This is the "TEAR DROP" made and installed by the Russians to honor those who died in 9 11 and a statement against terrorism. It is very impressive. The tear drop is lined up with the Statue of Liberty.
Gift from the people of Russia......."Monument to the struggle against world terrorism, artist Zurab Tesereteii"
Names of the persons killed on 9 11 are inscribed on the base. The base like the Vietnam Memorial wall. It is down in the shipping yards across from "The Lady".
I checked this out..... its true and what a gorgeous monument it is. WHY wasn't this blasted all over the news when it was dedicated ???? Gawd, what is this country coming to ??
http://www.snopes.com/rumor...
ISN'T IT WONDERFUL TO LIVE IN A COUNTRY WHERE THE MEDIA CONTROLS WHAT WE SHOULD KNOW?
First Lady Michelle Obama showed up Thursday as a surprise and welcome volunteer at Miriam's Kitchen, a soup kitchen for homeless poor people not far from the White House. She brought with her some food donated by White House staff. The first lady served up mushroom risotto and broccoli to a long line of homeless men and women during part of her lunch hour and in these photos poses for a picture by one homeless diner obviously excited to be in the first lady's presence. It doesn't detract from the first lady's generous gesture or the real needs she seeks to highlight to ask two bothersome journalistic questions about these news photos:
1) If this unidentified meal recipient is too poor to buy his own food, how does he afford a cell phone?
2) And if he is homeless, where do they send the cell phone bills?
WOW! if the poor victims 'O' releases from Guantanamo get their hands on some of this and feel compelled to distribute it around our country..
'whatta wunnerful place this could be'.
Posted: March 25, 2009
11:55 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
Ex-officer alleges prez used 'contrivance, concealment, dissembling and deceit'
An ex-military officer has raised the stakes in the ongoing dispute over Barack Obama's eligibility to be president, filing a criminal complaint against the "imposter" with the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
Retired U.S. Navy officer Walter Francis Fitzpatrick III, who has run a campaign for two decades to uncover and try to correct what he believes are criminal activities within the military, accused the president of "treason."
In his complaint addressed to Obama via U.S Attorney Russell Dedrick and Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Schmutzer, Eastern District, Tennessee, Fitzpatrick wrote: "I have observed and extensively recorded invidious attacks by military-political aristocrats against the Constitution for twenty years.
"Now you have broken in and entered the White House by force of contrivance, concealment, conceit, dissembling, and deceit. Posing as an impostor president and commander in chief you have stripped civilian command and control over the military establishment."
He cited the deployment of "U.S. Army active duty combat troops into the small civilian community of Samson, Ala.," and said, "We come now to this reckoning. I accuse you and your military-political criminal assistants of TREASON. I name you and your military criminal associates as traitors. Your criminal ascension manifests a clear and present danger. You fundamentally changed our form of government. The Constitution no longer works.
"I identify you as a foreign born domestic enemy," he wrote.
The 1975 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis told WND that a short time after his complaint was filed he was visited by two U.S.Secret Service agents, but they left after telling him they perceived no threat to the president in the document·
Where's the proof Barack Obama was born in the U.S.
or that he fulfills the "natural-born American" clause in the Constitution? If you still want to see it, join some 350,000 others and sign up now!
Officials with the Knoxville office of the Secret Service told WND the only person who could release information to the media was on vacation and they would not comment on the issue.
Likewise, officials with the U.S. attorney's office declined to respond to a WND request for a comment.
Fitzpatrick told WND the U.S. Justice Department needs to look into the issue.
WND reported this week that officials at the Justice Department, along with those at the Supreme Court, confirmed that documentation in a case challenging Obama's eligibility had arrived and was scheduled for an evaluation.
That case is being handled by California attorney Orly Taitz, who is working through her Defend Our Freedoms Foundation to handle several cases raising questions over Obama's qualification to be president under the Constitution's demand that the office be occupied only by a "natural born" citizen.
Taitz was informed by Karen Thornton of the Department of Justice that all of the case documents and filings have arrived and have been forwarded to the Office of Solicitor General Elena Kagan, including three dossiers.
Fitzpatrick said he has devoted his career fulltime to investigating issues in military justice and defending wrongly accused soldiers, sailors and Marines. His own career was torpedoed by a court-martial more than 20 years ago over his authorization of the use of a ship's fund to send an officer to the funeral for his brother, who had been killed by terrorists.
Fitzpatrick's situation has been described not only on his own website but forum pages on other websites that deal with military issues.
He alleges his case was fabricated and even his signature was forged by officials connected to his case. He points to the fact that he ultimately retired and was awarded a military pension as support for his allegations.
But he says the new complaint against Obama should define the issue of the president's eligibility.
"They either have to come and get me or get Mr. Obama's eligibility proved. He has an officer in his military saying he is guilty of trespass on the Constitution," Fitzpatrick told WND.
"They can recall me against my will to active duty," he said. "I would refuse. It's an illegal order by a man who is not my commander in chief."
WND has reported on dozens of civil case legal challenges to Obama's status as a "natural born citizen." The Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, states, "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President."
Some of the legal challenges question whether he was actually born in Hawaii, as he insists. If he was born out of the country, Obama's American mother, the suits contend, was too young at the time of his birth to confer American citizenship to her son under the law at the time.
Other challenges have focused on Obama's citizenship through his father, a Kenyan subject to the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom at the time of his birth, thus making him a dual citizen. The cases contend the framers of the Constitution excluded dual citizens from qualifying as natural born.
Further, others question his citizenship by virtue of his attendance in Indonesian schools during his childhood and question on what passport did he travel to Pakistan three decades ago.
Adding fuel to the fire is Obama's persistent refusal to release documents that could provide answers. While his supporters cite an online version of a "Certification of Live Birth" from Hawaii, critics point out such documents actually were issued for children not born in the state.
Hawaiian officials have confirmed they have a birth certificate on file for Obama, but it cannot be released without his permission, and they have not revealed the information it contains.
John Eidsmoe, an expert on the U.S. Constitution working with the Foundation on Moral Law, has told WND a demand for verification of Obama's eligibility appears to be legitimate.
Eidsmoe said it's clear that Obama has something in the documentation of his history, including his birth certificate, college records and other documents that "he does not want the public to know."
Officials for the Obama campaign repeatedly have refused to comment on the questions, relenting only once to call the concerns "garbage."
http://www.wnd.com/
Tue Mar 24, 2009 6:21PM EDT
In an event that hits the computer world only once every few years, security experts are racing against time to mitigate the impact of a bit of malware which is set to wreak havoc on a hard-coded date. As is often the case, that date is April 1.
Malware creators love to target April Fool's Day with their wares, and the latest worm, called Conficker C, could be one of the most damaging attacks we've seen in years.
Conficker first bubbled up in late 2008 and began making headlines in January as known infections topped 9 million computers. Now in its third variant, Conficker C, the worm has grown incredibly complicated, powerful, and virulent... though no one is quite sure exactly what it will do when D-Day arrives.
Thanks in part to a quarter-million-dollar bounty on the head of the writer of the worm, offered by Microsoft, security researchers are aggressively digging into the worm's code as they attempt to engineer a cure or find the writer before the deadline. What's known so far is that on April 1, all infected computers will come under the control of a master machine located somewhere across the web, at which point anything's possible. Will the zombie machines become denial of service attack pawns, steal personal information, wipe hard drives, or simply manifest more traditional malware pop-ups and extortion-like come-ons designed to sell you phony security software? No one knows.
Conficker is clever in the way it hides its tracks because it uses an enormous number of URLs to communicate with HQ. The first version of Conficker used just 250 addresses each day -- which security researchers and ICANN simply bought and/or disabled -- but Conficker C will up the ante to 50,000 addresses a day when it goes active, a number which simply can't be tracked and disabled by hand.
At this point, you should be extra vigilant about protecting your PC: Patch Windows completely through Windows Update and update your anti-malware software as well. Make sure your antivirus software is actually running too, as Conficker may have disabled it.
