

Obama & Co. have also seized two of our three automakers, snagged 1/6th of our free market economy with that hideous vote the Senate cast the night before Christmas, which will ultimately result in the federal government taking over our nation's health care industry. It may very well be that CommieCare will become law without even needing another vote by even a single congress-critter.

The far-left communists have also amassed a huge slush fund, filled with our very own money in the form of TARP and Porkulus I, and Porkulus II is already in the works. There is a reason the bulk of the money contained within them has yet to be spent.

There is an election coming up next November, and another one in 2012.

It is my belief the far-left intends to use that money, along with the help of ACORN, assorted union goons, along with amnesty for illegal aliens that will essentially allow them to vote in our elections, along with some voter registration trickery, to ensure that they retain their power next November, and beyond.

The far-left intends to bring about what in effect will be a defeat-proof communist congress, and I am not altogether sure they aren't going to get it, given the array of aforementioned resources they have available, and let's not forget the aid of a Main Stream Media that has been cheering this coup on from the beginning.

Personally, I believe the most important election in this nation's history will be taking place this November. It will be the election which will determine now and forevermore whether we are still going to be the United States of America our founders left us with, or we are going to be something decidedly different.

I believe the proverbial tipping point for our nation, in its current form anyway, lies somewhere between the unfortunate Senate vote last Christmas Eve, and next November 02.

Should the unthinkable happen, and the American people fail to rise up and vote the communists out of power ten months hence, the elections of 2012 will come too late to repair the damage, and the America we were born into, and that most of us know and love, will be lost forever.

After taking a break from the Notepad for a while, I have decided to change the focus of this blog to emphasize what I believe will be events taking place between now and November that will have a direct bearing on the survival of our nation. Sure, I will continue to post things about personal freedom and liberty along the way, as well as other things that I find interesting. However, the main focus will now be aimed squarely at the stories that may very well influence whether or not we will continue to be a "free" nation, or an increasingly tyrannical one.

Some say it is already too late to "fix" America through the ballot box, as our last real chance was in November of '08. I still believe we have one more chance - but one only.

We are now essentially a nation in distress.

I realize that the history of free republics is against us, but we owe it to the young people of America to at least try to buck this trend, and thus leave them with much the same freedoms and liberties we all grew up with.

With God's help, we will prevail, as failure is not an option.

The Approaching Financial Train Wreck

From Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson at the Center for Vision & Values:

We have a problem. This could be “the big one”—bigger than coping with the Ahmadinejads, Kims, and Chavezes of the world and bigger than our current economic woes. Our republic, our society, may be heading for a crackup. We are bankrupt, both financially and politically.

The source of the problem is democracy. Decades of so-called “progressive” thought have led us to abandon the limited-government, constitutional republic established by our founding fathers. In the name of putting more power into the hands of "the people," the government has arrogated sweeping powers.

[...]

Crude, majoritarian democracy (as in, “there are more of us than there are of you, so we’re going to redistribute your wealth”) inevitably undermines the harmony of society. A free market, as competitive as it is, is based on peaceful, voluntary cooperation. When commerce is free and unfettered by government interference, both sides to a transaction normally gain, thereby promoting social harmony.

Democracy, by contrast, engenders social conflict. Money changes hands by force of the taxman and the threat of imprisonment, not voluntarily. Democracy pits citizens against each other in a sordid squabble whereby many strive to have the state confer benefits seized from their fellow citizens.

[...]

How bad could it get? If the social order breaks down, civil unrest could disrupt markets and shortages of essential goods could occur. The resulting chaos could trigger martial law. A strong leader—a Caesar—could institute some sort of command order. Millions would resent it, but it would be accepted, because the alternative—civil conflict, chronic disorder, and impending starvation—would be intolerable. In such a calamity, Caesar would be the lesser of two evils. The American Republic and Constitution would join earlier democracies in the ashbin of history.

God help us.

God help us, indeed.

You will find the entire article here.

All I can say at this point is buckle up, as I really do not see a way to avoid the approaching train wreck.

(h/t: WorldNetDaily)

Photocredit: The Relationship Economy

CATO on Fairness Doctrine II

This is my 300th post here at the Notepad, and I could not have found a more appropriate topic than what I consider a looming attempt by the federal government to institute policies via the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that I am convinced are going to ultimately result in the stifling of dissent on our nation's airwaves - and specifically in the area of talk radio, the one medium the Marxist left does not (yet) control.

Via the CATO Institute:

Civil libertarians feared that a change of administrations would herald a revived Fairness Doctrine, a policy that previously permitted the government to oversee broadcast news coverage for "balanced views." A return to the Fairness Doctrine, however, now seems unlikely. It is very likely, however, that politicians from both the left and the right will try to extend government control over the media beyond current policies. New rules adopted or proposed by the Federal Communications Commission suggest that the agency may be poised to enforce the most intensive government oversight of broadcast programming in decades—perhaps even in the history of the agency. The FCC voted last year to require each broadcast licensee to file quarterly "enhanced disclosure" reports—highly detailed information regarding its programming and editorial choices. This information will be used by organized groups to file complaints to pressure broadcasters to air programming that the complainants prefer. The FCC is also formulating programming guidelines based on the enhanced disclosure reports purporting to ensure that broadcasters meet local needs. This "broadcast localism" effort may also require broadcasters to appoint local boards to oversee their performance and their editorial decisions. As the FCC seeks to expand regulation of broadcast media, the traditional justification for its authority—spectrum scarcity—has lost credibility, and the agency's new efforts are likely to run afoul of the First Amendment.

You will find the original CATO Institute article here.

Here is the PDF of their policy analysis:
Fairness 2.0: Media Content Regulation in the 21st Century, Cato Policy Analysis No. 651

As I see it, the FCC has only one responsibility, and that is to ensure that radio frequencies do not step on each other. Anything beyond that, and they are going too far.

I am not at all comfortable with the federal government involving itself in media content in any way, as that is something that tyrannical governments have always tried to do.

Shame on us if we stay on the couch and let this happen.