Five days before U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice went on the Sunday talk shows to say Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed at the hands of a spontaneous mob inflamed by a months-old film trailer insulting Islam that few had seen, U.S. intelligence sources knew the attack was planned and organized.Yet we have an administration that lectures the American people and cautions about jumping to conclusions. Two weeks ago, Obama's UN Ambassador Susan Rice said the administration is waiting on an FBI investigation. This week, Obama spokesman Jay Carney steers reporters away from the White House and over to the FBI with questions about the Benghazi attack:
Q On Benghazi, there still is considerable confusion over what the administration considers the attack on the U.S. consulate. Can you say why the FBI still hasn’t been able to get into that crime scene? And how aggressively is the United States looking for clues, and as the President says, bringing them to justice?
MR. CARNEY: I would have to refer you to the FBI for specifics about the investigation that they’re leading.
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| National Photo Company collection, Library of Congress |
This article provides clarity on the various components of the American far right. It also offers a basic analytical model to better understand its current violent trends. The article’s findings—which are based on a dataset of more than 4,400 cases of violent attacks by far right elements during a 22-year period—will be expanded in a more detailed study that will soon be published by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.It'll be interesting to see what he comes out inside his larger study. His preliminary take seems to see Ku Klux Klanners and racist skinheads as some kind of major force in America. And he seems to see other right wingers ready to join in their actions - or at least offering sympathies. And you better not call yourself a patriot, that apparently puts you on this Perliger's watch list too.
The United States has much to gain from the success of the ‘Arab Spring’ and much to lose if it fails. Failing to engage the ‘Arab Spring’ at the appropriate level and invest in the youth led movements at this critical juncture in the history of the Arab world, the United States risks positioning itself as a Moscow watching and lamenting the fall of the Berlin Wall.Another writer at the center has penned a new article about the current situation in Libya.
We are buying our own debt and selling it back to ourselves and lending ourselves the money to buy our own debt in a spiral that seems beautiful and sensible to an addict, but is a complete disaster to anyone still functioning in the real world.There's just no way this is going to end well... or at least without lots of pain... Either in Europe. Or here at home.
A Pennsylvania high school marching band is raising eyebrows with a halftime performance that commemorates the Russian revolution, complete with red flags, olive military-style uniforms, and giant hammers and sickles.
“St. Petersburg: 1917” is the theme for the New Oxford High School Marching Band. Ironically, the school’s athletic teams are called the Colonials and their colors are red, white and blue. The band’s website features a picture of the group with students holding a hammer and sickle.
You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.
And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.So, what gives at New Oxford High? Could it be the bitterness and clinginess is entering a new phase? Maybe the Marxist influences of Occupy struck a bigger chord with the kids than most people thought.
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| Russian artwork depicting the early revolutionary period |
The left talks about community a great deal, but their vision of community is a giant till where everyone is forced to put their money and their bureaucracy decides how many people get to keep what percent of their money and how many get to keep other people's money. There is none of the individual responsibility that makes a community work, only the obligation to follow orders all the time for the greater good. There is no community, only ranks of addicts waiting to be taken care of.And
Money is our current drug of choice and like all drugs it appears infinite. We are buying our own debt and selling it back to ourselves and lending ourselves the money to buy our own debt in a spiral that seems beautiful and sensible to an addict, but is a complete disaster to anyone still functioning in the real world.The big question: How much longer can this go on before things finally fall apart? I'm not at all optimistic that either the enablers or the addicts are willing to admit there's a problem. I'm not at all sure they even see it.
President Obama is so accustomed to blaming George W. Bush for everything that last week he blamed Bush for Fast and Furious, the reckless gun-walking program started by Obama’s Justice Department nine months after Bush left office.
Spanish police have fired rubber bullets and baton-charged protesters attending a rally against austerity.
The clashes occurred as protesters tried to tear down barriers blocking access to the parliament in Madrid, reports said.How many times have we been told the situation in Europe in under control? Yet the unraveling appears to remain in full swing. It wasn't contained in Greece It won't be contained in Spain...