Microsoft also offers a free online safety scan here, which should be able to detect all Conficker versions.
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs...
For hundreds, maybe thousands of years, people have been trying to figure
out how primitive people could build huge structures such as Stonehenge and
the pyramids out of stone blocks weighing thousands of pounds. Scientists
have been stumped.
Then along comes a normal guy - a retired construction worker - and he says
well, I would do it like this. And he does. This guy uses the simplest tools
known to man and shows how simple and easy it would have been to create
Stonehenge.
This is a really great video clip. Amazing how this guy could figure out
something that has confounded scholars for centuries. He not only figures it
out, but demonstrates it!
This Michigan guy could build a replica of Stonehenge single-handedly,
while a committee of 20 or 30 Civil Engineering professors from leading
universities would be debating how it might be done.
' Stonehenge Reloaded'. Take a look.
On April 15, be part of the Taxed Enough Already (TEA) party rally in your community
On the day you pay your taxes, Wednesday, April 15, join others across the country and in your hometown who will be participating in TEA party rallies in front of their city halls. The TEA party rally will begin at 12 noon. See this video - the momentum is growing!
Are you fed up with a Congress and a president who:
- vote for a $500 billion tax bill without even reading it?
- are spending trillions of borrowed dollars, leaving a debt our great-grandchildren will be paying?
- consistently give special interest groups billions of dollars in earmarks to help get themselves re-elected?
- want to take your wealth and redistribute it to others?
- punish those who practice responsible financial behavior and reward those who do not?
- admit to using the financial hurt of millions as an opportunity to push their political agenda?
- run up trillions of dollars of debt and then sell that debt to countries such as China?
- want government controlled health care?
- want to take away the right to vote with a secret ballot in union elections?
- refuse to stop the flow of millions of illegal immigrants into our country?
- appoint a defender of child pornography to the Number 2 position in the Justice Department?
- want to force doctors and other medical workers to perform abortions against their will?
- want to impose a carbon tax on your electricity, gas and home heating fuels?
- want to reduce your tax deductibility for charitable gifts?
- take money from your family budget to pay for their federal budget?
If so, participate in the TEA party rally, the Taxed Enough Already (TEA) party.
Bring your cell phone and call Congress and the president while attending the TEA party rally (Representative and Senators, 202-224-3121; President, 202-456-1414). Tell Every American about this effort by forwarding this invitation to your friends. Together we can make a difference.
http://teapartyday.com/
A super clinic in Illinois so much for it being close to the border so a few of you deemed it acceptable behaviour between a 15 year old and a 37 year old on my last post.... Lemme guess who will still condone it again this time???
Cover up in Indiana for 13 year old..instead of reporting the man to CPS they send her to Illinois
Beverly Hills Psychiatrist Carole Lieberman filed a complaint with CPS has anyone got an update..this is a month old..
Also a video if Octo mom spawning her litter... She was selling the rights to the full version for a million dollars, but heres just a clip.
Lila Rose |
Activist Lila Rose's new project exposes Phoenix Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood's Phoenix, Ariz., facilities have been caught on video attempting to conceal statutory rape, according to a new undercover production from pro-life activist Lila Rose and her Live Action Films organization.
Rose and co-worker Jackie Stollar, both college students, posed as 15-year-olds to enter two Phoenix Planned Parenthood facilities, seeking information about abortions for a "pregnant" teen. They stated the "boyfriend" was 27, but neither office reported the apparent violation of Arizona's statute requiring that law enforcement be notified immediately if an adult-child sexual relationship is known.
Stoller explained that the boyfriend is "a lot older than me," generating the first staffer's response that, "We don't ask any questions."
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 12:19 PM
By: David A. Patten |
|
The Obama administration is taking steps quietly to shut down the program that qualifies commercial airline pilots to carry firearms in jetliner cockpits in order to ward off another 9/11-type attack.
The administration recently diverted $2 million from a program to train and certify pilots to carry firearms safely while on duty. Instead, it is using the money to hire additional field inspectors to help discipline pilots who step out of line, according to a report in Tuesday’s Washington Times.
A Times editorial condemned the Obama administration's action, calling it “completely unnecessary harassment of the pilots.”
Since Obama took office, the approval process for certifying pilots to carry firearms has ground to a halt, the newspaper reports. Pilots are afraid to speak out about the behind-the-scenes maneuverings, for fear of retaliation, according to the newspaper. No cases have been reported in which pilots have brandished a weapon inappropriately or otherwise abused their eligibility to carry firearms.
About 12,000 pilots have been authorized to carry handguns while flying aircraft as part of the Federal Flight Deck Officers Program. Congress authorized the program in a 310-to-113 vote following the 9/11 attacks to help prevent terrorists from turning jetliners into flying bombs that could be used to attack key sites like the White House, the Pentagon, or Capitol Hill.
Paul Valone, a Second Amendment advocate who directs Grass Roots North Carolina (GRNC.org), is calling for citizens to contract their congressional representatives to protest the administration’s anti-gun priorities.
Pilots are already required to pay for their own room and board during training, and use paid leave for the time they’re off the job. Every six months, the program requires them to be requalified for firearm use.
Valone writes on Examiner.com: “While bureaucrats . . . may have attempted to hamstring the program with burdensome requirements, training instructors and the Federal Air Marshals who now oversee the program routinely thank the FFDOs for their professionalism and dedication in protecting the nation’s air commerce against terrorism.”
Valone says the Obama administration is “dismantling yet another layer of defense against terrorism and defying the will of the American people.”
Since coming to power, the Obama administration has undertaken a series of moves that signal a major de-emphasis of programs enacted to keep America’s homeland safe from terrorist attack:
Obama’s choice for U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, labeled enhanced interrogation techniques as outright “torture” during his Senate confirmation hearings.
Obama banned waterboarding and ordered CIA interrogators to abide by U.S. Army Field Manual regulations.
He selected Clinton-era political operative Leon Panetta to serve as his CIA director. Panetta’s qualifications to run the agency have been questioned widely.
Obama announced that he would shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba within one year, raising the prospect of hardened terrorists entering the U.S. criminal justice system, or worse, being released to rejoin al-Qaida.
He indicated the U.S. defense budget would be sharply reduced.
He has sent a letter to Russian leaders, apparently offering to back off on the ballistic missile defense system that would protect Europe from Iran and North Korea.
The Washington Times points out that about 70 percent of airline pilots have military backgrounds. With airport screening less than 100 percent effective, it states, armed pilots provide a second layer of defense.
“Only anti-gun extremists and terrorist recruits are worried about armed pilots,” the newspaper editorial says.
|
By VERONIKA OLEKSYN, Associated Press Writer Veronika Oleksyn, Associated Press Writer – 19 mins ago
ST. POELTEN, Austria – In a stunning turn of events, an Austrian on trial for imprisoning his daughter for 24 years and fathering her seven children pleaded guilty Wednesday to all charges against him — including homicide. The move came after his daughter appeared unexpectedly in the courtroom.
Surprising even his lawyer, Josef Fritzl calmly acknowledged his guilt on the third day of a trial that has drawn worldwide media attention for its shocking allegations.
"I declare myself guilty to the charges in the indictment," Fritzl, 73, told a panel of judges, referring to what he called "my sick behavior."
Fritzl had been charged with negligent homicide, enslavement, rape, incest, forced imprisonment and coercion. Initially he had only pleaded guilty to incest and forced imprisonment. The change of plea means he could face up to life in prison for the negligent homicide charge — literally "murder by neglect" in German.
Elisabeth was the prosecution's key witness against Fritzl. Now 42, she was 18 when he imprisoned her in the cramped, windowless cell he built beneath the family's home in the town of Amstetten. He then raped her for years.
Asked by the presiding judge what had led him to change his mind, Fritzl said it was the testimony from Elisabeth — the court had viewed 11 hours of her videotaped statement during closed-door sessions Monday and Tuesday.
Fritzl's lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, said Fritzl had asked to see a psychiatrist after Tuesday's session.
"It must really have shaken him up," he said, referring to Elisabeth's testimony.
However, a person familiar with the trial told The Associated Press that Elisabeth herself was in the courtroom on both days — suggesting her presence alone might have unnerved Fritzl and prompted him to change his pleas.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the closed-door proceedings.
Other officials would not confirm that Elisabeth was there. Before the trial, prosecutors had said she would not be present and would testify only through her prerecorded remarks.
The homicide charge came for the death of an infant twin boy — Michael — born to Elisabeth in April 1996 who prosecutors say might have survived with proper medical care had he and his mother not been locked in the basement.
Elisabeth and her six surviving children, who range in age from 6 to 20, have spent months recovering from their ordeal in a psychiatric clinic and at a secret location. Prosecutors have described her as a "broken" woman.
Psychiatrist Adelheid Kastner told the court Wednesday that Fritzl had a very serious personality disorder and would pose a threat to others even at his advanced age if freed. She recommended that Fritzl serve out his sentence in a special prison facility for psychologically deranged criminals.
Fritzl expressed regret that he didn't bring the ailing infant out of the dungeon and get medical help.
"I don't know why I didn't help," Fritzl said. "I just overlooked it. I thought the little one would survive."
"I should have recognized that the baby was doing poorly," he added.
Mayer, his lawyer, had previously said Fritzl only saw the newborn once it was already dead.
Wearing a mismatched suit and a blue shirt, Fritzl did not hide his face behind a binder Wednesday as he had done for the last two days when led into the courtroom in St. Poelten, west of Vienna.
After the plea change, the psychiatrist's testimony and brief consideration of reports about the cellar, officials adjourned the trial until Thursday morning.
Legal experts say the jury will still have to deliver a verdict despite Fritzl's guilty pleas, although his confessions are grounds for a lesser sentence. The verdict and sentence for Fritzl are expected Thursday after closing statements from both sides.
Police say DNA tests prove Fritzl is the biological father of all six of Elisabeth's surviving children, three of whom never saw daylight until the crime came to light 11 months ago.
Three of the children grew up underground in Amstetten and the other three were brought upstairs to be raised by Fritzl and his wife, Rosemarie, who apparently believed they had been abandoned.
Prosecutors have alleged that Fritzl refused to speak to his daughter during the first few years of her ordeal, coming downstairs only to rape her. They said the rapes sometimes occurred in front of the children.
Mayer had not been aware of Fritzl's change of heart before Wednesday's session. "He didn't discuss it with me," he said.
Kastner, the psychiatrist who met with Fritzl several times and put together a psychological profile for the court, said the Austrian had a deep need to control people. She said Fritzl had an ability to block out his crimes but knew what he was doing was wrong, acknowledging he had a guilty conscience when he went to bed at night and when he woke up in the morning.
"Fritzl is guilty for what he did," she said, adding he also believed "he was born to rape."
She said the large number of children Fritzl fathered only strengthened the control he had over his victim. "The more children, the more power," Kastner said. "This is about possession ... power ... control."
Fritzl had testified earlier this week that he had a difficult childhood and a bad relationship with his mother.
"The climate in his parent's house was marked by fear," Kastner said.
The Associated Press normally withholds the names of victims of sexual assault. In this case, the withholding of Elisabeth's name by the AP became impractical when her name and her father's were announced publicly by police and details about them became the subject of publicity both in their home country and around the world.
___
Associated Press Writer William J. Kole in Vienna contributed to this report
video: http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.co...
Two Irishmen, Patrick Murphy and Shawn O'Brian grew up together and were lifelong friends. But alas, Patrick developed cancer, and was dying.
While on his deathbed, Patrick called to his buddy, Shawn, "O'Brian, come 'ere. I 'ave a request for ye."
Shawn walked to his friend's bedside and kneels."Shawny ole boy, we've been friends all our lives, and now I'm leaving 'ere. I 'ave one last request fir ye to do."
O'Brian burst into tears, "Anything Patrick, anything ye wish. It's done."
"Well, under me bed is a box containing a bottle of the finest whiskey in all of Ireland. Bottled the year I was born it was. After I die, and they plant me in the ground, I want you to pour that fine whiskey over me grave so it might soak into me bones and I'll be able to enjoy it for all eternity."
O'Brian was overcome by the beauty and in the true Irish spirit of his friend's request, he asked, "Aye, tis a fine thing you ask of me, and I
will pour the whiskey.
But, might I strain it through me kidneys first?"
Five charged with war crimes refer to 9/11 as 'the great attack on America'
updated 1:00 p.m. PT, Tues., March. 10, 2009
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Five men charged in the Sept. 11 attacks mock U.S. authorities and proclaim themselves "terrorists to the bone" in a war crimes court filing released Tuesday.
The five Guantanamo prisoners use the six-page document to try to justify the killing of nearly 3,000 people, portraying the attack as a response to U.S. actions in Israel, Iraq and elsewhere that is supported by their Muslim faith.
"We fight you over defending Muslims, their land, their holy sites, and their religion as a whole," they write in the document, which was submitted to the Guantanamo war crimes court and released by the Pentagon, in English, over the objections of attorneys for two of the men.
Charges 'are badges of honor'
The five had previously said they wanted to plead guilty to the charges against them, and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind, had expressed pride in the attacks. But this is their most detailed response yet.
All five were charged with murder and other crimes at the Guantanamo war crimes court, which was suspended by President Barack Obama in January while his administration considers new strategies for prosecuting terrorists.
The charges, which carry a potential death sentence, "are badges of honor, which we carry with pride," they write.
The charge of conspiracy is "laughable," they write, because the planning was intended to be secret.
"Your intelligence apparatus, with all its abilities ... failed to discover our military attack plans before the blessed 11 September operation ... Why then should you blame us, holding us accountable and putting us on trial?"
They criticize the U.S. for fighting "from behind roadblocks, trenches and warplanes" rather than face-to-face and describe Islam as "a religion of fear" for Jews, Christians and pagans.
"We are terrorists to the bone. So, many thanks to God," they write.
Trials moved from Gitmo
Obama has ordered the closure of Guantanamo, so if and when the trials resume, they will be held somewhere else and most likely under a different legal system than the widely criticized military commissions created by Congress and President George W. Bush.
Three of the men are acting as their own lawyers but two of the men, Ramzi Binalshibh and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, still have Pentagon-appointed military attorneys pending a court ruling on whether they are mentally competent to represent themselves.
Their lawyers, Army Maj. Jon Jackson and Navy Cmdr. Suzanne Lachelier, said they had not met with their clients to discuss the document and cannot say what may have motivated the men to sign it — or even vouch for its authenticity.
"Based on our review of the unsigned, English and typed document there is no evidence that either Mr. Binalshibh or Mr. al-Hawsawi knew about, read, or signed this document," they said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press.
Pentagon spokesman Jeffrey Gordon called the filing "merely another attempt by these detainees to garner publicity."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id...
By Noam Friedlander in Los Angeles
Last Updated: 8:20AM GMT 06 Mar 2009
Homelessness in Sacramento: Sacramento Tent City Fills Up With The Newly Jobless And Homeless Photo: GETTY
Sacramento has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the United States.
As many as 50 people a week arrive at the tent city and the authorities estimate it is now home to more than 1,200 people.
They hope the segment on the national talk show will prompt more donations and government help. Producers visited Sacramento in February to visit the homeless shelters.
"We're very glad that Oprah and her team have chosen to give this crisis a voice, because it is a crisis," Michele Steeb, executive director of St. John's Shelter, said. "Our turnaway numbers have risen from 20 women and children being turned away per day in 2007 to 80 in 2008 to our current number of 230 women and children being turned away a day. It is a crisis and it's only getting worse. We're so glad that she's giving the crisis a voice. We're honoured to be part of the discussion because it's an important discussion to have," she said.