Y'all better vote for f--king Obama, OK? For better or for worse, all right? We have a black Muslim in the White House. Now that's some amazing s--t," she said. "It means there is hope in this country. And Obama is fighting for gay rights, so support the man, g--damn it.Yes, there's video. The crowd seems to love the idea that Obama's a Muslim in the White House.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2012- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that Hispanic and women farmers and ranchers who allege discrimination by the USDA in past decades can file claims between September 24, 2012 and March 25, 2013.
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| Sample USDA outreach ad |
"Hispanic and women farmers who believe they have faced discriminatory practices from the USDA must file a claim by March 25, 2013 in order to have a chance to receive a cash payment or loan forgiveness," said Secretary Vilsack. "The opening of this claims process is part of USDA's ongoing efforts to correct the wrongs of the past and ensure fair treatment to all current and future customers."
The process offers a voluntary alternative to litigation for each Hispanic or female farmer and rancher who can prove that USDA denied their applications for loan or loan servicing assistance for discriminatory reasons for certain time periods between 1981 and 2000.
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| Sample USDA outreach ad |
As announced in February 2011, the voluntary claims process will make available at least $1.33 billion for cash awards and tax relief payments, plus up to $160 million in farm debt relief, to eligible Hispanic and women farmers and ranchers. There are no filing fees to participate in the program.
The Department will continue reaching out to potential Hispanic and female claimants, around the country to get the word out to individuals who may be eligible for this program so they have the opportunity to participate.
I have been finding scrap silver at roughly 1 in 7 garage sales. This can range anywhere from a small bracelet weighing 7 grams to those pieces weighing 14.22 ounces pure silver.
Yesterday I just scored again and found a 2 ounce silver chain (clearly marked 925) and paid 15 dollars for it. So far I have spent $31.50 on scrap silver totally 16.18 ounces of pure silver. You do the math, that's a pretty damn good DCA. I know it's scrap but I know I should still be able to get close to spot if and when I go to sell.
The last two weeks I have found only very small items weighing 1/4 of an ounce until yesterday. It took me 3 weeks to find another nice sized silver item.Garage sales may still yield some great silver finds. But you've got to rise early. The good stuff (not just silver) is often gone the first day, often within the first half hour or so.
For CNN, the ambassador's writings served as tips about the situation in Libya, and in Benghazi in particular. CNN took the newsworthy tips and corroborated them with other sources.Can you think of any other terrorist crime scene where U.S. government personnel were targeted and American law enforcement failed to respond, failed to secure evidence?
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| This sharpshooter is captain of the girls' rifle team of Roosevelt High School, Los Angeles, California. Rifle practice is one of the phases of the activities of the school's Victory Corps |
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| At Roosevelt High School, Los Angeles, California, one of the Victory Corps activities is the girls' rifle team, which practices on the rifle range in the school's basement |
"Sunday will mark the start of the 100-day countdown to “Taxmageddon” – the date the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect. They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves on January 1, 2013."Anyone still believe it when Obama said he wouldn't raise taxes on the middle class?
...movements that make an imprint do more than communicate. They also threaten to exert a distinctive kind of power that results from refusing co-operation in the routines that institutionalized social life requires. That is the power that workers wield when they walk off the job, or that students muster when they refuse to go to class, or that tenants have when refuse to pay the rent, or that urban crowds exert when they block streets and highways. In principle, it is also the power that debtors might mobilize if they threatened to default on their loans. This sort of disruption – in essence, the strike writ large – is harder to organize than a rally or a march because people will fear reactions, which are likely to be swift and harsh. So, the protesters have to figure out how to defend themselves.Does Fox Piven really see something afoot here? Or is she just among a gaggle of aging leftists who cling to a fantasy of revolution, but who fail to see the new culture of government dependency they helped create may have preemptively bred the fight out of the very people they thought would carry their dreams forward?