The city and county of Sacramento have already received $34 million to help fight the effects of the foreclosure crisis but, in the meantime, hundreds of people have moved into the shelters.
Authorities in Sacramento, where Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has his office, are suffering as the state has a £30billion deficit and the tent city looks like becoming a permanent fixture.
"I can't say tent cities are the answer to the homeless population in Sacramento," Kevin Johnson, Sacramento's mayor said, "but I think it's one of the many things that should be considered and looked at.'
http://www.well-beingindex....
An over view of how our friends and neighbors are feeling these days
Sunday, March 8, 2009 8:20 PM
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sunday that the controversy surrounding Rush Limbaugh is nothing more than a political maneuver orchestrated by the Obama White House to distract from its economic failures.
It is "a deliberate strategy by the White House," to distract from the massive, $410 billion Congressional spending bill laden with 9,000 earmarks, Gingrich said. He specifically cited the "intense partisanship" of Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel as the mastermind of the Limbaugh/GOP attack. Earlier in the week, Gingrich compared Emanuel to the dirty tricksters who ran the Nixon White House.
"I think what they did with the whole Rush Limbaugh thing - they can't defend signing the 9,000 earmarks, they can't defend an energy-tax increase, they can't defend [Treasury Secretary Timothy F.] Geithner's failure to pay his income taxes, so they decide, 'Let's have a fight over Rush Limbaugh.' It is the exact opposite of what the president promised ... to focus on large things, not small things," Gingrich said.
“The president promised to focus on large things, not small things; he promised to bring us together, not divide us,” Gingrich continued. “… It has to trouble you to have that level of intense partisanship as chief of staff if we're going to in fact come together as a country. And I just think either Emanuel's got to change, or the president's got to understand he is--he is going to have a very partisan regime.”
Gingrich said that Limbaugh is not the head of the Republican Party; he’s a radio personality.
“No, it's like saying does Chris Matthews help or hurt the Democratic Party? The fact is he has a large audience, he--the audience believes him, the audience calls their members, the audience has an effect,’’ Gingrich said. “He's (Limbaugh) not the leader of the Republican party. And Michael Steele's one of the leaders. Bobby Jindal, who you had on recently, is one of the leaders. Sarah Palin's one of the leaders. Eric Cantor's a rising new leader. Paul Ryan's a--I mean, there are tons of leaders in the Republican Party. It is a deliberate strategy by the White House.”
© 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved
Terry Sedlacek, 27, is charged with two counts of first degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery.
On the two counts of first degree murder, prosecutors allege that Sedlacek walked into the church armed and with the intent to kill Pastor Fred Winters with a handgun.
The aggravated battery charges are connected to the alleged cuttings of two people who tried to subdue Sedlacek inside the church. Sedlacek is accused of cutting himself, congregant Terry Bullard and congregant Keith Melton. Melton was treated and released. Bullard remains hospitalized.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sedlacek suffers from Lyme disease. The newspaper featured him in an article in August about how the disease attacked his brain. The article also discussed his battle with the disease that included a series of treatments for lesions on his brain.
Investigators said they want to continue to interview the 150 or so people who witnessed the shooting of Senior Pastor Fred Winters, 45, of Edwardsville, during the 8:15 a.m. service Sunday at First Baptist Church at 7110 State Route 162, which is about 20 miles northeast of St. Louis.
Master Trooper Ralph Timmins, of Illinois State Police, said Winters was at the pulpit when a man came down the aisle.
Witnesses said the pastor talked to the man, and then the suspect fired four shots at Pastor Winters. The first shot hit a Bible and exploded like confetti. One of the four shots hit Pastor Winters in the chest. The gun then jammed and the suspect stabbed himself in the throat with a knife and also wounded the two church members.
Pastor Winters was taken to Anderson Hospital after the shooting. He died on his way to Saint Louis University Hospital.
The Maryville Police Department said Sedlacek was taken to an area hospital and was then air lifted to St. Louis University Hospital.
Sedlacek underwent surgery and was listed serious condition, according to Master Trooper Timmins. Illinois State Police have someone posted by Sedlacek's bed around the clock. He is expected to be hospitalized for a few days. Once released, he will be transferred to the Madison County Jail in Edwardsville and held without bond.
It's still not clear what was said between the pastor and the suspect. Investigators are going to review audio and video recordings of the service. Church members did not recognize Sedlacek.
Pastor Winters and his wife were married in 1987 and have two daughters. Pastor Winters had served as Senior Pastor of the church since 1987. He oversaw a massive expansion of the church. It now has a sanctuary that can seat 1,000 people. He is the former president of the Illinois Baptist State Association and was an adjunct professor for Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
KSDK
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.
- - - Declaration of Independence
worth a read ...funny how history repeats itself:
http://www.4noel.com/bruce/...
MARYVILLE, Ill. - A man suspected of killing a pastor with a barrage of shots that ripped through the church leader's Bible was in serious condition Monday from wounds he sustained in the confrontation, and authorities expect to charge him soon.
The gunman, identified by authorities as a 27-year-old from Troy, strode toward the Rev. Fred Winters shortly after 8 a.m. Sunday, exchanged words with him, then fired a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol until it jammed.
Churchgoers then wrestled him to the ground as he brandished a knife, said Illinois State Police Director Larry Trent. Winters later died of his injuries.
The gunman underwent surgery at St. Louis University Hospital and remained in serious condition Monday morning, according to hospital spokeswoman Laura Keller.
State Police Lt. Scott Compton told The Associated Press early Monday that authorities plan to charge the suspect sometime Monday or possibly Tuesday.
A 39-year-old parishioner, Terry Bullard, also remained in serious condition Monday morning. The third victim, Keith Melton, was treated and released.
None of the about 150 worshippers attending the early morning service seemed to recognize the gunman, and investigators did not know details of Winters' conversation with him, Trent said, but they planned to review an audio recording of the service.
Authorities didn't know whether Winters, a married father of two, knew the gunman. Police would not release the gunman's name pending possible charges.
Winters deflected the first of the gunman's four rounds with a Bible, sending a confetti-like spray of paper into the air in a horrifying scene worshippers initially thought was a skit, police said.
"We just sat there waiting for what comes next not realizing that he had wounded the pastor," said Linda Cunningham, whose husband is a minister of adult education at the 1,200-member church.
Winters had stood on an elevated platform to deliver his sermon about finding happiness in the workplace - titled "Come On, Get Happy" - and managed to run halfway down the sanctuary's side aisle before collapsing after the attack, Cunningham said.
Two worshippers tackled the gunman as he pulled the knife, and all three were stabbed - the gunman suffered "a pretty serious wound to the neck" while one worshipper had lower back wounds, Trent said.
Churchgoers knocked the gunman between sets of pews, then held him down until police arrived, said member Don Bohley, who was just outside the sanctuary when the shooting began.
Trent said investigators found no immediate evidence of a criminal background for the suspect. He said police were investigating whether a red Jeep parked outside the church belonged to the man.
The Jeep, which remained at the church Sunday night under State Police watch, was registered to the address of a 27-year-old man in an upscale neighborhood in Troy. No one answered the door at the residence Sunday.
A man of the same age whose mother's name also is registered at the Troy address was featured in a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article detailing his battle with Lyme disease. In the article, the man's mother said the disease left lesions on his brain and that doctors had diagnosed him as mentally ill before discovering the disease.
In the August 2008 article, the mother said her son was taking several medications and had difficulty speaking after contracting the tick-borne illnessPolice would not confirm that the man in the article was the church shooting suspect. The Associated Press is not naming the man because no one has been charged in the shooting.
The Rev. Mark Jones, another First Baptist pastor, later urged a Sunday evening prayer service attended by hundreds at nearby Metro Community Church in Edwardsville to be resilient after "this attack from the forces of hell."
The standing-room-only crowd cried, cradled Bibles and stretched their hands skyward as they packed into the church, many watching the service on large television monitors in overflow areas.
"We need to reassure our hearts and reinforce our minds that Pastor Fred is in that place that we call heaven," Jones said. "Church, evil does exist. Today, we saw the visible results of evil and its influence."
First Baptist had an average attendance of 32 people when Winters became senior pastor in 1987; it now has about 1,200 members and three Sunday services, according to the church's Web site.
Winters was former president of the Illinois Baptist State Association and an adjunct professor for Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, according to the site.
He hosted Pizza with the Pastor dinners in his home, and the church organized bowling parties for fathers and daughters, karate classes and a golf league.
The church sits along a busy two-lane highway on the east side of Maryville, a fast-growing village of more than 7,000 about 20 miles northeast of St. Louis.
A farm sits directly across from the church, but subdivisions of newer homes can been easily seen from every side.
"Things like this just don't happen in Maryville," Mayor Larry Gulledge said. "We've lost one the pillars of our community, one of our leaders."
Mention of citizenship issues deleted in minutes, 'offending' users banned
Posted: March 08, 2009
6:54 pm Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
From Wikipedia's Barack Obama page |
Wikipedia, the online "free encyclopedia" mega-site written and edited entirely by its users, has been deleting within minutes any mention of eligibility issues surrounding Barack Obama's presidency, with administrators kicking off anyone who writes about the subject, WND has learned.
A perusal through Obama's current Wikipedia entry finds a heavily guarded, mostly glowing biography about the U.S. president. Some of Obama's most controversial past affiliations, including with Rev. Jeremiah Wright and former Weathermen terrorist Bill Ayers, are not once mentioned, even though those associations received much news media attention and served as dominant themes during the presidential elections last year.
Also completely lacking is any mention of the well-publicized concerns surrounding Obama's eligibility to serve as commander-in-chief.
Where's the proof Barack Obama was born in the U.S. or that he fulfills the "natural-born American" clause in the Constitution? If you still want to see it, join more than 300,000 others and sign up now!
Indeed, multiple times, Wikipedia users who wrote about the eligibility issues had their entries deleted almost immediately and were banned from re-posting any material on the website for three days.
In one example, Wikipedia user "Jerusalem21" added the following to Obama's page:
"There have been some doubts about whether Obama was born in the U.S. after the politician refused to release to the public a carbon copy of his birth certificate and amid claims from his relatives he may have been born in Kenya. Numerous lawsuits have been filed petitioning Obama to release his birth certificate, but most suits have been thrown out by the courts."
As is required on the online encyclopedia, that entry was backed up by third-party media articles, citing the Chicago Tribune and WorldNetDaily.com
The entry was posted on Feb. 24, at 6:16 p.m. EST. Just three minutes later, the entry was removed by a Wikipedia administrator, claiming the posting violated the websites rules against "fringe" material.
According to Wikipedia rules, however, a "fringe theory can be considered notable if it has been referenced extensively, and in a serious manner, in at least one major publication, or by a notable group or individual that is independent of the theory."
The Obama eligibility issue has indeed been reported extensively by multiple news media outlets. WorldNetDaily has led the coverage. Other news outlets, such as Britain's Daily Mail and the Chicago Tribune have released articles critical of claims Obama may not be eligible. The Los Angeles Times quoted statements by former presidential candidate Alan Keys doubting Obama is eligible to serve as president. Just last week, the Internet giant America Online featured a top news article about the eligibility subject, referencing WND's coverage.
When the user "Jerusalem21" tried to repost the entry about Obama's eligibility a second time, another administrator removed the material within two minutes and then banned the Wikipedia user from posting anything on the website for three days.
Wikipedia administrators have the ability to kick off users if the administrator believes the user violated the website's rules.
Over the last month, WND has monitored several other attempts to add eligibility issues to Obama's Wikipedia page. In every attempt monitored, the information was deleted within minutes and the user who posted the material was barred from the website for three days.
Angela Beesley Starling, a spokeswoman for Wikipedia, explained to WND that all the website's encyclopedia content is monitored by users. She said the administrators who deleted the entries are volunteers.
"Administrators," Starling said, "are simply people who are trusted by the other community members to have access to some extra tools that allow them to delete pages and perform other tasks that help the encyclopedia."
According to Alexa.com, Wikipedia is the seventh most trafficked website on the Internet. A Google search for the words "Barack Obama" brings up the president's Wikipedia page in the top four choices, following two links to Obama's official websites.
Ayers, Wright also missing in Obama's bio
The entire Wikipedia entry on Obama seems to be heavily promotional toward the U.S. president. It contains nearly no criticism or controversy, including appropriate mention of important issues where relevant.
For example, the current paragraph on Obama's religion contains no mention of Wright, even though Obama's association with the controversial pastor was one of the most talked about issues during the presidential campaign.
That paragraph states: "Obama explained how, through working with black churches as a community organizer while in his twenties, he came to understand 'the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change.' He was baptized at the Trinity United Church of Christ in 1988 and was an active member there for two decades."
Ayers is also not mentioned, even where relevant.
WND monitored as a Wikipedia user attempted to add Ayers' name to an appropriate paragraph. One of those additions, backed up with news articles, read as follows:
"He served alongside former Weathermen leader William Ayers from 1994 to 2002 on the board of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago, which in 1985 had been the first foundation to fund the Developing Communities Project, and also from 1994 to 2002 on the board of directors of the Joyce Foundation. Obama served on the board of directors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge from 1995 to 2002, as founding president and chairman of the board of directors from 1995 to 1991. Ayers was the founder and director of the Challenge."
Within two minutes that Wikipedia entry was deleted and the user banned from posting on the website for three days, purportedly for adding "Point of View junk edits," even though the addition was well-established fact.
The Wikipedia entry about former President George W. Bush, by contrast, is highly critical. One typical entry reads, "Prior to his marriage, Bush had multiple accounts of alcohol abuse. ... After his re-election, Bush received increasingly heated criticism. In 2005, the Bush administration dealt with widespread criticism over its handling of Hurricane Katrina. In December 2007, the United States entered the second-longest post-World War II recession."
The entry on Bush also cites claims that he was "favorably treated due to his father's political standing" during his National Guard service." It says Bush served on the board of directors for Harken and that questions of possible insider trading involving Harken arose even though a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation concluded the information Bush had at the time of his stock sale was not sufficient to constitute insider trading.
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IF you login at wiki and enter Obama this is what you will get with a big red exclamation next to it.
This article has been placed on article probation. Editors making disruptive edits may be blocked temporarily from editing the encyclopedia, banned by an administrator from this and related articles and pages, and/or subject to other administrative remedies, according to standards that may be higher than elsewhere on Wikipedia. Please see Talk:Barack Obama/Article probation for full information and to review the decision.. Administrators: when sanctioning an editor for disruption to an article under probation, please be sure to record the action in the appropriate log. The log is linked here, under "decision and log" on the sanction's row in the table.
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There's a storm abrewin'. What happens when good, responsible people keep quiet?
Washington has forgotten they work for us. We don't work for them.
Throwing good money after bad is NOT the answer. I am sick of the midnight, closed door sessions to come up with a plan. I am sick of Congress raking CEO's over the coals while they, themselves, have defaulted on their taxes. I am sick of the bailed out companies having lavish vacations and retreats on my dollar. I am sick of being told it is MY responsibility to rescue people that, knowingly, bought more house than they could afford. I am sick of being made to feel it is my patriotic duty to pay MORE taxes. I, like all of you, am a responsible citizen. I pay my taxes. I live on a budget and I don't ask someone else to carry the burden for poor decisions I may make. I have emailed my congressmen and senators asking them to NOT vote for the stimulus package as it was written without reading it first. No one listened. They voted for it, pork and all.
O.K. folks, here it is. You may think you are just one voice and what you think won't make a difference. Well, yes it will and YES, WE CAN!! If you are disgusted and angry with the way Washington is handling our taxes. If you are fearful of the fallout from the reckless spending of BILLIONS to bailout and "stimulate" without accountability and responsibility then we need to become ONE, LOUD VOICE THAT CAN BE HEARD FROM EVERY CITY, TOWN, SUBURB AND HOME IN AMERICA.