Case in point, Chapter One of the report identifies key individuals who declined to be interviewed, significantly including “Criminal Chief [Patrick J.] Cunningham [who] declined through counsel our request for a follow-up interview…We also requested an interview with Kevin O’Reilly, a member of the White House’s National Security Staff[who] declined our request through his personal counsel.”Codrea points out a few more things in his initial assessment of the OIG report at Examiner.com.
The DHS Immigration and Customs Enforcement requires the following items, Exact Match Only, to the following:The .308 round is typically used in sniper and other long range situations. SniperCentral.com notes:
LI 001, .308 168gr BT Match
176,000 ROUNDS of .308 caliber 168 Grain hollow point (HP)(match grade) part#GM308M
Contractor shall provide 48 hours notice advance telephone notice of Delivery to the Receiving Location (POC or Alternate) to allow for preparation for delivery.
9 Recieving locations - see attachment for delivery locations and quantities., 176, MX;
The .308 is acceptable for both military and Law Enforcement use, and is very capable of 800+ meter hits on a human size target. If you are a Law Enforcement sharpshooter, keep in mind the penetrating power of the .308, especially with full metal jacket rounds like the old M118.Note the DHS request is for hollow point bullets. Hollow points will reduce penetrating power, helping reduce the risk of passing through an intended target and backdrop, or a least slowing the projectile upon impact.
Heightened uncertainty acts like a decline in aggregate demand because it depresses economic activity and holds down inflation. Policymakers typically try to counter uncertainty's economic effects by easing the stance of monetary policy. But, in the recent recession and recovery, nominal interest rates have been near zero and couldn't be lowered further. Consequently, uncertainty has reduced economic activity more than in previous recessions. Higher uncertainty is estimated to have lifted the U.S. unemployment rate by at least one percentage point since early 2008.The study is pegged to consumer perceptions of uncertainty. I'd add that bureaucrats in the Obama administration have added to economic uncertainty as by piling on additional regulation over the private sector. And there's no telling how much uncertainty was triggered by healthcare reform. Demands that many coal fired electric plants be closed years ahead of prior expectations are another example of government induced uncertainty.
"This afternoon, we received reports from Egypt that violent and armed protestorsArmed protesters is an interesting choice of words. The Times of Israel has described the incident as an attack by an armed force of sixty to seventy Bedouin militants who used vehicles to break through the perimeter and storm the facility. Al Qaeda flags were reportedly displayed during the attack. Security around the base was not restored until Egyptian army troops, supported by tanks and armored personnel carriers, were deployed in the area.
attacked and attempted to gain entry to the headquarters of the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai where New Mexico National Guard Soldiers are serving alongside other U.S. and Coalition Military troops. Early reports from the unit indicate that the attack was beaten back, and though a few coalition troops from other countries sustained injuries, we have been told that no U.S. Soldiers were injured. Appropriate force protection measures have been initiated by the command.
US authorities initially leaned more towards the premeditated, well-planned assault angle, citing the fact that the attack came on the anniversary of the September 11 New York terrorist attacks.
But now they are more reticent, insisting journalists wait for the results of the FBI investigation before leaping to any conclusions.The FBI is under the Department of Justice. We know well how fast Eric Holder and his DOJ can get to the bottom of what happened and why. Just look at Fast and Furious. DOJ can't seem to figure stuff out when its own people are the perps.
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| From FBO.gov |
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| A .223 round |
“That’s typically not what we want for a safe environment for school,” says Thompson Valley School District spokesperson Margaret Crespo. The district says they can be affiliated with gangs, and disrupt learning.Seriously?
On September 13, 2012, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) directed the Open Market Trading Desk (the Desk) at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to begin purchasing additional agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) at a pace of $40 billion per month. The FOMC also directed the Desk to continue through the end of the year its program to extend the average maturity of its holdings of Treasury securities as announced in June and to maintain its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from the
Federal Reserve’s holdings of agency debt and agency MBS in agency MBS.Interest rates are near zero. Just ask anyone who's trying to live off savings and a fixed income. Keeping interest rates obscenely low distorts the economy by discouraging savings, and encourages risky speculation.