There is a growing protest to demand that Congress, the President and his cabinet LISTEN to us, the American Citizens. What is being done in Washington is NOT the way to handle the economic free fall.
So, here's the plan. On April 1, 2009, all Americans are asked to send a TEABAG to Washington , D.C. You do not have to enclose a note or any other information unless you so desire. Just a TEABAG.
Many cities are organizing protests. If you simply search, "New American Tea Party", several sites will come up. If you aren't the 'protester' type, simply make your one voice heard with a TEABAG. Your one voice will become a roar when joined with millions of others that feel the same way. Yes, something needs to be done but the lack of confidence as shown by the steady decline in the stock market speaks volumes.
This was not my idea. I visited the sites of the 'New American Tea Party and an online survey showed over 90% of thousands said they would send the teabag on April 1. Why, April 1?? We want them to reach Washington by April 15. Do it? I will.
Send it to; 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington , D.C. 20500 .
Forward this to everyone in your address book. I would encourage everyone to go ahead and get the envelope ready to mail, then just drop it in the mail April 1. Can't guarantee what the postage will be by then, it is going up as we speak, but have your envelope ready. What will this cost you? A little time and a 40 something cent stamp.
What could you receive in benefits? Maybe, just maybe, our elected officials will start to listen to the people. Take out the Pork. Tell us how the money is being spent. We want TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY. Remember, the money will be spent over the next 4-5 years. It is not too late .....
I'M NOT SO SURE THAT ITS NOT TOO LATE, BUT I'LL SEND MY TEABAG ANYWAY.........
http://newamericanteaparty....
MARYVILLE, IL (KTVI - FOX2now.com) - It wasn't supposed to happen anywhere, but escpecially not here: the First Baptist Church at 7110 State Route 162 in Maryville, Illinois. Senior church pastor, Fred Winters, 45, of Edwardsville, was murdered as he gave his Sunday sermon during the 8 o'clock service. Police said a gunman, 27, of Troy, Illinois, with no connection the church, shot and killed Winters, and injured two other church members who subdued him.
Winters was rushed to nearby Anderson Hospital. A helicopter arrived to airlift him to a St. Louis hospital for higher level care. Sadly, it was not needed. Winters died.
One of the injured church members, Terry Bullard, was airlifted to a St. Louis hospital and was in serious condition with stab wounds Sunday; the other, Keith Melton, was treated at another hospital and released.
The gunman, who police did not identify, was at a St. Louis hospital, in police custody, but undergoing surgery to treat what police said were self-inflicted stab wounds.
Church members said they had never seen him before Sunday.
A skit or what members called "a drama" had just concluded. They said the gunman rose from the congregation, approached Winters, who said something along the lines of 'can I help you brother ?'. The gunman pullled out his weapon and fired four shots, police said. One shot hit the pastor. One missed. One hit the pastor's bible. A fourth caused the gun to jam.
"There was like -- confetti -- all over the stage and they shot his bible. It just obliterated it," church member, Claudia Bohley said through tears. "It just went everywhere."
More on this and a News video: http://www.fox2now.com/ktvi...
Not racial when its posted by a Redneck..too many its a huge waste of time so ya might not wanna play..for those that enjoy a simpler way of life..have fun *grin*
http://majman.net/fly_loade...
Military.com|by Bryant Jordan
Using words such as "imposter" and "usurper," an active-duty Army officer in Iraq has joined a California lawyer's lawsuit intended to force President Barack Obama to prove he is a legal U.S. citizen, and therefore able to legally serve as the commander in chief.
"Until Mr. Obama releases a 'vault copy' of his original birth certificate for public review, I will consider him neither my Commander in Chief nor my President, but rather, a usurper to the Office -- an impostor," 1st Lt. Scott R. Easterling states in his letter published at Defendourfreedoms.com.
An Army spokesman told Military.com today that officials are aware of Easterling's letter.
Poll: Should a Soldier serve if he doesn’t think the president is legitimate?
"We are taking a look at that ourselves right now," Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said. "We are always trying to balance our ... military requirements under the Uniform Code of Military Justice versus critical freedoms that all Americans enjoy."
California dentist turned attorney Orly Taitz, who has brought the lawsuit, told Military.com Tuesday that it is her "understanding that there will not be a serious consequence to his career [for his statements], but I don't know for sure."
"I told him 'you're doing something very brave for this country, and that you can call me any time, 24/7 [for advice],' " she said. "If you're investigated by [the judge advocate general] and if there are any hearings ... and if an officer is defending you, I will provide documents totally proving it's illegitimate for [Obama] to be president."
The story was first reported in the right-leaning World Net Daily news site Feb. 24.
Taitz said she is willing to go to Iraq for Easterling's defense. Her Web site includes names and photos of congressmen and retired service members who she says are supportive of the lawsuit intended to force Obama to present documents showing he is an American citizen.
While Obama has presented a legal Hawaiian birth certificate, Taitz and others claim the state historically has permitted American parents of children born in other countries to apply for such documents. Easterling says he wants to see a "vault copy," which is not explained in his letter but is taken to mean the original document.
In his letter, Easterling said he was a KBR contractor in Iraq in 2005 and 2006, then joined the Army when it raised the maximum enlistment age to 40. He said he attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned a second lieutenant in August 2007.
After an assignment to Fort Knox, Ky., he was deployed to Balad. He was promoted to first lieutenant on Feb. 2.
He said in his letter that it pains him to join the lawsuit against Obama, "but as an Officer, my sworn oath to support and defend our Constitution requires this action."
"I implore all Service-members and citizens to contact their Senators and Representatives and demand that they require Mr. Obama prove his eligibility. Our Constitution and our great nation must not be allowed to be disgraced."
Attorney Mathew B. Tully of the Washington, D.C.-based firm Tully Rinckey PLLC, cautioned "that nobody's actually heard directly from this ... lieutenant. We're getting this from a third party with an axe to grind."
It has happened in the past, he said, that stories emerging from the combat theater turn out to be wholly or partially false.
If true, however, Easterling, as an Army officer, "is subject to ... [provisions] against using contemptuous language toward the president." There were such incidents in the 1990s, he said, when service members were disciplined for comments made against President Clinton. In one case brought under the provisions of Article 88 of the UCMJ a major general was forced to retire for comments he made, Tully said.
Easterling also could be charged with conduct unbecoming an officer, he said.
If an officer actually believes there has been some misconduct by the president, Tully said, there are ways he could have responded.
Under Article 138, he said, any person can bring an allegation of misconduct by a commander through the chain of command, "though I don't think [it] has ever been used to allege misconduct by the president."
He may also have tried reporting his allegations under the whistleblower protection act, Tully said. But the Defense Department directive on that spells out the inspector general and the Congress as the places to take allegations, he added.
"People in the military ... have rights protecting them for reporting [alleged] misconduct, but there are strict procedures," Tully explained. "And joining a civil lawsuit and calling the president of the United States an imposter is not one of those avenues."
Tully said there already is extensive case law involving these allegations about Obama's birth and citizenship -- at least 10, he said -- that have been dismissed.
"And on TV last night I saw the chief of staff of the Army salute President Obama, so there are a lot of people who believe he is the president," Tully said.
If you can't make it to the meeting tonight heres is a survey setup by the parks commison where you can voice your preferences in local park activities. At the bottom of many of them it gives you a comment box to state OTHER activities. PLEASE use it for Equine activities.
There are other ideas available but PLEASE include Equine so we can keep our communities horse people active for years to come. They really need trails, over night camping, trailer parking at different locations along the trail. Right now we are talking about along the river from Enos lane to Hart Park and beyond would be great too *grin*
The horse community desperatly needs a new covered facility to do horse events in also..similar to what Paso Robles has at their fair grounds. It can also be a money maker if its in the right location and accesible to out of town clients.
A location out by hwy 5 where they can have room to grown and motels/restraunts are available.
Anyway first things first ...here is the survey and thanks to all that take the time to fill it out.
http://www.surveymonkey.com...
Military member seeking documentation silenced
Posted: March 03, 2009
8:48 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
A member of the U.S. military whose suspicions about Barack Obama's eligibility to be president prompted him to sign onto a legal demand being sent to Attorney General Eric Holder has now been silenced.
Attorney Orly Taitz, the California activist who through her DefendOurFreedoms.us foundation is assembling the case, told WND today she's been informed one of the members of the military has been ordered by commanding officers not to speak with media.
The officer's identity was withheld to prevent further actions against him.
However, Taitz confirmed to WND there would be no lack of plaintiffs in her action, which challenges Obama to prove by what authority he operates as commander in chief.
Another active-duty soldier, who identified himself as Staff Sgt. Alan Craig James, volunteered to be identified publicly as a plaintiff in the case, Taitz said.
She said she already has a list of 101 volunteers in her case demanding Obama's proof of eligibility.
more of the story: http://wnd.com/index.php?fa...
The County Planning Department is holding a Public Planning meeting to
discuss the Master Trail Plan. If we want to protect our riding trails we
need to show up "en masse". When an equestrian called the planning
department for information, he said it took almost an hour and had to go
through 6 people to find out that equestrian concerns are way down the list of importance. When he asked "why" our bicyclists have a trail all the way from Enos Lane to the Canyon, he was told that bicyclists are better organized and are more vocal than equestrians.
I was once told that bicyclists are successful at building trails because they are mostly professionals, attorneys, etc., and equestrians are loosely organized and tend to havea reputation for "drinking"!!!!!!
It's pretty obvious that we are not respected in this county, and also that we are going to continue to lose access to existing trails. We can grump and complain, or we can start getting organized, show up to planning meetings, document loss of trails
with pictures and maps, and "make a STINK!!!!!"
i.e. three years ago we could ride trails from Manor to Allen Road...don't
try it today unless you are prepared to ride on bike trails! Oh, that
reminds me, another complaint against us was that we "trespass". Perhaps
that is because we have been cut off of established trails and are forced to
cross bike trails, bike bridges, and bike trailheads in order to get to our
own trails.
The next meeting is March 5th, Thursday, from 7 to 9 p.m. at 2700 M Street.
(Sorry, I don't have a room number, but I'm sure there will be a lot of
people there and it's at night, so we should be able to find our way, if
anyone can get that info, please send it on.)
Let all of your equestrian friends know about this, we really need to make a
statement.
Happy trails, (I hope),
(from an email I received)
NEW YORK (Reuters) – One in five U.S. homeowners with mortgages owe more to their lenders than their properties are worth, and the rate will increase as housing values drop in states that have so far avoided the worst of the crisis, a new study shows.
About 8.31 million properties had negative equity at the end of 2008, up 9 percent from 7.63 million at the end of September, according to the study, released Wednesday by First American CoreLogic. The percentage of "underwater" borrowers rose to 20 percent from 18 percent.
Another 2.16 million properties could go underwater if home prices fall another 5 percent, the study shows.
First American said the value of residential properties fell to $19.1 trillion at year-end from $21.5 trillion a year earlier, with half the decline in California. Forty-three U.S. states and Washington, D.C., were included in the study.
While states such as California, Florida and Nevada were particularly stressed, the study showed worrying signs of deterioration in relatively healthy parts of the nation.
"The economic slowdown is broadening," said Sherrill Shaffer, a banking professor at the University of Wyoming at Laramie and a former Federal Reserve official. "As more people lose jobs, it will be more difficult to sustain the levels of pricing and home ownership, and that is a big factor driving down housing prices in more parts of the country."
Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Ohio remained the most stressed states, with 62 percent of underwater borrowers and just 41 percent of mortgages.
Other areas, though, also face more stress. Connecticut, for example, saw a 25 percent increase in homes with negative equity, while Washington, D.C., had a 44 percent increase.
"Even I continue to be surprised at the tentacles of this financial and economic debacle," said Robert MacIntosh, chief economist at Eaton Vance Management in Boston. "More people are being laid off, resulting in reduced income and therefore less consumption. That leaves fewer people with money to buy homes, and the mentality is that people believe they should wait six months rather than buy now. Less demand means falling prices."
Roughly 68 percent of U.S. adults own their own homes, and about two-thirds of these have mortgages. Many economists expect the nation's unemployment rate to rise above 9 percent before the recession ends, up from January's 7.6 percent.
CALIFORNIA, NEVADA UNDER STRESS
California had 1.9 million borrowers with negative equity at year-end, more than any other state, followed by Florida's 1.28 million. About three in 10 borrowers in both states were underwater.
By other measures, Nevada was the most stressed, with 55 percent of owners having negative equity and borrowers on average owing 97 percent of what their homes are worth. About 28 percent owe more than 125 percent of their homes' value.
Michigan had 40 percent of its homeowners underwater, while Arizona had 32 percent.
New York fared best, with just 4.7 percent of borrowers with negative equity and an average 48 percent loan-to-value ratio, though this could change as employment and bonuses slide in the financial services industry.
By Jonathan Stempel Jonathan Stempel – 47 mins ago
According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, prices of U.S. single-family homes slumped 18.5 percent in December from a year earlier, the biggest drop in the 21-year history of the data.
Many lenders are taking steps to keep borrowers out of foreclosure. The Obama administration has backed legislation that could broaden powers of bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages for troubled borrowers. Among major lenders, only Citigroup Inc has supported such a plan.
MacIntosh expects housing prices to keep falling until "well into" 2010. "There is no magic bullet or magic arrow here," he said. "It is a question of trying to come up with ideas and seeing what happens. It could take a long time."
First American CoreLogic is an affiliate of title insurance and real estate services company First American Corp.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Bernard Orr and John Wallace)
By Burton Frierson Burton Frierson – 10 mins ago
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. private sector job losses accelerated in February, according to a report by ADP Employer Services that suggests hefty employment declines are on the way in the government's payrolls report due on Friday.
ADP said on Wednesday that private employers cut 697,000 jobs in February versus a revised 614,000 jobs lost in January. The January job cuts were originally reported at 522,000.
It was the biggest job loss since the report's launch in 2001 and showed the misery of declining employment spreading broadly and evenly throughout the economy.
The service sector, which often resists the grip of recession longer than other areas, accounted for more than half of the total losses, reflecting the rapid deterioration of the economy in recent months.
"None really escaped the sword here," Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, whose firm jointly developed the ADP report, said about the service sector.
Economists had expected 610,000 private-sector job cuts in February, according to the median of 23 forecasts in a Reuters poll.
The forecasts in the poll ranged widely from a drop of 730,000 to losses of 500,000.
Still, on Wall Street, stock futures held onto earlier gains. Government bonds, which generally benefit from weak economic data, extended their losses.
"I was actually expecting it to be a little worse. Every month we've had data come in worse than expected," said Dan Faretta, senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock in Chicago.
"Until we get positive news about housing or industry or anything like that, the numbers will continue to get worse. The numbers keep weighing on all the markets."
Economists expect Friday's payrolls report, which gives a more comprehensive picture of the labor market, to show the economy shed 648,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent from 7.6 percent.
The U.S. jobless rate is likely to push well above 8 percent by mid-2010 and may even top 9 percent, Prakken said.
Prakken added that the unemployment rate would top 10 percent without the government's economic stimulus plan.
Prakken also told a teleconference of journalists that he expected the U.S. economy to lose 3 million jobs this year even with the stimulus plan in place. He said he expected the economy's contraction in the first quarter to be similar to the drop in gross domestic product seen in the fourth quarter, when the economy shrank at its fastest annual rate since 1982.
(Additional Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman; Editing by Tom Hals)
heres your chance to show America how you really feel..
http://rm.springboardameric...