The FOMC noted that these actions, which together will increase the Committee’s holdings of longer-term securities by about $85 billion each month through the end of the year, should put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative.
While retired Adm. John Nathman, a former commander of Fleet Forces Command, honored vets as America’s best, the ships from the Russian Federation Navy were arrayed like sentinels on the big screen above...
“The ships are definitely Russian,” said noted naval author Norman Polmar after reviewing hi-resolution photos from the event. “There’s no question of that in my mind.”Reminds me of President Obama's gun control message to the Urban League in July...
But I also believe that a lot of gun owners would agree that AK-47s belong in the hands of soldiers, not in the hands of criminals -- (applause) -- that they belong on the battlefield of war, not on the streets of our cities.While used by scores of nations around the world, the AK-47 was birthed in Russia. Our troops don't carry AKs. But the Russians, the Chinese and the Taliban do.
Amazingly, in the face of exceptionally buoyant securities markets and an expanding economy, the Federal Reserve is apparently about to embark on yet another round of quantitative easing (“money printing”). Few expect this to have much impact on the real economy, but it is clearly having a major impact on already speculative financial markets.
I’ve always feared such a scenario: Severely maladjusted Bubble Economies responding poorly to aggressive monetary stimulus, spurring policymakers into only more aggressive stimulus measures. Meanwhile, financial fragility mounts, as Credit systems continue to rapidly expand non-productive debt. Securities markets become dangerously speculative and detached from underlying fundamentals.
Students of the late-1920s appreciate how late-cycle policy-induced market and economic distortions laid the groundwork for financial collapse and depression. Especially in 1928 and early-1929, highly speculative financial markets diverged from faltering global economic fundamentals. Our nation’s business came to be precariously dominated by “money changers,” financial leveraging and market speculation.All last week, Democrats kept bragging how Barack Obama saved us from a Second Great Depression. I'd counter that, rather than saving us, what's been done through government and Federal Reserve policy the last four years has only expanded the latest economic bubble. When it pops, it's going to be plenty ugly.
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| From: CDC.gov |
We recognize that the individual right to bear arms is an important part of the American tradition, and we will preserve Americans’ Second Amendment right to own and use firearms. We believe that the right to own firearms is subject to reasonable regulation. We understand the terrible consequences of gun violence; it serves as a reminder that life is fragile, and our time here is limited and precious. We believe in an honest, open national conversation about firearms. We can focus on effective enforcement of existing laws, especially strengthening our background check system, and we can work together to enact commonsense improvements – like reinstating the assault weapons ban and closing the gun show loophole – so that guns do not fall into the hands of those irresponsible, law-breaking few.Not much gun control chatter on the main convention floor, but at a breakfast meeting Senator Dianne Feinstein told her California delegation she's ready to introduce new assault weapons ban legislation in the Senate. Best I can tell, only place reporting Feinstein's pledge was Southern California Public Radio. The story has since been repeated by numerous gun rights bloggers.
It took three attempts to pass the language regarding Jerusalem and a subjective decision by the convention chairman, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, to decide the change had the required support of two-thirds of the delegates. To many listeners, the voice vote seemed at least evenly divided.Aren't Democrats the party that insists voting fraud isn't a problem?
Even though the no's were again as loud if not louder than the aye's on the third vote, Villagairosa said he had determined that two thirds of those present had voted in favor. Boos filled the arena in response.Here's video of the vote as uploaded to a Republican YouTube account:
Obama did not simply happen to encounter a lot of people on the far left fringe during his life. As he spells out in his book, he actively sought out such people. There is no hint of the slightest curiosity on his part about other visions of the world that might be weighed against the vision he had seized upon.Now apply Sowell's observation on a wider scale...