NEW YORK – Wall Street is headed for a bounce Tuesday as investors recover from a massive selloff and await data on home and auto sales.
Stocks often rebound after heavy selling as bargain-hunters emerge to snap up pummeled stocks.
"It's the rational side of the brain taking over," said Jack A. Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank.
The Dow Jones industrial average on Monday plunged far below the 7,000 mark to end at 6,763 — the lowest close for the Dow since April 25, 1997. The Dow has fallen more than 52 percent since hitting a record high of 14,164.53 in October 2007.
Another government bailout of American International Group Inc., a disappointing profit drop at the European bank HSBC PLC, and a pessimistic economic outlook from billionaire investor Warren Buffett triggered Monday's decline. The selloff had been a long time coming, with investors worrying for months how far stocks could fall given the broken financial system and persistently weak global economy.
Monday's drop was understandable because AIG is not only a "confusing, complicated situation, but it seems like a black hole at the same time," Ablin said. AIG posted a nearly $62 billion fourth-quarter loss even after getting a $150 billion loan from the government.
But, he added, many stocks are looking very cheap right now.
Ahead of the market's open, Dow futures rose 52, or 0.77 percent, to 6,842. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 5.00, or 0.71 percent, to 710.50, and Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 5.25, or 0.48 percent, to 1,091.25.
Later in the session, the National Association of Realtors is expected to report a decline in pending sales of existing homes for January, and automakers will report vehicle sales for February.
In earnings news, auto parts retailer Auto Zone Inc. reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, while bond insurer MBIA Inc. and media company E.W. Scripps Co. posted losses.
Government bonds — considered a safe haven when stocks are tumultuous — were mostly lower in early trading. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 2.94 percent from 2.87 percent late Monday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose to 0.28 percent from 0.27 percent.
The dollar was mostly lower against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Light, sweet crude rose $1.00 to $41.50 a barrel in electronic premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer Madlen Read, Ap Business Writer – 16 mins ago
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei stock average slipped 0.69 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 2.30 percent on the heels of Wall Street's massive selloff.
In afternoon trading in Europe, markets were mixed. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1.68 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.19 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.38 percent.
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On the Net:
New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com
Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com
By Emanuella Grinberg
CNN
(CNN) -- Brian Sanderholm thinks Justin Thurber deserves to die for raping and killing his 19-year-old daughter.
A Kansas jury sentenced Jodi Sanderholm's killer, Justin Thurber, to death in February.
"I believe in an eye for an eye. If you do the crime, you need to have justice," he said. "In the end, it's up to the jury, but all that matters is that he can't hurt anyone again."
But amid a time of economic turmoil some legislators in Kansas and elsewhere say the price of justice is too high. They have introduced legislation to take the death penalty off the books over financial concerns.
Jodi Sanderholm was last seen alive on January 5, 2007, at dance practice at Cowley College in Arkansas City, Kansas, where she was a student and member of the Cowley College Tigerettes Danceline. Her bruised and battered body was found four days later in a pile of brush, bearing signs of a violent and prolonged death that prosecutors likened to torture.
A jury sentenced Thurber to death on February 18. A Kansas court will decide whether to uphold the jury's verdict in a hearing scheduled for March 20.
If Kansas Senate Bill 208 passes, it won't take effect until July 1, so it won't affect Thurber's sentence. But future savings could be substantial.
"Because of the downturn in the national economy, we are facing one of the largest budget deficits in our history," state Sen. Carolyn McGinn, a Republican, said in an opinion piece posted on TheKansan.com Friday. "What is certain is we are all going to have to look at new and creative ways to fund state and community programs and services."
The state would save more than $500,000 per case by not seeking the death penalty, McGinn wrote, money that could be used for "prevention programs, community corrections and other programs to decrease future crimes against society."
more here: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRI...
Letter: 'As your grandfather would have said,
Mr. President, Allahu akbar – God is great!'
Posted: March 01, 2009
2:50 am Eastern
By Jay Baggett
Carlos the Jackal
Emboldened by President Barack Obama's announcement he will close the Guantanamo facility housing suspected terrorists, one of the most notorious leftist terrorists of the 1970s and 1980s has written the president, asking him for help in finding a "former comrade-in-arms" missing for 14 years, and closing his letter with "Allahu akbar! ... yours in revolution."
Ilich Ramirez Sanchez – aka Carlos the Jackal – penned his letter to Obama from the Paris prison where he is serving a life sentence for the murder of two French agents and an informer, and for a series of deadly bomb attacks in Paris and on French trains, the Glasgow Sunday Herald reported today.
"Mister President, Your decision to close secret CIA jails, honors you," Carlos began before raising the issue of Bruno Breguet, a Swiss national who served as his right-hand man.
The letter continued:
Our comrade Bruno Breguet, a Swiss citizen, was abducted on 11th November 1995 from a ferry-boat between Italy and Greece, in a special operation with NATO naval support.
We pray you to have Bruno released.
We were informed, unofficially, that Bruno died accidentally during interrogation at a U.S. base in the south of Hungary.
Breguet, born in 1950, served 7 years of a 15-year sentence in the 1970s for bringing explosives into Israel to blow up a high rise in Tel Aviv on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. While Israel refused to release him in response to PFLP demands during the hijacking of several airliners to Jordan in September 1970, the Jewish state pardoned him in 1977 following a "humanitarian campaign" led by numerous intellectuals, including Jean-Paul Sarte, Simone de Beauvoir and Noam Chomsky.
In 1982, Breguet was arrested by Paris police, along with Carlos' wife, for transporting explosives and attempting to shoot a police officer. The gun misfired. The arrests and subsequent prosecution were met with a reign of terror orchestrated by the Venezuela-born Carlos, who was supported by the Soviet KGB and other Eastern European communist secret services.
In the months that followed, eight deadly attacks were launched on French targets after France refused to release his wife and Breguet. Twenty people were killed and many more injured.
Bruno Breguet
Breguet, who was convicted, received early release in 1985 and returned to Switzerland where, by all accounts, he lived a quiet life. Carlos was sentenced to life in absentia in 1992 by France for his terror attacks and captured in Sudan in 1994. He was returned to Paris and has been in prison since.
Breguet disappeared in November 1995 after traveling from Greece to Italy by ferry. Italian authorities refused him entry and returned him on the same boat. He was not seen again.
Rumors of Breguet's fate abound: He was taken by NATO naval commandos from the ferry and moved to Hungary where he died during interrogation. Hungary denies any rendition occured on its soil. He was arrested by Greek authorities, a claim denied by Greece's interior minister three months after the disappearance. A Hungarian paper reported rumors that Breguet was killed by Carlos' associates after he expressed his intention to break all ties to his former comrades. A body found partially encased in concrete in a Greek village near Albania and Italy in 2001 raised false hopes among authorities they had solved the mystery.
Carlos the Jackal ... captured
Carlos' 2003 book, "Revolutionary Islam" called on "all revolutionaries, including those of the left, even atheists," to accept the leadership of Islamists such as Osama bin Laden in order to turn Iraq and Afghanistan into "graveyards of American imperialism."
"Only a coalition of Marxists and Islamists can destroy the United States," the communist revolutionary and convert to Islam wrote in his book.
His Islamic worldview was reflected in the letter to Obama, where he referred to Breguet as a "martyr":
If Bruno truly is dead, we need his body back, so his relatives, friends and comrades, may mourn in neutral Switzerland, this hero of the Palestinian cause, and his eternal soul join our martyrs in heaven.
Carlos concluded by reminding the president of his own Muslim grandfather, Hussein Onyango Obama, who converted to Islam in the 1950s after having been imprisoned and tortured in Kenya by the British during the Mau Mau rebellion.
I pray God Almighty that one day the peoples of our continent, free at last, may shout with one voice: "God bless our America! And as your Luo grandfather would say: ALLAHU AKBAR!
I remain, Mister President, yours in revolution, "Carlos".
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